And They Oscar May Go To...

Ahh, my favorite time of the year! It's fantastically wintry outside, I can bundle up on the couch with a good book (The Fine Art of Small Talk to be exact), and watch all the movies that didn't dare show their faces in the summer! Apparently, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences agree with me and have FINALLY announced their nominations for the 80th Academy Awards. Now, we all must hope that the show does not face the same fate as last week's Golden Globes (press conference anyone?). But I like to think happy thoughts that the Strike will be over soon...

Anyway, I've included the list of nominees, and I've made it my mission to see all of the "biggies" before February 24th.


'No Country for Old Men' and 'There Will be Blood' led this year's Oscar nominations with eight each, while Michael Clayton (Widescreen Edition) made a surprisingly strong showing with noms in five of the top categories: Best Picture, Director, Actor, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress and Original Screenplay, while former front-runner 'Atonement' made a strong showing with seven nods but missed the Best Director and lead acting categories. Away from Her won an expected nod for Julie Christie but got a pleasant surprise with an additional nod for director Sarah Polley's screenplay. Ratatouille got an expected nod for Best Animated Film but also scored an additional three nominations.

OSCAR Nominees

BEST MOTION PICTURE OF THE YEAR

• Atonement


• Juno


• Michael Clayton (Widescreen Edition)


• No Country for Old Men


• There Will be Blood

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTING

• Julian Schnabel, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly


• Jason Reitman, 'Juno'


• Tony Gilroy, 'Michael Clayton'


• Joel and Ethan Coen, 'No Country for Old Men'


• Paul Thomas Anderson, 'There Will Be Blood'

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

• George Clooney, 'Michael Clayton'


• Daniel Day-Lewis, 'There Will Be Blood'


• Johnny Depp, Sweeney Todd


• Tommy Lee Jones, In the Valley of Elah


• Viggo Mortensen, Eastern Promises (Widescreen Edition)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

• Cate Blanchett, Elizabeth - The Golden Age (Widescreen Edition)


• Julie Christie, Away from Her


• Marion Cotillard, La Vie en Rose (Extended Version)


• Laura Linney, The Savages


• Ellen Page, 'Juno'

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

• Casey Affleck, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford


• Javier Bardem, 'No Country for Old Men'


• Philip Seymour Hoffman, Charlie Wilson's War


• Hal Holbrook, Into the Wild (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)


• Tom Wilkinson, 'Michael Clayton'

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

• Cate Blanchett, I'm Not There


• Ruby Dee, American Gangster (Three-Disc Deluxe Edition)


• Saorise Ryan, 'Atonement'


• Amy Ryan, Gone Baby Gone


• Tilda Swinton, 'Michael Clayton'

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

• Christopher Hampton, 'Atonement'


• Sarah Polley, 'Away From Her'


• Ronald Harwood, 'The Diving Bell and the Butterfly'


• Joel and Ethan Coen, 'No Country for Old Men'


• Paul Thomas Anderson, 'There Will be Blood'

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

• Diablo Cody, 'Juno'


• Nancy Oliver, Lars and the Real Girl


• Tony Gilroy, 'Michael Clayton'


• Brad , Ratatouille


• Tamara Jenkins, 'The Savages'

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

• Persepolis


• 'Ratatouille'


• Surf's Up (Widescreen Special Edition)

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

• Beaufort (Israel)


• The Counterfeiters (Austria)


• Katyn (Poland)


• Mongol (Kazahkstan)


• 12 (Russia)

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN ART DIRECTION

• 'American Gangster'


• 'Atonement'


• The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials Book 1)


• 'Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street'


• 'There Will Be Blood'

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN 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'

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN COSTUME DESIGN

• Across the Universe (Two-Disc Special Edition)


• 'Atonement'


• 'Elizabeth: The Golden Age'


• 'La Vie en Rose'


• 'Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street'

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

• No End in Sight


• America at a Crossroads: Operation Homecoming - Writing the Wartime Experience


• Sicko (Special Edition)


• Taxi to the Dark Side


• War Dance

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT

• 'Freeheld'


• 'La Corona (The Crown'


• 'Salim Baba'


• 'Sari's Mother'

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN FILM EDITING

• The Bourne Ultimatum (Widescreen Edition)


• 'The Diving Bell and the Butterfly'


• 'Into the Wild'


• 'No Country for Old Men'


• 'There Will be Blood'

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

• Dario Marianelli, Atonement


• Alberto Iglesias, The Kite Runner


• James Newton Howard, Michael Clayton


• Michael Giacchino, Ratatouille


• Marco Beltrami, 3:10 To Yuma - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

• From Once: "Falling Slowly," Music and Lyric by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova


• From Enchanted: "Happy Working Song," Music by Alan Menken; Lyric by Stephen Schwartz


• From August Rush: Music From The Motion Picture: "Raise It Up," nominees to be determined


• From 'Enchanted': "So Close," Music by Alan Menken; Lyric by Stephen Schwartz


• From 'Enchanted': "That's How You Know," Music by Alan Menken; Lyric by Stephen Schwartz

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND EDITING

• 'The Bourne Ultimatum'


• 'No Country for Old Men'


• 'Ratatouille'


• 'There Will be Blood'


• Transformers (Two-Disc Special Edition)

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND MIXING

• 'The Bourne Ultimatum'


• 'No Country for Old Men'


• 'Ratatouille'


• 3:10 to Yuma (Widescreen Edition)

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN MAKEUP

• 'La Vie en Rose'


• Norbit (Widescreen Edition)


• Pirates of the Caribbean - At World's End (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN VISUAL EFFECTS

• 'The Golden Compass'


• 'Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End'


• 'Transformers'

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM

• 'I Met the Walrus'


• 'Madame Tutli-Putli'


• 'Even Pigeons Go to Heaven'


• 'My Love'


• 'Peter and the Wolf'

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM

• 'At Night'


• 'Il Supplemente (The Substitute)'


• 'Le Mozart des Pickpockets (The Mozart of Pickpockets)'


• 'Tanghi Arghenti'


• 'The Tonto Woman'