Handicapping the Oscars...

The Golden Globes nominations have been announced. It's another interesting year (rather dull in the eyes of the mainstream audience) because there's no sure-fire movie.

What's unique about this year is that Clint Eastwood received a double nom for both "Flags of Our Fathers" and "Letters from Iwo Jima." I can't recall anything like this before where a director gets two movies nominated. I am so envious that he made two movie this year at his age. Wonsuk, what are you slacking off for?

Another bizarre thing is, "Letters from Iwo Jima" and "Apocalypto" are nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film. Maybe Clint and Mel should prepare their acceptance speech in Japanese and whatever language they were speaking in the latter film.

Anyhow, based on the results of critics' awards and the Golden Globes, I am predicting the following result for the Oscars (of course, I am also predicting some surprises):

Best Picture

Letters From Iwo Jima
The Queen
The Departed
Little Miss Sunshine
Babel

Best Director

Clint Eastwood "Letters From Iwo Jima"
Martin Scorsese "The Departed"
Stephen Frears "The Queen"
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu "Babel"
Emilio Estevez "Bobby"

Best Actor

Sasha Baron Cohen "Borat"
Leonardo DiCaprio "The Departed"
Peter O'Toole "Venus"
Forest Whitaker "The Last King of Scotland"
Will Farrell "Stranger Than Fiction"

Best Actress

Helen Mirren "The Queen"
Meryl Streep "The Devil Wears Prada"
Penelope Cruz "Volver"
Kate Winslet "Little Children"
Toni Collette "Little Miss Sunshine"

Best Supporting Actor

Jack Nicholson "The Departed"
Eddie Murphy "Dreamgirls"
Jackie Earle Haley "Little Children"
Ben Affleck "Hollywoodland"
Brad Pitt "Babel"

Best Supporting Actress

Rinko Kikuchi "Babel"
Jennifer Hudson "Dreamgirls"
Adriana Barraza "Babel"
Emily Blunt "The Devil Wears Prada"
Ivana Baquero "Pan's Labyrinth"