We handicap the best picture Oscar race

In this film publicity image released by The Weinstein Company, Jean Dujardin portrays George Valentin in "The Artist." Dujardin was nominated Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012 for an Academy Award for best actor for his role in the film. The Oscars will be presented Feb. 26 at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles, hosted by Billy Crystal and broadcast live on ABC. (AP Photo/The Weinstein Company)

Don't believe the hype — there were no snubs among the Oscar nominations.

In the hours and days following the announcement of the nominations, all we heard was a lot of whining from so-called "Oscar experts" about who got snubbed.

Trust me; nobody got snubbed. Nobody got robbed. There was no travesty of justice. What happened was that a relatively small group of entertainment journalists who have convinced their employers that they somehow have inside information on the Oscars looked like idiots because their predictions didn't come true.

The Hollywood axiom that "Nobody knows anything" was never more in evidence.

Having said all that, here are my expert predictions for which films have the best chance to win the coveted statuette on Feb. 26. If my predictions do not come true, I promise not to whine or mention the word "snub." I cannot promise that I won't sulk.

1. "The Artist": The black-and-white silent film isn't selling well in the hinterland, but guess how many members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences live in the hinterland? I have no idea, but I'm guessing that the very few who do live someplace other than Los Angeles or New York have access to mail delivery, and have received their free DVDs of all the eligible films. A Producers Guild win just about assures this victory.

2. "Hugo": Although it has the most nominations (11), many are for technical achievement, and Martin Scorsese deserves a lot of credit for making a brilliant-looking film that also has a heavy-handed message about film preservation. A lesser Oscar expert might presume that film preservation is near and dear to the hearts of Oscar voters, but silent movies also are part of Hollywood history, so this one won't win.

3. "The Descendants": Academy members love director Alexander Payne, and they love this film, but it's not weighty enough to take home the statuette. They'll give George Clooney a prize, and maybe throw a couple more in for good measure, but that's it.

4. "The Tree of Life": Honestly, I laughed when this nomination was announced because I've never had more "real" people (outside the movie business) tell me how much they hated this movie. But director Terrence Malick is a god in Hollywood, and voters saw an opportunity to thumb their collective noses at the people who rail against the "elitists" in Hollywood. It's not wise to bite the hand that buys the popcorn.

5. "The Help": This is the movie that the public would give the Oscar to if the public had a vote. It is the biggest-grossing movie in the group, but academy voters will hand out a couple of acting awards and call it a day.

6. "Midnight in Paris": Woody Allen's big hit seems better than it is when compared to some of his recent work, which may have confused voters. It was an entertaining film, but hardly "Annie Hall."

7. "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close": Despite three Oscars at the top of the credits (Tom Hanks with two, and Sandra Bullock with one), this is the kid's movie, and that diminishes its chances. Max von Sydow might be up for a best supporting actor Oscar, but he'll probably get beat by Christopher Plummer.

8. "Moneyball": A certain sports editor at this newspaper thinks it's the greatest movie ever made, but that's why he's in sports and I am an Oscar expert. It won't even make it to the seventh inning stretch.

9. "War Horse": What was Steven Spielberg thinking? I suppose he was thinking that the world was waiting breathlessly for the kind of old-fashioned movie that used to win the Oscar. If he had spent less time on "The Adventures of Tintin," and more time on this movie, who knows what might have happened?

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