It’s that time again!
I have in my hand the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly. In it, each of the Oscar races is discussed at length. EW provides odds for each nominee in the categories of Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Original Screenplay, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Director, and Best Picture.
Here’s the thread to make your own picks!
First, EW’s odds, in alphabetical order:
Best Actor
Javier Bardem, Before Night Falls 10:1
Russell Crowe, Gladiator 7:2
Tom Hanks, Cast Away 3:1
Ed Harris, Pollock 4:1
Geoffrey Rush, Quills 15:1
EW’s pick: Tom Hanks
Best Actress
Joan Allen, The Contender 10:1
Juliette Binoche, Chocolat 12:1
Ellen Burstyn, Requien for a Dream 4:1
Laura Linney, You Can Count on Me 5:1
Julia Roberts, Erin Brockovich 1:2
EW’s pick: Julia Roberts
Best Supporting Actor
Jeff Bridges, The Contender 9:1
Willem Dafoe, Shadow of the Vampire 15:1
Benicio del Toro, Traffic 2:1
Albert Finney, Erin Brockovich 3:1
Joaqin Phoenix, Gladiator 20:1
EW’s pick: Benicio del Toro
Best Supporting Actress
Judi Dench, Chocolat 4:1
Marcia Gay Harden, Pollock 2:1
Kate Hudson, Almost Famous 3:2
Frances McDormand, Almost Famous 6:1
Julie Walters, Billy Elliot 8:1
EW’s pick: Kate Hudson
Best Original Screenplay
Cameron Crowe, Almost Famous 3:1
Lee Hall, Billy Elliot 8:1
Susannah Grant, Erin Brockovich 5:1
David Franzoni, John Logan, William Nicholson, Gladiator 15:1
Kenneth Lonergan, You Can Count on Me 5:2
EW’s pick: Kenneth Lonergan
Best Adapted Screenplay
Robert Nelson Jacobs, Chocolat 7:1
Wang Hui Ling, James Schamus, Tsai Kuo Jung, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 20:1
Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, O Brother, Where Art Thou? 10:1
Stephen Gaghan, Traffic 2:1
Steve Kloves, Wonder Boys 5:2
EW’s pick: Stephen Gaghan
Best Director
Stephen Daldry, Billy Elliot 20:1
Ang Lee, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 5:2
Ridley Scott, Gladiator 4:1
Steven Soderbergh, Erin Brockovich 10:1
Steven Soderbergh, Traffic 3:1
EW’s pick: Ang Lee
Best Picture
Chocolat 20:1
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 5:2
Erin Brockovich 10:1
Gladiator 3:2
Traffic 3:1
EW’s pick: Gladiator
Whew. That was a lot.
Ok, my picks.
(These, by the way, should be what you think will win, but if you want to also include what you think should win, be my guest!)
Lead Actor: Tom Hanks
Lead Actress: Joan Allen
Supporting Actor: Benicio del Toro
Supporting Actress: Marcia Gay Harden
Original Screenplay: Cameron Crowe
Adapted Screenplay: Stephen Gaghan
Director: Steven Soderbergh (Traffic)
Picture: Traffic
We could make this into a full-fledged pool, which means no changing your votes in later posts! What you put is what you put! Pick in these 8 categories, and we’ll see if any of us is perfect! 
Will win:
Picture: Gladiator
Director: Ang Lee
Actor: Tom Hanks
Actress: Julia Roberts
Supp. Actor: Benicio del Toro
Supp. Actress: Kate Hudson
Orig. Screenplay: Cameron Crowe
Adap. Screenplay: Stephen Gaghan
Should win:
Picture: Traffic (the only great movie I saw last year)
Director: Steven Soderbergh (for Traffic)
Actor: Tom Hanks (he was really really good in a really really ungood movie)
Actress: Julia Roberts (surprisingly good)
Supp. Actor: Albert Finney (as good as del Toro was, I thought Finney was better)
Supp. Actress: Kate Hudson (she was the best part about a very good film)
Orig. Screenplay: Cameron Crowe (the reason why Kate Hudson was the best thing in a very good film)
Adap. Screenplay: Stephen Gaghan (as a screenwriter, I know how hard it is to do what he did; Hollywood knows that, too)
I have compiled a list of winners that I hope will win, and for the most part, think will in too.
