And Ze Nominees Are...

This post was supposed to be titled "Oscars de la Joya" but someone begged me not to use that title. Fine then.

This year's list of Academy Award nominees are similar to, but not the same as, the Golden Globe nominees. Like I kept stressing before, these are two distinct award-giving bodies, so don't expect their choices to be the same.

So here's the list of this year's Oscar nominees, shamelessly copied from their official website.

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS:

• Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton, and Craig Barron for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• Nick Davis, Chris Corbould, Tim Webber, and Paul Franklin for The Dark Knight
• John Nelson, Ben Snow, Dan Sudick, and Shane Mahan for Iron Man

BEST ART DIRECTION:

• James J. Murakami and Gary Fettis for Changeling
• Donald Graham Burt and Victor J. Zolfo for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• Nathan Crowley and Peter Lando for The Dark Knight
• Michael Carlin and Rebecca Alleway for The Duchess
  
• Kristi Zea and Debra Schutt for Revolutionary Road

BEST MAKEUP:

• Greg Cannom for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• John Caglione, Jr. and Conor O'Sullivan for The Dark Knight
• Mike Elizalde and Thom Flout for Hellboy II: The Golden Army
  

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM:

• La Maison en Petits Cubes
  
• Lavatory - Lovestory
  
• Oktapodi
  
• Presto
  
• This Way Up
  

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM:

• Auf der Strecke (On the Line)
  
• Manon on the Asphalt
  
• New Boy
  
• The Pig
  
• Spielzeugland (Toyland)
  

BEST SOUND EDITING:

• Richard King for The Dark Knight
• Frank Eulner and Christopher Boyes for Iron Man
• Tom Sayers for Slumdog Millionaire
  
• Ben Burtt and Matthew Wood for WALL-E
  
• Wylie Stateman for Wanted
  

BEST SOUND MIXING:

• David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce, and Mark Weingarten for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo, and Ed Novick for The Dark Knight
• Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke, and Resul Pookutty for Slumdog Millionaire
• Tom Myers, Michael Semanick, and Ben Burtt for WALL-E
• Chris Jenkins, Frank A. Montaño, and Petr Forejt for Wanted

BEST COSTUME DESIGN:

• Catherine Martin for Australia
  
• Jacqueline West for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• Michael O'Connor for The Duchess
  
• Danny Glicker for Milk
  
• Albert Wolsky for Revolutionary Road
  

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:

• Tom Stern for Changeling
  
• Claudio Miranda for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• Wally Pfister for The Dark Knight
• Chris Menges and Roger Deakins for The Reader
  
• Anthony Dod Mantle for Slumdog Millionaire

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT:

• The Conscience of Nhem En
  
• The Final Inch
  
• Smile Pinki
  
• The Witness - From the Balcony of Room 306
  

BEST EDITING:

• Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
  
• Lee Smith for The Dark Knight
• Mike Hill and Dan Hanley for Frost/Nixon
  
• Elliot Graham for Milk
  
• Chris Dickens for Slumdog Millionaire

BEST ORIGINAL SONG:

• "Down to Earth", music by Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman; lyric by Peter Gabriel, from WALL-E
• "Jai Ho", music by A.R. Rahman; lyric by Gulzar, from Slumdog Millionaire
• "O Saya", music by A.R. Rahman; lyric by A.R. Rahman and Maya Arulpragasam, from Slumdog Millionaire

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE:

• Alexandre Desplat for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
  
• James Newton Howard for Defiance
  
• Danny Elfman for Milk
  
• A.R. Rahman for Slumdog Millionaire
• Thomas Newman for WALL-E

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE:

• The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)
  
• Encounters at the End of the World
  
• The Garden
  
• Man on Wire
  
• Trouble the Water
  

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:

• Eric Roth and Rob Swicord for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• John Patrick Shanley for Doubt
  
• Peter Morgan for Frost/Nixon
  
• David Hare for The Reader
  
• Simon Beaufoy for Slumdog Millionaire

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:

• Dustin Lance Black for Milk
  
• Courtney Hunt for Frozen River
  
• Mike Leigh for Happy Go Lucky
  
• Martin McDonagh for In Bruges
  
• Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon, and Pete Docter for WALL-E

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM:

• Der Baader Meinhof Komplex (The Baader Meinhof Complex), Germany
  
• Entre Les Murs (The Class), France
  
• Okuributo (Departures), Japan
  
• Revanche, Austria
  
• Vals Im Bashir (Waltz with Bashir), Israel
  

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM:

• Bolt
  
• Kung Fu Panda
  
• WALL-E
  

BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:

• Amy Adams for Doubt
  
• Penelope Cruz for Vicky Cristina Barcelona
  
• Viola Davis for Doubt
  
• Taraji P. Henson for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• Marisa Tomei for The Wrestler
  

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:

• Josh Brolin for Milk
  
• Robert Downey, Jr. for Tropic Thunder
  
• Philip Seymour Hoffman for Doubt
  
• Heath Ledger (+) for The Dark Knight
  
• Michael Shannon for Revolutionary Road
  

BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE:

• Anne Hathaway for Rachel Getting Married
  
• Angelina Jolie for Changeling
  
• Melissa Leo for Frozen River
  
• Meryl Streep for Doubt
  
• Kate Winslet for The Reader
  

BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE:

• Richard Jenkins for The Visitor
  
• Frank Langella for Frost/Nixon
  
• Sean Penn for Milk
  
• Brad Pitt for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
  
• Mickey Rourke for The Wrestler

BEST DIRECTOR:

• Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire
• Stephen Daldry for The Reader
  
• David Fincher for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• Ron Howard for Frost/Nixon
  
• Gus Van Sant for Milk
  

and finally...

BEST PICTURE:

• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
  
• Frost/Nixon
  
• Milk
  
• The Reader
  
• Slumdog Millionaire

Exciting race this year, with The Curious Case of Benjamin Button leading the pack with a total of thirteen (13) nominations, while "the feel-good movie of the New Depression" Slumdog Millionaire earned a total of ten (10) nominations. And tying for third place with eight (8) nominations each are Milk and The Dark Knight. Let's cross our fingers for a posthumous Oscar for the late Heath Ledger.

And finally, to the Academy: Where the hell is U2 3D? And why didn't it even qualify as a documentary? I'd very much like to see a transcript of your deliberations and find out exactly what you old geezers thought of it.

Well, maybe the Academy isn't too keen yet on accepting 3D films as serious cinematic works. Maybe five more years? Who knows.