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In every life, some rain must fall. This is BOP's solace as we analyze the Best Supporting Actor category. To put it politely, we have done better. Only three of the five actors we expected to receive nominations did so. Frontrunners Eddie Murphy and Alan Arkin as well as Djimon Hounsou made the list. The Queen's Michael Sheen and (astonishingly) The Departed's Jack Nicholson were less fortunate. In their stead, Jackie Earle Haley of Little Children and Mark Wahlberg of The Departed were selected. Just so we are clear on this point, the Academy decided that Marky Mark offered a better performance than the Joker. The end of days is nigh. With the slight reconfiguring of the candidates, not much has changed overall, though. Murphy is still the heavy favorite with Arkin the only legitimate threat to his candidacy.

The other surprise in this morning's announcement came in the Best Animated Film category. Cars and Happy Feet, the clear frontrunners, both got their expected nods. The surprise was that Monster House, a movie that earned $73.7 million, got a nomination over Over the Hedge, a $155 million earner. What's even stranger than the financial discrepancy between the underachiever and the blockbuster is that Over the Hedge is much more of a crowd pleaser. With critics seeing both movies in largely the same light, the populist vote would seem to carry the day. Voters must have given a lot more deference to the Steven Spielberg name on the credits than was deserved.

Overall, we were 29 out of 33 (88%) with perfect performances in three categories, all the names right in one more, and a rough showing in Best Supporting Actor. None of the nominees for the 2007 Academy Awards was ranked any lower than eighth in our power rankings for the third consecutive year. If you will allow us a rare moment of self-indulgence, we're pretty good at this.

Will BOP be able to carry this success over into the actual awards predictions? Our 2006 performance will be hard to top, particularly given the chaotic nature of Best Supporting Actor as well as Best Original Screenplay, but we maintain our optimism. Keep checking the Awards section for any fluctuations in our power rankings over the next month.

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