Academy Awards Predictions

With the 78th Academy Awards coming on Sunday, I want to present a rundown of who should win and who will win.

Zane's Picks

Best Picture: Crash

Best Director: Ang Lee for Brokeback Mountain, after the mixed reviews of The Hulk, he bounched back without looking back.

Best Actor in a Lead Role: David Strathairn for Good Night and Good Luck, a character actor for decades finally gets his due

Best Actress in a Lead Role: Reese Witherspoon for Walk the Line, a former child actress turned box office gold finally has her talents recognized.

Best Supporting Actor: Matt Dillon for Crash, another former child actor who's done everything under the sun.

Best Supporting Actress: Catherine Keener, for Capote, it would at least make for a good Death to Smoochy joke with host Jon Stewart

Who the Academy Awards will pick:

Best Picture: Despite an upset by Crash, Brokeback Mountain is going to win.

Best Director: Ang Lee, he's already won in the Foreign Language category for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, but the Academy wants to make a statement by having the first Asian director to win.

Best Actor in a Lead Role: Phillip Seymour Hoffman for Capote, like Strathairn, he's a former character actor and he's playing a real person. However, voters might think Hoffman did a better Capote than Strathairn did a Edward R. Murrows.

Best Actress in a Lead Role: Felicity Huffman for TransAmerica, because she does the beautiful actress turned ugly role. Nicole Kidman as Virginia Woolf. Charlize Theron as Aileen Wournos. It's no contest.

Best Actor in a Supporting Role: Voters might think George Clooney does a good job by changing his physical appearance in Syrianna, but they might also like to hate Matt Dillon's character in Crash, so Dillon has the momentum now.

Best Actress in a Supporting Role: Rachel Weisz has gotten all the recognition for The Constant Gardener because she plays a character who dies and she shows that she can do more than act in The Mummy movies.

I mention earlier that Clooney is up for a Best Supporting Actress nomination as well as a Best Director nomination for Good Night and Good Luck. Let me tell you that he won't go home empty handed. Even though the Academy likes actors turned directors, Clooney's talents will be recognized in the Best Original Screenplay category. Clooney along with actor, Grant Heslov (True Lies) scripted the movie. The Academy loves it win actors can write screenplays, i.e. Ben Affleck and Matt Damon for Good Will Hunting.

We'll see on Sunday night who the winner is.