'Twas the night before Oscar noms...

The long wait is (nearly) over. In just under twelve hours, we'll all be put out of our misery and all the speculation will come to an end. Save for that unsettling PGA win over the weekend that seemingly blew the Best Picture race wide open again, the winners have been decided long ago, so the only surprise element that remained were the nominations themselves. It is too depressing for me to give a predictions list that sees "The King's Speech" having the most nominations out of all the other superior films this year, so I have decided to write out a dream ballot. Here is what I would nominate, were I a member of the Academy:

Best Picture

"Another Year"
"Black Swan"
"Blue Valentine"
"The Fighter"
"The Ghost Writer"

"127 Hours"

"The Kids Are All Right"

"Rabbit Hole"
"The Social Network"
"True Grit"

Special mentions:
"Greenberg"
"Scott Pilgrim vs. the World"

Director

Darren Aronofsky - "Black Swan"
David Fincher - "The Social Network"
Mike Leigh - "Another Year"
Roman Polanski - "The Ghost Writer"
David O. Russell - "The Fighter"

Pains me not to include:
Ethan Coen, Joel Coen - "True Grit"


Special mentions:

Danny Boyle - "127 Hours"
Debra Granik - "Winter's Bone"

Lead Actor
Aaron Eckhart - "Rabbit Hole"

Jesse Eisenberg - "The Social Network"

Colin Firth - "The King's Speech"
James Franco - "127 Hours"
Ryan Gosling - "Blue Valentine"

Special mentions:

Jim Broadbent - "Another Year"
Ben Stiller - "Greenberg"

Have not seen it yet, but needs a mention just by virtue of being him:
Javier Bardem - "Biutiful"

Lead Actress

Nicole Kidman - "Rabbit Hole"
Jennifer Lawrence - "Winter's Bone"
Natalie Portman - "Black Swan"
Hailee Steinfeld - "True Grit"
Michelle Williams - "Blue Valentine"

Special mentions:

Annette Bening - "The Kids Are All Right"
Greta Gerwig - "Greenberg"
Julianne Moore - "The Kids Are All Right"
Ruth Sheen - "Another Year"
Emma Stone - "Easy A"
Tilda Swinton - "I Am Love"