NUTSHELL: The guilds have finally begun to speak up, giving us a line of sight on the technical categories for the first time all season. I’ve left these charts largely unaltered for the past few weeks, but with the visual effects and makeup bake-offs, as well as nominee announcements from the ASC and ADG, we’re finally on our way to solving the puzzle. Two films are grabbing the right kind of passion in these fields to potentially break through in unexpected ways: “Hellboy II” and “The Wrestler.” Elsewhere, however, “Slumdog Millionaire” and “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” remain the kings of the circuit. We’re still waiting on announcements from the ACE and CDG.
Column: “From the horse’s mouth”
Sort charts by: Main Categories/Technical Categories
| ART DIRECTION | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” Donald Graham Burt; Victor J. Zolfo |
— |
| 2 | “Changeling” James J. Murakami; Gary Fettis |
 |
| 3 | “Milk” Bill Groom; Barbara Munch |
NEW |
| 4 | “Revolutionary Road” Kristi Zea; Debra Schutt |
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| 5 | “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” Guy Dyas; Larry Dias, Alyssa Winter |
— |
| 6 | “Frost/Nixon” Michael Corenblith; Susan Benjamin |
NEW |
| 7 | “Doubt” David Gropman; Ellen Christiansen |
NEW |
| 8 | “Hellboy II: The Golden Army” Stephen Scott; Elli Griff |
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| 9 | “Australia” Catherine Martin |
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| 10 | “The Fall” Ged Clarke; Riccardo Pugliese, Cynthia Sleiter |
— |
| CINEMATOGRAPHY | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | “The Dark Knight” Wally Pfister |
— |
| 2 | “Slumdog Millionaire” Anthony Dod Mantle |
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| 3 | “Revolutionary Road” Roger Deakins |
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| 4 | “Defiance” Eduardo Serra |
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| 5 | “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” Claudio Miranda |
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| 6 | “The Reader” Roger Deakins, Chris Menges |
NEW |
| 7 | “Milk” Harris Savides |
— |
| 8 | “Australia” Mandy Walker |
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| 9 | “Changeling” Tom Stern |
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| 10 | “Valkyrie” Newton Thomas Siegel |
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| COSTUME DESIGN | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” Jacqueline West |
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| 2 | “The Duchess” Michael O’Connor |
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| 3 | “Revolutionary Road” Albert Wolsky |
— |
| 4 | “The Other Boleyn Girl” Sandy Powell |
— |
| 5 | “The Fall” Eiko Ishioka |
— |
| 6 | “Changeling” Deborah Hopper |
— |
| 7 | “Australia” Catherine Martin |
— |
| 8 | “Defiance” Jenny Beaven |
— |
| 9 | “Leatherheads” Louise Frogley |
— |
| 10 | “Brideshead Revisited” Eimer Ni Mhaoldomhnaigh |
— |
| FILM EDITING | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | “Slumdog Millionaire” Chris Dickens |
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| 2 | “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” Kirk Baxter, Angus Wall |
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| 3 | “The Dark Knight” Lee Smith |
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| 4 | “Frost/Nixon” Daniel P. Hanley, Mike Hill |
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| 5 | “Milk” Elliot Graham |
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| 6 | “Defiance” Steven Rosenblum |
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| 7 | “Doubt” Dylan Tichenor |
— |
| 8 | “Revolutionary Road” Tariq Anwar |
— |
| 9 | “Iron Man” Dan Lebental |
— |
| 10 | “Quantum of Solace” Matt Chesse, Richard Pearson |
— |
| MAKEUP | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” | — |
| 2 | “Synecdoche, New York” | — |
| 3 | “Tropic Thunder” | — |
| 4 | “Hellboy II: The Golden Army” | — |
| 5 | “The Dark Knight” | |
| 6 | “The Reader” | |
| 7 | “The Wrestler” | NEW |
| MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE) | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” Alexandre Desplat |
— |
| 2 | “WALL-E” Thomas Newman |
— |
| 3 | “Revolutionary Road” Thomas Newman |
— |
| 4 | “Slumdog Millionaire” A.R. Rahman |
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| 5 | “Defiance” James Newton Howard |
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| 6 | “Milk” Danny Eflman |
— |
| 7 | “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” John Williams |
— |
| 9 | “The Dark Knight” James Newton Howard, Hans Zimmer |
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| 9 | “The Reader” Nico Muhly |
— |
| 10 | “Frost/Nixon” Hans Zimmer |
— |
| MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG) | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | “Down to Earth” from “WALL-E” Peter Gabriel |
— |
| 2 | “The Wrestler” from “The Wrestler” Bruce Springsteen |
— |
| 3 | “I Thought I Lost You” from “Bolt” Miley Cyrus |
— |
| 4 | “Jaiho” from “Slumdog Millionaire” AR Rahmen |
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| 5 | “Gran Torino” from “Gran Torino” Clint Eastwood, Jamie Callum |
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| 6 | “I Want It All” from “High School Musical 3: Senior Year” Cast of “High School Musical 3: Senior Year” |
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| 7 | “Rock Me Sexy Jesus” from “Hamlet 2” Phoebe Strole |
— |
| 8 | “Once in a Lifetime” from “Cadillac Records” BeyoncĂ© |
NEW |
| 9 | “Another Way to Die” from “Quantum of Solace” Alicia Keys, Jack White |
— |
| 10 | “Little Person” from “Synecdoche, New York” Jon Brion |
— |
| SOUND EDITING | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | “Wall-E” | — |
| 2 | “The Dark Knight” | — |
| 3 | “Iron Man” | — |
| 4 | “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” | — |
| 5 | “Slumdog Millionaire” | NEW |
| 6 | “Defiance” | |
| 7 | “Valkyrie” | |
| 8 | “Body of Lies” | |
| 9 | “Quantum of Solace” | |
| 10 | “Hancock” | |
| SOUND MIXING | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | “Wall-E” | — |
| 2 | “The Dark Knight” | |
| 3 | “Iron Man” | |
| 4 | “Slumdog Millionaire” | NEW |
| 5 | “Defiance” | |
| 6 | “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” | — |
| 7 | “Quantum of Solace” | NEW |
| 8 | “Valkyrie” | |
| 9 | “Body of Lies” | |
| 10 | “Cloverfield” | |
| VISUAL EFFECTS | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” | — |
| 2 | “Iron Man” | — |
| 3 | “The Dark Knight” | — |
| 4 | “Hellboy II: The Golden Army” | — |
| 5 | “Journey to the Center of the Earth” | |
| 6 | “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor” | NEW |
| 7 | “Australia” | NEW |