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'Benjamin Button' leads Oscar nomination; 'Dark Knight' snubbed

Posted January 21, 2009 10:00 pm

Dann Gire

Anne Hathaway was nominated for an Academy Award for best actress for her role in "Rachel Getting Married."

"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" Thursday buttoned up 13 Academy Award nominations, including best picture. Unsurprisingly, "The Dark Knight" didn't.

Last summer, Chicagoland's favorite son movie "The Dark Knight" (filmed mostly in the Windy City) looked like a shoo-in for a best picture contender, but fell to a bad case of genre discrimination. Academy voters tend to avoid comic-book movies, along with horror films and riotous comedies when it comes to Best Picture nominees.

The good news for Chicagoland: local actor Michael Shannon netted a supporting nod for his brief but memorable role as a brain-fried mathematician in "Revolutionary Road." Shannon is a veteran of Steppenwolf, Next Lab and Red Orchid theaters in Chicagoland. He faces off with "Dark Knight" star, the late Heath Ledger, for the Oscar.

The other local good news: DeKalb native Richard Jenkins snapped up his first Oscar nomination as a spiritually dead man given a new zest for life by illegal immigrants in "The Visitor." The modest, 61-year-old actor, who has devoted his life to the theater, is finally getting some overdue recognition.

The Academy voters did get a few other things right. Clint Eastwood failed to be nominated for best actor as a racist war vet in "Gran Torino." His performance, a refined version of a character he's been playing for decades, didn't merit a nod.

Hollywood maverick Mickey Rourke nabbed a deserved best actor nomination as the sad title character in "The Wrestler," a character study featuring supporting actress nominee Marisa Tomei and Rolling Meadows resident Bryan Anderson supplying stunts.

The 81st Academy Award nominations were announced Thursday morning at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences headquarters in Beverly Hills by Academy president Sid Ganis and actor Forest Whitaker. The awards show will be presented Feb. 22 at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. Actor Hugh Jackman will host the event, to be broadcast live on ABC-TV.

Here is the complete list of nominees.

BEST PICTURE: "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," "Frost/Nixon," "Milk," "The Reader" and "Slumdog Millionaire"

BEST ACTOR: Richard Jenkins in "The Visitor," Frank Langella in "Frost/Nixon," Sean Penn in "Milk," Brad Pitt in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Mickey Rourke in "The Wrestler"

SUPPORTING ACTOR: Josh Brolin in "Milk," Robert Downey Jr. in "Tropic Thunder," Philip Seymour Hoffman in "Doubt," Heath Ledger in "The Dark Knight," Michael Shannon in "Revolutionary Road"

BEST ACTRESS: Anne Hathaway in "Rachel Getting Married," Angelina Jolie in "Changeling," Melissa Leo in "Frozen River," Meryl Streep in "Doubt," Kate Winslet in "The Reader"

SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Amy Adams in "Doubt," Penélope Cruz in "Vicky Cristina Barcelona," Viola Davis in "Doubt," Taraji P. Henson in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Marisa Tomei in "The Wrestler"

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

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:

"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"

Screenplay by Eric Roth; Screen story by Eric Roth and Robin Swicord

"Doubt;" John Patrick Shanley

"Frost/Nixon;" Peter Morgan

"The Reader;" David Hare

"Slumdog Millionaire;" Simon Beaufoy

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

"Frozen River;" Courtney Hunt

"Happy-Go-Lucky;" Mike Leigh

"In Bruges;" Martin McDonagh

"Milk;" Dustin Lance Black

"WALL-E;" Screenplay by Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon; Original story by Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter

ANIMATED FILM

"Bolt" Chris Williams and Byron Howard

"Kung Fu Panda" John Stevenson and Mark Osborne

"WALL-E" Andrew Stanton

ART DIRECTION

"Changeling;" James J. Murakami, Set Decoration: Gary Fettis

"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button;" Donald Graham Burt, Set Decoration: Victor J. Zolfo

"The Dark Knight;" Nathan Crowley, Set Decoration: Peter Lando

"The Duchess;" Michael Carlin, Set Decoration: Rebecca Alleway

"Revolutionary Road;" Kristi Zea, Set Decoration: Debra Schutt

CINEMATOGRAPHY

"Changeling;" Tom Stern

"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button;" Claudio Miranda

"The Dark Knight;" Wally Pfister

"The Reader;" Chris Menges and Roger Deakins

"Slumdog Millionaire;" Anthony Dod Mantle

COSTUME DESIGN

"Australia;" Catherine Martin

"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button;" Jacqueline West

"The Duchess;" Michael O'Connor

"Milk" Danny Glicker

"Revolutionary Road;" Albert Wolsky

DOCUMENTARY

"The Betrayal;" A Pandinlao Films Production, Ellen Kuras and Thavisouk Phrasavath

