There are 26 weeks between Labor Day and Oscar night, so in my mind the race for the Academy Awards is a marathon. It starts the week of the Telluride fest then heats up days later Toronto. And slowly, a few leaders emerge.

Now, we are in Mile 11.

The current front-runners for the trophy are "Atonement" and "No Country For Old Men" (at least according to latest edition of the weekly "Gurus o' Gold" survey I participate in with other prognosticators).

This week, while we all still have a number of movies to watch, we were each asked to name the underdogs we are personally rooting for and I chose:

Best Picture - "I'm Not There"
Best Actress - Nikki Blonsky, "Hairspray"
Best Actor - Frank Langella, "Starting Out in the Evening"
Best Supporting Actress - Catherine Keener, "In The Wild"
Best Supporting Actor - John Travolta, "Hairspray"
Best Director - Todd Haynes, "I'm Not There"
Best Original Screenplay - "Lust, Caution"
Best Adapted Screenplay - "Persepolis"

Check out all of our personal picks and our top ten best picture rankings on the Movie City News site.