And The Nominees Are...

Some definite surprises to found in this year's nominations...


Some thoughts before we get to the noms:

- The Dark Knight gets shut out of the major categories (Picture, Director, Screenplay) in favor of The Reader. It's not such a crime that The Dark Knight was snubbed for these categories, although it will hurt the ratings of the show, but was The Reader really one of the 5 best movies of the year by any measure? I mean I know some people who liked it but...I just don't see it.

- Gran Torino gets shut out. Excellent. It was a joke of a movie and any nomination it received would have been robbing someone else of a nod.

- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button gets the most noms with 13 nominations followed by Slumdog's 10. Usually the film with the most noms wins Best Picture. Let's hope that doesn't hold true this year.


Now it's time for a breakdown:

Best actor:

1. Richard Jenkins - THE VISITOR
2. Frank Langella - FROST/NIXON
3. Sean Penn - MILK
4. Brad Pitt - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
5. Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler

The Good: I predicted 4 of the 5 nominees correct. Richard Jenkins, a likable actor who was apparently fantastic in The Visitor getting a nomination over Clint Eastwood in Gran Torino.

The Too-Bad: Leonardo DiCaprio not getting nominated for Revolutionary Road. He was pretty damn good. He was the only actor I predicted would get nominated who didn't.

The Winner: I guess it looks like it will actually be Mickey Rourke but I still think Sean Penn is the one who deserves it.


Best Actress

1. Anne Hathaway - Rachel Getting Married
2. Angelina Jolie - Changeling
3. Melissa Leo - Frozen River
4. Meryl Streep - Doubt
5. Kate Winslet - The Reader

The Good: Again, I predicted 4 out of 5 correct...kind of. I didn't guess Melissa Leo (I thought Kristin Scott Thomas might get a nom) and I thought Winslet would be nominated for Revolutionary Road and not The Reader (which was considered a supporting role at the Golden Globes). I don't know if Winslet, who has admitted to be desperate to win an Oscar, can really beat Streep or Hathaway for her role in The Reader. Getting back to Leo, good for her, and I think she could actually be a dark hourse.

The Too-Bad: Again, Revolutionary Road gets snubbed. Winslet was far better in Revolutionary Road than The Reader.

The Winner: Hmmm....let's go with Anne Hathaway. I just don't think this is Winslet's year.

Best Supporting Actor

1. Josh Brolin - Milk
2. Robert Downey Jr. - Tropic Thunder
3. Phillip Seymour Hoffman - Doubt
4. Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight
5. Michael Shannon - Revolutionary Road

The Good: Again, 4 out of 5. And this time I'm happy to be wrong. Whereas Revolutionary Road was snubbed in the big two acting categories, I am delighted to see Michael Shannon get recognized for his role in the film. He was fantastic. Also awesome to see Downey Jr. get nominated for such a wacky role.

The Bad: Actually...while I think Brolin gave the 3rd best supporting performance in Milk...and would have liked to see Dev Patel get nominated for Slumdog...I think this is a pretty good group.

The Winner: Ledger. Easy.


Best Supporting Actress

1. Amy Adams - Doubt
2. Penelope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona
3. Viola Davis - Doubt
4. Taraji P Henson - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
5. Marisa Tomei - The Wrestler

The Good: 4/5 again. I was snookered by the Kate Winslet confusion. Amy Adams "took" Winslet's spot and the question now becomes will Adams steal votes away from Davis and thus allow Cruz to win?

The Too-Bad: She had no chance but I would have liked to see Beyonce nominated for Cadillac Records.

The Winner: I'll go with Penelope Cruz.


Best Animated Feature Film


1. BOLT
2. KUNG FU PANDA
3. WALL-E

The Confusing: So Waltz with Bashir is one of the 5 best foreign films but not one of the top 3 animated film? Does that mean Bolt is better than all of the foreign film nominees? I know that's silly but I'm a little baffled by Waltz being shut out of this...I'm pretty sure it was eligible.

The Winner: Wall-E


Best Art Direction

1. Changeling - James J. Murakami, Gary Fettis
2. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Donald Graham Burt, Victor J. Zolfo
3. The Dark Knight - Nathan Crowley, Peter Lando
4. The Duchess - Michael Carlin, Rebecca Alleway
5. Revolutionary Road - Kristi Zea, Debra Schutt

The Good: Changeling and Benjamin Button getting nominated. Both movies had fully realized sets.

The Bad: Not actually sure The Dark Knight deserved this one...

The Winner: Benjamin Button


Best Cinematography


1. Changeling - Tom Stern
2. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Claudio Miranda
3. The Dark Knight - Wally Pfister
4. The Reader - Chris Menges, Roger Deakins
5. Slumdog Millionaire - Anthony Dod Mantle

The Good: Slumdog and Dark Knight getting well deserved nominations.

The Bad: The Reader...what a weird call. Also, though I don't care, it is surprising to see no Australia here...

The Winner: Slumdog Millionaire.


Best Costume Design


1. Australia - Catherine Martin
2. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Jacqueline West
3. The Duchess - Michael O'Connor
4. Milk - Danny Glicker
5. Revolutionary Road - Albert Wolsky

The Good: Three of the movies I wanted nominated got recognized.

The Bad: Can't really complain about any of these

The Winner: The Duchess


Best Director


1. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - David Fincher
2. Frost/Nixon - Ron Howard
3. Milk - Gus Van Sant
4. The Reader - Stephen Daldry
5. Slumdog Millionaire - Danny Boyle

The Good: I predicted 4/5 again. Chris Nolan for The Dark Knight being the one I got wrong. Of course I'm happy that Boyle gets nominated. He has to win.

The Bad: Again, I just don't see it with The Reader.

Too-Bad: Mendes (Revolutionary Road) and Nolan being snubbed.

The Winner: Boyle


Best Feature Documentary

1.The Betrayal (Nerakhoon) - Ellen Kuras, Thavisouk Phrasavath
2. Encounters at the End of the World - Werner Herzog, Henry Kaiser
3. The Garden - Scott Hamilton Kennedy
4. Man on Wire - James Marsh, Simon Chinn
5. Trouble the Water - Tia Lessin, Carl Deal

The Good: Man on Wire getting nominated. If it hadn't' been I would have nuked Hollywood.

The My-Bad: I should know more about The Garden and The Betrayal.

The Winner: Man on Wire (Or else...)


Best Documentary Short Film

1. The Conscience of Nhem En - Steven Okazaki
2. The Final Inch - Irene Taylor Brodsky, Tom Grant
3. Smile Pinki - Megan Mylan
4. The Witness - From the Balcony of Room 306 - Adam Pertofsky, Margaret Hyde

I will have to wait and see what these are about before I predict anything.

Best Editing

1. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Kirk Baxter, Angus Wall
2. The Dark Knight - Lee Smith
3. Frost/Nixon - Mike Hill, Dan Hanley
4. Milk - Elliot Graham
5. Slumdog Millionaire - Chris Dickens

The Good: 3 of the movies I wanted to get nominated got in there (Slumdog, Frost, Milk) and I can't say I'm surprised by Benjamin Button or Dark Knight.

The Bad: I just don't agree with those last two. Button and Knight could have been trimmed and tightened up a little bit.

The Winner: Really don't see how it's not Slumdog...most exciting movie of the year.


Best Foreign Language Film

1. The Baader Meinhof Complex - Germany
2. The Class - France
3. Departures - Japan
4. Austria - Revanche
5. Waltz with Bashir - Israel

The My-Bad: I only know 2 of these - Bashir and The Class - and have seen none of them.

The Bad: There is no way that all 5 of these movies are better than Let the Right One in. This is just like last year, when 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days didn't get nominated. While the winners of this category are usually great films (Look at the last two - The Counterfeiters and The Lives of Others - both were "A" movies) but they often get the actually nominees wrong...

The Winner: Can't say without knowing more about the others (for instance: is one of these a Holocaust movie?. But The Class is the one with the best buzz around it.

Best Makeup

1. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Greg Cannom
2. The Dark Knight - John Caglione, Jr., Conor O'Sullivan
3. Hellboy II: The Golden Army - Mike Elizalde, Thom Floutz

The Good: The Reader getting snubbed here. Winslet looked silly towards the end. Also, The Dark Knight gets a deserved nomination here.

The Bad: Can't complain here.

