(No) spoiler(s) alert

Well, there's not much suspense heading into this year's ceremony. The Artist will win best picture, best director, and duke it out with Hugo in the technical categories, while The Help will help itself to a pair of acting Oscars. At least, that is the overwhelming opinion of nearly every expert heading into the home stretch. With so many pundits predicting the same outcome in so many races this year, it makes any surprises that much more unlikely.

Sunday's 84th Annual Academy Awards ceremony will be televised live on ABC from the venue formerly known as the Kodak Theatre at 8:30pm ET / 5:30pm PT (with a red carpet pre-show beginning at 7 ET / 4 PT). Billy Crystal—a late replacement for Eddie Murphy—hosts this year's ceremony, returning to the gig he last held in 2004. Presenters will include Meryl Streep, Tom Cruise, Angelina Jolie, Will Ferrell, Zach Galifianakis, Tom Hanks, Tina Fey, Halle Berry, Bradley Cooper, Michael Douglas, Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Christian Bale, and Natalie Portman. (You won't be seeing Sacha Baron Cohen in any capacity, though; he's been banned from the show.)

Below, we've aggregated the predictions of 45 entertainment writers and awards experts, and compared them to the votes cast by the more than 2,100 Metacritic visitors who voted in our 3rd annual poll. Monday morning, we'll be back to see how accurate these guesses turned out to be, and we'll also have reviews of the broadcast.

Best picture and director

It's quite a challenge to find anyone who doesn't think that silent film The Artist is going to collect the best picture trophy on Sunday; every one of the 45 experts we surveyed picked that film to win, as did a huge majority of Metacritic users. According to betting website easyodds.com, the film with the next best chance at best picture glory is The Descendants, but even that title is listed as a 9-to-1 longshot. The Artist's dominance looks likely to extend into the directing category as well, with Michel Hazanavicius all but certain to take home his first Oscar. It should be noted, however, that most experts failed in their director predictions last year; if that happens again this year, expect either Alexander Payne or our users' second-favorite pick, Martin Scorsese, to win.

Best Director Experts Users Woody Allen

Midnight in Paris 2% 4% Michel Hazanavicius

The Artist 95% 48% Terrence Malick

The Tree of Life 0% 10% Alexander Payne

The Descendants 2% 9% Martin Scorsese

Hugo 0% 28%

Acting

While there is absolutely no suspense in either supporting actor category—Christopher Plummer and Octavia Spencer are probably rehearsing their speeches as you read this—the lead acting categories are each down to a pair of finalists. Experts give The Artist's Jean Dujardin a 2-to-1 edge over George Clooney, while Viola Davis has an even bigger lead over Margaret Thatcher impersonator Meryl Streep. If an Oscar presenter opens the envelope and reads a name other than one of those four on Sunday night, then consider anything possible in any of the other categories.

Lead Actor Experts Users Demián Bichir

A Better Life 0% 1% George Clooney

The Descendants 32% 40% Jean Dujardin

The Artist 66% 41% Gary Oldman

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy 0% 10% Brad Pitt

Moneyball 2% 8%

Lead Actress Experts Users Glenn Close

Albert Nobbs 2% 3% Viola Davis

The Help 77% 41% Rooney Mara

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo 0% 14% Meryl Streep

The Iron Lady 18% 32% Michelle Williams

My Week with Marilyn 2% 11%

Supporting Actor Experts Users Kenneth Branagh

My Week with Marilyn 0% 5% Jonah Hill

Moneyball 0% 11% Nick Nolte

Warrior 0% 8% Christopher Plummer

Beginners 100% 70% Max von Sydow

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close 0% 5%

Supporting Actress Experts Users Bérénice Bejo

The Artist 2% 18% Jessica Chastain

The Help 0% 11% Melissa McCarthy

Bridesmaids 0% 10% Janet McTeer

Albert Nobbs 0% 1% Octavia Spencer

The Help 98% 60%

Writing

While last year's adapted screenplay winner Aaron Sorkin (The Social Network) has a slim chance of repeating as part of the team behind Moneyball, look for the overwhelming favorite The Descendants to get the win, as it did last weekend at both the WGA Awards and the USC Scripter Awards. In the original screenplay category, while The Artist could slip in here too as part of its overall domination, look for Woody Allen both to win and to fail to show up to collect the trophy.

Original Screenplay Experts Users Michel Hazanavicius

The Artist 9% 29% Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig

Bridesmaids 2% 6% JC Chandor

Margin Call 0% 1% Woody Allen

Midnight in Paris 86% 53% Asghar Farhadi

A Separation 2% 11%

Adapted Screenplay Experts Users Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash The Descendants 84% 49% John Logan

Hugo 5% 11% George Clooney & Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon

The Ides of March 0% 4% Steven Zaillian & Aaron Sorkin and Stan Chervin

Moneyball 11% 25% Bridget O'Connor & Peter Straughan

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy 0% 11%

Animation

The Johnny Depp-starring Rango is the overwhelming favorite among a weak field of contenders to win the animated feature trophy. Last year, not a single expert correctly predicted the animated short category, so their pick of The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore should be taken with a grain of salt. Still, that dialogue-free, New Orleans-set short film (which you can watch online) with allusions to classic cinema has already won numerous awards on the festival circuit, and seems to best represent the Academy's preferences this year. The animated short category is one of only four where our users diverged from the expert picks; their choice of La Luna is a Pixar creation, so it, too, is a solid choice. The wildcard is A Morning Stroll, which won the category at this year's BAFTAs.

