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The Golden Globes have been handed out, and the last of Oscar ballots are to be postmarked by today. So, that’s it, the nominations for the 81st Academy Awards are being figured out as we speak, and campaigning is over until the official contenders are announced on January 22. Hopefully a few Academy members took notice of our unlikely last-minute suggestions, but it’s more probable that we’ll be looking at an unsurprising crop of films represented in the major eight categories. As you’ll see after the jump, we predict that two heavily-buzzed supporting performances will be snubbed. Of course you’re likely to disagree with these foreseen omissions. In fact, we welcome all you readers to make your own predictions in the comments section — what you think will be nominated, not what you want nominated. And on Monday, January 19, SpoutBlog will feature a post highlighting the best of these comments and predictions.

Best Picture

The Dark Knight
Slumdog Millionaire
Milk
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon

Possible upsets: Doubt; Revolutionary Road; Wall-E

Best Director

Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire)
Gus Van Sant (Milk)
Ron Howard (Frost/Nixon)
David Fincher (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)
Sam Mendes (Revolutionary Road)

Possible upsets: Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight); Jonathan Demme (Rachel Getting Married); Darren Aronofsky (The Wrestler)

Best Actress

Meryl Streep (Doubt)
Anne Hathaway (Rachel Getting Married)
Kate Winslet (Revolutionary Road)
Cate Blanchett (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)
Sally Hawkins (Happy-Go-Lucky)

Possible upsets: Kristin Scott Thomas (I’ve Loved You So Long); Angelina Jolie (Changeling); Melissa Leo (Frozen River)

Best Actor

Sean Penn (Milk)
Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler)
Clint Eastwood (Gran Torino)
Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon)
Leonardo DiCaprio (Revolutionary Road)

Possible upsets: Brad Pitt (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button); Richard Jenkins (The Visitor)

Best Supporting Actress

Viola Davis (Doubt)
Amy Adams (Doubt)
Penelope Cruz (Vicky Cristina Barcelona)
Kate Winslet (The Reader)
Marisa Tomei (The Wrestler)

Possible upsets: Taraji P. Henson (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button); Rosemarie DeWitt (Rachel Getting Married)

Best Supporting Actor

Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight)
Josh Brolin (Milk)
Philip Seymour Hoffman (Doubt)
Dev Patel (Slumdog Millionaire)
Michael Shannon (Revolutionary Road)

Possible upsets: Robert Downey Jr. (Tropic Thunder); James Franco (Milk)

Best Original Screenplay

Dustin Lance Black (Milk)
Woody Allen (Vicky Cristina Barcelona)
Andrew Stanton & Jim Reardon (Wall-E)
Robert Siegel (The Wrestler)
Tom McCarthy (The Visitor)

Possible upsets: Jenny Lumet (Rachel Getting Married); Joel Coen & Ethan Coen (Burn After Reading)

Best Adapted Screenplay

Simon Beaufoy (Slumdog Millionaire)
Jonathan Nolan & Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight)
Peter Morgan (Frost/Nixon)
Eric Roth (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)
John Patrick Shanley (Doubt)

Possible upsets: David Hare (The Reader); Justin Haythe (Revolutionary Road)