MELISSA BLOCK, Host:
And our movie critic Bob Mondello is here to talk us through them. Hey, Bob.
BOB MONDELLO: Hey.
BLOCK: A Pixar animated film, it's about a one-eyed, gun-toting ballet-dancer with a stutter who flees her lesbian parents and gets trapped in a deep chasm in the Ozarks. Now she's one-armed and one-eyed, and she dreams within a dream that she's created a new social networking site for washed-up boxers. What do you think?
MONDELLO: The public will eat it up. That's all 10 of the pictures of Best Picture this year.
BLOCK: There you go.
MONDELLO: Let me see if I can do them in the pitch's order. That would be "Toy Story 3," "True Grit," "Black Swan," "The King's Speech," "The Kids Are All Right," "127 Hours," "Winter's Bone," "Inception," "Social Network" and "The Fighter."
BLOCK: And, Bob, what do you make of that list?
MONDELLO: Well, it's a pretty predictable bunch of nominations. There aren't any real surprises. My 10 Best list had nine of the 10, although I cheat a little bit because I have, like, 22 picture.
BLOCK: Yes, you do. You have a very long list. But we always love surprises or controversies in Oscar nominations. None this year?
MONDELLO: There is some fuss going the other way, that "Inception's" director, Chris Nolan, was not nominated. That'll probably get him a consolation prize for original screenplay.
BLOCK: What about in the acting categories, Bob? Any surprises there?
MONDELLO: If I were guessing, I'd say Natalie Portman's ballet dancer will end up winning Best Actress. Christian Bale has a lock on Best Supporting Actor for his drug- addicted brother in "The Fighter," and the one category that's harder to predict because the people in it are not very famous is Best Supporting Actress.
BLOCK: And Bob, we don't have time to talk through every category, even though we might like to. But final thoughts on this year's nominees?
MONDELLO: It's why the Academy likes the Oscars to come last, after all the critics have given their awards, after the Golden Globes, after all that. It's as if they're saying, well, okay, the kids get to play, and now the grownups are going to come in, and we're going to tell you what's actually what.
BLOCK: Okay, our movie critic Bob Mondello. Thanks so much.
MONDELLO: It's always a pleasure.