The Oscar Nominations 2009

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The Oscar nominations are in!

The 81st Academy Awards Ceremony is taking place in exactly a month and therefore tradition states that the nominations are revealed today. These were announced at 1.30pm today and are as follows:

Best picture
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

No surprises there but I had hoped The Dark Knight would have featured.

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

Again, no surprises but where is Christopher Nolan for The Dark Knight? And what about previous Academy favourite Sam Mendes for Revolutionary Road?

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

It looks like Leonardo Di Caprio will never get an Oscar. And if only they had nominated Martin Sheen instead of Frank Langella!

Best Actress
Anne Hathaway - Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie - Changeling
Melissa Leo - Frozen River
Meryl Streep - Doubt
Kate Winslet - The Reader

The biggest surprise here is that Kate Winslet was nominated for The Reader as opposed to Revolutionary Road.

Best Supporting Actor
Josh Brolin - Milk
Robert Downey Jr - Tropic Thunder
Philip Seymour Hoffman - Doubt
Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight
Michael Shannon - Revolutionary Road

Go Heath!

Best Animated Feature Film
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda
Wall-E

It has to be Wall-E. Personally, I would have put it in the Best Picture category – the Online Film Critics Society would have agreed with me. As Rolling Stone critic Peter Travers put it: "If there was ever a time where an animated feature deserved to be nominated for Best Picture it's Wall-E."

Best Adapted Screenplay
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Doubt
Frost/Nixon
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

I’ve not read any of the original books but I would love for Slumdog to get awards wherever possible.

Best Original Screenplay
Happy-Go-Lucky
Milk
Wall-E
In Bruges
Frozen River

Go Wall-E! This was a nice surprise. And I would love for the Academy to recognise Pixar’s genius for more than just animation.

Best Song
Slumdog Millionaire – O Saya
Slumdog Millionaire – Jai Ho
Wall-E – Down To Earth

I love both soundtracks - happy for either to win. But what about Bruce Springteen's title-track for The Wrestler, which won the Globe just two weeks ago?

Best Score
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Defiance
Milk
Slumdog Millionaire
Wall-E

Wall-E again! Pixar are cropping up all over the place. But Slumdog will be hard to beat.

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I could go into all of the categories for Special Effects, Costume Design, Make-Up, etc (although I am adamant that Ben Burtt gets recognition for his monumental Sound Editing/ Mixing in Wall-E) but I will wait until the nearer the time when I give my full wish list.

The reality has just dawned however: I have a hell of a lot of films to see in the next four weeks...
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