Penélope Cruz & Goldie Hawn + Whoopi Goldberg & Eva Marie Saint: The Oscars

Goldie Hawn, Whoopi Goldberg, Anjelica Huston, Penélope Cruz, Tilda Swinton, and Eva Marie Saint.

“This is not going to be 45 seconds, I can say that right now,” said best supporting actress winner Penélope Cruz (for Vicky Cristina Barcelona). “Has anybody ever fainted here? Because I might be the first one. Thank you so much to the Academy. I want to share this with my fellow nominees and with the amazing ensemble of actors that I had the privilege to work with in this movie. Thank you, Woody [Allen], for trusting me with this beautiful character. Thank for you having written over all these years some of the greatest characters for women.”

Cruz also thanked Bigas Luna and Pedro Almodóvar, and added, “I grew up in a place called Alcobendas, where this was not a very realistic dream. And I, always on the night of the Academy Awards, I stay up to watch the show and I always felt that this was, this ceremony was a moment of unity for the world because art, in any form, is and has been and will always be our universal language and we should do everything we can, everything we can, to protect its survival.”

At the end of her speech, she spoke in Spanish to dedicate her award to her fellow Spanish performers.

Cruz’s award was presented by last year’s winner, Tilda Swinton (Michael Clayton).

Also on the Oscar stage were previous best supporting actress winners Goldie Hawn (1969, Cactus Flower), Whoopi Goldberg (1990, Ghost), Anjelica Huston (1985, Prizzi’s Honor), and super-veteran Eva Marie Saint (1954, On the Waterfront), one of the best actresses of her generation.

Photo: Darren Decker / © A.M.P.A.S.

Photos: Todd Wawrychuk / © A.M.P.A.S.

2009 Academy Awards

2009 Academy Award nominations: Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills on Jan. 22

2009 Academy Award winners: Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland in Los Angeles on Feb. 22

(See also: Oscar 2009 Predictions.)

Best film
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, Anthony Minghella, Sydney Pollack, Donna Gigliotti and Redmond Morris, Producers
* Slumdog Millionaire (Fox Searchlight), A Celador Films Production,Christian Colson, Producer

Best foreign language film
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

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 animated feature
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

Best 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 actor
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)

Best actress
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)

Best supporting actor
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)

Best supporting actress
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 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

Best 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

Best 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

Best 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 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

Best 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 andMaya Arulpragasam

Best 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

Best 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

Best 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

Best 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

Best 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

Best make-up
* 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

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

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

Roger Goodman directed the 81st Academy Awards.

Best Film

Slumdog Millionaire

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button may have garnered the most Academy Award nominations – thirteen in all – but the romantic-fantasy film apparently has as many fans as it has detractors, while Frost/Nixon and The Reader, despite the latter’s World War II/Holocaust subject matter and the fact that Oscar-miracle worker Harvey Weinstein is behind it, are two dark horses.

Had it been nominated, The Dark Knight would have been a strong Oscar contender, but since it wasn’t included on the Academy’s shortlist then that’s the end of that.

Like Brokeback Mountain three years ago, Slumdog Millionaire has become this year’s Oscar favorite as a result of a mixture of numerous critics’ awards and solid box office receipts. However, like Brokeback Mountain, Slumdog Millionaire may end up suffering from too much early positive buzz.

In case Academy voters decide that the hyperkinetic drama about a poor young man who wants both to become a millionaire and find the love of his life in modern India isn’t all that good, I’d say that Milk, about slain gay civil rights leader Harvey Milk, would be choice #2. After all, let’s not forget last year’s close-to-home (for most Academy members – who reside in California) gay marriage debacle, which made lots of people realize that anti-gay bigotry remains as alive and as ugly as ever.

Nonetheless, for the time being I’m betting on Slumdog Millionaire.

Best Foreign Language Film

Waltz with Bashir

The best foreign-language film category is always difficult to predict because only a small percentage of (usually much older) Academy members vote for the nominees and winners.

My guess would be Ari Folman’s Waltz with Bashir (Israel) simply because it revolves around Jewish issues, always a favorite theme among those who vote in that category. Also weighing in its favor are the recent headlines about the war in Gaza, which make Waltz with Bashir, though set in the early 1980s, a timely entry. As a plus, Waltz with Bashir has received excellent reviews and has already collected several awards in the US, including a Golden Globe for best foreign-language film, the National Society of Film Critics best film award, and the Los Angeles Film Critics’ best animated film prize.

