NUTSHELL: With just four days left to go in phase one of the Oscar season, the safest calls have announced themselves loud and clear. For the most part, it seems foolish not to heed their call, and so the final update might come off as a rather boring one. We still can’t deny the potential impact of Clint Eastwood’s late release “Gran Torino,” or the possibility that Pixar’s “WALL-E” resonates more than the precursors allowed. But the Academy is a fickle bunch, so we can’t rule out any number of left-field possibilities. Who knows what kind of “City of God” stunner is in the wings? Time will tell.
Column: “Enough foreplay”
Sort charts by: Main Categories/Technical Categories
| BEST PICTURE | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | “Slumdog Millionaire” Fox Searchlight Pictures/Warner Bros. Pictures |
— |
| 2 | “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” Paramount Pictures |
— | 3 | “Frost/Nixon” Universal Pictures |
— |
| 4 | “Milk” Focus Features |
— |
| 5 | “The Dark Knight” Warner Bros. Pictures |
— |
| 6 | “Gran Torino” Warner Bros. Pictures |
 |
| 7 | “The Reader” The Weinstein Company |
|
| 8 | “WALL-E” Walt Disney Pictures |
 |
| 9 | “The Wrestler” Fox Searchlight Pictures |
|
| 10 | “Doubt” Miramax Films |
|
| DIRECTING | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Danny Boyle “Slumdog Millionaire” |
— |
| 2 | David Fincher “The Curious case of Benjamin Button” |
— |
| 3 | Christopher Nolan “The Dark Knight” |
— |
| 4 | Gus Van Sant “Milk” |
— |
| 5 | Ron Howard “Frost/Nixon” |
|
| 6 | Darren Aronofsky “The Wrestler” |
|
| 7 | Woody Allen “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” |
— |
| 8 | Clint Eastwood “Gran Torino” (or “Changeling”) |
— |
| 9 | Stephen Daldry “The Reader” |
NEW |
| 10 | Mike Leigh “Happy-Go-Lucky” |
NEW |
| ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sean Penn “Milk” |
— |
| 2 | Mickey Rourke “The Wrestler” |
|
| 3 | Frank Langella “Frost/Nixon” |
|
| 4 | Clint Eastwood “Gran Torino” |
— |
| 5 | Richard Jenkins “The Visitor” |
— |
| 6 | Brad Pitt “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” |
— |
| 7 | Leonardo DiCaprio “Revolutionary Road” |
— | 8 | Josh Brolin “W.” |
— |
| 9 | Dustin Hoffman “Last Chance Harvey” |
— |
| 10 | Colin Farrell “In Bruges” |
NEW |
| ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Meryl Streep “Doubt” |
— |
| 2 | Anne Hathaway “Rachel Getting Married” |
— |
| 3 | Kate Winslet “Revolutionary Road” |
— |
| 4 | Melissa Leo “Frozen River” |
— |
| 5 | Angelina Jolie “Changling” |
— |
| 6 | Sally Hawkins “Happy-Go-Lucky” |
— |
| 7 | Cate Blanchett “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” |
— | 8 | Kristin Scott Thomas “I’ve Loved You So Long” |
— |
| 9 | Kate Beckinsale “Nothing But the Truth” |
— |
| 10 | Kate Winslet “The Reader” |
— |
| ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heath Ledger “The Dark Knight” |
— |
| 2 | Robert Downey Jr. “Tropic Thunder” |
— |
| 3 | Josh Brolin “Milk” |
— |
| 4 | Philip Seymour Hoffman “Doubt” |
— |
| 5 | Dev Patel “Slumdog Millionaire” |
— |
| 6 | James Franco “Milk” |
— |
| 7 | Michael Shannon “Revolutionary Road” |
— |
| 8 | Eddie Marsan “Happy-Go-Lucky” |
— |
| 9 | Ralph Fiennes “The Duchess” (or “The Reader”) |
— |
| 10 | Bill Irwin “Rachel Getting Married” |
— |
| ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kate Winslet “The Reader” |
|
| 2 | Penélope Cruz “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” |
|
| 3 | Viola Davis “Doubt” |
|
| 4 | Taraji P. Henson “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” |
— |
| 5 | Amy Adams “Doubt” |
— |
| 6 | Marisa Tomei “The Wrestler” |
— |
| 7 | Rosemarie DeWitt “Rachel Getting Married” |
— |
| 8 | Frances McDormand “Burn After Reading” |
|
| 9 | Rebecca Hall “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” |
|
| 10 | Vera Farmiga “Nothing But the Truth” |
|
| WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY) | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | “Slumdog Millionaire” Written by Simon Beaufoy Based on the book “Q and A” by Vikas Swarup |
— |
| 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 |
— |
| 3 | “Frost/Nixon” Written by Peter Morgan Based on his stage play |
|
| 4 | “Doubt” Written by John Patrick Shanley Based on his stage play |
|
| 5 | “The Dark Knight” Written by Christopher Nolan, Jonathan Nolan Story by David S. Goyer, Christopher Nolan Based on characters appearing in comic books published by DC Comics; Batman created by Bob Kane |
— |
| 6 | “The Reader” Written by David Hare Based on the novel by Bernhard Schlink |
— |
| 7 | “Revolutionary Road” Written by Justin Haythe Based on the short story by Richard Yates |
— |
| 8 | “Gomorrah” Written by Maurizio Braucci, Ugo Chiti, Gianni Di Gregorio, Matteo Garrone, Massimo Gaudiso, Roberto Saviano Based on the book by Roberto Saviano |
— |
| 9 | “The Class” Written by François Bégaudeau, Robin Campillo, Laurent Cantet Based on the book by François Bégaudeau |
— |
| 10 | “Iron Man” Written by Mark Fergus & Hawk Ostby and Art Marcum & Matt Holloway; Based on characters appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics; Iron Man created by Stan Lee Based on the book by Nechama Tec |
— |
| WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY) | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” Written by Woody Allen |
— |
| 2 | “Milk” Written by Dustin Lance Black |
— |
| 3 | “The Wrestler” Written by Robert Siegel |
— |
| 4 | “Happy-Go-Lucky” Written by Mike Leigh |
— |
| 5 | “WALL-E” Original story by Pete Docter, Andrew Stanton Screenplay by Jim Reardon, Andrew Stanton |
— |
| 6 | “The Visitor” Written by Thomas McCarthy |
— |
| 7 | “Burn After Reading” Written by Ethan Coen, Joel Coen |
|
| 8 | “Rachel Getting Married” Written by Jenny Lumet |
|
| 9 | “Gran Torino” Written by Nick Schenk |
|
| 10 | “Changeling” Written by J. Michael Straczynski |
|
| ANIMATED FEATURE FILM | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | “WALL-E” Walt Disney Pictures |
— |
| 2 | “Kung Fu Panda” DreamWorks SKG |
— |
| 3 | “Waltz with Bashir” Sony Pictures Classics |
— |
| 4 | “Bolt” Walt Disney Pictures |
— |
| 5 | “Horton Hears a Who!” 20th Century Fox |
— |
| 6 | “The Tale of Despereaux” Universal Pictures |
— |
| 7 | “Igor” The Weinstein Company |
— |
| 8 | “Space Chimps” 20th Century Fox |
— |
| 9 | “Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa” DreamWorks SKG |
— |
| 10 | “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” Warner Bros. Pictures |
— |