We're still about two months off from having all this year's qualifying films being screened for the professional critics, but already eight Oscar gurus have weighed in with The Los Angeles Times, and have given their predictions for the ceremony in February.

At present it's Ron Howard's "Frost/Nixon" leading the charge with seven of the eight critics agreeing that the film will get a Best Picture nomination. David Fincher's "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" and Gus Van Sant's "Milk" come in second with six critics agreeing they will be nommed. Also on the list are "Doubt" (5 noms), "Revolutinary Road" (4 noms), "Slumdog Millionaire" (3 noms), "The Dark Knight" (2 noms) and Australia (2 noms).

All eight agree that Frank Langella and Mickey Rourke will be nominated for Best Actor for their work in "Frost/Nixon" and "The Wrestler" respectively. Sean Penn in "Milk" also seems a shoe-in with 7 noms. On the other side of the gender question, both Meryl Streep ("Doubt") and Anne Hathaway ("Rachel Getting Married") are tipped for Best Actress with 7 noms each. Kristin Scott Thomas (""), Kate Winslet ("Revolutionary Road"), Angelina Jolie ("Changeling") and Sally Hawkins ("Happy-Go-Lucky") also seem to be potential contenders.