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Well, folks, it's come down to this. We're only six days away from the 82nd annual Academy Awards ceremony, airing on Sunday night on ABC. The show, as I'm sure you know, will be hosted by comedian/actor/writer Steve Martin and actor Alec Baldwin. Don't worry: this week's column will not be another episode of Josh Gets on His Soapbox and Rants. No, since we're only days away - finally - from the Oscars, it's about time to get to the most important part of the show for you: the predictions. You're waiting to fill in your Oscar pool and want to get the inside scoop on who you should be picking to win. Read on, then, friend, as I hope to please, and not disappoint.

First off, let's start with the big awards. The ten nominees for Best Picture this year are Avatar, The Blind Side, District 9, An Education, The Hurt Locker, Inglourious Basterds, Precious, A Serious Man, Up, and Up in the Air. My pick for the movie that will win is, after much hemming and hawing, The Hurt Locker. Right now, it's fair to say that the race is mostly between The Hurt Locker and Avatar. While The Hurt Locker has had a minor controversy arise in the past week (regarding a campaign e-mail sent to Academy voters by one of the film's producers, which is a big no-no for the Academy), I feel like enough people are more willing to honor a great action film, a subtle character study, and a movie directed by a woman, instead of a movie featuring technology that may scare them a bit.

In the same way that newspapers are being forced out by online media, so may actors (the largest group of Academy voters) feel like their honoring Avatar, a movie that wouldn't be possible without the most state-of-the-art computer technology, will signal a beginning of the end for live-action greatness. I'm not saying they should feel this way, but more than enough of them seem to be a bit wary of Avatar, and what it signifies for the future of Hollywood. Having said that, I won't be shocked should Avatar win; still, my pick is The Hurt Locker. For the movie that should win: well, there are more than a few good choices here. I'm almost inspired to pick Inglourious Basterds, a suspenseful and outrageous piece of entertainment featuring brilliant performances, a tight and witty script, and skillful direction.

The nominees for Best Director are James Cameron for Avatar, Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker, Quentin Tarantino for Inglourious Basterds, Lee Daniels for Precious, and Jason Reitman for Up in the Air. The person who will win is Bigelow, for her sterling work in The Hurt Locker; I also believe she's the person who should win this award. Though Cameron's work in Avatar is faultless, in terms of bringing the story and world of Pandora to life, Bigelow's work is equally exceptional, all the more so because she manages to make the world of Baghdad so believable and new, despite having a low budget to work with. The other nominees, except Daniels (whose direction I found too flashy at times), did fine work, but expect the Academy to finally award a female director on Sunday night.

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