My Predictions for the 81st Academy Awards

In light of the Academy Awards approaching this Sunday, I've decided to record my predictions for some of the major categories. This year really is a tight race, since to me, the best picture is really up in the air. But without further ado, I give my predictions for the 81st Academy Awards:

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

I've really only seen the last three on this list, and I believe Slumdog Millionaire and Benjamin Button would both be very deserving to win Best Picture. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button shares my number one spot with Slumdog Millionaire, but I know only one can be the victor. So I've chosen Slumdog Millionaire because of the innovate way Danny Boyle shot the movie. The India portrayed in this film has never really been seen before, maybe with the exception of National Geographic. But even then, the story of Slumdog Millionaire seemed almost unconventional to me, in the terms of movies made in India. It was like a modern, urban, fairy tale that constantly mesmerized you with the injustice of the young boy's life, and how nearly every major event in his life helps him answer the questions on India's version of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" That's probably what stood out the most to me and makes me think Slumdog will take the Oscar in its jaws--not only because it was beautifully shot and edited with intense jumpcuts between the past and present, but because the story met itself full circle, guiding audiences to believe in fate once again. It is written.


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

Granted, I have not seen The Wrestler yet, but the buzz around Rourke is so palpable I would be surprised if he doesn't win. In just the interviews and previews I've seen, his weather-beaten mug just shows years of history behind this character. For a while, I was pulling strong for Sean Penn (who still has just as great a chance to snatch it too), but now the end of the marathon is clearing out, and I can see Rourke receiving that little golden statuette after we thought his career was long flushed down the toilet.

Best Actress
Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie, Changeling
Melissa Leo, Frozen River
Meryl Streep, Doubt
Kate Winslet, The Reader

Now, I did see Winslet in this one, and I'd have to say it was a stunningly chilling performance. I was confused as to why the Academy decided to drop her Revolutionary Road nomination, and put up The Reader, something she won in the Supporting Actress category at the Globes, but now I see that her role in The Reader is more Best Actrees-worthy. I've never seen Kate more tired and haggard in a role--in a good way. You really sense the heaviness later on when we discover her involvement with the Nazis. Kate did an excellent job in making this character unlikable, but intriguing at the same time, like when she says, "The dead are dead. It doesn't matter how I feel." And if the Meryl doesn't grab the Oscar to join her little army of golden men, Kate Winslet is a shoe-in.

Best Supporting Actor
Josh Brolin, Milk
Robert Downey, Jr., Tropic Thunder
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Doubt
Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
Michael Shannon, Revolutionary Road

Okay, if Heath Ledger doesn't get it, I will be forced to kick a baby. He's been wracking up the awards since the Globes, so all I have left to do is cross my fingers and hope the Academy gives Ledger what he deserves. And it's not because he's dead. It's because his performance was hands down one of the best of 2008. Hell, one of the best in a decade. He threw his heart and soul into that role with such gusto, that an Oscar would be a wonderful form of gratitude to this man who had so much talent.

Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams, Doubt
Penelope Cruz, Vicky Christina Barcelona
Viola Davis, Doubt
Taraji P. Henson, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Marisa Tomei, The Wrestler

While watching Benjamin Button, I remember being very impressed by the woman who played Brad Pitt's "foster mom." She was genuinely engaging, from the moment she's flirting with her boyfriend at the end of WWI and discovers this ugly man-baby on her porch, to the moment she was slowly dying but still living it up with her good sensiblity. The character "Queenie" was one of my favorite performances in the movie, and I really hope Taraji P. Henson gets it.

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

While I was slightly torn with who to choose, I really think Danny Boyle deserves this honor. I first became acquainted with him through my obsessive crush at 13 with Ewan McGregor. McGregor performed in three Boyle flicks, until their falling out with The Beach (where Leonardo DiCaprio, not McGregor, was cast): Shallow Grave, Trainspotting, A Life Less Ordinary. From just these three movies, I've seen how far Boyle has gone. These three films weren't shabby (Trainspotting, to me, is a classic), but after seeing Slumdog Millionaire, it was as though Boyle strengthened the skills he had in the '90s to create this fast-paced, dazzling spectacle. He's done a magnificent job here, after being unrecognized for so long, that I think it would be appropriate for him to win.

Best Adapted Screenplay
Eric Roth, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
John Patrick Shanley, Doubt
Peter Morgan, Frost/Nixon
David Hare, The Reader
Simon Beaufoy, Slumdog Millionaire

This category is kind of tricky, since Frost/Nixon would be my second guess for adapted screenplay, seeing as it came off of the stage. But I think if someone were to take a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and turn it into a full length, almost 3 hour movie, it deserves some freaking gold. Plus, I'd like to see my beloved Benjamin Button win some awards.

Best Original Screenplay
Courtney Hunt, Frozen River
Mike Leigh, Happy-Go-Lucky
Martin McDonagh, In Bruges
Dustin Lance Black, Milk
Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon, WALL-E

This one is also very tricky. I think this can really go three ways: Milk, WALL-E, and Happy-Go-Lucky. These three I've heard the most about. But I remember seeing an interview with the man who wrote the screenplay for Milk, and I was quite impressed with all the research he went through to produce this story. So my money's on Milk.

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

Okay, I promise to back up my choice, as there were two others in this category I think would be just as worthy. The music in Benjamin Button really brought the form into the content of the movie for me. It was magical, mysterious, whimsical--everything this movie was. It really made you feel like you had entered another world with this enchanting score. My other two choices were Slumdog Millionaire and WALL-E. Slumdog, to me, dealt more with music that had lyrics, which really belongs in the Best Song category. WALL-E also had a brilliant score, making up for the lack of dialogue. It was also enchanting, but I guess I just felt more engaged with Benjamin Button.

Best Song
"Down to Earth" by Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman, WALL-E
"Jai Ho" by A. R. Rahman, Slumdog Millionaire
"O Saya" by A. R. Rahman, Slumdog Millionaire

I have the soundtrack to Slumdog Millionaire, and the first song is "O Saya," which has some wonderful tribal beats cleverly mixed in with M.I.A.'s vocals. While I liked the song from WALL-E, I just feel like "O Saya" is the anthem to this year's Oscars.

Best Animated Feature Film
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda
WALL-E

Duh. WALL-E is even good enough to put into the Best Picture category if the competition wasn't so tight.

So there's my prediction list. Tune in tomorrow to see how close I came!