81st Annual Academy Award Nominations

The 81st Annual Academy Award nominations are in — and it’s a Button landslide!

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, a fable about a man who ages in reverse, dominated the nominations this morning, earning 13 nods, including Best Picture, Actor Brad Pitt and Director for David Fincher.

Of course, we can’t discount this year’s underdog, the indie hit Slumdog Millionaire, earned 10 nominations. The poignant drama about an impoverished Indian teen who ends up on a TV game show earned nods for Best Picture, Director for Danny Boyle and Adapted Screenplay for Simon Beaufoy.

Runner ups included Milk — about slain gay-rights activist Harvey Milk — and the Batman thriller The Dark Knight, which received eight nominations apiece. And one year to the day after he died at age 28 of a drug overdose, Heath Ledger earned a Best Supporting Actor nomination for his performance as the Joker.

Here is the complete list of nominations:

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

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
Robert Downey Jr., Tropic Thunder
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Doubt
Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
Michael Shannon, Revolutionary Road

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

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

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

BEST ANIMATED FILM
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda
WALL-E

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