Getting Ready For The Oscars

I am a HUGE movie buff. I also love people who take themselves WAAAAAAYY too seriously that they look like complete idiots. What's the best combination of these things? The Academy Awards of course. The Super Bowl of movies occurs Sunday night. I will be blogging it live as it occurs (barring I spill another water bottle full of water on my computer again).

To freshen up on the nominees, I have been on a movie binge the past few weeks. I even saw Gran Torino and Revolutionary Road which should have more nominations. My picks will be come at some point over the weekend (I'm due to watch Frost/Nixon tonight and then Milk tomorrow night).

Things to look out on Oscar night.

- The performances of the "Best Song" nominees.

- The really boring speech by the head of the movie industry (I forget his name)

- How many montages there will be

- Who gets the most applause on the "remembering those who have died" montage (Heath Ledger is a shoe in for this one but who will finish second?)

- Who presents the final award for best picture (usually someone famous)

- What "blockbuster movie actors who will never be nominated for an Oscar" presenters will there be (past examples include Owen Wilson, Will Ferrell, Steve Carrell, and Cameron Diaz).

In any event, here are all of the nominees.

BEST PICTURE:

"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"

"Frost/Nixon"

"Milk"

"The Reader"

"Slumdog Millionaire"

BEST ACTRESS:

Anne Hathaway, "Rachel Getting Married"

Angelina Jolie, "Changeling"

Melissa Leo, "Frozen River"

Meryl Streep, "Doubt"

Kate Winslet, "The Reader"

BEST ACTOR:

Frank Langella, "Frost/Nixon"

Sean Penn, "Milk"

Brad Pitt, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"

Mickey Rourke, "The Wrestler"

Richard Jenkins, "The Visitor"

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 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 ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Dustin Lance Black, "Milk"

Courtney Hunt, "Frozen River"

Mike Leigh, "Happy-Go-Lucky"

Marttin McDonagh, "In Bruges"

Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon, "WALL-E"

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Simon Beaufoy, "Slumdog Millionaire"

David Hare, "The Reader"

Peter Morgan, "Frost/Nixon"

John Patrick Shanley, "Doubt"

Eric Roth, Robin Swicord, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM"

The Baader-Meinhof Complex" (Germany)

"The Class" (France)

"Departures" (Japan)

"Revanche" (Austria)

"Waltz with Bashir" (Israel)

BEST ANIMATED FILM

"Bolt"

"Kung Fu Panda"

"WALL-E"

BEST ART DIRECTION

"Changeling"

"The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button"

"Dark Knight"

"The Duchess"

"Revolutionary Road"

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

"Changeling" Tom Stern

"Slumdog Millionaire," Anthony Dod Mantle

"The Reader," Chris Menges

"The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button," Claudio Miranda

"The Dark Knight," Wally Pfister

BEST FILM EDITING

"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Kirk Baxter, Angus Wall

"The Dark Knight,"

Lee Smith"Frost/Nixon,"

Daniel P. Hanley,

Mike Hill"Milk,"

Elliot Graham "Slumdog Millionaire," Chris Dickens

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

"Australia," Catherine Martin

"The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button," Jacqueline West

"The Duchess," Michael O'Conner

"Milk", Danny Glicker

"Revolutionary Road," Albert Wolsky

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

"The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)"

"Encounters at the End of the World"

"The Garden"

"Man on Wire"

"Trouble the Water"

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

"Slumdog Millionaire," "Jai Ho," A.R. Rahman

"Slumdog Millionaire," "O Saya," A.R. Rahman & M.I.A.

"WALL-E," "Down To Earth," Peter Gabriel & Thomas Newman

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 MAKEUP

"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Colleen Callaghan, Fionagh Cush

"The Dark Knight," Peter Robb-King, John Caglione Jr.

"Hellboy II: The Golden Army," Mike Elizalde, Thom Floutz

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," Mark Weingarten, David Parker, Michael Semanick

"The Dark Knight," Ed Novick, Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo"

Slumdog Millionaire," Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke and Resul Pookutty

"WALL-E," Ben Burtt, Tom Myers, Michael Semanick

"Wanted," Chris Jenkins, Frank A. Montaño and Petr Forejt

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Eric Barba

"The Dark Knight," Chris Corbould, Nick Davis, Paul Franklin, Tim Webber

"Iron Man," John Nelson

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM

"Auf der Strecke (On the Line)"

"Manon on the Asphalt"

"New Boy"

"The Pig"

"Spielzeugland (Toyland)"

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM

"La Maison en Petits Cubes"

"Lavatory - Lovestory"

"Oktapodi"

"Presto"

"This Way Up"

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM

"The Conscience of Nhem En"

"The Final Inch"

"Smile Pinki"

"The Witness - From the Balcony of Room 306"