This is a guild that nominates 15 films in three categories, so it's a little difficult to judge how they may or may not translate in the actual Art Directio category (beyond knowing that contemporary films are almost always left out of the mix).  But it is certainly beneficial to see which films have clear insustry support.

The usual suspects are here: "Michael Clayton," "No Country for Old Men," "There Will Be Blood."  No "Juno" or "Into the Wild," but neither film showcases this craft.  However, with that in mind, "The Bourne Ultimatum" continues a stealthy trek through the guild precursor circuit by showing up in the contemporary category today.

"Atonement" gets its first guild mentions since the ASC mention at the beginning of the week (and what a long week it must have seemed to the Focus camp in that regard).  "American Gangster" also found its first industry love since two SAG nominations last month.

Finally, it has to be encouraging for Miramax to have "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" surprisingly pop up in the contemporary field.  As it continues to make a case for a Best Picture nomination, these guild citations only fuel the cause.

Here are the nominees:

PERIOD FILM:

"American Gangster" (Arthur Max)
"Atonement" (Sarah Greenwood)
"Elizabeth: The Golden Age" (Guy Hendrix Dyas)
"Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" (Dante Ferretti)
"There Will Be Blood" (Jack Fisk)

FANTASY FILM:

"The Golden Compass" (Dennis Gassner)
"Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" (Stuart Craig)
"Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" (Rick Heinrichs)
"Ratatouille" (Harley Jessup)
"300" (James Bissell)

CONTEMPORARY FILM:

"The Bourne Ultimatum" (Peter Wenham)
"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" (Michel Eric and Laurent Ott)
"The Kite Runner" (Carlos Conti)
"Michael Clayton" (Kevin Thompson)
"No Country for Old Men" (Jess Gonchor)

•  "There Will Be Blood" and "Zodiac" top a critics poll of the year's best. [indieWIRE]

•  Gerard Kennedy surveys the top contenders for Best Original Song. [In Contention]

•  Award Central begins its Golden Globes countdown in the Features department. [Variety]

•  Pete Hammond weighs in on SAG and the blows felt by "Atonement" and "Sweeney Todd" yesterday. [The Envelope]

•  But Tom O'Neil makes sure it's clear that the winner of Best Cast doesn't always forecast the winner of Best Picture. [Gold Derby]

•  And David Poland is bored with the announcement, as usual. [The Hot Blog]

•  Sasha Stone has a comparison chart for contending performances this Oscar season across three awards-giving bodies. [Awards Daily]

•  Gurus 2.0 go on the record again, pre-SAG, having hastily knocked "Into the Wild" down far too many pegs in response to the HFPA near shut-out. [Movie City News]

•  Nathaniel Rogers can't get "Sweeney" tunes out of his head. [The Film Experience]

•  Hank Rosenfeld draws out the similarities between Nicole Kidman's evil Ms. Coulter ("The Golden Compass") and conservative nut-job Ann Coulter. [Los Angeles Times]

•  Scott Bowles gets in some quality time with Daniel Day-Lewis. [USA Today]

•  And a final list of awards designations before the holiday, courtesy of yours truly. [In Contention]

Erik Childress' "Oscar Eye" column has the full list of Chicago Film Critics nominations mixed in with his tally of who's won what.  You have to kind of pick things out, but the full list is there.

"No Country for Old Men" and "There Will Be Blood" continue to show up, but the group went out of its way to personally champion "Once" in more than a few areas, including Best Picture.

Casey Affleck popped up again for his supporting turn in "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford," while Viggo Mortensen found some Best Actor love for his work in David Cronenberg's "Eastern Promises."  Frank Langella also made another appearance in the lead field for "Starting Out in the Evening."

Another key contender showing up in the nominations is "Zodiac," which managed citations for Best Director (david Fincher) and Best Adapted Screenplay.

"Michael Clayton" led the way with seven nominations.  "Blood" wasn't far behind with six.  Nothing for "The Kite Runner" or "Sweeney Todd."

Best Picture
"Into the Wild"
"Michael Clayton"
"No Country for Old Men"
"Once"
"There Will Be Blood"

Best Director
Paul Thomas Anderson, "There Will Be Blood"
Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, "No Country for Old Men"
Tony Gilroy, "Michael Clayton"
David Fincher, "Zodiac"
Jason Reitman, "Juno"

Best Actor
George Clooney, "Michael Clayton"
Daniel Day-Lewis, "There Will Be Blood"
Ryan Gosling, "Lars and the Real Girl"
Frank Langella, "Starting Out in the Evening"
Viggo Mortensen, "Eastern Promises"

Best Actress
Julie Christie, "Away from Her"
Marion Cotillard, "La Vie en Rose"
Angelina Jolie, "A Mighty Heart"
Laura Linney, "The Savages"
Ellen Page, "Juno"

