Oscar Predictions

Far more knowledgeable commentators than I are making better predictions than these for tomorrow morning's Oscar nominations, but who am not to stick my neck out?

PICTURE
BABEL / THE DEPARTED / DREAMGIRLS / LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE / THE QUEEN
Wild card: Letters From Iwo Jima
Sadly missing: Children of Men

DIRECTOR
Bill Condon, DREAMGIRLS / Stephen Frears, THE QUEEN / Alejandro González Iñárritu, BABEL / Paul Greengrass, UNITED 93 / Martin Scorsese, THE DEPARTED
Wild card: Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
Sadly missing: Robert Altman, A PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION

ACTOR
Leonardo DiCaprio, THE DEPARTED / Ryan Gosling, HALF NELSON / Peter O'Toole, VENUS / Will Smith, THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS / Forest Whitaker, THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND
Wild card: Ken Watanabe, LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA
Sadly missing: Matt Damon, THE DEPARTED

ACTRESS
Penelope Cruz, VOLVER / Judi Dench, NOTES ON A SCANDAL / Helen Mirren, THE QUEEN / Meryl Streep, THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA / Kate Winslet, LITTLE CHILDREN
Wild card: Maggie Gyllenhaal, SHERRYBABY
Sadly missing: Kirsten Dunst, MARIE ANTOINETTE

SUPPORTING ACTOR
Alan Arkin, LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE / Eddie Murphy, DREAMGIRLS / Jack Nicholson, THE DEPARTED / Brad Pitt, BABEL / Mark Wahlberg, THE DEPARTED
Wild card: Jackie Earle Haley, LITTLE CHILDREN
Sadly missing: Samuel Barnett, THE HISTORY BOYS

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett, NOTES ON A SCANDAL / Emily Blunt, THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA / Toni Collette, LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE / Jennifer Hudson, DREAMGIRLS / Rinko Kikuchi, BABEL
Wild card: Adriana Barraza, BABEL
Sadly missing: Frances McDormand, FRIENDS WITH MONEY

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
BABEL / LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE / THE QUEEN / UNITED 93 / VOLVER
Wild card: PAN'S LABYRINTH
Sadly missing: INSIDE MAN

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
CHILDREN OF MEN / THE DEPARTED / DREAMGIRLS / LITTLE CHILDREN / NOTES ON A SCANDAL
Wild card: BORAT
Sadly missing: TRISTAM SHANDY: A COCK AND BULL STORY


Tomorrow: How I could have been so wrong!

And of course, the Oscars are just a warm-up for Hollywood's most prestigious movie awards: The Cribbies.