"Encounters at the End of the World," A Creative Differences Production, Werner Herzog and Henry Kaiser

"The Garden" A Black Valley Films Production, Scott Hamilton Kennedy

"Man on Wire;" A Wall to Wall Production, James Marsh and Simon Chinn

"Trouble the Water;" An Elsewhere Films Production, Tia Lessin and Carl Deal

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT

"The Conscience of Nhem En" A Farallon Films Production Steven Okazaki

"The Final Inch" A Vermilion Films Production, Irene Taylor Brodsky and Tom Grant

"Smile Pinki" A Principe Production, Megan Mylan

"The Witness - From the Balcony of Room 306" A Rock Paper Scissors Production, Adam Pertofsky and Margaret Hyde

EDITING

"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button;" Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall

"The Dark Knight;" Lee Smith

"Frost/Nixon;" Mike Hill and Dan Hanley

"Milk" Elliot Graham

"Slumdog Millionaire;" Chris Dickens

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

"The Baader Meinhof Complex" A Constantin Film Production; Germany

"The Class" A Haut et Court Production; France

"Departures;" A Departures Film Partners Production; Japan

"Revanche;" A Prisma Film/Fernseh Production; Austria

"Waltz with Bashir" A Bridgit Folman Film Gang Production; Israel

MAKEUP

"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"

Greg Cannom

"The Dark Knight;" John Caglione, Jr. and Conor O'Sullivan

"Hellboy II: The Golden Army;" Mike Elizalde and Thom Floutz

ORIGINAL SCORE

"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button;" Alexandre Desplat

"Defiance" (Paramount Vantage) James Newton Howard

"Milk" Danny Elfman

"Slumdog Millionaire;" A.R. Rahman

"WALL-E" Thomas Newman

ORIGINAL SONG

"Down to Earth" from "WALL-E" Music by Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman; Lyric by Peter Gabriel

"Jai Ho" from "Slumdog Millionaire;" Music by A.R. Rahman; Lyrics by Gulzar

"O Saya" from "Slumdog Millionaire;" Music and Lyric by A.R. Rahman and Maya Arulpragasam

ANIMATED SHORT

"La Maison en Petits Cubes" A Robot Communications Production; Kunio Kato

"Lavatory - Lovestory" A Melnitsa Animation Studio and CTB Film Company Production; Konstantin Bronzit

"Oktapodi;" A Gobelins, L'école de l'image Production; Emud Mokhberi and Thierry Marchand

"Presto" A Pixar Animation Studios Production; Doug Sweetland

"This Way Up" A Nexus Production; Alan Smith and Adam Foulkes

LIVE ACTION SHORT

"Auf der Strecke (On the Line);" An Academy of Media Arts Cologne Production; Reto Caffi

"Manon on the Asphalt;" A La Luna Production; Elizabeth Marre and Olivier Pont

"New Boy;" A Zanzibar Films Production; Steph Green and Tamara Anghie

"The Pig"An M & M Production; Tivi Magnusson and Dorte Høgh

"Spielzeugland (Toyland)" A Mephisto Film Production; Jochen Alexander Freydank

SOUND EDITING

"The Dark Knight;" Richard King

"Iron Man;" Frank Eulner and Christopher Boyes

"Slumdog Millionaire;" Tom Sayers

"WALL-E" Ben Burtt and Matthew Wood

"Wanted;" Wylie Stateman

SOUND MIXING

"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button;" David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Mark Weingarten

"The Dark Knight;" Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo and Ed Novick

"Slumdog Millionaire;" Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke and Resul Pookutty

"WALL-E" Tom Myers, Michael Semanick and Ben Burtt

"Wanted;" Chris Jenkins, Frank A. Montaño and Petr Forejt

VISUAL EFFECTS

"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button;" Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton and Craig Barron

"The Dark Knight;" Nick Davis, Chris Corbould, Tim Webber and Paul Franklin

"Iron Man;" John Nelson, Ben Snow, Dan Sudick and Shane Mahan

Angelina Jolie won a best actress nomination for her role in "The Changeling," and Brad Pitt was nominated for best actor for his role in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.:

Brad Pitt in a scene from "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button."

Heath Ledger received a best supporting actor nomination for his role as The Joker in "The Dark Night."

Dev Patel, left, and Anil Kapoor are shown in a scene from "Slumdog Millionaire." The film was nominated for an Academy Award for best picture.

Kate Winslet was nominated for best actress for her role in "The Reader."

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=266368">Complete list</a></li> </ul> <h2>Video</h2> <ul class="video"> <li><a href="http://video.ap.org/?t=By%20Section/Showbiz&g=US-OSC-NOMS-20090122EV&f=ilarl">Nominations announced</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>

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