The Reluctant Whore

The 2009 Academy Award Nominations are out and for the first time in a really long time I have actually seen a large chunk of them. Not Slumdog Millionaire yet but I will change that asap. Fundamentally, though I’m actually involved this time and that’s better than my usual experience of the Academy Awards which involved annoyance that I didn’t see most of the films, annoyance that I wasn’t invited to attend it, some kind of just general fury at my own lack of awards and also the preposterousness of the Academy Awards anyway, being essentially disappointed in whatever extent the choice of winners goes to so that Hollywood can prop up its own mythological power and the inevitable disappointment that boils up when its over and I’m sitting in my apartment or an apartment or some place and I realize that the paint is peeling off the ceiling.

I just feel a little cynical about the Heath Ledger nomination as the hype far out weighed the performance he gave and I also think the same can sort of be said for Mickey Rourke who might just be the Jennifer Hudson of this Academy Awards show. So, all in all, it’ll be a great show.

FULL LIST OF NOMINEES FOR THE 81ST ACADEMY AWARDS

BEST PICTURE

"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" "Frost/Nixon" "Milk" "The Reader" "Slumdog Millionaire"

BEST ACTRESS

Anne Hathaway; "Rachel Getting Married" , Angelina Jolie; "Changeling", Melissa Leo; "Frozen River", Meryl Streep; "Doubt", Kate Winslet; "The Reader"

BEST ACTOR Frank Langella; "Frost/Nixon", Sean Penn; "Milk", Brad Pitt; "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button", Mickey Rourke; "The Wrestler", Richard Jenkins; "The Visitor"

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS Amy Adams; "Doubt", Penelope Cruz; "Vicky Cristina Barcelona", Viola Davis; "Doubt", Taraji P. Henson; "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button", Marisa Tomei; "The Wrestler"

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR Josh Brolin; "Milk", Robert Downey Jr.; "Tropic Thunder", Philip Seymour Hoffman; "Doubt", Heath Ledger; "The Dark Knight", Michael Shannon; "Revolutionary Road"

BEST DIRECTOR Danny Boyle; "Slumdog Millionaire", Stephen Daldry; "The Reader", David Fincher; "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button", Ron Howard; "Frost/Nixon", Gus Van Sant; "Milk"

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY Dustin Lance Black; "Milk", Courtney Hunt; "Frozen River", Mike Leigh; "Happy-Go-Lucky" Marttin McDonagh; "In Bruges", Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon; "WALL-E"

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY Simon Beaufoy; "Slumdog Millionaire", David Hare; "The Reader", Peter Morgan; "Frost/Nixon", John Patrick Shanley; "Doubt", Eric Roth, Robin Swicord; "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM "The Baader-Meinhof Complex" (Germany), "The Class" (France), "Departures" (Japan), "Revanche" (Austria), "Waltz with Bashir" (Israel)

BEST ANIMATED FILM "Bolt", "Kung Fu Panda", "Wall-E"

BEST ART DIRECTION "Changeling", "The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button", "Dark Knight", "The Duchess", "Revolutionary Road"

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY "Changeling"; Tom Stern, "Slumdog Millionaire"; Anthony Dod Mantle, "The Reader"; Chris Menges, "The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button"; Claudio Miranda, "The Dark Knight"; Wally Pfister

BEST FILM EDITING "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"; Kirk Baxter, Angus Wall, "The Dark Knight"; Lee Smith, "Frost/Nixon"; Daniel P. Hanley, Mike Hill, "Milk"; Elliot Graham, "Slumdog Millionaire"; Chris Dickens

BEST COSTUME DESIGN "Australia"; Catherine Martin,"The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button"; Jacqueline West,"The Duchess"; Michael O'Conner, "Milk"; Danny Glicker, "Revolutionary Road"; Albert Wolsky

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE "The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)", "Encounters at the End of the World", "The Garden", "Man on Wire", "Trouble the Water"

BEST ORIGINAL SONG "Slumdog Millionaire", "Jai Ho," A.R. Rahman, "Slumdog Millionaire"; "O Saya", A.R. Rahman & M.I.A. "Wall-E," "Down To Earth," Peter Gabriel & Thomas Newman

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE "The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button," Alexandre Desplat, "Defiance," James Newton Howard, "Milk," Danny Elfman, "Slumdog Millionaire," A.R. Rahman", WALL-E," Thomas Newman

BEST MAKEUP "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Colleen Callaghan, Fionagh Cush, "The Dark Knight," Peter Robb-King, John Caglione Jr. "Hellboy II: The Golden Army," Mike Elizalde, Thom Floutz

BEST SOUND EDITING "The Dark Knight"; Richard King, "Iron Man"; Frank Eulner, Christopher Boyes, "Slumdog Millionaire"; Tom Sayers, "Wall-E"; Ben Burtt, Matthew Wood "Wanted"; Wylie Stateman

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