80th Academy Awards
Announced Categories

Performance by an actor in a leading role
George Clooney in "Michael Clayton" (Warner Bros.)
Daniel Day-Lewis in "There Will Be Blood" (Paramount Vantage and Miramax)
Johnny Depp in "Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" (DreamWorks and Warner Bros., Distributed by DreamWorks/Paramount)
Tommy Lee Jones in "In the Valley of Elah" (Warner Independent)
Viggo Mortensen in "Eastern Promises" (Focus Features)

Performance by an actor in a supporting role
Casey Affleck in "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" (Warner Bros.)
Javier Bardem in "No Country for Old Men" (Miramax and Paramount Vantage)
Philip Seymour Hoffman in "Charlie Wilson's War" (Universal)
Hal Holbrook in "Into the Wild" (Paramount Vantage and River Road Entertainment)
Tom Wilkinson in "Michael Clayton" (Warner Bros.)

Performance by an actress in a leading role
Cate Blanchett in "Elizabeth: The Golden Age" (Universal)
Julie Christie in "Away from Her" (Lionsgate)
Marion Cotillard in "La Vie en Rose" (Picturehouse)
Laura Linney in "The Savages" (Fox Searchlight)
Ellen Page in "Juno" (Fox Searchlight)

Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Cate Blanchett in "I'm Not There" (The Weinstein Company)
Ruby Dee in "American Gangster" (Universal)
Saoirse Ronan in "Atonement" (Focus Features)
Amy Ryan in "Gone Baby Gone" (Miramax)
Tilda Swinton in "Michael Clayton" (Warner Bros.)

Best animated feature film of the year
"Persepolis" (Sony Pictures Classics): Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud
"Ratatouille" (Walt Disney): Brad Bird
"Surf's Up" (Sony Pictures Releasing): Ash Brannon and Chris Buck

Achievement in art direction
"American Gangster" (Universal): Art Direction: Arthur Max; Set Decoration: Beth A. Rubino
"Atonement" (Focus Features): Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
"The Golden Compass" (New Line in association with Ingenious Film Partners): Art Direction: Dennis Gassner; Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock
"Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" (DreamWorks and Warner Bros., Distributed by DreamWorks/Paramount): Art Direction: Dante Ferretti; Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo
"There Will Be Blood" (Paramount Vantage and Miramax): Art Direction: Jack Fisk; Set Decoration: Jim Erickson

Achievement in cinematography
"The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" (Warner Bros.): Roger Deakins
"Atonement" (Focus Features): Seamus McGarvey
"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" (Miramax/Pathé Renn): Janusz Kaminski
"No Country for Old Men" (Miramax and Paramount Vantage): Roger Deakins
"There Will Be Blood" (Paramount Vantage and Miramax): Robert Elswit

Achievement in costume design
"Across the Universe" (Sony Pictures Releasing) Albert Wolsky
"Atonement" (Focus Features) Jacqueline Durran
"Elizabeth: The Golden Age" (Universal) Alexandra Byrne
"La Vie en Rose" (Picturehouse) Marit Allen
"Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" (DreamWorks and Warner Bros., Distributed by DreamWorks/Paramount) Colleen Atwood

Achievement in directing
"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" (Miramax/Pathé Renn), Julian Schnabel
"Juno" (Fox Searchlight), Jason Reitman
"Michael Clayton" (Warner Bros.), Tony Gilroy
"No Country for Old Men" (Miramax and Paramount Vantage), Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
"There Will Be Blood" (Paramount Vantage and Miramax), Paul Thomas Anderson

Best documentary feature
"No End in Sight" (Magnolia Pictures) A Representational Pictures Production: Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs
"Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience" (The Documentary Group) A Documentary Group Production: Richard E. Robbins
"Sicko" (Lionsgate and The Weinstein Company) A Dog Eat Dog Films Production: Michael Moore and Meghan O'Hara
"Taxi to the Dark Side" (THINKFilm) An X-Ray Production: Alex Gibney and Eva Orner
"War/Dance" (THINKFilm) A Shine Global and Fine Films Production: Andrea Nix Fine and Sean Fine

