imaginary Oscars

Everyone seems to be doing this sort of thing, and I always like reading these sorts of posts, so what the hell, it seems fun.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the first annual Pantsies. If I picked the nominees and winners for the Oscars (and, really, wouldn't the world be a better place if everything was run through me first?), this is what they would be:

Best Score
- Nominees (assuming Where the Wild Things Are isn't eligible): Alexandre Desplat (Fantastic Mr. Fox); Michael Giacchino (Up); Marvin Hamlisch (The Informant!); Abel Korzeniowski (A Single Man); Clint Mansell (Moon)
- The winner: Marvin Hamlisch
- Difference between my picks and the Academy's: 60%
- Real Oscar nominee that I haven't seen yet: Sherlock Holmes

Best Supporting Actor
- Nominees: Jackie Earle Haley (Watchmen); Alfred Molina (An Education); Daryl Sabara (World's Greatest Dad); Karl Urban (Star Trek); Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds)
- The winner: Christoph Waltz
- Difference between my picks and the Academy's: 80%
- Real Oscar nominees that I haven't seen yet: Invictus, The Last Station, The Lovely Bones and The Messenger

Best Supporting Actress
- Nominees: Mariah Carey (Precious); Maggie Gyllenhaal (Crazy Heart); Anna Kendrick (Up in the Air); Mélanie Laurent (Inglourious Basterds); Mo’Nique (Precious).
- The winner: Mo'Nique (but I almost picked Gyllenhaal)
- Difference between my picks and the Academy's: 40%
- Real Oscar nominee that I haven't seen yet: Nine

Best Lead Actor
- Nominees: Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart); Colin Firth (A Single Man); Max Records (Where the Wild Things Are); Sam Rockwell (Moon); Robin Williams (World's Greatest Dad)
- The winner: Sam Rockwell
- Difference between my picks and the Academy's: 60%
- Real Oscar nominee that I haven't seen yet: Invictus

Best Lead Actress
- Nominees: Carey Mulligan (An Education); Gabourey Sidibe (Precious); Meryl Streep (Julie & Julia). That's all I've got (and I would have put Streep in the supporting category if the real Academy didn't have her as a lead). It's not as if I haven't seen a lot of movies, but there are only, like, seven or eight movies I've seen from 2009 that have a female lead.  What the hell?
- The winner: Carey Mulligan
- Difference between my picks and the Academy's: 0%, or 40%, depending on how you count
- Real Oscar nominees that I haven't seen yet: The Blind Side and The Last Station

Best Directing
- Nominees: Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker); Quentin Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds); Tom Ford (A Single Man); Pete Docter & Bob Peterson (Up); Spike Jonze (Where the Wild Things Are)
- The winner: Quentin Tarantino
- Difference between my picks and the Academy's: 60%

Best Adapted Screenplay
- Nominees: Nick Hornby (An Education); Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci & Tony Roche (In the Loop); Scott Z. Burns (The Informant!); Geoffrey Fletcher (Precious); Spike Jonze & Dave Eggers (Where the Wild Things Are)
- The winner: Scott Z. Burns
- Difference between my picks and the Academy's: 40%

Best Original Screenplay
- Nominees: Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber ((500) Days of Summer); Dave Eggers & Vendela Vida (Away We Go); Quentin Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds); Nathan Parker (Moon); Joel Coen & Ethan Coen (A Serious Man)
- The winner: Nathan Parker
- Difference between my picks and the Academy's: 60%
- Real Oscar nominee that I haven't seen yet: The Messenger

Best Picture [note - these are not  my ten most favorite movies from last year; they're the ones I think most deserve awards]
- Nominees: Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Hurt Locker, The Informant!, Inglourious Basterds, Moon, Precious, A Serious Man, A Single Man, Up, Where the Wild Things Are
- The winner: Inglourious Basterds
- My personal favorite: Where the Wild Things Are
- Difference between my picks and the Academy's: 50%
- Real Oscar nominee that I haven't seen yet: The Blind Side