day 66

oscar nods, 2009

today was the official announcement of the nominees for next month's academy awards ceremony, fondly called the oscars.  the main categories are broken down as follows, with my picks and explanations:

actor in a leading role: 

richard jenkins, the visitor

frank langella, frost/nixon

sean penn, milk

brad pitt, the curious case of benjamin button

mickey rourke, the wrestler* 

i know that i said rourke is a really weird choice, but out of this selection, i'd say he's the best candidate.  to be honest, i've never even heard of the visitor and, therefore, never heard of richard jenkins. 

actor in a supporting role: 

josh brolin, milk

robert downey jr, tropic thunder

philip seymour hoffman, doubt

heath ledger, the dark knight*

michael shannon, revolutionary road

i'm going to say that ledger gets the posthumous award because of how much press is surrounding his nomination.  this gives the academy some good press and lets fans remember ledger in a good light. i'd say philip seymour hoffman has the best chance next to ledger.  

actress in a leading role: 

anne hathaway, rachel getting married*

angelina jolie, changling 

melissa leo, frozen river

meryl streep, doubt

kate winslet, the reader

i really just want anne hathaway to win. meryl streep is a stong contender, angelina probably won't win, who the hell is melissa leo, and kate winslet probably has a better choice of winning for revolutionary road.  remember that, at the golden globes, winselt did win for the reader, but in the supporting actress category.  

actress in a supporting role: 

amy adams, doubt*

penelope cruz, vicky cristina barcelona

viola davis, doubt

taraji p. henson, the curious case of benjamin button

marisa tomei, the wrestler

i just really like amy adams - she's really versatile.  plus, her performance in doubt helps in the films watchability and likability.  penelope cruz has been nominated before, viola davis is barely in doubt (but, eventhough judi dench was barely in shakespeare in love, she still did win), taraji p. henson is probably happy to just be nominated, and the wrestler is bound to only win one award at most (sorry, marissa).  

animated feature film: 

bolt

kung fu panda

wall-e*

wall-e is made by disney-pixar. enough said. 

best picture: 

the curious case of benjamin button

frost/nixon

milk

the reader

slumdog millionaire*

slumdog millionaire has been the darling of every awards show and every film festival.  plus, it's just a really good film. the only thing i don't understand is why the film is really only nominated for "behind-the-scenes" stuff, like direction and music.  the acting is good, but it seems like the academy is only picking "names" to lead the category.  

paris hilton to re-pick bff

near the end of 2008, paris hilton's mtv reality show, my new bff, was a big ratings getter for the network and the outcome of the show seemed to to hilton's liking.  but, apparently, that's not the case.  amidst reports that hilton's sister, nikki, can't stand show winner, britney flickinger, and has requested that paris not socialize with the winner (though reports have said that paris rarely even sees the girl).  so, paris is relaunching the show for a second season.  the show is currently casting for the "hottest bitches" and "fabulous fierce guys" between 21 and 30.  the show should air sometime in the spring or summer.  hopefully paris will be able to actually get a real bff from this season (though i doubt she'll hang out with whoever wins this season, either).