This morning a little after 8:30 a.m. the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences announced the nominations for the 81st annual Oscars.

As expected, Heath Ledger received a posthumous nod for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as The Joker in The Dark Night. However, I never expected Robert Downey Jr. to pull off a nomination for his performance as "the dude playing a dude disguised as another dude" in Tropic Thunder!

Another surprise was The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, leading the pack with 13 nominations, including Best Picture, Director and Actor for Brad Pitt (BB was shut-out at the Golden Globes), while Slumdog Millionaire followed with 10 nods.

Here's the official list:

1. Best Picture: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “Frost/Nixon,” “Milk,” “The Reader,” “Slumdog Millionaire.”

2. Actor: Richard Jenkins, “The Visitor”; Frank Langella, “Frost/Nixon”; Sean Penn, “Milk”; Brad Pitt, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”; Mickey Rourke, “The Wrestler.”

3. Actress: Anne Hathaway, “Rachel Getting Married”; Angelina Jolie, “Changeling”; Melissa Leo, “Frozen River”; Meryl Streep, “Doubt”; Kate Winslet, “The Reader.”

4. Supporting Actor: Josh Brolin, “Milk”; Robert Downey Jr., “Tropic Thunder”; Philip Seymour Hoffman, “Doubt”; Heath Ledger, “The Dark Knight”; Michael Shannon, “Revolutionary Road.”

5. 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.”

6. Director: David Fincher, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”; Ron Howard, “Frost/Nixon”; Gus Van Sant, “Milk”; Stephen Daldry, “The Reader”; Danny Boyle, “Slumdog Millionaire.”

7. Foreign Film: “The Baader Meinhof Complex,” Germany; “The Class,” France; “Departures,” Japan; “Revanche,” Austria; “Waltz With Bashir,” Israel.

8. Adapted Screenplay: Eric Roth and Robin Swicord, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”; John Patrick Shanley, “Doubt”; Peter Morgan, “Frost/Nixon”; David Hare, “The Reader”; Simon Beaufoy, “Slumdog Millionaire.”

9. Original Screenplay: Courtney Hunt, “Frozen River”; Mike Leigh, “Happy-Go-Lucky”; Martin McDonagh, “In Bruges”; Dustin Lance Black, “Milk”; Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon and Pete Docter, “WALL-E.”

10. Animated Feature Film: “Bolt”; “Kung Fu Panda”; “WALL-E.”

11. Art Direction: “Changeling,” “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “The Dark Knight,” “The Duchess,” “Revolutionary Road.”

12. Cinematography: “Changeling,” “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “The Dark Knight,” “The Reader,” “Slumdog Millionaire.”

13. Sound Mixing: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “The Dark Knight,” “Slumdog Millionaire,” “WALL-E,” “Wanted.”

14. Sound Editing: “The Dark Knight,” “Iron Man,” “Slumdog Millionaire,” “WALL-E,” “Wanted.”

15. 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.

16. Original Song: “Down to Earth” from “WALL-E,” Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman; “Jai Ho” from “Slumdog Millionaire,” A.R. Rahman and Gulzar; “O Saya” from “Slumdog Millionaire,” A.R. Rahman and Maya Arulpragasam.

17. Costume: “Australia,” “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “The Duchess,” “Milk,” “Revolutionary Road.”

18. Documentary Feature: “The Betrayal (Nerakhoon),” “Encounters at the End of the World,” “The Garden,” “Man on Wire,” “Trouble the Water.”

19. Documentary (short subject): “The Conscience of Nhem En,” “The Final Inch,” “Smile Pinki,” “The Witness — From the Balcony of Room 306.”

20. Film Editing: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “The Dark Knight,” “Frost/Nixon,” “Milk,” “Slumdog Millionaire.”

21. Makeup: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “The Dark Knight,” “Hellboy II: The Golden Army.”

22. Animated Short Film: “La Maison en Petits Cubes,” “Lavatory — Lovestory,” “Oktapodi,” “Presto,” “This Way Up.”

23. Live Action Short Film: “Auf der Strecke (On the Line),” “Manon on the Asphalt,” “New Boy,” “The Pig,” “Spielzeugland (Toyland).”

24. Visual Effects: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “The Dark Knight,” “Iron Man.”
———
Academy Award winners previously announced this year:
Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award (Oscar statuette): Jerry Lewis
Gordon E. Sawyer Award (Oscar statuette): Pixar Animation co-founder Ed Catmull

The Academy Awards will be presented live on ABC February 22, but you can get your "star" fix this weekend over on TNT Sunday night at the presentation of the Screen Actors Guild Awards.

Well Lostees -- this is it! The night we've all been waiting for ... at least since last May! Tonight LOST returns. And if you missed the re-airing of last season's finale last week (and again on Sci-Fi Channel Monday night), lucky for you there's a clip-show recap at 8 p.m. on ABC.

But the real "fun" begins at 9! Two whole hours, promising us some answers, to be replaced, I'm sure, but a whole lot more questions!! Why do we put ourselves thru this trauma?

Anyway, tonight's episode titled "Because You Left" deals with the aftermath of the departure of the Oceanic 6 from the island, which itself departed to parts unknown ... and don't be late (9 pm sharp!) because I'm told the first scene is a real shocker!

This season will deal with quantum physics and some of those characters who are dead or left for dead will be turning up once again -- in flashbacks? We'll have to wait and see.

Tonight, Jack shaves (seriously, the beard did nothing for him), and he and Ben try furiously to reunite the Oceanic 6 for a trip back to the Island, a necessity, not a request! Most will have to be dragged kicking and screaming. I've also heard rumor that Locke's not really dead (you don't say), while those left behind will be dealing with the rigors of living on a time-travelling island!

But one thing's guaranteed -- Sawyer spends the whole two hours shirtless!! Yummy!! Here's a sneak peak for all the ladies!


That's all I could muster, except for talk of Ana Lucia returning ... even my fave Lost spoiler site www.lostpedia.com doesn't have anything to offer except episode titles.

Get ready for heated discussion tomorrow!

For more info on LOST visit http://abc.go.com/primetime/lost/index?pn=index



Also on tonight (like anything else matters) is On the Set fave Top Chef (Bravo, 10pm). Tonight's episode is the fan fave Restaurant Wars challenge, where cheftestants are divided up into two teams, given an empty room, a kitchen and a budget and tasked with creating their own restaurant. Things should get heated (as they have in the past) when some chefs are taken out of their kitchen comfort zones and challenged to manage, serve, host, etc.

And if that wasn't enough -- it looks like things are getting cozy between Hosea and Leah, who says on the promo that she's never before cheated on her ..... oooh "Watch What Happens!"

Top Chef recap tomorrow! For more on Top Chef New York visit http://www.bravotv.com/Top_Chef/season/5/index.php

Another audition episode of American Idol debuts at 8 on Fox. I don't know about you, but I thought last night's ep was a big yawn!! I'm still waiting for Eddie Idol to chime in ...



And lastly, tomorrow 8:30 am sharp, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences announces the nominees for the Academy Awards!!! I'll be posting as soon as I can get them!
For more info visit www.oscar.com