MY PICKS IN BOLD.

Best motion picture of the year
“Atonement” (Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner and Paul Webster, Producers)
“Juno” (Lianne Halfon, Mason Novick and Russell Smith, Producers)
“Michael Clayton” (Sydney Pollack, Jennifer Fox and Kerry Orent, Producers)
“No Country for Old Men” (Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, Producers)
“There Will Be Blood” (JoAnne Sellar, Paul Thomas Anderson and Daniel Lupi, Producers)

THOUGHTS: "There Will Be Blood" is my upset pick. Late buzz (as if that means anything) and the movie simply rocks something fierce. This is a fine group, but Paul Thomas Anderson's Daniel Plainview is a modern movie icon.

Performance by an actor in a leading role
George Clooney in “Michael Clayton”
Daniel Day-Lewis in “There Will Be Blood”
Johnny Depp in “Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”
Tommy Lee Jones in “In the Valley of Elah”
Viggo Mortensen in “Eastern Promises”

THOUGHTS: D'uh.

Performance by an actress in a leading role
Cate Blanchett in “Elizabeth: The Golden Age”
Julie Christie in “Away from Her”
Marion Cotillard in “La Vie en Rose”
Laura Linney in “The Savages”
Ellen Page in “Juno”

THOUGHTS: Would love for Ellen Page to win this. It just won't happen. Christie is a lock.

Performance by an actor in a supporting role
Casey Affleck in “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford”
Javier Bardem in “No Country for Old Men”
Philip Seymour Hoffman in “Charlie Wilson’s War”
Hal Holbrook in “Into the Wild”
Tom Wilkinson in “Michael Clayton”

THOUGHTS: Bardem's a lock. Call it.

Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Cate Blanchett in “I’m Not There”
Ruby Dee in “American Gangster”Saoirse Ronan in “Atonement”
Amy Ryan in “Gone Baby Gone”
Tilda Swinton in “Michael Clayton”

THOUGHTS: The ultimate "just because" vote. Ruby's been a big screen icon and Oscar will honor her before she, well, expires.

Achievement in directing
“The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” Julian Schnabel
“Juno” Jason Reitman
“Michael Clayton” Tony Gilroy
“No Country for Old Men” Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
“There Will Be Blood” Paul Thomas Anderson

THOUGHTS: Maybe it's wishful thinking, but I really believe that PTA might pull this out. And maybe the casual academy voter will actually think they are voting for the Parent Teacher Association. Who's going to vote against THAT PTA, right? Sorry, I'm off track here.

Adapted screenplay
“Atonement” Screenplay by Christopher Hampton
“Away from Her” Written by Sarah Polley
“The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” Screenplay by Ronald Harwood
“No Country for Old Men” Written for the screen by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen“There Will Be Blood” Written for the screen by Paul Thomas Anderson

THOUGHTS: Again, it could be a PTA sweep, but the Cohens have to win something.

Original screenplay
“Juno” Written by Diablo Cody
“Lars and the Real Girl” Written by Nancy Oliver
“Michael Clayton” Written by Tony Gilroy
“Ratatouille” Screenplay by Brad Bird; Story by Jan Pinkava, Jim Capobianco, Brad Bird
“The Savages” Written by Tamara Jenkins

THOUGHTS: First time screenwriter pens a huge hit about a contemporary, somewhat liberal issue. "Juno" should take it.

Best animated feature film of the year
“Persepolis” Directors: Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud
“Ratatouille” Director: Brad Bird
“Surf's Up” Directors: Ash Brannon and Chris Buck

THOUGHTS: Should be "Persepolis," but "Ratatouille" will run away with it.

Best documentary feature
“No End in Sight” Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs
“Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience” Richard E. Robbins
“Sicko” Michael Moore and Meghan O’Hara
“Taxi to the Dark Side” Alex Gibney and Eva Orner
“War/Dance” Andrea Nix Fine and Sean Fine

THOUGHT: So what's the biggest liberal issue here? My thoughts are that the Iraq vote will be split, leaving Michael Moore's timely health care picture to scoop up the Oscar.

