|
| | George Clooney in “Michael Clayton” (Warner Bros.) |
| X/O | Daniel Day-Lewis in “There Will Be Blood” (Paramount Vantage and Miramax) |
| | Johnny Depp in “Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”
(DreamWorks and Warner Bros., Distributed by DreamWorks/Paramount) |
| | Tommy Lee Jones in “In the Valley of Elah” (Warner Independent) |
| | Viggo Mortensen in “Eastern Promises” (Focus Features) |
Commentary: He's a shoo-in. He's received all of the awards and praise from fellow nominees like George Clooney. Commentary: That makes him a double honoree. He won't win again. At least not until he's old. |
|
| | Casey Affleck in “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford” (Warner Bros.) |
| X/O | Javier Bardem in “No Country for Old Men” (Miramax and Paramount Vantage) |
| | Philip Seymour Hoffman in “Charlie Wilson’s War” (Universal) |
| | Hal Holbrook in “Into the Wild” (Paramount Vantage and River Road Entertainment) |
| | Tom Wilkinson in “Michael Clayton” (Warner Bros.) |
Commentary: He's also a shoo-in, receiving all the awards. Commentary: Was there ever any doubt? |
|
| | Cate Blanchett in “Elizabeth: The Golden Age” (Universal) |
| X | Julie Christie in “Away from Her” (Lionsgate) |
| O | Marion Cotillard in “La Vie en Rose” (Picturehouse) |
| | Laura Linney in “The Savages” (Fox Searchlight) |
| | Ellen Page in “Juno” (Fox Searchlight) |
Commentary: Julie is a shoo-in too. Commentary: WHOA! Snub alert much? Marion won the Globe, that much is true, but Julie had all the momentum. Julie has won in the past, but this is really screwing my percentage! Well, good for Marion. Oscar likes to throw curves. This is the curve of the night. Still, this would be an official snub when Julie had all the prior major awards, including the drama Globe. |
|
| | Cate Blanchett in “I’m Not There” (The Weinstein Company) |
| | Ruby Dee in “American Gangster” (Universal) |
| | Saoirse Ronan in “Atonement” (Focus Features) |
| X | Amy Ryan in “Gone Baby Gone” (Miramax) |
| O | Tilda Swinton in “Michael Clayton” (Warner Bros.) |
Commentary: This award is so up in the air. Ronan is not a contender. Cate has won gold in the same category already (The Aviator), but the fact that she's nominated twice this year might give her an edge in this, the likelier of the two categories. She's also got the Globe. Ruby Dee has the SAG (the usual predictor) and might be the sentimental favorite due to her age, but I think she might split the vote.with Cate Tilda is a sleeper, a BAFTA winner, and might surprise, but I doubt she'll see the gold. Amy won the Critics' Choice and is in a film well-received by critics and moviegoers alike. I'm giving her the edge by plurality. Commentary: Wow! Perhaps, the Academy went with the sleeper to make sure everyone got a turn, except the poor little girl (she has plenty of time). I doubt she was on too many prediction lists, so let's all praise the White Witch. Incidentally, I've heard this movie was excellent. I haven't had a chance to see it and can't wait to do so. |
|
| | “Persepolis” (Sony Pictures Classics) Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud |
| X/O | “Ratatouille” (Walt Disney) Brad Bird |
| | “Surf's Up” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Ash Brannon and Chris Buck |
Commentary: This is Pixar's guaranteed comeback after the Cars snub - the other films don't have a chance, and if they do, someone at the Academy hates Pixar. Commentary: That's more like it. |
|
| | “American Gangster” (Universal)
Art Direction: Arthur Max
Set Decoration: Beth A. Rubino |
| | “Atonement” (Focus Features)
Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood
Set Decoration: Katie Spencer |
| | “The Golden Compass” (New Line in association with Ingenious Film Partners)
Art Direction: Dennis Gassner
Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock |
| O | “Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” (DreamWorks and Warner Bros., Distributed by DreamWorks/Paramount)
Art Direction: Dante Ferretti
Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo |
| X | “There Will Be Blood” (Paramount Vantage and Miramax)
Art Direction: Jack Fisk
Set Decoration: Jim Erickson |
Commentary: Art Directors liked it, it's got a best picture nomination, it's a period picture...so many factors favor it. It would be cool if Sweeney Todd won, though, because that was some excellent (and freaky) art direction. Commentary: Another surpise but a pleasant one! I loved the art direction in Sweeney. I'm surprised but happy. |
|
| | “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford” (Warner Bros.) Roger Deakins |
| | “Atonement” (Focus Features) Seamus McGarvey
|
| | “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” (Miramax/Pathé Renn) Janusz Kaminski |
| X | “No Country for Old Men” (Miramax and Paramount Vantage) Roger Deakins |
| O | “There Will Be Blood” (Paramount Vantage and Miramax) Robert Elswit |
Commentary: This category is usually nominated to the best picture category, though that has been less true in recent years. It also likes outdoorsy camera work. I'm just guessing here. Commentary: The rule holds true. I just picked the wrong movie. |
|
| | “Across the Universe” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Albert Wolsky |
| | “Atonement” (Focus Features) Jacqueline Durran |
| X/O | “Elizabeth: The Golden Age” (Universal) Alexandra Byrne |
| | “La Vie en Rose” (Picturehouse) Marit Allen |
| | “Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” (DreamWorks and Warner Bros., Distributed by DreamWorks/Paramount) Colleen Atwood |
Commentary: It's a period picture involving the time when the monarch was into forbidding wigs and gigantic dresses. It would be cool if Sweeney Todd won for its grotesque caricaturish clothing. Commentary: Woo hoo! My first one was right! It's got all the ingredients, and the lady did have to recreate the fashion history of one the world's (and history's) most recognizable monarchs. |
|
| | “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” (Miramax/Pathé Renn) Julian Schnabel |
| | “Juno” (Fox Searchlight) Jason Reitman |
| | “Michael Clayton” (Warner Bros.) Tony Gilroy |
| X/O | “No Country for Old Men” (Miramax and Paramount Vantage) Joel Coen and Ethan Coen |
| | “There Will Be Blood” (Paramount Vantage and Miramax) Paul Thomas Anderson |
Commentary: I think this is the Coen brothers' Cinderella year, unless they inherit Scorsese's curse. There will be no split, though. They've won the DGA, PGA, and a whole lotta love from the general public. Commentary: Huzzah! They won! |
|
| | “No End in Sight” (Magnolia Pictures)
A Representational Pictures Production
Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs |
| | “Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience” (The Documentary Group)
A Documentary Group Production
Richard E. Robbins |
| X | “Sicko” (Lionsgate and The Weinstein Company)
A Dog Eat Dog Films Production
Michael Moore and Meghan O’Hara |
| O | “Taxi to the Dark Side” (THINKFilm)
An X-Ray Production
Alex Gibney and Eva Orner |
| | “War/Dance” (THINKFilm)
A Shine Global and Fine Films Production
Andrea Nix Fine and Sean Fine
|
Commentary: Oscar likes Mike and controversy. I would be personally interested to hear what he might say this time. Commentary: Better to avoid a Michael Moore acceptance speech, sure. |
|
| X/O | “Freeheld”
A Lieutenant Films Production
Cynthia Wade and Vanessa Roth |
| | “La Corona (The Crown)”
A Runaway Films and Vega Films Production
Amanda Micheli and Isabel Vega |
| | “Salim Baba”
A Ropa Vieja Films and Paradox Smoke Production
Tim Sternberg and Francisco Bello |
| | “Sari’s Mother” (Cinema Guild)
A Daylight Factory Production
James Longley |