The only other major competitor is Laurent Cantet’s The Class, France’s entry and last year’s Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or winner.

The Baader Meinhof Complex (Germany), Departures (Japan), and Revanche (Austria) are all dark horses.

Best Documentary Feature

Man on Wire

James Marsh’s Man on Wire is the odds-son favorite to win the best documentary feature award, as the Sundance winner has been one of the most widely acclaimed films of 2008 and has already amassed about a couple of dozen awards and mentions from US-based critics’ groups.

Encounters at the End of the World, Trouble the Water, The Garden, and The Betrayal (Nerakhoon), no matter how good, have little chance of winning.

Best Animated Feature

WALL-E

Despite its flabbergasting loss at the Annie Awards (to fellow Oscar nominee Kung Fu Panda), WALL-E is the hands-down winner.

Bolt is the third nominee.

Best Director

Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire

The fast-paced Slumdog Millionaire will earn Danny Boyle his first Academy Award. Whether there’ll be a second or a third somewhere in the future, I have no idea.

In another year, David Fincher could have been a strong contender for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, but again, the film has a number of detractors.

Ron Howard, Gus Van Sant, and Stephen Daldry are the other nominees.

Danny Boyle photo: Ishika Mohan/Courtesy of Fox Searchlight

Best Original Screenplay

Dustin Lance Black, Milk

The best original screenplay will be a battle between the gay activist and the lonely robot. Because live-action films tend to be taken more seriously by Academy members, my bet is on Dustin Lance Black (above, lower photo) for Milk.

In Bruges, Happy-Go-Lucky, and Frozen River are the other nominees.

Best Adapted Screenplay

Simon Beaufoy, Slumdog Millionaire

With a screenplay by Simon Beaufoy (right) adapted from Vikas Swarup’s novel, Slumdog Millionaire should come out on top in this category as, generally speaking, the best film winner also takes a best screenplay award.

If there is an upset in this category, I’d say that it would be David Hare’s screenplay for The Reader.

Frost/Nixon, Doubt, and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button are the other nominees.

Beaufoy photo: Courtesy of Fox Searchlight

Best Actor

Sean Penn, Milk

Some say “the Academy” is homophobic – as if its 6,000 or so members have all been carved out of the same monolithic block. Surely there are anti-gay members in the Academy, but there are many (more?) members with no such inclination. Brokeback Mountain didn’t get eight 2006 Oscar nominations – and didn’t win three major awards – merely by chance.

So, I believe that Sean Penn will win the best actor Academy Award this year for his portrayal of slain gay political leader Harvey Milk. Penn has received glowing reviews, the film is doing well enough at the box office, and the actor has already taken home a number of top acting prizes including the 2008 SAG Award for best actor.

Penn’s closest competitor is Mickey Rourke, but Rourke’s The Wrestler is a considerably smaller film, while the living actor-boxer probably frightens more Academy members than the dead gay activist.

The dark horses: Richard Jenkins for The Visitor, Brad Pitt for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and Frank Langella for Frost/Nixon

Best Actress

Meryl Streep, Doubt

Among the major categories, this is the toughest one to predict. There are three perfectly feasible possibilities: Anne Hathaway for Rachel Getting Married, Kate Winslet for The Reader, and Meryl Streep for Doubt.

Hathaway is very young, and Academy members will likely decide she’s still got plenty of time to win an Oscar.

Winslet, however, has already lost five times in the last 13 years. Had she also been nominated in the best supporting actress category, it’d have been a cinch: she’d have won as a supporting actress for The Reader and would have lost the best actress Oscar (for her performance in Revolutionary Road) to Meryl Streep. The problem is that enough Academy members opted to vote for Winslet as best actress for The Reader, which meant only a single nod for the actress this year.

Veteran Julie Christie – a best actress 2008 SAG winner – lost out to the younger Oscar newcomer Marion Cotillard last year, which means that Streep’s win, despite her SAG award, is not a certainty. But then again, Christie is hardly what one would call a Hollywood Establishment Icon, while Streep is. Additionally, despite her two wins a generation ago, Streep has lost more than twice as many Oscars as Kate Winslet. In fact, since Streep’s last win for Sophie’s Choice (1982), the perennial Oscar nominee has lost 10 consecutive times. (Additionally, she also lost out in 1978 and 1981.)

