Awards

2009 Oscars 81st Academy Awards

Posted by Joe Hummel IIIPosted 16 years ago February 22, 2009

2009 Oscars 81st Academy Awards

Winners Announced: February 22, 2009
Held at: Kodak Theatre, Hollywood, California
Host: Hugh Jackman
Eligibility Year: 2008

Table of Contents

Oscar 2009 Trivia

Slumdog Millionaire took home eight Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director for Danny Boyle.
The award for Best Actor went to Sean Penn for his role in Milk, while Kate Winslet won Best Actress for The Reader.
Hugh Jackman’s hosting was notable for its musical numbers, including a spectacular opening medley.
This was the first year since 1989 that the Oscars had a sole host, rather than a duo or a group.
The late Heath Ledger won a posthumous Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of the Joker in The Dark Knight, making him the second actor to win a posthumous acting Oscar.
Penélope Cruz won Best Supporting Actress for Vicky Cristina Barcelona, becoming the first Spanish actress to win an Academy Award.
Pixar’s WALL-E won the award for Best Animated Feature, and it was the first Pixar film to be nominated for six Academy Awards.
The ceremony featured a new format for presenting the acting awards: previous winners came on stage to give personal tributes to the nominees.
Japanese drama Departures won Best Foreign Language Film, a surprising win that beat out the favorite, Waltz with Bashir.

2009 Oscar Nominees and Winners

Best Picture:
Slumdog Millionaire – Christian Colson, producer (WINNER)
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall and Ceán Chaffin, producers
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

Best Director:
Danny Boyle – Slumdog Millionaire (WINNER)
David Fincher – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Ron Howard – Frost/Nixon
Gus Van Sant – Milk
Stephen Daldry – The Reader

Best Actor:
Sean Penn – Milk as Harvey Milk (WINNER)
Richard Jenkins – The Visitor as Walter Vale
Frank Langella – Frost/Nixon as Richard Nixon
Brad Pitt – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button as Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke – The Wrestler as Randy “The Ram” Robinson

Best Actress:
Kate Winslet – The Reader as Hanna Schmitz (WINNER)
Anne Hathaway – Rachel Getting Married as Kym Buchman
Angelina Jolie – Changeling as Christine Collins
Melissa Leo – Frozen River as Ray Eddy
Meryl Streep – Doubt as Sister Aloysius Beauvier

Best Supporting Actor:
Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight as The Joker (WINNER) (posthumous award)
Josh Brolin – Milk as Dan White
Robert Downey Jr. – Tropic Thunder as Kirk Lazarus
Philip Seymour Hoffman – Doubt as Father Brendan Flynn
Michael Shannon – Revolutionary Road as John Givings Jr.

Best Supporting Actress:
Penélope Cruz – Vicky Cristina Barcelona as María Elena (WINNER)
Amy Adams – Doubt as Sister James
Viola Davis – Doubt as Mrs. Miller
Taraji P. Henson – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button as Queenie
Marisa Tomei – The Wrestler as Cassidy/Pam

Best Original Screenplay:
Milk – Dustin Lance Black (WINNER)
Frozen River – Courtney Hunt
Happy-Go-Lucky – Mike Leigh
In Bruges – Martin McDonagh
WALL-E – Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon and Pete Docter

Best Adapted Screenplay:
Slumdog Millionaire – Simon Beaufoy based on the novel Q & A by Vikas Swarup (WINNER)
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Eric Roth and Robin Swicord based on the short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Doubt – John Patrick Shanley based on his play
Frost/Nixon – Peter Morgan based on his stage play
The Reader – David Hare based on the novel Der Vorleser by Bernhard Schlink

Best Animated Feature Film:
WALL-E – Andrew Stanton (WINNER)
Bolt – Chris Williams and Byron Howard
Kung Fu Panda – Mark Osborne and John Stevenson

Best Foreign Language Film:
Departures (Japan) in Japanese – Yojiro Takita (WINNER)
The Baader Meinhof Complex (Germany) in German – Uli Edel
The Class (France) in French – Laurent Cantet
Revanche (Austria) in German – Götz Spielmann
Waltz with Bashir (Israel) in Hebrew – Ari Folman

Best Documentary Feature:
Man on Wire – James Marsh and Simon Chinn (WINNER)
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 – Carl Deal and Tia Lessin

Best Documentary Short Subject:
Smile Pinki – Megan Mylan (WINNER)
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 Pertovsky and Margaret Hyde

Best Live Action Short Film:
Toyland (Spielzeugland) — Jochen Alexander Freydank (WINNER)
Manon on the Asphalt — Elizabeth Marre and Olivier Pont
New Boy (Ireland) — Steph Green and Tamara Anghie
On the Line (Auf der Strecke) — Reto Caffi
The Pig (Grisen) — Tivi Magnusson and Dorte Høgh

Best Animated Short Film:
La Maison en Petits Cubes – Kunio Kato (WINNER)
Lavatory – Lovestory – Konstantin Bronzit
Oktapodi – Emud Mokhberi and Thierry Marchand
Presto – Doug Sweetland
This Way Up – Alan Smith and Adam Foulkes

Best Original Score:
Slumdog Millionaire – A. R. Rahman (WINNER)
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Alexandre Desplat
Defiance – James Newton Howard
Milk – Danny Elfman
WALL-E – Thomas Newman

Best Original Song:
“Jai Ho” from Slumdog Millionaire – Music by A. R. Rahman; Lyrics by Gulzar (WINNER)
“Down to Earth” from WALL-E – Music by Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman; Lyrics by Peter Gabriel
“O Saya” from Slumdog Millionaire – Music and Lyrics by A. R. Rahman and M.I.A.

Best Sound Editing:
The Dark Knight – Richard King (WINNER)
Iron Man – Frank Eulner and Christopher Boyes
Slumdog Millionaire – Glenn Freemantle and Tom Sayers
WALL-E – Ben Burtt and Matthew Wood
Wanted – Wylie Stateman

Best Sound Mixing:
Slumdog Millionaire – Resul Pookutty, Richard Pryke and Ian Tapp (WINNER)
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 – Chris Jenkins, Frank A. Montaño and Petr Forejt

Best Art Direction:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Art Direction: Donald Graham Burt; Set Decoration: Victor J. Zolfo (WINNER)
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

Best Cinematography:
Slumdog Millionaire – Anthony Dod Mantle (WINNER)
Changeling – Tom Stern
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Claudio Miranda
The Dark Knight – Wally Pfister
The Reader – Chris Menges and Roger Deakins

Best Makeup:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Greg Cannom (WINNER)
The Dark Knight – John Caglione Jr. and Conor O’Sullivan
Hellboy II: The Golden Army – Mike Elizalde and Thom Floutz

Best Costume Design:
The Duchess – Michael O’Connor (WINNER)
Australia – Catherine Martin
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Jacqueline West
Milk – Danny Glicker
Revolutionary Road – Albert Wolsky

Best Film Editing:
Slumdog Millionaire – Chris Dickens (WINNER)
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall
The Dark Knight – Lee Smith
Frost/Nixon – Mike Hill and Daniel P. Hanley
Milk – Elliot Graham

Best Visual Effects:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton and Craig Barron (WINNER)
The Dark Knight – Nick Davis, Chris Corbould, Tim Webber and Paul Franklin
Iron Man – John Nelson, Ben Snow, Dan Sudick and Shane Mahan

Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award:
Jerry Lewis