The Oscar Race Begins0 Comments

The nominees for this year’s 81st annual Academy Awards were announced Thursday with not too many surprises. The top two films slugging it out are “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” which leads the pack with 13 nominations, and “Slumdog Millionaire,” which won Best Picture at the Golden Globes and has 10 nominations.

What about the snubs? “The Dark Knight” didn’t get a Best Picture nomination, Clint Eastwood and his film, “Gran Torino,” got shut out, “Revolutionary Road” got no noms including its stars Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio, Bruce Springsteen’s song from “The Wrestler” didn’t get nominated even after it won the Golden Globe, and Sally Hawkins didn’t get a Best Actress nom fresh off her Best Actress Golden Globe win.

But the biggest surprise? Who would have ever thought Robert Downey, Jr. would get a nomination for his role as “a dude playing a dude, disguised as another dude”? 

Find out who wins on Feb. 22 at 8 pm EST on ABC, and in the meantime the nominees are:

Best Picture

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Frost/Nixon

Milk

The Reader

Slumdog Millionaire

Best Director

David Fincher, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Ron Howard, Frost/Nixon

Gus Van Sant, Milk

Stephen Daldry, The Reader

Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionare

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

Kate Winslet, The Reader

Meryl Streep, Doubt

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 Christina Barcelona

Viola Davis, Doubt

Taraji P. Henson, The Curious Case of Benjamin

Marisa Tomei, The Wrestler

Best Animated Feature

Bolt

Kung Fu Panda

Wall-E

Best Original Screenplay

Dustin Lance Black, Milk

Courtney Hunt, Frozen River

Mike Leigh, Happy-Go-Lucky

Martin McDonagh, In Bruges

Andrew Stanton and Jim Reardon, Wall-E

Best Adapted Screenplay

Eric Roth and Robin Swicord, The Curious Case of Benjamin

John Patrick Shanley, Doubt

Peter Morgan, Frost/Nixon

David Hare, The Reader

Simon Beaufoy, Slumdog Millionaire

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