Things went as expected tonight, there were no big Oscar surprises this year. Worse, with nominees no one had seen and a lackluster presentation, watching it was a tedious, tedious bore. Hugh Jackman came out strong with his opening performance, but from there the whole event quickly cratered.
Slumdog Millionaire fans should, however be happy. Slumdog cut a swatch through the evening, picking up a total of 8 wins including Best Picture and Best Director. Meanwhile The Dark Knight played ping-pong with Benjamin Button in the technical awards and Heath Ledger got a much deserved posthumous Oscar for his amazing performance as the Joker.
One final note before I send you on down to read our full winners recap. The In Memorium segment is usually something everyone looks for every year. It's the spot where the Academy usually stops down to remember the great talents who affected our lives and passed away in the previous year. This year In Memorium was a disgrace. The first 2 or 3 people being remembered couldn't even be seen, as the screen was hidden behind a screeching Queen Latifah. The rest was hard to follow as the Academy's director looked for sexy, exciting ways to highlight the screen showing who we were remembering while at the same time showing off Latifah. The audience seemed completely indifferent. Charlton Heston, one of the biggest, most enduring faces in Hollywood received barely a whisper of applause and even when it came to Paul Newman, nobody in the audience really seemed to care that he was dead. In the midst of one of the worst Oscar telecasts in recent memory, In Memorium stood out as a complete and total disgrace. Everyone involved should be deeply ashamed.
Now that I've gotten that off my chest, below is our complete 81st Academy Award winner rundown. Or to relive our Oscar Live Blog, click here. And check out our full review of the telecast in our TV section here.
Nominees are below, the winner in each category is highlighted in red.
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Richard Jenkins - The Visitor
Frank Langella - Frost / Nixon
Sean Penn - Milk
Brad Pitt - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Josh Brolin - Milk
Robert Downey Jr. - Tropic Thunder
Phillip Seymour Hoffman - Doubt
Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight
Michael Shannon - Revolutionary Road
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Anne Hathaway - Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie - Changeling
Melissa Leo - Frozen
Meryl Streep - Doubt
Kate Winslet - The Reader
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
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda
Wall-E
DIRECTING
Danny Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire
Stephen Daldry - The Reader
Gus Van Sant - Milk
David Fincher - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Ron Howard - Frost/Nixon
BEST PICTURE
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost / Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire
WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Doubt
Frost/Nixon
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire
WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY)
Frozen River
Happy-Go-Lucky
In Bruges
Milk
Wall-E
MUSIC (SCORE)
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Defiance
Milk
Slumdog Millionaire
Wall-E
MUSIC (SONG)
"Down to Earth" - Wall-E (Peter Gabriel)
"Jai Ho" - Slumdog Millionaire (A.R. Rahman)
"O Saya" - Slumdog Millionaire (A.R. Rahman & Maya Arulpragasam)
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)
Encounters at the End of the World
The Garden
Man on Wire
Trouble the Water
DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
The Conscience of Nhem En
The Final Inch
Smile Pinki
The Witness - From the Balcony of Room 306
SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)
La Maison en Petits Cubes
Lavatory - Lovestory
Oktapodi
Presto
This Way Up
SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)
Auf der Streke (On the Line)
Manon on the Asphalt
New Boy
The Pig
Spielzeugland (Toyland)
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Der Bader Meinhof Komplex
The Class
Departures
Revanche
Waltz with Bashir
ART DIRECTION
Changeling
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
The Duchess
Revolutionary Road
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Changeling
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire
COSTUME DESIGN
Australia
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Duchess
Milk
Revolutionary Road
FILM EDITING
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Frost / Nixon
Milk
Slumdog Millionaire
MAKEUP
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
SOUND EDITING
The Dark Knight
Iron Man
Slumdog Millionaire
Wall-E
Wanted
SOUND MIXING
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Slumdog Millionaire
Wall-E
Wanted
VISUAL EFFECTS
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Iron Man
The Dark Knight
Revisit our Live Oscar Blog! Complete archive of all the in-Oscar action, with our as it happened commentary and your comments below:
