Annoyed about this year’s Oscar nominees? Feel like your favorite film or your favorite performance was overlooked or outright snubbed? Well, it’s not personal. There’s a chance that those responsible for the nominations never even saw the movie, or that they simply forgot about that great performance from earlier in 2007.

Rescued from the brink of cancellation by the resolution of the writers’ strike a week ago, the 80th annual Academy Awards will unfold as planned Sunday evening, with “There Will Be Blood” and “No Country for Old Men” trying to hold off the box-office titan “Juno” in the race for Best Picture. But now that there will indeed be a star-studded telecast, the annual scratching of the heads begins anew: Just how are these things doled out, anyway?

When many across America hear the word “Academy,” as in, “I’d like to thank the Academy,” they imagine a massive cinematic complex filled with devoted film lovers and scholars who pore over hundreds of films before pronouncing on Oscar night the very best of the best.

Nothing could be further from reality. Instead, each decision made in advance of Oscar night is the result of a small group of specialists, with each nomination determined by a group of experts in that field. For example, those nominated for acting awards have been chosen by a wide-ranging group of actors, and the same is true for directors, writers, cinematographers, etc. This is why so many Oscar pundits take note of the Screen Actors Guild, Directors Guild, and Writers Guild award nominee; Many of the same specialists managing those ceremonies are major players in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

In reality, fans might be dismayed to learn just how flawed the process has become. For starters, outside of such special categories as documentaries, foreign films, and animated films (which are handled by small panels that whittle qualified titles down to a short list and then a final slate of nominees) there is no way of ensuring that those voting for the awards have seen all the nominees.

Hence, the issue of cronyism becomes central to the awards discussion. Since only directors are picking the year’s directing nominees, the issue of popularity, and who is friends with whom, becomes a big deal. It’s the same with actors: If this actor or that actress has had a rough year off-screen, some colleagues may refuse to vote for him or her, regardless of merit. As if these nominating guidelines were not confusing enough, the Academy has an array of rules that cause frustration and outrage every year. To qualify for best original song, the piece must be written specifically for a film. Each country gets to submit only one film in the Best Foreign Film category. Documentaries, which run on an August-to-August calendar year, must meet a rigorous array of rules governing the quantity of screenings and screening locations. And in an age of 3-D motion-capture graphics, what exactly qualifies as an animated film, anyway?

The deeper one digs, the more convoluted the Academy Awards become — less about the quality of the product than about the name recognition, the popularity, and the p.r. campaigns. This year’s winners, as in any year, will be the result of a whole lot more than just the making of a movie. For those who haven’t been monitoring this year’s Oscars competition on a daily basis, here are a few things you might be curious about when you tune in Sunday night:

No “4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days”?

Considered by many to be the most egregious omission of this year’s ceremony, Cristian Mungiu’s Romanian thriller — winner of last year’s Cannes Film Festival and a recurring title on year-end top-10 lists — was omitted from this year’s foreign film “short list,” meaning it couldn’t even qualify for a nomination in the Best Foreign Language Film category.

Bardem and Affleck for Supporting actor?

Many thought Javier Bardem was the central figure in “No Country for Old Men,” but why drop him into a head-to-head duel with clear front-runner Daniel Day-Lewis? Better to call him a “supporting actor” and claim the statuette. Casey Affleck was, without question, the star of “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford,” but when your co-star is Brad Pitt, apparently you’re there for “support.”

A “Ratatouille” Wimp-Out?

Talking to critics late last year, it was clear that many considered the animated “Ratatouille” to be one of 2007’s best films in any genre. But given the politics of Oscar, Disney had a choice to make: Fight for a Best Picture nod and risk getting squeezed out of a nomination by the likes of “Michael Clayton,” or go for the less-glamorous “Best Animated Feature” category and take the easy win. Come Sunday, “Ratatouille” will likely claim its consolation prize.

Where Oh Where is Johnny greenwood?

The Radiohead guitarist composed the year’s most stunning score for “There Will Be Blood,” but because of the Academy’s arcane rules, which dictate that the entirety of the score must be written specifically for the film, Mr. Greenwood was disqualified for sampling music from an earlier composition he wrote for the BBC.

Foreign Films or Foreign Languages?

The wonderful Israeli film “The Band’s Visit” was disqualified from the foreign language film race. Why? Because in its depiction of Egyptians and Israelis coming together over music and their reliance on English as a common language, the Academy deemed that not enough of the film was performed in a foreign language.

Meanwhile, the Academy was impressed enough by “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” to give Julian Schnabel a Best Director nomination. But when the film, performed in French, was disqualified from the foreign language film category because Mr. Schnabel and his producers hail from America, not France, the studio instead pitched it for a Best Picture nomination — to no avail. This makes one wonder: Are we celebrating foreign films or foreign languages?

“Beowulf” the Trailblazer?

“Beowulf” was one of the year’s most popular films at the box office, and though it did not make the cut for a Best Animated Feature nomination — beat out by the surfing penguins of “Surf’s Up,” no less — the behind-the-scenes politicking to make the film eligible for the award has likely changed the category forever. From now on, films of this sort — which are not conventional animations, but instead use real actors and then add animated effects after the motion-capture process is completed — will qualify for the category. Look for this to change the way studios vie for animated Oscars in the future.

ssnyder@nysun.com