Oscar Meyer Weiners.

You know how hard it is to remain ignorant of the big news? I've had a very busy day so I didn't have time to do my Annual Oscar Predictions. Thus I've shied away from the net hoping to stay "out of the know". Of course, once I did click on any page the big news just leaps out at you: Slumdog Millionaire wins 8 including Best Picture! Fortunately, I don't know the other 7 O's that it won, but it will make it more difficult for me to make predictions without prejudice, though an attempt will be made...

As usual, I have seen less than 10% of the movies up for Oscars, but I'll polish the old crystal ball and do my best. My prediction for what won will be in BOLD, for what I want will be ITALICIZED and if they coincide, it'll be BOTH.
Comments will be at a minimum unless it contains Canadian or Japanese content or if it of particular interest to me. (OR if there's a bad pun to be made!)

BEST PICTURE
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

This was a bit of a gimme. I don't think Button should win, Frost/Nixon looked intriguing but not Oscar bait. Milk and The Reader are unknowns to me. But I'd read a bit about Slumdog and I thought it looked interesting. (Besides I already know it won!)

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

Fincher should stick to Horror; Opie tries to emulate Stone; Stephen Daldry should go back to The Who (oops, that's Roger Daltry); Gus deserves all kinds of Sundance awards, but not an Oscar; which leaves Danny Boyle who should've won for Trainspotting and must win for this!

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

I'm taking a shot in the dark on this one. I think the Academy may take a dark horse and give the nod to Dracula. That being said, I would love to see Mickey win it, though I'm not a big wrestling fan.

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

I know nothing about any of these movies except that Changeling is Clint's remake of a creepy Canadian movie called The Changeling (not really but it was creepy!) So let's give it to Angelina! I think the Academy will honour Kate with this one for no reason at all.

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

It MUST go to Heath if only to endow upon him a Lifetime Achievement Award. If he were not nominated, I would definitely vote for Robert Downey Jr.

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

No Doubt, one of the Doubt girls will win but I Doubt if it'll be Viola cause she's just a mini-cello. For no particular reason, I will choose Taraji because she has a cool first name.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Frozen River, Courtney Hunt
Happy-Go-Lucky, Mike Leigh
In Bruges, Martin McDonagh
Milk, Dustin Lance Black
WALL-E, Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon, Pete Docter

Though WALL-E was a fun movie and it's nice to see an Animated Feature be nominated for Screenplay, it comes across as a preachy episode of Captain Planet. I haven't seen it, but In Bruges sounds like an awesome movie so it gets my vote. Let's see if the Academy Milks this one for all its worth.

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Eric Roth
Doubt, John Patrick Shanley
Frost/Nixon, Peter Morgan
The Reader, David Hare
Slumdog Millionaire, Simon Beaufoy

This is where my knowledge of Slumdog's sweep takes over and I'll cheat and say it's the winner. I would though like to have seen Frost/Nixon get it (or at least a Tony) cuz I like David Frost and dislike Nixon.

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda
WALL-E

I have seen nothing but a preview of Bolt, though I'm sure it'll get released over here now (with poorly dubbed Japanese voices.) I didn't see Panda either but I do have some of the toys! I do have a cute fridge magnet of WALL-E so it gets my thumbs up.

BEST ANIMATED SHORT
La Maison en Petits Cubes
Lavatory — Lovestory
Oktapodi
Presto
This Way Up

I like Aquaman so my pod-nod goes to Oktapodi. On the other hand, I think the Academy will Skip to the Loo because of this catchphrase: "A public bathroom provides the backdrop for this charming story of sweet love that can't be stalled."

BEST ART DIRECTION
Changeling
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
The Duchess
Revolutionary Road

If Batman, TDK doesn't win this, I'll eat my cowl. Break out the Ketchup since the Oscar always goes to the Epic.

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Changeling
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

I'm fairly certain that this is one of Slumdog's innumerable wins, I vie for Clint just because it's Clint! I want TDK to win as much as possible though!

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Australia
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Duchess
Milk
Revolutionary Road

Costume also always goes to the Epic (I'm just assuming Duchess is an epic by the title, I know nuthin' about it.) Then again Australia has the unenviable task of making Nicole's new boobs look believable, so it gets my boomerang vote.

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)
Encounters at the End of the World
The Garden
Man on Wire
Trouble the Water

I know nothing about this except that it looks like the coolest Documentary ever! Furthermore, there won't ever be a sequel to it.

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
The Conscience of Nhem En
The Final Inch
Smile Pinki
The Witness — From the Balcony of Room 306

I remain in ignorant bliss of these but Nhem En sounds meaningful enough to win it. Is The Final Inch about circumcision?

BEST EDITING
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Frost/Nixon
Milk
Slumdog Millionaire

Let's Button this one up for a win (ignoring my foreknowledge yet again.) Iron Man should have been nominated more often so it'd get my vote rather than TDK.

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
The Baader Meinhof Complex (Germany)
The Class (France)
Departures (Japan)
Revanche (Austria)
Waltz with Bashir (Israel)

I gotta vote for Departures obviously but the Academy may have other plans, how about Waltz?

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT
Auf der Strecke (On the Line)
Manon on the Asphalt
New Boy
The Pig
Spielzeugland (Toyland)

No idea but I do like Toys! The Academy are all Pig lovers!

BEST MAKEUP
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Hellboy II: The Golden Army

If this goes to Button, I will be so disappointed. A coin toss between TDK & Hellboy but the Golden Army gets my vote for using real makeup and not a CGI Two-Face.

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Alexandre Desplat
Defiance, James Newton Howard
Milk, Danny Elfman
Slumdog Millionaire, A.R. Rahman
WALL-E, Thomas Newman

Can't go wrong with an Elfman score!

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
''Down to Earth,'' WALL-E
''Jai Ho,'' Slumdog Millionaire
''O Saya,'' Slumdog Millionaire

Pixar couldn't afford Randy Newman this time so they're stuck with his cousin, Thomas. Besides Peter Gabriel was pissed off for some reason and the Academy doesn't like whiners. I love Indian music these days so I'll go Jai Ho because it sounds like Heigh Ho!

BEST SOUND EDITING
The Dark Knight
Iron Man
Slumdog Millionaire
WALL-E
Wanted

Iron Man was really loud! With a comic movie, that's a positive!

BEST SOUND MIXING
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Slumdog Millionaire
WALL-E
Wanted

Without knowledge of the sweep, I may have chosen Slumdog anyway. Of course, my vote must go to TDK! (Did it win anything, I wonder?)

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Iron Man

TDK was great but Iron Man was Stark Stupendous!


I'm going to bed, I'll read all about the Wieners and Losers tomorrow.