IF I HAD A BALLOT

If I ran the Academy Awards, this is the way it would go. Below are my picks on almost all of the major categories. Winners are in bold, with runner-ups below. Enjoy.

BEST PICTURE
The Fall
The Wrestler
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Slumdog Millionaire
Let the Right One In

BEST DIRECTOR
Tarsem, The Fall
Darren Aronofsky, The Wrestler
David Fincher, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire
Tomas Alfredson, Let the Right One In

BEST ACTOR
Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler
Clint Eastwood, Gran Torino
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Synecdoche, NY
Sam Rockwell, Snow Angels
Leonardo DiCaprio, Revolutionary Road

BEST ACTRESS
Sally Hawkins, Happy-Go-Lucky
Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married
Catinca Untaru, The Fall
Kate Winslet, Revolutionary Road

Kate Beckinsale, Snow Angels

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Bill Irwin, Rachel Getting Married
Eddie Marsan, Happy-Go-Lucky
Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
James Franco, Pineapple Express
Robert Downey Jr., Tropic Thunder

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Rosemarie DeWitt, Rachel Getting Married
Marisa Tomei, The Wrestler
Tariji P. Henson, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Samantha Morton, Synecdoche, NY
Amy Adams, Doubt

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Charlie Kaufman, Synecdoche, NY
Jenny Lumet, Rachel Getting Married
Mike Leigh, Happy-Go-Lucky
Robert Siegel, The Wrestler
Martin McDonagh, In Bruges

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
John Ajvide Lindqvist, Let the Right One In
David Gordon Green, Snow Angels
Eric Roth, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Justin Haythe, Revolutionary Road
David Hare, The Reader

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Colin Watkinson, The Fall
Anthony Dod Mantle, Slumdog Millionaire
Wally Pfister, The Dark Knight
Claudio Miranda, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Hoyte Van Hoytema, Let the Right One In

BEST EDITING
Chris Dickens, Slumdog Millionaire
Robert Duffy, The Fall
Kevin Stitt, Cloverfield
Tomas Alfredson & Daniel Jonsater, Let the Right One In

Lee Smith, The Dark Knight

BEST ANIMATED FILM
Andrew Stanton, Wall*E
Mark Osborne & John Stevenson, Kung Fu Panda

BEST DOCUMENTARY
James Marsh, Man on Wire
Werner Herzog, Encounters at the End of the World
Kurt Kuenne, Dear Zachary: A Letter to A Son About His Father
Martin Scorsese, Shine A Light
Stephen Walker, Young@Heart

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Eric Barba, Burt Dalton, & Craig Barron, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Nick Davis & Chris Corbould, The Dark Knight
Kevin Blank, Cloverfield
John Nelson & Ben Snow, Iron Man
John Dykstra, Hancock

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Krishna Levy, The Fall
Alexandre Desplat, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Nico Muhly, The Reader
A.R. Rahman, Slumdog Millionaire
John Ottman, Valkyrie

BEST COSTUMES
Eiko Ishioka, The Fall
Jacqueline West, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Jenny Beavan, Defiance
Albert Wolsky, Revolutionary Road

Deborah Hopper, Changeling

BEST ART DIRECTION
Ged Clarke, The Fall
Donald Graham Burt, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Dan Weil, Defiance
Eva Noren, Let the Right One In

Mark Friedberg, Synecdoche, NY

BEST MAKE UP
Greg Cannom, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Leon von Solms, The Fall
Judy Chin, Synecdoche, NY
Judy Chin, The Wrestler
John Caglione, Jr. & Conor O’Sullivan, The Dark Knight