The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Frost/Nixon, Milk, The Reader, and Golden Globe winning best picture Slumdog Millionaire, were all nominated for an Academy Award as best picture on Thursday.

Period love story Benjamin Button led the pack with 13 nominations overall.

Rags-to-riches Indian love story Slumdog Millionaire was second with 10 nominations while the The Dark Knight scored eight.

Forest Whitaker and Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Sid Ganis announced the nominations for the 81st Annual Academy Awards held at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

The nominations are as follows:

Best actor nominees:

Richard Jenkins (The Visitor)

Sean Penn (Milk)

Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon)

Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler)

Brad Pitt (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)

Best actress nominees:

Kate Winslet (The Reader)

Meryl Streep (Doubt)

Anne Hathaway (Rachel Getting Married)

Angelina Jolie (Changeling)

Melissa Leo (Frozen River)

Best supporting actress nominees:

Penelope Cruz (Vicky Cristina Barcelona)

Viola Davis (Doubt)

Marisa Tomei (The Wrestler)

Taraji P. Henson (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)

Amy Adams (Doubt)

Best supporting actor nominees:

Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight)

Josh Brolin (Milk)

Philip Seymour Hoffman (Doubt)

Robert Downey Jr (Tropic Thunder)

Michael Shannon (Revolutionary Road)

Best director nominees:

Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire)

David Fincher (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)

Stephen Daldry (The Reader)

Gus Van Sant (Milk)

Ron Howard (Frost/Nixon)

Best picture nominees:

Slumdog Millionaire

Milk

Frost/Nixon

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

The Reader

Best animated feature film:

Bolt

Kung Fu Panda

WALL-E

Best director:

David Fincher (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)

Ron Howard (Frost/Nixon)

Gus Van Sant (Milk),

Stephen Daldry (The Reader)

Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire)

Best documentary feature:

The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)

Encounters at the End of the World

The Garden

Man on Wire

Trouble the Water

Best foreign language film of the year:

The Baader Meinhof Complex, Germany

The Class, France

Departures, Japan

Revanche, Austria

Waltz with Bashir, Israel

Best music written for motion pictures - original score:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Alexandre Desplat

Defiance - James Newton Howard

Milk - Danny Elfman

Slumdog Millionaire - A.R. Rahman

WALL-E - Thomas Newman

Best music written for motion pictures - original 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 Arulpragasam

Brad Pitt