Oscars: And The Nominees Are...
BEST PICTURE
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Richard Jenkins ("The Visitor")
Frank Langella ("Frost/Nixon")
Sean Penn ("Milk")
Brad Pitt ("The Curious Case of Benjamin Button")
Mickey Rourke ("The Wrestler")
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Anne Hathaway ("Rachel Getting Married")
Angelina Jolie ("Changeling")
Melissa Leo ("Frozen River")
Meryl Streep ("Doubt")
Kate Winslet ("The Reader")
DIRECTING
David Fincher ("The Curious Case of Benjamin Button")
Ron Howard ("Frost/Nixon")
Gus Van Sant ("Milk")
Stephen Daldry ("The Reader")
Danny Boyle ("Slumdog Millionaire)
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Josh Brolin ("Milk")
Robert Downey Jr. ("Tropic Thunder")
Philip Seymour Hoffman ("Doubt")
Heath Ledger ("The Dark Knight")
Michael Shannon ("Revolutionary Road")
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Amy Adams ("Doubt")
Penelope Cruz ("Vicky Cristina Barcelona")
Viola Davis ("Doubt")
Taraji P. Henson ("The Curious Case of Benjamin Button")
Marisa Tomei ("The Wrestler")
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
The Baader Meinhoff Complex
Class
Departures
Revanche
Waltz With Bashir
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
"Bolt"
"Kung Fu Panda"
"Wall-E"
SCREENPLAY (Adapted)
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
"Doubt"
"Frost/Nixon"
"The Reader"
"Slumdog Millionaire""
SCREENPLAY (Original)
"Frozen River"
"Happy-Go-Lucky"
"In Bruges"
"Milk"
"Wall-E"
ART DIRECTION
"Changeling"
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
"The Dark Knight"
"The Duchess"
"Revolutionary Road"
CINEMATOGRAPHY
"Changeling"
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
"The Dark Knight"
"The Reader"
"Slumdog Millionaire"
COSTUME DESIGN
"Australia"
''The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
''The Duchess"
''Milk"
''Revolutionary Road"
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
"The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)"
''Encounters at the End of the World"
''The Garden"
''Man on Wire"
''Trouble the Water"
DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
"The Conscience of Nhem En"
''The Final Inch"
''Smile Pinki
''The Witness - From the Balcony of Room 306"
FILM EDITING
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
"The Dark Knight"
"Frost/Nixon"
"Milk"
"Slumdog Millionaire"
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
"Beaufort"
"The Counterfeiters"
"Katyn"
"Mongol"
"12"
MAKEUP
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
''The Dark Knight"
''Hellboy II: The Golden Army"
MUSIC (SCORE)
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" Alexandre Desplat
"Defiance" James Newton Howard
"Milk" Danny Elfman
"Slumdog Millionaire" A.R. Rahman
"WALL-E" Thomas Newman"
MUSIC (SONG)
"Down to Earth" from "WALL-E"
"Jai Ho" from "Slumdog Millionaire"
"O Saya" from "Slumdog Millionaire"
SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)
"La Maison en Petits Cubes"
''Lavatory - Lovestory"
''Oktapodi"
''Presto"
''This Way Up"
SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)
"Auf der Strecke (On the Line)"
''Manon on the Asphalt"
''New Boy"
''The Pig"
''Spielzeugland (Toyland)"
SOUND EDITING
"The Dark Knight"
"Iron Man"
"Slumdog Millionaire"
"WALL-E"
"Wanted"
SOUND MIXING
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
"The Dark Knight"
"Slumdog Millionaire"
"'WALL-E"
"Wanted"
VISUAL EFFECTS
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
The Dark Knight"
"Iron Man"
Opinion: I think it's a travesty that Chris Nolan didn't get a best director nod for Dark Knight. The success of that movie and the effusive praise it received is solely thanks to the decisions he made and monumental effort in putting that movie together (including casting Heath Ledger). I also think TDK was better than at least two of those movies in the Best Picture category (Namely the Reader and Frost/Nixon).
It is obvious, at this point, the AMPAS is catering to the art house crowd with those big ticket nominations, which is frustrating. The last time that a major box office success won (that I can remember) was Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. It's getting to the point that it feels like the Academy is saying 'no, sorry, what you liked was crap, this is what is actually good' and often they're two separate things. I remember the year Crash won, and I remember how inferior of a movie it is to both Brokeback Mountain and Munich (it's competition). And as a side note, TDK's opening day (not weekend, day) was larger than the opening weekends of all 5 Best Picture noms together. Eventually, financial success will be important for how 'good' a movie is once more. It used to be. That's the public voting with its dollars.
