Oscar smackdown: Nixon vs. Batman?

This year's ‘Sideways’
One of the season’s unusual competitors is Danny Boyle’s “Slumdog Millionaire,” featuring a cast of unknowns in the alternately buoyant and horrifying tale of a boy from the slums of Mumbai whose appearance on India’s version of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” may finally reunite him with a lost childhood sweetheart.

As always, Pixar Animation, makers of “Ratatouille,” “Finding Nemo” and “Toy Story,” is in the running for the animated-feature Oscar with “WALL-E.” Yet the story of the adorably plucky robot was so well-received that the film stands an outside chance at a best-picture nomination, too.

For a TV ratings boost, the best thing that could happen to the Oscars would be best-picture nominations for both “WALL-E” and “The Dark Knight.” The two blockbusters would give viewers much more of a vested interest in the awards outcome than they have had in years.

Director Nolan raised the comic-book genre to a new high with “The Dark Knight,” and he’s tickled at the thought that his film is getting serious consideration from Oscar voters who typically do not lean toward superhero flicks.

“I’m sure when you interview people, they’re talking about their movies at the end of the year, I’m sure the line you hear a lot is, ‘Well, that’s not why we do this,”’ Nolan said. “Mercifully, in the case of doing a superhero movie, I really can say that’s not why we’re doing this. It’s not the obvious Oscar prospect. ...

“Just the fact that you’d even ask that question in relation to a populist film in a populist genre, that certainly is an exciting thing, and it’s really fun.”

Possible nominees
A rundown of front-runners and some longshots that could turn up in the Oscar mix:

Best picture: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “The Dark Knight,” “Defiance,” “Doubt,” “Frost/Nixon,” “Gran Torino,” “Milk,” “The Reader,” “Revolutionary Road,” “Slumdog Millionaire,” “WALL-E,” “The Wrestler.”

Best director: Darren Aronofsky, “The Wrestler”; Danny Boyle, “Slumdog Millionaire”; Stephen Daldry, “The Reader”; Clint Eastwood, “Changeling,” “Gran Torino”; David Fincher, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”; Ron Howard, “Frost/Nixon”; Sam Mendes, “Revolutionary Road”; Christopher Nolan, “The Dark Knight”; John Patrick Shanley, “Doubt”; Steven Soderbergh, “Che”; Andrew Stanton, “WALL-E”; Gus Van Sant, “Milk”; Edward Zwick, “Defiance.”

Best actor: Christian Bale, “The Dark Knight”; Josh Brolin, “W.”; Daniel Craig, “Defiance”; Benicio Del Toro, “Che”; Leonardo DiCaprio, “Revolutionary Road”; Clint Eastwood, “Gran Torino”; Richard Jenkins, “The Visitor; Frank Langella, “Frost/Nixon”; Sean Penn, “Milk”; Brad Pitt, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”; Mickey Rourke, “The Wrestler”; Will Smith, “Seven Pounds.”

Best actress: Cate Blanchett, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”; Anne Hathaway, “Rachel Getting Married”; Sally Hawkins, “Happy-Go-Lucky”; Angelina Jolie, “Changeling”; Keira Knightley, “The Duchess”; Melissa Leo, “Frozen River”; Kristin Scott Thomas, “I’ve Loved You So Long”; Meryl Streep, “Doubt”; Michelle Williams, “Wendy and Lucy”; Kate Winslet, “The Reader,” “Revolutionary Road.”

Supporting actor: Josh Brolin, “Milk”; James Cromwell, “W.”; Robert Downey Jr., “Tropic Thunder”; Richard Dreyfuss, “W.”; Ralph Fiennes, “The Duchess,” “The Reader”; James Franco, “Milk”; Philip Seymour Hoffman, “Doubt”; David Kross, “The Reader”; Heath Ledger, “The Dark Knight”; John Malkovich, “Changeling”; Eddie Marsan, “Happy-Go-Lucky”; Dev Patel, “Slumdog Millionaire”; Michael Shannon, “Revolutionary Road”; Michael Sheen, “Frost/Nixon.”

Supporting actress: Amy Adams, “Doubt”; Elizabeth Banks, “W.”; Kathy Bates, “Revolutionary Road”; Penelope Cruz, “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”; Viola Davis, “Doubt”; Rosemarie DeWitt, “Rachel Getting Married”; Taraji P. Henson, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”; Tilda Swinton, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”; Marisa Tomei, “The Wrestler”; Misty Upham, “Frozen River”; Evan Rachel Wood, “The Wrestler”; Debra Winger, “Rachel Getting Married.”

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