81st Academy Awards

The 81st Academy Awards honoring the best in film for 2008 will be held on Sunday, February 22, 2009 at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood with actor Hugh Jackman hosting the ceremony for the first time.

Below, the complete list of nominees.

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

BEST DIRECTOR
Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire
David Fincher, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Ron Howard, Frost/Nixon
Stephen Daldry, The Reader
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
Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
Robert Downey Jr., Tropic Thunder
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Doubt
Michael Shannon, Revolutionary Road

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams, Doubt
Penélope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis, Doubt
Taraji P. Henson, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Marisa Tomei, The Wrestler

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

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Eric Roth
Doubt, John Patrick Shanley
Frost/Nixon, Peter Morgan
The Reader, David Hare
Slumdog Millionaire, Simon Beaufoy

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda
WALL-E

BEST ANIMATED SHORT
La Maison en Petits Cubes
Lavatory — Lovestory
Oktapodi
Presto
This Way Up

BEST ART DIRECTION
Changeling
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
The Duchess
Revolutionary Road

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Changeling
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Australia
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Duchess
Milk
Revolutionary Road

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
The Betrayal (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 EDITING
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Frost/Nixon
Milk
Slumdog Millionaire

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
The Baader Meinhof Complex (Germany)
The Class (France)
Departures (Japan)
Revanche (Austria)
Waltz with Bashir (Israel)

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT
Auf der Strecke (On the Line)
Manon on the Asphalt
New Boy
The Pig
Spielzeugland (Toyland)

BEST MAKEUP
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Hellboy II: The Golden Army

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,'' WALL-E
''Jai Ho,'' Slumdog Millionaire
''O Saya,'' Slumdog Millionaire

BEST SOUND EDITING
The Dark Knight
Iron Man
Slumdog Millionaire
WALL-E
Wanted

BEST SOUND MIXING
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Slumdog Millionaire
WALL-E
Wanted

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Iron Man

Oscar Ballots on the Move

It all comes down to this for The Dark Knight, Milk, Frost/Nixon, Slumdog Millionaire and all the other films labeled "Oscar hopeful" for whatever reason in 2008.

Ballots for the 81st Annual Academy Awards are due to be mailed Friday to the 5,810 voting members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

So, with holiday shopping (and returns) out of the way, it will be time to finally pencil in their choices for the top films, performances and technical work of 2008, be they Heath Ledger for his terrifying turn as the Joker, director Danny Boyle for Slumdog, Kate Winslet for The Reader (or Revolutionary Road) or WALL-E for either best animated film or best motion picture altogether.

Completed ballots must be back in the hands of the ballot counters and protectors, PricewaterhouseCoopers, by Jan 12.

Oscar nods will be announced in the wee hours of the morning Jan. 22, with the little gold men getting passed out Feb. 22 at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood.

Read more on EOnline.com

Heath Ledger is found dead in US

Hollywood actor Heath Ledger has been found dead at his home in Manhattan.

"He was found unconscious at the apartment and pronounced dead," the New York Police Department said, adding that pills were found near the body.

Police are reportedly investigating if the Australian actor - nominated for an Oscar for Brokeback Mountain - died of an overdose of prescription pills.

Father Kim Ledger said that the death of his 28-year-old "dearly loved son" had been "tragic" and "accidental".

Speaking in the actor's home town of Perth, in Western Australia, Mr Ledger said that his son had been a "down to earth, generous, kind hearted, life-loving, unselfish individual".

"Heath has touched so many people on so many different levels during his short life that few had the pleasure of truly knowing him."

The actor was found dead in the apartment he had been renting for several months at 1526 (2026 GMT) on Tuesday.

Split

New York police said they did not suspect foul play and that his body had been discovered with prescription pills nearby.

"We are investigating the possibility of an overdose," police spokesman Paul Browne told Reuters news agency. "There were pills within the vicinity of the bed."

The BBC's Matthew Price in New York says the exact cause of death was still being investigated, but suicide has not been ruled out.

Police, journalists and crowds of fans gathered outside the Broome Street apartment in the fashionable SoHo area.

Investigators said Ledger had been due to have a massage at the flat.

The housekeeper went to tell him the masseuse had arrived and found him dead on Tuesday afternoon.

The medical examiner's office said an autopsy would be carried out on Wednesday.

In September the Perth-born actor split from his girlfriend Michelle Williams, with whom he has a two-year-old daughter, Matilda.

Williams played his wife in the 2005 film Brokeback Mountain.

Hollywood mourning

Hollywood stars were quick to offer their tributes and mourn Ledger's death.

"I had such great hope for him," said Oscar-winning actor-director Mel Gibson. "He was just taking off and to lose his life at such a young age is a tragic loss."

In 2001, Mr Gibson had cast Ledger to play his son in the American war of independence epic, The Patriot.

"What a terrible tragedy. My heart goes out to his family," said fellow Australian actress Nicole Kidman.

American actor John Travolta, who was in Australia at the time of Ledger's death, said the young actor had been one of his favourite performers.

"His abilities are rare...it's a tremendous loss," said Mr Travolta.

Brokeback breakthrough

Brokeback Mountain director Ang Lee said Ledger's performance had been a "miracle" of acting, echoing a young Marlon Brando.

He won an Oscar nomination for his role as a gay cowboy in the film but the award went to Philip Seymour Hoffman for his role as Truman Capote.

Ledger starred in I'm Not There, as one of several actors in a role representing singer Bob Dylan.

He also plays the Joker in yet-to-be-released Batman film, The Dark Knight.

Ledger also starred in A Knight's Tale and The Patriot, and played a suicidal son in Monster's Ball.

Read more on BBC news