2009 Academy Awards: The Overview

Well, I'm sort of all Oscared out, as I blogged about it live here on The Flaming Nose. But I do wanna mention my top Oscar moments:

1) Anne Hathaway playing "Nixon" in Hugh Jackman's opening number.
2) Danny Boyle hopping like Tigger upon his win.
3) Sean Penn claiming fellow nominee Mickey Rourke as "his brother."
4) Anne Hathaway, teary-eyed, thanking Shirley MacLaine for her comments about her talent (if you can't tell, I'm totally enamoured of Miss Hathaway!)
5) Tina Fey and Steve Martin introducing the inventively-mounted Screenplay awards.
6) The fun short film by Judd Apatow
7) And another great short by Albert Maysles
8) The orchestra up on the stage
9) Hugh Jackman
10) A well-produced show.

And the negatives:
1) Mickey Rourke didn't win! Wahhhhh!
2) Poorly directed "In Memorium" segment
3) Odd Joachin Phoenix bit (which I didn't get at first) by Ben Stiller
4) Not enough Jerry Lewis
5) Having to look at Sarah Jessica Parker for even a moment
6) Absolutely no surprises, award-wise.

Anyway, here's the lineup, with commentary relating to my predictions.

BEST PICTURE
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
"Frost/Nixon"
"Milk"
"The Reader"
"Slumdog Millionaire" (Winner, predicted)

BEST ACTRESS
Anne Hathaway, "Rachel Getting Married"
Angelina Jolie, "Changeling"
Melissa Leo, "Frozen River"
Meryl Streep, "Doubt"
Kate Winslet, "The Reader" (Winner, predicted)

BEST ACTOR
Frank Langella, "Frost/Nixon"
Sean Penn, "Milk" (Winner)
Brad Pitt, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
Mickey Rourke, "The Wrestler" (my prediction--he wuz robbed)
Richard Jenkins, "The Visitor"

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams, "Doubt"
Penelope Cruz, "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" (Winner)
Viola Davis, "Doubt" (my prediction--she wuz robbed)
Taraji P. Henson, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
Marisa Tomei, "The Wrestler"

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Josh Brolin, "Milk"
Robert Downey Jr., "Tropic Thunder"
Philip Seymour Hoffman, "Doubt"
Heath Ledger, "The Dark Knight" (Winner, predicted)
Michael Shannon, "Revolutionary Road"

BEST DIRECTOR
Danny Boyle, "Slumdog Millionaire" (Winner, predicted)
Stephen Daldry, "The Reader"
David Fincher, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
Ron Howard, "Frost/Nixon"
Gus Van Sant, "Milk"

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Dustin Lance Black, "Milk" (Winner, predicted, unfortunately)
Courtney Hunt, "Frozen River"
Mike Leigh, "Happy-Go-Lucky"
Martin McDonagh, "In Bruges"
Andrew Stanton, and Jim Reardon; original story by Stanton and Pete Docter"WALL-E"

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Simon Beaufoy, "Slumdog Millionaire" (Winner, predicted)
David Hare, "The Reader"
Peter Morgan, "Frost/Nixon"
John Patrick Shanley, "Doubt"
Eric Roth, Robin Swicord, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
"The Baader-Meinhof Complex" (Germany)
"The Class" (France)
"Departures" (Japan) (Winner)
"Revanche" (Austria)
"Waltz with Bashir" (Israel) (my prediction)

BEST ANIMATED FILM
"Bolt"
"Kung Fu Panda"
"WALL-E" (Winner, predicted--and well-deserved)

BEST ART DIRECTION
"Changeling"
"The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button" (Winner, predicted)
"The Dark Knight"
"The Duchess"
"Revolutionary Road"

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
"Changeling" Tom Stern
"Slumdog Millionaire," Anthony Dod Mantle (Winner, predicted)
"The Reader," Chris Menges
"The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button," Claudio Miranda
"The Dark Knight," Wally Pfister

BEST FILM EDITING
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Kirk Baxter, Angus Wall
"The Dark Knight," Lee Smith
"Frost/Nixon," Daniel P. Hanley, Mike Hill
"Milk," Elliot Graham
"Slumdog Millionaire," Chris Dickens (Winner, predicted)

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
"Australia," Catherine Martin
"The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button," Jacqueline West
"The Duchess," Michael O'Conner (Winner, predicted)
"Milk", Danny Glicker
"Revolutionary Road," Albert Wolsky

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
"The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)"
"Encounters at the End of the World"
"The Garden"
"Man on Wire" (Winner, predicted and well-deserved)
"Trouble the Water"

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
"Slumdog Millionaire," "Jai Ho" (Winner)
"Slumdog Millionaire," "O Saya"
"WALL-E," "Down To Earth" (my prediction)

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
"The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button," Alexandre Desplat
"Defiance," James Newton Howard
"Milk," Danny Elfman
"Slumdog Millionaire," A.R. Rahman (Winner, predicted)
"WALL-E," Thomas Newman

BEST MAKEUP
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,"(Winner, predicted)
"The Dark Knight,"
"Hellboy II: The Golden Army,"

BEST SOUND EDITING
"The Dark Knight"(Winner)
"Iron Man"
"Slumdog Millionaire"
"WALL-E" (my prediction)
"Wanted"

BEST SOUND MIXING
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
"The Dark Knight"
"Slumdog Millionaire" (Winner)
"WALL-E" (my prediction)
"Wanted"

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Winner, predicted)
"The Dark Knight"
"Iron Man"

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
"Auf der Strecke (On the Line)"
"Manon on the Asphalt"
"New Boy"
"The Pig" (my prediction)
"Spielzeugland (Toyland)" (Winner)

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM
"La Maison en Petits Cubes" (Winner)
"Lavatory - Lovestory" (my prediction)
"Oktapodi"
"Presto"
"This Way Up"

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM
"The Conscience of Nhem En" (my prediction)
"The Final Inch"
"Smile Pinki" (Winner)
"The Witness - From the Balcony of Room 306"

15 out of 24. Not terrible. I shouldn't have oughta gone for the underdog so many times. Hopefully, I've learned my lesson. Now on to 2009...