BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (Jan. 22) - "No Country for Old Men" and
"There Will Be Blood" led with eight Academy Awards nominations
each Tuesday, among them best picture and acting honors for Daniel
Day-Lewis and Javier Bardem - but it remained in doubt whether any
stars would cross striking writers' picket lines to attend the
ceremony.
"No Country for Old Men," a crime saga about a drug deal gone
bad, and "There Will Be Blood," a historical epic set in
California's oil boom years, will compete for best picture against
the melancholy romance "Atonement," the pregnancy comedy "Juno"
and the legal drama "Michael Clayton."
"Atonement" and "Michael Clayton" trailed with seven
nominations each, including best actor for George Clooney in the
title role of "Clayton." The lead players in "Atonement," Keira
Knightley and James McAvoy, were shut out on nominations, however,
with teenager Saoirse Ronin the only performer nominated for that
film, for supporting actress.
Past Oscar winner Cate Blanchett had two nominations as best
actress for the historical pageant "Elizabeth: The Golden Age,"
and as supporting actress for the Bob Dylan tale "I'm Not There."
On strike since Nov. 5, the Writers Guild of America refused to
let its members work on the Golden Globes, which prompted stars to
avoid the show in solidarity. Globe organizers were forced to scrap
their glitzy telecast and instead announce winners in a swift,
humdrum news conference, without anyone on hand to accept the
prizes.
Guild leaders have said that if the strike continues, they will
not allow writers to work on the Oscars, either, which might leave
nominees and other celebrities forced to choose between attending
the biggest night in show business on Feb. 24 or staying home to
avoid crossing picket lines.
"I would never cross a picket line ever. I couldn't," said
Tony Gilroy, a directing nominee for "Michael Clayton." "I'm a
20-year member of the Writers Guild. I think whatever they work out
is going to be one way or the other but no, I could never cross a
picket line. I think there's a lot of people who feel that way."
Viggo Mortenson, who received a best-acting bid for his
performance as a Russian mob member in "Eastern Promises," he
won't go if the strike is still on.
"But I have a feeling they'll solve it," he said. "I hope
they do. I'm sure my mom would like to see my on TV and so forth.
But if there's a strike I'm not crossing the line."
The acting categories generally played out as expected - with a
few surprises, including best actress nominee Laura Linney for
"The Savages" and best-actor nominee Tommy Lee Jones for "In the
Valley of Elah." Neither performance had been high on the awards
radar so far this Oscar season.
Best actress looks like a two-person duel between Julie
Christie, an Oscar winner for "Darling," as a woman succumbing to
Alzheimer's in "Away From Her" and Marion Cotillard as singer
Edith Piaf in "La Vie En Rose." Both won Golden Globes, Christie
for dramatic actress, Cotillard for musical or comedy actress. Yet
they face strong competition from Blanchett, Linney and relative
newcomer Ellen Page as a whip-smart pregnant teen in "Juno."
Day-Lewis, an Oscar winner for "My Left Foot," grabbed another
best-actor nomination as a flamboyant oil baron in "There Will Be
Blood," for which he could emerge as the favorite.
Along with Day-Lewis, Clooney, Mortenson and Jones, the other
nominee was Johnny Depp, who won the Globe for musical or comedy
actor as the vengeful barber in "Sweeney Todd."
- Oscars 2007 Red Carpet Photos
Hollywood, UNITED STATES: British actress Kate Winslet arrives at the 79th Academy Awards in Hollywood, California, 25 February 2007. (ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP/Getty Images)
- Oscars 2007 Red Carpet Photos
Hollywood, UNITED STATES: Best Supporting Actress Jennifer Hudson arrives at the 79th Academy Awards in Hollywood, California, 25 February 2007.(ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP/Getty Images)
- Oscars 2007 Red Carpet Photos
HOLLYWOOD - FEBRUARY 25: Actress Cate Blanchett attends the 79th Annual Academy Awards held at the Kodak Theatre on February 25, 2007 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)
- Oscars 2007 Red Carpet Photos
Hollywood, UNITED STATES: Actor Sasha Baron Cohen and fiancee Isla Fisher arrive at the 79th Academy Awards in Hollywood, California, 25 February 2007. (ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP/Getty Images)
- Oscars 2007 Red Carpet Photos
HOLLYWOOD - FEBRUARY 25: Actress Cameron Diaz attend the 79th Annual Academy Awards held at the Kodak Theatre on February 25, 2007 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Vince Bucci/Getty Images)
- Oscars 2007 Red Carpet Photos
HOLLYWOOD - FEBRUARY 25: Actor Ryan Gosling (C) with sister Mandi (L) and mother Donna (R) attend the 79th Annual Academy Awards held at the Kodak Theatre on February 25, 2007 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Vince Bucci/Getty Images)
- Oscars 2007 Red Carpet Photos
HOLLYWOOD - FEBRUARY 25: Jodie Foster attends the 79th Annual Academy Awards held at the Kodak Theatre on February 25, 2007 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Vince Bucci/Getty Images)
- Oscars 2007 Red Carpet Photos
Hollywood, UNITED STATES: Beyonce arrives on the red carpet for the 79th Annual Academy Awards in Hollywood, California, 25 February 2007. (HECTOR MATA/AFP/Getty Images)
- Oscars 2007 Red Carpet Photos
Hollywood, UNITED STATES: Jessica Biel arrives on the red carpet for the 79th Annual Academy Awards in Hollywood, California, 25 February 2007. (HECTOR MATA/AFP/Getty Images)
- Oscars 2007 Red Carpet Photos
Hollywood, UNITED STATES: Kirsten Dunst arrives on the red carpet for the 79th Annual Academy Awards in Hollywood, California, 25 February 2007. (HECTOR MATA/AFP/Getty Images)
With a Golden Globe and universal acclaim for his performance as
a relentless killer, Bardem looks like the closest thing to a
front-runner this Oscar season, which is unusually wide open for
best picture and other top categories.
