The unveiling of the nominations of the so-called first precursor is in less than 72 hours.

So what will we see? I'm not altogether sure, primarily because I don't know if "Little Children," "Notes on a Scandal," "Venus," and "The Queen" are eligible. Moreover, the body does surprise us. Many eventual Oscar nominees who were eligible here failed to even garner nominations from this body last year (including the Best Picture winner!).

Nevertheless, I'll toss out thoughts on who I expect to show up.

Picture
"Half Nelson"
"The Last King of Scotland"
"Little Miss Sunshine"
"The Queen"
"Thank You for Smoking"

Director
Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris – "Little Miss Sunshine"
Stephen Frears – "The Queen"
Kevin Macdonald – "The Last King of Scotland"
John Cameron Mitchell – "Shortbus"
Jason Reitman – "Thank You for Smoking"

Actor
Gael Garcia Bernal – "The Science of Sleep"
Aaron Eckhart – "Thank You for Smoking"
Ryan Gosling – "Half Nelson"
Peter O'Toole – "Venus"
Forest Whitaker – "The Last King of Scotland"

Actress
Maggie Gyllenhaal – "Sherrybaby"
Sienna Miller – "Factory Girl"
Helen Mirren – "The Queen"
Gretchen Mol – "The Notorious Bettie Page"
Emily Rios – "Quinceanera"

Supporting Actor
Ben Affleck – "Hollywoodland"
Alan Arkin – "Little Miss Sunshine"
Steve Carrell – "Little Miss Sunshine"
James McAvoy – "The Last King of Scotland"
Michael Sheen – "The Queen"

Supporting Actress
Abigail Breslin – "Little Miss Sunshine"
Toni Collette – "Little Miss Sunshine"
Shareeka Epps – "Half Nelson"
Jodie Whitakker – "Venus"
Someone I'm totally overlooking (Phyllis Somerville if eligible)

Screenplay
"Half Nelson" – Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck
"The Last King of Scotland" – Peter Morgan, Jeremy Brock
"Little Miss Sunshine" – Michael Arndt
"The Queen" – Peter Morgan
"Thank You for Smoking" – Jason Reitman

Cinematography
"Hollywoodland" – Jonathan Freeman
"The Last King of Scotland" – Anthony Dod Mantle
"The Queen" – Alfonso Beato
"Science of Sleep" – Jean-Louis Bompoint
Someone I'm totally overlooking

Terrible, I know. I realize I'm overestimating virtually every major title. I have no confidence in anything apart from the fact that "Half Nelson" will get a good deal of love and "Little Miss Sunshine" will get nods up the wazoo (and I still feel I'm overestimating it). And I'm all off if "Little Children" is eligible (which it may very well be).

But we find out on Tuesday; and that's exciting.