..Gary Dretzka
..Noah Forrest
..Leonard Klady
..R.J. Matson
..David Poland
..Douglas Pratt
..Ray Pride
..Michael Wilmington

PictureX Director
xx...Actor/Supporting Actor XActress/Supporting Actress
xScreenplay/Adapted Screenplay

BEST ACTOR
Actor - Film	Comment
Will Smith - The Pursuit of Happyness	A funny guy doing drama... always a good bet
Richard Griffiths - The History Boys	Should be easy... unless he goes supporting
George Clooney - The Good German	Is he in the can't miss groove?
Nicolas Cage - World Trade Center	Falls out if the movie does
Sacha Baron Cohen - Borat	My favorite underdog pick of the season... his work is truly masterful and unlike some comedies, he is both fresh and works without a lot of support from other actors
Brad Pitt - Babel	The only thing close to a lead... but he is Brad Pitt...
Javier Bardem - Goya's Ghosts	Love Javi... someone has to release the film
Sean Penn - All The Kings Men	A living legend... but this is a real challenge given his style of performance
Derek Luke - Catch A Fire	Strong young actor... strong story
Matt Damon- The Good Shepherd	Could leap up in a hurry...
Morgan Freeman - 10 Items Or Less	The voice of God plays comedy... could leap up the list
Leonardo DiCaprio - Blood Diamond/The Departed	Surely will be good... but is he award bait?
Peter O'Toole - Venus	Is this the last roundup?
Someone from Flags of Our Fathers	???
Will Ferrell - Stranger Than Fiction	Could they actually vote for Ricky Bobby?
Russell Crowe - A Good Year	Never more than a phone throw away from an award

 

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Actor - Film	Comment
Eddie Murphy - Dreamgirls	Perfect Academy role
Jack Nicholson - The Departed	I really miss him... welcome back, Jack
Alan Arkin - Little Miss Sunshine	Could bump co-star Carrell on career points
Michael Pena - World Trade Center	Strong presence... needs the movie to BP
Jackie Earle Haley - Little Children	A strong performance as a child molester... but it's the contrast with his kid actordom that kicks it in into nomination mode
Forrest Whitaker - The Last King Of Scotland	Very strong performance... but will Idi Amin really resonate?
Brian Cox - Running With Scissors	Forever deserving... maybe this year..
Steve Carrell - Little Miss Sunshine	Heat du jour... but Arkin could block him
Someone from Flags of Our Fathers	A mystery, really.
Joe Pesci - The Good Shepherd	The return of the intense one.
James Cromwell - The Queen	That'll do, actor.
James Gandolfini - All The Kings Men	Long shot. But he could steal the show.

x

August 11, 2006
- David Poland