Academy Awards Predictions: Part 2

Best Art Direction
Donald Graham Burt / Victor J. Zolfo (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)
*Revolutionary Road might give Button a fight, but wow, what a gorgeous film.

Best Cinematography
Anthony Dod Mantle (Slumdog Millionaire)
*This is a  hard one to call. I loved Button and TDK, but the chaos of Slumdog blew me away. From early on in the film I was expecting to have a Bourne-style headache, but it was surprisingly smooth.

Best Film Editing
Chris Dickens (Slumdog Millionaire)
*The editing and the cinematography blended together so well; you couldn’t have one without the other.

Best Costume Design
Michael O’Connor (The Duchess)
*Period pieces winning the award three times in a row? Probably. I wouldn’t mind seeing Revolutionary Road sneak in for the award.

Best Make-Up
Greg Cannom (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)
*This is a toss-up between Button and TDK (*cough*Joker*cough*) Both are very deserving.

Best Original Score
Alexandre Desplat (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)
*Slumdog and WALL-E also have a pretty good shot at this. Desplat’s score was a great compantion for the film, from atmosphere to period.

Best Original Song
“Down to Earth” (Peter Gabriel) (WALL-E)
*Personally I would choose “O Saya” from Slumdog Millionaire, but I’m thinking there will be a Slumdog split vote on this one.

Best Sound Mixing
Ben Burtt / Matthew Wood (WALL-E)

Best Sounding Editing
Ben Burtt / Matthew Wood (WALL-E)
*Hand down in my book. The sound was incredible in this film.

Best Visual Effects
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
*If this doesn’t win, I will be sorely disappointed. It needed some more work, but it was spectacular throughout.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7X5zCxe6Ah8&hl=en&fs=1]