This year’s Oscar nominations are not a matter of surprise, but rather a lot of “huhs?” and head-scratchers. The nominations, which were announced Tuesday, will surely give the Feb. 29 awards ceremony plenty of hype.

There’s no arguing that four of the five films nominated for Best Picture do indeed deserve their place in this category. The film that should be far from this list is “Seabiscuit,” a film so blisteringly average it hurts. Not a bad film, just completely overrated.

Three films that should have been nominated for Best Picture are: “Kill Bill: Vol. 1,” Quentin Tarantino’s trash masterpiece, “House of Sand and Fog,” the best-acted and best-written film of the year, and “Finding Nemo,” one of the most imaginative movies of recent memory.

It’s too early to tell what film will take home Oscar’s biggest prize, but Warner Bros. will most likely aggressively promote “Mystic River” to score an upset over “The Return of the King.” However, the best film nominated is “Lost in Translation.”

The Best Director category is loaded with directors who deserve to be there. The big surprise is Fernando Meirelles’ nomination for “City of God,” one of the best films of the year. Clint Eastwood will probably win his second directing Oscar, but perk your ears when the Directors Guild of America announces its winner (a majority of the time, that director goes on to win the Oscar).

The Best Actor category’s winner will either be Bill Murray or Sean Penn. Both actors deserve it, but Penn has the better chance of winning. Murray has been lauded with numerous critics’ awards, but unfortunately, the critics don’t vote for the Oscars. Ben Kingsley may provide an upset win, though it’s doubtful.

Johnny Depp is in this category by a mixture of hype and luck. His performance is interesting, funny — and completely undeserving of an Oscar nomination. Russell Crowe should take his place for his strong performance in “Master and Commander.”

The Best Actress category may very well be the most surprising of this year’s nominations — which may make it the most boring. Charlize Theron is receiving huge praise for her performance in “Monster,” which has all but won her the Oscar. Diane Keaton’s nomination is no surprise — she’s an Academy favorite and just won a Golden Globe. Everyone else’s presence is a bit of a shock.

Keisha Castle-Hughes, Naomi Watts and Samantha Morton should be replaced by Uma Thurman, who dominated every frame of “Kill Bill,” Jennifer Connelly, whose heartbreaking performance in “House of Sand and Fog” put her Oscar-winning performance in “A Beautiful Mind” to shame, and Scarlett Johansson, who was snubbed for both “Girl with a Pearl Earring” and “Lost in Translation.”

For supporting actor and actress categories, this year’s Golden Globe winners — Tim Robbins for “Mystic River” and Renee Zellweger for “Cold Mountain” — will more than likely follow up their wins with Academy Awards.

Neither actor should win, however. Alec Baldwin should win for his performance as a seedy casino manager in “The Cooler,” as should Shohreh Aghdashloo as Kingsley’s loving wife in “House of Sand and Fog.” Holly Hunter also deserves plenty of praise for her performance as a horrified mother in the underappreciated “Thirteen.”

This year’s nominations are definitely a weird bunch. Regardless, we’ll see if these predictions ring true on Feb. 29.