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
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Best Actress:
Anne Hathaway - Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie - Changeling
Melissa Leo - Frozen River
Meryl Streep - Doubt
Kate Winslet - The Reader
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Best Supporting Actor
Josh Brolin - Milk
Robert Downey Jr. - Tropic Thunder
Phillip Seymour Hoffman - Doubt
Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight
Michael Shannon - Revolutionary Road
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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
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Best Animated Feature Film
BOLT
KUNG FU PANDA
WALL-E
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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
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Best Cinematography
Changeling - Tom Stern
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Claudio Miranda
The Dark Knight - Wally Pfister
The Reader - Chris Menges, Roger Deakins
Slumdog Millionaire - Anthony Dod Mantle
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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
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Best Director
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - David Fincher
Frost/Nixon - Ron Howard
Milk - Gus Van Sant
The Reader - Stephen Daldry
Slumdog Millionaire - Danny Boyle
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Best Feature Documentary
The Betrayal (Nerakhoon) - Ellen Kuras, Thavisouk Phrasavath
Encounters at the End of the World - Werner Herzog, Henry Kaiser
The Garden - Scott Hamilton Kennedy
Man on Wire - James Marsh, Simon Chinn
Trouble the Water - Tia Lessin, Carl Deal
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Best Documentary Short Film
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
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Best Editing
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Kirk Baxter, Angus Wall
The Dark Knight - Lee Smith
Frost/Nixon - Mike Hill, Dan Hanley
Milk - Elliot Graham
Slumdog Millionaire - Chris Dickens
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Best Foreign Language Film
The Baader Meinhof Complex - Germany
The Class - France
Departures - Japan
Austria - Revanche
Waltz with Bashir - Israel
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Best Makeup
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Greg Cannom
The Dark Knight - John Caglione, Jr., Conor O'Sullivan
Hellboy II: The Golden Army - Mike Elizalde, Thom Floutz
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Best Music (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
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Best Original Song
WALL-E - "Down to Earth"
Slumdog Millionaire - "Jai Ho"
Slumdog Millionaire - "O Saya"
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BEST PICTURE
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire
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Best Animated Short Film
La Maison de Petits Cubes - Kunio Kato
Lavatory - Lovestory - Konstantin Bronzit
Oktapodi - Emud Mokhberi, Thierry Marchand
Presto - Doug Sweetland
This Way Up - Alan Smith, Adam Foulkes
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Best Live Action Short Film
Auf der Strecke (On the Line) - Reto Caffi
Manon on the Asphalt - Elizabeth Marre, Olivier Pont
New Boy - Steph Green, Tamara Anghie
The Pig - Tivi Magnusson, Dorte Høgh
Spielzeugland (Toyland) - Jochen Alexander Freydank
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Best Sound Editing
The Dark Knight - Richard King
Iron Man - Frank Eulner, Christopher Boyes
Slumdog Millionaire - Tom Sayers
WALL-E - Ben Burtt, Matthew Wood
Wanted - Wylie Stateman
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Best Sound Mixing
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce, Mark Weingarten
The Dark Knight - Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo, Ed Novick
Slumdog Millionaire - Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke, Resul Pookutty
WALL-E - Tom Myers, Michael Semanick, Ben Burtt
Wanted - Chris Jenkins, Frank A. Montaño, Petr Forejt
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Best Visual Effects
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton, Craig Barron
The Dark Knight - Nick Davis, Chris Corbould, Tim Webber, Paul Franklin
Iron Man - John Nelson, Ben Snow, Dan Sudick, Shane Mahan
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Best Adapted Screenplay
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Eric Roth, Robin Swicord
Doubt - John Patrick Shanley
Frost/Nixon - Peter Morgan
The Reader - David Hare
Slumdog Millionaire - Simon Beaufoy
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Best Original Screenplay
Frozen River - Courtney Hunt
Happy-Go-Lucky - Mike Leigh
In Bruges - Martin McDonagh
Milk - Dustin Lance Black
WALL-E - Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon, Pete Docter
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I'm extremely happy that Heath Ledger and Robert Downey Jr. got nominated for The Dark Knight and Tropic Thunder respectively. But how in the heck they didn't nominate The Dark Knight for either Best Picture or Best Director really makes my brain hurt.
Wow. Slim pickins this year.
I was quite surprised reading most of that :buggedout:
But anyway, c'mon Mickey! :thumbup:
I look at the list and feel a little sad inside and then angry a bit. :hatred: No nominatation for Best Picture for The Wrestler, Wall-E, and The Dark Knight? No Best Director for Christopher Nolan? Why aren't these being nominated?! They were like the best pictures from last year, though Slumdog Millionare has this award in the bag now that Academy Awards Judges got rid of its biggest compedition. Another thing, whoever heard of The Reader? I've been checking reviews and I haven't seen enough good reviews or an overall positive score by all critics to even think it is worth a nomination, unlike... ahem... The Dark Knight.
