The rules are simple: If you had a ballot for the Academy Awards, who would you vote for? Please note that you are not eligible to vote in the following categories unless you’ve actually seen ALL the films (this is true for the real Oscars, too):
Foreign Language Film
Documentary Feature
Documentary Short
Animated Short
Live Action Short
Otherwise, whether you’ve seen some, all, or none, go ahead and put down who you’d vote for. Here are the list of nominees. No write-ins allowed.
My votes:
PICTURE: There Will Be Blood
ACTOR: Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood
ACTRESS: Julie Christie, Away From Her
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Tilda Swinton, Michael Clayton
DIRECTOR: Joel & Ethan Coen, No Country for Old Men
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: The Savages
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: There Will Be Blood
CINEMATOGRAPHY: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
ART DIRECTION: There Will Be Blood
EDITING: Into the Wild
COSTUME DESIGN: La Vie en Rose
ORIGINAL SCORE: Michael Clayton
ORIGINAL SONG: “Falling Slowly”, Once
SOUND MIXING: No Country for Old Men
SOUND EDITING: There Will Be Blood
VISUAL EFFECTS: Transformers
MAKE UP: La Vie en Rose
ANIMATED FEATURE: Persepolis
ANIMATED SHORT: Peter and the Wolf*
FINAL TALLY:
5: There Will Be Blood
3: No Country for Old Men
2: La Vie en Rose, Michael Clayton
1: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Away From Her, Into the Wild, Once, Persepolis, The Savages, Transformers
Personal choices and not what I think will win? Alright! Mine’s very similar to yours, with just a few changes.
PICTURE: There Will Be Blood
ACTOR: Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood
ACTRESS: Laura Linney, The Savages
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Tilda Swinton, Michael Clayton
DIRECTOR: Joel & Ethan Coen, No Country for Old Men
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: The Savages - Tamara Jenkins
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: There Will Be Blood - Paul Thomas Anderson
CINEMATOGRAPHY: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford - Roger Deakins
ART DIRECTION: There Will Be Blood - Art Direction: Jack Fisk; Set Decoration: Jim Erickson
EDITING: No Country For Old Men - “Roderick Jaynes” (Ethan Coen and Joel Coen)
COSTUME DESIGN: Across The Universe - Albert Wolsky
ORIGINAL SCORE: 3:10 To Yuma - Marco Beltrami
ORIGINAL SONG: “Falling Slowly” - Once
SOUND MIXING: No Country for Old Men
SOUND EDITING: There Will Be Blood
VISUAL EFFECTS: Transformers
MAKE UP: La Vie en Rose
ANIMATED FEATURE: Persepolis
PICTURE: No Country for Old Men
ACTOR: George Clooney, Michael Clayton
ACTRESS: Ellen Page, Juno
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Casey Affleck, The Assassination of Jesse James
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Amy Ryan, Gone Baby Gone
DIRECTOR: Joel & Ethan Coen, No Country for Old Men
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Lars and the Real Girl
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: No Country for Old Men
CINEMATOGRAPHY: There Will Be Blood
ART DIRECTION: Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street
EDITING: Into the Wild
COSTUME DESIGN: Elizabeth: The Golden Age
ORIGINAL SCORE: Michael Clayton
ORIGINAL SONG: –
SOUND MIXING: Ratatouille
SOUND EDITING: No Country for Old Men
VISUAL EFFECTS: Transformers
MAKE UP: La Vie en Rose
ANIMATED FEATURE: Persepolis
Now that’s just mean. You knew I would write in Greenwood and then post, but then re-read your OP and notice that, and have to edit it out, didn’t you? Didn’t you? Bitch.
I’m pretty much boycotting any such tallies because Hot Fuzz didn’t get a nomination for sound editing. Personally, I can’t think of another movie with such astonishing sound editing, so the fact that it was overlooked entirely just emphasizes what we already know, that the Oscars are pretty much worthless as a real index of a movie’s quality.
I was glad to see that. So many people have been bitching about Michael Clayton’s nominations but every one of them was deserved, even the score. I’m not really one to notice music in a film (unless it’s by Jonny Greenwood) so I didn’t remember the music, but when I saw Michael Clayton again after the nominations I paid particular attention to the music and it was very very good. Everything about that movie is good. I don’t really think it will win any Oscars (except possibly Tilda), but I’m glad it was recognized with nominations.
