Brad Pitt in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Oscar 2008 Nominations: Part I
Roger Deakins is competing against himself in the best cinematography category: for The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and There Will Be Blood.
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Jonny Greenwood's much praised score for There Will Be Blood was deemed ineligible reportedly because "the majority of the music was not composed specifically for the film." Alan Menken's score for Enchanted was also deemed ineligible because it was based on the "predominant use of songs" and not on actual scoring of dramatic/comedy scenes. There was no "best adapted/best song score" category this year — though apparently there should have been. (More at The Envelope.)
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Best costume design nominee Marit Allen — for La Vie en Rose — died of a brain aneurysm in November 2007. She was 66.
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Ellen Page in Juno
Non-Americans, as so often happens, had a strong showing in this year's Oscar list. Here's a sample list:
- from Canada, Ellen Page (best actress), Jason Reitman (best director), Sarah Polley (best adapted screenplay);
- from the United Kingdom, Daniel Day-Lewis (best actor), Julie Christie (best actress), Tom Wilkinson (best supporting actor), Tilda Swinton (best supporting actress), Christopher Hampton (best adapted screenplay), Roger Deakins (best cinematography), Marit Allen (best costume design), in addition to South African-born but UK-based Ronald Harwood (best adapted screenplay);
- from Australia, Cate Blanchett (best actress and best supporting actress);
- from France, Marion Cotillard (best actress), Vincent Paronnaud (best animated feature);
- from Iran, Marjane Satrapi (best animated feature);
- from Spain, Javier Bardem (best supporting actor), Alberto Iglesias (best original score);
- from Poland, Janusz Kaminski (best cinematography);
- from Ireland, Seamus McGarvey (best cinematography), Glen Hansard (best song);
- from the old Czechoslovakia, Markéta Irglová (best song);
- from Italy, Dante Ferretti (best art direction), Dario Marianelli (best original score), Marco Beltrami (best original score).
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Kazakhstan had its first best foreign language film nomination. The movie in question, Mongol, is an international production mostly shot in China, with talent from Russia, Finland, Holland, Iceland, Hollywood, Mongolia, and, I'm assuming, Kazakhstan. (The film's director, the Russian Sergei Bodrov, reportedly carries a Kazakh passport.)
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Nikita Mikhalkov's best foreign-language film nominee 12 is a remake of Sidney Lumet's 1957 best film nominee 12 Angry Men.
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John Travolta, Nikki Blonsky in Hairspray
Missing in action (those not already mentioned above):
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead; Zodiac; 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (though bypassed by the foreign-language voters, it was eligible in the regular categories); The Orphanage (also eligible in regular categories); Hairspray; Lust, Caution; Redacted; The Simpsons Movie; and Beowulf are nowhere to be found in the Oscar list.
Angelina Jolie in A Mighty Heart
Also, Eddie Vedder's Golden Globe-winning song "Guaranteed" from Into the Wild; Sicko and No End in Sight in any of the non-documentary categories; Once in the non-song categories; and SAG nominees Angelina Jolie for A Mighty Heart , Ryan Gosling for Lars and the Real Girl, Emile Hirsch for Into the Wild, Tommy Lee Jones for No Country for Old Men, and Catherine Keener for Into the Wild.
Susan Sarandon in Enchanted
And more: American Gangster in the best film and best direction (Ridley Scott) categories; Brad Pitt for The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford; Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts for Charlie Wilson's War; Josh Brolin for No Country for Old Men; Tony Kaye's abortion-themed documentary Lake of Fire (see other shortlisted documentaries); Tim Burton and Helena Bonham Carter for Sweeney Todd; Amy Adams and Susan Sarandon for Enchanted; Frank Langella for Starting Out in the Evening; and Paul Dano for There Will Be Blood.
The WGA willing, the Oscar ceremony, in all its grandiose tackiness, will take place in Hollywood on February 24.