The Oscar nominees: Color Commentary

Okay, folks, it's that time of the year again, and now, I will fearlessly predict who's going to get what. Again, I will make life easier for everyone by color coding the list thusly:

Will win!
Has an excellent chance.
Has some chance.
Getting nominated is an honor in itself, right?
The acadamy should be ashaimed of itself.

Performance by an actor in a leading role Leonardo DiCaprio in “Blood Diamond” (Warner Bros.) Ryan Gosling in “Half Nelson” (THINKFilm) Peter O’Toole in “Venus” (Miramax, Filmfour and UK Council) Will Smith in “The Pursuit of Happyness” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Forest Whitaker in “The Last King of Scotland” (Fox Searchlight) Performance by an actor in a supporting role Alan Arkin in “Little Miss Sunshine” (Fox Searchlight) Jackie Earle Haley in “Little Children” (New Line) Djimon Hounsou in “Blood Diamond” (Warner Bros.) Eddie Murphy in “Dreamgirls” (DreamWorks and Paramount) Mark Wahlberg in “The Departed” (Warner Bros.) Performance by an actress in a leading role Penélope Cruz in “Volver” (Sony Pictures Classics) Judi Dench in “Notes on a Scandal” (Fox Searchlight) Helen Mirren in “The Queen” (Miramax, Pathé and Granada) Meryl Streep in “The Devil Wears Prada” (20th Century Fox) Kate Winslet in “Little Children” (New Line) Performance by an actress in a supporting role Adriana Barraza in “Babel” (Paramount and Paramount Vantage) Cate Blanchett in “Notes on a Scandal” (Fox Searchlight) Abigail Breslin in “Little Miss Sunshine” (Fox Searchlight) Jennifer Hudson in “Dreamgirls” (DreamWorks and Paramount) Rinko Kikuchi in “Babel” (Paramount and Paramount Vantage) Best animated feature film of the year “Cars” (Buena Vista) John Lasseter “Happy Feet” (Warner Bros.) George Miller “Monster House” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Gil Kenan Achievement in art direction “Dreamgirls” (DreamWorks and Paramount) Art Direction: John Myhre Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh “The Good Shepherd” (Universal) Art Direction: Jeannine Oppewall Set Decoration: Gretchen Rau and Leslie E. Rollins “Pan’s Labyrinth” (Picturehouse) Art Direction: Eugenio Caballero Set Decoration: Pilar Revuelta “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” (Buena Vista) Art Direction: Rick Heinrichs Set Decoration: Cheryl A. Carasik “The Prestige” (Buena Vista) Art Direction: Nathan Crowley Set Decoration: Julie Ochipinti Achievement in cinematography “The Black Dahlia” (Universal) Vilmos Zsigmond “Children of Men” (Universal) Emmanuel Lubezki “The Illusionist” (Yari Film Group) Dick Pope “Pan’s Labyrinth” (Picturehouse) Guillermo Navarro “The Prestige” (Buena Vista) Wally Pfister Achievement in costume design “Curse of the Golden Flower” (Sony Pictures Classics) Yee Chung Man “The Devil Wears Prada” (20th Century Fox) Patricia Field “Dreamgirls” (DreamWorks and Paramount) Sharen Davis “Marie Antoinette” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Milena Canonero “The Queen” (Miramax, Pathé and Granada) Consolata Boyle Achievement in directing “Babel” (Paramount and Paramount Vantage) Alejandro González Iñárritu “The Departed” (Warner Bros.) Martin Scorsese “Letters from Iwo Jima” (Warner Bros.) Clint Eastwood “The Queen” (Miramax, Pathé and Granada) Stephen Frears “United 93” (Universal and StudioCanal) Paul Greengrass Best documentary feature “Deliver Us from Evil” (Lionsgate) A Disarming Films Production Amy Berg and Frank Donner “An Inconvenient Truth” (Paramount Classics and Participant Productions) A Lawrence Bender/Laurie David Production Davis Guggenheim “Iraq in Fragments” (Typecast Releasing) A Typecast Pictures/Daylight Factory Production James Longley and John Sinno “Jesus Camp” (Magnolia Pictures) A Loki Films Production Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady “My Country, My Country” (Zeitgeist Films) A Praxis Films Production Laura Poitras and Jocelyn Glatzer Best documentary short subject “The Blood of Yingzhou District” A Thomas Lennon Films Production Ruby Yang and Thomas Lennon “Recycled Life” An Iwerks/Glad Production Leslie Iwerks and Mike Glad “Rehearsing a Dream” A Simon & Goodman Picture Company Production Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon “Two Hands” A Crazy Boat Pictures Production Nathaniel Kahn and Susan Rose Behr Achievement in film editing “Babel” (Paramount and Paramount Vantage) Stephen Mirrione and Douglas Crise “Blood Diamond” (Warner Bros.) Steven Rosenblum “Children of Men” (Universal) Alex Rodríguez and Alfonso Cuarón “The Departed” (Warner Bros.) Thelma Schoonmaker “United 93” (Universal and StudioCanal) Clare Douglas, Christopher Rouse and Richard Pearson Best foreign language film of the year “After the Wedding” A Zentropa Entertainments 16 Production Denmark “Days of Glory (Indigènes)” A Tessalit Production Algeria “The Lives of Others” A Wiedemann & Berg Production Germany “Pan’s Labyrinth” A Tequila Gang/Esperanto Filmoj/Estudios Picasso Production Mexico “Water” A Hamilton-Mehta Production Canada Achievement in makeup “Apocalypto” (Buena Vista) Aldo Signoretti and Vittorio Sodano “Click” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Kazuhiro Tsuji and Bill Corso “Pan’s Labyrinth” (Picturehouse) David Marti and Montse Ribe Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score) “Babel” (Paramount and Paramount Vantage) Gustavo Santaolalla “The Good German” (Warner Bros.) Thomas Newman “Notes on a Scandal” (Fox Searchlight) Philip Glass “Pan’s Labyrinth” (Picturehouse) Javier Navarrete “The Queen” (Miramax, Pathé and Granada) Alexandre Desplat Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song) “I Need to Wake Up” from “An Inconvenient Truth” (Paramount Classics and Participant Productions) Music and Lyric by Melissa Etheridge “Listen” from “Dreamgirls” (DreamWorks and Paramount) Music by Henry Krieger and Scott Cutler Lyric by Anne Preven “Love You I Do” from “Dreamgirls” (DreamWorks and Paramount) Music by Henry Krieger Lyric by Siedah Garrett “Our Town” from “Cars” (Buena Vista) Music and Lyric by Randy Newman “Patience” from “Dreamgirls” (DreamWorks and Paramount) Music by Henry Krieger Lyric by Willie Reale Best motion picture of the year “Babel” (Paramount and Paramount Vantage) An Anonymous Content/Zeta Film/Central Films Production Alejandro González Iñárritu, Jon Kilik and Steve Golin, Producers “The Departed” (Warner Bros.) A Warner Bros. Pictures Production Nominees to be determined “Letters from Iwo Jima” (Warner Bros.) A DreamWorks Pictures/Warner Bros. Pictures Production Clint Eastwood, Steven Spielberg and Robert Lorenz, Producers “Little Miss Sunshine” (Fox Searchlight) A Big Beach/Bona Fide Production Nominees to be determined “The Queen” (Miramax, Pathé and Granada) A Granada Production Andy Harries, Christine Langan and Tracey Seaward, Producers Best animated short film “The Danish Poet” (National Film Board of Canada) A Mikrofilm and National Film Board of Canada Production Torill Kove “Lifted” (Buena Vista) A Pixar Animation Studios Production Gary Rydstrom “The Little Matchgirl” (Buena Vista) A Walt Disney Pictures Production Roger Allers and Don Hahn “Maestro” (Szimplafilm) A Kedd Production Geza M. Toth “No Time for Nuts” (20th Century Fox) A Blue Sky Studios Production Chris Renaud and Michael Thurmeier Best live action short film “Binta and the Great Idea (Binta Y La Gran Idea)” A Peliculas Pendelton and Tus Ojos Production Javier Fesser and Luis Manso “Éramos Pocos (One Too Many)” (Kimuak) An Altube Filmeak Production Borja Cobeaga “Helmer & Son” A Nordisk Film Production Soren Pilmark and Kim Magnusson “The Saviour” (Australian Film Television and Radio School) An Australian Film Television and Radio School Production Peter Templeman and Stuart Parkyn “West Bank Story” An Ari Sandel, Pascal Vaguelsy, Amy Kim, Ravi Malhotra and Ashley Jordan Production Ari Sandel Achievement in sound editing “Apocalypto” (Buena Vista) Sean McCormack and Kami Asgar “Blood Diamond” (Warner Bros.) Lon Bender “Flags of Our Fathers” (DreamWorks and Warner Bros., Distributed by Paramount) Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman “Letters from Iwo Jima” (Warner Bros.) Alan Robert Murray “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” (Buena Vista) Christopher Boyes and George Watters II Achievement in sound mixing “Apocalypto” (Buena Vista) Kevin O’Connell, Greg P. Russell and Fernando Camara “Blood Diamond” (Warner Bros.) Andy Nelson, Anna Behlmer and Ivan Sharrock “Dreamgirls” (DreamWorks and Paramount) Michael Minkler, Bob Beemer and Willie Burton “Flags of Our Fathers” (DreamWorks and Warner Bros., Distributed by Paramount) John Reitz, Dave Campbell, Gregg Rudloff and Walt Martin “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” (Buena Vista) Paul Massey, Christopher Boyes and Lee Orloff Achievement in visual effects “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” (Buena Vista) John Knoll, Hal Hickel, Charles Gibson and Allen Hall “Poseidon” (Warner Bros.) Boyd Shermis, Kim Libreri, Chaz Jarrett and John Frazier “Superman Returns” (Warner Bros.) Mark Stetson, Neil Corbould, Richard R. Hoover and Jon Thum Adapted screenplay “Borat Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan” (20th Century Fox) Screenplay by Sacha Baron Cohen & Anthony Hines & Peter Baynham & Dan Mazer Story by Sacha Baron Cohen & Peter Baynham & Anthony Hines & Todd Phillips “Children of Men” (Universal) Screenplay by Alfonso Cuarón & Timothy J. Sexton and David Arata and Mark Fergus & Hawk Ostby “The Departed” (Warner Bros.) Screenplay by William Monahan “Little Children” (New Line) Screenplay by Todd Field & Tom Perrotta “Notes on a Scandal” (Fox Searchlight) Screenplay by Patrick Marber Original screenplay “Babel” (Paramount and Paramount Vantage) Written by Guillermo Arriaga “Letters from Iwo Jima” (Warner Bros.) Screenplay by Iris Yamashita Story by Iris Yamashita & Paul Haggis “Little Miss Sunshine” (Fox Searchlight) Written by Michael Arndt “Pan’s Labyrinth” (Picturehouse) Written by Guillermo del Toro “The Queen” (Miramax, Pathé and Granada) Written by Peter Morgan