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Awards Season News

Oscar Nominations

The King’s Speech leads the field for this year’s Oscars with 12 nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Colin Firth, whilst True Grit has 10 and The Social Network has 8.

Earlier today Mo’Nique and Tom Sherak, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, revealed the nominations in Beverly Hills.

On first glance, there doesn’t appear to be a whole lot of surprises, but here are a few things worth noting.

  • The King’s Speech is firmly back in contention for Best Picture: Even though The Social Network has swept the critics awards so far, the sheer amount of nominations for The King’s Speech (especially in the technical categories) indicates that it could now be the front runner. The Social Network is still a strong candidate but the feel-good, across the board appeal of Tom Hooper’s film may now be starting to show with Academy voters.
  • The Social Network team will be concerned: Despite all the critical love and awards season buzz for this film, the big question always was whether the 6,000 Academy members would embrace a contemporary film like this over the traditional Oscar bait of The King’s Speech. Whilst Fincher’s drama has been on a roll in recent weeks, the amount of nominations for The King’s Speech indicates Academy voters may be backing the more traditional candidate. It’s tempting to see comparisons with 1981 when plucky Brit drama Chariots of Fire won Best Picture whilst the more cerebral Reds nabbed Best Director, or even 2000 when Traffic won Best Director and Gladiator won Best Picture.
  • Christopher Nolan misses out for Best Director: Despite enormous critical and commercial success with Inception, he’s missed out again for Academy recognition, which after The Dark Knight snub in 2008 will raise a few eyebrows.
  • Javier Bardem gets in for Best Actor: Despite the mixed reaction at Cannes for Alejandro Gonzalez Innarritu’s drama, the central performance has deservedly got raves and made it on to the final list.
  • True Grit proves the Globes aren’t all that: For anyone who thinks that the Golden Globes isn’t just celebrity-obsessed foreign journalists second-guessing the Oscar race, look at the nominations for The Coen Brothers’ western, which they snubbed outright. Newcomer Hailee Steinfeld is one to watch in the Best Supporting Actress race.
  • Winter’s Bone keeps the indie flame alive: The nominations for Best Picture, Jennifer Lawrence (Best Actress) and Debra Granik (Adapted Screenplay) prove that serious indie dramas can still get recognition in a harsh environment for independent film. Roadside Attractions will be thrilled.
  • Blue Valentine is (sort of) snubbed: Although Michelle Williams got a Best Actress nomination, The Weinstein Company will be disappointed that the acclaimed indie drama missed out on Best Picture and Best Actor for Ryan Gosling.
  • Technical Snubs: The major technical shocker is the omission for Inception’s Lee Smith in Best Film Editing (arguably one of the best edit jobs in recent cinema history) and Tron: Legacy for Best Visual Effects.
  • The Banksy dream is still alive: Ingenious indie documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop made it through to the final nominees, which means that we could conceivably see Banksy at the Oscars (or at least some kind of mural outside). However, Inside Job remains the favourite for Best Documentary, especially with the shock omission of Waiting for Superman.

The Oscars take place on Sunday 27th February and here they are in full:

BEST PICTURE

  • 127 Hours
  • Black Swan
  • The Fighter
  • Inception
  • The Kids Are All Right
  • The King’s Speech
  • Winter’s Bone
  • True Grit
  • The Social Network
  • Toy Story 3

BEST DIRECTOR

  • Darren Aronofsky – Black Swan
  • David O Russell – The Fighter
  • Tom Hooper – The King’s Speech
  • David Fincher – The Social Network
  • Joel Coen and Ethan Coen – True Grit

BEST ACTOR

  • Colin Firth – The King’s Speech
  • Jesse Eisenberg – The Social Network
  • James Franco – 127 Hours
  • Javier Bardem – Biutiful
  • Jeff Bridges – True Grit

BEST ACTRESS

  • Annette Bening – The Kids Are All Right
  • Nicole Kidman – Rabbit Hole
  • Jennifer Lawrence – Winter’s Bone
  • Natalie Portman – Black Swan
  • Michelle Williams – Blue Valentine

