Here ya go: http://movies.yahoo.com/movies/feature/osc_03nominees.html

NOTES AND PREDICTIONS

BEST PICTURE: "Million Dollar Baby." Would have liked to see something bolder than "Ray" (a good movie) among the nominees.

BEST DIRECTOR: I think Martin Scorsese will finally take home the Oscar.

BEST ACTOR: Jamie Foxx will win here.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Tough call between Clive Owen and Morgan Freeman. Nice to see Hawkeye Pierce AND Lowell Mather get nominated for Oscars.

BEST ACTRESS: Kate Winslet was surprising. That said, Hilary Swank has her second Oscar.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Tough call. The smart money is on Cate Blanchett. Why did Virginia Madsen never become a star?

Notable Omissions
*Fahrenheit 9/11 from anything
*The Passion of the Christ from Best Foreign Film (and Maria Full of Grace)
*The Polar Express from Best Animated Film
*Tom Cruise for a Best Supporting Actor for Collateral (Alan Alda?)
*Kill Bill from anything
*Liam Neeson for Kinsey

I think you could also include Paul Giamatti for "Sideways".

Notable Omissions
*Fahrenheit 9/11 from anything MikeC

It has been shown on TV in several European countries during the election week and therefore was out of the race.

My predictions... more like guesses...

BEST PICTURE: Million Dollar Baby (NOTE: If you haven't seen this movie, do so now, rather than later... as the Oscars approach, some spoilers are bound to get out. This movie is not what you think it's about.) The Aviator is also a possibility.

BEST DIRECTOR: I want to say Scorcese... but the last time I said that, the rapist won. But I still think it'll be him... though Eastwood is also very close.

BEST ACTOR: Another tough call... the buzz says Jamie Foxx. However, Foxx is nominated in two categories, so votes for him could be split. And he's a first-time nominee. Dicaprio also put in a strong performance in The Aviator, and this is his second nomination. I'd lean more solidly towards Dicaprio had Ray Charles not died this year.

BEST ACTRESS: Hands-down, Hilary Swank.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: TOUGH call... REALLY tough... a complete crapshoot... part of me says Jamie Foxx winning this category, rather than Best Actor. However, Paul Giamatti got "snubbed" for Sideways, so maybe Thomas Hayden Church will win it. My gut, however, is telling me Alan Alda.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Cate Blanchett manages the tough task of portraying a real-life figure without stumbling into parody... a tough thing to do when you consider she's playing Catherine Hepburn who was almost a parody herself.

As for MikeC's omissions...

Michael Moore took a risk by not submitting his film for the documentary category. He also comes across as pompous... the Academy generally prefers a little humility in its nominees. Plus, documentaries have always stood a poor chance at being nominated for Best Picture... especially with so many good films to choose from.

I think Mel Gibson didn't submit Passion of the Christ for Best Foreign Film, focusing instead on Best Picture.

The Animated category only allows three nominees, so something had to go. I think it was a toss-up between Shark Tale and The Polar Express.

I believe Tom Cruise was in the running for Best Actor, not Supporting Actor. With all the other worthy contenders, it's not surprising he didn't get nominated... again, there's only a limited number of slots.

Why are there two boards for this?

Because two different people created boards within two hours of one another...

Tonight's the night...

I will have it on (in ten minutes!!!) but will not be "watching". I have not seen any of the nominated movies as I have been discouraged from seeing any movie in a theatre for quite some time, due to patron's behaviour. It is much more pleasureable to see a movie at home, even if it is six months later.

The last one I saw in a theatre was "The Return of the King", two weeks after it came out. It was a late show early in the week, and I was one of three people in the theatre. What a wonderful way to watch the show.

Nevertheless, I will have the Oscars "on" while I am giving my kitchen a thorough cleaning. If only to see if Chris Rock blows it big time...

Well, that was certainly a quick ceremony, thank God...

Wow, all of MikeC's predictions came through. Good calls, Mike.

Not quite, Luigi. He missed one: Squint Eastwood won for Best Director. ;)

And I dunno exactly how short it was cuz I taped it and then passed most of the speeches. Chris Rock wasn't too bad. Robin Williams was, as always, funny. I usually don't listen to the singing performances but I just had to listen to Beyonce, and besides, well, she fine!

Glad to see that The Incredibles won Best Animated Feature. But then it couldn't help but win. Not only did it dominate at the Annies, but there is a complete abscense of flatulence humor.

A bit disappointed that it didn't win Best Original Screenplay, but that was something of a vain hope considering some of the other nominees. Still it's unexpected that it wasn't won by The Aviator or Hotel Rwanda.

Oh yeah, I missed that, Mark.

Me, I thought Chris Rock did an adequate job, but not much else. I didn't get the joke about this being the "last" Oscars, and most of his other jokes were okay, but just not edgy. I did like his Bush/Gap/Banana Republic joke.

Well, it started at 8:30pm EST, and ended around 11:35 or 11:40pm, so it seemed comparitively short to me compared to previous years. I wonder if having all the nominees of some categories on stage simultaneously and having some presenters do their presentations from a short distance from their seats helped this. And maybe it was my imagination, but the In Memoriam sequence also seemed much shorter than in previous years, with far less people profiled.

Well, having no dance sequences shortens it up quite a bit. Still, having Chris Rock in an opening movie montage like Billy Crystal always did would have been funny.

It always bugged me that they try to shut the winner up after only (what is it? 30 seconds now?). With only about 12 main award categories, the acceptance speeches would only take up about 6-12 minutes of the entire broadcast. Where do the other 3.5 hours go??

Ever notice how the winners of the short films always seem to have the longest acceptance speeches?

I would be real disappointed if I won an Oscar and didn't get to go on stage to accept it, when at other times, ALL the nominees were onstage. (Well, not disappointed in winning, but you know what I mean...)

It was 30 seconds for some, but clearly not others, since Jamie Foxx talked for quite a bit longer.

Re: Omission of the "The Passion of the Christ" from the Best Foreign Film category

"The Passion of the Christ" is not a Foreign Film within the context of the Academy Awards (Oscars). It is an American foreign language (from an English language perspective) film, however there is no such award category for the Oscars. Films nominated for Oscars in the Best Foreign Film category must be produced by countries other than the U.S. Each interested government nominates one its country's films for nomination consideration in the category, and five films are ultimately nominated.