Now that the nominations have been announced, it’s time to share with you our predictions for this year’s winners. Now, with only the PGA having announced of all of the guilds, we cannot be certain on any of these. These are based on a number of factors, including hunches.

Starting next Wednesday, we’ll be posting daily synopses of the races category by category (and some days we’ll have a couple of categories). Where guild awards are handed out, these will be factored into our predictions. You’ll get a list of predictions for the category in question and our commentary on why we think the candidate we’ve selected will win. We’ll also highlight our choices for who the runners-up will be. Then, on the Friday before the Oscars, when we announce our predictions for Best Picture, we’ll also provide our final predictions for all categories going into Oscar weekend. But, until then, please enjoy our initial post-nominations predictions.

KEY:

PICTURE

• The Artist (O) (O) (O)
• The Descendants
• Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
• The Help
• Hugo
• Midnight in Paris
• Moneyball
• The Tree of Life
• War Horse

ANIMATED FEATURE

• A Cat in Paris
• Chico & Rita
• Kung Fu Panda 2
• Puss in Boots
• Rango (O) (O) (O)

DIRECTOR

• Woody Allen – Midnight in Paris
• Michael Haznavicius – The Arist (O) (O) (O)
• Terrence Malick – The Tree of Life
• Alexander Payne – The Descendants
• Martin Scorsese – Hugo

ACTOR

• Demian Bichir – A Better Life
• George Clooney – The Descendants
• Jean Dujardin – The Artist
• Gary Oldman – Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy (O)
• Brad Pitt – Moneyball (O) (O)

ACTRESS

• Glenn Close – Albert Nobbs
• Viola Davis – The Help
• Rooney Mara – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
• Meryl Streep – The Iron Lady (O)
• Michelle Williams – My Week with Marilyn (O) (O)

SUPPORTING ACTOR

• Kenneth Branagh – My Life With Marilyn
• Jonah Hill – Moneyball
• Nick Nolte – Warrior
• Christopher Plummer – Beginners (O) (O)
• Max von Sydow – Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (O)

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

• Bérénice Bejo – The Artist
• Jessica Chastain – The Help (O)
• Melissa McCarthy – Bridesmaids
• Janet McTeer – Albert Nobbs
• Octavia Spencer – The Help (O) (O)

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

• The Artist (O)
• Bridesmaids
• Margin Call
• Midnight in Paris (O) (O)
• A Separation

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

• The Descendents (O) (O)
• Hugo
• The Ides of March
• Moneyball (O)
• Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

ORIGINAL SCORE

• The Adventures of Tintin
• The Artist (O) (O)
• Hugo
• Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (O)
• War Horse

SONG

• Man or Muppet – The Muppets (O) (O) (O)
• Real in Rio – Rio

EDITING

• The Artist (O) (O)
• The Descendants
• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (O)
• Hugo
• Moneyball

CINEMATOGRAPHY

• The Artist (O) (O)
• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
• Hugo
• The Tree of Life
• War Horse (O)

ART DIRECTION

• The Artist (O)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2
• Hugo (O) (O)
• Midnight in Paris
• War Horse

COSTUME DESIGN

• Anonymous (O)
• The Artist
• Hugo (O) (O)
• Jane Eyre
• W.E.

MAKEUP

• Albert Nobbs
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2
• The Iron Lady (O) (O) (O)

SOUND MIXING

• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
• Hugo
• Moneyball
• Transformers: Dark of the Moon
• War Horse (O) (O) (O)

SOUND EDITING

• Drive
• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
• Hugo
• Transformers: Dark of the Moon (O)
• War Horse (O) (O)

VISUAL EFFECTS

• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2
• Hugo
• Real Steel
• Rise of the Planet of the Apes (O) (O) (O)
• Transformers: Dark of the Moon

FOREIGN FILM

• Bullhead
• Footnote
• In Darkness
• Monsieur Lazhar
• A Separation (O) (O) (O)

DOCUMENTARY – FEATURE

• Hell and Back Again (O)
• If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front
• Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory (O)
• Pina (O)
• Undefeated

DOCUMENTARY – SHORT

• The Barber of Birmingham
• God Is Bigger Than Elvis (O)
• Incident in New Baghdad
• Saving Face
• The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom (O) (O)

ANIMATED SHORT

• Dimanche/Sunday
• The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore (O) (O)
• La Luna
• A Morning Stroll (O)
• Wild Life

LIVE-ACTION SHORT

• Pentecost (O)
• Raju (O) (O)
• The Shore
• Time Freak
• Tuba Atlantic