The candidates for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role for the 80th Annual Academy Awards:

1. Casey Affleck for The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.
2. Javier Bardem for No Country for Old Men.
3. Philip Seymour Hoffman for Charlie Wilson’s War.
4. Hal Holbrook for Into the Wild.
5. Tom Wilkinson for Michael Clayton.

The Oscar goes to Javier Bardem.

The candidates for Best Achievement in Art Direction for the 80th Annual Academy Awards:

1. American Gangster: Arthur Max, Beth A. Rubino.
2. Atonement: Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer.
3. The Golden Compass: Dennis Gassner, Anna Pinnock.
4. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street: Dante Ferretti, Francesca Lo Schiavo.
5. There Will Be Blood: Jack Fisk, Jim Erickson.

The Oscar goes to Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.

The candidates for Best Achievement in Visual Effects for the 80th Annual Academy Awards:

1. The Golden Compass: Michael L. Fink, Bill Westenhofer, Ben Morris, Trevor Wood.
2. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End: John Knoll, Hal T. Hickel, Charlie Gibson, John Frazier.
3. Transformers: Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Russell Earl, John Frazier.

The Oscar went to The Golden Compass. The CGI in this movie was fantastic.

The candidates for Best Animated Feature Film of the Year were:

1. Persepolis: Vincent Paronaud, Marjane Satrapi.
2. Ratatouille: Brad Bird.
3. Surf’s Up: Ash Brannon, Chris Buck.

The winner was Ratatouille.

The candidates for Best Achievement in Directing (aka Best Director) for the 80th Annual Academy Awards are:

1. Paul Thomas Anderson for There Will Be Blood.
2. Ethan and Joel Coen for No Country for Old Men.
3. Tony Gilroy for Michael Clayton.
4. Jason Reitman for Juno.
5. Julian Schnabel for Scaphandre et le papillon, Le.

I’d like Reitman to win for Juno but I think Coens will take it. Anderson does have a good  chance though.

Alexandra Byrne won Best Achievement in Costume Design for Elizabeth: The Golden Age. She’s been nominated previously. Candidates for this Oscar were:

1. Albert Wolksy for Across the Universe.
2. Jacqueline Durran for Atonement.
3. Alexandra Byrne for Elizabeth: The Golden Age.
4. Marit Allen for Môme, La.
5. Colleen Atwood for Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.

Atonement had a good chance, but Shakespearean/ Victorian sets often fare better. (Expect The Other Boleyn Girl to be nominated next year.)

The candidates for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role (aka Best Supporting Actress) for the 80th Annual Academy Awards are:

1. Cate Blanchett for I’m Not There.
2. Ruby Dee for American Gangster.
3. Saoirse Ronan for Atonement.
4. Amy Ryan for Gone Baby Gone.
5. Tilda Swinton for Michael Clayton.

While Saoirse Ronan was incredibly convincing in Atonement, she’s only 13. Time aplenty for her to win later. I’m betting on either Cate Blanchett or Amy Ryan.

The candidates for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role (aka Best Supporting Actor) for the 80th Annual Academy Awards are:

1. Casey Affleck for The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.
2. Javier Bardem for No Country for Old Men.
3. Philip Seymour Hoffman for Charlie Wilson’s War.
4. Hal Holbrook for Into the Wild.
5. Tom Wilkinson for Michael Clayton.

From everything I’ve read or heard, Javier Bardem is taking this one.

The candidates for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role (aka Best Actress) for the 80th Annual Academy Awards are:

1. Cate Blanchett for Elizabeth: The Golden Age.
2. Julie Christie for Away From Her (2006).
3. Marion Cotillard for Môme, La.
4. Laura Linney for The Savages.
5. Ellen Page for Juno.

I have not see any of these movies by Juno and Away From Her are on my “to watch” list. My money is on Julie Christie because she’s reaching the end of her career. While Ellen Page might deserve an Oscar, she just turned 21 and has a long career ahead of her. Lots of time for her to win.

The candidates for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role (aka Best Actor) for the 80th Annual Academy Awards are:

1. George Clooney for Michael Clayton.
2. Daniel Day-Lewis for There Will Be Blood.
3. Johnny Depp for Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.
4. Tommy Lee Jones for In the Valley of Elah.
5. Viggo Mortensen for Eastern Promises.

In reflection, I’m surprised to realize that I’ve only seen Daniel Day-Lewis from the above list. He was incredible as a ruthless “oil man”. I’ve seen Day-Lewis in other films including My Left Foot, and he is a consummate actor. He deserves to be on this list.