Oscars predictions: Who will win the biggies

Final ballots for the 85th annual Academy Awards were cast Tuesday, which means Sunday's outcome is no longer in doubt. The race, however, has been anything but predictable.

The category with the most surprises was, of course, the biggest. Two contenders for best picture, Steven Spielberg's "Lincoln" and Kathryn Bigelow's "Zero Dark Thirty," battled for front-runner status only to see Ben Affleck's feel-good spy-thriller, "Argo," emerge as the likely winner. Few saw that one coming, especially given that Affleck was shut out of the best director category. (Spielberg seems sure to bring that statue home.)

If this is, indeed, how things shake out, "Argo" will become the first film in more than 20 years to win the top Oscar without its director even being nominated. The last was 1989's "Driving Miss Daisy," directed by an unacknowledged Bruce Beresford.

What's more, "Argo" could win best picture but little else. Its six other nominations, many in technical categories, seem unlikely to become wins. When they're head-to-head in the same categories, look for "Lincoln" to steal supporting actor, original score and adapted screenplay, though "Argo" does have a good shot at winning for film editing.

Other categories to watch include original screenplay, where Quentin Tarantino may win for "Django Unchained," and visual effects, where the computerized tiger in "Life of Pi" is poised to pounce on "The Hobbit."

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