ART DIRECTION
The Aviator boasts the epic sweep that Oscar usually
rewards, so it's likely to eclipse the more fanciful look of Lemony
Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (though don't rule out the
French film A Very Long Engagement).
CINEMATOGRAPHY
This category marks the best chance for The Passion of
the Christ to snag a piece of Oscar glory. But don't hold your breath.
While The Aviator is the deserved front-runner here, the mind-bending
camera work of House of Flying Daggers could slice its way to victory.
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Spain's euthanasia drama The Sea Inside, boosted
by a haunting central performance by Javier Bardem, may well top
France's saccharine Les Choristes. But if you're looking for an upset,
watch for Germany's last-days-of-Hitler drama Downfall.
LIVE ACTION SHORT
Our best guess: The lone American-made entry, the
beautifully shot Northern Ireland-set drama Everything in This Country
Must. Other possibilities might be the charming Little Terrorist, in
which a Pakistani boy slips across the mine-filled Indian border trying
to retrieve his ball, and the unsettling Wasp, about a neglectful
working-class British single mom.
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Despite some sentiment for the Mongolian dromedary
drama The Story of the Weeping Camel, we suspect the prize will go to
the more serious Born Into Brothels, about the children of prostitutes
in Calcutta, India, who are reared to join the sex trade themselves.
DOCUMENTARY SHORT
The favorite here is probably the well-crafted Autism
Is a World by Gerardine Wurzburg, who won this category in 1993.
Possible spoiler: Oren Jacoby's Sister Rose's Passion, in which a
Catholic nun battles anti-Semitism in the Church — and candidly critiques
Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ.
ANIMATED FEATURE
Shrek 2 may have been the bigger hit, but The
Incredibles' total of four nominations (it probably came close to
scoring a Best Picture nod) gives it the edge.
ANIMATED SHORT
We'll go with the disturbing mix of animation styles in
Ryan, a documentary about Canadian animator-turned-panhandler Ryan
Larkin, over Gopher Broke's all-CGI whimsy. But Roy Disney partisans may
favor the partially hand-drawn Lorenzo.
SCORE
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban earned John Williams his
remarkable 43rd nomination, but keeping him from his sixth win will
likely be Finding Neverland's Jan A.P. Kaczmarek, whose lush score could
end up being the only winner for the film.
SONG
We're still wondering why it took six people to write Counting
Crows' ''Accidentally in Love'' from Shrek 2. But expect the Josh
Groban-sung Polar Express theme, ''Believe'' (written by Alan Silvestri
and Glen Ballard), to eke out a win over Andrew Lloyd Webber's new
Phantom of the Opera composition, ''Learn to Be Lonely.''
COSTUME DESIGN
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events could be
the spoiler here, but The Aviator's Sandy Powell (who won for
Shakespeare in Love) will likely be rewarded for dressing one of the
largest casts of the year.
