Oscar Nominee Reactions

Best Actor

George Clooney, Michael Clayton
Daniel Day-Lewis, No Country For Old Men
Johnny Depp, Sweeney Todd
Tommy Lee Jones, In the Valley of Elah
Viggo Mortensen, Eastern Promises

How I Did: 4/5 (Hirsch instead of Jones)

Wow! Tommy Lee Jones! That was a left-fielder. Maybe Hirsch and Gosling split the youth vote? So Jones did get at least one nomination for his two major performances this year. But I have to say, can we please have an Oscars without Paul Haggis?

Best Actress

Cate Blanchett, Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Julie Christie, Away From Her
Marion Cotillard, La Vie en Rose
Laura Linney, The Savages
Ellen Page, Juno

How I Did: 4/5 (Jolie instead of Linney)

Wow, Jolie was shut out! I'm surprised Linney knocked her out instead of Cate Blanchett, who has shot up from 3-time to 5-time nominee. (See also Best Supporting Actress.)

Best Supporting Actor

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
Tom Wilkinson, Michael Clayton

How I Did: 5/5 Swish!

Best Supporting Actress

Cate Blanchett, I'm Not There
Ruby Dee, American Gangster
Saoirse Ronan, Atonement
Amy Ryan, Gone Baby Gone
Tilda Swinton, Michael Clayton

How I Did: 4/5 (Keener instead of Ronan.)

So the kid made it, huh? Now I have to learn how to pronounce her first name. Hooray for Ruby Dee! (Or as it's pronounced in my house, Roooooooooo-beeeeeeeeee.)

Best Adapted Screenplay

Atonement, Christopher Hampton
Away From Her, Sarah Polley
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Ronald Harwood
No Country For Old Men, Ethan and Joel Coen
There Will Be Blood, Paul Thomas Anderson

How I Did: 4/5 (Into the Wild instead of Away From Her)

Yeeeaaah, Sarah Polley! Good for her! Here's where you start to see Into the Wild falling apart...

Best Original Screenplay

Juno, Diablo Cody
Lars and the Real Girl, Nancy Oliver
Michael Clayton, Tony Gilroy
Ratatouille, Brad Bird, Jim Capobianco, Jan Pinkava
The Savages, Tamara Jenkins

How I Did: 5/5 Swish!

Ms. Cody, Ms. Oliver, Ms. Jenkins, plus Ms. Polley in the Adapted category; the ladies are representin'!

Best Director

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Julian Schnabel
Juno, Jason Reitman
Michael Clayton, Tony Gilroy
No Country For Old Men, Ethan and Joel Coen
There Will Be Blood, Paul Thomas Anderson

How I Did: 4/5 (Into the Wild instead of Juno)

Woo-hoo for Jason Reitman! He's gotta be something like the 3rd or 4th youngest Best Director nominee ever. (I'll look it up and get back to you!) And he actually nabbed a Best Director nod while his father Ivan never has. Every father dreams of the day his son will...out-Oscar him. (That's a saying, right?) Ouch for Sean Penn; Into the Wild drops even further...

Best Picture

Atonement
Juno
Michael Clayton
No Country For Old Men
There Will Be Blood

How I Did: 4/5 (Into the Wild instead of Atonement)

...and the final thud for Into the Wild, which comes up with a mere 2 nominations, for Hal Holbrook and for Best Editing. Atonement made the cut after all. All hail Juno!

Other Categories

I haven't seen Persepolis yet, but in theory, I'm stoked that it was nominated for Animated Feature. But then they had to ruin it by nominating Surfs Up; What?!?! What the hell is that? Who likes that movie? Who over the age of 5 has seen it? The Simpsons Movie has been bitch-slapped, and I'm not happy.

Best Song, as always, is the kookiest category. I call for a thorough investigation of who these people are who vote on this award, and what they are smoking. For the second year in a row -- and the third time ever -- there are three song nominees from the same film. Really? They couldn't come up with anything else, they just voted for as many Enchanted songs as they could? On the bright side, this means if there is a telecast (please! please! please! I'm scared!), Amy Adams will be asked to perform these songs in some kind of medley, ala Dreamgirls last year. Amy Adams rules. I'm extremely annoyed the Musician's branch failed to nominate "Walk Hard" for Best Song. That would have meant nominations for its four songwriters: Judd Apatow, Jake Kasdan, and John C. Reilly, three of my favorite comedic talents, and Marshall Crenshaw, one of my husband's favorite twangy musicians. Plus that would have made for a Best Song performance on the show that is genuinely entertaining, which is apparently too much to ask for from this bizarre branch of the Academy. On the bright side, that lovely song from Once, by relatively obscure musicians Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, is nominated, and I would LOVE to see them perform on the show. It will be the most un-Beyonce, un-Celine Dion Best Song performance ever.

Finally, the Academy must be scolded for nominating Norbit for anything, even if it is just for Best Makeup. They should not encourage this sort of behavior, and you look like quite the dumb-ass of an institution when you nominate a film that topped the Razzie nominations the day before.