All in all my predictions were pretty close to parelling the actual nominees announced this morning. Of the 30 picks I made in 6 categories, I got 21 correct.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button led all films with 13 nominations. Slumdog Millionaire came in second with 10 nominations (but none for the newcomer cast). Neither is much of a surprise with a lot of momentum coming in. But like I said yesterday, Button will be this year’s big dissapointment. Write it down!
I guess the movie I slept on most, no pun intended, was The Reader. It picked up ‘Best Picture’ and ‘Best Director’ nominations while I predicted it for neither.
The five ‘Best Picture’ nominees each earned their director matching ‘Best Director’ nominations.
Doubt picked up 4 of the 20 best acting nominations, including Meryl Streep’s record 15th nomination. But I doubt she wins, har har.
Most notably disappointing to me were The Dark Knight being shut out of ‘Best Picture’ and ‘Best Director’ nominations. Maybe my predictions were wishful thinking but usually when a film is really huge at the box office the Academy tends to throw the movie some love as a sign of respect throughout the whole industry. I obviously got those two incorrect. Besides Ledger’s obvious posthumous nomination (on the 1 year anniversary of his untimely death), TDK scored only in technical categories such as cinematography, visual effects and editing.
Another weird nomination was for Kate Winslet in The Reader for ‘Best Actress’, not ‘Best Supporting Actress’ like I thought. I did however say she was a lead in The Reader, but this means Winslet gets no nomination for Revolutionary Road, where I thought most buzz agreed she was decidedly better. This also means she isn’t the guarantee to win ‘Best Actress’ like I thought she was.
Others snubbed, IMHO, were Sally Hawkins for Happy-Go-Lucky, Benicio Del Toro for Che, and Darren Aronofsky for The Wrestler. And even though I didn’t predict in this category, how in the flying f#@* does Bruce Springsteen not get nominated for original score? Blasphemy I tell you!
I don’t have any problem with Viola Davis’ nomination for Doubt and I definitely have no problem with Robert Downey Jr’s AMAZING nomination for his role as Kirk Lazerus in Tropic Thunder. Definitely the happiest nomination for me. Would have liked to seen Leo get some love this year, but it wasn’t meant to be. Here’s the nominees.
Best Supporting Actress (3 of 5 correct)
Amy Adams, “Doubt”; Penelope Cruz, “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”; Viola Davis, “Doubt”; Taraji P. Henson, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”; Marisa Tomei, “The Wrestler.”
Best Supporting Actor (4 of 5 correct)
Josh Brolin, “Milk”; Robert Downey Jr., “Tropic Thunder”; Philip Seymour Hoffman, “Doubt”; Heath Ledger, “The Dark Knight”; Michael Shannon, “Revolutionary Road.”
Best Actress (Technically 3 of 5 correct – 4 of 5 if you accept Winslet in different film)
Anne Hathaway, “Rachel Getting Married”; Angelina Jolie, “Changeling”; Melissa Leo, “Frozen River”; Meryl Streep, “Doubt”; Kate Winslet, “The Reader.”
Best Actor (4 of 5 correct)
Richard Jenkins, “The Visitor”; Frank Langella, “Frost/Nixon”; Sean Penn, “Milk”; Brad Pitt, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”; Mickey Rourke, “The Wrestler.”
Best Director (3 of 5 correct)
David Fincher, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”; Ron Howard, “Frost/Nixon”; Gus Van Sant, “Milk”; Stephen Daldry, “The Reader”; Danny Boyle, “Slumdog Millionaire.”
Best Picture (3 of 5 correct)
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “Frost/Nixon,” “Milk,” “The Reader,” “Slumdog Millionaire.”
The 81st Academy Awards take place February 22nd at Hollywood’s Kodak Theatre and broadcast on ABC.
