Dad and I like to call it early and then see how close we are. Follows are my picks, as in, who/what I’d like to see win (P), and the one I think will win (F), for most Oscar categories. I’ve left it blank where I have no idea. Leave your picks in the comments and we’ll see how we do:
| Performance by an actor in a leading role |
|
|  | Leonardo DiCaprio in “Blood Diamond†(Warner Bros.) |
|  | Ryan Gosling in “Half Nelson†(THINKFilm) |
|  | Peter O’Toole in “Venus†(Miramax, Filmfour and UK Film Council) |
|  | Will Smith in “The Pursuit of Happyness†(Sony Pictures Releasing) (P) (F) |
|  | Forest Whitaker in “The Last King of Scotland†(Fox Searchlight) |
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| Performance by an actor in a supporting role |
|
|  | Alan Arkin in “Little Miss Sunshine†(Fox Searchlight) |
|  | Jackie Earle Haley in “Little Children†(New Line) |
|  | Djimon Hounsou in “Blood Diamond†(Warner Bros.) |
|  | Eddie Murphy in “Dreamgirls†(DreamWorks and Paramount) (F) |
|  | Mark Wahlberg in “The Departed†(Warner Bros.) (P) |
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| Performance by an actress in a leading role |
|
|  | Penélope Cruz in “Volver†(Sony Pictures Classics) |
|  | Judi Dench in “Notes on a Scandal†(Fox Searchlight) |
|  | Helen Mirren in “The Queen†(Miramax, Pathé and Granada) (F) |
|  | Meryl Streep in “The Devil Wears Prada†(20th Century Fox) (P) |
|  | Kate Winslet in “Little Children†(New Line) |
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| Performance by an actress in a supporting role |
|
|  | Adriana Barraza in “Babel†(Paramount and Paramount Vantage) |
|  | Cate Blanchett in “Notes on a Scandal†(Fox Searchlight) |
|  | Abigail Breslin in “Little Miss Sunshine†(Fox Searchlight) |
|  | Jennifer Hudson in “Dreamgirls†(DreamWorks and Paramount) (P) (F) |
|  | Rinko Kikuchi in “Babel†(Paramount and Paramount Vantage) |
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| Best animated feature film of the year |
|
|  | “Cars†(Buena Vista) John Lasseter |
|  | “Happy Feet†(Warner Bros.) George Miller (F) |
|  | “Monster House†(Sony Pictures Releasing) Gil Kenan (P) |
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| Achievement in art direction |
|
|  | “Dreamgirls†(DreamWorks and Paramount) (P) (F) Art Direction: John Myhre Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh |
|  | “The Good Shepherd†(Universal) Art Direction: Jeannine Oppewall Set Decoration: Gretchen Rau and Leslie E. Rollins |
|  | “Pan’s Labyrinth†(Picturehouse) Art Direction: Eugenio Caballero Set Decoration: Pilar Revuelta |
|  | “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest†(Buena Vista) Art Direction: Rick Heinrichs Set Decoration: Cheryl Carasik |
|  | “The Prestige†(Buena Vista) Art Direction: Nathan Crowley Set Decoration: Julie Ochipinti |
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| Achievement in cinematography |
|
|  | “The Black Dahlia†(Universal) Vilmos Zsigmond |
|  | “Children of Men†(Universal) Emmanuel Lubezki |
|  | “The Illusionist†(Yari Film Group) Dick Pope |
|  | “Pan’s Labyrinth†(Picturehouse) Guillermo Navarro |
|  | “The Prestige†(Buena Vista) Wally Pfister |
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| Achievement in costume design |
|
|  | “Curse of the Golden Flower†(Sony Pictures Classics) Yee Chung Man |
|  | “The Devil Wears Prada†(20th Century Fox) Patricia Field (P) |
|  | “Dreamgirls†(DreamWorks and Paramount) Sharen Davis (F) |
|  | “Marie Antoinette†(Sony Pictures Releasing) Milena Canonero |
|  | “The Queen†(Miramax, Pathé and Granada) Consolata Boyle |
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| Achievement in directing |
|
|  | “Babel†(Paramount and Paramount Vantage) Alejandro González Iñárritu |
|  | “The Departed†(Warner Bros.) Martin Scorsese (P) |
|  | “Letters from Iwo Jima†(Warner Bros.) Clint Eastwood (F) |
|  | “The Queen†(Miramax, Pathé and Granada) Stephen Frears |
