Oscars: Fierce competition for ‘07’s best-of bragging rights
By Susan Pugh on Feb. 21, 2008
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The Oscars have gotten a last-minute reprieve.
For a while there, it was looking as if the Academy Awards would go the way of the Golden Globes and be just another casualty of the writers’ strike.
But after a deal was brokered last week, the shindig is on, and all your favorite movie stars will hit the red carpet for the 80th annual ceremony, which is scheduled to air 8:30 p.m. Sunday on ABC.
Jon Stewart will be back as host, read on to see who’s most likely to join him on stage to collect their very own golden men.
Best Picture
Nominees: “Atonement,” “Juno,” “Michael Clayton,” “No Country for Old Men,” and “There Will Be Blood.”
Front-runner: Most people are predicting that “No Country for Old Men” will go home with the gold this year. And it doesn’t hurt that it’s already won similar honors at the SAG Awards and from a crop of critics’ groups.
Possible upset: “There Will Be Blood” doesn’t have as many wins, but it does have similar buzz. But if voters are looking for something a little more upbeat, “Juno” could be the dark horse.
Best Actor
Nominees: George Clooney as a crisis-fixer in “Michael Clayton,” Daniel Day-Lewis as an oilman in “There Will Be Blood,”Johnny Depp as a homicidal barber in “Sweeney Todd,” Tommy Lee Jones as a father searching for his soldier son in “In the Valley of Elah” and Viggo Mortensen as a Russian mobster in “Eastern Promises.”
Front-runner: Daniel Day-Lewis is a sure thing if ever there was one.
He’s already taken home the Best Actor prize at the SAG Awards, the Golden Globes and the BAFTAs, the British equivalent of the Oscars, as well as a slew of critics groups’ awards. He’s the one to beat, but it’s doubtful anyone actually will.
Possible upset: Depends on whom you ask. Some think Clooney’s charm will help win over voters, while other Oscar prognosticators are saying Mortensen’s brave performance in “Eastern Promises” could do the trick.
Best Supporting Actor
Nominees: Casey Affleck as a creepy killer in “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford,” Javier Bardem as the mop-topped murderer in “No Country For Old Men,” Philip Seymour Hoffman as a CIA agent in “Charlie Wilson’s War,” Hal Holbrook as man who befriends a young wanderer in “Into the Wild,” and Tom Wilkinson as a lawyer having a breakdown in “Michael Clayton.”
Front-runner: Just like Daniel Day-Lewis, Javier Bardem is pretty much a shoo-in. He’s already got the Golden Globe, the BAFTA, the SAG Award and the Critics Choice Award (given out by the Broadcast Film Critics Association), as well as honors from the Chicago Film Critics Association, the Toronto Film Critics Association and the New York Film Critics Circle.
Possible upset: Hal Holbrook, who is nominated for the first time in his 60-year career. If the voters are feeling nostalgic - kinda like they were last year, when Alan Arkin won for his role in “Little Miss Sunshine” - Holbrook could rain on Bardem’s parade.
Best Actress
Nominees: Cate Blanchett as the queen in “Elizabeth: The Golden Age,” Julie Christie as a woman suffering from Alzheimer’s in “Away From Her,” Marion Cotillard as cabaret legend Edith Piaf in “La Vie en Rose,” Laura Linney as a troubled woman taking care of her sick father in “The Savages,” and Ellen Page as a pregnant teen in “Juno.”
Front-runner: Right now, it’s looking like Julie Christie, who won the SAG Award for Best Actress and the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Drama. The National Board of Review, the National Society of Film Critics and the New York Film Critics Circle have also singled her out. But …
Possible upset: … Marion Cotillard and Ellen Page could nab the statuette if Oscar voters feel like rewarding new blood. Cotillard won at the BAFTAs and was named Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy at the Golden Globes. And Page has been honored by countless critics groups in both the lead actress and breakthrough performance categories.
Best Supporting Actress
Nominees: Cate Blanchett gender-bending it as Bob Dylan in “I’m Not There,” Ruby Dee as Denzel’s mother in “American Gangster,” Tilda Swinton as a fierce attorney in “Michael Clayton,” Saoirse Ronan as Keira Knightley’s lying little sister in “Atonement” and Amy Ryan as an unsympathetic mother in “Gone Baby Gone.“
Front-runner: This could be anyone’s game. Cate Blanchett, Amy Ryan and Tilda Swinton have all gotten rave reviews for their roles, and Ruby Dee surprised everyone when she won the SAG Award last month, even though her character didn’t have as much screen time as the others.
Best Director
Nominees: Ethan and Joel Cohen for “No Country For Old Men,” Paul Thomas Anderson for “There Will Be Blood,” Tony Gilroy for “Michael Clayton,” Jason Reitman for “Juno,” and Julian Schnabel for “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.”
Front-runners: The Cohen brothers should probably be the most confident right about now.
“No Country for Old Men” is being touted as their best film since “Fargo,” for which they were also nominated in 1997 (they won Best Original Screenplay, but not Best Director, that year). And they’ve already got the Golden Globe, the BAFTA and top honors from the Director’s Guild of America, the New York Film Critics Circle and the National Board of Review, among others.
Possible upset: Paul Thomas Anderson, who could sway younger voters based on his work on “There Will Be Blood” and previous efforts like “Boogie Nights” and “Magnolia.”
Best adapted screenplay
Nominees: Paul Thomas Anderson’s “There Will Be Blood,” Ethan and Joel Cohen’s “No Country for Old Men,” Christopher Hampton’s “Atonement,” Ronald Harwood’s “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly,” and Sarah Polley’s “Away From Her.”
Front-runner: Most likely “No Country For Old Men.” (See Best Director entry for why).
Best original screenplay
Nominees: Brad Bird’s “Ratatouille,” Diablo Cody’s “Juno,” Tony Gilroy’s “Michael Clayton,” Tamara Jenkins’ “The Savages,” and Nancy Oliver’s “Lars and the Real Girl.”
Front-runner: It’s gotta be “Juno!”
OK, so we’re letting our personal preferences affect decision-making, but whatever. The movie was fantastic and the script was charming, witty and touching. It also announced Diablo Cody as this generation’s next great screenwriter, and I can’t wait to see what she does next.
And we’re not the only ones infatuated with the tale about a sarcastic, pregnant teen. It’s already nabbed Best Original Screenplay at the BAFTAs, the Writer’s Guild of America and the National Board of Review. It also won Best Comedy Movie and Best Writer at the Critics Choice Awards.
Possible upset: We’re not even thinking about that.
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