Academy Award Nominations
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
- NOMINATIONS BY CATEGORY - 81ST AWARDS -
Performance by an actor in a leading role
* Richard Jenkins in "The Visitor" (Overture Films)
* Frank Langella in "Frost/Nixon" (Universal)
* Sean Penn in "Milk" (Focus Features)
* Brad Pitt in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.)
* Mickey Rourke in "The Wrestler" (Fox Searchlight)
Performance by an actor in a supporting role
* Josh Brolin in "Milk" (Focus Features)
* Robert Downey Jr. in "Tropic Thunder" (DreamWorks, Distributed by DreamWorks/Paramount)
* Philip Seymour Hoffman in "Doubt" (Miramax)
* Heath Ledger in "The Dark Knight" (Warner Bros.)
* Michael Shannon in "Revolutionary Road" (DreamWorks, Distributed by Paramount Vantage)
Performance by an actress in a leading role
* Anne Hathaway in "Rachel Getting Married" (Sony Pictures Classics)
* Angelina Jolie in "Changeling" (Universal)
* Melissa Leo in "Frozen River" (Sony Pictures Classics)
* Meryl Streep in "Doubt" (Miramax)
* Kate Winslet in "The Reader" (The Weinstein Company)
Performance by an actress in a supporting role
* Amy Adams in "Doubt" (Miramax)
* Penélope Cruz in "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" (The Weinstein Company)
* Viola Davis in "Doubt" (Miramax)
* Taraji P. Henson in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.)
* Marisa Tomei in "The Wrestler" (Fox Searchlight)
Best animated feature film of the year
"Bolt" (Walt Disney) Chris Williams and Byron Howard
"Kung Fu Panda" (DreamWorks Animation, Distributed by Paramount) John Stevenson and Mark Osborne
"WALL-E" (Walt Disney) Andrew Stanton
Achievement in directing
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.) David Fincher
"Frost/Nixon" (Universal) Ron Howard
"Milk" (Focus Features) Gus Van Sant
"The Reader" (The Weinstein Company) Stephen Daldry
"Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight) Danny Boyle
Best documentary feature
"The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)" (Cinema Guild)
A Pandinlao Films Production Ellen Kuras and Thavisouk Phrasavath
*
"Encounters at the End of the World" (THINKFilm and Image Entertainment)
A Creative Differences Production Werner Herzog and Henry Kaiser
*
"The Garden"
A Black Valley Films Production Scott Hamilton Kennedy
*
"Man on Wire" (Magnolia Pictures)
A Wall to Wall Production James Marsh and Simon Chinn
*
"Trouble the Water" (Zeitgeist Films)
An Elsewhere Films Production Tia Lessin and Carl Deal
Best foreign language film of the year
* "The Baader Meinhof Complex" A Constantin Film Production - Germany
* "The Class" (Sony Pictures Classics) A Haut et Court Production - France
* "Departures" (Regent Releasing) A Departures Film Partners Production - Japan
* "Revanche" (Janus Films) A Prisma Film/Fernseh Production - Austria
* "Waltz with Bashir" (Sony Pictures Classics) A Bridgit Folman Film Gang Production - Israel
Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.) Alexandre Desplat
"Defiance" (Paramount Vantage) James Newton Howard
"Milk" (Focus Features) Danny Elfman
"Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight) A.R. Rahman
"WALL-E" (Walt Disney) Thomas Newman
Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
"Down to Earth" from "WALL-E" (Walt Disney) Music by Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman
Lyric by Peter Gabriel
*
"Jai Ho" from "Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight) Music by A.R. Rahman
Lyric by Gulzar
*
"O Saya" from "Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight) Music and Lyric by A.R. Rahman and Maya Arulpragasam
Best motion picture of the year
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.)
A Kennedy/Marshall Production Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall and Ceán Chaffin, Producers
*
"Frost/Nixon" (Universal)
A Universal Pictures, Imagine Entertainment and Working Title Production Brian Grazer, Ron Howard and Eric Fellner, Producers
*
"Milk" (Focus Features)
A Groundswell and Jinks/Cohen Company Production Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen, Producers
*
"The Reader" (The Weinstein Company)
A Mirage Enterprises and Neunte Babelsberg Film GmbH Production Nominees to be determined
*
"Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight)
A Celador Films Production Christian Colson, Producer
Best animated short film
"La Maison en Petits Cubes"
A Robot Communications Production Kunio Kato
*
"Lavatory - Lovestory"
A Melnitsa Animation Studio and CTB Film Company Production Konstantin Bronzit
*
"Oktapodi" (Talantis Films)
A Gobelins, L'école de l'image Production Emud Mokhberi and Thierry Marchand
*
"Presto" (Walt Disney)
A Pixar Animation Studios Production Doug Sweetland
*
"This Way Up"
A Nexus Production Alan Smith and Adam Foulkes
Adapted screenplay
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.) Screenplay by Eric Roth
Screen story by Eric Roth and Robin Swicord
*
"Doubt" (Miramax) Written by John Patrick Shanley
*
"Frost/Nixon" (Universal) Screenplay by Peter Morgan
*
"The Reader" (The Weinstein Company) Screenplay by David Hare
*
"Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight) Screenplay by Simon Beaufoy
Original screenplay
"Frozen River" (Sony Pictures Classics) Written by Courtney Hunt
*
"Happy-Go-Lucky" (Miramax) Written by Mike Leigh
*
"In Bruges" (Focus Features) Written by Martin McDonagh
*
"Milk" (Focus Features) Written by Dustin Lance Black
*
"WALL-E" (Walt Disney) Screenplay by Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon
Original story by Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter
i'll be tuning in for the sole purpose of watching angelina give anne the stink-eye.
