Movie City News’ Gurus of Gold — pundits picking potential Oscar nominees — have posted their first round of selections.

Keep in mind, many of these films have yet to screen. Call it a pre-game warm up, based predominently on buzz. But, the movie to receive the most votes was Ron Howard’s upcoming Frost/Nixon.

Check out the rest of the Top 5 here.

Baz Luhrmann's Australia

I’m one of those critics who becomes obsessed with the annual Oscar race. I like reading about potential Oscar contenders, tracking marketing campaigns from various studios, and absorbing coverage from key festivals (Toronto, Cannes and Telluride being crucial stopping points for many a Best Picture winner). More often than not, the pre-Oscar races are more exciting than the Academy Award ceremony itself.

One of the first shots has been fired, from a media standpoint. MovieCityNews.com put up their Best Picture chart, listing the films that have yet to open which might find themselves in contention. On this list, I’m most looking forward to Baz Luhrmann’s Australia, David Fincher’s Benjamin Button, John Hillcoat’s The Road, Eastwood’s The Changeling and Doubt, based on the award-winning play.

Will they be in the Best Picture race? Who knows? It’s the thrill of anticipation that gets me most of the time. What are you most looking forward to?

It was mentioned in a few reviews. Now magazines like EW and Time are taking the baton and running with it, asking the question, “Can WALL-E compete in this year’s Best Picture race?”

The Academy established a separate animated category in 2002. Since, no animated movie has generated enough buzz to push it into the Best Picture race (though some argue The Incredibles, Spirited Away and Finding Nemo could have survived an Oscar run).

This got the FilmCritic geeks talking. Could WALL-E be the first animated feature since the introduction of the animation category to earn a Best Picture nomination? My friend and colleague Norm Schrager felt the conversation was “kind of close to the Heath Ledger thing I wrote,” where the media pilots an overcrowded bandwagon of praise behind a decent performance. As a final note, Norm wisely adds, “Talk about the Oscars in November and December. Talk about Oscars in early July and you’re just lazy and bored.”

I agree … sort of. Since WALL-E is out and we’re able to properly judge it on merit (unlike Ledger, whose largely an unknown at this point), it’s totally possible to weigh WALL-E’s Oscar chances. I, for one, want to see it in the Best Picture race. Now, will five better films come out between now and nomination time? God, I hope so! But the discussion, in my opinion, is CAN an animated movie contend for Best Picture now that there’s a separate Animated category. That’s a discussion worth having. And yes, I think WALL-E can (and should) be the picture that bridges the categories.

Then Norm took it one step further. “For that matter, should a documentary film be considered?” he asked. “And what are the differences in those two arguments?”

What are your thoughts? Should animated, foreign and documentary films stay in their respective categories, or can they branch out if they’re good enough?