The nominations for this year’s Academy Awards pit a sprawling studio movie against an unusual independent film.
‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’, the $150 million film from Paramount Pictures featuring superstar Brad Pitt as a person aging backward, has been handed 13 nominations for the 81st annual Academy Awards. These include ones for best director and best picture. Not far behind is ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ with 10 nods.
The Oscars boast the power to push a niche film into the spotlight and rewrite the pecking order of Hollywood, which is what has exactly happened with ‘Slumdog Millionaire’. The Fox Searchlight entry, filmed on a rather shoestring budget of $15 million with a relatively unknown lead, has received nominations for best picture and director categories. Among other best picture nominees are ‘Milk’, a Focus Features release and ‘Frost/Nixon’ from Universal Pictures and ‘The Reader’.
This year’s films collectively strike a more introspective chord. For instance, ‘Milk’ focuses on the gay rights. It has received in all eight nominations, comprising a best actor nomination for Sean Penn. The biggest coup was pulled off by ‘The Reader’ from the Weinstein Company that surprisingly grabbed the best picture slot, leaving behind ‘The Dark Knight’ and other productions in the top category.
This Holocaust-theme film focuses on a German woman hiding a dark secret. The film has secured nominations for best direction (Stephen Daldry), best actress (Kate Winslet), best cinematography (Chris Menges, Roger Deakins) and best adapted screenplay (David Hare). A major disappointment has been ‘Revolutionary Road’ that has fared rather poorly, receiving just one nod in the major Academy Awards categories - best supporting-actor nomination handed to Michael Shannon for a clear-eyed mental patient’s portrayal.
In best actress category, apart from Kate Winslet, Meryl Streep shines with her 15th nomination for playing a harsh nun in ‘Doubt’. Anne Hathaway is nominated for playing a drug addict on the recovery path in ‘Rachel Getting Married’; Angelina Jolie for her role in ‘Changeling’, and Melissa Leo for ‘Frozen River’. She is the first-time nominee so is the best actor nominee Richard Jenkins for ‘The Visitor’. Competing with him are Frank Langella for ‘Frost/Nixon’; Sean Penn for ‘Milk’; Brad Pitt for ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’; and Mickey Rourke for ‘The Wrestler’.
‘Wall-E’ has received nomination for best animated film as well as for its original screenplay. This is noteworthy for a film with very little dialogue. Heath Ledger features in best supporting actor category for ‘The Dark Knight’. Among the noticeable surprises, Robert Downey Jr., who played a self-absorbed method actor, has been nominated for his comedic turn in ‘Tropic Thunder’.
‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’, the $150 million film from Paramount Pictures featuring superstar Brad Pitt as a person aging backward, has been handed 13 nominations for the 81st annual Academy Awards. These include ones for best director and best picture. Not far behind is ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ with 10 nods.
The Oscars boast the power to push a niche film into the spotlight and rewrite the pecking order of Hollywood, which is what has exactly happened with ‘Slumdog Millionaire’. The Fox Searchlight entry, filmed on a rather shoestring budget of $15 million with a relatively unknown lead, has received nominations for best picture and director categories. Among other best picture nominees are ‘Milk’, a Focus Features release and ‘Frost/Nixon’ from Universal Pictures and ‘The Reader’.
This year’s films collectively strike a more introspective chord. For instance, ‘Milk’ focuses on the gay rights. It has received in all eight nominations, comprising a best actor nomination for Sean Penn. The biggest coup was pulled off by ‘The Reader’ from the Weinstein Company that surprisingly grabbed the best picture slot, leaving behind ‘The Dark Knight’ and other productions in the top category.
This Holocaust-theme film focuses on a German woman hiding a dark secret. The film has secured nominations for best direction (Stephen Daldry), best actress (Kate Winslet), best cinematography (Chris Menges, Roger Deakins) and best adapted screenplay (David Hare). A major disappointment has been ‘Revolutionary Road’ that has fared rather poorly, receiving just one nod in the major Academy Awards categories - best supporting-actor nomination handed to Michael Shannon for a clear-eyed mental patient’s portrayal.
In best actress category, apart from Kate Winslet, Meryl Streep shines with her 15th nomination for playing a harsh nun in ‘Doubt’. Anne Hathaway is nominated for playing a drug addict on the recovery path in ‘Rachel Getting Married’; Angelina Jolie for her role in ‘Changeling’, and Melissa Leo for ‘Frozen River’. She is the first-time nominee so is the best actor nominee Richard Jenkins for ‘The Visitor’. Competing with him are Frank Langella for ‘Frost/Nixon’; Sean Penn for ‘Milk’; Brad Pitt for ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’; and Mickey Rourke for ‘The Wrestler’.
‘Wall-E’ has received nomination for best animated film as well as for its original screenplay. This is noteworthy for a film with very little dialogue. Heath Ledger features in best supporting actor category for ‘The Dark Knight’. Among the noticeable surprises, Robert Downey Jr., who played a self-absorbed method actor, has been nominated for his comedic turn in ‘Tropic Thunder’.
Dark as somber night and nearly as long, the brash Batman movie by Christopher Nolan has done exceedingly well. Pitched at the subtle divide between poetry and entertainment, art and industry, it actually goes darker, deeper than any Hollywood movie of the captivating comic-book genre, including “Batman Begins,” Mr. Nolan’s 2005 resurrection of the series, largely by embracing a curious ambivalence, which might be mistaken for pessimism at first glance. Gather The Dark Knight movie posters, and experience the drama in the dark
