Some nominees have already said they won't cross the picket line to appear at the Oscars, even though being nominated can be a once-in-a-lifetime experience for many actors.
This year the Academy cast a wide net with its nominations.
One of the best picture nominees, "There Will Be Blood," hasn't played yet in the Hagerstown area. Nor has "Persepolis," which is nominated for best animated feature film, but got snubbed in the best foreign language film category.
So study up and write down your conclusions - or close your eyes and randomly pick your potential winners - and send us your entry. We'll print the poll results, along with the name and photo of our Oscar Picks Contest winner, on Sunday, March 2, barring a delay in the ceremony.
Pick the Oscar winners from nominations in these 10 categories:
1. Picture: "Atonement," "Juno," "Michael Clayton," "No Country for Old Men," or "There Will Be Blood."
2. Director: Julian Schnabel, "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"; Jason Reitman, "Juno"; Tony Gilroy, "Michael Clayton"; Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, "No Country for Old Men"; or Paul Thomas Anderson, "There Will Be Blood."
3. Actor: George Clooney, "Michael Clayton"; Daniel Day-Lewis, "There Will Be Blood"; Johnny Depp, "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street"; Tommy Lee Jones, "In the Valley of Elah"; or Viggo Mortensen, "Eastern Promises."
4. Actress: Cate Blanchett, "Elizabeth: The Golden Age"; Julie Christie, "Away From Her"; Marion Cotillard, "La Vie en Rose"; Laura Linney, "The Savages"; or Ellen Page, "Juno."
5. Supporting actor: Casey Affleck, "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford"; Javier Bardem, "No Country for Old Men"; Philip Seymour Hoffman, "Charlie Wilson's War"; Hal Holbrook, "Into the Wild"; or Tom Wilkinson, "Michael Clayton."
6. Supporting actress: Cate Blanchett, "I'm Not There"; Ruby Dee, "American Gangster"; Saoirse Ronan, "Atonement"; Amy Ryan, "Gone Baby Gone"; or Tilda Swinton, "Michael Clayton."
7. Adapted screenplay: Christopher Hampton, "Atonement"; Sarah Polley, "Away from Her"; Ronald Harwood, "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"; Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, "No Country for Old Men"; or Paul Thomas Anderson, "There Will Be Blood."
8. Original screenplay: Diablo Cody, "Juno"; Nancy Oliver, "Lars and the Real Girl"; Tony Gilroy, "Michael Clayton"; Brad Bird, Jan Pinkava and Jim Capobianco, "Ratatouille"; or Tamara Jenkins, "The Savages."
9. Animated Feature Film: "Persepolis"; "Ratatouille"; or "Surf's Up."
10. Foreign language film: "Beaufort," Israel; "The Counterfeiters," Austria; "Katyn," Poland; "Mongol," Kazakhstan; or "12," Russia.
Contest entry guidelines
To be eligible to win, contestants must live in Washington or Frederick counties in Maryland; Franklin or Fulton counties in Pennsylvania; or Berkeley, Jefferson or Morgan counties in West Virginia.
Herald-Mail employees and their family members are not eligible to participate.
One entry per person.
The contestant with the most correct picks in the 10 selected categories will win. If there is a tie, a drawing will be held to decide the winner.
The winner must be available to have his or her photo taken Tuesday, Feb. 26, or Wednesday, Feb. 27.
Mail entries to Oscar Picks Contest; c/o Lifestyle; The Herald-Mail Co.; P.O. Box 439; Hagerstown, MD 21741; or e-mail entries to lifestyle@herald-mail.com. Please type "Oscar picks" in the subject line. Please include your name and a daytime phone number.
Entries will be due by 5 p.m. the Friday before the Oscars ceremony. As long as the ceremony is not delayed, the deadline is Friday, Feb. 22.
