Oscar Nomination Ceremony (NOMINEES HERE!)

The announcement of the Academy Award nominations will be in less than one hour. Last year in the midst of a writer's strike, we got a rather weak field of No Country For Old Men, There Will Be Blood (the good films), Michael Clayton (the good film that didn't deserve to be there), Atonement and Juno (the overrated films that got in due to studio spoon-feeding). This year, things should be better since it looks like people actually watched good films and the not-so-good ones either got delayed or were left in the dust.

And with not much time left, my final prediction of the Best Picture nominees:

Frost/Nixon (sure the film didn't get the best reviews but it should be there simply because it's Oscar bait)
Milk
Revolutionary Road
Slumdog Millionaire
The Wrestler

Hmm, I don't think The Wrestler will get a Pic nom. I think we may see TDK get in there, or more likely Gran Torino considering how big it is.

But Frost Nix will certainly be nominated

I can't see the old-line voters nominating a comic book movie. Sure they are thinking ratings but they also want dignity.

The Wrestler, despite its actor and director's Golden Globe moment, is more likely. It's been considered this generation's Rocky (which won Best Picture when it came out) and it won two Golden Globes. It's a safer pick.

Meanwhile Gran Torino, despite its box office success, didn't show well at the Golden Globes. Clint Eastwood will probably get a nomination and maybe the screenplay, but I don't see much else.

I'm with 6, swap The Wrestler for Gran Torino and that is the list I think they will come up with. Though I think we would all *like* TDK to be included in the list, but I don't think that is a realistic prediction. I do think Heath Ledger will be nominated but won't win.

*edit* nevermind, I guess we are all wrong, I just googled it and wasnt able to find a complete list but apparently Curious Case of Benjamin Button was nominated for best pic so that throws off our lists.

Lol, I actually forgot about B Button- that was a definite nom. Curse my lack of perception

The Reader got nominated? Sounds like Harvey tipped off someone to nominate it over Revolutionary Road.

And once again, the Academy shows its lack of respect for UK comedy. Sally Hawkins was snubbed completely despite winning a Golden Globe, the second time of the last few years that has this occurred (Sacha Baron Cohen in 2006 was the other time).

Here are the nominees.

BEST PICTURE
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
"Frost/Nixon"
"Milk
"The Reader"
"Slumdog Millionaire"

BEST ACTRESS
Anne Hathaway, "Rachel Getting Married"
Angelina Jolie, "Changeling"
Melissa Leo, "Frozen River"
Meryl Streep, "Doubt"
Kate Winslet, "Revolutionary Road"

BEST ACTOR
Frank Langella, "Frost/Nixon"
Sean Penn, "Milk"
Brad Pitt, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
Mickey Rourke, "The Wrestler"
Richard Jenkins, "The Visitor"

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams, "Doubt"
Penelope Cruz, "Vicky Cristina Barcelona"
Viola Davis, "Doubt"
Taraji P. Henson, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
Marisa Tomei, "The Wrestler"

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Josh Brolin, "Milk"
Robert Downey Jr., "Tropic Thunder"
Philip Seymour Hoffman, "Doubt"
Heath Ledger, "The Dark Knight"
Michael Shannon, "Revolutionary Road"

BEST 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"

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Dustin Lance Black, "Milk"
Courtney Hunt, "Frozen River"
Mike Leigh, "Happy-Go-Lucky"
Marttin McDonagh, "In Bruges"
Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon, "WALL-E"

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Simon Beaufoy, "Slumdog Millionaire"
David Hare, "The Reader"
Peter Morgan, "Frost/Nixon"
John Patrick Shanley, "Doubt"
Eric Roth, Robin Swicord, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
"Bolt"
"Kung Fu Panda"
"WALL-E"

BEST ART DIRECTION
“Changeling” James J. Murakami, Gary Fettis
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” Donald Graham Burt, Victor J. Zolfo
“The Dark Knight” Nathan Crowley, Peter Lando
“The Duchess” Michael Carlin, Rebecca Alleway
“Revolutionary Road” Kristi Zea, Debra Schutt

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
“Changeling” Tom Stern
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” Claudio Miranda
“The Dark Knight” Wally Pfister
“The Reader” Chris Menges and Roger Deakins
“Slumdog Millionaire” Anthony Dod Mantle

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
“Australia” Catherine Martin
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” Jacqueline West
“The Duchess” Michael O’Connor
“Milk” Danny Glicker
“Revolutionary Road” Albert Wolsky

