Snooch to the Nooch! Well, there’s not much left to say that the title doesn’t already say. On the eve of Oscar nomination announcements, here are my personal picks for what (and who) I’d like to see nominated this year.
Oh, and before you write a comment whining, “Where’s ‘There Will Be Blood?’ Or ‘The Kite Runner?’ Or ‘The Diving Bell and the Butterfly?’ Or any other potential Oscar nominees?” I haven’t seen them yet. All in good time, though- I’ve been busy recently.
Viva La Resistance!
Brian Skutle
www.sonic-cinema.com
2007 Oscars: Brian’s Picks (in order of preference)
Best Picture
“Away From Her”
“Across the Universe”
“Once”
“Zodiac”
“The Darjeeling Limited”
Best Director
Tim Burton, “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”
Julie Taymor, “Across the Universe”
Sarah Polley, “Away From Her”
David Fincher, “Zodiac”
Joel & Ethan Coen, “No Country for Old Men”
Other Top Choices: Ben Affleck, “Gone Baby Gone”; Wes Anderson, “The Darjeeling Limited”; Peter Berg, “The Kingdom”; John Carney, “Once”; David Cronenberg, “Eastern Promises”; Scott Frank, “The Lookout”; Craig Gillespie, “Lars and the Real Girl”; Paul Greengrass, “The Bourne Ultimatum”; Lasse Hallstrom, “The Hoax”; Werner Herzog, “Rescue Dawn”; Kasi Lemmons, “Talk to Me”; Mira Nair, “The Namesake”; Frank Oz, “Death at a Funeral”; Sam Raimi, “Spider-Man 3”; Jason Reitman, “Juno”; Ridley Scott, “American Gangster”; Joe Wright, “Atonement”; David Yates, “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix”
Best Actor
Ryan Gosling, “Lars and the Real Girl”
Johnny Depp, “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”
Jake Ghyllenhaal, “Zodiac”
Richard Gere, “The Hoax”
Don Cheadle, “Talk to Me”
Other Top Choices: Casey Affleck, “Gone Baby Gone”; Christian Bale, “Rescue Dawn” & “3:10 to Yuma”; Josh Brolin, “No Country for Old Men”; Steve Buscemi, “Interview”; Steve Carell, “Dan in Real Life”; Michael Cera, “Juno”; Kevin Costner, “Mr. Brooks”; Joseph Gordon-Levitt, “The Lookout”; Hugh Grant, “Music and Lyrics”; Tom Hanks, “Charlie Wilson’s War”; Glen Hansard, “Once”; Emile Hirsch, “Into the Wild”; Irrfan Khan, “The Namesake”; Tony Leung, “Lust, Caution”; Tobey Maguire, “Spider-Man 3”; James McAvoy, “Atonement”; Viggo Mortensen, “Eastern Promises”; Gordon Pinsent, “Away From Her”; Daniel Radcliffe, “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix”; Seth Rogan, “Knocked Up”; Will Smith, “I Am Legend”; Denzel Washington, “American Gangster”
Best Actress
Ellen Page, “Juno”
Tabu, “The Namesake”
Marion Cottilard, “Le Vie en Rose”
Julie Christie, “Away From Her”
Helena Bonham Carter, “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”
Other Top Choices: Drew Barrymore, “Music and Lyrics”; Nikki Blonsky, “Hairspray”; Jodie Foster, “The Brave One”; Katherine Heigl, “Knocked Up”; Carice van Houten, “Black Book”; Marketa Irglova, “Once”; Angelina Jolie, “A Mighty Heart”; Kiera Knightley, “Atonement”; Rose Mcgowen, “Grindhouse: Planet Terror”; Sienna Miller, “Interview”; Keri Russell, “Waitress”; Molly Shannon, “Year of the Dog”; Hilary Swank, “P.S. I Love You”; Naomi Watts, “Eastern Promises”; Tang Wei, “Lust, Caution”
Best Supporting Actor
Javiar Bardem, “No Country for Old Men”
Alan Rickman, “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”
Hal Holbrook, “Into the Wild”
Tommy Lee Jones, “No Country for Old Men”
Adrien Brody, “The Darjeeling Limited”
Other Top Choices: Casey Affleck, “The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford”; Dane Cook, “Dan in Real Life”; Russell Crowe, “American Gangster” & “3:10 to Yuma”; Jeff Daniels, “The Lookout”; Robert DeNiro, “Stardust”; Peter Dinklage, “Death at a Funeral”; Robert Downey Jr., “Zodiac”; Chitwetel Ejiofar, “American Gangster” & “Talk to Me”; Andy Griffith, “Waitress”; Ed Harris, “Gone Baby Gone”; Phillip Seymour Hoffman, “Charlie Wilson’s War”; Terrance Howard, “The Brave One”; William Hurt, “Mr. Brooks”; Christopher Mintz-Plasse, “Superbad”; Alfred Molina, “The Hoax”; Kal Penn, “The Namesake”; Paul Rudd, “Knocked Up”; Mark Ruffalo, “Zodiac”; Paul Schneider, “Lars and the Real Girl”; Jason Schwartzman, “The Darjeeling Limited”; Christopher Walken, “Hairspray”; Owen Wilson, “The Darjeeling Limited”; Steve Zahn, “Rescue Dawn”
Best Supporting Actress
Imelda Staunton, “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix”
Saoirse Ronan, “Atonement”
Meg Ryan, “In the Land of Women”
Jennifer Garner, “Juno”
Patricia Clarkson, “Lars and the Real Girl”
