Waitress

Keri Russel has been robbed of an oscar nomination for this role just as Jennifer Aniston was years earlier for a very similar role in The Good Girl. This movie, however, is a little sweeter and less contemplative. We have a girl trapped in a loveless marriage, looking to escape. Her eyes carry the weight of the world and her composure is solid as a rock, Jenna is probably one of the cutest, most loveable characters on screen this year and we definitely yearn for her freedom. The plot is fairly simple, and fully charming as we see a woman fighting to survive an abusive marriage while falling in love with her OB GYN as she continues to get more pregnant(notice a theme this year?) and bakes the most delicious(or so we're told) pies around with very fun names like "I Don't Want Earl's Baby Pie." This film had a fairly quiet release, but is definitely a great movie to check out right now, especially as we deal with the schlock of January releases in theatres.

There Will Be Blood

Right now I am sure of only one thing about this movie...it is stunning. Yet, for every amazing aspect of it it isn't my favorite movie this year. It does however deserve every oscar it is up for. Daniel Day-Lewis is frightening in his portrayal of a man driven by greed into isolation and madness, and Paul Dano does more than just hold his own against such a powerhouse. There are moments of sheer terror, and moments of disbelief, and 2 and a half hours of awe as PT Anderson plows down every convention set he has ever followed and most conventions any filmmaker follows to tell a deeply disturbing, brilliant, perfect story. This film is flawless, but it is hard to call such a dark, disturbing movie my favorite of the year so I guess it'll settle right under Into the Wild and Atonement.

The Real Nominations Are In and Here are My Predictions!

Performance by an actor in a leading role
George Clooney in "Michael Clayton" (Warner Bros.)
Daniel Day-Lewis in "There Will Be Blood" (Paramount Vantage and Miramax)
Johnny Depp in "Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" (DreamWorks and Warner Bros., Distributed by DW/Paramount)
Tommy Lee Jones in "In the Valley of Elah" (Warner Independent)
Viggo Mortensen in "Eastern Promises" (Focus Features)

Performance by an actor in a supporting role
Casey Affleck in "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" (Warner Bros.)
Javier Bardem in "No Country for Old Men" (Miramax and Paramount Vantage)
Philip Seymour Hoffman in "Charlie Wilson's War" (Universal)
Hal Holbrook in "Into the Wild" (Paramount Vantage and River Road Entertainment)
Tom Wilkinson in "Michael Clayton" (Warner Bros.)

Performance by an actress in a leading role
Cate Blanchett in "Elizabeth: The Golden Age" (Universal)
Julie Christie in "Away from Her" (Lionsgate)
Marion Cotillard in "La Vie en Rose" (Picturehouse)
Laura Linney in "The Savages" (Fox Searchlight)
Ellen Page in "Juno" (Fox Searchlight)

Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Cate Blanchett in "I'm Not There" (The Weinstein Company)
Ruby Dee in "American Gangster" (Universal)
Saoirse Ronan in "Atonement" (Focus Features)
Amy Ryan in "Gone Baby Gone" (Miramax)
Tilda Swinton in "Michael Clayton" (Warner Bros.)

Best animated feature film of the year
"Persepolis" (Sony Pictures Classics): Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud
"Ratatouille" (Walt Disney): Brad Bird
"Surf's Up" (Sony Pictures Releasing): Ash Brannon and Chris Buck

Achievement in art direction
"American Gangster" (Universal): Art Direction: Arthur Max; Set Decoration: Beth A. Rubino
"Atonement" (Focus Features): Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
"The Golden Compass" (New Line in association with Ingenious Film Partners): Art Direction: Dennis Gassner; Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock
"Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" (DreamWorks and Warner Bros., Distributed by DreamWorks/Paramount): Art Direction: Dante Ferretti; Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo
"There Will Be Blood" (Paramount Vantage and Miramax): Art Direction: Jack Fisk; Set Decoration: Jim Erickson

Achievement in cinematography
"The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" (Warner Bros.): Roger Deakins
"Atonement" (Focus Features): Seamus McGarvey
"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" (Miramax/Pathé Renn): Janusz Kaminski
"No Country for Old Men" (Miramax and Paramount Vantage): Roger Deakins
"There Will Be Blood" (Paramount Vantage and Miramax): Robert Elswit

