Here we are at Oscar time again, ladies and gents. The list of nominations came out this morning and as usual, there are some surprises:
Best Picture
Atonement
Juno
Michael Clayton
No Country for Old Men
There Will Be Blood
Best Director
Julian Schnabel, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Jason Reitman, Juno
Tony Gilroy, Michael Clayton
Ethan and Joel Coen, No Country for Old Men
Paul Thomas Anderson, There Will Be Blood
Best Actor
George Clooney, Michael Clayton
Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood
Johnny Depp, Sweeney Todd
Tommy Lee Jones, In the Valley of Elah
Viggo Mortensen, Eastern Promises
Best Actress
Cate Blanchett, 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
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
Cate Blanchett did rather well for herself, though many already expected her to do so. I am not sure, but this may be the first time a woman has been nominated twice for playing the same character. I'll have to check (I think Al Pacino has already done this with Michael Corleone.) And the nomination for Tommy Lee Jones was a bit of a shocker. I expected to perhaps see him in the Supporting catagory for No Country For Old Men. The biggest shocker (though there was some idea it might happen) was the seeming snub of Into the Wild. While I am no fan of Sean Penn's politics, he's a damn fine director and I understood the film to be quite good. Not sure what the issue was, but Sean Penn is not having a good year what with the divorce and now this. Maybe his peers just don't like him that much. Hmmm. I'll be back when I have some more time to do the old "which nomination is this for each actor" thing and other observations. And we may do a bit of Oscarblogging between now and the awards on February 24th. Maybe.
UPDATE - Reading some other posts on the Oscars today and I see that I was correct above - Cate Blanchett is the 5th person (and 1st female) to be nominated for playing the same role in two different films. From David Carr:
No need to worry. Blanchett received two nominations today, including supporting actress for her turn as a Dylan doppelganger for the Weinstein Company-backed “I’m Not There.” Ms. Blanchett, something of an Academy favorite, is in position to make a little history.
According to the Academy fact sheet, she received her first Academy Award nomination in 1998 for her leading role as Queen Elizabeth I in Elizabeth, and is the fifth performer (and first woman) nominated for playing the same role in two different films, following Bing Crosby as Father O’Malley in “Going My Way” (1944) and “The Bells of St. Mary’s” (1945); Paul Newman as Fast Eddie Felson in “The Hustler” (1961) and “The Color of Money” (1986); Peter O’Toole as Henry II in “Becket” (1964) and “The Lion in Winter” (1968); and Al Pacino as Michael Corleone in “The Godfather” (1972) and “The Godfather Part II” (1974). Of these, only Bing Crosby and Paul Newman won Oscars (in 1944 and 1986, respectively).
Can't believe I forgot about Paul Newman in The Hustler and The Color of Money. After all, that's Paul's only Oscar. Anyway, nice work Cate!
UPDATE 2 - And speaking up Cate, she's the one to break that magical 5th nomination barrier this year, getting numbers 4 and 5 in one go. In fact, she's racked up five nominations just since 1998. Pretty impressive. Below her are two four time nominees - Julie Christie and Daniel Day-Lewis (who has one previous win for My Left Foot.) Then we have a few three time nominees - Laura Linney, Johnny Depp and Tommy Lee Jones receiving his first nomination since his win in 1993 and his first ever Best Actor nomination. High time, if you ask me. Our two time nominees are George Clooney (who also has a previous screenplay and directing nomination under his belt), Javier Bardem, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Tom Wilkinson. And the first time folks...Viggo Mortensen, Marion Cotillard, Ellen Page, Saoirse Ronan, Amy Ryan, Tilda Swinton and two that surprised me - Hal Holbrook and Ruby Dee. With this, they could possibly gain a win. I'm not going to try and guess just yet. For that, we'll have to wait. That is all.
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