Best Live Action Short Film, Best Animated Short Film, & Best Documentary Short
I haven’t actually seen any of the films nominated in these categories (with the exception of Pixar’s animated short, Presto, thanks to their inclusion of shorts on DVDs or with their theatrical releases). Don’t get me wrong. I’d love to see them, but I wouldn’t have the first clue how to without the benefit of being an Academy member. I always just pick based on the names I like best. Which, in these cases are:

• Live Action Short: “Manon on the Asphalt” (La Luna Productions), A La Luna Production, Elizabeth Marre and Olivier Pont
• Best Animated Short: “Presto” (Walt Disney) A Pixar Animation Studios Production, Doug Sweetland
• Best Documentary Short: “Smile Pinki” A Principe Production, Megan Mylan

Best Documentary Feature
Nominees

• “The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)” (Cinema Guild), A Pandinlao Films Production, Ellen Kuras and Thavisouk Phrasavath
• “Encounters at the End of the World” (THINKFilm and Image Entertainment), A Creative Differences Production, Werner Herzog and Henry Kaiser
• “The Garden” A Black Valley Films Production, Scott Hamilton Kennedy
• “Man on Wire” (Magnolia Pictures), A Wall to Wall Production, James Marsh and Simon Chinn
• “Trouble the Water” (Zeitgeist Films), An Elsewhere Films Production, Tia Lessin and Carl Deal

✔Predicted Winner: “Man on Wire” (Magnolia Pictures), A Wall to Wall Production, James Marsh and Simon Chinn
People love this film. It even beat out Slumdog Millionaire at the BAFTAs for Outstanding British Film. It’s the only one of the documentaries I was able to see prior to the ceremony, and I thought it was pretty great, too. The “characters” were really interesting, and the story was well-told (avoiding that “dry” feeling a lot of docs have). If you haven’t seen it, it’s well worth checking out.

Best Animated Film
Nominees

• “Bolt” (Walt Disney), Chris Williams and Byron Howard
• “Kung Fu Panda” (DreamWorks Animation, Distributed by Paramount), John Stevenson and Mark Osborne
• “WALL-E” (Walt Disney), Andrew Stanton

✔Predicted Winner: “WALL-E” (Walt Disney), Andrew Stanton
Only one of these films has people upset (including me) that it didn’t get nominated for Best Picture, and that’s Wall-E. I thought Kung Fu Panda was surprisingly delightful, but it feels like it belongs in this category. If this is the closest Wall-E can get to Best Picture, I guess it’ll have to do.

Best Foreign Film
Nominees

• “The Baader Meinhof Complex” A Constantin Film Production, Germany
• “The Class” (Sony Pictures Classics), A Haut et Court Production, France
• “Departures” (Regent Releasing), A Departures Film Partners Production, Japan
• “Revanche” (Janus Films), A Prisma Film/Fernseh Production, Austria
• “Waltz with Bashir” (Sony Pictures Classics), A Bridgit Folman Film Gang Production, Israel

✔Predicted Winner: “Waltz with Bashir” (Sony Pictures Classics), A Bridgit Folman Film Gang Production, Israel
Sadly, I haven’t gotten the chance to see any of these either. Animated drama Waltz with Bashir seems to have the most buzz going in, though The Class could be a dark horse.

Best Picture
Nominees

• “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), A Kennedy/Marshall Production, Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall and Ceán Chaffin, Producers
• “Frost/Nixon” (Universal), A Universal Pictures, Imagine Entertainment and Working Title Production,Brian Grazer, Ron Howard and Eric Fellner, Producers
• “Milk” (Focus Features), A Groundswell and Jinks/Cohen Company Production, Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen, Producers
• “The Reader” (The Weinstein Company), A Mirage Enterprises and Neunte Babelsberg Film GmbH Production, Nominees to be determined
• “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), A Celador Films Production,Christian Colson, Producer

✔Predicted Winner: “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), A Celador Films Production,Christian Colson, Producer
I’m still flummoxed that The Reader made it onto this list instead of Wall-E, The Dark Knight, or even Revolutionary Road if the Academy wanted to stick with Oscar bait. But that’s how the cookie crumbles. Out of the five nominees, only Frost/Nixon scored my oh-so-coveted five-star rating. That being said, if I’d gone into Slumdog Millionaire without such high expectations thanks to all the buzz, it might have garnered a fifth star, too. I’ll be perfectly content with another Slumdog victory.

