2007 OSCARS

[RobertR]

Nominees are announced tomorrow. No huge blockbuster is going to get nominated for Best Picture, which will hold ratings down if they even have a ceremony, but it's not 2005 either which was filled with obscure films. No Country For Old Men found an audience and Juno is going past $100 million, and both of those are practically locks. And you can add There Will Be Blood. The last two spots seem to be open to about a half dozen films.

Predictions on my part (and not necessarily how I feel about the candidates):

Best Picture
No Country For Old Men
There Will Be Blood
Juno
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Michael Clayton (I think NCFOM is the likely winner, but split constituencies and a surpise isn't out of the question.)

Best Actor
Daniel Day Lewis (a lock and almost certainly the winner)
George Clooney
Johnny Depp
Viggo Mortenson
Ryan Gosling

Best Actress
Julie Christie
Ellen Page
Marion Cotillard
Angelina Jolie
Keira Knightley (I think the top 3 are locks)

Best Supporting Actor (also known as Javier Bardem and 4 guys where the nomination is the reward)
Javier Bardem
Casey Affleck
Phillip Seymour Hoffman
Hal Holbrook
Tom Wilkinson

Best Supporting Actress
Amy Ryan
Cate Blanchett
Tilda Swinton
Vanessa Redgrave
Allison Janey (I'm taking a wild guess at those last 2. It's a two horse race between Ryan and Blanchett though.)

Robert

[SeriesFinale]

I have a feeling Sweeney Todd will get nominated for Picture...I agree that the first three are locks however. I got to go to an Academy screening of Juno in LA a couple months back and they were applauding Page's name during the credits. I just don't see too many surprises this year.

[jordanmuehl]

It's a shame that Wilkinson's incredible performance in Michael Clayton will be overshadowed by Bardem (although, Bardem was unbelievable in NCFOM). Also, I wouldn't be surprised to see There Will Be Blood give No Country For Old Men a good run in the "Best Picture" category -- after seeing both, TWBB was the more impressive movie after first-viewing in my personal opinion.

[RobertR]

I fully expect the Best Picture category to be more competitive than the acting categories where Day Lewis, Christie, Blanchett, and Bardem are heavy favorites. Especially since I think NCFOM and TWBB are pitched towards a similar target audience. The part of the academy that appreciates dark, edgy, challenging pictures. The independent and female-centric Juno and the old school legal thriller elements of Michael Clayton, I expect will appeal to large sections of the Academy.

 

I really hope that Persepolis gets an animated feature nomination. The foreign film branch of the academy has already proven that they're out to lunch with the final nine.

 

Robert

[Katuluu]

Robert already echoed my biggest complaint that the foriegn film category is an unmitigated disaster. At this point I fully expect Animated film to follow suit and snub Persepolis and the Documentary category to be an absolute joke as well.

[RobertR]

Nominations are out. See http://a.oscar.abc.com/media/2008/html/printer.html for a full list.

A few surprises, but nothing too shocking. Foreign film is, of course, a disappointment, but at least Persepolis scored an animation nomination (although Surf's Up?). Documentary looks reasonable although the absence of Lake of Fire is slightly surprising, although I'm sure the subject matter had more than a little to do with that. Once got a song nomination. Atonement got a best picture nomination but considering it didn't get a corresponding director nomination and no leads were nominated it has to be viewed as the distinct longshot.

Robert

[Patrick425]

Best motion picture of the year

"Atonement" (Focus Features) A Working Title Production: Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner and Paul Webster, Producers

"Juno" (Fox Searchlight) A Dancing Elk Pictures, LLC Production: Lianne Halfon, Mason Novick and Russell Smith, Producers

"Michael Clayton" (Warner Bros.) A Clayton Productions, LLC Production: Sydney Pollack, Jennifer Fox and Kerry Orent, Producers

"No Country for Old Men" (Miramax and Paramount Vantage) A Scott Rudin/Mike Zoss Production: Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, Producers

"There Will Be Blood" (Paramount Vantage and Miramax) A JoAnne Sellar/Ghoulardi Film Company Production: JoAnne Sellar, Paul Thomas Anderson and Daniel Lupi, Producers

Wow, I am so out of touch with things. Never heard of any of these movies. I have not seen a movie that was not aimed at children (other than "The Final Season") in a movie theater in the last 9 years or so. Coincidentally, that's the age of my son.

[SeriesFinale]

I'm glad Atonement and Mortensen got nominations; I'm a little surprised that Ruby Dee got one (maybe a Lifetime Achievement nomination, who knows).

 

I'm also kinda surprised that Into the Wild didn't make a bigger dent

[Team Canada]

Tommy Lee Jones? Really?

[Katuluu]

For the wrong movie and the wrong category. But many does the Academy love Paul Haggis.

 

Documentary selections are awful. Lake of Fire, King of Kong, Crazy Love, Manda Bala and Billy the Kid all deserved some recognition and instead were snubbed in favor of a rather tepid group of films.

[jordanmuehl]

If "Falling Slowly" doesn't win for "Best Original Song", I'm going to be a sad boy.

[jloos19]

If "Falling Slowly" doesn't win for "Best Original Song", I'm going to be a sad boy.

 

I couldn't agree more. "Once" was probably my favorite film of the year, although I did think "There Will Be Blood" may be the best film since "American Beauty." But in terms of just an incredibly beautiful film, "Once" was my favorite.

[jordanmuehl]

It really was. I definitely got goosebumps watching it. It's a very special piece of art.

[SeriesFinale]

I thought Once was pretty good but "Falling Slowly" is a great, award-winning song.

[Team Canada]

I think I like "When your mind's made up" more, but they're both great.

[EdgarDiazRocks]

I just looked at the list for the first time.

 

Jason Reitman - Best director? Really? THAT Jason Reitman?

 

I wish my dad was famous.

 

That is the weakest best actress field I have ever seen.

[jordanmuehl]

I think I like "When your mind's made up" more, but they're both great.

My personal favorite is "Lies", but the film is chock-full of gems.

 

[RobertR]

Well, I've seen 4 of the Best Picture nominees now and I'd rank them.

 

1. No Country For Old Men

2. There Will Be Blood

3. Juno

4. Michael Clayton

 

Juno seems to be getting the brunt of the backlash, but I'm surprised that Michael Clayton has been relatively untouched. It's a dressed up legal thriller, without much law, that John Grisham could have written with some speeches that try to emulate Paddy Chayefsky. It is well acted and nicely shot, but it undercuts it's very biggest bit of pulpy tension with the opening and the ending is ridiculously pat. It really shouldn't have gone beyond the acting nominations.

 

Robert

[jordanmuehl]

Well, I've seen 4 of the Best Picture nominees now and I'd rank them.

 

1. No Country For Old Men

2. There Will Be Blood

3. Juno

4. Michael Clayton

 

Juno seems to be getting the brunt of the backlash, but I'm surprised that Michael Clayton has been relatively untouched. It's a dressed up legal thriller, without much law, that John Grisham could have written with some speeches that try to emulate Paddy Chayefsky. It is well acted and nicely shot, but it undercuts it's very biggest bit of pulpy tension with the opening and the ending is ridiculously pat. It really shouldn't have gone beyond the acting nominations.

 

Robert

It doesn't surprise me that Michael Clayton was nominated -- when exactly did the Academy stop being a fair gauge of excellence in film? -- nor does it surprise me that Juno was nominated. I was mostly satisfied with the Best Picture category for the first time in a while, however, so you won't hear much complaining from me, regardless of the winner. I've seen all five now, so I'll rank them in my opinion:

1) There Will Be Blood

2) No Country For Old Men

3) Atonement

4) Juno

5) Michael Clayton

[fondybrewfan]

I saw Atonement in the theatre a couple of weeks back. It was absolutey terrible in my opinion. Terrible plot, acting was pretty good. But it was less than entertaining.

[jordanmuehl]

I personally thought it was a very well-done film. Acting is superb, cinematography beautiful, and the story kept me in it throughout. To each their own, though. = )

[Katuluu]

The final reel of Atonement is atrociously bad.

[RobertR]

Might as well give this a bump as the awards are tonight.

 

I'm predicting

Best Picture: No Country for Old Men

Best Director: Joel and Ethan Coen

Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis

Best Actress: Julie Christie

Best Supporting Actress: Tilda Swinton

Best Supporting Actor: Javier Bardem

Best Animated Feature: Ratatouille

Best Documentary: No End in Sight

"Best" Foreign Language Film: The Counterfeiters

Original Screenplay: Juno

Adapted Screenplay: No Country for Old Men

Best Song: Falling Slowly from Once (I'll throw something if it doesn't win)

Best Score: Atonement

Best Cinematography: There Will Be Blood

Best Editing: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Best Art Direction: Atonement

Best Costume Design: Atonement

Best Makeup: La Vie en Rose

Best Sound: The Bourne Ultimatum

Best Sound Editing: Ratatouille

Best Visual Effects: Transformers

 

No clue on the short subjects.

 

Robert

[bjkrautk]

Well, in the past week, I actually saw two of the best picture nominess, so I finally have a rooting interest in the Oscars.

 

I liked Juno much more than Michael Clayton. IMO, Gone Baby Gone should have been nominated over Michael Clayton....but the Oscars like to nominate Clooney.

(I wouldn't be at all surprised if Amy Ryan wins best supporting actress.)

 

I kept meaning to see No Country for Old Men, but never got around to it.

[twobrewers]

I saw There Will Be Blood last night...

Daniel Day-Lewis was awesome in it. But the rest of the movie wasn't anything that great in my opinion. Good - but not great.

90% of what makes that movie special is Daniel Day-Lewis.

Never got to No Country for Old Men. Atonement was good - the spin on the story telling idea really caught me.

I also enjoyed Juno a lot. But I think that Juno is like Beauty and the Beast a few years back. Just being nominated is the honor - I can't imagine it actually winning.