STV's Oscar Picks: I Love You, Natalie, But...

A couple quick things about some of the riskier but highly confident Oscar predictions you'll find below:

1. These are not to be confused with the final selections in the Oscar index, which reflect the broader tastes, sensibilities and speculations of the Academy Award chattering class. These picks are mine and mine alone; you can tell because they're right.

2. Natalie Portman and Javier Bardem turned in the performances of the year -- maybe the performances of their careers -- in their respective films. By snubbing them, the Academy indirectly confirms this. But as Stephanie mentioned previously, there's what you want and what you can live with. I can definitely live with a Bening/Firth twofer. On the other hand...

3. I choose a Jacki Weaver upset for the same reason I must believe in God: The alternative is unbearable.

4. Banksy needs to win an Oscar just so we can see what one looks like spray-painted.

BEST PICTURE: The King's Speech

BEST DIRECTOR: Tom Hooper, The King's Speech

BEST ACTOR: Colin Firth, The King's Speech

BEST ACTRESS: Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Geoffrey Rush, The King's Speech

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE: Toy Story 3

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: The Social Network

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: The King's Speech

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: Biutiful, Mexico

BEST ART DIRECTION: Inception

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: Inception

BEST FILM EDITING: 127 Hours

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: Exit Through the Gift Shop

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT: Poster Girl

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM: The Gruffalo

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM: God of Love

BEST COSTUME DESIGN: Alice in Wonderland

BEST ORIGINAL MUSIC SCORE: The Social Network

BEST SONG: "If I Rise" (127 Hours)

BEST SOUND EDITING: Inception

BEST SOUND MIXING: Inception

BEST MAKEUP: The Wolfman

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS: Inception