That sums it all up, folks! And just in time! I meant to do these at a more evenly staggered pace, but work and life have a way of throwing off the best-laid plans. The Oscars air tomorrow night (Sunday) at 8 Eastern/7 Central/5 Pacific on ABC.

Best Supporting Actor
Nominees

• Josh Brolin in “Milk” (Focus Features)
• Robert Downey Jr. in “Tropic Thunder” (DreamWorks, Distributed by DreamWorks/Paramount)
• Philip Seymour Hoffman in “Doubt” (Miramax)
• Heath Ledger in “The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.)
• Michael Shannon in “Revolutionary Road” (DreamWorks, Distributed by Paramount Vantage)

✔Predicted Winner: Heath Ledger in “The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.)
Looking back on the performances of the nominees, I actually do think Ledger deserves the award here. He gave the most transformed and captivating performance of the five, and he trounced Jack Nicholson as the pre-eminent version of the Joker.

Best Supporting Actress
Nominees

• Amy Adams in “Doubt” (Miramax)
• Penélope Cruz in “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” (The Weinstein Company)
• Viola Davis in “Doubt” (Miramax)
• Taraji P. Henson in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.)
• Marisa Tomei in “The Wrestler” (Fox Searchlight)

✔Predicted Winner: Marisa Tomei in “The Wrestler” (Fox Searchlight)
I’m really torn on this one. Personally, I’d have chosen Rebecca Hall (for Vicky Cristina Barcelona) or Amy Ryan (for Changeling) had they been nominated. As it is, I’ve switched Viola Davis and Marisa Tomei about six times just while trying to write this post. In the end, I’m going with Marisa Tomei, if only because she gave what I thought to be an equally devastating but lengthier performance.

Best Actor
Nominees

• Richard Jenkins in “The Visitor” (Overture Films)
• Frank Langella in “Frost/Nixon” (Universal)
• Sean Penn in “Milk” (Focus Features)
• Brad Pitt in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.)
• Mickey Rourke in “The Wrestler” (Fox Searchlight)

✔Predicted Winner: Mickey Rourke in “The Wrestler” (Fox Searchlight)
Rourke seems to be the awards-season darling this year, and rightly so. His performance was brave, honest and heartbreaking. My only complaint for this category is the lack of a nomination for Michael Sheen in Frost/Nixon. Maybe the Academy just can’t swallow nominating someone who’s starred in the Underworld films.

Best Actress
Nominees

• Anne Hathaway in “Rachel Getting Married” (Sony Pictures Classics)
• Angelina Jolie in “Changeling” (Universal)
• Melissa Leo in “Frozen River” (Sony Pictures Classics)
• Meryl Streep in “Doubt” (Miramax)
• Kate Winslet in “The Reader” (The Weinstein Company)

✔Predicted Winner: Kate Winslet in “The Reader” (The Weinstein Company)
Again, this seems to be Kate Winslet’s year, as predicted by Ricky Gervais. Not being a fan of The Reader, I really wish she’d been nominated for Revolutionary Road. Either way, though, Winslet’s an obviously gifted actress, and I’ve got no qualms about her finally getting her Oscar this year.

Cinematography
This is the blend of lighting and camera choices that come together to set a visual tone for a film beyond the sets and costumes.

Nominees

• “Changeling” (Universal), Tom Stern
• “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Claudio Miranda
• “The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.), Wally Pfister
• “The Reader” (The Weinstein Company), Chris Menges and Roger Deakins
• “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), Anthony Dod Mantle

✔Predicted Winner: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Claudio Miranda
This was a hard category to call because The Dark Knight was strikingly shot, too. But there some truly beautiful images in Benjamin Button, despite the fact that I thought it was a mediocre film.

Director
In a nutshell, the director is the conduit between what’s on the page and what gets shot.

Nominees

• “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), David Fincher
• “Frost/Nixon” (Universal), Ron Howard
• “Milk” (Focus Features), Gus Van Sant
• “The Reader” (The Weinstein Company), Stephen Daldry
• “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), Danny Boyle

✔Predicted Winner: “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), Danny Boyle
Out of the nominees, this was by far the most complex story told. Ron Howard and Gus Van Sant both did great jobs with their respective films, but the stories and the themes were pretty straightforward. Boyle took a story that could have easily derailed into a convoluted mess of threads and turned it into a beautiful tapestry, so he gets the prize in my book.

