Oscars 2009 : Who Will Win?

The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button is a big winner with Oscar nominations

Despite poor Box Office turn outs, Milk and Frost/Nixon get plenty of nods

By Sean Lynch

The full list of Academy Award nominations was announced today at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Beverly Hills, California.

The big surprises come in the form of The Dark Knight being overlooked for Best Picture, while the total shock comes in the form of Robert Downey Jr for Best Supporting Actor... in Tropic Thunder?

Surely Ben Stiller and his pals are pissing their pants over that one. 

And would Downey even feel a little angry that his genuine roles have been overlooked all these years... yet a character that belongs on Saturday Night Live could put him in the Oscar Winner leagues?

The mind boggles...

Whatever your thoughts, the Web Wombat movie nuts have gathered together to give you all the info - and our hot tip to take home the Golden statues!

Best Picture: 

• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

• Frost/Nixon

• Milk

• The Reader

• Slumdog Millionaire

Wombat Hot Pick: Slumdog Millionaire
Wombat Dark Horse: Frost/Nixon

Best Actor: 

• Richard Jenkins in The Visitor

• Frank Langella in Frost/Nixon

• Sean Penn in Milk

• Brad Pitt in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

• Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler

Wombat Hot Pick: Mickey Rourke
Wombat Dark Horse: Sean Penn

Best Actress: 

• Anne Hathaway in Rachel Getting Married

• Angelina Jolie in Changeling

• Melissa Leo in Frozen River

• Meryl Streep in Doubt

• Kate Winslet in The Reader

Wombat Hot Pick: Kate Winslet
Wombat Dark Horse: Anne Hathaway

Best Supporting Actor: 

• Josh Brolin in Milk

• Robert Downey Jr. in Tropic Thunder

• Philip Seymour Hoffman in Doubt

• Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight

• Michael Shannon in Revolutionary Road

Wombat Hot Pick: Heath Ledger
Wombat Dark Horse: Josh Brolin / Robert Downey Jnr

Best Supporting Actress: 

• Amy Adams in Doubt

• Penélope Cruz in Vicky Cristina Barcelona

• Viola Davis in Doubt

• Taraji P. Henson in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

• Marisa Tomei in The Wrestler

Wombat Hot Pick: Viola Davis
Wombat Dark Horse: Marisa Tomei

Best Directing: 

• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, David Fincher

• Frost/Nixon, Ron Howard

• Milk, Gus Van Sant

• The Reader, Stephen Daldry

• Slumdog Millionaire, Danny Boyle

Wombat Hot Pick: Danny Boyle
Wombat Dark Horse: David Fincher

Best Foreign Language Film: 

• The Baader Meinhof Complex, Germany

• The Class, France

• Departures, Japan

• Revanche, Austria

• Waltz with Bashir, Israel

Wombat Hot Pick: Waltz with Bashir
Wombat Dark Horse: Departures

Best Adapted Screenplay:

• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Screenplay by Eric Roth

• Doubt, Written by John Patrick Shanley

• Frost/Nixon, Screenplay by Peter Morgan

• The Reader, Screenplay by David Hare

• Slumdog Millionaire, Screenplay by Simon Beaufoy

Wombat Hot Pick: Frost/Nixon
Wombat Dark Horse: The Reader

Best Original Screenplay:

• Frozen River, Written by Courtney Hunt

• Happy-Go-Lucky, Written by Mike Leigh

• In Bruges, Written by Martin McDonagh

• Milk, Written by Dustin Lance Black

• WALL-E, Screenplay by Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon

Wombat Hot Pick: In Bruges
Wombat Dark Horse: Happy-Go-Lucky

Best Animated Feature Film:

• Bolt

• Kung Fu Panda

• Wall-E

Wombat Hot Pick: Wall-E
Wombat Dark Horse: Kung Fu Panda

Best Art Direction:

• Changeling, Art Direction: James J. Murakami

• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Art Direction: Donald Graham Burt

• The Dark Knight, Art Direction: Nathan Crowley

• The Duchess, Art Direction: Michael Carlin

• Revolutionary Road, Art Direction: Kristi Zea

Wombat Hot Pick: The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
Wombat Dark Horse: The Duchess

Best Cinematography:

• Changeling, Tom Stern

• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Claudio Miranda

• The Dark Knight, Wally Pfister

• The Reader, Chris Menges and Roger Deakins

• Slumdog Millionaire, Anthony Dod Mantle

Wombat Hot Pick: Slumdog Millionaire
Wombat Dark Horse: The Dark Knight

Best Original Score:

• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Alexandre Desplat

• Defiance, James Newton Howard

• Milk, Danny Elfman

• Slumdog Millionaire, A.R. Rahman

• WALL-E, Thomas Newman

Wombat Hot Pick: Slumdog Millionaire
Wombat Dark Horse: Defiance

Best Original Song:

• "Down to Earth" from WALL-E, Music by Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman, Lyric by Peter Gabriel

• "Jai Ho" Slumdog Millionaire, Music by A.R. Rahman, Lyric by Gulzar

• "O Saya" from Slumdog Millionaire, Music and Lyric by A.R. Rahman and Maya Arulpragasam

Wombat Hot Pick: "Jai Ho" Slumdog Millionaire
Wombat Dark Horse: "Down to Earth" from WALL-E

Best Costume:

• Australia, Catherine Martin

• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Jacqueline West

• The Duchess, Michael O'Connor

• Milk, Danny Glicker

• Revolutionary Road, Albert Wolsky

Wombat Hot Pick: The Duchess
Wombat Dark Horse: Australia

Best Visual Effects:

• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton and Craig Barron

• The Dark Knight, Nick Davis, Chris Corbould, Tim Webber and Paul Franklin

• Iron Man, John Nelson, Ben Snow, Dan Sudick and Shane Mahan

Wombat Hot Pick: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Wombat Dark Horse: Iron Man