Oscar season has officially begun. The Academy has released the 2009 list of Oscar nominations with some unexpected results.
“Benjamin Button” leads the pack with 13 Oscar nominations including: best picture, best actor, best director, and best adapted screenplay.
The film follows the life of the protagonist, Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt), who was born with a peculiar condition. He ages in reverse. The overall plot has led many critics to strike comparisons between this years Oscar leader and 1994’s “Forrest Gump” which won six academy awards.
This year’s underdog movie “Slumdog Millionaire” managed to pull down a respectable eight Oscar nominations. The film is nominated in the fields of: achievement in cinematography, directing, film editing, music written for motion pictures, and best motion picture of the year among others. Originally the film was considered for a straight to video release because of the studios belief that it lacked commercial prospects.
The film tells the story of a young man from the slums of Mumbai who is given a particular opportunity. He is in a position to win the grand prize on the Indian version of “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” but his success, despite his humble background, arouses the suspicions of the local authorities. Utilizing a series of flashbacks the audience is able to observe the life of the protagonist as well as take a closer look at the country.
The Dark Knight, the year’s top grossing film, was shut out of most categories but managed to pull a best supporting actor nomination for the late Heath Ledger. Ledgers role as the diabolical Batman villain the Joker received critical acclaim and was well received by audiences worldwide. Unfortunately the actor’s untimely death due to an accidental drug overdose prevented him from seeing the film’s release.
Other films nominated for the 2009 Oscar’s include: Disney’s animated film “WALL-E”, “Iron Man”, the biopic “Milk”, “The Reader”, “Changeling” and “In Bruges” among a list of others.
The Hollywood power couple of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have also received Oscar nominations for best actress and actor respectively; thanks to their roles in “Changeling” and “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”.
By: Alberto Ramos Cordero
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