The Oscars are over; let's talk Oscars

The shine isn’t even off the 2008 Academy Awards yet, but I say on to 2009! What? No point dwelling in the past. While it’s still an entire year until the next set of statuettes gets handed out, it’s never too early to be totally wrong with your Academy Award predictions. Here’s a quick look at 10 upcoming projects that caught my eye and maybe, possibly, with any luck, might catch Oscar’s eye as well.

The Argentine/Guerilla: An ambitious two-film project by Steven Soderbergh about Latin American revolutionary Che Guevara, starring Benicio Del Toro, Franka Potente, Benjamin Bratt and Catalina Sandino Moreno. Viva la revolucion!

Australia: Moulin Rouge maestro Baz Luhrmann returns with an epic love story set during World War II, about an English aristocrat (Nicole Kidman) who teams with a ranch hand (Hugh Jackman) to herd cattle across the outback. Sounds like Far and Away meets City Slickers. I kid, I kid.

Burn After Reading: All you need to know is Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Tilda Swinton, Frances McDormand and John Malkovich in a political comedy-thriller about top-secret CIA information falling into the wrong hands — and it's directed by the Coen brothers. Yes, please.

The Changeling: Angelina Jolie may get her 2008 Oscar snub revenge with this Clint Eastwood–directed Prohibition-era thriller about a woman whose kidnapped son is returned, but he could be the wrong child. Clint has been money when it comes to Oscar nominations these past few years, so Angelina, start thinking up a snappy speech.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: Based on an F. Scott Fitzgerald story about a man who is born in his eighties and ages backwards, the David Fincher–helmed film stars Brad Pitt as the eponymous Mr. Button and co-stars Cate Blanchett, Tilda Swinton, Julia Ormond and Elle Fanning. Wow, that story with that cast makes me that excited.

Doubt: Meryl Streep takes over Cherry Jones’ Tony-winning role in this tense drama set in a 1960s Catholic school. It also stars Philip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams. You had me at Meryl Streep.

Margaret: A high school student (Anna Paquin) witnesses a fatal bus accident and begins to wonder if she was somehow inadvertently responsible. It also stars Matt Damon, Mark Ruffalo and Matthew Broderick. Finally, a role where Anna can show that her win for The Piano wasn’t a fluke.

Milk: The true and tragic story of California's first openly gay elected official, San Francisco supervisor Harvey Milk (Sean Penn), who was assassinated along with the city’s mayor by fellow supervisor Dan White (Josh Brolin). If you haven’t seen the Oscar-winning documentary The Times of Harvey Milk yet, be sure to catch it first — it’s fantastic.

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency: Based on the wildly popular mystery series by Alexander McCall Smith, the film tells the story of a Botswanan woman who begins her country’s first female-owned detective agency. It stars Jill Scott and Anika Noni Rose and is directed by Anthony Minghella. My mother loves these books, and now I can just see the movie to make her happy.

Revolutionary Road: Their hearts apparently did go on. Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio reunite for the fist time since Titanic to play a young couple struggling with the conformities and pressures of 1950s suburbia. Kate and Leo together at last — now no one let them get on any boats.

So, do any of these look like winners? They sure sound like Oscar bait. Though, I’d hold off on going in on the office pool right now, you know, just to be on the safe side.