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

  • Christian Bale – The Fighter
  • John Hawkes – Winter’s Bone
  • Jeremy Renner – The Town
  • Mark Ruffalo – The Kids Are All Right
  • Geoffrey Rush – The King’s Speech

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

  • Amy Adams – The Fighter
  • Helena Bonham Carter – The King’s Speech
  • Melissa Leo – The Fighter
  • Hailee Steinfeld – True Grit
  • Jacki Weaver – Animal Kingdom

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

  • Biutiful – Mexico
  • Dogtooth – Greece
  • In a Better World – Denmark
  • Incendies – Canada
  • Outside the Law (Hors-la-loi) – Algeria

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

  • Mike Leigh – Another Year
  • Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy and Eric Johnson (screenplay), Keith Dorrington & Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson (story) – The Fighter
  • Christopher Nolan – Inception
  • Lisa Cholodenko and Stuart Blumberg – The Kids Are All Right
  • David Seidler – The King’s Speech

BEST ANIMATION

  • How to Train Your Dragon
  • The Illusionist
  • Toy Story 3

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

  • Danny Boyle and Simon Beaufoy – 127 Hours
  • Aaron Sorkin – The Social Network
  • Michael Arndt – Toy Story 3
  • Joel Coen and Ethan Coen – True Grit
  • Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini – Winter’s Bone

BEST ART DIRECTION

  • Alice in Wonderland
  • Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
  • Inception
  • The King’s Speech
  • True Grit

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

  • Black Swan
  • Inception
  • The King’s Speech
  • The Social Network
  • True Grit

BEST SOUND MIXING

  • Inception
  • The King’s Speech
  • The Social Network
  • Salt
  • True Grit

BEST SOUND EDITING

  • Inception
  • Toy Story 3
  • Tron: Legacy
  • True Grit
  • Unstoppable

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

  • Coming Home (from Country Strong) by Tom Douglas, Troy Verges and Hillary Lindsey
  • I See the Light (from Tangled) by Alan Menken and Glenn Slater
  • If I Rise (from 127 Hours) by AR Rahman, Dido and Rollo Armstrong
  • We Belong Together (from Toy Story 3) by Randy Newman

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

  • How to Train Your Dragon – John Powell
  • Inception – Hans Zimmer
  • The King’s Speech – Alexandre Desplat
  • 127 Hours – AR Rahman
  • The Social Network – Trent Reznor and Atticus

BEST COSTUMES

  • Alice in Wonderland
  • I Am Love
  • The King’s Speech
  • The Tempest
  • True Grit

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

  • Exit Through the Gift Shop
  • Gasland
  • Inside Job
  • Restrepo
  • Waste Land

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT

  • Killing in the Name
  • Poster Girl
  • Strangers No More
  • Sun Come Up
  • The Warriors of Qiugang

BEST FILM EDITING

  • Black Swan
  • The Fighter P
  • The King’s Speech
  • 127 Hours
  • The Social Network

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM

  • Day & Night
  • The Gruffalo
  • Let’s Pollute
  • The Lost Thing
  • Madagascar, Carnet de Voyage (Madagascar, a Journey Diary)

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM

  • The Confession
  • The Crush
  • God of Love
  • Na Wewe
  • Wish 143

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

  • Alice in Wonderland
  • Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1
  • Hereafter
  • Inception
  • Iron Man 2

BEST MAKE-UP

  • Barney’s Version
  • The Way Back
  • The Wolfman

NOMINATIONS TALLY

  • The King’s Speech – 12
  • True Grit – 10
  • Inception – 8
  • The Social Network – 8
  • The Fighter – 7
  • 127 Hours – 6
  • Black Swan – 5
  • Toy Story 3 – 5
  • The Kids Are All Right – 4
  • Winter’s Bone – 4
  • Alice in Wonderland – 3
  • Biutiful – 2
  • Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 – 2
  • How to Train Your Dragon – 2

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Categories
Awards Season News

Oscar Nominations – Full List

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The Oscar nominations have been announced and Avatar and The Hurt Locker lead the field with 9 nominations each.

