Best Picture: "The Soloist"
Best Director: David Fincher, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
Best Actor: Frank Langella, "Frost/Nixon"
Best Actress: Kate Winslet, "Revolutionary Road"
Best Supporting Actor: Robert Downey, Jr., "The Soloist"
Best Supporting Actress: Amy Adams, "Doubt"
Best Adapted Screenplay: "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
Best Original Screenplay: "The Soloist"
Best Animated Feature Film: "WALL-E"
Best Art Direction: "Red Cliff"
Best Cinematography: "Australia"
Best Costume Design: "Red Cliff"
Best Film Editing: "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull"
Best Makeup: "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
Best Music - Original Score: "Revolutionary Road"
Best Music - Original Song: "WALL-E"
Best Sound Editing: "WALL-E"
Best Sound Mixing: "Defiance"
Best Visual Effects: "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian"
BEST PICTURE
1. There Will Be Blood
2. No Country for Old Men*
3. Juno
4. Michael Clayton
5. Atonement
This is one of the strongest years in recent memory. I think all 5 are fantastic, honestly.
BEST DIRECTOR
1. P.T. Anderson (There Will Be Blood)
2. Joel and Ethan Coen (No Country for Old Men)*
3. Julian Schnabel (The Diving Bell and The Butterfly)
4. Jason Reitman (Juno)
5. Tony Gilroy (Michael Clayton)
BEST ACTOR
1. Daniel Day-Lewis (There Will Be Blood)*
2. Viggo Mortensen (Eastern Promises)
3. George Clooney (Michael Clayton)
4. Johnny Depp (Sweeney Todd)
-Tommy Lee Jones (In The Name of Elah)
BEST ACTRESS
1. Ellen Page (Juno)
2. Julie Christie (Away from Her)*
3. Marion Cotillard (La Vie En Rose)
-Laura Linney (The Savages)
-Cate Blanchett (Elizabeth: The Golden Age)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
1. Casey Affleck (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford)
2. Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men)*
3. Hal Holbrook (Into the Wild)
4. Tom Wilkinson (Michael Clayton)
-Philip Seymor Hoffman (Charlie Wilson's War)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
1. Cate Blanchett (I'm Not There)*
2. Tilda Swinton (Michael Clayton)
3. Amy Ryan (Gone Baby Gone)
4. Saoirse Ronan (Atonement)
5. Ruby Dee (American Gangster)
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
1. Juno*
2. Lars and the Real Girl
3. Ratatouille
4. Michael Clayton
-The Savages
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
1. There Will Be Blood
2. No Country for Old Men*
3. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
4. Atonement
5. Away from Her
BEST ANIMATED FILM
1. Ratatouille*
-Persepolis
-Surf's Up
BEST ART DIRECTION
1. There Will Be Blood*
2. Sweeney Todd
3. Atonement
4. American Gangster
5. The Golden Compass
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
1. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
2. There Will Be Blood
3. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly*
4. No Country for Old Men
5. Atonement
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
1. Sweeney Todd
2. Atonement
3. La Vie En Rose
4. Across the Universe
-Elizabeth: The Golden Age*
BEST EDITING
1. No Country for Old Men
2. The Bourne Ultimatum*
3. There Will Be Blood
4. Into the Wild
5. The Diving Bell and The Butterfly
BEST MAKEUP
1. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
2. La Vie En Rose*
-Norbit
BEST SCORE
1. Atonement*
2. Ratatouille
3. 3:10 to Yuma
4. Michael Clayton
-The Kite Runner
BEST SONG
1. "Falling Slowly"*
2. "That's How You Know"
3. "Happy Working Song"
4. "So Close"
-"Raise it Up"
BEST SOUND EDITING
1. Transformers*
2. There Will Be Blood
3. Ratatouille
4. No Country for Old Men
5. The Bourne Ultimatum
BEST SOUND MIXING
1. Transformers*
2. No Country for Old Men
3. There Will Be Blood
4. The Bourne Ultimatum
5. 3:10 To Yuma
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
1. Transformers*
2. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
3. The Golden Compass
Best Picture: "Juno" (though this film depreciates more with multiple viewings, while "There Will Be Blood" gets better and better. These were my #4 and #5 films of the year, so I'm torn.)
