Benjamin Button Leads Oscar Race

22 January 2009

0Comments | Comment on this Article

With the announcement of the Oscar nominations this afternoon The Curious Case of Benjamin Button has cause to celebrate as it leads the field with thirteen nominations, including Best Picture.

But multiple nominations have not worked out so well in the past for David Fincher's movie after walking away empty handed at last week's Golden Globes despite bagging the most nominations.

And Benjamin Button with face serious competition in the Best Picture category from British film Slumdog Millionaire, which is currently riding on a wave of award success as it bagged ten nominations.

Benjamin Button and Slumdog Millionaire will be joined by political dramas Milk, which was overlooked in this category at the Globes, and Frost/Nixon as well as Holocaust drama The Reader. Some expected to see The Dark Knight in this category but was overlooked, the film did however pick up eight nominations.

As expected, Heath Ledger had a supporting-actor nomination for The Dark Knight on the one-year anniversary of his death from an accidental overdose of prescription drugs.

The acting categories were loaded with surprises. Kate Winslet won two Golden Globes, best dramatic actress for Revolutionary Road and supporting actress for The Reader. But she was nominated for lead actress at the Oscars for The Reader and shut out for Revolutionary Road.

Meryl Streep received her fifteenth Oscar nomination for her role in Doubt and, along with Kate, are joined by Anne Hathaway, Angelina Jolie and a surprise nod for Melissa Leo.

On the whole Best Actor threw up no surprises as Frank Langella, Brad Pitt, Sean Penn and Mickey Rourke all made the grade however Leonardo DiCaprio was over looked for his role in Revolutionary Road in favour of Richard Jenkins.

There was more success for Danny Boyle as he landed a Best Director nod for Slumdog and the possible favourite to win the gong.

Best Picture

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Frost/Nixon

Milk

The Reader

Slumdog Millionaire

Best Director

Danny Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire

Stephen Daldry - The Reader

David Fincher - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Ron Howard - Frost/Nixon

Gus Van Sant - Milk

Best Actor

Richard Jenkins - The Visitor

Frank Langella - Frost/Nixon

Sean Penn - Milk

Brad Pitt - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler

Best Actress

Anne Hathaway - Rachel Getting Married

Angelina Jolie - Changeling

Melissa Leo - Frozen River

Meryl Streep - Doubt

Kate Winslet - The Reader

Best Supporting Actress

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

Josh Brolin - Milk

Robert Downey Jr - Tropic Thunder

Philip Seymour Hoffman - Doubt

Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight

Michael Shannon - Revolutionary Road

Best Foreign Language Film

Revanche - Austria

The Class - France

The Baader Meinhof Complex - Germany

Departures - Japan

Waltz With Bashir - Israel

Best Animated Feature Film

Bolt

Kung Fu Panda

Wall-E

Best Adapted Screenplay

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Doubt

Frost/Nixon

The Reader

Slumdog Millionaire

Best Original Screenplay

Happy-Go-Lucky

Milk

Wall-E

In Bruges

Frozen River

The winners will be announced 22nd February

FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw

0Comments | Be the first to comment!