Film Editing
Film editing involves taking the film that’s shot and determining how to piece it together to achieve a narrative that is both clear and compelling for the audience.

Nominees

• “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall
• “The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.), Lee Smith
• “Frost/Nixon” (Universal), Mike Hill and Dan Hanley
• “Milk” (Focus Features), Elliot Graham
• “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), Chris Dickens

✔Predicted Winner: “Frost/Nixon” (Universal), Mike Hill and Dan Hanley
How do you take a film about the filming of an interview—basically two talking heads—and make it not only interesting but edge-of-your-seat compelling? I have no idea, but apparently Mike Hill and Dan Hanley do.

Original Screenplay
Best screenplay not based on some other written material.

Nominees

• “Frozen River” (Sony Pictures Classics), Written by Courtney Hunt
• “Happy-Go-Lucky” (Miramax), Written by Mike Leigh
• “In Bruges” (Focus Features), Written by Martin McDonagh
• “Milk” (Focus Features), Written by Dustin Lance Black
• “WALL-E” (Walt Disney), Screenplay by Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon, Original story by Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter

✔Predicted Winner: “In Bruges” (Focus Features), Written by Martin McDonagh
I haven’t seen the first two nominees (though Frozen River is on its way to my house via Netflix), but In Bruges is so different from any sort of movie I’ve seen in recent memory that I have to throw my support behind it. Thematically, tonally, verbally… It’s just a really interesting piece of work.

Adapted Screenplay
Best screenplay based on other material.

Nominees

• “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Screenplay by Eric Roth, Screen story by Eric Roth and Robin Swicord
• “Doubt” (Miramax), Written by John Patrick Shanley
• “Frost/Nixon” (Universal), Screenplay by Peter Morgan
• “The Reader” (The Weinstein Company), Screenplay by David Hare
• “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), Screenplay by Simon Beaufoy

✔Predicted Winner: “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), Screenplay by Simon Beaufoy
The amount of research that went into the writing of the screenplay alone makes it worthy, let alone the sheer talent that goes into weaving a series of short stories into something that hangs together so well. There’s really no contest here in my opinion. Beaufoy’s got to win it, hands down.

I’d love to hear what you all are thinking, too! Coming soon: Predictions in Acting!

Costume Design
Pretty self-explanatory, this one.

Nominees

• “Australia” (20th Century Fox), Catherine Martin
• “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Jacqueline West
• “The Duchess” (Paramount Vantage, Pathé and BBC Films), Michael O’Connor
• “Milk” (Focus Features), Danny Glicker
• “Revolutionary Road” (DreamWorks, Distributed by Paramount Vantage), Albert Wolsky

✔Predicted Winner: “The Duchess” (Paramount Vantage, Pathé and BBC Films), Michael O’Connor
One of the things the title character was known for was her trend-setting ways. Unsurprisingly, the costumes were intricate and gorgeous. The other nominees all did a nice job as well, but the designers for The Duchess had the most work cut out for them, and they succeeded beautifully.

Art Direction
Again, from my limited research, Art Direction appears to encompass the overall look of the physical aspects of the movie (most notably, the sets).

Nominees

• “Changeling” (Universal), Art Direction: James J. Murakami, Set Decoration: Gary Fettis
• “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Art Direction: Donald Graham Burt, Set Decoration: Victor J. Zolfo
• “The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.), Art Direction: Nathan Crowley, Set Decoration: Peter Lando
• “The Duchess” (Paramount Vantage, Pathé and BBC Films), Art Direction: Michael Carlin, Set Decoration: Rebecca Alleway
• “Revolutionary Road” (DreamWorks, Distributed by Paramount Vantage), Art Direction: Kristi Zea, Set Decoration: Debra Schutt

✔Predicted Winner: “The Duchess” (Paramount Vantage, Pathé and BBC Films), Art Direction: Michael Carlin, Set Decoration: Rebecca Alleway
I haven’t seen Changeling quite yet, so it’s possible (though doubtful) that it will yet blow my mind and I’ll have to come back and change this. But, for now, I’m giving this one to The Duchess as well. All other nominees were entirely adequate, but the sets and overall look of The Duchess was, again, gorgeous.

Make-up
Another self-explanatory category.

