Thanks to Yair Raveh's rundown of the planned scheduling for tonight's show, it's become much easier for us to plan your evening out for you, letting you know just when you can stop paying attention and start ordering pizza (All times PST):

5:38: Host Hugh Jackman's opening performance: How can you not want to see Wolverine himself in what is likely to involve some comedy and some singing? You can't, if only for the potential car-crash potential in working in an awkward X-Men Origins: Wolverine plug. Me, I won't be happy unless Liev Schreiber appears for a cameo.

5:45: Actress In A Supporting Role: The closest thing SF has to a horse in this race is Taraji P. Henson for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, although the A Different World fan in me is hoping for a Marisa Tomei victory here.

5:51: Original Screenplay: Wall-E! Wall-E! Sadly, as much as I want Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon and Pete Docter to win for their pitch-perfect script for the Pixar movie, I think they're going to lose out to favorites like Milk and In Bruges, sadly.

5:55: Adapted Screenplay: As much as I'm hoping that Simon Beaufoy clinches it for Slumdog Millionaire, the genre-correct thing would be to point to the fact that The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is nominated here.

6:03: Animated Feature Film: Look, come on. Kung-Fu Panda may be fun and all, but if this doesn't go to Wall-E, then someone's managed to bribe the entire Academy.

6:05: Animated Short Film: Unless you're a big animation fan, this would be a good time to go check on your drinks situation; you won't have heard of any of these nominees and, sadly, you'll probably never hear of them again, either. Wait, was that too cynical?

6:14: Art Direction: In fact, you're in the depths of the awards by now - The next big one isn't until 7 o'clock, so if you need to go out and walk the dog or something, feel free. Although this is the first of The Dark Knight's nominations of the evening, so you may want to stick around after all...

6:18: Costume Design: And this would be a good time to flip over to see whether Sci Fi's Lake Placid is looking worth checking out, unless you have any costumer friends.

6:20: Make-Up: Not that I didn't like Aaron Eckhart's Two-Face in Dark Knight, but if Hellboy II: The Golden Army doesn't win this one, it'll be my scream that you'll be hearing around this time of the evening.

6:30: Cinematography: Another Dark Knight nom here - and one that it deserves, considering the beautiful look of the movie and the technological challenges involved in shooting it.

6:36: Science and Technical Awards Recap: That embarrassing part of the evening when they say that the technical awards aren't as important as all the other awards, and cut to a video of some poor actress who had to host a separate ceremony all on her own.

6:41: Live Action Short Film: Remember what I said about Animated Short? Yeah, that applies here, too.

7:03: Actor In A Supporting Role: Welcome to one of the most cynical scheduling decisions of the night. This is one of the - if not the - most anticipated awards of the evening, thanks to Heath Ledger's nomination for The Dark Knight, and it's being used as the prop in the middle of the boring awards in order to keep everyone tuned in at home. It's enough to make me want Robert Downey Jr. take it for Tropic Thunder just to spite everyone.

7:08: Documentary Feature: See what I mean? At this point, I think they're hoping that the Ledger effect will take you through this and 7:10: Documentary Short Subject.

7:20: Visual Effects: Oh, this one is entirely in our wheelhouse: Iron Man, Dark Knight and Benjamin Button are the nominees, and I'm pulling for the Stark Industries entrant, I have to admit.

7:22: Sound Editing: Another case where all nominees (Dark Knight, Benjamin Button, Wall-E, Wanted and Slumdog Millionaire) are equally deserving. Well, except Wanted, of course.

7:26: Sound Mixing: We're back in the woods of the duller categories, in case you couldn't tell. Unless you're a particularly big fan of Jerry Lewis or music, you can start thinking about skipping the next 45 minutes or so without fear.

7:29: Film Editing: Again, a Dark Knight nom, but don't feel too guilty if you ignore it in favor of... well, almost anything else, really. Especially considering what's coming up next.

7:37: Jean Hersholt Award to Jerry Lewis: I know, I know. Breathe calmly and think of The Nutty Professor. It'll be over soon.

