Oscar season kicked off in January of 2012 when "Beasts of the Southern Wild" wowed audiences at the Sundance Film Festival. Thirteen months later, "Beasts" will compete for a host of Oscars at the 85th annual Academy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 24. With awards season mercifully coming to a close, HuffPost Entertainment is here with a preview of the major categories at the Oscars 2013 ceremony. First up: picking the Best Supporting Actress winner.
Best Supporting Actress Nominees: Amy Adams ("The Master"), Sally Field ("Lincoln"), Anne Hathaway ("Les Miserables"), Helen Hunt ("The Sessions"), Jacki Weaver ("Silver Linings Playbook")
The Race Thus Far: What race? Anne Hathaway has basically had Best Supporting Actress locked up since the first "Les Miserables" trailer debuted in May of last year, and she's already won awards from the Golden Globes, Screen Actors Guild and BAFTA. Hathaway stars as Fantine in the popular musical -- itself a Best Picture nominee -- and the part allows her to display a wide-range of Oscar friendly tricks: She gets her hair cut onscreen! She lost an excessive amount of weight for the role! She sings ... live! She dies onscreen! All told, it's an unbeatable combination, one made all the more impressive because Hathaway is actually really excellent in the film. Funny, that.
The Potential Spoiler: Adams, Field, Hunt and Weaver are all worthy nominees, but the only potential spoiler is Field. In an inverse from Hathaway, the "Lincoln" star gained weight to play Mary Todd Lincoln, and she stands toe-to-toe with presumed Best Actor winner Daniel Day-Lewis (as Lincoln) in a number of scenes. The problem is that many reviews cited the familial moments of "Lincoln" as the film's Achilles heel; with the exception of a key scene opposite Tommy Lee Jones, Field's entire performance is relegated to the family. The two-time winner is a threat to Hathaway, but only a threat.
Best Supporting Actress Winner Prediction : Hathaway.
In the mood for actual data and evidence instead of speculation and conjecture? The Huffington Post Oscar Predictions Dashboard can be found here.
