1. Best Picture: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “Frost/Nixon,” “Milk,” “The Reader,” “Slumdog Millionaire.“
SNUB(s): Both Wall-E and The Dark Knight were two of the most amazing, affecting movies I've seen all year. If Beauty and the Beast can be nominated for Best Picture, Wall-E should've been a given. And although The Reader was pretty well done, I don't know that it deserves a Best Picture nod.
WHO I WOULD LIKE TO WIN: Milk
PREDICTION: Slumdog is going to take it. It's taken everything up to this point and I'm pretty sure there's no stopping it now.
2. Actor: Richard Jenkins, “The Visitor”; Frank Langella, “Frost/Nixon”; Sean Penn, “Milk”; Brad Pitt, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”; Mickey Rourke, “The Wrestler.”
SNUB: None that I can really think of right now.
WHO I'D LIKE TO WIN: Sean Penn. I never thought I'd say this, but Penn's lovable and quirky performance as Harvey Milk is top-notch
PREDICTION: Either Mickey Rourke or Sean Penn; I think Rourke will get it because of his comeback performance.
3. Actress: Anne Hathaway, “Rachel Getting Married”; Angelina Jolie, “Changeling”; Melissa Leo, “Frozen River”; Meryl Streep, “Doubt”; Kate Winslet, “The Reader.”
SNUB: Sally Hawkins for Happy-Go-Lucky
WHO I'D LIKE TO WIN: Kate Winslet. She deserved it back during "Eternal Sunshine" and has proven herself again with both The Reader and Revolutionary Road.
PREDICTION: This is a hard one. Obviously Kate is way overdue but at the same time, I think that the way nominations came out and her being nominated for a film she had previously won Supporting Actress awards for, I think she might be out. Anne is my pick.
4. Supporting Actor: Josh Brolin, “Milk”; Robert Downey Jr., “Tropic Thunder”; Philip Seymour Hoffman, “Doubt”; Heath Ledger, “The Dark Knight”; Michael Shannon, “Revolutionary Road.”
SNUB (s): Emile Hirsch in Milk and Ralph Fiennes in The Reader
WHO I'D LIKE TO WIN: Ledger and Brolin (tie)
PREDICTION: Heath takes it in a really great year for supporting performances.
5. 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.”
SNUB:
WHO I'D LIKE TO WIN: One of the ladies from Doubt.
PREDICTION: This one is so up the air for me. Who I'd like to win is Henson, but I'm not sure her performance is showy enough. I give it to Cruz.
I'll continue more later....
