Hollywood's Biggest Night
The Academy Awards, or Oscars as it is more commonly known, was founded in 1927 by a group of who's who of the golden age of Hollywood ( Sid Grauman, Louis B. Mayer, Mary Pickford, Jesse Lasky, George Cohen, Cecil B. DeMille, Douglas Fairbanks, Cedric Gibbons & Irving Thalberg). From there the Oscars took on a life of its own, growing to be the biggest night in Hollywood.The well respected accolades are coveted by the biggest stars. When an actor wins an Oscar it seems to validate what everyone already knows: they are truly gifted at their craft. Only the best of the best win and only one can walk away with a statue in each category.
This year the big night will be hosted by Hugh Jackman. Previous hosts have included Jon Stewart, Ellen DeGeneres, Chris Rock and Billy Crystal.
Dinner and drinks are prepared by Wolfgang Puck and are themed for the event. They really go all out!Many people, including celebrities, have Oscar themed parties and screen the big event in their homes. Everyone has an opinion on who should win, who got robbed, and who has the longest acceptance speech! Many people also bet money on these things. There are office pools going on who will win, with the most correct guesses taking the kitty. It really is the biggest night in Hollywood.
In preparation for the big event, I have complied a list of all the nominees and my predictions for the winner highlighted in red. Feel free to use my list for your own pool, just make sure you give me a cut! Just kidding!
Performance by an actor in a leading role
* Richard Jenkins in “The Visitor”
* Frank Langella in “Frost/Nixon”
* Sean Penn in “Milk”
* Brad Pitt in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
* Mickey Rourke in “The Wrestler”
Performance by an actor in a supporting role
* Josh Brolin in “Milk”
* Robert Downey Jr. in “Tropic Thunder”
* Philip Seymour Hoffman in “Doubt”
* Heath Ledger in “The Dark Knight”
* Michael Shannon in “Revolutionary Road”
Performance by an actress in a leading role
* Anne Hathaway in “Rachel Getting Married”
* Angelina Jolie in “Changeling”
* Melissa Leo in “Frozen River”
* Meryl Streep in “Doubt”
* Kate Winslet in “The Reader”
Performance by an actress in a supporting role
* Amy Adams in “Doubt”
* Penélope Cruz in “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”
* Viola Davis in “Doubt”
* Taraji P. Henson in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
* Marisa Tomei in “The Wrestler”
Best animated feature film of the year
* “Bolt”
* “Kung Fu Panda”
* “WALL-E”
Achievement in art direction
* “Changeling” Art Direction: James J. Murakami, Set Decoration: Gary Fettis
* “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” Art Direction: Donald Graham Burt, Set Decoration: Victor J. Zolfo
* “The Dark Knight” Art Direction: Nathan Crowley, Set Decoration: Peter Lando
* “The Duchess” Art Direction: Michael Carlin, Set Decoration: Rebecca Alleway
* “Revolutionary Road” Art Direction: Kristi Zea, Set Decoration: Debra Schutt
Achievement in cinematography
* “Changeling” Tom Stern
* “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” Claudio Miranda
* “The Dark Knight” Wally Pfister
* “The Reader” Chris Menges and Roger Deakins
* “Slumdog Millionaire” Anthony Dod Mantle
Achievement in 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
Achievement in directing
* “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” David Fincher
* “Frost/Nixon” Ron Howard
* “Milk” Gus Van Sant
* “The Reader” Stephen Daldry
* “Slumdog Millionaire” Danny Boyle
Best documentary feature
* “The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)”
* “Encounters at the End of the World”
* “The Garden”
* “Man on Wire”
* “Trouble the Water”
Best documentary short subject
* “The Conscience of Nhem En”
* “The Final Inch”
* “Smile Pinki”
* “The Witness - From the Balcony of Room 306”
Achievement in film editing
* “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall
* “The Dark Knight” Lee Smith
* “Frost/Nixon” Mike Hill and Dan Hanley
* “Milk” Elliot Graham
* “Slumdog Millionaire” Chris Dickens
Best foreign language film of the year
* “The Baader Meinhof Complex” Germany
* “The Class” France
* “Departures” Japan
* “Revanche” Austria
* “Waltz with Bashir” Israel
Achievement in 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
Achievement in music written for motion pictures (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
Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
* “Down to Earth” from “WALL-E” Music by Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman, Lyric by Peter Gabriel
* “Jai Ho” from “Slumdog Millionaire” Music by A.R. Rahman, Lyric by Gulzar
* “O Saya” from “Slumdog Millionaire” Music and Lyric by A.R. Rahman and Maya Arulpragasam
Best motion picture of the year
* “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
* “Frost/Nixon”
* “Milk”
* “The Reader”
* “Slumdog Millionaire”
Best animated short film
* “La Maison en Petits Cubes”
* “Lavatory - Lovestory”
* “Oktapodi”
* “Presto”
* “This Way Up”
Best live action short film
* “Auf der Strecke (On the Line)”
* “Manon on the Asphalt”
* “New Boy”
* “The Pig”
* “Spielzeugland (Toyland)”
Achievement in sound editing
* “The Dark Knight” Richard King
* “Iron Man” Frank Eulner and Christopher Boyes
* “Slumdog Millionaire” Glenn Freemantle and Tom Sayers
* “WALL-E” Ben Burtt and Matthew Wood
* “Wanted” Wylie Stateman
Achievement in sound mixing
* “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Mark Weingarten
* “The Dark Knight” Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo and Ed Novick
* “Slumdog Millionaire” Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke and Resul Pookutty
* “WALL-E” Tom Myers, Michael Semanick and Ben Burtt
* “Wanted” Chris Jenkins, Frank A. Montaño and Petr Forejt
Achievement in visual effects
* “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton and Craig Barron
* “The Dark Knight” Nick Davis, Chris Corbould, Tim Webber and Paul Franklin
* “Iron Man” John Nelson, Ben Snow, Dan Sudick and Shane Mahan
Adapted screenplay
* “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” Screenplay by Eric Roth, Screen story by Eric Roth and Robin Swicord
* “Doubt” Written by John Patrick Shanley
* “Frost/Nixon” Screenplay by Peter Morgan
* “The Reader” Screenplay by David Hare
* “Slumdog Millionaire” Screenplay by Simon Beaufoy
Original screenplay
* “Frozen River” Written by Courtney Hunt
* “Happy-Go-Lucky” Written by Mike Leigh
* “In Bruges” Written by Martin McDonagh
* “Milk” Written by Dustin Lance Black
* “WALL-E” Screenplay by Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon, Original story by Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter
Don't forget to tune in to the Oscars on Sunday Feb 22nd, and who knows, maybe I guessed right!
