2009 Oscar Predictions: Media Edition

Like with all awards shows, I wait until the absolute last minute to post my predictions. Sometimes I wonder if I do it for the readers, or if I do it for the time stamp to show how wrong I was beforehand. In any case, I snagged a listing of 2009 Oscar nominees (honestly, who wants to sit there and type up all the nominees) and will provided trailers and video clips of the nominees I hope will win. After all, this is all about who we want to win, right? Forget about who will, especially when they rarely get the nominees right in the first place. Well, based on my own opinion of course. So, as the hour approaches, take a look at my choices:

BEST PICTURE

• “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
• “Frost/Nixon”
• “Milk”
• “The Reader”
• “Slumdog Millionaire"
• My biggest problem here, and it is one that should have been expeced, is that The Dark Knight was not nominated. Not to mention The Wrestler, Wall-E, or In Bruges. From the selection given, the winner should be:

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”
• I have to say that it is nice to see Jenkins among the nominees. No, I have not seen the film, but all the clips I have seen have been fantastic. However, the best performance of the year is among the nominees, and if he does not win, we have a bigger problem.

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”
• Is there any question who will and who deserves to win this category? They are one and the same, and it is not because he died tragically, it is because the performance is phenomenal.

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”
• I would have nominated Winslet, but for Revolutionary Road, this performance is actually a supporting one (the Golden Globes got it right). I suspect it will be between Streep and Winslet, but I want someone else:

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”
• While momentum seems to be pointing towards Cruz, I want the woman who had the shortest amount of screentime, but whose impact is felt throughout the entirety of the film.

SOUND EDITING

• “The Dark Knight”
• “Iron Man”
• “Slumdog Millionaire”
• “WALL-E”
• “Wanted”
• All of these are good choices, but I am going to pull for the biggest box office hit of the year.

ANIMATED FEATURE

• “Bolt”
• “Kung-Fu Panda”
• “WALL-E”
• All three of these films are quite good, but only one approaches the level of masterpiece.

SOUND MIXING

• “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
• “The Dark Knight”
• “Slumdog Millionaire”
• “WALL-E”
• “Wanted”
• Honestly, I could not tell you the difference between this and sound editing. While I went the live-action route for editing, I am leaning towards animation for mixing.

ART DIRECTION

• “Changeling”
• “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
• “The Dark Knight”
• “The Duchess”
• “Revolutionary Road”
• This is another one that I am leaning towards box offie success, although I would not be disappointed to see David Fincher's epic take the prize.

VISUAL EFFECTS

• “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
• “The Dark Knight”
• “Iron Man”
• All three of these films contain strong effects work, although I have to give the edge to Benjamin Button for its seemless work. You knew it was there, but it was not immediately identifiable as an effect.

CINEMATOGRAPHY

• “Changeling”
• “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
• “The Dark Knight”
• “The Reader”
• “Slumdog Millionaire”
• I think this category will fall in line with my pick for best picture, but I am leaning more towards the work in my pick for best film of the year (which are not the same).

SCREENPLAY, ADAPTED

• “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
• “Doubt”
• “Frost/Nixon”
• “The Reader”
• “Slumdog Millionaire”
• This category has a lot of strong contenders, but there is one that stands out from the pack in the way it presents its information while never giving anything away.

COSTUME DESIGN

• “Australia”
• “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
• “The Duchess”
• “Milk”
• “Revolutionary Road”
• The Academy seems to like period work for costumes, so it would be no surprise to see The Duchess walk away with the prize, however, my loyalties lie with Benjamin Button.

SCREENPLAY, ORIGINAL

• “Frozen River”
• “Happy-Go-Lucky”
• “In Bruges”
• “Milk”
• “WALL-E”
• I think it would be awesome for Wall-E to take the prize, but it is not my first choice, that one lies with a film containing a racist dwarf.

DIRECTING

• “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
• “Frost/Nixon”
• “Milk”
• “The Reader”
• “Slumdog Millionaire”
• It is a travesty that Christopher Nolan did not get nominated and Ron Howard did. Of those nominated, I am going to have to go with Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire, although I would not be uset with a David Fincher win.

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

• “The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)”
• “Encounters at the End of the World”
• “The Garden”
• “Man on Wire”
• “Trouble the Water”
• I have not seen any of these films, so my opinon cannot mean much, but I am rooting for the one I want to see the most:

SHORT FILM, ANIMATED

• “La Maison en Petits Cubes”
• “Lavatory - Lovestory”
• “Oktapodi”
• “Presto”
• “This Way Up”
• I have no idea where we are supposed to go and see all of these films, fortunately the one I saw I absolutely love.

FILM EDITING

• “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
• “The Dark Knight”
• “Frost/Nixon”
• “Milk”
• “Slumdog Millionaire”
• This is another category with a couple of worthy films. I am going to lean towards the superhero film with the dark side.

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

• “The Baader Meinhof Complex”
• “The Class”
• “Departures”
• “Revanche”
• “Waltz with Bashir”
• Much like th documentary category, I have not seen any of these films, so I am going to go with the one I am most interested in seeing.

MAKEUP

• “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
• “The Dark Knight”
• “Hellboy II: The Golden Army”
• Lots of good work here. I would not be disappoited by any these films winning, so I am gong to go with the film least likely to get some love.

ORIGINAL SCORE

• “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
• “Defiance”
• “Milk”
• “Slumdog Millionaire”
• “WALL-E”
• The winner has to be A.R. Rahman for his fantastic work on Slumdog Millionaire. However, I am disappointed that The Dark Knight was not nominated, especially following the controversy surrounding its eligibility.

ORIGINAL SONG

• “Down to Earth” from “WALL-E”
• “Jai Ho” from “Slumdog Millionaire”
• “O Saya” from “Slumdog Millionaire”
• I am quite disappointed that Springsteens song for The Wrestler was not nominates. In its stead, I am going with one of my other favorites:

Be sure to tune in and see how far off I am!