Commentary: Pure shot in the dark. I never see the shorts. Commentary: I usually get one shot in the dark, at least in recent years. |
|
| O | “The Bourne Ultimatum” (Universal) Christopher Rouse |
| | “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” (Miramax/Pathé Renn) Juliette Welfling |
| | “Into the Wild” (Paramount Vantage and River Road Entertainment) Jay Cassidy |
| X | “No Country for Old Men” (Miramax and Paramount Vantage) Roderick Jaynes |
| | “There Will Be Blood” (Paramount Vantage and Miramax) Dylan Tichenor |
Commentary: This category is married to Best Picture; they predict each other most years; so it's a good bet. Commentary: What??? Well, it's no good as a predictor this year. I think I'm at about 20%. Oh well. Jon Stewart's subtle knock was funny, anyway. |
|
| | “Beaufort” A Metro Communications, Movie Plus Production
Israel |
| X/O | “The Counterfeiters” An Aichholzer Filmproduktion, Magnolia Filmproduktion Production
Austria |
| | “Katyń” An Akson Studio Production
Poland |
| | “Mongol” A Eurasia Film Production
Kazakhstan |
| | “12” A Three T Production
Russia
|
Commentary: Since the obvious choices weren't given love in this category, I picked the one I've even heard of. I expect to be wrong. Commentary: I was right! My expectations are simply all off. Ok, maybe not. |
|
| O | “La Vie en Rose” (Picturehouse) Didier Lavergne and Jan Archibald |
| | “Norbit” (DreamWorks, Distributed by Paramount) Rick Baker and Kazuhiro Tsuji |
| X | “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” (Walt Disney) Ve Neill and Martin Samuel |
Commentary: I'm favoring Keith Richards' eyeliner here. Commentary: I should have figured that recreating a famous person would work in the makeup category too. |
|
| X/O | “Atonement” (Focus Features) Dario Marianelli |
| | “The Kite Runner” (DreamWorks, Sidney Kimmel Entertainment and Participant Productions, Distributed by Paramount Classics) Alberto Iglesias |
| | “Michael Clayton” (Warner Bros.) James Newton Howard |
| | “Ratatouille” (Walt Disney) Michael Giacchino |
| | “3:10 to Yuma” (Lionsgate) Marco Beltrami |
Commentary: It's won prior awards in this category, and it's a moving score for a moving picture. That usually helps. Commentary: I'm making a comeback! |
|
| X/O | “Falling Slowly” from “Once”
(Fox Searchlight)
Music and Lyric by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova |
| | “Happy Working Song” from “Enchanted”
(Walt Disney)
Music by Alan Menken
Lyric by Stephen Schwartz |
| | “Raise It Up” from “August Rush”
(Warner Bros.)
Nominees to be determined
|
| | “So Close” from “Enchanted”
(Walt Disney)
Music by Alan Menken
Lyric by Stephen Schwartz |
| | “That’s How You Know” from “Enchanted”
(Walt Disney)
Music by Alan Menken
Lyric by Stephen Schwartz |
Commentary: I'm 90% sure Once will get this award - it's been the subject of much of the accolades this film has received. Commentary: Told you so. |
|
| | “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 |
| X/O | “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 |
Commentary: It's the clear front runner. Commentary: Yay! |
|
| X | “I Met the Walrus”
A Kids & Explosions Production
Josh Raskin
|
| | “Madame Tutli-Putli” (National Film Board of Canada)
A National Film Board of Canada Production
Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski |
| | “Même Les Pigeons Vont au Paradis (Even Pigeons Go to Heaven)” (Premium Films)
A BUF Compagnie Production
Samuel Tourneux and Simon Vanesse |
| | “My Love (Moya Lyubov)” (Channel One Russia)
A Dago-Film Studio, Channel One Russia and Dentsu Tec Production
Alexander Petrov |
| O | “Peter & the Wolf” (BreakThru Films)
A BreakThru Films/Se-ma-for Studios Production
Suzie Templeton and Hugh Welchman
|
Commentary: I picked the short involving the Beatlesy topic, given the mass interest in Across the Universe. Commentary: Whatever happened to the Disney version? |
|
