While the Academy has finished voting and the Oscar winners are all but decided, we gave some experts one last chance to weigh in on the year’s best. Here’s a look at who will most likely win, who should win and who should’ve been nominated in the first place, according to experts from TheWrap.com, Vulture and our own Hollywood correspondent, Ned Ehrbar.
Alonso Duralde, TheWrap.com
Best Picture
Will win: “The Artist.” It’s a feel-good movie that, beyond being silent and black-and-white, plays it pretty safe — and it’s got the Weinstein machine behind it.
Should win: “The Descendants.” When people look back at this period of filmmaking decades from now, the humanity and the wit of Alexander Payne’s movies will continue to resonate.
Should have been nominated: I know that movies like “Weekend” or “Attack the Block” would never in a million years get the nod from Oscar, so I’ll go with “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.”
Best Director
Will win: Michel Hazanavicius (“The Artist”), more as part of the sweep for “The Artist” than out of a collective love of the “OSS 117” series [also directed by Hazanavicius]
Should win: Alexander Payne, “The Descendants”
Should have been nominated: Bennett Miller, for making “Moneyball” so fascinating to non-sports fans like me.
Best Actor
Will win: Jean Dujardin, “The Artist”
Should win: I’d love to see Gary Oldman get it, both for making such small choices resonate so deeply in “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” and as a tribute to 25 years of unpredictable work.
Should have been nominated: Steve Coogan in “The Trip.” Playing “yourself” is tricky business, and he makes his obnoxious onscreen alter ego eminently watchable.
Kyle Buchanan, Vulture
Best Picture
Will win: “The Artist”
Should win: “Moneyball”
Should have been nominated: “Drive”
Best Director
Will win: Michel Hazanavicius, “The Artist”
Should win: Either Woody Allen (“Midnight in Paris”) or Terrence Malick (“Tree of Life”), simply because they won’t show up and the lack of a speech will help bring the show in on time.
Should have been nominated: Bennett Miller, “Moneyball”
Best Actor
Will win: Jean Dujardin, “The Artist”
Should win: Brad Pitt, “Moneyball”
Should have been nominated: Michael Shannon, “Take Shelter”
Best Actress
Will win: Viola Davis, “The Help”
Should win: Viola Davis, “The Help”
Should have been nominated: Kristen Wiig, “Bridesmaids”
Ned Ehrbar, Metro World News
Best Picture
Will win: “The Artist,” a decent tribute to the history of film, but too light for my taste.
Should win: “Hugo,” a much more inventive tribute to the history of film.
Should have been nominated: “Shame,” by far one the best — and most depressing — films of the year.
Best Director
Will win:
Should win: Martin Scorsese, “Hugo”
Should have been nominated: David Fincher, “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”
Best Actor
Will win: Jean Dujardin, “The Artist”
Should win: Gary Oldman, “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”
Should have been nominated: Michael Fassbender, “Shame”
Best Actress
Will win: Meryl Streep, “The Iron Lady”
Should win: Streep, because really, it’s time. And she made Margaret Thatcher human.
Should have been nominated: Tilda Swinton, “We Need to Talk About Kevin”
