Get that Academy Award office betting pool going. The 81st annual version of the most widely seen television show in the world will air Sunday, Feb. 22 at 5 pm on ABC. (Not counting the innumerable preview shows on E! and the other channels offering red carpet commentary).

The Weekly’s team of silver screen experts predicts a deservedly big night for Slumdog Millionaire and remains mystified why The Curious Case of Benjamin Button led the field with 13 nominations and local legend Clint Eastwood got snubbed for Gran Torino.

Nevertheless, here’s a clip ’n save ballot where you can compare your own picks of who and what will (and should) win in the major categories. You can compare them after the show to who and what actually takes home the honors.

Apart from Heath Ledger, who seems like a lock to pick up a posthumuous Oscar for his inspired turn as The Joker, it’s anybody’s ballgame.

Place your bets, pass the popcorn and get ready to snicker at the fashion victims.

BEST PICTURE • The Curious Case of Benjamin Button • Frost/Nixon • Milk • The Reader • Slumdog Millionaire BEST DIRECTOR • Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire• David Fincher, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• Ron Howard, Frost/Nixon
• Stephen Daldry, The Reader • Gus Van Sant, Milk BEST ACTOR
 • Richard Jenkins, The Visitor • Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon
• Sean Penn, Milk • Brad Pitt, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button • Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler BEST ACTRESS • Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married • Angelina Jolie, Changeling • Melissa Leo, Frozen River • Meryl Streep, Doubt • Kate Winslet, The Reader BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR • Josh Brolin, Milk • Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight • Robert Downey Jr., Tropic Thunder • Philip Seymour Hoffman, Doubt • Michael Shannon, Revolutionary Road BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS • Amy Adams, Doubt • Penelope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona • Viola Davis, Doubt • Taraji P. Henson, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button • Marisa Tomei, The Wrestler BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY • Frozen River, Courtney Hunt 
 • Happy-Go-Lucky, Mike Leigh 
 • In Bruges, Martin McDonagh 
 • Milk, Dustin Lance Black • WALL-E, Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon, Pete Docter BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY • TheCurious Case of Benjamin Button, Eric Roth 
• Doubt, John Patrick Shanley
 • Frost/Nixon, Peter Morgan 
• The Reader, David Hare 
• Slumdog Millionaire, Simon Beaufoy BEST ART DIRECTION • Changeling • The Curious Case of Benjamin Button • The Dark Knight • The Duchess • Revolutionary Road BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY • Changeling
• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• The Dark Knight
 • The Reader
• Slumdog Millionaire BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE • The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)
• Encounters at the End of the World
• The Garden
 • Man on Wire
• Trouble the Water BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT • The Conscience of Nhem En
• The Final Inch
• Smile Pinki • The Witness-From the Balcony of Room 306 BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM • The Baader Meinhof Complex (Germany) 
• The Class (France) 
• Departures (Japan) 
• Revanche (Austria) 
• Waltz with Bashir (Israel) BEST ORIGINAL SCORE • The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Alexandre Desplat • Defiance, James Newton Howard • Milk, Danny Elfman
 • Slumdog Millionaire, A.R. Rahman • WALL-E, Thomas Newman BEST ORIGINAL SONG • “Down to Earth,” WALL-E
• “Jai Ho,” Slumdog Millionaire
• “O Saya,” Slumdog Millionaire •