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“Benjamin Button” leads the pack with 13 Oscar nominations

The heavyweights were out in force this morning as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced its picks for 2009.

“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” picked up a nomination for Best Picture as well as nods for director David Fincher, star Brad Pitt, cinematographer Claudio Miranda and screenwriter Eric Roth. Not suprisingly the movie — in which a man mysteriously ages backward — got plenty of attention for its superb makeup and special effects.

Danny Boyles’ triumphant coming-of-age drama, “Slumdog Millionaire,“ netted 10 nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director. “Frost/Nixon,” “Milk” and “The Reader” completed the Best Picture pack.

Predictably, those films — plus “Changeling,“ “Doubt” and “Revolutionary Road”– garnered a minimum of three nominations each. And the Academy reached out to younger viewers with accolades for “The Dark Knight” (including that much-ballyhooed posthumous Oscar nom for Heath Ledger), “WALL-E” and “Iron Man.“

(I was particularly stoked to see Robert Downey Jr. get props as “the dude playing a dude disguised as another dude” in the Vietnam War spoof “Tropic Thunder.“)

Although most of the nominations will come as no surprise to critics or fans, it’s nice to see the Academy reaching out to the little guys — including Darren Aronofsky’s “The Wrestler.“

There were two nominations — including a Best Actress nod for Melissa Leo — for “Frozen River,“ about two women who smuggle immigrants across the border between New York state and Quebec. Meanwhile, character actor Richard Jenkins got his moment in the sun with a Best Actor nomination for “The Visitor,“ which explores the unlikely friendship between a widowed college professor and the young immigrant couple who camp out in his apartment.

None of those films pulled in more than $9.4 million at the domestic box office. Yet, somehow, they got the Academy’s attention in the year of “The Dark Knight” ($531 million and counting).

Maybe the plunging economy is forcing Hollywood to “think small” once more.

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And the 2010 Best Picture Oscar goes to: “Crank 2: High Voltage.“

When a Chinese mobster literally steals his heart and replaces it with a battery operated gizmo, it’s up to bald-headed hunk Jason Statham to retrieve the precious organ while keeping his fake ticker going with constant jolts of electricity. Naturally, his quest finds him facing off against intercity hoodlums, Asian gangsters and hot girls with machine guns along the way. Watch this awesome teaser tailer to see what I mean.

“Crank 2: High Voltage” hits theaters April 17.

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Photo courtesy of MovieWeb.com.

Thanks to Steve for the “Crank 2″ tip.