I was up at 7am to watch this, but I didn't think anyone else cared this year.

This year I will just highlight the person or thing that I WANT to win, even if that is a near impossibility...


Best Motion Picture of the Year
Nominees:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): Ceán Chaffin, Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall

Frost/Nixon (2008): Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Eric Fellner

Milk (2008): Bruce Cohen, Dan Jinks

The Reader (2008): Nominees to be determined

Slumdog Millionaire (2008): Christian Colson


Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
Nominees:

Richard Jenkins for The Visitor (2007/I)

Frank Langella for Frost/Nixon (2008)

Sean Penn for Milk (2008)

Brad Pitt for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)

Mickey Rourke for The Wrestler (2008)


Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Nominees:

Anne Hathaway for Rachel Getting Married (2008)

Angelina Jolie for Changeling (2008)

Melissa Leo for Frozen River (2008)

Meryl Streep for Doubt (2008/I)

Kate Winslet for The Reader (2008)


Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
Nominees:

Josh Brolin for Milk (2008)

Robert Downey Jr. for Tropic Thunder (2008)

Philip Seymour Hoffman for Doubt (2008/I)

Heath Ledger for The Dark Knight (2008)

Michael Shannon for Revolutionary Road (2008)


Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
Nominees:

Amy Adams for Doubt (2008/I)

Penélope Cruz for Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)

Viola Davis for Doubt (2008/I)

Taraji P. Henson for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)

Marisa Tomei for The Wrestler (2008)


Best Achievement in Directing
Nominees:

Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

Stephen Daldry for The Reader (2008)

David Fincher for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)

Ron Howard for Frost/Nixon (2008)

Gus Van Sant for Milk (2008)


Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen
Nominees:

Frozen River (2008): Courtney Hunt

Happy-Go-Lucky (2008): Mike Leigh

In Bruges (2008): Martin McDonagh

Milk (2008): Dustin Lance Black

WALL·E (2008): Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter, Jim Reardon


Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published
Nominees:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): Eric Roth, Robin Swicord

Doubt (2008/I): John Patrick Shanley

Frost/Nixon (2008): Peter Morgan

The Reader (2008): David Hare

Slumdog Millionaire (2008): Simon Beaufoy


Best Achievement in Cinematography
Nominees:

Changeling (2008): Tom Stern

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): Claudio Miranda

The Dark Knight (2008): Wally Pfister

The Reader (2008): Roger Deakins, Chris Menges

Slumdog Millionaire (2008): Anthony Dod Mantle


Best Achievement in Editing
Nominees:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): Angus Wall, Kirk Baxter

The Dark Knight (2008): Lee Smith

Frost/Nixon (2008): Daniel P. Hanley, Mike Hill

Milk (2008): Elliot Graham

Slumdog Millionaire (2008): Chris Dickens


Best Achievement in Art Direction
Nominees:

Changeling (2008): James J. Murakami, Gary Fettis

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): Donald Graham Burt, Victor J. Zolfo

The Dark Knight (2008): Nathan Crowley, Peter Lando

The Duchess (2008): Michael Carlin, Rebecca Alleway

Revolutionary Road (2008): Kristi Zea, Debra Schutt


Best Achievement in Costume Design
Nominees:

Australia (2008): Catherine Martin

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): Jacqueline West

The Duchess (2008): Michael O'Connor

Milk (2008): Danny Glicker

Revolutionary Road (2008): Albert Wolsky


Best Achievement in Makeup
Nominees:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): Greg Cannom

The Dark Knight (2008): John Caglione Jr., Conor O'Sullivan

Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008): Mike Elizalde, Thomas Floutz


Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score
Nominees:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): Alexandre Desplat

Defiance (2008): James Newton Howard

Milk (2008): Danny Elfman

Slumdog Millionaire (2008): A.R. Rahman

WALL·E (2008): Thomas Newman


Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song
Nominees:

Slumdog Millionaire (2008): A.R. Rahman, Gulzar("Jai Ho")

Slumdog Millionaire (2008): A.R. Rahman, Maya Arulpragasam("O Saya")

WALL·E (2008): Peter Gabriel, Thomas Newman("Down to Earth")


Best Achievement in Sound
Nominees:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce, Mark Weingarten

The Dark Knight (2008): Ed Novick, Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo

Slumdog Millionaire (2008): Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke, Resul Pookutty