Animated Feature Experts Users A Cat in Paris 2% 4% Chico & Rita 2% 5% Kung Fu Panda 2 0% 7% Puss in Boots 4% 6% Rango 91% 78%

Animated Short Experts Users Dimanche/Sunday 9% 10% The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore 60% 24% La Luna 19% 35% A Morning Stroll 12% 14% Wild Life 0% 17%

Documentaries

Documentary feature is another category where experts and Metacritic users offered differing predictions. While the latter group preferred Wim Wenders' unconventional 3D look at the work of choreographer Pina Bausch, a plurality of experts forecast HBO's West Memphis Three doc Paradise Lost 3 (which was given a last-minute theatrical premiere with the intention of securing an Oscar nomination) to win the statuette. Those two films, incidentally, are also the favorites with bookmakers, followed by The Weinstein Company's Undefeated, which plays like a real-life Friday Night Lights. The documentary short category is not an easy one to predict, though experts were correct last year, and this year they (and our users) have settled on The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom (from one of the directors of Waste Land), which examines the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan. The other frontrunner, Saving Face, looks at Pakistani women who have been disfigured by acid attacks, which is a bit more uplifting than it sounds, though still mostly horrifying.

Documentary Feature Experts Users Hell and Back Again 11% 13% If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front 2% 12% Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory 42% 26% Pina 20% 32% Undefeated 24% 17%

Documentary Short Subject Experts Users The Barber of Birmingham 5% 16% God Is the Bigger Elvis 10% 18% Incident in New Baghdad 7% 20% Saving Face 38% 18% The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom 40% 28%

Other films

Critical acclaim and Oscar trophies don't always go hand in hand, but 2011's best-reviewed film, the Iranian drama A Separation, is the overwhelming favorite to win the foreign-language category. The live-action short category is another Oscar pool-buster, though this year appears to have a relatively clear frontrunner: The Shore, which boasts the biggest names of any of the entrants in two-time Oscar-nominated writer writer Terry George (Hotel Rwanda, In the Name of the Father) and star Ciaran Hinds. However, note that the recent trend is for humorous films to win in this category, which could hurt chances for both The Shore and Raju (and could really help Pentecost, the funniest of the bunch). Also making this category harder to predict this year is an expansion of the voting pool thanks to screenings of the five shorts at over 200 theaters nationwide. (Previously, just four screenings were held.)

Foreign-Language Film Experts Users Bullhead 2% 3% Footnote 0% 2% In Darkness 4% 5% Monsieur Lazhar 0% 3% A Separation 93% 87%

Live-Action Short Film Experts Users Pentecost 12% 17% Raju 15% 20% The Shore 54% 29% Time Freak 5% 21% Tuba Atlantic 15% 12%

Music

The music playing throughout a silent film might be a bit easier to notice and remember thanks to not having all that pesky dialogue get in the way; at any rate, most experts feel that the Academy will recognize The Artist composer Ludovic Bource on Sunday. And while no Muppets will be performing during the broadcast (though a few will present an award), their song "Man or Muppet" (penned by Flight of the Conchords member Bret McKenzie) is the expected winner in a depleted field. A few dissenters, however, think that music industry veteran Sergio Mendes could sneak in with his song from the animated film Rio.

Original Score Experts Users John Williams

The Adventures of Tintin 2% 7% Ludovic Bource

The Artist 84% 59% Howard Shore

Hugo 9% 14% Alberto Iglesias

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy 0% 6% John Williams

War Horse 5% 14%

Original Song Experts Users "Man or Muppet"

The Muppets 88% 82% "Real in Rio"

Rio 12% 18%

Technical categories

Many of the remaining categories are shaping up to be a head-to-head battle between Hugo and The Artist, though the sound categories have War Horse as the closest competitor to Scorsese's film (both have already received awards from other organizations for their sound work), and experts give Rise of the Planet of the Apes the edge over Hugo in the visual effects category. In addition, Emmanuel Lubezki looks likely to win the Oscar for best cinematography for the first time in five tries for his work on The Tree of Life (even people who hated the film agreed that it looked great), while makeup artists on The Iron Lady are expected to be rewarded for transforming Meryl Streep into former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. The experts usually get a few of these categories wrong, so to succeed in your Oscar pool you'll need to take a chance on an underdog or two; then again, there seems to be more of a consensus in these categories than is typical.

Art Direction Experts Users The Artist 7% 27% Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 0% 15% Hugo 93% 47% Midnight in Paris 0% 6% War Horse 0% 4%

Cinematography Experts Users Guillaume Schiffman

The Artist 16% 15% Jeff Cronenweth

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo 0% 9% Robert Richardson

Hugo 14% 14% Emmanuel Lubezki

The Tree of Life 70% 53% Janusz Kaminski

War Horse 0% 8%

Costume Design Experts Users Anonymous 12% 8% The Artist 49% 45% Hugo 23% 30% Jane Eyre 14% 14% W.E. 2% 4%

Film Editing Experts Users The Artist 72% 34% The Descendants 0% 7% The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo 5% 28% Hugo 21% 22% Moneyball 2% 9%

Makeup Experts Users Albert Nobbs 9% 20% Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 30% 51% The Iron Lady 60% 29%

Sound Editing Experts Users Drive 5% 35% The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo 7% 15% Hugo 60% 25% Transformers: Dark of the Moon 7% 12% War Horse 21% 13%

Sound Mixing Experts Users The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo 2% 26% Hugo 79% 35% Moneyball 0% 6% Transformers: Dark of the Moon 5% 18% War Horse 14% 16%

Visual Effects Experts Users Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 7% 27% Hugo 21% 21% Real Steel 0% 2% Rise of the Planet of the Apes 72% 42% Transformers: Dark of the Moon 0% 9%

List of experts

The expert predictions listed above come from the following sources: