The Academy should be ashamed of itself. Sure, a tip of the hat to good ol' Heath is nice, but of the whopping eight nominations The Dark Knight received, they didn't see fit to recognize the writers or the director, and there's no point even asking if it was invited to the big dance.
Travesty. Don't get me wrong; Slumdog Millionaire (which landed a whopping 10 noms) was fantastic. At the end I cried like a five year-old girl watching Bambi's mom get shot, and I was surprised that there were no acting nominations. But by design, The Dark Knight and The Wrestler were both better films, and they were left out in the cold on the Best Picture list. The Reader won't even be a blip on the radar of film history, but because of its undeserving presence on the big list, the biggest and most staggeringly awesome movie of the year is overlooked. I just don't get it.
There was plenty of love for the massively overrated Forrest Gump remake The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, however, as it leads the pack with 13 nods including best director (David Fincher), best actor (Brad Pitt), best supporting actress (Taraji P. Henson) and best adapted screenplay, along with eight nominations in other categories. It's far and away the most recognized film of the year, but having been sent home empty-handed at the Broadcast Critics awards and the Golden Globes, it's far from a sure bet for a trophy sweep. Personally, I'm trying to figure out why they didn't make it 14 by nominating the shadows that they hid Pitt in for half the goddamned movie to disguise the bad effects/makeup job.
Milk may have only earned one Globe nomination, but the gripping biopic scored eight Oscar noms, and many are giving Sean Penn the edge in the Best Actor race. My money would've been on Clint Eastwood for Gran Torino, but the gripping drama didn't pick up a single nomination. Go figure. It's a damn shame though - the 78 year-old has never won an Oscar. Instead, I'll have to go with Mickey Rourke, who deserves that gold statue much more than Penn. They're also in the running against Brad Pitt (Benjamin Button), Richard Jenkins (The Visitor) and Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon).
As for the Best Actress category, the list is varied but really comes down to two in my book: Kate Winslet (The Reader) and Meryl Streep (Doubt) are the true contenders here, as their performances are far and away better than Angelina Jolie's (Changeling), Anne "please don't break me" Hathaway's (Rachel Getting Married) or Melissa Leo's (Frozen River). I'd have to lean towards Winslet on this one, if only for the fact that I've been in love with her since Titanic.
Naturally, the music branch of the Academy proved themselves to be a batch of deaf chimps yet again, disregarding a fantastic track from a deserving rocker, just like they did last year. Translated: Springsteen should have definitely gotten a nod for "The Wrestler." While thousands of Bruce fans are plotting their revenge against the Academy, a very pregnant M.I.A. was thrilled to receive a nomination for “O… Saya,” the song she and Slumdog Millionaire score composer A.R. Rahman wrote for the Danny Boyle-directed film.
Dropping the entire event a few notches through mere association, the cheap effects showcase that was Wanted is somehow a double nominee for both sound editing and sound mixing.
There's something wrong with this "lifetime member" bullshit in the Academy lineup. They really need to reconsider the format, because there's no way in hell that Joe the Moviegoer's grandmother is going to be holding films and players to the same standards that you or I would, and year after year that point is proven even further. Sure, it was cool to see Robert Downey Jr get a nod for Tropic Thunder, but I think we all know where the Supporting Actor award is going. And Marisa Tomei deserved a Supporting Actress nomination for her body alone, but her performance opposite Rourke was fantastic. But overall, the omissions and unjustified noms are once again leaning far over the brink of absurdity.
The full list of nominees:
BEST PICTURE
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire
BEST DIRECTOR
Danny Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire
David Fincher - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Ron Howard - Frost/Nixon
Stephen Daldry - The Reader
Gus Van Sant - Milk
BEST ACTOR
Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler
Brad Pitt - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Richard Jenkins - The Visitor
Frank Langella - Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn - Milk
BEST ACTRESS
Angelina Jolie - Changeling
Anne Hathaway - Rachel Getting Married
Melissa Leo - Frozen River
Meryl Streep - Doubt
Kate Winslet - The Reader
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Josh Brolin - Milk
Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight
Robert Downey Jr. - Tropic Thunder
Philip Seymour Hoffman - Doubt
Michael Shannon - Revolutionary Road
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams - Doubt
Penélope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis - Doubt
Taraji P. Henson - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Marisa Tomei - The Wrestler
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
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Eric Roth
Doubt - John Patrick Shanley
Frost/Nixon - Peter Morgan
The Reader - David Hare
Slumdog Millionaire - Simon Beaufoy
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda
WALL-E
BEST ANIMATED SHORT
La Maison en Petits Cubes
Lavatory - Lovestory
Oktapodi
Presto
This Way Up
BEST ART DIRECTION
Changeling
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
The Duchess
Revolutionary Road
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Changeling
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Australia
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Duchess
Milk
Revolutionary Road
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)
Encounters at the End of the World
The Garden
Man on Wire
Trouble the Water
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
The Conscience of Nhem En
The Final Inch
Smile Pinki
The Witness - From the Balcony of Room 306
BEST EDITING
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Frost/Nixon
Milk
Slumdog Millionaire
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
The Baader Meinhof Complex (Germany)
The Class (France)
Departures (Japan)
Revanche (Austria)
Waltz with Bashir (Israel)
BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT
Auf der Strecke (On the Line)
Manon on the Asphalt
New Boy
The Pig
Spielzeugland (Toyland)
BEST MAKEUP
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
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
BEST ORIGINAL SONG
''Down to Earth -'' WALL-E
''Jai Ho -'' Slumdog Millionaire
''O Saya -'' Slumdog Millionaire
BEST SOUND EDITING
The Dark Knight
Iron Man
Slumdog Millionaire
WALL-E
Wanted
BEST SOUND MIXING
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Slumdog Millionaire
WALL-E
Wanted
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Iron Man
