NUTSHELL: Some jostling for position this month, but nothing major. I’ve given a major boost to “House of Lies” (formerly “Body of Lies”) in the sound categories, now that I see the veterans that are on board, and even given “The Dark Knight” the benefit of the doubt here and there. “Defiance” got a big lift here following Best Picture placement in the main charts, and I’m also wondering if James Newton Howard can manage some attention for his score for “The Happening,” despite how wretched the film is (memories of 2004). Finally, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” promises to be a tech giant after the revelation of a gorgeous trailer — not that we haven’t been saying as much for a few months now.
Column: “Stuck in the middle with…what?”
Sort charts by: Main Categories/Technical Categories
| ART DIRECTION | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” Guy Dyas; Larry Dias, Alyssa Winter |
— |
| 2 | “Defiance” Dan Weil; Véronique Melery |
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| 3 | “Australia” Catherine Martin |
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| 4 | “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” Donald Graham Burt; Victor J. Zolfo |
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| 5 | “Revolutionary Road” Kristi Zea; Debra Schutt |
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| 6 | “Synecdoche, New York” Mark Friednamn; Lydia Marks |
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| 7 | “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” Stuart Craig; Stephanie McMillan |
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| 8 | “Miracle at St. Anna” Tonino Zera; Christina Onori |
NEW |
| 9 | “Appaloosa” Waldemar Kalinowski; Linda Lee Sutten |
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| 10 | “Red Cliff” Timmy Yip |
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| CINEMATOGRAPHY | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | “The Dark Knight” Wally Pfister |
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| 2 | “Australia” Mandy Walker |
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| 3 | “Defiance” Eduardo Serra |
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| 4 | “Revolutionary Road” Roger Deakins |
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| 5 | “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” Claudio Miranda |
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| 6 | “The Road” Javier Aguirresarobe |
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| 7 | “Appaloosa” Dean Semler |
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| 8 | “Blindness” César Charlone |
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| 9 | “Red Cliff” Lue Ye |
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| 10 | “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” Janusz Kaminski |
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| COSTUME DESIGN | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | “The Young Victoria” Sandy Powell |
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| 2 | “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” Jacqueline West |
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| 3 | “Revolutionary Road” Albert Wolsky |
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| 4 | “Changeling” Deborah Hopper |
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| 5 | “Australia” Catherine Martin |
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| 6 | “Brideshead Revisited” Eimer Ni Mhaoldomhnaigh |
NEW |
| 7 | “The Reader” Ann Roth |
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| 8 | “Doubt” Ann Roth |
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| 9 | “The Other Boleyn Girl” Sandy Powell |
NEW |
| 10 | “Red Cliff” unknown |
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| FILM EDITING | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” Angus Wall |
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| 2 | “Defiance” Steven Rosenblum |
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| 3 | “House of Lies” Pietro Scalia |
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| 4 | “Frost/Nixon” Daniel P. Hanley, Mike Hill |
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| 5 | “Milk” Elliot Graham, Gus Van Sant |
NEW |
| 6 | “Australia” Dody Dorn, Michael McCusker |
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| 7 | “The Dark Knight” Lee Smith |
NEW |
| 8 | “The Reader” Claire Simpson |
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| 9 | “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” Michael Kahn |
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| 10 | “Changeling” Joel Cox |
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| MAKEUP | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” | — |
| 2 | “The Dark Knight” | |
| 3 | “Frost/Nixon” | |
| 4 | “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian” | |
| 5 | “The Soloist” | NEW |
| 6 | “Hellboy 2: The Golden Army” | |
| 7 | “Tropic Thunder” | |
| 8 | “The Reader” | NEW |
| 9 | “Synecdoche, New York” | |
| 10 | “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” | |
| MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE) | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | “WALL-E” Thomas Newman |
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| 2 | “Revolutionary Road” Thomas Newman |
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| 3 | “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” Alexandre Desplat |
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| 4 | “Defiance” James Newton Howard |
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| 5 | “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” John Williams |
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| 6 | “Doubt” Philip Glass |
NEW |
| 7 | “Australia” David Hirschfelder |
— |
| 8 | “The Reader” Alberto Iglesias |
NEW |
| 9 | “The Happening” James Newton Howard |
NEW |
| 10 | “The Soloist” Dario Marianelli |
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| SOUND EDITING | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | “Wall-E” | — |
| 2 | “Defiance” | |
| 3 | “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” | — |
| 4 | “The Dark Knight” | |
| 5 | “Iron Man” | |
| 6 | “House of Lies” | NEW |
| 7 | “Hancock” | |
| 8 | “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor” | NEW |
| 9 | “The Road” | NEW |
| 10 | “The Day the Earth Stood Still” | NEW |
| SOUND MIXING | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | “Wall-E” | — |
| 2 | “Defiance” | |
| 3 | “Iron Man” | — |
| 4 | “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” | |
| 5 | “House of Lies” | NEW |
| 6 | “The Dark Knight” | NEW |
| 7 | “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor” | |
| 8 | “Hancock” | |
| 9 | “Miracle at St. Anna” | NEW |
| 10 | “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian” | |
| VISUAL EFFECTS | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” | |
| 2 | “Hancock” | — |
| 3 | “Iron Man” | |
| 4 | “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” | |
| 5 | “The Incredible Hulk” | |
| 6 | “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian” | |
| 7 | “Speed Racer” | — |
| 8 | “The Spiderwick Chronicles” | — |
| 9 | “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” | |
| 10 | “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor” | |