OSCAR POST MORTEM
There were few surprises last night - and most of them were pleasant. A recap of the nominees and my predictions can be found here:
The films I thought would win appear in bold. Those I thought should win are italicized. The actual winners appear in red. One or two of my predictions changed between when I posted here and when I filled out my "official" ballot and there was an italics error in one of my "Should Win" selections (heh, I did not think Jason Reitman deserved Best Director) - and those changes are reflected here.
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
Freeheld No surprise
La Corona (The Crown)
Salim Baba
Sari's Mother
BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM
I Met the Walrus
Madame Tutli-Putli
Même les pigeons vont au paradis (Even Pigeons Go To Heaven)
Moya Lyubov (My Love)
Peter and the Wolf Big surprise. Of the stop-action entries, I thought this was the weakest. I guess Hollywood likes Prokofiev.
BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
At Night
Il Supplente (The Substitute)
Le Mozart des pickpockets (The Mozart Of Pickpockets) Pleasant surprise.
Tanghi Argentini
The Tonto Woman
ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND EDITING
The Bourne Ultimatum This was one that I changed since my original post - correctly, as it turned out.
No Country for Old Men
Ratatouille
There Will Be Blood
Transformers
ACHIEVEMENT IN VISUAL EFFECTS
The Golden Compass Big surprise. I still don't get it. Why give the award to the film that had the least convincing and least impressive effects?
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
Transformers
ACHIEVEMENT IN MAKEUP
La Môme (La Vie en Rose) No surprise.
Norbit
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC WRITTEN FOR MOTION PICTURES (ORIGINAL SONG)
"Falling Slowly" - Once Aaaaaggghhh! Make it go away!! Big surprise. In a year of crappy nominees, who thought they'd go for the crappiest?
"Happy Working Song" - Enchanted
"Raise It Up" - August Rush
"So Close" - Enchanted
"That's How You Know" - Enchanted
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM OF THE YEAR
Beaufort
The Counterfeiters No surprise.
Katyń
Mongol
12
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM OF THE YEAR
Persepolis
Ratatouille No surprise.
Surf's Up
ACHIEVEMENT IN FILM EDITING
The Bourne Ultimatum No real surprise (this was another category for which I, again correctly, had second thoughts before casting my ballot).
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Into the Wild
No Country for Old Men
There Will Be Blood
ACHIEVEMENT IN ART DIRECTION
American Gangster
Atonement
The Golden Compass
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street Yay! Very pleasant surprise.
There Will Be Blood
ACHIEVEMENT IN COSTUME DESIGN
Across the Universe
Atonement
Elizabeth: The Golden Age Mild surprise.
La Môme (La Vie en Rose)
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND MIXING
The Bourne Ultimatum No real surprise, but I didn't think they'd go there.
No Country for Old Men
Ratatouille
3:10 to Yuma
Transformers
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
No End In Sight
Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience
Sicko
Taxi to the Dark Side A surprise, but I think the Academy still stuck with my rationale: political, but not Michael Moore.
War/Dance
ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC WRITTEN FOR MOTION PICTURES (ORIGINAL SCORE)
Atonement No surprise.
The Kite Runner
Michael Clayton
Ratatouille
3:10 to Yuma
ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Atonement
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
No Country for Old Men
There Will Be Blood No surprise.
PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Casey Affleck - The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Javier Bardem - No Country for Old Men Extreme disappointment, but no surprise.
Philip Seymour Hoffman - Charlie Wilson's War
Hal Holbrook - Into the Wild
Tom Wilkinson - Michael Clayton
PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Cate Blanchett - I'm Not There
Ruby Dee - American Gangster
Saoirse Ronan - Atonement
Amy Ryan - Gone Baby Gone
Tilda Swinton - Michael Clayton No surprise.
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Atonement
Away from Her
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
No Country For Old Men No surprise.
There Will Be Blood
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Juno No surprise, thankfully.
Lars and The Real Girl
Michael Clayton
Ratatouille
The Savages
PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Cate Blanchett - Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Julie Christie - Away from Her
Marion Cotillard - La Môme (La Vie en Rose) Pleasant surprise - though it should still have gone to Page.
Laura Linney - The Savages
Ellen Page - Juno
PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
George Clooney - Michael Clayton
Daniel Day-Lewis - There Will Be Blood Major disappointment, no surprise.
Johnny Depp - Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Tommy Lee Jones - In The Valley of Elah
Viggo Mortensen - Eastern Promises
ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTING
Julian Schnabel - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Jason Reitman - Juno
Tony Gilroy - Michael Clayton
Joel and Ethan Coen - No Country for Old Men No surprise.
Paul Thomas Anderson - There Will Be Blood
BEST MOTION PICTURE OF THE YEAR
Atonement
Juno
Michael Clayton
No Country for Old Men Sadly, no surprise. Mediocrity triumphs yet again.
There Will Be Blood
Meh - my predictions were correct in 15 out of 23 categories, which, for me, is pretty pathetic. One the other hand, anyone who can get over half of the categories correct is doing pretty well in this annual guess-fest (and those with whom I was competing all did - we had a 15, two 14s, a 13, and two 12s, with point scores of 55, 51, 46, 45, 40, and 38).
