The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the nominees for the 81st Annual Academy Awards Thursday, Jan. 22. While the picks created a clamor, (particularly at the sudden love affair with “The Reader,” a movie that received mediocre reviews and box office returns) by all appearances, this is a pretty solid list of contenders.
Here are the nominees for the major categories, omitting categories no one really cares about like sound mixing (I’m going to wait for a tersely-worded letter from the Motion Pictures Editors Guild chiding me for my cavalier attitude while you read this).
BEST PICTURE
“The Reader”
“Slumdog Millionaire”
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“Frost/Nixon”
“Milk”
Zack’s pick: “Slumdog Millionaire”
Missing contender: “The Dark Knight”
BEST 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”
Zack’s pick: Mickey Rourke
Missing contender: Josh Brolin, “W”
BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Anne Hathaway, “Rachel Getting Married”
Angelina Jolie, “Changeling”
Melissa Leo, “Frozen River”
Meryl Streep, “Doubt”
Kate Winslet, “The Reader”
Zack’s pick: Kate Winslet
Missing contender: Sally Hawkins, “Happy Go Lucky”
BEST DIRECTOR
David Fincher, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Ron Howard, “Frost/Nixon”
Gus Van Sant, “Milk”
Stephen Daldry, “The Reader”
Danny Boyle, “Slumdog Millionaire”
Zack’s pick: David Fincher
Missing contender: Christopher Nolan, “The Dark Knight”
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Josh Brolin, “Milk”
Robert Downey Jr., “Tropic Thunder”
Philip Seymour Hoffman, “Doubt”
Michael Shannon, “Revolutionary Road”
Heath Ledger, “The Dark Knight”
Zack’s pick: Heath Ledger
Missing contender: Brendan Gleeson, “In Bruges”
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”
Zack’s pick: Penelope Cruz
Missing contender: Frances McDormand, “Burn After Reading”
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Courtney Hunt, “Frozen River”
Mike Leigh, “Happy Go Lucky”
Martin McDonagh, “In Bruges”
Dustin Lance Black, “Milk”
Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter, Jim Reardon, “Wall-E”
Zack’s pick: “Milk”
Missing contender: “Tropic Thunder”
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Eric Roth, Robin Swicord, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
John Patrick Shanley, “Doubt”
Peter Morgan, “Frost/Nixon”
David Hare, “The Reader”
Simon Beaufoy, “Slumdog Millionaire”
Zack’s pick: “Slumdog Millionaire”
Missing contender: “Revolutionary Road”