2009 Oscars 81st Academy Awards

2009 Oscars 81st Academy Awards

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

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