Best documentary short subject
"Freeheld" A Lieutenant Films Production: Cynthia Wade and Vanessa Roth
"La Corona (The Crown)" A Runaway Films and Vega Films Production: Amanda Micheli and Isabel Vega
"Salim Baba" A Ropa Vieja Films and Paradox Smoke Production: Tim Sternberg and Francisco Bello
"Sari's Mother" (Cinema Guild) A Daylight Factory Production: James Longley

Achievement in film editing
"The Bourne Ultimatum" (Universal): Christopher Rouse
"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" (Miramax/Pathé Renn): Juliette Welfling
"Into the Wild" (Paramount Vantage and River Road Entertainment): Jay Cassidy
"No Country for Old Men" (Miramax and Paramount Vantage) Roderick Jaynes
"There Will Be Blood" (Paramount Vantage and Miramax): Dylan Tichenor

Best foreign language film of the year
"Beaufort" Israel
"The Counterfeiters" Austria
"Katyn" Poland
"Mongol" Kazakhstan
"12" Russia

Achievement in makeup
"La Vie en Rose" (Picturehouse) Didier Lavergne and Jan Archibald
"Norbit" (DreamWorks, Distributed by Paramount): Rick Baker and Kazuhiro Tsuji
"Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" (Walt Disney): Ve Neill and Martin Samuel

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)
"Atonement" (Focus Features) Dario Marianelli
"The Kite Runner" (DreamWorks, Sidney Kimmel Entertainment and Participant Productions, Distributed by Paramount Classics): Alberto Iglesias
"Michael Clayton" (Warner Bros.) James Newton Howard
"Ratatouille" (Walt Disney) Michael Giacchino
"3:10 to Yuma" (Lionsgate) Marco Beltrami

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
"Falling Slowly" from "Once" (Fox Searchlight) Music and Lyric by Glen Hansard and: Marketa Irglova
"Happy Working Song" from "Enchanted" (Walt Disney): Music by Alan Menken; Lyric by Stephen Schwartz
"Raise It Up" from "August Rush" (Warner Bros.): Nominees to be determined
"So Close" from "Enchanted" (Walt Disney): Music by Alan Menken; Lyric by Stephen Schwartz
"That's How You Know" from "Enchanted" (Walt Disney): Music by Alan Menken; Lyric by Stephen Schwartz

Best motion picture of the year
"Atonement" (Focus Features) A Working Title Production: Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner and Paul Webster, Producers
"Juno" (Fox Searchlight) A Dancing Elk Pictures, LLC Production: Lianne Halfon, Mason Novick and Russell Smith, Producers
"Michael Clayton" (Warner Bros.) A Clayton Productions, LLC Production: Sydney Pollack, Jennifer Fox and Kerry Orent, Producers
"No Country for Old Men" (Miramax and Paramount Vantage) A Scott Rudin/Mike Zoss Production: Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, Producers
"There Will Be Blood" (Paramount Vantage and Miramax) A JoAnne Sellar/Ghoulardi Film Company Production: JoAnne Sellar, Paul Thomas Anderson and Daniel Lupi, Producers

Best animated short film
"I Met the Walrus" A Kids & Explosions Production: Josh Raskin
"Madame Tutli-Putli" (National Film Board of Canada) A National Film Board of Canada Production Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski "Même Les Pigeons Vont au Paradis (Even Pigeons Go to Heaven)" (Premium Films) A BUF Compagnie Production Samuel Tourneux and Simon Vanesse
"My Love (Moya Lyubov)" (Channel One Russia) A Dago-Film Studio, Channel One Russia and Dentsu Tec Production Alexander Petrov
"Peter & the Wolf" (BreakThru Films) A BreakThru Films/Se-ma-for Studios Production Suzie Templeton and Hugh Welchman

Best live action short film
"At Night" A Zentropa Entertainments 10 Production: Christian E. Christiansen and Louise Vesth
"Il Supplente (The Substitute)" (Sky Cinema Italia) A Frame by Frame Italia Production: Andrea Jublin
"Le Mozart des Pickpockets (The Mozart of Pickpockets)" (Premium Films) A Karé Production: Philippe Pollet-Villard
"Tanghi Argentini" (Premium Films) An Another Dimension of an Idea Production: Guido Thys and Anja Daelemans
"The Tonto Woman" A Knucklehead, Little Mo and Rose Hackney Barber Production: Daniel Barber and Matthew Brown

