Thanks to a strange new voting system, there are nine Best Picture nominees this year. “War Horse” might have won in a different year, and “Hugo” merits much consideration for transforming 3D into a viable art form. This year, the nostalgia of “The Artist” has been contagious in various awards ceremonies. Look for it to be the second silent movie ever to win Best Picture.              

            With just a few rare exceptions, the Best Picture and Best Director choices go to the same movie. Hazanavicius will be victorious along with his movie for bringing the art of silence to typically noisy 21^st century movie theaters. Plus, he already picked up the Directors Guild of America Award. So far, only 6 directors who have this honor have not gone on to win the Oscar. Hazanavicius will not be a part of this statistic.

            Jean Dujardin could capitalize off of the success of “The Artist” and the SAG Award he won. However, George Clooney shed his A-list persona for the most vulnerable and human performance of his career. For that, he will pick up his first ever Best Actor trophy.

            Meryl Streep seems like the obvious pick here. She has already won two Oscars, but some claim that isn’t enough. The weak reception of “The Iron Lady” overall will hurt her chances of winning. Instead, Viola Davis, who has swept the precursors, will pick up her first Oscar.

            Christopher Plummer has an iconic acting career that has lasted over 60 years. It is perplexing that he has not won an Oscar to this day. Consider his win for “Beginners” to be a long overdue Lifetime Achievement Award.

            She has won just about every other award she was nominated for her performance in “The Help.” This win is basically a shoo-in.