Predictions of Little Gold Men

The Grammy's are through (Yay, Dixie Chicks!!), so its time to look to the next extravagant awards show looming over our heads. Next up: The 79th Annual Academy Awards, held on February 25, 2007 on ABC. Below are my Oscar picks this year. The Highlighted ones are who I think WILL win, whereas the bold ones are who I WANT to win.

MY OSCAR PICKS

Best Motion Picture of the Year:
•BABEL
•THE DEPARTED
•LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA
•LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
•THE QUEEN

Best Actor:
•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

Best Actress:
•Penélope Cruz - VOLVER
•Judi Dench - NOTES ON A SCANDAL
•Helen Mirren - THE QUEEN
•Meryl Streep - THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA
•Kate Winslet - LITTLE CHILDREN

Best Supporting Actor:
•Alan Arkin - LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
•Jackie Earle Haley - LITTLE CHILDREN
•Djimon Hounsou - BLOOD DIAMOND
•Eddie Murphy - DREAMGIRLS
•Mark Wahlberg - THE DEPARTED

Best Supporting Actress:
•Adriana Barraza - BABEL
•Cate Blanchett - NOTES ON A SCANDAL
•Abigail Breslin - LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
•Jennifer Hudson - DREAMGIRLS
•Rinko Kikuchi - BABEL

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year:
•CARS
•HAPPY FEET
•MONSTER HOUSE

Achievement in Art Direction:
•PAN'S LABYRINTH
•THE GOOD SHEPHERD
•DREAMGIRLS
•PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST
•THE PRESTIGE

Achievement in Cinematography:
•THE BLACK DAHLIA
•CHILDREN OF MEN
•THE ILLUSIONIST
•PAN'S LABYRINTH
•THE PRESTIGE

Achievement in Costume Design:
•CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER
•THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA
•DREAMGIRLS
•MARIE ANTOINETTE
•THE QUEEN

Best Director:
•Alejando Inaritu - BABEL
•Martin Scorsese - THE DEPARTED
•Clint Eastwood - LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA
•Stephen Frears - THE QUEEN
•Paul Greengrass - UNITED 93

Best Documentary Feature:
•DELIVER US FROM EVIL
•AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH
•IRAQ IN FRAGMENTS
•JESUS CAMP
•MY COUNTRY, MY COUNTRY

Achievement in Film Editing:
•BABEL
•BLOOD DIAMOND
•CHILDREN OF MEN
•THE DEPARTED
•UNITED 93

Best Foreign Language Film of the Year:
•AFTER THE WEDDING
•DAYS OF GLORY (INDIGÈNES)
•THE LIVES OF OTHERS
•PAN'S LABYRINTH
•WATER

Achievement in Makeup:
•APOCALYPTO
•CLICK
•PAN'S LABYRINTH

Best Original Score:
•BABEL
•THE GOOD GERMAN
•NOTES ON A SCANDAL
•PAN'S LABYRINTH
•THE QUEEN

Best Original Song:
•"I Need to Wake Up" - AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH
•"Listen" - DREAMGIRLS
•"Love You I Do" - DREAMGIRLS
•"Our Town" - CARS
•"Patience" - DREAMGIRLS

Achievement in Sound Editing:
•APOCALYPTO
•BLOOD DIAMOND
•FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS
•LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA
•PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST

Achievement in Sound Mixing:
•APOCALYPTO
•BLOOD DIAMOND
•DREAMGIRLS
•FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS
•PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST

Achievement in Visual Effects:
•PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST
•POSEIDON
•SUPERMAN RETURNS

Adapted Screenplay:
•BORAT: CULTURAL LEARNINGS OF AMERICA FOR MAKE BENEFIT GLORIOUS NATION OF KAZAKHSTAN
•CHILDREN OF MEN
•THE DEPARTED
•LITTLE CHILDREN
•NOTES ON A SCANDAL

Original Screenplay:
•BABEL
•LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA
•LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
•PAN'S LABYRINTH
•THE QUEEN

As you can probably tell by my picks, PAN'S LABYRINTH was by far my favorite movie of the year. I've seen almost every movie nominated except for "The Queen," which I'm sure influenced my choices in some ways. Overall, I feel like this year has had the best movies of recent years. The last 6 movies I've seen in the theater (The Departed, Babel, Dreamgirls, Children of Men, Pan's Labyrinth, and Blood Diamond--respectively) have all been alarmingly good. Filmmakers, let's keep up the good work!!!