The nominees for the 81st Academy Awards is already out. As usual, the announcement of nominations were met with raised eyebrows and shocked reactions. Continue reading to know this year’s Oscar snubs and surprises.
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” leads the pack with a whopping 13 nominations, including Best Picture. “Slumdog Millionaire” follows it with 10. “The Dark Knight” and “Milk”, with 8 nominations each, come in third. However, the 8 nominations of the Christopher Nolan-directed film about Gotham City’s Caped Crusader is not enough for it to land a Best Picture nod. Just like in the Golden Globes, “The Dark Knight” was completely shut out in the Best Picture race.
But this Oscar’s biggest surprise involves Kate Winslet. She may have won a Golden Globe for her intense portrayal as April Wheeler in “Revolutionary Road”, but Oscar doesn’t seem to give her any credit for it. Instead, the 5-time Oscar nominee nabs a Best Actress nod for her role in “The Reader”, where she recently won Best Supporting Actress in the Golden Globes. Ayokong isipin kung pano nangyari yun, pero magulo talaga ang rules ng Oscars at Golden Globes, so deadma na.
Meanwhile, Kate’s on-screen hubby in “Revolutionary Road” shared the same fate as her. Well, not exactly. For Best Actor, all we have are names of Richard Jenkins, Frank Langella, Sean Penn, Mickey Rourke, and Brad Pitt. No Leonardo DiCaprio in sight. Given the choice, I’ll take Brad’s name out and trade it with Leo’s.
More on “Revolutionary Road”. Everyone is raving about the performances of the “Titanic” superstars that they overlooked Michael Shannon who plays the mentally ill son of Kathy Bates, but not the Oscars. Michael Shannon receives a much-deserved Best Supporting Actor nomination.
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” leads the pack with a whopping 13 nominations, including Best Picture. “Slumdog Millionaire” follows it with 10. “The Dark Knight” and “Milk”, with 8 nominations each, come in third. However, the 8 nominations of the Christopher Nolan-directed film about Gotham City’s Caped Crusader is not enough for it to land a Best Picture nod. Just like in the Golden Globes, “The Dark Knight” was completely shut out in the Best Picture race.
But this Oscar’s biggest surprise involves Kate Winslet. She may have won a Golden Globe for her intense portrayal as April Wheeler in “Revolutionary Road”, but Oscar doesn’t seem to give her any credit for it. Instead, the 5-time Oscar nominee nabs a Best Actress nod for her role in “The Reader”, where she recently won Best Supporting Actress in the Golden Globes. Ayokong isipin kung pano nangyari yun, pero magulo talaga ang rules ng Oscars at Golden Globes, so deadma na.
Meanwhile, Kate’s on-screen hubby in “Revolutionary Road” shared the same fate as her. Well, not exactly. For Best Actor, all we have are names of Richard Jenkins, Frank Langella, Sean Penn, Mickey Rourke, and Brad Pitt. No Leonardo DiCaprio in sight. Given the choice, I’ll take Brad’s name out and trade it with Leo’s.
More on “Revolutionary Road”. Everyone is raving about the performances of the “Titanic” superstars that they overlooked Michael Shannon who plays the mentally ill son of Kathy Bates, but not the Oscars. Michael Shannon receives a much-deserved Best Supporting Actor nomination. Other surprises:
Sally Hawkins out, Melissa Leo in for Best Actress
Robert Downey Jr. for “Tropic Thunder” as Best Supporting Actor (Hurrah!)
And now, here is the complete list of nominees:
BEST MOTION PICTURE OF THE YEAR
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“Frost/Nixon”
“Milk”
“The Reader”
“Slumdog Millionaire”
ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTING
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”, David Fincher
“Frost/Nixon”, Ron Howard
“Milk”, Gus Van Sant
“The Reader”, Stephen Daldry
“Slumdog Millionaire”, Danny Boyle
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Anne Hathaway in “Rachel Getting Married”
Angelina Jolie in “Changeling”
Melissa Leo in “Frozen River”
Meryl Streep in “Doubt”
Kate Winslet in “The Reader”
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Richard Jenkins in “The Visitor”
Frank Langella in “Frost/Nixon”
Sean Penn in “Milk”
Brad Pitt in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Mickey Rourke in “The Wrestler”
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Amy Adams in “Doubt”
Penélope Cruz in “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”
Viola Davis in “Doubt”
Taraji P. Henson in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Marisa Tomei in “The Wrestler”
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Josh Brolin in “Milk”
Robert Downey Jr. in “Tropic Thunder”
Philip Seymour Hoffman in “Doubt”
Heath Ledger in “The Dark Knight”
Michael Shannon in “Revolutionary Road”
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM OF THE YEAR
“The Baader Meinhof Complex”, Germany
“The Class”, France
“Departures”, Japan
“Revanche”, Austria
“Waltz with Bashir”, Israel
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
“The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)”, Ellen Kuras and Thavisouk Phrasavath
“Encounters at the End of the World”, Werner Herzog and Henry Kaiser
“The Garden”, Scott Hamilton Kennedy
“Man on Wire”, James Marsh and Simon Chinn
“Trouble the Water”, Tia Lessin and Carl Deal
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”, Eric
“Doubt”, John Patrick Shanley
“Frost/Nixon”, Peter Morgan
“The Reader”, David Hare
“Slumdog Millionaire”, Simon Beaufoy
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
“Frozen River”, Courtney Hunt
“Happy-Go-Lucky”, Mike Leigh
“In Bruges”, Martin McDonagh
“Milk”, Dustin Lance Black
“WALL-E”, Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM OF THE YEAR
“Bolt”, Chris Williams and Byron Howard
“Kung Fu Panda”, John Stevenson and Mark Osborne
“WALL-E”, Andrew Stanton
BEST 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
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
ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND EDITING
“The Dark Knight”
“Iron Man”
“Slumdog Millionaire”
“WALL-E”
“Wanted”
ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND MIXING
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“The Dark Knight”
“Slumdog Millionaire”
“WALL-E”
“Wanted”
ACHIEVEMENT IN VISUAL EFFECTS
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“The Dark Knight”
“Iron Man”
ACHIEVEMENT IN ART DIRECTION
“Changeling”
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“The Dark Knight”
“The Duchess”
“Revolutionary Road”
ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY
“Changeling”
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“The Dark Knight”
“The Reader”
“Slumdog Millionaire”
ACHIEVEMENT IN COSTUME DESIGN
“Australia”
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“The Duchess”
“Milk”
“Revolutionary Road”
ACHIEVEMENT IN FILM EDITING
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“The Dark Knight”
“Frost/Nixon”
“Milk”
“Slumdog Millionaire”
ACHIEVEMENT IN MAKEUP
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“The Dark Knight”
“Hellboy II: The Golden Army
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 DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
“The Conscience of Nhem En”, Steven Okazaki
“The Final Inch”, Irene Taylor Brodsky and Tom Grant
“Smile Pinki”, Megan Mylan
“The Witness - From the Balcony of Room 306”, Adam Pertofsky and Margaret Hyde
Catch the 81st Academy Awards on February 22. Which film and performances are you rooting for? My money is on “Slumdog Millionaire”, may angal?
