Click here for the entire list of nominations, read out this morning by Forest Whitaker and the President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Sid Ganis.

We were trying to remember all last year's movies which were in the running for Oscar glory around the office today; and apart from No Country For Old Men drew a bit of a mind blank. Had to Wikipedia to have the memory jogged about Marion Cotillard, There Will Be Blood, Javier Bardem (how could I forget my Javier? Am suitably mortified!) and Juno.

Will this year's Oscars be a little more memorable?

The Academy will certainly hope so. In 1998, the year Titanic ruled Hollywood, (remember James Cameron and the ‘I'm the kind of the world!' thing? Cringe!) the 70th Academy Awards drew an American viewing audience of 57 million. Last year, at the 80th? Thirty one million.

The powers that be behind the year's most prestigious film awards are even refusing to announce who will be presenting at the Oscars, an unusual tactic designed to make you tune in with excitement to see just who will be handing out those little gold statues.

Granted, the winners of the big four for acting normally do present the next year - so tradition dictates we should see Javier Bardem, Daniel Day-Lewis, Marion Cotillard and Tilda Swinton handing out gongs. Although Bardem was a no show at the Globes and Day-Lewis is a notorious recluse. Maybe not Daniel then.

But is the anticipation of guessing who might hand out prizes enough to get you to watch a three hour-plus ceremony? I'm guessing not.

Last year, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie were both snubbed for Oscar nominations. He for The Assassination of Jesse James, she for A Mighty Heart (Or A Mighty Shart as we sometimes refer to it around the office). The pair didn't attend the ceremony, instead choosing to debut Angie's twin-sized baby bump on the carpet at the Independent Spirit Awards instead. Oscar lost out on some viewer's eyeballs, and must have decided this year to rectify the situation by giving Brad and Angie a nomination each. This way, they're guaranteed to grace the red carpet.

Not saying they don't deserve them. But I don't think either will win.

If there's any justice Kate Winslet will finally take home an Oscar, although she's nominated for The Reader and not Revolutionary Road, for which she won Best Actress at the Golden Globes. And I really think Best Actor's between Sean Penn and Mickey Rourke. But no Leo DiCaprio? I do think he's a much better actor than he gets credit for - not his fault he makes the girls swoon.

Heath Ledger will most likely win Best Supporting Actor for his fab Joker, and maybe as much for the fact that he won't be able to get another nomination again, ever. Robert Downey will. Sigh. It's been a year already since Heath died - and it's still just a sad, stupid waste of a life. A special mention, though, must go to Revolutionary Road's Michael Shannon, who I thought was fantastic when I saw the flick last week.

Bar Shannon, who's appeared in Before The Devil Know You're Dead and World Trade Centre, Sam Mendes' Revolutionary Road was completely shut out of the nominations. No, it wasn't the best movie of the year - but it gets only three and Benjamin Button gets 13? Let's discuss.

I liked Benjamin Button. I like the southern setting, the slightly gothic feel to the sets and design, and the makeup and special effects were suitably awesome. But it's less like the F. Scott Fitzgerald story it's based on and more Forrest Gump - strange character leaves home to travel the world and meet a kooky collection of characters, all the while thinking about a girl from home.

And it's no coincidence, as Forrest Gump screenplay writer Eric Roth is also responsible for Button.

Also, did anyone else find the chemistry between Brad and the wonderful Cate Blanchett a bit, well, lacklustre? He had more fizz with Tilda Swinton than he did with Cate, leaving the long-time love story angle a bit flat for me.

I love David Fincher, and he totally deserves his director's nod for the film, but one for Best Editing? Best Editing??? That movie was almost three hours long! I could have done with a heads up about that when I wandered in to the cinema. It could have easily dropped half an hour, and I would have found it all the more enjoyable for that.

Best Supporting Actress could be a more even stevens race. Penelope Cruz was phenomenal in Vicky Cristina Barcelona, and always rocks a red carpet. But Taraji Henson was the heart and soul of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and Viola Davis really threw her weight around during her all too brief appearance in Doubt. Any of those three deserve the prize in my book.

And anyone who's been reading my blog over the last few weeks knows how much of a cheerleader I am for Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire. I read today that at the Toronto Film Festival in September, Slumdog was in danger of being a straight to DVD release as no film companies wanted to pick it up and distribute into theatres. Cut to January, and the movie's up for ten gongs - Best Picture, Best Director, two for Best Original Song, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Musical Score.

Anyway, I have raved about this movie so much that the distributors should actually be paying me! They aren't, but go see it. You won't be disappointed.

I actually rather like the look of the entire Best Picture lineup this year - Button; Frost/Nixon, Milk, The Reader and Slumdog Millionaire. I really want to see Milk, and while my initial thoughts of Frost/Nixon were that it would be a bit dry, the preview looks bloody good. And I quite like movies with a Nazi element, so I will be handing over my sixteen bucks to see The Reader.

The Academy Awards are decided on quite differently to the Golden Globes, so the race to the podium could end up with quite different results than the Globes did a couple of weeks ago.

The Golden Globes are based on votes from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, ninety (yes, only ninety) international journalists living and working in and around Hollywood. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences vote for the Oscars, with a membership of 5,829 in 2007. Actors represent 22 per cent of that number, although exactly who the other members of the academy are is kept quiet. Past winners do get invited to join every year, however.

Javier Bardem better vote for his missus, Penelope Cruz! Or there'll be hell to pay at home.

Who's your picks to win an Oscar this year, and what movie was your favourite pick of the last 12 months? Let me know below.