Achievement in costume design
"Across the Universe" (Sony Pictures Releasing) Albert Wolsky
"Atonement" (Focus Features) Jacqueline Durran
"Elizabeth: The Golden Age" (Universal) Alexandra Byrne
"La Vie en Rose" (Picturehouse) Marit Allen
"Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" (DreamWorks and Warner Bros., Distributed by DreamWorks/Paramount) Colleen Atwood

Achievement in directing
"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" (Miramax/Pathé Renn), Julian Schnabel
"Juno" (Fox Searchlight), Jason Reitman
"Michael Clayton" (Warner Bros.), Tony Gilroy
"No Country for Old Men" (Miramax and Paramount Vantage), Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
"There Will Be Blood" (Paramount Vantage and Miramax), Paul Thomas Anderson

Best documentary feature
"No End in Sight" (Magnolia Pictures) A Representational Pictures Production: Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs
"Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience" (The Documentary Group) A Documentary Group Production: Richard E. Robbins
"Sicko" (Lionsgate and The Weinstein Company) A Dog Eat Dog Films Production: Michael Moore and Meghan O'Hara
"Taxi to the Dark Side" (THINKFilm) An X-Ray Production: Alex Gibney and Eva Orner
"War/Dance" (THINKFilm) A Shine Global and Fine Films Production: Andrea Nix Fine and Sean Fine

Achievement in film editing
"The Bourne Ultimatum" (Universal): Christopher Rouse
"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" (Miramax/Pathé Renn): Juliette Welfling
"Into the Wild" (Paramount Vantage and River Road Entertainment): Jay Cassidy
"No Country for Old Men" (Miramax and Paramount Vantage) Roderick Jaynes
"There Will Be Blood" (Paramount Vantage and Miramax): Dylan Tichenor

Achievement in makeup
"La Vie en Rose" (Picturehouse) Didier Lavergne and Jan Archibald
"Norbit" (DreamWorks, Distributed by Paramount): Rick Baker and Kazuhiro Tsuji
"Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" (Walt Disney): Ve Neill and Martin Samuel

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)
"Atonement" (Focus Features) Dario Marianelli
"The Kite Runner" (DreamWorks, Sidney Kimmel Entertainment and Participant Productions, Distributed by Paramount Classics): Alberto Iglesias
"Michael Clayton" (Warner Bros.) James Newton Howard
"Ratatouille" (Walt Disney) Michael Giacchino
"3:10 to Yuma" (Lionsgate) Marco Beltrami

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
"Falling Slowly" from "Once" (Fox Searchlight) Music and Lyric by Glen Hansard and: Marketa Irglova
"Happy Working Song" from "Enchanted" (Walt Disney): Music by Alan Menken; Lyric by Stephen Schwartz
"Raise It Up" from "August Rush" (Warner Bros.): Nominees to be determined
"So Close" from "Enchanted" (Walt Disney): Music by Alan Menken; Lyric by Stephen Schwartz
"That's How You Know" from "Enchanted" (Walt Disney): Music by Alan Menken; Lyric by Stephen Schwartz

Best motion picture of the year
"Atonement" (Focus Features) A Working Title Production: Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner and Paul Webster, Producers
"Juno" (Fox Searchlight) A Dancing Elk Pictures, LLC Production: Lianne Halfon, Mason Novick and Russell Smith, Producers
"Michael Clayton" (Warner Bros.) A Clayton Productions, LLC Production: Sydney Pollack, Jennifer Fox and Kerry Orent, Producers
"No Country for Old Men" (Miramax and Paramount Vantage) A Scott Rudin/Mike Zoss Production: Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, Producers
"There Will Be Blood" (Paramount Vantage and Miramax) A JoAnne Sellar/Ghoulardi Film Company Production: JoAnne Sellar, Paul Thomas Anderson and Daniel Lupi, Producers

Achievement in sound editing
"The Bourne Ultimatum" (Universal): Karen Baker Landers and Per Hallberg
"No Country for Old Men" (Miramax and Paramount Vantage): Skip Lievsay
"Ratatouille" (Walt Disney): Randy Thom and Michael Silvers
"There Will Be Blood" (Paramount Vantage and Miramax): Matthew Wood
"Transformers" (DreamWorks and Paramount in association with Hasbro): Ethan Van der Ryn and Mike Hopkins


Achievement in visual effects
"The Golden Compass" (New Line in association with Ingenious Film Partners): Michael Fink, Bill Westenhofer, Ben Morris and Trevor Wood
"Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" (Walt Disney): John Knoll, Hal Hickel, Charles Gibson and John Frazier
"Transformers" (DreamWorks and Paramount in association with Hasbro): Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Russell Earl and John Frazier

Adapted screenplay

"Atonement" (Focus Features), Screenplay by Christopher Hampton
"Away from Her" (Lionsgate), Written by Sarah Polley
"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" (Miramax/Pathé Renn), Screenplay by Ronald Harwood
"No Country for Old Men" (Miramax and Paramount Vantage), Written for the screen by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
"There Will Be Blood" (Paramount Vantage and Miramax), Written for the screen by Paul Thomas Anderson

Original screenplay

"Juno" (Fox Searchlight), Written by Diablo Cody
"Lars and the Real Girl" (MGM), Written by Nancy Oliver
"Michael Clayton" (Warner Bros.), Written by Tony Gilroy
"Ratatouille" (Walt Disney), Screenplay by Brad Bird; Story by Jan Pinkava, Jim Capobianco, Brad Bird
"The Savages" (Fox Searchlight), Written by Tamara Jenkins

Last Minute Predictions

The Oscar nominees are announced tomorrow, here are my last minute guesses!

Best Picture
Atonement
No Country for Old Men
There Will Be Blood
Into the Wild
Michael Clayton

Best Director
The Coen Brothers-No Country for Old Men
Julian Schnabel-The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
P.T. Anderson-There Will Be blood
Sean Penn- Into the Wild
Tony Gilroy-Michael Clayton

Best Actor
Daniel Day-Lewis- There Will Be Blood
George Clooney-Michael Clayton
Emile Hirsch-Into the Wild
Ryan Gosling-Lars and the Real Girl
Viggo Mortensen- Eastern Promises

Best Actress
Ellen Page-Juno
Amy Adams- Enchanted
Marion Cotillard- La Vie en Rose
Angelina Jolie- A Mighty Heart
Julie Christie- Away From Her

Best Supporting Actor
Javier Bardem-No Country for Old Men
Hal Holbrook-Into the Wild
Paul Dano-There Will Be Blood
Tom Wilkinson-Michael Clayton
Casey Affleck- The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

Best Supporting Actress
Cate Blanchett- I'm Not There
Saoirse Ronan- Atonement
Amy Ryan-Gone Baby Gone
Tilda Swinton-Michael Clayton
Catherine Keener- Into the Wild

Best Original Screenplay
Juno
Lars and the Real Girl
Michael Clayton
Ratatouille
I'm Not There

Best Adapted Screenplay
No Country for Old Men
Atonement
Into the Wild
There Will be Blood
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Best Original Music, Score
There Will Be Blood
Enchanted
Into the Wild
Atonement
Ratatouille

Best Original Music, Song
Enchanted
Once
Into the Wild
Hairspray
American Gangster

Best Cinematography
No Country for Old Men
Into the Wild
Atonement
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
There Will Be Blood

Top Ten of 2007: Into the Wild

My number one movie of the year is Into the Wild. This movie isn't always perfect as much as atonement or no country on the level of technics, but never has a movie spoken so clearly and honestly and bravely. I have never been as moved or connected to a movie as I have been by Into the Wild. Inside me I felt everything breaking as I watched director Sean Penn paint a beautiful tapestry of a wandering heart. Emile Hirsch is a discovery all over again, he's been in other movies, but nothing has pushed him to the height of his ability like this film and it feels like we're seeing him for the first time. Of course all the acting credit is not his as he is backed by some amazing support with the likes of Hal Holbrook and Catherine Keener in two very wonderful roles that ground us in reality and push the movie to an even higher level of sheer excellence. This could be my favorite movie of all time...even better than Magnolia.

Top Ten of 2007: Atonement

Many are calling No Country for Old Men the best and perfect picture of the year, but those people haven't seen Atonement which is only slightly second to my number 1. If there was a movie that could be perfectly adapted from its book, this is it. With brilliant performances all around with exceptional peformances from all three Briony's, cinematography that paints a picture in each scene, and one of the most heartbreaking moments of cinematic history, Atonement is easily one of the best and perfect pictures of the year.

Top Ten of 2007: No Country for Old Men

No Country for Old Men brings the collaborative power of Joel and Ethan Coen to the screen once more in a stark and dark film that essentially comes down to a cat-and-mouse chase and commentary on violence in America. For being my number three I can say this is the only movie on my list besides maybe my number 2 where every single moment, shot, and scene is written, directed, acted, and photographed to perfection. Javier Bardem gives one of the most haunting performances in that he plays one of the most terrifying contemporary "bad-guys" and is easily surrounded by grounded stunning performances from the likes of Tommy Lee Jones and Josh Brolin. Many are saying this movie will finally bring the Coens the Best Picture oscar that almost had a few years back with Fargo, I am saying more power to them.

