by POPSUGAR Entertainment 4

The nominees for the 79th Annual Academy Awards are finally coming out on Tuesday, and it seems no other year in recent Oscar memory has had so much buzz building before the big night. While some categories — namely Best Actress, aka Helen Mirren — seem mostly locked up, there are plenty of places where the Oscar voters might really surprise us in 2007. Here's who I think — and hope — will get nods in the major categories.

BEST PICTURE

Shoo-Ins:
Babel
The Departed
Dreamgirls

Wild Cards
The Queen
Children of Men
Little Miss Sunshine

BEST DIRECTOR

Shoo-Ins:
Clint Eastwood, Flags of Our Fathers or Letters from Iwo Jima
Martin Scorcese, The Departed
Aljenador Gonzalez Inarritu, Babel

Wild Cards
Bill Condon, Dreamgirls
Stephen Frears, The Queen
Paul Greengrass, United 93

To see the rest, read more

BEST ACTOR

Shoo-Ins:
Forest Whitaker, The Last King of Scotland
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Departed
Will Smith, The Pursuit of Happyness

Wild Cards
Sacha Baron Cohen, Borat
Peter O'Toole, Venus
Ryan Gosling, Half Nelson

BEST ACTRESS

Shoo-Ins:
Helen Mirren, The Queen
Judi Dench, Notes on a Scandal
Kate Winslet, Little Children

Wild Cards
Penelope Cruz, Volver
Meryl Streep, The Devil Wears Prada
Annette Bening, Running With Scissors

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Shoo-Ins:
Eddie Murphy, Dreamgirls
Djimon Hounsou, Blood Diamond
Jack Nicholson, The Departed

Wild Cards
Mark Wahlberg, The Departed
Brad Pitt, Babel
Alan Arkin, Little Miss Sunshine

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Shoo-Ins:
Cate Blanchett, Notes on a Scandal
Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls
Adriana Barraza, Babel

Wild Cards
Abigail Breslin, Little Miss Sunshine
Rinko Kikuchi, Babel
Emily Blunt, The Devil Wears Prada

OTHER NOMINATIONS I'D LOVE TO SEE

Best Sound Design: Pan's Labyrinth
Best Original Screenplay: Little Miss Sunshine
Best Adapted Screenplay: Children of Men
Best Costume Design: Marie Antoinette
Best Song: "The Book I Write" by Spoon for Stranger Than Fiction
Best Cinematography: The Good German
Best Visual Effects: Casino Royale