The only even slightly interesting part of this slate is 'Supporting Actor' where we have Robert Downey Jr nominated for Tropic Thunder and the late Heath Ledger for The Dark Knight. I'd tune in for that just to see if either win and then change the channel after the announcement.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Richard Jenkins ("The Visitor")
Frank Langella ("Frost/Nixon")
Sean Penn ("Milk")
Brad Pitt ("The Curious Case of Benjamin Button")
Mickey Rourke ("The Wrestler")
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Anne Hathaway ("Rachel Getting Married")
Angelina Jolie ("Changeling")
Melissa Leo ("Frozen River")
Meryl Streep ("Doubt")
Kate Winslet ("The Reader")
DIRECTING
David Fincher ("The Curious Case of Benjamin Button")
Ron Howard ("Frost/Nixon")
Gus Van Sant ("Milk")
Stephen Daldry ("The Reader")
Danny Boyle ("Slumdog Millionaire)
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Josh Brolin ("Milk")
Robert Downey Jr. ("Tropic Thunder")
Philip Seymour Hoffman ("Doubt")
Heath Ledger ("The Dark Knight")
Michael Shannon ("Revolutionary Road")
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Amy Adams ("Doubt")
Penelope Cruz ("Vicky Cristina Barcelona")
Viola Davis ("Doubt")
Taraji P. Henson ("The Curious Case of Benjamin Button")
Marisa Tomei ("The Wrestler")
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
The Baader Meinhoff Complex
Class
Departures
Revanche
Waltz With Bashir
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
"Bolt"
"Kung Fu Panda"
"Wall-E"
SCREENPLAY (Adapted)
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
"Doubt"
"Frost/Nixon"
"The Reader"
"Slumdog Millionaire""
SCREENPLAY (Original)
"Frozen River"
"Happy-Go-Lucky"
"In Bruges"
"Milk"
"Wall-E"
ART DIRECTION
"Changeling"
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
"The Dark Knight"
"The Duchess"
"Revolutionary Road"
CINEMATOGRAPHY
"Changeling"
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
"The Dark Knight"
"The Reader"
"Slumdog Millionaire"
COSTUME DESIGN
"Australia"
''The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
''The Duchess"
''Milk"
''Revolutionary Road"
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
"The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)"
''Encounters at the End of the World"
''The Garden"
''Man on Wire"
''Trouble the Water"
DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
"The Conscience of Nhem En"
''The Final Inch"
''Smile Pinki
''The Witness - From the Balcony of Room 306"
FILM EDITING
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
"The Dark Knight"
"Frost/Nixon"
"Milk"
"Slumdog Millionaire"
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
"Beaufort"
"The Counterfeiters"
"Katyn"
"Mongol"
"12"
MAKEUP
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
''The Dark Knight"
''Hellboy II: The Golden Army"
MUSIC (SCORE)
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" Alexandre Desplat
"Defiance" James Newton Howard
"Milk" Danny Elfman
"Slumdog Millionaire" A.R. Rahman
"WALL-E" Thomas Newman"
MUSIC (SONG)
"Down to Earth" from "WALL-E"
"Jai Ho" from "Slumdog Millionaire"
"O Saya" from "Slumdog Millionaire"
SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)
"La Maison en Petits Cubes"
''Lavatory - Lovestory"
''Oktapodi"
''Presto"
''This Way Up"
SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)
"Auf der Strecke (On the Line)"
''Manon on the Asphalt"
''New Boy"
''The Pig"
''Spielzeugland (Toyland)"
SOUND EDITING
"The Dark Knight"
"Iron Man"
"Slumdog Millionaire"
"WALL-E"
"Wanted"
SOUND MIXING
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
"The Dark Knight"
"Slumdog Millionaire"
"'WALL-E"
"Wanted"
VISUAL EFFECTS
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
The Dark Knight"
"Iron Man"
Opinion: I think it's a travesty that Chris Nolan didn't get a best director nod for Dark Knight. The success of that movie and the effusive praise it received is solely thanks to the decisions he made and monumental effort in putting that movie together (including casting Heath Ledger). I also think TDK was better than at least two of those movies in the Best Picture category (Namely the Reader and Frost/Nixon).
It is obvious, at this point, the AMPAS is catering to the art house crowd with those big ticket nominations, which is frustrating. The last time that a major box office success won (that I can remember) was Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. It's getting to the point that it feels like the Academy is saying 'no, sorry, what you liked was crap, this is what is actually good' and often they're two separate things. I remember the year Crash won, and I remember how inferior of a movie it is to both Brokeback Mountain and Munich (it's competition). And as a side note, TDK's opening day (not weekend, day) was larger than the opening weekends of all 5 Best Picture noms together. Eventually, financial success will be important for how 'good' a movie is once more. It used to be. That's the public voting with its dollars.
The only even slightly interesting part of this slate is 'Supporting Actor' where we have Robert Downey Jr nominated for Tropic Thunder and the late Heath Ledger for The Dark Knight. I'd tune in for that just to see if either win and then change the channel after the announcement.