Kinematoscope

Dave's Oscar picks, emailed to me today.

Oscar Picks...

Score:

Elfman - Milk
Newman - Revolutionary Road
Howard and Zimmer - The Dark Knight
Rahman - Slumdog Millionaire
Desplat - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Sneaky: Eastwood Junior for Gran Torino. Doesn't deserve it, but could get in on lineage.
Sentimental Favorite: The Dark Knight, followed by Revolutionary Road.

Song:

"Down to Earth" - Wall·E
"The Wrestler" - The Wrestler
"Jai Ho" - Slumdog Millionaire
"Once in a Lifetime" - Cadillac Records
"Gran Torino" - Gran Torino

Sneaky: "Another Way to Die" - Quantum of Solace
Sentimental Favorite: "The Wrestler," but I really enjoyed Danny Elfman's "Little Things" and Jason Segel's "Dracula's Lament."

Visual Effects:

Iron Man
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Hellboy II: The Golden Army

Sneaky: Hancock - I thought the last spot comes down to Hellboy and Hancock, but the enormous plant fight in the street sequence is more challenging than most of Hancock's sequences.
Sentimental Favorite: Death Race and The Dark Knight, you know why? Practical effects, that is harder to do than some computer wizardry.

Best Make Up:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
The Dark Knight

Sneaky: Slumdog Millionaire - How? That little blue boy, that's how.
Sentimental Favorite: Burn After Reading - See Brad Pitt's hair.

Best Sound:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Iron Man,
Quantum of Solace
Wall·E

Best Sound Editing:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Iron Man
Quantum of Solace
Wall·E

Art Direction:

The Dark Knight
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Slumdog Millionaire
Revolutionary Road
Quantum of Solace

Sneaky: The Duchess
Sentimental Favorite: All of Dominic Greene's places in Quantum - being the exposed house and bunker were pretty awesome.

Best Editing:

The Dark Knight
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Slumdog Millionaire
Frost/Nixon
Quantum of Solace

Sneaky: Revolutionary Road
Sentimental Favorite: Wall·E

Best Costume Design:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Slumdog Millionaire
The Duchess
The Reader
Revolutionary Road

Sneaky: Cadillac Records
Sentimental Favorite: The Dark Knight or Iron Man. Someday, a comic book/superhero movie must be recognized for the extraordinary effort these suits take.

Cinematography:

The Dark Knight
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Revolutionary Road
The Reader
Milk

Sneaky: Slumdog Millionaire
Sentimental Favorite: Quantum of Solace

Original Screenplay:

Milk
The Wrestler
Wall·E
Vicky Christina Barcelona
Rachel Getting Married

Sneaky: In Bruges
Sentimental Favorite: In Bruges

Adapted Screenplay:

The Dark Knight
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Slumdog Millionaire
Doubt
Frost/Nixon

Sneaky: ?
Sentimental Favorite: Seven Pounds - For ripping off some six year old's idea of a fucked up "Spongebob Squarepants" episode.

Supporting Actress:

Winslet - The Reader
Tomei - The Wrestler
Henson - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Davis - Doubt
Cruz - Vicky Christina Barcelona

Sneaky: Adams - Doubt
Sentimental Favorite: Dewitt - Rachel Getting Married or Farmiga Nothing But the Truth because I love swearing and pretty people.

Supporting Actor:

Ledger - The Dark Knight
Hoffman - Doubt
Downey Jr. - Tropic Thunder
Patel - Slumdog Millionaire
Brolin - Milk

Sneaky: Franco - Milk Shannon - Revolutionary Road or Sheen - Frost/Nixon
Sentimental Favorite: Fiennes - In Bruges or Brad Pitt's Hair - Burn After Reading

Actress:

Winslet - Revolutionary Road
Hathaway - Rachel Getting Married
Streep - Doubt
Hawkins - Happy Go Lucky
Jolie - Changeling

Sneaky: Leo - Frozen River
Sentimental Favorite: Beckinsale - Nothing But the Truth, again, pretty people and Blanchett - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

Actor:

Rourke - The Wrestler
Penn - Milk
Langella - Frost/Nixon
Pitt - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Eastwood - Gran Torino

Sneaky: DiCaprio - Revolutionary Road
Sentimental Favorite: Downey Jr. - Iron Man - Did any actor have more fun with a role this year?

Director:

Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire
Fincher - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Nolan - The Dark Knight
Howard - Frost/Nixon
Van Sant - Milk

Sneaky: Arnofsky - The Wrestler
Sentimental Favorite: Mendes - Revolutionary Road

Picture:

Slumdog Millionaire
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Milk
Frost/Nixon
The Dark Knight

Sneaky: Doubt
Sentimental Favorite: Revolutionary Road

- Dave