Yowazzup: A Directory of Happening Things

Slumdog Millionaire is the top dog at the 81st Annual Academy Awards on Sunday night as it swept away 8 wins out of 10 nominations including the Best Picture and Best Director.

The others awards Slumdog Millionaire has taken include Best Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography, Film Editing, Sound Mixing, Original Score and Original Song.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, as expected, managed to pick up three technical awards including Art Direction, Makeup and Visual Effect while The Dark Knight won two awards including Sound Editing and Best Supporting Actor for the late Heath Ledger.

View the Full List of Oscars 2009 Winners

Popularity: 2%

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a movie inspired by the 1921 short story of the same name. The film received 13 Academy Award nominations including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor for Brad Pitt, and Best Supporting Actress for Taraji P. Henson.

SPOILER WARNING: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Brad Pitt and Taraji P. Henson in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button tells a story of Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt), a man who is born as an 86-year-old baby and grows younger each day. Taraji P. Henson plays Queenie, the "mother" who found Benjamin and decides to keep him despite his deformed look. As the people who surrounds Benjamin grows old and dies, Benjamin is left to deal with sadness which comes and goes so often. After spending 16 years at the nursing home, Benjamin leaves Queenie and everyone else behind to travel the world after meeting Captain Mike (Jared Harris). Even though, Benjamin does reconcile with Queenie and then falls in love with Daisy (Cate Blanchett), the end part is simply touching and heart-warming.

While Brad Pitt leads the movie with an ever awe-inspiring performance, actress Cate Blanchett has an equal strong performance as Daisy Fuller, the woman whom Benjamin loves all his life. Taraji P. Henson’s performance as Benjamin’s surrogate mother is simply outstanding.

Overall, even though the movie is 166 minutes long, time moves really quick, just like how Benjamin grows younger. The film is meaningful and affecting while the special effects are seamless, and the actors are just incredible. This is a masterpiece.

My ratings: 9 out of 10.

Popularity: 1%