We watched the Independent Spirit awards the other night and were not exactly blown away by them, not just because of how predictable they were (come on, it’s not like we were expecting a whole lot of shocks at the Oscars last night, either), but also because, well, it didn’t seem very independent.

Well, it’s here, the column to which you’ve all been anxiously looking forward, yes, it’s our big, nay huge, Oscar preview edition here at FNB, the one in which we somewhat confidently predict who will win at the Academy Award ceremony six days hence. In last year’s edition, we nailed all eight of our prognostications, but to be fair, we think that had as much to do with the predictability of the event than our own genius. Still, it’s a heady bar we’ve set for ourselves, and thus, with a little trepidation but without further ado, we’re going to get to it.