Oscar Predictions 2009

The 81st Annual Academy Awards, if trends are anything to go by, seem to be more or less on the same page with me this season, which is a peculiar feeling indeed since I'm used to ranting about the results. However, this year the Academy's likely winners and my who-should-win picks are uncannily mirroring each other, a fact displayed in this list of the nominees. The Academy picks are marked by the [A] sign, my picks are marked by the [R] sign and a few very possible upsets are marked by the [U] sign. Lets wait a couple of days to see how right it goes.

Performance by an actor in a leading role

Richard Jenkins in "The Visitor"
Frank Langella in "Frost/Nixon"
[U] Sean Penn [Images] in "Milk"
Brad Pitt [Images] in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
[A] [R] Mickey Rourke [Images] in "The Wrestler"

Performance by an actor in a supporting role

Josh Brolin [Images] in "Milk"
[R] Robert Downey Jr [Images]. in "Tropic Thunder"
Philip Seymour Hoffman in "Doubt"
[A] Heath Ledger [Images] in "The Dark Knight [Images]"
Michael Shannon in "Revolutionary Road [Images]"

Performance by an actress in a leading role

[R] Anne Hathaway [Images] in "Rachel Getting Married"
Angelina Jolie [Images] in "Changeling"
Melissa Leo in "Frozen River"
Meryl Streep [Images] in "Doubt"
[A] Kate Winslet [Images] in "The Reader"

Performance by an actress in a supporting role

Amy Adams [Images] in "Doubt"
[A] Pen�lope Cruz in "Vicky Cristina Barcelona [Images]"
[U] Viola Davis in "Doubt"
Taraji P. Henson in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
[R] Marisa Tomei in "The Wrestler"

Best animated feature film of the year

"Bolt"
"Kung Fu Panda [Images]"
[A] [R] "WALL-E [Images]"

Achievement in directing

[U] David Fincher [Images] for "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
Ron Howard for "Frost/Nixon"
Gus Van Sant for "Milk"
Stephen Daldry for "The Reader"
[A] [R] Danny Boyle [Images] for "Slumdog Millionaire [Images]"

Achievement in makeup

[A] "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
"The Dark Knight"
[R] "Hellboy [Images] II: The Golden Army"

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)

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

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)

"Down to Earth" from "WALL-E" Music by Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman; Lyric by Peter Gabriel
[R] "Jai Ho" from "Slumdog Millionaire" Music by A.R. Rahman; Lyric by Gulzar [Images]
[A] "O Saya" from "Slumdog Millionaire" Music and Lyric by A.R. Rahman and Maya Arulpragasam

Best motion picture of the year

"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
"Frost/Nixon"
"Milk"
"The Reader"
[A] [R] "Slumdog Millionaire"

Achievement in sound editing

[A] "The Dark Knight" Richard King
"Iron Man" Frank Eulner and Christopher Boyes
"Slumdog Millionaire" Tom Sayers
[R] "WALL-E" Ben Burtt and Matthew Wood
"Wanted" Wylie Stateman

Achievement in sound mixing

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

Achievement in visual effects

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

Adapted screenplay

"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" Screenplay by Eric Roth; Screen story by Eric Roth and Robin Swicord
"Doubt" Written by John Patrick Shanley
"Frost/Nixon" Screenplay by Peter Morgan
"The Reader" Screenplay by David Hare
[A] [R] "Slumdog Millionaire" Screenplay by Simon Beaufoy

Original screenplay

"Frozen River" Written by Courtney Hunt
"Happy-Go-Lucky" Written by Mike Leigh
"In Bruges" Written by Martin McDonagh
"Milk" Written by Dustin Lance Black
[A] [R] "WALL-E" Screenplay by Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon; Original story by Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter