The rest of the predictions are done, time to focus on the big 6. Let’s end this up right!
In the category of Best Supporting Actor, the nominees are:
Casey Affleck, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men
Hal Holbrook, Into the Wild
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Charlie Wilson’s War
Tom Wilkinson, Michael Clayton
And Film Threat predicts…
Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men: For the haircut alone, Bardem should walk away with this Oscar. When you couple that with his absolutely chilling performance, it’s less of a “should win” and a definite “will win” situation.
In the category of Best Supporting Actress, the nominees are:
Cate Blanchett, I’m Not There
Ruby Dee, American Gangster
Saoirse Ronan, Atonement
Amy Ryan, Gone Baby Gone
Tilda Swinton, Michael Clayton
And Film Threat predicts…
Saoirse Ronan, Atonement: If Blanchett were to win this one, it’d be a given that Best Actress would have eluded her, so we’re going to hand this year’s award to Saoirse Ronan for that left-of-center feel.
In the category of Best Actor, the nominees are:
George Clooney, Michael Clayton
Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood
Johnny Depp, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Tommy Lee Jones, In the Valley of Elah
Viggo Mortensen, Eastern Promises
And Film Threat predicts…
Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood: Just because you didn’t like Daniel Plainview doesn’t mean Daniel Day-Lewis doesn’t deserve the highest of accolades for portraying the character. If he doesn’t take this award, the Academy Awards will never have my respect again (and they barely have it now).
In the category of Best Actress, the nominees are:
Cate Blanchett, Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Julie Christie, Away From Her
Marion Cotillard, La Vie en Rose
Laura Linney, The Savages
Ellen Page, Juno
And Film Threat predicts…
Julie Christie, Away From Her: Despite the earlier comment about Blanchett, the only way she wins this award is if it is based on aggregate performances, because the “Elizabeth” sequel is hardly worth the win. Julie Christie put in an amazing performance, and allows the Academy an opportunity to award not just one performance, but a career.
In the category of Best Director, the nominees are:
Julian Schnabel, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Jason Reitman, Juno
Tony Gilroy, Michael Clayton
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, No Country for Old Men
Paul Thomas Anderson, There Will Be Blood
And Film Threat predicts…
Paul Thomas Anderson, There Will Be Blood: The Coen Brothers could get this on default of the fact that “There Will Be Blood” is going to take the Best Picture, but it seems like the Academy is going to hitch itself to one pony whenever possible, and that pony is “There Will Be Blood.”
In the category of Best Picture, the nominees are:
Atonement
Juno
Michael Clayton
No Country for Old Men
There Will Be Blood
And Film Threat predicts…
There Will Be Blood: “No Country for Old Men” was a worthy opponent, but suffers from such a strained move in the third act whereupon it leaves the audience lost as to the fate of Llewelyn, and that’s enough of a stumble, purposeful or not, for the masterful “There Will Be Blood” to take the top spot.
There you have it, Film Threat’s predictions for the 2008 Academy Awards. We’ll most likely be wrong as much as we’re right, so please don’t judge too harshly. Check back with Film Threat on Oscar Sunday (February 24, 2008) as we chat up and track the awards live via webcam on our frontpage.
