With a blessedly strike-free Oscars set for Feb. 24, the Metromix film editors took the opportunity to reflect on who should win, who will win and who's just lucky to be nominated in eight major categories.

The results of that e-mail discussion follow...

-----Original Message-----
From: Berkshire, Geoff
To: Pais, Matthew
Subject: Oscars

Matt, I'm thinking that any discussion of this year's Oscars should begin with an acknowledgment of what a great year for movies 2007 was, and the Oscar voters did a pretty good job of recognizing a lot of that outstanding work. The original screenplay category demonstrates that nicely, with two best picture nominees ("Juno" and "Michael Clayton") likely to compete for the win.

But I'm glad they also found room for "Ratatouille"—which brought animated storytelling to new heights with a very mature consideration of following your professional passion—and "The Savages"—an almost nakedly honest take on family relationships that played like the best Woody Allen movie in years.

The inclusion of "Savages," "Juno" and "Lars and the Real Girl" means this is the first time ever that women with solo writing credits dominate the category. One of them, Diablo Cody, seems to be the frontrunner for "Juno," but I wonder if the backlash over all of her media exposure (and her tabloid friendly ex-stripper background) might lead to an upset win for "Michael Clayton"?

I'd honestly be happy to see any of the five nominees win.

What does Matt think of "Juno's" chances and the adapted screenplay race?