Nominees

• “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Greg Cannom
• “The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.), John Caglione, Jr. and Conor O’Sullivan
• “Hellboy II: The Golden Army” (Universal), Mike Elizalde and Thom Floutz

✔Predicted Winner: “Hellboy II: The Golden Army” (Universal), Mike Elizalde and Thom Floutz
I know the Academy doesn’t like to give awards to comic book movies, but I think this really has to be the fair winner. It appeared to me that a grand portion of Benjamin Button‘s aging effects were done with CGI (and a lot of the time, you could tell). Hellboy II was a true spectacle for the art of make-up.

Visual Effects
And here we have the special effects category.

Nominees

• “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton and Craig Barron
• “The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.), Nick Davis, Chris Corbould, Tim Webber and Paul Franklin
• “Iron Man” (Paramount and Marvel Entertainment), John Nelson, Ben Snow, Dan Sudick and Shane Mahan

✔Predicted Winner: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton and Craig Barron
This was a tough one. Part of me thinks that Iron Man deserves it, but, despite the fact that I knew I was watching CGI effects, I really was rather impressed by what they managed to do with Benjamin Button. I think this one could really go either way and still be fair, but I think Oscar will lean toward the bait, and that’s Benjamin Button.

Sound Editing
From my quick research (in lieu of easily-found descriptions on the Oscar Web sites), I’ve come to believe that Sound Editing more or less encompasses the selection of sound effects.

Nominees

• “The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.), Richard King
• “Iron Man” (Paramount and Marvel Entertainment), Frank Eulner and Christopher Boyes
• “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), Tom Sayers
• “WALL-E” (Walt Disney), Ben Burtt and Matthew Wood
• “Wanted” (Universal),Wylie Stateman

✔ Predicted Winner: “Wall-E” (Walt Disney), Ben Burtt and Matthew Wood
Out of the nominees, I think Wall-E required the most creativity as far as choosing sound effects that were both whimsical and realistic.

Sound Mixing
Again, from limited research, it appears Sound Mixing is the art of compiling dialog, sound effects and music together to create the soundtrack for the film.

Nominees

• “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Mark Weingarten (HORRIBLE)
• “The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.), Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo and Ed Novick
• “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke and Resul Pookutty
• “WALL-E” (Walt Disney),Tom Myers, Michael Semanick and Ben Burtt
• “Wanted” (Universal), Chris Jenkins, Frank A. Montaño and Petr Forejt

✔ Predicted Winner: “WALL-E” (Walt Disney),Tom Myers, Michael Semanick and Ben Burtt
I’m going to go with WALL-E here again. When I try to recall anything about the other nominees, I can’t think of anything truly remarkable (except for how remarkably bad I found the sound mixing to be for BENJAMIN BUTTON; it’s possible the theatre I was in was having issues, I guess, but I had a lot of trouble hearing and understanding dialog in certain places). WALL-E, however, had the dust storms, the spaceship landing, the “Put on Your Sunday Clothes” montage… lots of good sound stuff.

Original Score
Hopefully this award is pretty self-explanatory. But, for those not in the know, the score of a film is the music that runs throughout it. The easily recognizable themes from the Lord of the Rings trilogy, the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, and the Harry Potter films all come from the scores.

Nominees

• “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.),Alexandre Desplat
• “Defiance” (Paramount Vantage), James Newton Howard
• “Milk” (Focus Features), Danny Elfman
• “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), A.R. Rahman
• “WALL-E” (Walt Disney), Thomas Newman

✔ Predicted Winner: “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), A.R. Rahman
I don’t remember much from BUTTON, MILK or WALL-E. I haven’t seen DEFIANCE, but I caught an excerpt on youtube. It’s beautiful but traditional, and it has no buzz. I think SLUMDOG will take this, since the soundtrack is also beautiful, catchy, and something not usually seen in Oscar-nominated films. WALL-E might put up a good fight, but I think SLUMDOG will come out victorious.

Best Original Song
Again, pretty self-explanatory. I still shudder when I think of poor Amy Adams being sent out on stage last year to perform “Happy Working Song” all by her lonesome with only invisible animals to accompany her. Too bad, because that could have been a very cool bit. Oh well. Onto this year.

