We now have the full list of nominations for this year’s Academy Awards, which take place in Los Angeles on February 26, 2012. As expected, 'The Artist' and 'The Descendants' lead the pack at this stage – but can they keep up the momentum all the way to Oscars night?

Every year, Time Out’s film team put its collective neck on the line to predict who will win awards in the ten main categories. We’ve also politely pointed out a few places where we think the Academy has overlooked films worthy of contention. And this is only the start of our Oscars 2012 coverage: keep coming back for more gossip, news, predictions and coverage of Oscar night itself. 

1. BEST PICTURE

The nominees: ‘The Artist’, ‘The Descendants’, 'Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close', 'The Help', 'Hugo', 'Midnight in Paris', ‘Moneyball’, 'The Tree of Life', 'War Horse'

There are nine films vying for the big prize in 2012, and it’s surely between ‘The Artist’ and ‘The Descendants’ to take home the gold. Will the Oscars go for a celebration of old Hollywood in the form of ‘The Artist’? Or will they worry that it is actually – oh my God – French and silent and instead go for the homegrown ‘The Descendants’, a tale of life lessons and emotional journeys and parenting.

Who will win? ‘The Artist’.
Who should win? ‘The Artist’.
Who’s missing? It’s a shame to see no love in this category for 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy'. 

2. BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
The nominees: Demián Bichir, 'A Better Life'; George Clooney, ‘The Descendants’; Jean Dujardin, ‘The Artist’; Gary Oldman, ‘Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy’; Brad Pitt, ‘Moneyball’

George Clooney is the best bet for this category: a favourite of the Academy, he’s been nominated multiple times and won just once for Best Supporting Actor for 'Syriana'. His performance in Alexander Payne’s moving drama sees him play a family man, a tonal shift that could swing Oscar voters. Jean Dujardin’s inclusion for ‘The Artist’ is no surprise but it’s good to see outsider Bichir get a look in for ‘A Better Life’.

Who will win? George Clooney for ‘The Descendants’.
Who should win? Gary Oldman for ‘Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy’.
Who’s missing? Michael Fassbender for 'Shame'.

3. BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
The nominees: Glenn Close, 'Albert Nobbs'; Viola Davis, ‘The Help’; Rooney Mara, ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’; Meryl Streep, ‘The Iron Lady’; Michelle Williams, ‘My Week with Marilyn’

Even the most casual cinemagoer will know that Meryl Streep is a cast-iron favourite for Best Actress – after decades without an Oscar and a stunning performance, it’s surely Streep’s turn to bag the gong once more. Any other year Michelle Williams could have fancied her chances with her turn as Marilyn Monroe, as could Viola Davis for the Academy-friendly ‘The Help’.

Who will win? Meryl Streep for ‘The Iron Lady’.
Who should win? Meryl Streep for ‘The Iron Lady’.
Who’s missing? Tilda Swinton for ‘We Need To Talk About Kevin’.

4. BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
The nominees: Kenneth Branagh, ‘My Week with Marilyn’; Jonah Hill, ‘Moneyball’; Nick Nolte, ‘Warrior’; Christopher Plummer, ‘Beginners’; Max von Sydow, ‘Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close’

Christopher Plummer has long been fancied as the winner in this category, and much deserved too for his role in ‘Beginners’, although the surprise inclusion of Max von Sydow could tempt the Academy to honour another experienced screen veteran of the same age (82). Hard to imagine Nolte could have mumbled his way to a nomination with the so-so ‘Warrior’.

Who will win? Christopher Plummer for ‘Beginners’.
Who should win? Christopher Plummer for ‘Beginners’.
Who’s missing? Albert Brooks in ‘Drive’ and Christoph Waltz in ‘Carnage’. 

5. BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
The nominees: Bérénice Bejo, ‘The Artist’; Jessica Chastain, ‘The Help’; Melissa McCarthy, ‘Bridesmaids’; Janet McTeer, ‘Albert Nobbs’; Octavia Spencer, ‘The Help’

Jessica Chastain was bound to be nominated for something for her run of exceptional performances in 2011 and she’ll be fighting it out with co-star Octavia Spencer for their enjoyable turns in ‘The Help’. Great to see Melissa McCarthy score a nomination given the Academy’s general position on comedies, and Bejo’s inclusion gives ‘The Artist’ more weight as a potential board-sweeper.

