The Nominees:

James Cameron for “Avatar”
Kathryn Bigelow for “The Hurt Locker”
Quentin Tarantino for “Inglorious Basterds”
Lee Daniels for “Precious”
Jason Reitman for “Up In The Air”

Who Will Win?

Because of the way The Oscars tend to play out, it’s likely that by the end of tonight Avatar and The Hurt Locker will take home one of the two major awards (Best Picture and Best Director) each. It seems that Kathryn Bigelow is set to become the first woman to win the award for one of the most testosterone-fueled flicks in recent Oscar history. The film is directed with a deft hand, Bigelow ramps up the tension to fever pitch levels in creating a thriller that also has something to say. She’d be a deserved winner in this category, it’ll be worth it just to see the look on her ex-husband James ‘smug’ Cameron’s face.

The Dark Horse?

The outside chance for this award is probably Quentin Tarantino, if it comes off I for one would be thrilled (because I’ll win £50). Inglorious Basterds is the director’s his best film since Pulp Fiction, and as you’d expect him to win this award at some point in his career, any good film that he makes has a chance. The Academy voters will always have those niggling thoughts at the back of their minds that they missed the chance to reward a director for his greatest work and will have to make up for it at a later date. QT has an outside chance, and it would be a fantastic shock should he pull it off.

And the rest?

James Cameron is obviously Bigelow’s biggest threat for the award, the others though are simply making up the numbers. There’s little to no chance of Lee Daniels taking this one home whereas Jason Reitman, who was expected to be a major contender before the awards season started, has lost all momentum as The Oscars have drawn closer. It’s his second nomination for the award from three films though, he has a style the Academy likes and will only be a matter of time before he snags one.