Went to the store yesterday to get all the fixings for dinner for this year's Oscar bash. The menu this year consists of Baked manicotti, Oscar Chili and chocolate peanut butter pie. Of course, there will be a Red Carpet Cocktail Hour from 6-7 featuring my friend Rita's frozen margarita's and any other food that is brought by guests...and of course the Oscar pool

I put an "x" by my picks. 

Best Picture : Atonement, Juno, Michael Clayton, No Country For Old Men x and There Will Be Blood

Best Actor: George Clooney, Daniel Day Lewis x, Johnny Depp, Viggo Mortensen and Tommy Lee Jones

Best Actress: Ellen Page, Julie Christie x, Marion Cotillard, Cate Blanchett and Laura Linney

Best Supporting Actor: Javier Bardem x, Tom Wilkinson (would love to see him steal this one), Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Hal Holbrook, Casey Affleck

Best Supporting Actress: Cate Blanchett x, Tilda Swinton, Amy Ryan, Saorise Ronan, Ruby Dee

Best Director - Coen Brothers x, P.T. Anderson, Tony Gilroy, Jason Reitman and Julian Schnabel

Best Original Screenplay - Juno x, Michael Clayton (I think this should be the winner), Ratatouille, Lars and the Real Girl, The Savages

Best Adapted Screenplay - Atonement, Away From Her, No Country For Old Men x, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, There Will Be Blood

tie breakers:

Best Cinematography: Atonement, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, No Country For Old Men x, There Will Be Blood and The Assissnation of Jesse James

Best Editing: The Bourne Ultimatum, No Country for Old Men x, Into The Wild, There Will Be Blood and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Best Art Direction: Atonement, Sweeney Todd x, There Will Be Blood, American Gangster and The Golden Compass

Best Costume Design: Atonement, Sweeney Todd, Elizabeth: The Golden Age x, Across the Universe and la Vie En Rose

Oh boy, oh boy, I am excited!  But it sprung up a little too fast for me and my ballot is not prepared yet, Smokey!  The copy I use came with today's LA Times.  We had a little drizzle this morning and the paper is still drying out.  I probably won't have my ballot ready until the weekend.

By the way, we are expecting wet weather on Oscar day but I'll believe it when I see it.  Like the Rose Bowl, the clouds usually clear before the Academy Awards.  

As always, it is the Red Carpet I most look forward to and cannot wait to critique the gowns.  Speaking of which, the Grammy's had some great looking outfits for the men and women.  Rhianna's blue dress = FABULOUS! 

Susan 

As always, it is the Red Carpet I most look forward to and cannot wait to critique the gowns. Speaking of which, the Grammy's had some great looking outfits for the men and women. Rhianna's blue dress = FABULOUS!

Is this an extension of "the silly season"?

Best Picture : Atonement, Juno, Michael Clayton, No Country For Old Men x and There Will Be Blood

Best Actor: George Clooney, Daniel Day Lewis x, Johnny Depp, Viggo Mortensen and Tommy Lee Jones

Best Actress: Ellen Page, Julie Christie, Marion Cotillard, Cate Blanchett x and Laura Linney

Best Supporting Actor: Javier Bardem, Tom Wilkinson (would love to see him steal this one), Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Hal Holbrook x, Casey Affleck

Best Supporting Actress: Cate Blanchett x, Tilda Swinton, Amy Ryan, Saorise Ronan, Ruby Dee

Best Director - Coen Brothers x, P.T. Anderson, Tony Gilroy, Jason Reitman and Julian Schnabel

Best Original Screenplay - Juno, Michael Clayton x, Ratatouille, Lars and the Real Girl, The Savages

Best Adapted Screenplay - Atonement, Away From Her, No Country For Old Men, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly x, There Will Be Blood

tie breakers:

Best Cinematography: Atonement, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, No Country For Old Men x, There Will Be Blood and The Assissnation of Jesse James

Best Editing: The Bourne Ultimatum, No Country for Old Men, Into The Wild, There Will Be Blood and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly x

Best Art Direction: Atonement, Sweeney Todd x, There Will Be Blood, American Gangster and The Golden Compass

Best Costume Design: Atonement, Sweeney Todd x, Elizabeth: The Golden Age, Across the Universe and la Vie En Rose

I want to play, and I have not seen any of the movies nominated. Here are my guesses. I hope at least one will be correct. I'm presupposing that every one I've given to There Will Be Blood will go to No Country for Old men, and vice versa.

