The following are my predictions for the upcoming Oscar nominations, with an asterix next to the predicted winner in each category. I have a feeling that these predictions are going to be the most accurate in a long time, yet still retain a hope that the more independent films can be recognized by the Academy.

BEST PICTURE:
No Country For Old Men *
The Darjeeling Limited
Lions For Lambs
Redacted
Eastern Promises

BEST ACTOR:
Tom Cruise - "Lions For Lambs"
Owen Wilson - "The Darjeeling Limited"
Javier Bardem - "No Country For Old Men" *
Don Cheadle - "Talk To Me"
Ethan Hawke - "Before The Devil Knows You're Dead"

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:
Armin Mueller-Stahl - "Eastern Promises" *
Albert Finney - "Before The Devil Knows You're Dead"
Peter Fonda - "3:10 To Yuma"
Hal Holbrook - "Into The Wild"
Robert Downey Jr. - "Zodiac"

BEST ACTRESS:
Cate Blanchett - "I'm Not There" *
Parker Posey - "Fay Grimm"
Naomi Watts - "Eastern Promises"
Ellen Page - "Juno"
Keri Russell - "Waitress"

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
Ruby Dee - "American Gangster" *
Amy Ryan - "Gone Baby Gone"
Adrienne Shelley - "Waitress"
Vanessa Redgrave - "Atonement"
Catherine Keener - "Into The Wild"

BEST DIRECTOR:
Brian De Palma - "Redacted"
Werner Herzog - "Rescure Dawn"
David Cronenberg - "Eastern Promises"
Wes Anderson - "The Darjeeling Limited" *
Sidney Lumet - "Before The Devil Knows You're Dead"

BEST DOCUMENTARY:
Body Of War
War Dance
Sicko *
For The Bible Tells Me So
Autism: The Musical

BEST ANIMATED FILM:
Bee Movie
Beowulf
The Simpsons Movie *
Ratatouille
Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film For Theaters

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:
The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford *
The Diving Bell And The Butterfly
There Will Be Blood
Once
I'm Not There

BEST SPECIAL EFFECTS:
Transformers
The Golden Compass
Sunshine
The Mist
300 *

BEST SCREENPLAY:
Wristcutters: A Love Story *
Superbad
Juno
I'm Not There
The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:
No Country For Old Men
Love In The Time Of Cholera
The Kite Runner
Into The Wild
Beowulf *