It’s time for the Academy to hand Streep – one of the best film actresses of all time – her third statuette. I believe that Academy members are aware of that.

The other two best actress nominees are Angelina Jolie for Clint Eastwood’s period drama Changeling and Melissa Leo for Frozen River.

Best Supporting Actor

Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight

Even if Heath Ledger hadn’t died a year ago, he’d still be the top contender for the best supporting actor Oscar. He could even have been the top contender for the best actor Oscar, had Warner Bros. decided to push him as one of the film’s two leads. Now, Ledger is bound to become the first performer to win a posthumous Oscar since Peter Finch (for Network) in 1977.

The other nominees

are:

James Brolin (the only one capable of a major – and I mean major – upset) for Milk, Michael Shannon for Revolutionary Road; Robert Downey Jr. in Tropic Thunder; and Philip Seymour Hoffman for Doubt.

Best Supporting Actress

Penélope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Several of Woody Allen’s supporting players have fared well with Academy voters. Think of winners Dianne Wiest and Michael Caine in Hannah and Her Sisters, Dianne Wiest again in Bullets Over Broadway, and Mira Sorvino in Mighty Aphrodite.

Penélope Cruz will likely be the next one, for her performance as Javier Bardem’s fiery ex in Vicky Cristina Barcelona. Kate Winslet would have been the likely winner had she been nominated in this category for The Reader. Since she wasn’t, the Oscar now belongs to Cruz.

Either a Marisa Tomei (for her stripper in The Wrestler) or a Viola Davis (for her concerned mother in Doubt) win, would be a major upset.

Others in the running: Amy Adams for Doubt and Taraji P. Henson for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

Best cinematography

Anthony Dod Mantle, Slumdog Millionaire

The Slumdog Millionaire look is one of the film’s chief assets.

Best film editing

Chris Dickens, Slumdog Millionaire

Dickens’ editing has been crucial to the success of the film.

Best original score

A. R. Rahman, Slumdog Millionaire

Rahman has been winning best score awards everywhere you look.

Best song

“Jai Ho” from Slumdog Millionaire, Music by A. R. Rahman, Lyric by Gulzar

It’s popular, it’s unusual, Academy voters will believe themselves musically hip if they pick this one.

Best art direction

The Dark Knight, Art Direction: Nathan Crowley, Set Decoration: Peter Lando

Classy production levels all around, though the more conservative The Duchess is another possibility.

Best costume design

The Duchess, Michael O’Connor

The Duchess would also win for Best Candle-Lit Decor and Best Pompadour if there were such categories.

Best visual effects

The Dark Knight, Nick Davis, Chris Corbould, Tim Webber and Paul Franklin

The photo says it all. As a plus, The Dark Knight was a huge box office hit, and it’s a well-respected film to boot – even if it failed to get a best picture nod.

Best sound editing

The Dark Knight, Richard King

Loud, complex, technically flawless. Can’t imagine another movie winning the sound awards.

Best sound mixing

The Dark Knight, Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo and Ed Novick

See best sound editing.

Best make-up

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Greg Cannom

I was told that the presentation of Cannom’s make-up job at the Academy was incredible. That’s my one predicted win for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button out of its 13 nominations.

Best documentary short subject

The Conscience of Nhem En, Steven Okazaki

The Academy likes Okazaki’s work. This is his fourth nomination, and may well turn out to be his second win. The Conscience of Nhem En focuses on a young soldier, Nhem En, who took ID photos of thousands of people before they were killed by Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge.

Best animated short film

Presto, Doug Sweetland

It’s Pixar – and it’s gotten some glowing notices.

Best live action short film

Spielzeugland (Toyland), Jochen Alexander Freydank

This is one, I admit, is a shot in the dark – but it has a little boy and loads of Academy voters love movies with little boys (or little old men, e.g., The Curious Case of Benjamin Button). Admittedly, Steph Green’s New Boy, about the new (black) kid at an Irish school, also has lots of little boys… Anyhow, we shall see.