Oscar: My Final Score

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!

Oscar: Other predictions

ORIGINAL SCORE: Slumdog Millionaire
ORIGINAL SONG: "Jai Ho," Slumdog Millionaire
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: Waltz with Bashir
ACTOR: Mickey Rourke
ACTRESS: Kate Winslet
DIRECTOR: Danny Boyle, Slumdog
FILM: Slumdog

Oscar: Editing

Although I previously predicted "The Dark Knight," I have to say it's probably gonna be Slumdog again.

Oscar: More technical categories

I hope I remembered the difference between Sound Editing and Sound Mixing correctly...

SOUND EDITING: Wall-E
SOUND MIXING: The Dark Knight
VISUAL EFFECT: Benjamin Button

Oscar: Documentary

Feature: "Man On Wire" is the one with the heat. Unfortunately I haven't seen it. I did watch "Trouble The Water" at SIFF and loved it, so I would be celebrating in the off chance that it wins!

Short: No idea!

Oscar: Best Supporting Actor

If it's not Heath Ledger, I would be falling off my chair.

Oscar: Makeup

It's gonna be Benjamin Button's #2!