It's time for my annual Oscar picks posting! Once again, these are generally my preferences for who should win, not my predictions of who will win.

Best Motion Picture of the Year: Slumdog Millionaire by a mile. I wasn't sure where Slumdog Millionaire would end up on my list of top movies of 2008 until I saw it a second time. It connects with audiences better than any of the other nominees. None of the other nominees even approach it. Speaking of which, this is a pretty weak field compared to last year's nominees. The Wrestler and Rachel Getting Married would give Slumdog a run for its money, but those films weren't nominated, unfortunately.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role: I really loved Richard Jenkins' understated performance in The Visitor, but I have to go with Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler. Rourke put his whole soul into that performance.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role: Kate Winslet in The Reader. It was a fantastic year for Kate. She was also excellent in Revolutionary Road, but her performance in The Reader exhibits a broader range and hits more poignant notes. The Academy got it right for once and ignored the studio's ridiculous campaign for her to be nominated in the Supporting Actress category for The Reader. Runner-up: Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role: Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight. He gave one of the most amazing acting performances I've ever seen, regardless of the year and regardless of his death. He's the most deserving. Runner-up: James Brolin, Milk.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role: Marisa Tomei in The Wrestler. I expect Penélope Cruz will win for Vicky Cristina Barcelona, and she's a close runner-up for me. Tomei's performance isn't as flashy as Cruz's, but I can't imagine anyone doing better job in her role than Tomei did.

Best Achievement in Directing: Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire. See Best Picture above. Runner-up: David Fincher for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, but I would have loved to have seen Jonathan Demme (Rachel Getting Married) and Darren Aronofsky (The Wrestler) nominated.

Best Foreign Language Film of the Year: I've only seen Waltz with Bashir in this category (the others haven't made it into theaters yet), but it blew me away. I'm really rooting for it to win.

Best Documentary Feature Film of the Year: Man on Wire is a transcendant film, and the best movie I saw in 2008. When Philippe Petit achieves his dream of wire-walking between the WTC towers, it's like a man walking on the moon, only on a smaller scale, but it's no less of a grand achievement. Truly inspiring. Man on Wire is the best documentary I've ever seen.

Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen: Really tough choice here, but I'm going to go with the intricate plotting and black comedy of In Bruges. Runners-up: Frozen River, Happy-Go-Lucky.

Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published: Slumdog Millionaire. Runner-up: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

Best Achievement in Cinematography: I have to go with Slumdog Millionaire, but I'd love to see Roger Deakins win for The Reader. Deakins has been the best cinematographer in the business for the past several years at least, and he still hasn't won an Oscar. He was nominated twice for two different films last year, both of which were deserving of winning, but the Academy's vote was split between them and Elswit ended up getting the Oscar.

Best Achievement in Film Editing: Slumdog Millionaire. Runner-up: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

Best Achievement in Art Direction: Tough choice, but I'm going to go with Revolutionary Road over The Duchess. I would rather give the Oscar to Hellboy II: The Golden Army, but it wasn't nominated. The Academy rarely recognizes SF/fantasy genre films for art direction, sadly.

Best Achievement in Costume Design: I'll go with The Duchess. Runners-up: Australia and Revolutionary Road. Revolutionary Road's costumes were really great. I wouldn't be surprised if it upset The Duchess due to some sort of backlash against period costumes.

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year: This won't be a popular choice and it may be irrational, but I'm going with Kung Fu Panda over Wall-E. Wall-E was great, but it was ultimately a disappointment for me. I just have really high expectactions for any Pixar movie, and especially so for Wall-E, which had me with the first teaser trailer. Unfortunately, it fell short of those expectations. Meanwhile, Kung Fu Panda exceeded my expectations by a mile. It was just tremendous fun to watch. If I were given a choice as to which of the two to rewatch right now, I'd say Kung Fu Panda in a heartbeat.

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score: I have to go with Slumdog Millionaire. None of the other movies' soundtracks even made an impression on me.

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song: I'm rooting for "O Saya" from Slumdog Millionaire. Runner-up: "Jai Ho", Slumdog Millionaire. I'll be happy with either one winning. I really hope they don't split the vote and the Wall-E song ends up winning instead.

