The Oscar Line-Up

First off, I will dutifully apologize for such a long pause between posts. The holidays really screw me over in several departments (work ethic being one of them).

But let us not pause much longer! To kick off the new year, it is only appropriate to begin with the Oscars. The nominees were announced Thursday, some names familiar, others not. Not surprisingly, Benjamin Button snagged 13 nominations, one shy of a record. Also not surprisingly, Heath Ledger was voted as Best Supporting Actor posthumously. But what was surprising is that, other than Ledger's nomination, "The Dark Knight" was not nominated for any other major category. Though it did get 8 nominations for technical...stuff (LIKE I CARE).

What kinda ticks me off is the total snub at Clint Eastwood for "Gran Torino". The man is a fucking LEGEND. Even if he wasn't at his best, it's almost an obligation to nominate him. But, apparently the Academy had something up their tight asses this year when it came to nominations. In all seriousness, how could they shut out Christopher Nolan, director of "The Dark Knight"? Everyone and their mom saw "The Dark Knight" and for good reason: it was an awesome film and deserved more than 8 nominations but...this is an opinion column of sorts.

So without further ado, here is the nominee list for all major categories (who gives a crap about lighting? PSH).

Best Picture: "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button", "Frost/Nixon", "Milk", "The Reader", "Slumdog Millionaire".

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".

Supporting Actor: Josh Brolin, "Milk"; Robert Downey Jr., "Tropic Thunder"; Philip Seymour Hoffman, "Doubt"; Heath Ledger, "The Dark Knight"; Michael Shannon, "Revolutionary Road".

Supporting Actress: Amy Adams, "Doubt"; Penelope Cruz, "Vicky Cristina Barcelona"; Viola Davis, "Doubt"; Taraji P. Henson, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"; Marisa Tomei, "The Wrestler".

Director: David Fincher, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"; Ron Howard, "Frost/Nixon"; Gus Van Sant, "Milk"; Stephen Daldry, "The Reader"; Danny Boyle, "Slumdog Millionaire".

Foreign Film: "The Baader Meinhof Complex," Germany; "The Class", France; "Departures", Japan; "Revanche", Austria; "Waltz with Bashir", Israel.

Best Animated Feature Film: "Bolt", "Kung Fu Panda", "WALL-E".

So that's all the good stuff. If anyone is dying to know about something obscure like film editing or sound mixing (faggot...) just let me know and I'll put it up.

Comments (even ones that challenge me) are welcome.