Best Art Direction
Atonement, Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
All of this year's nominees are period pieces, but Atonement is the only one with the "classical European" look that Academy-ites most appreciate.
By the way, the last film with a contemporary setting that won the best art direction Academy Award was the 1979 musical All That Jazz.
Best Costume Design
Atonement, Jacqueline Durran
See best art direction. (As in the art direction category, all of this year's nominees are period pieces.)
The last film with a contemporary setting that won the best costume design Academy Award was the 1994 Australian drag-queen comedy-drama The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.
Best Visual Effects
Transformers, Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Russell Earl and John Frazier
From what I've been told, without the special effects there would have been no movie, since Transformers apparently offers no acting, no writing, and no direction.
Best Sound Editing
Transformers, Ethan Van der Ryn and Mike Hopkins
A rule of thumb when predicting winners for the best sound categories: Look for the loudest movie. The guys in the picture above sure look like they're making a lot of noise.
Best Sound Mixing
Transformers, Kevin O'Connell, Greg P. Russell and Peter J. Devlin
See best sound editing.