posting my oscar winners wanna-win list.  i guess there are three ways to look at a list of nominees.  one would be who will win, the other who should win, and the one who must win.  and sometimes it doesnt really matter because politics in award giving bodies get in the way of the real winner receiving the trophy. sometimes sentimental winners take home the trophy instead of the best best nominee. and sometimes, the mass favorite wins the trophy when there’s really a better movie in the running (or out of it).  the selection process is trivial and i learned not to put my hopes on the oscar.  at least not anymore.

although benjamin button (CCBB) may have gotten the most nominations this year with 13, slumdog millionaire might actually run away with the top honors (picture, director, cinematog, writing). im rooting for kate winslet to win (finally), although she would be the year’s “sentimental” choice along with mickey rourke.  im thrilled anne hathaway got nominated and meryll streep gets another nomination but please make it kate this year. heath ledeger (+) hands down wins supporting actor for dark knight.

the supporting actress field is open, since kate in the reader is put in the lead actress category and she’s won in that for both SAG and GG as supporting. perhaps this time penelope cruz might actually get it. or amy adams.

there are ways on how to guess the winners for the oscars.  when they win at the GG (golden globes), that’s almost 50% sure they will win the oscar. if the same recipients win in their corresponding guilds (directors guild of american, screen actors, producers guild, etc) then it’s practically theirs. of course there have been upsets but that’s all part of the game. and dont think winning in the oscars mean youre the best in the lot. politics play a great deal in awards like this that’s why nicole kidman won in the hours and not moulin rouge, renee zellweger won in cold mountain the year after instead of chicago, steven spielberg and martin scorsese didnt win the oscar until schindler’s list and the departed respectively, brokeback mountain won directing and writing but not best picture, lord of the rings didnt win best picture until the release of return of the king, etc.

ive actually mellowed down and am no longer that ubber excited whenever it’s oscar season since i started working on movies. i outgrew my childhood heroes (spielberg etc) every since i learned there was a far richer film experience outside hollywood. but this tradition of guessing winners with cuzin tootsie, as ive said, will continue as long as there are films made.

below is the full list of nominees and my guesses. cheers!

Best motion picture of the year
* “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.)
A Kennedy/Marshall Production Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall and Ceán Chaffin, Producers
* “Frost/Nixon” (Universal)
A Universal Pictures, Imagine Entertainment and Working Title Production Brian Grazer, Ron Howard and Eric Fellner, Producers
* “Milk” (Focus Features)
A Groundswell and Jinks/Cohen Company Production Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen, Producers
* “The Reader” (The Weinstein Company)
A Mirage Enterprises and Neunte Babelsberg Film GmbH Production Nominees to be determined
* “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight)
A Celador Films Production Christian Colson, Producer

Performance by an actor in a leading role
* Richard Jenkins in “The Visitor” (Overture Films)
* Frank Langella in “Frost/Nixon” (Universal)
* Sean Penn in “Milk” (Focus Features)
* Brad Pitt in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.)
* Mickey Rourke in “The Wrestler” (Fox Searchlight)

Performance by an actor in a supporting role
* Josh Brolin in “Milk” (Focus Features)
* Robert Downey Jr. in “Tropic Thunder” (DreamWorks, Distributed by DreamWorks/Paramount)
* Philip Seymour Hoffman in “Doubt” (Miramax)
* Heath Ledger in “The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.)
* Michael Shannon in “Revolutionary Road” (DreamWorks, Distributed by Paramount Vantage)

Performance by an actress in a leading role
* Anne Hathaway in “Rachel Getting Married” (Sony Pictures Classics)
* Angelina Jolie in “Changeling” (Universal)
* Melissa Leo in “Frozen River” (Sony Pictures Classics)
* Meryl Streep in “Doubt” (Miramax)
* Kate Winslet in “The Reader” (The Weinstein Company)

Performance by an actress in a supporting role
* Amy Adams in “Doubt” (Miramax)
* Penélope Cruz in “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” (The Weinstein Company)
* Viola Davis in “Doubt” (Miramax)
* Taraji P. Henson in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.)
* Marisa Tomei in “The Wrestler” (Fox Searchlight)

Best animated feature film of the year
*”Bolt” (Walt Disney) Chris Williams and Byron Howard
*”Kung Fu Panda” (DreamWorks Animation, Distributed by Paramount) John Stevenson and Mark Osborne
*”WALL-E” (Walt Disney) Andrew Stanton

Achievement in art direction
*”Changeling” (Universal) Art Direction: James J. Murakami
Set Decoration: Gary Fettis
*”The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.)
Art Direction: Donald Graham Burt
Set Decoration: Victor J. Zolfo
*”The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.) Art Direction: Nathan Crowley
Set Decoration: Peter Lando
*”The Duchess” (Paramount Vantage, Pathé and BBC Films) Art Direction: Michael Carlin
Set Decoration: Rebecca Alleway
*”Revolutionary Road” (DreamWorks, Distributed by Paramount Vantage) Art Direction: Kristi Zea
Set Decoration: Debra Schutt

Achievement in cinematography
* “Changeling” (Universal) Tom Stern
* “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.) Claudio Miranda
* “The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.) Wally Pfister
* “The Reader” (The Weinstein Company) Chris Menges and Roger Deakins
* “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight) Anthony Dod Mantle

Achievement in costume design
* “Australia” (20th Century Fox) Catherine Martin
* “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.) Jacqueline West
* “The Duchess” (Paramount Vantage, Pathé and BBC Films) Michael O’Connor
* “Milk” (Focus Features) Danny Glicker
* “Revolutionary Road” (DreamWorks, Distributed by Paramount Vantage) Albert Wolsky

