The 81st Academy Awards

Gold Standard 2008

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

JANUARY 22, 2009: After several years in which the Academy appeared to be growing more daring, they have reverted back to their old habits. The nominations came in this morning with some of the year's best films snubbed, notably The Dark Knight, Vicky Cristina Barcelona and Gran Torino. I knew that Eastwood's and Allen's films were more marginal choices, but The Dark Knight is the true movie of the moment, the film that practically defined 2008. In its place, we get The Reader, a bland piece of fluff that looks as if it were cranked out by a computer designed to make Oscar nominees. Mike Leigh's Happy-Go-Lucky was also snubbed, notably in the case of actress Sally Hawkins, who won practically every critics award on the planet. David Fincher received his first Best Director nomination for his worst film (where was his nod for Fight Club?) The Curious Case of Benjamin Button earned the most nominations, 13, which is pretty standard for the longest film in the batch. Slumdog Millionaire earned ten, while Milk earned eight. All in all, it was a year of great popcorn movies and funny comedies, neither of which particularly appeal to the Academy.

Of the twenty nominated actors, five (Penn, Streep, Hoffman, Jolie and Tomei) are former winners. Five others, Pitt, Downey Jr., Ledger, Adams and Cruz, are receiving their second nomination. Kate Winslet has received her sixth nomination. The other nine actors are being nominated for the first time. Incidentally, this is the 15th nomination for Streep.

As for the directors, Van Sant is receiving his second nomination; his first was for Good Will Hunting. Howard is likewise receiving his second nomination, though he won for A Beautiful Mind. Somehow, this is the third nomination for Daldry, after Billy Elliot and The Hours. (Huh?) Finall, these are the first nominations for both Boyle and Fincher.

Sunday, February 15. All my predictions are in now. The winners will be announced Sunday, February 22, 2009. Let the games begin.

Sunday, February 22: Winners announced. I got 16 out of 23, or about 70%. (I did not make a prediction for Best Documentary Short.) The totals break down like this: Slumdog Millionaire with eight, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button with three, The Dark Knight and Milk with two apiece, and The Reader, Man on Wire, The Duchess, WALL-E and Vicky Cristina Barcelona with one each. Then we have Departures for Foreign Language -- which nobody has seen yet -- and the three short films for a total of 24. Frost/Nixon came away empty-handed. Thanks for checking in; we'll see you next year!