Nominations were announced this morning by Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences president Tom Sherak and Anne Hathaway.

The final ballots get mailed out on February 10th and are due back at PricewaterhouseCoopers offices on Tuesday 2nd March (my birthday as it turns out).

The actual awards take place on Sunday 7th March at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles and will be hosted by Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin.

Here is the list in full:

Best Picture

  • Avatar (James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers)
  • The Blind Side (Nominees to be determined)
  • District 9 (Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham, Producers)
  • An Education (Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey, Producers)
  • The Hurt Locker (Nominees to be determined)
  • Inglourious Basterds (Lawrence Bender, Producer)
  • Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire (Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness, Producers)
  • A Serious Man (Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Producers)
  • Up (Jonas Rivera, Producer)
  • Up in the Air (Daniel Dubiecki, Ivan Reitman and Jason Reitman, Producers)

Best Director

  • James Cameron, Avatar
  • Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
  • Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds
  • Lee Daniels, Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire
  • Jason Reitman, Up in the Air

Best Actor

  • Jeff Bridges in “Crazy Heart”
  • George Clooney in “Up in the Air”
  • Colin Firth in “A Single Man”
  • Morgan Freeman in “Invictus”
  • Jeremy Renner in “The Hurt Locker”

Best Actress

  • Sandra Bullock in “The Blind Side”
  • Helen Mirren in “The Last Station”
  • Carey Mulligan in “An Education”
  • Gabourey Sidibe in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”
  • Meryl Streep in “Julie & Julia”

Best Supporting Actor

  • Matt Damon in “Invictus”
  • Woody Harrelson in “The Messenger”
  • Christopher Plummer in “The Last Station”
  • Stanley Tucci in “The Lovely Bones”
  • Christoph Waltz in “Inglourious Basterds”

Best Supporting Actress

  • PenĂ©lope Cruz in “Nine”
  • Vera Farmiga in “Up in the Air”
  • Maggie Gyllenhaal in “Crazy Heart”
  • Anna Kendrick in “Up in the Air”
  • Mo’Nique in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

  • “District 9” Written by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell
  • “An Education” Screenplay by Nick Hornby
  • “In the Loop” Screenplay by Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche
  • “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher
  • “Up in the Air” Screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner

Writing (Original Screenplay)

  • “The Hurt Locker” Written by Mark Boal
  • “Inglourious Basterds” Written by Quentin Tarantino
  • “The Messenger” Written by Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman
  • “A Serious Man” Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
  • “Up” Screenplay by Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, Story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy

Animated Feature Film

  • “Coraline” Henry Selick
  • “Fantastic Mr. Fox” Wes Anderson
  • “The Princess and the Frog” John Musker and Ron Clements
  • “The Secret of Kells” Tomm Moore
  • “Up” Pete Docter

Art Direction

  • “Avatar” Art Direction: Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg; Set Decoration: Kim Sinclair
  • “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” Art Direction: Dave Warren and Anastasia Masaro; Set Decoration: Caroline Smith
  • “Nine” Art Direction: John Myhre; Set Decoration: Gordon Sim
  • “Sherlock Holmes” Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
  • “The Young Victoria” Art Direction: Patrice Vermette; Set Decoration: Maggie Gray

Cinematography

  • “Avatar” Mauro Fiore
  • “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” Bruno Delbonnel
  • “The Hurt Locker” Barry Ackroyd
  • “Inglourious Basterds” Robert Richardson
  • “The White Ribbon” Christian Berger

Costume Design

  • “Bright Star” Janet Patterson
  • “Coco before Chanel” Catherine Leterrier
  • “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” Monique Prudhomme
  • “Nine” Colleen Atwood
  • “The Young Victoria” Sandy Powell

Documentary (Feature)

  • “Burma VJ” Anders Østergaard and Lise Lense-MĂžller
  • “The Cove” Nominees to be determined
  • “Food, Inc.” Robert Kenner and Elise Pearlstein
  • “The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers” Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith
  • “Which Way Home” Rebecca Cammisa

Documentary (Short Subject)

