2013 Oscar Nominations Predictions

     The upcoming 2013 Academy Awards Nominations will be announced on January 10, 2013. There are a few films I have not seen, waiting for them to open in theatres here in Austin, but I'm going to do my best to prognosticate the upcoming nominations. The Oscars are the big awards ceremony and even though there are always politics involved, campaigning, studio parties and likability, or lack there of with certain entertainers, its always interesting to see who gets in and who is left out. The Best Picture nominees can range from five to ten nominees depending on how many first place votes a film gets and it must at least receive 5% of the first place votes. The Academy Awards will be hosted by "Family Guy" creator Seth MacFarlane, how many references and skits will be from those characters, and the ceremony will air on ABC, Sunday, February 24. Here are my predictions of the main categories after the jump.

BEST PICTURE

1. Zero Dark Thirty
2. Lincoln
3. Argo
4. Silver Linings Playbook
5. Les Miserables
6. Life of Pi
7. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
8. Moonrise Kingdom
9. Beasts of the Southern Wild
10. Django Unchained

BEST DIRECTOR

1. Kathryn Bigelow (Zero Dark Thirty)
2. Steven Spielberg (Lincoln)
3. Ben Affleck (Argo)
4. David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook)
5. Michael Haneke (Amour)

BEST ACTOR

1. Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln)
2. Hugh Jackman (Les Miserables)
3. John Hawkes (The Sessions)
4. Denzel Washington (Flight)
5. Bradley Cooper (Silver Linings Playbook)

BEST ACTRESS

1. Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty)
2. Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook)
3. Marion Cotillard (Rust and Bone)
4. Naomi Watts (The Impossible)
5. Quvenzhane Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

1. Tommy Lee Jones (Lincoln)
2. Alan Arkin (Argo)
3. Robert DeNiro (Silver Linings Playbook)
4. Philip Seymour Hoffman (The Master)
5. Leonardo DiCaprio (Django Unchained)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

1. Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables)
2. Sally Field (Lincoln)
3. Maggie Smith (The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel)
4. Helen Hunt (The Sessions)
5. Amy Adams (The Master)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

1. Zero Dark Thirty
2. Moonrise Kingdom
3. Django Unchained
4. The Master
5. Amour

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

1. Lincoln
2. Argo
3. Silver Linings Playbook
4. Beasts of the Southern Wild
5. The Sessions

BEST DOCUMENTARY

1. Searching for Sugar Man
2. The Gatekeepers
3. How to Survive a Plague
4. This Is Not a Film
5. Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

1. Wreck-It Ralph
2. ParaNorman
3. Frankenweenie
4. Brave
5. Le Tableau

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

1. Amour
2. A Royal Affair
3. The Intouchables
4. No
5. Beyond The Hills

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

1. Roger Deakins (Skyfall)
2. Claudio Miranda (Life of Pi)
3. Mihai Malaimare, Jr. (The Master)
4. Seamus McGarvey (Anna Karenina)
5. Janusz Kaminski (Lincoln)

BEST EDITING

1. Zero Dark Thirty
2. Lincoln
3. Argo
4. Life of Pi
5. Les Miserables