The Winner: Benjamin Button


Best Music (Score)

1. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Alexandre Desplat
2. Defiance - James Newton Howard
3. Milk - Danny Elfman
4. Slumdog Millionaire - A.R. Rahman
5. WALL-E - Thomas Newman

The Good: Slumdog, Wall-E, and Milk getting deserved nominations.

The Too-Bad: Dark Knight had a great score...too bad to see it miss out here. Also, I didn't think Ben Button had the most seamless musical work.


Best Original Song

1. WALL-E - "Down to Earth"
2. Slumdog Millionaire - "Jai Ho"
3. Slumdog Millionaire - "O Saya"

The Good: YES! Screw you The Wrestler and screw you Bruce Springsteen. Nice.

The odd: Only 3? And are we really gonna have 2 performances of songs in Hindi during the Oscars?

The Winner: Slumdog splits its own vote - Wall-E wins.


BEST PICTURE

1. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
2. Frost/Nixon
3. Milk
4. The Reader
5. Slumdog Millionaire

The Good: 4/5 guessed right (Dark Knight again).

The Bad: The Reader

The Winner: Slumdog


Best Animated Short Film

1. La Maison de Petits Cubes - Kunio Kato
2. Lavatory - Lovestory - Konstantin Bronzit
3. Oktapodi - Emud Mokhberi, Thierry Marchand
4. Presto - Doug Sweetland
5. This Way Up - Alan Smith, Adam Foulkes

Best Live Action Short Film

1. Auf der Strecke (On the Line) - Reto Caffi
2. Manon on the Asphalt - Elizabeth Marre, Olivier Pont
3. New Boy - Steph Green, Tamara Anghie
4. The Pig - Tivi Magnusson, Dorte Høgh
5. Spielzeugland (Toyland) - Jochen Alexander Freydank


Who Knows?

Best Sound Editing

1. The Dark Knight - Richard King
2. Iron Man - Frank Eulner, Christopher Boyes
3. Slumdog Millionaire - Tom Sayers
4. WALL-E - Ben Burtt, Matthew Wood
5. Wanted - Wylie Stateman

Best Sound Mixing

1. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce, Mark Weingarten
2. The Dark Knight - Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo, Ed Novick
3. Slumdog Millionaire - Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke, Resul Pookutty
4. WALL-E - Tom Myers, Michael Semanick, Ben Burtt
5. Wanted - Chris Jenkins, Frank A. Montaño, Petr Forejt

Yeah, I have no idea what the difference between these two categories is. However they're defined: Wall-E should win both.

Winner: Wall-E just beating Dark Knight.


Best Visual Effects

1. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton, Craig Barron
2. The Dark Knight - Nick Davis, Chris Corbould, Tim Webber, Paul Franklin
3. Iron Man - John Nelson, Ben Snow, Dan Sudick, Shane Mahan

The Good: Ben Button and Iron Man were the two most impressive effects movies of the year.

The Winner: Benjamin Button


Best Adapted Screenplay

1. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Eric Roth, Robin Swicord
2. Doubt - John Patrick Shanley
3. Frost/Nixon - Peter Morgan
4. The Reader - David Hare
5. Slumdog Millionaire - Simon Beaufoy


The OK: Only got 3/5 right. I thought Dark Knight and Revolutionary Road would get more appreciation.

The Bad: Doubt had a crappy screenplay. The best part of the movie, the dialogue, was already all written. Every stage-direction or addition to the movie was pretty awful. Baffling.

The Winner: Slumdog


Best Original Screenplay

1. Frozen River - Courtney Hunt
2. Happy-Go-Lucky - Mike Leigh
3. In Bruges - Martin McDonagh
4. Milk - Dustin Lance Black
5. WALL-E - Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon, Pete Docter

The Good: Pretty eclectic batch of nominees here. But all pretty deserving from all accounts. In Bruges and Wall-E especially deserve the nominations.

The Weird: No Vicky Christina Barcelona? Or Synecdoche, New York?

The Ugly: Only guessed 2 correctly (Milk and Happy-Go-Lucky).

The Winner: Milk...though wouldn't Wall-E be cool?



That's all folks. Not the worst batch of nominees ever. Now Slumdog Needs to sweep and I'll be happy.