Thursday, January 22, 2009

Oscar Likes Animals & Robots...


It appears that a Robot, A Dog and a Panda will compete for the Best Animated Picture Award at the Oscars this year...

Good odds for the Mouse.

And naturally, a Bat was shut out because it was just too popular, I guess. If you missed the rundown on what was nominated for what, here are the main nominations:

Best Picture:


The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Frost/Nixon

Milk

The Reader

Slumdog Millionaire
*


Best Director:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - David Fincher

Frost/Nixon - Ron Howard

Milk - Gus Van Sant

The Reader - Stephen Daldry

Slumdog Millionaire - Danny Boyle
*


Best Animated Picture:

Bolt

Kung Fu Panda

Wall-E
*


Best Animated Short Film

La Maison de Petits Cubes - Kunio Kato

Lavatory - Lovestory - Konstantin Bronzit

Oktapodi - Emud Mokhberi, Thierry Marchand

Presto - Doug Sweetland *

This Way Up - Alan Smith, Adam Foulkes



Best Original Screenplay:

Frozen River - Courtney Hunt

Happy-Go-Lucky - Mike Leigh

In Bruges - Martin McDonagh

Milk - Dustin Lance Black

Wall-E - Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon, Pete Docter
*


Best Adapted Screenplay:


The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Eric Roth, Robin Swicord

Doubt - John Patrick Shanley

Frost/Nixon - Peter Morgan

The Reader - David Hare

Slumdog Millionaire - Simon Beaufoy
*


Best Actor:

Richard Jenkins - The Visitor

Frank Langella - Frost/Nixon

Sean Penn - Milk

Brad Pitt - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler
*


Best Supporting Actor:

Josh Brolin - Milk

Robert Downey Jr. - Tropic Thunder

Phillip Seymour Hoffman - Doubt

Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight *

Michael Shannon - Revolutionary Road



Best Actress:

Anne Hathaway - Rachel Getting Married

Angelina Jolie - Changeling

Melissa Leo - Frozen River

Meryl Streep - Doubt

Kate Winslet - The Reader
*


Best Supporting Actress:

Amy Adams - Doubt

Penelope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Viola Davis - Doubt

Taraji P Henson - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Marisa Tomei - The Wrestler
*


* Honor's pick for what will/should win the Academy Award.

18 comments:

Spokker said...

Pretty much a bad showing for those of us who believed in Batman and Wall-E. I read a CNN commentary that Wall-E should have been nominated for best picture at the least.

It's not a coincidence that I suddenly lost all interest in the Oscars. I hope Milk or Slumdog wins it, but meh.

Anonymous said...

"Milk"? Give me a break. That stinkfest of a flick makes the titular character out to be some sort of martyr. In reality he wasn't murdered because he was gay; he was murdered because he wouldn't rehire a disgruntled employee, who then blew him away. The film's a load of crap. But after all, politics took the place of quality when it comes to Oscar consideration a long time ago.

I am glad Bolt got nominated and that Madagascar didn't. The nom doesn't mean much (see above paragraph) but it's just so great to see that schlocky series get snubbed by somebody, somewhere.

Anonymous said...

100 years from now people will remember the Dark Kniwght and Wall-E. No one will care about The Reader or Milk.

Anonymous said...

The Academy is a bunch of staunch old eltists giving themselves the circle jerk. The Dark Knight was too good for their touchy-feely sentimentality to spooge over. Screw Oscar and what he stands for and a big F-YOU to the Academy.

Anonymous said...

Since WALL-E is not in the running, I'm for Milk. The haters will have to live with it.

Anonymous said...

I too was bummed that the Dark Knight wasn't nominated. In my quest to watch this years possible nominees, I saw Slumdog. Although it was very good, I don't think it's the best film of the year by far. I would put DK, Wall-E, and even Gran Torino over it. I just didn't feel any emotional attachment to it like the other three. I guess I'll checkout Button, Frost/Nixon and Milk and see how they fair.

Anonymous said...

^fare not fair.

Go Wall-E and Presto!

Anonymous said...

uh, the Dark Knight WAS nominated...for best supporting actor. Heath was the best part of that movie anyways. I can't believe people think it should be nominated for best picture...It wasn't THAT good people!! It was COOL, yes, but not the best picture of the year. This is the Oscars, The Dark Knight can win golden globes, peoples choice and MTV awards, but not Oscars.

Slumdog won't win for best picture, there's no way. That movie wasn't all too great either. It was predictable but stylish. It will be Benjamin Button all the way, a fantastic movie in ALL regards - acting, screenplay, set, costume, directing etc.

The fact that Robert Downy got nominated is both hilarious and interesting. I'm glad he was recognized, but I'd still have to say that I'd be disappointed if Heath didn't win. Most people will expect him to I'm sure.

Wall-E all the way....

Anonymous said...

I've lost all faith in the Academy Awards. Now with a "Best Animated Picture" award, they have no need to recognize a masterful animated picture as the potential best picture of the year, and Wall-E will be left to compete only with the other "children's" movies. The Academy is also alienating the public by not nominating the Dark Knight, one of the most successful films both critically AND publicly. The Awards are quickly gaining the reputation of being elitist and not interested in popular films, and their plummeting broadcast ratings are proving it.

Thomas Phillip said...

The opinion that the Oscars is nothing but a promotional tool is both unfounded and completely justified. By the Academy choosing films viewers are virtually unaware of we are enlightened as an audience. I'm glad the more artful well crafted films are getting recognition over easy crowd favorites.

That being said 2009 was not the best year for movies. Slumdog is this years crash to be sure, Doubt was nothing less of the stage play on film, and Frost/Nixon is forlorn and obvious. I hope Benjamin Button wins because it's the only picture that combines majestic storytelling with Hollywood magic and expectations. It's the best of both worlds.

Anonymous said...

I only saw two of the Best pics nominated-Benjamin Button and Slumdog. Slumdog by far was better than Benjamin Button. They could have taken out about 30 mins of Benjamin (way too long). No way will Benjamin Button win Best Picture over Slumdog.

Anonymous said...

Hey did anyone else notice that Iger was sitting next to Spielberg at the inauguration!

Anonymous said...

I thought Frost/Nixon was a farce. I laughed all the way through it because it contained the worst Nixon impression I have ever seen! Why didn't they just hire Rich Little and be done with it?

Anonymous said...

**Since WALL-E is not in the running, I'm for Milk. The haters will have to live with it.**

You mean the haters of lousy movies, right?

Spokker said...

Milk has a 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes while Benjamin Button is hovering around 72%. Slumdog Millionaire is at 95%.

Colbert had a great line the other day. "Benjamin Button is nominated for 13 Oscars. Looks like America does approve of torture after all!"

Thomas Phillip said...

if watching Benjamin Button is torture chain me to the wall.

Anonymous said...

Better yet Dusty, why don't we just crucify you on the Tree of Woe?

Anonymous said...

"Milk has a 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes while Benjamin Button is hovering around 72%. Slumdog Millionaire is at 95%."

Compare that to Wall-E and Dark Knight's 96% and 94% respectively. I'm guessing that the only reason the Academy didn't nominated them is because they were too commercial or publicly popular. Which shouldn't matter at the Academy Awards