Early Oscar Predictions for the 85th Academy Awards

These are my "instant" Oscar predictions based on initial instinct. I will revise these at a later date, but if the ceremony were today and I had to pick now, this is how it would be.

My predictions are in bold with an asterisk.

I have Life of Pi with 2 awards, Zero Dark Thirty and Les Miserables with 3 each, Silver Linings Playbook, The Hobbit, and Skyfall with 1 each, and Lincoln with 7.

Picture
Argo
*Lincoln
Les Miserables
Zero Dark Thirty
Silver Linings Playbook
Life of Pi
Amour
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Django Unchained



Director
Michael Haneke - Amour
*Steven Spielberg - Lincoln
Ang Lee - Life of Pi
David O. Russell - Silver Linings Playbook
Benh Zeitlin - Beasts of the Southern Wild

Actress
*Jennifer Lawrence - Silver Linings Playbook
Jessica Chastain - Zero Dark Thirty
Naomie Watts - The Impossible
Emmanuelle Riva - Amour
Quvenzhane Wallis - Beasts of the Southern Wild

Actor
*Daniel Day Lewis - Lincoln
Bradley Cooper - Silver Linings Playbook
Hugh Jackman - Les Miserables
Joaquin Phoenix - The Master
Denzel Washington - Flight

Supporting Actress
*Anne Hathaway - Les Miserables
Sally Field - Lincoln
Helen Hunt - The Sessions
Amy Adams - The Master
Jacki Weaver - Silver Linings Playbook

predicted but not nominated: Maggie Smith - The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Supporting Actor
*Tommy Lee Jones - Lincoln
Philip Seymour Hoffman - The Master
Christoph Waltz - Django Unchained
Robert DeNiro - Silver Linings Playbook
Alan Arkin - Argo

Adapted Screenplay
*Lincoln
Argo
Silver Linings Playbook
Life of Pi
Beasts of the Southern Wild

Original Screenplay
*Zero Dark Thirty
Amour
Flight
Moonrise Kingdom
Django Unchained

Animated Feature
Frankenweenie
*Wreck-It Ralph
Brave
ParaNorman
The Pirates! Band of Misfits

Foreign Language Film
*Amour
A Royal Affair
No
Kon-Tiki
War Witch

Documentary Feature
Searching for Sugar Man
How to Survive a Plague
*The Gatekeepers
The Invisible War
5 Broken Cameras

Film Editing
Lincoln
Argo
*Zero Dark Thirty
Life of Pi
Silver Linings Playbook

Cinematography
Lincoln
Skyfall
Django Unchained
*Life of Pi
Anna Karenina

Production Design
Les Miserables
Anna Karenina
*Lincoln
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Life of Pi

Costume Design
Lincoln
Anna Karenina
*Les Miserables
Mirror Mirror
Snow White and the Huntsman

Original Score
*Lincoln - John Williams
Life of Pi - Mychael Danna
Anna Karenina - Dario Marianelli
Argo - Alexandre Desplat

Skyfall - Thomas Newman

Original Song
*"Suddenly" from Les Miserables
"Skyfall" from Skyfall
"Before My Time" from Chasing Ice
"Everybody Needs a Best Friend" from Ted
"Pi's Lullaby" from Life of Pi

Makeup and Hairstyling
Hitchcock
Les Miserables
*The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Sound Mixing
Les Miserables
*Skyfall
Lincoln
Argo
Life of Pi

Sound Editing
*Zero Dark Thirty
Skyfall
Django Unchained
Life of Pi
Argo

Visual Effects
*Life of Pi
The Avengers
Snow White and the Huntsman
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Prometheus