I have the right to change these at any time, but I thought I’d throw out all my predictions for the major awards today…

Best Picture

Nominated: Atonement, Juno, Michael Clayton, No Country for Old Men, There Will Be Blood

Winner: No Country for Old Men

I have only seen Atonement and Juno (the latter of which was my favorite of the two), but it seems to be a Very Coen Christmas this year.

Best Director

Nominated: Julian Schnabel for The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Jason Reitman for Juno, Tony Gilroy for Michael Clayton, The Coen Brothers for No Country for Old Men, Paul Thomas Anderson for There Will Be Blood

Winner: The Coen Brothers.

If there’s anywhere that there might be a minor snag in the Coen’s night, it’s here. I think it’s a toss-up between The Coens and Anderson, whose oil movie was lauded (but I also did not see).

Best Actor

Nominated: George Clooney for Michael Clayton, Daniel Day-Lewis for There Will Be Blood, Johnny Depp for Sweeney Todd, Tommy Lee Jones for In the Valley of Elah, Viggo Mortenson for Eastern Promises

Winner: Daniel Day-Lewis

There’s no way that DDL doesn’t take the prize here. By most accounts, he’s the most talented actor of our era (followed closely by Mr. Depp). He makes one movie every 2 years and is usually nominated. His turn as Bill the Butcher in Gangs of New York was inspired. Johnny Depp is probably the second place winner here…he should have won an Oscar by now.

Best Actress

Nominated: Cate Blanchett for Elizabeth: The Golden Age, Julie Christie for Away From Her, Marion Cotillard for La Vie en Rose, Laura Linney for The Savages, Ellen Page for Juno

Winner: Julie Christie

I’m only predicting Julie Christie because she won the Golden Globe. (So did Marion Cotillard, but she’s French.) I really want Ellen Page to win this one, but she’s in the “it’s an honor to just be nominated” category. She carries Juno, but won’t win. Laura Linney is someone who should also have an Oscar by now. She just continually puts out fantastic work. It’s a travesty that Amy Adams did not get nominated for Enchanted.

Best Supporting Actor

Nominated: Casey Affleck for The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Javier Bardem for No Country for Old Men, Philip Seymour Hoffman for Charlie Wilson’s War, Hal Holbrook for Into the Wild, Tom Wilkinson for Michael Clayton

Winner: Javier Bardem

If this is any other year, I think that Ben’s little brother, Casey Affleck, pulls this one out. He turned in two critically-acclaimed roles this year (the other being his work in his brother’s directorial debut Gone Baby Gone), but from everything I’ve heard…there’s no stopping Javier Bardem this year. I don’t know because I’ve seen none of these movies, but I love all of their work.

Best Supporting Actress

Nominated: Cate Blanchett for I’m Not There, Ruby Dee for American Gangster, Saoirse Ronan for Atonement, Amy Ryan for Gone Baby Gone, Tilda Swinton for Michael Clayton

Winner: Cate Blanchett

I think that the sentimental choice here is Ruby Dee, but Blanchett played freaking Bob Dylan. I think that the “body of work” argument that Affleck cannot overcome above is not true here. I think Cate wins it.

The Rest

There are several other awards, but I don’t want to go over all of them in detail. If Ratatouille does not win Animated Feature, the Academy members should be forced to eat rat soup. I think Juno picks up the award for original screenplay and that Atonement will manage to eke out its only win (they might also get a cinematography one, if only for the 5 minute tracking shot) for adapted screenplay. Tune in on Sunday. I like Jon Stewart, but I liked Ellen last year more than his previous hosting stint. I’m expecting a HUGE over-the-top show to celebrate the return from the writers’ strike.