Every year, sometime in the month of May, I traditionally post my first Oscar Hopefuls list for the new year. It may not be very accurate some 8 months out, but it’s great fun to speculate. Last year, I had all my contributors submit their picks as well and proceeded to update once a month until Oscar season began in earnest in December. We’re going to do it all again this year. You may say we’re masochists, but we say we’re just getting started. Here are our predictions for the Top several categories at this year’s Academy Awards.

Some important these to keep in mind. Because these predictions are being made in May and Oscar season doesn’t begin until the first precursors start rolling out at the end of November, beginning of December, these are in no way our final predictions. We are providing an insight into how the race looks at this point in the year. We guarantee our choices will change many times between now and Oscar season, so please don’t hold us to any of these if your favorites appear here or in the next few months and then later disappear. We’re only making far-reaching, guesses at this point.

KEY:

BEST PICTURE

• The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn (M) (M)
• Albert Nobbs (M)
• The Artist (M)
• Carnage (M) (M)
• Contagion (M)
• A Dangerous Method (M) (M) (M)
• The Descendants (M) (M) (M)
• Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (M) (M)
• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (M)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 (M)
• Hugo Cabret (M)
• The Ides of March (M) (M)
• The Iron Lady (M) (M)
• J. Edgar (M) (M)
• Moneyball (M)
• My Week with Marilyn (M)
• The Skin That I Inhabit (M)
• Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (M) (M)
• The Tree of Life (M) (M) (M) (M)
• War Horse (M) (M) (M) (M)
• We Need to Talk About Kevin (M)
• Young Adult (M) (M)

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE (3 nominations)

• Cars 2 (M) (M) (M)
• Kung Fu Panda 2 (M) (M)
• Rango (M) (M) (M)
• Winnie the Pooh (M)

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE (5 nominations)

• Cars 2 (M) (M) (M)
• Happy Feet 2 (M)
• Kung Fu Panda 2 (M) (M) (M)
• Puss in Boots (M)
• Rango (M) (M) (M)
• Rio (M) (M)
• Winnie the Pooh (M) (M)

BEST DIRECTOR

• Tomas Alfredson – Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (M)
• George Clooney – The Ides of March (M) (M)
• David Cronenberg – A Dangerous Method (M) (M) (M)
• Stephen Daldry – Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (M)
• Clint Eastwood – J. Edgar (M)
• Terrence Malick – The Tree of Life (M) (M)
• Bennett Miller – Moneyball (M)
• Alexander Payne – The Descendants (M)
• Roman Polanski – Carnage (M) (M)
• Lynn Ramsay – We Need to Talk About Kevin (M)
• Jason Reitman – Young Adult (M)
• Steven Spielberg – The Adventures of Tintin (M)
• Steven Spielberg – War Horse (M) (M) (M)

BEST ACTOR

• Asa Butterfield – Hugo Cabret (M)
• George Clooney – The Descendants (M) (M) (M)
• Matt Damon – We Bought a Zoo (M)
• Leonardo DiCaprio – J. Edgar (M) (M)
• Michael Fassbender – A Dangerous Method (M)
• Joseph Gordon-Levitt – 50/50 (M)
• Ryan Gosling – The Ides of March (M) (M)
• Tom Hanks – Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (M)
• Viggo Mortensen – A Dangerous Method (M) (M)
• Gary Oldman – Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy (M)
• Brad Pitt – Moneyball (M)
• Brad Pitt – The Tree of Life (M) (M)
• Christoph Waltz – Carnage (M) (M)

BEST ACTRESS

• Glenn Close – Albert Nobbs (M) (M)
• Jodie Foster – Carnage (M)
• Anne Hathaway – One Day (M)
• Rooney Mara – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (M)
• Elizabeth Olsen – Martha Marcy May Marlene (M) (M)
• Emma Stone – The Help (M)
• Meryl Streep – The Iron Lady (M) (M) (M) (M)
• Tilda Swinton – We Need to Talk About Kevin (M) (M) (M)
• Charlize Theron – Young Adult (M)
• Michelle Williams – My Week with Marilyn (M) (M) (M)
• Kate Winslet – Carnage (M)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

• Kenneth Branagh – My Life With Marilyn (M)
• Jim Broadbent – The Iron Lady (M) (M)
• George Clooney – The Ides of March (M)
• Benedict Cumberbatch – War Horse (M)
• Michael Fassbender – A Dangerous Method (M)
• John Goodman – Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (M)
• Ryan Gosling – Crazy, Stupid, Love. (M)
• Armie Hammer – J. Edgar (M)
• Tom Hanks – Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (M)
• Tom Hardy – Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (M)
• Philip Seymour Hoffman – Moneyball (M)
• Viggo Mortensen – A Dangerous Method (M)
• Sean Penn – The Tree of Life (M)
• Christopher Plummer – Beginners (M) (M) (M)
• John C. Reilly – Carnage (M)
• Tom Wilkinson – The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (M)
• Patrick Wilson – Young Adult (M)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

• Kathy Bates – Midnight in Paris (M)
• Jessica Chastain – The Tree of Life (M) (M) (M)
• Viola Davis – Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (M) (M)
• Judi Dench – J. Edgar (M) (M)
• Judi Dench – My Week with Marilyn (M)
• Jodie Foster – Carnage (M)
• Keira Knightley – A Dangerous Method (M)
• Janet McTeer – Albert Nobbs (M)
• Vanessa Redgrave – Anonymous (M)
• Maggie Smith – The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (M)
• Sissy Spacek – The Help (M)
• Marisa Tomei – The Ides of March (M) (M)
• Kate Winslet – Carnage (M)
• Evan Rachel Wood – The Ides of March (M) (M)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

• Albert Nobbs (M)
• The Iron Lady (M)
• J. Edgar (M) (M)
• Martha Marcy May Marlene (M)
• Midnight in Paris (M) (M)
• The Skin That I Inhabit (M)
• Source Code (M)
• The Tree of Life (M) (M)
• We Need to Talk About Kevin (M)
• Win Win (M)
• Young Adult (M) (M)

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

• The Descendents (M)
• Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (M) (M)
• The Ides of March (M)
• War Horse (M) (M) (M)
• Carnage (M) (M)
• The Adventures of Tintin (M)
• A Dangerous Method (M) (M)
• Moneyball (M) (M)
• We Bought a Zoo (M)