comment #1

Chicago48 says ...

Thank you Oscar for the Ruby Dee nom...now just give it to her! :)

comment #2

Dan Revill says ...

Atonement's 7 are 3 more than Juno, so that's a good thing. Still it'll be hard for either to beat No Country For Old Men and There Will Be Blood - I don't think it'll be split between those two...one of them will emerge (I hope it's Blood, but thinking it'll be No Country).

comment #3

Spacelamb says ...

Great to see Viggo finally got a nod.

comment #4

Dave says ...

So Jeff, which insane-crazy Oscar vendetta/crusade will Jeff Wells go on this year?

Cate Blanchett in Elizabeth 2: Something This Evil Never Dies?

Or Amy "She must not have sent Jeff naked pictures" Ryan?

Oh, and no matter what: TWBB and No Country will NOT win Best Picture. They're the best movies released last year, but they're going to split the vote of the folks who appreciate those kinds of movies.

I'll place the Vegas bet now.

comment #5

Chicago48 says ...

Also happy to see Viggo get some love!

comment #6

MathewM says ...

If you look at the editing nominations you'll see the only best pic noms are No Country and TWBB so you can surmise who the finalists will be. No Country is going to win it-- I think this is probably the most assured win since Titanic back in '98. The Academy is all about giving filmmakers their due. It was Scorsese's turn last year, this year it's the Coen Bros.

comment #7

Joe Leydon says ...

Sorry, Juno haters... but a great little movie got the dap it deserves.

comment #8

JD says ...

I guarantee TWBB had a ninth nomination locked-up and then the Academy went and unleashed this nonsense in the 11th hour:

http://www.variety.com/blog/890000489/post/370020437.html

comment #9

Ishmael says ...

That it didn't get a director nomination says something about the votes of the subset of the members who choose the nominees in that category. That's all.

It tells us absolutely nothing about why the overall membership voted for it in the best picture category. Their reasons could be hard, flaccid or anywhere in between.

comment #10

JD says ...

The nominations I'm happiest about -- in that they didn't seem guaranteed -- are best actress for Laura Linney (who I think deserves it even more than her very stiff competitition; it really is a performance/character for the ages) and The Savages for best original screenplay. What a sadly underestimated movie. I'm glad to see the Oscars show it some love. But what the hell happened to Before the Devil Knows You're Dead and Zodiac?

comment #11

MilkMan says ...

Jason Reitman gets a Best Director nod, but the man he gloms off of, Wes Anderson, doesn't? No J. Greenwood for TWBB? Tony Gilroy? Tommy Lee for the wrong movie? The Oscars suck.

comment #12

JD says ...

I think TWBB is an even more sure winner than No Country, MatthewM. Whereas No Country is largely an action-driven crime film (ie. the kind of movie that rarely wins best picture and The Departed just filled one of these rare slots last year), There Will Be Blood is an out-and-out drama that instantly asserts its place as one of the major films of all time. Just look at the imdb top 250. It's already #25 and it's maintaing an average score of 9.0. That's pretty impressive show of broad and, more importantly, STRONG support. I think the only real competition is Juno (ie. if the Academy's feeling light and frivilous, but that movie skews so young it's bound to alienate the grizzled vets).

comment #13

alan says ...

Jeff, Michael Clayton received 7 nominations, not 6 (you forgot Tilda Swinton). And Ratatouille got 5, not 4.

Having said that, I'm officially done with Hollywood Elsewhere until you do something about those ridiculous ads that are locking up browsers/computers for several minutes on end. This is happening to many visitors here. I'll check back maybe in a week or two to see if they're gone.

comment #14

Gaydos says ...

Surf's Up! Justice! Peace!

comment #15

rocco says ...

A few weeks ago I got a trojan from this site despite running robust virus, spyware, malware, and firewall software...I also refreshed the screen to stumble into the backend of HE with the ability to manipulate ads, their placement, etc...time to HIRE A SECURITY consultant Jeff!!

Do you have any animal crackers??

comment #16

K. Bowen says ...

The Atonement nomination I dislike intensely is the score. Not because it's a bad score musically. Because in the final scene, it's used to smother any notion of the needed irony. Terrible.

comment #17

Chicago48 says ...

Happy to see Viggo get recognized!

comment #18

christian says ...

but that movie skews so young it's bound to alienate the grizzled vets).

The Reel Geezers loved it.

comment #19

christian says ...

And go Hal Holbrook!

comment #20

cinefan says ...

