What I'll be hoping for this morning

Oscar nominations will be announced shortly, and there are some nominations that I'll really want to see. Some of these wishes are so sure to be granted that the only reason I'll even think about them tomorrow morning is if they fail to get nominated. These certainties include Sean Penn, Frank Langella, Kate Winslet, Heath Ledger, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Penelope Cruz for the acting categories; Frost/Nixon for its screenplay; Slumdog Millionaire, The Dark Knight and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button for their original scores, and WALL-E for best animated feature.

This does not mean that there aren't other certainties. Some of the other certainties are actually the ones that I don't agree with. e.g. Slumdog Millionaire for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay and some major awards for Benjamin Button. Then there are others that I don't feel either good or bad about e.g. The Wrestler which I still haven't been able to see, or some nominations for Milk, which is a fine movie, just not one of my most loved movies of the year.

So, that brings me to the nominations that will REALLY make me happy tomorrow, because they are not really done deals yet and I would LOVE them to happen. They are...

1) WALL-E for Best Original Screenplay (possible), Best Sound Design (very likely), Best Original Score (possible) and, dare I say it, Best Picture and Best Director (sigh! not likely at all! :( )

2) The Dark Knight for Best Picture (possible, maybe even likely), Best Director (likely), Best Adapted Screenplay (not likely), and most of the technical awards (very likely for all of them)

3) "O Sayya" or "Jai Ho" for Best Original Song (very likely for Jai Ho... not likely at all for O Sayya)

4) Kate Winslet getting both nominations (likely... I'll hate it if she misses out on either)

5) Leonardo DiCaprio (not likely)

6) Taraji P. Henson for Benjamin Button (possible)

Also, I'll hate it if Dev Patel pips someone for a nomination. He was OK. If they HAVE to show some Slumdog Millionaire love, they should nominate one of the kids!