The latest set of Awards Season nominations were handed out today as the Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced their nominations. There was not much in the way of surprises, and it is hard to look at one film and say it was the big winner, but Frost/Nixon and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button come the closest.

The categories and nominations are...

BEST MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA

• The Curious Case of Benjamin Buttons
• Frost/Nixon
• The Reader
• Revolutionary Road
• Slumdog Millionaire

• Burn After Reading
• Happy-Go-Lucky
• In Bruges
• Mamma Mia!
• Vicky Cristina Barcelona

• Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire
• Stephen Daldry for The Reader
• David Fincher for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• Ron Howard for Frost/Nixon
• Sam Mendes for Revolutionary Road

• Anne Hathaway for Rachel Getting Married
• Angelina Jolie for Changeling
• Meryl Streep for Doubt
• Kristin Scott Thomas for I've Loved You So Long
• Kate Winslet for Revolutionary Road

• Leonardo DiCaprio for Revolutionary Road
• Frank Langella for Frost/Nixon
• Sean Penn for Milk
• Brad Pitt for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• Mickey Rourke for The Wrestler

• Javier Bardem for Vicky Cristina Barcelona
• Colin Farrell for In Bruges
• James Franco for Pineapple Express
• Brendan Gleeson for In Bruges
• Dustin Hoffman for Last Chance Harvey

• Rebecca Hall for Vicky Cristina Barcelona
• Sally Hawkins for Happy-Go-Lucky
• Frances McDormand for Burn After Reading
• Meryl Streep for Mamma Mia!
• Emma Thompson for Last Chance Harvey

• Amy Adams for Doubt
• Penelope Cruz for Vicky Cristina Barcelona
• Viola Davis for Doubt
• Marisa Tomei for The Wrestler
• Kate Winslet for The Reader

• Tom Cruise for Tropic Thunder
• Robert Downey, Jr for Tropic Thunder
• Ralph Fiennes for The Duchess
• Philip Seymour Hoffman for Doubt
• Heath Ledger for The Dark Knight

• Bolt
• Kung Fu Panda
• WALL-E

• The Baader Meinhof Complex (Germany)
• Everlasting Moments (Sweden/Denmark
• Gomorrah (Italy)
• I've Loved You So Long (France)
• Waltz With Bashir (Israel)

• Simon Beaufoy for Slumdog Millionaire
• David Hare for The Reader
• Peter Morgan for Frost/Nixon
• Eric Roth for The Curious Case of Benjamin Buttons
• John Patrick Shanley for Doubt

• Alexandre Desplat for The Curious Case of Benjamin Buttons
• Clint Eastwood for Changeling
• James Newton Howard for Defiance
• A.R.Rahman for Slumdog Millionaire
• Hans Zimmer for Frost/Nixon

• "Down to Earth" from WALL-E
• "Gran Torino" from Gran Torino
• "I Though I Lost You" from Bolt
• "Once in a Lifetime" from Cadillac Records
• "The Wrestler" from The Wrestler

• Frost/Nixon and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button can be seen as the big winners today each with five nominations.
• Doubt also earned five nominations, but mostly for acting, and it was passed over for Best Picture - Drama and Best Director.
• Slumdog Millionaire was not far back with four nominations, but if I were to guess, I think it will go home empty handed this year.
• The Reader and Revolutionary Road also earned four nominations each, but I think they have a better chance at winning at least one award.
• The three nominations for Best Animated Picture (Bolt, Kung Fu Panda, and WALL-E) were arguably the three least surprising nominations on this list.
• Interestingly, two of those three nominations also earned nominations for Best Song (Bolt and WALL-E).
• Not many repeats from the Independent Spirit Awards. Rachel Getting Married, Milk, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, and Wrestler did, however, appear on both lists.
• Meryl Streep and Kate Winslet both earned two nominations.
• Meanwhile, In Bruges earned two nominations for Best Lead Actor - Comedy, Doubt earned two nominations for Best Supporting Actress, and Tropic Thunder earned two for Best Supporting Actor.
• I'm surprised In Bruges did so well, as it opened in February and Awards Season voters tend to have short memories. (That's why so many Oscar bait movies open so late in the year.)
• Heath Ledger was also nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in The Dark Knight. One would have to think he's the odds on favorite to win a posthumous award, with Philip Seymour Hoffman being his main competition.

- C.S.Strowbridge

Date posted: 2008-12-12