And the Oscar Nominees are....
 

OSCAR.com - 81st Annual Academy Awards - Nominees


Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
- NOMINATIONS BY CATEGORY - 81ST AWARDS -
Performance by an actor in a leading role
Richard Jenkins in "The Visitor" (Overture Films)
Frank Langella in "Frost/Nixon" (Universal)
Sean Penn in "Milk" (Focus Features)
Brad Pitt in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.)
Mickey Rourke in "The Wrestler" (Fox Searchlight)

Performance by an actor in a supporting role
Josh Brolin in "Milk" (Focus Features)
Robert Downey Jr. in "Tropic Thunder" (DreamWorks, Distributed by DreamWorks/Paramount)
Philip Seymour Hoffman in "Doubt" (Miramax)
Heath Ledger in "The Dark Knight" (Warner Bros.)
Michael Shannon in "Revolutionary Road" (DreamWorks, Distributed by Paramount Vantage)

Performance by an actress in a leading role
Anne Hathaway in "Rachel Getting Married" (Sony Pictures Classics)
Angelina Jolie in "Changeling" (Universal)
Melissa Leo in "Frozen River" (Sony Pictures Classics)
Meryl Streep in "Doubt" (Miramax)
Kate Winslet in "The Reader" (The Weinstein Company)

Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Amy Adams in "Doubt" (Miramax)
Penélope Cruz in "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" (The Weinstein Company)
Viola Davis in "Doubt" (Miramax)
Taraji P. Henson in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.)
Marisa Tomei in "The Wrestler" (Fox Searchlight)

Best animated feature film of the year
"Bolt" (Walt Disney) Chris Williams and Byron Howard
"Kung Fu Panda" (DreamWorks Animation, Distributed by Paramount) John Stevenson and Mark Osborne
"WALL-E" (Walt Disney) Andrew Stanton

Achievement in art direction
"Changeling" (Universal) Art Direction: James J. Murakami
Set Decoration: Gary Fettis
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.) Art Direction: Donald Graham Burt
Set Decoration: Victor J. Zolfo
"The Dark Knight" (Warner Bros.) Art Direction: Nathan Crowley
Set Decoration: Peter Lando
"The Duchess" (Paramount Vantage, Pathé and BBC Films) Art Direction: Michael Carlin
Set Decoration: Rebecca Alleway
"Revolutionary Road" (DreamWorks, Distributed by Paramount Vantage) Art Direction: Kristi Zea
Set Decoration: Debra Schutt

Achievement in cinematography
"Changeling" (Universal) Tom Stern
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.) Claudio Miranda
"The Dark Knight" (Warner Bros.) Wally Pfister
"The Reader" (The Weinstein Company) Chris Menges and Roger Deakins
"Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight) Anthony Dod Mantle

Achievement in costume design
"Australia" (20th Century Fox) Catherine Martin
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.) Jacqueline West
"The Duchess" (Paramount Vantage, Pathé and BBC Films) Michael O'Connor
"Milk" (Focus Features) Danny Glicker
"Revolutionary Road" (DreamWorks, Distributed by Paramount Vantage) Albert Wolsky

Achievement in directing
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.) David Fincher
"Frost/Nixon" (Universal) Ron Howard
"Milk" (Focus Features) Gus Van Sant
"The Reader" (The Weinstein Company) Stephen Daldry
"Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight) Danny Boyle

Best documentary feature
"The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)" (Cinema Guild)
A Pandinlao Films Production Ellen Kuras and Thavisouk Phrasavath
"Encounters at the End of the World" (THINKFilm and Image Entertainment)
A Creative Differences Production Werner Herzog and Henry Kaiser
"The Garden"
A Black Valley Films Production Scott Hamilton Kennedy
"Man on Wire" (Magnolia Pictures)
A Wall to Wall Production James Marsh and Simon Chinn
"Trouble the Water" (Zeitgeist Films)
An Elsewhere Films Production Tia Lessin and Carl Deal

Best documentary short subject
"The Conscience of Nhem En"
A Farallon Films Production Steven Okazaki
"The Final Inch"
A Vermilion Films Production Irene Taylor Brodsky and Tom Grant
"Smile Pinki"
A Principe Production Megan Mylan
"The Witness - From the Balcony of Room 306"
A Rock Paper Scissors Production Adam Pertofsky and Margaret Hyde

Achievement in film editing
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.) Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall
"The Dark Knight" (Warner Bros.) Lee Smith
"Frost/Nixon" (Universal) Mike Hill and Dan Hanley
"Milk" (Focus Features) Elliot Graham
"Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight) Chris Dickens

Best foreign language film of the year
"The Baader Meinhof Complex" A Constantin Film Production - Germany
"The Class" (Sony Pictures Classics) A Haut et Court Production - France
"Departures" (Regent Releasing) A Departures Film Partners Production - Japan
"Revanche" (Janus Films) A Prisma Film/Fernseh Production - Austria
"Waltz with Bashir" (Sony Pictures Classics) A Bridgit Folman Film Gang Production - Israel

