Oscar Predictions: Best Makeup and Hairstyling

This year, Oscar nominations will be announced on Thursday, January 10th. As a result, most of the corresponding guilds won’t have announced their picks by then, so I’m making predictions in advance without being able to take those into consideration. I’ll be offering detailed predictions in most of the major categories, saving some of the biggest categories for last.

Last year’s nominees: Albert Nobbs, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, The Iron Lady

This year’s locks: Lincoln, The Hobbit

Very likely: Les Miserables

Possible: Hitchcock, Looper, Men in Black III, Snow White and the Huntsman

The rundown: There’s less mystery to this category, which now officially includes hairstyling for the first time, than others since the field has already been narrowed down to seven contenders, three of which will be nominated. That doesn’t mean it’s immune to surprises, with nominees like “Norbit” and “Il Divo,” and other sure things like “Hugo” snubbed in the past. It’s hard to imagine that the carefully-composed presidential personality and all of his fellow period politicians wouldn’t be recognized in Lincoln, and the same goes for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey for different reasons. Les Miserables seems likely, but Hitchcock could also show up here for the same reasons as “Lincoln.” Don’t count out Men In Black III since the first film won this race fifteen years ago, but the second film wasn’t even nominated. Looper and Snow White and the Huntsman may have better luck in other technical categories, but could easily pop up here as well.

Forecasted winner: Depends on who gets nominated, but maybe The Hobbit?