| Best Picture | Best Director |
- Slumdog Millionaire
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
- Frost/Nixon
- Milk
- The Reader
| - 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 | Best Actress |
- Sean Penn – Milk as Harvey Milk
- Richard Jenkins – The Visitor as Walter Vale
- Frank Langella – Frost/Nixon as Richard Nixon
- Brad Pitt – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button as Benjamin Button
- Mickey Rourke – The Wrestler as Randy "The Ram" Robinson
| - Kate Winslet – The Reader as Hanna Schmitz
- Anne Hathaway – Rachel Getting Married as Kym
- Angelina Jolie – Changeling as Christine Collins
- Melissa Leo – Frozen River as Ray Eddy
- Meryl Streep – Doubt as Sister Aloysius
|
| Best Supporting Actor | Best Supporting Actress |
- Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight as The Joker
- Josh Brolin – Milk as Dan White
- Robert Downey, Jr. – Tropic Thunder as Kirk Lazarus
- Philip Seymour Hoffman – Doubt as Father Brendan
- Michael Shannon – Revolutionary Road as John Givings
| - Penélope Cruz – Vicky Cristina Barcelona as Maria Elena
- Amy Adams – Doubt as Sister James
- Viola Davis – Doubt as Mrs. Miller
- Taraji P. Henson – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button as Queenie
- Marisa Tomei – The Wrestler as Cassidy
|
| Best Original Screenplay | Best Adapted Screenplay |
- Milk – Dustin Lance Black
- Frozen River – Courtney Hunt
- Happy-Go-Lucky – Mike Leigh
- In Bruges – Martin McDonagh
- WALL-E – Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon and Pete Docter
| - Slumdog Millionaire – Simon Beaufoy from Q & A by Vikas Swarup
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Eric Roth and Robin Swicord from The Curious Case of Benjamin Button by F. Scott Fitzgerald
- Doubt – John Patrick Shanley from Doubt by John Patrick Shanley
- Frost/Nixon – Peter Morgan from Frost/Nixon by Peter Morgan
- The Reader – David Hare from Der Vorleser by Bernhard Schlink
|
| Best Animated Feature | Best Foreign Language Film |
- WALL-E – Andrew Stanton
- Bolt – Chris Williams and Byron Howard
- Kung Fu Panda – Mark Osborne and John Wayne Stevenson
| - Departures (Japan) in Japanese – Yojiro Takita
- Waltz with Bashir (Israel) in Hebrew – Ari Folman
- Revanche (Austria) in German – Götz Spielmann
- The Class (France) in French – Laurent Cantet
- The Baader Meinhof Complex (Germany) in German – Uli Edel
|
| Best Documentary Feature | Best Documentary Short |
- Man on Wire
- The Betrayal - Nerakhoon
- Encounters at the End of the World
- The Garden
- Trouble the Water
| - Smile Pinki – Megan Mylan
- The Conscience of Nhem En – Steven Okazaki
- The Final Inch
- The Witness - From the Balcony of Room 306
|
| Best Live Action Short | Best Animated Short |
- Toyland (Spielzeugland)
- On the Line (Auf der Strecke)
- Manon On the Asphalt
- New Boy (Ireland)
- The Pig (Grisen)
| - 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 Original Score | Best Original Song |
- Slumdog Millionaire – A. R. Rahman
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Alexandre Desplat
- Defiance (2008 film) – James Newton Howard
- Milk – Danny Elfman
- WALL-E – Thomas Newman
| - "Jai Ho" from Slumdog Millionaire – A. R. Rahman (music), Gulzar (lyrics)
- "Down to Earth" from WALL-E – Peter Gabriel and
Thomas Newman (music), Peter Gabriel (lyrics)
- "O Saya" from Slumdog Millionaire – A. R. Rahman and M.I.A.
|
| Best Sound Editing | Best Sound Mixing |
- The Dark Knight – Richard King
- Iron Man – Frank Eulner, Christopher Boyes
- Slumdog Millionaire – Tom Sayers
- WALL-E – Ben Burtt and Matthew Wood
- Wanted – Wylie Stateman
| - Slumdog Millionaire – Resul Pookutty, Richard Pryke, Ian Tapp
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce, Mark Weingarten
- The Dark Knight – Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo, Ed Novick
- WALL-E – Tom Myers, Michael Semanick, Ben Burtt
- Wanted – Chris Jenkins, Frank A. Montaño, Petr Forejt
|
| Best Art Direction | Best Cinematography |
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Donald Graham Burt, Victor J. Zolfo
- Changeling – James J. Murakami, Gary Fettis
- The Dark Knight – Nathan Crowley, Peter Lando
- The Duchess – Michael Carlin, Rebecca Alleway
- Revolutionary Road – Kristi Zea, Debra Schutt
| - Slumdog Millionaire – Anthony Dod Mantle
- Changeling – Tom Stern
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Claudio Miranda
- The Dark Knight – Wally Pfister
- The Reader – Chris Menges, Roger Deakins
|
| Best Makeup | Best Costume Design |
- 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, Thom Floutz
| - The Duchess – Michael O'Connor
- Australia – Catherine Martin
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Jacqueline West
- Milk – Danny Glicker
- Revolutionary Road – Albert Wolsky
|
| Best Film Editing | Best Visual Effects |
- Slumdog Millionaire – Chris Dickens
- 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
| - 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
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