Oscar guru: A real race this year

(CBS News) This coming Thursday the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences will announce its nominees for this year's Oscars.

Dave Karger, who wrote on Oscar for more than 10 years at Entertainment Weekly and is now chief correspondent for Fandango.com, joined us at "CBS This Morning: Saturday" with a preview and some predictions of who will be honored - and who might be snubbed.

When asked which movie he expects to dominate in nominations on Thursday, Karger offered two:

"One is 'Les Miserables.' That's a movie that people are really loving in the Academy. I was at the official Academy screening when it played and the Academy people there gave it a standing ovation. They really loved it. It's got the scope, it's got the sweep. Not everyone's loving the movie - I've talked to people who don't like it - but it's got so much going for it I think it's going to be a big winner - double-digit nominations.

"And then "Lincoln." That's the one that's a real critical favorite and also has done very, very well commercially, I think better than Disney and Dreamworks (the studios behind the movie) even expected. So I think that's going to get tons of nominations for the cast, Tony Kushner's screenplay, and Steven Spielberg [as] Best Director, Best Picture, of course.

"At this point if I had to pick a winner it will be "Lincoln." But the thing I love about this year is, it's not only one movie or even two movies that are out in front. If you include "Argo," "Zero Dark Thirty," "Silver Linings Playbook," "Life of Pi," "Django Unchained," there are so many movies at the top of the heap this year, and it's a real race."

To hear more of Karger's predictions about actors and actresses he expects to be nominated, or snubbed (sorry, Joaquin!), watch video of the complete interview by clicking on the player above.

The Academy Awards will be presented February 24.