Best Director: Julian Schnabel, "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"
Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis, "There Will be Blood"
Best Actress: Marion Cotillard, "La Vie en Rose"
Best Supporting Actor: Casey Affleck, "The Assassionation of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford"
Best Supporting Actress: Cate Blanchett, "I'm Not There" (but this category is not very exciting)
Best Adapted Screenplay: "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"
Best Original Screenplay: "The Savages" (I've changed my tune on this versus "Juno" recently)
Best Art Direction: "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street"
Best Cinematography: "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford"
Best Costume Design: "Elizabeth: The Golden Age"
Best Film Editing: "No Country for Old Men"
Best Makeup: "La Vie en Rose"
Best Music - Original Score: "3:10 to Yuma"
Best Music - Original Song: "Once"
Best Sound Editing: "Transformers"
Best Sound Mixing: "Transformers"
Best Visual Effects: "Transformers"
Best Documenary Feature: "No End In Sight"
Best Animated Feature: "Persepolis"
"The Dark Knight" has always been my most anticipated of 2008. Now watching it is going to be so hard.
RIP. :(
Best Director
Joe Wright, “Atonement”
Julian Schnabel, “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly”
Sean Penn, “Into the Wild”
Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, “No Country for Old Men”
Paul Thomas Anderson, “There Will Be Blood”
Alt: Tony Gilroy, “Michael Clayton”
Best Actor
George Clooney, “Michael Clayton”
Daniel Day-Lewis, “There Will Be Blood”
Johnny Depp, “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”
Emile Hirsch, “Into the Wild”
Viggo Mortensen, “Eastern Promises”
Alt: Ryan Gosling - “Lars and the Real Girl”
Best Actress
Julie Christie, “Away From Her”
Marion Cotillard, “La Vie En Rose”
Keira Knightley, “Atonement”
Angelina Jolie, “A Mighty Heart”
Ellen Page, “Juno”
Alt: Cate Blanchett “Elizabeth: The Golden Age”
Best Supporting Actress
Cate Blanchett, “I’m Not There”
Kelly MacDonald, “No Country for Old Men”
Saoirse Ronan, “Atonement”
Amy Ryan, “Gone Baby Gone”
Tilda Swinton, “Michael Clayton”
Alt: Ruby Dee, “American Gangster”
Best Adapted Screenplay
“Atonement”
“The Diving Bell and the Butterfly”
“Into the Wild”
“No Country for Old Men”
“There Will Be Blood”
Alt: “Charlie Wilson's War”
Best Original Screenplay
“Juno”
“Knocked Up”
“Lars and the Real Girl”
“Michael Clayton”
“Ratatouille”
Alt: “The Savages”
Best Animated Feature Film
“Persepolis”
“Ratatouille”
“The Simpsons Movie”
Alt: “Bee Movie”
Best Art Direction
“3:10 To Yuma”
“The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford”
“Atonement”
“Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”
“There Will Be Blood”
Alt: “Elizabeth: The Golden Age”
Best Cinematography
“The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford”
“Atonement”
“The Diving Bell and the Butterfly”
“No Country for Old Men”
“There Will Be Blood”
Alt: “Into the Wild”
Best Costume Design
“The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford”
“Atonement”
“Elizabeth: The Golden Age”
“Hairspray”
“Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”
Alt: “3:10 to Yuma”
Best Film Editing
“Atonement”
“Into the Wild”
“No Country for Old Men”
“Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”
“There Will Be Blood”
Alt: “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly”
Best Makeup
“La Vie En Rose”
“Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End”
“Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”
Alt: “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly”
Best Music, Original Score
“3:10 to Yuma”
“Atonement”
“The Kite Runner”
“There Will Be Blood”
“Ratatouille”
Alt: “Lust, Caution”
Best Music, Original Song
“Enchanted” – “That’s How You Know”
“Hairspray” – “Come So Far” (Got So Far to Go)”
“Into the Wild” – “Guaranteed”
“Once” – “Falling Slowly”
“Walk Hard” – “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story”
Alt: “American Gangster” – “Do You Feel Me”
Best Sound Editing
“Ratatouille”
“Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”
“Transformers”
Alt: “Spider-Man 3”
Best Sound Mixing
“300”
“Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End”
“Ratatouille”
“Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”
“Transformers”
Alt: “Into the Wild”
Best Visual Effects
“The Golden Compass”
“Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End”
“Transformers”
Alt: “Spider-Man 3”
Would anyone else be completely unsurprised if this turned out to be our directing line-up? I could see Wright or Burton (or Reitman, that Juno love is like wildfire lately) replacing Gilroy at the last second, but really, I think this is it.
