Alright, during the first commercial break, the testosterone section here at Poinsettia and Sunset talked Jon Stewart's on-the-mark opening monologue and costume design, of all things.  The guys thought "Elizabeth: The Golden Age" deserved the win, though I might be a little torn.  The threads in "Sweeney Todd" were quite amazing, I thought.  But the first award of the night is out of the way, and here's what we had to say about it.

Variety has the story on last night's Costume Designers Guild Awards, where Colleen Atwood ("Sweeney Todd"), Ann Roth ("The Golden Compass") and Julie Weiss ("Blades of Glory") reigned supreme.  The question lingering is, will Atwood turn the same trick at the Oscars?

Not so fast.

While Atwood has two Oscars to her credit ("Chicago" and "Memoirs of a Geisha"), she now has a whopping five trophies from the guild, adding "Lemony Snicket's a Series of Unfortunate Events," "Sleepy Hollow" and, now, "Sweeney" to the list.

The guild clearly loves her, having even nominated her for "Planet of the Apes" in 2000.

Incidentally, I was over at the FIDM fashion institute downtown this afternoon checking out the film costume design showcase and one of the curators was going on and on about how "nice" and "cool" Atwood is.  She's a legend in the field, but that doesn't always translate over to the Academy at large, so be careful.

Jacqueline Durran and Alexandra Byrne are still heavy favorites to take this statuette.  The latter, especially, features wall-to-wall garbs that might be too intoxicating to pass up, much like last year's "Marie Antoinette."  The former, meanwhile, has that sparkling green dress and plenty of period threads to prove a suitable winner.  It's a tight race, but Atwood's win yesterday evening doesn't add as much steam as one might think, so go with the gut here (which, for some, may very well be Atwood).

And check out Salini Dore's FIDM film costume design exhibit profile if you just can't get enough.

Last night's ACE Eddie Awards ceremony at the Beverly Hilton was an airy affair with lots of respect for the craft and plenty of entertainment to go around.

Emcee Patton Oswalt was a riot, steering clear, for the most part, of industry jokes and just doing the tap dance of his comedy routine in between segments.

Christopher Rouse pulled off a quasi-surprise (to those expecting a near sweep for "No Country for Old Men" through the guilds circuit), winning in the dramatic feature category for his work on "The Bourne Ultimatum."

Word has it that it was a landslide victory, and I have to say, the room seemed more than enthused by the work that went into putting together Paul Greengrass' summer thrill-ride.  Just before actress Julie Benz read off Rouse's name, a few people in the crowd shouted out "Bourne!"

I spoke with Rouse in the green room after his win, which he said caught him totally off guard.  He was quite humbled when I posited the notion that audiences perhaps take away from "Bourne" the craft of the editing, the intensity of the visual menagerie, whether they realize it or not.  He may indeed be on his way to an Oscar as well.

Rouse is currently hard at work over on the Universal lot cutting Greengrass' "Green Zone," an Iraq drama inspired by Rajiv Chandrasekaran's "Imperial Life in the Emerald City."

"Juno" was also a favorite in the room, judging by reactions to Jason Reitman as a presenter, Dana Glauberman's name when mentioned here and there, etc.  However, Chris Lebenzon, an old pro at this stuff, reigned in the comedy category for "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street."

Oh, just before presenting the award to Lebenzon, filmmaker Michael Moore told a gut-busting story about why he owes his career to the Bush family.

It turns out, nearly 20 years ago, when he was working on the groundbreaking "Roger & Me," Moore knew nothing but nothing of the editing trade.  So vast was his ignorance that the first 20 hours he shot were slateless, because he didn't know what the heck a slate was.  He and his crew kept waiting for people to "pop their p's" so they could sync up the sound (yikes).

Moore said he called up an aqcuaintance, an editor in New York, and asked him to help out because he was, quite honestly, floundering in putting his doc together.  Later the next year, in January of 1989, while watching the inauguration of George Bush, Sr., Moore noticed his editorial savior in the crowd behind the new leader of the free world and wondered how he could have managed a spot on the stage.

