2008 Academy Awards thread - Pre-Game and PBP [R]

[riverplate]

http://www.oscars.org/publications/poster80/80thposter.jpg

Best picture
Atonement
Juno
Michael Clayton
No Country for Old Men
There Will Be Blood

Best director
Paul Thomas Anderson, "There Will Be Blood"
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, "No Country for Old Men"
Tony Gilroy, "Michael Clayton"
Jason Reitman, "Juno"
Julian Schnabel, “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"

Best actor
George Clooney in “Michael Clayton”
Daniel Day-Lewis in “There Will Be Blood”
Johnny Depp in “Sweeney Todd”
Tommy Lee Jones in “In the Valley of Elah”
Viggo Mortensen in “Eastern Promises”

Best actress
Cate Blanchett in “Elizabeth: The Golden Age”
Julie Christie in “Away from Her”
Marion Cotillard in “La Vie en Rose”
Laura Linney in “The Savages”
Ellen Page in “Juno”

Best supporting actor
Casey Affleck in “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford”
Javier Bardem in “No Country for Old Men”
Philip Seymour Hoffman in “Charlie Wilson’s War”
Hal Holbrook in “Into the Wild”
Tom Wilkinson in “Michael Clayton”

Best supporting actress
Cate Blanchett in “I’m Not There”
Ruby Dee in “American Gangster”
Saoirse Ronan in “Atonement”
Amy Ryan in “Gone Baby Gone”
Tilda Swinton in “Michael Clayton”

Best adapted screenplay
"Atonement” by Christopher Hampton
“Away from Her” by Sarah Polley
“The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” by Ronald Harwood
“No Country for Old Men” by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
“There Will Be Blood” by Paul Thomas Anderson

Best original screenplay
“Juno” by Diablo Cody
“Lars and the Real Girl" by Nancy Oliver
“Michael Clayton” by Tony Gilroy
“Ratatouille” by Jan Pinkava, Jim Capobianco, Brad Bird
“The Savages” by Tamara Jenkins

Best animated film
Persepolis
Ratatouille
Surf's Up

Best foreign film
Beaufort (Israel)
The Counterfeiters (Austria)
Katyń (Poland)
Mongol (Kazakhstan)
12 (Russia)

Best documentary
No End in Sight
Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience
Sicko
Taxi to the Dark Side
War/Dance

All nominees (http://www.oscars.org/80academyawards/nominees/index.html) here.

[Via_Chicago]

These are some crazy awards, man.

Best Pic is pretty straightforward and not very surprising. People were calling four of those movies (MC, Juno, TWBB, and NCFOLM) weeks ago; the only question was over that final slot, but I'm certainly not surprised to see Atonement there.

Best Director has one enormous shocker and that's Jason Reitman. Wasn't this Diablo Cody's film? And friends of mine I've talked to said the film has no discernible style whatsoever. It is, essentially, a director-less feature. Schnabel is not a surprise, but I definitely am surprised to see that Joe Wright isn't there, which speaks volumes about the standing of that film, Best Pic nom or not. Say what you will about Atonement, but at least it has style.

That Best Actor slate is extremely strong. The strongest I've seen in awhile. Haven't seen all of the films though, but my God, Viggo's performance in Eastern Promises was certainly something to behold.

But they really spread the love around this year. Norbit even got a nom. As did Lars and the Real Girl.

[Matrim55]

But they really spread the love around this year. Norbit even got a nom. As did Lars and the Real Girl.
Which is why the academy is a joke.

[Via_Chicago]

Which is why the academy is a joke.

The Academy is mainly a joke because their nominating and voting processes are a joke. They let non-specialists vote on specialist categories and have no way of checking whether a voter has even watched all the films in a category. Hell, Johnny Greenwood's score for There Will Be Blood was ineligible for nomination because he occasionally references other music. Huh? Maybe if he'd disguised it better, like, oh, every major film score I've ever heard (I swear, if another film score references "Mars" or "O Fortuna" ever again I'm going to cry)...lame.

