The following is a press release:
September 24-October 1, 2009
www.fantasticfest.com
Fantastic Fest is proud to announce the winning films from the 2009 festival. Taking top prize in the Next Wave competition is the darkly comedic drama from Britain, DOWN TERRACE. The audience award goes to A TOWN CALLED PANIC, the best horror film goes to HUMAN CENTIPEDE while Chilean action thriller MANDRILL takes the Fantastic Feature award.  The photo above is MANDRILL leading man Marko Zaror doing a celebratory flip. Complete awards listings are below:

Jury results - SHORTS Awards

ANIMATED SHORTS:
Best Animated Short - I AM SO PROUD OF YOU (Don Hertzfeldt)
Special Mention - ALMA (Rodrigo Blaas)

FANTASTIC SHORTS:

Best Fantastic Short  - TERMINUS (Trevor Cawood)

Special Jury Award - NEXT FLOOR  (Denis Villeneuve)

HORROR SHORTS:
Best Horror Short  - FULL EMPLOYMENT (Thomas Oberlies, Matthias Vogel)
Special Mention - EXCISION (Richard Bates, Jr.)

Jury results - FEATURES Awards

HORROR FEATURES
Best Horror Feature: HUMAN CENTIPEDE (Tom Six)
Best Horror Director: Kerry Prior (THE REVENANT)
Best Best Horror Actor: Dieter Laser (HUMAN CENTIPEDE)
Best Horror Actress: Neve McIntosh (SALVAGE)

FANTASTIC FEATURES
Best Fantastic Feature: MANDRILL (Ernesto Diaz-Espinoza)
Best Fantastic Director: Kim Nguyen (TRUFFE)
Best Fantastic Screenplay: Tamio Hayashi adapted from Kotaro Isaka (FISH STORY)
Best Fantastic Actor: Marko Zaror (MANDRILL)
Best Fantastic Actress: Chiaki Kuriyama (KAMOGAWA HORUMO)

NEXT WAVE FEATURES
Best Feature: DOWN TERRACE (Ben Wheately)
Best Director: Yang Ik-Joon (BREATHLESS)
Best Screenplay: Robin Hill, Ben Wheatley (DOWN TERRACE)
Best Actor: Jeong-min Hwang (PRIVATE EYE)
Best Actress: Shera Bechard (SWEET KARMA)

AUDIENCE AWARD
Audience Award, Best Feature: A TOWN CALLED PANIC (Stephane Aubier, Vincent Patar)

Audience Award, Honorable Mention Films:
FISH STORY BREATHLESS
THE REVENANT
MERANTAU

Uwe Boll’s Totally Awesome Video Games Filmmaking Frenzy Contest:
This year, Filmmaking Frenzy teamed up with G4 to create a contest that challenged filmmaking teams around the nation to create trailers for movies based on video games. Uwe Boll, the undisputed master of that genre, showed up to be the judge.  

Team:  FilthyButts
Film: MARIO PAINT

Team Capt: Joey Graham

Fantastic Fest Bumper Contest:
Filmmaking Frenzy also challenged teams to create 30 second Fantastic Fest bumpers that would play before all of the features in the festival. So many teams responded to this challenge that no bumper was played twice. The winning video was chosen by the Filmmaking Frenzy online community.

Team: FOGAR!
Film: DOGZILLA VS. CATHRA

Team Capt - Maurice Jacks

Shakey Face Badge Photo:
Fantastic Fest badges ask for a photo submission, similar to other festivals the world over. At Fantastic Fest, though, we demand that badgeholders submit a “Shakey Face” photo, and we reward the best face of the fest with a blanket featuring their shaken mug woven on it. This year’s winners are listed below, and you can check out a video of their Shakey Face Throwdown after that.

2009 Shakey Face Award Winners:
Christine Fisher
Troy Gonzales
Video of the Fantastic Fest Shakey Face competition

Tags: 2009, announced, Award, best, competition, fantastic fest, winners, winning

Complete list of 2009 Oscar nominees. Complete list of 2009 Academy Awards nominees. The bias against superheroes and animated films continues, despite “The Dark Knight” and “Wall-E” reaping major awards this season. Read a full list of Oscar snubs and surprises here. Win your Oscar pool. Play the odds! We tallied them all this year, so you wouldn’t have to! For a full list of every awards winner and nominee this season, click here.

