Lou Schumaker: So, for the record, I think pretty much “The Social Network” should win all of the awards it is nominated for and then “Inception” should win all the technical awards it is nominated for.

Alex Nichols: I think just the opposite.

LS: TWIST! Really?

AN: “Inception” should win for its awesome dialogue and deep characters while “The Social Network” should win for its badass fake-breath special effects.

LS: So, not really!

AN: Nope!

LS: Because The Social Network was very well accomplished, technically!

AN: The Social Network did look gorgeous. Director David Fincher fooled me into liking “Benjamin Button,” so he can pretty much do anything.

LS: True. Also, I have a soft spot for both writer Aaron Sorkin and Fincher, so I would like to see them walk away with their respective awards regardless. Especially since they are both coming off kind of terrible projects (“Benjamin Button” for Fincher, “Studio 60” and “Charlie Wilson’s War” for Sorkin).

AN: Right. I had kind of forgotten how great Sorkin is at writing dialogue. Weirdly, I don’t think there was a single walk-and-talk in the entire movie. All talking was atypically stationary.

LS: Yeah, it turns out Fincher is a way better director than any of the ones that worked on “The West Wing.” Shocking!

AN: Eisenberg was also really, really good. Now, Michael Cera’s gonna have to step up his game.

LS: This year, I’m mostly mad that “The King’s Speech” is apparently going to clean the table. It was good, I guess, but it wasn’t nearly as moving as it seemed to think it was. I thought some of the scenes were fun, but I thought it fell flat whenever it went for big emotions, like during the big speech at the end.

AN: Yeah. The performances were really great, especially Colin Firth’s, but it’s a little... light.

LS: Also, part of it might be a cultural gap. Maybe George V is revered over there (I have no idea), but I had a hard time caring about him at all and kind of rolled my eyes when the movie acted like he saved England.

AN: Speaking of cultural gaps, “The Town” was great. But man, those Boston accents were maddening. It’s like they were speaking a different language sometimes.

LS: Seriously. Sometimes I get mad when I have to listen to people with different accents for too long.

AN: “Speak NORMAL!”

LS: As far as Best Animated Feature, I think we can all agree on who should win: “Shrek Forever After.” But, since the Academy choose to snub the film, I suppose ‘”Toy Story 3” can take it.

AN: I just wish “Gnomeo and Juliet” were eligible this year.

LS: I understand that Hailee Steinfeld from “True Grit” got nominated for Best Supporting Actress even though she’s the main character because she has a better chance of winning in that category, but it still frustrates me when movie studios do nominations like that. It’s like, why even have rules? Why don’t we all go into the jungle and live like “Lord of the Flies”?!

AN: It’s weird, because The Oscars have a proud history of not being at all arbitrary. “Black Swan” was one of those films that was very, very good that I also don’t care about seeing again. Aronovsky’s directing style is so visceral that it can almost make you nauseous. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that my favorite film of his, “The Wrestler,” is also by far his most accessible work.

LS: “Winter’s Bone,” “Dogtooth,” “The Fighter” and “127 Hours” are all movies that I did not see, but heard good things about, so, sure, give them all Oscars.

AN: “127 Hours” was decent but I don’t understand how it’s an award-winning film. James Franco does a good job carrying a movie by himself, and director Danny Boyle handles the flashbacks quite well, weaving them into the film in such a way that provides backstory but always keeps the audience in a crevice along with Franco. But ultimately it seems less than the sum of its parts. The scene where he cut off his own arm lived up to expectations, though.

LS: Wrapping up, do you have anything else to add?

AN: Personally, I’m furious that for the fourth straight year, the classic Keanu Reeves/Sandra Bullock romance “The Lake House” was NOT nominated for any Oscars.

Nichols is a senior from Stilwell in creative writing.

Schumaker is a junior from Overland Park in film and media studies.