Looking in to my crystal ball . . . . .

With the Oscars less than five days away, I figured it was time for Movie Mazzupial to unveil some predictions. Well, I say predictions but really these are the people/films I want to win. The people I think will actually win are highlighted in green and the people I want to win are in pink. If I believe the planets will align and what I want to win and what I think will win are the same thing, then it will appear in blue. Confused? So am I. If the following spins you out too much just wait for the actual Academy Awards ceremony which is on Sunday, February 22 or Monday, February 23 for us Aussies. And the winners are -
Performance by an actor in a leading role
Sean Penn in “Milk” (Focus Features)
Mickey Rourke in “The Wrestler” (Fox Searchlight)
Performance by an actor in a supporting role
Heath Ledger in “The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.)
Performance by an actress in a leading role
Kate Winslet in “The Reader” (The Weinstein Company)
Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Amy Adams in “Doubt” (Miramax)
Penélope Cruz in “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” (The Weinstein Company)
Best animated feature film of the year
“WALL-E” (Walt Disney), Andrew Stanton
Achievement in art direction
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Art Direction: Donald Graham Burt, Set Decoration: Victor J. Zolfo
“The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.), Art Direction: Nathan Crowley, Set Decoration: Peter Lando
Achievement in cinematography
“The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.), Wally Pfister
“Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), Anthony Dod Mantle
Achievement in costume design
“Australia” (20th Century Fox), Catherine Martin
“The Duchess” (Paramount Vantage, Pathé and BBC Films), Michael O’Connor
Achievement in directing
“Milk” (Focus Features), Gus Van Sant
“Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), Danny Boyle
Best documentary feature
“The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)” (Cinema Guild), A Pandinlao Films Production, Ellen Kuras and Thavisouk Phrasavath
“Man on Wire” (Magnolia Pictures), A Wall to Wall Production, James Marsh and Simon Chinn
Best documentary short subject
“The Conscience of Nhem En” A Farallon Films Production, Steven Okazaki
“The Witness - From the Balcony of Room 306” A Rock Paper Scissors Production, Adam Pertofsky and Margaret Hyde
Achievement in film editing
“The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.), Lee Smith
“Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), Chris Dickens
Best foreign language film of the year
“The Class” (Sony Pictures Classics), A Haut et Court Production, France
“Waltz with Bashir” (Sony Pictures Classics), A Bridgit Folman Film Gang Production, Israel
Achievement in makeup
“Hellboy II: The Golden Army” (Universal), Mike Elizalde and Thom Floutz
Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)
“WALL-E” (Walt Disney), Thomas Newman
Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
“Down to Earth” from “WALL-E” (Walt Disney), Music by Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman, Lyric by Peter Gabriel
“O Saya” from “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), Music and Lyric by A.R. Rahman and Maya Arulpragasam
Best motion picture of the year
“Milk” (Focus Features), A Groundswell and Jinks/Cohen Company Production, Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen, Producers
“Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), A Celador Films Production, Christian Colson, Producer
Best animated short film
“La Maison en Petits Cubes” A Robot Communications Production, Kunio Kato
“Presto” (Walt Disney), A Pixar Animation Studios Production, Doug Sweetland
Best live action short film
“The Pig” An M & M Production, Tivi Magnusson and Dorte Høgh
“Spielzeugland (Toyland)” A Mephisto Film Production, Jochen Alexander Freydank
Achievement in sound editing
“Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), Tom Sayers
Achievement in sound mixing
“The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.), Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo and Ed Novick
Achievement in visual effects
“The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.), Nick Davis, Chris Corbould, Tim Webber and Paul Franklin
Adapted screenplay
“Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), Screenplay by Simon Beaufoy
Original screenplay
“Frozen River” (Sony Pictures Classics), Written by Courtney Hunt
“In Bruges” (Focus Features), Written by Martin McDonagh