My Predictions for the 2009 Oscar Nominations - Page 2

The bittersweet one, of course, belongs to Heath Ledger who, at this point, seems to pretty much have a straight shot to winning Best Supporting Actor this year. As for the character actors, look for Richard Jenkins in The Visitor and Frank Langella in Frost/Nixon for nominations in the Best Actor category and Melissa Leo in Frozen River in the Best Actress category. Then there is Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler whom everybody seems to be rooting to complete his comeback in the Best Actor category and people should also look for Robert Downey Jr. to earn his first nomination in 16 years for his comedic turn critiquing and lampooning method acting in Tropic Thunder.

So, taking all of that into consideration, here is my complete list of my predictions for the nominations for select categories as well as my personal preferences of who I predict will be left out but would like to see mentioned in each category. (Note: As much as I would like to, I am not making predictions for the Best Foreign Language Film and Documentary categories, as I feel I have sadly not seen enough of the films on the Academy shortlist.)

Best Picture:

  • The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
  • The Dark Knight
  • Frost/Nixon
  • Milk
  • Slumdog Millionaire
Would like to see:
  • WALL·E – It certainly may have a chance at getting a nod but I think the fact that there is the separate Animated Category will likely hinder this, which, considering the increasing quality of Pixar films, may instead be a solid argument to turn the Best Picture category to one strictly as Best Live Action Picture if they do not want to choose animated films.
  • The Wrestler
Best Director:
  • Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire
  • David Fincher, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
  • Ron Howard, Frost/Nixon
  • Christopher Nolan, The Dark Knight
  • Gus Van Sant, Milk
Would like to see:
  • Darren Aronofsky, The Wrestler
  • Andrew Stanton, WALL·E – Yes, people should start recognizing that animated films are directed, too.
Best Actor in a Leading Role:
  • Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon
  • Richard Jenkins, The Visitor
  • Sean Penn, Milk
  • Brad Pitt, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
  • Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler
Would like to see:
  • Leonardo DiCaprio, Revolutionary Road
Best Actress in a Leading Role:
  • Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married
  • Angelina Jolie, Changeling
  • Melissa Leo, Frozen River
  • Meryl Streep, Doubt
  • Kate Winslet, Revolutionary Road
Would like to see:
  • Sally Hawkins, Happy-Go-Lucky
  • Kristin Scott-Thomas, I’ve Loved You So Long
Best Actor in a Supporting Role:
  • Josh Brolin, Milk
  • Robert Downey Jr., Tropic Thunder
  • Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Doubt
  • Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
  • Dev Patel, Slumdog Millionaire
Would like to see:
  • Eddie Marsan, Happy-Go-Lucky
Best Actress in a Supporting Role:
  • Amy Adams, Doubt
  • Penelope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
  • Viola Davis, Doubt
  • Kate Winslet, The Reader
  • Marisa Tomei, The Wrestler
Would like to see:
  • Rosemarie DeWitt, Rachel Getting Married
Best Original Screenplay:
  • Woody Allen, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
  • Dustin Lance Black, Milk
  • Tom McCarthy, The Visitor
  • Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter and Jim Reardon, WALL-E
  • Robert D. Siegel, The Wrestler
Would like to see:
  • Mike Leigh, Happy-Go-Lucky
  • Ari Folman, Waltz with Bashir
Best Adapted Screenplay:
  • Eric Roth and Robin Swicord, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
  • John Patrick Shanley, Doubt
  • Peter Morgan, Frost/Nixon
  • David Hare, The Reader
  • Simon Beaufoy, Slumdog Millionaire
Would like to see:
  • Christopher Nolan, Jonathan Nolan and David S. Goyer, The Dark Knight
  • John Ajvide Lindqvist, Let the Right One In
Best Animated Feature:
  • WALL·E
  • Waltz with Bashir
  • Kung Fu Panda
Best Film Editing:
  • Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
  • Lee Smith, The Dark Knight
  • Daniel P. Hanley and Mike Hill, Frost/Nixon
  • Elliot Graham, Milk
  • Chris Dickens, Slumdog Millionaire
Would like to see:
  • Stephen Schaeffer, WALL·E
Best Cinematography:
  • Roger Deakins, Revolutionary Road
  • Anthony Dod Mantle, Slumdog Millionaire
  • Claudio Miranda, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
  • Wally Pfister, The Dark Knight
  • Mandy Walker, Australia
Best Original Score:
  • Alexandre Desplat, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
  • Danny Elfman, Milk
  • James Newton Howard & Hans Zimmer, The Dark Knight
  • Thomas Newman, WALL-E
  • A.R. Rahman, Slumdog Millionaire
Best Original Song:
  • Clint Eastwood, Jamie Cullum, Michael Stevens and Kyle Eastwood - “Gran Torino,” Gran Torino
  • Thomas Newman and Peter Gabriel - “Down to Earth,” WALL-E
  • Miley Cyrus - “I Thought I Lost You,” Bolt
  • A.R. Rahman and Gulzar - “Jai Ho,” Slumdog Millionaire
  • Bruce Springsteen - “The Wrestler,” The Wrestler
Best Costume Design:
  • Australia
  • Changeling
  • The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
  • The Duchess
  • Revolutionary Road
Best Art Direction:
  • The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
  • Changeling
  • The Dark Knight
  • The Duchess
  • Revolutionary Road
Best Makeup:
  • The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
  • Hellboy II: The Golden Army
  • The Reader
Best Sound Mixing:
  • The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
  • The Dark Knight
  • Iron Man
  • Slumdog Millionaire
  • WALL-E
Best Sound Editing:
  • The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
  • The Dark Knight
  • Iron Man
  • Quantum of Solace
  • WALL-E
Best Visual Effects:
  • The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
  • The Dark Knight
  • Iron Man

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Article Author: moviejohn

Joo-Wang John Lee is a computer programmer at Binghamton University by day and a movie critic by hobby. Upon insistent suggestion from people around him, he finally decided to start critiquing movies in writing instead of just verbal form among his friends. …

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