The 81st Academy Awards nominations were announced on Thursday, January 22, 2009, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

BEST PICTURE
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“Frost/Nixon”
“Milk
“The Reader”
“Slumdog Millionaire”

BEST ACTRESS
Anne Hathaway, “Rachel Getting Married”
Angelina Jolie, “Changeling”
Melissa Leo, “Frozen River”
Meryl Streep, “Doubt”
Kate Winslet, “The Reader”

BEST ACTOR
Frank Langella, “Frost/Nixon”
Sean Penn, “Milk”
Brad Pitt, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Mickey Rourke, “The Wrestler”
Richard Jenkins, “The Visitor”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams, “Doubt”
Penelope Cruz, “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”
Viola Davis, “Doubt”
Taraji P. Henson, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Marisa Tomei, “The Wrestler”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Josh Brolin, “Milk”
Robert Downey Jr., “Tropic Thunder”
Philip Seymour Hoffman, “Doubt”
Heath Ledger, “The Dark Knight”
Michael Shannon, “Revolutionary Road”

BEST DIRECTOR
Danny Boyle, “Slumdog Millionaire”
Stephen Daldry, “The Reader”
David Fincher, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Ron Howard, “Frost/Nixon”
Gus Van Sant, “Milk”

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Dustin Lance Black, “Milk”
Courtney Hunt, “Frozen River”
Mike Leigh, “Happy-Go-Lucky”
Marttin McDonagh, “In Bruges”
Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon, “WALL-E”

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Simon Beaufoy, “Slumdog Millionaire”
David Hare, “The Reader”
Peter Morgan, “Frost/Nixon”
John Patrick Shanley, “Doubt”
Eric Roth, Robin Swicord, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
“The Baader-Meinhof Complex” (Germany)
“The Class” (France)
“Departures” (Japan)
“Revanche” (Austria)
“Waltz with Bashir” (Israel)

BEST ANIMATED FILM
“Bolt”
“Kung Fu Panda”
“Wall-E”

BEST ART DIRECTION
“Changeling”
“The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button”
“Dark Knight”
“The Duchess”
“Revolutionary Road”

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
“Changeling” Tom Stern
“Slumdog Millionaire,” Anthony Dod Mantle
“The Reader,” Chris Menges
“The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button,” Claudio Miranda
“The Dark Knight,” Wally Pfister,

BEST FILM EDITING
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” Kirk Baxter, Angus Wall
“The Dark Knight,” Lee Smith
“Frost/Nixon,” Daniel P. Hanley, Mike Hill
“Milk,” Elliot Graham
“Slumdog Millionaire,” Chris Dickens

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
“Australia,” Catherine Martin
“The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button,” Jacqueline West
“The Duchess,” Michael O’Conner
“Milk”, Danny Glicker
“Revolutionary Road,” Albert Wolsky

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
“The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)”
“Encounters at the End of the World”
“The Garden”
“Man on Wire”
“Trouble the Water”

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

“Slumdog Millionaire,” “Jai Ho,” A.R. Rahman
“Slumdog Millionaire,” “O Saya,” A.R. Rahman & M.I.A.
“Wall-E,” “Down To Earth,” Peter Gabriel & Thomas Newman

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
“The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button,” Alexandre Desplat
“Defiance,” James Newton Howard
“Milk,” Danny Elfman
“Slumdog Millionaire,” A.R. Rahman
“WALL-E,” Thomas Newman

BEST MAKEUP
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” Colleen Callaghan, Fionagh Cush
“The Dark Knight,” Peter Robb-King, John Caglione Jr.
“Hellboy II: The Golden Army,” Mike Elizalde, Thom Floutz

BEST SOUND EDITING
“The Dark Knight,” Richard King
“Iron Man,” Frank Eulner, Christopher Boyes
“Slumdog Millionaire,” Tom Sayers
“Wall-E,” Ben Burtt, Matthew Wood
“Wanted,” Wylie Stateman

BEST SOUND MIXING
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” Mark Weingarten, David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce
“The Dark Knight,” Ed Novick, Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo
“Slumdog Millionaire,” Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke and Resul Pookutty
“Wall-E,” Ben Burtt, Tom Myers, Michael Semanick
“Wanted,” Chris Jenkins, Frank A. Montaño and Petr Forejt 