[dark knight]

Which is why the academy is a joke.

When Atonement beats out NCFOLM (haven't seen TWBB yet), I'm going to teach them and cut myself on the leg like Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction.

[Ghost]

Best Director has one enormous shocker and that's Jason Reitman. Wasn't this Diablo Cody's film? And friends of mine I've talked to said the film has no discernible style whatsoever. It is, essentially, a director-less feature. Schnabel is not a surprise, but I definitely am surprised to see that Joe Wright isn't there, which speaks volumes about the standing of that film, Best Pic nom or not. Say what you will about Atonement, but at least it has style.


THis is the year that Best Director should officially just change its name to "Best Guy or Gal who directed a Best Picture nominee, plus someone that we like." Reitman is out of his league here. Michael Clayton is somewhat in the same boat. I could live with a Tony Gilroy nomination in a lot of years, but not a year with so many successful director-driven films. Haynes, Dominik, Fincher, Nair, John Carney, Tim Burton, etc., all their films bear stamps of personal vision. To the extent that Juno has one, it's Diablo Cody's. And I agree about Wright. I have mixed feelings about Atonement, but at least it is not generic.

[scaryice]

Better than the Grammy's at least.

[sch2383]

Better than the Grammy's at least.
What isn't?

[Vermont Red]

What isn't?

Any of the football player of the year awards.

[Rafael Hernandez]

Did anybody see Surf's Up? I only saw the trailer but it made the movie look like it was total shit. I'm totally astonished it got an oscar nomination. I saw Beowulf and although it wasn't superb, it was pretty good and I can't believe it was worse than Surf's Up. I mean I really think Surf's up looked like one of the worst movies of the year but then again, I didn't see it.

[TheSlipperyOne]

http://www.mcnblogs.com/thehotblog/archives/perdita_durango_cap2.jpg

This guy will probably win Best Supporting Actor (but not for the above role).

[Demosthenes]

Did anybody see Surf's Up? I only saw the trailer but it made the movie look like it was total shit. I'm totally astonished it got an oscar nomination. I saw Beowulf and although it wasn't superb, it was pretty good and I can't believe it was worse than Surf's Up. I mean I really think Surf's up looked like one of the worst movies of the year but then again, I didn't see it.

Oddly enough, I did see Surf's Up. It wasn't the worst thing I've ever seen, but no, it was not particularly good.

[TheSlipperyOne]

Best picture
Atonement
Juno
Michael Clayton
No Country for Old Men
There Will Be Blood


I've seen them all and my choice would be There Will Be Blood. I would have liked to see Zodiac get the nomination over Juno or Atonement.


Best director
Paul Thomas Anderson, "There Will Be Blood"
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, "No Country for Old Men"
Tony Gilroy, "Michael Clayton"
Jason Reitman, "Juno"
Julian Schnabel, “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"


I still can't comprehend how Reitman got a nomination for Juno. I'd say his directing on Thank You For Smoking was much better and I wouldn't have considered it award worthy.

I'll exclude Schnabel for now as I haven't seen his movie. But my pick here would be Paul Thomas Anderson.


Best actor
George Clooney in “Michael Clayton”
Daniel Day-Lewis in “There Will Be Blood”
Johnny Depp in “Sweeney Todd”
Tommy Lee Jones in “In the Valley of Elah”
Viggo Mortensen in “Eastern Promises”


Haven't seen Sweeney Todd but I think Depp will be nominated for better roles than this and win one of those. My pick here is actually Tommy Lee Jones.


Best actress
Cate Blanchett in “Elizabeth: The Golden Age”
Julie Christie in “Away from Her”
Marion Cotillard in “La Vie en Rose”
Laura Linney in “The Savages”
Ellen Page in “Juno”


The only one I haven't seen here is Elizabeth II: The Reckoning, but since it's purported to be such a bad movie I won't consider her. My pick is Marion Cotillard in one of my top 10 films of 2007. But I wouldn't mind any of the other three not named Cate win.


