So it has all led up to this. After all the nastiness of the Writers’ Strike, what better way to let bygones be bygones than the Oscars? With less than a week to go, cinephiles everywhere are scrambling to rental stores and theatres to see the Oscar nods. But some of us aren’t so lucky. To my dismay, my Hollywood Video has closed without any notice. The irony here–ladies and gentlemen–is that I was also planning to get a job there (let’s hope Blockbusters is hiring). Perfect timing on their behalf. What is more upsetting is the prospect that they won’t be having a clearance sale. Since it is a movie rental chain and I haven’t heard any news of the chain closing, they will probably just relocate their merchandise to another location (one that is probably out of my way). Recent disappointments aside, I cannot wait for the Oscars. With the Golden Globes making a no-show this year, viewers have nothing else BUT the Oscars. It’s the night that Hollywood comes out to play and we are ready…and the nominees (that I care about) are:
Best Picture:
Atonement
Juno
Michael Clayton
No Country for Old Men
There Will Be Blood

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

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

Best Actress:
Cate Blanchett (Elizabeth: The Golden Age)
Julie Christie (Away from Her)
Marion Cotillard (La Vie en Rose)
Laura Linney (The Savages)
Ellen Page (Juno)

Best Supporting Actor:
Casey Affleck (The Assassination of Jesse James…whatever)
Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men)
Philip Seymour Hoffman (Charlie Wilson’s War)
Hal Holbrook (Into the Wild)
Tom Wilkinson (Michael Clayton)

Best Supporting Actress:
Cate Blanchett (I’m Not There)
Ruby Dee (American Gangster)
Saoirse Ronan (Atonement)
Amy Ryan (Gone Baby Gone)
Tilda Swinton (Michael Clayton)

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

Best Adapted Screenplay:
Atonement
Away from Her
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
No Country for Old Men
There Will Be Blood
Best Animated Feature:
Persepolis
Ratatouille
Surf’s Up

Best Original Score:
Dario Marianelli (Atonement)
Alberto Iglesias (The Kite Runner)
James Newton Howard (Michael Clayton)
Michael Giacchino (Ratatouille)
Marco Beltrami (3:10 to Yuma)

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• BROWSE / IN Entertainment
• « The Writers’ Strike Chronicles–Final Installment(s): The ‘Sex’ Effect
• » Not All That Glitters Is Oscar