Oscar Nominations

Picture:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

They didn't go for The Dark Knight, showing the one genre the Academy won't take a chance on, is the superhero movie. Fanboys everywhere must be screaming and crying. Believe me, you'll never hear the end of it, since it's "the greatest film in the history of cinema, ever, and if you don't think so, you're an idiot and an a**hole, Dark Knight rules!!!" In it's place is The Reader, so I suppose we should never again discount a Stephen Daldry film.

Director:
Danny Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire
Stephen Daldry - The Reader
David Fincher - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Ron Howard - Frost/Nixon
Gus Van Sant - Milk

A 5/5 match with Picture. Chris Nolan gets snubbed along with his film, and there's no surprise lone director nod for Aronofsky or Leigh. Boring. Daldry has directed only three films, and each one has garnered him an Oscar nod for Best Director. The other two films were The Hours and Billy Elliot.

Actor:
Richard Jenkins - The Visitor
Frank Langella - Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn - Milk
Brad Pitt - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler

Yay! Eastwood didn't get nominated! This makes the race more interesting. Will it be Penn or Rourke who wins the award. I'm going to go out on a limb and say Langella gets the surprise win. He's a veteran actor, who has never previously been nominated, and he plays a famous person whom more people are familiar with than Harvey Milk. Plus Penn and Rourke might cancel each other out, with the same kind of voters divide between the two.

Actress:
Anne Hathway - Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie - Changeling
Melissa Leo - Frozen River
Meryl Streep - Doubt
Kate Winslet - The Reader

Wow. Winslet gets her nomination for The Reader in the correct category. Leo makes it in, but doesn't knock out Jolie to get the nomination. Instead, Hawkins is shut out of the race. I thought all the critics awards would have boosted her into the final five. I guess they didn't want to snub the Jolie two years in a row. It's surprising the two performances that won Best Actress at the Golden Globes weren't nominated - Hawkins and Winslet in Revolutionary Road. I think Winslet is a surer bet now for the win. Which is hilarious when you think back to her guest appearance on Ricky Gervais' Extras, and her monolgue about making a Holocaust film to win an Oscar.

Supporting Actor:
Josh Brolin - Milk
Robert Downey Jr. - Tropic Thunder
Philip Seymour Hoffman - Doubt
Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight
Michael Shannon - Revolutionary Road

Shannon makes the cut, shutting out Dev Patel in the process. The Academy does love their crazy. The other four nominations were expected. It's nice to see them honor RDJ's comedic turn. Of course, Ledger will win this, though there is a little less certainty now, with The Dark Knight's Picture and Director snubs.

Supporting Actress:
Amy Adams - Doubt
Penelope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis - Doubt
Taraji P. Henson - The Curious Case of Benajmin Button
Marisa Tomei - The Wrestler

With Winslet in Best Actress, there was enough room for both Adams and Henson to receive nominations. I didn't think Adams would get a nod, as I thought the Academy wouldn't give a film four acting nods, without nominating it for Best Picture., but I was wrong. This race is now exciting. Will the winner be Cruz or Davis, or will Tomei be a surprise underdog?

Adapted Screenplay:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Doubt
Frost/Nixon
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

All expected. Slumdog will win. Duh.

Original Screenplay:
Frozen River
Happy-Go-Lucky
In Bruges
Milk
WALL-E

Wow, this really was a ten film race. Out of those ten films, I thought Frozen River and In Bruges had the least chance, believing the Academy would more likely go with Vicky Cristina Barcelona, The Wrestler, The Visitor, Burn After Reading or Rachel Getting Married. Leo's performace is probably most responsible for the film getting a nod here. Milk seems like the obvious front-runner. If there is an upset, I'd guess it would be WALL-E pulling it off.

more about the tech nominations to come later...