81st Academy Award nominations.

[Flibster]

And I've seen next to none of the films nominated as normal.

Performance by an actor in a leading role

• Richard Jenkins in "The Visitor" (Overture Films)
• Frank Langella in "Frost/Nixon" (Universal)
• Sean Penn in "Milk" (Focus Features)
• Brad Pitt in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.)
• Mickey Rourke in "The Wrestler" (Fox Searchlight)

Performance by an actor in a supporting role

• Josh Brolin in "Milk" (Focus Features)
• Robert Downey Jr. in "Tropic Thunder" (DreamWorks, Distributed by DreamWorks/Paramount)
• Philip Seymour Hoffman in "Doubt" (Miramax)
• Heath Ledger in "The Dark Knight" (Warner Bros.)
• Michael Shannon in "Revolutionary Road" (DreamWorks, Distributed by Paramount Vantage)

Performance by an actress in a leading role

• Anne Hathaway in "Rachel Getting Married" (Sony Pictures Classics)
• Angelina Jolie in "Changeling" (Universal)
• Melissa Leo in "Frozen River" (Sony Pictures Classics)
• Meryl Streep in "Doubt" (Miramax)
• Kate Winslet in "The Reader" (The Weinstein Company)

Performance by an actress in a supporting role

• Amy Adams in "Doubt" (Miramax)
• Penélope Cruz in "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" (The Weinstein Company)
• Viola Davis in "Doubt" (Miramax)
• Taraji P. Henson in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.)
• Marisa Tomei in "The Wrestler" (Fox Searchlight)

Best animated feature film of the year

• "Bolt" (Walt Disney) Chris Williams and Byron Howard
• "Kung Fu Panda" (DreamWorks Animation, Distributed by Paramount) John Stevenson and Mark Osborne
• "WALL-E" (Walt Disney) Andrew Stanton

Achievement in art direction

• "Changeling" (Universal) Art Direction: James J. Murakami Set Decoration: Gary Fettis
• "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.) Art Direction: Donald Graham Burt Set Decoration: Victor J. Zolfo
• "The Dark Knight" (Warner Bros.) Art Direction: Nathan Crowley Set Decoration: Peter Lando
• "The Duchess" (Paramount Vantage, Pathé and BBC Films) Art Direction: Michael Carlin Set Decoration: Rebecca Alleway
• "Revolutionary Road" (DreamWorks, Distributed by Paramount Vantage) Art Direction: Kristi Zea Set Decoration: Debra Schutt

Achievement in cinematography

• "Changeling" (Universal) Tom Stern
• "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.) Claudio Miranda
• "The Dark Knight" (Warner Bros.) Wally Pfister
• "The Reader" (The Weinstein Company) Chris Menges and Roger Deakins
• "Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight) Anthony Dod Mantle

Achievement in costume design

• "Australia" (20th Century Fox) Catherine Martin
• "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.) Jacqueline West
• "The Duchess" (Paramount Vantage, Pathé and BBC Films) Michael O'Connor
• "Milk" (Focus Features) Danny Glicker
• "Revolutionary Road" (DreamWorks, Distributed by Paramount Vantage) Albert Wolsky

Achievement in directing

• "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.) David Fincher
• "Frost/Nixon" (Universal) Ron Howard
• "Milk" (Focus Features) Gus Van Sant
• "The Reader" (The Weinstein Company) Stephen Daldry
• "Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight) Danny Boyle

Best documentary feature

• "The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)" (Cinema Guild) A Pandinlao Films Production Ellen Kuras and Thavisouk Phrasavath
• "Encounters at the End of the World" (THINKFilm and Image Entertainment) A Creative Differences Production Werner Herzog and Henry Kaiser
• "The Garden" A Black Valley Films Production Scott Hamilton Kennedy
• "Man on Wire" (Magnolia Pictures) A Wall to Wall Production James Marsh and Simon Chinn
• "Trouble the Water" (Zeitgeist Films) 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

Achievement in film editing

• "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.) Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall
• "The Dark Knight" (Warner Bros.) Lee Smith
• "Frost/Nixon" (Universal) Mike Hill and Dan Hanley
• "Milk" (Focus Features) Elliot Graham
• "Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight) Chris Dickens

