OakMonster's Den

It’s showtime

Yes, dahlings. I survived the 2nd annual movie marathon! Actually what the doctor’s order although all that sittin’ seems to have pinch a nerve in my left shoulder.

Irena and Danny came with me. I also made acquaintance with my neighbor Amanda who also did this last year. The guys in front of me sat next to me last year as well. It’s becoming a tradition for most people. Haha!

My favorite of the five is There Will Be Blood, amazingly. Daniel Day Lewis blew me the hell away. I mean, as much as I was anticipating the milkshake line, when time comes, I was actually too traumatized to laugh. No Country For Old Men was superb. I was frightened of Anton the entire movie. I mean, he’s on screen and I’m already losing my shit and he doesn’t even have to do ANYTHING. The thing is, I wasn’t rooting for either one of them, really. Not the way my emotions were invested in Daniel Plainview. I guess that’s the difference.

Juno was very cute, very touching. I didn’t think it was Oscar caliber though. Atonement was amazing, a great interpretation of the book. Michael Clayton was thoroughly entertaining but I didn’t really see what the big deal about it is. I didn’t think this was Clooney’s best performance. Tom Wilkinson always does well, and this seems normal for him though.

But anyways. Here are my predictions. As always, I haven’t seen any of the foreign films, documentaries, or the shorts so those are completely wild guesses. Let’s see how I do this year.

BEST PICTURE
[ ] Atonement
[ ] Juno
[ ] Michael Clayton
[X] No Country for Old Men
[ ] There Will Be Blood – I think this one should win, but I’m no Academy member.

DIRECTOR
[ ] Paul Thomas Anderson, There Will Be Blood
[X] Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, No Country for Old Men
[ ] Tony Gilroy, Michael Clayton
[ ] Jason Reitman, Juno
[ ] Julian Schnabel, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
[ ] Juno
[ ] Lars and the Real Girl
[ ] Michael Clayton
[ ] Ratatouille
[X] The Savages

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
[ ] Atonement
[ ] Away from Her
[ ] The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
[X] No Country for Old Men
[ ] There Will Be Blood

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
[ ] George Clooney, Michael Clayton
[XXXX] Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood
[ ] Johnny Depp, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
[ ] Tommy Lee Jones, In the Valley of Elah
[ ] Viggo Mortensen, Eastern Promises

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
[ ] Cate Blanchett, Elizabeth: The Golden Age
[X] Julie Christie, Away from Her
[ ] Marion Cotillard, La Vie en Rose
[ ] Laura Linney, The Savages
[ ] Ellen Page, Juno

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
[ ] Casey Affleck, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
[XXXX] Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men
[ ] Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Charlie Wilson’s War
[ ] Hal Holbrook, Into the Wild
[ ] Tom Wilkinson, Michael Clayton

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
[ ] Cate Blanchett, I’m Not There
[ ] Ruby Dee, American Gangster
[ ] Saoirse Ronan, Atonement
[X] Amy Ryan, Gone Baby Gone
[ ] Tilda Swinton, Michael Clayton

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
[ ] 12 (Russia)
[ ] Beaufort (Israel)
[X] Counterfeiters (Austria)
[ ] Katyn (Poland)
[ ] Mongol (Kazakhstan)

ANIMATED FEATURE
[ ] Persepolis
[X] Ratatouille
[ ] Surf’s Up

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
[X] No End in Sight
[ ] Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience
[ ] Sicko
[ ] Taxi to the Dark Side
[ ] War/Dance

SHORT FILM – ANIMATED
[X] I Met the Walrus
[ ] Madame Tutli-Putli
[ ] My Love (Moya Lyubov)
[ ] Peter & the Wolf

SHORT FILM – LIVE ACTION
[ ] At Night
[X] Il Supplente (The Substitute)
[ ] Le Mozart des Pickpockets (The Mozart of Pickpockets)
[ ] Tanghi Argentini
[ ] The Tonto Woman

DOCUMENTARY SHORT
[ ] Freeheld
[X] La Corona (The Crown)
[ ] Salim Baba
[ ] Sari’s Mother

ORIGINAL SCORE
[X] Atonement
[ ] The Kite Runner
[ ] Michael Clayton
[ ] Ratatouille
[ ] 3:10 to Yuma

ORIGINAL SONG
[X] “Falling Slowly” – Once
[ ] “Happy Working Song” – Enchanted
[ ] “Raise It Up” – August Rush
[ ] “So Close” – Enchanted
[ ] “That’s How You Know” – Enchanted

ART DIRECTION
[ ] American Gangster
[ ] Atonement
[ ] The Golden Compass
[X] Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
[ ] There Will Be Blood

CINEMATOGRAPHY
[ ] The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
[ ] Atonement
[ ] The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
[ ] No Country for Old Men
[X] There Will Be Blood

COSTUME DESIGN
[ ] Across the Universe
[X] Atonement
[ ] Elizabeth: The Golden Age
[ ] La Vie en Rose
[ ] Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

MAKEUP
[ ] La Vie en Rose
[ ] Norbit
[X] Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End

SOUND MIXING
[ ] The Bourne Ultimatum
[ ] No Country for Old Men
[ ] Ratatouille
[X] 3:10 to Yuma
[ ] Transformers

SOUND EDITING
[ ] The Bourne Ultimatum
[ ] No Country for Old Men
[ ] Ratatouille
[ ] There Will Be Blood
[X] Transformers

VISUAL EFFECTS
[ ] The Golden Compass
[ ] Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End
[X] Transformers

FILM EDITING
[X] The Bourne Ultimatum
[ ] The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
[ ] Into the Wild
[ ] No Country for Old Men
[ ] There Will Be Blood