Throwdown: Academy Award nomination predictions

Cafe Society
1

I’m totally copping-out because I include Alternates and Dark Horses, any of which could, you never know, surprise us all (though many are really just wishful thinking), but they’re all in the order that I think is likely, from locks to could be’s. For instance, I think the first three in Best Picture are mortal locks. The next two could get bumped for the Alternate and/or 1st or 2nd Dark Horse.

The bottom Dark Horses don’t really stand a chance, but if a surprise nomination were to come from somewhere, it would be there. I’ll be shocked if a name pops up that wasn’t on any of these lists. It could happen though. A few years ago I never ever EVER would have prediction that City of God would pop up with 4 nominations! I think that blew EVERYBODY away. Such a thrill too. So, hey, you never know.

I’m suck at predicting, but I’ve tried to pay attention to Awards buzz. I’ve also seen almost all of the movies. I make Predictions in all but 5 categories.
BEST PICTURE

No Country For Old Men
Michael Clayton
There Will Be Blood
Into the Wild
Juno

Alternate choices:
The Diving Bell And The Butterfly
Atonement

Dark horses:
American Gangster
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Charlie Wilson’s War
The Great Debaters

BEST DIRECTOR

Joel Coen and Ethan Coen - No Country For Old Men
Paul Thomas Anderson - There Will Be Blood
Sean Penn - Into the Wild
Julian Schnabel - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Tony Gilroy - Michael Clayton

Alternate choice:
Joe Wright - Atonement

Dark horses:
Ridley Scott - American Gangster
Tim Burton - Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Sidney Lumet - Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead

BEST ACTOR

Daniel Day-Lewis - There Will Be Blood
George Clooney - Michael Clayton
Viggo Mortensen - Eastern Promises
Johnny Depp - Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Emile Hirsch - Into the Wild

Alternate choice:
Ryan Gosling - Lars and the Real Girl

Dark horses:
Tommy Lee Jones - In The Valley of Elah
Frank Langella - Starting Out In The Evening
Josh Brolin - No Country For Old Men
Denzel Washington - American Gangster
Tom Hanks - Charlie Wilson’s War
Philip Seymour Hoffman - Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead
Philip Seymour Hoffman - The Savages
James McAvoy - Atonement

BEST ACTRESS

Julie Christie - Away from Her
Marion Cotillard - La Vie en Rose
Angelina Jolie - A Mighty Heart
Ellen Page - Juno
Cate Blanchett - Elizabeth: The Golden Age

Alternate choice:
Amy Adams - Enchanted

Dark horses:
Laura Linney - The Savages
Helena Bonham-Carter - Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Keira Knightley - Atonement
Jodie Foster - The Brave One
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Javier Bardem - No Country For Old Men
Casey Affleck - The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Hal Holbrook - Into the Wild
Tom Wilkinson - Michael Clayton
Philip Seymour Hoffman - Charlie Wilson’s War

Alternate choices:
Tommy Lee Jones - No Country For Old Men
Paul Dano - There Will Be Blood

Dark horses:
Max von Sydow - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
John Travolta - Hairspray

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Cate Blanchett - I’m Not There
Amy Ryan - Gone Baby Gone
Tilda Swinton - Michael Clayton
Catherine Keener - Into the Wild
Ruby Dee - American Gangster

Alternate choices:
Saorise Ronan - Atonement
Vanessa Redgrave - Atonement

Dark horses (this was indeed a great year for Supporting Actress performances!):
Kelly MacDonald - No Country for Old Men
Samantha Morton - Control
Jennifer Garner - Juno
Allison Janney - Juno
Emily Mortimer - Lars and the Real Girl
Jennifer Jason Leigh - Margot at the Wedding
Olympia Dukakis - Away from Her
Romola Garai - Atonement
Marie-Josée Croze - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Emmanuelle Seigner - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Imelda Staunton - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Marisa Tomei - Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead
Leslie Mann - Knocked Up
Kate Winslet - Romance & Cigarettes