Best Achievement in Makeup: Wow. All three movies are extremely deserving in completely different ways. My first inclination is The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, but I think most of the aging and de-aging was really CG. Does CG makeup qualify? Hellboy II deserves an Oscar for something, so I'll go with Hellboy II, but I doubt it will win.

Best Achievement in Sound Mixing: Kind of a toss-up for me between The Dark Knight and Slumdog Millionaire. The non-genre film usually wins Sound Mixing, so I'll predict Slumdog in this category.

Best Achievement in Sound Editing: Ditto, but the action film usually wins Sound Editing, so I'll predict The Dark Knight in this category. I still think these two categories should be combined into a single Sound category that encompasses both editing and mixing.

Best Achievement in Visual Effects: I can't imagine The Curious Case of Benjamin Button not winning for its revolutionary and flawless visual effects.

These are my preferences for who should win, not my predictions of who will win.

Best Motion Picture of the Year: Without hesitation, No Country for Old Men. Nothing even comes close to it. No Country for Old Men is an incredibly profound movie. It tackles big questions on the nature of evil, the existence of God, and the human experience. It has the most to say about the most topics, and it says them in novel and entertaining ways. Runner-up: Michael Clayton.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role: It's probably a foregone conclusion that Daniel Day-Lewis will win, but I'm leaning toward George Clooney. Day-Lewis' performance is very impressive and well deserving and Shakespearean in range, but it's a little on the hammy side for my tastes and it's a little too close to his performance in The Gangs of New York. Clooney's performance is controlled and subtle, but no less impressive in my estimation. He's also extremely well liked by the Academy, so I wouldn't be terribly surprised if he were to upset Day-Lewis, but that seems unlikely.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role: I didn't see The Savages or La Vie en Rose, so this is a difficult category for me to pick. Of the remaining performances, I'm torn between Julie Christie's haunting performance as an Alzheimer's patient and Ellen Page's captivating and entertaining performance in Juno. To paraphrase Roger Ebert, my heart says Ellen Page, but my mind says Julie Christie. Let's call it a tie.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role: I can't imagine Javier Bardem not winning for his riveting performance in No Country for Old Men. Runner-up: Casey Affleck. He was spectacular in two films last year: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and Gone Baby Gone. Definitely someone to watch in the future.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role: Unfortunately, I didn't see I'm Not There, so I can't comment on Cate Blanchett's performance in that film. For me this category comes down to the two performances by Tilda Swinton and Amy Ryan. Both are excellent. I've been a Tilda Swinton fan for years though, ever since I saw Orlando in 1993, and I'd love to see her get some well deserved recognition.

Best Achievement in Directing: The Coen brothers for No Country for Old Men. See Best Picture above. Runner-up: Julian Schnabel for The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.

Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen: Juno will likely win, and it's hard to argue with it's sparkling dialogue, but I'd give it to Michael Clayton.

Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published: Like there's any doubt? No Country for Old Men. Runner-up: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.

Best Achievement in Cinematography: Unfortunately, Roger Deakins was nominated twice for two different films, both of which are deserving of winning. He deserves the Oscar. I don't care which film he wins it for. If I had to pick one, I'd probably go with The Assassination of Jesse James. Here's hoping he doesn't split the vote...

Best Achievement in Editing: I'd give it to The Bourne Ultimatum, a fantastic film that deserves some Oscar recognition. Runner-up: No Country with Old Men.

Best Achievement in Art Direction: Tough category. I guess Sweeney Todd, but I'd rather give it to a number of other films which weren't nominated.

Best Achievement in Costume Design: I know this won't be a popular choice, but I'm going with Elizabeth: The Golden Age. Atonement's green dress is a one-hit wonder, and Sweeney Todd's costumes are too drab for my tastes.

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year: I loved Ratatouille. Persepolis was good too, but I found it less engaging.

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score: I'd give it to Michael Clayton.

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song: I'm rooting for "Falling Slowly" from Once. After seeing the movie, I sang this song all the way home, and, as soon as I got home, I immediately went online and bought the soundtrack. I'm praying the Enchanted songs all split the vote and allow Once to pick up this well deserved Oscar. Once should have been nominated for Best Picture!