Who will win? Jessica Chastain.
Who should win? Jessica Chastain, although possibly more for 'The Tree of Life' or 'Take Shelter'.
Who’s missing? Jodie Foster in ‘Carnage’.

6. BEST DIRECTOR
The nominees: Woody Allen, ‘Midnight in Paris’; Michel Hazanavicius, ‘The Artist’; Terrence Malick, ‘The Tree of Life’; Alexander Payne, ‘The Descendants’; Martin Scorsese, ‘Hugo’ 

Usually the Best Picture and Best Director awards go to the same film – but is Michel Hazanavicius, director of ‘The Artist’, too much of an outsider to win this prize? The director of another hymn to silent cinema – Martin Scorsese – could end up winning it for ‘Hugo’. If so, it would be Scorsese’s second win after winning this award for ‘The Departed’ in 2007. 

Who will win? Michel Hazanavicius for ‘The Artist’.
Who should win? Terrence Malick for ‘The Tree of Life’.
Who’s missing? The Academy didn’t like ‘War Horse’ enough to nominate Steven Spielberg in this category.

7. BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
The nominees: ‘Bullhead’ (Belgium), ‘Footnote’ (Israel), ‘In Darkness’ (Poland), ‘Monsieur Lazhar’ (Canada), ‘A Separation’ (Iran)

This is usually the category to make fans of world cinema groan the most. Iran’s ‘A Separation’ – a morally complex story of a middle-class Tehran couple going through a split – is also nominated in the Orginal Screenplay category, so you would expect it to be the favourite by a long way in this category. The Israeli film ‘Footnote’ also won plaudits at Cannes in 2011 for its dryly comic look at two generations of academics in Tel Aviv. 

Who will win? ‘A Separation’.
Who should win? ‘A Separation’.
Who’s missing? Pedro Almodóvar, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Béla Tarr, Aki Kaurismäki… How long have you got?

8. BEST WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY)
The nominees: ‘The Artist’, ‘Bridesmaids’, ‘Margin Call’, ‘Midnight in Paris’, ‘A Separation’

The two screenplay categories are always a bit more fun than the big awards: with ten spots up for grabs, voters can afford to be adventurous. And so it proves this year, with nominations in the Original Screenplay strand for Iranian masterpiece ‘A Separation’ and comedy cracker ‘Bridesmaids’. The award will almost certainly go to either silent film ‘The Artist’ or, if the voters decide there aren’t enough words in it, Woody Allen’s 'Midnight in Paris’, but it’s still nice to see some strong films here.

Who will win? ‘The Artist’.
Who should win? ‘A Separation’.
Who’s missing? The big disgrace is the absence of Kenneth Lonergan’s magnificent ‘Margaret’, which sported one of the most complex and insightful scripts in recent memory.

9. BEST WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)
The nominees: ‘The Descendants’, ‘Hugo’, ‘The Ides of March’, ‘Moneyball’, ‘Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy’

A less impressive lineup than the Original Screenplay category, but an interesting and unpredictable list nonetheless, with nominations for ‘The Ides of March’ and Brit hope ‘Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy’ beating out Best Picture nominees ‘War Horse’ and ‘Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close’. Expect Alexander Payne’s Hawaiian weepie ‘The Descendants’ to grab the gold.

Who will win? ‘The Descendants’.
Who should win? ‘Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy’.
Who’s missing? We never expected it to grab a Best Picture nomination, but it would have been nice if the Academy had recognised a decade’s worth of sterling work by nominating ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two’.

10. BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
The nominees: ‘A Cat in Paris’, ‘Chico And Rita’, ‘Kung Fu Panda 2’, ‘Rango’, ‘Puss in Boots’ Probably the oddest category in the entire competition.

This year’s animation line-up eschews Pixar (‘Cars 2’), Studio Ghibli (‘Arrietty’) and Steven Spielberg (‘The Adventures of Tintin’) in favour of an international selection of feisty talking animal movies – and one lovely Cuban dance flick ‘Chico and Rita’.

Who will win? ‘Puss in Boots’.
Who should win? ‘Chico and Rita’.
Who’s missing? The absence of ‘Cars 2’ is entirely justified, but to leave out Spielberg’s cracking adventure ‘The Adventures of Tintin’, a far superior film to drippy Best Picture bait ‘War Horse’, is frankly criminal.

From Time Out London