The contenders:
–"Amour"
–"Argo"
–"Beasts Of The Southern Wild"
–"Django Unchained"
–"Les Misérables"
–"Life Of Pi"
–"Lincoln"
–"Silver Linings Playbook"
–"Zero Dark Thirty"
The verdict: The Best Picture race turned into one of the oddest in recent memory as post-Oscars-announcements awards ceremonies began. The prize was regarded at first as a showdown between "Lincoln" and "Zero Dark Thirty," but after "Argo" director Ben Affleck lost out on a Best Director nomination, the tide suddenly swung in the favor of the film about the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis, with the movie picking up the Best Cast award at the SAGs, the Best Motion Picture, Drama award at the Golden Globes, and virtually every other prize that serves as a forecaster for Best Picture. The last time a movie won Best Picture without its director picking up their own statuette was 2006, when director Ang Lee won the prize for "Brokeback Mountain" but "Crash" won Best Picture. However, "Argo" looks to be the frontrunner to take home the big prize, meaning it will now be an upset if a movie first regarded as an underdog doesn't win.