Achievement in makeup
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.) Greg Cannom
"The Dark Knight" (Warner Bros.) John Caglione, Jr. and Conor O'Sullivan
"Hellboy II: The Golden Army" (Universal) Mike Elizalde and Thom Floutz

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.) Alexandre Desplat
"Defiance" (Paramount Vantage) James Newton Howard
"Milk" (Focus Features) Danny Elfman
"Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight) A.R. Rahman
"WALL-E" (Walt Disney) Thomas Newman

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
"Down to Earth" from "WALL-E" (Walt Disney) Music by Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman
Lyric by Peter Gabriel
"Jai Ho" from "Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight) Music by A.R. Rahman
Lyric by Gulzar
"O Saya" from "Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight) Music and Lyric by A.R. Rahman and Maya Arulpragasam

Best motion picture of the year
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.)
"Frost/Nixon" (Universal)
"Milk" (Focus Features)
"The Reader" (The Weinstein Company)
"Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight)

Best animated short film
"La Maison en Petits Cubes"
A Robot Communications Production Kunio Kato
"Lavatory - Lovestory"
A Melnitsa Animation Studio and CTB Film Company Production Konstantin Bronzit
"Oktapodi" (Talantis Films)
A Gobelins, L'école de l'image Production Emud Mokhberi and Thierry Marchand
"Presto" (Walt Disney)
A Pixar Animation Studios Production Doug Sweetland
"This Way Up" A Nexus Production Alan Smith and Adam Foulkes

Best live action short film
"Auf der Strecke (On the Line)" (Hamburg Shortfilmagency)
An Academy of Media Arts Cologne Production Reto Caffi
"Manon on the Asphalt" (La Luna Productions)
A La Luna Production Elizabeth Marre and Olivier Pont
"New Boy" (Network Ireland Television)
A Zanzibar Films Production Steph Green and Tamara Anghie
"The Pig"
An M & M Production Tivi Magnusson and Dorte Høgh
"Spielzeugland (Toyland)"
A Mephisto Film Production Jochen Alexander Freydank

Achievement in sound editing
"The Dark Knight" (Warner Bros.) Richard King
"Iron Man" (Paramount and Marvel Entertainment) Frank Eulner and Christopher Boyes
"Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight) Tom Sayers
"WALL-E" (Walt Disney) Ben Burtt and Matthew Wood
"Wanted" (Universal) Wylie Stateman

Achievement in sound mixing
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.) David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Mark Weingarten
"The Dark Knight" (Warner Bros.) Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo and Ed Novick
"Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight) Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke and Resul Pookutty
"WALL-E" (Walt Disney) Tom Myers, Michael Semanick and Ben Burtt
"Wanted" (Universal) Chris Jenkins, Frank A. Montaño and Petr Forejt

Achievement in visual effects
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.) Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton and Craig Barron
"The Dark Knight" (Warner Bros.) Nick Davis, Chris Corbould, Tim Webber and Paul Franklin
"Iron Man" (Paramount and Marvel Entertainment) John Nelson, Ben Snow, Dan Sudick and Shane Mahan

Adapted screenplay
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.) Screenplay by Eric Roth
Screen story by Eric Roth and Robin Swicord
"Doubt" (Miramax) Written by John Patrick Shanley
"Frost/Nixon" (Universal) Screenplay by Peter Morgan
"The Reader" (The Weinstein Company) Screenplay by David Hare
"Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight) Screenplay by Simon Beaufoy

Original screenplay
"Frozen River" (Sony Pictures Classics) Written by Courtney Hunt
"Happy-Go-Lucky" (Miramax) Written by Mike Leigh
"In Bruges" (Focus Features) Written by Martin McDonagh
"Milk" (Focus Features) Written by Dustin Lance Black
"WALL-E" (Walt Disney) Screenplay by Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon
Original story by Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter

"The Reader" beating out "The Dark Knight" is a huge shock as most publications had TDK as a lock. I'm glad Benjamin Button got 13 nods. It's my Best Picture winner so far (though I haven't seen Slumdog)

No Dark Knight for Best Picture... that has to crush the producers of the show, it could cost about 10 ratings points.

Surprised Springsteen didn't get a Best Song nomination for the Wrestler.

TDK fanboys creep me out, so it missing out is ok in my book.

Does anyone else agree with me that Brad Pitt seems to play the same character in every movie he does?

Yeah, Benjamin Button was exactly like his character in Burn After Reading or Ocean's Eleven or Assassination of Jesse James ;).

Hah! That's not exactly what I meant. I guess I didn't word it right, but I feel like he plays the same sort of role in every movie he does. I don't know, maybe I am just high off of all the medicine I am taking.

I think if you compare 12 Monkeys to Troy, you get different characters.

No "Dark Knight" for Best Picture and no "Gran Torino" anywhere. What a joke.

I'm going to go for high ;).

But seriously, Pitt has played a vast variety of roles in his career. Here is a few movies he's had a large role in:

Interview with a Vampire
Se7en
Snatch
Seven Years in Tibet
Fight Club
Ocean's Eleven
Troy
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Burn After Reading
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

I'd have to say that Benjamin Button is unlike any other role he's played in his career.

