My "Flick Chick Oscar Picks"

"It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year!"

No...not Christmastime silly. We're done with all that.

It's OSCAR time!

Yep, the wonderful time of year when this Flick Chick dreams of red carpets, beautiful people in beautiful gowns, memorable movie montages, too-long acceptance speeches and short, shiny bald men.

No Danny DeVito, I'm NOT talkin' about you.

Oscar time. I love it.

I must confess, I'm an Oscar Geek from waaaaay back. Not to date myself or anything...but when I was growing up as a major movie and Hollywood-obsessed kid, there was no internet (I know, shocker!). We didn't have Entertainment Tonight, Access Hollywood OR Joan Rivers and the Red Carpet Fashion Police.

No, aside from attending my favorite local movie theatre each week (which was NOT a 24 screen megaplex, by the way) -- the only time that I could really see big-time movie stars up close and personal (dressed up and out on the town with their peers & significant others, no less!) was on television.....on Oscar night.

That was a BIG deal for a movie geek girl like me.

I've always loved the whole show. The hosts (Johnny Carson. Billy Crystal). The cheesy musical numbers (Rob Lowe & Snow White?). The wacky outfits (Hello Cher! Hello Demi!). The awkward movie star presenters who seriously lacked charisma, couldn't read the teleprompter and made you realize that unfortunately...perhaps they weren't so fabulous after all (So sorry Harrison.)

Good times.

At about 8 years old, I started bargaining with my parents each year to stay up late to watch the whole telecast. All four hours of it.

The show usually ends at midnight, and up until fairly recently....the Oscars were held on a Monday.

Well, I got my wish, as long as I would come home from school on Oscar day and take a nap that afternoon.

A nap? Like a baby? Of course I will. Right away mom.

If that means I'll get to stay up late and see an American Indian accept an Oscar for Marlon Brando, a streaker run onstage past a smiling David Niven and everybody's favorite droids R2D2 and C3PO "live" on stage -- I will most definitely take a nap.

Flash forward to 2011: I am no longer required to take a nap on Oscar day (although, sometimes I do), and with the internet and a mind-boggling array of entertainment-oriented TV shows, websites, magazines, etc. -- Oscar time is more drawn-out than ever and darn near inescapable.

Me.Happy.Girl.

OK, so that's just a little background about my loooong history of love for the Oscars....and why for me, this truly is the most wonderful time of the year.

Now it's time for my picks.

I must admit, that after following the Oscars as closely as I have for so many years -- I've become pretty good at predicting the winners. There are usually some surprises here & there (and I LOVE that!), but all in all....my ballot is usually fairly close to what's in those envelopes on Oscar night.

So, without further ado........

My 2011 "Flick Chick Oscar Picks"

(Who I think WILL win, not necessarily who SHOULD win.)

Best Picture

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

Best Director

Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
David O. Russell, The Fighter
Tom Hooper, The King's Speech
*David Fincher, The Social Network*
Joel and Ethan Coen, True Grit

Best Actress

Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right
Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence, Winter's Bone
*Natalie Portman, Black Swan*
Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine

Best Actor

Javier Bardem, Biutiful
Jeff Bridges, True Grit
Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
*Colin Firth, The King's Speech*
James Franco, 127 Hours

Best Supporting Actress

Amy Adams, The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter, The King's Speech
Melissa Leo, The Fighter
*Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit*
Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom

Best Supporting Actor

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*

Best Animated Feature Film

How to Train Your Dragon
The Illusionist
*Toy Story 3*

Best Foreign Language Film

Biutiful
Dogtooth
*In a Better World*
Incendies
Outside the law

Best Original Screenplay

Another Year
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids Are All Right
*The King’s Speech*

Best Adapted Screenplay

127 Hours
*The Social Network*
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter’s Bone

Best Documentary Feature

Exit Through the Gift Shop
Gasland
Inside Job
*Restrepo*
Waste Land

Best Original Song

‘Coming Home’ from Country Strong, Music and Lyric by Tom Douglas, Troy Verges and Hillary Lindsey
‘I See the Light’ from Tangled, Music by Alan Menken Lyric by Glenn Slater
*‘If I Rise’ from 127 Hours, Music by A.R. Rahman Lyric by Dido and Rollo Armstrong*
‘We Belong Together’ from Toy Story 3, Music and Lyric by Randy Newman

Best Original Score

How to Train Your Dragon, John Powell
Inception, Hans Zimmer
*The King’s Speech, Alexandre Desplat*
127 Hours, A.R. Rahman
The Social Network, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

Best Film Editing

Black Swan
The Fighter
The King’s Speech
127 Hours
*The Social Network*

Best Visual Effects

Alice in Wonderland
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
Hereafter
*Inception*
Iron Man 2

Best Cinematography

Black Swan
Inception
The King’s Speech
The Social Network
*True Grit*

Best Sound Mixing

*Inception*
The King’s Speech
Salt
The Social Network
True Grit

Best Sound Editing

*Inception*
Toy Story 3
Tron: Legacy
True Grit
Unstoppable

Best Costume Design

*Alice in Wonderland*
I Am Love
The King’s Speech
The Tempest
True Grit

Best Art Direction

*Alice in Wonderland*
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I
Inception
The King’s Speech
True Grit

Best Makeup

Barney’s Version
The Way Back
*The Wolfman*

Best Short Film (Live Action)

*The Confession*
The Crush
God of Love
Na Wewe
Wish 143

Best Documentary (Short Subject)

*Killing in the Name*
Poster Girl
Strangers No More
Sun Come Up
The Warriors of Qiugang

Best Short Film (Animated)

Day & Night
*The Gruffalo*
Let’s Pollute
The Lost Thing
Madagascar, carnet de voyage

*********************************************

OK, so those are my Oscar picks for this year.

The 2011 Academy Awards air live on Sunday, February 27, 2011 on ABC at
8 pm EST.

If interested, I will be live-tweeting during the red carpet arrivals (on E! network beginning at 6 pm EST) and during the entire Oscar telecast.

You can follow me on Twitter, I'm @KellyGingery.

Hmmm....wonder how good my Oscar knowledge really is?

Stay tuned.