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Juno - Diablo Cody
Michael Clayton - Tony Gilroy
Ratatouille - Brad Bird
The Savages - Tamara Jenkins
Lars and the Real Girl - Nancy Oliver

Alternate choice:
Knocked Up - Judd Apatow

Dark horses:
Eastern Promises - Steven Knight
Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead - Kelly Masterson

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

No Country For Old Men - Ethan Coen and Joel Coen
There Will Be Blood - Paul Thomas Anderson
Atonement - Christopher Hampton
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly - Ronald Harwood
Into the Wild - Sean Penn

Alternate choice:
Zodiac - James Vanderbilt

Dark horses:
Charlie Wilson’s War - Aaron Sorkin
American Gangster - Steven Zaillian

BEST ANIMATED FILM

Ratatouille
Persepolis
The Simpsons Movie

Alternate choice:
Bee Movie

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

No Country for Old Men - Roger Deakins
There Will Be Blood - Robert Elswit
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly - Janusz Kaminski
Atonement - Seamus McGarvey
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford - Roger Deakins

Alternate choice:
Into The Wild - Eric Gautier

Dark horses:
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street - Dariusz Wolski
Lust, Caution - Rodrigo Prieto
Across The Universe - Bruno Delbonnel

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Atonement - Jacqueline Durran
Elizabeth: The Golden Age - Alexandra Byrne
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street - Colleen Atwood
Hairspray - Rita Ryack
There Will Be Blood - Mark Bridges

Alternate choice:
La Vie en Rose - Marit Allen

Dark horses:
The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford - Patricia Norris
Lust, Caution - Lai Pan
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End - Penny Rose
3:10 To Yuma - Arianne Phillips
Across The Universe - Albert Wolsky
The Golden Compass - Ruth Myers

BEST ART DIRECTION

Atonement - Sarah Greenwood
Elizabeth: The Golden Age - Guy Dyas
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street - Dante Ferretti
There Will Be Blood - Jack Fisk and Jim Erickson
Ratatouille - Harley Jessup

Alternate choice:
American Gangster - Arthur Max

Dark horses:
Lust, Caution - Kwok-wing Chong
Hairspray - David Gropman and Gordon Sim
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - Stuart Craig
The Golden Compass - Dennis Gassner and Anna Pinnock
300 - James Bissell
Michael Clayton - Kevin Thompson
No Country For Old Men - Jess Gonshor
The Bourne Ultimatum - Peter Wenham
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly - Michel Eric & Laurent Ott
The Kite Runner - Carlos Conti
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford - Patricia Norris and Janice Blackie-Goodine
3:10 To Yuma - Andrew Menzies and Jay Hart
Across The Universe - Mark Friedberg and Ellen Christiansen
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

Atonement - Dario Marianelli
There Will Be Blood - Jonny Greenwood
Lust, Caution - Alexandre Desplat
Ratatouille - Michael Giacchino
The Kite Runner - Alberto Iglesias

Alternate choice:
Enchanted - Alan Menken

Dark horses:
Grace Is Gone - Clint Eastwood
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford - Warren Ellis/Nick Cave
Eastern Promises - Howard Shore
Into The Wild - Michael Brook
3:10 To Yuma - Marco Beltrami

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

“Guaranteed” - Into the Wild
“That’s How You Know” - Enchanted
“Falling Slowly”- Once
“Grace Is Gone” - Grace Is Gone
“La Festin” - Ratatouille

Alternate choice:
“Happy Working Song” - Enchanted

Dark horses:
“Come So Far” - Hairspray
“Walk Hard” - Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
“Despedida” - Love In The Time Of Cholera
“Lyra” - The Golden Compass
“Back Where You Belong” - The Water Horse: Legend Of The Deep

BEST EDITING

No Country For Old Men - “Roderick Jaynes” (Ethan Coen and Joel Coen)
The Bourne Ultimatum - Christopher Rouse
Michael Clayton - John Gilroy
There Will Be Blood - Dylan Tichenor
Into The Wild - Jay Cassidy

Alternate choice:
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly - Juliette Welfling

