NUTSHELL: Making the most moves in the Tech Charts this week is “Australia,” with a nurturing push from Fox and more to come for a film seen by the studio as a craft giant this season. Scattered shifting and sliding can be noted in a variety of categories, though there are a number of questions. Will “The Dark Knight” be the true heavy in these fields or can “Iron Man” find its way into a few surprising categories? Can “Slumdog Millionaire,” more than deserving of praise for innovative cinematography, film editing and even sound elements, make a case throughout? And will the ambition of “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” pay off?
Column: “Who we are, who we want to be”
Sort charts by: Main Categories/Technical Categories
| ART DIRECTION | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | “Australia” Catherine Martin |
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| 2 | “Revolutionary Road” Kristi Zea; Debra Schutt |
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| 3 | “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” Donald Graham Burt; Victor J. Zolfo |
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| 4 | “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” Guy Dyas; Larry Dias, Alyssa Winter |
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| 5 | “Defiance” Dan Weil; Véronique Melery |
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| 6 | “The Road” Chris Kennedy; Robert Greenfield, John W. Iwanonkiw |
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| 7 | “Hellboy II: The Golden Army” Stephen Scott; Elli Griff |
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| 8 | “Synecdoche, New York” Mark Friednamn; Lydia Marks |
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| 9 | “Changeling” James J. Murakami; Gary Fettis |
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| 10 | “The Duchess” Michael Carlin |
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| CINEMATOGRAPHY | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | “The Dark Knight” Wally Pfister |
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| 2 | “Australia” Mandy Walker |
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| 3 | “Revolutionary Road” Roger Deakins |
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| 4 | “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” Claudio Miranda |
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| 5 | “Defiance” Eduardo Serra |
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| 6 | “The Road” Javier Aguirresarobe |
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| 7 | “Blindness” César Charlone |
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| 8 | “Milk” Harris Savides |
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| 9 | “Changeling” Tom Stern |
NEW |
| 10 | “The Reader” Chris Menges |
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| COSTUME DESIGN | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | “Revolutionary Road” Albert Wolsky |
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| 2 | “The Duchess” Michael O’Connor |
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| 3 | “Australia” Catherine Martin |
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| 4 | “The Other Boleyn Girl” Sandy Powell |
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| 5 | “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” Jacqueline West |
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| 6 | “Changeling” Deborah Hopper |
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| 7 | “Brideshead Revisited” Eimer Ni Mhaoldomhnaigh |
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| 8 | “The Reader” Ann Roth |
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| 9 | “Defiance” Jenny Beaven |
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| 10 | “The Young Victoria” Sandy Powell |
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| FILM EDITING | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | “Milk” Elliot Graham, Gus Van Sant |
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| 2 | “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” Kirk Baxter, Angus Wall |
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| 3 | “Slumdog Millionaire” Chris Dickens |
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| 4 | “Frost/Nixon” Daniel P. Hanley, Mike Hill |
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| 5 | “Defiance” Steven Rosenblum |
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| 6 | “Australia” Dody Dorn, Michael McCusker |
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| 7 | “Body of Lies” Pietro Scalia |
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| 8 | “The Dark Knight” Lee Smith |
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| 9 | “Quantum of Solace” Matt Chesse, Richard Pearson |
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| 10 | “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” Michael Kahn |
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| MAKEUP | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” | — |
| 2 | “Hellboy II: The Golden Army” | — |
| 3 | “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian” | — |
| 4 | “Tropic Thunder” | — |
| 5 | “Synecdoche, New York” | |
| 6 | “The Reader” | |
| 7 | “Frost/Nixon” | |
| 8 | “W.” | NEW |
| 9 | “The Dark Knight” | |
| 10 | “The Road” | |
| MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE) | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | “WALL-E” Thomas Newman |
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| 2 | “Revolutionary Road” Thomas Newman |
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| 3 | “Australia” David Hirschfelder |
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| 4 | “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” Alexandre Desplat |
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| 5 | “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” John Williams |
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| 6 | “Doubt” Howard Shore |
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| 7 | “Defiance” James Newton Howard |
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| 8 | “Milk” Danny Eflman |
NEW |
| 9 | “The Happening” James Newton Howard |
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| 10 | “The Reader” Alberto Iglesias |
NEW |
| MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG) | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | “Down to Earth” from “WALL-E” Peter Gabriel |
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| 2 | “Untitled Song” from “The Wrestler” Bruce Springsteen |
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| 3 | “All Dressed Up in Love” from “Sex and the City” Jennifer Hudson |
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| 4 | “Rock Me Sexy Jesus” from “Hamlet 2” Phoebe Strole |
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| 5 | “Last Chance” from “High School Musical 3: Senior Year” Cast of “High School Musical 3: Senior Year” |
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| 6 | “Another Way to Die” from “Quantum of Solace” Alicia Keys, Jack White |
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| 7 | “Jai Ho” from “Slumdog Millionaire” AR Rahmen |
NEW |
| 8 | “Dracula’s Lament” from “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” Jason Segel |
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| 9 | “Pineapple Express” from “Pineapple Express” Huey Lewis and the News |
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| 10 | “The Little Things” from “Wanted” Danny Elfman |
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| SOUND EDITING | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | “Wall-E” | — |
| 2 | “The Dark Knight” | — |
| 3 | “Iron Man” | — |
| 4 | “Defiance” | — |
| 5 | “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” | — |
| 6 | “Body of Lies” | — |
| 7 | “Quantum of Solace” | — |
| 8 | “Hancock” | — |
| 9 | “The Day the Earth Stood Still” | — |
| 10 | “The Wrestler” | — |
| SOUND MIXING | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | “Wall-E” | — |
| 2 | “Defiance” | — |
| 3 | “Body of Lies” | |
| 4 | “Australia” | NEW |
| 5 | “The Dark Knight” | — |
| 6 | “Iron Man” | |
| 7 | “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” | |
| 8 | “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian” | |
| 9 | “Cloverfield” | |
| 10 | “The Day the Earth Stood Still” | |
| VISUAL EFFECTS | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” | — |
| 2 | “Iron Man” | — |
| 3 | “The Day the Earth Stood Still” | — |
| 4 | “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian” | — |
| 5 | “Hellboy II: The Golden Army” | — |
| 6 | “Hancock” | — |
| 7 | “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” | — |
| 8 | “The Incredible Hulk” | — |
| 9 | “Speed Racer” | — |
| 10 | “The Spiderwick Chronicles” | — |