Section:GDN RR PaGe:10 Edition Date:070223 Edition:01 Zone: Sent at 21/2/2007 21:21 cYanmaGentaYellowblack 10 The Guardian | Friday February 23 2007 The Guardian | Friday February 23 2007 11 Oscars 2007 Best Film Best Actor Best Actress Best Supporting Actress Best Supporting Actor Best Director Peter Will win: Little Miss Sunshine. I predict Will win: Forest Whitaker for The Will win: Helen Mirren for The Queen. Will win: Alan Arkin for Little Miss Will win: Abigail Breslin for Little Will win: Paul Greengrass for United 93. Bradshaw a landslide for this feelgood underdog Last King of Scotland. A towering The Coronation will be an irresistible Sunshine. The Academy loves a plucky Miss Sunshine. The Academy loves an The Academy will honour Greengrass’s ensembler; the solemn “Babble” is too performance, richly pleasurable to spectacle. oldster. adorable youngster. achievement, even if the fi nished work Guardian fi lm much like last year’s Crash. watch. Should win: Helen Mirren. Should win: Mark Wahlberg for The Should win: Jennifer Hudson for is too gruelling for them. critic Should win: The Departed. Scorsese’s Should win: Forest Whitaker. Should have been a contender: Departed. Wahlberg delivers the hard- Dreamgirls. Former American Idol Should win: Paul Greengrass. return to form: surely time the Master Should have been a contender: Damian Gretchen Mol for The Notorious Bettie edged Mamet-ish dialogue like a soldier. wannabe Hudson brought passion to the Should have been a contender: Mel was rewarded. Lewis for Keane. A powerful, painful, Page. Mol brought style and gentleness Should have been a contender: Ben part. Gibson for Apocalypto. Bigoted? Should have been a contender: United deeply exposed performance. to this bizarre true-life story. Affl eck for Hollywoodland. Affl eck’s Should have been a contender: Deborah Implausibly repentant? Sure — but a 93. A magnifi cent all-time Top 10 lister. melancholy, self-aware performance François for The Page Turner. Chilling, brilliant fi lm-maker. deserved a chance. sexy, sociopathic. The big three. Hannah Will win: Letters from Iwo Jima. It’s Will win: Forest Whitaker for The Last Will win: Helen Mirren for The Queen. Will win: Eddie Murphy for Dreamgirls. Will win: Jennifer Hudson for Will win: Martin Scorsese. Surely! McGill about war; it’s macho, yet emotional; it’s King of Scotland — big performance by a She just seems to be unstoppable this Improbable comebacks are always in Dreamgirls. Everyone wants to see the Though Eastwood could profi t by directed by an ex-actor… all the signs much-admired, under-garlanded actor year. with a good chance. look on Beyoncé’s face. Oscar’s love for actors-turned-directors. Director, are there. Should win: Ryan Gosling for Half Should win: Kate Winslet for Little Should win: Alan Arkin for Little Miss Should win: Adriana Barazza for Babel. Should win: Martin Scorsese. If he Edinburgh Should win: The Departed. Not Nelson — the outside choice, but an Children. She’s always being Sunshine. Great comedy performance Her character’s behaviour may make no doesn’t get it this time, he will surely fi lm festival Scorsese’s best, but he’s always in a amazing performance. pipped at the post, and this is her best from a three-time nominee who sense, but her acting is terrifi c. stab someone to death with a biro. class of his own. Should have been a contender: James work ever. deserves to fi nally take it home. Should have been a contender: Should have been a contender: And the award goes to… Should have been a contender: The McAvoy for The Last King of Should have been a contender: Should have been a contender: Michael Catherine O’Hara for For Your Spike Lee for Inside Man. Such a fun, Proposition. A proper epic, with Scotland. Oscar has a strange idea about Gretchen Mol for The Notorious Bettie Sheen for The Queen. So good as Tony Consideration. She plays — beautifully confi dent genre fi lm, directed with grace real originality and intelligence. what constitutes a lead role. Page. She is absolutely spellbinding. Blair, but doesn’t get any buzz. — an actress with obsessed with Oscar. and verve. Our panel of experts make their predictions for the big night. David Will win: The Queen — secret donation, Will win: Peter O’Toole. Eight “thank Will win: Helen Mirren. Dead cert. Will win: Alan Arkin. It’s his turn. Will win: Jennifer Hudson in Dreamgirls. Will win: Martin Scorsese. The industry Thomson “with gratitude” from London tips you, but no thanks” is cruel and unusual Should win: Helen Mirren. But for Prime Should win: Mark Wahlberg in The The fi lm has to get something. knows it’s now or never . And to test William Goldman’s maxim that, in the movies, Academy votes. punishment. Suspect 