We’re less than a week out from the Oscars, folks. Ballots are due this evening. This is truly the eleventh hour. I was actually planning on making today my final predictions, but one thing is stopping me. What might it be? Well, I can’t quite settle on what film is going to win Best Picture! Kind of a big deal. We’ve narrowed it down to two movies in 1917 and Parasite. Statistics favor Sam Mendes’ war flick, while gut feeling favors Bong Joon-Ho’s genre buster. So, I’m going to hold off on finalizing my picks and will do that at the end of the week. However, I am still going to run down how I see the Academy choosing, since in light of BAFTA and WGA over the weekend, a fair amount does feel settled. The Academy Awards are going down to the wire in a couple of big categories. Of course, there’s Best Picture, which is a pick em right now between 1917 and Parasite. More on that in a few days when I settle on one or the other. The other categories of note that don’t have a clear favorite are the Screenplay categories (though Parasite may have jumped Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood in Original and Jojo Rabbit may be holding off Little Women in Adapted), as well as Best Production Design, Best Costume Design, and Best Film Editing. I think I’ve figured those out, but sit tight for my final picks, since I may tinker between now and then… Here now are my penultimate Oscar predictions: BEST PICTURE 1. 1917 2. Parasite 3. Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood 4. Jojo Rabbit 5. Joker 6. The Irishman 7. Little Women 8. Marriage Story 9. Ford v Ferrari BEST DIRECTOR 1. Sam Mendes – 1917 2. Bong Joon-Ho – Parasite 3. Quentin Tarantino – Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood 4. Martin Scorsese – The Irishman 5. Todd Phillips – Joker BEST ACTOR 1. Joaquin Phoenix – Joker 2. Adam Driver – Marriage Story 3. Antonio Banderas – Pain and Glory 4. Leonardo DiCaprio – Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood 5. Jonathan Pryce – The Two Popes BEST ACTRESS 1. Renée Zellweger – Judy 2. Scarlett Johansson – Marriage Story 3. Charlize Theron – Bombshell 4. Saoirse Ronan – Little Women 5. Cynthia Erivo – Harriet BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR 1. Brad Pitt – Once Upon a Time in…Hollywood 2. Joe Pesci – The Irishman 3. Tom Hanks – A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood 4. Al Pacino – The Irishman 5. Anthony Hopkins – The Two Popes BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS 1. Laura Dern – Marriage Story 2. Scarlett [...]