WALL·E (2008): Tom Myers, Michael Semanick, Ben Burtt

Wanted (2008): Chris Jenkins, Frank A. Montaño, Petr Forejt


Best Achievement in Sound Editing
Nominees:

The Dark Knight (2008): Richard King

Iron Man (2008): Frank E. Eulner, Christopher Boyes

Slumdog Millionaire (2008): Tom Sayers

WALL·E (2008): Ben Burtt, Matthew Wood

Wanted (2008): Wylie Stateman


Best Achievement in Visual Effects
Nominees:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton, Craig Barron

The Dark Knight (2008): Nick Davis, Chris Corbould, Timothy Webber, Paul J. Franklin

Iron Man (2008): John Nelson, Ben Snow, Daniel Sudick, Shane Mahan


Best Animated Feature Film of the Year
Nominees:

Bolt (2008): Chris Williams, Byron Howard

Kung Fu Panda (2008): John Stevenson, Mark Osborne

WALL·E (2008): Andrew Stanton


Best Foreign Language Film of the Year
Nominees:

Der Baader Meinhof Komplex (2008)(Germany)

Entre les murs (2008)(France)

Revanche (2008)(Austria)

Okuribito (2008)(Japan)

Vals Im Bashir (2008)(Israel)


Best Documentary, Features
Nominees:

The Betrayal - Nerakhoon (2008): Ellen Kuras, Thavisouk Phrasavath

Encounters at the End of the World (2007): Werner Herzog, Henry Kaiser

The Garden (2008/I): Scott Hamilton Kennedy

Man on Wire (2008): James Marsh, Simon Chinn

Trouble the Water (2008): Tia Lessin, Carl Deal


Best Documentary, Short Subjects
Nominees:

The Conscience of Nhem En: Steven Okazaki

The Final Inch: Irene Taylor Brodsky, Tom Grant

Smile Pinki: Megan Mylan

The Witness from the Balcony of Room 306: Adam Pertofsky, Margaret Hyde


Best Short Film, Animated
Nominees:

La Maison en Petits Cubes: Kunio Kato

Ubornaya istoriya - lyubovnaya istoriya (2007): Konstantin Bronzit

Oktapodi (2007): Emud Mokhberi, Thierry Marchand

Presto (2008): Doug Sweetland

This Way Up (2008): Alan Smith, Adam Foulkes


Best Short Film, Live Action
Nominees:

Auf der Strecke (2007): Reto Caffi

Manon sur le bitume (2007): Elizabeth Marre, Olivier Pont

New Boy (2007): Steph Green, Tamara Anghie

Grisen (2008): Tivi Magnusson, Dorthe Warnø Høgh

Spielzeugland (2007): Jochen Alexander Freydank

I'm glad Milk got a lot of attention, it was a great movie. Any 3 of Josh Brolin, Emile Hirsch, or James Franco deserved to be nominated for best supporting actor.

I haven't seen it yet, but I'm sure I will enjoy it.

Nominations For 81st Oscars: Clint Eastwood Blanked, Chris Nolan Ignored, 'Slumdog Millionaire' 10 Nominations, 'Benjamin Button' Leads With 13

Studio scorecard: Paramount 28 (Paramount 14 + Paramount Vantage 6 + DreamWorks 6 + Marvel 2), Warner Bros 21, Universal 20 (Universal 6 + Imagine 5 + Focus 9), Disney 14 (Walt Disney 8 + Miramax 6), Fox 13 (20th Century Fox 1 + Fox Searchlight 12), The Weinsten Co 6, Sony 5 (Sony Classics 5), Marvel 2, MGM/UA 0

My analysis: As usual, the Academy Motion Picture Arts & Sciences voters got it wrong. That they could ignore a Best Picture nod for The Dark Knight and a Best Director nomination for Chris Nolan, nor show any love for Iron Man which was a very satisfying film as well, shows just how out of touch the mostly geriatric members who decide the Oscars really are. The result is that this year's broadcast, lacking any movies that smack of blockbuster in the major category, should be low-rated yet again. Wall-E was robbed for Best Picture, too. It's long overdue for an animated film to win that category. And overlooking Darren Aronofsky for Best Director was absurd, though he's honored indirectly for both Mickey Rourke and Marisa Tomei's nods. And what's the deal for ignoring Bruce Springsteen's swell song for that film?

But the madness of today's nominations for the February 22nd Academy Awards goes on and on...