Achievement in sound editing
"The Bourne Ultimatum" (Universal): Karen Baker Landers and Per Hallberg
"No Country for Old Men" (Miramax and Paramount Vantage): Skip Lievsay
"Ratatouille" (Walt Disney): Randy Thom and Michael Silvers
"There Will Be Blood" (Paramount Vantage and Miramax): Matthew Wood
"Transformers" (DreamWorks and Paramount in association with Hasbro): Ethan Van der Ryn and Mike Hopkins

Achievement in sound mixing
"The Bourne Ultimatum" (Universal) Scott Millan, David Parker and Kirk Francis
"No Country for Old Men" (Miramax and Paramount Vantage): Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff and Peter Kurland
"Ratatouille" (Walt Disney): Randy Thom, Michael Semanick and Doc Kane
"3:10 to Yuma" (Lionsgate): Paul Massey, David Giammarco and Jim Stuebe
"Transformers" (DreamWorks and Paramount in association with Hasbro): Kevin O'Connell, Greg P. Russell and Peter J. Devlin

Achievement in visual effects
"The Golden Compass" (New Line in association with Ingenious Film Partners): Michael Fink, Bill Westenhofer, Ben Morris and Trevor Wood
"Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" (Walt Disney): John Knoll, Hal Hickel, Charles Gibson and John Frazier
"Transformers" (DreamWorks and Paramount in association with Hasbro): Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Russell Earl and John Frazier

Adapted screenplay
"Atonement" (Focus Features), Screenplay by Christopher Hampton
"Away from Her" (Lionsgate), Written by Sarah Polley
"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" (Miramax/Pathé Renn), Screenplay by Ronald Harwood
"No Country for Old Men" (Miramax and Paramount Vantage), Written for the screen by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
"There Will Be Blood" (Paramount Vantage and Miramax), Written for the screen by Paul Thomas Anderson

Original screenplay
"Juno" (Fox Searchlight), Written by Diablo Cody
"Lars and the Real Girl" (MGM), Written by Nancy Oliver
"Michael Clayton" (Warner Bros.), Written by Tony Gilroy
"Ratatouille" (Walt Disney), Screenplay by Brad Bird; Story by Jan Pinkava, Jim Capobianco, Brad Bird
"The Savages" (Fox Searchlight), Written by Tamara Jenkins


What do you think? I was a little surprised to see Sweeney Todd shut out of a lot of the major categories.

The three awards I'm pulling for:
Best Orig. Screenplay - Diablo Cody for Juno
Best Actress - Ellen Page for Juno
Best Original Song - "Falling Slowly" from Once

I'm delighted to see Atonement up for the Oscar nominations for Best Picture and that Saoirse Ronan deserves the Best Supporting Actress nomination. I'm not surprised by the omission of the Best Actor or Best Actress nominations because its the movie itself, the ensemble and the cinematography not the lead characters that made this movie work. What was actually overlooked as a nomination for Sound Editing and Sound Mixing which I believe Atonement reached a new level of achievement. I'm not surprised by the Todd Sweeney omissions though I felt that Johnny Depp deserved the nomination. It was his acting that really held the movie together and making this musical work successfully against the rather bleak and off-putting nature of the musical. Movies and performance I'm sad to not see nominated though they really didn't have a chance were: Gone Baby Gone, except for Amy Ryan's Best Supporting Actress nomination, Chris Cooper's performance in Breach that I'd put up against the Best Actors category, and Across the Universe, though I really don't know where one would have recognized the movie - it probably needed its own special category.

quote:

Originally posted by tabuno:
Across the Universe, though I really don't know where one would have recognized the movie - it probably needed its own special category.

Across The Universe did get a nomination for Costume Design, but I'm surprised it didn't get one for Art Direction, where it really shined. Inexplicably, American Gangster received a nomination in that category.

One of the most fascinating discrepancies with the Oscar nominations may not be who was and who wasn't nominated but in the nature of the movies themselves that are distinguished by those actors and actresses that were nominated. When one examines the Best Actress category and their accompanying films with those of the Best Actor one finds a strikingly different nature of the films that males and females ended up representing.

Marion Cotillard, for Môme, La (2007) an amazingly strong, indepth character study of woman's entire life.

Julie Christie, for Away from Her (2006) an emotional study of an aging woman and her fading relationship with her husband as she fights Alzheimer's disease.

Laura Linney, for The Savages (2007) having to deal with caretaker role, an increasingly pertinent social issue in our aging society.

Ellen Page, for Juno (2007) dealing with teenage pregnancy and a very contemporary and realistic look at the younger generation.

[I'll skip Cate Blanchett's historical epic movie, a more traditional nomination].

As for the men, they appear to capture the more sterotypical hard-edged, action, violent, performance spectacle, corporate/business dealings cliques. Somehow the female actresses and Academy Awards are more in touch with the intuitive and important values of society, offering important messages for hope and redemption rather than violence, competition, winning. Oddly enough, perhaps its with Viggo Mortensen for Eastern Promises (2007) that one might obtain some fleeting notion that perhaps this one male performance discovers this truth in his actions as they evolve during the movie.

EricG75 "Forum Moderator" put a lot of typing effort into this thread with little time lapse between the Oscar announcements and posting this thread. That's what is called commitment and dedication that deserves our thanks.

quote:

Originally posted by tabuno:
EricG75 "Forum Moderator" put a lot of typing effort into this thread with little time lapse between the Oscar announcements and posting this thread. That's what is called commitment and dedication that deserves our thanks.

Thanks Tabuno, but I didn't type all that. I just cut and pasted it from the Oscar website.

I really think it's going to be a fight to the death between No Country For Old Men, There Will Be Blood, and Atonement.

I think the acting categories are strong, especially supporting actor, but I'm puzzled by one. Of his three movies, I think Phillip S. Hoffman's "weakest" performance was in Charlie Wilson's War. I would have picked his role in either Before The Devil Knows You're Dead or The Savages before that one.

As far as best actor, it's really hard to pick against Daniel Day-Lewis. Of course, the academy might employ the philosophy that everyone knows Day-Lewis is the best, so let's give it to someone else.

Animated feature could be interesting as well. Persepolis is really good, and could definitely give Ratatouille a run for its money.

quote:

Originally posted by PaddyG:
I think Phillip S. Hoffman's "weakest" performance was in Charlie Wilson's War. I would have picked his role in either Before The Devil Knows You're Dead or The Savages before that one.

I haven't seen the other two, but I thought PSH was a hoot in Charlie Wilson's War. The scene where he goes off the handle at his boss at the Pentagon was gold. His speech at the end about the Zen Master and the little boy was also classic Oscar material.

quote:

PaddyG Jedi
Posted 22 January 2008 10:05 AM

I really think it's going to be a fight to the death between No Country For Old Men, There Will Be Blood, and Atonement.

I think the acting categories are strong, especially supporting actor, but I'm puzzled by one. Of his three movies, I think Phillip S. Hoffman's "weakest" performance was in Charlie Wilson's War. I would have picked his role in either Before The Devil Knows You're Dead or The Savages before that one.

As far as best actor, it's really hard to pick against Daniel Day-Lewis. Of course, the academy might employ the philosophy that everyone knows Day-Lewis is the best, so let's give it to someone else.

While I truly feel that ATONEMENT is one of the best movies to come out in a decade, I wouldn't be too upset to see THERE WILL BE BLOOD win best picture. As I've written elsewhere, it is one of the few movie that has definite flaws that I continue to admire, enjoy, and appreciate. However with NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, the apparent flaws in that movie just overwhelm the quality of the movie and the main focus on Javier Bardem (over-rated performance because of its unusual nature) I feel is unfairly skewing this movie to an over-rated judgment about the movie.

Hoffman's work in BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU'RE DEAD is a strong dramatic role in a rather bold movie whereas the laid back, almost comedic role in what I consider a less than stellar movie was fairly tame by comparison.

