Oscar Nomination Predictions 2008

Wow, did those Golden Globes suck. I miss the drunken acceptance speeches. Let’s only hope that the Oscars don’t fall victim to the same fate. Gil Cates, the producer, swears the show will go on, but that’s what they said about the Globes a week before the disastrous press conference format. In any case, I’m going to live in denial and assume that the Oscars will go according to plan. Last year, I tried to predict the Oscar nominees before they were announced (this year we’ll know on January 22), and I thought I would do it again this year. Bear in mind that this list is not based on my wishes but what I actually think will go down on Tuesday morning. I’ve also included my own pick if I could squeeze my own vote among the nominees. Here goes:

Best Picture
No Country For Old Men / Atonement / There Will Be Blood / Michael Clayton /
Sweeny Todd
For Your Consideration: Juno

Best Actor
Daniel Day-Lewis (There Will Be Blood) / George Clooney (Michael Clayton) / Johnny Depp (Sweeny Todd) / Viggo Mortensen (Eastern Promises) / Denzel Washington (American Gangster)
For Your Consideration: Christian Bale (Rescue Dawn)

Best Actress
Julie Christie (Away From Her) / Ellen Page (Juno) / Marion Cotillard (La Vie En Rose) / Angelina Jolie (A Mighty Heart) / Keira Knightley (Atonement)
For Your Consideration: Meryl Streep (Lions for Lambs)

Best Supporting Actor
Javier Bardem (No Country For Old Men) / Philip Seymour Hoffman (Charlie Wilson’s War) / Tom Wilkinson (Michael Clayton) / Hal Holbrook (Into the Wild) / Casey Affleck (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford)
For Your Consideration: Steve Zahn (Rescue Dawn)

Best Supporting Actress
Amy Ryan (Gone Baby Gone) / Cate Blanchett (I’m Not There) / Tilda Swinton (Micahel Clayton) / Ruby Dee (American Gangster) / Saoirse Ronan (Atonement)
For Your Consideration: Jennifer Garner (Juno)

Best Director
Joel & Ethan Coen (No Country for Old Men) / Joe Wright (Atonement) / Julian Schnabel (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly) / Tim Burton (Sweeny Todd) / Sean Penn (Into the Wild)
For Your Consideration: Jason Reitman (Juno)

Best Original Screenplay
Juno / Michael Clayton / Ratatouille / I’m Not There / 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days
For Your Consideration: Hot Fuzz

Best Adapted Screenplay
No Country for Old Men / Atonement / The Diving Bell and the Butterfly /
Charlie Wilson’s War / There Will Be Blood
For Your Consideration: 1408

Best Foreign Film
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days / The Kite Runner / Persepolis /
Lust, Caution / Paris Je T’aime
For Your Consideration: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (apparently not eligible)

Best Documentary
Sicko / The King of Kong / No End in Sight /
My Kid Could Paint That / What Would Jesus Buy
For Your Consideration: No idea

Best Animated Film
Bee Movie / Ratatouille / The Simpsons Movie
For Your Consideration: Anything but Shrek 3

Best Song
Despedida (Love in the Time of Cholera) / Grace is Gone (Grace is Gone) / Guaranteed (Into the Wild) / That’s How You Know (Enchanted) / Walk Hard (Walk Hard)
For Your Consideration: Tire Swing (Juno)

Best Score
The Kite Runner / Grace is Gone / Atonement / Into the Wild / Sweeny Todd
For Your Consideration: The Darjeeling Limited

Best Art Direction
Atonement / Sweeny Todd / Hairspray / Across the Universe / Zodiac
For Your Consideration: The Darjeeling Limited

Best Cinematography
Atonement / No Country for Old Men / Sweeny Todd /
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly / Into the Wild
For Your Consideration: Across the Universe

Best Costume
Atonement / Sweeny Todd / American Gangster / Pirates III / Hairspray
For Your Consideration: Juno

Best Make-Up
Sweeny Todd / Pirates III / Walk Hard / I’m Not There / Hairspray
For Your Consideration: Grindhouse

Best Editing
Atonement / The Diving Bell and the Butterfly / No Country for Old Men / There Will Be Blood / Michael Clayton
For Your Consideration: Hot Fuzz

Best Sound Editing
Pirates III / Atonement / No Country for Old Men
For Your Consideration: 300

Best Sound Mixing
Sweeny Todd / Hairspray / Across the Universe / Atonement / Transformers
For Your Consideration: 300

Best Visual Effects
300 / Pirates III / Transformers
For Your Consideration: 1408

So there you have it. Let’s see how close I am on January 22
(my birthday incidentally).