'Slumdog' and 'Button' lead Oscar nominations, 'Dark Knight' snubbed

The nominees for the 81st Academy Awards were announced by Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Sid Gannis and Academy member Forest Whitaker who won the Leading Actor Oscar for his role in 2006's "The Last King of Scotland."

The nominees are:

Best Motion Picture of the Year:
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
"Slumdog Millionaire"
"Milk"
"Frost Nixon"
"The Reader"

Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role:
Frank Langella, "Frost/Nixon"
Sean Penn, "Milk"
Brad Pitt, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
Mickey Rourke, "The Wrestler"
Richard Jenkins, "The Visitor"

Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role:
Anne Hathaway, "Rachel Getting Married"
Angelina Jolie, "Changeling"
Meryl Streep, "Doubt"
Kate Winslet, "The Reader"
Melissa Leo, "Frozen River"

Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role:
Josh Brolin, "Milk"
Robert Downey, Jr., "Tropic Thunder"
Philip Seymour Hoffman, "Doubt"
Heath Ledger, "The Dark Knight"
Michael Shannon, "Revolutionary Road"

Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role:
Amy Adams, "Doubt"
Penelope Cruz, "Vicky Christina Barcelona"
Viola Davis, "Doubt"
Taraji P. Henson, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
Marisa Tomei, "The Wrestler"

Achievement in Directing:
Danny Boyle, "Slumdog Millionaire"
David Fincher, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
Stephen Daldry, "The Reader"
Gus Van Sant, "Milk"
Ron Howard, "Frost/Nixon"

Best Animated Film:
"Bolt"
"Kung Fu Panda"
"WALL-E"

Best Original Screenplay:
Courtney Hunt, Frozen River
Mike Leigh, Happy-Go-Lucky
Dustin Lance Black, Milk
Martin McDonough, In Bruges
Andrew Stanton, Wall-E

Best Adapted Screenplay:
Eric Roth, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
John Patrick Shanley, "Doubt"
Peter Morgan, "Frost/Nixon"
David Hare, "The Reader"
Simon Beaufoy, "Slumdog Millionaire"

Best Foreign Language Film:
"The Baader Meinhof Complex," Germany
"The Class," France
"Departures," Japan
"Revanche," Austria
"Waltz With Bashir,"Israel

Best Documentary:
"The Betrayal" (Nerakhoon)
"

Encounters at the End of the World"
"The Garden"
"Man on Wire"
"Trouble the Water"

Best Original Song:
“Down To Earth," "WALL-E"
“Jai Ho," "Slumdog Millionaire"
“O Saya," Slumdog Millionaire"

Best Original Score
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Alexandre Desplat
"Defiance," James Newton Howard
"Milk," Danny Elfman
"Slumdog Millionaire," A.R. Rahman
"WALL-E," Thomas Newman

Best Film Editing:
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” Kirk Baxter, Angus Wall
“The Dark Knight,” Lee Smith
“Frost/Nixon,” Mike Hill, Dan Hanley
“Milk,” Elliot Graham
“Slumdog Millionaire,” Chris Dickens

Best Cinematography:
“Changeling,” Tom Stern
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” Claudio Miranda
“The Dark Night,” Wally Pfister
“The Reader,” Chris Menges, Roger Deakins
“Slumdog Millionaire,” Anthony Dod Mantle

Best Art Direction:
“Changeling,” James J. Murakami, Gary Fettis
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” Donald Graham Burt, Victor J. Zolfo
“The Dark Night,” Nathan Crowley, Peter Lando
“The Duchess,” Michael Carlin, Rebecca Alleway
“Revolutionary Road,” Kristi Zea, Debra Schutt

Best Costume Design:
“Australia,” Catherine Martin
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” Jacqueline West
“The Duchess,” Michael O’Connor
“Milk,” Danny Glicker
“Revolutionary Road,” Albert Wolsky

Best Visual Effects:
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton, Craig Barron
“The Dark Knight,” Nick Davis, Chris Corbould, Tim Webber, Paul Franklin
“Iron Man,” John Nelson, Ben Snow, Dan Sudick, Shane Mahan

Best Sound Editing:
“The Dark Knight,” Richard King
“Iron Man,” Frank Eulner, Christopher Boyes
“Slumdog Millionaire,” Tom Sayers
“WALL-E,” Ben Burtt, Matthew Wood
“Wanted,” Wylie Stateman

Best Sound Mixing:
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce, Mark Weingarten
“The Dark Knight,” Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo, Ed Novick
“Slumdog Millionaire,” Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke, Resul Pookutty
“WALL-E,” Tom Myers, Michael Semanick, Ben Burtt
“Wanted,” Chris Jenkins, Frank A. Montaño, Petr Forejt

Best Makeup:
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” Greg Cannom
“The Dark Knight, John Caglione, Jr., Conor O’Sullivan
Hellboy II: The Golden Army, Mike Elizalde, Thom Floutz

Best Documentary Short Subject:
“The Conscience of Nhem En,” Steven Okazaki
“The Final Inch,” Irene Taylor Brodsky, Tom Grant
“Smile Pinki,” Megan Mylan
“The Witness - From the Balcony of Room 306,” Adam Petofsky, Margaret Hyde

Best Animated Short Film:
“La Maison de Petits Cubes,” Kunio Kato
“Lavatory - Lovestory,” Konstantin Bronzit
“Oktapodi,” Emud Mokhberi, Thierry Marchand
“Presto,” Doug Sweetland
“This Way Up,” Alan Smith, Adam Foulkes

Best Live Action Short Film:
“Auf der Strecke” (On the Line),” Reto Caffi
“Manon on the Asphalt,” Elizabeth Marre, Olivier Pont
“New Boy,” Steph Green, Tamara Anghie
“The Pig,” Tivi Magnusson, Dorte Høgh
“Spielzeugland” (Toyland), Jochen Alexander Freydan

This year's show will be hosted by Hugh Jackman and telecast on Sunday, Feb. 22 at 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST on ABC.

For more on Bruce Springsteen's snub in the Best Original Song category, read Melinda Newman's thoughts in The Beat Goes On here.

Read Gregory Ellwood's Awards Campaign 2009 blog and keep visiting HitFix.com for the latest updates on this year's Oscars show.