*** Official 2008 Oscars Nominations List and Forum Discussion Thread (1 Viewer)

[Mike Williams]

Marianne, when Richard Roeper and whoever his guest critic was that week reviewed "Sweeney Todd," he said that Johnny Depp was a shoe-in for a Best Actor nom, and this might finally be his chance to win.

I'm personally very disappointed in the complete lack of love for American Gangster aside from Ruby Dee's supporting actress nomination.

 

[BrianShort]

Happy surprises for me: All the different noms for Ratatoullie, especially Best Original Screenplay. Way to go Brad Bird!

Maybe not a surprise, but "Falling Slowly" from Once being nominated for Best Song. I watched this movie a few nights ago, and can't get the movie or the song out of my head. It had better win!

 

[Michael Elliott]

I really wish I understood the love for MICHAEL CLAYTON. This is my cell phone movie of the year because when I watched it everyone in the theater kept pulling out there phones to see what time it was. I've never seen a more bored crowd in my life.

I also can't believe INTO THE WILD didn't get more noms. Holbrook certainly deserved his so I'm glad about that. GONE BABY GONE is another that deserves BP.

 

[Chuck Mayer]

As someone (Dan Brecher) wisely said elsewhere: Norbit - 1, Zodiac - 0. And while I did enjoy Juno quite a bit, did Reitman outdirect Ridley Scott or David Fincher? I agree the direction was very solid, but Juno is all about the script (nominated) and the actors (nominated). Some very good efforts were ignored for a popular film that came out at the right time.

That said, it's no big deal. It's a decent list.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Richard, thanks for catching that. Have just added the
category and noms to my original list.

 

[Vickie_M]

As mentioned earlier, it was disqualified at the last minute, even after the votes had been counted. I think it's a given that it would have been a nominee. The disqualification is outrageous and stinks of some behind-the-scenes shenanigans.

All I really really REALLY wanted was for There Will Be Blood and No Country For Old Men to make a good showing, so I'm thrilled that they lead in nominations. After that, everything's good. I loved Michael Clayton and I'm happy for all its deserved nominations (Academy Award nominee Tilda Swinton, damn that sounds good) even though score was a bit of a surprise and I would have preferred Jesse James or Lust, Caution there (hooray for 3:10 to Yuma's score). I liked Atonement and Juno, so good for them. I'm thrilled for Laura Linney and Sarah Polley!

Academy Award nominee Viggo Mortenson.
Academy Award nominee Sarah Polley!
Academy Award nominee Tilda Swinton!
Academy Award nominee Across the Universe!!
Academy Award nominee The Golden Compass!
Academy Award nominee Once!
Academy Award nominee...Norbit? (ok ok, I'sure the makeup people were very impressed by all that cellulite, but still...)

Except for the shutouts of Before The Devil Knows You're Dead and Zodiac, I can't complain, it was a great year for movies and a lot of love was spread around, but even if I hated all the other nominees, it wouldn't matter. There Will Be Blood and No Country For Old Men got their due. Faaantastic!

Except for Johnny's brilliant score. Damn!

 

[Bob Turnbull]

Jonny Greenwood's 'Blood' score disqualified by AMPAS

Doesn't mean it's a good reason though...

 

[Adam_S]

I think it was DQed because the composer was a rock star. they've never nominated Clint Eastwood either, and are unlikely too, and they didn't nominate Michael Gianicchio for The Incredibles because he was a video game composer. The biggest snobs are in the music branch, imo.

 

[ZacharyTait]

Interesting Oscar Nomination factoid:

With Javier Bardem's nomination for Supporting Actor for No Country for Old Men, Kate Hudson is now the only nominee for 2000 to have only one nomination.