Top Ten of 2007: Juno

Juno is the rare movie that was Little Miss Sunshine last year, it's the kind of movie that at first tickles you with funny dialogue and witty characters, and then moves you with vulnerability and insight. Juno MacGuff is played more than ably by Ellen Page in a stunning performance backed by a wonderful supporting cast and a firecracker screenplay. This movie had me busting my gut laughing until I cried and then crying because of the sheer honesty of the characters.

Top Ten of 2007: Lars and the Real Girl

Lars and the Real Girl is a film of astounding sincerity. Only the massive talent of Ryan Gosling could make us understand how someone could possibly love an inanimate sex doll, and he does so with such honesty that we never once feel he is mocking the character. This film is just a well of wonderful moments pulled together in a wonderful movie, where there is never a need to ask the audience to go with it because the audience already believes in Lars.

Top Ten of 2007: Once

Once is a movie of great power and great music. With endearing turns from its two unnamed leads we listen intently to the music that tells the story of their complicated love. It's hard to say a lot about this movie because it is so simple, and because it's simple it's lovely. Simple is something we don't see in many movies today successfully and for that Once is a stunning a achievement of great heart.

Top Ten of 2007: Paris Je T'aime

Paris Je T'aime is a movie that is about falling in love, its about characters falling in love, a city know for love, directors in love with their craft, actors in love with theirs, and through it all, highs and lows, the audience cannot refuse falling in love with the movie itself. In a series of 20 5-minute movies about love in Paris my heart yearns to see a couple fall in love, breaks at the death of loved ones, laughs at the ridiculousness of love, and even when some stories may not be as potent as others this is such a huge experinment in filmmaking that because of its bravery we are able to look at its pros which far overshadow its cons.

Top Ten of 2007: I'm Not There

In a year of breakthroughs, vision, and masterpieces comes Todd Haynes follow up to his Oscar -nominated Far From Heaven, I'm Not There. Just a lush with vision as his previous effort, I'm Not There refuses to ever settle for convention as we see Bob Dylan characterized by six different personalities in six different styles of story telling. This film exudes brilliance in just the concept alone, but it is when we see the actors pulling on the masks of Dylan that we see this is so much more than a great concept, but a truly rich cinematic experience that blows Walk the Line and Ray out of the water when it comes to musical biopics. This is most definitely an actor's movie in that each performance elevates the movie higer and higher from its concept and then we see Cate Blanchett's performance and then we witness the movie at its sheer wonderment with her exceptionally channeled delivery of Dylan.

Top Ten of 2007: Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Where my number ten spot went to a musical that was solely a bubbly musical with a lot of heart, this spot goes to a musical that is dark, tragic, and brilliantly inventive. Tim Burton's characteristic dark eye is all over this film in the dark grays of industrial London, contrasted only by the blood pouring from the necks of Sweeney's clients. The songs are dialogue in music form and not once does any of the performers falter in their delivery. Most notable is Helena Bonham Carter in one of the best performances of the year as she delivers the sad, desperate and poisonously sweet charm of Mrs. Lovett, Sweeney's accomplice. When it comes to vision Burton has never been short of it, and this time it truly pays off in the best way, and by the end we are in no doubt we have seen Burton's masterpiece as the blood pours in buckets.

Top Ten of 2007: Hairspray

Hairspray is a wonderful achievement in contemporary movie musicals in that it is exactly what it aims to be and is so endearing because of it. It isn't super flashy via Chicago or innovative like Sweeney, but it is a charming poppy movie about a girl, her hair, and her need to dance. From the beginning we see people breaking into song on the tops of dump trucks and then in school hallways, and where this might deter so many people Hairspray has drawn in the crowds and the love. Young star Nikki Blonsky is a true discovery in this role as Tracy Turnblad, but to single any actor out is ludicrous as this film shows what a true ensemble performance is. From Travolta in fat woman suits to Pfeiffer as a seductive, no holds-barred mother, to Allison Janney in a small but hilarious supporting turn. Hooray for Hairspray and its enormous heart.

Top 10 of 2007

10. Hairspray
9. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
8. I'm Not There
7. Paris Je T'aime
6. Once
5. Lars and the Real Girl
4. Juno
3. No Country for Old Men
2. Atonement
1. Into the Wild