OSCAR is Coming

It's November, which means there are only two months to go before Academy prez Sid Ganis and whichever semi-obscure female Oscar winner he's got on hand announce the Academy Award nominations for the year '08.

Last year, this blog went Oscar crazy, and the trend will likely continue in the coming weeks. However, I haven't talked much about 2008/09 Oscar predictions at all, just some light teasing. I've learned the hard way not to set anything in stone before the buzz has reached a fever pitch, so I dare not make any definitive calls until all 12 months have wrapped.

In the meantime, given the buzz I've gathered from watching films incessantly and keeping an ear to the street, here are the names I've been thinking about in regards to the year's second-largest election. Can I even compare the Oscar race to the U.S. presidential race?

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Penelope Cruz, "Vicky Cristina Barcelona"
Viola Davis, "Doubt"
Rosemarie DeWitt, "Rachel Getting Married"
Taraji P. Henson, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
Kate Winslet, "The Reader"

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Josh Brolin, "Milk"
Robert Downey Jr., "Tropic Thunder"
Philip Seymour Hoffman, "Doubt"
Heath Ledger, "The Dark Knight"
Eddie Marsan, "Happy-Go-Lucky"

BEST ACTRESS
Anne Hathaway, "Rachel Getting Married"
Sally Hawkins, "Happy-Go-Lucky"
Meryl Streep, "Doubt"
Kristin Scott Thomas, "I've Loved You So Long"
Kate Winslet, "Revolutionary Road"

BEST ACTOR
Leonardo DiCaprio, "Revolutionary Road"
Clint Eastwood, "Gran Turino"
Sean Penn, "Milk"
Brad Pitt, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
Mickey Rourke, "The Wrestler"

BEST DIRECTOR
Danny Boyle, "Slumdog Millionaire"
David Fincher, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
Baz Luhrmann, "Australia"
Christopher Nolan, "The Dark Knight"
Gus Van Sant, "Milk"

BEST PICTURE
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
"The Dark Knight"
"Milk"
"Slumdog Millionaire"
"Revolutionary Road"

...And, there you have it. (I'm sure I'll be switching these babies around once the precursors start rolling in. But it feels good to get a batch of predix out of my system.) Stay tuned, kids!