It's that time of year again. The Oscars are almost upon us and the fate of the world rests on determining who is the better predictor. Will Aaron stomp me into the ground again this year? Or will I make a resounding comeback? As my competitor himself pointed out, there's no Star Wars/Matrix feud to screw me over this time.

Here are the nominees...

BEST PICTURE

Chocolat

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Erin Brockovich

Gladiator

Traffic

My pick: I'm really betting on Gladiator performing under everybody's expectations. The way I see this thing, either Traffic or Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is gonna get the statue. Tough choice....touch choice...I'm gonna say that Traffic will win the award. I get the impression that some Academy members might have not been won over by CT,HD, as hard as that is to imagine. Btw, where the hell is Almost Famous? It deserves to be up there.

Aaron's pick: Gladiator has to pull this out. Although there is strong competition, the Academy loves those epic-style movies. I call it the 'Braveheart' phenomenon.

Winner: Gladiator.

BEST ACTOR

JAVIER BARDEM, Before Night Falls

RUSSELL CROWE, Gladiator

ED HARRIS, Pollock

TOM HANKS, Cast Away

GEOFFREY RUSH, Quills

My pick: Russell Crowe will probably win this one. It was a defining performance. Although Geoffrey Rush's turn as the Marquis De Sade did catch a lot of attention, I'll stick with the popular choice. Btw, was Tom Hanks that great in Cast Away? And it would have been cool if Robert Brown had got a nomination for his acting debut as Jamal in Finding Forester.

Aaron's pick: Crowe. Same reason as above. The only thing they like more than an ancient epic is starring in one.

Winner: Russell Crowe for his role in Gladiator.

BEST ACTRESS

JOAN ALLEN, The Contender

JULIETTE BINOCHE, Chocolat

ELLEN BURSTYN, Requiem For A Dream

LAURA LINNEY, You Can Count On Me

JULIA ROBERTS, Erin Brockovich

My pick: Julia Roberts is Hollywood's darling. She's gonna win this one.

Aaron's pic: Roberts. She was quirky, funny, and it's a tribute to the most popular actress in the last 10 years.

Winner: Julia Roberts for her role in Erin Brockovich.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

JEFF BRIDGES, The Contender

WILLEM DAFOE, Shadow of the Vampire

BENICIO DEL TORO, Traffic

ALBERT FINNEY, Erin Brockovich

JOAQUIN PHOENIX, Gladiator

My pick: Tough one. I've got a sneaking suspicion that Willem Dafoe might garner the win but I think I'll put my money on Benicio Del Toro who continues to kick ass in every movie he's in.

Aaron's pick: Del Toro. Although I would LOVE to see Dafoe pull this one out for a great performance, I think the weak script is going to bring him down.

Winner: Benicio Del Toro for his role in Traffic.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

JUDI DENCH, Chocolat

MARCIA GAY HARDEN, Pollock

KATE HUDSON, Almost Famous

FRANCES McDORMAND, Almost Famous

JULIE WATERS, Billy Elliot

My pick: Kate Hudson. What a wonderful star making performance.

Aaron's pick: Kate Hudson. No one else even approaches her level on this one.

Winner: Marcia Gay Harden for her role in Pollock.

BEST DIRECTOR

STEPHEN DALDRY, Billy Elliot

ANG LEE, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

RIDLEY SCOTT, Gladiator

STEVEN SODERBERGH, Erin Brockovich

STEVEN SODERBERGH, Traffic

My pick: Steven Soderbergh's directorial career is blasting off in mainstream Hollywood now. This new period started with Out of Sight, continued with The Limey, and culminated in two fantastic flicks in one year. He's the superstar at the moment and I think they'll give him an Oscar for Traffic.

Aaron's pick: Soderbergh (Traffic)... Although I think the irony would be great if Scott won this, it seems the trend lately has been to hand the directorial oscar one way, and the best picture the other. This is Traffic's best stand.

Winner:Steven Soderbergh for Traffic

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Almost Famous

Billy Elliot

Erin Brockovich

Gladiator

You Can Count on Me

My pick: Almost Famous should win this one. The Academy would be stupid not to reward Cameron Crowe with an Oscar here. Of course they didn't think it was Best Picture contender, so what do I know?

Aaron's pick: Gladiator. Mildly accurate historically, epic-length and exciting, this one should be easy.

Winner: Almost Famous

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Chocolat

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Traffic

Wonder Boys

My pick: I think they'll go with Traffic for adapted screenplay.

Aaron's pick: O Brother Where Art Thou...I don't think the academy will be too picky that it was actually stolen from Homer, but the creativvity here is brillant. Wish I could set Greek epics in the South.

Winner: Traffic

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

Chocolat

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Gladiator

Malèna

The Patriot

My pick: I'll say Gladiator will win here.

Aaron's pick: The Patriot. If John Williams writes it, it will win.

Winner: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

A FOOL IN LOVE - Meet the Parents

I'VE SEEN IT ALL - Dancer In The Dark

A LOVE BEFORE TIME - Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

MY FUNNY FRIEND AND ME - The Emperor's New Groove

THINGS HAVE CHANGED - Wonder Boys

My pick: Bjork anyone? "I've Seen it All" from Dancer in the Dark.

Aaron's pick:Wonderboys. If Bob Dylan writes it, it will win.

Winner: Bob Dylan for "Things Have Changed" from Wonder Boys.

