One Minute Reviews by Kenneth Shinozuka

It's that time of year again! Here are my predictions for 21 of the 24 categories (excluding Best Live Action Short, Best Animated Short, and Best Documentary Short) recognized at the 85th Annual Academy Awards, one of the most heated competitions in recent memory.

Best Picture

Winner: Argo

Possible: Lincoln, Life of Pi

Unlikely: Silver Linings Playbook, Les Misérables, Zero Dark Thirty, Amour, Django Unchained, Beasts of the Southern Wild

Best Director (VERY close race)

Winner: Ang Lee, Life of Pi

Possible: Steven Spielberg, Lincoln

Unlikely: David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook; Michael Haneke, Amour; Benh Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild

Best Actor in a Leading Role

Winner: Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln

Possible: None

Unlikely: Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook; Hugh Jackman, Les Misérables; Denzel Washington, Flight; Joaquin Phoenix, The Master

Best Actress in a Leading Role

Winner: Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook

Possible: Emmanuelle Riva, Amour

Unlikely: Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty; Quvenzhané Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild; Naomi Watts, The Impossible

Best Actor in a Supporting Role (VERY close race)

Winner: Robert de Niro, Silver Linings Playbook

Possible: Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln; Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained

Unlikely: Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Master; Alan Arkin, Argo

Best Actress in a Supporting Role

Winner: Anne Hathaway, Les Misérables

Possible: None

Unlikely: Sally Field, Lincoln; Helen Hunt, The Sessions; Amy Adams, The Master; Jacki Weaver, Silver Linings Playbook

Best Original Screenplay (VERY close race)

Winner: Mark Boal, Zero Dark Thirty

Possible: Quentin Tarantino, Django Unchained

Unlikely: Michael Haneke, Amour; Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola, Moonrise Kingdom; John Gatins, Flight

Best Adapted Screenplay

Winner: Chris Terrio, Argo

Possible: Tony Kushner, Lincoln; David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook

Unlikely: Lucy Alibar & Benh Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild; David Magee, Life of Pi

Best Animated FIlm

Winner: Wreck-It Ralph

Possible: Brave

Unlikely: Frankenweenie; Paranorman; The Pirates! Band of Misfits

Best Documentary Feature

Winner: Searching for Sugar Man

Possible: None

Unlikely: The Gatekeepers; The Invisible War; How to Survive a Plague; 5 Broken Cameras

Best Foreign Feature Film

Winner: Amour, Austria

Possible: None

Unlikely: Kon-Tiki, Norway; No, Chile; A Royal Affair, Denmark; War Witch, Canada

Best Original Song

Winner: "Skyfall" from Skyfall - Music and Lyrics by Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth

Possible: "Suddenly" from Les Misérables - Music by Claude-Michel Schönberg, Lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer and Alain Boublil

Unlikely: "Pi's Lullaby" from Life of Pi - Music by Mychael Danna, Lyrics by Bombay Jayashiri; "Everybody Needs a Best Friend" from Ted - Music by Walter Murphy, Lyrics by Seth MacFarlane; "Before My Time" from Chasing Ice - Music and Lyrics by J. Ralph 

Best Original Score

Winner: Life of Pi, Mychael Danna

Possible: Lincoln, John Williams

Unlikely: Anna Karenina, Dario Marianelli; Skyfall, Thomas Newman; Argo, Alexandre Desplat

Best Cinematography

Winner: Life of Pi

Possible: Skyfall

Unlikely: Lincoln; Anna Karenina; Django Unchained

Best Costume Design

Winner: Anna Karenina

Possible: Les Misérables

Unlikely: Lincoln; Snow White and the Huntsman; Mirror Mirror

Best Film Editing

Winner: Argo

Possible: None

Unlikely: Lincoln; Zero Dark Thirty; Life of Pi; Silver Linings Playbook

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

Winner: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Possible: Les Misérables

Unlikely: Hitchcock

Best Production Design

Winner: Anna Karenina

Possible: Les Misérables; Lincoln

Unlikely: Life of Pi; The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Best Sound Editing (VERY close race)

Winner: Skyfall

Possible: Life of Pi; Zero Dark Thirty

Unlikely: Argo; Django Unchained

Best Sound Mixing

Winner: Les Misérables

Possible: Life of Pi

Unlikely: Skyfall; Argo; Lincoln

Best Visual Effects

Winner: Life of Pi

Possible: None

Unlikely: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey; Marvel's The Avengers; Prometheus; Snow White and the Huntsman