Irish producer Redmond Morris is a contender for the most coveted prize, the Oscar for best picture, in the nominations for the 81st Academy Awards, which were announced in Los Angeles yesterday. He is one of the four producers on The Reader, which received five nominations, including best picture, writes Michael Dwyer
An 11-minute movie based on a Roddy Doyle story, New Boywas nominated in the best live action short film category. Written and directed by US filmmaker Steph Green, it deals with a nine-year-old African boy who encounters xenophobia and bullying at a school on the northside of Dublin. It was produced by Tamara Anghie under the Irish Film Board's Short Cuts scheme.
Irish production designer Nathan Crowley was nominated for his work on the Batman film, The Dark Knight. He was nominated two years ago for The Prestige.
The son of Irish parents, Martin McDonagh, whose award-winning plays have mostly been set in Ireland, is a nominee in the best original screenplay category for In Bruges, the comedy-thriller starring Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson. Three years ago McDonagh won the best short film Oscar for Six Shooter.
Based on a short story by F Scott Fitzgerland, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, starring Brad Pitt as a man reversing in age from his eighties, led the field with 13 nominations. The Mumbai-set Slumdog Millionairefollowed with 10 nominations. Next came The Dark Knightand the 1970s-set US gay rights drama Milkwith eight nominations each.
Heath Ledger, who died a year ago today at the age of 29, was nominated as best supporting actor for his performance as the Joker in The Dark Knight. He is the seventh actor to receive a posthumous Oscar nomination. Of the other six, the only winner was Peter Finch for Network(1976).
Meryl Streep made Oscar history yesterday when she received her 15th nomination for her portrayal of a nun in Doubt, breaking her own record as the most nominated actor since the inception of the Academy Awards. Collecting her sixth nomination for The Reader, Kate Winslet is, at 33, the youngest performer to receive so many Oscar nominations for acting roles.
Directed by Stephen Dalrdy, The Readeris in contention for the best picture Oscar with Gus Van Sant's Milk, Ron Howard's Frost/Nixon, Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaireand David Fincher's The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.The same five films were nominated in the best director category.
In one of the few surprises, The Dark Knight, which had been hotly tipped for best picture and best director, failed to be nominated in either category. It was the biggest box-office success of last year in the US.
Among the other notable omissions were Clint Eastwood as best actor for Gran Torino, Kristin Scott Thomas as best actress for I've Loved You So Long, Sally Hawkins as best actress for Happy-Go-Luckyand 18-year-old Dev Patelas best supporting actor for Slumdog Millionaire.
At 71, respected stage and screen actor Frank Langella received his first Oscar nomination for his portrayal of former US president Richard Nixon in Frost/Nixon. Richard Jenkins, who is 61, got his first Oscar nomination for his role as a lonely college lecturer in The Visitor.
Jenkins and Langella are among the five nominees for best actor, along with Mickey Rourke in his comeback role in The Wrestler, former Oscar winner Sean Penn as murdered gay San Francisco politician Harvey Milk in Milk, and Brad Pitt for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
Pitt's partner, Angelina Jolie, an Oscar winner for Girl, Interrupted(1999), is shortlisted as best actress for Changeling, along with Anne Hathaway ( Rachel Getting Married), Kate Winslet ( The Reader), Melissa Leo ( Frozen River) and Meryl Streep ( Doubt),
Doubttook two of the five nominations in the best supporting actress category, for Viola Davis and Amy Adams. The other places went to Taraji P Henson ( Benjamin Button), former winner Marisa Tomei ( The Wrestler) and Penélope Cruz ( Vicky Cristina Barcelona).
There was a fourth acting nomination for Doubtwhen Philip Seymour Hoffman, who plays a Catholic priest suspected of sexually abusing a student, was shortlisted in the best supporting actor category. His fellow nominees are Michael Shannon ( Revolutionary Road), Robert Downey Jr ( Tropic Thunder), Josh Brolin ( Milk) and Heath Ledger.
The timely Israeli animated documentary, Waltz with Bashir, is one of the front-runners for the best foreign-language film Oscar, along with French entry The Class, which won the Palme d'Or at Cannes last year. The other nominees are The Baader Meinhof Gang(Germany), Departures(Japan) and Revanche(Austria).
The Oscars will be presented in Hollywood on February 22nd.
The complete list of the 2009 Academy Award nominations announced today:
1. Best Picture:
The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button,
Frost/Nixon,
Milk,
The Reader,
Slumdog Millionaire.
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.
3. Actress:
Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married;
Angelina Jolie, Changeling;
Melissa Leo, Frozen River;
Meryl Streep, Doubt;
Kate Winslet, The Reader.
4. Supporting Actor:
Josh Brolin, Milk;
Robert Downey Jr, Tropic Thunder;
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Doubt;
Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight;
Michael Shannon, Revolutionary Road.
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.
6. 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.
7. Foreign Film:
The Baader Meinhof Complex, Germany;
The Class, France;
Departures, Japan;
Revanche, Austria;
Waltz With Bashir, Israel.
8. Adapted Screenplay:
Eric Roth and Robin Swicord, The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button;
John Patrick Shanley, Doubt;
Peter Morgan, Frost/Nixon;
David Hare, The Reader;
Simon Beaufoy, Slumdog Millionaire.
9. Original Screenplay:
Courtney Hunt, Frozen River;
Mike Leigh, Happy-Go-Lucky;
Martin McDonagh, In Bruges;
Dustin Lance Black, Milk;
Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon and Pete Docter, WALL-E.
10. Animated Feature Film:
Bolt;
Kung Fu Panda;
WALL-E.
11. Art Direction:
Changeling,
The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button,
The Dark Knight,
The Duchess,
Revolutionary Road.
12. Cinematography:
Changeling,
The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button,
The Dark Knight,
The Reader,
Slumdog Millionaire.
13. Sound Mixing:
The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button,
The Dark Knight,
Slumdog Millionaire,
WALL-E,
Wanted.
14. Sound Editing:
The Dark Knight,
Iron Man,
Slumdog Millionaire,
WALL-E,
Wanted.
15. 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.
16. Original Song:
Down To Earth from WALL-E, Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman;
Jai Ho from Slumdog Millionaire, A.R. Rahman and Gulzar;
O Saya from Slumdog Millionaire, A.R. Rahman and Maya Arulpragasam.
17. Costume:
Australia,
The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button,
The Duchess,
Milk,
Revolutionary Road.
18. Documentary Feature:
The Betrayal (Nerakhoon),
Encounters At The End Of The World,
The Garden,
Man on Wire,
Trouble the Water.
19. Documentary (short subject):
The Conscience of Nhem En,
The Final Inch,
Smile Pinki,
The Witness — From The Balcony Of Room 306.
20. Film Editing:
The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button,
The Dark Knight,
Frost/Nixon,
Milk,
Slumdog Millionaire.
21. Makeup:
The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button,
The Dark Knight,
Hellboy II: The Golden Army.
22. Animated Short Film:
La Maison en Petits Cubes,
Lavatory — Lovestory,
Oktapodi,
Presto,
This Way Up.
23. Live Action Short Film:
Auf Der Strecke (On the Line),
Manon On The Asphalt,
New Boy,
The Pig,
Spielzeugland (Toyland).
24. Visual Effects:
The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button,
The Dark Knight,
Iron Man.