Mayor Sam's Oscar Picks**

I was pretty good in my picks for the nominees a while back, so I'm going to give a shot at the winners. By the way, in case you were wondering, Mayor Villaraigosa will be at the Oscars and the Governors' Ball following the awards. As with all the guests, the Mayor will be able to take home a gold-dusted chocolate version of the Oscar statue. Not sure, if he has to declare that with the Ethics Commission or to the IRS.

Mayor Sam's predictions in bold.

*UPDATE: Well this old, dead Republican mayor is thankfully somewhat out of touch with Hollywood as I got nine out of 21 nominee picks right. Better luck next time.

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE:
Philip Seymour Hoffman - "Capote"***Winner
Terrence Howard - "Hustle & Flow"
Heath Ledger - "Brokeback Mountain"
Joaquin Phoenix - "Walk the Line"
David Strathairn - "Good Night, and Good Luck"

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:
George Clooney - "Syriana"*** Winner
Matt Dillon - "Crash"
Paul Giamatti - "Cinderella Man"
Jake Gyllenhaal - "Brokeback Mountain"
William Hurt - "A History of Violence"

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE:
Dame Judi Dench - "Mrs Henderson Presents"
Felicity Huffman - "Transamerica"
Keira Knightley - "Pride and Prejudice"
Charlize Theron - "North Country"
Reese Witherspoon - "Walk the Line"***Winner

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:
Amy Adams - "Junebug"
Catherine Keener - "Capote"
Frances McDormand - "North Country"
Rachel Weisz - "The Constant Gardener"***Winner
Michelle Williams - "Brokeback Mountain"

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM:
"Howl's Moving Castle"
"Tim Burton's Corpse Bride"
"Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit"***Winner

ART DIRECTION:
"Good Night, and Good Luck" - Art Direction: Jim Bissell, Set Decoration: Jan Pascale
"Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" - Art Direction: Stuart Craig, Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan
"King Kong" - Art Direction: Grant Major, Set Decoration: Dan Hennah and Simon Bright
"Memoirs of a Geisha" - Art Direction: John Myhre, Set Decoration: Gretchen Rau***Winner
"Pride and Prejudice" - Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood, Set Decoration: Katie Spencer

CINEMATOGRAPHY:
"Batman Begins" - Wally Pfister
"Brokeback Mountain" - Rodrigo Prieto
"Good Night, and Good Luck" - Robert Elswit
"Memoirs of a Geisha" - Dion Beebe***Winner
"The New World" - Emmanuel Lubezki

COSTUME DESIGN:
"Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Gabriella Pescucci
"Memoirs of a Geisha" - Colleen Atwood***Winner
"Mrs Henderson Presents" - Sandy Powell
"Pride and Prejudice" - Jacqueline Durran
"Walk the Line" - Arianne Phillips

DIRECTING:
"Brokeback Mountain" - Ang Lee***Winner
"Capote" - Bennett Miller
"Crash" - Paul Haggis
"Good Night, and Good Luck" - George Clooney
"Munich" - Steven Spielberg

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE:
"Darwin's Nightmare"
"Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room"
"March of the Penquins"***Winner
"Murderball"
"Street Fight"

DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT:
"The Death of Kevin Carter: Casualty of the Bang Bang Club"
"God Sleeps in Rwanda"
"The Mushroom Club"
"A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norwan Corwin"***Winner

FILM EDITING:
"Cinderella Man" - Mike Hill and Dan Hanley
"The Constant Gardener" - Claire Simpson
"Crash" - Hughes Winborne***Winner
"Munich" - Michael Kahn
"Walk the Line" - Michael McCusker

MAKEUP:
"The Chronicles of Narnia" - Howard Berger and Tami Lane***Winner
"Cinderella Man" - David Leroy Anderson and Lance Anderson
"Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith" - Dave Elsey and Annette Miles

MUSIC (SCORE):
"Brokeback Mountain" - Gustavo Santaolalla***Winner
"The Constant Gardener" - Alberto Iglesias
"Memoirs of a Geisha" - John Williams
"Munich" - John Williams
"Pride and Prejudice" - Dario Marianelli

MUSIC (SONG):
"In the Deep" - "Crash"
"It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" - "Hustle & Flow"***Winner
"Travelin Thru" - "Transamerica"

BEST PICTURE:
"Brokeback Mountain"
"Capote"
"Crash"***Winner
"Good Night, and Good Luck"
"Munich"

SOUND EDITING:
"King Kong" - Mike Hopkins and Ethan Van der Ryn***Winner
"Memoirs of a Geisha" - Wylie Stateman
"War of the Worlds" - Richard King

SOUND MIXING:
"The Chronicles of Narnia" - Terry Porter, Dean A Zupancic and Tony Johnson
"King Kong" - Christopher Boyes, Michael Semanick, Michael Hedges and Hammond Peek***Winner
"Memoirs of a Geisha" - Kevin O'Connell, Greg P Russell, Rick Kline and John Pritchett
"Walk the Line" - Paul Massey, DM Hemphill and Peter F Kurland
"War of the Worlds" - Andy Nelson, Anna Behlmer and Ronald Judkins

VISUAL EFFECTS:
"The Chronicles of Narnia" - Dean Wright, Bill Westenhofer, Jim Berney, and Scott Farrar
"King Kong" - Joe Letteri, Brian Van't Hul, Christian Rivers and Richard Taylor***Winner
"War of the Worlds"- Dennis Muren, Pablo Helman, Randy Dutra and Daniel Sudick

WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY):
"Brokeback Mountain"***Winner
"Capote"
"The Constant Gardener"
"A History of Violence"
"Munich"

WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY):
"Crash"***Winner
"Good Night, and Good Luck"
"Match Point"
"The Squid and the Whale"
"Syriana"