The Winners
So, no more time for guessing.
Update: Okay I just entered this contest which includes doc and foreign categories so despite having seen none of those nominees except SiCKO I’ll include what I put there at the risk of losing points – I’ll still leave out the shorts though; I promise this is the last time I’ll bump this entry, I’m pretty damn happy with my final predictions now, like practically in a Kermodean, “They are the right nominees that should win,” sense lol.
Having watched There Will Be Blood a second time today and finally La Vie En Rose and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly yesterday, I really think this is the best bunch of nominations I’ve seen in a long time and I know I say it every year and they still manage to find something to upset me lol, but I think no matter what wins in most categories, I’ll be pretty satisfied (Juno in anything but screenplay, Clayton for anything but Swinton or Wilkinson and Philip Seymour Hoffman would be about the worst upsets for me). I think it’ll be a great show too – don’t ask me why, I just have a feeling. Later I’ll start a separate post “live blogging” the whole thing like last year. Minor changes are of course possible up until the show 
8/21
Best Picture: There Will Be Blood 
No Country for Old Men
Best Director: Julian Schnabel, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly Coen Brothers
Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood 
Best Actress: Marion Cotillard, La Vie En Rose
Best Supporting Actor: Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men
Best Supporting Actress: Cate Blanchett, I’m Not There Tilda Swinton
Best Original Screenplay: Juno Diablo Cody
Best Adapted Screenplay: Away From Her Sarah Polley No Country for Old Men
Best Editing: No Country for Old Men Roderick Jaynes The Bourne Ultimatum
Best Cinematography: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford Roger Deakins There Will Be Blood
Best Art Direction: There Will Be Blood Sweeney Todd!
Best Costume Design: Atonement Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Best Make-Up: La Vie En Rose
Best Original Score: Ratatouille Michael Giacchino Atonement
Best Original Song: “Falling Slowly”, Once
Best Visual Effects: Transformers The Golden Compass
Best Sound Mixing: No Country for Old Men The Bourne Ultimatum
Best Sound Editing: There Will Be Blood The Bourne Ultimatum
Best Animated Film: Ratatouille
Best Foreign Language Film: The Counterfeiters
Best Documentary Feature: SiCKO Taxi to the Dark Side
The Nominees
40/89 … less than usual but not by much, I usually manage 50/50 which considering I mostly avoid things that I just personally don’t wanna be nominated ain’t too bad. 3 song nominations wasted on Enchanted like last year’s Dreamgirls thing kinda annoys me – I love Schwartz and Menken, no I haven’t seen the movie but I’ve heard the songs and they’re not that good … there should be a rule for 1 nomination per movie. No Mimzy and no Robinsons is my biggest let-down. I kicked butt in sound effects editing and adapted screenplay categories which surprises me. Yay for Sarah Polley. Can’t believe Norbit got a nomination. I can believe even less that Mark Kermode didn’t have a coronary on air lol – maybe nobody dared tell him. I think it’s No Country all over but I think I’ll ultimately be rooting for Blood. Time to work on the 2009 page 
Best Picture 2/5
NOTES: Though I loved it, I still really won’t be surprised if Sweeney is all but left out of the whole proceedings. I’m surprised by the lack of buzz about Once in recent weeks, and would personally like to see it up there. Away From Her won’t be nominated but in my opinion is one of the most artistic, classy movies in years. And Lions for Lambs should probably be here too. I won’t be too annoyed if Atonement comes up, but I’ll scream if 3:10 or American Gangster do. Juno … meh … I liked it, but do we really wanna waste another nomination on another Little Miss Sunshine ?
Best Director 2/5
NOTES: last minute update Since I was really torn between Sidney Lumet and David Fincher (Lumet is about as overdue as Scorsese, Fincher’s just a genius and Zodiac deserves something), I decided to really stick my neck out and ditch both in favour of Sarah Polley. My thinking behind that is just too lengthy to go into here lol. Joe Wright and Ridley Scott would bore me in this category – the long shot in Atonement is masterful, but far too obvious; and I shouldn’t even need to say that Scott has done better, but I feel like I have to. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, incidentally, won’t be getting much mention here since I’ve just not even read much about it to make so much as an informed prejudgement, but it’d be awesome to see Julian Schnabel nominated and pretend it’s in retrospect for Basquiat.
