Opening number featuring Anne Hathaway
2009
The 81st Academy Awards | 2009
Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Honoring movies released in 2008
Memorable Moments
Nominees
Actor in a Leading Role
Winner
Sean Penn
Milk
Nominees
Richard Jenkins
The Visitor
Frank Langella
Frost/Nixon
Brad Pitt
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke
The Wrestler
Actor in a Supporting Role
Winner
Heath Ledger
The Dark Knight
Nominees
Josh Brolin
Milk
Robert Downey Jr.
Tropic Thunder
Philip Seymour Hoffman
Doubt
Michael Shannon
Revolutionary Road
Actress in a Leading Role
Winner
Kate Winslet
The Reader
Nominees
Anne Hathaway
Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie
Changeling
Melissa Leo
Frozen River
Meryl Streep
Doubt
Actress in a Supporting Role
Winner
Penélope Cruz
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Nominees
Amy Adams
Doubt
Viola Davis
Doubt
Taraji P. Henson
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Marisa Tomei
The Wrestler
Animated Feature Film
Winner
WALL-E
Andrew Stanton
Nominees
Bolt
Chris Williams and Byron Howard
Kung Fu Panda
John Stevenson and Mark Osborne
Art Direction
Winner
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Art Direction: Donald Graham Burt; Set Decoration: Victor J. Zolfo
Nominees
Changeling
Art Direction: James J. Murakami; Set Decoration: Gary Fettis
The Dark Knight
Art Direction: Nathan Crowley; Set Decoration: Peter Lando
The Duchess
Art Direction: Michael Carlin; Set Decoration: Rebecca Alleway
Revolutionary Road
Art Direction: Kristi Zea; Set Decoration: Debra Schutt
Cinematography
Winner
Slumdog Millionaire
Anthony Dod Mantle
Nominees
Changeling
Tom Stern
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Claudio Miranda
The Dark Knight
Wally Pfister
The Reader
Chris Menges and Roger Deakins
Costume Design
Winner
The Duchess
Michael O'Connor
Nominees
Australia
Catherine Martin
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Jacqueline West
Milk
Danny Glicker
Revolutionary Road
Albert Wolsky
Directing
Winner
Slumdog Millionaire
Danny Boyle
Nominees
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
David Fincher
Frost/Nixon
Ron Howard
Milk
Gus Van Sant
The Reader
Stephen Daldry
Documentary (Feature)
Winner
Man on Wire
James Marsh and Simon Chinn
Nominees
The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)
Ellen Kuras and Thavisouk Phrasavath
Encounters at the End of the World
Werner Herzog and Henry Kaiser
The Garden
Scott Hamilton Kennedy
Trouble the Water
Tia Lessin and Carl Deal
Documentary (Short Subject)
Winner
Smile Pinki
Megan Mylan
Nominees
The Conscience of Nhem En
Steven Okazaki
The Final Inch
Irene Taylor Brodsky and Tom Grant
The Witness - From the Balcony of Room 306
Adam Pertofsky and Margaret Hyde
Film Editing
Winner
Slumdog Millionaire
Chris Dickens
Nominees
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall
The Dark Knight
Lee Smith
Frost/Nixon
Mike Hill and Dan Hanley
Milk
Elliot Graham
Foreign Language Film
Winner
Departures
Japan
Nominees
The Baader Meinhof Complex
Germany
The Class
France
Revanche
Austria
Waltz with Bashir
Israel
Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award
Winner
Jerry Lewis
Makeup
Winner
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Greg Cannom
Nominees
The Dark Knight
John Caglione, Jr. and Conor O'Sullivan
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
Mike Elizalde and Thom Floutz
Music (Original Score)
Winner
Slumdog Millionaire
A.R. Rahman
Nominees
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Alexandre Desplat
Defiance
James Newton Howard
Milk
Danny Elfman
WALL-E
Thomas Newman
Music (Original Song)
Winner
Slumdog Millionaire
Jai Ho in "Slumdog Millionaire" Music by A.R. Rahman; Lyric by Gulzar
Nominees
WALL-E
Down To Earth in "WALL-E" Music by Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman; Lyric by Peter Gabriel
Slumdog Millionaire
O Saya in "Slumdog Millionaire" Music and Lyric by A.R. Rahman and Maya Arulpragasam
Best Picture
Winner
Slumdog Millionaire
Christian Colson, Producer
Nominees
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Brian Grazer, Ron Howard and Eric Fellner, Producers
Milk
Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen, Producers
The Reader
Anthony Minghella, Sydney Pollack, Donna Gigliotti and Redmond Morris, Producers
Short Film (Animated)
Winner
La Maison en Petits Cubes
Kunio Kato
Nominees
Lavatory - Lovestory
Konstantin Bronzit
Oktapodi
Emud Mokhberi and Thierry Marchand
Presto
Doug Sweetland
This Way Up
Alan Smith and Adam Foulkes
Short Film (Live Action)
Winner
Spielzeugland (Toyland)
Jochen Alexander Freydank
Nominees
Auf der Strecke (On the Line)
Reto Caffi
Manon on the Asphalt
Elizabeth Marre and Olivier Pont
New Boy
Steph Green and Tamara Anghie
The Pig
The Pig
Sound Editing
Winner
The Dark Knight
Richard King
Nominees
Iron Man
Frank Eulner and Christopher Boyes
Slumdog Millionaire
Glenn Freemantle and Tom Sayers
WALL-E
Ben Burtt and Matthew Wood
Wanted
Wylie Stateman
Sound Mixing
Winner
Slumdog Millionaire
Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke and Resul Pookutty
Nominees
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Mark Weingarten
The Dark Knight
Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo and Ed Novick
WALL-E
Tom Myers, Michael Semanick and Ben Burtt
Wanted
Wanted
Visual Effects
Winner
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton and Craig Barron
Nominees
The Dark Knight
Nick Davis, Chris Corbould, Tim Webber and Paul Franklin
Iron Man
John Nelson, Ben Snow, Dan Sudick and Shane Mahan
Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
Winner
Slumdog Millionaire
Screenplay by Simon Beaufoy
Nominees
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Screenplay by Eric Roth; Screen story by Eric Roth and Robin Swicord
Doubt
Written by John Patrick Shanley
Frost/Nixon
Screenplay by Peter Morgan
The Reader
Screenplay by David Hare
Writing (Original Screenplay)
Winner
Milk
Written by Dustin Lance Black
Nominees
Frozen River
Written by Courtney Hunt
Happy-Go-Lucky
Written by Mike Leigh
In Bruges
Written by Martin McDonagh
WALL-E
Screenplay by Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon; Original story by Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter
R
Rachel Getting Married
1 NominationActress in a Leading Role - Anne Hathaway in "Rachel Getting Married"
The Reader
5 Nominations, 1 WinBest Picture - Anthony Minghella, Sydney Pollack, Donna Gigliotti and Redmond Morris, Producers
Cinematography - Chris Menges and Roger Deakins
Writing (Adapted Screenplay) - Screenplay by David Hare
Directing - Stephen Daldry
* Actress in a Leading Role - Kate Winslet in "The Reader"
Revanche
1 NominationForeign Language Film - Austria
Revolutionary Road
3 NominationsCostume Design - Albert Wolsky
Art Direction - Art Direction: Kristi Zea; Set Decoration: Debra Schutt
Actor in a Supporting Role - Michael Shannon in "Revolutionary Road"