This Year's Oscar Contenders

Thats right, with Oscar film season starting what movies do you think will be the power houses of this years Oscars.

I'm thinking

Gone Baby Gone
There Will Be Blood
American Gangster
No Country for Old Men
Into The Wild

and i've herd rumors of people thinking Sweeney Todd may be a big one.

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The Reaping 7/10
Transformers 8.5/10
Flight of the Living Dead 6/10
The Invisible 6/10
Return to House on Haunted Hill 1/10
Planet Terror 8/10
A Mighty Heart 7/10

I think Transformers is going to clean up in the big categories....

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It will probably be up for special effects but I dont see it going anywhere from that.

Reservation Road
Things We Lost in the Fire
The Savages
Gone Baby Gone

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Really? Not even Best Film, Bay for Best Director, Optimus Prime for Best Actor....

...if you missed the initial sarcasm.

I don't think Gone Baby Gone has a chance, but then again, my fave, Ratatouille, doesn't either, although I bet it wins Best Animated Feature and gets a Best original screenplay Nom.

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I don't even like the Oscar season much as the films and actors I want acknowledged usually aren't. That said, I do hope that This Is England is recognised for some sort of foreign award. Thomas Turgoose or Stephen Graham should win best actor imo. It'll be a shame if the film isn't recognised in some shape or forrm.

Atonement

OK, we're getting closer and closer to N-Day: the Oscar nominations will be announced on January 22nd, with the Awards ceremony Sunday February 24th.

I still have yet to see some likely contenders, but I'll make some guesses anyway, though I'll probably amend them as the actual nomination date draws nearer. Just based on buzz and what I have seen, I'll guess for the big eight categories...

BEST PICTURE
Charlie Wilson's War
Hairspray
Juno
Michael Clayton
No Country for Old Men

BEST DIRECTOR
Paul Thomas Anderson, There Will Be Blood
Tim Burton, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Joel & Ethan Coen, No Country for Old Men
Mike Nichols, Charlie Wilson's War
Sarah Polley, Away from Her

BEST ACTOR
George Clooney, Michael Clayton
Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood
Johnny Depp, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Tom Hanks, Charlie Wilson's War
Tommy Lee Jones, In the Valley of Elah

BEST ACTRESS
Julie Christie, Away from Her
Angelina Jolie, A Mighty Heart
Keira Knightley, Atonement
Laura Linney, The Savages
Ellen Page, Juno

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
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
John Travolta, Hairspray
Tom Wilkinson, Michael Clayton

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett, I'm Not There
Jennifer Jason Leigh, Margot at the Wedding
Amy Ryan, Gone Baby Gone
Tilda Swinton, Michael Clayton
Marisa Tomei, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Atonement, Christopher Hampton
Charlie Wilson's War, Aaron Sorkin
A Mighty Heart, John Orloff
No Country for Old Men, Joel & Ethan Coen
There Will Be Blood, Paul Thomas Anderson

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
In the Valley of Elah, Paul Haggis & Mark Boal
Juno, Diablo Cody
Margot at the Wedding, Noah Baumbach
Michael Clayton, Tony Gilroy
The Savages, Tamara Jenkins


I wouldn't pick all of those as my personal top five (haven't even seen them all), but these are my guesses at this still relatively early stage in the '08 awards season. Tomorrow (Thursday December 13th) will have the announcement for the Golden Globe nominees. Those will be handed out one month later on January 13th, 2008, which is nine days before Oscar nominations are announced.

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American Gangster
Gone baby Gone
No country for old men

And Eastern Promises ( Oscar for Viggo Mortensen )

I've managed to watch almost all of these movies, the only exceptions being the ones that haven't been released yet. I based some of my predictions on buzz, but most were picked because of what I saw in theaters.

BEST PICTURE
Juno
Michael Clayton
No Country for Old Men
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
There Will Be Blood

BEST DIRECTOR
Paul Thomas Anderson, There Will Be Blood
Tim Burton, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Joel & Ethan Coen, No Country for Old Men
David Cronenberg, Eastern Promises
Ridley Scott, American Gangster

BEST ACTOR
George Clooney, Michael Clayton
Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood
Johnny Depp, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Ryan Gosling, Lars and the Real Girl
Viggo Mortenson, Eastern Promises

BEST ACTRESS
Amy Adams, Enchanted
Jodie Foster, The Brave One
Angelina Jolie, A Mighty Heart
Kiera Knightley, Atonement
Ellen Page, Juno

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Casey Affleck, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men
Jeff Daniels, The Lookout
Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Charlie Wilson's War
Tom Wilkinson, Michael Clayton

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett, I'm Not There
Jennifer Garner, Juno
Saoirse Ronan, Atonement
Amy Ryan, Gone Baby Gone
Tilda Swinton, Michael Clayton

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Eastern Promises, Steven Knight
Juno, Diablo Cody
Michael Clayton, Tony Gilroy
The Savages, Tamara Jenkins
Superbad, Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Atonement, Christopher Hampton
Charlie Wilson's War, Aaron Sorkin
Gone Baby Gone, Ben Affleck & Aaron Stockard
No Country for Old Men, Joel & Ethan Coen
There Will Be Blood, Paul Thomas Anderson

Those picks look pretty good. You'll just have to replace Ben Affleck's acting nom because his film was from 2006.

Oops. I don't know what made me think that was an '07 release. Fixed, kind of. I seriously doubt Jeff Daniels will get a nod for his work in The Lookout, but I thought he was great so...

Yeah, if Jeff Daniels was snubbed for The Squid and the Whale a couple years back, there's no way he'll get nominated for The Lookout. Not that it isn't quality work, it just has no chance of the Academy recognizing it.

But at least it's eligible.

Not that i was overly impressed by Eastern Promises against Cronenberg's oeuvre but would love to see it get a nod in some category.

I wasn't too impressed with the film the first time around either. I thought Cronenberg's direction was masterful, but the movie didn't really connect with me on an emotional level. Upon a second viewing however, I found a little love for the movie and some of its main characters and really the more I think about it, the more I like it. Just one of those things. I really hope to see Cronenberg and Mortensen get nods in their respective categories.

Loved Eastern Promises myself, the best film i have seen this year. However, No Country For Old Men, There Will Be Blood, Juno and Charlie Wilson's War are not out in the UK yet, so my opinion may change when i get round to seeing them.

Well, i love Cronenberg as an auteur but unfortunately i found Eastern Promises so far removed from his prior that i didn't see it as a 'Cronenberg' however, his direction was masterful and so were Cassel and Mortensen's performances but there was so much depth lacking from it generally, even before comparing it against Cronenberg's other work. The narrative struggled i found but, like The Departed and it's flaws then Scorsese got his Oscar albeit for a lesser work compared to his overall body of work, i have hopes for Cronenberg at least getting an Academy nod.

The Kite Runner

I hope it gets nominated and wins everything

i am not even sure if i am excited about the oscars this year with the strike still going on. i heard the other day that the globes and oscars are not even going to be allowed any film clips(someone if i am wrong on this, correct me) i don't think you can have a modern day award show w/out these. it just sounds boring kinda with last year's modern dance troop..
as for the films that will be nominated, i have not seen maybe 2 of these listed above me. i want to see juno & atonement for sure but this year is going to be a diffucult decision to say the least. since i live in a small town, i am surprised the demon barber is playing this weekend here. i have not seen hairspray yet- i am going to rent it tonite to see if it stacks up the orginal.