Academy Award Nominee Predictions

Babel
The Departed
Dreamgirls
Little Miss Sunshine
The Queen

Alternates: Letters From Iwo Jima, Pan's Labrynth, Bobby

Best Achievement in Directing:

Bill Condon for Dreamgirls
Clint Eastwood for Letters From Iwo Jima
Stephen Frears for The Queen
Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu for Babel
Martin Scorsese for The Departed

Alternates: Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Farris for Little Miss Sunshine, Guillermo Del Toro for Pan's Labrynth, Paul Greengrass for United 93

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role:

Leonardo DiCaprio in The Departed
Ryan Gosling for Half Nelson
Peter O'Toole in Venus
Will Smith for The Pursuit of Happyness
Forest Whitaker for The Last King of Scotland

Alternates: Leonardo DiCaprio for The Blood Diamond, Sacha Baren Cohen for Borat, Aaron Eckhart for Thank You For Smoking

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role:

Penelope Cruz for Volver
Judi Dench for Notes on a Scandal
Helen Mirren for The Queen
Meryl Streep for The Devil Wears Prada
Kate Winslet for Little Children

Alternates: Maggie Gylenhaal for Sherrybaby, Beyonce Knowles for Dreamgirls, Renee Zellweger for Miss Potter, Annette Benning for Running With Scissors

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role:

Jackie Earle Haley in Little Children
Djimon Hounsou for The Blood Diamond
Eddie Murphy in Dreamgirls
Jack Nicholson in The Departed
Brad Pitt in Babel

Alternates: Michael Sheen for The Queen, Ben Affleck for Hollywoodland, Mark Wahlberg for The Departed, Alan Arkin for Little Miss Sunshine

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role:

Adriana Barraza in Babel
Cate Blanchett in Notes on a Scandel
Abigail Breslin in Little Miss Sunshine
Jennifer Hudson in Dreamgirls
Rinko Kikuchi for Babel

Alternates: Toni Collette in Little Miss Sunshine, Emily Blunt in The Devil Wears Prada

Best Original Screenplay:

Guillermo Arriaga for Babel
Michael Arndt for Little Miss Sunshine
Peter Morgan for The Queen
Zach Helm for Stranger Than Fiction
Guillermo Del Toro for Pan's Labrynth

Alternates: Paul Greengrass for United 93

Best Screenplay Adapted from Material Previously Produced or Published:

Sacha Baren Cohen, Anthony Hines, Peter Baynham, Dan Mazer and Todd Phillips for Borat
William Monahan for The Departed
Aline Brosh McKenna for The Devil Wears Prada
Todd Field and Tom Pierotta for Little Children
Jason Reitman for Thank you for Smoking

Alternates: Patrick Marber for Notes on a Scandal, Peter Morgan and Jeremy Brock for The Last King of Scotland

Best Achievement in Makeup:

Apocalypto
Pan's Labrynth
Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest

Alternates: Click, The Prestige

Best Achievement in Film Editing:

Joel Cox and Gary Roach for Letters From Iwo Jima
Douglas Crise and Stephen Mirrione for Babel
Thelma Schoonmaker for The Departed
Clare Douglas, Richard Pearson and Christopher Rouse for United 93
Lucia Zuchetti for The Queen

Alternates: Kevin Stitt and John Wright for Apocalypto, Joel Cox for Flags of Our Fathers, Pamela Martin for Little Miss Sunshine

Best Achievement in Cinematography:

Tobias A. Schlisser for Dreamgirls
Emmanuel Lubezki for Children of Men
Guillermo Navarro for Pan's Labrynth
Rodriego Pietro for Babel
Tom Stern for Letters from Iwo Jima

Alternates: Stuart Dryburgh for The Painted Veil, Michael Ballhaus for The Departed, Anthony Dod Mantle for The Illusionist

Best Art Direction:

John Myhre and Nancy Haigh for Dreamgirls
Eugenio Caballero for Pan's Labrynth
Henry Bumstead and Gary Fettis for Letters From Iwo Jima
K.K. Barrett and Veronique Melery for Marie-Antoinette
Tom Sanders for Apocalypto

Alternates: Jim Clay, Jeffrey Kirkland and Jennifer Williams for Children of Men, Dante Ferretti for The Black Dahlia

Best Costume Design:

Sharen Davis for Dreamgirls
Milena Canonero for Marie-Antoinette
Lala Huete and Rocio Rodendo for Pan's Labrynth
The Painted Veil
The Devil Wears Prada

Alternates: Mayes C. Rubeo for Apocalypto, Deborah Hopper for Flags of Our Fathers, Anthony Powell for Miss Potter, Julie Weiss for Bobby

Best Sound:

Babel
The Departed
Dreamgirls
Letters From Iwo Jima
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

Alternates: Apocalypto, The Blood Diamond, Casino Royale, Superman Returns, United 93

Best Sound Effects Editing:

Apocalypto
The Departed
Letters From Iwo Jima
Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest
Superman Returns

Alternates: V for Vendetta, Babel, Casino Royale

Best Visual Effects:

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
Superman Returns
X-Men: The Last Stand

Alternates: Casino Royale, Eragon, Night at the Museum, Poseidon

Best Original Score:

Gustavo Santolalla for Babel
Clint Eastwood for Letters From Iwo Jima
Howard Shore for The Departed
Phillip Glass for Notes on a Scandal
Alexandre Desplat for The Queen

Alternates: Hanz Zimmer for The Da Vinci Code, Phillip Glass for The Illusionist

Best Foreign Language Film:

Days of Glory - Algeria
The Lives of Others - Germany
Pan's Labrynth - Mexico
Volver - Spain
Water - Canada

Alternates: After the Wedding - Denmark, Avenue Montaigne - France, Black Book - The Netherlands
Vitus - Switzerland

Totals:

Babel: 9
The Departed: 9
Dreamgirls: 8
The Queen: 6
Pan's Labrynth: 5