This year, though, we’re going to make you work a little, as we will unleash one prediction every day until the big night. Until then, here are Slant Magazine’s biased and bitchy predictions of who will leave the Kodak Theatre with Oscar on their arm and who will be putting on a happy face for the camera. Will it be Theron or Keaton? Will Penn and Robbins say “weapons of mass destruction” when they take the stage? Is Zellweger really the lock everyone thinks she is? Only time will tell. If this sense of inevitability may make Oscar a little boring this year, things are not so cut-and-dry in some of the technical races and acting categories. Nominated for 11 awards, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King may not win everything, but Peter Jackson fans don’t care, just as long as the big guy wins Best Director and his film takes the top prize (watch out for Seabiscuit!), which many will consider a reward for Jackson’s work on the first and second installments of his Lord of the Rings trilogy. With the exception of the execrable Seabiscuit, this may be one of the strongest line-ups in years. AMPAS passed on Cold Mountain, ending Miramax’s 11-year nomination streak in the Best Picture category. Jack Valenti’s screener ban didn’t last for very long and didn’t seem to do much damage, and come Oscar time, indies may walk away with several big prizes.