This year was the year of amazing comic book films and animation movies that made us feel happy to be witnessing them. So why hasn't the Academy Awards reconigize these movies and given the nominations that they deserve? I've seen an uproar all over the Internet over these choices and films that were excluded. Thankfully, Heath Ledger got nominateed for Best Supporting Actor. :smile: I bet you anything there would have been uproar from everyone who loved the film and critics alike if he wasn't nominated.
The thing that I hated about them implementing a Best Animated Feature category a while back was that it pretty much has made it impossible for an animated feature to ever win Best Picture again. Beauty and the Beast was the last animated film to my knowledge that got a Best Picture nomination so that is proof that it can be done.
I also agree that The Wrestler should have been nominated for Best Picture. I have seen The Reader and besides Kate Winslet being excellent in it (in addition to looking drop dead gorgeous) there's really not that much else to it.
Also, while I greatly appreciate the craft and acting of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, the movie itself kind of left me cold and I don't think it's quite as good as a whole as a lot of other people do.
Quote from: Torgo on January 22, 2009, 07:48:15 PM
The thing that I hated about them implementing a Best Animated Feature category a while back was that it pretty much has made it impossible for an animated feature to ever win Best Picture again. Beauty and the Beast was the last animated film to my knowledge that got a Best Picture nomination so that is proof that it can be done.
I have heard that rumor has well about The Best Animated Feature being a way so that animated films don't get nominated for Best Picture. I never really believed that because I haven't seen a movie since Beauty and The Beast deserve the nomintation or deserved the award, outside of Spirited Away (That was an awesome movie). However, with this decision not nominate Wall-E for best picture of the year, I now feel that same way you do about this Best Animated Feature. I mean really! Tons of critics have named Wall-E best film of the year in there list and it certainly had the most unique and original story all of the nominations and had the best storytelling of them all.
I agreee about Wall-E. It was the best movie that I saw this year with The Dark Knight being almost equal to it IMO.
Quote from: Circus_Circus on January 22, 2009, 04:53:32 PM
I was quite surprised reading most of that :buggedout:
But anyway, c'mon Mickey! :thumbup:
I'm pullin' for him too.
I'll echo the animation category sentiments. It's just stupid, especially since nearly all animated films these days are so mediocre, which is Wall-E deserved a Best Picture nod over some that were picked. But it'll win its category of course.
Of the Best Picture nominees I've only seen Frost/Nixon. It's a good film and all, but it's not that good. The performances are excellent, especially Frank Langella, but there's not much else to it that rises to any great level of inspiration in my opinion.
As always the supporting categories excel, while the actor categories flail. I agree about both "Wall-E" and "The Dark Knight," from anyway you look at it, they were the two best films of the year.
The Academy Awards for any number of years have been a joke, especially in the best film category. But, a joke that was--at least--partially funny. This year's choices are no longer funny. I suppose most of us could care less on how to fix the problem, but if we could fix it, what would we do?
Of the five films nominated for best film, it is interesting to see who might have the inside track on winning. It might be "Milk," for two reasons. First, of the five pictures nominated, it is probably the critical favorite. And two, it might win in lieu of "Brokeback Mountain" losing to "Crash" from a couple of years ago.
Here's how this year's Best Pictures nominations should look like IMO:
The Wrestler
Frost/Nixon
The Dark Knight
Wall-E
Slumdog Millionaire
Wall-E not being nominated for best picture proves beyond any shadow of a doubt that the Academy Awards are completely irrelevant.
The Dark Knight, on the other hand, didn't deserve to get anywhere close to a best picture nomination. It had a p**s-poor excuse of a script, it was full of gaping plot holes, it had poor (if any) character motivations, the action scenes were garbage, and there's always Batman's voice. Yes, Batman's voice was that bad. It would have brought down a much better film all by itself. The very fact that Christopher Nolan would instruct Christian Bale to use it kicks him out of the running for best director.
Heath Ledger and Aaron Eckhart were the *only* things TDK had going for it. IMHO, Ledger wasn't even that good. Aaron Eckhart blew him out of the water, both as Harvey Dent and as Two-Face.
TDK was an explosion movie, period, and not even a very good one.
Quote from: Torgo on January 23, 2009, 06:04:45 PM
Here's how this year's Best Pictures nominations should look like IMO:
The Wrestler
Frost/Nixon
The Dark Knight
Wall-E
Slumdog Millionaire
As I said, previously, each year I compile a list of the best films for the year, as chosen by the critics. From that standpoint, these are the five films, and which I agree, should have been chosen as the five best picture nominees.