Best Picture : Atonement, Juno, Michael Clayton, No Country For Old Men, There Will Be Blood

Best Actor: George Clooney, Daniel Day Lewis, Johnny Depp, Viggo Mortensen, Tommy Lee Jones

Best Actress: Ellen Page, Julie Christie, Marion Cotillard, Cate Blanchett, Laura Linney

Best Supporting Actor: Javier Bardem, Tom Wilkinson, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Hal Holbrook, Casey Affleck

Best Supporting Actress: Cate Blanchett, Tilda Swinton, Amy Ryan, Saorise Ronan, Ruby Dee

Best Director: Coen Brothers, P.T. Anderson, Tony Gilroy, Jason Reitman, Julian Schnabel

Best Original Screenplay: Juno, Michael Clayton, Ratatouille, Lars and the Real Girl, The Savages

Best Adapted Screenplay: Atonement, Away From Her, No Country For Old Men , The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, There Will Be Blood

Best Cinematography: Atonement, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, No Country For Old Men, There Will Be Blood, The Assassination of Jesse James

Best Editing: The Bourne Ultimatum, No Country for Old Men, Into The Wild, There Will Be Blood, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Best Art Direction: Atonement, Sweeney Todd, There Will Be Blood, American Gangster, The Golden Compass

Best Costume Design: Atonement, Sweeney Todd, Elizabeth: The Golden Age, Across the Universe, La Vie En Rose

I was pretty pissed off when I saw these nominations... No Best Picture nomination for Sweeney Todd? Michael Clayton was quite good, but Sweeney Todd was an instant classic. Also no Best Actress nomination for Keira Knightley in Atonement? I guess it's unfair to pick on a child, but she was much more deserving of a nom than Saorise Ronan; I'm also very angry that Johnny Depp got a nom but Helena Bonham-Carter got left out in the cold. Depp was excellent, don't get me wrong, but Bonham-Carter was the (rather depraved) heart and soul of that brilliant film, how could she not get a Best Supporting Actress nom? However, I'm impressed that "There Will Be Blood" my favorite film of the year (haven't seen No Country For Old Men yet, however), got so many nominations.

I just think it's awesome that Ratatouille was nominated for Best Screenplay alongside live-action heavy-hitters. It probably won't get the nod, but still...

I've done pretty well seeing the nominees this year: I managed to see Ratatouille, No Country, Sweeney Todd, and Juno in theaters. Still waiting anxiously for the TWBB DVD.

Good to see that the Academy Awards will be fully covered.

Not so sure about my fashion sense, but I agree Rhianna did look fresh and gorgeous at the Grammies.

Umm, only 3 nominees for Animated Feature & NONE of them was The Simpsons Movie!?  There IS NO justice, I tells ya's...

I think they limited Best Animated Feature to only 3 nominees because random crap animated movies were suddenly "Oscar nominees", just because there was nothing else to fill the nomination. I was actually kind of glad to see no nomination for Simpsons movie, since I don't consider it real cinema, but then again... Surf's Up?! WTF? I really hope Ratatouille wins that one... wonderful, wonderful film. BTW why is Brad Bird only nominated for scripts, never for direction? He's undoubtedly one of the best directors in film today, all three of his films have been solid gold, and Ratatouille may be his best yet.

This is probably going to be the lowest ratings ever for the Oscars this year.

Didn't see any of the Best Picture nominations this year. Heard good things about There Will Be Blood and No Country for Old Men though.

This is probably going to be the lowest ratings ever for the Oscars this year.

Why do you think that?

I'm glad to see Jon Stewart back as host. Ellen wasn't bad, but I enjoy the cut of Jon's snark. (Is that even a phrase? I'm not sure.)

As I recall Jon Stewart was (refreshingly) not overly snark-laden when he did his previous Oscar hosting gig which I think was before the 2004 election.  He was good but I liked Ellen just dandy myself. Hell, I liked Billy Crystal and Bob Hope!  Chris Rock was fun. 

Now, animated feature -- it's easy that Ratatouille will win but it was wrong to put Persepolis up against it when the latter should have been with best Foreign Film.  Some fluke of Academy rules made it inelgible in that category. 

