Oscar Nominations: The Dark Knight and The Wrestler Get Snubbed.

Here it is. The list of the Academy Award Nominations have been announced and it leaves something to be desired. Much like "Zodiac" and "Eastern Promises" last year, "The Dark Knight" and "The Wrestler" were snubbed out of the Best Picture nominations. Instead both movies were passed off for "The Reader," a film considered so poor by critics and audiences alike I wonder how it was even considered. "Revolutionary Road" was punted out in favor of this movie as well. And of course "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" was nominated for being the best reprise of "Forrest Gump."

Both Darren Aronofsky and Chris Nolan were cheated out of directing nominations as well. Instead all of the Best Picture's director's got nods.

And can someone explain to me how Brad Pitt gets an actor nomination for Benjamin Button, but Cate Blanchett does not? Anne Hathaway gets a nomination? Really?

The list is a huge disappointment, and, frankly, an embarrassment. In a fall where movies just weren't that great "The Dark Knight" should have been a shoe-in.

The Academy had a chance to finally pull themselves out of a rut. "The Dark Knight" was that chance to show that they weren't attracted to the same bait they nominate every year, which, as time goes by, becomes less and less magnificent. Just because a film is artsier does not make it better. But according to the Academy only period pieces, melodramatic character pieces and, in rarer occasions, heroic epics with with plenty of swords deserve top awards. Lets not forget gay actors/pro-gay films get an unfair advantage. ("Milk")

The Academy is stubborn. They're stuck in a rut of believing their respected by nominated the same thing every year. They're a bunch of people who sit around getting off to the same flicks and refuse to see beauty anything beyond them. This may seem like an extremely pretentious remark, but it's something I've watched grow for awhile. I've tried to restrain it, but when I see the only heart-filled drama this fall get snubbed ("The Wrestler") it's time to let the volcano blow.

Already critics are claiming this year's snubbing of "The Dark Knight" will project the Oscars into its lowest audience yet-- And I hope it does. Audiences are angry. Critics are appalled-- Particularly at the inclusion of "The Reader." The Academy goofed. That's all that can be said. They goofed big time.

The nominees are:

Best Picture

* The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
* Frost/Nixon
* Milk
* The Reader
* Slumdog Millionaire

Best Director

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

Best Actor

* Richard Jenkins – The Visitor
* Frank Langella – Frost/Nixon
* Sean Penn – Milk
* Brad Pitt – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
* Mickey Rourke – The Wrestler

Best Actress

* Anne Hathaway – Rachel Getting Married
* Angelina Jolie – Changeling
* Melissa Leo – Frozen River
* Meryl Streep – Doubt
* Kate Winslet – The Reader

Best Supporting Actor

* Josh Brolin – Milk
* Robert Downey Jr. – Tropic Thunder
* Philip Seymour Hoffman – Doubt
* Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight (posthumous)
* Michael Shannon – Revolutionary Road

Best Supporting Actress

* Amy Adams – Doubt
* Penelope Cruz – Vicky Cristina Barcelona
* Viola Davis – Doubt
* Taraji P. Henson – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
* Marisa Tomei – The Wrestler

Best Original Screenplay

* WALL-E - Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon and Pete Docter
* Happy-Go-Lucky - Mike Leigh
* Frozen River - Courtney Hunt
* In Bruges - Martin McDonagh
* Milk - Dustin Lance Black

Best Adapted Screenplay

* The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Eric Roth and Robin Swicord
* Frost/Nixon - Peter Morgan
* The Reader - David Hare
* Slumdog Millionaire - Simon Beaufoy
* Doubt - John Patrick Shanley

Best Animated Feature

* Bolt – Chris Williams and Byron Howard
* Kung Fu Panda – Mark Osborne and John Stevenson
* WALL-E – Andrew Stanton

Best Foreign Language Film

* Revanche (Austria) in German
* The Class (France) in French
* The Baader Meinhof Complex (Germany) in German
* Departures (Japan) in Japanese
* Waltz with Bashir (Israel) in Hebrew

Best Animated Short

* La Maison En Petits Cubes - Kunio Kato
* Lavatory - Lovestory - Konstantin Bronzit
* Oktapodi - Emud Mokhberi and Thierry Marchand
* Presto - Doug Sweetland
* This Way Up - Alan Smith and Adam Foulkes

Best Art Direction

* Changeling – James J. Murakami, Gary Fettis
* The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Donald Graham Burt, Victor J. Zolfo
* The Dark Knight – Nathan Crowley, Peter Lando
* The Duchess – Michael Carlin, Rebecca Alleway
* Revolutionary Road – Kristi Zea, Debra Schutt

Best Cinematography

* Changeling – Tom Stern
* The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Claudio Miranda
* The Dark Knight – Wally Pfister
* The Reader – Chris Menges, Roger Deakins
* Slumdog Millionaire – Anthony Dod Mantle

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 Documentary Feature

* Nerakhoon (Nerakhoon)
* Encounters at the End of the World
* The Garden
* Man on Wire
* Trouble the Water

Best Documentary Short

* The Conscience of Nhem En
* The Final Inch
* Smile Pinki
* The Witness - From the Balcony of Room 306

Best Film Editing

* The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Kirk Baxter, Angus Wall
* The Dark Knight – Lee Smith
* Frost/Nixon – Mike Hill, Daniel P. Hanley
* Milk – Elliot Graham
* Slumdog Millionaire – Chris Dickens

Best Live Action Short

* On the Line (Auf der Strecke)
* Manon On the Asphalt
* New Boy
* The Pig
* Toyland (Spielzeugland)

Best Makeup

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

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 Original Song

* "Down to Earth" from WALL-E – Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman (music), Peter Gabriel (lyrics)
* "Jai Ho" from Slumdog Millionaire – A. R. Rahman (music), Gulzar (lyrics)
* "O Saya" from Slumdog Millionaire – A. R. Rahman and Maya Arulpragasam

Best Sound Editing

* The Dark Knight – Richard King
* Iron Man – Frank Eulner and Christopher Boyes
* Slumdog Millionaire – Tom Sayers
* WALL-E – Ben Burtt and 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 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