Dark horses:
Atonement - Paul Tothill
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street - Chris Lebenzon
Hairspray - Michael Tronick
Juno - Dana E. Glauberman
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End - Craig Wood & Stephen Rivkin
Ratatouille - Darren Holmes
3:10 To Yuma - Michael McCusker
American Gangster - Pietro Scalia
I’m Not There - Jay Rabinowitz

BEST SOUND MIXING

No Country For Old Men
Transformers
Into The Wild
The Bourne Ultimatum
300

Alternate choices:
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
There Will Be Blood
Beowulf
Spider Man 3
BEST SOUND EDITING (I have no idea here)

No Country For Old Men
There Will Be Blood
Beowulf
The Bourne Ultimatum
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End
Spider Man 3
Transformers
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
(only 3 nominees in this category)

Transformers
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End
300

Alternate choice:
The Golden Compass

Dark horses:
I Am Legend
Evan Almighty
The Bourne Ultimatum
BEST MAKE UP
(only 3 nominees in this category)

La Vie en Rose
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End

Alternate choice:
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Dark horses:
300
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Norbit

=====================================================
These 5 are my weakest categories, so I cheat and don’t count them in my Prediction score.

BEST FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM
(there will be 5 nominations, but I don’t know what else to choose)
Counterfeiters, The (Austria, directed by Stefan Ruzowitzky)
Mongol (Kazakhstan, directed by Sergei Bodrov)

Alternate choices (alphabetical, because I have no idea):
12 (Russia, directed by Nikita Mikhalkov)
Beaufort (Israel, directed by Joseph Cedar)
Days of Darkness (Canada, directed by Denys Arcand)
Katyn (Poland, directed by Andrzej Wajda)
Trap, The (Serbia, directed by Srdan Golubovic)
Unknown Woman, The (Italy, directed by Giuseppe Tornatore)
Year My Parents Went on Vacation, The (Brazil, directed by Cao Hamburger)
BEST DOCUMENTARY
(there will be 5 nominations, but I don’t know what else to choose)
Sicko
No End In Sight
Nanking

Alternate choices (alphabetical, because I have no idea):
Autism: The Musical
For the Bible Tells Me So
Lake of Fire
Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience
Please Vote for Me
The Price of Sugar
A Promise to the Dead: The Exile Journey of Ariel Dorfman
The Rape of Europa
Taxi to the Dark Side
War/Dance
White Light/Black Rain

I have no clue whatsoever on these.

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
??

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM
??

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
??

2

I missed the edit window to say that the nominations come out early Tuesday morning.

3

Though I haven’t seen it yet, I’d say Atonement shows all the signs of being a Best Pic nominee.

It will go head-to-head with No Country….

4

Atonement is problematic. On the surface it looks to be everything the Academy would want in a Best Picture nomination, another The English Patient. The only reason I put it in the Alternate choices is that it’s gone practically ignored by the Hollywood Guilds. For anyone who’s new to this I’ll be an insufferable know-it-all and explain. Anyone who knows how the nominations and Guilds work will find this redundant. Everyone else might find it deathly dull, but in case anyone’s interested…

There are 12 creative-worker unions (Guilds) in Hollywood that all have their own separate awards. Well, 11 of them, anyway (the 12th used to but it seems they’ve stopped). The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, or just, the Academy) isn’t a Guild, but members overlap, since people who do belong to Guilds are the ones nominated for Academy Awards. AMPAS and Guilds are very separate things, but they overlap like crazy.

AMPAS is divided into Branches. Actors, Directors, Cinematographers, Costume Designers, Editors, Musicians, and so on, 16 in all. Those people become Academy members when they’re invited and specifically join. You can’t join AMPAS unless you’re invited. Anyone who’s nominated is automatically invited, plus AMPAS invites a select few additional people every year.

