Key Oscar Dates:

Monday, December 1, 2008: Official Screen Credits forms due
Friday, December 26, 2008: Nominations ballots mailed
Monday, January 12, 2009: Nominations polls close 5 p.m. PT
Thursday, January 22, 2009: Nominations announced 5:30 a.m. PT, Samuel Goldwyn Theater
Wednesday, January 28, 2009: Final ballots mailed
Monday, February 2, 2009: Nominees Luncheon
Saturday, February 7, 2009: Scientific and Technical Achievement Awards presentation
Tuesday, February 17, 2009: Final polls close 5 p.m. PT
Sunday, February 22, 2009: 81st Annual Academy Awards presentation

2008/9 Predictions:

Best Director:

David Fincher – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button*
Joe Wright – The Soloist
Ron Howard – Frost/Nixon
Sam Mendes – Revolutionary Road
Gus Van Sant – Milk

Best Actor:

Brad Pitt – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frank Langella – Frost/Nixon*
Sean Penn – Milk
Philip Seymour Hoffman – Synecdoche, New York
Benicio Del Toro – The Argentine/Guerrilla

Best Actress:

Meryl Streep – Doubt
Julianne Moore – Blindness
Kate Winslet – Revolutionary Road*
Angelina Jolie – Changeling
Nicole Kidman – Australia

Best Supporting Actor:

Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight
Robert Downey Jr. – The Soloist
Ralph Fiennes – The Reader
Josh Brolin – Milk
Michael Sheen – Frost/Nixon*

Best Supporting Actress:

Amy Adams – Doubt*
Vera Farmiga – Nothing But The Truth
Cate Blanchett – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Catherine Keener – The Soloist
Kathy Bates - Revolutionary Road

Best Original Screenplay:

Milk
Happy-Go-Lucky
Synecdoche, New York
Wall-E*
Hamlet 2

Best Adapted Screenplay:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button*
Doubt
Revolutionary Road
Frost/Nixon
The Reader

“The Contender List”

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button {my #1 film for 2008, the one I want to see the most}

Doubt {Meryl, Hoffman and Amy Adams}

Frost/Nixon

Changeling

The Argentine/Guerrilla

Sunshine Cleaning {Amy Adams…..}

Milk {van Sant is my G.O.D}

Revolutionary Road (Will its buzz kill its chances?)

Wall-E

Australia

Body of Lies

Blindness

The Reader

The Soloist

Valkyrie

Burn After Reading

Mama Mia!

The Dark Knight (oh Heath….)

The Road

Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Crossing Over

Synecdoche, New York

Defiance

Brothers

The Duchess

The Young Victoria

Grey Gardens

Righteous Kill

State of Play

Nothing but the Truth

The Dying Animal

Miracle at St. Anna

Dirty Tricks

The Women

The Edge of Love

Seven Pounds

Appaloosa

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day

Skin

Winged Creatures

American Teen

Brideshead Revisited

Margaret

Seven Pounds

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

Iron Man

Tree of Life

In Bruges

The Dying Animal

Stop Loss

Lakeview Terrace

Nothing But the Truth

Hamlet 2

Redbelt

Nothing is Private

Kung Fu Panda

Dancing with Shiva

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Red Cliff

Bolden!

Speed Racer

The Garden of Eden

The Incredible Hulk

The Fall

Seriously, take the entire salt shaker and open the lid and swallow it all. This is just for fun, and an almost in-depth analysis will be up soon.

Best Picture:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button*
Doubt
Frost/Nixon
Revolutionary Road
Milk