Best foreign language film of the year

• "The Baader Meinhof Complex" A Constantin Film Production - Germany
• "The Class" (Sony Pictures Classics) A Haut et Court Production - France
• "Departures" (Regent Releasing) A Departures Film Partners Production - Japan
• "Revanche" (Janus Films) A Prisma Film/Fernseh Production - Austria
• "Waltz with Bashir" (Sony Pictures Classics) A Bridgit Folman Film Gang Production - Israel

Achievement in makeup

• "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.) Greg Cannom
• "The Dark Knight" (Warner Bros.) John Caglione, Jr. and Conor O'Sullivan
• "Hellboy II: The Golden Army" (Universal) Mike Elizalde and Thom Floutz

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)

• "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.) Alexandre Desplat
• "Defiance" (Paramount Vantage) James Newton Howard
• "Milk" (Focus Features) Danny Elfman
• "Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight) A.R. Rahman
• "WALL-E" (Walt Disney) Thomas Newman

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)

• "Down to Earth" from "WALL-E" (Walt Disney) Music by Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman Lyric by Peter Gabriel
• "Jai Ho" from "Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight) Music by A.R. Rahman Lyric by Gulzar
• "O Saya" from "Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight) Music and Lyric by A.R. Rahman and Maya Arulpragasam

Best motion picture of the year

• "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.) A Kennedy/Marshall Production Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall and Ceán Chaffin, Producers
• "Frost/Nixon" (Universal) A Universal Pictures, Imagine Entertainment and Working Title Production Brian Grazer, Ron Howard and Eric Fellner, Producers
• "Milk" (Focus Features) A Groundswell and Jinks/Cohen Company Production Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen, Producers
• "The Reader" (The Weinstein Company) A Mirage Enterprises and Neunte Babelsberg Film GmbH Production Nominees to be determined
• "Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight) A Celador Films Production Christian Colson, Producer

Best animated short film

• "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" (Talantis Films) A Gobelins, L'école de l'image Production Emud Mokhberi and Thierry Marchand
• "Presto" (Walt Disney) A Pixar Animation Studios Production Doug Sweetland
• "This Way Up" A Nexus Production Alan Smith and Adam Foulkes

Best live action short film

• "Auf der Strecke (On the Line)" (Hamburg Shortfilmagency) An Academy of Media Arts Cologne Production Reto Caffi
• "Manon on the Asphalt" (La Luna Productions) A La Luna Production Elizabeth Marre and Olivier Pont
• "New Boy" (Network Ireland Television) 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

Achievement in sound editing

• "The Dark Knight" (Warner Bros.) Richard King
• "Iron Man" (Paramount and Marvel Entertainment) Frank Eulner and Christopher Boyes
• "Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight) Tom Sayers
• "WALL-E" (Walt Disney) Ben Burtt and Matthew Wood
• "Wanted" (Universal) Wylie Stateman

Achievement in sound mixing

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

Achievement in visual effects

• "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.) Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton and Craig Barron
• "The Dark Knight" (Warner Bros.) Nick Davis, Chris Corbould, Tim Webber and Paul Franklin
• "Iron Man" (Paramount and Marvel Entertainment) John Nelson, Ben Snow, Dan Sudick and Shane Mahan

Adapted screenplay

• "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.) Screenplay by Eric Roth Screen story by Eric Roth and Robin Swicord
• "Doubt" (Miramax) Written by John Patrick Shanley
• "Frost/Nixon" (Universal) Screenplay by Peter Morgan
• "The Reader" (The Weinstein Company) Screenplay by David Hare
• "Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight) Screenplay by Simon Beaufoy

Original screenplay

• "Frozen River" (Sony Pictures Classics) Written by Courtney Hunt
• "Happy-Go-Lucky" (Miramax) Written by Mike Leigh
• "In Bruges" (Focus Features) Written by Martin McDonagh
• "Milk" (Focus Features) Written by Dustin Lance Black
• "WALL-E" (Walt Disney) Screenplay by Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon Original story by Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter

No Best Picture nomination for The Dark Knight *not that surprised* or Wall-E *very surprised*

Nice to see a nomination for Heath Ledger - honestly can't say if he deserves it as I haven't seen any of the other films in that category. Although seeing Robert Downey Jr's name there is a pleasant surprise.