2008 Academy Award Nominations

This turned out almost exactly as I had predicted, save the absence of Bruce Springsteen from the Best Original Song category (which is especially surprising after his win at the Golden Globes last week). People were claiming Benjamin Button would receive few nominations because it didn’t win over all the critics, and everybody for some reason expected The Dark Knight to receive Best Picture and Director nominations. It didn’t. It certainly deserved to, but I had a feeling its only major category would be a nom for Ledger, and the rest would all be technical stuff. Sadly, that’s what happened. The Academy is run by a bunch of old Hollywood geezers and elitists. Comedies are rarely nominated for any major categories let alone action or comic book films (and on the rare occasion that there are nominations, such as with this year’s Downey Jr. or when Marisa Tomei won for My Cousin Vinny, it’s usually just for performances and not the films themselves). They have a very narrow, traditional view of what is “worthy” of an Oscar. They didn’t even include Wall-E under the Best Picture noms, opting instead to relegate it to the less prestigious “animation” category, even though – as many critics have pointed out – Wall-E is better than most other films this year, regardless of genre or style.

The full list of nominations continues below.

BEST PICTURE
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
MILK
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
THE READER
FROST/NIXON

BEST ACTOR
Sean Penn – MILK
Mickey Rourke – THE WRESTLER
Frank Langella – FROST/NIXON
Brad Pitt – THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
Richard Jenkins – THE VISITOR

BEST ACTRESS
Meryl Streep – DOUBT
Anne Hathaway – RACHEL GETTING MARRIED
Kate Winslet – THE READER
Melissa Leo – FROZEN RIVER
Angelina Jolie – CHANGELING

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Heath Ledger – THE DARK KNIGHT
Robert Downey, Jr. – TROPIC THUNDER
Philip Seymour Hoffman – DOUBT
Josh Brolin – MILK
Michael Shannon – REVOLUTIONARY ROAD

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Marisa Tomei – THE WRESTLER
Amy Adams – DOUBT
Penelope Cruz – VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA
Taraji P. Henson – THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
Viola Davis – DOUBT

BEST ANIMATED FILM
WALL-E
KUNG FU PANDA
BOLT

BEST DIRECTOR
Danny Boyle – SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
David Fincher – THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
Stephen Daldry – THE READER
Ron Howard – FROST/NIXON
Gus Van Sant – MILK

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Simon Beaufoy – SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
Eric Roth – THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
Peter Morgan – FROST/NIXON
John Patrick Shanley – DOUBT
David Hare – THE READER

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Courtney Hunt – FROZEN RIVER
Dustin Lance Black – MILK
Martin McDonough – IN BRUGES
Mike Leigh – HAPPY-GO-LUCKY
Andrew Stanton and Jim Reardon – WALL-E

BEST ART DIRECTION
CHANGELING
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
THE DARK KNIGHT
THE DUCHESS
REVOLUTIONARY ROAD

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
CHANGELING
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
THE DARK KNIGHT
THE READER
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
AUSTRALIA
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
THE DUCHESS
MILK
REVOLUTIONARY ROAD

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
THE BETRAYAL
ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE ROAD
MAN ON WIRE
THE GARDEN
TROUBLE THE WATER

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
“The Conscience of Nhem En”
“The Final Inch”
“Smile Pinki”
“The Witness – From the Balcony of Room 306″

BEST EDITING
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
THE DARK KNIGHT
FROST/NIXON
MILK
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
THE BAADER MEINHOF COMPLEX
THE CLASS
DEPARTURES
AUSTRIA
WALTZ WITH BASHIR

BEST MAKEUP
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
DEFIANCE
MILK
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
WALL-E

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
“Down to Earth” – WALL-E
“Jai Ho” – SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
“O Saya” – SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

BEST ANIMATED SHORT
“La Maison de Petits Cubes”
“Lavatory – Lovestory”
“Oktapodi”
“Presto”
“This Way Up”

BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT
“Auf der Strecke (On the Line)”
“Manon on the Asphalt”
“New Boy”
“The Pig”
“Spielzeugland (Toyland)”

BEST SOUND EDITING
THE DARK KNIGHT
IRON MAN
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
WALL-E
WANTED

BEST SOUND MIXING
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
THE DARK KNIGHT
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
WALL-E
WANTED

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
IRON MAN
THE DARK KNIGHT

Tagged as: 2008, academy awards, oscars