Yes, it's that time again: the 79th Annual Academy Awards will be handed out on February 25th, and Martin Scorsese will be hoping that this won't be the sixth time he doesn't win an Oscar. In the Best Director category he's up against Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu (Babel),Stephen Frears (The Queen)and Paul Greengrass (who would get our vote for United 93), and Marty will be hoping that Clint Eastwood won't be pipping him to the post with Letters From Iwo Jima, the way he did when Million Dollar Baby came past The Aviator on the inside two years ago. If Marty does take home his own statuette, you'd have to fancy that The Departed will also win best movie, although that doesn't always follow. Thankfully the bewilderingly over-rated Dreamgirls (which we'll be reviewing next week) didn't make the list, with Little Miss Sunshine probably beating it to the one free position alongside The Departed, Babel, Letters From Iwo Jima, and The Queen. Dreamgirls is still the most nominated movie, with 8 chances to win, but 3 of these are for best song, for which there's little competition. Eddie Murphy is also nominated for his turn as 60s soul funkster James 'Thunder' Early, and his category - Best Supporting Actor - is the most intriguing, with all the performances outstanding: Alan Arkin, (Little Miss Sunshine), Jackie Earle Haley, (Little Children), Djimon Hounsou, (Blood Diamond), and Mark Wahlberg, (The Departed) also make the shortlist. Helen Mirren surely has Best Actress sown up, but she's up against Kate Winslet (for Little Children), Judi Dench (Notes on a Scandal), Meryl Streep (in what is clearly a supporting role in The Devil Wears Prada) and the wonderful Penelope Cruz (for Volver). Likewise it'll be a big surprise if Forest Whitaker doesn't win for his role as Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland, his rivals are Leonardo DiCaprio (for Blood Diamond), Will Smith (The Pursuit of Happyness) and surprise choice Ryan Gosling (for Half Nelson), but the biggest threat to his campaign is the sentimental vote, which would surely go to Peter O'Toole (for Venus). Yes, the Oscars are actually a bit pointless, yes, they nearly always get it wrong, but it's always a night of great drama and staggering egos, and we'll be glued as ever. As is traditional, Nick and Stuart will be sealing their Oscar predictions into envelopes a week before the ceremony. Tune in on Thursday 1st, Saturday 3rd or Sunday 4th March to hear how accurate those predictions were.