2006 Oscar nominations announced

Earlier today, nominations for the 78th Annual Academy Awards were announced by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences - and my friend John Pritchett was among them (for sound mixing Memoirs of a Geisha). Congrats, John!

Here are all the nominations, which turned out pretty much as expected, with few surprises. Brokeback Mountain leads with eight followed by Crash, Good Night and Good Luck and Memoirs of a Geisha with six each - while George Clooney personally got three nominations (for directing and co-writing Good Night, and as supporting actor in Syriana).

And for the first time since 1981, Best Picture and Director nominees matched - Brokeback Mountain (Ang Lee), Capote (Bennett Miller), Crash (Paul Haggis), Good Night, and Good Luck (George Clooney) and Munich (Steven Spielberg). (Check out Newsweek's roundtable interview with them.)

My predictions? While Brokeback is the odds-on favorite for Best Picture, I think there's a fair chance that Crash could steal it away (it won the SAG Award for Best Ensemble, and actors are the largest branch of Academy voters) - leaving Best Director for Ang Lee (who won the DGA Award).

In the acting categories, Phillip Seymour Hoffman is a lock to win Best Actor (for Capote), while Felicity Huffman (Transamerica) must fend off Reese Witherspoon (Walk the Line) - and I think she just might. For supporting roles, Rachel Weisz is a near-lock for The Constant Gardener (per her Golden Globe and SAG Award), and I expect Paul Giamatti to win for Cinderella Man (another SAG winner, who's still due for Sideways).

My favorite category? Best Animated Feature - Howl's Moving Castle, Tim Burton's Corpse Bride and Wallace & Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit.

The Oscars air Sunday March 5 on ABC, hosted by Jon Stewart.