Academy member are very curious about "Benjamin Button", as the film leads in Oscar nominations winning 13.
As film lovers know this morning the Academy Award nominees were announced. Much of it went as planned with favorites such as Heath Ledger scoring a nomination for his role as "The Joker" in "The Dark Knight". And Mickey Rourke, another favorite, won his Oscar nomination for "The Wrestler". Clint Eastwood however, whom many thought deserved a nomination for "Gran Torino" was shut out as was the film.
But as always there were some surprises. Fans of Danny Boyle's "Slumdog Millionaire" will be happily surprised as their film won the second most Oscar nominations for a total of 10. It is no longer a dark horse entry but now a serious possibility to win the top award for "Best Picture".
Some nominees may have readers shaking their head. Richard Jenkins won a nomination for "Best Actor" for his work in "The Visitor". There was some buzz early in the year about him winning a nomination but the film never gained a big audience. It is a good movie (I reviewed it on here) and he is good in it, but I thought after he didn't score a nomination at the Golden Globes he might have been an after thought by now. Another surprise is Michael Shannon won an Oscar nomination for "Best Supporting Actor" for "Revolutionary Road". When audiences think of that movie they think of Leonardo Di Caprio and Kate Winslet, neither of which were nominated and the film did not score a "Best Picture" nomination. It was pretty much a shut out for that film. The last surprise acting nomination went to Taraji P. Henson for "Best Supporting Actress" in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button". This will also leave people shaking their heads. The academy always has some trick up its sleeve and pulls a surprise nomination. This year, you kinda wish they didn't.
After winning two Golden Globes Kate Winslet is only nominated for one performance this year, her work in "The Reader". She won the Globe for "Best Supporting Actress" for her performance but on here I complained that I didn't think that was a supporting role. Guess what? Her Oscar nomination is for "Best Actress".
Going over this year's Oscar nomination nearly everything went as scheduled. You had to nominated Ledger, imagine the backlash if he didn't get nominated? You had to nominate Rourke and as "Slumdog Millionaire" grows in popularity you had to nominate it as well. Still a few things upset me about this year's nominations. I knew Ben Kingsley would get snubbed for his work in "Elegy", probably my favorite performance of the year. The film came out too early and the academy voters forgot all about it (they were probably thinking about Obama too much). Too bad Woody Allen didn't get an Oscar nomination for "Best Original Screenplay" for "Vicky Cristina Barcelona", instead he got edged out by Mike Leigh for "Happy-Go-Lucky" and Courtney Hunt for "Frozen River". When you think of Leigh's "Happy-Go-Lucky" it is not the screenplay which instantly comes to mind but Sally Hawkins' performance which didn't even get nominated. Hawkins got snubbed either because Winslet was put into the "Best Actress" category instead of supporting or because they had to make room for Melissa Leo who got nominated for "Frozen River".
I'm happy a comedy is up for some awards. Robert Downey Jr. for "Tropic Thunder" and the screenplay for "In Bruges" and of course Cruz for "Vicky Cristina Barcelona". Comedy is usually not represented at all when it comes Oscar time.
Here are the nominees for the major categories:
BEST PICTURE
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
FROST/NIXON
MILK
THE READER
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
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 ACTOR
RICHARD JENKINS - The Visitor
FRANK LANGELLA - Frost/Nixon
SEAN PENN - Milk
BRAD PITT - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
MICKEY ROURKE - The Wrestler
BEST ACTRESS
ANNE HATHAWAY - Rachel Getting Married
ANGELINA JOLIE - Changeling
MELISSA LEO - Frozen River
MERYL STREEP - Doubt
KATE WINSLET - The Reader
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 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 ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
COURTNEY HUNT - Frozen River
MIKE LEIGH - Happy-Go-Lucky
MARTIN MCDONAGH - In Bruges
DUSTIN LANCE BLACK - Milk
ANDREW STANTON, PETER DOCTER - Wall. E
BEST 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
Posts
