FINAL 2009 OSCAR NOMINATION PREDICTIONS

Most of you who read this blog know me personally, so you know that I'm the worst procrastinator in the history of the Internet. Thus, it's fitting that I'm making these final predictions at 5 a.m., a mere half-hour before the Oscar nominations are announced. Yet even I, a dedicated prognosticator, have no idea what to make of this year's contenders except for that in the end, as William Goldman once said of Hollywood, "Nobody Knows Anything." With that in mind, here's The InSneider's take on the 2009 Academy Award nominations. I'll be back soon with my "If I Had a Ballot" post. Please note: I will not be making predictions for the Live Action or Animated Short Film categories.

BEST PICTURE

1. Slumdog Millionaire
2. Frost/Nixon
3. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
4, The Dark Knight
5. Milk

ALT: The Wrestler

BEST DIRECTOR

1. Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire
2. David Fincher, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
3. Christopher Nolan, The Dark Knight
4. Darren Aronofsky, The Wrestler
5. Gus Van Sant, Milk

ALT: Ron Howard, Frost/Nixon

BEST ACTOR

1. Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler
2. Sean Penn, Milk
3. Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon
4. Clint Eastwood, Gran Torino
5. Richard Jenkins, The Visitor

ALT: Brad Pitt, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

BEST ACTRESS

1. Meryl Streep, Doubt
2. Kate Winslet, Revolutionary Road
3. Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married
4. Sally Hawkins, Happy-Go-Lucky
5. Kristin Scott Thomas, I’ve Loved You So Long

ALT: Melissa Leo, Frozen River

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

1. Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
2. Philip Seymour Hoffman, Doubt
3. Josh Brolin, Milk
4. Dev Patel, Slumdog Millionaire
5. Eddie Marsan, Happy-Go-Lucky

ALT: James Franco, Milk

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

1. Penelope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
2. Viola Davis, Doubt
3. Kate Winslet, The Reader
4. Marisa Tomei, The Wrestler
5. Amy Adams, Doubt

ALT: Rosemarie DeWitt, Rachel Getting Married

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

1. Dustin Lance Black, Milk
2. Woody Allen, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
3. Robert Siegel, The Wrestler
4. Andrew Stanton and Jim Reardon, Wall-E
5. Thomas McCarthy, The Visitor

ALT: Mike Leigh, Happy-Go-Lucky

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

1. Simon Beaufoy, Slumdog Millionaire
2. Eric Roth, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
3. Peter Morgan, Frost/Nixon
4. John Patrick Shanley, Doubt
5. Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan, The Dark Knight

ALT: David Hare, The Reader

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

1. Waltz With Bashir, Israel
2. The Class, France
3. Everlasting Moments, Sweden
4. The Baader Meinhof Complex, Germany
5. Revanche, Austria

ALT: Three Monkeys, Turkey

BEST ANIMATED FILM

1. Wall-E
2. Waltz With Bashir
3. Kung Fu Panda

ALT: Bolt

BEST DOCUMENTARY

1. Man on Wire
2. Trouble the Water
3. Pray the Devil Back to Hell
4. I.O.U.S.A.
5. At the Death House Door

ALT: Standard Operating Procedure

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

1. Claudio Miranda, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
2. Anthony Dod Mantle, Slumdog Millionaire
3. Wally Pfister, The Dark Knight
4. Maryse Alberti, The Wrestler
5. Roger Deakins, Revolutionary Road

ALT: Catherine Martin, Australia

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

1. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
2. The Dark Knight
3. Iron Man

ALT: Hellboy II: The Golden Army

BEST MAKEUP

1. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
2. The Dark Knight
3. Tropic Thunder

ALT: Synecdoche, New York

BEST EDITING

1. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
2. Milk
3. Slumdog Millionaire
4. The Dark Knight
5. Frost/Nixon

ALT: Revolutionary Road

BEST ART DIRECTION

1. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
2. Slumdog Millionaire
3. The Dark Knight
4. Changeling
5. Milk

ALT: Frost/Nixon

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

1. Jacqueline West, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
2. Deborah Hopper, Changeling
3. Michael O’Connor, The Duchess
4. Albert Wolsky, Revolutionary Road
5. Catherine Martin, Australia

ALT: Eiko Ishioka, The Fall

BEST SCORE

1. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
2. Slumdog Millionaire
3. The Dark Knight
4. Revolutionary Road
5. The Reader

ALT: Gran Torino

BEST SONG

1. The Wrestler
2. Wall-E
3. Slumdog Millionaire
4. Bolt
5. High School Musical 3

ALT: Gran Torino

BEST SOUND EDITING

1. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
2. The Dark Knight
3. Iron Man
4. Wall-E
5. Slumdog Millionaire

ALT: Defiance

BEST SOUND MIXING

1. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
2. The Dark Knight
3. Iron Man
4. Slumdog Millionaire
5. Wall-E

ALT: Defiance