The voters blanked Clint Eastwood for Best Actor, despite the fact he's never won in that category, and for Best Director, which he's won twice. I'd suspected since December that the Gran Torino story, dialogue and message wouldn't appeal to the Oscar elite because it's too blue collar. But, as I've said before, if you want to properly handicap the Oscars, just figure out who is envied or hated most by the Academy voters. This year, Clint certainly deserved a major category nomination, and the geriatrics love the guy cuz he’s still got a prostate and balls. But Hollywood is also jealous of him because he’s won too many times. The community figures if he wins any more Oscars, then the awards might as well be renamed the Clints. So the Academy pries the viewfinder from his liver-spotted hands and picks from younger directors to make that walk to the podium. Although the well-deserved nod for Angelina Jolie in Changeling is an indirect tribute to Eastwood.

So many major category nods for The Reader also bewilder me. Yes, I thought Kate Winslet would get the nomination for that movie because 1) people who vote for the Academy Awards seemed to hate her in Revolutionary Road as well as disliked that pic overall, and 2) the thinking was she'd be nominated for Best Supporting Actress and win, and 3) she's now in first position to win Best Actress. I think The Reader's popularity with the Oscar balloters was all about Harvey, but not as a reward for The Weinstein Co asshole. This is a sympathy vote for Scott Rudin and Stephen Daldry and Kate Winslet for having to put up with that nasty oaf during the tortured post-production and release of the movie, and for Sydney Pollack and Anthony Minghella for passing away before their time.

It was heartening to see that, unlike the Academy voters' diss of Brokeback Mountain to win Best Picture after barely screening the pic because of its guy-on-guy action (albeit tame), the balloters were not scared off Milk. Terrific that both Anne Hathaway and Mickey Rourke won nods: the Academy could have blamed her for appearing in that crappy pic Bride Wars, and him for opening his mouth too much and opining about everything. (Less is more, Mickey...) And fortunately, Heath Ledger, the 7th posthumous nominee, is undisputed frontrunner for Best Supporting Actor and fittingly nominated exactly one year to the day since his death from an accidental drug overdose.

Back on December 26th, I raised the question whether this year's Oscars as shaping up as rather suspense-less. See my Oscar Ballots Mailed: Are Best Picture And Other Major Categories Already Decided? Despite the huge money (too much) which Paramount is spending to sell Benjamin Button because Brad Pitt was Brad Grey's former client, I'm still certain that Slumdog Millionaire is a shoo-in for Best Pic. And the only major categories in any real doubt at this point are Best Actor which is slightly less competititive now without Eastwood, and Best Supporting Actress which is wide open now that Winslet isn't in it.

Brvheart have you seen most of the movies that were nominated? Like Vicky Christina Barcelona, Doubt, The Reader, Frost/Nixon etc. If not how can you say that Batman and Iron Man got snubbed if you have not seen some of these other movies? I'm not saying that you are wrong, just curious.

1) I have seen most if not all of these movies... except in the categories that I didn't vote.

2) I have only seen 3 of the documentaries, which is unusual for me since it's my favorite genre. ...The End of the World is amazing....

3) I didn't write that last post. http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/nomi...awards-this-am/

Oh. I guess you write just as well as Nikki Finke from Hollywood Daily because I couldn't tell the difference lol.

I have seen a total of zero of the nominated films for Best Picture. I guess I need to get on that.

Yes you should. They are all pretty good. (I still need to see Milk)

Also throw in Gran Torino, you won't be disappointed.

Yea, I'm going to try and see all of the Best Picture nominees, Gran Torino, and The Wrestler some time before the Oscars.

Have you seen Man on a Wire? This podcast that I listen to about movies absolutely rave about it, and it was in their top 5 of 2008 list. It didn't sound that compelling to me, when I first heard about it, but apparently it's a cross genre movie, a combination of documentary and of a thriller, of all things.

man, seeing this list makes me realize how little i goto the movies, of every movie nonimated i have only seen: tropic thunder (just last week), dark knight (theater), iron man (drive in), bolt (theater)

I like your choices to win

1. I have seen it, and loved it.

2. They show 100's of still photos throughout the movie that are very amazing. Like... I would pay money for some of them.

3. It's "Man on Wire" because that is what was written on his police report when he was arrested.

4. It probably wasn't in my top 15 of 2008, but still awesome and totally worth the watch. I would even watch it again every year or so. It's really good.

5. What podcast?

Yeah, it's awesome. See it.

anyone over heath is a joke esp RDJ in blackface

My opinion is no joke.

