Sticking My Neck Out

I usually have a bet going with my friend Mike about the Oscars. So far, I've won every time, although the deluge of hobbit-related little gold guys last year made me sweat. This year. Mike jetted off to Florida, so it looks like the bet is off. But here are my pics for the big Oscar categories, just the same:

Leading Actor: Jaimie Foxx, Ray.
Supporting Actor: Morgan Freeman, Million Dollar Baby
Leading Actress: Hillary Swank, Million Dollar Baby
Supporting Actress: Virginia Madsen, Sideways
Animated Feature: The Incredibles
Directing: Martin Scorcese, The Aviator
Adapted Screenplay: Sideways
Original Screenplay: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Best Picture: Million Dollar Baby

So those are my picks. A bit of hedging: I'm pretty confident about most of my choices, but I think Million Dollar Baby could easily take best adapted screenplay, and I haven't seen The Aviator yet, so if it's underrepresented here, that may be why. Also, the only reason I've beaten Mike on our bet most years is because of a strong showing in the lesser-watched categories, not listed here. We're about even for the big movies, although he was dead-on last year picking so many hobbit awards. If I hadn't picked the name of the Best Short Film sight unseen, he'd have my ten bucks instead of the other way around. (Not that I have his ten bucks anymore. Don't even know what I spent it on. Probably went to see a movie.)

Rob