Oscars

[faustus]

Best Film
Frost/Nixon: Ron Howard, Eric Fellner, Brian Grazer
Milk: Bruce Cohen, Dan Jinks
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: Cean Chaffin, Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall Slumdog Millionaire: Christian Colson
The Reader: Anthony Minghella, Redmond Morris, Donna Gigliotti, Sydney Pollack

I'v only seen the winner - a feel good movie with gestures toward social commentary

Best Director
Milk: Gus Van Sant
Frost/Nixon: Ron Howard The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: David Fincher
Slumdog Millionaire: Danny Boyle
The Reader: Stephen Daldry

It would be a slap to win Best Film but not Director - what about Boyle's Indian director?


Best Actor
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: Brad Pitt
The Visitor: Richard Jenkins
Frost/Nixon: Frank Langella
The Wrestler: Mickey Rourke
Milk: Sean Penn

The smart money on Rourke - Pitt was a special effect. A "brave" choice award - although I enjoyed Jenkins as the square academic who became more rounded.


Best Actress
Doubt: Meryl Streep
Changeling: Angelina Jolie
Frozen River: Melissa Leo Winner:
The Reader: Kate Winslet
Rachel Getting Married: Anne Hathaway

I've only seen Jolie's one note performance thus far.


Best Supporting Actor
Doubt: Philip Seymour Hoffman
The Dark Knight: Heath Ledger
Tropic Thunder: Robert Downey Jr.
Frost/Nixon: Josh Brolin
Revolutionary Road: Michael Shannon

Sentiment wins. Imagine had Downey won.

Best Supporting Actress
The Wrestler: Marisa Tomei
Vicky Cristina Barcelona: Penélope Cruz
Doubt: Viola Davis
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: Taraji P. Henson
Doubt: Amy Adams

I don't have the energy for Allen does Almodovar - and I've not seen any of the rest.

Best Original Screenplay
In Bruges: Martin McDonagh
WALL-E: Jim Reardon, Peter Docter, Andrew Stanton
Milk: Dustin Lance Black
Happy-Go-Lucky: Mike Leigh
Frozen River: Courtney Hunt

It would have been dodgy for Leigh to win; I was very impressed by the dialogue in In Bruges


Best Adapted Screenplay
Doubt: John Patrick Shanley
Frost/Nixon: Peter Morgan
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: Eric Roth, Robin Swicord
The Reader: David Hare
Slumdog Millionaire: Simon Beaufoy

Note the similarities to Best Film and Director.


Best Cinematography
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly: Janusz Kamiński
Slumdog Millionaire: Anthony Dod Mantle
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: Claudio Miranda
The Dark Knight: Wally Pfister
The Reader: Chris Menges, Roger Deakins
Changeling: Tom Stern

A chance for Dark Knight - but the weight is behind the sweep. Changeling looked fantastic too.


Costume Design
The Duchess: Michael O'Conner
Australia: Catherine Martin
Revolutionary Road: Albert Wolsky
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: Jacqueline West
Milk: Danny Glicker

Oh, the frocks!


Encounters at the End of the World: Werner Herzog, Henry Kaiser
Man on Wire: James Marsh, Simon Chinn
The Garden: Scott Hamilton Kennedy
Trouble the Water: Carl Deal, Tia Lessin
Nerakhoon: Ellen Kuras, Thavisouk Phrasavath

I haven't seen any of these.


Best Foreign Language
Entre les murs: Laurent Cantet
Okuribito: Yojiro Takita
Der Baader Meinhof Komplex: Uli Edel
Revanche: Götz Spielmann
Waltz with Bashir: Ari Folman

I saw Baader-Meinhof and Waltz, both excellent

Best Feature Animation
Kung Fu Panda: Mark Osborne, John Stevenson
WALL-E: Andrew Stanton
Bolt: Chris Williams, Byron Howard

Fair nuff. What about Waltz?


Best Makeup
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: Greg Cannom
The Dark Knight: Conor O'Sullivan, John Caglione, Jr.
Hellboy II: The Golden Army: Thom Floutz, Mike Elizalde

A nod to the also ran.

Best Visual Effects
Iron Man: Shane Mahan, Dan Sudick, Ben Snow, John Nelson
The Dark Knight: Paul Franklin, Nick Davis, Chris Corbould, Tim Webber
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: Craig Barron, Steve Preeg, Eric Barba, Burt Dalton
Technical Nod


Best Art Direction
Revolutionary Road: Kristi Zea, Debra Schutt
Changeling: James J. Murakami, Gary Fettis
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: Donald Graham Burt, Victor J. Zolfo
The Dark Knight: Nathan Crowley, Peter Lando
The Duchess: Rebecca Alleway, Michael D. Carlin
Technical Nod


Best Live-Action Short
Manon on the Asphalt: Elizabeth Marre, Olivier Pont
New Boy: Tamara Anghie, Steph Green
The Pig: Tivi Magnusson, Dorte Hogh
Spielzeugland: Jochen Alexander Freydank
On the Line: Reto Caffi
Not seen any.


Best Animated Short

Lavatory Lovestory: Konstantin Bronzit
Oktapodi: Emud Mokhberi, Thierry Marchand
La Maison en Petits
Cubes: Kunio Kato This Way Up: Adam Foulkes, Alan Smith
Presto: Doug Sweetland
Presto was great.



Best Sound Editing

Wanted: Wylie Stateman
Iron Man: Christopher Boyes, Frank Eulner
WALL-E: Ben Burtt, Matthew Wood
The Dark Knight: Richard King
Slumdog Millionaire: Tom Sayers, Glenn Freemantle
A technical nod



Best Sound Mix

WALL-E: Ben Burtt, Michael Semanick, Tom Myers
The Dark Knight: Ed Novick, Gary Rizzo, Lora Hirschberg
Slumdog Millionaire: Resul Pookutty, Richard Pryke, Ian Tapp
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: Michael Semanick, David Parker, Mark Weingarten, Ren Klyce
Wanted: Petr Forejt, Chris Jenkins, Frank A. Montaño
Were you paying attention?



Slumdog Millionaire: Chris Dickens
The Dark Knight: Lee Smith
Frost/Nixon: Daniel P. Hanley, Mike Hill
Milk: Elliot Graham
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: Angus Wall, Kirk Baxter

Yes - very slick



Best Song
Slumdog Millionaire (O Saya): Maya Arulpragasam, A. R. Rahman
Slumdog Millionaire (Jai Ho): A. R. Rahman
WALL-E (Down to Earth): Peter Gabriel, Thomas Newman



Best Original Score

Slumdog Millionaire: A. R. Rahman Milk: Danny Elfman
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: Alexandre Desplat
Defiance: James Newton Howard
WALL-E: Thomas Newman

A surprise, but part of the landslide.



Best documentary short
The Final Inch
The Witness - From the Balcony of Room 306
Smile Pinki
The Conscience of Nhem En

Not seen.