My Personal Oscar Ballot

Oscar pundits and bloggers make it their raison d'etre to predict, analyze, and most often times complain about the nominations and the eventual winners. Almost all of them, however, are not Oscar voters, but I bet they all wish they were. I'm no different and so with a little more than a week until the big day, here is what I would do if I was given ballot to fill out.

Note: For Best Picture, Academy voters are asked to rank their choices from 1 to 10. For the other categories, they are only ask to pick their choice of winner. Also, these are NOT my predictions, but rather my picks if I was an Academy member voting in the privacy on my own home.

Best Picture
1 - The Social Network
2 - Black Swan
3 - Inception
4 - Toy Story 3
5 - 127 Hours
6 - The King's Speech
7 - True Grit
8 - The Fighter
9 - The Kids Are All Right
10 - Winter's Bone

Best Director: Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
Best Lead Actor: Colin Firth, The King's Speech
Best Lead Actress: Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine
Best Supporting Actor: Christian Bale, The Fighter
Best Supporting Actress: Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit
Best Animated Film: Toy Story 3
Best Original Screenplay: Inception
Best Adapted Screenplay: The Social Network
Best Foreign Language Film: In A Better World, Denmark
Best Original Score: How to Train Your Dragon
Best Original Song: "If I Rise," 127 Hours
Best Editing: Black Swan
Best Art Direction: Inception
Best Cinematography: True Grit
Best Costume Design: I Am Love
Best Makeup: The Way Back
Best Documentary: Exit Through the Gift Shop
Best Documentary Short: The Warriors of Qiugang
Best Animated Short: Day & Night
Best Live Action Short: Wish 143
Best Sound Editing: Inception
Best Sound Mixing: The King's Speech
Best Visual Effects: Inception

I'm a fan of spreading the wealth and I did notice that I chose a different film for each of the big six categories (picture, director, acting). With that said, it was Inception who got the most wins (4) despite not getting any big win unless you count its win for its screenplay. Other multiple winners include The Social Network, The King's Speech, Black Swan, and True Grit. Another oddity I've discovered is as much as I'm rooting for Natalie Portman and David Fincher, I didn't vote for them choosing instead to champion my second favorites who are severe underdogs.