By Lindsay Zoladz
Of course, I had to show my solidarity with the writer’s strike, but deep down I was praying that the whole thing would be sorted out by Feb. 24 so we could all revel in our regularly scheduled Oscar glitz and glam. I know it’s cool to say that the Oscar telecast is stupid, pointless, and often about 12 hours long, but I’ll admit it: I love it. Here are my picks for this year:
Best Supporting Actor: Javier Bardem, No Country For Old Men
C’mon now. I still can’t walk down my street at night without having visions of Javier Bardem leaping out of the bushes and zapping me in the head with a caddle prod. Clearly, this is the kind of performance that stays with you for a while.
Best Supporting Actress: Cate Blanchett, I’m Not There
Not only because she was superb in this role, but also to atone for the fact that Todd Haynes and everyone else involved in the film were criminally snubbed in a bunch of other categories.
Best Original Screenplay: Tony Gilroy, Michael Clayton
Truth be told, I haven’t even seen Michael Clayton, but it seems that Gilroy has the best chance of upsetting Diablo Cody’s almost inevitable victory, and we all know how I feel about that. On the bright side, I think this is the first time there have been more female than male nominees in this category, so that’s pretty awesome.
Best Cinematography: Roger Deakins, No Country For Old Men
Deakins, also nominated in this category for The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, is yet another scene-stealer in No Country’s ensemble cast, finding the subtle beauty that a lesser DP may have lost sight of in all that blood.
Best Actress: Julie Christie, Away From Her.
Again, this film is still chilling in my Netflix queue, but judging from the trailer, it looks at least a little bit better than Juno.
Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood.
In accepting what will be the most deserved Best Actor Oscar in, like, years, I am still holding out hope that in place of a speech, DDL will just walk up there, scream, “DRAAAAAIIIIINNNNAAAAGGGGGE!” with a tiny bit of spittle dribbling from his mouth, and then walk off stage with the award.
Best Director(s): Joel and Ethan Coen, No Country For Old Men.
It’s about time, eh?
Best Picture: There Will Be Blood.
In reality, No Country will probably take this one, and I’d be more than OK with that. But personally, I’m pulling for There Will Be Blood.
The Oscars are on this Sunday at 8 p.m. For the record, I have not ruled out live-blogging.
6 Comments
February 22, 2008 at 12:36 pm
What about Marion Cotillard for best actress? Didn’t see that one either?
February 23, 2008 at 5:19 am
I would love to see marion cotillard win but no one went and saw La Vie En Rose and everyone seems to be in love with julie christie so…..it doesn’t look good
February 23, 2008 at 5:25 am
also, i don’t think cate blanchett can win best supporting actress even though i would love her to. I’m Not There was widely ignored awards season because it didn’t appeal to enough people I guess. criminal. If they had gone the Ray route they would have won something but it would have sucked. oh well.
I think Amy Ryan is going to take this one home despite what people have been saying about 83 year old Ruby Dee. The Academy loves them an old person making a scene.
side note, similar topic, i’m pulling for there will be blood as well.
February 23, 2008 at 12:13 pm
Nope, haven’t seen La Vie En Rose yet, but have, of course, heard pretty great things. It seems like either one of them has a fair chance, but I’m loving the whole giving the spotlight to older ladies who look absolutely fabulous thing that Oscar seems to be going for these days, (a la Helen Mirren) so I am quite arbitrarily pulling for the ever-fabulous Julie Christie.
February 25, 2008 at 9:27 am
Uh oh. Lindsay, are you still with us?
Hello?
(After the Juno win, someone should really check on her…)
February 25, 2008 at 6:01 pm
Ha, Steve actually called me today to see if I really did weep. I didn’t, for the record, and even more surprising: I’ll admit that I found Diablo Cody’s speech endearing. So there.