If you’re an actor, and you’re invited to join the AMPAS Actors branch, you’re already going to belong to the Screen Actors Guild (SAG). If you’re a director, and you’re invited to join the AMPAS Directors branch, it’s almost certain that you’re already a member of the Directors Guild (DGA). And so on. As with anything, there are exceptions. For example I believe the director Robert Rodriguez (Sin City, Grindhouse) is a member of AMPAS but he gave up his DGA membership due to a dispute, but the exceptions are rare.

So, not all Guild members are Academy members, but almost all Academy members, at least in the creative branches (the ones who vote), are Guild members too.

The Academy Award nominations are handled AMPAS Branch by AMPAS Branch. Like nominates like. In other words, the Actors Branch ONLY nominate actors. The Directors Branch ONLY nominate directors. The Sound Branch nominates the sound category. And so on. The only exceptions are Best Picture (nominated by everybody) and the Foreign-Language/Documentary/Shorts categories (nominated by panels). Some branches are not allowed to vote at all, such as the Producers and PR branches.

More than the Golden Globes, the critics awards or any other awards, the Guild awards are more likely to show what people in the business (therefore with close tie to AMPAS) are actually thinking, what movies they’re watching and loving. For the dozens of different awards that are given out each year at this time, when it comes to predicting Academy Award nominations, they can all be swept to the side, except for the Guilds.

Being an awards slut, I keep track of Guild awards, and in this year’s nomintions, Atonement’s been shut out of 7 of the 10 Guilds that have announced their nominations (with one, the Sound Editors, yet to announce their nominations).

The actors in their Guild (SAG) didn’t nominate any of the actors from Atonement. The writers in their Guild (WGA) didn’t nominate the screenplay. The Producers (PGA) didn’t nominate it for their Best Picture. The Directors (DGA) didn’t nominate it for directing. The only people who nominated it were the Cinematographers (ASC), the Art Directors (ADG), and the Costume Designers (VDG). (btw, none of the Guilds have announced their winners yet)

No one’s quite sure what happened here. One theory is that screeners weren’t sent out in time, another is that it’s been hailed as a “frontrunner” for months, and people don’t like to be pushed around and told what to vote for. Another is that people just haven’t wanted to see it, thinking it’s another English Patient (it’s not).

Without love from the Guilds, it’s very hard to get the traction needed to make it to the Big Time. It’s not out of the question though. Anything’s possible. Academy members do like to throw out surprises, and maybe enough of them watched their screeners after the Guilds nominations were set, but before they had to turn in their Oscar ballots, to bring it some surprise nominations in the Top 8 (Picture, Director, the 4 Acting and 2 Writing categories). If the actors, especially, rallied behind it (say, in retaliation for SAG not giving it any nominations) that would be the biggest boost, because the Actors branch of AMPAS is by far the biggest, with the most members.

It’s got to have passionate supporters though, because AMPAS uses Preferential Voting in choosing the nominations. That’s a bitch to explain but it boils down to needing lots of #1 votes. Nomination ballots are numbered 1-5 and if you’re filling one out, you can’t just put titles in willy-nilly or alphabetically. They MUST be filled in by preference, because #1 votes are counted first, then #2 votes, and nominations are chosen by those votes. #3, #4, and #5 votes are hardly ever counted, but they might be, if various factors come into play. So anyway, it’s got to have a lot of passionate supporters who’ll put it in the #1 spot (3-5 will not cut it, not with so many other movies competing).

(Loose end: once the Oscar nominations are announced, then voting members of AMPAS can vote for every category, except the Foreign-Language/Documentary/Shorts, where voters have to prove they’ve seen the entries)

Maybe Atonement does have the supporters even though they’ve been quiet up until now. We’ll find out. I had it at the top in my Best Picture prediction as a lock, until the Guild nominations started to come out, then it got pushed lower and lower.
Anyway, all that blah blah was to explain that, if Atonement isn’t nominated, there is a reason, and those of us batshit insane enough to follow all this hooha saw it coming. But we like to be surprised too. I’m game for any surprise, as long as it doesn’t threaten nominations for There Will Be Blood or No Country For Old Men.

