The 81st Academy Awards ceremony will honor on February 22, 2009, the best films of 2008. The Oscars are awarded for overall 24 categories (10 major categories and 14 other categories). The nominees for the Oscars 2009 were announced on January 22, 2009. 15 films have been nominated for two or more Academy Awards. Most nominations (13) got the drama “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”. The winners will be announced during the awards ceremony on February 22, 2009.
Information 81st Oscar ceremony
Nominees for the 81st Academy Awards:
Major awards
Best Picture
* The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall, Cean Chaffin
* Frost/Nixon - Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, Eric Fellner
* Milk - Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen
* The Reader - Anthony Minghella, Sydney Pollack, Redmond Morris, Donna Gigliotti
* Slumdog Millionaire - Christian Colson
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 Actor
* Richard Jenkins – The Visitor
* Frank Langella – Frost/Nixon
* Sean Penn – Milk
* Brad Pitt – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
* Mickey Rourke – The Wrestler
Best Actress
* Anne Hathaway – Rachel Getting Married
* Angelina Jolie – Changeling
* Melissa Leo – Frozen River
* Meryl Streep – Doubt
* Kate Winslet – The Reader
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 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
Best Original Screenplay
* WALL-E - Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon and Pete Docter
* Happy-Go-Lucky - Mike Leigh
* Frozen River - Courtney Hunt
* In Bruges - Martin McDonagh
* Milk - Dustin Lance Black
Best Adapted Screenplay
* The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Eric Roth and Robin Swicord
* Frost/Nixon - Peter Morgan
* The Reader - David Hare
* Slumdog Millionaire - Simon Beaufoy
* Doubt - John Patrick Shanley
Best Animated Feature
* Bolt – Chris Williams and Byron Howard
* Kung Fu Panda – Mark Osborne and John Stevenson
* WALL-E – Andrew Stanton
Best Foreign Language Film
* Revanche (Austria) in German - Götz Spielmann
* The Class (France) in French - Laurent Cantet
* The Baader Meinhof Complex (Germany) in German
* Departures (Japan) in Japanese
* Waltz with Bashir (Israel) in Hebrew - Ari Folman
Other awards
Best Animated Short
* La Maison En Petits Cubes - Kunio Kato
* Lavatory - Lovestory - Konstantin Bronzit
* Oktapodi - Emud Mokhberi and Thierry Marchand
* Presto - Doug Sweetland
* This Way Up - Alan Smith and Adam Foulkes
Best Art Direction
* Changeling – James J. Murakami, Gary Fettis
* The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Donald Graham Burt, Victor J. Zolfo
* The Dark Knight – Nathan Crowley, Peter Lando
* The Duchess – Michael Carlin, Rebecca Alleway
* Revolutionary Road – Kristi Zea, Debra Schutt
Best Cinematography
* Changeling – Tom Stern
* The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Claudio Miranda
* The Dark Knight – Wally Pfister
* The Reader – Chris Menges, Roger Deakins
* Slumdog Millionaire – Anthony Dod Mantle
Best Costume Design
* Australia – Catherine Martin
* The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Jacqueline West
* The Duchess – Michael O'Connor
* Milk – Danny Glicker
* Revolutionary Road – Albert Wolsky
Best Documentary Feature
* Nerakhoon (The Betrayal)
* Encounters at the End of the World
* The Garden
* Man on Wire
* Trouble the Water
Best Documentary Short
* The Conscience of Nhem En – Steven Okazaki
* The Final Inch
* Smile Pinki
* The Witness - From the Balcony of Room 306
Best Film Editing
* The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Kirk Baxter, Angus Wall
* The Dark Knight – Lee Smith
* Frost/Nixon – Mike Hill, Daniel P. Hanley
* Milk – Elliot Graham
* Slumdog Millionaire – Chris Dickens
Best Live Action Short
* On the Line (Auf der Strecke)
* Manon On the Asphalt
* New Boy (Ireland)
* The Pig (Grisen)
* Toyland (Spielzeugland)
Best Makeup
* The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Greg Cannom
* The Dark Knight – John Caglione, Jr. and Conor O’Sullivan
* Hellboy II: The Golden Army – Mike Elizalde and Thom Floutz
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 Original Song
* "Down to Earth" from WALL-E – Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman (music), Peter Gabriel (lyrics)
* "Jai Ho" from Slumdog Millionaire – A. R. Rahman (music), Gulzar (lyrics)
* "O Saya" from Slumdog Millionaire – A. R. Rahman and M.I.A.
Best Sound Editing
* The Dark Knight – Richard King
* Iron Man – Frank Eulner and Christopher Boyes
* Slumdog Millionaire – Tom Sayers
* WALL-E – Ben Burtt and Matthew Wood
* Wanted – Wylie Stateman
Best Sound Mixing
* The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce, Mark Weingarten
* The Dark Knight – Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo, Ed Novick
* Slumdog Millionaire – Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke, Resul Pookutty
* WALL-E – Tom Myers, Michael Semanick, Ben Burtt
* Wanted – Chris Jenkins, Frank A. Montaño, Petr Forejt
Best Visual Effects
* The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton, Craig Barron
* The Dark Knight – Nick Davis, Chris Corbould, Tim Webber, Paul Franklin
* Iron Man – John Nelson, Ben Snow, Dan Sudick, Shane Mahan
Honorary awards
* Jerry Lewis – Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award
* Edwin Catmull – Gordon E. Sawyer Award
