So I always follow these awards races, guessing here and guessing there who would be nominated and who would be snubbed. There mightn't even be a ceremony this year because of the writer's strike. So, anyway, if anyone's interested, here are the nominations for this year's Oscars:

(winners in bold)

Best Motion Picture of the Year

Atonement
Juno
Michael Clayton
No Country for Old Men
There Will Be Blood

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

George Clooney for Michael Clayton
Daniel Day-Lewis for There Will Be Blood
Johnny Depp for Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Tommy Lee Jones for In the Valley of Elah
Viggo Mortensen for Eastern Promises

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

Cate Blanchett for Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Julie Christie for Away from Her
Marion Cotillard for La Vie En Rose
Laura Linney for The Savages
Ellen Page for Juno

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

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

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

Cate Blanchett for I'm Not There.
Ruby Dee for American Gangster
Saoirse Ronan for Atonement
Amy Ryan for Gone Baby Gone
Tilda Swinton for Michael Clayton

Best Achievement in Directing

Paul Thomas Anderson for There Will Be Blood
Ethan Coen, Joel Coen for No Country for Old Men
Tony Gilroy for Michael Clayton
Jason Reitman for Juno
Julian Schnabel for The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen

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

Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published

Atonement : Christopher Hampton
Away from Her : Sarah Polley
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly : Ronald Harwood
No Country for Old Men : Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
There Will Be Blood : Paul Thomas Anderson


Best Achievement in Cinematography

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

Best Achievement in Editing

The Bourne Ultimatum : Christopher Rouse
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly : Juliette Welfling
Into the Wild : Jay Cassidy
No Country for Old Men : Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
There Will Be Blood : Dylan Tichenor, Tatiana S. Riegel

Best Achievement in Art Direction

American Gangster : Arthur Max
Atonement : Sarah Greenwood
The Golden Compass : Dennis Gassner
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street : Dante Ferretti
There Will Be Blood : Jack Fisk

Best Achievement in Costume Design

Across the Universe : Albert Wolsky
Atonement : Jacqueline Durran
Elizabeth: The Golden Age : Alexandra Byrne
La Vie En Rose : Marit Allen
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street : Colleen Atwood

Best Achievement in Makeup

La Vie en Rose : Didier Lavergne, Loulia Sheppard
Norbit : Rick Baker
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End : Ve Neill, Martin Samuel

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score

Atonement : Dario Marianelli
Into the Wild : Michael Brook, Kaki King, Eddie Vedder
Michael Clayton : James Newton Howard
Ratatouille : Michael Giacchino
3:10 to Yuma : Marco Beltrami

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song

August Rush ("Raise It Up")
Enchanted ("Happy Working Song")
Enchanted ("So Close")
Enchanted ("That's How You Know")
Once (“Falling Slowly” )

Best Achievement in Sound

The Bourne Ultimatum : Scott Millan, David Parker, Kirk Francis
No Country for Old Men : Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff, Peter F. Kurland
Ratatouille : Randy Thom, Michael Semanick, Vince Caro, Doc Kane
3:10 to Yuma
Transformers : Kevin O'Connell, Greg P. Russell, Peter J. Devlin

Best Achievement in Sound Editing

The Bourne Ultimatum : Karen M. Baker, Per Hallberg
No Country for Old Men : Skip Lievsay
Ratatouille
There Will Be Blood : Matthew Wood, Christopher Scarabosio
Transformers : Mike Hopkins, Ethan Van der Ryn

Best Achievement in Visual Effects

The Golden Compass : Michael L. Fink, Susan MacLeod, Bill Westenhofer, Ben Morris
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End : John Knoll, Hal T. Hickel, Charlie Gibson, John Frazier
Transformers : Scott Farrar, Shari Hanson, Russell Earl, Scott Benza

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year

Persepolis : Vincent Paronnaud, Marjane Satrapi
Ratatouille : Brad Bird
Surf's Up : Ash Brannon, Chris Buck

Best Foreign Language Film of the Year

Fälscher, Die (Austria)
Beaufort (Israel)
Mongol (Kazakhstan)
Katyn (Poland)
12 (Russia)

Best Documentary, Features

No End in Sight
Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience
Sicko
Taxi to the Dark Side
War Dance

Best Documentary, Short Subjects

Freeheld
Corona, La
Salim Baba
Sari's Mother

Best Short Film, Animated

Même les pigeons vont au paradis
I Met the Walrus
Madame Tutli-Putli
Moya lyubov
Peter & the Wolf

Best Short Film, Live Action

At Night
Supplente, Il
Mozart des pickpockets, Le
Tanghi argentini
The Tonto Woman

