Brad Pitt is shown in a scene from, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button." The film was nominated for an Academy Award for best picture, Thursday, Jan. 22, 2009. The romantic fantasy led Academy Awards contenders with 13 nominations, among them best picture and acting honors for Brad Pitt and Taraji P. Henson, and a directing slot for David Fincher.
As expected, Heath Ledger had a supporting-actor nomination for "The Dark Knight" on the one-year anniversary of his death from an accidental overdose of prescription drugs. But the "Batman" blockbuster was shut out for other top categories such as best picture and director.
The season's awards favorite, "Slumdog Millionaire," lived up to its rags-to-riches theme, coming in second with 10 nominations, including a directing spot for Danny Boyle, pictured here at the Golden Globes with the film's young stars, and two of the three song slots.
Kate Winslet is seen here with her two Golden Globes for best dramatic actress for "Revolutionary Road" and supporting actress for "The Reader." But she was nominated for lead actress at the Oscars for "The Reader" and shut out for "Revolutionary Road."
Real-life couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie both, seen here on the Golden Globe red carpet, will be going to the Oscars as nominees. Jolie had a Best-Actress nomination for the missing-child drama "Changeling" and Pitt was nominated for Best Actor for his role in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button."
The Oscars also might offer a classic Hollywood comeback story. A pariah for years because of bad-boy behavior that wrecked his career, actor Mickey Rourke has returned to grace with the sports drama "The Wrestler," which earned him an Oscar nod and the Golden Globe for Best Dramatic Actor.
"The Wrestler" also yielded a Best Supporting Actress nomination for Marisa Tomei. Tomei won a Best Supporting Actress in 1993 for "My Cousin Vinny" and was nominated again in 2002 for "In the Bedroom."
"Milk" won nominations for star Sean Penn and supporting actor Josh Brolin, seen together here at the movie's red carpet, as well as a Best Picture nomination and a nod for its director, Gus Van Sant.
Frank Langella won a Best Actor nomination for his role as the former president in "Frost/Nixon." That movie also was among the Best Picture nominees and yielded a Best Director nomination for Ron Howard.
Actresses Meryl Steep and Amy Adams pose on the red carpet with the director for their movie "Doubt." The movie resulted in a Best Actress nomination for Steep and Best Supporting actress nod for Adams. It was a record 15th nomination for Streep, who already had more Oscar nominations than any other actor.
Penelope Cruz, seen here being interviewed for her role in Woody Allen's "Vicky Cristina Barcelona," was among the nominees for Best Supporting Actress. Viola Davis of "Doubt" and Taraji P. Henson of "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" also were nominated.
Melissa Leo, seen here accepting the Spotlight Award for "Frozen River," got one of the five Best Actress nominations.
Anne Hathaway, who has been collecting awards and accolades this season for her turn as a recovering alcioholic in "Rachel Getting Married," is among the Best Actress nominees.
Actor Robert Downey Jr., seen here with his co-stars Jack Black and Ben Stiller, got a nod for Best Supporting Actor for his over-the-top portrayal of a Method actor in "Tropic Thunder."
Actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, seen here with his "Doubt" co-star Meryl Steep, was among the Best Supporting Actor nominees. He won an Oscar for the 2006 film "Capote" and was nominated last year for his supporting role in "Charlie Wilson's War."
Richard Jenkins, left, and Hazz Sleimann are shown in a scene from "The Visitor". Jenkins was a surprise Oscar nominee for this role.
The robot romance "WALL-E" is the latest Pixar Animation blockbuster coming in as the favorite for the animated-feature Oscar. It's up against the martial-arts comedy "Kung Fu Panda" and the dog tale "Bolt." A win would be the fourth feature-length animation Oscar for Pixar, giving the outfit half of the eight trophies since the category was added in 2001.
"Revolutionary Road," the much anticipated reunion of "Titanic" co-stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, made a disappointing showing. Both actors were shut out for a nomination on that film (though Winslet was nominated for another movie) as was director Sam Mendes. The movie did, however, produce a surprise Best Supporting Actor nomination for Michael Shannon.
Also overlooked was Oscar darling Clint Eastwood. Winner of four Oscars, Eastwood was overlooked for his acting and directing in the box-office hit "Gran Torino" and his direction of the 1930s drama "Changeling."
Another awards favorite who came up empty-handed was Bruce Springsteen who won a Golden Globe and several other awards for his song "The Wrestler." The nominees were "Down to Earth" from "WALL-E," and "Jai Ho" and "O Saya" from "Slumdog Millionaire."