And so the 81st Academy Awards are upon us airing live tomorrow night on ABC at 8pm EST. While wardrobes are being finalized, performances rehearsed and nerves racked, those of us not involved with the telecast other than as observers are simply making predictions and waiting for what has been dubbed Hollywood's biggest night.

Below I've included my predictions for the major awards (including Best Foreign Film and Best Animated Film). I've included additional comments as far as who I think should win if it is contrary to my actual predictions. Feel free to sound off in the comments with any disagreements or with a full list of your own predictions.

Best Picture - Slumdog Millionaire

• But I wouldn't be upset to see Milk take home the big prize

• Sean Penn took home the SAG award which is a pretty good indicator, and the more I think about it, the more impressive his role as Harvey Milk was. Rourke gave an excellent performance but really had a lot of personal hard times to inspire his rough around the edges, emotionally collapsing character portrayal in The Wrestler.
  

• If I had my way, I honestly would probably go with Meryl Streep for Doubt. Her performance struck me more, but that might only be because The Reader wasn't wholly remarkable as a film. But Winslet seems like the favorite.

• This is pretty much as close to a guarantee as you can get. The late Heath Ledger has the most buzz and has received all the right praise and awards to have this one in the bag.

• While she didn't get the SAG or Golden Globes, she certainly seems like the choice to win. My personal choice is Viola Davis for her brief role in Doubt. While her screen time was minimal, hers was a very powerful performance that really struck a chord.

• Same with picture, Gus Van Sant could easily snag this award for his directing Milk and I wouldn't be disappointed.

• With Slumdog Millionaire being an adapted screenplay I think that Black is almost as close of a shoe-in for this award as Ledger for Supporting Actor

• This is also almost a lock-in since Milk is an original screenplay and out of competition with Beaufoy

• This was most assuredly the best animated feature from last year and if it doesn't get it then for shame.

• I am not prepared to actually comment on any of the foreign film nominees this year, but this is getting all sorts of acclaim and thus it's my pick.

• Truly a hidden gem in the world of documentary films, this is a heavy favorite, and I really enjoyed seeing its narrative come to life thanks to the wonders of Netflix Instant Viewing.