If I Had An OSCAR Ballot...

...It would look something like this. Please keep in mind that while I loved certain movies (like ANVIL! and HUMPDAY, which were two of the top-10 movies of 2009 in my humble opinion) there's no way I could legitimately vote for them for Best Picture. These have to be SOMEWHAT realistic choices, otherwise there would be no point to this exercise. Also, I have abstained from voting in categories which I am ill-informed about (like Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, Art Direction, Makeup, Original Song) or could not find five choices for due to my lack of familiarity with the possible nominees (Foreign Language, all shorts categories). Feel free to show off your own Oscar ballot in the comments section below, and thanks in advance for reading. I hope you enjoy my picks.

Note: An asterisk (*) denotes my vote to WIN.

BEST PICTURE

(500) Days of Summer
Avatar
Capitalism: A Love Story
The Cove
The Hurt Locker*
Inglourious Basterds
A Single Man
Sugar
Up in the Air
Where the Wild Things Are

BEST DIRECTOR

Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker*
James Cameron, Avatar
Tom Ford, A Single Man
Jason Reitman, Up in the Air
Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds

BEST ACTOR

Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
Colin Firth, A Single Man*
Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker
Adam Sandler, Funny People
Robin Williams, World's Greatest Dad

BEST ACTRESS

Katie Jarvis, Fish Tank
Carey Mulligan, An Education
Maya Rudolph, Away We Go
Zoe Saldana, Avatar
Gabourey Sidibe, Precious*

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Michael Fassbender, Fish Tank
Jamie Foxx, The Soloist
Anthony Mackie, The Hurt Locker
Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds*

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Marion Cotillard, Nine/Public Enemies
Vera Farmiga, Up in the Air
Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air
Melanie Laurent, Inglourious Basterds
Mo'Nique, Precious*

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

(500) Days of Summer
Away We Go
Humpday
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds*

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

An Education
In the Loop
A Single Man*
Up in the Air
Where the Wild Things Are

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox*
Up

BEST DOCUMENTARY

Anvil! The Story of Anvil*
Capitalism: A Love Story
Collapse
The Cove
More Than a Game

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
A Single Man*
The White Ribbon

BEST EDITING

(500) Days of Summer
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Star Trek*
Up in the Air

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Inglourious Basterds*
Nine
A Single Man
Watchmen
Where the Wild Things Are

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

The Hurt Locker
The Informant!
A Single Man*
Star Trek
Up

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Avatar*
Star Trek
Watchmen

BEST ENSEMBLE (not an actual award)

Fish Tank
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds*
In the Loop
The White Ribbon

FINAL TALLY (out of 16):

Inglourious Basterds - 4 (Supp. Actor, Original Screenplay, Costume Design, Ensemble)
A Single Man - 4 (Actor, Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography, Score)
The Hurt Locker - 2 (Picture, Director)
Precious - 2 (Actress, Supp. Actress)
Anvil! The Story of Anvil - 1 (Documentary)
Avatar - 1 (Visual Effects)
Fantastic Mr. Fox - 1 (Animated Feature)
Star Trek - 1 (Editing)