Achievement in directing
* “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.) David Fincher
* “Frost/Nixon” (Universal) Ron Howard
* “Milk” (Focus Features) Gus Van Sant
* “The Reader” (The Weinstein Company) Stephen Daldry
* “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight) Danny Boyle

normally i wouldnt have seen any of the nominees for documentary, live and animated short films and most of the foreign films.  so it’s all uneducated guesses.  forgive me hehe

Best documentary feature
* “The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)” (Cinema Guild)
A Pandinlao Films Production Ellen Kuras and Thavisouk Phrasavath
* “Encounters at the End of the World” (THINKFilm and Image Entertainment)
A Creative Differences Production Werner Herzog and Henry Kaiser
* “The Garden”
A Black Valley Films Production Scott Hamilton Kennedy
* “Man on Wire” (Magnolia Pictures)
A Wall to Wall Production James Marsh and Simon Chinn
* “Trouble the Water” (Zeitgeist Films)
An Elsewhere Films Production Tia Lessin and Carl Deal

Best documentary short subject
* “The Conscience of Nhem En”
A Farallon Films Production Steven Okazaki
* “The Final Inch”
A Vermilion Films Production Irene Taylor Brodsky and Tom Grant
* “Smile Pinki”
A Principe Production Megan Mylan
* “The Witness – From the Balcony of Room 306”
A Rock Paper Scissors Production Adam Pertofsky and Margaret Hyde

Achievement in film editing
* “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.) Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall
* “The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.) Lee Smith
* “Frost/Nixon” (Universal) Mike Hill and Dan Hanley
* “Milk” (Focus Features) Elliot Graham
* “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight) Chris Dickens

Best foreign language film of the year
* “The Baader Meinhof Complex” A Constantin Film Production – Germany
* “The Class” (Sony Pictures Classics) A Haut et Court Production – France
* “Departures” (Regent Releasing) A Departures Film Partners Production – Japan
* “Revanche” (Janus Films) A Prisma Film/Fernseh Production – Austria
* “Waltz with Bashir” (Sony Pictures Classics) A Bridgit Folman Film Gang Production – Israel

Achievement in makeup
* “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.) Greg Cannom
* “The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.) John Caglione, Jr. and Conor O’Sullivan
* “Hellboy II: The Golden Army” (Universal) Mike Elizalde and Thom Floutz

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)
* “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.) Alexandre Desplat
* “Defiance” (Paramount Vantage) James Newton Howard
* “Milk” (Focus Features) Danny Elfman
* “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight) A.R. Rahman
* “WALL-E” (Walt Disney) Thomas Newman

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
* “Down to Earth” from “WALL-E” (Walt Disney)
Music by Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman; Lyric by Peter Gabriel
* “Jai Ho” from “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight)
Music by A.R. Rahman; Lyric by Gulzar
* “O Saya” from “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight)
Music and Lyric by A.R. Rahman and Maya Arulpragasam

Best animated short film
* “La Maison en Petits Cubes”
A Robot Communications Production Kunio Kato
* “Lavatory – Lovestory”
A Melnitsa Animation Studio and CTB Film Company Production Konstantin Bronzit
* “Oktapodi” (Talantis Films)
A Gobelins, L’école de l’image Production Emud Mokhberi and Thierry Marchand
* “Presto” (Walt Disney)
A Pixar Animation Studios Production Doug Sweetland
* “This Way Up”
A Nexus Production Alan Smith and Adam Foulkes

Best live action short film
* “Auf der Strecke (On the Line)” (Hamburg Shortfilmagency)
An Academy of Media Arts Cologne Production Reto Caffi
* “Manon on the Asphalt” (La Luna Productions)
A La Luna Production Elizabeth Marre and Olivier Pont
* “New Boy” (Network Ireland Television)
A Zanzibar Films Production Steph Green and Tamara Anghie
* “The Pig”
An M & M Production Tivi Magnusson and Dorte Høgh
* “Spielzeugland (Toyland)”
A Mephisto Film Production Jochen Alexander Freydank

Achievement in sound editing
* “The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.) Richard King
* “Iron Man” (Paramount and Marvel Entertainment) Frank Eulner and Christopher Boyes
* “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight) Tom Sayers
* “WALL-E” (Walt Disney) Ben Burtt and Matthew Wood
* “Wanted” (Universal) Wylie Stateman

Achievement in sound mixing
* “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.) David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Mark Weingarten
* “The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.) Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo and Ed Novick
* “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight) Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke and Resul Pookutty
* “WALL-E” (Walt Disney) Tom Myers, Michael Semanick and Ben Burtt
* “Wanted” (Universal) Chris Jenkins, Frank A. Montaño and Petr Forejt

Achievement in visual effects
* “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.) Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton and Craig Barron
* “The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.) Nick Davis, Chris Corbould, Tim Webber and Paul Franklin
* “Iron Man” (Paramount and Marvel Entertainment) John Nelson, Ben Snow, Dan Sudick and Shane Mahan

Adapted screenplay
* “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.) Screenplay by Eric Roth
Screen story by Eric Roth and Robin Swicord
* “Doubt” (Miramax) Written by John Patrick Shanley
* “Frost/Nixon” (Universal) Screenplay by Peter Morgan
* “The Reader” (The Weinstein Company) Screenplay by David Hare
* “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight) Screenplay by Simon Beaufoy

Original screenplay
* “Frozen River” (Sony Pictures Classics) Written by Courtney Hunt
* “Happy-Go-Lucky” (Miramax) Written by Mike Leigh
* “In Bruges” (Focus Features) Written by Martin McDonagh
* “Milk” (Focus Features) Written by Dustin Lance Black
* “WALL-E” (Walt Disney) Screenplay by Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon
Original story by Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter