Oscar Winner Predictions: Best Original Screenplay

The competition: Another Year, The Fighter, Inception, The Kids Are All Right, The King’s Speech

Previous winners: The Hurt Locker, Milk, Juno, Little Miss Sunshine, Crash, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
My winner: Four Lions
Who should win: Inception
Who will win: Last year, Best Picture champ eclipsed presumed frontrunner “Inglourious Basterds” to take home this award. That makes even more confident about predicting “The King’s Speech” to win this time around. “Inception” took the WGA Award, though TKS wasn’t eligible for that race. While I would be so thrilled with an “Inception” win, the fact that Christopher Nolan lost for “Memento” in this race nine years ago to Julian Fellowes, scripter of “Gosford Park,” I wouldn’t count on it. “The Kids Are All Right” has some spoiler potential if Oscar voters love it as much as Globe voters. “The Fighter” is a hard film not to like, but that doesn’t mean it will garner any top votes in this category. I’d be pleasantly shocked if Mike Leigh could rally enough support to take home his first Oscar, but it’s highly unlikely, especially given the fact that his film is only nominated in one category where his previous movies have placed in other races as well. This is going to “The King’s Speech.”