I've got the Elizabeth the Golden Age - DVD here and will try to watch it before the show Sunday as the last opportunity to see any of the noms.  I love a good period piece!

Susan 

Now, animated feature -- it's easy that Ratatouille will win but it was wrong to put Persepolis up against it when the latter should have been with best Foreign Film. Some fluke of Academy rules made it inelgible in that category.

http://www.cartoonbrew.com/feature-film/academy-ignores-animation-for-best-foreign-film

The Best Foreign Film nominees this year are just bizarre... I really don't know what they were thinking. The three most buzzed about foreign films of the year (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly; 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 days; and Persepolis) are not even nominated, particularly odd becaused Diving Bell and the Buttefly is nominated for a bunch of other stuff foreign films aren't usually considered for... I've never understood how these things work, they really need to revamp the way they nominate stuff.

Just wonderin about this wonderful town, Marfa, Texas, 2 films up for academy award, the classic GIANT was filmed there. always wanted to visit there. I plan to!  I mentioned years! heh! some parts each film no country for old men & there will be blood was shown there in that sweet town. never seen either film yet!

I can remember Chris Rock very well, because everyone at the party couldn't stop laughing through his entire monolgue, one of the best in recent memory. My favorite Ellen moment, and she did a very good job, was when she tried to sell a screenplay to Martin Scorcese. Billy Crystal has always been my favorite, he's always great, especially his song and dance number..."Sofia, Sofia, I just saw a film by Sofia. The credits made cheer, Scarlett Johannsen's rear. Thank you...". Bob Hope was always solid class. Jon Stewart was great his time round and looking forward to how he handles the MC duties this year.      

Last night I had the chance to watch a 45-minute promo of Cate Blanchett's scenes from I'm Not There. Looking forward to seeing the film in its entirety now even if I was feeling a little 8 1/2-ish flashback at times. That's okay. It was pretty fresh all the same and Cate, as always, was stupendous. What I love about her is how completely she embodies her character so that in each film it's hard to see the common thread of Cate Blanchett. If you run into her on the street, you might not recognize her. She's a blank slate until she's playing a role. AND she picks some really good gowns too. (Good fashion, Booth, is never silly. It's art.)

After that, I watched Elizabeth the Golden Age. By now David was sound asleep and completely uninterested in a costume drama period piece. Pretty funny to move from the 20th to the 16th century but Clive Owen's face on the menu convinced me to go forward and push "play." He's fantastic! I know the day will come when I check him off my list and he joins the ranks of previously hot actors such as Richard Gere (who went downhill after his stunning brief appearance in Looking for Mr. Goodbar), Brad Pitt, David Duchovny or Viggo Mortenson, but for now, I'm enjoying him.

Okay, Elizabeth. Has to win best costumes. Production design = beautiful too. Maybe I should rewatch the film and try to follow the storyline more closely. (Nah, I knew the ending before I watched it.) But I was constantly distracted by checking out the accessories, how they had sheer spandex garments back in those days, the candelabras, the wigs, the jewelry, and how the character "Bess" had a face that just didn't belong in 16th century England but Cate's face worked just fine. If I had closed my eyes and listened to the score alone, I'd think I was watching an old Robert Lean film from a half century ago. The whole film was a little retro except for some kind of obvious CGI effects with the fighting warships on the water.

Still have not cast my votes but I have a few guesses brewing. Something makes me think this will be a Juno year. Yeah, maybe PTA (good monogram!) is the odds on fave, but I'm not seeing the film winning. Here's the deal -- I'm thinking the darkness of the Blood movie and the Old Man movie are a little retro. From the point at which a script is written, a movie is made and a movie has its theatrical distribution is at least a couple of years. These two films represent a mindset of doom and gloom more akin to 2005-2006. Yes, poliitcally. I'm thinking with the new optimism of the upcoming election, that depressed mode made has dissipated. I read an interview with Jack Nicholson the other day where he said since 9/11 he has only chosen to do comedies and plans to continue that pattern, humor being such a premium treasure. Then there's the whole Cinderella-Little-Engine-That-Could-David-and-Goliath thing about Juno too. The nepotism factor should eliminate Jason Reitman's chances for the Best Director in addition to the fact that he's too young and this is only his second film. So, I see a split between Best Film and Best Director again. Juno = this year's Little Miss Sunshine Big Fat Greek Wedding? I'm thinking so.

