And The Nominees Are...

It's that time again: Oscar nominations! A few thoughts:

• I love the Oscars, and I love that they've been embracing small films recently instead of caving in to the mainstream, but they really screwed up this year. They had two genuinely great blockbusters they could have nominated, and instead they went with The Reader. I swear, you could almost hear the embarrassment in Sid Ganis's voice as he begged us to join him on the most exciting night of the year. Mark my words: lowest rated ceremony ever.
  
• The one category they seem to have gotten right is Original Screenplay! I can't believe they remembered In Bruges, my favorite screenplay of the year. And WALL-E is not a film you might think screams screenplay, so I'm glad they realized how well written it really was.
  
• 4 acting nominations for Doubt but no Picture nomination? Kind of surprising.
  
• No song nomination for The Wrestler but two for Slumdog Millionaire? What were they thinking?
• WALL-E ties Beauty and the Beast for most nominations for an animated film ever.
  

Best Picture

Nominees:

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

Which ones I've seen: Luckily (if you can really call it that) I caught The Reader just hours ago, so all five.
Who should win: Slumdog Millionaire
Who will win: Well, at least my favorite of the five is going to win Best Picture, if that's any consolation...
Possible upsets? Benjamin Button is the only one with a shot at upsetting, mainly due to it being the only big picture of the bunch.


Best Director

Nominees:

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

Which ones I've seen: All of them. It's very rare that the five directors line up with Picture. Even if they didn't want to embrace The Dark Knight for Picture, I'm even more shocked that Nolan was left out.
Who should win: Boyle, I guess. Not a big fan of any of these directing jobs. I love Fincher in general, so I guess a win for him would feel nice in a career achievement sort of way.
Who will win: Boyle. I wouldn't be surprised to see a sweep by Slumdog.
Possible upsets? Again, Fincher's film seems to be the only real threat.


Best Actor

Nominees:

• Richard Jenkins, The Visitor
  
• Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon
  
• Sean Penn, Milk
  
• Brad Pitt, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
  
• Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler
  

Which ones I've seen: All of the above. I'm getting a sneaking suspicion I've seen all the nominees in the major categories for the first time ever.
Who should win: Wow, this is pretty close to great, actually. While I'm not a fan of this particular performance, good for Pitt on finally being recognized again. My pick would be Rourke.
Who will win: Penn seems like the obvious choice right now.
Possible upsets? However, I think Rourke will very likely spoil Penn's parade. Langella would be a not too distant third.


Best Actress

Nominees:

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

Which ones I've seen: Again, all.
Who should win: Leo! I can't believe they actually remembered the best female lead of the year!
Who will win: Winslet. They've been waiting so long to give it to her, they'll feel like they have to at this point.
Possible upsets? Streep seems like a genuine threat, though. Very few actors can win more than two Oscars in a career, but she is probably one of them.


Best Supporting Actor

Nominees:

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

Which ones I've seen: I've seen everything, I've seen it all.
Who should win: Ledger, obviously.
Who will win: The one certainty of the night - and this whole year - has been Ledger's win here.
Possible upsets? I can't even fathom who could beat him. Brolin, probably. How awkward would that feel to win over Leger, I wonder?


Best Supporting Actress

Nominees:

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

Which ones I've seen: Wow, I really have seen all the major nominees. I wonder how I did on screenplays...
Who should win: Penelope Cruz. Delightful performance, that one.
Who will win: I think Cruz has this one. Woody Allen has a history of getting his ladies Oscars.
Possible upsets? Watch out for both Viola Davis and Marisa Tomei. Davis gives a resonating performance, while Tomei has been gunning to prove her last win wasn't a mistake.

So, there we have it. The last five years years have had some pretty great Pictures nominated, so it's kind of sad to see that streak end. This is kind of the final nail in the mediocre coffin that was 2008. Some of the smaller categories at least got it right. But again, my mind has been boggled. Really, The Reader?!

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - 13
Slumdog Millionaire - 10
The Dark Knight - 8
Milk - 8
WALL-E - 6
Doubt - 5
Frost/Nixon - 5
The Reader - 5