Nominees	Jeff's Take & Results
Best Picture The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Frost/Nixon Milk The Reader Slumdog Millionaire	The Winner: Slumdog Millionaire My Prediction: Slumdog Millionaire My Vote: Frost/Nixon Unfairly Overlooked: The Dark Knight
Best Director Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire Stephen Daldry, The Reader David Fincher, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Ron Howard, Frost/Nixon Gus Van Sant, Milk	The Winner: Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire My Prediction: Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire My Vote: Gus Van Sant, Milk Unfairly Overlooked: Mike Leigh (Happy-Go-Lucky), Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight)
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	The Winner: Sean Penn, Milk My Prediction: Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler My Vote: Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler Unfairly Overlooked: Benicio Del Toro (Che), Clint Eastwood (Gran Torino), Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man)
Best Actress Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married Angelina Jolie, Changeling Melissa Leo, Frozen River Meryl Streep, Doubt Kate Winslet, The Reader	The Winner: Kate Winslet, The Reader My Prediction: Kate Winslet, The Reader My Vote: Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married Unfairly Overlooked: Sally Hawkins (Happy-Go-Lucky), Michelle Williams (Wendy & Lucy), Juliette Binoche (Flight of the Red Balloon), Penelope Cruz (Elegy)
Best Supporting Actor Josh Brolin, Milk Robert Downey Jr., Tropic Thunder Philip Seymour Hoffman, Doubt Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight Michael Shannon, Revolutionary Road	The Winner: Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight My Prediction: Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight My Vote: Robert Downey Jr., Tropic Thunder Unfairly Overlooked: Eddie Marsan (Happy-Go-Lucky)
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	The Winner: Penelope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona My Prediction: Penelope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona My Vote: Penelope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona Unfairly Overlooked: Rosemarie DeWitt & Debra Winger (Rachel Getting Married)
Foreign Language Film The Baader Meinhof Complex (Germany) The Class (France) Revanche (Austria) Okuribito (Departures) (Japan) Waltz with Bashir (Israel)	The Winner: Okuribito (Departures) My Prediction: Waltz with Bashir My Vote: Waltz with Bashir Unfairly Overlooked: Let the Right One In (Sweden), Gommorah (Italy), A Christmas Tale (France), JCVD (Belgium)
Adapted Screenplay Eric Roth, Robin Swicord, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button John Patrick Shanley, Doubt Peter Morgan, Frost/Nixon David Hare, The Reader Simon Beaufoy, Slumdog Millionaire	The Winner: Simon Beaufoy, Slumdog Millionaire My Prediction: Simon Beaufoy, Slumdog Millionaire My Vote: John Patrick Shanley, Doubt Unfairly Overlooked: Simon Beaufoy (Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day), Jonathan & Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight), Clark Gregg (Choke)
Original Screenplay Courtney Hunt, Frozen River Mike Leigh, Happy-Go-Lucky Martin McDonagh, In Bruges Dustin Lance Black, Milk Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter, Jim Reardon, WALL-E	The Winner: Dustin Lance Black, Milk My Prediction: Dustin Lance Black, Milk My Vote: Martin McDonagh, In Bruges Unfairly Overlooked: Woody Allen (Vicky Cristina Barcelona), Jenny Lumet (Rachel Getting Married), Thomas McCarthy (The Visitor), Joel Coen & Ethan Coen (Burn After Reading)
Animated Feature Film Bolt Kung Fu Panda WALL-E	The Winner: WALL-E My Prediction: WALL-E My Vote: WALL-E Unfairly Overlooked: Waltz with Bashir, Horton Hears a Who!
Cinematography Tom Stern, Changeling Claudio Miranda, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Wally Pfister, The Dark Knight Roger Deakins, Chris Menges, The Reader Anthony Dod Mantle, Slumdog Millionaire	The Winner: Anthony Dod Mantle, Slumdog Millionaire My Prediction: Anthony Dod Mantle, Slumdog Millionaire My Vote: Wally Pfister, The Dark Knight Unfairly Overlooked: Roger Deakins (Doubt), Jody Shapiro (My Winnipeg), Lik Wai Yu (Still Life)
Art Direction Changeling The Curious Case of Benjamin Button The Dark Knight The Duchess Revolutionary Road	The Winner: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button My Prediction: The Dark Knight My Vote: The Dark Knight Unfairly Overlooked: Hellboy II: The Golden Army
Sound Mixing The Curious Case of Benjamin Button The Dark Knight Slumdog Millionaire WALL-E Wanted	The Winner: Slumdog Millionaire My Prediction: The Dark Knight My Vote: The Dark Knight Unfairly Overlooked: Iron Man, Hellboy II: The Golden Army
Sound Editing Iron Man The Dark Knight Slumdog Millionaire WALL-E Wanted	The Winner: The Dark Knight My Prediction: The Dark Knight My Vote: Iron Man Unfairly Overlooked: Hellboy II: The Golden Army
Original Score Alexandre Desplat, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button James Newton Howard, Defiance Danny Elfman, Milk A.R. Rahman, Slumdog Millionaire Thomas Newman, WALL-E	The Winner: A.R. Rahman, Slumdog Millionaire My Prediction: A.R. Rahman, Slumdog Millionaire My Vote: Alexandre Desplat, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Unfairly Overlooked: James Newton Howard and Hans Zimmer (The Dark Knight), Clint Eastwood (Changeling)
Original Song "Jai Ho" from Slumdog Millionaire, A.R. Rahman, Gulzar "O Saya" from Slumdog Millionaire, A.R. Rahman, Maya Arulpragasam (M.I.A.) "Down to Earth" from WALL-E, Peter Gabriel, Thomas Newman	The Winner: "Jai Ho" (Slumdog Millionaire) My Prediction: "Jai Ho" (Slumdog Millionaire) My Vote: "O Saya" (Slumdog Millionaire) Unfairly Overlooked: "Another Way to Die," Jack White & Alicia Keys (Quantum of Solace); "Love Me Sexy" (Semi-Pro)
Costume Australia The Curious Case of Benjamin Button The Duchess Milk Revolutionary Road	The Winner: The Duchess My Prediction: Milk My Vote: Milk Unfairly Overlooked: The Dark Knight, Iron Man, Hellboy II: The Golden Army
Documentary Feature The Betrayal - Nerakhoon Encounters at the End of the World The Garden Man on Wire Trouble the Water	The Winner: Man on Wire My Prediction: Man on Wire My Vote: Encounters at the End of the World Unfairly Overlooked: Young @ Heart
Documentary Short The Conscience of Nhem En The Final Inch Smile Pinki The Witness from the Balcony of Room 306	The Winner: Smile Pinki My Prediction: n/a My Vote: n/a Unfairly Overlooked: n/a
Film Editing The Curious Case of Benjamin Button The Dark Knight Frost/Nixon Milk Slumdog Millionaire	The Winner: Slumdog Millionaire My Prediction: Slumdog Millionaire My Vote: The Dark Knight Unfairly Overlooked: Hellboy II: The Golden Army, Burn After Reading
Makeup The Curious Case of Benjamin Button The Dark Knight Hellboy II: The Golden Army	The Winner: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button My Prediction: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button My Vote: The Dark Knight Unfairly Overlooked: Diary of the Dead, Let the Right One In, The Wrestler
Animated Short La Maison en Petits Cubes Lavatory Lovestory Oktapodi Presto This Way Up	The Winner: La Maison en Petits Cubes My Prediction: This Way Up My Vote: La Maison en Petits Cubes Unfairly Overlooked: n/a
Live Action Short Manon on the Asphalt New Boy On the Line The Pig Toyland	The Winner: Toyland My Prediction: Toyland My Vote: The Pig Unfairly Overlooked: n/a
Visual Effects The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Iron Man The Dark Knight	The Winner: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button My Prediction: The Dark Knight My Vote: The Dark Knight Unfairly Overlooked: Hellboy II, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull