ACTOR, LEADING
Richard Jenkins in “The Visitor”
Frank Langella in “Frost/Nixon”
Sean Penn in “Milk”
Brad Pitt in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Mickey Rourke in “The Wrestler”

Will win: Rourke
Should win: Rourke

ACTOR, SUPPORTING
Josh Brolin in “Milk”
Robert Downey Jr. in “Tropic Thunder”
Philip Seymour Hoffman in “Doubt”
Heath Ledger in “The Dark Knight”
Michael Shannon in “Revolutionary Road”

Will win: Ledger
Should win: Ledger

ACTRESS, LEADING
Anne Hathaway in “Rachel Getting Married”
Angelina Jolie in “Changeling”
Melissa Leo in “Frozen River”
Meryl Streep in “Doubt”
Kate Winslet in “The Reader”

Will win: Winslet
Should win: Hathaway – I haven’t watched The Reader, yet, but I find it hard to believe Winslet’s performance trumps Hathaway’s. Rachel Getting Married was one of the Best Picture snubs, as much for Hathaway’s performance as for Jonathan Demme’s direction (another snub).

ACTRESS, SUPPORTING
Amy Adams in “Doubt”
Penélope Cruz in “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”
Viola Davis in “Doubt”
Taraji P. Henson in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Marisa Tomei in “The Wrestler”

Will win: Cruz
Should win: Tomei – She was incredible in The Wrestler. And what she did was a heck of a lot tougher than acting kooky/crazy and looking pretty (which is how I’d summarize Cruz’s performance).

ANIMATED FEATURE
“Bolt”
“Kung-Fu Panda”
“WALL-E”

Will win: WALL-E
Should win: WALL-E

ART DIRECTION
“Changeling”
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“The Dark Knight”
“The Duchess”
“Revolutionary Road”

Will win: Dunno. I’m guessing The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
Should win: I really enjoyed the palette they used and the care they took in constructing the world of Revolutionary Road. Some very simple but deliberate decisions, I thought, which added flavour and meaning to the film.

BEST PICTURE
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“Frost/Nixon”
“Milk”
“The Reader”
“Slumdog Millionaire”

Will win: Slumdog Millionaire
Should win: The Wrestler – Slumdog Millionaire is probably the most overrated film since Crash. It’s a shame that the Academy somehow forgot to nominate one of the greatest films of this decade in The Wrestler.

CINEMATOGRAPHY
“Changeling”
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“The Dark Knight”
“The Reader”
“Slumdog Millionaire”

Will win: Again I’d guess The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
Should win: I was pretty impressed with the lighting in The Dark Knight. But what do I know?

COSTUME DESIGN
“Australia”
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“The Duchess”
“Milk”
“Revolutionary Road”

Will win: Please. The Duchess, I guess?
Should win: Again, I really like the detail in Rovolutionary Road (another Best Picture snub).

DIRECTING
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“Frost/Nixon”
“Milk”
“The Reader”
“Slumdog Millionaire”

Will win: Slumdog Millionaire
Should win: The Wrestler – Darren Aronofsky is one of the greatest directors of our generation. I can appreciate that Requiem for a Dream and The Fountain were more niche films, but it’s absolutely shocking that he wasn’t recognized for what he did with The Wrestler. Especially when you consider the complete change in style he had to make.

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
“The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)”
“Encounters at the End of the World”
“The Garden”
“Man on Wire”
“Trouble the Water”

Will win: Man on Wire
Should win: From what I hear, Man on Wire.

DOCUMENTARY SHORT
“The Conscience of Nhem En”
“The Final Inch”
“Smile Pinki”
“The Witness – From the Balcony of Room 306”

Will win: Smile Pinki…it sounds like a winner.
Should win: Agreed.

FILM EDITING
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“The Dark Knight”
“Frost/Nixon”
“Milk”
“Slumdog Millionaire”

Will win: Milk
Should win: Milk – The Dark Knight had some awful edits, but had the tough job of leaving so much on the cutting room floor. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, as well, probably could have been shorter than it was. Slumdog Millionaire had awful editing in general. Milk was a tight story with some nice editing decisions.

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
“The Baader Meinhof Complex”
“The Class”
“Departures”
“Revanche”
“Waltz with Bashir”

Will win: Waltz with Bashir, because I’ve heard of it.
Should win: Waltz with Bashir

MAKEUP
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“The Dark Knight”
“Hellboy II: The Golden Army”

Will win: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Should win: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Probably not easy, what they accomplished.

ORIGINAL SCORE
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“Defiance”
“Milk”
“Slumdog Millionaire”
“WALL-E”

Will win: Slumdog Millionaire
Should win: Not Slumdog Millionaire. It was so forced and hackey. It could have been about 8 million times better than it was.

ORIGINAL SONG
“Down to Earth” from “WALL-E”
“Jai Ho” from “Slumdog Millionaire”
“O Saya” from “Slumdog Millionaire”

Will win: O Saya
Should win: The Wrestler – Have you heard it? It’s Springsteen at his best. Shocking it wasn’t nominated.

SHORT FILM, ANIMATED
“La Maison en Petits Cubes”
“Lavatory – Lovestory”
“Oktapodi”
“Presto”
“This Way Up”

Will win: Umm…Oktapodi.
Should win: Yup.

SHORT FILM, LIVE ACTION
“Auf der Strecke (On the Line)”
“Manon on the Asphalt”
“New Boy”
“The Pig”
“Spielzeugland (Toyland)”

Will win: The Pig
Should win: Seriously?

SOUND EDITING
“The Dark Knight”
“Iron Man”
“Slumdog Millionaire”
“WALL-E”
“Wanted”

Will win: The Dark Knight
Should win: The Dark Knight

SOUND MIXING
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“The Dark Knight”
“Slumdog Millionaire”
“WALL-E”
“Wanted”

Will win: The Dark Knight
Should win: The Dark Knight – I really like the way the film sounded…

VISUAL EFFECTS
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“The Dark Knight”
“Iron Man”

Will win: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Should win: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – It’d be a shame if they lost. They did an amazing job.

SCREENPLAY, ADAPTED
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“Doubt”
“Frost/Nixon”
“The Reader”
“Slumdog Millionaire”

Will win: Slumdog Millionaire
Should win: Again, not Slumdog Millionaire. Of the films nominated, Frost/Nixon probably had the best script.

SCREENPLAY, ORIGINAL
“Frozen River”
“Happy-Go-Lucky”
“In Bruges”
“Milk”
“WALL-E”

Will win: WALL-E
Should win: WALL-E – Pretty beautiful story, all told. The fact that it was told with so little dialogue only strengthens its case.

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