Oscar Predictions: Best Art Direction

Last year’s nominees: Changeling, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Dark Knight, The Duchess, Revolutionary Road

This year’s ADG nominees: (Period) A Serious Man, Inglourious Basterds, Julie & Julia, Public Enemies, Sherlock Holmes (Fantasy) Avatar, District 9, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Star Trek, Where the Wild Things Are (Contemporary) Angels & Demons, The Hangover, The Hurt Locker, The Lovely Bones, Up in the Air

Other contenders: Nine, A Single Man, Bright Star

The rundown: This category is hardly my area of expertise, but I do know that this category favors period and fantasy films rather than contemporary movies. It also often nominates films that might have been thought to be relegated to the Best Costumes category, like “The Duchess” last year, and welcomes in others than perform better than expected in the tech categories, like “Changeling.” I’m pretty sure that both “Nine” and “A Single Man” can make it in here despite their ADG snubs, joining the two most artistically aesthetic Best Picture nominees and “Where the Wild Things Are.”

Forecasted winner: Avatar