EDGE Predicts the 2007 Academy Awards Nominations

With the Golden Globes last week, the Movie Award season is in full swing, culminating with the Oscars on February 25. The nominations for the awards will be announced this Tuesday at the crack of dawn in Los Angeles to close out the morning talk shows on the East Coast. Who will Academy President Sid Ganis and Oscar-nominated actress and Academy member Salma Hayek announce on Tuesday?

EDGE makes some predictions:

Best Picture

Babel
The Departed
Dreamgirls
Little Miss Sunshine
The Queen

Wild Cards: Letters from Iwo Jima; Pan's Labyrinth; Children of Men; United 93; Little Children

Both the Golden Globe wins of Babel and Dreamgirls guarantee each an Oscar nomination. Not that either needed the win - they were the frontrunners; along with The Departed, Martin Scorsese's gritty crime drama that has been the director's biggest hit to date and the winner of numerous critics' prizes. Little Miss Sunshine fills the indie-favorite slot (remember Sideways?,) while the The Queen is the classy British import that the Academy voters loves.

Of the possible sleeper choices Clint Eastwood's Letter from Iwo Jima may benefit from Warner Brothers' decision to move its release up to the end of last year following the disappointing performance by its complementary picture, Flags of Our Fathers. Pan's Labyrinth has had great buzz lately, and its share of 10 Best Lists; but is already a likely nomination in the Best Foreign Film category where it is Mexico's official entry. It could turn up in both categories. United 93 has done very well in the end-of-the-year critics round-ups, as has Little Children; but sleeper may be the superb futurisitic thriller Children of Men.

Best Actor

Sacha Baron Cohen, Borat
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Departed
Will Smith, The Pursuit of Happyness
Peter O'Toole, Venus
Forrest Whitaker, The Last King of Scotland

Wild Cards: Adam Eckhart, Thank You For Smoking; Jamie Foxx, Dreamgirls; Ryan Gosling, Half-Nelson; Ken Watanabe, Letters from Iwo Jima; Edward Norton, The Painted Veil

A couple of questions hang over this category; First, will the Hollywood establishment will embrace Sacha Baron Cohen for his hilarious Borat. His Golden Globe win may appear to put him in the forefront, especially after the best acceptance speech of the night; but Oscar nominations closed last Saturday prior to his win and his speech; and he may become the Madonna of 2007. Second, which role will Leonardo DiCaprio be nominated for? More than likely it will be for his complicated undercover cop in The Departed and not for his larger role in Blood Diamond. Will Smith is a likely nominee for the hugely popular The Pursuit of Happyness, as is Peter O'Toole as the charming, older actor in Venus. And Forrest Whitaker makes his next step towards Oscar Gold with his nomination for playing Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland.

Of the also-rans, look for Leonardo DiCaprio perhaps sneaking in for Blood Diamond. Adam Eckhart deserves a nomination for his charming tobacco lobbyist in Thank You For Smoking. Jamie Foxx may bet a nod for his calculating pop music visionary in Dreamgirls. Ryan Gosling could be cited for his highly regarded LA teacher with a drug problem in Half-Nelson. And there's been buzz for Ken Watanabe's noble Japanese commander in Letters from Iwo Jima and Edward Norton's cuckolded husband in The Painted Veil.

Best Actress

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

Wild Cards: Annette Bening, Running With Scissors; Maggie Gyllenhaal, Sherrybaby; Beyonc? Knowles, Dreamgirls; Naomi Watts, The Painted Veil; Ren?e Zellweger; Miss Potter

What would have been surprising at the Golden Globes was that Helen Mirren did not win for her meticulous impersonation of Queen Elizabeth II in The Queen. Her closest competition for the Oscar will be fellow Britisher Judi Dench for her nasty turn as an repressed lesbian teacher in Notes on a Scandal. Meryl Streep picked up the Comedy/Musical Best Actress Award at the Golden Globes for her hilarious take on the boss from hell in The Devil Wears Prada, and should get an Oscar nomination for her effort. Filling out the five is the fiesty Penelope Cruz who makes up for wasted Hollywood efforts with her role in Pedro Almovodar's Volver; and Kate Winslet as a bored housewife who falls into an affair in Little Children.

