Countdown to the Oscars®: 37 Days

With 37 days left until the 81st Annual Academy Awards®, here are some bullet points to start your weekend off on the right note:
  • OSCAR.com launched this afternoon, much to my excitement. While there is nothing really on the site right now but an intro video, much more content will be posted when...
  • Nominations are announced this Thursday, Jan. 22 at 5:35 a.m. PST (note the time zone and adjust accordingly) from the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater most likely by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Sid Ganis and an Oscar winner (such as Kathy Bates last year). Normally, the Academy would announce in advance who will reveal the nominations, but it could just surprise us - in keeping with this year's hush-hush atmosphere in not announcing ceremony presenters.
  • The British Academy Film Awards nominations were announced Thursday morning in London. Best Film nominees: "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," "Frost/Nixon," "Milk," "The Reader" and "Slumdog Millionaire." We'll see how this compares to the Oscar nominees next week.
  • I'm trying to see "Slumdog Millionaire" this weekend. I've heard so many good things about it. Let me know what you think, by posting your thoughts.
Have a great weekend.


UPDATE: Academy President Sid Ganis and Oscar-winning actor and Academy member Forest Whitaker will announce nominations Thursday, the Academy announced Tuesday.

The duo will unveil the nominations in 10 of the 24 award categories. Nominations info for all categories can be found after the announcement at www.oscar.com.

In 2006 Whitaker took home the Leading Actor Oscar for his portrayal of Idi Amin in “The Last King of Scotland.”

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