5

Blah, I still missed several typos. Sorry for being so wordy and typotastic

The Costume Designers Guild is, of course, the CDG, not the VDG. Thought I should clear that up in the highly unlikely event that a CDG member reads that.

6

I think the OP was pretty much on the mark. And it means Jon Stewart is in big trouble again.

The last time he hosted, the Oscars had their lowest ratings in years. This year, they’ll be even worse. NOT because he’s going to do anything bad (though I’ve never had the slightest use for him), but because there won’t be a single movie up for a single major award that anybody actually went to see.

Nobody saw “Atonement.” Nobody saw “Michael Clayton.” And when movies like that dominate the nominations, it sends a signal to the public at large: “Don’t bother watching.”

So, poor Jon Stewart will preside over the two lowest rated Oscar presentations in the past few decades.

7

Well, there may not BE an Oscars show for Jon Stewart to worry about. It might get postponed, or be a stripped-down version like the Golden Globes.

But, even if the strike is over, and the ratings are low, so what? AMPAS doesn’t put on the Academy Awards to bring in ratings. It’s nice if the ratings are high, of course, but it’s not like a network show, in danger of being cancelled because of ratings. There will ALWAYS be an Academy Awards show.

Beneath all the glitz and glamour and puffy hooha, it really, honestly, is about the movies, and peers honoring peers.

And when movies like Atonement and Michael Clayton dominate the nominations, it sends a signal to the public at large that they should have seen these movies. Those two specifically especially, since they’re fairly populist entertainment, but high-quality populist entertainment. No one expected No Country For Old Men or There Will Be Blood or Into The Wild to be box office smashes, but Atonement and Michael Clayton really should have been.

8

I predict Sweeney Todd will be “the story” with nominations in all the major categories. Into the Wild will get snubbed in comparison to the OPs predictions.

Just for fun I’ll throw out a few dark-horse ideas:

Ratatouille for Best Picture nomination

Mark Ruffalo (Zodiac) for Best Supporting Actor nomination

9

Could be, but don’t count on it. Those pesky Guilds again, haven’t been showing it much love. It’s only been nominated for Editing, Art Direction, Costumes and Visual Effects. None of the biggies have given it any nominations, biggies being Actors (Depp didn’t get nominated for a SAG award), Directors (no Tim Burton nom), Producers (no BP nom) and Writers (no screenplay nomination), so there again, if the Guilds aren’t loving it, there’s no reason to think the Academy will, but stranger things have happened. I do think Johnny Depp will get a Best Actor nomintion. He was so good, I’m having a hard time believing that he’ll get left out.

Looking to the Guilds again, they slavishly ADORE Into the Wild. It’s gotten nominations from most of them (Editors, Sound, Costume(!), Directors, Actors and Writers. The actors are especially telling, since SAG is huge, and actors make up the biggest AMPAS Branch. They not only nominated Emile Hirsch for Leading Actor (over Johnny, amazing!), they nominated Hal Holbrook in Supporting Actor, Catherine Keener in Supporting Actress, AND they nominated the movie in Best Ensemble, the SAG version of Best Picture.

I know I should shut up, but at least you know, if those don’t happen, why. If you’re right then it just proves that no one knows anything and anything can happen. Personally, I think it’d be very cool if Sweeney Todd got in over Into the Wild. I liked both of them but there’s just something delicious about the thought of a cannibal musical as a Best Picture nominee.

That already will get a nomination in the Best Animated Feature category (and will probably win) so while there’s nothing preventing it from being nominated Best Picture too, it’s unlikely because there are SO many great movies out there that it would be like wasting a spot for something that’s already going to be nominated and win in another category.

I wish. Zodiac has been unfairly forgotten during this awards season. I can’t see Mark getting in over Robert Downey Jr. They need an ensemble award at the Oscars, like the SAG and the Globes. Zodiac would be perfect for that, since it’s such a good ensemble piece. I’m not predicting but wouldn’t be surprised at a Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography and/or Best Picture nomination.

