Oscar Picks

Lead Actor: Forrest Whittaker (Last King of Scotland)

I'm not the first person to make this comment, but his role was not really the lead role in the film. If only the Academy could have set things straight and put him into the supporting actor category. Then, Peter O'Toole could have gotten his career Oscar - despite already having a lifetime achievement award - and we could probably be saved from ever hearing the phrase "from Acadamy Award winning actor Eddie Murphy."

Supporting Actor: Alan Arkin (Little Miss Sunshine)

Murphy's probably going to win this for Dreamgirls since he's won everything else running up to this. But I'm pulling for the upset. My Oscar pool be damned. I just refuse to pick someone who follows up a nominated performance with Norbit.

Lead Actress: Helen Mirren (The Queen)

I'll quote Entertainment Weekly on why she might not win: "[Crickets] Um, maybe voters might want someone else to win for a change? Oh, who are we kidding?"

Supporting Actress: Jennifer Hudson (Dreamgirls)

I never caught Dreamgirls, so I'll just go with the gold she's already picked up for the performance.

Animated Feature: Cars

Is this category still around? Really?

Documentary Feature: An Inconvenient Truth

Global warming is bad for the Earth, but good for Oscar gold.

Adapted Screenplay: The Departed

The Departed isn't perfect, but neither are any of the other nominees really. It fills out its predecessor (Infernal Affairs) in all the right places.

Original Screenplay: Little Miss Sunshine

The category is really a toss-up. Sunshine is great, but the story gets a little too outlandish. Babel has to shoehorn in the only good section of its four-part narrative. Letters from Iwo Jima was written by Paul Haggis. Pan's Labyrinth is foreign. The Queen is based on actual events, so how "original" is it. Sunshine won the writer's guild award, so I'll go with that by a nose.

Director: Martin Scorsese (The Departed)

He said he didn't do it for the Oscar. According to Cinematical, Spielberg, Coppola, and Lucas are presenting the category, so it might finally be time for Marty to clear off some pace on the mantel.

Feature Film: The Departed

If the Oscars took place a month ago, I'd definitely be bemoaning the fact that Babel picked up the statuette. The category has turned into a bit of a race at the end, and yet my favorite movie of the five - Letters from Iwo Jima - still doesn't have a real chance. I think Scorsese's win should be enough. By the way, is it too late for a write-in vote for Children of Men?