Best Film: No Country for Old Men
Until late last week, things were still somewhat murky in the best film race. No Country for Old Men (above, with Tommy Lee Jones) and There Will Be Blood were the front-runners, while Juno was the fluffy dark horse that could potentially tip the scale against the heavy-drama heavyweights. But after its SAG best ensemble and DGA wins, No Country for Old Men, about a drug deal gone murderously wrong, has become the official front-runner.
Best Foreign Language Film: Katyn (Poland)
As I've said before, this is the toughest feature-film category to predict. None of the five nominees — Beaufort, 12, The Counterfeiters, Mongol, and Katyn — has been widely reviewed in the United States.
I'd say Katyn, about the Russian Red Army's slaughter of Polish troops, is the likely winner because 1) it's set during World War II, the Academy's foreign-language film voters' favorite cinematic period* 2) it was directed by veteran Andrzej Wajda, 82 (next March), who has been given an honorary Academy Award but whose films have never won the best foreign language film Oscar.
*Best foreign language film Oscar nominees with a WWII background (1998-2007): Katyn, The Counterfeiters, Days of Glory, Sophie Scholl – The Final Days, †Downfall, Zelary, Twin Sisters, †Nowhere in Africa, Divided We Fall, †Life Is Beautiful.
† Winners
Best Documentary – Feature: No End in Sight
Charles Ferguson's Iraq War documentary, about the Bush administration's mix of arrogance and ineptitude before, during, and after the invasion of Iraq, has received numerous accolades from US film critics' groups. Considering the bloody, costly disaster that war has become and the fact that the effects of the US-led invasion and occupation of that country will reverberate for years — or, more likely, decades — to come, No End in Sight deals with a highly topical subject matter.
Also, Academy-ites will likely refrain from handing out another Oscar to Michael Moore (for Sicko) for fear he, with camera in hand, may confront those who booed him when he spoke out against the invasion at the 2003 ceremony. "I told you so, you imbeciles!"
Best Animated Feature Film: Ratatouille
Brad Bird's Ratatouille is the most widely praised animated feature of 2007. And it was a major box-office hit. Can't beat the combination of prestige and dollar signs.
Oscar 2008 Predictions: Best Director, Screenplay