comment #1

jjgittes says ...

Roll right through to the Oscars boys.....they should win every damn one.

comment #2

p.Vice says ...

Obviously they stand no chance at the Oscars when facing a true giant of cinema like Jason Reitman.

comment #3

erniesouchak says ...

Also last night, Robert Elswit won the ASC Award for "There Will Be Blood."

comment #4

corey3rd says ...

This is just wrong. The Coen Brothers should have to win by twice the votes since they're a double team in what's considered a singles sport.

comment #5

EDouglas says ...

this is getting to be like last year's Best Actress race which was also between two performances from Scott Rudin movies, even though Helen Mirren was so far ahead at this point that Judi Dench's nomination seemed more to fill in the other slots. This year, it's really between No Country and There Will be Blood which will probably close in all the major races (BP, Directing and Writing) and might split up the awards, although Rudin probably should have his tux and speech ready to go because one of the two movies will win BP for sure and he produced both of them.

I personally hope Roger Deakins gets the Oscar for No Country over Elswit,because it would be a huge shame for Deakins not to get honored for two of the best looking movies of the year. I worry Elswit might get the Oscar if Deakins' two nominations cancel each other out.

comment #6

ASD says ...

My understanding is Rudin can only take the stage if No Country wins as he's listed as one of the three producers (along with Joel and Ethan) whereas with Blood he is an executive producer. This is a similar situation I believe that Harvey Weinstein was in in 2002 when he was a listed producer on Gangs of NY in addition to being an executive on The Hours, Chicago, and Two Towers.

comment #7

SHR says ...

I wonder if there is enough anti Rudin loathing in Hollywood to keep NCFOM from winning an Oscar for best pic?

comment #8

Balthazar says ...

Fine, Coens can have that. Well-deserved. ... But PTA deserves and I think will win Adapted Screenplay. That will be his honor this time around.

comment #9

Mikey Filmmaker says ...

Yeah, Rudin only takes the stage if No Country wins. P.T. Anderson, JoAnne Sellar, and Daniel Lupi are the producers on Blood. Rudin was exec producer.

comment #10

jjgittes says ...

Screenplay is the award TWBB deserves the least I think. NCFOM was a brilliant adaptation - it stays mostly with the novel, but with slight tweaks, slight re-arranging and also make the novel cinematic.

It's a brilliant "opening up" of the book. TWBB's flaws (and it's a great film with flaws) are mostly with the screenplay, where the themes start to seem imposed on the material rather than emerging naturally from them.

I'd be shocked if NCFOM lost screenplay, merely surprised if it lost Picture or Director.

comment #11

EOTW says ...

EDouglas, I got a feeling that's gonna happen. I think that RD deserves the win for TAOJJBTCRF much more than for NCFOM but I think he cancels himself out and Elswitt sneaks in, but it is deserved too ads TWBB is an amazingly shot film along with all the other things that make it great.

i thought they went to that one producer gets the Oscar crap after SKAESPEARE IN LOVE won and like eight got statues and also didn't ROTK have 4 or 5 producers on the stage?

comment #12

EOTW says ...

Man, I need to learn how to edit (type) before posting.

comment #13

Balthazar says ...

I just think NCFOM and Blood are too close and too equally brilliant for NCFOM to sweep all the majors. But I could be dead wrong. ... Maybe Blood with go 1-for-8, with only DDL winning, which would be a shame.

comment #14

corey3rd says ...

The screenplay award has become the "runner up" prize in such races. In fact there might be two runner up prizes with whichever doesn't take adapted and Michael Clayton snagging Best original over Juno - since Diablo Cody is the new Rachael Ray.

comment #15

Balthazar says ...

Exactly, Corey. There's been a lot of spreading the love at the Oscars this decade, it seems. Many votes genuinely like PTA, I think, just as much as the Coens, and would to see him get something for this achievement.

comment #16

christian says ...

"I worry Elswit might get the Oscar if Deakins' two nominations cancel each other out."

Holy False Projection Batman, this split vote fear is continued nonsense!

Oh no, Soderbergh can't win -- split vote!
Oh no, Hoffman can't get nominated - split vote!

Look at the track record. Deakins wins.

comment #17

Doug says ...

Finally saw "No Country..." My reaction was that the third act didn't work, and Woody Harrelson's character seemed superfluous. And man, was the audience I saw it with angry at the ending.
Even though there's a sense that it's the frontrunner, I think "No Country..." fans may have trouble choosing between it and "There Will Be Blood," allowing "Michael Clayton," "Juno" or "Atonement" to sneak in and grab Best Picture as "Crash" did a couple of years ago.

comment #18

actionman says ...

I want Deakins to win...for Jesse James. It's a suffocatingly beautiful film. If he wins for No Country...I'll be fine with that too. The camerawork was so precise in that film it was borderline obsessive. All the same, if Elswit were to win, I'd be extremely pleased as well. TWBB is a gorgeous film, and Elswit has done tremendous work for years now. And Michael Clayton was a film of quiet, understated beauty; it had a graceful yet urgent visual style that I found to be very involving. Bottotm line...a great year for filmmaking in general, with some amazing achievements in cinematography.

comment #19

Craig Kennedy says ...

I don't buy split votes in the non-acting categories. They're voting for the work, not the person. With actors, you can see they might be voting for the person over the performance, but with Deakins, he's just another competitor to himself.

comment #20

Dan Revill says ...

Pretty good acceptance speech.
Somewhat related, I finally caught up with The Diving Bell & the Butterfly. Very beautiful film. I'm somewhat surprised that I didn't see it earlier than today, but whatever. Glad I did.