Saturday, 24 May 2008

Two films top the Oscars shortlist

The nominations for the 80th Academy Awards have been announced, with 'No Country for Old Men' and 'There Will Be Blood' leading the shortlist with eight nominations each.
'Atonement', 'Juno' and 'Michael Clayton' have also received numerous nominations.
As expected Wicklow resident Daniel Day-Lewis has been nominated for a Best Actor Oscar for his performance in 'There Will Be Blood'.
The other nominees for Best Actor are: George Clooney ('Michael Clayton'), Johnny Depp ('Sweeney Todd'), Tommy Lee Jones ('In the Valley of Elah') and Viggo Mortensen ('Eastern Promises').
The Best Actress shortlist is: 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').
The nominees for Best Supporting Actor are: Casey Affleck ('The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford'), Javier Bardem ('No Country for Old Men'), Philip Seymour Hoffman ('Charlie Wilson's War'), Hal Holbrook ('Into the Wild') and Tom Wilkinson ('Michael Clayton').
Along with Irish teenager Saoirse Ronan, Cate Blanchett ('I'm Not There'), Ruby Dee ('American Gangster'), Amy Ryan ('Gone Baby Gone') and Tilda Swinton ('Michael Clayton') have been nominated in the Best Supporting Actress category.
Shortlisted for Best Director are: Julian Schnabel ('The Diving Bell and the Butterfly'), Jason Reitman ('Juno'), Tony Gilroy ('Michael Clayton'), Joel and Ethan Coen ('No Country for Old Men') and Paul Thomas Anderson ('There Will Be Blood').
The films nominated for Best Picture are: 'Atonement', 'Michael Clayton', 'No Country for Old Men', 'There Will Be Blood' and 'Juno'.
The five films nominated for Best Foreign Film are: 'The Counterfeiters' (Austria), 'Beaufort' (Israel), 'Katyn' (Poland), 'Mongol' (Kazakhstan) and '12' (Russia).
The nominees for Best Documentary Feature are: 'No End in Sight', 'Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience', 'Sicko', 'Taxi to the Dark Side' and 'War/Dance'. 
The nominees for Best Animated Film are: 'Persepolis', 'Ratatouille' and 'Surf's Up'.
The nominees for Best Adapted Screenplay are: Christopher Hampton ('Atonement'), Sarah Polley ('Away from Her'), Ronald Harwood ('The Diving Bell and the Butterfly'), Joel and Ethan Coen ('No Country for Old Men') and Paul Thomas Anderson ('There Will Be Blood').
The nominees for Best Original Screenplay are: Diablo Cody ('Juno'), Nancy Oliver ('Lars and the Real Girl'), Tony Gilroy ('Michael Clayton'), Jan Pinkava, Jim Capobianco and Brad Bird ('Ratatouille') and Tamara Jenkins ('The Savages').
For more on the Oscar nominations, click here and here.