What's your Oscar IQ?

So the door slammed shut on The Dark Knight. James Franco wasn't nominated for Milk - or for his stoner dealer dude in Pineapple Express. Bruce Springsteen's "The Wrestler" - how did that not get a best-song slot? (Hey, there are still two slots open - it's not too late!) And Sally Hawkins (Happy-Go-Lucky), Kristin Scott Thomas (I've Loved You So Long) and Michelle Williams (Wendy and Lucy) - they wuz robbed.

Get over it.

The 81st Academy Awards ceremony is two days away - Sunday, 8 p.m., 6ABC - and while there are slights, omissions, and head-scratchers, there is still much to celebrate.

Slumdog Millionaire, partly in Hindi and boasting an all-Indian cast, is poised to nab the best-picture prize - if you believe the polls, pundits and prognosticators. Not to mention the armfuls of trophies and citations it's already received.

You won't find many who've seen Slumdog unhappy with that forecast, either. An electric Dickensian odyssey set in the maximum city of 21st-century Mumbai, director Danny Boyle's fable about money and love, poverty and resilience, fate and friendship, is the ultimate crowd-pleaser.

And what about The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Frost/Nixon, Milk and The Reader? These other best-picture contenders have their respective merits and flaws. (And their friends and foes among the 5,800 voting members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.) A movie about life-in-reverse in 20th century America; a movie about lies and power in 1970s America; a movie about a sweet-natured gay rights activist in 1970s San Francisco; and a thorny meditation on evil, ignorance and forgiveness in postwar Germany - well, there's a lot to mull over there.

And if you're woefully remiss in doing your mulling - that is, you haven't caught any of the five nominees - here's an idea, and a great way to spend your Saturday: Three area AMC theaters - the Loews Cherry Hill and AMC Hamilton in New Jersey and the AMC Neshaminy - are offering a "Best Picture Showcase" where you can see all five nominated films for one $30 ticket. It's your own mini-film fest, an Oscar-eve marathon.

In terms of catching up with the nominees on DVD, none of the best pics are available yet, but many of the titles that feature actors in the four categories are available for sale and rent: Changeling (see Angelina Jolie's best-actress-nominated turn); The Dark Knight (Heath Ledger, supporting-actor nominee); Frozen River (Melissa Leo, the surprise - but deserved - lead-actress candidate); Tropic Thunder (supporting-actor nominee Robert Downey Jr.'s blackface war-movie sendup); Vicky Cristina Barcelona (Penelope Cruz, supporting actress); and The Visitor (Richard Jenkins' bittersweet turn, nominated for best actor).

In the foreign-language field, two of the five contenders are unspooling at Center City's Ritz Five: French entry The Class and Israel's haunting animated neo-doc, Waltzing With Bashir.

And all of the live-action and animated shorts can be found downtown at the Ritz at the Bourse. The live-action titles are especially strong (notably Switzerland's "On the Line" and France's "Manon on the Asphalt"), but look for the Holocaust short "Toyland" - sort of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas without the bummer ending - to take the prize.

Pixar's "Presto" - a charming, Looney Tunes-ish riff on a magician and his rabbit, which most people have actually seen (it ran in front of Wall-E) - is the probable victor in the animated-shorts contest.

As for watching the show Sunday night, if you want to do so in the thick of a champagne-swilling crowd, the Bryn Mawr Film Institute (www.BrynMawrFilm.org) is offering a live HD simulcast, $25 a person, with free bubbly and desserts. Choose your Oscar-zealot row partners carefully!

And if you're doing an Oscar pool, or attending an Oscar party, here are the Vegas oddsmakers' lines on the top categories as of midweek:

Slumdog Millionaire, favorite for best picture at 1-3. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is 7-2, followed by Milk at 9-1, Frost/Nixon at 12-1, and The Reader at 18-1.

Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler) has the inside track on best actor at 8-11. He's followed by Sean Penn (Milk) at 13-8, Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon) at 7-1, Brad Pitt (Benjamin Button) at 14-1, and Jenkins (The Visitor) at 20-1.

Kate Winslet (at 8-11) and Anne Hathaway (7-4) lead the leading role actresses, and Danny Boyle (2-5) and David Fincher (7-2) head the directors' field. The late Ledger is 1-14 to win supporting actor, and Spanish fireball Cruz is a 4-5 favorite in the supporting-actress lineup.

So, let 'em roll out the red carpet, let the parties and snarky commentaries begin, and let's see if we can remember who won anything come Monday morning.