In case you can't tell, the first name psyched me out. Apart from that, this may complete the fall of "Atonement" and "Sweeney Todd" while assuring "Into the Wild" and making "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" (which I've felt good about since the BFCA/HFPA) and "Michael Clayton" (not a typical "director's film") look very solid.
"There Will Be Blood" remains the weak link on the BP front, though Anderson is ahead of Gilroy as far as Directing goes.
What sayeth you?
"The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" - Roger Deakins
"Atonement" - Seamus McGarvey
"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" - Janusz Kaminski
"No Country for Old Men" - Roger Deakins
"There Will Be Blood" - Robert Elswit
This year was an embarassment of riches in this category, and all five nominated achievements are superb.
The matchup rate with Oscar is usually 3/5 or 4/5 but these five seem solid. While may preference for a spoiler would be Rodrigo Prieto ("Lust, Caution"), I nonetheless suspect that Eric Gautier is the man most likely to bump out one of the five guild nominees for "Into the Wild." But who would that be? I think I'm going to predict a rare 5/5 matchup.
Rob Reiner's latest was a good film to take in the day before Thanksgiving. It does, after all, have some thematic relevance. But what you might have expected from "The Bucket List" is in fact what you get, a heavy layer of schmaltz that doesn't settle into anything that feels genuine or ultimately enjoyable, given the potential in front of the camera.
I'm not going to offer a full pan of the film, becaue it doesn't really deserve that. It's heart is in the right place and it should be a fun film for families to enjoy over the holidays, but give Justin Zackham's script over to one of the industry's many gifted "doctors," and you might have ended up with something of substance.
Morgan Freeman is business as usual. Jack Nicholson touches this or that unique note, but mainly it's just Jack being Jack. And it isn't the awards-caliber Jack we wouldn't have been out of bounds to expect. It's just not that kind of film. It's not in it's DNA to rise above a certain level of mere acceptance. But sometimes that's enough for a casual movie-goer, and so I'm sure "The Bucket List" will find an audience.
Personally, I'm going with Keener and Ronan, barely over Dee and Redgrave, but I'm not confident. Ronan's in a big feature (but how big after the SAG snub?) and has BFCA and Globe nods, with BAFTA likely following suit. The SAG snub remains a major problem, however, given their love of child actors. Keener seems to be the solid old standby. My major hesitation with her would be a lack of passion for her performance, which I feel is more likely to exist for Dee and Redgrave.
As for Dee and Redgrave, the two could very well be nominated. Redgrave is a legend, with her best shot at a nomination since she was last nominated with virtually no precursor citations and a tiny role in "Howard's End." The BFCA nod and the impact she has at the film's end (think William Hurt) are major plusses in her corner. But her film seems on very shaky ground and her role remains tiny.
Dee, on the other hand, could have a career-capping nomination for a film that has been performing solidly, if not overwhelmingly, this year. But her role remains relatively small, her film's fate seems uncertain and the SAG nod is her only citation to date.
I still feel MacDonald could get in if "No Country" really goes over well - but the lack of any precursor citations whatsoever is disconcerting. The Globe nod for Roberts struck me as Globe star-fucking but if they want to welcome her back, she probably shouldn't be totally ruled out either.. And then there are the longshots such as Marisa Tomei and Jennifer Jason Leigh who could surprise in a very open year.
What say you?
In spite of this, I still feel this is not a sure thing. Diane Lane and Sean Penn excepted, critically maligned films seldom earn acting nominations. Moreover, getting re-nominated for a sequel is almost unheard of - Bing Crosby, Al Pacino and Paul Newman are the only three actors to have ever accomplished it. Does "The Golden Age" seem likely to be the vehicle for #4?
That said, I feel her competition is what is ultimately going to push Blanchett over the edge. Keira Knightley has pulled the "SAG snub but Oscar nominee" trick before but there she had a BFCA nod and was the true lead of her film; plus, she'd be VERY young to have two lead actress nominations. Amy Adams is in, well, a Disney film, the sort that would seem more likely to go to SAG before Oscar. I'd still have her in #6. Helena Bonham-Carter has received buzz secondary to Depp since the film started screening. And Laura Linney has gotten traction whatsoever. (Alas, poor Tang Wei...)
Anyone still holding out on this front? I'm curious to see where you are.