A post-mortem on my Oscar picks

The motion picture industry distributed its annual "attaboys" Sunday night in the form of the Academy Awards. There weren't a bunch of surprises this year, outside of the third tie in the history of the Academy Awards (in Sound Editing) and that I didn't have the urge to throw a brick through my TV at this year's host, Seth MacFarlane (no, he wasn't the best-ever, but he sure wasn't James Franco, either).

So while I'm in a relatively good mood, I figured I would follow up on my previously published Oscar picks, much like I did last fall with my Emmy selections. Of course, I remember how poorly I did that time around, but today is a new day, and I can't possibly be that lousy at prognostication again. (I mean, I could be, goodness knows ... but I choose not to think so negatively. Bad juju and all that.)

Just like with my Emmy picks, I'll earn one point for each pick I got right, no points for being wrong.

Okay. Deep breath. Here goes nothing.

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Christoph Waltz, "Django Unchained"

In my picks that were published in January, I said that Waltz's audacious performance "led for me" in one of the night's more competitive, up-in-the-air categories. He took home his second Academy Award; I picked up my first point on the night. One point.

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Anne Hathaway, "Les Misérables"

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

Daniel Day-Lewis, "Lincoln"

Of this year's Oscar nominees that were considered veritable locks, Hathaway and Day-Lewis were the lock-iest of them all. It only made sense to pick them, and I am nothing if not sensible. One point each.

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

Jennifer Lawrence, "Silver Linings Playbook"

I hedged my bets in January with this category, splitting my pick between Lawrence and Jessica Chastain in "Zero Dark Thirty." (In fact, I said, "Either would be a pretty safe bet to win.") Turns out Lawrence was a safer bet. Since I was waffling, I'll pro-rate this pick, and give myself a half-point.

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Chris Terrio, "Argo"

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Quentin Tarantino, "Django Unchained"

And I was doing so well. Still, these were tough contests to pick, with so much really good, interesting work nominated. While Tarantino's "Django Unchained" win wasn't something I dismissed easily when I was picking, I certainly didn't see a victory for "Argo" here. (I thought that the Adapted Screenplay category was where the Academy would have thrown a bone to "Silver Linings Playbook" or "Beasts of the Southern Wild.") So, for the first -- and second -- time this year, no points.

DIRECTING

Ang Lee, "Life Of Pi"

"Life of Pi" picked up four Oscars, including this Best Director prize, which is more than any other film this year. That piece of future Oscar trivia is small comfort for me, though; I picked Steven Spielberg to win for "Lincoln." No points.

ANIMATED FEATURE

"Brave"

I like to include the Animated Feature prize in my picks, if only because it tends to be one that I get right. No difference this year, as Pixar will need to make even more room in its Oscar display. One point.

BEST PICTURE

"Argo"

Full disclosure: I had originally picked "Lincoln" to win this award back in January, but I had noted, even then, that there was a surge of support for "Argo." A couple of weeks ago, after seeing such full-throated support for the film, I publicly changed my pick, saying, "Frankly, if any movie but "Argo" wins the award now, I think it'd be fair to call it an upset." Long story short, there wasn't an upset. "Lincoln," to my mind, was the best film I saw in 2012, but this isn't the Jeremys, it's the Oscars. So I'm happy -- heck, I'm thrilled -- to take one point.

My final tally: Five-and-a-half points out of a potential nine, with six correct picks overall. That's much better than I did at the Emmys, when I only scored three-and-a-half points (and in an admittedly less-than-solid fashion).

To be fair, the Academy Awards generally have more -- and better -- indicators beforehand. I mean, hey, the Oscars was the last of about 800 award ceremonies in the last month-and-a-half; what kind of entertainment columnist would I be if I wasn't paying attention to all of them? The Emmys, on the other hand, are the Emmys -- to my knowledge, there are precious few truly indicative television awards presented in the six-week build-up to them. (For example, the guilds give their TV prizes at the same time as their movie prizes.)

And this is where I have to push away from the table. There's nothing sensible about plunging myself into an existential dilemma over entertainment industry awards ceremonies -- especially the ones in which I hold no stake. As I humble-bragged earlier, I'm nothing if not sensible.