The biggest movie event of the year is The Academy Awards. On Sunday night at 5 p.m. on ABC the 79th Academy Awards should entertain as always. With no movie dominating the field, and two legendary directors competing for Best Director, the results on Sunday could end up surprising.

The five films up for Best Picture are “Babel,” “The Departed,” “Letters From Iwo Jima,” “Little Miss Sunshine” and “The Queen.” All of these movies have a chance of winning, however, “Little Miss Sunshine” has a few obstacles in its way. If history shows us anything, it’s that the Academy is swayed one way or another when it comes to choosing Best Picture by how many other nominations the movie has. “Little Miss Sunshine” has three other nominations in the Best Supporting Actor and Actress categories and Best Original Screenplay category. This might just be enough firepower to contend with the other big four nominations whose directors are all nominated for Best Director.

Since the turn of the century, four of the last seven winners of Best Director have had their movies win Best Picture. This year, if history is to repeat itself, Martin Scorsese has the best chance of doing it. “The Departed” is a fan favorite this year for both Best Picture and Best Director, two awards that Scorsese has never won. Although it is possible that the Academy will give Scorsese the Best Director nod (as a sort of lifetime achievement award), while giving Best Picture to another worthy director.

All three remaining movies have substance and a chance of winning, but winning Best Picture has everything to do with the directors. “Letters From Iwo Jima” is a World War II movie told through the eyes of Japanese soldiers who fought against Americans. This movie also has a good chance of winning because of its director, Clint Eastwood, who has elevated his craft in the last few years. Two years ago Eastwood won Best Director for “Million Dollar Baby” and in 1993 for “Unforgiven.”

Stephen Frears directed “The Queen” and is also nominated for Best Director. Frears has not been nominated for an Oscar since 1990 when his movie “The Grifters” had nominations for Best Picture and Best Director.

Last but not least is the director of “Babel,” Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu, whose movie “Amores Perros” won an Oscar for Best Foreign Film in 2001.

The race for Best Actor seems to be a shoe-in. Forest Whitaker is the heavy favorite to take home the award. Peter O’Toole, Will Smith, Ryan Gosling and Leonardo DiCaprio all have nominations, but come in short behind Whitaker. O’Toole performed very well in “Venus” but the movie was a little weak to help him win. Smith’s and Gosling’s performances were very good, but neither role was dynamic enough to compete with Whitaker. DiCaprio’s nomination is more of a pat on the head for doing a great job in two movies last year, “The Departed” and “Blood Diamond.”

Best Actress is seemingly dominated as well. Helen Mirren’s performance dominated in “The Queen.” Mirren has closer competition than Whitaker in Penelope Cruz, who starred in “Volver.” Judi Dench, Meryl Streep and Kate Winslet fall short because their movies lag behind Mirren’s “The Queen” and Cruz’s “Volver.”

If you want to make your own predictions and wow your friends during the Academy Awards, look for winners of the smaller categories. “The Departed” is nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay. “Babel,” “Letters from Iwo Jima,” “Little Miss Sunshine” and “The Queen” are all nominated for Best Original Screenplay, and “Babel” and “The Departed” are nominated for Best Film Editing. In years past, the winner of one of these categories has a much better chance of winning Best Picture. Look for “Little Miss Sunshine” to sneak in there with the Best Original Screenplay and the Best Picture awards.

My predictions are:

Best Director: Martin Scorsese, “The Departed”

Best Actor: Forest Whitaker, “The Last King of Scotland”

Best Actress: Helen Mirren, “The Queen”

Best Picture: “Little Miss Sunshine”

Brandon Van Meter can be reached at [email protected]