Diablo Cody = best original screenplay

Ratatouille = Best Animated Film

Ellen Page = Best Actress.

Daniel Day Lewis = Best Actor

Cate Blanchett or Tilda Swinton (in that order - tough pick) = Best Supporting Actress

Javier Bardem = Supporting Actor

Elizabeth the Golden Age = Best Costumes

PT Anderson = Best Director

Juno = Best Film

More later when I check out the songs. PS. I've only seen four of the films this year in any of the categories.

Susan

Now, animated feature -- it's easy that Ratatouille will win but it was wrong to put Persepolis up against it when the latter should have been with best Foreign Film. Some fluke of Academy rules made it inelgible in that category.

http://www.cartoonbrew.com/feature-film/academy-ignores-animation-for-best-foreign-film Okay.  Alright.  It's just that... I have a soft spot for Persepolis and really expected it to be nominated for Best Foreign Film.  It is a different type of film than those big studio animated films for the kids.  With the advent of the graphic novel as the basis for a feature film and with so many upcoming films based on graphic novels, it seemed to make for odd combos in the Best Animated category.  But okay.  Alright. I concede.  I guess. I never expected Fritz the Cat to be nominated for Best Film though it was one of the year's best back then.

(Good fashion, Booth, is never silly. It's art.)

I wasn't talking about the fashion, just the who wore what stuff that comes after it.

I love Oscar season! Susan and I trading posts, mine about "how in the holy f*** did they win?" and Susan, with her fashion critiques, but yes, Cate Blanchett does always have the best gowns and never seems to make bad choices in her roles and her Red Carpet duds (I hope I just didn't jinx her). Yes, Juno is this year's Little Miss Sunshine, and everyone I've talked to who has seen it has simply adored it. I think if any film is a sleeper this year, it is Michael Clayton. It's been cruising by with its big ticket sales and high acclaim under the juggernauts of No Country and There Will Be Blood. It has all the elements of a classic Hollywood film, the kind that has won Oscars, a powerful, four-pronged acting attack (Clooney, Wilkinson and Swinton have never been better, plus I thought Syndey Pollack was quite good too and easily could have gotten a supporting actor nod). The script and the whole makeup of the film is a throw back to olden time "Oscar" classics like Who's Afraid of Virgina Woolf? or Network and a script that should win best original but will likely lose to Juno. I'm telling you, Michael Clayton IS that good. I think No Country and There Will Be Blood are better but it's very, very close. 

Yes, Supporting Actress is tough, flip a coin, it's either going to be Cate or Tilda. I picked Cate, but Tilda can very, vey easily win.

 I switched Best Editing to the Bourne Ultimatum, because as of last night when I got home from work, all the buzz was around it winning this award. I had Elizabeth as Costume Design, but switched to Atonement for this same reason, I almost switched it because of what Susan said, but since Atonement is going to get royally reemed tonight, it has to win at least one award, two if it wins best original score.

Best actress, I like Ellen Page's chances to pull the monster upset, but since the Oscars like biopics, I will say if Julie Christie doesn't win, then Marion Cotillard has the second best chance of winning for her portrayal of Edith Paif in La Vie En Rose.

Same with George Clooney. He has the only chance of beating Daniel Day Lewis (who should win, I was totally transfixed by his performance in There Will Be Blood) and it's not that much of a chance. I would love it if Tom Wilkinson won, but I think Javier Bardem will win and so does everybody else for supporting actor.    

I am going to try my best to hang with Susan this year in the fashion review. I should be able to because I'll only have one or two margaritas in my system by the time the Red Carpet coverage starts. Have an awesome and fun night, dear!! I will be thinking about you like I do every year.                           

Excellent analysis, Smokey!  I am completely ignoring Vegas odds this year with my choices and going on instinct and hearsay so I don't expect to be a winner.  My ballots have been printed but not filled out.  We do the full 24 categories which makes for better tie-breakers plus, since those come early on, they set up an anticipation.  On the other hand, we don't do margaritas on Oscar night!  (especially the scorekeeper, heaven forbid) Here goes!   Have a great party, Smokey and anyone else who celebrates outside the Governor's Ball.  We've decided to go with carry-out fried chicken and Greek salad.  Maybe a teeny bit of wine... 

