It’s been a little over a weeksince Slate launched Lean/Lock for theOscars , our Academy Awards-prediction game. Let’s take a look at whichcategories are the most and least contentious so far.
The closest race is also theceremony’s most eagerly anticipated: best picture. As of 3 p.m. today, The Social Network , with 44percent of all best-picture votes in Lean/Lock, was still hanging onto aminiscule lead over TheKing’s Speech , which has 42 percent. The British historical drama pickedup the Screen Actors Guild Awards’ best-pictureequivalent last weekend, which may yet propel it into the lead. The othernailbiters are in costume design ( Alice in Wonderland has 47 percent to The King’s Speech ‘s 43percent) and supporting actress (Hailee Steinfeld’s 45 percent leads MelissaLeo’s 39 percent).
Judging by the votes of Slate readers, Colin Firth should be prettyconfident going into Oscars night—he’s racked up 85 percent of thebest-actor picks for playing King George VI. But that’s not the most lopsidedrace so far. That distinction belongs to the best animated feature category, inwhich 94 percent of Lean/Lock players who made a pick chose Toy Story 3 . Inception , despite garneringjust 1 percent of the best-picture votes, is doing swimmingly in several othercategories, grabbing 93 percent of the vote for visual effects, 88 percent forsound editing, and 87 percent for sound mixing.
Which category do Lean/Lockplayers feel least qualified to vote on? That would be the competition forlive-action short film, in which just 519 players have made a pick. Bycomparison, 1,272 players have taken a shot at predicting best actor.
Registration for Lean/Lock endsthe afternoon of the Academy Awards ceremony, February 27 th . Butthat’s no reason to wait! Sign up now at http://labs.slate.com/apps/lean-lock-oscars-2011 .
Still from The Social Network
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