Oscars 2008 - No Country For Old Men and There Will Be Blood lead nominations
Feature by Lizzie Guilfoyle
WITH EIGHT nominations apiece, the Coen brothers’ film No Country For Old Men and the historical epic There Will Be Blood have emerged as leading contenders at the 2008 Academy Awards.
Both are up for Best Motion Picture, along with Michael Clayton which received a total of seven nominations, Atonement also with seven and Juno with four.
As expected, Daniel Day-Lewis has been nominated for Best Actor in a leading role for his performance in There Will Be Blood. However, competition is tough with George Clooney (Michael Clayton), Johnny Depp (Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street), Tommy Lee Jones (In the Valley of Elah) and Viggo Mortensen (Eastern Promises) also in the running.
Meanwhile, Casey Affleck (The Assassination of Jesse James), Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men), Philip Seymour Hoffman (Charlie Wilson’s War), Hal Holbrook (Into the Wild) and Tom Wilkinson (Michael Clayton) have been shortlisted for Best Actor in a supporting role.
Nominations for another coveted award, Best Actress in a leading role, have gone to Cate Blanchett (Elizabeth: The Golden Age), Julie Christie (Away from Her), Marion Cotillard (La Vie en Rose), Laura Linney (The Savages) and Ellen Page (Juno).
Blanchett has, in fact, garnered two nominations – the second for Best Actress in a supporting role for her performance as the musician Bob Dylan in I’m Not There. Contenders also include Tilda Swinton (Michael Clayton) and Saoirse Ronan (Atonement).
Although equalling its number of Golden Globe Award nominations, the young stars of Atonement, Keira Knightley and James McAvoy, have, on this occasion, been overlooked by the judges.
Finally, in the Achievement in directing category, Ethan and Joel Coen are pitted against Tony Gilroy for Michael Clayton, Jason Reitman for teen pregnancy saga Juno, Paul Thomas Anderson for There Will Be Blood and Julian Schnabel for the French language film Diving Bell and The Butterfly.
The category for Best Animated Film will be between Pixar’s Ratatouille, Sony’s Surf’s Up and Persepolis.
While Best Foreign Language Film nominees include Austria’s The Counterfeiters and Russia’s 12.
Other notable nominees in different categories include veteran composer Alan Menken, who has three songs from Disney hit Enchanted nominated for best song, veteran cinematographer Roger Deakins, who has two nods for his work on The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford and No Country for Old Men, and Michael Moore, who is nominated for documentary Sicko.
The 80th Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements will be presented on Sunday, February 24, 2008, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood and Highland Center – writer’s strike permitting.