The 84th Annual Academy Awards aired Sunday Night, February 26th, 2012.  Below were my predictions for the winners in the major categories.  The actual winners were filled in after the Oscars were announced.

It was nice to have Billy Crystal back – he was funny though a shadow of his former golden self.  It was a fairly snooze-inducing night with no big surprises except for maybe the tinny microphones (an ironic sound design defect during a show that lavished undeserved gifts upon a silent film) and I eagerly switched over to The Walking Dead on AMC at 11pm. 

I scored a strong 17/24 in my family Oscar pool.  In the only categories I gave a damn about, I was 1 for 2 as A Separation took home a well-deserved statue for Best Foreign Language Film while Emmanuel Lubezki was royally robbed in the cinematography category for The Tree of Life by the guy from Hugo.

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PREDICTIONS:

Best Picture:

Predicted: The Artist

Possible Upset: Hugo

Winner:  The Artist

Best Director:

Predicted: Michael Hazanavicius for The Artist

Possible Upset: Martin Scorsese for Hugo

Winner:  Michael Hazanavicius for The Artist

Best Actor:

Predicted: George Clooney for The Descendants

Possible Upset: Jean Dujardin for The Artist

Winner:  Jean Dujardin for The Artist

Best Actress:

Predicted: Viola Davis for The Help

Possible Upset: Meryl Streep for The Iron Lady

Winner:  Meryl Streep for The Iron Lady

Best Supporting Actor:

Predicted: Christopher Plummer for Beginners

Possible Upset: Max Von Sydow for Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Winner:  Christopher Plummer for Beginners

Best Supporting Actress:

Predicted: Octavia Spencer for The Help

Possible Upset: Berenice Bejo for The Artist

Winner: Octavia Spencer for The Help

Best Foreign Language Film:

Predicted: A Separation

Possible Upset: In Darkness

Winner: A Separation

Best Animated Feature:

Predicted: Rango

Possible Upset: A Cat in Paris

Winner:  Rango

Best Documentary Feature:

Predicted:  Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory

Possible Upset:  Pina

Winner:  Undefeated

Best Adapted Screenplay:

Predicted: Alexander Payne et al for The Descendants

Possible Upset: Steve Zallian et al for Moneyball

Winner:  The Descendants

Best Original Screenplay:

Predicted: Woody Allen for Midnight in Paris

Possible Upset: Michael Hazanavicius for The Artist

Winner:  Midnight in Paris

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…and now on to the important stuff…

…the Rules for the 84th Annual Academy Awards Drinking Game:

Take a shot when:

• Someone thanks their “agent, spouse, parents, or kids.”
• They cut off a person’s acceptance speech unceremoniously with the “exit” music.
• Somebody needlessly and awkwardly mentions something political as a presenter or winner. 
• A winner says something to the effect of, “I can’t believe I won with all these other talented/wonderful people I was up against.”
• There is a completely unnecessary music/dance number.
• Billy Crystal does a mock-music number that is actually funny.
• They honor the people who died last year.
• Somebody gets a standing ovation.
• Somebody makes a joke about the show’s length.

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Check out the winners in my annual alternatives to the Oscars, The Davies.

Enjoy! Wagering on the Oscars is encouraged. And please drink irresponsibly…I mean responsibly!

Predictions, commentary and drinking rules by David H. Schleicher