7:48: Original Score and 7:55 Original Song: We're nearing the end; fans of Wall-E and Slumdog Millionaire will undoubtedly like these two categories, but everyone else may want to stay away until 8:14.

8:01: Foreign Language Film: Everyone who's voting for Waltz With Bashir, raise your hands. Everyone who hasn't seen any of these films, do the same. Yeah, that's what I thought.

8:10 In Memoriam: The most depressing, saccharine part of the evening, and yet, you know that you're going to get choked up at at least one point during the montage of people who've died in the last year.

8:14: Directing: And the Oscar goes to... Christopher Nol - No, wait, he wasn't nominated in what really was the snub of the year. Not to get too fanboyish on you all, but I refuse to believe that, as good as Frost/Nixon is, Ron Howard really deserved the nod more than Nolan did. Neither, for that matter, does Fincher's Benjamin Button. Controversial!

8:23: Actress In A Leading Role and 8:31: Actor In A Leading Role: This may be where the schedule falls apart, if they're really hoping for short acceptance speeches from the likes of Meryl Streep, Sean Penn or Frank Langella. There aren't really any io9-friendly movies in the running for Best Actress, but my crush for Kate Winslet means that I'm pulling for her success in that category. For Best Actor, io9 loyalty to SF pushes me to hope for Brad Pitt's success.

8:38: Best Motion Picture: Will it be The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Frost/Nixon, Milk, The Reader or Slumdog Millionaire? My money's on the latter, to be honest, but this is your last chance to complain about your movie of choice not getting recognized before it's all over bar the fashion analysis. But don't worry; we get to do the whole thing again next year.

Talking to Collider.com, Roth - who also wrote the screenplays for Forrest Gump and Munich, amongst others - revealed that the big project that he wants to follow up Benjamin Button with is what he calls "a big space…I don’t want to say odyssey…that’s been done, but a space movie":

I want it to be—and I don’t know 100%—but I mean this is such a wide range, but I think it’s somewhere between the intelligence of “2001” and the mythology of “Star Wars”, so I don’t know where that leads you. But I don’t want to make it so intellectual that it’s confounding, but on the other hand I’m not so sure I can write the kind of wonderful fantasy that Lucas does, so maybe it would have…I don’t know…I don’t know. I can’t answer that because they’re going let me just sort of say fade in and see where I go.

While it's good to be ambitious, there's something worrying about Roth's seeming uncertainness about this particular ambition - Instead of the new Star Wars, is his feeling that he can't write Lucas-esque fantasy going to give us the new Phantom Menace?

Exclusive: Screenwriter Eric Roth is Writing a Sci-fi Film for Warner Brothers! [Collider]

How Old Are You?

Under The Table

When Ben And What's-Her-Face Were The Same Age

The 26-Year-Old 50-year-Old

"I've Never Had A Woman"

Daisy's Back

LIttle Old Man Pitt

One Ugly Baby

The Miracle Baby

Check out all the hot steamy Brad Pitt lovin' that's going on. Benjamin Button's will be out on December 25.

G.I. Joe: Rise Of Cobra:

Well, I lasted three days without posting any toy spoilers. Here are some MARS figures that are tie-ins with the new film. More pics at the link. [ToyArk via IESB]

Watchmen:

My Chemical Romance frontman Gerard Way says his band's Bob Dylan cover is integral to the ending of the movie. And he weighs in on the controversial changes to the graphic novel's ending:

I personally loved the giant squid – and I’ve always loved giant squids – but from what I’m hearing, the changes he’s made reels it into the actual characters, and actually, in some ways, makes more sense.

[MTV]

The Day The Earth Stood Still:

Keanu Reeves says the film is about "the human character, human nature, the fact that it is only when our backs are up against the wall that we do anything to change our behavior." Sounds as though the film ends with humans promising to stop trashing the environment, in exchange for Keanu not smiting us. He also says:

In our film, Klaatu is making a judgment about whether the human species will live or die, although it is much more than an eco message. Klaatu says: “Your backs are against the wall, you have to change the way you are or cease to exist.”

