Oscar predictions

Might as well start off the New Year with one of my favorite topics -- predicting who and what will be nominated for Oscars next month. As every Oscar-follower knows, the number of best picture nominations has been doubled this year to 10. This was done to increase the chance that some great crowd-pleaser, like The Dark Knight which was snubbed last year or Star Trek this year would wind up as a finalist, thus creating a bigger audience for the Oscar telecast.

If there were 10 nominees last year, I am sure The Dark Knight would have been one of them. However, I don't think Star Trek has a ghost of a chance this year.

So who will be the nominees? Two weeks ago, I was fairly certain about the final 10. Then Nine was released to mediocre reviews and now I'm not so sure. So there's one wild card in my list of best picture nominees, and right now I'm going with The Messenger in the wild-card slot, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was District 9, Crazy Heart or even Nine.

But here's the list I'm going with:
Avatar
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Invictus
The Messenger
Precious
A Serious Man
Up
Up in the Air

I am fairly certainly about all my predictions for the four acting categories except the fifth slot for best supporting actress. Right now I'm leaning toward Diane Kruger.

Actor
Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
George Clooney, Up in the Air
Colin Firth, A Single Man
Morgan Freeman, Invictus
Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker

Actress
Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side
Helen Mirren, The Last Station
Carey Mulligan, An Education
Gabourey Sidibe, Precious
Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia

Supporting Actor
Matt Damon, Invictus
Woody Harrelson, The Messenger
Christopher Plummer, The Last Station
Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds

Supporting Actress
Vera Farmiga, Up in the Air
Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air
Diane Kruger, Inglourious Basterds
Mo'Nique, Precious
Julianne Moore, A Single Man

Director
Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
James Cameron, Avatar
Clint Eastwood, Invictus
Jason Reitman, Up in the Air
Quentin Tarantino, Inglorious Basterds

Original Screenplay
(500) Days of Summer
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
A Serious Man
Up

Adapted Screenplay
District 9
An Education
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Precious
Up in the Air

Anyone or anything I overlooked?