TNMC

Costume Design

Again, a bunch of period pieces. The one that stands out is Benjamin Button, which has to span decades and thus continually shifting styles.

Best Director

This is a surprisingly easy call. Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire.

Best Documentary Feature

I've only seen one of these docs, Werner Herzog's Encounters at the End of the World. I liked it so much I spent days telling everyone who crossed my path how great it was and blathering on about all the little details. So based on that deep examination of the field, I'll pick Encounters at the End of the World.

Best Documentary Short

No idea. I didn't see even one of them. So at random I will pick The Witness - From the Balcony of Room 306. I like the idea of a short with a title that takes longer to read than it takes to watch the movie.

Film Editing

This is always hard to call because we don't know what material the editor had to work with and that makes it hard to judge how well the work was done. But I'm going to go for Chris Dickens for Slumdog Millionaire. For one thing, he edited Shaun of the Dead, one of my favorite films of the last decade. But more relevantly, he had to deal with constant shifts in tone and style and make it all flow smoothly together while dealing with Danny Boyle's high energy frenetic style.

Foreign Language Film

I've seen two of these movies, The Class and Waltz With Bashir. I actually placed Bashir on my top ten list for the year, so that's my pick to win.

Makeup

Hellboy 2 had some really magnificent prosthetic work in it. But Benjamin Button convincingly took Brad Pitt through all ages between teenager and 80 year old man. That actually counts as a landmark advance. Button wins.

Original Score

Let's take a quick poll of the author. Which of the following scores did you purchase with your own money to listen to when you felt like it? Benjamin Button, Defiance, Milk, Slumdog Millionaire or WALL-E? That would be Slumdog Millionaire John. Right you are, John.

Original Score

I prefer the winner of this category to be a song integral to the film and not just something played during the end credits. In this group that is the song "O Saya" from Slumdog Millionaire. As it turns out, that matches my taste as well.

Best Animated Short

Sadly, I've seen none of these. I hope to change that before the big show, so I may change this pick. But for now, I'm calling it for Oktapodi. I think the little photo of it that accompanies the nomination page is pretty cool.

Best Live Action Short

Same story as the previous category. I'm picking The Pig because I like the title. And because my neighbor has a pet pig.