The films I thought would win appear in bold. Those I thought should win are italicized. The actual winners appear in red. One or two of my predictions changed between when I posted here and when I filled out my "official" ballot and there was an italics error in one of my "Should Win" selections (heh, I did not think Jason Reitman deserved Best Director) - and those changes are reflected here.
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
Freeheld No surprise
La Corona (The Crown)
Salim Baba
Sari's Mother
BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM
I Met the Walrus
Madame Tutli-Putli
Même les pigeons vont au paradis (Even Pigeons Go To Heaven)
Moya Lyubov (My Love)
Peter and the Wolf Big surprise. Of the stop-action entries, I thought this was the weakest. I guess Hollywood likes Prokofiev.
BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
At Night
Il Supplente (The Substitute)
Le Mozart des pickpockets (The Mozart Of Pickpockets) Pleasant surprise.
Tanghi Argentini
The Tonto Woman
ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND EDITING
The Bourne Ultimatum This was one that I changed since my original post - correctly, as it turned out.
No Country for Old Men
Ratatouille
There Will Be Blood
Transformers
ACHIEVEMENT IN VISUAL EFFECTS
The Golden Compass Big surprise. I still don't get it. Why give the award to the film that had the least convincing and least impressive effects?
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
Transformers
ACHIEVEMENT IN MAKEUP
La Môme (La Vie en Rose) No surprise.
Norbit
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC WRITTEN FOR MOTION PICTURES (ORIGINAL SONG)
"Falling Slowly" - Once Aaaaaggghhh! Make it go away!! Big surprise. In a year of crappy nominees, who thought they'd go for the crappiest?
"Happy Working Song" - Enchanted
"Raise It Up" - August Rush
"So Close" - Enchanted
"That's How You Know" - Enchanted
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM OF THE YEAR
Beaufort
The Counterfeiters No surprise.
Katyń
Mongol
12
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM OF THE YEAR
Persepolis
Ratatouille No surprise.
Surf's Up
ACHIEVEMENT IN FILM EDITING
The Bourne Ultimatum No real surprise (this was another category for which I, again correctly, had second thoughts before casting my ballot).
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Into the Wild
No Country for Old Men
There Will Be Blood
ACHIEVEMENT IN ART DIRECTION
American Gangster
Atonement
The Golden Compass
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street Yay! Very pleasant surprise.
There Will Be Blood
ACHIEVEMENT IN COSTUME DESIGN
Across the Universe
Atonement
Elizabeth: The Golden Age Mild surprise.
La Môme (La Vie en Rose)
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND MIXING
The Bourne Ultimatum No real surprise, but I didn't think they'd go there.
No Country for Old Men
Ratatouille
3:10 to Yuma
Transformers
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
No End In Sight
Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience
Sicko
Taxi to the Dark Side A surprise, but I think the Academy still stuck with my rationale: political, but not Michael Moore.
War/Dance
ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC WRITTEN FOR MOTION PICTURES (ORIGINAL SCORE)
Atonement No surprise.
The Kite Runner
Michael Clayton
Ratatouille
3:10 to Yuma
ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Atonement
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
No Country for Old Men
There Will Be Blood No surprise.
PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Casey Affleck - The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Javier Bardem - No Country for Old Men Extreme disappointment, but no surprise.
Philip Seymour Hoffman - Charlie Wilson's War
Hal Holbrook - Into the Wild
Tom Wilkinson - Michael Clayton
PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Cate Blanchett - I'm Not There
Ruby Dee - American Gangster
Saoirse Ronan - Atonement
Amy Ryan - Gone Baby Gone
Tilda Swinton - Michael Clayton No surprise.
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Atonement
Away from Her
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
No Country For Old Men No surprise.
There Will Be Blood
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Juno No surprise, thankfully.
Lars and The Real Girl
Michael Clayton
Ratatouille
The Savages
PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Cate Blanchett - Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Julie Christie - Away from Her
Marion Cotillard - La Môme (La Vie en Rose) Pleasant surprise - though it should still have gone to Page.
Laura Linney - The Savages
Ellen Page - Juno
PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
George Clooney - Michael Clayton
Daniel Day-Lewis - There Will Be Blood Major disappointment, no surprise.
Johnny Depp - Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Tommy Lee Jones - In The Valley of Elah
Viggo Mortensen - Eastern Promises
ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTING
Julian Schnabel - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Jason Reitman - Juno
Tony Gilroy - Michael Clayton
Joel and Ethan Coen - No Country for Old Men No surprise.
Paul Thomas Anderson - There Will Be Blood
BEST MOTION PICTURE OF THE YEAR
Atonement
Juno
Michael Clayton
No Country for Old Men Sadly, no surprise. Mediocrity triumphs yet again.
There Will Be Blood
Meh - my predictions were correct in 15 out of 23 categories, which, for me, is pretty pathetic. One the other hand, anyone who can get over half of the categories correct is doing pretty well in this annual guess-fest (and those with whom I was competing all did - we had a 15, two 14s, a 13, and two 12s, with point scores of 55, 51, 46, 45, 40, and 38).