And he adds that Klaatu starts out totally alien and then slowly learns to relate to humans. [Business Mirror]

And here's a new behind-the-scenes featurette on the film, featuring a bit more footage and the stars talking about it. Keanu gives away more of the film's ending, when he says nobody can withstand Jennifer Connelly's puppy-dog eyes, not even an alien. A similar featurette, with slightly different footage, aired on Entertainment Tonight, and you can view that version here. Plus there's a new international trailer. [IGN]

Dragonball:

It's rumored this film's title has changed to Dragonball Evolution. [DBTheMovie]

The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button:

Cinemablend has already seen this movie and their review includes a few spoilers. There's a framing device, involving Cate Blanchett's character Daisy on her death bed, reminiscing about her love affair with Benjamin Button. It's the eve of Hurricane Katrina. Daisy's daughter reads from Button's diary, learning about her real father, who was born old and aged backwards. Everyone predicts the elderly baby will die from age-related ailments, but instead he thrives. His father abandons him, so he gets adopted by a woman who works at an old folks home, where he fits right in. Eventually, he de-ages enough to hobble out of his wheelchair and get on a tugboat. and the film skips over the question of what happens to Button when he looks like a teenager but is really old. (Something the Fitzgerald story, incidentally, dwells on.) [Cinemablend]

Doctor Who:

Penelope Wilton, who played the former Prime Minister Harriet Jones, says that "when you are exterminated on Doctor Who, chances are that you are not dead at all. I could simply have gone to another galaxy. You never know – I might make a return." I so want her to team up with Sarah Jane and fight aliens together. [Planet Gallifrey]

Lost:

More Dharma-centric filming? Someone came across a scene involving Kate, Hurley and a VW camper. [SpoilersLost]

And here are some promo pics showing that the cast is, indeed, still pretty. [Lyly Ford]

Torchwood:

Not much of a spoiler, but I listened to a whole podcast to get to it. Gareth David-Lloyd says it's conceivable the fourth (missing) Torchwood office is in Toronto, and he'd be up for doing a storyline set there. [Hardcore Nerdity]

Heroes:

As we mentioned, episode 3x17, "Cold War," is all about HRG, along the lines of "Company Man." And there's an intense sequence where HRG and Matt are locked in a "mental intense interrogation," and they're both out of breath and trying not to faint. They almost pass out. And HRG has some scenes with Nathan as well. [Heroes Television]

Does Peter get his powers back? Hmmm. Well, Greg Grunberg just Twittered this pic of Milo Ventimiglia preparing to do some kind of flying stunt. Click to enlarge. [Heroes Spoilers]

Fringe:

Episode 11 will be called "Bound" and will air on Jan. 20. [SpoilerTV]

Smallville:

The new Sci Fi Magazine includes some spoilers. Chloe and Jimmy will try to manage life after their wedding but it won't be easy. Doomsday's story doesn't end well, as you can imagine. And Tess will unleash her army of supervillains at some point. Also, Clark has a harder time making a new hero identity for himself, because his identity as Clark Kent is already a lie in a sense. Depending on whether there's a ninth season, the eighth season will either end with a heroic sendoff, or a heartbreaking decision for Clark. [SVGurl]

In the Jan. 15 episode, maybe you see Clark flying. Or maybe he's just leaping a tall building in a single bound. [TV Guide]

A new Doomsday-centric mid-year trailer includes a tantalizing shot of a Davis-cicle inside the compromised Fortress of Solitude. [OSCK]

Pushing Daisies:

No clue when the last episodes will air, but when the show's run ends prematurely, you'll have learned the answer to one long-term mystery, which should be a big relief for Mr. Emerson Cod. Also, Olive Snook sings a Bangles song. [TV Guide]

And here's the summary for episode 2x10, "The Norwegians":

Chuck's Aunt Vivian tries to hire Emerson to find her missing boyfriend Dwight and when he declines, she hires a group of three Norwegian private detectives. The Norwegians and Emerson and Ned have a long history of rivalry. Emerson later spies on the group of three and sees Olive seeming to be in cahoots with them. Olive and the Norwegians find a note written in Chuck's Aunt Lily's handwriting implicating her in the disappearance as well.

