Best Picture

Here is a mirror image of the Best Director contest: Slumdog Millionaire, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Frost/Nixon, and Milk have this one all sewn up. And with none of the remaining Best Director candidates looming larger than the rest, The Dark Knight will once again swoop in for the steal.

The 81st Annual Academy Award nominations will be announced Thursday, January 22, 2009, at 5:30 AM Pacific time (8:30 Eastern.) Normally the nominations are announced on a Tuesday, but the Academy has wisely chosen to delay the announcement by two days, because they know they can’t possibly compete with Obama’s inauguration!