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My Predix

Picture: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Juno, Michael Clayton, No Country for Old Men, There Will Be Blood
Actor: George Clooney, Daniel Day-Lewis, Johnny Depp, Emile Hirsch, Viggo Mortensen
Actress: Julie Christie, Marion Cotillard, Angelina Jolie, Laura Linney, Ellen Page
Supporting Actor: Casey Affleck, Javier Bardem, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Hal Holbrook, Tom Wilkinson
Supporting Actress: Cate Blanchett, Ruby Dee, Catherine Keener, Amy Ryan, Tilda Swinton
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson, Joel & Ethan Coen, Tony Gilroy, Sean Penn, Julian Schnabel
Original Screenplay: Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead, Eastern Promises, Juno, Michael Clayton, The Savages
Adapted Screenplay: Atonement, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Into the Wild, No Country for Old Men, There Will Be Blood
Cinematography: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Lust Caution, No Country for Old Men, There Will Be Blood
Art Direction: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford , Atonement, The Golden Compass, Sweeney Todd, There Will Be Blood
Editing: Into the Wild , Michael Clayton, No Country for Old Men, There Will Be Blood, Zodiac
Costume Design: Across the Universe, Atonement, Elizabeth: The Golden Age, Hairspray, Sweeney Todd
Original Score: Atonement, The Kite Runner, Ratatouille, There Will Be Blood, 3:10 to Yuma
Song: “Come So Far (Got So Far to Go)”, Hairspray; “Falling Slowly”, Once; “Guaranteed”, Into the Wild; “If You Want Me”, Once; “That’s How You’ll Know”, Enchanted
Sound: Into the Wild , No Country for Old Men, There Will Be Blood, 300, Transformers
Sound Editing: Beowulf, The Kingdom, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, 300, Transformers
Visual Effects: The Golden Compass, I Am Legend, Transformers
Makeup: Sweeney Todd, 300, La Vie en Rose
Animated Feature: Persepolis, Ratatouille, The Simpsons Movie
Foreign Language Film: Beaufort (Israel), The Counterfeiters (Austria), Katyn (Poland), The Trap (Serbia), The Unknown (Italy)
Documentary Feature: *Autism: The Musical, Nanking, No End in Sight, The Rape of Europa, Taxi to the Dark Side *

Tally
9: There Will Be Blood
8: Into the Wild
7: Michael Clayton, No Country for Old Men
4: Atonement, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Sweeney Todd
3: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Juno, 300, Transformers
2: Eastern Promises, The Golden Compass, Hairspray, Once, Ratatouille, The Savages, La Vie en Rose
1: Across the Universe, American Gangster, Away from Her, Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead, Beowulf, Charlie Wilson’s War, Elizabeth: The Golden Age, Enchanted, Gone Baby Gone, I Am Legend, I’m Not There, The Kingdom, The Kite Runner, Lust Caution, A Mighty Heart, Persepolis, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, The Simpsons Movie, Zodiac

11

I just read that these three scores were deemed ineligible by the Academy, so no possible nominations for them. That’s such bullshit. Greenwood’s score is brilliant and deserved the recognition.

But, this is my new prediction:

Atonement - Dario Marianelli
Lust, Caution - Alexandre Desplat
Ratatouille - Michael Giacchino
The Kite Runner - Alberto Iglesias
Grace Is Gone - Clint Eastwood

Alternate choice:
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford - Warren Ellis/Nick Cave

Dark horses:
3:10 To Yuma - Marco Beltrami
Eastern Promises - Howard Shore

12

ArchiveGuy, great picks! I hope you’re right about The Diving Bell and the Butterfly in Picture, Laura Linney in Actress, Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead in Original Screenplay, and Across the Universe in Costumes.

Good for you for taking a shot. I’m not surprised you know more about these than me.

Unfortunately, TWBB is knocked down to 8, with the score out now. I would like that, if it got the most nominations.

13

Wow. :frowning:

In that case, I’ll slot in The Golden Compass for a score nod (putting its total to 3).

14

You flatter me–it’s as much a shot in the dark as anyone else (since none of received US distribution yet, AFAIK).