Bardem is up against Casey Affleck, "The Assassination of Jesse
James by the Coward Robert Ford"; Philip Seymour Hoffman,
"Charlie Wilson's War"; Hal Holbrook, "Into the Wild"; Tom
Wilkinson, "Michael Clayton."
Joining Blanchett and Ronin in the supporting actress category
were Ruby Dee for "American Gangster," Amy Ryan for "Gone Baby
Gone" and Tilda Swinton for "Michael Clayton."
Snubbed along with Knightley and McAvoy was "Atonement"
director Joe Wright. Besides Gilroy, the directing nominees were
Paul Thomas Anderson, "There Will Be Blood"; Ethan Coen and Joel
Coen, "No Country for Old Men"; Jason Reitman, "Juno"; and
Julian Schnabel, "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly."
The Coens and Anderson also were nominated for writing the
screenplay adaptations of their films.
The wide-open awards season had left the field up in question,
and some other notable prospects were shut out, including past
Oscar winner Angelina Jolie for "A Mighty Heart," Helen Bonham
Carter for "Sweeney Todd," and Emile Hirsch for "Into the
Wild." Sean Penn also missed out on a directing nod for "Into the
Wild," as did Eddie Vedder, who was shut out in music categories.
Also left out of the Oscars completely was the hit musical
"Hairspray."
The fairy-tale comedy "Enchanted" had three of the five best
song nominations.
Michael Moore - who castigated President Bush over the Iraq War
in his best-documentary acceptance speech for "Bowling for
Columbine" in 2003 - is back in Oscar contention with his
health-care documentary "Sicko."
War-on-terror documentaries dominated the category, with
"Sicko" up against "No End in Sight," "Operation Homecoming:
Writing the Wartime Experience" and "Taxi to the Dark Side."
Even if the strike lingers, Oscar organizers insist their show
will go on, with or without writers.
"We're dealing with contingencies but we're thrusting ahead.
The point is, we're going to have a show, and we're going to give
these incredible artists what they're due. We're going to present
the Oscars on Feb. 24, and that is the important thing. Artists are
giving their fellow artists a one-time event in many of their
entire lives," said Sid Ganis, president of the Academy of Motion
Picture Arts and Sciences.
A glimmer of hope arose late last week as the Directors Guild of
America reached a deal with producers for a new contract. Many in
Hollywood are counting on that deal to help resuscitate
negotiations between writers and producers, who walked away from
the table Dec. 7.
If the two sides settle their differences in time for the
Oscars, the ceremony would become a dual celebration, honoring the
best in Hollywood from the previous year and the end of a season of
labor discontent that idled TV shows, delayed some movies and threw
thousands of production workers into unemployment.
The tentative contract for directors addressed a key issue for
writers - pay for films and TV shows that end up on the Internet
and other new media. But whether the terms of the directors' deal
would satisfy writers remains uncertain.
Oscar nominees are chosen in most categories by specific
branches of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, such
as actors, writers and directors. The academy's full membership of
about 5,800 was eligible to vote for best-picture nominations and
can cast ballots for the winners in all categories at the Oscar
ceremony itself.
Assuming the show comes off as scheduled, ABC will broadcast the
Oscars live Feb. 24 from Hollywood's Kodak Theatre. Jon Stewart -
who recently resumed "The Daily Show" on Comedy Central, but
without the help of his striking writers - will serve as Oscar
host, a job he also filled two years ago.
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