Under cover of darkness and a cloud of rain, a WGA strike and potential pickets and SAG boycotts on Oscar’s 80th birthday, a contingent of over 400 national and international press descended on the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences on January 22, to learn of this year’s Academy Award nominees. Like Oscar itself, this early morning tradition never loses its luster, at least for me. So, after much ado with security and the pushing and shoving of press not only to get to the feeding troughs of catered food but to grab a seat in the inner sanctum, Sid Ganis and Oscar winner Kathy Bates took to the podium (albeit a few minutes late) to announce the nominees for the 80th Academy Awards.
If you happened to be on the millions watching the live announcement feed on tv, you probably heard quite a few gasps at some of the names announced (you may have had a few of your own), but I assure you, it was the water cooler talk after the announcements that gave way to some real debate. Talk about some firsts! Talk about the your surprises! Talk about your snubs!
Right off the bat, the most glaring snubs are to Tim Burton and his masterful interpretation of “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.” No Best Director nod. No Best Picture nod. The only saving grace is Johnny Depp’s Best Actor nod, his third, as well as a tip of the hat to costume designer Colleen Atwood and art director Dante Ferreti. Needless to say, as I have raved about in my reviews, Depp, Atwood and Ferreti are my picks to take home that little golden statue in their respective categories.
And I’ve got to question the Academy’s thinking with omitting Frank Langella in the Best Actor category with his tour de force performance in “Starting Out in the Evening.” On the flip side, it was a surprise to all that Tommy Lee Jones was added to the Best Actor roster for “In the Valley of Elah.” Although a strong performance, Tommy Lee Jones is always a stand out and but for a few exceptions steps outside of the box into new, different and stretching. A real surprise in the Best Actor category is Viggo Mortensen for his portrayal of “Nikolai” in “Eastern Promises.” One of the nicest guys in this business, I am delighted that the Academy took note of his talent with this first ever nomination.
And talk about first nominations! how about Hal Holbrook who after 60 years in the business finally gets a nomination as Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Ron Franz in “Into the Wild.” Well deserved, I was beginning to think Holbrook would only get Academy acknowledgment with a “special Oscar” sometime in the future for his overall body of work. I don’t envy the deliberation where Casey Affleck’s work is concerned this year. A toss-up between “Gone Baby Gone” and “The Assassination of Jesse James”, I think it was a good call placing him in the Supporting Actor category over Best Actor category as I think he stands a good chance of besting Oscar winner and two time nominee Philip Seymour Hoffman for his work in “Charlie Wilson’s War.”
And speaking of “Charlie Wilson’s War”, noticeably absent from the list of nominees this year are Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts. A film initially well received and popular, quickly fizzled when awards rolled around.
A joyous and fun entry into numerous categories is the quirky little comedy “Juno.” A fave film of mine this past year, its star Ellen Page is a phenom and although I think the Oscar will go to Julie Christie for “Away from Her”, Page deservedly belongs on the slate for Best Actress. I must admit surprise though to “Juno’s nomination for Best Picture and for Jason Reitman as Best Director. Quite frankly, Ben Affleck did a far better job as a director with “Gone Baby Gone” than Reitman and although he missed out with a nomination, the incredible Amy Ryan picked up a nod as Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Helene McCready. As I’ve written earlier this year, she was transformative, convincing and amazing and she is my pick for Oscar gold.
Notably, in the Supporting Actress column we’ve got four first time nominees, Supporting Actors give us three first-timers, in the category of Best Direction there are also three first time nominees with Julian Schnabel, Jason Reitman and Tony Gilroy and interestingly, there are five first time nominees for Best Original Screenplay. And did I mention a new record has been set in Academy history with the four writing nominations for best screenplays being given to female writers!
Dare I even mention the fact that multiple Razzie nominee “Norbit” garnered an Oscar nod for make-up? If it weren’t for the fact it is for guru Rick Baker, I wouldn’t . And thankfully, the summer blockbuster “Transformers” wasn’t blown completely out of the water as it picked up two nominations for artfully blowing out our eardrums with its incredible sound mixing and sound editing.
Knowing my penchant and appreciation for the technical aspect of film, I would be remiss not to mention Janusz Kaminski who grabbed a nomination for Best Cinematography for his work in “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.” You all know how much I have always and do admire Kaminksi’s work but with “Diving Bell” he goes so far beyond his already high level of visual excellence to be almost ethereal. My suggestion to his fellow nominees – stay home February 24 for as far as cinematography, that night belongs to Janusz Kaminski.