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” Eric Barba
“The Dark Knight,” Chris Corbould, Nick Davis, Paul Franklin, Tim Webber
“Iron Man,” John Nelson

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
“Auf der Strecke (On the Line)”
“Manon on the Asphalt”
“New Boy”
“The Pig”
“Spielzeugland (Toyland)” 

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM
“La Maison en Petits Cubes”
“Lavatory - Lovestory”
“Oktapodi”
“Presto”
“This Way Up”

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM
“The Conscience of Nhem En”
“The Final Inch”
“Smile Pinki”
“The Witness - From the Balcony of Room 306″

Tags: 2009, 2009 oscar nominees, 81st, academy awards, announced, complete list, dark knight, jan. 22, new, nominations, nominees, oscar nominations, Oscars

The 2008 Screen Actor’s Guild Award nominations were announced this morning. There were some really nice surprises her for people who’s Oscar chances were waning. Melissa Leo (”Frozen River”) and Richard Jenkins (”The Visitor”) got nods for low-budget indie films that have scored pretty well in various critic’s polls (all aggregated here), but the biggest surprise on this list is the inclusion of Dev Patel from “Slumdog Millionaire.” Yes, the movie is a Best Picture nom cinch, but three actors play each of three main roles in the movie, so Patel’s performance (which has been all but ignored elsewhere) getting a nomination here is a big deal. Leo Dicaprio got shut out for “Revolutionary Road,” as did Clint Eastwood for “Gran Torino,” Sally Hawkins for “Happy-Go-Lucky,” Cate Blanchett for “Button,” and Marisa Tomei for “The Wrestler.” And five nominations for “Doubt”? That’s overdoing it, don’t you think?

BEST ENSEMBLE
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“Doubt”
“Frost/Nixon”
“Milk”
“Slumdog Millionaire”

BEST ACTOR
Richard Jenkins, “The Visitor”
Frank Langella, “Frost/Nixon”
Sean Penn, “Milk”
Brad Pitt, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Mickey Rourke, “The Wrestler”

BEST ACTRESS
Anne Hathaway, “Rachel Getting Married”
Angelina Jolie, “Changeling”
Melissa Leo, “Frozen River”
Meryl Streep, “Doubt”
Kate Winslet, “Revolutionary Road”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Josh Brolin, “Milk”
Robert Downey Jr., “Tropic Thunder”
Philip Seymour Hoffman, “Doubt”
Heath Ledger, “The Dark Knight”
Dev Patel, “Slumdog Millionaire”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams, “Doubt”
Penelope Cruz, “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”
Viola Davis, “Doubt”
Taraji P. Henson, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Kate Winslet, “The Reader”

Tags: 2008, actors, announced, Award, guild, nominations, SAG, screen

The 66th Annual Golden Globes Awards nominees were just announced this morning.

Thanks to the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, it looks like Sam Mendes’ “Revolutionary Road” is back in business, as is “Benjamin Button.” As much love as they gave to “Button,” though, they left out perennial Golden Globe favorite Cate Blanchett. “Milk,” which swept the NY Film Critics poll, only gets one nod, for Sean Penn? “The Dark Knight” gets only one nomination, and it’s for Heath Ledger? Tom Cruise gets one for his over-the-top studio boss in “Tropic Thunder”! Kate Winslet and Meryl Streep have two each, and James Franco gets one for “Pineapple Express” but not “Milk”? Brad Pitt’s nomination for Best Actor for “Button” has to be a surprise. He’s gotten no attention in that category before now, and that spot will surely go to someone else at the Oscars. (Perhaps Richard Jenkins in “The Visitor”?) I think they should have nominated Pitt instead for his comedic role in “Burn After Reading.” Ralph Fiennes snuck in the Best Supporting category for “The Duchess.” And it looks like the Lifetime Achievement Award will go to someone named Steven Spielberg. Here is a running tally of all the awards and nominations so far leading up to the Oscars in February.

