This is my Super Bowl...

Best Picture- Well, clearly, my pick goes to No Country for Old Men. I think it deserves to win, and I think it will win. If it does lose, I really can't say who it will lose to. There is lots of praise going on for There Will Be Blood, but that hasn't won any awards yet, so who knows? If doesn't Old Men win, I'm sure it'll get the same treatment as movies like Citizen Kane and Raging Bull. They were considered very good films when they came out, but after years of analysis, they are considered among the best films ever made. I think, after a few years, Old Men will be a definite spot in nearly everyone's Top 100.

Best Actor- It's gotta go to Daniel Day-Lewis. He's one of the best and most amazing Method Actors of all time. He completely disappears into his roles, and he does here. Of all the nominations, I'd say this (along with Best Actress) are the closest things to being a shoe-in. I do have to say that I am very happy to see Tommy Lee Jones . It's a small movie that wasn't getting a lot of award attention, so it looks like the Academy really did their homework in finding and picking out amazing performances, not just nominating what everyone else did.

Best Actress- Like I said above, Julie Christie and Daniel Day-Lewis are the closest things to a shoe-in for this great year of movies. Christie had one of the most amazing performances of the year, and I think she's going to get the win. I must say, though, I think Ellen Page deserves it. What she did in Juno was amazing, balancing the thinest tightrope between adorable and annoying, detached and immersed in her situation. The look on her face when Michael Cera says "You would be the meanest wife ever," that's one of my favorite moments of the entire film year. She could win it on her underdog status.

Best Supporting Actor- Javier Bardem. Like woah. He created, as it's been said many times before, one of the best villains ever put on screen. He is terrifying, and I have only grown to respect the performance more when I see Bardem give his acceptance speeches at all the award shows. I can't see even the tiniest bit of Anton in him. Sure, it could be the hair, but I think his acting has a little something to do with it. Hal Holbrook was also amazing in his few minutes on screen, and Wilkinson did a great job as well. If anyone takes it from Bardem, it'll be one of those two.

Best Supporting Actress- This one is pretty out there, but my guess goes to Amy Ryan. Lots of great performances in this category, and Amy Ryan, Cate Blanchett and Ruby Dee have all won awards for their performances this year. But I think people have a lot of respect, not just for Ryan's performance, but for the movie Gone Baby Gone as well, which showed both Affleck brothers are much better film makers than people might have previously believed, and it'd be great to give the movie an award.

Director- I got to stick with No Country for Old Men and give this one to the Coen's. What they did with this film was amazing, from all aspects. The acting was great, the cinematography was amazing, all the themes and ideas were so perfectly woven into the film, even technical things you don't normally think of like Sound Mixing and Sound Editing. Those are normally saved for Animated or Action films, and No Country is a great example about how something so unimportant to the casual viewer can have such a huge impact on the film.

Cinematography- This one is really hard for me. I think No Country has a solid chance, the opening shots of the film, watching the sun slowly cast light on the land, is amazing. But Atonement also had some great things going on to (including, like I've said, one of the best shots ever put on film), and the Academy does tend to love period pieces like this. I'll guess No Country, but wouldn't be at all upset with Atonement.

Original Score- I really loved Atonement's score. It was hugely inventive (I couldn't stop smiling when I realized what was going on with it) and it worked great with the film.

Original Song- I'm so glad the Academy broke their rules this year. "Falling Slowly" from Once is a beautiful song that works amazingly well with the film, but it was actually written a year before the movie, for an entirely different movie, and released on (I think) a couple CD's. I just really wanted Once to win an Oscar, it deserves one, and I think it will with this song. Enchanted has a lot of nominations, and I think that will hurt the film more than help it. Voters that want Enchanted to win will be torn on which song to vote for, spreading their votes between three songs instead of Once's one song. Though, I do believe Once had more than one song deserving of a nomination.



And that's all I got. Like I said, haven't seen Foreign Films, don't care to go into the more technical ones like Costume and Sound Mixing. The only thing I am really upset about is that Zodiac is still nowhere to be seen. Had this film come out a month ago, I guarantee it would be nominated in at least four categories. I'm also kind of sad Burton didn't get a nomination. He's one of America's best and most inventive director, and he has never gotten a nomination. That does do some good for him, though. He will likely go down as the greatest film maker to never be nominated for an Oscar.





SIDE NOTE: Meet the Spartans was number 1 at the box office. Who the FUCK paid to see that movie. If I find out you did...... I'm not even going to finish that thought, because it's bad... very bad.