Let's get to it immediately: At the risk of becoming the Dick Morris of Oscar predictions, and against the prognostications from the so-called experts who predict that Best Picture at the Academy Awards Sunday night in Los Angeles is between Steven Spielberg's Lincoln and Ben Affleck's Argo, we'll go with an upset: David O. Russell's Silver Linings Playbook.
I mean, who doesn't like this film? I figure Academy members are extremely enthusiastic about it, or at least the actors who get a vote, what with the film getting nomination in all four acting categories — the first time that's happened since Warren Beatty's Reds came out right before Christmas in 1981. Having said that, I'm not naive. This would be a huge, huge upset. But it's the only realistic option other than the two most honored films during this award season.
Here's another prediction: Seth McFarland will dazzle as Oscar host.
If we've learned little else watching the broadcast in the past decade, hosting the Oscars telecast has become a losing proposition, and no one's critic proof anymore. Back in the day (like in the '90s), people loved Billy Crystal as host, ditto Johnny Carson or Bob Hope before then. When Crystal hosted it last year, he was lambasted as old and totally past his prime.
