NUTSHELL: It’s all but over, right? “Slumdog Millionaire” has this in the bag, right? There are no more surprises, right? These are my best guesses, but you can never get too comfortable with this crowd. The supposed “passion” for the films that made it in over the likes of “The Dark Knight” and “WALL-E” will be put to the test as films like “The Reader” and “Frost/Nixon,” maybe even “Milk” set out to prove their worth more than zero-to-one wins.
Column: “Welcome to phase two”
Sort charts by: Main Categories/Technical Categories
| BEST PICTURE | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | “Slumdog Millionaire” Fox Searchlight Pictures/Warner Bros. Pictures |
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| 2 | “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” Paramount Pictures |
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| 3 | “Milk” Focus Features |
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| 4 | “The Reader” The Weinstein Company |
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| 5 | “Frost/Nixon” Universal Pictures |
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| DIRECTING | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Danny Boyle “Slumdog Millionaire” |
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| 2 | David Fincher “The Curious case of Benjamin Button” |
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| 3 | Gus Van Sant “Milk” |
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| 4 | Stephen Daldry “The Reader” |
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| 5 | Ron Howard “Frost/Nixon” |
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| ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sean Penn “Milk” |
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| 2 | Mickey Rourke “The Wrestler” |
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| 3 | Frank Langella “Frost/Nixon” |
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| 4 | Brad Pitt “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” |
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| 5 | Richard Jenkins “The Visitor” |
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| ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kate Winslet “The Reader” |
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| 2 | Meryl Streep “Doubt” |
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| 3 | Anne Hathaway “Rachel Getting Married” |
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| 4 | Angelina Jolie “Changling” |
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| 5 | Melissa Leo “Frozen River” |
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| ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heath Ledger “The Dark Knight” |
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| 2 | Robert Downey Jr. “Tropic Thunder” |
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| 3 | Josh Brolin “Milk” |
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| 4 | Michael Shannon “Revolutionary Road” |
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| 5 | Philip Seymour Hoffman “Doubt” |
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| ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Penélope Cruz “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” |
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| 2 | Viola Davis “Doubt” |
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| 3 | Taraji P. Henson “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” |
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| 4 | Marisa Tomei “The Wrestler” |
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| 5 | Amy Adams “Doubt” |
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| WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY) | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | “Slumdog Millionaire” Written by Simon Beaufoy Based on the book “Q and A” by Vikas Swarup |
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| 2 | “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” Written by Eric Roth; Screen Story by Eric Roth, Robin Swicord Based on the short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald |
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| 3 | “The Reader” Written by David Hare Based on the novel by Bernhard Schlink |
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| 4 | “Frost/Nixon” Written by Peter Morgan Based on his stage play |
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| 5 | “Doubt” Written by John Patrick Shanley Based on his stage play |
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| WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY) | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | “WALL-E” Original story by Pete Docter, Andrew Stanton Screenplay by Jim Reardon, Andrew Stanton |
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| 2 | “Milk” Written by Dustin Lance Black |
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| 3 | “Happy-Go-Lucky” Written by Mike Leigh |
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| 4 | “In Bruges” Written by Martin McDonagh |
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| 5 | “Frozen River” Written by Courtney Hunt |
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| ANIMATED FEATURE FILM | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | “WALL-E” Walt Disney Pictures |
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| 2 | “Kung Fu Panda” DreamWorks SKG |
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| 3 | “Bolt” Walt Disney Pictures |
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