The 2008 Oscar nominations are in, and as per usual, there are a few surprises and disappointing oversights. The following are the nominations for all the categories bar the short film ones.
The film names in Bold are my predictions (not necessarily my personal favourites, though).
Film Of The Year
Atonement
Juno
Michael Clayton
No Country for Old Men
There Will Be Blood
No real surprises here, although many were predicting that Atonement would be snubbed, despite its huge haul of BAFTA nominations. Its acclaim isn't really deserved if you ask me. Meanwhile, people continue to be blind to the awfulness of Michael Clayton - my worst film of the year is nominated for Best Picture! No Country is probably the frontrunner, but I'm desperate to see There Will Be Blood, which isn't out yet in the UK.
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
For a director of a foreign language film, Schnabel did well to receive a nomination. Otherwise, the only real shocker is again the nomination of Gilroy for Michael Clayton. Some will be sad to see Sean Penn (Into the Wild) and Andrew Dominik (The Assassination of Jesse James) miss out, for me those films were a slight letdown.
Best Actor
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
Depp is excellent in Todd, as is Mortensen in the subpar Eastern Promises. Again, I need to see There Will Be Blood.
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
A very strong category overall. Affleck, Bardem, Hoffman are all worthy; my preference, and prediction, is Bardem.
Best Actress
Cate Blanchett - Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Julie Christie - Away from Her
Marion Cotillard - La Vie en Rose
Laura Linney - The Savages
Ellen Page - Juno
Many derided the Elizabeth sequel, so the Blanchett nom here is slightly surprising. Keira Knightley will presumably be upset for no Atonement recognition, but I don't rate her.
Best Supporting Actress
Cate Blanchett - I'm Not There
Ruby Dee - American Gangster
Saoirse Ronan - Atonement
Amy Ryan - Gone Baby Gone
Tilda Swinton - Michael Clayton
Blanchett is much more likely to win here than Best Actress.
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
Polley is maybe surprising, as the likes of Aaron Sorkin for Charlie Wilson's War missed out.
Original Screenplay
Juno, Written by Diablo Cody
Lars and the Real Girl, Written by Nancy Oliver
Michael Clayton, Written by Tony Gilroy
Ratatouille, Screenplay by Brad Bird; Story by Jan Pinkava, Jim Capobianco, Brad Bird
The Savages, Written by Tamara Jenkin
Nice to see Ratatouille show up in a category outside Best Animation, even though I don't quite understand all of its adoration.
Best Animated Feature
Persepolis
Ratatouille
Surf's Up
Surf's Up is a pleasant surprise - it wasn't brilliant, but certainly superior to Shrek the Third or The Simpsons Movie.
Achievement in Art Direction
American Gangster
Atonement
The Golden Compass
Sweeney Todd
There Will Be Blood
All very nice looking films. Sweeney Todd stands out.
Achievement In Cinematography
The Assassination of Jesse James
Atonement
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
No Country for Old Men
There Will Be Blood
Roger Deakins looks to be competing against himself here - he lensed both Jesse James and No Country. Either would be worthy. As would any of them, truth be told.
Achievement In Costume Design
Across the Universe
Atonement
Elizabeth: The Golden Age
La Vie en Rose
Sweeney Todd
As expected. Maybe Hairspray could've snuck in.
Best Documentary Feature
No End in Sight
Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience
Sicko
Taxi to the Dark Side
War/Dance
All I can say is that the ingoring of In The Shadow Of The Moon is criminal.
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
At last, the deserving Bourne gets a look-in. Surprised not to see more of the blockbusters in this category, but not necessarily disappointed.
Best Foreign Language Film
Beaufort (Israel)
The Counterfeiters (Austria)
Katyn (Poland)
Mongol (Kazakhstan)
12 (Russia)
Well done to them.
Achievement In Make-Up
La Vie en Rose
Norbit
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
Holy crap, Norbit is an Oscar-nominated film.
Original Score
Atonement
The Kite Runner
Michael Clayton
Ratatouille
3:10 to Yuma
I didn't even notice much of a score in Michael Clayton. Atonement will probably get it, with an outside chance for Ratatouille.
Original Song
Falling Slowly - Once
Happy Working Song - Enchanted
Raise It Up - August Rush
So Close - Enchanted
That's How You Know - Enchanted
Just like last year (when Dreamgirls did it), one film gets three Original Song nominations. If last year is anything to go by, it won't win. My money's on Once.
Achievement In Sound Editing
The Bourne Ultimatum
No Country for Old Men
Ratatouille
There Will Be Blood
Transformers
Well, they did have sound, I'll admit that. Clueless otherwise.
The Bourne Ultimatum
No Country for Old Men
Ratatouille
3:10 to Yuma
Transformers
See above.
Achievement In Visual Effects
The Golden Compass
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
Transformers
Compass may have missed out here, but the effects were definitely good. Transformers is the clear winner for me.
Overall, pretty predictable. The overlooking of Zodiac is tragic but entirely expected - its March release basically sealed its fate. Conversely, Michael Clayton in no way deserves the acclaim it has received. No Country For Old Men and There Will Be Blood lead with 8 nominations apiece. The next thing to confirm is whether the ceremony will actually take place, given the continuing writers' strike. Anyway, it's always an entertaining period in the film calendar. Bring on February 24th.
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