Final Oscar Predictions

Tomorrow is the big day; we're finally going to see what films the Academy prefers as we head into Phase 2 of awards season.

Important things to watch out for below. You can view my final predictions for nominations here.

•  Just because a film gets a lot of nominations, does not mean it's the favorite. Ex: True Grit racked up a ton of nominations back in 2011 and it lost every single award it was nominated for. 
• If Amy Adams is able to crack the Best Actress field, American Hustle will be the favorite heading into this phase. If she knocks anyone out, it will likely be Meryl Streep, and for someone to do that, they have to be pretty beloved. Also, if Amy is able to sneak in, it'll be between her and Blanchett for the Oscar. Blanchett's a pretty done deal I would bet, however, Blanchett has 1 Oscar while Amy Adams has 0, and they love Amy Adams. And if they love her and American Hustle enough, anything is possible... Adams is also campaigning pretty hard for the award too, which goes for a lot. 
• Leonardo DiCaprio making it in for Best Actor will be the gauge for how strong Wolf of Wall Street is. Wolf was ineligible for SAG and has had a pretty good guild showing besides that. If the Academy likes him enough to bump one of the Redford-Dern-Ejiofor-McConaughey-Hanks lineup we've seen, then expect a stronger than expected showing for Wolf. 
• Can Dallas Buyers Club continue its impressive guild showing? For example, that writing nomination. Was that just due to 12 Years A Slave and a dozen other films being ineligible? Or did they really like that script. 
• Her is a big question mark in the awards race, however, Spike Jonze's surprising win for Best Screenplay at the Globes reminds us there are those who really love this film. Score, Production Design, Costume and Writing are all (deserving) possibilities, and with the PGA nomination it'll probably make it into Best Picture. If it is able to land any/all of the possible category nominations, perhaps Spike Jonze can sneak into Director. As we learned last year, they're open to some pretty wild choices sometimes. 
• The Coens Brothers' Inside Llewyn Davis has received very poor to almost no guild support at all. Not looking good for Oscar nominations. The expanded BP field could help it land a nomination, but even that is looking less likely with Philomena and Blue Jasmine riding high with PGA support.