Benjamin Button, Slumdog Millionaire Are Oscar's Big Boys
Hollywood's biggest battle will pit a time-challenged hero, a political war of wits, a gay activist icon, a woman with a Nazi past and a rags-to-riches survivor.
With The Curious Case of Benjamin Button vying for Best Picture along with Frost/Nixon, Milk, The Reader and Slumdog Millionaire, the 81st annual Academy Award nominations were announced Thursday morning – two days later than usual, on account of a little historical pageant that occurred in Washington, D.C., Tuesday.
Benjamin Button led the field, with a total of 13 nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actor, Supporting Actress, Director and Screenplay.
It was followed by Slumdog Millionaire, with 10.
Brad Pitt received his second-ever nomination, Best Actor for Benjamin Button. He was previously cited for his supporting role in 1995's Twelve Monkeys, but the Oscar went to Kevin Spacey in The Usual Suspects.
The other leading men singled out this year were previous Oscar winner Sean Penn for Milk, and Golden Globe winner Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler). The Visitor's Richard Jenkins and Frost/Nixon's Frank Langella round out the list.
