News: Oscar Nominations, Anyone?

I'm sorry to bump the first installment of "I Respectfully Disagree", which I feel is going to become a much loved feature, but the official nominations for this year's Oscars just came out, and I want everyone to take a gander. When you get this gander, bring it to the computer screen, and show it the list. Feel free to look along with it. Fellow writers, how should we go about handling the major upsets this list is going to cause?

Actor in a Leading Role:
The Visitor's Richard Jenkins
Frost/Nixon's Frank Langella
Milk's Sean Penn
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button's Brad Pitt
The Wrestler's Mickey Rourke

Actor in a Supporting Role:
Milk's Josh Brolin
Tropic Thunder's Robert Downey, Jr.
Doubt's Phillip Seymour Hoffman
The Dark Knight's Heath Ledger
Revolutionary Road's Michael Shannon

Actress in a Leading Role:
Rachel Getting Married's Anne Hathaway
Changeling's Angelina Jolie
Frozen River's Melissa Leo
Doubt's Meryl Streep
The Reader's Kate Winslet

Actress in a Supporting Role:
Doubt's Amy Adams
Vicky Cristina Barcelona's Penelope Cruz
Doubt's Viola Davis
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button's Taraji P. Henson
The Wrestler's Marisa Tomei

Animated Feature Film:
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda
Wall-E

Art Direction:
Changeling
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
The Duchess
Revolutionary Road

Cinematography:
Changeling
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

Costume Design:
Australia
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Duchess
Milk
Revolutionary Road

Directing:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

Documentary Feature:
The Betrayl (Nerakhoon)
Encounters at the End of the World
The Garden
Man on Wire
Trouble the Water

Documentary Short:
The Conscience of Nhem En
The Final Inch
Smile Pinki
The Witness - From the Balcony of Room 306

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

Foreign Language Film:
The Baader Meinhof Complex
The Class
Departures
Revanche
Waltz with Bashir

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

Music (Score):
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Defiance
Milk
Slumdog Millionaire
Wall-E

Music (Song):
Wall-E's "Down to Earth"
Slumdog Millionaire's "Jai Ho" and "O Saya"

Best Picture:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

Short Film (Animated):
La Maison En Petits Cubes
Lavatory - Love Story
Oktapodi
Presto
This Way Up

Short Film (Live Action!):
Auf Der Strecke (On the Line)
Manon on the Asphalt
New Boy
The Pig
Spielzeugland (Toy Land)

Sound Editing:
The Dark Knight
Iron Man
Slumdog Millionaire
Wall-E
Wanted

Sound Mixing:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Slumdog Millionaire
Wall-E
Wanted

Visual Effects:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Iron Man

Writing (Adapted Screenplay):
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Doubt
Frost/Nixon
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

Writing (Original Screenplay):
Frozen River
Happy-Go-Lucky
In Bruges
Milk
Wall-E

So, I have to run out and see The Wrestler, Frost/Nixon, Milk, and The Reader, and maybe a few more of these before the actual screening of the Oscars, lest my decisions be un-informed. But I can tell you right now, even having not seen every film on this list, or this year, the Academy is making a number of huge mistakes. May God have mercy on your souls.

- Eric T. Voigt, Can't WAIT For the Oscars!