The 2008 Academy Awards were presented on February 22, 2009, at the Kodak Theatre. All of the nominees are listed below; the Oscar winners are in bold.
| Best Picture | The Curious Case of Benjamin Button |
| | Frost/Nixon |
| | Milk |
| | The Reader |
| | Slumdog Millionaire |
| Best Animated Picture | Bolt |
| | Kung Fu Panda |
| | WALL-E |
| Actor in a Leading Role | Richard Jenkins, The Visitor |
| | Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon |
| | Sean Penn, Milk |
| | Brad Pitt, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button |
| | Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler |
| Actress in a Leading Role | Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married |
| | Angelina Jolie, Changeling |
| | Melissa Leo, Frozen River |
| | Meryl Streep, Doubt |
| | Kate Winslet, The Reader |
| Actor in a Supporting Role | Josh Brolin, Milk |
| | Robert Downey Jr., Tropic Thunder |
| | Philip Seymour Hoffman, Doubt |
| | Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight |
| | Michael Shannon, Revolutionary Road |
| Actress in a Supporting Role | Amy Adams, Doubt |
| | Penélope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona |
| | Viola Davis, Doubt |
| | Taraji P. Henson, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button |
| | Marisa Tomei, The Wrestler |
| Directing | David Fincher, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button |
| | Ron Howard, Frost/Nixon |
| | Gus Van Sant, Milk |
| | Stephen Daldry, The Reader |
| | Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire |
| Writing | | Original Screenplay | Courtney Hunt, Frozen River | | | Mike Leigh, Happy-Go-Lucky | | | Martin McDonagh, In Bruges | | | Dustin Lance Black, Milk | | | Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon, Original story by Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter, WALL-E | | Adapted Screenplay | Screenplay by Eric Roth, Screen story by Eric Roth and Robin Swicord, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button | | | John Patrick Shanley, Doubt | | | Peter Morgan, Frost/Nixon | | | David Hare, The Reader | | | Simon Beaufoy, Slumdog Millionaire |
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| Cinematography | Tom Stern, Changeling |
| | Claudio Miranda, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button |
| | Wally Pfister, The Dark Knight |
| | Chris Menges and Roger Deakins, The Reader |
| | Anthony Dod Mantle, Slumdog Millionaire |
| Art Direction | Changeling, Art Direction: James J. Murakami, Set Decoration: Gary Fettis |
| | The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Art Direction: Donald Graham Burt, Set Decoration: Victor J. Zolfo |
| | The Dark Knight, Art Direction: Nathan Crowley, Set Decoration: Peter Lando |
| | The Duchess Art Direction: Michael Carlin, Set Decoration: Rebecca Alleway |
| | Revolutionary Road Art Direction: Kristi Zea, Set Decoration: Debra Schutt |
| Sound | | Editing | Richard King, The Dark Knight | | | Frank Eulner and Christopher Boyes, Iron Man | | | Glenn Freemantle and Tom Sayers, Slumdog Millionaire | | | Ben Burtt and Matthew Wood, WALL-E | | | Wylie Stateman, Wanted | | Mixing | David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Mark Weingarten, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button | | | Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo and Ed Novick, The Dark Knight | | | Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke and Resul Pookutty, Slumdog Millionaire | | | Tom Myers, Michael Semanick and Ben Burtt, WALL-E | | | Chris Jenkins, Frank A. Montaño and Petr Forejt, Wanted |
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| Music | | Song | "Down to Earth" from WALL-E; Music by Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman, Lyric by Peter Gabriel | | | "Jai Ho" from Slumdog Millionaire; Music by A.R. Rahman, Lyric by Gulzar | | | "O Saya" from Slumdog Millionaire; Music and Lyric by A.R. Rahman and Maya | | Original Score | Alexandre Desplat, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button | | | James Newton Howard, Defiance | | | Danny Elfman, Milk | | | A.R. Rahman, Slumdog Millionaire | | | Thomas Newman, WALL-E |
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| Film Editing | Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button |
| | Lee Smith, The Dark Knight |
| | Mike Hill and Dan Hanley, Frost/Nixon |
| | Elliot Graham, Milk |
| | Chris Dickens, Slumdog Millionaire |
| Costume Design | Catherine Martin, Australia |
| | Jacqueline West, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button |
| | Michael O'Connor, The Duchess |
| | Danny Glicker, Milk |
| | Albert Wolsky, Revolutionary Road |
| Makeup | Greg Cannom, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button |
| | John Caglione, Jr. and Conor O'Sullivan, The Dark Knight |
| | Mike Elizalde and Thom Floutz, Hellboy II: The Golden Army |
| Visual Effects | Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton and Craig Barron, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button |
| | Nick Davis, Chris Corbould, Tim Webber and Paul Franklin, The Dark Knight |
| | John Nelson, Ben Snow, Dan Sudick and Shane Mahan, Iron Man |
| Short Films | | Animated | La Maison en Petits Cubes, Kunio Kato | | | Lavatory-Lovestory, Konstantin Bronzit | | | Oktapodi, Emud Mokhberi and Thierry Marchand | | | Presto, Doug Sweetland | | | This Way Up, Alan Smith and Adam Foulkes | | Feature | Auf der Strecke (On the Line), Reto Caffi | | | Manon on the Asphalt, Elizabeth Marre and Olivier Pont | | | New Boy, Steph Green and Tamara Anghie | | | The Pig, Tivi Magnusson and Dorte Høgh | | | Spielzeugland (Toyland), Jochen Alexander Freydank |
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| Documentary | | Short Subject | The Conscience of Nhem En, Steven Okazaki | | | The Final Inch, Irene Taylor Brodsky and Tom Grant | | | Smile Pinki, Megan Mylan | | | The Witness—From the Balcony of Room 306, Adam Pertofsky and Margaret Hyde | | Feature | The Betrayal (Nerakhoon), Ellen Kuras and Thavisouk Phrasavath | | | Encounters at the End of the World, Werner Herzog and Henry Kaiser | | | The Garden, Scott Hamilton Kennedy | | | Man on Wire, James Marsh and Simon Chinn | | | Trouble the Water, Tia Lessin and Carl Deal |
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| Foreign Language Film | The Baader Meinhof Complex, Germany |
| | The Class, France |
| | Departures, Japan |
| | Revanche, Austria |
| | Waltz with Bashir, Israel |
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