I'm delighted that Linney got a nod for actress (kind of seems bizarre that she wasn't nominated, though, at the other major awards) and I am rooting for her to win just because of her excellent body of work aside from what she did in the Savages. To me, it seems very ridiculous that neither Laura Linney nor Kate Winslet (probably the two actresses I most look forward to seeing on screen when a new film of theirs comes out) haven't won an Oscar yet.

comment #21

cinefan says ...

Last line should read: it seems very ridiculous that neither Laura Linney nor Kate have won an Oscar yet.

comment #22

DavidF says ...

Yay, Viggo!

The no-love for Fincher is only a mild surprise. It would have been nice to see that film get SOME respect. Sean Penn getting bumped also a minor surprise (though I have yet to see Into the Wild and have to see Michael Clayton too).

I must say, I wasn't into Ruby Dee in American Gangster. I thought she was really playing the Old Black Lady shtick and laying it on really thick until that one scene where she dresses Denzel down.

The shot where she realizes the big house is hers looks like something out of a State Lottery commercial and it makes me cringe. One great scene, hell yeah, but an Oscar nom?

comment #23

PerfectTommy says ...

Good for Casey Afflick for his nom. And JD, TWBB as a sure thing for BP is crazy talk.

comment #24

Craig Kennedy says ...

Fasten your seatbelt for the real Juno backlash to begin, Joe. All I'm sayin'.

comment #25

le corbeau says ...

There Will Be Blood is an out-and-out drama that instantly asserts its place as one of the major films of all time. Just look at the imdb top 250. It's already #25 and it's maintaing an average score of 9.0.

Which means a small contingent of nerds loves it fervently. I knew that already from Hollywood Elsewhere. In any case, only 7 of those 25 films won Best Picture, I'd bet on TWBB being in Psycho and Dr. Strangelove's company over Godfather II's and Cuckoo's Nest's.

comment #26

le corbeau says ...

Here's an interesting game-- how far do you have to go down the IMDB top 250 list to find something you haven't seen?

#39.

comment #27

dcc77 says ...

I agree with MatthewM: This IS the Coens year and they are certainly due (maybe not as due as Scorsese, but due nonetheless).

TWBB is an excellent film and one that may become a classic in time. But so is NCFOM, plus it's filled with a number of great performances and a more complex, writerly narrative. To my mind, it's the more complete Hollywood film (Coen style, to be sure), where TWBB is a semi-structural (sort of three act) tour-de-force by Daniel Day-Lewis.

NCFOM -- Picture, Director(s), Supporting Actor, and probably Adapted Screenplay as well

TWBB -- Best Actor

comment #28

frankbooth says ...

mgmax,

#2.

That's right. Never seen it.

comment #29

frankbooth says ...

Holy cannoli, I just looked at #39. That's another one I avoided for years -- until giving in last night. Freaky, man.

I still don't get the love. Sleazy but sentimental, and frequently just plain silly. What do people see in Besson's overdone, TV-commercial style?

You're not missing anything.

comment #30

truefaith says ...

There's no way NCFOM will win the Oscar for BP. It's too artsy-fartsy for the Academy--just as BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN was. Just as THE THIN RED LINE was. Just as PULP FICTION was. I still think NCFOM and TWBB will split votes but if they don't, I agree with MilkMan that TWBB will prevail. Otherwise I wouldn't be surprise that MICHAEL CLAYTON will win. I'm also glad that Laura Linney got a nod. It's too bad she won't win for the same reason that NCFOM won't win--too artsy fartsy. The Academy have come a long way since the 70s but they still have a long way to go.

comment #31

MPNeeb says ...

"Here's an interesting game-- how far do you have to go down the IMDB top 250 list to find something you haven't seen?"

#90. Elephant Man

comment #32

Mario Borroto says ...

Dcc77, while I agree with you that in time they will both be classics, I disagree that NCFOM is somehow more complete. Just because Day-Lewis' takes center stage in TWBB does not mean that its other elements are weaker than NCFOM. One performance taking center stage is normal for a character study. However, the writing is just as amazing and probably more memorable. Only time will tell whether the latter is true, but the former is already obvious.

comment #33

lipranzer says ...

First of all, as far as the IMdB Top 250 list goes, I make it all the way to #112.

Second of all, I don't know if Jeff will rage against Cate Blanchett's nomination for the ELIZABETH sequel, but I will. Granted, it's not really her fault unless she forced script changes, but this is a subpar performance in a truly awful movie, the worst sequel I saw last year (and that's saying a LOT). Angelina Jolie got robbed, ROBBED I tell you! For that matter, so was Sidney Lumet.

I am very happy all my choices for best performances - Tommy Lee Jones, Laura Linney, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Tilda Swinton - were nominated, and at least ONCE got a Best Song nomination. I might have kicked in my TV if it didn't.

comment #34

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