Here we are, wide awake at the crack of 5:30, waiting with baited breath for the appearance of Phineus the Oscar Ferret. If anyone was concerned about the Academy's ability to draw star power to this year's ceremony in the face of the ongoing WGA strike, fear no longer. After all, if they can recruit Kathy Bates to read this year's annoucements, they can accomplish ANYTHING! The complete 2008 Academy Award nominations (along with some rudimentary commentary) appear after the jump.

Initial reactions: Juno seems to be crowning cresting at just the right time. Despite being shut out at The Globes a few weeks ago, America's favorite anti-shmushmortion flick scored huge noms in Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress and Best Screenplay (Diablo, whut whut?). Howevs, we are sad to announce that Jennifer Garner got straight up robbed out of a nomination. Also, for a film that never really got off the ground during its initial theatrical run, Michael Clayton sure scored huge with nods in all of the major categories. As for big surprises that weren't really surprises at all, the Into The Wild hype machine never really caught on with critics or the public at large, resulting in a complete shut out for Sean Penn and Emile Hirsch. One last note, wherefore art the Original Song nominations for Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story?

80th ACADEMY AWARDS NOMINATIONS

Best motion picture of the year
"Atonement" (Focus Features) A Working Title Production: Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner and Paul Webster, Producers

"Juno" (Fox Searchlight) A Dancing Elk Pictures, LLC Production: Lianne Halfon, Mason Novick and Russell Smith, Producers

"Michael Clayton" (Warner Bros.) A Clayton Productions, LLC Production: Sydney Pollack, Jennifer Fox and Kerry Orent, Producers

"No Country for Old Men" (Miramax and Paramount Vantage) A Scott Rudin/Mike Zoss Production: Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, Producers

"There Will Be Blood" (Paramount Vantage and Miramax) A JoAnne Sellar/Ghoulardi Film Company Production: JoAnne Sellar, Paul Thomas Anderson and Daniel Lupi, Producers

Performance by an actor in a leading role
George Clooney in "Michael Clayton" (Warner Bros.)

Daniel Day-Lewis in "There Will Be Blood" (Paramount Vantage and Miramax)

Johnny Depp in "Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" (DreamWorks and Warner Bros., Distributed by DreamWorks/Paramount)

Tommy Lee Jones in "In the Valley of Elah" (Warner Independent)

Viggo Mortensen in "Eastern Promises" (Focus Features)

Performance by an actor in a supporting role
Casey Affleck in "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" (Warner Bros.)

Javier Bardem in "No Country for Old Men" (Miramax and Paramount Vantage)

Philip Seymour Hoffman in "Charlie Wilson's War" (Universal)

Hal Holbrook in "Into the Wild" (Paramount Vantage and River Road Entertainment)

Tom Wilkinson in "Michael Clayton" (Warner Bros.)

Performance by an actress in a leading role
Cate Blanchett in "Elizabeth: The Golden Age" (Universal)

Julie Christie in "Away from Her" (Lionsgate)

Marion Cotillard in "La Vie en Rose" (Picturehouse)

Laura Linney in "The Savages" (Fox Searchlight)

Ellen Page in "Juno" (Fox Searchlight)

Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Cate Blanchett in "I'm Not There" (The Weinstein Company)

Ruby Dee in "American Gangster" (Universal)

Saoirse Ronan in "Atonement" (Focus Features)

Amy Ryan in "Gone Baby Gone" (Miramax)

Tilda Swinton in "Michael Clayton" (Warner Bros.)

