Oscars 2009: Seen and Unseen

Things are winding down for Oscar season now. Major players next month, most notably my two personal most-anticipated of December, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" and "Revolutionary Road," and are finally having screenings for the press and being called modern cinematic classics. That I can't wait to see them is a given (I've mentioned it before), but the fact that I'm seeing both of them on two consecutive days is simply thrilling to consider. The early feedback is promising, as well.

Not many changes this week. Enjoy!

Best Picture:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
Revolutionary Road
Slumdog Millionaire

Best Director:

Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire
David Fincher, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Sam Mendes, Revolutionary Road
Christopher Nolan, The Dark Knight
Gus Van Sant, Milk

Best Actor:

Leonardo DiCaprio, Revolutionary Road
Clint Eastwood, Gran Torino
Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn, Milk
Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler

Best Actress:

Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie, Changeling
Kristin Scott-Thomas, I've Loved You So Long
Meryl Streep, Doubt
Kate Winslet, Revolutionary Road

Best Supporting Actor:

Josh Brolin, Milk
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Doubt
Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
Dev Patel, Slumdog Millionaire
Michael Shannon, Revolutionary Road

Best Supporting Actress:

Penelope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis, Doubt
Rosemarie DeWitt, Rachel Getting Married
Taraji P. Henson, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Marisa Tomei, The Wrestler

Best Adapted Screenplay:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Doubt
Frost/Nixon
Revolutionary Road
Slumdog Millionaire

Best Original Screenplay:

Happy-Go-Lucky
Milk
Rachel Getting Married
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
The Visitor

Best Animated Feature Film:

Kung Fu Panda
WALL-E
Waltz with Bashir

Best Art Direction:

Australia
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Duchess
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Revolutionary Road

Best Cinematography:

Australia
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Defiance
Revolutionary Road

Best Costume Design:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Duchess
The Fall
The Other Boleyn Girl
Revolutionary Road

Best Film Editing:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Defiance
Frost/Nixon
Milk
Slumdog Millionaire

Best Makeup:

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Synecdoche, New York

Best Original Score (Note: "The Dark Knight" was officially disqualified from this category last week. Maddening, I know. That score is perhaps among the greatest of all time. If it was able, it would win.):

Australia
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Defiance
Revolutionary Road
WALL-E

Best Original Song:

"All Dressed Up in Love," Sex and the City
"Down to Earth," WALL-E
"Now or Never," High School Musical 3: Senior Year
"Rock Me Sexy Jesus," Hamlet 2
"The Wrestler," The Wrestler

Best Sound Editing:

The Dark Knight
Defiance
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Iron Man
WALL-E

Best Sound Mixing:

Australia
The Dark Knight
Defiance
Iron Man
WALL-E

Best Visual Effects:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Day the Earth Stood Still
Iron Man