2009 Oscar Nomination Ballots mailed to 5,777 academy voters

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) reports that 5,777 Academy voting members received their 2009 Oscar Nomination Ballots. Academy voters have until Saturday, January 23, 2010 at 5 PM to return their completed ballots.

According to AMPAS, the ballots will be tabulated by PricewaterhouseCoopers, which also collects the ballots as they're returned. The ballots are numbered with respect to Academy voter. The accounting firm will check to ensure that there are no duplicate ballots and that the count is fair and accurate.

Jon Farveau is watching Academy screeners, are you?

Academy members like Iron Man 2 Director Jon Farveau have already started watching movies to determine who they're going to vote for. Jon Favreau tweeted:

Spending Xmas with family watching Academy screeners. Where the heck is Moon? Is Sony nuts? I want to see Rockwell vs Rockwell.
2:15 PM Dec 25th from Echofon

Meanwhile, the legendary Nikke Finke at Deadline.com/Hollywood reports her voicemail and email inbox's filling with negative Oscar campaign messages and that the race is turning "nasty, nasty, nasty."

Then what Finke writes is down right funny. Like the report that at a party thrown for Brothers' star Tobey Maguire by Leonardo DiCaprio, some female member of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association asked Shirley MacLaine if her legs "were still in good shape", to which MacLaine reportedly pulled down her pants for her to see! Best to visit Nikke's site for the rest; it's a doozy!

Stay tuned!