The polls are closing. Ballots are due in. And I figure it's time to take my ballot, fill it out, and share the results.
Of course, mine says "FACSIMILE FINAL BALLOT" on the front, which means it doesn't count and PricewaterhouseCoopers doesn't want it. But I've now seen every single film nominated in all 24 categories, and I'd hate to think I did all that work for nothing. ("Salt" was the final one – thanks, sound branch.)
So here's how I'd fill out my Oscar ballot.
Best Picture: "Black Swan"
Of the Best Picture nominees, my favorite is Darren Aronofsky's audacious, thrilling horror melodrama. So on my Best Pic ballot, where you're asked to rank all the nominees, that's number one.
Of course, it's extremely unlikely that a vote for "Black Swan" will stay there. The way the preferential ballot works, my vote would likely go in the "Black Swan" pile for the first few rounds of counting – but at a certain point, that film would end up with the fewest number of votes, and it'd be eliminated from contention.
When that happened, my vote would slide to my number-two choice, "Winter's Bone" – but that film would likely have been eliminated before "Black Swan," so the vote would shift to number three, "Toy Story 3." Eventually it'd likely go to number four, "The King's Speech." Since "TKS" will almost certainly end up as either the winner or the runner-up, that's the pile where my vote would end up.
Best Actor: Javier Bardem, "Biutiful"
Colin Firth is absolutely wonderful in "The King's Speech," and I'll be delighted when he wins. But Bardem, as Ben Affleck said, is "on another level" as the world-weary Uxbal in "Biutiful." Even though I know that for him the nomination is triumph enough, he gets my vote.
Best Supporting Actor: John Hawkes, "Winter's Bone"
In an extremely strong field from top to bottom, I could make a case for any of the nominees. But I'll go with the guy who most took me by surprise, who brought something rich and scary and unexpected to an indelible little film.
Best Actress: Michelle Williams, "Blue Valentine"
I'm sure Natalie Portman will win, and that's great; she's deserving. But I can't resist using this vote to salute one of the year's rawest, bravest performances, from a film that should have been in the running in a lot more categories than just this one.
Best Supporting Actress: Jacki Weaver, "Animal Kingdom"
It's tempting to go with Amy Adams, whose work in "The Fighter" is strong and subtle. Still, there's just too much delicious evil in Weaver's fearsome matriarch, the most indelible of the many striking characters in this Australian crime drama.
Animated Feature: "Toy Story 3"
"How to Train Your Dragon" is fun and "The Illusionist" is beautiful, but I'm a father of a son who was five when the first "Toy Story" came out and is now living at college while his toys (including, yes, Buzz and Woody) sit in boxes in his old room.