Over the coming weeks I’ll take a closer look at our major categories of nominees – Best Actor & Best Supporting Actor, Best Actress & Best Supporting Actress, Best Picture & Best Director – and give you a more in-depth look at the nominees together with some inside interviews with several of our contenders.
According to Academy Awards producer Gil Gates, Oscar’s 80th birthday will go forward despite strikes, pickets, protests, boycotts, fashion faux pas and anything else the world can throw at the little golden guy. As he recently told me, “Oh, I’ve got a few surprises up my sleeve.” I for one can hardly wait to see what they are!
If you haven’t already do so, go check out our Oscar nominees on the big and small screens. And fasten your seatbelts, it’s going to be a bumpy 30 days as we head into the homestretch. The 80th Academy Awards. Live from the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California. Sunday, February 24, 2008 at 5:00 p.m. on ABC. I’ll be there. I hope you will be, too. And in the meantime, check out my website at www.moviesharkdeblore.com for more on the Academy Awards and Oscar!
So, without any further ado………AND THE NOMINEES ARE. . . . .
BEST PICTURE
Atonement,
Juno,
Michael Clayton
, No Country for Old Men
, There Will Be Blood
BEST DIRECTOR
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 ACTOR
George Clooney – Michael Clayton
, Daniel Day-Lewis – There Will Be Blood
, Johnny Depp -Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
, Tommy Lee Jones – In the Valley of Elah
, Viggo Mortensen – Eastern Promises
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, Hal Holbrook – Into the Wild
, Tom Wilkinson – Michael Clayton
BEST ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett – Elizabeth: The Golden Age,
Julie Christie – Away from Her, Marion Cotillard – Le Vie en Rose,
Laura Linney – The Savages,
Ellen Page – Juno
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett – I’m Not There, Ruby Dee – American Gangster
, Saoirse Ronan – Atonement,
Amy Ryan – Gone Baby Gone, Tilda Swnton – Michael Clayton
BEST ANIMATED FILM
Persepolis
, Ratatouille
, Surf’s Up
ACHIEVEMENT IN ART DIRECTION
American Gangster
, Atonement, The Golden Compass
, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, There Will Be Blood
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
ACHIEVEMENT IN COSTUME DESIGN
Across the Universe,
Atonement,
Elizabeth: The Golden Age, La Vie En Rose
, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
BEST DIRECTOR
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 DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
No End in Sight
, Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience
, Sicko, Taxi to the Dark Side
War/Dance
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
Freeheld
La Corona
, Salim Baba
Sari’s Mother
ACHIEVEMENT IN FILM EDITING
The Bourne Ultimatum
, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
, Into the Wild
, No Country for Old Men, There Will Be Blood
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Beaufort – Israel
, The Counterfeiters – Austria
, Katyn – Poland
, Mongol – Kazakhstan
, 12 – Russia
ACHIEVEMENT IN MAKEUP
La Vie en Rose,
Norbit,
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End
ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC WRITTEN FOR MOTION PICTURE
Atonement,
The Kite Runner
, Michael Clayton
, Ratatouille,
3:10 to Yuma
BEST ORIGINAL SONG
Falling Slowly from Once
, Happy Working Song from Enchanted
, Raise It Up from August Rush,
So Close from Enchanted
, That’s How You Know from Enchanted
BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM
I Met the Walrus,
Madame Tutli-Putli,
Meme Les Pigeons Vont au Paradis (Even Pigeons Go to Heaven),
My Love
, Peter & the Wolf
BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT
At Night,
Il Supplente (The Substitute)
, Le Mozart des Pickpockets (The Mozart of Pickpockets)
, Tanghi Argentini,
The Tonto Woman
ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND EDITING
The Bourne Ultimatum,
No Country for Old Men,
Ratatouille,
There Will Be Blood
, Transformers
ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND MIXING
The Bourne Ultimatum
, No Country for Old Men, Ratatouille
, 3:10 to Yuma
, Transformers
ACHIEVEMENT IN VISUAL EFFECTS
The Golden Compass
, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End
, Transformers
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Atonement – screenplay by Christopher Hampton
, Away from Her – written by Sarah Polley
, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly – screenplay by Ronald Harwood,
No Country for Old Men – written for the screen by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
, There Will be Blood – written for the screen by Paul Thomas Anderson
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Juno – written by Diablo Cody,
Lara and the Real Girl – written by Nancy Oliver,
Michael Clayton – written by Tony Gilroy
, Ratatouille – screenplay by Brad Bird
, The Savages – written by Tamara Jenkins
