Well, which one do you want to win, DiCaprio or Cohen?

As far as I know he's campaigned as lead for both films. But as it stands, with Forest Whitaker cleaning up so many Best Actor awards, Leo's best chance would be his performance in The Departed being classed as Supporting - this should see him win instead of being the bridesmaid. I think the academy will follow the SAGs lead and nominate him Lead for Diamond, Supporting for The Departed.

It's such a shame that "The Illusionist" will most likely get overlooked in so many categories it so richly deserves. Such as Cinematography, Art Direction, Costume Design and Original Score. And both Edward Norton and Paul Giamatti both did amazing acting jobs.

Both really , but I would love to see Cohen win it. So, Cohen, but I doubt he even get's a nod.

I disagree about Little Miss Sunshine, I think Fox Searchlight will be heavily promoting it to get a Best Picture nod. I really hope it does get a nod, because I think if it does it has a really strong chance at winning the Best Picture Oscar.

Very true!

If he gets a Supporting Actor nod for The Departed, I think he will win it! I'd love to see Eddie Murphy get a nod and win, but that performance was incredible.

I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss it. Little Miss Sunshine is really picking up steam as Dreamgirls starts to slowly fade - audiences had high expectations of Dreamgirls and it didn't meet them. Little Miss Sunshine, however, people were pleasantly surprised by. It's been nominated by Golden Globe, SAG, PGA, and DGA for Best Picture so by all accounts and purposes it's almost a lock for Best Picture nomination. There may even be only room for one of these two to be nominated and that might just boil down to who takes the Best Picture - Comedy or Musical catergory at the Globes.

How come United 93 is getting a lot of love, yet World Trade Center is getting zero?

I'm amused by all the love this year for Leonardo DiCaprio - in past years (Aviator, Catch Me If You Can, Gangs of New York), everybody in this forum hated him, basically accused him of being an imposter of an actor.

Glad to see people coming around to Leonardo. I've always liked him - ever since 1993. I wish the best for him this year, as far as Oscars are concerned. On the other hand, just getting nominations is really sometimes better than winning the award. After you win the award, the Academy gets stingy. They're like, well, he won in 2006, no need to nominate him in 2008. Let someone else have a chance. Well, if he just builds up a nice big string of nominations, sometimes that's more impressive than getting the award and being done with the Academy.

My best guess is because United 93 is the better film. I'm just throwing it out there.

I call that "Julianne Moore Syndrome." It used to be named after Cate Blanchett but she finally snapped her losing streak with The Aviator.

Or Kate Winslet Syndrome.

Updated predictions (having just seen the Golden Globes)

Best Motion Picture of the Year
Babel
The Departed
Dreamgirls
Little Miss Sunshine
The Queen

Achievement in Directing
Clint Eastwood, for Letters From Iwo Jima
Stephen Frears, for The Queen
Paul Greengrass, for United 93
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, for Babel
Martin Scorsese, for The Departed

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
Leonardo DiCaprio, for The Departed
Ryan Gosling, for Half Nelson
Peter O’Toole, for Venus
Will Smith, for The Pursuit Of Happyness
Forest Whitaker, for The Last King of Scotland

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Penelope Cruz, for Volver
Judi Dench, for Notes On A Scandal
Helen Mirren, for The Queen
Meryl Streep, for The Devil Wears Prada
Kate Winslet, for Little Children

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
Alan Arkin, for Little Miss Sunshine
Djimon Hounsou, for Blood Diamond
Eddie Murphy, for Dreamgirls
Jack Nicholson, for The Departed
Brad Pitt, for Babel

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
Adriana Barazza, for Babel
Cate Blanchett, for Notes On A Scandal
Abigail Breslin, for Little Miss Sunshine
Jennifer Hudson, for Dreamgirls
Rinko Kikuchi, for Babel

Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
“Children of Men” by Alfonso Cuaron
“The Departed” by William Monahan
“Little Children” by Todd Field & Tom Perotta
“Notes On A Scandal” by Patrick Marber
“Thank You For Smoking” by Jason Reitman

Best Writing (Original Screenplay)
“Babel” by Guillermo Arriaga
“Letters From Iwo Jima” by Iris Yamashita & Paul Haggis
“Little Miss Sunshine” by Michael Ardnt
“The Queen” by Peter Morgan
“United 93” by Paul Greengrass