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

Amores Perros (Mexico)

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Taiwan)

Divided We Fall (Czech Republic)

Everybody Famous (Belgium)

The Taste of Others (France)

My pick: You've gotta give the Academy credit this year, at least they didn't drop the ball with Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon like that year with Hoop Dreams. A documentary that had people saying it should get a Best Picture nod and didn't even get a Best Documentary nomination. Now that I've done rambling, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon should win here.

Aaron's pick:Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Much like "Life is Beautiful" a few years ago, if a film got nominated for Best Picture, it's probably going to win this category.

Winner: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Gladiator

Malèna

O Brother, Where Art Thou?

The Patriot

My pick: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. What a beautifully shot movie. Those mountains in the fog, the cave with all the dripping water, the chase across the desert... As I fill this out I really see how tough it's gonna be for the Academy to decide between Gladiator and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. They go head to head in so many categories.

Btw, O Brother, Where Art Thou? deserved more nominations.

Aaron's pick:I'm going to say Gladiator, because the dreamy qualities of the battle scenes, and his near-death experiences were amazing to me, and Rome really looked like Rome, albeit with a computer's help.

Winner: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

ART DIRECTION

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Dr. Suess' How The Grinch Stole Christmas

Gladiator

Quills

Vatel

My pick: Tough choice. Why the hell is the Grinch movie in so many freaking categories? Grr... Anyway, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon will win here.

Aaron's pick: Gladiator again.

Winner: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

COSTUME DESIGN

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Dr. Suess' How The Grinch Stole Christmas

Gladiator

102 Dalmations

Quills

My pick: Let's throw two pieces of crap out right now; Grinch and Dalmations. That leaves three worthy contenders. Now the most elaborate costumes aren't necessarily guaranteed winners. Witness Topsy Turvy winning this last year. Hmm...all of these have history to draw from. I'm gonna say Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon will pick it up.

Aaron's pick: Quills. Gladiator just had guys in armor, Tiger had guys in robes, the grinch was just green fuzz, and dalmations was..well..dalmations.

Winner: Gladiator

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

INTO THE ARMS OF STRANGERS: STORIES OF THE KINDERTRANSPORT

Legacy

LONG NIGHT'S JOURNEY INTO DAY

SCOTTSBORO: AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY

SOUND AND FURY

My pick: Long Night's Journey Into Day. Ambitious title, that's why.

Aaron's pick: Sound and Fury...Maybe there are some Faulkner fans out there???

Winner: Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport

DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT

BIG MAMA

CURTAIN CALL

DOLPHINS

THE MAN ON LINCOLN'S NOSE

ON TIPTOE: GENTLE STEPS TO FREEDOM

My pick: The Man on Lincoln's Nose. It sounds like a quirky movie.

Aaron's pick: Big Mama...So many possible subjects for this movie...

Winner: Big Mama

FILM EDITING

Almost Famous

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Gladiator

Traffic

Wonder Boys

My pick: I think they'll choose Traffic for Editing. A lot of work was put into making a coherent film with so many different characters, locations, and plot threads going on.

Aaron's pick: Crouching Tiger...I supose it takes some work to make flying martial arts look artistic.

Winner: Traffic

MAKEUP

The Cell

Dr. Suess' How The Grinch Stole Christmas

Shadow of the Vampire

My pick: I bet the academy will reward Shadow of the Vampire for the fantastic job they did on Dafoe. Although The Cell had a lot more examples of ambitious makeup, it's probably easier to reward a movie with such a fully realized central figure to focus on. The makeup in Shadow of the Vampire contributed so much, it would be hard for them to ignore. I'll be pissed if Grinch wins, btw.

Aaron's pick: Shadow of the Vampire. So much wasted potential in this movie, but I spent most of the movie trying to figure out HOW he looked so freaky.

Winner: Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas

SOUND

Cast Away

Gladiator

The Patriot

The Perfect Storm

U-571

My pick: The clang of swords, the crash of chariots, the growls of tigers, and the roar of the crowd...tell me Gladiator isn't taking this one. E-Z.

Aaron' pick: Cast Away...There were no other noises IN the movie for about 45 minutes, so you notice it so much more.

Winner: Gladiator

SOUND EFFECTS EDITING

Space Cowboys

U-571

My pick: Lotsa choices here. I hate categories that don't have five choices. The submarine movie will pick up the statue. U-571.

Aaron's pick: U-571. I doubt space comedies win too many awards. Otherwise Spaceballs would have swept.

Winner: U-571

VISUAL EFFECTS

Gladiator

Hollow Man

The Perfect Storm

My pick: Although I was impressed with Gladiator's CGI arenas and cities, I really think Hollow Man pushed things a lot further. I'm going on a limb and saying Hollow Man will pull an upset on Gladiator in this category.

Aaron's pick: Perfect Storm: Big Waves...uh...that's aboutit.

Winner: Gladiator

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM

Father and Daughter

The Peri-Wig Maker

Rejected

My pick: Rejected. Because it'd be funny.

Aaron's pick: The Peri-Wig Maker. Funny names are always entertaining.

Winner: Father and Daughter

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM

By Courier

One Day Crossing

Quiero Ser (I Want To Be . . . )

Seraglio

A Soccer Story (Una Historia de Futebol)

My pick: A Soccer Story's gonna win it. Because soccer is a worldwide phenomenon! I dunno.

Aaron's pick: By Courier. Couriers are cool..especially if they're courier rats, or courier pigeons to CARRY the courier rats...

Winner: Quiero Ser (I Want To Be...)