BEST DOCUMENTARY
“The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)”
“Encounters at the End of the World”
"The Garden"
“Man on Wire”
“Trouble the Water” (Yes, that's the title and a very grammatically incorrect one at that)

BEST SHORT SUBJECT DOCUMENTARY
“The Conscience of Nhem En”
“The Final Inch”
“Smile Pinki”
“The Witness - From the Balcony of Room 306”

BEST FILM EDITING
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall
“The Dark Knight” Lee Smith
“Frost/Nixon” Mike Hill and Dan Hanley
“Milk” Elliot Graham
“Slumdog Millionaire” Chris Dickens

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
“The Baader Meinhof Complex” Germany
“The Class” France
“Departures” Japan
“Revanche” Austria
“Waltz with Bashir” Israel

BEST MAKEUP
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” Greg Cannom
“The Dark Knight” John Caglione, Jr. and Conor O’Sullivan
“Hellboy II: The Golden Army” Mike Elizalde and Thom Floutz

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” Alexandre Desplat
“Defiance” James Newton Howard
“Milk” Danny Elfman
“Slumdog Millionaire” A.R. Rahman
“WALL-E” Thomas Newman

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
“Down to Earth” from “WALL-E” Music by Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman, Lyric by Peter Gabriel
“Jai Ho” from “Slumdog Millionaire” Music by A.R. Rahman, Lyric by Gulzar
“O Saya” from “Slumdog Millionaire” Music and Lyric by A.R. Rahman andMaya Arulpragasam

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM
“La Maison en Petits Cubes”
“Lavatory - Lovestory”
“Oktapodi”
“Presto”
“This Way Up”

BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT FILM
“Auf der Strecke (On the Line)”
“Manon on the Asphalt”
“New Boy”
“The Pig”
“Spielzeugland (Toyland)”

BEST SOUND EDITING
“The Dark Knight” Richard King
“Iron Man” Frank Eulner and Christopher Boyes
“Slumdog Millionaire” Tom Sayers
“WALL-E” Ben Burtt and Matthew Wood
“Wanted” Wylie Stateman

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

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton and Craig Barron
“The Dark Knight” Nick Davis, Chris Corbould, Tim Webber and Paul Franklin
“Iron Man” John Nelson, Ben Snow, Dan Sudick and Shane Mahan

(taken from the Los Angeles Times and the Oscar website)

Keep feeding info through, boosch!

The Reader for best pic? That's crazy, as I've yet to meet one person or read one review that put Reader ahead of Rev. Road.
Pity about Sally Hawkins- she did well in it. Just don't tell me Angelina got nominated.

Great- thanks for the list!

The Reader is very, very surprising, especially for directing. I mean, that film didn't get great reviews nor great BO nor much buzz.

good call on Gran Torino, boosch, you were completely right.

Interesting to see Richard Jenkins and Melissa Leo get noms- yay for the outsiders! I'll be seeing both of those films next week sometime.

Surprised about Brad Pitt- didn't see that coming- I thought di Caprio was great in Rev road, but I'll be seeing Benjamin B in 2 weeks.

I don't think Michael Shannon deserves it for Rev. Road. I mean, how easy is it to play the crazy guy? And he only has two scenes. Then again, Viola Davis is nominated so why should I be surprised. They should call it the Judi Dench Award for best Performance in a film you're in for under 5 minutes.

Interesting Original Screenplay Noms- Wall-E is an odd one, but I'm glad to see the film get honoured in a category outside animation. And my boy Martin Mcdonagh gets nominated for In Bruges... delighted with that! I'm always bemused with Mike Leigh getting screenplay noms, as he workshops characters and script with actors, and rarely has an actual traditional script.


It's a shame to see The Wrestler neglected, but hardly any surprise.

What I saw as surprises:

The Reader over Revolutionary Road in Best Picture
-With all of the viable options (Revolutionary Road, Gran Torino, The Wrestler, Wall-E, The Dark Knight, etc.), they chose The Reader. Either Harvey Weinstein paid the Academy to nominate it or they didn't see the films that I mentioned. This is obviously the patsy nominee.

no Sally Hawkins for Best Actress
-Another obvious example of the Academy not liking comedic performances. Meanwhile, they give Meryl Streep yet another nomination and Anne Hathaway's overrated performance in Rachel Getting Married gets nominated as well.

