Feb 23

Best picture
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“Frost/Nixon”
“Milk”
“The Reader”
“Slumdog Millionaire”

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

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

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

Supporting actor
Josh Brolin, “Milk”
Robert Downey Jr., “Tropic Thunder”
Philip Seymour Hoffman, “Doubt”
WINNER: Heath Ledger, “The Dark Knight”
Michael Shannon, “Revolutionary Road”

Supporting actress
Amy Adams, “Doubt”
WINNER: Penelope Cruz, “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”
Viola Davis, “Doubt”
Taraji P. Henson, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Marisa Tomei, “The Wrestler”

Animated feature
“Bolt”
“Kung Fu Panda”
WINNER: “WALL-E”

Adapted screenplay
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” screenplay by Eric Roth, screen story by Eric Roth and Robin Swicord
“Doubt,” written by John Patrick Shanley
“Frost/Nixon,” screenplay by Peter Morgan
“The Reader,” screenplay by David Hare
WINNER: “Slumdog Millionaire,” screenplay by Simon Beaufoy

Original screenplay
“Frozen River,” written by Courtney Hunt
“Happy-Go-Lucky,” written by Mike Leigh
“In Bruges,” written by Martin McDonagh
WINNER: “Milk,” written by Dustin Lance Black
“WALL-E,” screenplay by Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon; original story by Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter

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

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

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

Documentary feature
“The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)”
“Encounters at the End of the World”
“The Garden”
WINNER: “Man on Wire”
“Trouble the Water”

Documentary short
“The Conscience of Nhem En”
“The Final Inch”
WINNER: “Smile Pinki”
“The Witness — From the Balcony of Room 306″

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

Foreign language film
“The Baader Meinhof Complex,” Germany
“The Class,” France
WINNER: “Departures,” Japan
“Revanche,” Austria
“Waltz with Bashir,” Israel

Makeup
WINNER: “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

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

Original song
“Down to Earth” from “WALL-E,” music by Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman, lyrics by Peter Gabriel
WINNER: “Jai Ho” from “Slumdog Millionaire,” music by A.R. Rahman, lyrics by Gulzar
“O Saya” from “Slumdog Millionaire,” music and lyrics by A.R. Rahman and Maya Arulpragasam

Animated short
WINNER: “La Maison en Petits Cubes”
“Lavatory — Lovestory”
“Oktapodi”
“Presto”
“This Way Up”

Live-action short
“Auf der Strecke (On the Line)”
“Manon on the Asphalt”
“New Boy”
“The Pig”
WINNER: “Spielzeugland”

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

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

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

Feb 20

Ricky Ponting, the Australia captain, has decided to skip the 2009 season of the IPL because of his country’s packed international schedule. Ponting felt he wouldn’t be able to give his all for his country if he used his two-week break from national duty to play for the Kolkata Knight Riders.
After the tour of South Africa ends in April, Australia are scheduled to play an ODI series against Pakistan, following which is the two-week gap when Australia’s players are expected to be available for the IPL. However, the itinerary is packed after the break with the ICC World Twenty20 in England followed by the Ashes, ODIs in England, a bilateral series in India, a Test series against Pakistan and the Australian summer.

Feb 6

Mashrafe Mortaza, the Bangladesh allrounder, is the first player up for sale from Pool F. There were no bids for him initially but just before the hammer went down, Kolkata made a bid at the base price of $50,000. It was the start of the most dramatic sale at the auction.

Kings XI Punjab entered the race, competing against Kolkata, for Mortaza. The bids spiralled slowly towards $400,000 and the auctioneer asked Punjab if they want to go $410,000, Priety Zinta nodded. The raises were slow and the bidding went on and on and on. Kolkata touched the $500,00 mark. Punjab went further at $550,000. The atmosphere in the room grew quieter as the bids rose and the auctioneer attempted to speed up the process. Kolkata was the first to bid $600,000 for Mortaza at which point Punjab bowed out of the race. It was the longest lot in the auction, almost as long as a short chess game. Kolkata’s purchase of Mortaza was a bit similar to Ishant Sharma’s surprise $950,000 tag at end of the auction last year. It is a 1100% appreciation from base price for Mortaza, beating the 575% for Ishant Sharma last year.