Oscar nominations were announced this morning and while there were some surprises, it's a wide-open race with very few contenders and major surprises. Where's Scarlett Johansson? Where's Cold Mountain? Johnny Depp got nominated? Here are some of the major categories.

Best Picture
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Lost in Translation
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
Mystic River
Seabiscuit

Achievement in Directing
Fernando Meirelles, City of God
Peter Jackson, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Sofia Coppola, Lost in Translation
Peter Weir, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
Clint Eastwood, Mystic River

Best Actor in a Leading Role
Johnny Depp, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
Ben Kingsley, House of Sand and Fog
Jude Law, Cold Mountain
Bill Murray, Lost in Translation
Sean Penn, Mystic River

Best Supporting Actor
Alec Baldwin, The Cooler
Benicio Del Toro, 21 Grams
Djimon Honsou, In America
Tim Robbins, Mystic River
Ken Watanabe, The Last Samurai

Best Actress in a Leading Role
Keisha Castle-Hughes, Whale Rider
Diane Keaton, Something's Gotta Give
Samantha Morton, In America
Charlize Theron, Monster
Naomi Watts, 21 Grams

Best Supporting Actress
Shohreh Aghdashloo, House of Sand and Fog
Patricia Clarkson, Pieces of April
Marcia Gay Harden, Mystic River
Holly Hunter, Thirteen
Renee Zellweger, Cold Mountain

At quick glance, best supporting actor seems to be the most competitive category as Del Toro and Robbins both excelled in their roles. I thought Watanabe did as well but his movie doesn't have widespread support. Overall, despite 7 nominations, Cold Mountain is the big loser with no Nicole Kidman, no best picture nom, and no best director nom. The big actors also lost out with Tom Cruise and Russell Crowe not getting nominated. In the best picture category, it seems it's Lord of the Rings to lose with Lost in Translation and Mystic River battling it out for second.

The rest can be found on the Oscar web site. Winners will be announced February 29. My wrong predictions will start before then. It may not be so wrong this year; I did get 15 out of 24 last year.