Other Top Choices: Zoe Bell, “Grindhouse: Death Proof”; Joan Chen, “Lust, Caution”; Marcia Gay Harden, “The Mist”; Angelica Huston, “The Darjeeling Limited”; Alison Janney, “Juno”; Lisa Kudrow, “P.S. I Love You”; Leslie Mann, “Knocked Up”; Mandy Moore, “Because I Said So”; Emily Mortimer, “Lars and the Real Girl”; Michelle Pfieffer, “Hairspray”; Julia Roberts, “Charlie Wilson’s War”; Adrianne Shelley, “Waitress”; Tilda Swinton, “Michael Clayton”; Marisa Tomei, “Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead”
Best Original Screenplay
Diablo Cody, “Juno”
Nancy Oliver, “Lars and the Real Girl”
John Carney, “Once”
Wes Anderson, Roman Copolla, Jason Schwartzman, “The Darjeeling Limited”
Matthew Michael Carnahan, “The Kingdom”
Other Top Choices: Dick Clement, Ian La Frenais & Julie Taymor, “Across the Universe”; Dean Craig, “Death at a Funeral”; Steven Knight, “Eastern Promises”; Edgar Wright & Simon Pegg, “Hot Fuzz”; Jonathan Kasden, “In the Land of Women”; Judd Apatow, “Knocked Up”; Matthew Michael Carnahan, “Lions for Lambs”; Scott Frank, “The Lookout”; Bruce A. Evans & Raynold Gideon, “Mr. Brooks”; Marc Lawrence, “Music and Lyrics”; Brad Bird, Jim Capobianco & Jan Pinkava, “Ratatouille”; Adrienne Shelley, “Waitress”; Mike White, “Year of the Dog”
Best Adapted Screenplay
James Vanderbilt, “Zodiac”
Sarah Polley, “Away From Her”
Joel & Ethan Coen, “No Country for Old Men”
Sean Penn, “Into the Wild”
Sooni Taraporevala, “The Namesake”
Other Top Choices: Steven Zallian, “American Gangster”; Christopher Hampton, “Atonement”; Roger Avery & Neil Gaiman, “Beowulf”; Aaron Sorkin, “Charlie Wilson’s War”; Michael Goldenberg, “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix”; William Wheeler, “The Hoax”; James Schamus & Wang Hui Ling, “Lust, Caution”; Richard LaGravenese & Steven Rogers, “P.S. I Love You”; Matt Groening, James L. Brooks, Al Jean, Mike Scully, Mike Reiss, David Mirkin, John Swartzwelder, George Meyer, Jon Vitti, Ian Maxtone Graham & Matt Selman, “The Simpsons Movie”; Ivan Raimi, Sam Raimi & Alvin Sargent, “Spider-Man 3”; Matthew Vaughn & Jane Goldman, “Stardust”; John Logan, “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”
Best Original Score
“Atonement” (Dario Marianelli)
“Ratatouille” (Michael Giacchino)
“Zodiac” (David Shire)
“Eastern Promises” (Howard Shore)
“1408” (Gabriel Yared)
Other Top Choices: “Lust, Caution” (Alexandre Desplat); “Gone Baby Gone” (Harry Gregson-Williams); “The Brave One” (Dario Marianelli); “The Hoax” (Carter Burwell); “Spider-Man 3” (Christopher Young); “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” (Nicholas Hooper); “Hot Fuzz” (David Arnold); “The Simpsons Movie” (Hans Zimmer); “Grindhouse: Planet Terror” (Robert Rodriguez); “The Bourne Ultimatum” (John Powell); “300” (Tyler Bates); “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” (Hans Zimmer); “Beowulf” (Alan Silvestri)
Best Original Song
“Falling Slowly” from “Once” (Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová)
“Way Back Into Love” from “Music and Lyrics” (Adam Schlesinger)
“If You Want Me” from “Once” (Markéta Irglová)
“Le Festin” from “Ratatouille” (Michael Giacchino)
“Pop! Goes My Heart” from “Music and Lyrics” (Andrew W. Blakemore and Alanna Vicente)
Other Top Choices: “Dance With Me Tonight” from “Music and Lyrics” (Clyde Lawrence); “All the Way Down” from “Once” (Glen Hansard); “Baby Don’t You Cry†from “Waitress†(Andrew Hollander and Adrienne Shelly); “Before It’s Too Late (Sam and Mikaela’s Theme)” from “Transformers” (Johnny Rzeznik); “A Hero Comes Home” from “Beowulf” (Alan Silvestri and Glen Ballard); “Signal Fire” from “Spider-Man 3” (Performed by Snow Patrol)
Best Animated Feature
“Ratatouille”
“The Simpsons Movie”
“Beowulf”
Best Foreign Language Film
“Le Vie en Rose”
“Lust, Caution”
“Paris je t’amie”
“Black Book”
“Day Watch”
Best Documentary Feature
“Crazy Love”
“Into Great Silence”
“No End in Sight”
“The Devil Came on Horseback”
“SiCKO”
Best Visual Effects
“Transformers”
“I Am Legend”
“Stardust”
Best Sound
“1408”
“Transformers”
“Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”
“The Kingdom”
“Beowulf”
Best Sound Editing
“1408”
“Transformers”
“300”
Best Cinematography
“Zodiac”
“Across the Universe”
“Into the Wild”
“No Country for Old Men”
“Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”
Best Film Editing
“Across the Universe”
“Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”
“Zodiac”
“The Kingdom”
“The Bourne Ultimatum”
Best Art Direction
“Stardust”
“Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”
“Lust, Caution”
“The Darjeeling Limited”
“Black Book”
Best Makeup
“Le Vie en Rose”
“The Namesake”
“Stardust”
Best Costume Design
“Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”
“Across the Universe”
“Le Vie en Rose”
“Lust, Caution”
“American Gangster”