Here’s the Golden Globes list:

MOTION PICTURE CATEGORIES

BEST MOTION PICTURE, DRAMA
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“Frost/Nixon”
“The Reader”
“Revolutionary Road”
“Slumdog Millionaire”

BEST MOTION PICTURE, MUSICAL OR COMEDY
“Burn After Reading”
“Happy-Go-Lucky”
“In Bruges”
“Mamma Mia!”
“Vicky Christina Barcelona”

BEST DIRECTOR
Danny Boyle, “Slumdog Millionaire”
Stephen Daldry, “The Reader”
David Fincher, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Ron Howard, “Frost/Nixon”
Sam Mendes, “Revolutionary Road”

BEST DRAMATIC ACTOR
Leonardo DiCaprio, “Revolutionary Road”
Frank Langella, “Frost/Nixon”
Sean Penn, “Milk”
Brad Pitt, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Mickey Rourke, “The Wrestler”

BEST DRAMATIC ACTRESS
Anne Hathaway, “Rachel Getting Married”
Angelina Jolie, “Changeling”
Meryl Streep, “Doubt”
Kristin Scott Thomas, “I’ve Loved You So Long”
Kate Winslet, “Revolutionary Road”

BEST ACTOR, COMEDY OR MUSICAL
Javier Bardem, “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”
Colin Farrell, “In Bruges”
James Franco, “Pineapple Express”
Brendan Gleeson, “In Bruges”
Dustin Hoffman, “Last Chance Harvey”

BEST ACTRESS, COMEDY OR MUSICAL
Rebecca Hall, “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”
Sally Hawkins, “Happy-Go-Lucky”
Frances McDormand, “Burn After Reading”
Meryl Streep, “Mamma Mia!”
Emma Thompson, “Last Chance Harvey”

SUPPORTING ACTOR
Tom Cruise, “Tropic Thunder”
Robert Downey, Jr., “Tropic Thunder”
Ralph Fiennes, “The Duchess”
Philip Seymour Hoffman, “Doubt”
Heath Ledger, “The Dark Knight”

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams, “Doubt”
Penelope Cruz, “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”
Viola Davis, “Doubt”
Marisa Tomei, “The Wrestler”
Kate Winslet, “The Reader”

ANIMATED FILM
“Bolt”
“Kung Fu Panda”
“Wall-E”

FOREIGN LANGUAGE PICTURE
“Baader Meinhof Complex”
“Everlasting Moments”
“Gomorrah”
“I’ve Loved You So Long”
“Waltz With Bashir”

SCREENPLAY
Simon Beaufoy, “Slumdog Millionaire”
David Hare, “The Reader”
Peter Morgan, “Frost/Nixon”
Eric Roth, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
John Patrick Shanley, “Doubt”

ORIGINAL SCORE
Alexandre Desplat, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Clint Eastwood, “Changeling”
James Newton Howard, “Defiance”
Hans Zimmer, “Frost/Nixon”
A.R. Rahman, “Slumdog Millionaire”

SONG
“Down to Earth” (performed by Peter Gabriel, written by Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman), “Wall-E”
“Gran Torino” (performed by Clint Eastwood), “Gran Torino”
“I Thought I Lost You” (performed Miley Cyrus and John Travolta, written by Miley Cyrus and Jeffrey Steele), “Bolt”
“Once in a Lifetime,” (performed by Beyonce), “Cadillac Records”
“The Wrestler” (performed by Bruce Springsteen, written by Bruce Springsteen), “The Wrestler”

CECIL B. DEMILLE LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Steven Spielberg

TELEVISION CATEGORIES

DRAMATIC TV SERIES
“Dexter”
“House M.D.”
“In Treatment”
“Mad Men”
“True Blood”

BEST ACTOR, TV DRAMA
Gabriel Byrne, “In Treatment”
Michael C. Hall, “Dexter”
Jon Hamm, “Mad Men”
Hugh Laurie, “House M.D.”
Jonathan Rhys Meyers, “The Tudors”

BEST ACTRESS, TV DRAMA
Sally Field, “Brothers & Sisters”
Mariska Hargitay, “Law & Order: SVU”
January Jones, “Mad Men”
Anna Paquin, “True Blood”
Kyra Sedgwick, “The Closer”

TV SERIES, MUSICAL OR COMEDY
“Californication”
“Entourage”
“The Office”
“30 Rock”
“Weeds”

BEST ACTOR, TV MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Alec Baldwin, “30 Rock”
Steve Carell, “The Office”
Kevin Connolly, “Entourage”
David Duchovny, “Californication”
Tony Shalhoub, “Monk”

