Tomorrow is the Academy Awards, my favorite awards show. I know people much cooler than me don’t care about this type of show (and frankly, this is the only awards program I’m really interested in) but I love it.  To me it is A Big Deal. I try not to read any predictions (although sometimes they are so in your face you can’t avoid them) and I only read reviews after I’ve seen the film. On the day of, I don’t pay much attention to the red carpet or who’s presenting what. I’m more interested in seeing the winners’ reactions and if the movies I picked won their categories. I also don’t pick them because I think they’ll win- I choose the ones I like best. Therefore I’ll never ever win any Oscar betting pools.

This year I’ve seen all the films nominated in all categories except for W.E. (nominated for costume design), but I failed at the documentary shorts and foreign films categories because they are practically impossible to watch in Puerto Rico. The local arthouse cinemas rarely show documentaries. If they did show somewhere on demand, I missed them. But all in all I think I did a good job this year seeing as many nominees as I could, and I’m glad I did because 2011was great for movies. I admit I wouldn’t have seen some of these because there are settings I avoid (like sports) but I’m glad I did.

Here are my favorites (with “Others” being the other nominees listed in my personal ranking order from favorite to least favorite):

Best Picture. I liked The Artist, but I LOVED Hugo. That kid stole my heart. Plus old time movie magic! Others:

• The Artist
• The Descendants
• The Help
• Midnight In Paris
• Moneyball
• Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
• War Horse
• The Tree of Life (which was the only one I really disliked)

Actor in a Leading Role. All were great, but Demián Bichir in A Better Life was exceptional.Others:

• Gary Oldman in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
• George Clooney in The Descendants
• Jean Dujardin in The Artist
• Brad Pitt in Moneyball

Actor in a Supporting Role. I wasn’t super impressed with any of these, but since I have to choose, I think Nick Nolte in Warrior was the best. Others:

• Christopher Plummer in Beginners
• Kenneth Branagh in My Week with Marilyn
• Max von Sydow in Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
• Jonah Hill in Moneyball

Actress in a Leading Role. Glenn Close was my favorite until I saw the Michelle Williams portrayal of Marilyn Monroe in My Week with Marilyn. Others:

• Glenn Close in Albert Nobbs
• Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady
• Rooney Mara in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
• Viola Davis in The Help

Actress in a Supporting Role. This is the one category where I especially loved everyone’s work, so it was hard to choose. I’m going to go with Octavia Spencer in The Help. Others:

• Berenice Bejo in The Artist (I think the Academy switched her with Viola Davis, which to me wasn’t a leading actress in The Help)
• Janet McTeer in Albert Nobbs
• Melissa McCarthy in Bridesmaids
• Jessica Chastain in The Help

Animated Feature Film. Chico & Rita was so good, simple and beautiful. Others:

• Puss in Boots
• Kung Fu Panda 2
• Rango
• A Cat in Paris

Art Direction. Hugo, absolutely. Honestly, in the others I can’t remember what was so special about the sets except in Harry Potter. In Hugo, that train station was a character of its own. Others:

• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
• Midnight in Paris
• The Artist
• War Horse (the trenches??)

Cinematography. Hugo, although they all shone except The Tree of Life which I despised, save the dinosaurs. Others:

• War Horse
• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
• The Artist
• The Tree of Life

Costume Design. Hugo. Others:

• W.E. (this from just the trailer; those clothes look gorgeous)
• Jane Eyre
• Anonymous
• The Artist

Directing. The Artist. All of these were great, except of course The Tree of Life which by now you know gets little love from me. Others:

• Hugo - Martin Scorsese
• Midnight in Paris - Woody Allen
• The Descendants - Alexander Payne
• The Tree of Life - Terrence Malick

Documentary (Feature). I saw all of these except for Undefeated (just saw the trailer). None of these made me go “WOW! That was awesome.” I enjoyed If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front the most. I also thought it was the most balanced portrayal of its subject. Others:

• Hell and Back Again
• Undefeated (it looks good, but haven’t seen it)
• Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory
• Pina (the movie that confirmed I am definitely not a modern dance person)

Documentary (Short Subject). I saw none of these, so I’m just judging by their trailers and how much I want to see them.

• The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom. Even the trailer made me tear up. Wow.
• Saving Face. This one is going to make me so, so mad when I see it.
• The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement
• God Is the Bigger Elvis (no trailer, just read the NYT article)
• Incident in New Baghdad

 Film Editing. Hugo. Others:

• The Descendants
• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
• The Artist
• Moneyball

Foreign Language Film. I only saw two, Bullhead (Belgium)and A Separation (Iran). Of these I preferred A Separation, but I liked both. Looking at the trailers, I’m interested in seeing the others in this order:

• Monsieur Lazhar (Canada)
• In Darkness (Poland)
• Footnote (Israel)

Makeup. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. Others:

• Albert Nobbs
• The Iron Lady

Music (Original Score). Not particularly enthusiastic about these nominees. I’ll go with Hugo. Others:

• Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
• The Artist
• War Horse
• The Adventures of Tintin

Music (Original Song).  Although I love Bret McKenzie, I’m gonna have to go with Real in Rio because of all that gorgeous rhythm.

• Real in Rio from Rio - Music by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown, Lyric by Siedah Garrett
• Man or Muppet from The Muppets -Bret McKenzie

Short Film (Animated). This one is tricky, because while I loved The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore, I get the feeling I’ll like La Luna and A Morning Stroll more. La Luna won’t be out until the summer (before Brave), and A Morning Stroll is bundled into the iTunes animated shorts download which I refuse to buy because it does not have La Luna, and the other three nominees were offered freely elsewhere. If A Morning Stroll had been offered separately, I would have downloaded it.

• The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore
• A Morning Stroll
• La Luna
• Dimanche/Sunday
• Wild Life

Short Film (Live Action). Although The Shore is really good and Time Freak appeals to my geeky sensibilities, I LOVED Tuba Atlantic. Who knew a curmudgeon and a young “angel” would work so well together? Others:

• The Shore
• Time Freak
• Pentecost
• Raju

Sound Editing. Sound editing and mixing are my guessing categories, and I really can’t get excited about them. Unless the sound is terrible, I don’t notice it much. I know what the categories mean, but it doesn’t seem to help me decide. This year I tried paying more attention to how much certain sounds stuck in my mind and that’s how I’ll choose (very technical!). For editing I’m going with Drive. Others:

• Transformers: Dark of the Moon
• War Horse
• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
• Hugo

Sound Mixing. For sound I remember the robot battle sounds the most, so Transformers: Dark of the Moon, much as it pains me. Others:

• War Horse
• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
• Hugo
• Moneyball

Visual Effects. Surprisingly, I did not go all Potter! on this one. It was between the apes and the boxing robots for me. The apes of Rise of the Planet of the Apes won, but it was a close call. Others:

• Real Steel
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
• Transformers: Dark of the Moon
• Hugo

Writing (Adapted Screenplay). This category is also tricky because I have rarely read the source material. So again I go by what worked for me and seemed really exceptionally well written (unlike this sentence). I liked the complicated story of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and it makes me want to read the book. Others:

• The Descendants
• The Ides of March
• Hugo
• Moneyball

Writing (Original Screenplay). I like choosing the most original ideas and development. For me this was Bridesmaids, a movie that had me literally crying with laughter. Others:

• A Separation
• Margin Call
• Midnight in Paris
• The Artist

Who are you rooting for?