There are many industry folk who feel that John Carney‘s Once was easily one of the best films of 2007, but a greater number don’t feel this way because they haven’t been persuaded that they’ll reap any worthwhile political I.O.U.’s by voting for it. Nominated films are usually made by or acted in by high-powered artists who are “in the game” and might pass along reciprocal favors down the road, or who simply possess an aura of well-established power that Academy members feel comfortable bowing down in front of.

Marketa Irglkova, Glen Hansard at Park City’s Prospector theatre following ’07 Sundance Film Festival showing of Once

Anyway, it’s probably a settled issue that Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova‘s “Falling Slowly”, which was nominated today for a Grammy (i.e., Best Song written for a motion picture, TV or other visual media), will be nominated for a Best Song Oscar also. Their main competitor will probably be Eddie Vedder‘s “Guaranteed” (from Into The Wild), which was also Grammy-nommed.

Since Once‘s rep is that of a sweet little film that everyone loved (as opposed to Wild‘s rep of being a powerfully directed film about a brave but asshole-ish nature boy who died because he couldn’t be bothered to own a detailed map of the area he was camping in), it will probably win. I didn’t mean to take a swat at Into The Wild. It’s very strong and commendable with award-level performances, and Sean Penn‘s best directed film ever. But Chris McCandless did die in part because he couldn’t get back to civilization to get treatment for root poisoning, and if he’d had a decent map he could have found his way — but he didn’t.