Comment on O-Noms

As expected, the biggest surprises were in the supporting categories. As unexpected, the biggest surprise of all was The Reader, which not only saw Ms. Winslet once nominated for Lead for that film, but got a Best Picture nod ahead of both Doubt and The Dark Knight (another black eye for WB as they lay off in spite of the superhero's muscular box office). Surprise success for Frozen River with Original Screenplay and Actress. All noms after the jump.... Best motion picture of the year * “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), A Kennedy/Marshall Production, Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall and Ceán Chaffin, Producers * “Frost/Nixon” (Universal), A Universal Pictures, Imagine Entertainment and Working Title Production,Brian Grazer, Ron Howard and Eric Fellner, Producers * “Milk” (Focus Features), A Groundswell and Jinks/Cohen Company Production, Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen, Producers * “The Reader” (The Weinstein Company), A Mirage Enterprises and Neunte Babelsberg Film GmbH Production, Nominees to be determined * “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), A Celador Films Production,Christian Colson, Producer Achievement in directing * “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), David Fincher * “Frost/Nixon” (Universal), Ron Howard * “Milk” (Focus Features), Gus Van Sant * “The Reader” (The Weinstein Company), Stephen Daldry * “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), Danny Boyle Best documentary feature * “The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)” (Cinema Guild), A Pandinlao Films Production, Ellen Kuras and Thavisouk Phrasavath * “Encounters at the End of the World” (THINKFilm and Image Entertainment), A Creative Differences Production, Werner Herzog and Henry Kaiser * “The Garden” A Black Valley Films Production, Scott Hamilton Kennedy * “Man on Wire” (Magnolia Pictures), A Wall to Wall Production, James Marsh and Simon Chinn * “Trouble the Water” (Zeitgeist Films), An Elsewhere Films Production, Tia Lessin and Carl Deal Best foreign language film of the year * “The Baader Meinhof Complex” A Constantin Film Production, Germany * “The Class” (Sony Pictures Classics), A Haut et Court Production, France * “Departures” (Regent Releasing), A Departures Film Partners Production, Japan * “Revanche” (Janus Films), A Prisma Film/Fernseh Production, Austria * “Waltz with Bashir” (Sony Pictures Classics), A Bridgit Folman Film Gang Production, Israel Adapted screenplay * “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Screenplay by Eric Roth, Screen story by Eric Roth and Robin Swicord * “Doubt” (Miramax), Written by John Patrick Shanley * “Frost/Nixon” (Universal), Screenplay by Peter Morgan * “The Reader” (The Weinstein Company), Screenplay by David Hare * “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), Screenplay by Simon Beaufoy Original screenplay * “Frozen River” (Sony Pictures Classics), Written by Courtney Hunt * “Happy-Go-Lucky” (Miramax), Written by Mike Leigh * “In Bruges” (Focus Features), Written by Martin McDonagh * “Milk” (Focus Features), Written by Dustin Lance Black * “WALL-E” (Walt Disney), Screenplay by Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon, Original story by Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter Performance by an actor in a leading role * Richard Jenkins in “The Visitor” (Overture Films) * Frank Langella in “Frost/Nixon” (Universal) * Sean Penn in “Milk” (Focus Features) * Brad Pitt in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.) * Mickey Rourke in “The Wrestler” (Fox Searchlight) Performance by an actor in a supporting role * Josh Brolin in “Milk” (Focus Features) * Robert Downey Jr.