Best Picture : Atonement, Juno, Michael Clayton, No Country For Old Men  and There Will Be Blood

Best Actor: George Clooney, Daniel Day Lewis Johnny Depp, Viggo Mortensen and Tommy Lee Jones

Best Actress: Ellen Page, (I may change my official at home ballot to Marion Cotillard before show time based on blah-blah-blah I've been hearing about this performance) Julie Christie, Marion Cotillard, Cate Blanchett and Laura Linney

Best Supporting Actor: Javier Bardem, Tom Wilkinson (would love to see him steal this one), Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Hal Holbrook, Casey Affleck

Best Supporting Actress: Cate Blanchett, Tilda Swinton (I may change this one on my home ballot too as I'm feeling the trend), Amy Ryan, Saorise Ronan, Ruby Dee

Best Director - Coen Brothers (Go Roderick Jaynes for Best Editing!), P.T. Anderson, Tony Gilroy, Jason Reitman and Julian Schnabel

Best Original Screenplay - Juno, Michael Clayton, Ratatouille, Lars and the Real Girl, The Savages

Best Adapted Screenplay - Atonement, Away From Her, No Country For Old Men, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, There Will Be Blood

Best Cinematography: Atonement, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, No Country For Old Men, There Will Be Blood and The Assassination of Jesse James

Best Editing: The Bourne Ultimatum (pity vote for the otherwise ignored film though I'd LOVE to see Roderick Jayne's acceptance speech...), No Country for Old Men, Into The Wild, There Will Be Blood and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Best Art Direction: Atonement, Sweeney Todd, There Will Be Blood, American Gangster and The Golden Compass

Best Costume Design: Atonement, Sweeney Todd, Elizabeth: The Golden Age, Across the Universe and la Vie En Rose (I watched the costume designer for No Country for Old Men this morning. She did an excellent job at making the clothing look natural but was saying that this type of costuming doesn't win awards convincing though it is. I do recall Theodora Von Runkle (?) winning for Bonnie and Clyde though and setting a fashion trend)

 

With the caveat that I've only seen Michael Clayton, Eastern Promises, Away From Her, Juno, Golden Compass, and Transformers...

 Actor - Daniel Day-Lewis

Supporting Actor - Javier Bardem

Actress - Julie Christie (I hope, but Marion Cotillard may be an upset)

Supporting Actress - Amy Ryan

Animated Feature - Ratatouille

Art Direction - Sweeney Todd

Cinematography - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Costume Design - Sweeney Todd

Directing - The Coens

Documentary Feature - Sicko (please let me be wrong)

Documentary Short - Salim Baba (uhh...yeah)

Editing - Into the Wild

Foreign Language Film - Mongol (sure)

Makeup - La Vie en Rose

Score - Ratatouille

Song - So Close from Enchanted

Picture - No Country for Old Men (although I've got $1 on MC at 12:1 odds, given the DVD is out)

Animated Short - Madame Tutli-Putli (could be a big year for Canada)

Live Action Short - At Night

Sound Editing - Bourne Ultimatum

Sound Mixing - Bourne Ultimatum

Visual Effects - Transformers

Adapted Screenplay - No Country for Old Men

Original Screenplay - Juno

Impressive, B, you go the distance with the full 24!  Maybe I'll steal some of your picks as I've still not finished my ballot.

The sun is going in and out.  The rains come and go.  Lots of tents though.

Exciting!

Susan 

Jessica Alba looks beautiful. Last year she was one of the best. Loved the teenager from Atonement. The hair was awful but she is a breath of fresh air! Very sweet and funny. What happened between Gary Busey and Jennifer Garner? I was skipping between ABC and E-Entertainment and missed it. Something with Ryan Seacrest.

It's back on.

Susan

PS I changed my home ballot to Marion Cottilard and so far she is winning the best dressed too! WOW! Fantastic.

PPS. Colin Farrell looking tip top! Daniel-Day Lewis holding his own. Where's Clive Owen? Will he be there tonight?

PPS Two ABSOLUTE WORST awards so far = Daniel Day-Lewis's wife (mother?) EEEKKKK!  And poor Tilda Swinton.