As you all may probably know, they already announced the nominations for the 77th Academy Awards last Tuesday. As expected, The Aviator- Martin Scorsese's brilliant epic about the life of eccentric millionaire Howard Hughes and his travails with Hollywood and the aviation industry- leads with 11 nominations including Best Picture, Best Actor (Leonardo DiCaprio), and Best Director (Scorsese). Joining the film in Best Picture is Clint Eastwood's boxing drama Million Dollar Baby, Finding Neverland, Sideways, and Ray. The nominations also had its share of surprises like Kinsey getting only one nomination (for best supporting actress), House of Flying Daggers getting snubbed for foreign language film (though it got nominated for cinematography), The Phantom of the Opera getting nominated for art direction but not for the costumes, Paul Giamatti & Jim Carrey (again!) getting shafted in Best Actor, Vera Drake managing 2 more nominations aside from the assured Best Actress nod, Sky Captain gets no love in the visual effects category, Michael Giacchino's The Incredibles score (his first film score) getting ignored, and Shark Tale beating The Polar Express for the other slot in Best Animated Feature alongside The Incredibles and Shrek 2 (Heck, The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie was even much better than Shark Tale!). Here are my predictions for some of the categories (which might be subject to change). Those in asterisks denote nominations which were among my personal picks (** meaning honorary mention), while those in "+" denote nominations that I assumed the Academy will eventually nominate.

Best Picture

The Aviator*+
Finding Neverland**+
Million Dollar Baby+
Ray
Sideways**+

Will/should win: The Aviator

Best Actor

Don Cheadle, Hotel Rwanda
Johnny Depp, Finding Neverland*+
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Aviator**+
Clint Eastwood, Million Dollar Baby
Jamie Foxx, Ray*+

Will win: Jamie Foxx, Ray
Should win: Johnny Depp, Finding Neverland
Honorary mention: Leonardo DiCaprio, The Aviator

Best Actress

Annette Bening, Being Julia+
Catalina Sandino Moreno, Maria Full of Grace+
Imelda Staunton, Vera Drake*+
Hilary Swank, Million Dollar Baby+
Kate Winslet, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind*+

Will win: Hilary Swank, Million Dollar Baby
Should win: Kate Winslet, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Best Supporting Actor

Alan Alda, The Aviator+
Thomas Haden Church, Sideways*+
Jamie Foxx, Collateral*
Morgan Freeman, Million Dollar Baby+
Clive Owen, Closer+

Will/should win: Morgan Freeman, Million Dollar Baby

Best Supporting Actress

Cate Blanchett, The Aviator+
Laura Linney, Kinsey*+
Virginia Madsen, Sideways*+
Sophie Okonedo, Hotel Rwanda
Natalie Portman, Closer*+

Will/should win: Natalie Portman, Closer
Honorary mention: Cate Blanchett, The Aviator

Best Director

Martin Scorsese, The Aviator*+
Clint Eastwood, Million Dollar Baby+
Taylor Hackford, Ray
Alexander Payne, Sideways+
Mike Leigh, Vera Drake

Will/should win: Martin Scorsese, The Aviator

Best Original Screenplay

The Aviator*+
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind*+
Hotel Rwanda+
The Incredibles**+
Vera Drake

Will/should win: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Honorary mention: The Aviator

Best Adapted Screenplay

Before Sunset**+
Finding Neverland*+
Million Dollar Baby+
The Motorcycle Diaries (this was one of my original predictions of which film will eventually be nominated in the category, but I changed it in the last minute to Million Dollar Baby)
Sideways*+

Will win: Sideways
Should win: Finding Neverland
Honorary mention: Before Sunset

Best Foreign Language Film

As It Is in Heaven, Sweden
The Chorus, France**+
Downfall, Germany**+
The Sea Inside, Spain*+
Yesterday, South Africa

Will/should win: The Sea Inside, Spain

Best Animated Feature

The Incredibles*+
Shark Tale
Shrek 2*+

Will/should win: The Incredibles

Best Original Score

Jan A.P. Kaczmarek, Finding Neverland**+
John Williams, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban*+
Thomas Newman, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events**+
John Debney, The Passion of the Christ*
James Newton Howard, The Village

Will win: Jan A.P. Kaczmarek, Finding Neverland
Should win: Thomas Newman, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events
Honorary mention: John Debney, The Passion of the Christ

Best Original Song

"Accidentally In Love", Shrek 2*+
"Al Otro Lado Del Rio", The Motorcycle Diaries
"Believe", The Polar Express*+
"Learn To Be Lonely", The Phantom of the Opera+
"Look To Your Path", The Chorus

Will win: "Accidentally In Love", Shrek 2
Should win: "Learn To Be Lonely", The Phantom of the Opera
Honorary mention: "Believe", The Polar Express

Best Cinematography

The Aviator*+
House of Flying Daggers*+
The Passion of the Christ*+
The Phantom of the Opera
A Very Long Engagement*

Will win: The Aviator
Should win: The Passion of the Christ
Honorary mention: House of Flying Daggers

Best Film Editing

The Aviator*+
Collateral+
Finding Neverland**
Million Dollar Baby
Ray

Will/should win: The Aviator
Honorary mention: Collateral

Best Sound Mixing

The Aviator*+
The Incredibles**+
The Polar Express**
Ray+
Spider-Man 2*

Will win: The Aviator
Should win: The Polar Express
Honorary mention: Spider-Man 2

Best Sound Editing

The Incredibles*+
The Polar Express**
Spider-Man 2*+

Will win: Spider-Man 2
Should win: The Polar Express

Best Art Direction

The Aviator*+
Finding Neverland+
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events+
The Phantom of the Opera**+
A Very Long Engagement*+

Will win: The Phantom of the Opera
Should win: Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events
Honorary mention: The Aviator

Best Costume Design

The Aviator*+
Finding Neverland**+
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events*
Ray
Troy

Will win: The Aviator
Should win: Finding Neverland
Honorary mention: Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events

Best Makeup

Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events*+
The Passion of the Christ*+
The Sea Inside

Will win: The Passion of the Christ
Should win: Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events

Best Visual Effects

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban**
I, Robot
Spider-Man 2*+

Will/should win: Spider-Man 2

Best Documentary Feature

Born into Brothels*
The Story of the Weeping Camel+
Super Size Me*+
Tupac: Resurrection*
Twist of Faith

Will/should win: Super Size Me

And that concludes my fearless Oscar forecast!