Best Achievement in Makeup: I'm not going to pick this category this year as I didn't see two out of three of the films. I predict La Vie en Rose will win, however.

Best Achievement in Sound: I think the minimalist sound design of No Country for Old Men is revolutionary.

Best Achievement in Sound Editing: Ditto. Runner-up: Either The Bourne Ultimatum or Ratatouille.

Best Achievement in Visual Effects: The movie I want to win this category never seems to win. I don't understand it. Anyway, I'll give it to Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.

Best Foreign Language Film of the Year: The Academy dropped the ball this year. I'm giving it to 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days. It wasn't nominated, but it should have been.

These are my preferences for who should win, not my predictions of who will win.

Best Motion Picture of the Year: This category is a toss-up for me. I enjoyed The Departed more, but Babel is more ambitious. I'll be happy with either film winning. If I had to pick one, I'd probably go with Babel.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role: I like Forest Whitaker and would be happy to see him win. The only problem is that I haven't seen The Last King of Scotland. Limiting my choice to the films I did see (all of the others), I'll go with Ryan Gosling in Half Nelson. It was a really difficult role, and he excelled at it.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role: I didn't see The Queen, but I'm always leery of acting performances based on living and well-known people. The resulting performances often end up being more about impersonation than real acting. Of the performances I did see, I liked Kate Winslet in Little Children best. I'd give Judi Dench the runners-up award, if there were one. It's disappointing to me that Maggie Gyllenhaal was not nominated. She gave three of the best performances of the year in Stranger Than Fiction, Sherrybaby, and World Trade Center. She really deserved to be nominated. I'd go so far as to say she was the actress of the year for me.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role: Once again the leading candidate (Eddie Murphy) was in the one film in the category that I didn't see (Dreamgirls), but I cannot imagine a better performance than Mark Wahlberg in The Departed. He stole every scene he was in, and really made the performance his own.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role: Rinko Kikuchi in Babel for sure. She gave possibly the year's most impressive performance by anyone, male or female, in any role. I really, really hope she wins. Supposedly, she's a longshot. The thinking goes that she'll split the vote with Adriana Barraza, also of Babel, but I'm pulling for her.

Best Achievement in Directing: Alejandro González Iñárritu (Babel), Paul Greengrass (United 93), and Martin Scorsese (The Departed) all deserve the award, but I'd be happiest to see Scorsese win it.

Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen: As the years go on, I'm starting to believe that the winner of the Best Original Screenplay category is the real Best Picture of the year. Over the past ten years, I would much rather re-watch the Best Original Screenplay nominees than the Best Picture nominees. This year, I would give the award to Pan's Labryinth with Babel a close runner-up.

Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published: This may be the toughest category to pick. Only Borat doesn't deserve to be here. (It was mostly improvised, so how did it get nominated for its screenplay?!) I'd love to see Children of Men win some award, but I think Little Children is probably the best adapted screenplay of the year. The use of voiceover in that film to bring the language of the novel to the film-goer was bold and well done.

Best Achievement in Cinematography: Nothing comes close to Children of Men in terms of cinematography. I really hope it wins. I'd give the runner-up award to Pan's Labyrinth. It's a shame The Fountain didn't get nominated in this category. It was memorably beautiful film.

Best Achievement in Editing: This category has to be a slam dunk for Babel. Iñárritu spent almost a year editing this film, meticulously crafting the narrative and the performances.

Best Achievement in Art Direction: I'd love to see Pan's Labyrinth win. Or The Prestige.

Best Achievement in Costume Design: Can there be any doubt? Marie Antoinette better win or there's no justice in the Oscar world. Runner up: Curse of the Golden Flower.

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year: Cars is the only one of the three that I've seen. I heard Monster House was really good, even better than Cars, but I didn't see it.
 
Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score: No clear winner here, but I liked Pan's Labyrinth's score. Babel's was also very nice. I might give it the edge actually. I really wish Superman Returns had been nominated. It was my favorite score of the year by far.

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song: I haven't heard any of these except for Randy Newman's, so I'll abstain.

