Awards season is in full swing; Hollywood’s orgy of self-congratulation. And it ends with the Super Bowl of industry pomp, the Academy Awards. Hosted this year by the flamboyant James Franco and ordinary Anne Hathaway, things might get really weird. The Oscars are set to take place this Sunday, February 27, at 8 p.m. EST.

We at the Echo feel the need to put in our Oscar predictions, like all legitimate publications. Editor-in-Chief and closeted movie buff Michael Brophy, along with A&E Editor and flaming movie buff Qainat Khan offer you our humble picks for some of the big categories.

Be sure to check out The Colby Echo’s blog on Friday to hear Michael and Qainat’s picks for more obscure categories, which we have total mastery over, such as sound mixing.

BEST PICTURE
The nominees: Black Swan, The Fighter, Inception, The Kids Are All Right, The King's Speech, 127 Hours, The Social Network, Toy Story 3, True Grit, Winter's Bone.
Who Should Win
MB: Inception. It is more innovative than any other film in the category; there has never been another film like it. I don’t see any other film pushing the envelope like this one. Plus Leo is in it.
QK: The Social Network. This was a really bad year for films, but The Social Network is actually one of the most beautiful and devastating films I’ve ever seen. It takes legal proceedings as its basis but crafts a riveting narrative and character study, and parses out subtly the existential issues of Facebook and success.
Who Will Win
The King’s Speech. It’s been winning all the major awards (BAFTA, SAG, although not the Golden Globes). Usually SAG and BAFTA are good predictors of Oscar glory.
However, The Social Network might prove the dark horse. The King’s Speech also profits from a British appeal, which is just damn sexy. (Disclaimer: Neither of us saw The King’s Speech).

BEST ACTOR
The nominees: Javier Bardem in Biutiful, Jeff Bridges in True Grit, Jesse Eisenberg in The Social Network, Colin Firth in The King’s Speech, James Franco in 127 Hours.
Who Should Win
MB: Jesse Eisenberg created a great character based on someone who is really uninteresting as a person.
QK: James Franco made watching a guy trapped in a canyon one of the most engrossing cinema experiences of the year. Plus Franco is such a weird and captivating dude. I think politically, him winning might draw a new audience to the Oscars.
Who Will Win
Colin Firth: British accent—enough said. But joking aside, Firth is a consistently solid actor, having been nominated last year for his performance in A Single Man. He lost to Bridges last year, so this might be his year to take it.

BEST ACTRESS
The nominees: Annette Bening in The Kids Are All Right, Nicole Kidman in Rabbit Hole, Jennifer Lawrence in Winter's Bone, Natalie Portman in Black Swan, Michelle Williams in Blue Valentine.
Who Should Win
Both of us agree, Natalie Portman. Neither of us have seen Black Swan, but we’ve read and heard from our friends about Portman’s riveting performance. She totally immersed herself in her character (learning ballet, starving herself) to carry this film.
Who Will Win
Natalie Portman. She deserves this award for her perfomance and she has been cleaning up at other ceremonies.

BEST DIRECTOR
Darren Aronofsky for Black Swan, David O. Russell for The Fighter, Tom Hooper for The King's Speech,  David Fincher for The Social Network, Joel Coen and Ethan Coen for True Grit.
Who Should Win
MB: The Coen Brothers. True Grit needs to win an award and this will probably be it.
QK: David Fincher. Fincher has proved consistently, to be an intellectual and hip director, with a dark style all his own. He employs it beautifully here, making people just talking unbelievably interesting and moving to watch.                                                                                                              Who Will Win
Fincher. For all the reasons stated above. But from an Academy politics perspective, Fincher was nominated last year for his direction in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
He’s been cleaning up other awards, so this should be his well-deserved Academy award. Unless he becomes this generation’s Martin Scorsese. In anycase, Fincher’s future looks good.