The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was the biggest winner following Thursday's announcement of the Academy Awards nominations with its reception of 13 nods; the film managed to score a place for David Fincher in the Best Director category, as well as one for Brad Pitt in the Best Actor division and one for Taraji P. Henson in the Best Supporting Actress category.However, while Benjamin Button scored big, it is still the story of the little picture that could, Slumdog Millionaire, which remains the favorite to win Best Picture in most experts' opinions. The film, nominated for 10 awards, including Best Director and Screenplay, was recently the big victor at the Golden Globes and has continued to draw tremendous amounts of support from audiences and critics alike.

Joining Benjamin Button and Slumdog in the best picture category are Milk, Frost/Nixon, and The Reader, with the final title being the biggest surprise of those nominated. The Reader, by picking up the fifth Best Picture slot, beat out the critically and commercially celebrated The Dark Knight. In fact, the Christopher Nolan-directed superhero film was mostly shut out from the main categories, save for the Best Supporting Actor nomination for Heath Ledger, who is widely expected to win the second posthumous award for an actor in Oscars history.

The shocks weren't limited to the absence of men dressed as flying bats from the main categories, though, as a number of surprise nominations brought drama and intrigue to the proceedings. Specifically, Richard Jenkins for The Visitor and Melissa Leo for Frozen River were nominated for Best Actor and Best Actress, respectively. Those paying careful attention may have noticed that each screened their respective films at Brandeis, perhaps gaining a Brandeis awards bump in the process.

Still, it is the Academy's snub of The Dark Knight which is most noteworthy. The film, which has grossed nearly a billion dollars worldwide as well as appearing on many critics' year-end top-10 lists, was expected to garner nominations for Best Picture and Best Director for Christopher Nolan. In the end though, the Academy decided to go for a more conventional Oscar pick in The Reader.