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Milk, the prescient biopic about gay rights activist Harvey Milk, landed eight Academy Award nominations, the Academy announced Thursday. However, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button led the way with 13 nominations, while the erstwhile feminist manifesto Revolutionary Road was virtually shut out.
Both Button and Milk were nominated for Best Picture along with Slumdog Millionaire -- which practically swept the Golden Globes earlier this month - Frost / Nixon and The Reader.
The surprise of the nominations came in the Best Actress category where double Golden Globes' winner Kate Winslet garnered a nomination for The Reader and not for Revolutionary Road - she was won a Best Supporting Globe for Reader and a Best Actress for Road. Also nominated for Best Actress is Meryl Streep for Doubt, Angelina Jolie for Changeling, Melissa Leo for the indie film Frozen River and Anne Hathaway for Rachel Getting Married.
Sean Penn picked up a Best Actor nomination for his spot-on portrayal of Harvey Milk in Milk, Frank Langella for Frost / Nixon, Richard Jenkins for The Visitor, Brad Pitt for Button and Globe winner Mickey Rourke for The Wrestler.
For playing a fiery bisexual artist Penelope Cruz picked up a Best Supporting nomination for Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Marisa Tomei for The Wrestler, Amy Adams and Viola Davis for Doubt and Taraji P. Henson for Button.
Josh Brolin picked up a nod for Best Supporting Actor for playing Dan White, the man who assassinated Harvey Milk in Milk, along with Philip Seymour Hoffman for Doubt, Robert Downey Jr. for Tropic Thunder, Michael Shannon for Revolutionary Road and the late Heath Ledger for Dark Knight.
Other surprise shut-outs include Sally Hawkins who won a Best Actress Golden Globe for Mike Leigh's Happy Go Lucky and Clint Eastwood, whom critics have widely praised for his film and his performance in Gran Torino.