Nominees

• “Down to Earth” from “WALL-E” (Walt Disney), Music by Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman, Lyric by Peter Gabriel
• “Jai Ho” from “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), Music by A.R. Rahman, Lyric by Gulzar
• “O Saya” from “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), Music and Lyric by A.R. Rahman andMaya Arulpragasam

✔ Predicted Winner: “Jai Ho” from “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), Music by A.R. Rahman, Lyric by Gulzar
This is a tough one. All three songs are great. But it seems like SLUMDOG’s going to be the Oscar darling this year. Of the two, I like “Jai Ho” just a little bit better than “O Saya,” though they’re both great. So that’s my pick.

Any thoughts from you all out there? If anyone can offer any better explanations of sound editing vs. sound mixing, feel free to chime in. Next week: The Visual Categories!

What I Watched

• Revolutionary Road (3½ stars): Any movie that makes you think is probably worth seeing, and this one certainly falls into that category. That being said, I didn’t think this film was as effectively put together as, say, American Beauty (also directed by Sam Mendes). That being said, I’m astounded that it got Oscar-snubbed and am suspicious that perhaps they got The Reader and Revolutionary Road mixed up.
• Inkheart (3 stars): This one just barely eked out a third star. The more of them I see, the more I believe that epic fantasies need to be at least two hours long*, and this one falls 14 minutes short. My reasoning here is that it’s integral to give your audience both a footing in the fantasy world and an understanding of the characters (who they are, what they want, why they’re doing things the way they are). And that’s where Inkheart falls short. It becomes a movie where you witness a bunch of events without ever really connecting with any of the characters. It has some strong elements: Paul Bettany as Dustfinger is especially great, and his banter with Farid (who fell out of Arabian Nights) is amusing. Still, as one of my most anticipated movies of 2009, I was pretty disappointed.
• Like Water for Chocolate (3½ stars): This wasn’t quite as good as I wanted it to be, but it was still solid. It tells the story of a woman who is forbidden to marry her true love because it is family tradition for the youngest daughter to care for the mother until her death. This particular woman finds that she can transfer emotions into the food she cooks. I was hoping for a bit more overt magic or at least whimsy, à la Chocolat, to be honest, but it was still a romantic and moving little story worth seeing.
• Holiday (4 stars): While I wouldn’t call this 1938 film “heavy” by any means, the Katharine Hepburn-Cary Grant rom-com certainly carried a little more weight than I was expecting. In some ways, it tackled some of the same themes as Revolutionary Road but with a lighter, more hopeful touch. I’d put it in the rare category of classic films that hold up over the years.

What I Read

Well, I finished Eclipse (the third book in the Twilight series). I hate Bella now more than ever. I hate Jacob. I’m annoyed by Edward. Everyone else is kind of a non-issue, since Aro (very sadly) wasn’t in the third book. He is literally the only character I like, and, admittedly, I absolutely adore him. I will say this: I suppose it’s better to have a reaction to a character (even if it’s an extremely negative one toward the ones who are supposed to be protagonists) than to have no reaction at all. Right?

What I Wrote

Remember how my goal was to hit 25 pages in EARNEST? Well, I did. And then I promptly deleted 23 pages and started over. It occurred to me that I was having to try way too hard to make the setting work, so I adjusted it, and now it’s working much better. I’m back up to 13 pages total, and I might even try to scrounge up a couple more before the night’s done. Either way, I’m pleased despite the drop in page count. Sadly, I have made zero progress on Fairytale Redux this week.

Quick Oscar Thoughts

I’m going to do a more thorough post on this pre-ceremony, but I was more or less unsurprised by the nominations. I was happy that Frost/Nixon got a best pic nod, but The Reader? There are some films that get Oscar buzz that I don’t like but can at least understand (I’m looking at you, There Will Be Blood). The Reader is not one of them. I also think Michael Sheen deserved a best actor nod far and above over Brad Pitt (who was perfectly fine in Benjamin Button, but didn’t exactly have to really do much beyond the expected).

Also, the nominations have confirmed my status as a movie junkie. Excepting documentaries, foreign films, and shorts, I’ve seen or will see everything except Milk, Rachel Getting Married, Frozen River, Happy-Go-Lucky, and Defiance before the ceremony on Feb. 22. And you know what? I’m OK with that.

* What I consider the best epic fantasy films of the past five-ish years have all come in at two-plus hours: Stardust (2 hours, 7 minutes); Prince Caspian (2 hours, 30 minutes); and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (2 hours, 23 minutes). Another epic fantasy novel adaptation with great potential that turned out pretty dismally, Eragon, clocked in at just 1 hour, 44 minutes.