Best supporting actor
Casey Affleck in “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford”
Javier Bardem in “No Country for Old Men”
Philip Seymour Hoffman in “Charlie Wilson’s War”
Hal Holbrook in “Into the Wild”
Tom Wilkinson in “Michael Clayton”


Holbrook, Affleck and Wilkinson are deserving. Barden will win. But my pick is Philip Seymour Hoffman.


Best supporting actress
Cate Blanchett in “I’m Not There”
Ruby Dee in “American Gangster”
Saoirse Ronan in “Atonement”
Amy Ryan in “Gone Baby Gone”
Tilda Swinton in “Michael Clayton”


All good performances but I'll go with Amy Ryan as my pick. Not glamourous but a great actress in a meaty role.


Best adapted screenplay
"Atonement” by Christopher Hampton
“Away from Her” by Sarah Polley
“The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” by Ronald Harwood
“No Country for Old Men” by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
“There Will Be Blood” by Paul Thomas Anderson


TWBB actually only took a small part from Oil! by Upton Sinclair to adapt so I'm actually surprised it was nominated here. My pick is the Coens for NCFOM as it is one of the best book to film adaptations ever.


Best original screenplay
“Juno” by Diablo Cody
“Lars and the Real Girl" by Nancy Oliver
“Michael Clayton” by Tony Gilroy
“Ratatouille” by Jan Pinkava, Jim Capobianco, Brad Bird
“The Savages” by Tamara Jenkins


My favorite out of these is Lars and the Real Girl so Nancy Oliver is my pick. Everyone is on the Diablo Cody bandwagon for this award but I think she may get upset by one of the others.


Best animated film
Persepolis
Ratatouille
Surf's Up


Persepolis. I still can't believe Beowulf lost out on a nomination to Surf's Up.


Best foreign film
Beaufort (Israel)
The Counterfeiters (Austria)
Katyń (Poland)
Mongol (Kazakhstan)
12 (Russia)


Haven't seen any.


Best documentary
No End in Sight
Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience
Sicko
Taxi to the Dark Side
War/Dance


Haven't seen any.

[SportBoy333]

The Simpsons movie is not nominated for best animated film and I also surprised that The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters or My Kid Could Paint That didnt get nominated for best documentary. They got more buzz and attention than those other nominated docs minus Sicko.

[Vermont Red]

Isn't the rule for the Animated category that there needs to be at least three movies that are nominated but can be as many as five?

[riverplate]

Isn't the rule for the Animated category that there needs to be at least three movies that are nominated but can be as many as five?

I think that also applies to other categories. This year, there are only three nominees for Makeup and for Visual Effects.

Special Rules for the Best Animated Feature Film Award (http://www.oscars.org/80academyawards/rules/rule07.html) - AMPAS/oscars.org

It remains within the sole and confidential discretion of the Board of Governors to determine if any Best Animated Feature Film Award shall be given for a particular year, and to make all final determinations regarding this category.

[Demosthenes]

I used to be so excited about the Oscars every year. My interest has waned. This year, I really don't care at all. Is it the movies, the Academy, or me?

[TheSlipperyOne]

I used to be so excited about the Oscars every year. My interest has waned. This year, I really don't care at all. Is it the movies, the Academy, or me?

It's you. ;)

I'm actually looking forward to this year because of the very interesting/odd selections in all of the categories.

Hopefully all the stars will be there. Knock on wood.

[dark knight]

I used to be so excited about the Oscars every year. My interest has waned. This year, I really don't care at all. Is it the movies, the Academy, or me?

I've never really understood why people get so into it - especially when crappy movies win the whole thing. But I sometimes Tivo it so I can zip through the long boring parts.

[riverplate]

The Coen Bros. won last night's Directors Guild of America award.

DGA awards (http://www.dga.org/index2.php3)