Oscar Expert Picks Her Faves For Best Picture, Director

LOS ANGELES (CBS) — Listen up! We're in the middle of awards season (or is this the beginning?) No matter, this is Oscars time...office pools guessing who will be nominated and who will win are starting to abound.

Listening to the experts, usually, separates the winners from the losers, literally.

To that end, we heard from an Oscar expert on today's KCAL 9 News at 2 p.m., namely Elena Howe, editor of the LA Time's "The Envelope" section.

She predicted the likely nominees for best picture and best director.

Our money is on "The Social Network," but given how fickle award show voters can be ... and right up until the actual ceremony ... nothing is set in stone. We'll hedge our bets, too..."The King's Speech" could surprise!

As for the best director nominees, our money is on David Fincher "The Social Network"), Tom Hooper ("The King's Speech") and Ethan Coen ("True Grit") to appear.

For more predictions and inside dish, click on the following link for "The Envelope": http://theenvelope.latimes.com