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I dont know who in here fallows the oscar's., but here is the shortlist anyhow.
You'll hear alot of gff about THE READER in the next few days, ignore it, the reader wasa great movie and deserved the nod!
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 art direction
* “Changeling” (Universal), Art Direction: James J. Murakami, Set Decoration: Gary Fettis
* “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Art Direction: Donald Graham Burt, Set Decoration: Victor J. Zolfo
* “The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.), Art Direction: Nathan Crowley, Set Decoration: Peter Lando
* “The Duchess” (Paramount Vantage, Pathé and BBC Films), Art Direction: Michael Carlin, Set Decoration: Rebecca Alleway
* “Revolutionary Road” (DreamWorks, Distributed by Paramount Vantage), Art Direction: Kristi Zea, Set Decoration: Debra Schutt
Achievement in cinematography
* “Changeling” (Universal), Tom Stern
* “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Claudio Miranda
* “The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.), Wally Pfister
* “The Reader” (The Weinstein Company), Chris Menges and Roger Deakins
* “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), Anthony Dod Mantle
Achievement in costume design
* “Australia” (20th Century Fox), Catherine Martin
* “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Jacqueline West
* “The Duchess” (Paramount Vantage, Pathé and BBC Films), Michael O’Connor
* “Milk” (Focus Features), Danny Glicker
* “Revolutionary Road” (DreamWorks, Distributed by Paramount Vantage), Albert Wolsky
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 documentary short subject
* “The Conscience of Nhem En” A Farallon Films Production, Steven Okazaki
* “The Final Inch” A Vermilion Films Production, Irene Taylor Brodsky and Tom Grant
* “Smile Pinki” A Principe Production, Megan Mylan
* “The Witness - From the Balcony of Room 306” A Rock Paper Scissors Production, Adam Pertofsky and Margaret Hyde
Achievement in film editing
* “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall
* “The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.), Lee Smith
* “Frost/Nixon” (Universal), Mike Hill and Dan Hanley
* “Milk” (Focus Features), Elliot Graham
* “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), Chris Dickens
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 makeup
* “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Greg Cannom
* “The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.), John Caglione, Jr. and Conor O’Sullivan
* “Hellboy II: The Golden Army” (Universal), Mike Elizalde and Thom Floutz
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 andMaya 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
Best live action short film
* “Auf der Strecke (On the Line)” (Hamburg Shortfilmagency), An Academy of Media Arts Cologne Production, Reto Caffi
* “Manon on the Asphalt” (La Luna Productions), A La Luna Production, Elizabeth Marre and Olivier Pont
* “New Boy” (Network Ireland Television), A Zanzibar Films Production, Steph Green and Tamara Anghie
* “The Pig” An M & M Production, Tivi Magnusson and Dorte Høgh
* “Spielzeugland (Toyland)” A Mephisto Film Production, Jochen Alexander Freydank
Achievement in sound editing
* “The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.), Richard King
* “Iron Man” (Paramount and Marvel Entertainment), Frank Eulner and Christopher Boyes
* “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), Tom Sayers
* “WALL-E” (Walt Disney), Ben Burtt and Matthew Wood
* “Wanted” (Universal),Wylie Stateman
Achievement in sound mixing
* “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Mark Weingarten
* “The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.), Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo and Ed Novick
* “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke and Resul Pookutty
* “WALL-E” (Walt Disney),Tom Myers, Michael Semanick and Ben Burtt
* “Wanted” (Universal), Chris Jenkins, Frank A. Montaño and Petr Forejt
Achievement in visual effects
* “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton and Craig Barron
* “The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.), Nick Davis, Chris Corbould, Tim Webber and Paul Franklin
* “Iron Man” (Paramount and Marvel Entertainment), John Nelson, Ben Snow, Dan Sudick and Shane Mahan
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
That's ridiculous that The Dark Knight didn't get nominated for Best Picture. Milk and Slumdog Millionaire were great The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was a complete bore. The Dark Knight managed to live up to its enormous hype and to me its the best superhero movie ever. At least Heath Ledger got a nomination.
I expected that Sally Hawkins would have been nominated.
The most interesting category (as usual) is best foreign language film. This year Academy has chosen good movies after last year fiasco (eg 4 Months... didn't get nominated). Surprise is that Gomorra is not nominated (I didn't like it much either but it's so hyped.). And I'm bit upset that my favourite 'Låt den rätte komma in' is not among the nominees.
Thumbs up to Entre les murs 
(Actually I'm going to see tonight Waltz with Bazir and I wanna see that Japanese movie too.)
I'm also surprised that THE DARK KNIGHT got shut out from Picture and Director, especially after all the various Guild nominations it had been getting the last few weeks. I agree with Kevin about THE READER, though - not sure if it's actually one of the 5 best films of the year, but it's a fascinating, highly thought-provoking movie with a brilliant performance by Winslet that should - if there's any justice - finally win her an Oscar on her sixth (!) try.
I'm very, very surprised and delighted by the well-deserved nominations received by veteran character actors Richard Jenkins, Melissa Leo, and Michael Shannon (whose two extended scenes in REVOLUTIONARY ROAD are the high point of that film).