Best Achievement in Makeup: I'd like to see Pan's Labyrinth win, but I wouldn't be surprised if Apocalypto (which I did not see) won. The full-body makeup on the latter looks pretty impressive.

Best Achievement in Sound Mixing: I have to admit that I still don't understand the difference between sound mixing and sound editing. The same films are usually nominated for both, and you can't do one without the other. I would combine the two categories into one: "Best Achievement in Sound." The producers keep trying to make the Oscars shorter in length, and here's as good of a way as any, if you ask me. I'm going to abstain in this category because I didn't see enough of the films. Of the couple (Blood Diamond and PotC 2) I did see, I'd give the edge to Blood Diamond.

Best Achievement in Sound Editing: Ditto.

Best Achievement in Visual Effects: I'm really, really hoping Superman Returns wins this award because it deserves to win an award for something. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest epitomizes everything that is wrong with CG visual effects.

Best Foreign Language Film of the Year: I just saw The Lives of Others, and it was wonderful! But I still want Pan's Labyrinth to win this award.

Best Documentary Feature: I've pretty much ignored documentaries this past year. I hear Deliver Us From Evil is pretty impressive, but I haven't seen any of these, so I must abstain.

Best Motion Picture of the Year: Once again, my very favorite movies of the year weren't even nominated. Of the movies that were nominated, I probably liked Capote the most. If the pundits are correct, this is going to come down to Brokeback Mountain vs. Crash. Guilty admission time: I never saw Crash. I should have, but it just didn't sound all that great so it never made it to the top of my movies-to-see list. Usually, the Academy is notorious for forgetting about films that were released early in the year, so I was caught unprepared when this was nominated. I'm hoping Brokeback Mountain doesn't win, just because it's way overrated.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role: Philip Seymour Hoffman for Capote. I was skeptical about his performance before I saw the film, but he really did a great job. I'd probably give Heath Ledger the runners-up award, if there was one.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role: I'll be pulling for Reese Witherspoon in Walk the Line, but I wouldn't be disappointed if Felicity Huffman won. How in the world did Keira Knightley get nominated here? It was a good performance for sure, but not exactly nomination worthy.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role: Compared to last year's abundance of talent in this category, this year is very disappointing. I'll pick George Clooney for Syriana, I guess. William Hurt would be deserving if he had been in A History of Violence for more than five minutes.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role: Amy Adams for Junebug or Rachel Weisz for The Constant Gardener.

Best Achievement in Directing: I can't understand how Terence Malick didn't get nominated here for The New World. I'm not sure any of these nominees are particularly deserving, but I would give it to Bennett Miller for Capote.

Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen: As the years go on, I'm starting to believe that the winner of the Best Original Screenplay category is the real Best Picture of the year. Over the past ten years, I would much rather re-watch the Best Original Screenplay nominees than the Best Picture nominees. This year, I would give the award to Match Point.

Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published: The Constant Gardener must have been a very difficult story to adapt for film, and I think it was done marvelously.

Best Achievement in Cinematography: If The New World doesn't win this award, I may never watch the Oscars again. None of the other nominees even come close to the beauty of this film.

Best Achievement in Editing: The Constant Gardener again. The editing of this film is what made it so great, I think.

Best Achievement in Art Direction: Tough category. No clear winner in my mind, but I'd probably give it to King Kong. I would have liked to have seen Star Wars at least get nominated in this category.

Best Achievement in Costume Design: Colleen Atwood for Memoirs of a Geisha. She should have won last year for Lemony Snicket and was robbed.

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year: A very disappointing year for animation. Wallace and Gromit was a major disappointment. Corpse Bride was good, but no Nightmare Before Christmas. Howl's Moving Castle is far from Hayao Miyazaki's best work, but I would give him the award, I guess.
 
Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score: No clear winner here, but I liked The Constant Gardener's score.

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song: I haven't heard any of these, so I'll abstain. I'd be surprised if the Crash song didn't win though.

Best Achievement in Makeup: Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith. Duh.

Best Achievement in Sound Mixing: Walk the Line, I think.

Best Achievement in Sound Editing: I actually would give it to War of the Worlds. I don't understand how Star Wars wasn't nominated for this though.

Best Achievement in Visual Effects: Where's Star Wars?! King Kong should win.

