So at the end, it was 15-6 for the 21 categories where I made my predictions. I didn't do the three Short categories (Live Action, Animated, Documentary) because I knew next to nothing about the nominees. My last-minute guesses succeeded for 1 out of the 3.
With "Slumdog" dominating the buzz, it was an easy night for forecasters, so my "score" was only OK. A summary of my downfalls:
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Penelope Cruz won instead of Viola Davis. I underestimated the importance of career track record (for Cruz) and the hold-back from limited screen time (for Davis). This is reminiscent of last year, when Ruby Dee was nominated for a brief and intense role in "American Gangster," and the award went to Tilda Swinton... I also thought this might be the one category where they recognize "Doubt"; that didn't happen and "Doubt" went home empty-handed.
BEST ACTOR: Sean Penn won instead of Mickey Rourke. Very simply, I figured too many people disliked Sean Penn - he even admitted as such in his acceptance speech - though that did not stop his win. A singular spectacular performance, like Mickey Rourke's, can definitely win in some years... Just not this time.
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: "Departures" (Japan) won over "Waltz With Bashir" (Israel). "Waltz" has a winning record and is completely fascinating to me, although I wasn't familiar with the other four nominees so I'll reserve comments until I see "Departures."
BEST FILM EDITING: On a whim I picked "The Dark Knight," and deep down I really knew it would be "Slumdog Millionaire." Duh.
BEST SOUND EDITING & BEST SOUND MIXING: The two forever confusing categories. I predicted "Wall-E" for Editing and "The Dark Knight" for Mixing, and I was only half-half-right. "The Dark Knight" won for Editing and "Slumdog" took Mixing.
Overall, I thought it was a great Oscar year with multiple win-worthy contenders in every major category. Best wishes for 2009!
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