|  | “United 93†(Universal and StudioCanal) Paul Greengrass |
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| Best documentary feature |
|
|  | “Deliver Us from Evil†(Lionsgate) A Disarming Films Production Amy Berg and Frank Donner |
|  | “An Inconvenient Truth†(Paramount Classics and Participant Productions) (P) (F) A Lawrence Bender/Laurie David Production Davis Guggenheim |
|  | “Iraq in Fragments†(Typecast Releasing in association with HBO Documentary Films) A Typecast Pictures/Daylight Factory Production James Longley and John Sinno |
|  | “Jesus Camp†(Magnolia Pictures) A Loki Films Production Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady |
|  | “My Country, My Country†(Zeitgeist Films) A Praxis Films Production Laura Poitras and Jocelyn Glatzer |
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| Best documentary short subject |
|
|  | “The Blood of Yingzhou District†A Thomas Lennon Films Production Ruby Yang and Thomas Lennon |
|  | “Recycled Life†An Iwerks/Glad Production Leslie Iwerks and Mike Glad |
|  | “Rehearsing a Dream†A Simon & Goodman Picture Company Production Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon |
|  | “Two Hands†A Crazy Boat Pictures Production Nathaniel Kahn and Susan Rose Behr |
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| Achievement in film editing |
|
|  | “Babel†(Paramount and Paramount Vantage) Stephen Mirrione and Douglas Crise |
|  | “Blood Diamond†(Warner Bros.) Steven Rosenblum |
|  | “Children of Men†(Universal) Alex RodrÃguez and Alfonso Cuarón |
|  | “The Departed†(Warner Bros.) Thelma Schoonmaker |
|  | “United 93†(Universal and StudioCanal) Clare Douglas, Christopher Rouse and Richard Pearson |
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| Best foreign language film of the year |
|
|  | “After the Wedding†A Zentropa Entertainments 16 Production Denmark |
|  | “Days of Glory (Indigènes)†A Tessalit Production Algeria |
|  | “The Lives of Others†A Wiedemann & Berg Production Germany |
|  | “Pan’s Labyrinth†A Tequila Gang/Esperanto Filmoj/Estudios Picasso Production Mexico |
|  | “Water†A Hamilton-Mehta Production Canada |
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| Achievement in makeup |
|
|  | “Apocalypto†(Buena Vista) Aldo Signoretti and Vittorio Sodano |
|  | “Click†(Sony Pictures Releasing) Kazuhiro Tsuji and Bill Corso |
|  | “Pan’s Labyrinth†(Picturehouse) David Martà and Montse Ribé |
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| Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score) |
|
|  | “Babel†(Paramount and Paramount Vantage) Gustavo Santaolalla |
|  | “The Good German†(Warner Bros.) Thomas Newman |
|  | “Notes on a Scandal†(Fox Searchlight) Philip Glass |
|  | “Pan’s Labyrinth†(Picturehouse) Javier Navarrete |
|  | “The Queen†(Miramax, Pathé and Granada) Alexandre Desplat |
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| Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song) |
|
|  | “I Need to Wake Up†from “An Inconvenient Truth†(Paramount Classics and Participant Productions) Music and Lyric by Melissa Etheridge |
|  | “Listen†from “Dreamgirls†(DreamWorks and Paramount) Music by Henry Krieger and Scott Cutler Lyric by Anne Preven |
|  | “Love You I Do†from “Dreamgirls†(DreamWorks and Paramount) Music by Henry Krieger Lyric by Siedah Garrett |
|  | “Our Town†from “Cars†(Buena Vista) Music and Lyric by Randy Newman |
|  | “Patience†from “Dreamgirls†(DreamWorks and Paramount) Music by Henry Krieger Lyric by Willie Reale |
| Â | |
| Best motion picture of the year |
|
|  | “Babel†(Paramount and Paramount Vantage) An Anonymous Content/Zeta Film/Central Films Production Alejandro González Iñárritu, Jon Kilik and Steve Golin, Producers |
|  | “The Departed†(Warner Bros.) (F) A Warner Bros. Pictures Production Graham King, Producer |
|  | “Letters from Iwo Jima†(Warner Bros.) A DreamWorks Pictures/Warner Bros. Pictures Production Clint Eastwood, Steven Spielberg and Robert Lorenz, Producers |