Best Supporting Actor
Casey Affleck, "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford"
Javier Bardem, "No Country for Old Men"
Phillip Seymour Hoffman, "Charlie Wilson's War"
Hal Holbrook, "Into the Wild"
Tom Wilkinson, "Michael Clayton"

Best Supporting Actress
Cate Blanchet, "I'm Not There"
Jennifer Jason Leigh, "Margot at the Wedding"
Leslie Mann, "Knocked Up"
Amy Ryan, "Gone Baby Gone"
Tilda Swinton, "Michael Clayton"

Best Adapted Screenplay
"Atonement"
"Into the Wild"
"No Country for Old Men"
"There Will Be Blood"
"Zodiac"

Best Original Screenplay
"Before the Devil Knows You're Dead"
"Juno"
"Michael Clayton"
"Ratatouille"
"The Savages"

Best Cinematography
"The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford"
"Atonement"
"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"
"No Country for Old Men"
"There Will Be Blood"

Best Score
"The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford"
"Atonement"
"Lust, Caution"
"Once"
"There Will Be Blood"

Best Animated Feature
"Beowulf"
"Meet the Robinsons"
"Persepolis"
"Ratatouille"
"The Simpsons Movie"

Best Foreign Film
"4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days"
"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"
"La Vie en Rose"
"Lust, Caution"
"The Orphanage"

Best Documentary
"Darfur Now"
"The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters"
"Lake of Fire"
"No End in Sight"
"Sicko"

Promising Director
Ben Affleck, "Gone Baby Gone"
John Carney, "Once"
Craig Gillespie, "Lars and the Real Girl"
Tony Gilroy, "Michael Clayton"
Sarah Polley, "Away from Her"

Promising Performer
Nikki Blonsky, "Hairspray"
Michael Cera, "Juno"/"Superbad"
Glen Hansard, "Once"
Carice van Houten, "Black Book"
Tang Wei, "Lust, Caution"

•  Variety has a SAG Awards preview, including Zachary Pincus-Roth's chat with casting directors about finding the right balance in front of the camera. [Variety]

•  According to Tom O'Neil, Russell Crowe will be competing against himself in the lead category at the Golden Globes. [Gold Derby]

•  Sasha Stone catches up to "Charlie Wilson's War." [Awards Daily]

•  Pete Hammond scopes out the screening and Q&A scene, including a "rare" appearance by Jack Nicholson in front of the SAG earlier in the week. [The Envelope]

•  Gerard Kennedy surveys the Best Film Editing landscape. [In Contention]

•  Brian Kinsley makes some Golden Globe comedy/musical predictions. [In Contention]

•  Todd McCarthy digs into "The Golden Compass." [Variety]

•  So does David Poland. [The Hot Blog]

•  Poland also has lunch with the stars of "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly." [The Hot Blog]

•  Martin Grove, meanwhile, talks to director Julian Schnabel. [The Hollywood Reporter]

•  The Gurus o' Gold make acting category calls. [Movie City News]

•  The year's first top 10 list surfaces...well, top 50.  [Paste Magazine]

•  Lou Lumenick calls "Atonement" the "most achingly romantic movie since 'Titanic.'" [New York Post]

•  Peter Knegt makes another set of predictions. [indieWIRE]

•  Oh yeah, and non-review reactions to "Sweeney Todd," from Tom O'Neil... [Gold Derby]

•  ...and yours truly. [In Contention]

"Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" screened on both coasts tonight.  Tom O'Neil has hustled in a reaction from the NYC crowd, but personally, I think his adoration has gone overboard.

According to O'Neil, many in attendance were quite positive on the film.  A large number also apparently thought the film can make a run for a Best Picture nomination, a scenario many have considered in recent months.

I have to say, I strongly disagree, having seen the film tonight as well, but there is an embargo in place.  So that (and this) is pretty much where opinion has to end, for now.

Additionally, many in O'Neil's audience didn't think the film could win the big prize, but his advocation continues when he draws attention to "The Departed" winning last year.  Big difference, Tom O.  Big, giant, huge difference between Martin Scorsese being due and Tim Burton being due.

Anyway, Tom says 'Sweeney" is the best he's seen all year.  Oh, and "the most important movie of 2007."  He also says the film "makes viewers feel so deeply in profound emotional and psychological ways, that it will haunt [them], on many levels, long afterward."  And apparently, people staying through the credits means they are "utterly spellbound" or "dumb struck" by what they've just seen.