6. Departed. Surrounded by ham, he Should win: Adriana Barraza in Should win: Stephen Frears. For taste, Writer Should win: no fi lm at all, owing to Should win: Peter O’Toole Should have been a contender: delivered mustard. Babel. Some real work in unbearably tact, and the most royalist fi lm since nobody knows anything, we asked Monkey the cat (pictured, and critic above scandal Should have been a contender: Robert Samantha Morton in Longford. The Should have been a contender: Daniel pretentious fi lm. Alexander Korda. Should have been a contender: The Downey Jr in Fur. For insouciance in scariest performance of the year outside Craig in Infamous. In many ways, the Should have been a contender: Should have been a contender: Douglas right) to pick his Oscar winners. Who will come out on top? Lives of Others — the best fi lm of the the face of a big barbering job. American politics. arrival of the year. Gwyneth Paltrow in Infamous. The most McGrath for Infamous. If the second year. intriguing moment of the year. Capote fi lm had any other title than the Best Picture Best Supporting Actor Best Original Screenplay Best Documentary one it has ... Babel Djimon Hounsou Blood Diamond Babel Deliver Us From Evil The Departed Mark Wahlberg The Departed Pan’s Labyrinth An Inconvenient Truth Letters from Iwo Jima Eddie Murphy Dreamgirls Letters from Iwo Jima Iraq in Fragments Xan Brooks Will win: Babel. It’s this year’s Crash: Will win: Peter O’Toole. I can’t shake Will win: Helen Mirren. If she doesn’t, Will win: Alan Arkin. A Hollywood Will win: Jennifer Hudson. J.Hud’s Will win: Martin Scorsese. A lifetime Little Miss Sunshine Jackie Earle Haley Little Children Little Miss Sunshine Jesus Camp Film editor, grandiose catnip for the Academy an illogical hunch he’ll upend bookies’ the shock waves will probably topple survivor, and likably boisterous in Little plucky, rags-to-riches story will play achievement award in all but name. The Queen Alan Arkin Little Miss Sunshine The Queen My Country My Country Guardian voters. favourite Forest Whitaker. the Hollywood sign. Miss Sunshine. well with the voters. Should win: Paul Greengrass. For his Unlimited Should win: Letters From Iwo Jima. Should win: Ryan Gosling. Riveting as a Should win: Penélope Cruz. A revelation Should win: Jackie Earle Haley. For Should win: Jennifer Hudson. For cool-headed mastery of United 93. Best Actor Best Supporting Actress Best Adapted Screenplay Best Foreign Arguably Eastwood’s most humane and crack-addicted young teacher. in Volver: her best performance by a creating the fi nest pathetic-yet- providing the one truly soulful element Should have been a contender: Leonardo DiCaprio Blood Diamond Adriana Barraza Babel Borat: Cultural Learnings of America Language Film daring work to date. Should have been a contender: Ion country mile. dangerous bogeyman since Norman in Dreamgirls. Mel Gibson. Yes, yes, I know Ryan Gosling Half Nelson Rinko Kikuchi Babel for Make Benefi t of Kazakhstan After the Wedding Denmark Should have been a contender: United Fiscuteanu. for his deadpan tour-de- Should have been a contender: Kate Bates. Should have been a contender: Eva — but Apocalypto showed such lunatic Forest Whitaker The Last King Jennifer Hudson Dreamgirls Children of Men Days of Glory Algeria 93. Few fi lms made such an impact, or force in The Death of Mr Lazarescu. Dickie for Red Road. Surely they could Should have been a contender: Leslie Green. The Bond babe is such base panache. of Scotland Abigail Breslin Little The Departed Pan’s Labyrinth Mexico raised so many issues. have found room for one more Brit. Phillips. If O’Toole can be nominated, matter. Green worked a kind of alchemy Will Smith The Pursuit of Happyness Miss Sunshine Little Children The Lives of Others Germany why not his cantankerous cohort? on the role. Peter O’Toole Venus Cate Blanchett Notes on a Scandal Notes on a Scandal Water Canada Monkey Goes for: Babel After an initial lack of Goes for: Leonardo DiCaprio. Sniff s Goes for: Judi Dench. Some indecision Goes for: Eddie Murphy. No messing Goes for: Jennifer Hudson. It looks like Goes for: Stephen Frears. Heading off , Best Actress Best Director Best Song Best Animated Feature The cat interest, he lies down across the posters tentatively at Leo, then wanders over this time. He initially seems to be doing about here: he heads straight for he’s moving straight for Cate Blanchett. he stops just to sniff hopefully at Frears Meryl Streep The Devil Alejandro González Iñárritu Babel Our Town Cars Cars of both Babel and The Departed, then to stand between Forest Whitaker and his patriotic duty and favouring Helen Murphy and sits down. But then he stops with his front paws and the Queen.