|  | “Little Miss Sunshine†(Fox Searchlight) (P) A Big Beach/Bona Fide Production David T. Friendly, Peter Saraf and Marc Turtletaub, Producers |
|  | “The Queen†(Miramax, Pathé and Granada) A Granada Production Andy Harries, Christine Langan and Tracey Seaward, Producers |
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| Best animated short film |
|
|  | “The Danish Poet†(National Film Board of Canada) A Mikrofilm and National Film Board of Canada Production Torill Kove |
|  | “Lifted†(Buena Vista) A Pixar Animation Studios Production Gary Rydstrom |
|  | “The Little Matchgirl†(Buena Vista) A Walt Disney Pictures Production Roger Allers and Don Hahn |
|  | “Maestro†(SzimplaFilm) A Kedd Production Géza M. Tóth |
|  | “No Time for Nuts†(20th Century Fox) A Blue Sky Studios Production Chris Renaud and Michael Thurmeier |
| Â | |
| Best live action short film |
|
|  | “Binta and the Great Idea (Binta Y La Gran Idea)†A Peliculas Pendelton and Tus Ojos Production Javier Fesser and Luis Manso |
|  | “Éramos Pocos (One Too Many)†(Kimuak) An Altube Filmeak Production Borja Cobeaga |
|  | “Helmer & Son†A Nordisk Film Production Søren Pilmark and Kim Magnusson |
|  | “The Saviour†(Australian Film Television and Radio School) An Australian Film Television and Radio School Production Peter Templeman and Stuart Parkyn |
|  | “West Bank Story†An Ari Sandel, Pascal Vaguelsy, Amy Kim, Ravi Malhotra and Ashley Jordan Production Ari Sandel |
| Â | |
| Achievement in sound editing |
|
|  | “Apocalypto†(Buena Vista) Sean McCormack and Kami Asgar |
|  | “Blood Diamond†(Warner Bros.) Lon Bender |
|  | “Flags of Our Fathers†(DreamWorks and Warner Bros., Distributed by Paramount) Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman |
|  | “Letters from Iwo Jima†(Warner Bros.) Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman |
|  | “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest†(Buena Vista) Christopher Boyes and George Watters II |
| Â | |
| Achievement in sound mixing |
|
|  | “Apocalypto†(Buena Vista) Kevin O’Connell, Greg P. Russell and Fernando Cámara |
|  | “Blood Diamond†(Warner Bros.) Andy Nelson, Anna Behlmer and Ivan Sharrock |
|  | “Dreamgirls†(DreamWorks and Paramount) Michael Minkler, Bob Beemer and Willie Burton |
|  | “Flags of Our Fathers†(DreamWorks and Warner Bros., Distributed by Paramount) John Reitz, Dave Campbell, Gregg Rudloff and Walt Martin |
|  | “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest†(Buena Vista) Paul Massey, Christopher Boyes and Lee Orloff |
| Â | |
| Achievement in visual effects |
|
|  | “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest†(Buena Vista) John Knoll, Hal Hickel, Charles Gibson and Allen Hall |
|  | “Poseidon†(Warner Bros.) Boyd Shermis, Kim Libreri, Chas Jarrett and John Frazier |
|  | “Superman Returns†(Warner Bros.) Mark Stetson, Neil Corbould, Richard R. Hoover and Jon Thum |
| Â | |
| Adapted screenplay |
|
|  | “Borat Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan†(20th Century Fox) Screenplay by Sacha Baron Cohen & Anthony Hines & Peter Baynham & Dan Mazer Story by Sacha Baron Cohen & Peter Baynham & Anthony Hines & Todd Phillips |
|  | “Children of Men†(Universal) Screenplay by Alfonso Cuarón & Timothy J. Sexton and David Arata and Mark Fergus & Hawk Ostby |
|  | “The Departed†(Warner Bros.) Screenplay by William Monahan |
|  | “Little Children†(New Line) Screenplay by Todd Field & Tom Perrotta |
|  | “Notes on a Scandal†(Fox Searchlight) Screenplay by Patrick Marber |
| Â | |
| Original screenplay |
|
|  | “Babel†(Paramount and Paramount Vantage) Written by Guillermo Arriaga |
|  | “Letters from Iwo Jima†(Warner Bros.) (F) Screenplay by Iris Yamashita Story by Iris Yamashita & Paul Haggis |
|  | “Little Miss Sunshine†(Fox Searchlight) (P) Written by Michael Arndt |
|  | “Pan’s Labyrinth†(Picturehouse) Written by Guillermo del Toro |
|  | “The Queen†(Miramax, Pathé and Granada) Written by Peter Morgan |
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