Academy Award Predictions

Nominations for the 76th Academy Awards were announced today. Here are the nominees for the major categories and my predictions on who will win...

Best Picture: “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” / “Lost in Translation” / "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World” / “Mystic River” / “Seabiscuit”
My prediction: Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Best Animated Feature: “Brother Bear” / “Finding Nemo” / “The Triplets of Belleville”
My prediction: Finding Nemo

Leading Actor: Johnny Depp in "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" / Ben Kingsley in "House of Sand and Fog" / Jude Law in "Cold Mountain"/ Bill Murray in "Lost in Translation" / Sean Penn in "Mystic River"
My prediction: Bill Murray

Leading Actress: Keisha Castle-Hughes in "Whale Rider" / Diane Keaton in "Something's Gotta Give" / Samantha Morton in "In America" / Charlize Theron in "Monster" / Naomi Watts in "21 Grams"
My prediction: Charlize Theron

Directing: "City of God" Fernando Meirelles / "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" Peter Jackson / "Lost in Translation" Sofia Coppola / "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World" Peter Weir / "Mystic River" Clint Eastwood
My prediction: Peter Jackson

Best Supporting Actor: Alec Baldwin "The Cooler" / Benicio Del Toro "21 Grams" / Djimon Hounsou "In America" / Tim Robbins "Mystic River" / Ken Watanabe "The Last Samurai"
My prediction: Tim Robbins

Best Supporting Actress: Shohreh Aghdashloo "House of Sand and Fog" / Patricia Clarkson "Pieces of April" / Marcia Gay Harden "Mystic River" / Holly Hunter "Thirteen" / Renée Zellweger "Cold Mountain"
My prediction: Renée Zellweger

Original Screenplay: The Barbarian Invasions" Denys Arcand / "Dirty Pretty Things" Steven Knight / "Finding Nemo" Andrew Stanton, Bob Peterson and David Reynolds Original Story by Andrew Stanton / "In America" Jim Sheridan & Naomi Sheridan & Kirsten Sheridan / "Lost in Translation" Sofia Coppola
My prediction: Sofia Coppola

As I said, these are just my predictions and not in every case the person that I would like to see win. The Academy Awards will be presented on February 29th... tune in and find out who wins and how good of a guesser I really am!