The Curious Case of Benjamin Button has landed 13 Oscar nominations this year from best picture and director to best editing. The movie is a genius piece of work, no doubt. (Our review of the movie: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) [break]The critics loved the movie, it garnered more than 100 millions in US alone making it the most recognized movie of the year. But after returning home empty-handed at the Golden Globes, the doubt for actually bagging as many awards at the ceremony still stands strong.
Hollywood also went Bollywood this year with 10 nominations for Slumdog Millionaire including best picture, director and screenplay. And then there is three for music maestro A.R. Rahman, which was totally a big "shabash" to India for inspiring the Hollywood. There is no doubt Rahman will pick one, and he totally deserves it. The movie is a complete crowd-pleasure rags-to-riches story with oriental aesthetic panorama. So, nothing can be said about the movie grabbing the awards though. However, if Oscar wanted to go all Chaiya Chaiya this year, Aamir Khan´s Taare Zameen Par should not have been ousted in the best Foreign Film category. We will miss TZP at the gringo award. (Maybe we will make peace with The Class and Waltz with Bashir though).
Apart from The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Slumdog Millionaire, Milk, Frost/Nixon and surprisingly The Reader made it to the best picture. We had said Frank Langella was a strong contender with Frost/Nixon in the best actor category. (Our review: Frost/Nixon) And he still stands strong alongside Richard Jenkins for The Visitor, Sean Penn for Milk and Brad Pitt for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. The nomination of Mickey Rourke for The Wrestler is as touching as his movie.
Real-life couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie both got nominated for lead actor and actress awards. Tough competition on both the categories though. Jolie will have to face the wrath of Meryl Streep for Doubt. Also the nomination of Melissa Leo for Frozen River, Anne Hathaway for Rachael Getting Married and Kate Winslet for The Reader. Winslet´s sixth Academy Awards nominations (with zero win) should mean that she is ahead of other actresses in the same category, also with the arguement that she should have had a double whammy for her performance in the Revolutionary Road as well.
The directors have been served right. Ron Howard gets nominated again for his movie Frost/Nixon (he won an Oscar for A Beautiful Mind). David Fincher for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button may be the strongest candidate in this category. Gus Van Sant brings the stirring biopic with seven other nominations, even though the movie had earned only one Golden Globe nomination. It was a true resurgence. And feel-good movie director Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire. Stephen Daldry is also nominated in the category for The Reader.
It was a sad sad day for Batman fans around the globe. The movie Dark Knight, having eight nominations, mostly technical, stayed out of best picture, director or scriptwriter. Not a happy ending. The movie garnered amazing wads of cash for the studio (almost a billion dollars) and rave reviews, well, until the nominations. For consolation, the movie did get a posthumous for nomination for Heath Ledger in the best supporting actor catergory, which will most likely go to him. The Australian actor´s Oscar nomination came exactly a year after he died of an accidental prescription-drug overdose. His role as the Joker has already gotten him quite a few awards.
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Other few snubs were Clint Eastwood´s powerful performance for Gran Torino. Wall-E deserved more accolades than just the animated category (few petty sound categories). Bruce Springsteen´s Golden Globe winner for the title song of The Wrestler was no where to be seen, including Beyonce´s powerful Cadillac Records songs.
The Academy Awards presentation will take place on Sunday, February 22, 2009. Here is the complete list of the nominees:
1. Best Picture
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire
2. Actor
Richard Jenkins for "The Visitor"
Frank Langella for "Frost/Nixon"
Sean Penn for "Milk"
Brad Pitt for "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
Mickey Rourke for " The Wrestler ."
3. Actress
Anne Hathaway for "Rachel Getting Married"
Angelina Jolie for " Changeling "
Melissa Leo for " Frozen River "
Meryl Streep for "Doubt"
Kate Winslet for "The Reader."
4. Supporting Actor
Josh Brolin for "Milk"
Robert Downey Jr . for " Tropic Thunder "
Philip Seymour Hoffman for "Doubt"
Heath Ledger for " The Dark Knight "
Michael Shannon for " Revolutionary Road ."
5. Supporting Actress
Amy Adams for "Doubt"
Penelope Cruz for " Vicky Cristina Barcelona "
Viola Davis for "Doubt"
Taraji P. Henson for "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
Marisa Tomei for "The Wrestler."
6. Director
David Fincher for "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
Ron Howard for "Frost/Nixon"
Gus Van Sant for "Milk"
Stephen Daldry for "The Reader"
Danny Boyle for "Slumdog Millionaire."
7. Foreign Film
The Baader Meinhof Complex, Germany
The Class, France
Departures, Japan
Revanche, Austria
Waltz With Bashir, Israel.
8. Adapted Screenplay
Eric Roth and Robin Swicord for "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
John Patrick Shanley for "Doubt"
Peter Morgan for "Frost/Nixon"
David Hare for "The Reader"
Simon Beaufoy for "Slumdog Millionaire."
9. Original Screenplay
Courtney Hunt for "Frozen River"
Mike Leigh for "Happy-Go-Lucky"
Martin McDonagh for "In Bruges"
Dustin Lance Black for "Milk"
Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon and Pete Docter for "WALL-E."
10. Animated Feature Film
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda
WALL-E.
11. Art Direction
Changeling
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
The Duchess
Revolutionary Road.
12. Cinematography
Changeling
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire.
13. Sound Mixing
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Slumdog Millionaire
WALL-E
Wanted.
14. Sound Editing
The Dark Knight
Iron Man
Slumdog Millionaire
WALL-E
Wanted.
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.
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.
17. Costume
Australia
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Duchess
Milk
Revolutionary Road.
18. Documentary Feature
The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)
Encounters at the End of the World
The Garden
Man on Wire
Trouble the Water.
19. Documentary (short subject )
The Conscience of Nhem En
The Final Inch
Smile Pinki
The Witness
From the Balcony of Room 306.
20. Film Editing
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Frost/Nixon
Milk
Slumdog Millionaire.
21. Makeup:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Hellboy II: The Golden Army.
22. Animated Short Film:
La Maison en Petits Cubes
Lavatory Lovestory
Oktapodi
Presto
This Way Up.
23. Live Action Short Film
Auf der Strecke (On the Line)
Manon on the Asphalt
New Boy
The Pig
Spielzeugland (Toyland).
24. Visual Effects
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Iron Man
subel@myrepublica.com
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