As it turns out, the editor in question was Bush's nephew.  He didn't want to tell Moore at the time, Moore said, and he also mentioned that he "had this crazy cousin," Bush, Jr.  "Thank you, Bush family," Moore said, the crowd giggling along with him.

Moore also said that he bumped into Oscar telecast producer Gil Cates in the lobby area, "You know, the guy who played me off the stage last time," Moore said.  Cates apparently had apologized, telling Moore he wouldn't do it again.

Uh oh.

The night was full of touching tributes, including a hilarious presentation of the Golden Eddie to filmmaker Norman Jewison by comedic legend Carl Reiner.  William Friedkin, meanwhile, offered a great tribute to Lifetime Achievement recipient Bud Smith, who has worked with the director on more than a few endeavors, including "The Exorcist," "Sorceror" and "To Live and Die in L.A."

Cates, by the way, was on hand to present the great Millie Moore with her Lifetime Achievement Award.

Probably the most heart-felt moment of the evening came just before Hal Holbrook presented one of the night's awards.  He told a long and detailed story about how "Into the Wild" editor Jay Cassidy played around with the final scene between Holbrook's Ron Franz and Emile Hirsch's Chris McCandless in the film,.  Cassidy ultimately decided to interupt the sequence with a scene depicting Hirsch on the cusp of peril in Alaska before coming back to the emtional jeep scene for which Holbrook is so often remembered in the film.

Holbrook said he's spent much of his life somewhat oblivious to what editors add to the filmmaking process, and that his work on this film and his observations of Cassidy's work, specifically, brought him in tune with something he now sees as one of the most valuable aspects of the industry.  "Without Jay's decisions," Holbrook said," I would have never been nominated for an Academy Award."

Speaking of "Into the Wild," I also spoke with composer Michael Brook just before the show.  Most of it was talk of London, his former home, but we did touch on his score's disqualification by the Academy.  He said he was certainly surprised because, though there are plenty of songs in the pic, there is certainly no lack of score.  We both agreed there should be some changes in the branch's qualification process, a hot button issue in the awards watching community as of late.

Here are some pics from the show:


Christopher Rouse accepts the dramatic feature trophy for "The Bourne Ultimatum."



Michael Moore, mid-anecdote, just before presenting the comedy feature prize to Chris Lebenzon.



Lifetime Achivement Award presenter Gil Cates.



Presenter Jason Reitman, on cloud nine as of late.



One of our great treasures, Golden Eddie recipient Norman Jewison.



Bud Smith, refusing to get into a speech and ofering a simple
"thank you," as Billy Friedkin watches on.



Your comedy nominees...



...and the dramas.

The American Cinema Editors handed out a slew of awards this evening that included top honors for "The Bourne Ultimatum" and "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" in the drama and comedy categories for narrative features.  Michael Moore's "Sicko" won out in the documentary field.

"Bourne" was sliced and diced into one of the summer's most successful actioners by Christopher Rouse, a longtime collaborator of director Paul Greengrass, while Tim Burton alumn Chris Lebenzon managed editorial duties on the December musical "Sweeney."  Geoffrey Richman, Chris Seward and Dan Swietlik edited Moore's health care doc.

Norman Jewison received the ACE Golden Eddie Filmmaker of the Year Award, as previously announced.

The occassion marks only the second miss for "No Country for Old Men" during the guild circuit (the other being with the cinematographers last month) as the Coen brothers' composite "Roderick Jaynes" has yet to be embraced by the editing community.

"Bourne" is largely seen as the favorite to win the editing Oscar as well.

(I am at the event presently and will report on the evening's goings-on later tonight.)

Another day another awards show.  I will be at the ACE Awards dinner this evening at the Beverly Hilton and will report back on the festivities later tonight.

The feature film nominees:

Best Edited Feature Film (Dramatic):
"The Bourne Ultimatum," Christopher Rouse, A.C.E.
"Into the Wild," Jay Cassidy, A.C.E.
"Michael Clayton," John Gilroy, A.C.E.
"No Country for Old Men," Roderick Jaynes
"There Will Be Blood," Dylan Tichenor, A.C.E.