BEST ACTRESS, TV MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Christina Applegate, “Samantha Who?”
America Ferrera, “Ugly Betty”
Tina Fey, “30 Rock”
Debra Messing, “The Starter Wife”
Mary-Louise Parker, “Weeds”

BEST MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
“Cranford”
“Bernard & Doris”
“John Adams”
“A Raisin in the Sun”
“Recount”

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MINISERIES OR A MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Judi Dench, “Cranford”
Laura Linney, “John Adams”
Catherine Keener, “An American Crime”
Shirley MacLaine, “Coco Chanel”
Susan Sarandon, “Bernard & Doris”

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MINISERIES OR A MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Ralph Fiennes, “Bernard and Doris”
Paul Giammatti, “John Adams”
Kevin Spacey, “Recount”
Keifer Sutherland, “24: Redemption”
Tom Wilkinson, “Recount”

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, MINISERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Eileen Atkins, “Cranford” Laura Dern, “Recount”
Melissa George, “In Treatment”
Rachel Griffiths, “Brothers & Sisters”
Dianne Wiest, “In Treatment”

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, MINISERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Neil Patrick Harris, “How I Met Your Mother”
Denis Leary, “Recount”
Jeremy Piven, “Entourage”
Blair Underwood, “In Treatment”
Tom Wilkinson, “John Adams”

Tags: 2008, 2009, 66th, announced, annual, Globe, Golden, nominees, poll, snub

The Satellite Awards predict the Golden Globes, which predict the Oscars. In between, there are the Critic’s Choice Awards, AFI’s Top 10, and just about every film critic society from Los Angeles to New York. (I myself am a member of the KC Film Critic’s Society, and we’ll be voting on Jan. 6.)

Between now and February 22, 2009, when the 81st annual Academy Awards airs, there will be a lot of speculation about who will be nominated and who will win. Hollywood has a lot riding on this. Last year’s Oscar telecast, hosted by Jon Stewart, was the least watched show ever, with only 32 million viewers. On the other hand, with nominees and winners such as “There Will Be Blood” and “No Country for Old Men,” it was also an excellent showcase for daring filmmaking, so who cares, right?

Good news for film fans ahead, and bad news for ABC, who’s broadcasting the event until 2014: The New York Times reports, “The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, once the chummiest club in show business, is becoming more artsy and indie-minded just as much of the Hollywood establishment hoped to make it more commercial.” I maintain that the box-office success of the darker, more mature mainstream fare that’s creeping into our kids’ movies and superhero blockbusters (such as “Wall-E” and “The Dark Knight”) show that America’s tastes are becoming more discerning.

I also think this is due in large part to the rise in widescreen HDTV systems and DVD rentals. Remember the whole fullscreen vs. widescreen debate? That’s pretty much over now, and movie fans everywhere are finally enjoying films in their homes as they were meant to be presented.

Anyway, back to the Satellite Awards. This Oscar season is way up in the air because the writer’s strike crippled a lot of movies, bringing overall production down, and the few prestige pictures that did get made are just not panning out as critical successes. Looks like another big year for indies. While we all know the Golden Globes are hosted by the mysterious Hollywood Foreign Press Association, who hosts the Satellite Awards? That, my friends, is the similar-sounding International Press Academy.

Well, the International Press Academy has published the earliest list of award nominations for 2009, having probably seen most if not all of the year’s releases, and there are some big snubs in their Satellite nominations. Most telling? “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” the historical drama featuring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett, directed by David Fincher, received only three nominations total and none for Best Picture, Drama, or its actors or director (just cinematography, screenplay, and costume design). This is the first blow to a movie that looked as if it may be a big frontrunner.

Clint Eastwood’s late addition “Gran Torino” (rushed to be completed for a 2008 release after his “Changeling” didn’t get enough positive attention) has zero, count ‘em, zero nominations. Hell, even “Changeling” got two nominations (Angelina Jolie for Best Actress and a Best Cinematography nod). Any chances that “Australia” once had at Best Picture are also surely evaporated by now as well.

