BEST MOTION PICTURE OF THE YEAR
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire
Score: 3/5. Predicted The Dark Knight and WALL-E instead of Frost/Nixon and The Reader. I hate the Dark Knight snub, especially after how well it has performed at the guilds (except SAG), but I'm learning to accept it. It was a dream after all, wishing that the Academy would finally be open to rewarding such mainstream (i.e., comic book) fare. I should have foreseen the nom for The Reader. The British have major clout; they've proven that last year with Atonement.
ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTING
David Fincher (Slumdog Millionaire)
Ron Howard (Frost/Nixon)
Gus Van Sant (Milk)
Stephen Daldry (The Reader)
Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire)
Score: 4/5. Predicted Nolan instead of Daldry. They should have nominated Nolan at the very least. Oh well.
PERFORMANCE BY AN 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)
Score: 4/5. Predicted Eastwood instead of Jenkins. Too late a surge for Gran Torino, perhaps. It would have been nice to see the Man up there among the nominees. But Jenkins is the actor's actor; it's no surprise.
PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Anne Hathaway (Rachel Getting Married)
Angelina Jolie (Changeling)
Melissa Leo (Frozen River)
Meryl Streep (Doubt)
Kate Winslet (The Reader)
Score: 3/5. Predicted Hawkins and Winslet for Revolutionary Road instead of Leo and Winslet for The Reader. The Good: Melissa Leo! She was great in the film. And a brave move for the Academy to go against the category fraud and place Winslet in the right category. The Bad: Where's Sally Hawkins?! Having won all those critics awards, she should have been a shoo-in. As I write this I realize that this makes me even sadder than the Dark Knight snub does. Was hoping Blanchett would sneak in, too (would a 14th nom for Button have hurt? hehe), but that was never a likely scenario.
PERFORMANCE BY AN 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)
Score: 4/5. Predicted Patel instead of Shannon. Wow, talk about surprises! A good one at that; Shannon deserves the slot. I loved Patel's performance in Slumdog, but the voters ultimately made the right decision; that was NOT a supporting perf. Yey Downey and Ledger!
PERFORMANCE BY AN 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)
Score: 4/5. Predicted Winslet (The Reader) instead of Henson. I'm glad I'm wrong and that Henson got in for her adorable, touching performance. And now that Winslet's in the right category (don't get me wrong, I love the girl), Cruz will easily (not surely, but easily) sail into well deserved victory. Fun tidbit: Bardem, likely to present the award as is traditional (he won Best Supporting Actor last year), will be giving it to his lover Cruz.
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Courtney Hunt (Frozen River)
Mike Leigh (Happy-Go-Lucky)
Martin McDonagh (In Bruges)
Dustin Lance Black (Milk)
Andrew Stanton (WALL-E)
Score: 2/5. Predicted Lumet (Rachel Getting Married), Allen (Vicky Cristina Barcelona), and Siegel (The Wrestler) instead of Hunt, Leigh, and McDonagh. I LOVE the In Bruges nod! Totally deserving. Now if only it had been able to sneak into the Best Picture and Best Actor (Farrell) categories... Glad about the Leigh nod, too, though I was rooting for one for Allen just like many other people were. Stanton deserves the nod, totally.
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Eric Roth. Robin Swicord (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)
John Patrick Shanley (Doubt)
Peter Morgan (Frost/Nixon)
David Hare (The Reader)
Simon Beaufoy (Slumdog Millionaire)
Score: 4/5. Predicted the Nolans (The Dark Knight) instead of Shanley. Another major Dark Knight snub, though this was a less likely nom that the Best Pic and Best Director ones.
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Der Baader Meinhof Komplex (Germany)
The Class (France)
Departures (Japan)
Revanche (Austria)
Waltz with Bashir (Israel)
Score: 3/5. Predicted Sweden and Turkey instead of Japan and Austria.
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda
WALL-E
Score: 2/3. Predicted Waltz with Bashir instead of Bolt.
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)
Encounters at the End of the World
The Garden
Man on Wire
Trouble the Water
Score: 3/5. Predicted Pray the Devil Back to Hell and Standard Operating Procedure instead of Betrayal and Garden. Not bad, for a category that I know nothing about (I have not seen any of the eligible films).
ACHIEVEMENT IN ART DIRECTION
Changeling
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
The Duchess
Revolutionary Road
Score: 3/5. Predicted Indiana Jones and Slumdog Millionaire instead of Changeling and The Duchess. Happy about the nod for Duchess; it's a criminally underrated film.
ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY
Tom Stern (Changeling)
Claudio Miranda (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)
Wally Pfister (The Dark Knight)
Chris Menges (The Reader)
Anthony Dod Mantle (Slumdog Millionaire)
Score: 4/5. Predicted Deakins (Revolutionary Road) instead of Stern.
ACHIEVEMENT IN COSTUME DESIGN
Catherine Martin (Australia)
Jacqueline West (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)
Michael O'Conner (The Duchess)
Danny Glicker (Milk)
Albert Wolsky (Revolutionary Road)
Score: 3/5. Predicted Hopper (Changeling) and Hemming (The Dark Knight) instead of Martin and Glicker.
ACHIEVEMENT IN FILM EDITING
Kirk Baxter, Angus Wall (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)
Lee Smith (The Dark Knight)
Daniel P. Hanley, Mike Hill (Frost/Nixon)
Elliot Graham (Milk)
Chris Dickens (Slumdog Millionaire)
Score: 4/5. Predicted Simpson (The Reader) instead of Hanley and Hill. For a very good but not very passion-inducing film, Frost/Nixon sure got a lot of nods.
ACHIEVEMENT IN MAKEUP
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
Score: 2/3. Predicted The Reader instead of Hellboy. Good choices.
ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)
Alexandre Desplat (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)
James Newton Howard (Defiance)
Danny Elfman (Milk)
A.R. Rahman (Slumdog Millionaire)
Thomas Newman (WALL-E)
Score: 4/5. Predicted Howard and Zimmer (The Dark Knight) instead of Howard. Another terrible oversight. The score of The Dark Knight was one of last year's most memorable and most intense. The above are great choices, too, but I would have bumped off Elfman (though I predicted his nom).
ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)
"Jai Ho" (Slumdog Millionaire)
"O Saya" (Slumdog Millionaire)
"Down to Earth" (WALL-E)
Score: 2/3. I actually predicted 5, with only "Jai Ho" and "Down to Earth" getting in. The biggest snub: Springsteen's The Wrestler. I'm personally fine with it. Loved Slumdog and its songs, especially "Jai Ho," but two nods of three, really?
ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND MIXING
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Slumdog Millionaire
WALL-E
Wanted
Score: 4/5. Predicted Quantum of Solace instead of Wanted. Where did that nom for such a silly film come from? Now it's "Oscar-nominated Wanted." Eew. But I guess it was a good film in terms of the technical aspects.
ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND EDITING
The Dark Knight
Iron Man
Slumdog Millionaire
WALL-E
Wanted
Score: 3/5. Predicted Defiance and Indiana Jones instead of Slumdog and Wanted. Make that "double Oscar-nominated Wanted." Glad I'm wrong about the Indiana Jones nods; that crappy film deserves the complete snub.
ACHIEVEMENT IN VISUAL EFFECTS
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Iron Man
Score: 3/3. A no-brainer.
TOTAL: 68/97. Certainly not my best, but not bad.
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