| | “At Night”
A Zentropa Entertainments 10 Production
Christian E. Christiansen and Louise Vesth |
| X | “Il Supplente (The Substitute)” (Sky Cinema Italia)
A Frame by Frame Italia Production
Andrea Jublin |
| O | “Le Mozart des Pickpockets (The Mozart of Pickpockets)” (Premium Films)
A Karé Production
Philippe Pollet-Villard |
| | “Tanghi Argentini” (Premium Films)
An Another Dimension of an Idea Production
Guido Thys and Anja Daelemans |
| | “The Tonto Woman”
A Knucklehead, Little Mo and Rose Hackney Barber Production
Daniel Barber and Matthew Brown |
Commentary: I've heard of this one. Commentary: I never get to see these, so what do you want? |
|
| O | “The Bourne Ultimatum” (Universal)
Karen Baker Landers and Per Hallberg |
| | “No Country for Old Men” (Miramax and Paramount Vantage)
Skip Lievsay |
| X | “Ratatouille” (Walt Disney)
Randy Thom and Michael Silvers |
| | “There Will Be Blood” (Paramount Vantage and Miramax)
Matthew Wood |
| | “Transformers” (DreamWorks and Paramount in association with Hasbro)
Ethan Van der Ryn and Mike Hopkins |
Commentary: Sound likes battles and loud noises. The only qualifyig movie is Transformers, and that's not going to win. I think rat noises are going to be popular this year. Commentary: Yeah, I got nothing. I have to try watching the Bourne films again. I fell asleep during the first one. |
|
| O | “The Bourne Ultimatum” (Universal)
Scott Millan, David Parker and Kirk Francis |
| X | “No Country for Old Men” (Miramax and Paramount Vantage)
Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff and Peter Kurland |
| | “Ratatouille” (Walt Disney)
Randy Thom, Michael Semanick and Doc Kane |
| | “3:10 to Yuma” (Lionsgate)
Paul Massey, David Giammarco and Jim Stuebe |
| | “Transformers” (DreamWorks and Paramount in association with Hasbro)
Kevin O’Connell, Greg P. Russell and Peter J. Devlin |
Commentary: I got nothing. Commentary: I still got nothing. My percentage is really low this year. Zounds. Hey, that sounds like "sounds!" Only not. I think people should bring back Zounds. |
|
| O | “The Golden Compass” (New Line in association with Ingenious Film Partners)
Michael Fink, Bill Westenhofer, Ben Morris and Trevor Wood
|
| X | “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” (Walt Disney)
John Knoll, Hal Hickel, Charles Gibson and John Frazier |
| | “Transformers” (DreamWorks and Paramount in association with Hasbro)
Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Russell Earl and John Frazier |
Commentary: The pirates have won this category before and for good reason. Several Jack Sparrows has to count for something. Commentary: This is quite a surprise. Seriously, I thought Pirates would see this love again, especially since the visual effects were one of the only things people universally liked about this sequel. Makes me want to see The Golden Compass more now. |
|
| X | “Atonement” (Focus Features)
Screenplay by Christopher Hampton |
| | “Away from Her” (Lionsgate)
Written by Sarah Polley |
| | “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” (Miramax/Pathé Renn)
Screenplay by Ronald Harwood
|
| O | “No Country for Old Men” (Miramax and Paramount Vantage)
Written for the screen by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
|
| | “There Will Be Blood” (Paramount Vantage and Miramax)
Written for the screen by Paul Thomas Anderson |
Commentary: The book and the movie have been widely discussed - I think this is the love Atonement will get. Commentary: Well, darn. Bodes well for the directing award, though, eh? |
|
| X/O | “Juno” (Fox Searchlight)
Written by Diablo Cody |
| | “Lars and the Real Girl” (MGM)
Written by Nancy Oliver |
| | “Michael Clayton” (Warner Bros.)
Written by Tony Gilroy |
| | “Ratatouille” (Walt Disney)
Screenplay by Brad Bird
Story by Jan Pinkava, Jim Capobianco, Brad Bird |
| | “The Savages” (Fox Searchlight)
Written by Tamara Jenkins |