teh Forum

Well it is that time again. The Oscar nominations are dropping tomorrow AM. Here are a few pre-nom thoughts/predictions

Best Pic
What I think will be nom'd: Babel, The Queen, Little Miss Sunshine, Dreamgirls, The Departed
Wildcards: Letters from Iwo Jima, Little Children
Way long shot: Borat

Best Actor
Nom predictions: Forest Whitaker, Sacha Baron Cohen, Leo DiCapio, Peter O'Toole, Aaron Eckhart
Wildcards: Ken Watanabe, Will Smith, Ryan Gossling

Best Actress
Nom Predictions: Helen Mirren, Penelope Cruz, Kate Winslet, Beyonce, Meryl Streep
Wildcards: Abigail Breslin, Rinko Kikuchi, Toni Collette

Best Supporting Actor
Nom predictions: Ben Affleck, Eddie Murphy, Alan Arkin, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg
Wildcards: Jamie Foxx, Alec Baldwin, Djimon Honsou, Brad Pitt, Jackie Earle Haley
Way long shot: Michael Sheen

Best Supporting Actress
Nom predictions: Jennifer Hudson, Rinko Kikuchi, Judi Dench, Cate Blanchett, Adriana Barraza
Wildcards: Abigail Breslin, Shareeka Epps

Best Director
Nom Predictions: Martin Scorsese, Alejandro Innaritu, Bill Condon, Stephen Frears, Clint Eastwood
Wildcards: Todd Field, Alfonso Cuaron, Guillermo Del Toro, Dayton/Faris

Best Original Screenplay
Nom Predictions: Little Miss Sunshine, The Queen, Half Nelson, Stranger than Fiction, Babel
Wildcard: United 93

Best Adapted Screenplay
Nom Predictions: The Departed, Dreamgirls, Little Children, Thank You For Smoking, Devil Wears Prada
Wildcard: Borat

Best Foreign Language Film
Nom Predictions: Pan's Labyrinth, Volver, Lives of Others, Days of Glory, Black Book
Wildcard: Water

Best Cinematography
Nom Predictions: Children of Men, Babel, The Departed, Flags of Our Fathers, Apocalypto
Wildcards: Letters from Iwo Jima, Blood Diamond, The Good German

We'll see in a few hours...

Not too far off the mark...

Oscar Nominations:

Best Pic
Babel, The Queen, Little Miss Sunshine, Letters from Iwo Jima, The Departed

Best Actor
Forest Whitaker, Leo DiCapio, Will Smith, Ryan Gossling

Best Actress
Helen Mirren, Penelope Cruz, Kate Winslet, Judi Dench, Meryl Streep

Best Supporting Actor
Eddie Murphy, Alan Arkin, Mark Wahlberg, Djimon Honsou, Jackie Earle Haley

Best Supporting Actress
Jennifer Hudson, Rinko Kikuchi, Cate Blanchett, Adriana Barraza, Abigail Breslin

Best Director
Martin Scorsese, Alejandro Innaritu, Stephen Frears, Clint Eastwood, Paul Greengrass

Best Original Screenplay
Little Miss Sunshine, The Queen, Babel, Letters From Iwo Jima, Pan's Labyrinth

Best Adapted Screenplay
The Departed, Little Children, Notes on a Scandal, Children of Men, Borat

Best Foreign Language Film
Pan's Labyrinth, Lives of Others, Days of Glory, Water, After the Wedding

Best Cinematography
Children of Men, Illusionist, Prestige, Black Dahlia, Pan's Labyrinth

More at oscar.com.

Well I will consider the one person conversation with my own thoughts and predictions regarding Sunday's awards:

Best Pic
Babel - This year has been a real contest with oddsmakers currently settled on The Departed. But they were wrong last year and I still think Babel has enough momentum to have sneaked under the wire. I will not be very surprised if either Departed or Lil Miss Sunshine take the statue. The Queen and Letters are longer shots.

Best Actor
Forest Whitaker has a lock. The only upset could potentially be O'toole or maybe maybe maybe Leo.

Best Actress
Helen Mirren is walking in with the biggest sure thing ticket of the night.

Best Supporting Actor
Eddie Murphy is looking good. I like Jackie Earle Haley as an upset.

Best Supporting Actress
Jennifer Hudson is a likely candidate but Rinko Kikuchi or Adriana Barraza could take it if Babel ends up a really big winner. Abigail Breslin is a way long shot.

Best Director
Martin Scorsese looks like he could finally get his Oscar but Eastwood could be his foil.

Best Original Screenplay
Little Miss Sunshine is my pick as the Oscars have a history of picking the smaller films for screenplay that they overlook for best pic. The Queen is my upset pick.

Best Adapted Screenplay
The Departed is the favorite but I am putting my guess as Little Children, the most "indie" of the bunch. Borat would be a big crowd pleasing upset.

Best Foreign Language Film
Pan's Labyrinth looks to have this one locked but Lives of Others has a small small chance.

Best Cinematography
Children of Men baby - best cinematography ever.

Art Direction
I am going with Dreamgirls, but Pirates has a shot too.

Costume
Dreamgirls is my pick again but an even closer second is Curse of the Golden Flower. Actually this one is a toss up as Devil wears Prada, Marie Antoinett and The Queen could all take it.

Documentary
If An Inconvenient Truth doesn't win, I will be as shocked as a global warming expert at a Republican energy conference.

Editing
This is tough but I am goin with Babel. Departed is a likely choice as well.

Song
"Listen" from Dreamgirls

Score
The Queen or maybe Notes on a Scandal

VisFX
Pirates most likely.

Anyone want to weigh in on some guesses?

So how did you do?