Stephen Daldry for Best Director
-Is he even really that great of a director? If he's so great, how come it took him six years to get another job after doing The Hours? He's basically the early decade's version of Joe Wright, a director whose projects cover up his limited talent.

In Bruges for Best Original Screenplay
-Yes it was a good film but it wasn't Oscar worthy. In fact, I would probably call the screenplays to Guy Ritchie's first two films better than this screenplay.

Religulous being snubbed for Best Documentary
-Apparently the Academy doesn't enjoy Bill Maher. But Man On Wire was already going to annihilate either way.

The Wrestler not getting a Best Song nomination
-Bruce Springsteen already has an Oscar and the Academy probably didn't want him to challenge Peter Gabriel. In fact, nominating only three songs is an even bigger surprise. Sure there may be some filler but not all of this year's songs in films were bad.

I have to say the In Bruges script is far better than Lock, Stock, and Snatch- In Bruges had a darker theme about guilt, Ritchie's film are just a collection of sarcastic cockney retorts, and little else.

Religulous had a lot of critical backlash, which didn't help its prospects. I haven't seen it yet but I'm looking forward to it.

The picks for foreign films are surprising- two run of the mill thrillers from Germany and Austria, a sentimental Japanese flick, and then the only two contenders, The Class and Waltz with Bashir. I hope Bashir wins, it's a good movie. Why no Gomorrah, or El Divo, both Italian and well received?

Didn't notice the Boss wasn't nominated for song- very disappointing.

And I just noticed Robert Downey Jnr got a nom for Tropic thunder- wft??? He breezes through the film and is not particularly funny, nor is his role that memorable except for being the obvious pisstake that it is. A very strange choice.

Gomorrah didn't make the shortlist. Nobody knows why but apparently the Academy doesn't like people running around in their underwear toting machine guns.

Meanwhile, the Academy always seems to nominate something from Germany or Austria (at least three winners in this decade came from one of those countries). May be because so many voters are either of German or Austrian descent.

Agreed that the Downey Jr. nom is a surprise.

The theaters here are FINALLY getting Frost/Nixon and Revolutionary Road this weekend, so I may be there multiple times -- plus I'm aiming to see Slumdog Millionaire tonight.

Wow, not even ONE nom for Gran Torino? Having seen the movie, I have to say... that SUCKS. Was it the racist overtones? The violence? I'm not suggest they nominate Clint simply because he's Clint, but still, that was a damn good movie.

I've only seen a smidgen of the films that received nominations: Changeling, Benjamin Button, Tropic Thunder, Dark Knight, Wanted, Iron Man and all three noms for Best Animated Feature.

Brad Pitt was good in Benjamin Button, but I don't think he was Oscar-worthy. Far more worthy was Cate Blachett, who got snubbed. Not at all surprised Fincher was nominated, it is deserved.

I haven't seen Wrestler, but I've heard the Springsteen song, and I'm very surprised they omitted it. The Gabriel song is good, but to only have his song along with two from Slumdog? Isn't there usually five nominations?

Jolie was nothing special in Changeling. She came off as fake to me when she was overwrought, and I think there were better choices.

So, Boush, when do we move on to the next stage of the Oscar game again?

Which one? The FSCA awards (Best and Worst) or something else?

Am I the only one that thought Jolie was great, in Changeling? I thought she completely became the character. A ways into the movie, I forgot that I was watching Jolie, which I think is really hard to do because she is so easily recognized. I mean, even in Kung Fu Panda I kept getting reminded that tigress was Angelina.

I'm glad Taraji P. Henson got nominated, she was great. Although, I think they got the leads mixed up, Cate Blanchett was better than Brad Pitt

Maybe the four major nominations for the Reader will help it do better at the box office - I was certainly surprised to see it get noms in the Directing and Picture categories, and somewhat surprised Winslet wasn't nominated for supporting character in it (although, I hear she's not really a supporting character in it). People who've seen it have told me its much better than its critical reaction.

I have yet to see many of the nominated films this year because I've been flat broke - I usually see all the Oscar contenders. Hopefully I'll see a lot of them soon, as the Wrestler is finally opening up in my area and I'm excited to see it.

Another missing nomination is Let the Right One In, which didn't make the short list, but I've only heard amazing things. I'll be definitely seeing it when it opens around me, broke or not.

