And the Oscar goes to...

Well, in case you happened to catch a glimpse at my Golden Globe predictions, you'll notice that I wasn't very successful with my picks....oh well. In my defence, I hadn't really seen any of the movies being nominated, with the exception of The Departed and Blood Diamond. So while I'm not that great of a predictor of these types of things, I will base my choice on gut feeling and/or who I would like to win. That method has served me well when picking my brackets for March Madness pools...So here goes nothing...

Performance by an actor in a leading role
Leonardo DiCaprio in “Blood Diamond”
Ryan Gosling in “Half Nelson”
Peter O’Toole in “Venus”
Will Smith in “The Pursuit of Happyness”
Forest Whitaker in “The Last King of Scotland”

Performance by an actor in a supporting role
Alan Arkin in “Little Miss Sunshine”
Jackie Earle Haley in “Little Children”
Djimon Hounsou in “Blood Diamond”
Eddie Murphy in “Dreamgirls”
Mark Wahlberg in “The Departed”

Performance by an actress in a leading role
Penélope Cruz in “Volver”
Judi Dench in “Notes on a Scandal”
Helen Mirren in “The Queen”
Meryl Streep in “The Devil Wears Prada”
Kate Winslet in “Little Children”

Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Adriana Barraza in “Babel”
Cate Blanchett in “Notes on a Scandal”
Abigail Breslin in “Little Miss Sunshine”
Jennifer Hudson in “Dreamgirls”
Rinko Kikuchi in “Babel”

Achievement in directing
“Babel” Alejandro González Iñárritu
“The Departed” Martin Scorsese
“Letters from Iwo Jima” Clint Eastwood
“The Queen” Stephen Frears
“United 93” Paul Greengrass

Best foreign language film of the year
“After the Wedding”
“Days of Glory (Indigènes)”
“The Lives of Others”
“Pan’s Labyrinth”
“Water”

Best motion picture of the year
“Babel”
“The Departed”
“Letters from Iwo Jima”
“Little Miss Sunshine”
“The Queen”

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”