After months of striking, the WGA looks like they will finally sign a new deal by the end of this week. This could only mean great news for the 80th Academy Awards, due to air on Sunday, February 24. The second-most watched event annually, second only to the Super Bowl, this year’s Oscar race has some intriguing questions. Will Johnny Depp finally win that coveted statue? Is anyone going to stand in the way of the Coen brothers and “No Country for Old Men?” Here are the nominees, snubs and predictions for the 2008 season.

Best Supporting Actress:
Cate Blanchett, “I’m Not There”; Ruby Dee, “American Gangster”; Saorise Ronan, “Atonement”; Amy Ryan, “Gone Baby Gone”; Tilda Swinton, “Michael Clayton”
For your consideration: Jennifer Garner, “Juno

This is probably the most wide open category out of the major six awards. Swinton’s work opposite George Clooney in “Michael Clayton” as a top litigator is top-notch. Ronan’s young Briony keeps the audience on edge as she tries to figure out the love affair between her sister and servant worker. Ryan’s performance as a drugged out mother in “Gone Baby Gone” is the favorite among critics everywhere. Blanchett won a Golden Globe for her interpretation of Bob Dylan and Dee was awarded a SAG for her role as mother to Frank Lucas. If any of these women have an inside edge, it probably is Blanchett since she’s also nominated for the best actress category, which she probably won’t win.

Who should win: Amy Ryan
Who will win: Cate Blanchett

Best Supporting Actor:
Casey Affleck, “Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford”; Javier Bardem, “No Country For Old Men”; Phillip Seymour Hoffman, “Charlie Wilson’s War”; Hal Holbrook, “Into the Wild”; Tom Wilkinson, “Michael Clayton”
For your consideration: Russell Crowe, “American Gangster”

Unlike the Best Supporting Actress category, this is probably easiest award to pick. Bardem brings us a terrifying villain, none like we’ve seen since Hannibal Lector in “Silence of the Lambs.” His demeanor, his stare and his haircut will scare the living daylights out of anybody. Anyone that might cause an upset is Affleck’s Robert Ford, another murderer that was brought on screen this year.

Who should win: Javier Bardem
Who will win: Javier Bardem

Best Actress:
Cate Blanchett, “Elizabeth: The Golden Age”; Julie Christie, “Away From Her”; Marion Cotillard, “La Vie En Rose”; Laura Linney, “The Savages”; Ellen Page, “Juno”
For your consideration: Amy Adams, “Enchanted”

It’s sad to see Adams not in this category because she was the most entertaining person to watch in theaters as the princess from Andalasia. The young viewers would love to see Page win this award but knowing the Academy hates to award young talent, she has no chance. Linney is solid as always and Blanchett gets another nomination for the same character that earned her an Oscar in 1998 but this award will come down to two actresses. Christie, probably in her last film, showed a graceful and hopeful side as an Alzheimer character in “Away From Her.” She hasn’t won an Oscar since 1966 so voters will probably be more incline to award her but Cotillard’s take as the eccentric Edith Piaf makes “La Vie En Rose” from being a disappointment to a surprising film.

Who should win: Marion Cotillard
Who will win: Julie Christie

Best Actor:
George Clooney, “Michael Clayton”; Daniel Day-Lewis, “There Will Be Blood”; Johnny Depp, “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”; Tommy Lee Jones, “In the Valley of Elah”; Viggo Mortensen, “Eastern Promises”
For your consideration: Christian Bale, “3:10 to Yuma”

How Bale, who pound for pound is the best actor in the business today, could not get a nomination for “3:10 to Yuma” or “Rescue Dawn” is beyond belief. Daniel Day-Lewis is winning awards left and right this year for his powerful performance as a morally conscious man in the early stages of the oil industry. Some will compare this performance to his role as Bill “The Butcher” in Martin Scorcese’s “Gangs of New York.” The only other actor that stands a chance, hopefully, is Clooney’s “Michael Clayton.” Clayton is a man that can ‘fix’ things in times of need but he looks like a man on the verge of breaking down when his job is hits a moral crossroads.

Who should win: George Clooney
Who will win: Daniel Day-Lewis

Best Director
Paul Thomas Anderson, “There Will Be Blood”; Ethan and Joel Coen, “No Country For Old Men”; Tony Gilroy, “Michael Clayton”; Jason Reitman, “Juno”; Julian Schnabel, “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly”
For your consideration: Joe Wright, “Atonement”

It’s going to be hard to deny the Coen brothers’ an Academy Award for this flawless picture. Gilroy won’t get as much credit as the other director’s because it seems more writing driven than the director’s talent, Anderson will get less of a nod because Day-Lewis is the one that makes the movie his own. Reitman has a great thing for dry humor but comedies never do well with the old voters. Schnabel has a chance because of his win during the Golden Globes but don’t expect the Coen brothers to be rejected of this award.

Who should win: Ethan and Joel Coen
Who will win: Ethan and Joel Coen

Best Picture:
“Atonement”, “Juno”, “Michael Clayton”, “No Country for Old Men”, “There Will Be Blood”
For your consideration: “Ratatouille”, “Knocked Up”, “Bourne Ultimatum”

How “Ratatouille”, “Knocked Up”, and “Bourne Ultimatum”, all three movies that rank in the top 15 of domestic revenue, meaning people actually went to see them, and which all got positive reviews from critics, not get a Best Picture nomination is bogus. Academy voters need to open their minds during spring and summer times, not only during the fall and winter seasons. That being said, “No Country for Old Men” isn’t going to lose this award. No other film is more thrilling, better ensembled and follows their book adaptation more vividly than this Coen brothers’ work. “There Will Be Blood” might make some noise for all the steam they’ve picked up with Day-Lewis’ performance, “Atonement” is the best love story out there and “Michael Clayton” is the most mainstream thriller out of the five, but don’t expect any upset here.

Who should win: “No Country for Old Men”
Who will win: “No Country for Old Men”