ReplyDeletewheeee!
T.C.C.O.B.B. - why do people love this movie? My boyfriend and I must have been the only ones who could not wait for it to end. But I must say I am so glad to see the actress who played his mother nominated because she was damn good.
ReplyDeletePlease God, let Mickey Rourke win -he was heartbreaking good.
It's obvious the Gay Mafia is alive and well by all the noms the made for TV movie Milk got. Sean Penn was good but that's it. The movie was absolutely boring. But yet Queerwood has such a hard on for all things gay that they just have to nominate a subpar movie. Only nod it should have gotten is for Sean "USEFUL IDIOT" Penn for best Actor.
ReplyDeleteNo way was Angelina Jolie better than Sally Hawkins and Kristen Scott Thomas, who both gave far superior performances this year. Oh well looks like the Academy got a bit too starstruck.
ReplyDeleteOh no! The gay mafia has been exposed!! Quick, guys! ABORT MISSION! They KNOW!!!
ReplyDelete***
I hope Angelina brings her bitchface 'cause that's some stiff competition.
No Dev Patel?
ReplyDeleteI was hoping for some representation of the the actors in Slumdog. Even though it is a representation of the Orientalist mindset, as some have already pointed out, I still enjoyed it.
*Proud member of the Gay Mafia, also sad that James Franco didn't get recognized.
I haven't seen Frozen River (though I wanted to), Happy-Go-Lucky (no desire to), any of the Foreigns or Docs (usually they haven't been released), or The Visitor, or The Changeling.
ReplyDeleteShocks:
RDJ in Tropic Thunder - he was good, but actor playing an actor playing blackface... eesh.
Jolie in Changeling - I didn't see the movie, but in the trailers and clips I've seen, yeesh, overact much?
Penelope in VCB - see above for Jolie.
Original Song - as much as I love the nominated Slumdog songs, expect the Wall-E song to win because the academy likes to understand their songs (which is why Diane whatsername always wins, the Con-Air song, etc.)
Still a bit miffed abot the Dark Knight getting snubbed for best picture, loved it so much. It doesn't seem like the academy takes super hero pictures too seriously.
ReplyDeleteTitantic grossed most ever, and won 11 out of 14 Oscars. Dark Knight grossed just under for 2nd all time, and ONE nomination?!? ONE?!?
ReplyDeleteYeah, quite often a movie will make a half a BILLION dollars cuz they suck. What in the hell does the public know? Thank God Hollywood gets it right every year.
Sorry, but this is just disgraceful.
yea, i'm pissed off dark knight didn't get more, and that clint eastwood wasn't nominated, and that rd jr wasn't nominated for iron man and i'm pissed frank langella was nomated. also, doubt should have made best pic instead of cc of bb. and man on wire was NOT that good.
ReplyDeletewhacky this year.
Ror,
ReplyDeleteThe Gay Mafia liked Titanic because it was romantic and appealed to them. Batman wasn't GAY friendly and thus why only one nom for Heath but then again we know why Heath was nominated and it's not because he died.
Much love to the wonderful Richard Jenkins!
ReplyDeleteI guess it's not just the top 99 ask men list that's botched.
ReplyDeleteMilk was boring-totally agree that Sean Penn was the only good part of the movie.
Slap me. Kick me. Punch me. Benjamin Button was one of the more boring of the movies I've seen. There were too many "dragging on" periods. And Brad Pitt's acting was definitely not oscar-worthy. Cate Blanchett was great, though, I will hand it to her.
I have not seen Changeling(though I'd LOVE to) but I have heard Angie is quite superb. This is hearsay, though.
The voting process is totally whacked for the nominations. Here's the illustration from Variety -
ReplyDelete"Voting members get a ballot on which they can write down five choices, and most voters spend time mulling over their five choices, carefully and meticulously putting them in order. These voters mistakenly believe all five will be counted. In truth, only one of them will.
For example, there are 375 voting members in the directors branch. The accountants take that 375 number and divide it by six — i.e., the number of eventual nominees (five) plus one. The division yields the number 62 — and then you add one, so that’s 63. (There’s a reason for adding these ones, but don’t worry about it.)
The accountants then take all 375 director ballots and go through only the first choices, putting each helmer-contender into his/her own stack. When a contender hits 63 first-place votes, he has enough for a nomination.
Anyone who voted for this director gets his ballot set aside, and none of the voter’s other choices is tallied. The reason is to make sure that every voice is heard.
It’s possible, but not likely, that when the first round of voting concludes, there are five contenders who got 63 votes. If not, the PWC crew take the remaining ballots and go through people’s second choices, to see who gets enough votes in this round.
One caveat: A contender has to receive at least one first-place vote. The thinking is that if a person got zero first-place finishes, maybe he doesn’t deserve a nomination.
In theory, the accountants move on to third-place votes, then fourth, then fifth. But it’s probable that they will have enough nominees from the earlier rounds and thus won’t get to the bottom of the lists. "
So, depending on just how much lobbying has been in the face of the voters in any particular category it explains why some actors & films appear to be "snubbed". It's very possible that Clint Eastwood received more votes overall but none in the first position so, under these rules, he received no nom.
notachance, thnx for explaining this. what the fuckity fuck fuck kind of voting is that?
ReplyDeleteThe Oscars are just another cog in Hollywood's PR machine. They mean almost nothing in terms of quality or talent. I'm just glad that they added the Best Animated category. Wall-E deserves a Best Film nom, but an animated movie never stood a chance.
ReplyDeleteHarriet, don't worry, we of the Gay Mafia are just like Scientology - the outsiders know what we're up to, but there's no way they'll ever stop us.
ReplyDeleteMickey Rourke was OUTSTANDING in The Wrestler. I hope he gets it b/c he played defeated so well.
ReplyDeleteRDJ for Tropic Thunder?!? GASP - a comedic role has been nominated?!?
ReplyDeleteThere are two people absolutely shitting their pants about this right now (besides me):
1. Jim Carrey - guess they're just not that into you, sweetie, and
2. Tom Cruise. He stole that movie. Hell, if Forrest Whittaker can win an award (he's $ci, isn't he?) then why not Cruise? I can't stand the little shit, but he deserves this more than RDJ.
And I'm also pissed about The Dark Knight not getting more.
ReplyDeleteI hope Heath wins. Not because he's dead. Because he deserves it. And that movie must be recognized somehow. Best damn movie I've seen in a while. Don't see much writing like that anymore.
shakey, remember marisa tomei won for my cousin vinny. it can happen.
ReplyDeleteI'm with Ror...fuck this.
ReplyDeleteYAWNNNNNN
Will be watching ONLY for the apparel and to see who's jacked up, per usual.
Christ, pass me a pillow and blanket, i'm off to bed. How. Fucking. Boring.
ReplyDeleteAm i the only one that doesn't think Brad Pitt is a great actor? He's fine, but not great. And the Jolie? urgh, where do i start? This has got to be one of the worst list of noms for years! Sooo disappointing. Love Kate Winslet, but why only 1 nomination? somehow i don't think i'll be tuning in on oscar night; i think i'm washing my kids' hair that night.
Holy shit, Craig, I missed that last time through. Kristen Scott Thomas didn't get nominated?! The fuck?! Yeah, just reinforces what I said. :(
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ReplyDeleteI am rooting for Mr Fisher [Richard Jenkins] and Amy Adams. I also liked "In Bruges" .. hope that gets Original screenplay.
ReplyDeleteOkay .. off to start sewing my Angie Jo and Brad voo doo dolls. Christ .. I can't stand those two pretentious twits.
ummm, the dark knight was good people- but other than heath ledger, no one did that superb acting wise and a lot of the great things that happened were due to the special cgi effects- not acting nor directing.
ReplyDeleteThe thing that gets my goat was woody allen getting over looked again! vicky christina b. was a superb movie. Well written and well acted (and penelope cruz did not overact, she was supposed to be an emotional spainard!)
they just cant forgive woody for the whole soon yee thing, can they?
and i agree with whoever said mickey rourke for the wrestler, i hope he gets it.
ReplyDelete@notachance, you forgot to mention how the members even BECOME members:
ReplyDelete1. a current member "sponsors" an incoming member, incoming member must have screen credit of some sort.
2. incoming member pays some ungodly sum (i can't remember what it was, $10,000?) to be a member.
yes, mr. bunny & i wanted to be members until we found out what it cost. basically any idiot with a friend and a checking account can vote.
Can't believe Clint Eastwood got snubbed. Best performance of his career. Guess you don't earn any PC points for playing a white racist, even if he does find redemption.
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