I only chose 3:10 to Yuma on my ballot because I wanted to see it win something. Otherwise I would have chosen Clayton too.
:rolleyes: not at Hot Fuzz, but the last sentence. How do you know it was even submitted for consideration? Or that it didn’t come in 6th on the nomination balloting? And “we” don’t know any such thing. In a year when the two actual best movies actually got the most nominations, THIS year, more than most, the Oscars are pretty much definitely an index of a movie’s quality.
GAH, I hate those kinds of blanket statements.
Edit to add, also the Sound Editors themselves choose the nominations, not the Academy at large, so their choices were informed opinions. Your opinion is not.
There again, it might have come in 6th on the nomination list. In fact I’ll bet it did. It’s well-loved in Hollywood. The fact that it missed a nomination was a real surprise after all the precursors. I’ll bet the same thing happened with Sean Penn. I don’t think it was a snub as much as a It Just Barely Missed. I would rather have seen ITW there instead of Juno, and Penn instead of Reitman, but what can you do? I was mainly talking about No Country and TWBB both getting 8 nominations, not Juno’s bizarre inclusion.
I work peripherally with Sound Mixers and Editors (including–full disclosure–the TWBB nominee) and directly with audio elements, so I will be the first to admit that, as much as I may know about film–decades of watching, working in the industry, academic degrees, etc.–there are a couple of disciplines where I am going to defer to people who actually know the field inside and out. First and foremost would be the Sound branch (because of the sheer level of sophistication and nuance involved).
Remember, it’s not actors who pick the final slate, but people who’ve been working with aural material for their entire professional lives. Yes, there will always be dubious nominees, and it often does seem that “Better=Louder” is an operating rule to some of them (though I find this is more often true for the eventual winners, who are picked by the entire Academy). And I’m not going to question the possibility that it can be as insular and political a group as any other.
But overall, I find other branches are often much more suspect and prejudicial in their tastes and choices, so a missing film here or there–especially in a field that actually includes the remarkable work of NC4OM & TWBB–is not going to get me in too big a tizzy.
I actually don’t think that one deserved to be nominated for anything (especially musical score). Maybe Best Actor, but I didn’t even think the lead was that special.
I also didn’t see what was so great about Ellen Page’s performance - or Juno in general, really; it seemed like a slightly above-average chick flick. But then, I identified most with Jason Bateman’s character in that, so maybe there’s something wrong with me.
I’d vote for No Country for Best Picture, and Javier for Best Supporting Actor, but I have a feeling it’s going to be a There Will Be Blood sweep. It would be interesting to see the Coens get an Oscar for Best Director, though - maybe the Academy will throw them a bone while still not giving them Best Picture, but it seems unlikely.
This is James Newton Howard’s 7th nomination, and he wasn’t even on the ballot for his terrific work on Unbreakable, Lady in the Water or Peter Pan. Some of his work is more anthemic, but some, like Clayton (or The Fugitive) is surprisingly subtle, and repeated viewings do indeed bring out the invisible quality of his work. With Greenwood out of the running, this is good a year as any to give it to him…
Sorry; I guess that counts as thread shitting, so I apologize for the negative hijack. It just seems like this year’s Oscar list is no different from previous years’: full of more oversights than substance.
Well, I’d argue they got more right than usual, so nitpicking the woulda-shouldas is overshadowed, for me, by the prospect of some well-deserving candidates actually being not only in the running, but even as favorites.
And I never look at the Oscars as BEST but as REALLY GOOD. If someone Really Good wins, I’m not going to complain that my “Best” didn’t correspond with theirs.
So, since you’re a guy never lacking of opinions–who would you vote for (knowing that you don’t have to vote in every category if a slate is particularly objectionable to you)?
You haven’t even seen the frontrunners! I know you haven’t seen There Will Be Blood, No Country For Old Men or even Atonement, so how would you know what’s lacking in substance? God, you haven’t even seen some of the oversights. I know you haven’t seen The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead, Lars and the Real Girl, Persepolis, The Savages, Margot At The Wedding, 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, Juno, Away From Her, Control, Charlie Wilson’s War, Lust, Caution, or The Kite Runner. Maybe you saw Ratatouille, Gone Baby Gone, Eastern Promises and Into The Wild, I don’t know. The only ones I know you’ve seen are Michael Clayton, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, La Vie En Rose and Sweeney Todd. And yet you have an opinion that this year’s Oscars have no substance. Give me a break.