MILK is by far my personal favorite among the Best Picture nominees. It's one of the best biopics I've ever seen, and even though you know (or should know) going in that it's heading for a sad ending you'll be amazed at how inspiring and uplifting the movie as a whole actually is. Penn gives one of his finest performances ever, and he's matched by fellow nominee Brolin (as Milk's nemesis Dan White).
To keep the discussion on topic for this forum, it looks like our man Peter Gabriel is going to share the Best Song Oscar this year (along with the great Thomas Newman), for "Down to Earth", his wonderful song from WALL-E.
Springsteen got slapped in the face. Well...The oscars might know there movies, but they dont no there music.
Dark Knight isn't remotely near the best picture of the year. Heath Ledger was amazing, but the plot was self indulgent, full of holes and contrivances, and superficially philosophical. Heath Ledger deserved his nom, and that's about it.
I really, really want Slumdog to win. It's easily the best new film I've seen in years. Only a handful of films I saw when they were new are even in the same class.
Was I the only one who saw Slumdog and thought, "oh, it's didactic and nonsensical like Crash, but it's in India." A well made movie, but the story felt forced to touch on every social issue affecting contemporary India. The characters didn't feel like characters, they felt like the means of demonstrating India's social problems.
I loved Benjamin Button, but have really seen a lot of disparate reactions to it. I'm curious what people here thought.
I agree that The Dark Knight isn't the best movie of the year, but I still would have liked to see it be nominated. How often do you see a movie become a box office smash and at the same type be hailed by just about every movie critic? The publication Empire recently had a publication of the 500 Greatest Movies ever and The Dark Knight was listed in the Top 20. I don't necessarily agree with that but it just goes to show the profound impact that movie had. 10 years from now I think we will be remembering that movie as one of the greatest comic book adapations ever while movies like Benjamin Button and Frost/Nixon will be forgotten.
Actually, when I saw SLUMDOG my first thought was, "It's CITY OF GOD in India." I think it's a good movie - and certainly an extremely well-made one, since Boyle truly is a genius director - but I agreed with a friend who said, essentially, "if you've never seen CITY OF GOD, you'll think this is one of the best movies you've ever seen; if you have seen CITY OF GOD, you'll probably say, 'Christ, this movie is exactly like CITY OF GOD'." Only more superficially uplifting. It's the feel-good movie of the year, if you prefer your feel-good movies with scenes of children getting tortured.
As for BENJAMIN BUTTON, I'm conflicted about it. Again, it's an extraordinarily well-made and brilliantly crafted film; I don't think there's any director working today who's more gifted at the pure nuts-and-bolts of putting images and sounds together to -make a movie- than David Fincher. (If you haven't seen last year's ZODIAC, I implore you to rent it as soon as possible.) Even at 167 minutes, Fincher's command of framing, cutting and pacing (not to mention the seamless, jawdropping visual effects that convince us Pitt is whatever age he's supposed to be) keeps BUTTON from dragging...
...or would, if it weren't for Eric Roth's drippy screenplay, which cribs shamelessly from his own FORREST GUMP script. The first two hours of BUTTON are quite good, focusing as they do on Benjamin's early life and his adventures out in the world. But the last act of the film is a giant letdown, because it narrows the focus almost exclusively to the doomed love of Benjamin and Cate Blanchett's Daisy - which is obviously intended to be the heart-tugging emotional center of the movie but is actually its least interesting aspect. At least for me.
TCCOBB is definitely, definitely worth seeing, for its breathtaking craftsmanship (it fully deserves all its technical nominations) and for the performances (in addition to Pitt's fine work, the nominated Taraji P. Henson works wonders with the somewhat cliched role of Benjamin's earthy-wise African-American adoptive mother, and Jared Harris provides a welcome burst of humor and energy as the tugboat captain who becomes his best pal/father figure). But it's no masterpiece.
"...and that Cobain pussy had to come around and ruin it all..."
pop elton
Let the Right One In wasn't even Sweden's entry for the Oscars. They went for Everlasting Moments, which made it to the final 9, but not the nominees.
Thanks for the correction Rune. I noticed that Sweden had movie in the final top 9 and I assumed that their candidate was 'Let the Right One in'. But I guess Swedish film institution made the right choise. Let the Right... would hardly have made to top 9 because it's probably too much for academy.
I haven't seen those best picture nominees because they always have premieres in Europe during January or February. But I'm still pretty sure that those movies are better than The Dark Knight.
make sure to see silent light if you haven't...technically a 2007 release but probably just coming to a lot of theaters now...if you've been following reygadas' career so far (japon showed great potential, battle in heaven delivered on it), it's really exciting to see that he's put together such a brilliant film...i'd say it puts him among the world's top 5 or 10 filmmakers, and definitely mexico's best (not del toro or cuaron)
I saw Silent Light in Helsinki Film Festival last september and loved it (9/10 or at least 8/10).
The Oscars got it right last year when the gave Glen from Once and the Frames the Oscar for best song.
Greg, Carlos wasn't in the festival so I didn't have chance to see him.