Oscar madness

It all boils down to this: all the speculations will draw to a close when the 2006 Oscar nominations are announced in about seven hours. My predictions run the same course as just about everyone one else. Surprises? Maybe Pan's Labyrinth, United 93 or Children of Men in a few major categories, but that's unlikely, I think. Still, I hope there is at least one out-of-left-field nomination to shake things up. We'll just have to set our alarm clocks and see.
Until then, good night, and good luck.
Oh, right. My predictions in the Big 6 categories, for what it's worth:

Picture
Babel
The Departed
Dreamgirls
Little Miss Sunshine
The Queen

Director
Martin Scorsese
Bill Condon
Stephen Frears
Alejandro González Iñárritu
Clint Eastwood
(or maybe Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris)

Actor
Forest Whitaker
Peter O'Toole
Will Smith
Leonardo DiCaprio
Sacha Baron Cohen, Borat
(or maybe Ryan Gosling)

Actress
Penelope Cruz
Judi Dench
Helen Mirren
Meryl Streep
Kate Winslet

Supporting Actor
Eddie Murphy
Jackie Earle Haley
Djimon Hounsou
Alan Arkin
Jack Nicholson
(or maybe Mark Wahlberg)

Supporting Actress
Cate Blanchett
Abigail Breslin
Adrianna Barraza
Jennifer Hudson
Rinko Kikuchi
(or maybe Catherine O’Hara)