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BEST PICTURE


"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button": (Released Dec. 25) Aided by some great special effects, the dramatic, slightly whimsical tale of a man who ages backward drew moderate cheers from critics and $103,979,578 at the box office as of Jan. 20.


Frost/Nixon: (Dec. 5) Based on a play, which was based on the post-Watergate TV interviews between British talk-show host David Frost and former President Richard Nixon, Ron Howard's film proved riveting. $8,821,381 in limited release.


"Milk": (Nov. 26) Sean Penn's multilayered performance tells the story of California's first openly gay elected official, Harvey Milk, who was assassinated in 1978. $20,591,008 in limited release.


"Slumdog Millionaire": (Nov. 12) The story of a poor teen from the slums of Mumbai who becomes a winner on the Hindi version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" and then is suspected of cheating is the smart, feel-good movie of the year. $44,239,067 in limited release.


"The Reader": (Dec. 10) One of many World War II-Nazi era movies that came out at the end of the year, the longshot of this nomination is nearly incalculable. It tells the story of a young man who, in his youth, had an affair with an older woman (Kate Winslet), who is later put on trial as a Nazi. $7,908,301 in limited release.


BEST DIRECTOR


Danny Boyle, "Slumdog Millionaire": From the druggie story "Trainspotting" to the zombie flick "28 Days Later" to the sweet "Millions," Boyle has compiled an eclectic resume that has come together in "Slumdog." His first nom.


David Fincher, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button": Best-known for gritty films like "Se7en," "The Fight Club" and "Zodiac," he considered "Button" a labor of love. First Oscar nod.


Ron Howard, "Frost/Nixon": Lauded for opening up the film from its staged confines while not losing the drama, Howard already has an best-director Oscar for "A Beautiful Mind," his only other nom.


Gus Van Sant, "Milk": Every once in awhile, Van Sant ("Paranoid Park," "My Own Private Idaho") lightens up, surprisingly even in this film he's been trying to make for years. He was previously nominated for "Good Will Hunting."


Stephen Daldry, "The Reader": Another theater director who made good on the big screen with a penchant for adapting novels. This is his third nomination ("Billy Elliot," "The Hours").


BEST ACTOR


Frank Langella, "Frost/Nixon": The 71-year-old veteran actor seemed to completely inhabit Tricky Dick. It's his first nom.


Sean Penn, "Milk": As the gay icon, this may be the first time you see Penn smile this much since, oh, "Fast Times at Ridgemont High." It's his fifth nomination, winning for "Mystic River."


Mickey Rourke, "The Wrestler": As the battered, broke, lonely pro wrestler, former boxer and Hollywood bad boy Rourke makes a wonderful comeback and already has a Golden Globe win in his pocket. It's his first nom.


Richard Jenkins, "The Visitor": The longtime character actor has a quiet dignity as a widowed professor whose life is changed by an illegal immigrant couple. First nom.


Brad Pitt, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button": Funnier in the Coen brothers' "Burn After Reading," he's still a cute presence as Button. Second nomination - the first as supporting actor in "Twelve Monkeys."


BEST ACTRESS


Anne Hathaway, "Rachel Getting Married": In between fluff like "Princess Diaries," "The Devil Wears Prada" and last year's "Get Smart," Hathaway throws herself into a role and shows she has talent ("Brokeback Mountain). In "Rachel," she makes the most of the dysfunctional sister who believes she's responsible for a tragic death. First nom.


Meryl Streep, "Doubt": If it's Oscar time, Streep will be there. This time, she's a hard-as-nails nun who suspects her parish priest of being a child molester. It's her 15th nom, with two wins.


Kate Winslet, "The Reader": The surprise here is she didn't get the nomination for "Revolutionary Road," despite winning the Golden Globe as best actress. Instead, her sixth nomination (no wins) is for a role as a woman who may or may not have been a Nazi collaborator, which, ironically, brought her a best supporting actress Globe.


Angelina Jolie, "Changeling": When you see a tattooed Jolie vamp around in "Wanted," it's easy to forget that she won an Oscar as best supporting actress in "Girl, Interrupted," her only other nomination. In this Clint Eastwood film, she plays a mother in the 1920s who thinks the boy who police returned as her kidnapped son isn't hers.


Melissa Leo, "Frozen River": The veteran stage and TV actress plays a mother trying to make ends meet in this small indy film. Her first nom.


BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR


Josh Brolin, "Milk": He plays the deranged Dan White, the former San Francisco supervisor who killed Harvey Milk. This performance - along with his George W. Bush in "W." and last year's turns in "American Gangster" and "No Country for Old Men" - puts Brolin in league with our finest actors.


Heath Ledger, "The Dark Knight": Positively unsettling as the Joker, only made more so by his untimely death. He received a best-actor nomination for "Brokeback Mountain."


Michael Shannon, "Revolutionary Road": The Kentucky native plays John, a middle-class math professor who had been committed to a sanitarium and undergone electroshock treatments. First nomination.


Robert Downey Jr., "Tropic Thunder": One of our most gifted actors, his comic role as a method actor who dyes his skin black for a Vietnam movie is hilarious. Second nom (first "Chaplin").


Philip Seymour Hoffman, "Doubt": Hoffman never shies away from tough roles - here he's a priest suspected of pedophilia - and he should have more nominations. This is his third, with a best-actor win for "Capote."


BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS


Penelope Cruz, "Vicky Cristina Barcelona": As the tempestuous ex-wife of a painter who is seducing two young American women, Cruz reminds you why we loved her in Pedro Almodóvar films like "Volver," the film in which she received her other Oscar nomination.


Viola Davis, "Doubt": A TV veteran, she more than holds her own with Meryl Streep, playing the mother of a boy possibly sexually abused by a priest. Her first nom.


Marisa Tomei, "The Wrestler": A stripper with a good heart (where have we seen that before?), Tomei shows us once again that she can make a lot out of a little. Her third nom and already a winner for "My Cousin Vinny."


Amy Adams, "Doubt": While she enchanted us as the bubbly fairy-tale princess in "Enchanted," here she plays a timid young nun naive to the world. Her first nomination.


Taraji P. Henson, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button": Better-known for TV roles ("Eli Stone," "Boston Legal"), she plays Queenie, the New Orleans woman who takes in an old-man baby. First nomination.


Rob Lowman, Entertainment Editor