Woah! I was going off the list posted in the thread, but Kate Winslet was nominated as Best Actress for The Reader, and not Revolutionary Road.

undeadmonkey wrote:Am I the only one that thought Jolie was great, in Changeling?

Yep, I thought she was awful. I think there's a big difference between screaming because you're trying to sound upset, and acting well. I think Jolie has always been forced in her performances, especially A Mighty Heart and The Changeling, I have never seen the character, always her calculated performances.

J-Man, Let the Right One in is a decent vampire film, but it is far from Oscar-worthy. Not that the Oscars themselves are worthy of merit, but it's just a good horror film as opposed to a good film.

Now I am going to have to watch The Reader. Did not see that one coming.

numbersix_99 wrote:

undeadmonkey wrote:Am I the only one that thought Jolie was great, in Changeling?

Yep, I thought she was awful. I think there's a big difference between screaming because you're trying to sound upset, and acting well. I think Jolie has always been forced in her performances, especially A Mighty Heart and The Changeling, I have never seen the character, always her calculated performances.

That is EXACTLY how I feel. A few years ago, I would have said that Jolie was the better actor of the Brangelina duo (especially after Girl, Interrupted), but that has completely changed now. Brad has gotten much better in the last couple of years, while Angelina's roles are all either affectation or ammunition. Still don't think Brad deserved a nod for BB, though.

J-Man wrote:Another missing nomination is Let the Right One In, which didn't make the short list, but I've only heard amazing things. I'll be definitely seeing it when it opens around me, broke or not.

Each country can only make one nomination, and for some reason Sweden didn't put Let The Right One In as their selection. Baffling as far as I'm concerned. Same goes for Gamorrah.

Regarding the nominations, I'm a little disappointed, though not at all surprised, that TDK didn't receive any of the major nominations. I half expected it not to get a Best Pic nom, but I was very hopeful they'd accomodate Nolan in the Best Director. Very surprised by the lack of Gran Torino, and the inclusion of The Reader. The Academy never fail to shock us do they....

Every year, I get so excited for the Oscars. Then the noms come out and they always pull some shit out of their ass that makes no sense at all.

The Reader for Best Picture and Director? Yeah, the movie was good, but not Oscar-good besides Kate's performance. Which was supporting, by the way.

The Dark Knight and Gran Torino getting basically shut out? That's just wrong.

I've seen Milk a second time and absolutely hated it. Yeah, there's some good performances but it's sooo uninteresting. It's kind of messed up, since most of these nominations were getting shortlisted for Oscars well before they came out. Which tells you it doesn't really matter how good or bad the actual movie is.

Sally Hawkins not getting an Best Actress nod? I didn't like Happy-Go-Lucky but I knew she was terrific in it, performance wise. Who the hell has seen Frozen River?

Leonardo DiCaprio getting replaced by Richard Jenkins? Pssssh, that's bullshit.

I really hope the ratings for the ceremony continue to drop off, the Academy makes some stupid decisions year in and year out. I don't even know if I'll be watching.

My opinion:

I think the Best Picture field is very weak, and I will be pulling for Benjamin Button all the way, although it is the only one I've seen, and the only one I had any great desire to see. TDK shouldn't have been snubbed. The only positive review I've heard on the Reader is from Bill Simmons. "Really good movie, and you get to see Kate Winslet's tits a lot."

Very disappointed and shocked about Springsteen not getting nominated. I thought he was a lock to win the category.

Very pleasantly surprised to see Taraji P. Henson nominated for best supporting. She deserves it.

Mickey Rourke better win. His performance was probably the best I've ever seen.

Here's Hoping for Heath Ledger... and if that fails, RDJ.

I hope In Bruges wins best original screenplay. Its nice to see that the Academy didn't forget that this movie even exists. Very surprised, as it came out so long ago.

I'm surprised that The Dark Knight was treated barely better than Transformers was last year. I guess if a movie includes an explosion it can only be nominated for technical awards.

Last year I watched the Awards with a purpose. I watched hoping to see Javier Bardem win, and No Country to take Best Picture. This Year, I think the best picture field is so weak, and that Slumdog is so far ahead of the pack right now, that I might not even watch it. Maybe just in hopes that Rourke wins, but that's about it.

geezer9687 wrote:My opinion:

I think the Best Picture field is very weak, and I will be pulling for Benjamin Button all the way, although it is the only one I've seen, and the only one I had any great desire to see.

I don't really see how you can make that statement. If you haven't seen the movies how can you call the field weak?