Best foreign language film of the year
“Beaufort” Israel
“The Counterfeiters” Austria
“Katyń” Poland
“Mongol” Kazakhstan
“12” Russia

THOUGHTS: I've heard lots of buzz about this film. Let's see what happens.

Achievement in art direction
“American Gangster" (Art Direction: Arthur Max; Set Decoration: Beth A. Rubino)
“Atonement” (Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer)
“The Golden Compass” (Art Direction: Dennis Gassner; Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock)
“Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” (Art Direction: Dante Ferretti; Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo)
“There Will Be Blood” (Art Direction: Jack Fisk; Set Decoration: Jim Erickson)

Achievement in cinematography
“The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford” Roger Deakins
“Atonement” Seamus McGarvey
“The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” Janusz Kaminski
“No Country for Old Men” Roger Deakins
“There Will Be Blood” Robert Elswit

Achievement in costume design
“Across the Universe” Albert Wolsky
“Atonement” Jacqueline Durran
“Elizabeth: The Golden Age” Alexandra Byrne
“La Vie en Rose” Marit Allen
“Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” Colleen Atwood

Achievement in film editing
“The Bourne Ultimatum” Christopher Rouse
“The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” Juliette Welfling
“Into the Wild” Jay Cassidy
“No Country for Old Men” Roderick Jaynes
“There Will Be Blood” Dylan Tichenor

Achievement in makeup
“La Vie en Rose” Didier Lavergne and Jan Archibald
“Norbit” Rick Baker and Kazuhiro Tsuji
“Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” Ve Neill and Martin Samuel

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)
“Atonement” Dario Marianelli
“The Kite Runner” Alberto Iglesias
“Michael Clayton” James Newton Howard
“Ratatouille” Michael Giacchino
“3:10 to Yuma” Marco Beltrami

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
“Falling Slowly” from “Once” (Music and Lyric by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova)
“Happy Working Song” from “Enchanted” (Music by Alan Menken; Lyric by Stephen Schwartz)
“Raise It Up” from “August Rush” (Nominees to be determined)
“So Close” from “Enchanted” (Music by Alan Menken; Lyric by Stephen Schwartz)
“That’s How You Know” from “Enchanted” (Music by Alan Menken; Lyric by Stephen Schwartz)

Achievement in sound editing
“The Bourne Ultimatum” Karen Baker Landers and Per Hallberg
“No Country for Old Men” Skip Lievsay
“Ratatouille” Randy Thom and Michael Silvers
“There Will Be Blood” Matthew Wood
“Transformers” Ethan Van der Ryn and Mike Hopkins

Achievement in sound mixing
“The Bourne Ultimatum” Scott Millan, David Parker and Kirk Francis
“No Country for Old Men” Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff and Peter Kurland
“Ratatouille” Randy Thom, Michael Semanick and Doc Kane
“3:10 to Yuma” Paul Massey, David Giammarco and Jim Stuebe
“Transformers” Kevin O’Connell, Greg P. Russell and Peter J. Devlin

Achievement in visual effects
“The Golden Compass” Michael Fink, Bill Westenhofer, Ben Morris and Trevor Wood
“Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” John Knoll, Hal Hickel, Charles Gibson and John Frazier
“Transformers” Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Russell Earl and John Frazier

Best animated short film
“I Met the Walrus” Josh Raskin
“Madame Tutli-Putli” Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski
“Même Les Pigeons Vont au Paradis (Even Pigeons Go to Heaven)” Samuel Tourneux and Simon Vanesse
“My Love (Moya Lyubov)” Alexander Petrov
“Peter & the Wolf” Suzie Templeton and Hugh Welchman

Best documentary short subject
“Freeheld” Cynthia Wade and Vanessa Roth
“La Corona (The Crown)” Amanda Micheli and Isabel Vega
“Salim Baba” Tim Sternberg and Francisco Bello
“Sari’s Mother” James Longley

Best live action short film
“At Night” Christian E. Christiansen and Louise Vesth
“Il Supplente (The Substitute)” Andrea Jublin
“Le Mozart des Pickpockets (The Mozart of Pickpockets)” Philippe Pollet-Villard
“Tanghi Argentini” Guido Thys and Anja Daelemans
“The Tonto Woman” Daniel Barber and Matthew Brown