--

So, basically:

Yay:
No Country for Old Men
Coen brothers
Atonement for Best Pic (for some reason I thought it was going to be snubbed)
Javier Bardem
Paul Thomas Anderson's first directing nomination!
Viggo Mortensen!
Daniel-Day Lewis (always good)
Cate Blanchett double nomination


Bleh:
NO ZODIAC ANYWHERE
Ruby Dee for American Gangster (she had like what, 5 minutes screen-time?)
Tim Burton snub
Russell Crowe/Christian Bale snubs
Three songs from Enchanted?
Surf's Up
Academy Award nominee Norbit
3:10 to Yuma not in any major categories
Ellen Page (I dunno why, I just hate this bitch)
I actually liked The Kite Runner and was hoping that it'd turn up for something other than just Score
Diving Bell and Persepolis off Foreign Language film? Or were they ineligible for some reason?

Most Deserving, Imo:
Daniel-Day Lewis
Viggo Mortensen
Javier Bardem
Amy Ryan
Ratatouille for Best Animation/Screenplay
Bourne for Editing
Coens for No Country for Old Men
Roger Deakins double cinematography nom for No Country and Jesse James

Oh, and here's the Razzie nominations too.

Worst Picture
Bratz
Daddy Day Camp
I Know Who Killed Me
I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry
Norbit

Worst Actor
Nicolas Cage (Ghost Rider, National Treasure: Book of Secrets, and Next)
Jim Carrey (The Number 23)
Cuba Gooding Jr. (Daddy Day Camp and Norbit)
Eddie Murphy (as Norbit) (Norbit)
Adam Sandler (I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry)

Worst Actress
Jessica Alba (Awake, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, and Good Luck Chuck)
Logan Browning, Janel Parrish, Nathalia Ramos, and Skyler Shaye (A Four For One Deal!) (Bratz)
Elisha Cuthbert (Captivity)
Diane Keaton (Because I Said So)
Lindsay Lohan (as Aubrey) (I Know Who Killed Me)
Lindsay Lohan (as Dakota) (I Know Who Killed Me)

Worst Supporting Actor
Orlando Bloom (Pirates of the Carob-Bean: At Wit’s End)
Kevin James (I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry)
Eddie Murphy (as Mr. Wong) (Norbit)
Rob Schneider (I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry)
Jon Voight (Bratz, National Treasure 2, September Dawn, and Transformers)

Worst Supporting Actress
Jessica Biel (I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry and Next)
Carmen Electra (Epic Movie)
Eddie Murphy (as Rasputia) (Norbit)
Julia Ormond (I Know Who Killed Me)
Nicolette Sheridan (Code Name: The Cleaner)

Worst Screen Couple
Jessica Alba & Hayden Christensen (Awake) or Dane Cook (Good Luck Chuck) or Ioan Gruffudd (Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer)
Any Combination of Two Totally Air-Headed Characters (Bratz)
Lindsay Lohan & Lindsay Lohan (I Know Who Killed Me)
Eddie Murphy (as Norbit) & Eddie Murphy (as Mr. Wong) or Eddie Murphy (as Rasputia) (Norbit)

Worst Remake or Rip-Off
Are We Done Yet (of Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House)
Bratz (if ever there was one)
Epic Movie (of every movie it rips off)
I Know Who Killed Me (of Saw, Hostel, and The Patty Duke Show)
Who’s Your Caddy (of Caddyshack)

Worst Prequel or Sequel
Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem
Daddy Day Camp
Evan Almighty
Hannibal Rising
Hostel: Part II

Worst Director
Dennis Dugan (I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry)
Roland Jaffe (Captivity)
Brian Robbins (Norbit)
Fred Savage (Daddy Day Care)
Chris Siverston (I Know Who Killed Me)

Worst Screenplay
Daddy Day Camp
Epic Movie
I Know Who Killed Me
I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry
Norbit

Worst Excuse For A Horror Movie
Aliens vs Predator: Requiem
Captivity
Hannibal Rising
Hostel: Part II
I Know Who Killed Me

EPIC MOVIE SNUBBED FOR BEST PICTURE IMO

All the best pictures are recent, how wack!

Also:

Diving Bell and Persepolis off Foreign Language film? Or were they ineligible for some reason?

Yes for real! Also, did you see Diving Bell ZOO.

Also also where's King of Kong, you heartless Hollywood fucks.

It's usual to have all the BP contenders as recently released as that's when the studios decide to release them, just for Oscar contention, I guess.