I don't get people's love for tropic thunder i thought it was a wreck

I'd have preferred RDJ get nominated for Iron Man if anything

I didn't really like it either.

Id dont understand the RDJ Tropic Thunder love either. I liked Michael Shannon and Heath better. Havent seen Doubt or Milk though.

I also liked Frost/Nixon better than Slumdog even though I liked them both. Thought CCofBB was pretty mediocre and boring.

the academy is rigged.

Man On Wire was great, I'm gonna watch Encounters at the End of the World tonight.

I agree with most of your picks Brvheart, except for best editing for TDK. It had pretty horrible editing tbh. :/

I felt like I was giving too many picks to Slumdog. I wanted to have Dark Knight win something. I haven't seen Milk. I sure as hell wasn't going to give the best editing to a piece of crap 3+ hour snooze fest called Ben Button. So it was between Dark Knight and Frost/Nixon.

I'm surprised Clint got such a snub. I mean, the movie was definitely not oscar-worthy, but I would have thought he'd at least get a nod for Best Actor.

Heath Ledger should have supporting actor locked.

I'd like to see Sean Penn win over Mickey Rourke.

Slumdog should sweep the rest - that movie was incredible from start to finish.

I wouldn't be sad if the soundtrack to Slumdog beat Defiance.... it's really really good.

me too. last year I believe I had seen all five

The only ones I've seen are Slumdog and Benjamin Button. I dunno why people love Benjamin Button, I honestly hated it.

LOL, you suck.

I saw Gran Torino last night. It was great and Clint Eastwood is the coolest motherfucker to EVER walk the face of the Earth.

Plus, Kung Fu Panda is one of the best animated movies EVAH!

MY CAUCASIAN!*






*Registered Trademark of MK inc.

I just saw Frozen River. It was good. I would give it a 7/10.

You should definitely see it for the performances of Charlie McDermott and Melissa Leo... amazing.


If someone told me that Melissa Leo was actually poor white trailer trash I would fully believe it, and her oldest son in the movie is also really really good.

search for "Filmspotting" on itunes

Do I win anything? I haven't seen any of the movies listed.

You should see several of these movies... but as a single mother to an only son you should avoid Changeling like the plague. Jolie is amazing in it, but it's a really awful and TRUE story, and it's brought to very real life by Clint Eastwood and Jolie.

I haven't seen Benjamin Button, but I have seen this:

Button vs Gump

I think that's all I need to see...13 nominations? Way overrated.

HAHAHAH That was awesome. I've known the whole time that Button was written by the Gump guy, but I didn't mention it because I actually liked Gump. (Even though I hated Button)

Since I know everyone cares, I just wanted to point out that I have officially changed my preference of best actress from Kate Winslett to Melissa Leo. I didn't like The Reader and I just thought that Melissa Leo did an amazing job in Frozen River.

I finally saw Slumdog.

Best movie I can remember in a long long time. I've also seen Button. Slumdog is better.

It's a movie that just has everything you want out of a great movie, I mean everything. Drama, Disappointment, Love, Loss, Gangsters, Poop, Humor, Bollywood Dance numbers. I thought it was amazing.

As I said in the other thread... My bro says if you see one movie, see the Wrestler, but I haven't seen it.

Anything with Marisa Tomei is going to be good.

FYP

someone explain to me why 'Slumdog' is so good.

Did you see it yet or no?

no. and nothing about it makes me want to.

It's a complete movie with a lot of good elements. Until I saw it, I only knew it somehow involved Millionaire.

That's like saying, "I've seen Starship Troopers 3 and Slumdog is better."

Aces, I totally agree with you. I had almost no desire to see it, but now that I have, I am going to tell you the premise, and it should make you understand why you should see it.


The game show is irrelevant to the movie. When the movie starts he is on his last question and the show ends for the night because they are out of time for the taping.

The kid is immediately arrested, because they assume he is cheating, since he is only one question away from winning 20,000,000 rupees.

Anyway, the movie then begins with him explaining, in detail, with the police how he hasn't been cheating but instead knew all the answers.

It starts with the first question, and through flashbacks, he shows why he knew the answer to that particular question.

The story is very intricate and weaves his life with many other peoples lives and how it all intersects, concluding with how he knows the answer to that particular question.

It's unbelievably well written and is an absolute lock to win for screenplay.

You need to see it.

Edit: Forget it.

nothing you could have said would offend me.