It feels like fantasy sports season again. 

Wait a minute it is. I'm not even done with my Oscar Watch project and already I'm seeing baseball draft kits roll out as teams start their spring training down south and west. However I am trying my best to not peek at these kits- I can really only concentrate on one sport at a time and right now I am all about the sport of Oscar prognostication.

However I really want to know what people are thinking about Ben Zobrist- come on do we really think he's going to top his breakout year? I digress...

Just as people are pushing their picks for fantasy baseball drafts, other experts are making their picks for who is going to go home with the gold- Oscar gold that is.

I thought it would be fun to instead of picking the winners in this column, I'd write this fantasy draft guide style: with my sleepers, busts, and favorites for next weekend.

Now I have to acknowledge that it truly is an honor to be nominated and that each nominee is certainly one of the best in their field in 2009. However only one of them will win so without further ado...

Oscar Sleepers, Busts, and Favorites

Supporting Actress

Sleeper: Vera Farmiga -  If Mo'Nique doesn't get one of the first Oscars of the night (and that is highly unlikely) I think it will go to one of the two nominees from Up In The Air.

Bust: Penélope Cruz - She's like Josh Hamilton, had a great breakout season followed by a sub-par season but still made the all-star team.

Favorite: Mo'Nique

Supporting Actor

Sleeper: Woody Harrelson - Like it's counterpart category, the supporting actor race is pretty much done. However Harrelson gave us a dazzling performance that may garner votes for those thinking they do not need to vote for Waltz.

Bust: Matt Damon - Had lots of potential but falls flat - like Korean short track skaters.

Favorite: Christoph Waltz

Writing (Original Screenplay) 

Sleeper: Up - Pixar has been nominated for best original screenplay the past three years now without a win, is this the year the Academy finally gives Pixar their due?

Bust: A Serious Man - My sister sent a tweet yesterday about how confused she was while watching A Serious Man. There's really not much to be confused about, it's basically the book of Job on film- which really doesn't make this film that original at all right?

Favorite: The Hurt Locker 

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

Sleeper: Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire - An adaptation of a book that was inspired by the real-life stories that Sapphire encountered teaching in Harlem. As powerful and jarring the story is- a part of you can certainly believe that real-life versions of this story exists today.

Bust: District 9 - The film got a lot of early buzz as the dark horse, but I don't think the Academy is ready to say that an alien action flick was the best piece of writing for the year.

Favorite: Up In The Air

Documentary Feature

Sleeper: Food, Inc. - The Cove is the favorite, but this nominee did the best at the box office. The combanation of being the better known candidate and a story that will make every viewer change they way they view food makes this one a sleeper.

Bust: The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers - The Academy tends to skew towards more current affairs- and this topic is so 1960's.

Favorite: The Cove

Animated Feature

Sleeper: Fantastic Mr. Fox - I love the quirkiness that Wes Anderson brings to this piece, if for some reason Up doesn't win it I hope this film does.

Bust: The Princess And The Frog - It's great to see a traditional Disney animation get a nod here but it won't overcome the Pixar powerhouse.

Favorite: Up

Best Actress

Sleeper: Gabourey Sidibe - It was between her or Carey Mulligan and I think Sidibe's performance edges Mulligan out.

Bust: Meryl Streep - People think it's a two horse race between her and Sandra but she already has two academy awards and might lead voters to go for somebody else to get their due.

Favorite: Sandra Bullock

Best Actor

Sleeper: George Clooney - You know what's interesting? You could actually imagine Clooney being Ryan Bingham in real life. His public persona made him a perfect match for Up In The Air.

Bust: Morgan Freeman - Finally he gets the role I've always wanted him to do- but the complete film doesn't live up to expectations. 

Favorite: Jeff Bridges

Best Director

Sleeper: Lee Daniels - It's like last year's democratic primary, we are either going to get a historic first this year either from Bigelow or Daniels.

Bust: James Cameron - When you campaign saying you want your ex-wife to win over you, you aren't going to win votes for being classy. That's because the same voters also remember you for being an arrogant, pompous, "king of the world."

Favorite: Kathryn Bigelow

Best Picture

Sleeper: Up In The Air or Inglourious Basterds - With the new voting system I can see both Avatar and Hurt Locker not winning in a freak voting accident, and one of these two films rising to the top.

Bust: The Blind Side - Unlike the previous two, I don't think this film will even make a lot of voter's top five.

Favorite: The Hurt Locker

Snarky thoughts about the rest...

Visual Effects: Star Trek and District 9 should practice looking humbled as the Avatar crew walks away with this award.

Sound Mixing & Sound Editing: Color me dumb, I'm a video producer and I only have an inkling of knowledge why they give two separate awards for sound. I will tell you who won't win any of these awards: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and Star Trek. They are both action movie adaptations but one is outclassed and the other is a terrible sequel. I'll let you figure out which one is which.

Short Film (Live Action): I'm going to be anti-magic for this year's Oscars, that means no Harry Potter and no film that has the words Abracadabra.

Short Film (Animated): The film that probably won't win but I wish did: Logorama. Because I love the corporate shilling as much as I am a shameless promoter of myself.

Music (Original Song): Nine's nomination for "Take It All" is like The Situation from Jersey Shore. At first glance you think he has tons of game but you later find out he can't get anything better than Snookie in a hot tub on the last night of the summer.

Music (Original Score): I loved the score from Sherlock Holmes and the rest of the contenders are great nominees- but Avatar will be a bust here. I think the Academy was just looking for another nomination for the film.

Make-Up: Star Trek is the favorite here and there's been a lot of campaigning about the precious that was taken in the make-up because of the filming process. I will ask how does The Young Victoria get nominated when it takes place during a time where being pale was the in thing to do?

Foreign Language Film: I have no input on this category as I haven't watched any of the films yet. I might try and watch the nominee from Argentina since my roommate has a thing for South American things (food, language, men...)

Film Editing: It's very rare that a film is nominated for exciting use of editing, instead it is used as another nod for a best picture of the year. That being said I will say that Precious has the most boring of edits amongst the five nominees- don't expect this one to win.

Documentary Short: There's a simple formula to figuring out the winner- does it make you cry? That's why I think the film about rabbits won't be winning.

Costume Design: Always vote for the period piece. Always. Congrats to The Young Victoria.

Cinematography: Again I will be anti-Potter in this category, the other four each have reasons why they should win. I guess you can say I'm rooting for the muggles.

Art Direction: In this category both the art direction and set decorator are nominated. That being said, how does one decorate a set for a film that is shot on a green screen (Avatar)?

My Watch List

5 Days /  23 Films To Go

2010 Oscar Nominated Films & Shorts

What do you think of the films I've watched? What do you think of this year's Oscar nominations? Shoot me your thoughts at p_pho@hotmail.com or send me a tweet at @dmbosstone. I'd love to hear what you think!