Academy award picks

The 84th Academy Awards are Sunday at 7 p.m. and after watching last year’s sweep by “The King’s Speech,” it feels like the academy could do with some outside suggestions.
Listed below are the nominees, with The Advocate’s predicted winners in bold, for Best Picture, Best Actor in a Leading Role, Best Actress in a Leading Role, Animated Feature Film and Visual Effects.

Best Picture:

— “The Artist”
— “The Descendants”
— “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”
— “The Help”
— “Hugo”
— “Midnight in Paris”
— “Moneyball”
— “The Tree of Life”
— “War Horse”

Best Actor in a Leading Role:

— Demian Bichir for “A Better Life”
— George Clooney for “The Descendants”
— Jean Dujardin for “The Artist”
— Gary Oldman for “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”
— Brad Pitt for “Moneyball”

Best Actress in a Leading Role:

— Glenn Close for “Albert Nobbs”
— Viola Davis for “The Help”
— Rooney Mara for “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”
— Meryl Steep for “The Iron Lady”
— Michelle Williams for “My Week with Marilyn”

Animated Feature Film:

— “A Cat in Paris”
— “Chico & Rita”
— “Kung Fu Panda 2”
— “Puss in Boots”
— “Rango”

Visual Effects:

— “Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows, part 2”
— “Hugo”
— “Real Steel”
— “Rise of the Planet of the Apes”
— “Transformers: Dark of the Moon”