My Favorite Time of Year

This is my long overdue return to the blog world and I figured it would be the appropriate time to broadcast my Oscar picks for the year. As I do every year, despite the shallowness and pointless glamour, become complete enthralled in awards show season and make it my personal goal to be well-informed before the main event. This year, I think I’ve done remarkably well, having watched the last of the major movies last night – The Wrestler – and I’m ready to commit to my Academy Award choices. So please enjoy, and I’ll be keeping score on February 22.

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

Slumdog Millionaire. It’s the little indie movie that became this year’s Best Picture frontrunner. Having won all of the prior awards this year, it seems to be everyone’s choice, despite the fact that it is not nominated for any acting awards and few technical awards. But, I think the movie was really something amazing, and they will definitely be the movie I am rooting for to win.

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

Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire. This may be the most competitive category this year, with so many highly acclaimed directors. Ordinarily, I can’t imagine Danny Boyle being the winner out of the group, but so far he has been picking up every award, and I don’t think he’ll be denied the honor at the Oscars.

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

Sean Penn, Milk. Also my personal favorite for the year (again) – it seems to be a pattern. Despite all the acclaim Mickey Rourke has gotten for The Wrestler, I think Sean Penn’s performance is far and away the best this year because he personified Harvey Milk so well.

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

Kate Winslet, The Reader. In addition to being overwhelmingly biased towards Kate Winslet because she is my favorite actress and I worship the ground she walks on, I really do think she deserves it. I do think the other award show winners this year, Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streep were amazing, but frankly, the German accent and mannish shoes in the Reader really won me over.

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

Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight. I’d bet my favorite purse and New York Times subscription on it.

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

Taraji P. Henson, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Might be the toughest category this year as there are no front-runners, considering Kate Winslet was nominated for all the previous awards. I frankly loved all the performances, my favorite being Penelope Cruz in the vastly underappreciated Vicky Christina Barcelona. However, after agonizing over this all day, I have finally made a choice. WHEW.

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda
WALL-E

WALL-E. Why do they even have this category? There’s always a clear frontrunner every year. Can’t mess with the adorable everyman robot who falls in love with a sleekly elegant yet violent droid (story of my life).

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

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Another shoo-in. I can honestly say that I did not know the old woman in the hospital bed was indeed Cate Blanchett in heavy makeup and not a randomly cast person. And miniature wheelchair Brad Pitt was pretty impressive as well.

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
''Down to Earth,'' WALL-E
''Jai Ho,'' Slumdog Millionaire
''O Saya,'' Slumdog Millionaire

''Jai Ho,'' Slumdog Millionaire. I’m still wondering why Bruce Springsteen wasn’t nominated; I actually really liked the song he did for the Wrestler. However, this is going to be an interesting category especially with the live performances. I only chose this song because of the hilarious ecstatic Bollywood dancing at the end of the fairly somber and heavy movie featuring the cast, particularly Dev Patel in his real moment of glory.


And the others I didn’t care to comment on, which are pretty vague guesses, particularly when it comes to the documentary and shorts. I essentially chose the title I liked the most.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Frozen River, Courtney Hunt
Happy-Go-Lucky, Mike Leigh
In Bruges, Martin McDonagh
Milk, Dustin Lance Black
WALL-E, Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon, Pete Docter

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Eric Roth
Doubt, John Patrick Shanley
Frost/Nixon, Peter Morgan
The Reader, David Hare
Slumdog Millionaire, Simon Beaufoy

BEST ANIMATED SHORT
La Maison en Petits Cubes
Lavatory — Lovestory
Oktapodi
Presto
This Way Up

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

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

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

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

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
The Conscience of Nhem En
The Final Inch
Smile Pinki
The Witness — From the Balcony of Room 306

BEST EDITING
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Frost/Nixon
Milk
Slumdog Millionaire

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
The Baader Meinhof Complex (Germany)
The Class (France)
Departures (Japan)
Revanche (Austria)
Waltz with Bashir (Israel)

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

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

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

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