Best animated feature film of the year
"Persepolis" (Sony Pictures Classics): Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud

"Ratatouille" (Walt Disney): Brad Bird

"Surf's Up" (Sony Pictures Releasing): Ash Brannon and Chris Buck

Achievement in art direction
"American Gangster" (Universal): Art Direction: Arthur Max; Set Decoration: Beth A. Rubino

"Atonement" (Focus Features): Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer

"The Golden Compass" (New Line in association with Ingenious Film Partners): Art Direction: Dennis Gassner; Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock

"Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" (DreamWorks and Warner Bros., Distributed by DreamWorks/Paramount): Art Direction: Dante Ferretti; Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo

"There Will Be Blood" (Paramount Vantage and Miramax): Art Direction: Jack Fisk; Set Decoration: Jim Erickson

Achievement in cinematography
"The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" (Warner Bros.): Roger Deakins

"Atonement" (Focus Features): Seamus McGarvey

"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" (Miramax/Pathé Renn): Janusz Kaminski

"No Country for Old Men" (Miramax and Paramount Vantage): Roger Deakins

"There Will Be Blood" (Paramount Vantage and Miramax): Robert Elswit

Achievement in costume design
"Across the Universe" (Sony Pictures Releasing) Albert Wolsky

"Atonement" (Focus Features) Jacqueline Durran

"Elizabeth: The Golden Age" (Universal) Alexandra Byrne

"La Vie en Rose" (Picturehouse) Marit Allen

"Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" (DreamWorks and Warner Bros., Distributed by DreamWorks/Paramount) Colleen Atwood

Achievement in directing
"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" (Miramax/Pathé Renn), Julian Schnabel

"Juno" (Fox Searchlight), Jason Reitman

"Michael Clayton" (Warner Bros.), Tony Gilroy

"No Country for Old Men" (Miramax and Paramount Vantage), Joel Coen and Ethan Coen

"There Will Be Blood" (Paramount Vantage and Miramax), Paul Thomas Anderson

Best documentary feature
"No End in Sight" (Magnolia Pictures) A Representational Pictures Production: Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs

"Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience" (The Documentary Group) A Documentary Group Production: Richard E. Robbins

"Sicko" (Lionsgate and The Weinstein Company) A Dog Eat Dog Films Production: Michael Moore and Meghan O'Hara

"Taxi to the Dark Side" (THINKFilm) An X-Ray Production: Alex Gibney and Eva Orner

"War/Dance" (THINKFilm) A Shine Global and Fine Films Production: Andrea Nix Fine and Sean Fine

Best documentary short subject
"Freeheld" A Lieutenant Films Production: Cynthia Wade and Vanessa Roth

"La Corona (The Crown)" A Runaway Films and Vega Films Production: Amanda Micheli and Isabel Vega

"Salim Baba" A Ropa Vieja Films and Paradox Smoke Production: Tim Sternberg and Francisco Bello

"Sari's Mother" (Cinema Guild) A Daylight Factory Production: James Longley

Achievement in film editing
"The Bourne Ultimatum" (Universal): Christopher Rouse

"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" (Miramax/Pathé Renn): Juliette Welfling

"Into the Wild" (Paramount Vantage and River Road Entertainment): Jay Cassidy

"No Country for Old Men" (Miramax and Paramount Vantage) Roderick Jaynes

"There Will Be Blood" (Paramount Vantage and Miramax): Dylan Tichenor

Best foreign language film of the year
"Beaufort" Israel

"The Counterfeiters" Austria

"Katyn" Poland

"Mongol" Kazakhstan

"12" Russia

Achievement in makeup
"La Vie en Rose" (Picturehouse) Didier Lavergne and Jan Archibald

"Norbit" (DreamWorks, Distributed by Paramount): Rick Baker and Kazuhiro Tsuji

"Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" (Walt Disney): Ve Neill and Martin Samuel

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)
"Atonement" (Focus Features) Dario Marianelli

"The Kite Runner" (DreamWorks, Sidney Kimmel Entertainment and Participant Productions, Distributed by Paramount Classics): Alberto Iglesias

"Michael Clayton" (Warner Bros.) James Newton Howard

"Ratatouille" (Walt Disney) Michael Giacchino

"3:10 to Yuma" (Lionsgate) Marco Beltrami

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
"Falling Slowly" from "Once" (Fox Searchlight) Music and Lyric by Glen Hansard and: Marketa Irglova

"Happy Working Song" from "Enchanted" (Walt Disney): Music by Alan Menken; Lyric by Stephen Schwartz

"Raise It Up" from "August Rush" (Warner Bros.): Nominees to be determined

"So Close" from "Enchanted" (Walt Disney): Music by Alan Menken; Lyric by Stephen Schwartz

"That's How You Know" from "Enchanted" (Walt Disney): Music by Alan Menken; Lyric by Stephen Schwartz

Best animated short film
"I Met the Walrus" A Kids & Explosions Production: Josh Raskin

"Madame Tutli-Putli" (National Film Board of Canada) A National Film Board of Canada Production Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski "Même Les Pigeons Vont au Paradis (Even Pigeons Go to Heaven)" (Premium Films) A BUF Compagnie Production Samuel Tourneux and Simon Vanesse

"My Love (Moya Lyubov)" (Channel One Russia) A Dago-Film Studio, Channel One Russia and Dentsu Tec Production Alexander Petrov

"Peter & the Wolf" (BreakThru Films) A BreakThru Films/Se-ma-for Studios Production Suzie Templeton and Hugh Welchman

Best live action short film
"At Night" A Zentropa Entertainments 10 Production: Christian E. Christiansen and Louise Vesth

"Il Supplente (The Substitute)" (Sky Cinema Italia) A Frame by Frame Italia Production: Andrea Jublin

"Le Mozart des Pickpockets (The Mozart of Pickpockets)" (Premium Films) A Karé Production: Philippe Pollet-Villard

"Tanghi Argentini" (Premium Films) An Another Dimension of an Idea Production: Guido Thys and Anja Daelemans

"The Tonto Woman" A Knucklehead, Little Mo and Rose Hackney Barber Production: Daniel Barber and Matthew Brown

Achievement in sound editing
"The Bourne Ultimatum" (Universal): Karen Baker Landers and Per Hallberg

"No Country for Old Men" (Miramax and Paramount Vantage): Skip Lievsay

"Ratatouille" (Walt Disney): Randy Thom and Michael Silvers

"There Will Be Blood" (Paramount Vantage and Miramax): Matthew Wood

"Transformers" (DreamWorks and Paramount in association with Hasbro): Ethan Van der Ryn and Mike Hopkins

Achievement in sound mixing
"The Bourne Ultimatum" (Universal) Scott Millan, David Parker and Kirk Francis

"No Country for Old Men" (Miramax and Paramount Vantage): Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff and Peter Kurland

"Ratatouille" (Walt Disney): Randy Thom, Michael Semanick and Doc Kane

"3:10 to Yuma" (Lionsgate): Paul Massey, David Giammarco and Jim Stuebe

"Transformers" (DreamWorks and Paramount in association with Hasbro): Kevin O'Connell, Greg P. Russell and Peter J. Devlin

Achievement in visual effects
"The Golden Compass" (New Line in association with Ingenious Film Partners): Michael Fink, Bill Westenhofer, Ben Morris and Trevor Wood

"Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" (Walt Disney): John Knoll, Hal Hickel, Charles Gibson and John Frazier

"Transformers" (DreamWorks and Paramount in association with Hasbro): Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Russell Earl and John Frazier

Adapted screenplay
"Atonement" (Focus Features), Screenplay by Christopher Hampton

"Away from Her" (Lionsgate), Written by Sarah Polley

"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" (Miramax/Pathé Renn), Screenplay by Ronald Harwood

"No Country for Old Men" (Miramax and Paramount Vantage), Written for the screen by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen

"There Will Be Blood" (Paramount Vantage and Miramax), Written for the screen by Paul Thomas Anderson

Original screenplay
"Juno" (Fox Searchlight), Written by Diablo Cody

"Lars and the Real Girl" (MGM), Written by Nancy Oliver

"Michael Clayton" (Warner Bros.), Written by Tony Gilroy

"Ratatouille" (Walt Disney), Screenplay by Brad Bird; Story by Jan Pinkava, Jim Capobianco, Brad Bird

"The Savages" (Fox Searchlight), Written by Tamara Jenkins