Post by b_Pooly on Feb 23, 2009 6:19:55 GMT -5
22 February 2009 2:52 PM, PST | From IMDb News
Slumdog Millionaire capped its winning season at this year's Academy Awards by taking home eight Oscars, including Best Picture and Director.
The Mumbai-set tale of a young man whose destiny leads him to love and fortune via a TV game show was once considered the underdog of the awards season. It was without a distributor before it was picked up by Fox Searchlight and put on the path to the Oscars, where it scooped up honors from the Golden Globes, the SAGs, the BAFTAs and various guilds before coming to the Academy Awards. In addition to the top two awards, Slumdog also took home honors for Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography, Editing, Sound, Score, and Song ("Jai Ho").
In the lead acting categories, Best Actress Kate Winslet finally took home an Oscar after six nominations for Holocaust drama The Reader, while Sean Penn picked up his second award for Best Actor for Milk; the Harvey Milk biopic also won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. The late Heath Ledger was the expected winner of Best Supporting Actor for The Dark Knight, with the award accepted on his behalf by his father, mother and sister, while Penelope Cruz was named Best Supporting Actress for the Woody Allen comedy Vicky Cristina Barcelona. Japan's Departures was the surprise winner of the Best Foreign Language Oscar, with Man on Wire nabbing the Best Documentary Feature award and Wall-E the recipient of Best Animated Feature.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which going into Oscar night was the leader in overall nominations with 13, had to content itself with three technical awards, for Art Direction, Make-Up, and Visual Effects. The Dark Knight scooped up sound editing, while period drama The Duchess sashayed off with Best Costume Design. In the short film categories, Smile Pinki won Best Documentary Short Subject, La Maison En Petits Cubes took home Best Animated Short Film, and Spielzeugland was named Best Live Action Short Film.
Hosted by Hugh Jackman, who performed an opening song and dance number with assistance from Anne Hathaway and later in the show proclaimed, "The musical is back!" alongside Beyonce Knowles, the 81st Annual Academy Awards show clocked in at a little over three hours, and the highly-touted revamped broadcast moved the proceedings along glamorously if not as quickly as anticipated. Presenters, who in a break with tradition were not announced before the broadcast, included numerous past Oscar winners, who were enlisted to present the current acting awards. Appearing onstage were such stars as Sophia Loren, Robert De Niro, Ben Kingsley, Eva Marie Saint, Michael Douglas, Halle Berry, Nicole Kidman, and more. Steven Spielberg presented the final award of the evening, Best Picture.
Visit IMDb's Road to the Oscars for photos, a full list of winners and nominees, and more.
and the winners:
Best Motion Picture of the Year
WINNER
Slumdog Millionaire (2008): Christian Colson
Other Nominees:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): Ceán Chaffin, Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall
Frost/Nixon (2008): Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Eric Fellner
Milk (2008/I): Bruce Cohen, Dan Jinks
The Reader (2008): Anthony Minghella, Sydney Pollack, Donna Gigliotti, Redmond Morris
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
WINNER
Sean Penn for Milk (2008/I)
Other Nominees:
Richard Jenkins for The Visitor (2007/I)
Frank Langella for Frost/Nixon (2008)
Brad Pitt for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
Mickey Rourke for The Wrestler (2008)
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
WINNER
Kate Winslet for The Reader (2008)
Other Nominees:
Anne Hathaway for Rachel Getting Married (2008)
Angelina Jolie for Changeling (2008)
Melissa Leo for Frozen River (2008)
Meryl Streep for Doubt (2008/I)
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
WINNER
Heath Ledger for The Dark Knight (2008)
Other Nominees:
Josh Brolin for Milk (2008/I)
Robert Downey Jr. for Tropic Thunder (2008)
Philip Seymour Hoffman for Doubt (2008/I)
Michael Shannon for Revolutionary Road (2008)
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
WINNER
Penélope Cruz for Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)
Other Nominees:
Amy Adams for Doubt (2008/I)
Viola Davis for Doubt (2008/I)
Taraji P. Henson for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
Marisa Tomei for The Wrestler (2008)
Best Achievement in Directing
WINNER
Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
Other Nominees:
Stephen Daldry for The Reader (2008)
David Fincher for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
Ron Howard for Frost/Nixon (2008)
Gus Van Sant for Milk (2008/I)
Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen
WINNER
Milk (2008/I): Dustin Lance Black
Other Nominees:
Frozen River (2008): Courtney Hunt
Happy-Go-Lucky (2008): Mike Leigh
In Bruges (2008): Martin McDonagh
WALL·E (2008): Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter, Jim Reardon
Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published
WINNER
Slumdog Millionaire (2008): Simon Beaufoy
Other Nominees:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): Eric Roth, Robin Swicord
Doubt (2008/I): John Patrick Shanley
Frost/Nixon (2008): Peter Morgan
The Reader (2008): David Hare
Best Achievement in Cinematography
WINNER
Slumdog Millionaire (2008): Anthony Dod Mantle
Other Nominees:
Changeling (2008): Tom Stern
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): Claudio Miranda
The Dark Knight (2008): Wally Pfister
The Reader (2008): Roger Deakins, Chris Menges
Best Achievement in Editing
WINNER
Slumdog Millionaire (2008): Chris Dickens
Other Nominees:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): Angus Wall, Kirk Baxter
The Dark Knight (2008): Lee Smith
Frost/Nixon (2008): Daniel P. Hanley, Mike Hill
Milk (2008/I): Elliot Graham
Best Achievement in Art Direction
WINNER
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): Donald Graham Burt, Victor J. Zolfo
Other Nominees:
Changeling (2008): James J. Murakami, Gary Fettis
The Dark Knight (2008): Nathan Crowley, Peter Lando
The Duchess (2008): Michael Carlin, Rebecca Alleway
Revolutionary Road (2008): Kristi Zea, Debra Schutt
Best Achievement in Costume Design
WINNER
The Duchess (2008): Michael O'Connor
Other Nominees:
Australia (2008): Catherine Martin
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): Jacqueline West
Milk (2008/I): Danny Glicker
Revolutionary Road (2008): Albert Wolsky
Best Achievement in Makeup
WINNER
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): Greg Cannom
Other Nominees:
The Dark Knight (2008): John Caglione Jr., Conor O'Sullivan
Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008): Mike Elizalde, Thomas Floutz
Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score
WINNER
Slumdog Millionaire (2008): A.R. Rahman
Other Nominees:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): Alexandre Desplat
Defiance (2008): James Newton Howard
Milk (2008/I): Danny Elfman
WALL·E (2008): Thomas Newman
Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song
WINNER
Slumdog Millionaire (2008): A.R. Rahman, Sampooran Singh Gulzar("Jai Ho")
Other Nominees:
Slumdog Millionaire (2008): A.R. Rahman, Maya Arulpragasam("O Saya")
WALL·E (2008): Peter Gabriel, Thomas Newman("Down to Earth")
Best Achievement in Sound
WINNER
Slumdog Millionaire (2008): Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke, Resul Pookutty
Other Nominees:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce, Mark Weingarten
The Dark Knight (2008): Ed Novick, Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo
WALL·E (2008): Tom Myers, Michael Semanick, Ben Burtt
Wanted (2008): Chris Jenkins, Frank A. Montaño, Petr Forejt
Best Achievement in Sound Editing
WINNER
The Dark Knight (2008): Richard King
Other Nominees:
Iron Man (2008): Frank E. Eulner, Christopher Boyes
Slumdog Millionaire (2008): Tom Sayers
WALL·E (2008): Ben Burtt, Matthew Wood
Wanted (2008): Wylie Stateman
Best Achievement in Visual Effects
WINNER
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008): Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton, Craig Barron
Other Nominees:
The Dark Knight (2008): Nick Davis, Chris Corbould, Timothy Webber, Paul J. Franklin
Iron Man (2008): John Nelson, Ben Snow, Daniel Sudick, Shane Mahan
Best Animated Feature Film of the Year
WINNER
WALL·E (2008): Andrew Stanton
Other Nominees:
Bolt (2008): Chris Williams, Byron Howard
Kung Fu Panda (2008): John Stevenson, Mark Osborne
Best Foreign Language Film of the Year
WINNER
Okuribito (2008)(Japan)
Other Nominees:
Der Baader Meinhof Komplex (2008)(Germany)
Entre les murs (2008)(France)
Revanche (2008)(Austria)
Vals Im Bashir (2008)(Israel)
Best Documentary, Features
WINNER
Man on Wire (2008): James Marsh, Simon Chinn
Other Nominees:
The Betrayal - Nerakhoon (2008): Ellen Kuras, Thavisouk Phrasavath
Encounters at the End of the World (2007): Werner Herzog, Henry Kaiser
The Garden (2008/I): Scott Hamilton Kennedy
Trouble the Water (2008): Tia Lessin, Carl Deal
Best Documentary, Short Subjects
WINNER
Smile Pinki (2008): Megan Mylan
Other Nominees:
The Conscience of Nhem En (2008): Steven Okazaki
The Final Inch (2009): Irene Taylor Brodsky, Tom Grant
The Witness from the Balcony of Room 306 (2008): Adam Pertofsky, Margaret Hyde
Best Short Film, Animated
WINNER
Maison en petits cubes, La (2008): Kunio Katô
Other Nominees:
Ubornaya istoriya - lyubovnaya istoriya (2007): Konstantin Bronzit
Oktapodi (2007): Emud Mokhberi, Thierry Marchand
Presto (2008): Doug Sweetland
This Way Up (2008): Alan Smith, Adam Foulkes
Best Short Film, Live Action
WINNER
Spielzeugland (2007): Jochen Alexander Freydank
Other Nominees:
Auf der Strecke (2007): Reto Caffi
Manon sur le bitume (2007): Elizabeth Marre, Olivier Pont
New Boy (2007): Steph Green, Tamara Anghie
Grisen (2008): Tivi Magnusson, Dorthe Warnø Høgh
Ledger got the award I see... sadly I imagine it was for the wrong reason. As much as he deserved it above everyone else, that is not the reason he got the award.
