So here was my
LIST. Below is what the Academy came up with along with my picks out of their choices. Despite some obvious beef, I have to say, the Academy more often than not recognizes quality over numbers unlike their musical counterpart which remains a de facto marketing arm of the labels.
Best Picture (
My Pick: Technical nods (AKA 'the guilded ghetto') aside, "The Dark Knight" was snubbed. Period. They'll regret it later and make up for it by nominating years later some categorically similar flick that's half as good and no longer timely as they've done time and time again. "Frost/Nixon" deserves to be in contention for Best Actor for Frank Langella but not Best Picture. From their list though, I have to go with "The Reader" (which was NOT an "obligatory Holocaust entry" as some have called it) but if not "Slumdog" they'll probably pick "Milk" to make up for letting overly mediocre "Crash" beat out "Brokeback Mountain" and "Capote" in 2005.
* The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
* Frost/Nixon
* Milk
* The Reader
(My Pick)* Slumdog Millionaire
Best Director (
My Pick: Again, I would have gone with Nolan for "Dark Knight" but I'll say Daldry for "The Reader")
* Danny Boyle – Slumdog Millionaire
* Stephen Daldry – The Reader
(My Pick)* David Fincher – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
* Ron Howard – Frost/Nixon
* Gus Van Sant – Milk
Best Actor (
My Pick: DiCaprio actually deserved to be nominated this time for "Revolutionary Road" but I'm going to go with Rourke since "Rev" didn't get much love.)
* Richard Jenkins – The Visitor
* Frank Langella – Frost/Nixon
* Sean Penn – Milk
* Brad Pitt – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
* Mickey Rourke – The Wrestler
(My Pick)Best Actress (
My Pick: This is Winslet's year b/t "Reader" and "Revolutionary" she deserves it. Although the irony is not lost after her role on "Extras")
* Anne Hathaway – Rachel Getting Married
* Angelina Jolie – Changeling
* Melissa Leo – Frozen River
* Meryl Streep – Doubt
* Kate Winslet – The Reader
(My Pick)Best Supporting Actor (
My Pick: Hoffman any other day of the week but there is no denying Ledger. Do so and be damned. Also, Hirsch over Downey please. )
* Josh Brolin – Milk
* Robert Downey Jr. – Tropic Thunder
* Philip Seymour Hoffman – Doubt
* Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight (posthumous)
(My Pick)* Michael Shannon – Revolutionary Road
Best Supporting Actress (
My Pick: I love Adams but in her short time Davis stole the show.)
* Amy Adams – Doubt
* Penelope Cruz – Vicky Cristina Barcelona
* Viola Davis – Doubt
(My Pick)* Taraji P. Henson – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
* Marisa Tomei – The Wrestler
Best Original Screenplay (
My Pick: "In Bruges" was all around underrated. Just hope someone else noticed.)
* WALL-E - Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon and Pete Docter
* Happy-Go-Lucky - Mike Leigh
* Frozen River - Courtney Hunt
* In Bruges - Martin McDonagh (
My Pick)
* Milk - Dustin Lance Black
Best Adapted Screenplay (
My Pick: It's an art to make a great play also a great film, so I'm going with "Doubt" but I bet they choose "Millionaire")
* The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Eric Roth and Robin Swicord
* Frost/Nixon - Peter Morgan
* The Reader - David Hare
* Slumdog Millionaire - Simon Beaufoy
* Doubt - John Patrick Shanley
(My Pick)Best Animated Feature (
My Pick: Seriously?)
* Bolt – Chris Williams and Byron Howard
* Kung Fu Panda – Mark Osborne and John Stevenson
* WALL-E – Andrew Stanton
(My Pick)Best Foreign Language Film (
My Pick: They missed a lot of the best foreign films in their list in my opinion, but I didn't see 3 of their choices, so it's hard to say.)
* Revanche (Austria) in German
* The Class (France) in French
* The Baader Meinhof Complex (Germany) in German
* Departures (Japan) in Japanese
* Waltz with Bashir (Israel) in Hebrew
(My Pick)Best Documentary Feature (
My Pick: This is a tough choice between "Encounters" & "Wire", but I have to go with Herzog.)
* Nerakhoon
* Encounters at the End of the World
(My Pick)* The Garden
* Man on Wire
* Trouble the Water
Labels: Lists, Movies
