Oscars

I'm so pumped for Oscar night this year! I've already seen all the nominees for Best Picture and only have to see a few more before I've seen all of the nominees for the big 8 (Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress, Original Screenplay, Adapted Screenplay).

I'm really torn as to what is going to win. I personally think the best was probably Benjamin Button or Frost/Nixon...but I kind of have a thing for The Reader, even though a few technical things really bugged me. I liked Slumdog Millionaire a lot, but I think that it's getting a lot of hype that may or may not carry through to Oscar votes. I do think it could easily win Best Director however. Milk was good, I really did like it, but I don't think it had Oscar standing...in the Best Picture category at least. I think that Sean Penn has a good chance of getting Best Actor (it's between him and Mickey Rourke...I haven't seen the Wrestler yet though). I'm a little pissed that Josh Brolin is up for Best Supporting Actor and Emile Hirsch isn't. Josh Brolin was good, but Emile Hirsche was excellent (I'm still a little disapointed that he wasn't recognized for Into the Wild...or that Into the Wild wasn't up for Best Picture...another bit of genius from Sean Penn). I suppose the Best Supporting Actor Category doesn't matter too much this year however...The New York Times called the nominations "The Four actors who are going to lose to Heath Ledger" and I'm pretty sure I agree. Michael Shannon in Revolutionary Road and Philip Seymour Hoffman in Doubt were both brilliant (haven't seen Robert Downey Jr. in Tropic Thunder yet), but Ledger's was one that would have been remembered as brilliant for years to come even if he hadn't passed away.

Ledger winning Best Supporting Actor is however one of the few awards that will be easy to predict. Almost all of the others are very close. I'm thinking that Best Actress should go to Kate Winslet (my favorite actress) but I haven't seen Rachel Getting Married yet, so I can't be sure. It should be a fun year, and I'm looking forward to putting together my predictions and seeing the outcome on the 22nd.



Just in case you don't follow them as religiously as I do, here are the big 8 nominations:

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

Best Director
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 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 Actor
Josh Brolin, Milk
Robert Downey Jr., Tropic Thunder
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Doubt
Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
Michael Shannon, Revolutionary Road

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

Best Original Screenplay
Frozen River, Courtney Hunt
Happy-Go-Lucky, Mike Leigh
In Bruges, Martin McDonagh
Milk, Dustin Lance Black
Wall-E, Andrew Stanton and Jim Reardon