My Oscar Picks

I've seen 72.6 percent of the Oscar nominations so far, and as long as "The Lives of Others" and "Days of Glory" remain unreleased in my area, it's doubtful I'll see many more (I might watch "The Illusionist," and with luck Netflix will send me "The Prestige" next week).

Were I am Oscar voter, based on what I've seen, this is how I would vote:

Picture: The Queen (My favorite film of the year, I'd be happy with Babel winning, but none of the others)
Actress: Helen Mirren, The Queen (A tough call, as they were all great, although Streep is less-deserving because I see her role as really supporting. Cruz would be second choice, but Dench and Winslet were awesome too).
Actor: Ryan Gosling, Half Nelson (Forest Whitaker's going to win, and he was great, but like Streep, that role skirts the line between lead and supporting--the film was about James McAvoy's character. Ryan Gosling was fresh and surprising in a remarkable role, and although he won't win, he deserves it).
Supporting Actress: Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls (Adriana Barraza really wowed me for a completely unknown actress, and I was tempted to pick her, given that Hudson is the clear favorite and sure to win, but in the end, Hudson deserves it, so I went with her).
Supporting Actor: Eddie Murphy, Dreamgirls (Murphy, Hounsou, and Haley were all really great, so I could have gone with any of them, but Murphy was surprisingly good and it was nice to see him back on track).
Director: Martin Scoresese, The Departed (He's a legend and he's never won. The Departed was a great, complex film. Why not give it to him?)
Animated Feature: Cars (the only one I've seen and it was pretty good).
Foreign Film: Pan's Labyrinth (It's a real shame Volver wasn't nominated, as that would have been my pic, but between this and Water, I'm going with Pan's Labyrinth, which was original, dark, extremely visual and grisly).
Adapted Screenplay: Little Children (Great story, great movie).
Original Screenplay: The Queen (The story probed both the British monarchy and its people quite effectively).
Art Direction: Dreamgirls (The movie looked really cool, with its retro sets and stylish homes, and that's what matters here I think.
Cinematography: Children of Men (Whether those "one-take" action sequences were truly one-take or not doesn't matter, the first-person "you're there" persepective was very well done).
Costume Design: The Devil Wears Prada (Close call with Dreamgirls, but it's so cool--an unusual--to have not 1 but 2 contemporary-set films nominated here that I had to choose one of them. Of course the one about fashion deserves it, for using costuming to portray not just the profession but also the personality of many of the film's characters).
Documentary Feature: An Inconvenient Truth (Wished I'd seen more of these, but I've only seen this and Jesus Camp, which was interesting, but unfocused. An Inconvenient Truth was very well done and engaging).
Documentary Short: none (haven't seen any of the nominees).
Film Editing: Babel (I'm not sure how to judge this, but I guess I'll go with Babel, which did a good job of weaving together several different stories).
Make-up: Pan's Labyrinth (Why is Click nominated? I haven't seen it, but it's so odd. They should have nominated The Queen for transforming Helen Mirren into Queen Elizabeth II).
Original Score: The Queen, Alexandre Desplat (My favorite score of the year is actually another one by Desplat, The Painted Veil, but the score from The Queen is good too, certainly better than Phillip Glass' typically overbearing work for Notes on a Scandal).
Original Song: Listen, Dreamgirls (Beyonce sounds great singing this, and something from Dreamgirls deserves to win).
Sound Editing: Flags of Our Fathers (The sound effects made the war scenes just as chilling as the visual effects. Alternately this could go to Letters from Iwo Jima, since the Sound Editors were the same guys doing just about the same thing).
Sound Mixing: Dreamgirls (Not sure how to judge this either, but the musical in the bunch did sound good).
Animated Short: The Little Matchgirl (This was a sweet little film and touching too. I also like that it's traditional animation. I also enjoyed Maestro for the fun surprise at the end).
Live Action Short: none (haven't seen any of these either).
Visual Effects: Superman Returns (not a very inspiring crop of nominees, so I just went with my favorite).