Okay, my last two categories of pre-oscar nomination coverage. Whereas the female categories (except for the last nomination or so) and the picture and director categories are straightforward, these are much harder to anticipate.

Best Actor

I think Jack Nicholson will get nominated for About Schmidt, because he always does get nominated and he is pretty good in the role. However, he won fairly recently for As Good As it Gets , and he has three oscars already, so I doubt he will actually win. Daniel Day Lewis is terrific in Gangs of New York, although the performance is a little over the top, it is trmendous fun, and it is great to see Day Lewis again after his five year break from movies. Michael Caine is excellent in The Quiet American and will likely get nominated. Miramax is running a "You love Michael Caine, and he has never won for Best Actor, so why don't you vote for him" campaign. However, buzz on the movie has quietened a bit later, and politically it doesn't reflect the national mood that well. Plus, Caine has won for Best Supporting Actor twice, and did quite recently (for The Cider House Rules Adaptation and although the film may be too whacky for the academy, I think he will get nominated. For the fifth nomination, I am going for Richard Gere . Chicago is getting more popular by the week, and Gere is surprisingly good in the movie. I really liked his performance, and he is an actor I generally dislike.

Best Supporting Actor

My pick to win in this category is Paul Newman for The Road to Perdition , because he has been a star for a very long time, everybody likes him, he hasn't won an oscar recently, and he is terrific in the film. Basically Newman to win because he deserves to. As for other possible nominees in this category, I am hampered because I haven't seen most of the films. Ed Harris for The Hours , Chris Cooper for Adaptation and Dennis Quaid for Far From Heaven appear good bets based purely on buzz, but that is about as much as I can say. I have a bit of a hunch that Chistopher Walken may pick up a nomination for Catch Me if you Can. And John C Reilly has been good in lots of movies this year, but voters might have trouble choosing which performance to nominate. (My guess is that most voters will bypass Chicago and The Good Girl , but will have trouble deciding between Gangs of New York and The Hours . So, he may miss out. Anyway, there is my pre-nominations oscar silliness for this year. Brief comments on the nominees tomorrow, then actual comments on Oscar night.