2009 Oscar Nominees

The 81st Academy Awards has come upon us. Like last year, I'm here to give my readers the nominees. Of course, I'm a little late. But when you're watching the award ceremony, it's always handy to have a list of the nominees.

The 2009 Academy Awards ceremony will be broadcast on February 22nd at 5 pm PT and 8 pm ET. Forget David Letterman or Jon Stewart. This year, they chose Hugh Jackman to host the Oscars. Will he be as hilarious up on that stage as Billy Crystal? Well, let's hope they don't try to give Jackman a bunch of bad jokes. The man has charisma. Ladies swoon when they see his body. But, I somehow doubt that he's as brilliant of a comedian as he is an action hero. And, ladies, I hate to disappoint you but it's not likely that Jackman will be taking off his shirt.

Here are the nominees for Best Picture

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Frost/Nixon

Milk

The Reader

Slumdog Millionaire

Here are the nominees for Best Director

David Fincher for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Ron Howard for Frost/Nixon

Gus Van Sant for Milk

Stephen Daldry for The Reader

Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire

Here are the nominees for Best Actor in a Leading Role

Richard Jenkins for The Visitor

Frank Langella for Frost/Nixon

Sean Penn for Milk

Brad Pitt for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Mickey Rourke for The Wrestler

Here are the nominees for Best Actress in a Leading Role

Anne Hathaway for Rachel Getting Married

Angelina Jolie for Changeling

Melissa Leo for Frozen River

Meryl Streep for Doubt

Kate Winslet for The Reader

Here are the nominees for Best Actor in a Supporting Role

Josh Brolin for Milk

Robert Downey Jr. for Tropic Thunder

Philip Seymour Hoffman for Doubt

Heath Ledger for The Dark Knight

Michael Shannon for Revolutionary Road

Here are the nominees for Best Actress in a Supporting Role

Amy Adams for Doubt

Penelope Cruz for Vicky Christina Barcelona

Viola Davis for Doubt

Taraji P. Hensen for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Marisa Tomei for The Wrestler

Here are the nominees for Best Animated Feature Film

Bolt

Kung Fu Panda

Wall-E

Here are the nominees for Best Documentary Feature

The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)

Encounters at the End of the World

The Garden

Man on Wire

Trouble the Water

Here are the rest of the nominees

Best Adapted Screenplay

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Screenplay by Eric Roth)

Doubt (Screenplay by John Patrick Shanley)

Frost/Nixon (Screenplay by Peter Morgan)

The Reader (Screenplay by David Hare)

Slumdog Millionaire (Screenplay by Simon Beaufoy)

Best Original Screenplay

Frozen River (Screenplay by Courtney Hunt)

Happy-Go-Lucky (Screenplay by Mike Leigh)

In Bruges (Screenplay by Martin McDonagh)

Milk (Screenplay by Dustin Lance Black)

Wall-E (Screenplay by Wall-E)

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 Visual Effects

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

The Dark Knight

Iron Man

Best Film Editing

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

The Dark Knight

Frost/Nixon

Milk

Slumdog Millionaire

Best Makeup

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

The Dark Knight

Hellboy II: The Golden Army

Best Score

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Defiance

Milk

Slumdog Millionaire

Wall-E

Best Song

"Down to Earth" from Wall-E

"Jai Ho" from Slumdog Millionaire

"O Saya" from Slumdog Millionaire

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 Documentary Short

The Conscience of Nhem En

The Final Inch

Smile Pinki

The Witness - From the Balcony of Room 306

Best Animated Short

La Maison En Petits Cubes

Lavatory - Lovestory

Oktapodi

Presto

This Way Up

Best Live Action Short

Auf Der Strecke (On the Line)

Manon on The Asphalt

New Boy

The Pig

Spielzeugland (Toyland)

Here are some of my reviews of the films nominated

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Directed by David Fincher

Written by Eric Roth

Brad Pitt stars as the title character, Benjamin Button. His case is indeed a curious one. He's born into the body of an old man. As he ages, Benjamin's body grows younger. His father's first reaction is to put the baby out of its misery. Instead, he decides to leave the baby boy on the doorstep of a woman by the name of Queenie as played brilliantly by Taraji P. Hansen. She runs a boarding house for the elderly, a perfect setting to raise a boy like Benjamin. Eventually, Benjamin meets a girl, Daisy and immediately falls in love with her. Daisy as later played by Cate Blanchett is aging normally. The two seem like a very mis-matched pair. When Benjamin and Daisy reach 40, they basically look the same age. It is in the this time when their romance flourishes and falls apart. The film is brilliantly told bv director, David Fincher and writer, Eric Roth. It's such an unusual story, you would suspect the film to lose the audience. Somehow, Fincher grabs us and holds us in our seats with intrigue. I don't know about anyone else, but I'm going to be rooting for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button when they read off the nominees for Best Picture at the Academy Awards ceremony.

The Reader

Directed by Stephen Daldry

Written by David Hare

Based on the book by Bernhard Schlink, this well-told story of a young man and his adventures with a mysterious woman who he really knows nothing about becomes a heartfelt tale of redemption, misunderstanding and doubt. The mysterious woman is Hanna Schmitz as played to perfection by Kate Winslet. The young man is Michael Berg as played by David Kross. The older equivalent of this character is played by Ralph Fiennes. When Michael falls in love with Hanna, she completely disappears. He continues on to college, never able to let go of the love and affection he shared with Hanna. Then, Michael discovers an awful truth. The woman he had fallen in love with was once a Nazi SS Officer, presumably responsible for deaths of many Jewish women. Michael grapples with this for the remainder of the story. It's in Kate Winslet's innocent expression when they question her and her actions of the past where the heart of The Reader truly lies. It is no surprise why she's a sure bet for the Best Actress award.