'Tis that time of year again, the beloved (or loathed...) Awards Season! The Academy Award nominations were revealed today in their time-honoured fashion, and as always they threw up some surprises. Before listing the nominees and revealing my prediction for the winner in each category, I thought I'd offer a few random thoughts and observations. All together now... "What about The Dark Knight?!?!"
- - In all honesty, I'm not surprised that TDK wasn't nominated, and not overwhelmingly disappointed - yes, it's a good film, but hardly the best thing since sliced bread. More disappointing for me is the lack of love for The Wrestler, which only received nods for Best Actor (Rourke) and Supporting Actress (Tomei - a pleasant surprise, to be fair). It's probably just too niche a film for the Academy.
- - In terms of numbers, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is the big leader with an impressive 13 noms, which has only ever been bettered by two films: Titanic and All About Eve. I can't see it winning in any of the major categories though, but at the very least Visual Effects seems a likely win. I need to see this film.
- - The Reader got a lot of love (5 noms), which is odd considering it's hardly a great film (see my review). It's one of those Oscar Bait films that seem to get nominated just because of their subject matter than because of actual quality. The fact that the Weinsteins are behind it is not insigificant either - they powered Shakespeare In Love to an unfathomable Best Picture win a decade ago.
- - If Heath Ledger doesn't win for Supporting Actor, I'll be seriously miffed, as his performance is brilliant, regardless of his sad death. However he seems like such an overwhelming favourite that a backlash from voters may occur.
- - Staying with Supporting Actor, it's great to see a nom for Robert Downey Jr. in Tropic Thunder. Not a brilliant film but he certainly stood out.
- - Slumdog Millionaire managed a substantial 10 nominations overall, which is all the more impressive considering it's a small film and therefore can't compete in categories like Visual Effects. It's the clear front runner for the big one.
- - Animated Film really seems like a pointless category; not because WALL-E is undeserving of a win but because there are so few films to choose from. It also prevents any animated films from ever being nominated for Best Picture nowadays.
- - Likewise this year the Best Song selection is odd - only three noms (usually there are five) and two for the same film, Slumdog Millionaire. Every year one film gets nominated more than once in this same category.
- - Overall an interesting selection - the Best Pic category looks pretty strong even though I've only seen two of them thus far. But I can't see the ceremony's ratings slide improving; increasingly these days popular films and those deemed awards-worthy are seen as two opposing definitions. It's only when there's another popular hit that also gets lots of noms - another Lord of the Rings or Titanic - that general interest will improve.
BEST PICTURE
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
MILK
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
THE READER
FROST/NIXON
BEST ACTOR
Sean Penn - MILK
Mickey Rourke - THE WRESTLER
Frank Langella - FROST/NIXON
Brad Pitt - THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
Richard Jenkins - THE VISITOR
BEST ACTRESS
Meryl Streep - DOUBT
Anne Hathaway - RACHEL GETTING MARRIED
Kate Winslet - THE READER
Melissa Leo - FROZEN RIVER
Angelina Jolie - CHANGELING
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Heath Ledger - THE DARK KNIGHT
Robert Downey, Jr. - TROPIC THUNDER
Philip Seymour Hoffman - DOUBT
Josh Brolin - MILK
Michael Shannon - REVOLUTIONARY ROAD
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Marisa Tomei - THE WRESTLER
Amy Adams - DOUBT
Penelope Cruz - VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA
Taraji P. Henson - THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
Viola Davis - DOUBT
BEST ANIMATED FILM
WALL-E
KUNG FU PANDA
BOLT
BEST DIRECTOR
Danny Boyle - SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
David Fincher - THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
Stephen Daldry - THE READER
Ron Howard - FROST/NIXON
Gus Van Sant - MILK
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Simon Beaufoy - SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
Eric Roth - THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
Peter Morgan - FROST/NIXON
John Patrick Shanley - DOUBT
David Hare - THE READER
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Courtney Hunt - FROZEN RIVER
Dustin Lance Black - MILK
Martin McDonough - IN BRUGES
Mike Leigh - HAPPY-GO-LUCKY
Andrew Stanton and Jim Reardon - WALL-E
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
ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE ROAD
MAN ON WIRE
THE GARDEN
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
THE CLASS
DEPARTURES
AUSTRIA
WALTZ WITH BASHIR
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
DEFIANCE
MILK
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
WALL-E
BEST ORIGINAL SONG
"Down to Earth" - WALL-E
"Jai Ho" - SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
"O Saya" - SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
BEST ANIMATED SHORT
"La Maison de Petits Cubes"
"Lavatory - Lovestory"
"Oktapodi"
"Presto"
"This Way Up"
BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT
"Auf der Strecke (On the Line)"
"Manon on the Asphalt"
"New Boy"
"The Pig"
"Spielzeugland (Toyland)"
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
IRON MAN
THE DARK KNIGHT
The ceremony is on Feb 22nd. Is it really that time already?
