Oscar Predictions: Best Picture

What better way to kickstart a new blog than Oscar Predictions? We've only got 5 days to go so we might as well hardsave them to the internet.

Best Picture:
This is difficult. My expectations of the past few years in this category have been entirely disproven: The Hurt Locker, Slumdog Millionaire and No Country for Old Men beat out such films as Avatar, There Will Be Blood and Michael Clayton. It hasn't been since Return of the King back in '03 that there was an obvious winner but 2010 could be the year to change that.
For what it's worth, my favourite films in this category aren't going to win. If I thought there was a chance that either Black Swan or Inception could go home with the statue, I'd bet money and do whatever I could to get the hype rolling but speaking realistically Black Swan has just a little too cat-fight and body horror and Inception is just too awesome a feat for as obnoxious a collective as the Academy to comprehend. If either of these win, expect a blog post in which I announce I've found God and am officially a devout religionist.
Toy Story 3 doesn't stand a chance mostly because it makes the Best Animated Film category entirely obsolete and although Pixar have proven time and time again that animated films can be far more effective than 90% of live action films, the common misconception suggests otherwise. Although The Fighter is supposedly a great film, I doubt that Mark Wahlberg can hold up a Best Picture winning film (I cannot say with any definition as I've yet to see The Fighter, much to my own chagrin)
I've not yet seen The Kids Are All Right, 127 Hours or Winter's Bone: I don't think that The Kids Are All Right or Winter's Bone were released widely enough for them to have an opportunity to win, although the buzz I've heard for both of those were certainly electric enough to make them viable Black Horse options. 127 Hours made its way everywhere but my understanding of the films limitations makes it an unlikely pick, in spite of the scope required to overcome any technical difficulties bought up by the need to make a compelling film that is almost entirely in one small space.
True Grit is a well-made Coen Brothers film but for what it's worth, it isn't even the best True Grit motion picture available to consumers, let alone the best film of the past year.
That brings us down to The Social Network and The King's Speech and honestly...I'm stumped. I believe whole heartedly that one of the two will win but couldn't guess which. The King's Speech is the traditional win here. After all, it's the story of a monarch overcoming tremendous personal difficulties to become the ruler needed by his people during the gravest of times.
The Social Network really couldn't be furthur; the tale of a college loser who utilises his misogynistic genius to create a website which allowed over-priveleged students to keep in contact and the subsequent lawsuits and expansions that followed. Through content, delivery and tone each film differs immeasurably but both were critically treasured and commercially viable. If you want an argument for the diversity of acknowledged classic motion pictures, 2010 certainly broke the mould and delivered these two. For what it's worth, I don't especially like The Social Network personally but there is no denying the tour-de-force that it has become as it radically shifted in public opinion from 'The Facebook Movie' to the frontrunner for a Best Picture win and I can't help but appreciate The King's Speech for its ascent to similar ranks as if from nowhere right on The Social Network's coattails.
As much as it's one of my least favourite films on this list (and easily the most over-rated film of the year) I can see The Social Network taking it this year. It's fresh and energetic and it fits this new style that the Academy is going for with the 10 nominations for Best Picture. There's also little doubt in my mind that a clean sweep for The Social Network will also result in higher ratings for next years show as more people begin to identify with The Oscars after god knows how many years of the same bland cycle that we've seen for far too long. I'd honestly be surprised if every voter didn't get an informative pack urging them to vote for The Social Network.

Any thoughts about which film will win Best Picture this year? Go ahead and let us know in the comments section below.