10 Daring Predictions for the 2013 Oscars ...

Lincoln tops about every list of everyone's 2013 Oscar predictions. I mean, if you believe what everyone's saying, Lincoln will walk away with practically every award – and it deserves a lot of them. There aren't any vampires, but as a biopic, even the inconsistencies are pretty marvelous. It's not entirely historically accurate, but Daniel-Day Lewis really humanized our amazing 16th president. In fact, he personified Abe in his looks and his actions.

Jennifer is actually not the favorite to win Best Actress; in most predictions, the biggest nod goes to Emmanuelle Riva for Amour. She was great, but I'm a huge Jennifer fan and I loved her in Silver Linings Playbook. Until Amour, she was the favorite, and I have hopes that her turn as sex-addicted Tiffany will get her the statue.

So yeah, lots of controversy in this category, isn't there? No Kathryn Bigelow, no Ben Affleck, no Quentin Tarantino. Spielberg will probably take it home but I'm keeping my fingers crossed for Ang Lee, not just because Life of Pi was really interesting but because I think he's an excellent director.

I really hope this wins. I wouldn't mind seeing it take some of the other categories in which it's nominated and heavily favored, either. Ben Affleck gets so much crap, and yeah, okay, a lot of the time it's justified, but Argo is an excellent movie. If it doesn't get best picture, let it at least get this, since it's certainly not going to win Best Director.

There are several strong contenders for Best Original Screenplay, including Zero Dark Thirty, Amour, and Moonrise Kingdom, which I absolutely adored. However, as esoteric and awesome as Moonrise Kingdom was, I don't think it'll pull and I think Django Unchained deserves it. It was entertaining, meaningful, gritty, funny, and completely unexpected. It's like a redemption film, for any number of reasons.

This prediction is probably miles away, but I can't help it. I always go for the underdog, and Philip Seymour Hoffman is definitely the underdog. He's primarily up against Tommy Lee Jones, who's one of my favorite actors, so that's cool, and Robert de Niro, who was excellent in Silver Linings Playbook. I just thought The Master was a really great movie, and Hoffman was great in it – but then, he's great in everything. Even Boogie Nights.

Is there really any question? Anne Hathaway made such a lovely Fantine – and I'm not even her biggest fan. I'll be honest, I'd love to see Sally Field take this, but I'm not sure if it's going to happen. Hollywood almost always goes with young and beautiful, rather than older and beautiful. Anne's talented though, and I'd rather her take the statue than Amy Adams, to be completely honest.

I really hope Skyfall pulls this award. It's one of the best Bonds in recent memory, it has a gorgeous theme, and the cinematography was absolutely breathtaking. It's up against Life of Pi, however, which is equally beautiful, so who knows? It should win, though, if there is any justice at the Academy Awards.

I really would love to see Brave take this one as well, but I don't see it happening. Besides, Frankenweenie was both dark and cute, and since I currently live with one of Tim Burton's biggest fans, I'm putting my money here. Wreck-It Ralph might come through, but I don't know if it has the pull to bring home a statue.

Zero Dark Thirty isn't quite a dark horse, but it almost is. Its biggest contenders are, of course, Argo and Lincoln. Any of them could walk away with the Oscar, but I'd love to see this film take it. Part of me wants to see Argo take it for the reasons mentioned above, but this movie was gritty, dirty, and real, and I think it represents something for America, something that should be simultaneously mourned and celebrated. Do you know what I mean?

What do you think? Like I said, this was a tricky, tricky business! Some of them are pretty much a given, but I went with some dark horses just because many of the movies I really enjoyed weren't huge contenders. Who do you want to see in these top spots? Sound off, y'all!