•  David Poland reports Cate Blanchett's lead actress push for "I'm Not There." [The Hot Blog]

•  Jeffrey Wells thinks the idea stinks. [Hollywood Elsewhere]

•  Tom O'Neil reports that Miramax studio executives are trying "to get to the bottom of the rumor." [Gold Derby]

•  Nathaniel Rogers writes up the effect Golden Globe placement has on actor/actress campaigns. [The Film Experience]

•  Anne Thompson, meanwhile, offers perspective on the typical jockeying for position. [Thompson on Hollywood]

•  Back to Wells, he's got a chat with "4 months, 3 weeks & 2 Days" director Christian Mungiu... [Hollywood Elsewhere]

•  ...offers some not-so-kind thoughts on Amy Adams and here Best Actress-aiming performcnace in "Enchanted"... [Hollywood Elsewhere]

•  ...and ponders 2007 as 1999-ish in its broad swoop of quality cinema -- all in a slew of updates over the weekend.  Sleep, Jeffrey.  Sleep. [Hollywood Elsewhere]

•  Brian Kinsley caught Peter Jackson snoozing in "Beowulf." [In Contention]

•  Susan King talks to Janusz Kaminski about his innovative lensing of "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly." [The Envelope]

•  Lou Lumenick loved "Starting Out in the Evening" and commends the Best Actor push for Frank Langella. [New York Post]

•  Peter Knegt responds to Variety's story re: quality, but genre-handicapped performances. [indieWIRE]

•  Sasha Stone gets to "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford," talks up Roger Deakins. [Awards Daily]

While reading through Jeffrey Wells' review today of "There Will Be Blood," I saw that he was calling composer Jonny Greenwood a "guaranteed Oscar nominee" for his admittedly brilliant and maniacal score.  My question is, can we really expect such an insular and typically traditional branch to go there?

First and foremost, this is a group of people who nominate the same in-crowd seemingly each and every time out.  There may be hope, however.  As Gerard Kennedy pointed out two weeks back, "From 2000 to 2003, only two of the twenty nominated composers were new nominees. This has changed somewhat in the past three years, as seven first-time nominees have been cited."

Second, this is a score -- by no means traditional -- that plagues the mind as much as the character of Daniel Plainview (and there's probably another blog post bouncing around in my mind asking whether there is precedent for a character so deplorable winning the Best Actor trophy).  There is a theme, but it isn't prevalent in the "John Williams school of thinking," which God love Greenwood, is a major plus.  But has the branch really matured enough to allow such uncomparable greatness to push past the mediocrity they sometimes allow?

Or, could this all be cynicism on my part?  Could the Dario Marianellis and the Alexandre Desplats, the Marco Beltramis and the Jonny Greenwoods finally be claiming their piece of the action away from long-time standards like Mr. Williams, Thomas Newman and James Horner, to name a few?  The Academy en masse has certainly made it apparent in the last two years that new blood isn't a faux pa, effortlessly handing the Oscar to Gustavo Santaolalla two years running.

Perhaps the branch is ready to adhere to such outside-the-box thinking?

Paramount Vantage has added costume design sketches and production design sketches of "The Kite Runner" to their VantageGuilds.com website.  Give it a look.  It could go a long way in garnering branch support for the film, or, at the very least, assist in flooding the beat with material for a film that could be warm-hearted enough to push into Best Picture contention.

•  Anne Thompson runs down the outlets spreading "Sweeney Todd" test screening reactions. [Thompson on Hollywood]

•  Brian Kinsley starts a dialogue positing Fox Searchlight's "Juno" as a Best Picture winner. [In Contention]

•  Mark Olsen brings the news that the Hollywood Foreign Press Association is changing its foreign language film rules, no longer allowing films of U.S. origin to qualify for the category. [The Envelope]

•  The trades pick up the story. [Variety, The Hollywood Reporter]

•  And Ryan C. Adams responds to the news. [Awards Daily]

•  The Gurus 2.0 stick with "There Will Be Blood" in their Best Picture predictions, same as the main group (hmph), give their own thoughts on the ladies' categories.  And for some reason four of them consider Julie Roberts an "expected nominee."  Really? [Movie City News]

•  After a week's worth of coverage in this space, the Best Original Song category gets a look from Todd Martens, with a few unmentioned tracks tossed in to spice things up. [Extended Play]

•  Pete Hammond spins the typical "could one of the year's critically acclaimed animated films get a Best Picture nomination" talk for what it's worth. [The Envelope]

•  Tom O'Neil touts his prediction that "Sweeney Todd" will win Best Picture... [Gold Derby]

•  ...and adds some Hersholt Award thoughts for good measure. [Gold Derby]

•  Jeffrey Wells hears from an unnamed source that an unnamed HFPA member apparently isn't keen on Robert Zemeckis' "Beowulf." [Hollywood Elsewhere]

•  Scott Feinberg shows yet more Diablo Cody love and apparently thinks "Juno" is the "prohibitive favorite" to win Best Original Screenplay based on......not really sure about that part, actually. [And the Winner Is...]

