Bling-Bling For "Little Miss Sunshine"

Salma Hayek and Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Sid Ganis will announce the nominees for the 79th Annual Academy Awards tomorrow morning, but I've not only got a hunch on the names of the actors and pictures that will be nominees, but a premonition that Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris' "Little Yellow Volkwagen Bus That Could" will win the Best Picture trophy. Shocker, I know. But, I fail to see any excitement in "The Departed," "Babel," "Dreamgirls" or "The Queen" as the Academy's choice for Best Picture. If so, talk about anticlimactic. To help the cause and give "Little Miss Sunshine" a push, The Producers Guild of America recently gave the sardonic independent comedy the guild's top honor for 2006. As far as odds go, 11 of 17 pictures given the Producers Guild of America's biggest prize have gone forward to win Best Picture, but lately, with 2004's "The Aviator" and 2005's "Brokeback Mountain," the guild's been off slightly ("Million Dollar Baby" and "Crash," respectively, were winners with Oscar). As for the icing: Dustin Hoffman's outspoken esteem for the comedy. Is Hoffman a reliable prognosticator? Does Abigail Breslin have superfreaky talent? I suspect Hollywood will show an abundance of goodwill, hitch a ride on the runaway bandwagon as Oscar Night approaches and not brake until the Best Picture presenter says: "... and the Oscar goes to ... 'Little Miss Sunshine.'" Stay alert for more updates tomorrow.