Predictions, Suprises and Snubs

Atlast, AMPAS has finally announced the nominations for 81st Academy Awards. What suprised me was the snubbing of several anticipated movies - like The Dark Knight which I think should have been nominated for atleast in Best Original Screenplay categoray, Revolutionary Road, which I expected at least three nods for Best Actor (Leonardo DiCaprio) , Best Actress (Kate Winslet) and Best Direction. Gran Torino, directed by Clint Eastwood is totally killed by Academy, and it didn't recieved even a single nod. I also thought WALL-E should have been nominated for Best Picture category but anyway.

So, Here are my predictions -

[Note :- Edited after BAFTA's]

Best Picture

• Will Win - Slumdog Millionaire
• Should Win - Milk
• Also in Race - Frost / Nixon
• Underdogs - Curious Case of Benjamin Button and The Reader

Best Director

• Will Win - Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire)
• Should Win - Danny Boyle
• Also in Race - Ron Howard (Frost / Nixon) , Gus Van Sant (Milk)
• Underdogs - David Flincher (Curious Case...) and Stephen Daldry (The Reader)

Best Screenplay (Original)

• Will Win - Milk
• Should Win - Wall - E
• Also in Race - In Bruges, Frozen River
• Underdogs - Happy Go Lucky

Best Screenplay (Adapted)

• Will Win - Slumdog Millionaire
• Should Win - The Reader
• Also in Race - Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Doubt and Frost / Nixon
• Underdogs - None

Best Actor

• Will Win - Sean Penn (Milk)
• Should Win - Frank Langella (Frost/ Nixon)
• Also in Race -Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler)
• Underdogs - Brad Pitt (Curious Case of Benjamin Button), Richard Jenkins (The Visitor)

Best Actress

• Will Win - Kate Winslet (The Reader)
• Should Win - Kate Winslet (The Reader)
• Also in Race - Angelina Jolie (Changeling), Meryl Streep (Doubt)
• Underdogs - Anne Hathaway (Rachel Getting Married), Melissa Leo (Frozen River)

Best Supporting Actor

• Will Win - Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight)
• Should Win - Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight)
• Also in Race - Michael Shannon (Revolutionary Road), Josh Brolin (Milk), Philip Hoffman (Doubt)
• Underdogs - Robert Downey Jr. (Tropic Thunder)

Best Supporting Actress

• Will Win - Merisa Tomei (The Wrestler)
• Should Win - Penelope Cruz (Vicky Cristina Barcelona)
• Also in Race - Viola Davis (Doubt) , Taraji P. Henson (Curious Case of Benjamin Button)
• Underdogs - Amy Adams (Doubt)

Best Animated Feature

• Will Win - Wall - E
• Should Win - Wall - E
• Also in Race - None
• Underdogs - Bolt, Kung Fu Panda

Best Foreign Language Film

• Will Win - Waltz with Bashir (Israel)
• Should Win - The Class (France)
• Also in Race - All other nominees
• Underdogs - None

Best Original Score

• Will Win - A. R. Rahman (Slumdog Millionaire)
• Should Win - Alexandre Desplat (Curious Case of Benjamin Button)
• Also in Race - James Newton Howard (Defiance), Danny Elfman (Milk)
• Underdogs - Thomas Newman (Wall E)

Best Cinematography

• Will Win - Claudia Miranda (Curious Case of Benjamin Button)
• Should Win - Claudia Miranda (Curious Case of Benjamin Button)
• Also in Race - The Dark Knight, Slumdog Millionaire, Changeling
• Underdogs - The Reader

Best Art Direction

• Will Win - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• Should Win - Revolutionary Road
• Also in Race - Changeling, The Dark Knight
• Underdogs - The Dutchess

Best Costume Designing

• Will Win - The Duchess
• Should Win - Revolutionary Road or Australia
  
• Also in Race - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
  
• Underdogs - Milk

Best Film Editing

• Will Win - Slumdog Millionaire
• Should Win - Slumdog Millionaire
• Also in Race - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Dark Knight, Milk
• Underdogs - Frost / Nixon

Best Make Up

• Will Win - The Dark Knight
• Should Win - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• Also in Race - Hell Boy II - The Golden Army
• Underdogs - None
  

Best Sound Editing

• Will Win - Slumdog Millionaire
• Should Win - Wall -E
  
• Also in Race - The Dark Knight, Iron Man
  
• Underdogs - Wanted
  

Best Sound Mixing

• Will Win - Wall E
  
• Should Win - Wanted
• Also in Race - The Dark Knight, Wall E
• Underdogs - Slumdog Millionaire
  

Best Visual Effects

• Will Win - The Dark Knight
• Should Win - Iron Man
• Also in Race - Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• Underdogs - None

Best Original Song

• Will Win - Jai Ho (Slumdog Millionaire)
• Should Win - O Saya (Slumdog Millionaire)
• Also in Race - Down to Eath (Wall E)
• Underdogs - None

Awards Count

• Slumdog Millionaire - 6 / 10
• The Dark Knight - 3 / 8
• Milk - 2 / 8
• Curious Case of Benjamin Button - 2 / 13
• Wall E - 2/8
  

Hopefully my predictions will match. What do you think?