'Twas The Night Before Nominations...

Okay, so... without getting too philosophical about stuff, let me just throw out some predictions before the Academy officially announces its 2012 nominees... Assuming they go with ten best pic nods, here's the way I think it'll go down:

Best Picture

AMOUR

ARGO

BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD

DJANGO UNCHAINED

LES MISERABLES

LIFE OF PI

LINCOLN

THE MASTER

SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK

ZERO DARK THIRTY

(dark horses: SKYFALL & MOONRISE KINGDOM)

Director

Ben Affleck (Argo)

Tom Hooper (Les Miserables)

Steven Spielberg (Lincoln)

Michael Haneke (Amour)

Kathryn Bigelow (Zero Dark Thirty)

(dark horses: Ang Lee "Life of Pi" and P.T. Anderson "The Master")

Actor

Hugh Jackman (Les Miserables)

Daniel Day Lewis (Lincoln)

Joaquin Phoenix (The Master)

Denzel Washington (Flight)

John Hawkes (The Sessions)

(dark horse: Bill Murray "Hyde Park on Hudson"Bradley Cooper (Silver Linings Playbook)

Actress

Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty)

Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook)

Helen Mirren (Hitchcock)

Emmanuel Riva (Amour)

Rachel Weisz (The Deep Blue Sea)

(dark horse: Naomi Watts "The Impossible" & Quvenzhane Wallis "Beasts of the Southern Wild" )

Supporting Actor

Philip Seymour Hoffman (The Master)

Tommy Lee Jones (Lincoln)

Javier Bardem (Skyfall)

Alan Arkin (Argo)

Robert DeNiro (Silver Linings Playbook)

(dark horse: Matthew McConaughey "Magic Mike")

Supporting Actress

Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables)

Sally Field (Lincoln)

Amy Adams (The Master)

Helen Hunt (The Sessions)

Ann Dowd (Compliance)

(dark horse: Nicole Kidman "The Paperboy")

I can go on and on... but I will stick to these top categories for now... and the nomination goes to... 

Darko Sullivan signing off!