  • “China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province” Jon Alpert and Matthew O’Neill
  • “The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner” Daniel Junge and Henry Ansbacher
  • “The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant” Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert
  • “Music by Prudence” Roger Ross Williams and Elinor Burkett
  • “Rabbit Ă  la Berlin” Bartek Konopka and Anna Wydra

Film Editing

  • “Avatar” Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua and James Cameron
  • “District 9” Julian Clarke
  • “The Hurt Locker” Bob Murawski and Chris Innis
  • “Inglourious Basterds” Sally Menke
  • “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Joe Klotz

Foreign Language Film

  • “Ajami” Israel
  • “El Secreto de Sus Ojos” Argentina
  • “The Milk of Sorrow” Peru
  • “Un ProphĂšte” France
  • “The White Ribbon” Germany

Makeup

  • “Il Divo” Aldo Signoretti and Vittorio Sodano
  • “Star Trek” Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow
  • “The Young Victoria” Jon Henry Gordon and Jenny Shircore

Music (Original Score)

  • “Avatar” James Horner
  • “Fantastic Mr. Fox” Alexandre Desplat
  • “The Hurt Locker” Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders
  • “Sherlock Holmes” Hans Zimmer
  • “Up” Michael Giacchino

Music (Original Song)

  • “Almost There” from “The Princess and the Frog” Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
  • “Down in New Orleans” from “The Princess and the Frog” Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
  • “Loin de Paname” from “Paris 36” Music by Reinhardt Wagner Lyric by Frank Thomas
  • “Take It All” from “Nine” Music and Lyric by Maury Yeston
  • “The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)” from “Crazy Heart” Music and Lyric by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett

Short Film (Animated)

  • “French Roast” Fabrice O. Joubert
  • “Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty” Nicky Phelan and Darragh O’Connell
  • “The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte)” Javier Recio Gracia
  • “Logorama” Nicolas Schmerkin
  • “A Matter of Loaf and Death” Nick Park

Short Film (Live Action)

  • “The Door” Juanita Wilson and James Flynn
  • “Instead of Abracadabra” Patrik Eklund and Mathias Fjellström
  • “Kavi” Gregg Helvey
  • “Miracle Fish” Luke Doolan and Drew Bailey
  • “The New Tenants” Joachim Back and Tivi Magnusson

Sound Editing

  • “Avatar” Christopher Boyes and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle
  • “The Hurt Locker” Paul N.J. Ottosson
  • “Inglourious Basterds” Wylie Stateman
  • “Star Trek” Mark Stoeckinger and Alan Rankin
  • “Up” Michael Silvers and Tom Myers

Sound Mixing

  • “Avatar” Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson and Tony Johnson
  • “The Hurt Locker” Paul N.J. Ottosson and Ray Beckett
  • “Inglourious Basterds” Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti and Mark Ulano
  • “Star Trek” Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson and Peter J. Devlin
  • “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers and Geoffrey Patterson

Visual Effects

  • “Avatar” Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R. Jones
  • “District 9” Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros and Matt Aitken
  • “Star Trek” Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh and Burt Dalton
Categories
Awards Season News

Oscar nominations to look out for

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The Oscar nominations are announced tomorrow (Tuesday 5.30am PST and 1.30pm GMT) and here are some of the films and people to look out for in the major categories.

BEST PICTURE

The is the most interesting category of all because this year the Academy expanded the number of nominees from 5 to 10 in order to let in films that were more commercially successful.

It was basically a move to pacify ABC executives tired of declining ratings for the telecast and low grossing winners.

Obviously it was a move that goes against everything the Oscars should stand for (like awarding excellence rather than box office) and as it turned out, Avatar would have made it in to the final five anyway.

With that in mind, these films are cast-iron certainties to get in to the final 10:

  • The Hurt Locker
  • Avatar
  • Up in the Air
  • Precious
  • Inglourious Basterds

After that, it gets a little trickier but I reckon that Up, Star Trek, District 9, An Education and A Serious Man will fill out the remaining slots. However, Invictus and A Single Man are possibilities.