"Wall-E"
"The Dark Knight"
"Milk"
"Slumdog Millionaire"
"Happy-go-lucky"
The Academy has shot itself in the foot in another way. Not only is "The Dark Knight," probably one of the best films of the year, it was also one of the most popular. And when you look at the TV ratings for the awards, the highest ratings have--almost always--been for a show in which a high grossing film has been a contender for best picture, such as "Titantic" or "The Return of the King." By choosing the films that they did, I can see the TV ratings for this year's show, being one of the lowest in several years.
Not choosing "The Dark Knight" does do one thing, though. It may increase Heath Ledger's chance of winning. If you look at the previous nominees, the Academy just hates to give an award to a dead person. But if the opinion is that "The Dark Knight" got "screwed" over, it may increase the sympathy vote for Ledger.
Quote from: akiratubo on January 24, 2009, 03:18:53 AM
Wall-E not being nominated for best picture proves beyond any shadow of a doubt that the Academy Awards are completely irrelevant.
The Dark Knight, on the other hand, didn't deserve to get anywhere close to a best picture nomination. It had a p**s-poor excuse of a script, it was full of gaping plot holes, it had poor (if any) character motivations, the action scenes were garbage, and there's always Batman's voice. Yes, Batman's voice was that bad. It would have brought down a much better film all by itself. The very fact that Christopher Nolan would instruct Christian Bale to use it kicks him out of the running for best director.
Heath Ledger and Aaron Eckhart were the *only* things TDK had going for it. IMHO, Ledger wasn't even that good. Aaron Eckhart blew him out of the water, both as Harvey Dent and as Two-Face.
TDK was an explosion movie, period, and not even a very good one.
I feel much the same way, though I'm admittedly less warm to the performances of Ledger and Eckhart.
I'm getting infinitely tired of all this talk about how much the film is getting cheated out of Best Picture when, really, it deserves that award about as much as Smokin' Aces would've deserved it.
Indeed TDK was a mediocre popcorn film but it being up for any Oscar is cool with me. This is because 90% of the movies nominated for any type of award in the past 10 years seem to be mostly pale and lifeless dramas. All of which I have no interest in seeing.
The Academy would seem to have a schizoid attitude, when it comes to animated films. They see nothing wrong with placing "Slumdog Millionaire" in the category of
Best Picture, even though . . .
(a) It is a joint U.S./U.K. production, which makes it in part, a foreign film. And . . .
(b) It is in both English and Hindi, which it in part, makes it a foreign language film, but . . .
"Wall-E" which is totally an U.S. production and totally in English is relegated to Best Animated Film.
And to add to the confusion, "Waltz with Bashir," which is animated film from Israel, is placed in Best Foreign Language Film, which is the foreign equivalent of Best Picture, instead of Best Animated Film.
If I were the people responsible for "Slumdog Millionaire," I would have pushed for Best Foreign Language Film, where it is almost assured of winning an Oscar, instead of Best Picture. Though, apparently, at this moment, it is the odds on film to win the Oscar as Best Picture.
I'll also add, if the public was voting by ticket sales, the winner of Best Picture would be "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," the only film--so far--among the entries that have grossed over a $100 million at the box office. The other four films nominated, combine gross--so far--have yet to gross a $100 million.
I am still bitter towards the oscars for moving their date from late march to february. They're trying too hard to ride the coattales of the golden globe and SAG awards but that short time period doens't give me enough time to watch all the movies I want to see before the awards.
Same bastards who decided to break up the olympics to every 2 years i'm sure
Quote from: The DarkSider on January 26, 2009, 12:17:00 PM
Indeed TDK was a mediocre popcorn film but it being up for any Oscar is cool with me. This is because 90% of the movies nominated for any type of award in the past 10 years seem to be mostly pale and lifeless dramas. All of which I have no interest in seeing.
Personally, maybe it's just me, but I just flat-out hate the Oscars. Strikes me as just a big Hollywood glitterati circle jerk where the rich/pretty/pretentious douche bags get all dressed up in their best "look at meeee!!!!" outfits and give themselves all a big pat on the back and compliment each other on how rich/pretty/pretentious they are. I think of it all as just a snobby, self-important celebration of ego-stroking bologna. Maybe that's just me, but I effin' hate the Oscars. Call me harsh. Whatever.
Quote from: WilliamWeird1313 on January 30, 2009, 08:14:00 AM
Quote from: The DarkSider on January 26, 2009, 12:17:00 PM
Indeed TDK was a mediocre popcorn film but it being up for any Oscar is cool with me. This is because 90% of the movies nominated for any type of award in the past 10 years seem to be mostly pale and lifeless dramas. All of which I have no interest in seeing.