[SpoilerTV]

Eleventh Hour:

This mad-science investigation show chugs along. There's a casting call for episode 13, "Minimata." Local people in Flint Michigan get sick and go blind, possibly due to mercury poisoning. One helicopter newscaster gets poisoned and crashes his chopper during a broadcast. And then the newscaster's wife also goes blind and then finds out she's pregnant. Meanwhile, there's a dairy farmer who's covering up the deaths of several cows. (Does every episode of this show feature an evil farmer?) And there's an antique junk dealer. [SpoilerTV]

Warner Bros. has posted Alexander Desplat's entire score for Benjamin Button up on the movie's "For Your Consideration" page. If you thought the music from the trailer was beautiful wait until you listen to all 23 tracks composed by the magnificent Desplat The film hits theaters on December 25th. [BadTaste via Slashfilm]

I can't remember the last time I heard someone call a movie "magic" and "life-affirming" but according to Variety's write-up, that's what Fincher is delivering. Then again I don't really trust anyone who would use the word "magic" and isn't talking about Wizards. Here's a little part of the review:

It's magic realism propelled by extraordinary filmmaking technology but it's not remotely what I'd call cold. It creates a world of oddities and wonderful, off-kilter characters but the whole piece is anchored by a decades long relationship that gets strained, frayed, breaks and rebuilds into something profound and moving.

The achievement is big and bold and ambitious and life-affirming, but the sentimentality is always toughened by the continual sense of loss and deep sadness at the transitory nature of the human condition. If it sounds like an art movie, it absolutely is, but it's a four quadrant art film!...

Whole bunch of Oscar noms across the board in all the major and tech categories, would seem almost certain noms for Pitt and Blanchett, Fincher, Roth, Dp, editor, etc etc. There are so many supporting roles that it will be hard to sort out noms in those categories, but if I had to call out one, it would be Jason Flemyng as Benjamin's father, as he really adds great gravity and humanity to this key role.

Hey maybe Fincher can make a believer out of me, but as of right now I can't see this film as anything more than a good looking holiday flick to see with the family. But I hope I'm wrong and I leave the theater affirmed about my life (gag).

Taking on the story of a reverse aging man is no easy task. In an interview with The New York Times director David Fincher discusses the process and, "was it possible to make somebody age, to make a character you could follow from the time he’s four feet tall and 85 years old until the time he’s 25 inches long and 6 months old and dying?"

With patience and some incredible high-tech sculpting and CG work, the special effects team managed to transplant Brad Pitt's aged face right on top of the tiny old man bodies they used through out the film. According to Fincher:

We put our faith in a higher power that we would be able to figure out the performance-capture methodology. [Benjamin] lives on a boat and is a seaman for most of his life. We had these photographs of Andrew Wyeth. We loved the wrinkles in his face and the great compassion and wisdom that his face betrayed. We started with that and did sculptures based on life casts of Brad. We would hollow away material, take mass away from his cheeks, get more skulling around the eyes, do very fine wrinkling, do all this and scan it into a computer.

According the New York Times:

When it came time for Mr. Pitt to record his dialogue, a scanner was used to capture his facial movements. The results of the scan were used to manipulate the 3-D database of his digitally aged face, generating an almost literal “talking head.” “We would take that and put it back in the scene on the shoulders of actors who were cast to play Benjamin at the different ages,” Mr. Fincher said. “All of this would go into a pipeline, and 15 months after that we would be able to look at little Benjamin and know what he would look like when he was 5 years old.

Fincher also went into great detail about how different his movie is from the F. Scott Fitzgerald's original short story. Fincher's movie is a love story, but not just love for one person (although that appears to be a large part of the film) but for those around him as well. I can't wait to see a David Fincher love story told by a backwards aging baby.

Benjamin Button will be released on December 25, 2008.

[NYT]

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is in theaters December 19.