Oddly, even though the Satellites nominated Christopher Nolan for Best Director, they snubbed “The Dark Knight” for Best Picture, Drama in favor of indie sleeper “Frozen River,” which also got a nod for its lead actress Melissa Leo, inching her Oscar chances ever closer. More oddities: I’m glad to see Josh Brolin nominated for “W.” but the Oliver Stone film was most assuredly not a comedy, even though it was marketed as such. Also, despite the push to recognize it in for Best Picture,”Wall-E” is relegated to the animated feature category. Check out the list here:

BEST PICTURE, DRAMA
“The Reader ”
“Slumdog Millionaire ”
“Revolutionary Road ”
“Frost/Nixon ”
“Milk ”
“Frozen River ”

BEST PICTURE, COMEDY/MUSICAL
“Happy-Go-Lucky ”
“Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist ”
“Vicky Cristina Barcelona ”
“Tropic Thunder ”
“In Bruges ”
“Choke ”

BEST DIRECTOR
Thomas McCarthy, “The Visitor”
Ron Howard, “Frost/Nixon”
Gus Van Sant, “Milk”
Christopher Nolan, “The Dark Knight”
Danny Boyle, “Slumdog Millionaire”
Stephen Daldry, “The Reader”

BEST ACTOR, DRAMA
Mickey Rourke, “The Wrestler ”
Mark Ruffalo, “What Doesn’t Kill You ”
Richard Jenkins, “The Visitor ”
Frank Langella, “Frost/Nixon ”
Leonardo Dicaprio, “Revolutionary Road ”
Sean Penn, “Milk ”

BEST ACTRESS, DRAMA
Melissa Leo, “Frozen River ”
Angelina Jolie, “Changeling ”
Anne Hathaway, “Rachel Getting Married ”
Kristin Scott Thomas, “I’ve Loved You So Long ”
Meryl Streep, “Doubt ”
Kate Winslet, “The Reader ”

BEST ACTOR, COMEDY/MUSICAL
Ricky Gervais, “Ghost Town ”
Sam Rockwell, “Choke ”
Josh Brolin, “W. ”
Michael Cera, “Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist ”
Brendan Gleeson, “In Bruges ”
Michael Cera, “Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist ”
Mark Ruffalo, “The Brothers Bloom ”

BEST ACTRESS: COMEDY/MUSICAL
Sally Hawkins, “Happy-Go-Lucky ”
Meryl Streep, “Mamma Mia! ”
Lisa Kudrow, “Kabluey ”
Kat Dennings, “Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist ”
Catherine Deneuve, “A Christmas Tale ”
Debra Messing, “Nothing Like the Holidays ”

The awards will be given out on Dec. 14 at the Century City InterContinental Hotel in LA.

Tags: 2009, academy, announced, awards, Earliest, golden globes 2009, indicator, oscar, oscar 2009, oscar odds 2009, oscar predictions 2009, satellite awards 2009, yet

Well, the short list for Oscar Documentary nominations has been released. Last year, the committee snubbed the best doc of the 2007, “The King of Kong.” This year, one of the biggest non-fiction films of the year, “Young@Heart,” was declared ineligible for a nomination because it was shown on TV first. Also, Alex Gibney’s “Gonzo: The Life and Work of Hunter S. Thompson” and Larry Charles’ “Religulous,” starring Bill Maher, is notably absent from this list.

It’s always something with those guys.

Anyway, here’s the list of eligible films. “Man on Wire,”  (above) one of my favorite movies of the year so far, is probably considered a frontrunner. And, even though his highly-acclaimed “Grizzly Man” was snubbed in 2005, Werner Herzog’s “Encounters at the End of the World” (also pictured) should also make it in. Also notable: the esteemed Errol Morris’ “Standard Operating Procedure,” which came and went so fast this Spring, I didn’t even get a chance to see it.

These 15 films will be voted on in order to narrow the field down to five Oscar nominations in the Documentary category. Last year’s winner was Alex Gibney’s Taxi to the Dark Side,” which was viewed as somewhat of an upset over Michael Moore’s “Sicko.”

“At the Death House Door”
“The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)”
“Blessed Is the Match: The Life and Death of Hannah Senesh”
“Encounters at the End of the World”
“Fuel”
“The Garden”
“Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts”
“I.O.U.S.A.”
“In a Dream”
“Made in America”
“Man on Wire”
“Pray the Devil Back to Hell”
“Standard Operating Procedure”
“They Killed Sister Dorothy”
“Trouble the Water”

Tags: 2008, announced, documentary, encounters, for, gonzo, list, man, nominations, oscar, released, Short, shortlist, standard, wire