Russell Crowe: 3 (1 win)
Javier Bardem: 2
Tom Hanks: 5 (2 wins)
Ed Harris: 4
Geoffrey Rush: 3 (1 win)

Julia Roberts: 3 (1 win)
Juliette Binoche: 2 (1 win)
Joan Allen: 3
Ellen Burstyn: 6 (1 win)
Laura Linney 3

Benicio Del Toro: 2 (1 win)
Jeff Bridges: 4
Albert Finney: 5
Joaquin Phoenix: 2
Willem Dafoe: 2

Marcia Gay Harden: 2 (1 win)
Kate Hudson: 1
Frances McDormand: 4 (1 win)
Julie Walters: 2
Judi Dench: 1 (1 win)

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

It was disqualified because less than half the score was original music. It's the same reason why the scores to most sequels don't get nominated. John Williams's score for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is the last one I can think of, and that made extensive use of new themes and orchestrations. The only reason one you could argue about was Howard Shore's nomination (and eventual win) for Return of the King. If not for this rule, I think John Williams would have one in 2005 for his Revenge of the Sith score.

 

[Marianne]

American Gangster is nominated in the Best Film category in the BAFTAs (along with Original Screenplay, Music, Cinematography and Editing).

 

[PaulP]

Best Picture
There Will Be Blood

Best Director
Paul Thomas Anderson, There Will Be Blood

Best Actor
Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood

Best Actress
Ellen Page, Juno

Best Supporting Actor
Tom Wilkinson, Michael Clayton

Best Supporting Actress
Saiorse Ronan, Atonement

Best Foreign Film
Beaufort (Israel)

Best Original Screenplay
Brad Bird, Ratatouille

Best Adapted Screenplay
Paul Thomas Anderson, There Will Be Blood

Best Animated Feature Film
Ratatouille

Best Art Direction
Sweeney Todd

Best Cinematography
There Will Be Blood

Best Makeup
Pirates of the Caribbean

Best Original Score
James Newton Howard, Michael Clayton

Best Original Song
"So Close", Enchanted

Best Film Editing
No Country for Old Men

Best Sound Editing
The Bourne Ultimatum

Best Sound Mixing
Ratatouille

Best Visual Effects
Transformers

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Now there is a movement within the Academy to get “Falling Slowly” from Once disqualified from Best Song because the lead actor apparently released a rendition of it on his band's 2007 CD.

 

[Adam_S]

I believe this was discussed at In Contention back in october or november, and Kris Tapley (editor over there) contacted the Academy music department and confirmed the songs were eligible because they were written for and originally recorded for and mixed into the film first. But the film sat on the shelf for a while without distribution and the album ended up coming out first, but the album coming out first doesn't dq the songs.

say the soundtrack cd for Enchanted came out the tuesday before the movie released to theatres, should all it's songs be DQed? it's a slightly different situation because Hansard's album wasn't the soundtrack, but the principle is essentially the same.

 

[Marc Colella]

I wonder if "Falling Slowly" will also be disqualified because it was used in the movie "Feast of Love".

 

[ZacharyTait]

Daniel Day-Lewis and Javier Bardem won tonight at the SAG's, so that further solidifies their wins on Oscar Night.

On the ladie's side however, Julie Christie and Ruby Dee's wins further muddle the Oscar picture.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I have a feeling those will be the winners along with Country for Old Men winning BP and Director.

 

[Adam_S]

other than Rudy Dee those all sound like plausible winners at oscar night.

ASC awarded There Will Be Blood
DGA awarded No Country for Old Men

although I think Diving Bell will probably will cinematography.

 

[Robert Crawford]

It's Ruby Dee and she will be a sentimental favorite which is why I think she'll win it.

 

[Seth Paxton]

Director is a tough call I think, perhaps the toughest. Forget the dark horses, just the battle between PTA and the Coens is hard to read. Blood is brilliant direction, even if the film is edited a bit long per the norm for PTA. While the fancier moves have been removed, it's still got the trademark of PTA having a slew of really gorgeous shots, perfectly framed, well lit, nice mise en scene.

Of course that could all fall into a cinematography win. It's got no shot at Best pix over No Country, which is fine by me.

What is the deal with song/score nominations battles the last few years. It's really contentious anymore. DQ's all over the place and people outraged about the originality of works nominated.