BEST DIRECTOR

This is going to follow the Best Picture category with the following directors:

  • James Cameron, Avatar
  • Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
  • Lee Daniels, Precious
  • Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds
  • Jason Reitman, Up in the Air

BEST ACTOR

This category is also relatively straightforward, with Jeff Bridges emerging as the frontrunner to win.

  • Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
  • George Clooney, Up in the Air
  • Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker,
  • Colin Firth, A Single Man
  • Morgan Freeman, Invictus

BEST ACTRESS

Another straightforward category with Sandra Bullock likely to win. Emily Blunt isn’t a dead cert for the fifth slot, which could go to Helen Mirren for The Last Station.

  • Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side
  • Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia
  • Carey Mulligan, An Education
  • Gabourey Sidibe, Precious
  • Emily Blunt, The Young Victoria

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

For this category Christophe Waltz is a dead cert to win after scooping virtually every guild and critics award. The fifth slot is a hard one to call but if there is any justice Anthony Mackie should get a nod.

  • Christophe Waltz, Inglourious Basterds
  • Woody Harrelson, The Messenger
  • Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones
  • Matt Damon, Invictus
  • Anthony Mackie, The Hurt Locker

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Another category where the winner is almost certain before the nominations are announced. Mo’Mique is the actress equivalent of Waltz in that she has dominated the critic and guild awards and a dead cert to win. This is quite a hard one to call and other possibles could include Diane Kruger (Inglourious Basterds), Penelope Cruz (Nine) and Mariah Carey (Precious).

  • Mo’Nique, Precious
  • Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air
  • Vera Farmiga, Up in the Air
  • Maggie Gyllenhaal, Crazy Heart
  • Julianne Moore, A Single Man

Of course, I could have got a few of these wrong but we shall see when Anne Hathaway and Tom Sherak announce them at a news conference at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills on Tuesday.

The Oscars themselves are on Sunday 7th March.

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Categories
Awards Season Interesting

David Denby and A.O. Scott on the Oscars

David Denby of The New Yorker and A.O. Scott of the New York Times discuss this year’s Oscar nominations with Charlie Rose.

Categories
Awards Season News

Oscar Nominations

Oscar NominationsThe Oscar nominations have been announced for the 81st Academy Awards.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button leads the field with 13 nominations, including Best Picture.

Other Best Picture contenders are Frost/Nixon, Milk, The Reader and Slumdog Millionaire.

They were announced Thursday morning at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences in Los Angeles by Academy President Sid Ganis and actor Forest Whitaker.

In 15 of the last 20 years, the film with the most nominations went on to win Best Picture, but that trend has changed in recent years with the top nominee only winning best pic in two of the last five years.

The awards take place on Sunday 22nd February at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood and will be hosted by Hugh Jackman.

Here are the nominations in full:

BEST PICTURE

  • The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
  • Frost/Nixon
  • Milk
  • The Reader
  • Slumdog Millionaire

BEST DIRECTOR

  • Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire
  • David Fincher, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
  • Ron Howard, Frost/Nixon
  • Stephen Daldry, The Reader
  • Gus Van Sant, Milk

BEST ACTRESS

  • Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married
  • Angelina Jolie, Changeling
  • Melissa Leo, Frozen River
  • Meryl Streep, Doubt
  • Kate Winslet, The Reader

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 SUPPORTING ACTRESS

  • Amy Adams, Doubt
  • Penelope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
  • Viola Davis, Doubt
  • Taraji P. Hensen, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
  • Marisa Tomei, The Wrestler

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

  • Josh Brolin, Milk
  • Robert Downey Jr, Tropic Thunder
  • Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Doubt
  • Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
  • Michael Shannon, Revolutionary Road

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

  • Courtney Hunt, Frozen River
  • Mike Leigh, Happy-Go-Lucky
  • Dustin Lance Black, Milk
  • Martin McDonough, In Bruges
  • Andrew Stanton, Wall-E

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

  • Eric Roth, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
  • John Patrick Shanley, Doubt
  • Peter Morgan, Frost/Nixon
  • David Hare, The Reader
  • Simon Beaufoy, Slumdog Millionaire