[ul]
[li]ACTOR – LEADING ---- Hanks[/li][li]ACTOR – SUPPORTING ---- Phoenix - (GLADIATOR)[/li][li]ACTRESS – LEADING ---- Either Roberts or Binoche (Chocolat)[/li][li]ACTRESS – SUPPORTING ---- The Dame, Dench[/li][li]ART DIRECTION ---- Crouching Tiger[/li][li]CINEMATOGRAPHY ---- Crouching Tiger (Hands Down)[/li][li]COSTUME DESIGN ---- Crouching Tiger or Gladiator…hard to tell[/li][li]DIRECTING ---- Either Traffic or Crouching Tiger[/li][li]FILM EDITING ---- Either Traffic or Crouching Tiger[/li][li]FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM ---- Definetly Crouching Tiger[/li][li]MAKEUP ---- Maybe the Cell or Dr. Suess[/li][li]MUSIC (SCORE) ---- Crouching Tiger[/li][li]MUSIC (SONG) ---- Probably Crouching Tiger again, anything as long as it isn’t “Emporer’s New Grovve”[/li][li]BEST PICTURE ---- I would like Crouching Tiger or Traffic to win this one. I do not think Gladiator will just because of their astronomical box office success…that didn’t stop Titanic though, so I guess we’ll see.[/li][li]SOUND ---- Gladiator[/li][/ul]
those are the most important catagories in my opinion, so I will leave it at that…
Thanks for your picks, Evnglion!
Since we’re making this a poll, though…
-
Could you give me your picks for Original Screenplay and Adapted Screenplay?
-
For the ones in which you offered an X or Y pick, could you… um… uh… pick one?
Thanks!
sure thing buddy…
Orginal SS is gonna go to Gladiator and Adapted SS to the Hidden Dragon
now for the X or Ys
Director, Crouching Tiger
Picture, Traffic
Makeup, Cell
Actress, Roberts
Costume, Gladiator
Editing, Crouching Tiger
There ya go…
Thanks! I’ve tallied your picks and those of Montfort. Thanks, Montfort…
Now if I can just leave this thread be for a while, we might be able to get others in here! 
Who WILL Win:
Best Picture - “Gladiator”
Best Director - Ridley Scott, “Gladiator”
Best Actor - Ed Harris, “Pollock”
Best Actress - Julia Roberts, “Erin Brockovich”
Supp. Actor - Benicio del Toro, “Traffic”
Supp. Actress - Kate Hudson, “Almost Famous”
Screenplay, Original: Cameron Crowe, “Almost Famous”
Screenplay, Adapted: Stephen Gaghan, “Traffic”
Cinematography: “Gladiator”
Film Editing: “Gladiator”
Costume Design: “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”
Set/Art Decoration: “Gladiator”
Foreign Language Film: “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”
Score: “Gladiator”
Ok, it fell off the first page.
Are there any other film fans out there? We’ve got myself, RickJay, Evnglion, and Montfort.
Come now! Think of it! It’s free, and let’s face it - it’s not necessary for you to have seen all of these movies to make a WAG!
Anyone else?
SDMB Oscars
Yahoo! has this thing up and running. If anyone’s interested, y’all can come join the group I just made. It’s pretty comprehensive. We’ll see who knows their film stuff. Or something.
group ID = 4898
pw = cecil
Great idea, AETBOND417! Yahoo has everything, doesn’t it?
I’ve signed up and made my picks. Anyone else want to?
Should win:
Best Picture: O Brother Where Art Thou?
Yes, I know it wasn’t nominated.
Yes, I am still bitter.
Tomorrow’s the deadline for Oscar voters to return their ballots. I’ll have my official list of predictions on my website (see sig) shortly thereafter.
And I’m not going to wimp out and issue picks for just the top categories, either. Oh, no. I’ll forecast the winners for Documentary, Animated Short, and everything else.
Wussies.
I was wondering when you were gonna show up, Cervaise!
A few of us have joined the Yahoo Oscars group listed in AETBOND’s post above. You can pick all of the categories there if ya want to. Wanna join us?
In case anyone goes to the Yahoo group and sees someone they don’t recognize - a friend of mine signed on with her picks. Hope that’s ok with everyone 
I should have asked here first, I spose, since it’s a private group.
Sorry bout that!