Oscars

Best Picture Posted on 11:31 PM

Babel (Paramount)	The Departed (Warner Bros)	Letters from Iwo Jima (Dreamworks / Warner Bros)	Little Miss Sunshine (Fox Searchlight)	The Queen (Miramax)

Should Win: Little Miss Sunshine Could Win: The Departed / Babel Will Win: Little Miss Sunshine

Oh well... small movies have to wait another year... Too bad.

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Best Director Posted on 01:14 AM

Clint Eastwood (Letters from Iwo Jima)	Stephen Frears (The Queen)	Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu (Babel)	Paul Greengrass (United 93)	Martin Scorsese (The Departed)

Should Win: Clint Eastwood Could Win: Clint Eastwood/Paul Greengrass Will Win: Martin Scorsese

Standing ovation. "Could you double-check the envelope?".

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Best Actor Posted on 12:48 AM

Leonardo DiCaprio (Blood Diamond)	Ryan Gosling ( Half Nelson)	Peter O'Toole (Venus)	Will Smith (The Pursuit of Happyness)	Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland)

Should Win: Forest Whitaker Could Win: Peter O'Toole Will Win: Forest Whitaker

A just choice, despite for sure every voter felt sorry for not writing O'Toole's name down.

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Best Actress Posted on 12:10 AM

Penelope Cruz (Volver)	Judi Dench (Notes on a Scandal)	Helen Mirren (The Queen)	Meryl Streep (The Devil Wears Prada)	Kate Winslet (Little Children)

Should Win: Helen Mirren Could Win: Helen Mirren Will Win: Helen Mirren

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Best Supporting Actor Posted on 12:30 AM

Alan Arkin (Little Miss Sunshine)	Jackie Earle Haley (Little Children)	Djimon Honsou (Blood Diamond)	Eddie Murphy (Dreamgirls)	Mark Wahlberg (The Departed)

Should Win: Alan Arkin Could Win: Alan Arkin Will Win: Eddie Murphy

I wish I had gone with my favorite here ;) but regardless it is too soon to tell if the win indicates more support for Little Miss Sunshine or it was just a recognition for the 73 years old Arkin.

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Best Supporting Actress Posted on 08:17 AM

Adriana Barraza (Babel)	Cate Blanchett (Notes on a Scandal)	Abigail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine)	Jennifer Hudson (Dreamgirls)	Rinko Kikuchi (Babel)

Should Win: Cate Blanchett Could Win: Abigail Breslin Will Win: Jennifer Hudson

A true Hollywood story for Hudson for sure. But... will she ever act in a role without singing?

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Best Screenplay Posted on 10:44 PM

Original Screenplay

• Guillermo Arriaga (Babel)
• Iris Yamashita & Paul Haggis (Letters from Iwo Jima)
• Michael Arndt (Little Miss Sunshine)
• Guillermo del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth)
• Peter Morgan (The Queen)

I dare say that if Pan's Labyrinth doesn't win, whoever the winner here is, will also win Best Picture. Little Miss Sunshine! Well... I hope I'm right.

Adapted Screenplay

• Borat
• Children of Men
• The Departed
• Little Children
• Notes on a Scandal

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Standalone Categories Posted on 10:44 PM

Foreign Film

Indigenes (Algeria)	Water (Canada)	After the Wedding (Denmark)	The Lives of Others (Germany)	Pan's Labyrinth (Mexico)

Should Win: Pan's Labyrinth/Lives of Others Could Win: Pan's Labyrinth Will Win: The Lives of Others

Indeed, for those that saw both movies, Lives of Others took the edge over Pan's Labyrinth

Documentary

Deliver Us from Evil	An Inconvenient Truth	Iraq in Fragments	Jesus Camp	My Country, My Country

Should Win: (not seen enough) Could Win: Deliver Us from Evil Will Win: An Inconvenient Truth

Animated Feature

Cars(Pixar/Disney)	Happy Feet (Warner Bros)	Monster House (Sony Pictures)

Should Win: Monster House Could Win: Happy Feet Will Win: Cars

A small surprise. It's good that Pixar didn't win for a movie that's not really that great, but Monster House would have been the more edgy choice.

Documentary Short

• The Blood of Yingzhou District
• Recycled Life
• Rehearsing a Dream
• Two Hands

Live Action Short

• Binta Y La Gran Idea (Binta and the Great Idea)
• Éramos Pocos (One Too Many)
• Helmer & Son
• The Saviour
• West Bank Story

One of the best acceptance speeches in a long time. Brief, to the point and full of message (peace in the West Bank between Palestinians and Israeli) without being preachy.

Animated Short

• The Danish Poet
• Lifted
• Little Match Girl
• Maestro
• No Time For Nuts

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Technical Categories Posted on 12:12 AM

Marked below are my predictions as to who will win and who could win (my 2nd guess). For my comments and opinions on who should win, scroll all the way down. Most open races are Editing, Art Direction and Score.

Cinematography

• Black Dahlia
• Children of Men
• The Illusionist
• Pan's Labyrinth
• The Prestige

Editing

• Babel
• Blood Diamond
• Children of Men
• The Departed
• United 93

Art Direction

• Dreamgirls
• Good Shepherd
• Pan's Labyrinth
• Pirates of the Caribbean 2
• The Prestige

Costume Design

• Curse of Golden Flower
• Devil Wears Prada
• Dreamgirls
• Marie Antoinette
• The Queen

Makeup

• Apocalypto
• Click
• Pan's Labyrinth

Visual Effects

• Pirates of the Caribbean 2
• Poseidon
• Superman Returns

Original Score

• Babel (Gustavo Santaolalla)
• The Good German (Thomas Newman)
• Notes on Scandal (Phillip Glass)
• Pan's Labyrinth (Javier Navarrete)
• The Queen (Alexandre Desplat)

Relative surprise here. Very soon after the Brokeback Mountain win, Santaolalla gets a second. May this indicate strong support for Babel in Best Picture as well?

Sound Editing

• Apocalypto
• Blood Diamond
• Flags of Our Fathers
• Letters From Iwo Jima
• Pirates of the Caribbeans 2

A bit surprising. Can this award foreshadow some more surprising wins for Iwo Jima?

Sound Mixing

• Apocalypto
• Blood Diamond
• Dreamgirls
• Flags of our Fathers
• Pirates of the Caribbean 2

Original Song

• Cars (Our Town)
• An Inconvenient Truth (I Need to Wake Up)
• Dreamgirls (Listen)
• Dreamgirls (Patience)
• Dreamgirls (Love You, I Do)

Was this a political vote too? Either way it was not completely surprising, although I still think Listen was the best song of the group but also suffered from split Dreamgirls votes.

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