Get a jump on this year's Oscar® season with an exclusive pass to Britain's most star-studded awards event, The British Academy Film Awards (the BAFTAs). Its track record for predicting the winners at the Academy Awards is uncanny. Last year's winners included No Country For Old Men's Javier Bardem, Michael Clayton's Tilda Swinton, La Vie En Rose's Marion Cotillard, and There Will Be Blood's Daniel Day-Lewis - each of whom later won Oscars for their performances.

Oscar frontrunners The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Slumdog Millionaire both lead the pack with 11 BAFTA nominations apiece. Will Best Director nominee David Fincher's CGI-filled epic topple the crowd-pleasing Mumbai romance, directed by fellow nominee Danny Boyle? Will Benjamin Button star Brad Pitt, who boasts two nominations this year, defeat Slumdog's up-and-comer Dev Patel in the Lead Actor category? Perhaps the resurgent Mickey Rourke could crush them both with his blood-letting, Golden Globe®-winning performance in The Wrestler, or Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon) and Sean Penn (Milk) could impress voters with their portrayals of historic political icons.

2008 could be deemed the year of Kate Winslet, evidenced by her double nominations in the Best Actress category for Revolutionary Road and The Reader. But will she split the vote, handing the award to Doubt's Meryl Streep, I've Loved You So Long's Kristin Scott Thomas, or Changeling's Angelina Jolie?

In the Supporting Actor category, Heath Ledger would appear to be a lock for a posthumous win for playing a frighteningly unhinged Joker in The Dark Knight. But a hotter-than-ever Robert Downey Jr. might lure votes with his controversial comedic turn in Tropic Thunder.

Penelope Cruz's supporting performance as the unstable ex-wife in Vicky Cristina Barcelona has been heralded as a critical tour de force. With Winslet's work in The Reader being recognized in the lead category, can Cruz finally take home an industry award this year? However, the momentum of Slumdog Millionaire may just be enough to lift young Freida Pinto to her first win.

Also the BAFTAs will hand out this year's Orange Rising Star Award, which celebrates a young star in the making. The winner is selected by the British public, and last year, the award went to Shia LaBeouf, star of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and Eagle Eye. This year, the nominees are Juno's Michael Cera, Doctor Who alum Noel Clarke, Hunger star Michael Fassbender, Vicky Cristina Barcelona's Rebecca Hall, and RocknRolla's Toby Kebbell.

This Year's Nominees