Looking at Film from Every Angle

81st Academy Awards (2008): Winner Predictions

AWARDS
7 3 2 – – 1 – – – – – – –	Slumdog Millionaire The Curious Case of Benjamin Button The Dark Knight Milk WALL-E The Class Doubt The Duchess Man on Wire Presto The Reader Spielzeugland The Witness: From the Balcony of Room 306

Predictions are in the order I think they have a chance of winning the award (except the short film categories, which are unranked and each listed as “Toss Up”). I have added notations to each indicating how strong I think they are a contender.

LEGEND:
Winner Prediction (c-Win Pred Date Set) — Chance at Win —
Other Nominees — Chance at Win —

Best Picture

Slumdog Millionaire – Christian Colson (c-1/25) — Lock —

Milk – Dan Jinks, Bruce Cohen — Fighting —
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall, Ceán Chaffin — Fighting —
The Reader – Anthony Minghella, Sydney Pollack, Scott Rudin — Spoiler —
Frost/Nixon – Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Eric Fellner — Doubtful —

Best Animated Feature

Wall-E – Andrew Stanton (c-7/17) — Lock —

Kung Fu Panda – John Stevenson, Mark Osborne — Strong —
Bolt – Chris Williams, Byron Howard — Spoiler —

Best Director

Slumdog Millionaire – Danny Boyle (c-1/25) — Lock —

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – David Fincher — Fighting —
Milk – Gus Van Sant — Fighting —
The Reader – Stephen Daldry — Spoiler —
Frost/Nixon – Ron Howard — Doubtful —

Best Actor

Milk – Sean Penn (c-12/18) — Strong —

The Wrestler – Mickey Rourke — Strong —
Frost/Nixon – Frank Langella — Fighting —
The Visitor – Richard Jenkins — Doubtful —
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Brad Pitt — Doubtful —

Best Actress

The Reader – Kate Winslet (c-1/22) — Strong —

Doubt – Meryl Streep — Fighting —
Rachel Getting Married – Anne Hathaway — Spoiler —
Changeling – Angelina Jolie — Doubtful —
Frozen River – Melissa Leo — Doubtful —

Best Supporting Actor

The Dark Knight – Heath Ledger (c-12/18) — Lock —

Tropic Thunder – Robert Downey Jr. — Spoiler —
Milk – Josh Brolin — Doubtful —
Doubt – Philip Seymour Hoffman — Doubtful —
Revolutionary Road – Michael Shannon — Doubtful —

Best Supporting Actress

Doubt – Viola Davis (c-12/1) — Fighting —

Vicky Cristina Barcelona – Penelope Cruz — Fighting —
The Wrestler – Marisa Tomei — Fighting —
Doubt – Amy Adams — Fighting —
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Taraji P. Henson — Fighting —

Best Original Screenplay

Milk – Dustin Lance Black (c-12/1) — Strong —

Wall-E – Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon, Pete Docter — Fighting —
In Bruges – Martin McDonagh — Fighting —
Happy-Go-Lucky – Mike Leigh — Doubtful —
Frozen River – Courtney Hunt — Doubtful —

Best Adapted Screenplay

Slumdog Millionaire – Simon Beaufoy (Vikas Swarup) (c-1/22) — Lock —

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Eric Roth, Robin Swicord (F. Scott Fitzgerald) — Fighting —
The Reader – David Hare — Doubtful —
Doubt – John Patrick Shanley — Doubtful —
Frost/Nixon – Peter Morgan (Peter Morgan) — Doubtful —

Best Original Score

Slumdog Millionaire – A.R. Rahman (c-2/12) — Strong —

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Alexandre Desplat — Strong —
Wall-E – Thomas Newman — Strong —
Milk – Danny Elfman — Strong —
Defiance – James Newton Howard — Doubtful —

Best Original Song

Slumdog Millionaire – “Jai Ho” (c-12/11) — Strong —

Wall-E – “Down to Earth” — Fighting —
Slumdog Millionaire – “O Saya” — Doubtful —

Best Editing

Slumdog Millionaire – Chris Dickens (c-12/1) — Strong —

The Dark Knight – Lee Smith — Strong —
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Kirk Baxter, Angus Wall — Fighting —
Milk – Elliot Graham, Gus Van Sant — Doubtful —
Frost/Nixon – Daniel P. Hanley, Mike Hill — Doubtful —

Best Cinematography

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Claudio Miranda (c-2/17) — Strong —

Slumdog Millionaire – Anthony Dod Mantle — Strong —
The Dark Knight – Wally Pfister — Strong —
Changeling – Tom Stern — Doubtful —
The Reader – Chris Menges, Roger Deakins — Doubtful —

Best Art Direction

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Donald Graham Burt, Victor J. Zolfo (c-1/12) — Strong —

The Duchess – Michael Carlin, Rebecca Alleway — Fighting —
The Dark Knight – Nathan Crowley, Peter Lando — Spoiler —
Changeling – James J. Murakami, Gary Fettis — Doubtful —
Revolutionary Road – Kristi Zea, Debra Schutt — Doubtful —

Best Costume Design

The Duchess – Michael O’Connor (c-1/22) — Strong —

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Jacqueline West — Strong —
Australia – Catherine Martin — Doubtful —
Revolutionary Road – Albert Wolsky — Doubtful —
Milk – Danny Glicker — Doubtful —

Best Makeup

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Greg Cannom (c-2/12) — Strong —

The Dark Knight – John Caglione, Jr., Conor O’Sullivan — Strong —
Hellboy II: The Golden Army – Mike Elizalde, Thom Floutz — Fighting —

Best Sound Mixing

The Dark Knight – Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo, Ed Novick (c-12/1) — Strong —

Slumdog Millionaire – Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke, Resul Pookutty — Fighting —
Wall-E – Tom Myers, Michael Semanick, Ben Burtt — Fighting —
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce, Mark Weingarten — Spoiler —
Wanted – Chris Jenkins, Frank A. Montaño, Petr Forejt — Doubtful —

Best Sound Editing

Wall-E – Ben Burtt, Matthew Wood (c-9/28) — Strong —

The Dark Knight – Richard King — Strong —
Iron Man – Frank Eulner, Christopher Boyes — Fighting —
Slumdog Millionaire – Glenn Freemantle, Tom Sayers — Doubtful —
Wanted – Wylie Stateman — Doubtful —

Best Visual Effects

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton, Craig Barron (c-12/18) — Strong —

The Dark Knight – Nick Davis, Chris Corbould, Tim Webber, Paul Franklin — Fighting —
Iron Man – John Nelson, Ben Snow, Dan Sudick, Shane Mahan — Spoiler —