# 81st Academy Awards



## Steve615 (Feb 5, 2006)

From variety.com:
The nominations for the 81st Academy Awards have been released.
'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button' leads the pack with 13 nominations.
'The Dark Knight' received 8 nominations.
Heath Ledger got a nomination for Best Supporting Actor in 'The Dark Knight'.
Here is a link to the list of all nominations up for Oscars this year:

http://www.variety.com/awardcentral_article/VR1117998919.html

Some other items of interest.
A few big names were left out of the nominations,including:
Clint Eastwood,Christopher Nolan and Bruce Springsteen,among others.

http://www.variety.com/awardcentral_article/VR1117998922.html?nav=news&categoryid=1982&cs=1

Here is a brief overview of some of the top awards.

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

Best Lead Actor:
Brad Pitt in Benjamin Button
Sean Penn in Milk
Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler
Frank Langella in Frost/Nixon
Richard Jenkins in The Visitor

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


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## Dario33 (Dec 15, 2008)

Glad to see Richard Jenkins get the nom (disappointed he got it over Clint though).


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## wilbur_the_goose (Aug 16, 2006)

Slumdog better win. Best film I've seen in years!


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## Dario33 (Dec 15, 2008)




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## Steve615 (Feb 5, 2006)

Tonight's the night to see who takes the Oscars home. 
ABC's coverage begins at 7PM ET with a one hour Barbara Walters special.
Her guests include Hugh Jackman,Mickey Rourke and Anne Hathaway.
The "Red Carpet" show will air from 8-8:30PM ET.
The main event will start at 8:30PM ET.
Wolverine,aka Hugh Jackman will host the awards show tonight.


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## Dario33 (Dec 15, 2008)

Plan on watching (DVRing just in case since I have to work today and may run long). Hoping for a good show though and some upsets.


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## BubblePuppy (Nov 3, 2006)

Why would Bruce Springsteen deserve a nomination?

Just curious as I have not seen any of these movies.


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## Steve615 (Feb 5, 2006)

BubblePuppy said:


> Why would Bruce Springsteen deserve a nomination?
> 
> Just curious as I have not seen any of these movies.


There was alot of press/media talk awhile ago about a song that he done for the film 'The Wrestler' with Mickey Rourke.
That's all I know in regards to the Springsteen talk.
I think there are some folks on here that have seen the film...perhaps they could comment on it.


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## BubblePuppy (Nov 3, 2006)

Steve615 said:


> There was alot of press/media talk awhile ago about a song that he done for the film 'The Wrestler' with Mickey Rourke.
> That's all I know in regards to the Springsteen talk.
> I think there are some folks on here that have seen the film...perhaps they could comment on it.


Thanks for the reply, appreciate it. 

I was a bit interested even though I am not a Bruce Springsteen fan.


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## Steve615 (Feb 5, 2006)

BubblePuppy said:


> Thanks for the reply, appreciate it.
> 
> I was a bit interested even though I am not a Bruce Springsteen fan.


You're welcome.


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## Steve615 (Feb 5, 2006)

Heath Ledger got the Best Supporting Oscar for 'The Dark Knight'.
'Slumdog Millionaire' walked away with several Oscars,including Best Picture.
Kate Winslet won for Best Actress,Sean Penn won for Best Actor.
Complete list of winners at the following link.

http://www.oscar.com/oscarnight/winners/


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## hdtvfan0001 (Jul 28, 2004)

This years Awards clearly was the "Year of the Politically Correct".

Some of the choices were made obvious to messages and views and not movie quality or content. Seeing more of these things happening every year - it takes away from the real original intent of this ceremony....but such is life.

Despite what happened to him personally - Heath Ledger was the only "no brainer" award all night.


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## spartanstew (Nov 16, 2005)

Steve615 said:


> There was alot of press/media talk awhile ago about a song that he done for the film 'The Wrestler' with Mickey Rourke.
> That's all I know in regards to the Springsteen talk.
> I think there are some folks on here that have seen the film...perhaps they could comment on it.


It also won the Golden Globe Award for best original movie song, but for some reason didn't even get a nomination at the Oscars.


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## BubblePuppy (Nov 3, 2006)

hdtvfan0001 said:


> This years Awards clearly was the "Year of the Politically Correct".
> 
> Some of the choices were made obvious to messages and views and not movie quality or content. Seeing more of these things happening every year - it takes away from the real original intent of this ceremony....but such is life.
> 
> Despite what happened to him personally - Heath Ledger was the only "no brainer" award all night.


Since the '90s what year isn't the year of "Politically Correct"?:nono2:


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## Chris Blount (Jun 22, 2001)

I actually enjoyed the show this year. I think it was well produced and the host was a riot.

I agree about the politically correct thing. I'm a big fan of movie music and some excellent veteran composers were nominated. Who did the Oscar go to? Some guy nobody every heard of who's composing skils are a joke. 

Slumdog was really starting to get on my nerves especially towards the end when some great people were passed over.


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## wilbur_the_goose (Aug 16, 2006)

Chris - did you see Slumdog? My favorite film of the year - by far..

BTW - I thought the show itself was first rate. Best in many years.


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## ncxcstud (Apr 22, 2007)

spartanstew said:


> It also won the Golden Globe Award for best original movie song, but for some reason didn't even get a nomination at the Oscars.


Wasn't it passed over because Springsteen refused to shorten the song during the Academy Awards?

Or, was that Peter Gabriel who refused to shorten his song?


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## hdtvfan0001 (Jul 28, 2004)

Chris Blount said:


> Slumdog was really starting to get on my nerves especially towards the end when some great people were passed over.


Ratings were up 6% this year...but still way down from 10 years ago....people in general are not embracing the gimmicks and politically-charged and agenda comments.

As for Slumdog....thanks, but no thanks.

A movie about the poor and violence on the other side of the globe melded along with a game show theme near the end doesn't warrant my $10. Clearly anyone with a camera and even a moderate budget can make a moview about almost anything these days - creativity has been lost to shock, anger, violence, and gimmick.

There's a reason why all the movies nominated this year *combined* brought in less at the box office than Dark Knight - no one really cares for the artsy fartsy or political-agenda movies, except for the Hollywood inner circle. They are simply not entertaining or interesting for the most part. It also explains why the awards shows also grab lower viewing share for several years now.


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## Charise (Jan 25, 2004)

ncxcstud said:


> Wasn't it passed over because Springsteen refused to shorten the song during the Academy Awards?
> 
> Or, was that Peter Gabriel who refused to shorten his song?


It's a mystery why Springsteen wasn't nominated, but it was Peter Gabriel who said he wouldn't perform a shortened version of his song. I don't blame him really, and then they put his song in between the other two. I watched (but haven't seen any of the movies), so they kind of blended together for me and sounded more like one long song.

I'm not sure who votes on the songs, but they are usually 20 years out of date on what constitutes a "best song." I think that's one reason Disney pictures were so dominant in winning for so many years.

I think Hugh Jackman is terrifically talented and appreciated seeing his dancing and singing showcased. I'm not sure why Beyonce was there when so many others could have played that role--probably to get people to watch?

All in all pretty dull for me except for the dance numbers, only because every award had already been highly predicted. No surprises does not make for good television.


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