Even though two of the most reliable Oscar predictors (the Producers
Guild and Directors Guild nominees) haven’t been announced yet, my
bosses at EW asked me to come up with my forecasted nominees for this
year’s Academy Awards. You can see my predictions for the eight major
races here, but here are my calls in the three
biggest categories.
BEST PICTURE
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Frost/Nixon
Milk
Slumdog Millionaire
BEST ACTOR
Clint Eastwood, Gran Torino
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
Sally Hawkins, Happy-Go-Lucky
Angelina Jolie, Changeling
Meryl Streep, Doubt
Kate Winslet, Revolutionary Road
So, am I on the money here or am I way off? What will my greatest oversight be when the nominees are revealed on Jan. 22?
I really think Revolutionary Road could still make a surprise appearance in the Best Picture category instead of Button. However, maybe I don’t think this as much as I hope this.
I could see ‘frost/nixon’ being replaced by ‘gran turino’ for best picture.
i think you are right on the money… what a great year for movies!
best picture guesses are all solid; for actor, i think richard jenkins might replace brad pitt; for actress, kirstin scott thomas replaces angelina jolie (yes there will be a brangelina backlash).
I think Wall-E could get in over Frist Nixon. I think Waal E will probably gert a lot of number one rankings while I am not sure Frost/Nixon will.
Replace Angelina Jolie with Melissa Leo and Clint Eastwood with Leonardo DiCaprio. The rest seem like solid bets.
The winners SHOULD be:
Best Picture: Wall-E
Best Director: Kelly Reichardt
Best Actor: Mickey Rourke
Best Actress: Sally Hawkins
Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger
Best Supporting Actress: Penelope Cruz
Best Original Screenplay: Synecdoche, New York
Best Adapted Screenplay: Frost/Nixon
Best Documentary: Man on Wire
Best Animated Feature: Wall-E
Best Cinematography: Let the Right One In
I think you’re mostly right, Dave (although I’ll be appalled if Jolie gets nominated for her blatant showpiece performance), but I’m not convinced The Dark Knight will get so many nominations. There’s a strong chance that Heath Ledger may not have been nominated if he didn’t die tragically; the Academy simply frowns on comic book adaptations. It’s different than the Lord of the Rings movies–those were based on widely beloved fantasy NOVELS. These are comic books, which are often sneered at in the upper circles, so Ledger aside (and maybe a sympathy screenplay nod), I’m not sold on it, even if it is the second highest-grossing film of all time.
as much as i LOVE the dark knight and think it deserves a nominaton for Best Picture.. i dont think it will, its been on mostly everyons top 10 lists of 2008, but y didnt the Globes regognize it? isnt that a hurtful sign for its chances, dave?
I don’t think Milk will be nominated for Best Picture – I think Revolutionary Road has a better shot. And I don’t think Angelina Jolie will be nominated; I’d guessing Cate Blanchett will get that slot. I’d be surprised if your Best Actor guesses aren’t right on the money.
the dark knight hell yeah should get nominated for best picture.
I agree with a few of these nutters on WALL-E being nominated for Best Picture instead of Frost/Nixon. I have a few great reasons for this: 1) It would most definitely get the viewership ratins higher come Oscar night with two (three if Benjamin Button fares well in the following weeks) huge box office successes in running for best picture. 2)WALL-E has been winning a whole lot more precursor awards for that category than Frost/Nixon. 3)WALL-E is simply a better film than Frost/Nixon. If you weigh both of them againt each other you have WALL-E kicking Nixon’s butt.
Now if my predictions (which you can see on my blog (http://wolfblitzerarchive.blogspot.com/) are right then we are looking at one of the most epic Oscar races in history. Critic favorite (Slumdog Millionaire), political character biopic (Milk), Heartwarming Scifi Romance (WALL-E), Epic Fantasy (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), and crowd-pleasing crime drama (The Dark Knight) all against one another. One word:Awesome
I have to agree with Dan and Jason…I just hope the Academy folks can figure it out for themselves!
I agree with a few of these nutters on WALL-E being nominated for Best Picture instead of Frost/Nixon. I have a few great reasons for this: 1) It would most definitely get the viewership ratins higher come Oscar night with two (three if Benjamin Button fares well in the following weeks) huge box office successes in running for best picture. 2)WALL-E has been winning a whole lot more precursor awards for that category than Frost/Nixon. 3)WALL-E is simply a better film than Frost/Nixon. If you weigh both of them againt each other you have WALL-E kicking Nixon’s butt.
Now if my predictions (which you can see on my blog (http://wolfblitzerarchive.blogspot.com/ ) are right then we are looking at one of the most epic Oscar races in history. Critic favorite (Slumdog Millionaire), political character biopic (Milk), Heartwarming Scifi Romance (WALL-E), Epic Fantasy (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), crowd-pleasing crime drama (The Dark Knight) all against one another. One word: Awesome
I really feel a huge snub coming when The Dark Knight is not nominated for best picture.The other four I feel are guaranteed and the fifth spot I see going to Revolutionary Road.It’s a shame too, because not only is Dark Knight entertaining but it also has more to say than any other film this year other than maybe Wall-E which is also gonna get screwed only because it’s an animated movie.
I only doubled it because my blog didn’t come out right the first time. apologies to everyone who loves movies.
Also, The Dark Knight is fully diserving of a nomination. The academy doesn’t hate comic book films. They hate bad movies and love good ones.