This year is quite a year with a lot of variety but no clear favorite. This year, I have already seen movies that make up 74 of the nominations. I think it may end up like last year where the movie(s) with the most Oscar wins will win three Oscar as the most, and four moives got a hat trick last year. It's interesting that this year the acting and directing Oscars are almost completely decisive while the Best Picture award is the toughest to call. Anyways here are my picks for what should win (SW), what will win (WW) and which one is the closest threat (CT) to my prediction for the winner:

BEST PICTURE:
SW & WW: The Departed
CT #1: Little Miss Sunshine
CT #2: Babel

This is hardest to tell because Babel won the Golden Globe, Little Miss Sunshine won the Golden Laurel, The Queen won the BAFTA and The Departed won the Critics Choice. So I based my decision on how well the five nominees will perform in the other Top 8 categories. You'll see in my predictions for the other Top 8 categories why I picked The Departed to win. As for Little Miss SUnshine's chances of winning, I think since it was snubbed of a Best Director nomination, its chances will be hurt.

BEST DIRECTOR:
SW & WW: MARTIN SCORSESE/The Departed
CT: ALEJANDRO GONZALEZ INNARITU/Babel

What took the Academy so long? For over thirty years, he has made some of the best movies ever and even perfected the genre of the gangster movie. In fact it seems appropriate that he win the Oscar for directing a gangster movie. The only upset I see happening is if Innaritu steals it from him, but I doubt it. Finally the justice will be done this Oscar night.

BEST ACTOR:
SW & WW: FOREST WHITAKER/The Last King Of Scotland
CT: PETER O'TOOLE/Venus

Run Forest, run! I'm referring to an Oscar run. He has been almost unanaiomuous in the Best Actor category in other awards shows. The only way I see him losing is if they give it to seven-time nominee Peter O'Toole. But only once has an actor, Paul Newman, won a competitive Oscar after receiving a lifetime achievement Oscar. So I think it will be Forest all the way.

BEST ACTRESS:
SW & WW: HELEN MIRREN/The Queen
CT: Ha ha ha ha ha! You have to be kidding!

For playing Queen Elizabeth, Helen Mirren has been the queen of almost every award out there and no doubt she'll be queen of the Oscars this year.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:
WW: EDDIE MURPHY/Dreamgirls
SW & CT: ALAN ARKIN/Little Miss Sunshine

Did you know Eddie Murphy's Delirious was just released on DVD? It's interesting how that was considered offensive back then but it helped push the envelope and influence comedians in the year to come. Also you'd be able to see Eddie do hilarious James Brown imitations. He also did them during his SNL days. So it shouldn't be too surprising he'd be the perfect for Jimmy Early.

Also in 'Delirious' you'll see the reason why he might NOT win the Oscar: his mockery of gays. Sure that was back in the 80's but there may be some Academy members who might still hold it against him. That's why I picked Arkin as the threat. Frankly I think the award should go to Alan Arkin as the grandfather with quite the libido.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
WW: JENNIFER HUDSON/Dreamgirls
SW & CT: RINKO KIKUCHI/Babel

When I first saw Babel back in November, I wanted to find out the name of the girl who played Chieko because I though her performance was both gutsy and intense and I felt she deserved an Oscar nomination. But already Jennifer Hudson has won the most acclaim and I'm convinced she'll be the first Oscar winner since 11 year-old Anna Paquin back in 1994 to win on a debut performance.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:
SW & WW: MICHAEL ARNDT/Little Miss Sunshine
CT: GUILLERMO ARREAGA/Babel

Michael Arndt has won the most accolades for the Little Miss Sunshine script so I feel it will win here. Surprisingly, it wasn't nominated for a Golden Globe. Awkward.

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:
SW & WW: WILLIAM MONAHAN/The Departed
CT: TODD FIELD & TOM PERROTTA/Little Children

No competition here. The script from The Departed looks like it will take it.

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE:
WW: Cars
SW & CT: Happy Feet

The only time a Disney/Pixar movie ran in this category and lost was back in 2002 when Monsters Inc. lost to Shrek. Looks like Cars will make it 3 for 4.

BEST ART DIRECTION:
WW: JOHN MYHRE, TOMAS VOTH & NANCY HAIGH/Dreamgirls
CT: EUGENIO CABALLERO/Pan's Labyrinth

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:
WW: EMMANUEL LUBEZKI/Children Of Men
CT: GUILLERMO NAVARRO/Pan's Labyrinth

Children Of Men has been considered by many to be one of the most undernominated movies in this year's Oscar race. But the cinematography has been the best opportunity for the award. Pan's Labyrinth could upset.

BEST COSTUME DESIGN:
SW: YEE CHUNG MAN/Curse Of The Golden Flower
WW: MILENA CANONERO/MArie Antoinette
CT: PATRICIA FIELD/The Devil Wears Prada

BEST FILM EDITING:
SW & WW: THELMA SCHOONMAKER/The Departed
CT: STEPHEN MIRRIONE & DOUGLAS CRISE/Babel

This is a tough one. The ACE EDDIE awards gave a tie to The Departed and Babel. Rarely is there a tie for the Oscar. So I picked The Departed because of other accolades its editing has won.

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM:
SW & WW: PAN'S LABYRINTH/Mexico
CT: Ha ha ha ha ha! That's funny!

Everyone who I know of who has seen this movie has been amazed. If you've seen it, you'll know why. No doubt Pan's Labyrinth will win.

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE:
SW: JAVIER NAVARETTE/Pan's Labyrinth
WW: GUSTAVO SANTAOLALLA/Babel
CT: ALEXANDRE DESPLAT/ The Queen

Could it be two in a row for Gustavo Santaolalla? Possibly. Whether it would be a first or not, I don't know. But if the Academy don't want Gustavo to repeat, then Desplat will get it.

BEST ORIGINAL SONG:
WW:"LIsten"/Dreamgirls
CT:"I Need To Wake Up"/An Inconvenient Truth

Knowing that Dreamgirls has three of the five nominees, it shouldn't be a surprise if one of the songs wins this category. "Listen" is the one of the three that stands out most.

BEST SOUND:
WW: Dreamgirls
CT: Flags Of Our Fathers

BEST SOUND EDITING:
WW: Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
CT: Blood Diamond

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS:
SW & WW: JOHN KNOLL/Pirates Of The Caribben: Dead Man's Chest
CT: MARK STETSON/ Superman Returns

Although Pirates 2 was loussy, its special effects were one of the few things that were still top notch. To think that it ran back in 2003 but was no match for Lord Of The Rings: Return Of The King. This time there's no Frodo blocking Pirates' path.

FAST ONES (no SW or CT):

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE:
-An Inconvenient Truth

BEST MAKE-UP:
-David Marte& Montse Ribe/Pan's Labyrinth

BEST ANIMATED SHORT:
-The Little Matchgirl

BEST SHORT LIVE-ACTION FILM:
-Eramos Pocos

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT:
-Two Hands: The Leon Fleisher Story

Okay, I'll admit I took the easy way out for the shorts categories and went with Entertainment Weekly's predictions. But who can blame me?

Anyways those are my predictions for tomorrow's Oscars. Check tomorrow to see if I'm right or wrong.

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