Achievement in Cinematography
Babel – Rodrigo Prieto
Children of Men – Emanuel Lubezki
The Departed – Michael Ballhaus
Letters From Iwo Jima – Tom Stern
Dreamgirls – Tobias Schleissler

Achievement in Art Direction
Children of Men – Jim Clay, Geoffrey Kirkland, Jennifer Williams
Dreamgirls – John Myhre, Tomas Voth, Nancy Haigh
Letters From Iwo Jima – Henry Bumstead, James Murakami, Gary Fettis
Marie Antoinette – KK Barrett, Veronique Melery
Pan’s Labyrinth – TBA

Achievement in Costume Design
Curse Of The Golden Flower – Yee Chung Man
Dreamgirls – Sharen Davis
Marie Antoinette – Milena Canonero
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest – Penny Rose
The Queen – Consolata Boyle

Achievement in Makeup
Apocalypto – TBA
Pan’s Labyrinth – TBA
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest – Joel Harlow, Martin Samuel, Lucia Mace

Achievement in Music (Original Score)
Babel – Gustavo Santaolalla
The Da Vinci Code – Hans Zimmer
The Departed – Howard Shore
Letters From Iwo Jima – Kyle Eastwood, Michael Stevens
The Queen – Alexandre Desplat

Achievement in Music (Orginal Song)
“I Need To Wake Up”, from An Inconvenient Truth – performed by Melissa Etheridge
“Listen”, from Dreamgirls – performed by Beyonce Knowles
“The Song of the Heart”, from Happy Feet – performed by Prince

Achievement in Film Editing
Babel – Stephen Mirrone, Douglas Crise
The Departed – Thelma Schoonmaker
Dreamgirls – Virginia Katz
The Queen – Lucia Zuccheti
United 93 – Clare Douglas, Christopher Rouse, Richard Pearson

Achievement in Sound Editing
Casino Royale - TBA
Dreamgirls – Richard Yawn
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest – Christopher Boyes, George Watters

Achievement in Sound Mixing
The Departed – Danny Michael, Tom Fleischman
Dreamgirls – Willie Burton, Michael Minkler, Bob Beemer
Happy Feet – Robert Deschaine, Phil Heywood, Greg Fitzgerald
Letters From Iwo Jima – Dave Campbell, Walt Martin
Superman Returns – John Reitz, Greg Rudloff

Achievement in Visual Effects
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest – John Knoll, Hal Hickel, Charles Gibson
Superman Returns – Mark Stetson, Richard Hoover, Neil Corbould
X-Men: The Last Stand – Paul Beilby, John Bruno, Charley Henley

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year
Cars
Happy Feet
Monster House

Best Foreign Language Film of the Year
Curse of the Golden Flower – China
The Lives of Others – Germany
Pan’s Labyrith – Mexico
Volver – Spain
Water - Canada

Most Nominations by Film
10 nominations - Dreamgirls
9 nominations – Babel, The Departed
7 nominations – The Queen
5 nominations – Letters From Iwo Jima
4 nominations – Little Miss Sunshine, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest
3 nominations – Children Of Men, Happy Feet, Notes On A Scandal, Pan’s Labyrinth, United 93

going "sight-unseen," I think the BEST ACTOR OSCAR is a lock for Forest Whitaker - I'm hearing tremendous things about his performance.

I'm just guessing, but I get the feeling it might go something like this...

Best Motion Picture of the Year
Babel
The Departed
Dreamgirls
Letters from Iwo Jima
The Queen

Achievement in Directing
Clint Eastwood, for Letters From Iwo Jima
Stephen Frears, for The Queen
Bill Condon, for Dreamgirls
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, for Babel
Martin Scorsese, for The Departed

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
Leonardo DiCaprio, for Blood Diamond
Ken Watanabe, for Letters From Iwo Jima
Sasha Baron Cohen, for Borat
Will Smith, for The Pursuit Of Happyness
Forest Whitaker, for The Last King of Scotland

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Penelope Cruz, for Volver
Judi Dench, for Notes On A Scandal
Helen Mirren, for The Queen
Meryl Streep, for The Devil Wears Prada
Kate Winslet, for Little Children

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
Leonardo DiCaprio, for The Departed
Djimon Hounsou, for Blood Diamond
Eddie Murphy, for Dreamgirls
Jack Nicholson, for The Departed
Brad Pitt, for Babel

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
Adriana Barazza, for Babel
Cate Blanchett, for Notes On A Scandal
Toni Collette, for Little Miss Sunshine
Jennifer Hudson, for Dreamgirls
Rinko Kikuchi, for Babel

I hope Adriana Barazza and Rinko Kikuchi aren't both nominated for Babel. Rinko Kikuchi had the best female supporting performance of the film by far, give the nod to another actress in another film.

