THE ACADEMY AWARDS NOMINATIONS LIST

Forest Whitaker And Sid Ganis Announce Nominations

Sexy Brad Pitt's The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button is the film to beat at the 2009 Academy Awards after winning an 13 Oscar nominations. The Hollywood superstar is nominated in the Best Actor category for his portrayal of a man who ages backwards in time. The film also received nods for Best Picture, Best Director for David Fincher, and Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Taraji P. Henson. It iwas an impressive haul of nominations for the movie - only 1997 blockbuster Titanic and Bette Davis’ 1950 classic All About Eve have achieved more, with 14 nods each. Other actors competing with Pitt for the Best Actor prize include Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon), Sean Penn (Milk), Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler) and Richard Jenkins (The Visitor).Kate Winslet picked up her sixth Oscar nomination, recognised in the Best Actress category for The Reader, and will battle against Pitt’s partner Angelina Jolie (Changeling), Anne Hathaway (Rachel Getting Married), Meryl Streep (Doubt), and Melissa Leo (Frozen River) for the award.Late star Heath Ledger won a nomination for his role as The Joker in The Dark Knight exactly a year after his tragic death.He will compete in the Best Supporting Actor category against Josh Brolin (Milk), Robert Downey Jr. (Tropic Thunder), Philip Seymour Hoffman (Doubt), and Michael Shannon (Revolutionary Road).The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Slumdog Millionaire, The Reader, Frost/Nixon and Milk will all vie for the coveted Best Motion Picture gong at the forthcoming ceremony on 22 February (09).And each of the film’s directors - David Fincher, Danny Boyle, Stephen Daldry, Ron Howard and Gus Van Sant respectively - are up for the Achievement in Directing prize. The award nominations were announced at a press conference in Los Angeles on Thursday (22Jan09) morning by Academy Award-winner Forest Whitaker, who took home the Best Actor Oscar in 2007 for his role in The Last King Of Scotland.The full list of nominations is as follows: Best Actress: Anne Hathaway - Rachel Getting Married Angelina Jolie - Changeling Melissa Leo - Frozen River Meryl Streep - Doubt Kate Winslet - The Reader Best Actor: Brad Pitt - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Frank Langella - Frost/Nixon Sean Penn - Milk Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler Richard Jenkins - The Visitor Best Actress In A Supporting Role: Amy Adams - Doubt Penelope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona Viola Davis - Doubt Taraji P. Henson - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Marisa Tomei - The Wrestler Best Actor In A Supporting Role: Josh Brolin - Milk Robert Downey Jr. - Tropic Thunder Philip Seymour Hoffman - Doubt Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight Michael Shannon - Revolutionary Road Best Picture: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Slumdog Millionaire The Reader Frost/Nixon Milk Achievement In Directing: David Fincher - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Ron Howard - Frost/Nixon Gus Van Sant - Milk Stephen Daldry - The Reader Danny Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire Adapted Screenplay: Eric Roth, Robin Swicord - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button John Patrick Shanley - Doubt Peter Morgan - Frost/Nixon David Hare - The Reader Simon Beaufoy - Slumdog Millionaire Original Screenplay: Courtney Hunt - Frozen River Mike Leigh - Happy-Go-Lucky Martin McDonagh - In Bruges Dustin Lance Black - Milk Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon, Pete Docter - Wall-E Best Animated Feature Film: Bolt Kung Fu Panda Wall-E Achievement In Art Direction: James J
. Murakami, Gary Fettis - Changeling Donald Graham Burt, Victor J. Zolfo - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Nathan Crowley, Peter Lando - The Dark Knight Michael Carlin, Rebecca Alleway - The Duchess Kristi Zea, Debra Schutt - Revolutionary Road Achievement In Cinematography: Tom Stern - Changeling Claudio Miranda - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Wally Pfister - The Dark Knight Chris Menges, Roger Deakins - The Reader Anthony Dod Mantle - Slumdog Millionaire Achievement In Costume Design: Catherine Martin - Australia Jacqueline West - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Michael O’Connor - The Duchess Danny Glicker - Milk Albert Wolsky - Revolutionary Road Best Documentary Feature: The Betrayal (Nerakhoon) Encounters at the End of the World The Garden Man on Wire Trouble the Water Best Documentary Short Subject: The Conscience of Nhem En The Final Inch Smile Pinki The Witness - From the Balcony of Room 306 Achievement In Film Editing: Kirk Baxter, Angus Wall - Bottom of Form 1 The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Lee Smith - The Dark Knight Mike Hill, Dan Hanley - Frost/Nixon Elliot Graham - Milk Chris Dickens - Slumdog Millionaire Best Foreign Language Film: The Baader Meinhof Complex (Germany) The Class (France) Departures (Japan) Revanche (Austria) Waltz with Bashir (Israel) Achievement In Make-up: Greg Cannom - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button John Caglione, Jr., Conor O’Sullivan - The Dark Knight Mike Elizalde, Thom Floutz - Hellboy II: The Golden Army Achievement In Music Written For Motion Pictures (Original Score): Alexandre Desplat - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button James Newton Howard - Defiance Danny Elfman - Milk A.R
. Rahman - Slumdog Millionaire Thomas Newman - Wall-E Achievement In Music Written For Motion Pictures (Original Song): Down to Earth - Wall-E Jai Ho - Slumdog Millionaire O Saya - Slumdog Millionaire Best Animated Short Film: La Maison de Petits Cubes Lavatory - Lovestory Oktapodi Presto This Way Up Best Live Action Short Film: Auf der Strecke (On the Line) Manon on the Asphalt New Boy The Pig Spielzeugland (Toyland) Achievement In Sound Editing: Richard King - The Dark Knight Frank Eulner/Christopher Boyes - Iron Man Tom Sayers - Slumdog Millionaire Ben Burtt/Matthew Wood - Wall-E Wylie Stateman - Wanted Achievement In Sound Mixing: David Parker/Michael Semanick/Ren Klyce/Mark Weingarten - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Lora Hirschberg/Gary Rizzo/Ed Novick - The Dark Knight Ian Tapp/Richard Pryke/Resul Pookutty - Slumdog Millionaire Tom Myers/Michael Semanick/Ben Burtt - Wall-E Chris Jenkins/Frank A. Montaño/Petr Forejt - Wanted Achievement In Visual Effects: Eric Barba/Steve Preeg/Burt Dalton/Craig Barron - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Nick Davis/Chris Corbould/Tim Webber/Paul Franklin - The Dark Knight John Nelson/Ben Snow/Dan Sudick/Shane Mahan - Iron Man
Photo By: Sara De Boer/Retna