Daniel Day-Lewis's performance was truly amazing it's part of the reason this movie with flaws held up so well. I'm still open to Johnny Depp for he's as daring performance in a dark musical and pulling off a captivating performance. Either actor deserves recognition.

Nice post Eric. Thanks. I can see I need to do some serious movie watching. I haven't seen M.Clayton, Juno, No country for..., there will be blood.

I think they did a good job this year, overall. It will be interesting to see if anyone actually shows up. The only thing that makes me mad is that "Once" isn't eligible for best foreign film. Yeah, I know, it's Foreign Language, but still...argh.

I was disappointed with the Academy failing to recognize Sweeney Todd. I would have gladly taken out Michael Clayton for Tim Burton’s film. And Burton deserved a Best Director nomination as well.

I was also down that Ratatouille didn’t get that Best Picture nomination, it’s so much more than a “kiddy cartoon movie” but oh well. Though, it may not even win the animated category because it will get stiff competition from Persepolis.

As for the other categories, I do think that it’s No Country for Old Men’s year to win. I don’t think that Atonement will garner too much talk before the awards are given out. Though I think they should have won when they did Fargo,the brothers will more than likely win this time around.

What I think is sad is how the Academy goes about recognizing films. Some films that deserve so much more talk only get a nomination here and there as sympathy. I liked Once’s nomination but felt it deserved more. They usually go for bland as opposed to brilliant but I hope that the winners this year are really the best ones. It would be a shame if Ellen Page didn’t win Best Actress because she was the best actress and either Ryan or Rona deserve the supporting category but I wouldn’t be surprised if Blanchett won. I’d also like to see either Atonement or Ratatouille win Best Score.

Michael Clayton is a movie that seemed to go under a lot of people's radar. I wanted to see it, but I missed it at the theater. I'm usually a big fan of George Clooney, not because I think he's a fantastic actor, but he chooses interesting projects. I've heard rumors that it's being re-released theatrically this weekend, so I'll check it out if it comes to a theater near me.

I didn't expect a film like Once to get nominated in a major category. The Academy usually prefers big, broad, and epic where Once was low key and subtle. It did get nominated where it outshined everything else though, Best Original Song. Here's hoping Glen Hansard isn't too hip for the Academy, like Elliott Smith was.

quote:

Best animated feature film of the year
"Persepolis" (Sony Pictures Classics): Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud
"Ratatouille" (Walt Disney): Brad Bird
"Surf's Up" (Sony Pictures Releasing): Ash Brannon and Chris Buck

"Surf's Up" may be the worst animated picture I've seen in years. "Ratatouille" is my pick here.

I loved Once and I'm rooting for "Falling Slowly" too. But someone needs to explain why "Falling Slowly," first released on Hansard and Irglova's The Swell Session in 2006 and then on The Frames' The Cost in early 2007, is eligible for best original song, when Jonny Greenwood's score for There Will Be Blood, drawn in part from a work he wrote for the BBC, Popcorn Superhet Receiver, is not eligible for best original score. Why?? Doesn't seem fair at all to me. And what difference does it make if a composer draws on his prior work, as long as it wasn't another film score? It's still his original work, isn't it?

quote:

Originally posted by blueskyoas:
I loved Once and I'm rooting for "Falling Slowly" too. But someone needs to explain why "Falling Slowly," first released on Hansard and Irglova's The Swell Session in 2006 and then on The Frames' The Cost in early 2007, is eligible for best original song, when Jonny Greenwood's score for There Will Be Blood, drawn in part from a work he wrote for the BBC, Popcorn Superhet Receiver, is not eligible for best original score. Why?? Doesn't seem fair at all to me. And what difference does it make if a composer draws on his prior work, as long as it wasn't another film score? It's still his original work, isn't it?

I believe the rule is that the song has to be written specifically for the movie. "Falling Slowly" was released in various incarnations before Once was released, but he wrote it specifically for the film.

quote:

Originally posted by EricG75:
I believe the rule is that the song has to be written specifically for the movie. "Falling Slowly" was released in various incarnations before Once was released, but he wrote it specifically for the film.

