BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Predicted: 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.
Actual: 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.
No left-field nominations here, although I almost guessed that The Dark Knight might sneak in here, too, but then decided at the last minute they would go for the period novel adaptation. Four of the five nominees are also Best Picture nominees so no surprises that they received screenplay nominations, too (although, of course, almost no one expected The Reader to turn up so big). I would have been happy and relieved to be wrong in my prediction of Eric Roth and Robin Swicord getting recognized for their screenplay, which was the core problem with The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Predicted: Kung Fu Panda; Waltz with Bashir; WALL-E.
Actual: Bolt; Kung Fu Panda; WALL-E.
This year was a particularly good year for animation, although this category would have been even stronger with the inclusion of Waltz with Bashir, which is really a very close second to WALL-E. I should have suspected that they would think the Best Foreign Language category would suffice. In any case, this one has a triple-lock padded door for WALL-E to enter the winner circle and no one else, I would say.
BEST FILM EDITING
Predicted: 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.
Actual: 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.
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Predicted: Mandy Walker, Australia; Claudio Miranda, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button; Wally Pfister, The Dark Knight; Roger Deakins, Revolutionary Road; Anthony Dod Mantle, Slumdog Millionaire.
Actual: Tom Stern, Changeling; Claudio Miranda, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button; Wally Pfister, The Dark Knight; Chris Menges and Roger Deakins, The Reader; Anthony Dod Mantle, Slumdog Millionaire.
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Predicted: Alexandre Desplat, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Danny Elfman, Milk; Thomas Newman, WALL-E; A.R. Rahman, Slumdog Millionaire; James Newton Howard and Hans Zimmer, The Dark Knight.
Article comments
1 - El Bicho
Good, thorough write-up.
I don't see why Slumdog is a likely front runner. It was made outside of Hollywood. If you take into consideration the voting body and some of the aspects you mention, The Reader has much more going for it, and I would put CCoBB ahead as well. The Oscars are not much different from high school and the voters are going to pick friends over strangers. Milk was good but certainly not Top Five of the year.
"at least the Academy did not make the same silly mistake that the Golden Globes and SAG did."
The organizations do not decide what category an actor gets nominated in. That's determined by the producers who submit them.
"I wonder if she will make a reference to that in her speech if she wins."
Considering Gervais already did this at the Golden Globes, I doubt it.
"this category would have been even stronger with the inclusion of Waltz with Bashir"
It's not that it sufficed, but then it couldn't have competed in the Best Foreign Language category. It's a silly rule, but it is what it is.
I would be curious about why the Song was limited to three. People would tune in for Miley and Bruce.
2 - El Bicho
According to AP, "An academy spokeswoman says songs need to earn a score of at least 8 and a-quarter out of ten to be nominated and the songs by Cyrus and Springsteen scored less than that."
Ouch.
3 - Robert M. Barga
your entire post is simply a fanboy of dark night
it was a good movie, and Heath was a good actor. The only thing it was worthy of is best supporting actor (heath) but he is dead, so he doesn't really deserve it
4 - John
Hmm, I would be careful with the wording of "but he is dead, so he doesn't really deserve it." Could be open to misconstruing.
5 - El Bicho
"he is dead, so he doesn't really deserve it"
All else can you take it other than uninformed? Did Peter Finch not deserve his Oscar? Should they disqualify The Reader sine two of the producers have died? How exactly does someone 'deserve' an Oscar?