In the end I got 14 of my 18 picks right, that’s 78%… not bad for my 1st officially published picks!!

“Slumdog Millionaire” leads the way with 8 Oscar wins (out of 10 nominations), “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” wins 3 Oscars (out of 13 nominations), “The Dark Knight” wins 2 Oscars including the posthumous Oscar for Heath Ledger, “Milk” won 2 Oscars including Best Actor for Sean Penn.

Hugh Jackman was great as the host in a scaled down show that was very good !!

Now its time to start looking ahead at the rest of the movies in 2009.

“Slumdog Millionaire” bucks the trend, with the most popular/biggest favorite actually winning, but can it stand the test of time?  Remember “Shakespeare in Love” (1998)… it won 7 Oscars, inlcuding Best Picture, but 21 years later, most consider “Saving Private Ryan” as the best movie that year.

Nominees:

Best motion picture of the year
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”, Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall and Ceán Chaffin, Producers
“Frost/Nixon”, Brian Grazer, Ron Howard and Eric Fellner, Producers
“Milk”, Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen, Producers
“The Reader”
“Slumdog Millionaire”, Christian Colson, Producer

My Pick: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”, Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall and Ceán Chaffin, Producers

My Upset Pick: “Slumdog Millionaire”, Christian Colson, Producer
http://blogs.woodtv.com/2009/02/19/picking-the-oscar-winners/

This is Sean’s 2nd Oscar Win (Mystic River 2004).

Nominees:
Richard Jenkins in “The Visitor”
Frank Langella in “Frost/Nixon”
Sean Penn in “Milk”
Brad Pitt in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” 
Mickey Rourke in “The Wrestler”

My Pick: Sean Penn in “Milk”

My Upset Pick: MIckey Rourke in “The Wrestler” or Frank Langella in “Frost/Nixon”
http://blogs.woodtv.com/2009/02/19/picking-the-oscar-winners/

This was Kate’s 6th Oscar nomination… her first Oscar win !!!

Nominees:

Anne Hathaway in “Rachel Getting Married”
Angelina Jolie in “Changeling” 
Melissa Leo in “Frozen River”
Meryl Streep in “Doubt”
Kate Winslet in “The Reader”

My Pick: Kate Winslet in “The Reader”

My Upset Pick: Meryl Streep in “Doubt”
http://blogs.woodtv.com/2009/02/19/picking-the-oscar-winners/

Robert Osborne’s Upset Pick: Melissa Leo: http://blogs.woodtv.com/2009/02/19/robert-osborne-talks-oscars-with-laff-at-the-movies/

Nominees:

“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”, David Fincher
“Frost/Nixon”, Ron Howard
“Milk”, Gus Van Sant
“The Reader”, Stephen Daldry
“Slumdog Millionaire”, Danny Boyle

My Pick: “Slumdog Millionaire”, Danny Boyle
http://blogs.woodtv.com/2009/02/19/picking-the-oscar-winners/

nice work by Queen Latifah with LIVE song and good montage, ending with Paul Newman…. and a fade to black.

Nominees:

“The Baader Meinhof Complex”, Germany
“The Class”, France
“Departures”, Japan
“Revanche”, Austria
“Waltz with Bashir”, Israel

My Pick: “Waltz with Bashir”, Israel
http://blogs.woodtv.com/2009/02/19/picking-the-oscar-winners/

THIS IS THE FIRST REAL UPSET OF THE NIGHT… ALL YEAR LONG, ALL OF THE CRITICS I’VE HEARD OR READ SAID THAT “Waltz with Bashir”, Israel WAS THE BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE MOVIE HANDS DOWN.  WOW…. too bad I had to rely on others for this category.

Nominees:

“Down to Earth” from “WALL-E”, Music by Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman, Lyric by Peter Gabriel
“Jai Ho” from “Slumdog Millionaire”, Music by A.R. Rahman, Lyric by Gulzar
“O Saya” from “Slumdog Millionaire”, Music and Lyric by A.R. Rahman andMaya Arulpragasam

My Pick: “Jai Ho” from “Slumdog Millionaire”, Music by A.R. Rahman, Lyric by Gulzar

My (Upset) Pick: “O Saya” from “Slumdog Millionaire”, Music and Lyric by A.R. Rahman and Maya Arulpragasam
http://blogs.woodtv.com/2009/02/19/picking-the-oscar-winners/

Nominees:

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

My Pick: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”, Alexandre Desplat

My Upset Pick: “Slumdog Millionaire”, A.R. Rahman
http://blogs.woodtv.com/2009/02/19/picking-the-oscar-winners/

He’s a pioneer in Comedy with a long list of great movies… including the original “Nutty Ptofessor” (1963)… and “Boeing Boeing” (1965) – the first movie to play at the now closed West Michigan movie landmark Studio 28.

…and his great work with the MDA Telethon over the years!