Here.

Thirteen of them go to Benjamin Button. I guess that's the biggest surprise.

That, and TDK getting royally SHAFTED out of a Best Picture nom.

Frak you, Academy!

I'll be rooting for Slumdog Millionaire for BP and Director, though, now that TDK isn't in the running. So that's some consolation. And it will be great to see Ledger win Best Supporting Actor, which is as much a lock as anything can be with the Oscars.

I really don't think it got shafted.

I wasn't expecting it to get a nomination for best picture. It would have been a surprise to me if it had.

I suppose I am rooting for Slumdog Millionaire, too. I'd be rooting for Wall-E if it had been nominated, but I would have been as surprised by its nomination as I would have been by a Dark Knight nomination.

I don't think this year's pool of best picture nominees is all that strong. Come to think of it, there hasn't been a really, really strong pool since the turn of the century. Last year's was probably the strongest it has been since the onset of the aughts--if only for the two lead contenders.

Master Ulic wrote:That, and TDK getting royally SHAFTED out of a Best Picture nom.

Yeah, what he said!

What the hell??? I know I'm a bit out of touch these days when it comes to movies, but there isn't a movie up for Director or Picture that I've seen, or WANT to see.

TDK was the best movie last year, and if the Academy can't see that, they're idiots.

I used to rank the Oscars as must watch TV to see who one each year, but lately I don't watch a minute of them. I really could not possibly care less. I am interested to see who they get to accept for Ledger, but I'll YouTube it the day after.

Stupid Oscar.

Thurston McQ wrote:I really don't think it got shafted.

I wasn't expecting it to get a nomination for best picture. It would have been a surprise to me if it had.

You do realize it was nominated for ALL the Guild awards, don't you? Typically, a film that is nominated by the DGA, WGA, and PGA is a virtual lock for an Oscar nod. But apparently, the Academy voters were doing their monthly group cocaine binge when they turned in their choices. Its omission WAS a surprise to most considering the recent momentum it seemed to have.

I realize this. I'm just as much an awards tracker as everyone here. I recognize that a lot of folks were surprised, considering it got play almost everywhere else but the Golden Globes. Considering that it didn't make that cut (and considering that, when it comes to predicting where and how the Academy plans to pat itself on the back, the Golden Globes is a better indicator than most other awards)--which allows for ten movies instead of five, on the drama/musical-comedy divide is factored in--it seemed likely to me that it would not be nominated for a best picture Oscar. Of course, once all is said and done, the drama side of this divide is the one that gets all the attention. And that's what's gotten in the way here, I'm guessing.

Despite The Dark Knight being a drama, its characters' comic origins still work against it. Despite the momentum. Despite fanboys (such as pretty much everyone who will read this, and such as yours truly) hoping that The Dark Knight would finally break through the glass ceiling--at least where the Academy is concerned. It took Peter Jackson ten years and three movies (and twenty endings [ha ha! We're still making that joke!]) to get the Academy to get over itself enough to give the best picture trophy to a fantasy flick (in what was another weak year for nominees, IMHO).

I should have made it clear that I, personally, didn't think it got shafted. I'm not sure what I would recommend be put in its place, though. Wall-E and Man on Wire aside, 2008 was a pretty lackluster year for me. It was more a year of performances than it was a year of all-around excellence.

I'd say I'm surprised The Reader keeps popping up from awards show to awards show, but the same thing happened with Crash. Must be a case of unusually aggressive PR.

Anybody care to make any predictions?

I predict Will Ferrell, Jack Black, or Seth Rogen will be trotted out for some unfunny skit.

I'm interested to see how Huge Ackman handles hosting duties.