The one actress who could likely slip in here is Annette Bening as a horrific mother in the little-seen Running with Scissors. Maggie Gyllenhaal has received much acclaim as an ex-prisoner making her back into society in sherrybaby. Beyonce Knowles shines in Dreamgirls. Naomi Watts is the best thing about The Painted Veil, and Academy favorite Ren?e Zellweger could possibly eek out a nomination for Miss Potter.

Best Supporting Actor

Alan Arkin, Little Miss Sunshine
Jackie Earle Haley, Little Children
Jack Nicholson, The Departed
Eddie Murphy, Dreamgirls
Brad Pitt, Babel

Wild Cards: Ben Affleck, Hollywoodland; Djimon Hounsou, Blood Diamond; Michael Sheen, The Queen; Mark Wahlberg, The Departed

Alan Arkin is very funny as the out-spoken grandfather in Little Miss Sunshine, and he will be honored for it with a nomination. Ex-child star Jackie Earle Haley (The Bad New Bears) is hauntingly effective as a convicted child molester in Little Children, and has won numerous critics' awards - that's enough to get him a nod. Jack Nicholson's showy turn as a mob boss going mad in The Departed should give him his umpteenth nomination. Eddie Murphy won the Globe, but will he win the Oscar for the breadth of his Dreamgirls' performance? Certainly a nomination is in order. And Brad Pitt fit neatly in the fine ensemble of Babel to stand-out for recognition here.

Best Supporting Actress

Adriana Barraza, Babel
Abigail Breslin, Little Miss Sunshine
Cate Blanchett, Notes on a Scandal
Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls
Rinko Kikuchi, Babel

Wild Cards: Emily Blunt, The Devil Wears Prada; Toni Colette, Little Miss Sunshine; Vera Farmiga, The Departed; Catherine O'Hara, For Your Consideration; Emma Thompson, Stranger Than Fiction

Jennifer Hudson's spectacular take on a difficult, talented singer in Dreamgirls has been the talk of the industry since the film was first previewed last October; and she's the one to beat here. Her closest competition is Cate Blanchett's faceted take on a woman whose life goes into freefall following an ill-advised affair in Notes on a Scandal. The charming Abigail Breslin will likely get a nod as the beauty pageant contestant in Little Miss Sunshine; and closing out the category are two superb performances from Babel: the heartbreaking Adriana Barraza as a nanny caught in a situation beyond her control, and Rinko Kikuchi as the deaf teenage girl dealing with her mother's death.

The two actresses who could sneak in here are Emily Blunt, so funny as Meryl Streep's assistant in The Devil Wears Prada, and Catherine O'Hara as an aging actress whose career gets a jump-start when she's nominated for a major acting award in For Your Consideration. Also being considered are Oscar-favorite Emma Thompson in Stranger Than Fiction; Toni Colette in Little Miss Sunshine; and Vera Farmiga, the stand-out female in the all-male ensemble of The Departed.

Best Director

Bill Condon, Dreamgirls
Clint Eastwood, Letters from Iwo Jima
Stephen Frears, The Queen
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Babel
Martin Scorsese, The Departed

Wild Cards: Pedro Almodovar, Volver; Alfonso Cuaron, Children of Men; Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, Little Miss Sunshine; Paul Greengrass, United 93; Guillermo Del Toro, Pan's Labyrinth

The overriding question in this category is will Martin Scorsese finally win his Oscar? His riveting work in The Departed may do it for him. His closest competition will likely come from Clint Eastwood for his finely-honed anti-war tract Letters from Iwo Jima. Bill Condon's slick reworking of the traditional musical in Dreamgirls will get him a nomination. Stephen Frears will get chosen for his terse retelling of the events following the death of Princess Diana in The Queen; as will Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu for his gripping work in Babel.

The husband and wife team of Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris got a Director's Guild nod for their work in Little Miss Sunshine, and may find themselves in the top five here. One, or both, of the other Mexican directors of note this year may also get nominations - Alfonso Cuaron for his thrilling Children of Men and Guillermo Del Toro for his visionary fantasy Pan's Labyrinth. Paul Greengrass has won numerous critics' awards for United 93, and has an outside chance of getting a nod here; and perennial favorite Pedro Almodovar could get a nod for his delightful soap opera Volver.