Was kinda hoping WALL-E would sneak in for Best Picture. Only one of those I've seen so far is Benjamin Button, and there is no way that should win.

Leo and Kate got snubbed pretty hard

As well as Eastwood.

I didn't think Changeling was that good, nor was Angelina that amazing or anything.

Are animated movies even allowed in the Best Picture category?

Anyone know why The Dark Knight was nominated for "Best foreign language film of the year"?

eh, strike that, didn't notice it was a different category.

Ah I had wondered the same thing...makes more sense after second glance, haha.

Very nice! Got a good laugh off of it.

In general I think you have a choice of Funny and Cool Brad Pitt (Burn After Reading, Oceans XX, etc...), Moody and Introspective Brad Pitt (Assassination, Meet Joe Black, Troy, etc...) or sometimes Plain Crazy Brad Pitt (12 Monkeys). But you always have Brad Pitt.

I don't mean that as a knock. I happen to enjoy watching him and also George Clooney, who has a similar lack of range. But neither of these guys are Daniel Day-Lewis or (more recently) Josh Brolin.

I get what Dr. Sak is kind of saying and I have this problem with Leonardo DiCaprio. He still looks 14 years old to me and the acting he brings to each role is very similar (sure, there might be an outlier like Blood Diamonds but for the most part he just seems very static as an actor).

I didn't see it but it would be funny if Downey won for tropic thunder. I think it would be ironic but my Alanis detector isn't working this early.

Agreed.

Um... isn't that basically every actor then? Someone who can play funny & cool, introspective, and plain crazy is someone who has quite a bit of range.

Besides, his character in "Burn After Reading" was anything but cool. And Jesse James was a different form of introspection than Achilles in Troy. Jesse James was more of a nasty, brooding introspection, a bit different from playing the introspective hero, IMO.

Ut oh...I think ISiddiqui has a little man crush on Brad Pitt ;)

That happened to me too. The new category is not on a new line. :)

Don't get this either. We are talking about an actor that has in the last 5 years or so, played lead roles in movies like Blood Diamond, Catch Me If You Can, Gangs of New York, The Departed, and Revolutionary Road.

I wonder if part of this is that is hard to get past Leo's and Brad's movie star good looks. While someone like Daniel Day Lewis can look 'ugly' pretty well (as he did in "There Will Be Blood" - my fav movie from 2008).

No.

TDK not in Best Picture nomination is a farce.

That said, I think the easiest prediction of the year is Ledger posthumously awarded BSA for his Joker role. Anything else and I think there'd be riots.

technically, yes... but i think everyone admits that it having its own category makes it extremely unlikely. It's just like how a Foreign Film can be nominated for Best Picture... i think it happened with Life Is Beautiful a few years ago, right?


Wall-E was pretty solid.. one of the few movies i saw from 2008.

Fixed it. Thought I had got all of them

People really feel this way? I mean, it was an OK movie. One of the better superhero movies ever, but it was still pretty silly, overly long, and goofy in the final 3rd.

Yep, yep. When you have a seperate catagory, people tend to say, well, it'll get its award. No reason for it to be in both. And before the award started (2001), "Beauty and the Beast" was nominated for Best Picture in 1991.

And yah, Wall-E was pretty good and is on my Top 5 list for 2008.

I don't think Leo is good looking, I just don't like his youthful look in every single movie. I think I actually go out of my way to avoid his movies, and have not seen any of the ones you mentioned.

You went out of your way to not see "The Departed"?

Your loss, man.

You don't like film. You need to realize this.

I know, I realize I'm missing good movies but I just can't stand the guy and any movie with him in it wouldn't be as enjoyable to me.

I love film, I just don't like this one actor.

It seems petty. How can you not like the one actor when you haven't seen his best work. You can't just judge him on "Titanic".

Some of my favorite movies have starred actors i have otherwise previously hated or even continued to hate after the fact. I have boundless, inexplicable love for the movie Face/Off, and i absolutely despite both Travolta and Cage.

I didn't say anything about his work, as I really don't think I've seen anything of his. If I did, I forgot about it. I've never seen Titanic. I just don't like the guy, so I don't watch his movies.

You don't like the guy... why?

How can you say you don't like the guy if you haven't seen anything of his. I just don't understand at all.

I haven't seen it, but from what people tell me and from what reviews I have gathered, it really doesn't belong in the list. A good movie? Sure. Just not one of the best 5 of the year. I could see switching it out for TDK and being fine with the list.

And Slumdog should win. Why? Because it is written. :D

EDIT: I have a friend who hates Brad Pitt and refuses to see anything he is in. This means he misses out on great films like "True Romance" where Brad has a bit part, but is hilarious in it.

So you don't like him despite never actually seeing him do anything?

Nice.

I don't understand either. If I could explain it, I would. :) Only thing I can think of is hating the hype of Titanic, and that automatically made me hate him, but I don't know.

I think him and Sarah Jessica Parker are the only two actors that I hate when I see them in a movie.

Oh, and also, the dislike for Benjamin Button saddens me :(

I guess you're not talking about Kate Winslett here? She's up there in the actress in a leading role category.