My final Oscar predictions.

BEST PICTURE OF THE YEAR

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Warner Bros./Paramount) Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall and Cean Chaffin, producers.

The Dark Knight (Warner Bros.) Charles Roven, Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan, producers.

Frost/Nixon (Imagine Entertainment) Ron Howard and Brian Grazer, producers.

Milk (Focus Features) Bruce Cohen, Dan Jinks and Michael London, producers.

Slumdog Millionaire (Fox Searchlight) Christian Colson, producer.


BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTING

David Fincher, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Christopher Nolan, The Dark Knight

Clint Eastwood, Gran Torino

Gus Van Sant, Milk

Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire


BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

Clint Eastwood, Gran Torino

Richard Jenkins, The Visitor

Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon

Sean Penn, Milk

Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler


BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

Cate Blanchett, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married

Sally Hawkins, Happy-Go-Lucky

Meryl Streep, Doubt

Kate Winslet, Revolutionary Road


BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Josh Brolin, Milk

Robert Downey Jr., Tropic Thunder

Philip Seymour Hoffman, Doubt

Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight

Dev Patel, Slumdog Millionaire


BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Amy Adams, Doubt

Penelope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Viola Davis, Doubt

Marisa Tomei, The Wrestler

Kate Winslet, The Reader


BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN WRITING - ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Milk
Written by Dustin Lance Black

Rachel Getting Married
Written by Jenny Lumet

Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Written by Woody Allen

WALL-E
Screenplay by Andrew Stanton and Jim Reardon
Story by Andrew Stanton and Pete Docter

The Wrestler
Written by Robert D. Siegel


BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN WRITING - ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Screenplay by Eric Roth
Screen story by Eric Roth and Robin Swicord
Based on the short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Dark Knight
Screenplay by Christopher Nolan and Jonathan Nolan
Screen story by Christopher, Jonathan Nolan and David S. Goyer
Based on the DC Comics created by Bob Kane

Frost/Nixon
Screenplay by Peter Morgan
Based on his play

The Reader
Screenplay by David Hare
Based on the novel by Bernard Schlink

Slumdog Millionaire
Screenplay by Simon Beaufoy
Based on the novel Q & A by Vikas Swarup


BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

Kung Fu Panda (Dreamworks) Mark Osborne and John Stevenson

WALL-E (Disney/PIXAR) Andrew Stanton

Waltz with Bashir (Sony Pictures Classics) Ari Folman


BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY

Claudio Miranda, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Wally Pfister, The Dark Knight

Chris Menges and Roger Deakins, The Reader

Roger Deakins, Revolutionary Road

Anthony Dod Mantle, Slumdog Millionaire


BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN FILM EDITING

Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Lee Smith, The Dark Knight

Mike Hill and Dan Hanley, Frost/Nixon

Elliot Graham, Milk

Chris Dickens, Slumdog Millionaire


BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN ART DIRECTION

Australia
Catherine Martin (art direction) & Beverley Dunn (set decoration)

Changeling
James J. Murakami (art direction) & Gary Fettis (set decoration)

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Donald Graham Burt (art direction) & Victor J. Zolfo (set decoration)

The Dark Knight
Nathan Crowley (art direction) & Peter Lando (set decoration)

The Reader
Briggite Broch (art direction) & Eva Stiebler (set decoration)


BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC - ORIGINAL SCORE

Alexandre Desplat, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Hans Zimmer, Frost/Nixon

Danny Elfman, Milk

A.R. Rahman, Slumdog Millionaire

Thomas Newman, WALL-E


BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC - ORIGINAL SONG

"Barking at the Moon", Bolt
Music & lyrics by Jenny Lewis

"Down to Earth", WALL-E
Music by Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman
Lyrics by Peter Gabriel

"Jai Ho", Slumdog Millionaire
Music & lyrics by A.R. Rahman

"O Saya", Slumdog Millionaire
Music & lyrics by A.R. Rahman

"The Wrestler", The Wrestler
Music & lyrics by Bruce Springsteen


BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN COSTUME DESIGN

Catherine Martin, Australia

Deborah Hopper, Changeling

Jacqueline West, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Albert Wolsky, Revolutionary Road

Patricia Field, Sex and the City


BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND MIXING

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Ren Klyce, David Parker and Michael Semanick.

The Dark Knight
Gary Rizzo, Lora Hirschberg and Ed Novick

Iron Man
Christopher Boyes, Lora Hirschberg and Michael Silvers.

Slumdog Millionaire
Richard Pryke, Ian Tapp and Resul Pookutty

WALL-E
Ben Burtt, Tom Myers and Michael Semanick


BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND EDITING

The Dark Knight
Richard King

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Ben Burtt and Richard Hymns

Iron Man
Frank Eulner

Kung Fu Panda
Erik Aadahl and Ethan Van Der Ryn..

WALL-E
Ben Burtt and Matthew Wood.


BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN VISUAL EFFECTS

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Eric Barba, Paul Griffin, Steve Preeg and Whei Zeng.

The Dark Knight
Nick Davis, Chris Corbould, Tim Angulo and Paul J. Franklin

Iron Man
John Nelson, Ben Snow, Hal Hickel and David Andrews


BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN MAKEUP

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Greg Cannom and Elaine L. Offers.

The Dark Knight
Conor O'Sullivan and Peter Robb-King

Tropic Thunder
Matthew W. Mungle and Michele Burke.

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

The Baadof Meinhof Complex, Germany (Dune Films)
Uli Edel, director.

The Class, France (Sony Pictures Classics/Canal+)
Laurence Cantet, director.

Everlasting Moments, Sweden (IFC Films)
Jan Troell, director.

The Necessities of Life, Canada (Telefilm Canada)
Benoit Pilon, director.

Waltz with Bashir, Israel (Sony Pictures Classics)
Ari Folman, director.