I swear I'll get off the original song kick at some point, but the more I listen to Eddie Vedder's soundtrack for "Into the Wild," the more I feel like "Guaranteed" might not be the flagship song for the film.  Or, at least it shouldn't be.

"Guaranteed" is the track Paramount Vantage expects to have the most potential within the music branch, and it's already front and center at the VantageGuilds.com webpage for the pic.  What is attractive about this choice is how the song is used in a variety of ways throughout the film, either in full, purely instrumental or through Vedder's vocals and/or humming.  But I think the better track is "Society," a fuller song in the verse-chorus-versus sense and obviously used in an integral way in the film -- it's the song playing when McCandless is setting up his new home in the bus upon arrival to Alaska.

"Society" is the longer song, if that happens to matter, but it also speaks directly to the themes of the narrative like no other song in the film.  Not for nothing, I think the song might be the most meaningful and organic piece of music written for a major motion picture since Aimee Mann's "Save Me" from the "Magnlia" soundtrack in 1999.

Admittedly I'm not the Academy demographic here.  After all, I thought last year's best song was probably "In the End" from "Shortbus."

Anyway, check out the lyrics to "Society" for yourself and judge:

It's a mystery to me.
We have a Greed, with which we have agreed.

And you think you have to want more than you need.
Until you have it all, you won't be Free.

Society, you're a crazy breed.
I hope you're not lonely without me.

When you want more than you have, you think you need.
And when you think more than you want your thoughts begin to bleed.

I think I need to find a bigger place.
'Cause when you have more than you think you need more space.

Society, crazy indeed.
Hope you're not lonely, without me.

There's those thinking more less, less is more.
But if less is more, how you keepin' score?

Means for every point you make your level drops.
Kinda like you're startin' from the top.
And you can't do that.

Society, you're a crazy breed
Hope you're not lonely without me.

Society, crazy indeed
Hope you're not lonely without me.

Society, have mercy on me.
Hope you're not angry if I disagree.

Society, you're a crazy breed
I hope you're not lonely without me.

I neglected to mention the Glen Ballard/Alan Silvestri track "A Hero Comes Home," from the "Beowulf" soundtrack, in Saturday's item.  The duo was nominated in 2004 for "Believe" from "The Polar Express."

Also, it seems the Annie Lennox tune "Lost" from "In the Valley of Elah" isn't getting a push from Warner Independent after all.  Maybe they know that a closing credits track just won't fly anymore.

Finally, Roger Friedman is reporting that "The Golden Compass" will contain songs from Coldplay, but there is no indication as to whether it will be original material or not.

Finally, Todd Martens is tossing about speculation regarding tracks from "Dan in Real Life" at The Envelope.

Looking through the RSVP sidebar of a screening schedule for Warner's upcoming "The Bucket List," my eye was drawn to a contender for Best Original Song that I hadn't come across yet.  The track is called "Say" and both the lyric and vocal are by John Mayer.  Perhaps a soft, breathy track from the celebrated vocalist can get into the mix for a seemingly warm-hearted movie like this one?

The original song category already seems stacked this year as opposed to previous years where it seemed stretched a bit thin.  To begin, there's already four songs from Sean Penn's "Into the Wild" in play.  All are from Pearl Jam front man Eddie Vedder.  "Guaranteed" is the track prevalent throughout the film, and therefore might be deemed the most attractive choice.  "Society," however, is also integral to the narrative and could push through.  Vedder, you might recall, was passed over by the Academy in 2003 for his song "Man of the Hour" on the "Big Fish" soundtrack.

Paramount Vantage is getting out ahead of their music contenders again this year, mind you.  A modest event is already scheduled next weekend with Penn on the scene and Vedder crooning three of the tracks from the movie live.

Marc Shaiman, meanwhile, added three new tunes to the "Hairspray" set list that have to be taken seriously.  Most seem to be leaning on the Zac Efron ditty "Ladies' Choice."
 
Speaking of musicals, the little summer film that could -- "Once" -- is adding a one-two punch with "Falling Slowly" and "If You Want Me" (the former seems to be the best bet).

Alan Menken is back on the scene with Stephen Schwartz in Disney's "Enchanted."  Apparently the duo wrote a whopping five new songs for the film, which is already garnering lead actress buzz for Amy Adams.

Elsewhere there's the closing credits number "Lost" from Annie Lennox on "In the Valley of Elah."  However, given the song's usage, it might not pass the test.  New rules figure in the way a song is integrated into the film and the story.

There's also new Shakira material in "Love in the Time of Cholera," namely a track called "La Despidida."  And will Stephen Sondheim offer new material to the soundtrack of "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street?"  I'm in the dark on that one.

So that's 18 potential contenders without breaking a sweat.  There are others eligible, but these seem to be the real threats.