I also hope Little Children garners a few more nominations that don't go unnoticed like In the Bedroom's nominations did.

There is a strong chance that this will be the 5 nominees for best picture of 2006.


I think it's highly possible that Sacha Baron Cohen for Borat will get in for best actor. That gold man statue has to have a sense of humor at some point.

I'm having a feeling that Dreamgirls won't get a Best Picture nom. I think it may suffer the same fate as Walk the Line last year. Despite the Golden Globe wins, the hype and box office seem to have died down around this film.

i agree, little miss sunshine was a great movie & as i have said before dreamgirls was highly promoted and didn't live up to the hype. miss sunshine was a triffic movie and through it doesn't have huge stars in it, it was way better. for some reason jennifer hudson & Beyonce really annoy me.

Maybe, I'd like to see United 93 or Children of Men get in there instead. I'd say that for best picture nods, The Departed, Little Miss Sunshine and Babel look like they have a stronger chance than most other films, but Dreamgirls and The Queen I think will hold pat with either Children Of Men or United 93 ousting one of them, maybe more likely The Queen. If Little Miss Sunshine does not get in for a best picture nod that would be truly awful after all the critical acclaim, award nominations and on an $8 million dollar budget making around $59 million dollars at the US box office, it was a sleeper hit, it is a film that still has the hype working for it now and what it had months ago, and is now becoming a true genuine classic Americana film, I think it is movie making at it's finest and that is what a movie should be all about.

just a reminder that the nods will be televised on most broadcast morning programs at 8:30am EST.

Maybe we should poll maids and landscaping people in L.A. since they seem to do a portion of the voting! Furthermore, we should remember that the Oscars have more to do with petty bias and Hollywood politics than with rewarding truly great work.

The Academy Awards are all about show and self-congratulation. If the awards were given based on the merit of each nominee we would have something much less plastic. *rash anyone?

Want some cheese with that whine? The Academy liked Crash more than Brokeback Mountain. Get...over....it.

I'd have an easier time believing a housekeeper named Rosario liked *rash better than Brokeback Mountain. The Academy, politically motivated, chose not to acknowledge the actual Best Picture. Same thing happened with Saving Private Ryan and countless others, but you know that.

Is there really an "actual best picture"?

I don't think there's a doubt in anyone's minds that the Academy is biased. Biased against foreign films, against certain genres, etc. etc. I think it's actually fairly common knowledge that often times it's just a matter of getting the most screeners out and paying for the most advertisements.

But it's still fun to make predictions, and I'd say they've always chosen at least a very good film, even if I often don't agree that their choice is the "best of the year".

Anyways, here's my guesses:

BEST MOTION PICTURE:
The Departed
United 93
The Queen
Letters from Iwo Jima
Children of Men

Runner-up: Little Miss Sunshine

BEST DIRECTOR:
Martin Scorsese for "The Departed"
Paul Greengrass for "United 93"
Robert Altman for "A Prairie Home Companion"
Alejandro Iñárritu for "Babel"
Alfonso Cuaron for "Children of Men"

Runner-up: Clint Eastwood for "Letters from Iwo Jima"

BEST ACTOR:
Leonardo DiCaprio for "The Departed"
Eddie Murphy for "Dreamgirls"
Sacha Cohen for "Borat"
Ryan Gosling for "Half Nelson"
Forrest Whitaker for "The Last King of Scotland"

Runner-up: Will Smith for "The Pursuit of Happyness"

BEST ACTRESS:
Helen Mirren for "The Queen"
Judi Dench for "Notes on a Scandal"
Maggie Gylenhaal for "Sherrybaby"
Penelope Cruz for "Volver"
Meryl Streep for "A Prairie Home Companion"

Runner-up: Kate Winslet for "Little Children"

Predictions:
The Departed
Babel
Children of Men
Dreamgirls
The Queen