the oscar nominations are out!

ok, here are the nominations for this year’s acadamy awards.  the bold listings are my predictions. (list c/o ap)

1. Best Picture: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “Frost/Nixon,” “Milk,” “The Reader,” “Slumdog Millionaire.“

my take: HUGE snub here for the dark knight.  it doesn’t deserve to win, but it should have at least been nominated.

2. Actor: Richard Jenkins, “The Visitor”; Frank Langella, “Frost/Nixon”; Sean Penn, “Milk”; Brad Pitt, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”; Mickey Rourke, “The Wrestler.”

my take: it’s close between penn and rourke, but everyone loves a comeback story.  this is rourke’s year.

3. Actress: Anne Hathaway, “Rachel Getting Married”; Angelina Jolie, “Changeling”; Melissa Leo, “Frozen River”; Meryl Streep, “Doubt”; Kate Winslet, “The Reader.”

my take: it’s kinda strange that winslet got the nom for the reader and not revolutionary road, but she’s due regardless.

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

my take: easily the biggest lock of the year.  hilarious that downey got the nom for being the dude, playing the dude, disguised as another dude.

5. 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.”

my take: this is a tough one.  i’m gonna give it to tomei, but don’t count out adams or cruz.

6. Director: David Fincher, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”; Ron Howard, “Frost/Nixon”; Gus Van Sant, “Milk”; Stephen Daldry, “The Reader”; Danny Boyle, “Slumdog Millionaire.”

my take: would’ve liked to see aronofsky here, but boyle’s a pretty safe bet.

7. Foreign Film: “The Baader Meinhof Complex,” Germany; “The Class,” France; “Departures,” Japan; “Revanche,” Austria; “Waltz With Bashir,” Israel.

my take: i actually haven’t seen any of these yet, but waltz with bashir looks amazing.

8. Adapted Screenplay: Eric Roth and Robin Swicord, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”; John Patrick Shanley, “Doubt”; Peter Morgan, “Frost/Nixon”; David Hare, “The Reader”; Simon Beaufoy, “Slumdog Millionaire.”

my take: i’d like slumdog to completely sweep the awards, but people seem to really like doubt.

9. Original Screenplay: Courtney Hunt, “Frozen River”; Mike Leigh, “Happy-Go-Lucky”; Martin McDonagh, “In Bruges”; Dustin Lance Black, “Milk”; Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon and Pete Docter, “WALL-E.”

my take: kind of a random pick here.  did wall-e even have a screenplay?

10. Animated Feature Film: “Bolt”; “Kung Fu Panda”; “WALL-E.”

my take: while i did really like kung fu panda, wall-e is garaunteed the win.

11. Art Direction: “Changeling,” “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “The Dark Knight,” “The Duchess,” “Revolutionary Road.”

my take: tough call.  i’ll default to the dark knight.

12. Cinematography: “Changeling,” “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “The Dark Knight,” “The Reader,” “Slumdog Millionaire.”

my take: another tough call. another default pick.

13. Sound Mixing: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “The Dark Knight,” “Slumdog Millionaire,” “WALL-E,” “Wanted.”

my take: de-fault! de-fault!

14. Sound Editing: “The Dark Knight,” “Iron Man,” “Slumdog Millionaire,” “WALL-E,” “Wanted.”

my take: how is this different from sound mixing again?

15. 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.

my take: another huge snub for the dark knight, on par with last year’s dq-ed score for there will be blood.

16. Original Song: “Down to Earth” from “WALL-E,” Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman; “Jai Ho” from “Slumdog Millionaire,” A.R. Rahman and Gulzar; “O Saya” from “Slumdog Millionaire,” A.R. Rahman and Maya Arulpragasam.

my take: this is probably the most fucked up category.  only three songs nominated and no springsteen love? wtf.

17. Costume: “Australia,” “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “The Duchess,” “Milk,” “Revolutionary Road.”

my take: just a personal choice, not a real  prediction.

18. Documentary Feature: “The Betrayal (Nerakhoon),” “Encounters at the End of the World,” “The Garden,” “Man on Wire,” “Trouble the Water.”

my take: one of the best-reviewed movies of the year.  it’s a documentary and a heist film, all rolled into one.

19. Documentary (short subject): “The Conscience of Nhem En,” “The Final Inch,” “Smile Pinki,” “The Witness — From the Balcony of Room 306.”

my take: no clue, stab in the dark.

20. Film Editing: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “The Dark Knight,” “Frost/Nixon,” “Milk,” “Slumdog Millionaire.”

my take: lot of people complained about the editing in the dark knight, so i’m gonna go with slumdog again.

21. Makeup: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “The Dark Knight,” “Hellboy II: The Golden Army.”

my take: the makeup in button is jaw-dropping at times. i’d say a pretty safe bet.

22. Animated Short Film: “La Maison en Petits Cubes,” “Lavatory — Lovestory,” “Oktapodi,” “Presto,” “This Way Up.”

my take: no clue. i’ll watch these on itunes and get back to you.

23. Live Action Short Film: “Auf der Strecke (On the Line),” “Manon on the Asphalt,” “New Boy,” “The Pig,” “Spielzeugland (Toyland).”

my take: ditto.

24. Visual Effects: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “The Dark Knight,” “Iron Man.”

my take: really tough call here.  i’d like to give it to the dark knight for the minimal use of cgi, but button seems more likely.

we’ll see what happens in a month when the awards are announced.  i’ll probably live-tweat them, so prepare your facebook’s to be bombarded by my snarky comments.

-srd