Interesting nominations.
BEST ACTOR: Pretty expected, with Frank Langella, Sean Penn, and Mickey Rourke. I was a touch surprised at Brad Pitt getting a nomination. I think Rourke has this, although Penn should give him a run.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Very interesting to see Robert Downey Jr. nominated for his brilliant work. Part of me wants to see if he would accept it as Kirk Lazarus. I think Heath Ledger will win though (deservedly).
BEST ACTRESS: Kind of surprised to see Angelina Jolie nominated. I think Kate Winslet has it; it will also honor her work in Revolutionary Road that was not nominated.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Interesting bunch. I would say one of the "Doubt" people, but they might cancel each other out.
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM: Wow, Bolt got nominated? Anyway, Wall-E should win this unanimously.
BEST DIRECTOR: I'm thinking Danny Boyle wins this for Slumdog Millionaire, by far the film with the most interesting direction of the nominees.
BEST PICTURE: The cynic in me would place The Dark Knight and Wall-E on this list, but I don't know what movies to drop. I've only actually seen Slumdog Millionaire to be honest, but I don't think it will win. Tough call, really.
This is the first time that I've seen up to four of the five films nominated for Best Picture. I was thinking of going to see The Reader yesterday or today, but I'd have to go to NYC, and right now, I don't think it's feasible until I get a new job.
Me, I liked all the films I saw, but I think Slumdog Millionaire is not only the odds-on favorite to win, but that it should win. It had the post powerful, uplifting ending of the four I saw.
For Best Actor, Mickey Rourke is favored to win, a notion bolstered by his Golden Globes win, but I think Sean Penn deserves it. The Wrestler was not as good as it was hyped up to be, and I was disappointed by it. Rourke performed his role well, but it didn't blow me away. Penn, on the other hand, was almost unrecognizable as Harvey Milk.
My mom said she doesn't know if anyone is going to be wearing any of the dresses she or my aunt made at Oscar de la Renta, but she'll know if she sees one.
Why would Bolt not get nominated? I didn't see it, but we all know that there aren't enough animated films of Oscar-level quality, so they have to lower the bar, so that Pixar films, which do meet a high standard, end up competing with ones that don't, which is one of the reasons I was against the ghettoization of animation to its own category.
Okay, the dress Taraji P. Henson is wearing is a modification of a dark-colored original that my mom made.
Sean Penn's win was the one slight upset. He deserved it, but the buzz was that Rourke would win. Peter David suggested (before the win was announced) that if Penn won, it would've happened as a statement of protest against Prop 8.
Looks like most of the predictors were on with this one. Penn was a slight upset I suppose, but most of the sources I saw had it either him or Rourke.
And I'd say the line of the night goes to Will Smith's reasons for loving action films since the have "explosions, special effects, and, oh yeah, fans." Zing!
Interestingly, not only is Ledger only the second actor to win an acting Oscar posthumously (I would've thought there were more), but the first one was Peter Finch, who won for 1976's Network, who, interestingly enough, like Ledger, was also Australian.
Man, if Hugh Jackman gets nominated for X-Men Origins: Wolverine, he should be browning his pants.