Like uh... last year, the line-up was Babel, Letters from Iwo Jima, Little Miss Sunshine, The Departed and The Queen and all of these were released in October or later. Babel and Little Miss Sunshine competed in various film festivals earlier in the year, though (Babel at Cannes, LMS at Sundance), but decided to release later on so they won't be forgotten when nomination ballots are sent out.

Norbit. The Oscar-nominated film.

Once again I have not seen or intend to see many of these movies (from either list).

Expect Bourne Ultimatum.  That movie was great (watched it again last night).  Oh, and Ratatouille.  Both are very good.

those worst awards are for real?
or are they supposed to be funny?
do they give out trophies? Is there a ceremony and nominees attend it?

The Raspberry Awards (Razzies) are basically a means of making fun of all the bad movies and performances or dumb celebrities in the spotlight. Not sure if they have an actual "ceremony" but some people have collected their awards, like Tom Green for Freddy Got Fingered and Halle Berry for Catwoman.

I honestly watched 10 mins of Norbit, and I said, "I'll give it five more minutes. Cause I usually like terribly terribly awful movies cause they're hilarious in their awfulness." But Norbit was... Unforgivable.

kentona: go watch no country for old men ok


Also, Adam Goldberg should have been nominated for best actor for 2 Days In Paris.

I'm a little disappointed to not see 3:10 to Yuma for more things, since it was probably the movie I enjoyed the most last year.

kentona: go watch no country for old men ok

ok.  I've added it to the queue.

(btw, I am only watching Brokeback Mountain now, so it may take a while before I watch it)

Wow, why would you watch Bratz in the first place, though?

b-dump. oscars tonight = prediction time.

I entered an Oscar prediction contest.... person who guesses the most right gets a dinner for 4 at Benihana

My predictions were:

* Best Picture - No Country for Old Men
* Best Director - Coen Bros, No Country for Old Men.
* Best Actor - Daniel Day-Lewis, "There Will Be Blood"
* Best Actress - Julie Christie, "Away From Her"
* Best Supporting Actor - My man, Javier Bardem, "No Country for Old Men"
* Best Supporting Actress - Cate Blanchett, "I'm Not There"
* Best Orig. Screenplay - Juno
* Best Adapted Screenplay - No Country for Old Men
* Best Cinematography - No Country for Old Men
* Best Editing - The Bourne Ultimatum
* Best Art Direction - Atonement
* Best Costume Design - Atonement
* Best Makeup - Pirates 3
* Best Score - Atonement (though 3:10 to Yuma has a great score)
* Best Song - Falling Slowly, Once
* Best Sound - Transformers
* Best Sound Editing - Transformers
* Best Visual Effects - Transformers
* Best Animated - Ratatouille
* Best Foreign Language - I've seen none but I put Beaufort (shame Diving Bell isn't there)
* Best Doc - Sicko
* Best Doc, Short - Freeheld
* Best Short Film, Ani - Peter and the Wolf
* Best Short Film, Live - At Night

Okay here goes:

* Best Picture - No Country for Old Men
* Best Director - Julian Schnabel, "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"
* Best Actor - Daniel Day-Lewis, "There Will Be Blood"
* Best Actress - Julie Christie, "Away From Her"
* Best Supporting Actor - Casey Affleck, "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford"
* Best Supporting Actress - Cate Blanchett, "I'm Not There"
* Best Orig. Screenplay - Juno
* Best Adapted Screenplay - No Country for Old Men
* Best Cinematography - The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
* Best Editing - No Country for Old Men
* Best Art Direction - Atonement
* Best Costume Design - Atonement
* Best Makeup - La Vie En Rose
* Best Score - Atonement (though 3:10 to Yuma has a great score)
* Best Song - Falling Slowly, Once
* Best Sound - Transformers
* Best Sound Editing - No Country for Old Men
* Best Visual Effects - Transformers
* Best Animated - Ratatouille
* Best Foreign Language - Mongol
* Best Doc - Sicko
* Best Doc, Short - La Corona
* Best Short Film, Ani - Even Pidgeons go to Heaven
* Best Short Film, Live - Tanghi Argentini

Schnabel isn't winning Director... he would have a better chance if his film were nominated for Best Picture. No lone director has ever won an Oscar. If he did have Picture nomination under his wing, I would have put him down, though, but I'm just running with statistics.

P.S. this is a great Oscar predictions site   www.awardsdaily.com

I only have one thing to predict: Pirates of the Caribbean 3 wins Best Visual Effects. It's possible that Transformers will nail it due to the amount of time spent on making the models but... it's not really anything new in terms of visual effects. But yeah... Pirates.