[Jesse and Jim are interrupting their conversation on the mid-season TV shows to talk about the 2009 Oscar nominations.  At the end of the conversation you will be invited to send in your Oscar picks, or you can go ahead and do it now. This is part three of five. Here is part one and part two.]

Best Costume Design
Australia, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Duchess, Milk, Revolutionary Road

Jim's take

Just a reminder about The Dark Knight -- remember how pretty Aaron Eckhart is? Remember what he looks like after he is horribly scarred and turns into Two-Face? Was that CG or makeup? Etiher way, I'm standing by my Dark Knight makeup/effects predictions... and, from a purely technical standpoint, the effects of The Phantom Menace were years ahead of the Matrix. Years.

Silent movies have screenplays, you know. I hope that the people who work on movies and vote on these awards know that too. However, as you pointed out, I always lose Oscar pools. Always. Although it's generally by more than one point.

Anyway.  The Duchess is a costume drama, right? And everyone hated Australia? I hate this category. The Duchess.

Jesse's take

Yes, Aaron Eckhart was quite beautiful in The Dark Knight, but his Two-Face was pretty much all CGI. And also yes: *I* know that silent movies have screenplays, but I'm not an academy voter. If WALL-E wanted to win a screenplay award, then he should have been a sassy teenager with a hamburger phone.

The Duchess sure SOUNDS like a costume drama. I'm surprised that Poor Dead Heath Ledger's purple suit didn't get a nomination. People hated Australia, but that doesn't mean the costumes weren't FAB-U-LOUS. And didn't TCCOBB have all kinds of period dress? And why does the phrase period dress sound so filthy?

I'm going with TCCOBB. Why? Because the category is costume design, and his name is Benjamin Button. BUTTON. Case closed.  Closed with buttons.

Best Live Action Short
On the Line (Auf der Strecke), Manon On the Asphalt, New Boy, The Pig, Toyland (Spielzeugland)

Jim's take

I refuse to make an actual prediction until I see the 15-second clips during the ceremony. Two of these sound kind of German, I wonder if one is about the Holocaust? That said, I really like typing the word "Spielzeugland," so my early pick is Spielzeugland.

Jesse's take

I checked, none of these are about the Holocaust. Just to be safe, though, I'm going with Auf der Strecke, because it sounds like it might be about the Holocaust, and that's probably enough to push it over the top.

Best Animated Short
La Maison En Petits Cubes, Lavatory - Lovestory, Oktapodi, Presto, This Way Up

Jim's take

Wow, I've actually seen one of these. For that reason, and that reason only, I am picking Presto. That's how much I care about this category.

Jesse's take

I'll probably never vote against Pixar in an animation category ever again. Presto is the winner.

Best Foreign Language Film
Revanche (Austria), The Class (France), The Baader Meinhof Complex (Germany), Departures (Japan), Waltz with Bashir (Israel)

Jim's take

Waltz with Bashir is the heavy, heavy favorite here, no? It's a true story, animated, and about Israel. So yeah, I'm going with that one. Not exactly out on a limb.

Jesse's take

Hmmm... The Baader Meinhof Complex sounds like the name of a winning Foreign Film to me. Either that, or the name of my new industrial rock band.  Und ze vinner iz...DA BAADER MEINHOF COMPLEX!! That seems about right.

Best Animated Feature
WALL-E, Kung Fu Panda, Bolt

Jim's take

Does it matter who else is nominated? WALL-E.

Jesse's take

WALL-E wins, but this category raises an important question: how does an animated film get a nomination for Best Foreign Film (Waltz with Bashir from Israel), but fail to get a nomination for the Best Animated Feature category? Are you telling me that the very best film Israel could produce was not as good as Kung-Fu Panda? And, by transitive property of the Oscars, every film made in the entire world that wasn't nominated for Best Foreign Film was ALSO not as good as Kung Fu Panda? Wow, the rest of the world sucks at making movies.