Academy Awards 2009 Live Blog Coverage, Updated List of Winners

UPDATE 11:49 pm EST Here it is, the biggest and usually most anti-climatic moment of the night: Best Picture. The nominees are:

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

Best Picture Winner: Slumdog Millionaire

UPDATE 11:39 pm EST The Best Actor Award is up next.  The nominees are:

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

NIce to see that there was a smattering of applause when Robert DeNiro mentioned Sean Penn's role of Jeff Spicoli in Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Sure, he's done all those serious films, but Spicoli may be the best role of his career.

Winner: Sean Penn "Milk"

UPDATE 11:27 pm EST The major awards are coming fast and furious. Next up is Best Actress. The nominees are:

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

Winner: Kate Winslet "The Reader"

UPDATE 11:20 pm EST Another big award coming up. This time it's for Best Director. The nominees are:

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

Winner: Danny Boyle, "Slumdog Millionaire"

UPDATE 11:17 EST Best Foreign Language Fim nominees are:

"The Baader Meinhof Complex" Germany
"The Class" France
"Departures" Japan
"Revanche" Austria
"Waltz With Bashir" Israel

Winner: "Depatures"Yojiro Takita. Sadly, the Japanese director didn't follow Kunio Kato's lead and end his acceptance speech with "Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto." In an ideal world, all Oscar winners would end their acceptance speeches with "Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto."

UPDATE 11:02 EST Best Original Song nominees are:

"Down to Earth" from "WALL-E" Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman
"Jai Ho" from "Slumdog Millionaire" A.R. Rahman and Gulzar
"O Saya" from "Slumdog Millionaire" A.R. Rahman and Maya Arulpragasam.

Winner: "Jai Ho" from "Slumdog Millionaire" A.R. Rahman and Gulzar

UPDATE 10:52 EST Best Original Score nominees are:

"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" Alexandre Desplat
"Defiance" James Newton Howard
"Milk" Danny Elfman
"Slumdog Millionaire" A.R. Rahman
"WALL-E" Thomas Newman

Winner: A.R. Rahman "Slumdog Millionaire"

UPDATE 10:45 EST France rejoices as The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award is presented to legendary comedian Jerry Lewis. 

In case you're wondering, Jean Hersholt is a Danish actor who is the former president of the Motion Picture Relief Fund.

UPDATE 10:35 EST Best Film Editing

"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
"The Dark Knight"
"Frost/Nixon"
"Milk"
"Slumdog Millionaire"

Winner: Chris Dickens "Slumdog Millionaire"

UPDATE 10:33 EST Best Sound Mixing nominees are:

"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
"The Dark Knight"
"Slumdog Millionaire"
"WALL-E"
"Wanted"

Winner: Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke, Resul Pookutty "Slumdog Millionaire"

UPDATE 10:28 EST Best Sound Editing nominees are:

"The Dark Knight"
"Iron Man"
"Slumdog Millionaire"
"WALL-E"
"Wanted"

Winner: Richard King "The Dark Knight"

-By the way, after flubbing a line,  Will Smith said "Boom Goes the Dynamite",  a reference to Brian Collins' notoriously awful sportscast that's become a huge internet hit. Who would have thought we'd see the day when Hollywood stars are referencing YouTube videos on the Oscars?

UPDATE 10:25 EST Best Visual Effects nominees are:

"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
"The Dark Knight"
"Iron Man"

Winner: Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton, Craig Barron

UPDATE 10:24 EST Another montage, this time of action scenes accompanied by The Hives "Tick Tick Boom."

UPDATE 10:19 EST Best Short Documentary

"The Conscience of Nhem En"
"The Final Inch"
"Smile Pinki"
"The Witness—From the Balcony of Room 306"

Winner: "Smile Pinki"

UPDATE 10:13 EST After Ledger's emotional win, Bill Maher presents the award for Best Documentary. The nominees are:

"The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)"
"Encounters at the End of the World"
"The Garden"
"Man on Wire"
"Trouble the Water"

Winner: James Marsh "Man on Wire"The subject of the film Philippe Petit went onstage and balanced an Oscar on his chin. If you've seen this amazing documentary, you'd know that his Oscar-balancing trick wouldn't even rank among the Top 100 craziest things that Petit has ever done.

UPDATE 9:04 EST The second major acting award of the night. This time, it's for Best Supporting Actor.

Watching Christopher Walken introduce Michael Shannon seemed like some sort of passing of the torch with one legendary creepy actor acknowledging a up-and-coming generation of creepy actor. Hopefully, Shannon will build a career as weird and wonderful as Walken's.

Josh Brolin, "Milk"
Robert Downey Jr., "Tropic Thunder"
Philip Seymour Hoffman, "Doubt"
Heath Ledger, "The Dark Knight"
Michael Shannon, "Revolutionary Road"

Winner: Heath Ledger "The Dark Knight" Not a surprise. The big question was not whether Heath would win, but who would accept the award? Ledger's father Kim Ledger, his mother Sally Bell, and sister Kate Ledger accepted the Oscar on the late actor's behalf.

