(CNN) -- "Benjamin Button" received more life, but Batman ended up in the dark.



"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" scored a best actor nomination for Brad Pitt, here with Cate Blanchett.



The nominations for the 81st annual Academy Awards were announced Thursday morning, and to nobody's surprise, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" did well, nabbing 13 nods to lead all films.



The movie, about a man who ages in reverse, is a big film (almost three hours long) with big themes (death and love) and earned nominations for best picture, best director (David Fincher), best actor (Brad Pitt), best supporting actress (Taraji P. Henson) and best adapted screenplay along with eight nominations in other categories.



"This is a great honor for the movie, and I'm especially happy for David Fincher, for without him there would be no Ben Button," said Pitt in a statement. The film, based on an F. Scott Fitzgerald short story, has been a project of Fincher's for years.  Gallery: The major Oscar nominees »



However, despite eight Oscar nominations, "The Dark Knight" -- 2008's box-office king -- only picked up one in a major category, that for Heath Ledger's performance as the villainous Joker. The late actor, who died exactly one year ago Thursday, is nominated for best supporting actor, the same award he won posthumously at the Golden Globes almost two weeks ago. Commentary: CNN.com film critic Tom Charity rates the Oscar nominations



"The Dark Knight" had made the short lists for the producers', directors' and writers' guilds, but those honors weren't enough to qualify it for a best picture Oscar nomination. What do you think of the nominations? Send us an iReport



"Slumdog Millionaire," the sleeper hit about a Mumbai orphan who seeks fame and love through the Indian version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?", earned 10 nominations, including best picture, best director (Danny Boyle) and best adapted screenplay. The film, which struggled to find a U.S. theatrical distributor after its initial studio folded, has dominated the awards season thus far and is considered the front-runner for best picture.  Watch star Anil Kapoor talk about the reaction the film has gotten »



"I'm ecstatic," Boyle said in a statement from Mumbai, where the film premiered Thursday. "Thank you to the Academy from the cast and crew here in Mumbai where the film was made. ... It feels like you've given us a billion nominations."



In a mild surprise, "The Reader," based on the best-selling novel about a postwar German boy who has an affair with an older woman with a Holocaust-related secret, took home nominations for best picture, best actress (Kate Winslet) and best director (Stephen Daldry). "The Reader" comes from the Weinstein Co. -- the studio headed by producer and master Oscar player Harvey Weinstein.



"I'm extremely happy to have been nominated. And very fortunate. Playing Hanna Schmitz will always remain one of the biggest challenges I've ever been blessed with," Winslet said in a statement.



The other best picture nominees are "Frost/Nixon" and "Milk."  Watch a rundown of the major nominations »



The Oscar nominations included a handful of other surprises. "Revolutionary Road," featuring the heavyweight trio of Winslet, Leonardo DiCaprio and director Sam Mendes ("American Beauty"), picked up just one major nomination -- a best supporting actor nod for Michael Shannon's portrayal of a troubled savant.



Woody Allen, whose "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" was widely praised, didn't receive his usual original screenplay nomination. He can take solace in his previous 21 Oscar nominations, including three wins. One of "Barcelona's" performers, Penelope Cruz, received a nomination for best supporting actress. iReport.com: Deliver your acceptance speech



And Oscar favorite Clint Eastwood, who many believed would pick up an acting or directing nomination for his
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13 best picture, best director performance as the villainous Joker. best picture, best director Heath Ledger's 13 13 "The Dark Knight"
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