My Oscar Ballot: I can't believe I voted on the whole thing

After much procrastination, here's my complete list of Oscar predictions. I've already elaborated on my "no-brainer," "educated guess" and "head-scratcher" reasoning in the major categories here and, if I can muster up any rationalizations for the remainder, I've included them below. Even though I regret it practically every year, I couldn't help but throw in a few votes that are more wishful thinking than the cold and likely truth. But, when it comes down to it, your heart is more valuable than your accuracy (at least when it comes to Oscar ballots).


Best Picture
Nominees: "Black Swan," "The Fighter," "Inception," "The Kids Are All Right," "The King's Speech," "127 Hours," "The Social Network," "Toy Story 3," "True Grit," "Winter's Bone"
No-brainer: "The King's Speech"


Best Director
Nominees: Darren Aronofsky, "Black Swan;" Davis O. Russell, "The Fighter;" Tom Hooper, "The King's Speech;" David Fincher, "The Social Network;" Joel and Ethan Coen, "True Grit"
Head-scratcher: David Fincher, "The Social Network"


Best Actor
Nominees: Javier Bardem, "Biutiful;" Jeff Bridges, "True Grit;" Jesse Eisenberg, "The Social Network;" Colin Firth, "The King's Speech;" James Franco, "127 Hours"
No-brainer: Colin Firth, "The King's Speech"


Best Actress
Nominees: Annette Bening, "The Kids Are All Right;" Nicole Kidman, "Rabbit Hole;" Jennifer Lawrence, "Winter's Bone;" Natalie Portman, "Black Swan;" Michelle Williams, "Blue Valentine"
Educated Guess: Natalie Portman, "The Black Swan"


Best Supporting Actor
Nominees: Christian Bale, "The Fighter;" John Hawkes, "Winter's Bone;" Jeremy Renner, "The Town;" Mark Ruffalo, "The Kids Are All Right;" Geoffrey Rush, "The King's Speech"
Educated Guess: Christian Bale, "The  Fighter"


Best Supporting Actress
Nominees: Amy Adams, "The Fighter;" Helena Bonham Carter, "The King's Speech;" Melissa Leo, "The Fighter;" Hailee Steinfeld, "True Grit;" Jacki Weaver, "Animal Kingdom"
Head-scratcher: Hailee Steinfeld, "True Grit"


Best Adapted Screenplay
Nominees: "127 Hours," "The Social Network," 'Toy Story 3," "True Grit," "Winter's Bone"
No-brainer: "The Social Network," Aaron Sorkin


Best Original Screenplay
Nominees: "Another Year," "The Fighter," "Inception," "The Kids Are All Right," "The King's Speech"
Educated guess: "The King's Speech," David Seidler


Best Animated Feature Film
Nominees: "How to Train Your Dragon," "Illusionist," "Toy Story 3"
No-brainer: "Toy Story 3"


Best Foreign Film
Nominees: "Biutiful" (Mexico), "Dogtooth" (Greece), "In a Better World" (Denmark), "Incendies" (Canada), "Outside the Law" (Algeria)
Head-scratcher: "In a Better World" (Denmark)
It's hard to take a category seriously that doesn't include "I Am Love" (Italy), "Carlos" (France) or "Of Gods and Men" (France), so I don't feel all that terrible that I've only seen two of the five nominees --"Dogtooth" and "Biutiful," the former an occasionally riveting but mostly disappointing excuse to get pervy on screen, and the latter an indulgent mopefest (with a good actor suffering through). So I'm going with the Danes--and most Oscar prognosticators--with my pick here.


Best Art Direction
Nominees: "Alice in Wonderland," "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1," "Inception," "The King's Speech," "True Grit"
Head-scratcher: "Inception"
If voters got lazy and just started checking "The King's Speech" for everything, I'm screwed in this category--if not many others. "Alice" could be a winner here as well but I'm hoping voters will recognize "Inception" for its visual appeal, which I found dazzling- and unexpectedly architectural.


Best Costume Design
Nominees: "Alice in Wonderland," "I Am Love," The King's Speech," "The Tempest," "True Grit"
Educated Guess: "Alice in Wonderland"
Colleen Atwood's designs rescued Tim Burton's film from total madcap drudgery.


Best Documentary
Nominees: "Exit Through the Gift Shop," "Gasland," "Inside Job," "Restrepo," "Waste Land"
Educated Guess: "Exit Through the Gift Shop"
Because I really want to see what happens when Banksy's name is called (plus the film is fantastic and, I believe, true).


Best Film Editing
Nominees: "Black Swan," "The Fighter," "The King's Speech," "127 Hours," "The Social Network"
Head-scratcher: "The Social Network"
A pretty impressive category indeed, but I'm guessing voters will want to bump up "Social Network's" Oscar count, and this category is as justifiable as any.


Best Cinematography:
Nominees: "Black Swan," "Inception," "The King's Speech," "The Social Network," "True Grit"
Educated Guess: Roger Deakins, "True Grit"  
After nine nominations, Deakins deserves an Oscar already. And the film is simply gorgeous.


Best Makeup
Nominees: "Barney's Version," "The Way Back," "The Wolfman"
Educated Guess: "The Wolfman"
Most boring list of nominees ever and I hate that I even have to think about this crappy movie again, let alone pick it as a winner for something.


Best Sound Editing
Nominees: "Inception," "Toy Story 3," "TRON: Legacy," "True Grit," "Unstoppable"
Educated Guess: "Inception" 
I suspect voters will dump a lot of these technical awards on "Inception" and leave it out of most everything else. Appropriate, I think (except for leaving Nolan out of the director category). But it would be really fun if "Unstoppable" took home the statue.


Best Sound Mixing
Nominees: "Inception," "The King's Speech," "Salt," "The Social Network," "True Grit"
Educated Guess: "Inception"
Ditto above, with "Salt" as the most entertaining spoiler.


Best Visual Effects
Nominees: "Alice in Wonderland," "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1," "Hereafter," "Inception," "Iron Man 2"
No-brainer: "Inception"
I just refuse to believe that they'll snub Nolan here, especially with competition like "Hereafter" for God's sake.


Best Documentary (Short Subject)
Nominees: "Killing in the Name," "Poster Girl," "Strangers No More," "Sun Comes Up," "The Warriors of Qiugang"
Head-scratcher: "Strangers No More"
Since I've seen nothing in this category, I'm going with the one that sounds most uplifting, in this case Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon's film about an Israeli school for refugee children from around the world.


Best Visual Short Film (Animated)
Nominees: "Day & Night," "The Gruffalo," "Let's Pollute," "The Lost Thing," "Madascar, carnet de voyage (Madascar, a Journey Diary)"
Head-scratcher: "Madascar, carnet de voyage (Madagascar, a Journey Diary)"
Wouldn't it be nice if the Academy took a pass on Pixar this year (for "Day & Night," which I did enjoy) and gave some gold to an artist, Bastien Dubois, who transfixed us with his animated travel scrapbook? I think so.


Best Short Film (Live Action)
Nominees: "The Confession," "The Crush," "God of Love," "Na Wewe," "Wish 143"
No-brainer: "God of Love"
Probably my most cynical pick sine I really disliked writer/director/star Luke Matheny's goofy Woody Allen rip-off. But the competition is weak and Matheny has been quite savvy promoting himself around Hollywood.


There you have it. And please keep in mind I take no responsibility for how my selections harm or help your attempt to win the Oscar pool. 

Enjoy the show!