UPDATE 9:57 EST What would the Oscars be without a crappy musical number? Well, this year's was an all-time clunker with Hugh Jackman and Beyonce et al butchering several decades of pop music. Not since David Bowie appeared on Cher's variety show have we seen such a hamhanded musical montage.

UDPATE 9:47 EST After a short film starring Seth Rogen and James Franco, they presented an award for Best Short Film.

"Auf der Strecke (On the Line)"
"Manon on the Asphalt"
"New Boy"
"The Pig"
"Spielzeugland (Toyland)"

Winner: "Auf der Strecke (On the Line)"

UPDATE 9:32 EST Natalie Portman and a Joaquin Phoenix-esque Ben Stiller are set to present the award for Best Cinematography. The nominees are:

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

Winner: Anthony Dod Mantle "Slumdog Millionaire"

UPDATE 9:27 EST Finally, a breather thanks to a montage of supposedly romantic scenes. For those that are wondering the song played during the Oscars montage was Coldplay's "Lovers in Japan/Reign of Love." 

UPDATE 9:24 EST Best Makeup nominees are:

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

Winner: Greg Cannom "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"

UPDATE 9:19 EST The next award goes to Best Costume Design

"Australia"
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
"The Duchess"
"Milk"
"Revolutionary Road"

Winner: Michael O'Conner "The Duchess"

UPDATE 9:17 EST I never thought I'd hear myself say this, but couldn't they break up all the awards with a lame musical number. This is exhausting. Next up: Best Art Direction

Art Direction

"Changeling"
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
"The Dark Knight"
"The Duchess"
"Revolutionary Road"

Winner: Donald Graham Burt, Victor J. Zolfo "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"

UPDATE 9:09 EST The next Oscar goes to Best Animated Short. Here are the nominees.

"La Maison en Petits Cubes"
"Lavatory—Lovestory"
"Oktapodi"
"Presto"
"This Way Up"

Winner: Kunio Kato "La Maison en Petits Cubes" The Japanese animator should commended for an awesome acceptance speech. After a long list of thank-yous, he ended with "Domo Arigato Mr. Roboto", in what must be the first time a Styx song was referenced in an Oscar acceptance speech.

UPDATE 9:06 EST The Oscars breakneck pace continues. If this keeps up, the Barbara Walters Special should be on in about a half-hour.

The next award is Best Animated Feature

Best Animated Feature Film

"Bolt"
"Kung Fu Panda"
"WALL-E"

Winner: "WALL-E" Not a surprise here. Many movie buffs (including one NowPublic editor) believes that WALL-E was the best film of 2008. 

UPDATE 9:00 EST Now it's time for the Best Adapted Screenplay. The nominees are: 

Eric Roth and Robin Swicord, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
John Patrick Shanley, "Doubt"
Peter Morgan, "Frost/Nixon"
David Hare, "The Reader"
Simon Beaufoy, "Slumdog Millionaire"

The winner is Simon Beaufoy, "Slumdog Millionaire." Could this be the beginning of a Slumdog landslide?

UPDATE 8:56 EST That was quick. Another major award is being handed out. This time for Best Original Screeplay. The nominees are:

Courtney Hunt, "Frozen River"
Mike Leigh, "Happy-Go-Lucky"
Martin McDonagh, "In Bruges"
Dustin Lance Black, "Milk"
Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon and Pete Docter, "WALL-E."

Winner: Dustin Lance Black "Milk"

UPDATE: 8:44 EST After an awkward introduction by host Hugh Jackman, the Oscars kick off with its first major award of the night--Best Supporting Actress.

The nominees are:

Viola Davis - Doubt

Taraji P. Henson - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Marisa Tomei - The Wrestler

Penelope Cruz- Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Amy Adams - Doubt

Winner: Penelope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona

-Cruz gave an emotional speech, some of it her native Spanish (A very rough translation--"For everyone in Spain, thank you for sharing this with me. This is for you and and for all the actors from my country. Thank you."

The 81st annual Academy Awards starts at 8:30pm est on ABC, and NowPublic will be here with all the results as they roll in. Even though the Oscars have seen declining ratings in the last few years, organisers are hoping the star power of Hugh Jackson hosting and a slate of interesting movies vying for awards will bring in the numbers.

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We also have a channel set up that will host all of our member stories, images and video for the 2009 Academy Awards.

In a definite change of pace, Mr. 'Wolverine' himself, Hugh Jackman will be hosting the awards. He claims he'll be doing the show entirely naked, which I'm sure will improve ratings by women in a huge way.

There was a lot of buzz earlier this week about an alleged 'leaked' list of the 2009 oscar winners, which of course the Academy immediately said was fake. That didn't stop the list from affecting betting on the results, skewing the bets towards those people named on the list.