Academy Award Predictions- "Gravity" Will Win Most, "Slave" Could Earn Best Picture

Man, what an awards season it has been. A fine sprinkling of comedy, sci-fi, drama, and historical films littered the field this year. Though this year's best picture line-up is not as perfectly diverse as last year's, nine films of varying themes, stories and genres still make this an interesting group. In case you forgot, here are the nine films vying for Hollywood's highest film honor- "American Hustle," "Captain Phillips," "Dallas Buyers Club," "Gravity," "Her," "Nebraska," "Philomena," "12 Years a Slave" and "The Wolf of Wall Street."

You have five dramas, three comedies, and one sci-fi blockbuster. Though I didn't like most of these films, it's showing how the academy is making strides to broaden their appeal when they decided to expand the best picture category to up to 10 nominees over five, and save for "Her," they all have acting nominations. And unlike years past where best picture nominees would only have two nominations - "The Blind Side," "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" -, not one of these films has less than four nominations each. These aren't just showcases of great acting, but of great craftsmanship across all branches of the academy.

However, the acting races seem all sewn up so there's nothing fun to report there, but best picture is a true nail-biter.

Best Picture
While last year was a runaway for Ben Affleck's "Argo," this year is more heavily contested among three films; absolute frontrunners "Gravity" and "12 Years a Slave" (with 10 and nine respective nominations each) and"American Hustle" whose nominations in all of the acting categories favors heavily for it and their 10 total nominations. Almost every single precursor has gone to these three films, with a tighter split between "Gravity" and "Slave.'

Who's taking home Oscar on Sunday; Winners Update!

One of these best picture nominees are clamoring for Oscar. Which has the best odds?

            It is that time of year once again.

The cream of the crop will be gathering shortly in Hollywood to celebrate the best in film at the Academy Awards. Celebrities of all ages (have you seen the best actress slate?) will walk the red carpet into the Dolby Theater and wait anxiously to hear if their name will be called to take home Oscar.

Meanwhile, people are glued to their television looking over their mock ballot seeing who they picked in their office pool. Some people pick their ballots based on what the few best picture nominees they’ve seen, others, like me, go all out to see all of the nominees and follow the Oscar race like a hawk.

While some races appear to be all sewn up, there are a few that are still wide open, and some that are really close. With all of the major precursor awards handed out, predicting who Oscar will go home with is a little bit easier. Let’s take a look at the top races and see what your safest bet is in your office pool.