Best Foreign Language Film of the Year: Surprisingly enough, I haven't seen any of these. The nomination process for Best Foreign Language Film is archaic and desperately needs to be revised.

Best Documentary, Features: I actually caught Murderball on A&E recently. (It will be airing again soon, so check your TV listings.) It must have sucked to film penguins in sub-zero temperatures in Antarctica for months at a time. If March of the Penguins wins, I certainly won't begrudge them for it. That said, it's a by-the-numbers animal documentary. I'd give it to Murderball. I haven't seen the other nominees, however.

Best Motion Picture of the Year: My first choice is Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, but it wasn't nominated. I'm still shocked and dismayed that Finding Neverland was nominated instead. Of the nominees, I would like to see The Aviator win. I'll be rather disappointed if Million Dollar Baby wins.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role: I was most impressed with Leonardo DiCaprio's work in The Aviator, but I doubt he has much chance of winning. Don Cheadle for Hotel Rwanda is also very deserving. I haven't seen Ray, but I expect Jamie Foxx will probably win.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role: I would give the award to Kate Winslet for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. (What is this? Revenge of Titanic year or something? If only James Cameron were nominated for Best Director... NOT!) Hilary Swank for Million Dollar Baby is also very deserving, but she won a few years ago for Boys Don't Cry, so I doubt she'll win again so soon. Imelda Staunton for Vera Drake is allegedly the favorite.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role: This is a tough category. There is an abundance of good performances here, but I'd give the award to Clive Owen for Closer.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role: For me, this category comes down to a toss-up between Cate Blanchett for The Aviator and Natalie Portman in Closer. I love Cate, but I would really love to see Natalie win.

Best Achievement in Directing: Undoubtedly, Martin Scorsese for The Aviator. Clint Eastwood may very well win though, and I'll be very disappointed if Scorsese is snubbed by the Oscars yet again.

Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen: If anyone besides Charlie Kaufman, Michel Gondry, and Pierre Bismuth for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind wins this award, there is no justice in the world. In fact, they should just rename this award to the Charlie Kaufman Award.

Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published: I still don't understand why Before Sunset is nominated in this category, but I would sure love to see Richard Linklater, Kim Krizan, Julie Delpy, and Ethan Hawke (my old college buddy!) win for Before Sunset.

Best Achievement in Cinematography: I desperately want Xiaoding Zhao to win for House of Flying Daggers (Shi mian mai fu).

Best Achievement in Editing: I would give the award to Thelma Schoonmaker, Martin Scorsese's longtime editor, for her work on The Aviator.

Best Achievement in Art Direction: Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (Rick Heinrichs, Cheryl Carasik). Go Lemony!

Best Achievement in Costume Design: If I give this award to anyone besides Colleen Atwood for Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, Maggie will hurt me. Seriously, Lemony deserves this one too. My first choice, however, would have been House of Flying Daggers. I love the costumes in that movie.

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score: I'm sorry, but it's a travesty that The Incredibles was not nominated for this category. It's pretty weak otherwise. I'm not sure I want to give any of these films the award, but if I have to choose, I'll go with Thomas Newman for Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events.

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song: Ugh. These all suck. Worst Original Song nominees ever. I pick "None of the above."

Best Achievement in Makeup: I'm not a makeup expert, but I guess Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events.

Best Achievement in Sound: The Aviator, I think.

Best Achievement in Sound Editing: I predict either The Incredibles or Spider-Man 2 will win. I'd be happy with either, but I'll pick Spider-Man 2.

Best Achievement in Visual Effects: This is a really weak category this year, but I'll go with Spider-Man 2's John Dykstra, Scott Stokdyk, Anthony LaMolinara, and John Frazier.

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year: Is there any doubt? The Incredibles.
 
Best Foreign Language Film of the Year: Unfortunately, most of the Best Foreign Language Films don't get released in the United States until after the Oscars, if they get released at all. I'm sad to say that I haven't seen any of these films. That said, I'll root for Alejandro Amenábar for Mar adentro anyway.

Best Documentary, Features: I've heard good things about Born Into Brothels: Calcutta's Red Light Kids, but I haven't seen any of these either.