Personally, maybe it's just me, but I just flat-out hate the Oscars. Strikes me as just a big Hollywood glitterati circle jerk where the rich/pretty/pretentious douche bags get all dressed up in their best "look at meeee!!!!" outfits and give themselves all a big pat on the back and compliment each other on how rich/pretty/pretentious they are. I think of it all as just a snobby, self-important celebration of ego-stroking bologna. Maybe that's just me, but I effin' hate the Oscars. Call me harsh. Whatever.
I think you described it better than I ever could.
I liked the oscars when joan rivers did the pre-show. The celebrities dreaded the interviews with her on the red carpet because she would say ANYTHING.
To sarah jessica parker "Oh turn around let me see that dress. Love it. But my dear I have to say, what the hell where you thinking when you put on those shoes?"
And she loved to look at engagement rings. I remember her saying to kevin costners fiance "YOu should be ASHAMED Of yourself. You deserve more than that honey"
I hope Mickey Rourke takes it and I'll be happy if Martin McDonagh (In Bruges) and Heath Ledger win too. :smile:
Okay, I've been pulling for Mickey for a while. Not because I've seen The Wrestler (although I could tell as soon as I saw the trailer that it's the kind of movie I'd love) but because it's really the only movie up there being nominated for Best Actor that doesn't strike me as pretentious tripe. Also, I'm a big Rourke fan to begin with, and I think he deserves the award (he's certainly one of the best actors out there period, in my opinion).
But, anyway, now I'm gonna be rootin' for him even harder, as I finally got to see The Wrestler last night. Truly an awesome (and I mean that in that in the strictest sense, in that it filled me with awe) picture. As we speak, I'm typing up a review of it right now.
Never been a fan of awards in general, doesn't matter if it's for movies or anything else. There's very little objectivity, and a whole lot of politics, emotions and personal bias. We've all seen choices that leave us going "huh?" and this is why.
I must say the Academy Awards have gotten a little more inclusive when it comes to sci-fi, action, comedy, etc., but there is still a lot of bias toward "important" films. And some bias against popular films. There was a time when The Dark Knight would have been relegated to technical awards - best sound editing or some such thing. That's improved, but snobbery is still the rule. Pleasing the customers is not necessarily a factor in pleasing the industry.
I think this is what makes the Oscars not just irrelevant to me, but also uninteresting. It's not just the movies that get nominated year after year that I have no interest in seeing, but the ones I've never even heard of until everyone in the industry is touting them as the year's best. Maybe they are. I think it's great that smaller movies get some attention, but why should I root for them when I know nothing about them?
And count me as another person who was not blown away by Heath Ledger's performance. He was very good, but I have to question whether he would have gotten as much attention and praise had it not been for his tragic death.
That's the problem with the Oscars. You don't know the reasons for the choices. Nobody has to defend them. And then the award itself is held up as an argument for the quality of the film.
Quote from: AndyC on February 03, 2009, 09:00:13 AM
And count me as another person who was not blown away by Heath Ledger's performance. He was very good, but I have to question whether he would have gotten as much attention and praise had it not been for his tragic death.
I hate when people say he might have or only gotten nominated because he died or he only has praise because of his death. That's not the case. He got the nomination and got the praise because his performance was great and it happened to be better than most every other film in 2008, which is why he was nominated. Plus, his performance was not only impressive, it made us forget than he died and made us forget that he was even Heath Ledger. I mean really, I watched the movie and forgot who he was, litterally thought I was looking at the Joker. Almost all movies you watch, you instantly see someone you know and just think well, there he or she is playing a part in the movie. Not with him.
Well I'm on the topic, I dislike it when people say the only thing that was good about the film or was memorable was his performance. No, that's not what only rememberable. The big rig flip, the final confrontation with Two-Face, the first appearance of the bat-pod, when Batman glides into that guy's office in China, when the body smashes against the window, or when Batman tries to rescue everyone who were dressed to look like the bad guys. I mean, those are just as rememberable as any scene with the Joker. I mean, come on, that's like saying the only thing that is rememberable about Peter Jackson's King Kong was King Kong himself. I remember the dinosaurs in that film more than King Kong.
Back on the topic of Oscars, I'm still ticked off that Wall-E, The Dark Knight, The Wrestler, and Revolutionary Road were rejected for awards that they deserved. That is all.
Yay! Mr. Rourke is giving his BAFTA acceptance speech for best actor as I type..... :smile:
"In Bruges" should have been up for Best Picture, and all 3 actors -- Colin Farrell, Ralph Fiennes, and Brendan Gleason should have gotten acting nods as well.
I'll be rooting for it for "Best Original Screenplay" then . . .
peter johnson/denny disappointed