I think 2007 will go down as the all-round best year for cinema in years; in fact, the top Academy Award categories could have had several more films added if rules and practicality allowed.

On the other hand, Academy voters got the nominations right. The films, acting, and filmmaking are so good that it is extremely hard to predict who or which film will win.

I would also like to mention what many reviewers and critics have already noticed: that many 2007 films are life-affirming from conception to old age, to the search for life's meaning, and the celebration of family and friends. Judd Apatow's Knocked Up was a surprise (despite the yuck factor). Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson give us an experience of deeply felt life in Rob Reiner's The Bucket List. And Jindabyne from Australian director Ray Lawrence illustrated the connection between humanity, morality and nature.

And there are the nominees: the sleeper hit Juno, Sean Penn's Into the Wild and one of my favorites, Lars and the Real Girl. As the Jesuit Anthony de Mello once said, "You have yet to understand, my friends, that the shortest distance between a human being and truth is a story." I think de Mello would have enjoyed 2007 at the movies.

Having seen 33 of the 46 films in the main categories, here are my choices:
Actor: This is such a hard call because Daniel Day-Lewis' performance in There Will Be Blood is so outstanding. I would not be surprised if this dark study of a man who turns America's virtues into vices, sweeps the Awards. But my vote goes to Tommy Lee Jones as the heart-broken retired soldier who searches for his son who disappears after returning from Iraq in Paul Haggis' In the Valley of Elah.

Supporting Actor: Hands down, Hal Holbrook deserves this award for his authentic and poignant performance as the elderly widower who befriends a young man on his quest for truth and humanity in Sean Penn's Into the Wild. The other nominees --- notably Casey Affleck, in the dark historical drama The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford --- are deserving as well.

Actress: Cate Blanchette is always marvelous, and Julie Christie in Away from Her is getting all the buzz, but I would love to see the Oscar go to either Marion Cotillard in La Vie en Rose or to Ellen Page in Juno. Cotillard plays Edith Piaf to perfection but a win for newcomer Page's fresh persona as the young, super-smart pregnant teen in the biggest dilemma of her life exudes life and promise for the future of the cinema arts.

Supporting Actress: Watch Cate Blanchette win for I'm Not There where she plays Bob Dylan. But I enjoyed Tilda Swinton as the ambitious lawyer on the wrong side in Michael Clayton and the young Saoirse Ronan in Atonement. Young Ronan literally stole the show, giving depth and credence to an act of betrayal with life-long consequences.

Animated Feature: Persepolis could win for its artistic originality that told a bleak story with realism, but my hunch is that Ratatouille will win for its heart and accessibility for young and old alike.

Documentary Feature: I wish The Price of Sugar would have been nominated, but in lieu of that, my vote is for Michael Moore's assessment of universal health care in Sicko.

Adapted Screenplay: No Country for Old Men would be my hunch because it seems to stay closer to the book, although The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is a strong contender.

Original Screenplay: All deserving, it has to come down to Juno or Lars and the Real Girl. Both films are filled with life, humanity, family, community, tenderness, great kindness, and are completely original in their approach. These kinds of films make you want to go to the movies.

Director: I think all the nominated are brilliant. The Coen Brothers deserve it for No Country for Old Men, but I think Paul Thomas Anderson for There Will Be Blood may win.

Picture: I want Juno to win, but any of these films could win and it would be right and just. Michael Clayton is a film about conscience in contemporary life, the struggle between immoral and illegal; No Country for Old Men, a sheriff walking in a nightmare of criminal activity he could never have imagined; Atonement, a fine, subtle film about truth and consequences; and There Will be Blood, its exact opposite. My prediction: There Will be Blood.

Best Movies Not Nominated: The Namesake, Amazing Grace, A Mighty Heart.

Daughter of St. Paul Sister Rose Pacatte is director of the Pauline Center for Media Studies in Culver City, and author of the "Lights, Camera, Faith" film lectionary series published by Pauline Books and Media.