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

  • Bolt
  • Kung Fu Panda
  • WALL-E

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

  • The Baader Meinhof Complex
  • The Class
  • Departures
  • Revanche
  • Waltz With Bashir

BEST DOCUMENTARY

  • The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)
  • Encounters at the End of the World
  • The Garden
  • Man on Wire
  • Trouble the Water

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

  • “Down To Earth” (WALL-E)
  • “Jai Ho” (Slumdog Millionaire)
  • “O Saya” (Slumdog Millionaire)

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

  • The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Alexandre Desplat
  • Defiance, James Newton Howard
  • Milk, Danny Elfman
  • Slumdog Millionaire, A.R. Rahman
  • WALL-E, Thomas Newman

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

  • Australia, Catherine Martin
  • The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Jacqueline West
  • The Duchess,Michael O’Connor
  • Milk, Danny Glicker
  • Revolutionary Road, Albert Wolsky

BEST FILM EDITING

  • The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Kirk Baxter & Angus Wall
  • The Dark Knight, Lee Smith
  • Frost/Nixon, Mike Hill & Dan Hanley
  • Milk, Elliot Graham
  • Slumdog Millionaire, Chris Dickens

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

  • Changeling, Tom Stern
  • The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Claudio Miranda
  • The Dark Night, Wally Pfister
  • The Reader, Chris Menges & Roger Deakins
  • Slumdog Millionaire, Anthony Dod Mantle

BEST ART DIRECTION

  • Changeling, James J. Murakami, Gary Fettis
  • The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Donald Graham Burt & Victor J. Zolfo
  • The Dark Night, Nathan Crowley, Peter Lando
  • The Duchess, Michael Carlin, Rebecca Alleway
  • Revolutionary Road, Kristi Zea, Debra Schutt

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

  • Australia, Catherine Martin
  • The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Jacqueline West
  • The Duchess, Michael O’Connor
  • Milk, Danny Glicker
  • Revolutionary Road, Albert Wolsky

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

  • The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton, Craig Barron
  • The Dark Knight, Nick Davis, Chris Corbould, Tim Webber, Paul Franklin
  • Iron Man, John Nelson, Ben Snow, Dan Sudick, Shane Mahan

BEST SOUND EDITING

  • The Dark Knight, Richard King
  • Iron Man, Frank Eulner, Christopher Boyes
  • Slumdog Millionaire, Tom Sayers
  • WALL-E, Ben Burtt, Matthew Wood
  • Wanted, Wylie Stateman

BEST SOUND MIXING

  • The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce, Mark Weingarten
  • The Dark Knight, Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo, Ed Novick
  • Slumdog Millionaire, Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke, Resul Pookutty
  • WALL-E, Tom Myers, Michael Semanick, Ben Burtt
  • Wanted, Chris Jenkins, Frank A. Montaño, Petr Forejt

BEST MAKEUP

  • The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Greg Cannom
  • The Dark Knight, John Caglione, Jr., Conor O’Sullivan
  • Hellboy II: The Golden Army, Mike Elizalde, Thom Floutz

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT

  • The Conscience of Nhem En, Steven Okazaki
  • The Final Inch, Irene Taylor Brodsky, Tom Grant
  • Smile Pinki, Megan Mylan
  • The Witness – From the Balcony of Room 306, Adam Petofsky, Margaret Hyde

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM

  • La Maison de Petits Cubes, Kunio Kato
  • Lavatory – Lovestory, Konstantin Bronzit
  • Oktapodi, Emud Mokhberi, Thierry Marchand
  • Presto, Doug Sweetland
  • This Way Up, Alan Smith, Adam Foulkes

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM

  • Auf der Strecke (On the Line), Reto Caffi
  • Manon on the Asphalt, Elizabeth Marre, Olivier Pont
  • New Boy, Steph Green, Tamara Anghie
  • The Pig, Tivi Magnusson, Dorte HĂžgh
  • Spielzeugland (Toyland), Jochen Alexander Freydan

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