Ah, of course, the movie would have been filmed before that. That makes a little more sense. So I guess the same principle, "written specifically for the movie," applies to the score as well.

quote:

FragileKidA "Forum Moderator"
Super Bad-Ass Jedi
Posted 22 January 2008 02:26 PM

I was disappointed with the Academy failing to recognize Sweeney Todd. I would have gladly taken out Michael Clayton for Tim Burton’s film. And Burton deserved a Best Director nomination as well.

I was also down that Ratatouille didn’t get that Best Picture nomination, it’s so much more than a “kiddy cartoon movie” but oh well. Though, it may not even win the animated category because it will get stiff competition from Persepolis.

As for the other categories, I do think that it’s No Country for Old Men’s year to win. I don’t think that Atonement will garner too much talk before the awards are given out. Though I think they should have won when they did Fargo,the brothers will more than likely win this time around.

What I think is sad is how the Academy goes about recognizing films. Some films that deserve so much more talk only get a nomination here and there as sympathy. I liked Once’s nomination but felt it deserved more. They usually go for bland as opposed to brilliant but I hope that the winners this year are really the best ones. It would be a shame if Ellen Page didn’t win Best Actress because she was the best actress and either Ryan or Rona deserve the supporting category but I wouldn’t be surprised if Blanchett won. I’d also like to see either Atonement or Ratatouille win Best Score.

I like the idea of SWEENEY TODD in place of MICHAEL CLAYTON. MICHAEL CLAYTON has the ERIN BROCKOVICH (2000) feel to it and it seems such politically correct mainstream movie designed more for audience consumption than a focus on qualitative cinema. SWEENEY TODD has such a bite that it hurts. Even though I don't give it as high a mark as MOULIN ROUGE (2001) or CHICAGO (2002) due to SWEENEY TODD's reliance more on the live broadway performance than a cinematic performance, it's still strong enough to complete in this category.

I'm one of the few that didn't feel RATATOUILLE was that great of an animated movie. It was good and solid, but not as special as say SPIRITED AWAY (2001) or THE INCREDIBLES (2004). Both of these presented subjects uniquely suited to animation and on a level that geniunely addressed elevated emotional issues.

As you may have read elsewhere I have huge major problems with NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN and feel that either THERE WILL BE BLOOD or ATONEMENT are more deserving of Best Picture. I am bewildered why such a technically flawed movie as NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN along with the primary character who is deemed a "Supporting" Actor that has captured the imagination of critics and the public. Javier Bardem's character could easily have been replaced by a Vulcan from Startrek and did as well. The mechanical but undeservedly and supposedly compelling character really comes across just that as odd, unusual, and a curiosity like am animal in some circus or zoo. I feel people are won over more for his non-performance than for has acting, an anti-acting response. On the other hand, THERE WILL BE BLOOD also has technical flaws, but the riveting and complex performance by Daniel Day-Lewis along with a compelling story carries the movie nonetheless. Personally, ATONEMENT is my personal favorite movie in a decade for it seems to be the ultimate in what cinema is all about, capturing the unique features of the media to tell a compelling and captivating story has the elements that will resonate decades into the future with a fabulous twist at the end that is so suggestive of THE ENGLISH PATIENT (1996) that won nine Academy Awards including best picture.

As for Ellen Page for JUNO, while her performance was innovative and cute, it more the scriptwriting and perfect casting than the acting. Julie Christie or Marion Cotillard carry off such dramatic performance with such difficult material that they deserve the win. However, I agree with having Saoirse Ronan win for Best Supporting Actress because her performance was the more difficult one due to the British class nature, period piece, and the character's own idiosyncrasy that I haven't really seen before on the screen. However, Amy Ryan did a great job, adding that GONE, BABY, GONE was snubbed, it deserved a better recognition. Unfortunately I haven't seen Cate Blanchett in I'M NOT THERE.

It seems to me Best Picture is mostly a compitition between There Will Be Blood and No Country for Old Men. I predict that No Country gets it. I'm conflicted over which one I would prefer to win because while No Country for Old Men may be the superior film as a whole, There Will Be Blood is a far more daring, ambitious, and forward thinking work, despite its flaws.