Esovik's 2007 Oscar Picks

Best Actor -- Peter O'Toole. I think O'Toole will get the death vote. He's not dead yet, but will he ever get another great role? He's NEVER won an Oscar and I think the voters will give him the Oscar he so aptly deserves.

Best Supporting Actor -- My own vote would go to Mark Wahlberg, but I think Eddie Murphy has the momentum and will go home with Mr. Oscar.

Best Actress -- Helen Mirren absolutely deserves this award for her portrayal of Elizabeth in The Queen. It was a great movie and she transformed herself into the monarch.

Best Supporting Actress -- I think I would personally vote for Adriana Barraza in Babel but again, Jennifer Hudson will likely win it.

Best Animated Feature -- For some crazy, inexplicable reason Happy Feet is apparently a favorite. The best animated film is probably Monster House.

Best Art Direction -- Dreamgirls. Great sets that take us through the ages.

Best Cinematography -- Children of Men. The only redeeming feature of that film.

Best Costume Design -- Dreamgirls. The costumes had to go from the 60's to the 90's from performance gowns to the poor and unemployed in Detroit.

Best Director -- Martin Scorsese for The Departed. I didn't see United 93, but I think Scorsese put together another masterpiece and I think he'll finally get his statuette.

Best Documentary Feature -- An Inconvenient Truth. Because it could make a statement to the current administration.

Best Documentary Short Subject -- The Blood of Yingzhou District. Apparently this film is very good and heart-wrenching.

Best Film Editing -- The Departed. I don't know much about film editing and I frequently try to over-guess this category. But, I thought The Departed was a good film overall, so why not.

Best Foreign Language Film -- Pan's Labyrinth because Volver wasn't nominated.

Best Makeup -- Pan's Labyrinth. This ones easy... Click? give me a break... and the voters will not want Apocalypto to win out of principle.

Best Original Score -- Babel. Amazing score that captures the mood of Morocco, Japan and Mexico!

Best Original Song -- The three songs from Dreamgirls may cancel each other out and Our Town may be the winner; but I really did like Listen and Love You I Do. So, perhaps one of those will win -- I'll go with Listen because it's truly the one original of the Dreamgirls nominees.

Best Animated Short -- No Time For Nuts. Because I'd heard of it before the nominees came out.

Best Live Action Short -- West Bank Story for political reasons. Plus, it's another one I'd heard of before the nominations came out.

Best Sound Editing -- I trust the experts on this category and they say Pirates.

Best Sound Mixing -- Does anyone really know why there are two categories? I must find out. I'll go with Dreamgirls.

Best Visual Effects -- I didn't see Poseidon or Superman Returns, but I did see Pirates and I thought Captain Snake-Face was fabulously done!

Best Adapted Screenplay -- The Departed. This is a tough one, but I think adapting the screenplay from the original that was made in Hong Kong for a completely different culture must be pretty remarkable.

Best Original Screenplay -- A tough one. I'm impressed that two foreign language films were nominated, which must say something about what makes a good screenplay. But I'm going to go with Little Miss Sunshine. Although now that I've seen it, I'm not sure.

Best Picture -- A very interesting group of nominations.
It used to be that whomever won Best Director would get Best Picture, but that trend has not held the last several years. The Departed might get it due to the great acting performances from those whom you expect to get good acting from and a few surprises.
Letters From Iwo Jima was a very good film, but it lacked something that I can't quite put my finger on. Emotion, maybe, and that's one of the reasons it's such a good film; but for that reason, I don't think it will win.
Some people think Little Miss Sunshine will win because it's that one film that stands out from the rest. But comparing it to the rest of the nominees, I don't see that happening.
The Queen is probably the best overall film. So many things were done well in this film and it was enjoyable to watch and to discuss. It could win but...
Highly over-rated films frequently win Best Picture. And this year will not disappoint. I think Babel will get the award.