Best Actor 2/5
NOTES: Well this category’s vast. My big clash here was over Sam Riley vs. Joseph Gordon-Levitt who has been in my predix here since the beginning. If I weren’t so anxious for Johnny to finally win, I’d swap the two over and I feel their likelihood of a nomination is about equal (I’m really not feeling it for Sweeney, I’m sorry, I hope I’m proven wrong). Hoffmann will get nominated, I’m certain, but I don’t know for what – it could be for The Savages which I’ve not seen, it could be supporting for Charlie Wilson’s War, I hope not. If Julie Christie is up for Away from Her, which she will be, then I feel it would be an insult if Gordon Pinsent weren’t nominated too. John Cusack in my opinion deserves a nomination for 1408 but his only slightly more likely role in Grace is Gone would be a fine substitute nomination. James McAvoy deserves to be nominated after being overlooked last year for The Last King of Scotland. Christian Bale’s performance in Rescue Dawn seems to have been forgotten.
Best Actress 3/5
NOTES: I haven’t seen Enchanted yet but the buzz for Amy Adams just seems crazy, much as I’d love to see her up there. I’d prefer to see Ashley Judd nominated for Bug here over any of the five above. But this seems the easiest category to predict this year. Jodie Foster and Helena Bonham-Carter could be swapped in for Cotillard and Blanchett, and I know it might seem weird me not rooting for Jodie, but, meh, they’ve both done better and I’m actually happy with these five … yes, even Keira.
Best Supporting Actor 2/5
NOTES: If Christian Bale is up for Rescue Dawn in the lead category, then like the Christie/Pinsent thing, Steve Zahn should be up here too in my opinion. He deserved a supporting actor nod for Riding in Cars with Boys. But I’m pretty sure that’s not gonna happen. I guess since I took Joseph Gordon-Levitt out I should take Jeff Daniels out here too, but I really can’t think who to replace him with. I really didn’t like Philip Seymour-Hoffmann in Charlie Wilson’s War. I’m willing to lose a point over that, lol.
Best Supporting Actress 2/5
NOTES: I used to be so good on this category. But I’m gonna be wrong wrong wrong this year, I know, lol. I would love to see Imelda Staunton in this one for Harry Potter. Pfeiffer’s more likely to be nominated for Hairspray but I just plain liked Stardust more.
Best Original Screenplay 2/5
Best Adapted Screenplay 4/5
Best Editing 2/5
Best Cinematography 2/5
Best Art Direction 2/5
Best Costume Design 3/5
Best Make-Up 0/3
Best Original Score 2/5
NOTES: last minute update apparently Jonny Greenwood’s score for There Will Be Blood is ineligible, so I’ve replaced it off the top of my head with Carter Burwell’s admittedly familiar score to Before the Devil. He ain’t getting nominated for No Country that’s for sure lol.
Best Original Song 1/5
- “Le Festin” Michael Giacchino, Ratatouille [ “Happy Working Song”, Enchanted ]
- “Hello, I Love You” Roger Waters and Howard Shore, The Last Mimzy [ “That’s How You Know”, Enchanted ]
- “Falling Slowly” Glen Hansard & Markéta Irglová, Once
- “Society” Eddie Vedder, Into the Wild [ “So Close”, Enchanted ]
- “Way Back Into Love” Music and Lyrics [ “Raise it Up”, August Rush ]
NOTES: I swapped in “Le Festin” last minute, grudgingly over Schwartz and Menken’s “That’s How You Know” from Enchanted, if only ‘cos I still haven’t seen that movie. Either will be great by me. Just … please on Mimzy 
In fact, just about please on all of the above. The song category could be awesome this year!
Best Visual Effects 2/3
NOTES: I grudgingly accept another Pirates nod, Sunshine and Zodiac being absent from the shortlist 
Best Sound 2/5
Best Sound Effects Editing 4/5
Best Foreign Language Feature
NOTES: Even I noticed how f*cked up the shortlist was for this category this year. I’m just not even gonna try.
Best Documentary Feature
NOTES: (sorta) ditto.
Best Animated Feature 1/3
NOTES: I just want Robinsons to be nominated. Simpsons in its place would bug the hell out of me. Shrek and Bee Movie – Bah! The only thing I’ll accept is Persepolis over Beowulf.
Oh yes: THE TALLY:
8 – No Country for Old Men
6 – Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Zodiac
5 – Ratatouille
4 – There Will Be Blood, Control, Atonement, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
3 – Into the Wild, Away from Her, Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead, Elizabeth: The Golden Age, The Bourne Ultimatum, American Gangster
2 – The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The Lookout, Michael Clayton, Juno, I’m Not There, Once, 300, Transformers
1 – Breach, A Mighty Heart, La Vie en Rose, Gone Baby Gone, Stardust, Grace is Gone, The Last Mimzy, Music and Lyrics, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, Hairspray, Meet the Robinsons, Beowulf
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