Benjamin Button, Slumdog lead Oscar nominees
(Agencies)
2009-01-23 08:52
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U.S. actors Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie pose for photographers as they arrive for the premiere of the film "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" by director David Fincher in Paris January 22, 2009. [Agencies] |
Latest Photos: Brad Pitt poses at photocall for the film "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
Brad Pitt and Jolie attend premiere of film "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" in Paris
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, a drama in which Brad Pitt plays a man who ages backward, led the field of Oscar contenders with 13 nominations, organizers said yesterday.
Slumdog Millionaire, the tale of an impoverished orphan's improbable victory on an Indian television game show, followed with 10, while the Batman sequel The Dark Knight and the gay-rights saga Milk each landed eight.
Benjamin Button, Slumdog Millionaire and Milk will vie for best picture at the 81st annual Academy Awards on Feb 22, alongside The Reader and Frost/Nixon. All five also had best director nominations.
Clint Eastwood's recent box office champ Gran Torino was notably snubbed, with no nominations.
As expected, late Australian actor Heath Ledger was nominated for his supporting role as the villainous Joker in The Dark Knight. Ledger died of an accidental overdose of prescription pills exactly a year ago, at the age of 28.
The Dark Knight, the biggest box office smash since Titanic in 1997, had been seen as having an outside shot at a best picture slot but all of its other nominations ended up being in technical categories.
With 13 nominations, Benjamin Button falls one short of the record shared by All About Eve (1959) and Titanic. Its nominations included best actor for Pitt, best director for David Fincher, best supporting actress for Taraji P. Henson and best adapted screenplay for Eric Roth and Robin Swicord.
Loosely based on a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Benjamin Button has been a commercial and critical success, and will likely combine with The Dark Knight to boost the Oscar's ratings.
In recent years, Academy voters have favored smaller, arthouse pictures and TV viewers stayed away in droves.
"It is a good across-the-board look at movies of the past year," said Sid Ganis, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. "I like the list because it is somewhat not as predicted. It goes from little old Slumdog to big'Benjamin Button."
Meryl Streep, 59, already the all-time acting Oscar record holder with 14 nominations, landed her 15th for her lead role in Doubt, in which she plays a vindictive nun.
Kate Winslet got one nomination, taking her career total to six. This time, the 33-year-old British actress was cited for her lead role as a former Nazi prison guard in The Reader.
Other leading films included the animated feature WALL-E with six nominations and Doubt, Frost/Nixon and The Reader with five each.
Pitt will vie for best actor with Richard Jenkins for The Visitor, Frank Langella for Frost/Nixon, Sean Penn for Milk and Mickey Rourke for The Wrestler.
Streep and Winslet's rivals for best actress are Anne Hathaway for Rachel Getting Married, Angelina Jolie for Changeling and Melissa Leo for Frozen River.
Besides Ledger, the other supporting actor nominees were Josh Brolin for Milk, Robert Downey Jr. for Tropic Thunder, Philip Seymour Hoffman for Doubt and Michael Shannon for Revolutionary Road.
Beyond Henson in Benjamin Button, the supporting actress contenders were Amy Adams and Viola Davis, both for Doubt, Penelope Cruz for Vicky Cristina Barcelona and Marisa Tomei for The Wrestler.
81st Academy Awards main nominations: