The Academy Award nominations are in! At the crack of dawn today the 2009 Oscar contenders were announced.

One year ago Heath Ledger passed away at the height of his career. January 22, 2008 was a viscously sad day as the burning talent of Ledger was gone all too soon. It is bittersweet that his role in “The Dark Knight” as the Joker has earned him an Oscar nomination. Today, a year later, friends and family are still grieving and healing. Let’s hope that this recognition can give them something to further their pride in Heath and provide a small light to focus on.

The nomination predictions for big categories like Best Picture were theorized to go to “The Dark Knight,” “Slumdog Millionaire,” “Frost/Nixon,” “Milk” and “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button“. Actresses like Kate Winslet (who won 2 Golden Globes this year) and Angelina Jolie were also up for accolades in early predictions. So how did they fair?

2009 Academy Award Nominees:

Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams – “Doubt”
Penelope Cruz – “Vicky Cristna Barcelona”
Viola Davis – “Doubt”
Taraji P. Henson – “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Marisa Tomei – “The Wrestler”

Best Supporting Actor
Josh Brolin – “Milk”
Robert Downey Jr. – “Tropic Thunder”
Phillip Seymour Hoffman – “Doubt”
Heath Ledger – “The Dark Knight”
Michael Shannon – “Relolutionary Road”

Best Actress
Anne Hathaway – “Rachel Getting Married”
Angelina Jolie – “The Changeling”
Melissa Leo – “Frozen River”
Meryl Streep – “Doubt”
Kate Winslet “ The Reader”

Best Actor
Richard Jenkins – “The Visitor”
Frank Langella – “Frost/Nixon”
Sean Penn – “Milk”
Brad Pitt – “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Mickey Rourke – “The Wrestler”

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

Best Screen Play
Courtney Hunt – “Frozen River”
Mike Leigh – “Happy Go Luck”
Martin McDonough – “In Bruge”
Dustin Lance Black – “Milk”
Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon, Pete Docter – “Wall-E”

Adapted Screenplay
Eric Roth and Robin Swicord – “Benjamin Button”
John Patrick Shanley – “Doubt”
Peter Morgan – “Frost/Nixon”
David Hare – “The Reader”
Simon Beaufoy – “Slumdog Millionaire”

Foreign Language
“Der Baader Meinhof Komplex”
“The Class”
“Departures”
“Revanche”
“Waltz with Bashir”

Animated Film
“Bolt”
“Kung Fun Panda”
“WALL-E”

The Rest of the 2009 Academy Award Nominations List After the Fold – Click “Read More…”

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