Best Edited Feature Film (Comedic):
"Hairspray," Michael Tronick, A.C.E.
"Juno," Dana E. Glauberman
"Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End," Craig Wood & Steven E. Rivkin, A.C.E.
"Ratatouille," Darren Holmes, A.C.E.
"Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street," Chris Lebenzon, A.C.E.

Best Edited Documentary:
"Darfur Now," Edgar Burcksen, A.C.E. & Leonard Feinstein
"The Pixar Story," Leslie Iwerks & Stephen Myers, A.C.E.
"Sicko," Geoffrey Richman, Chris Seward & Dan Swietlik

I'll be attending tonight's Cinema Audio Society Awards at the Millennium Biltmore downtown and will try to post some commentary and pics from the event later this evening.

Greg P. Russell and Kevin O'Connell, of course, are trying not only for their first Oscar win this year, but for their first embrace from their peers in the society.  However, "No Country for Old Men" has become a popular choice in the guild circuit and, indeed, has been championed for its creative aural touches by the sound community as a whole.  So it'll be interesting to see how things play out.

Tomorrow the American Cinema Editors dish out their kudos.  From what I'm hearing, "The Bourne Ulatimatum" should reign triumphant there and not the Coens' Roderick Jaynes composite, believe it or not.  I think the Oscars might follow suit there.

And finally, the Art Directors Guild will hand out awards in three categories.  The period field will be the one to watch, where three Oscar nominees square off against one another: "Atonement," "Sweeney Todd" and "There Will Be Blood."

Actor in a Leading Role  Johnny Depp
Art Direction  Dante Ferretti (Art Direction); Francesca Lo Schiavo (Set Decoration)
Costume Design  Colleen Atwood

(This interview was set to go up yesterday afternoon; then the news of Heath Ledger's untimely death hit and it just didn't seem like the time.  I'm running it now in its entirety, and in the hopes that we can all move back into the normal activities of this blog.  It is, of course, with a heavy heart that we do so.)

With all the Oscar reactions being bandied about today, it seems you can go to any of a dozen sites and see similar comments coming from Amy Ryan, Marion Cotillard, Saoirse Ronan, etc.  Poor folks, I’m sure they’re getting tired of rattling off the same responses over and over.  Then again, they’re Oscar nominees now.  It would probably take a lot to push them off of cloud nine at this point.

My instinct this morning, however, wasn’t to catch up with the 20 individuals cited in the acting categories, but instead, to call up Greg P. Russell, who received his 12th – yes, 12th – Oscar nomination this year in the Best Sound Mixing category for “Transformers.”

Russell ended an 12-year partnership with fellow mixer Kevin O’Connell in 2007.  “Transformers” stands as the duo’s final collaboration.  But Oscar gold, as you have no doubt heard by now, has remained elusive for these two respected vets.  O’Connell’s 20th nomination today stands as the most nods without a win, while Russell’s 12th bid isn’t too far behind.

Calling from Sony Studios in Culver City, where he has been working on the mix for Paul Weiland’s upcoming “Made of Honor,” Russell told me that he was greeted with a massive bouquet of balloons from his wife and daughter.  Such an elaborate arrangement has become something of a tradition, given that this year’s announcement was certainly not the mixer’s first bar-be-cue.  But this time, there was something slightly different about the bouquet.

“It's a huge arrangement,” Russell said, “upwards of 15 feet tall.  And this year, it's all gold.  I just called them and said ‘I hope that translates!’”

The prospect of finally bringing home that first win is extra special to Russell this time around because of the fitting denouement it would be to his collaboration with O’Connell.  In fact, it was his co-nominee who called Russell this morning with the news of their nomination after Russell ran into troubles logging on to the internet to see for himself.

“Being a sound guy, I don’t think there’s any better sound than the phone ringing on a morning like this,” Russell said.  “Kevin and I have had such an extraordinary run.  It would be a poignant way to finish out our tenure together.”

I took a moment to get Russell’s thoughts on his fellow nominated mixers, and right off the top, he said that the field of contenders is a very satisfactory one full of talented and deserving individuals.  The only drag, he said, was that he hasn’t been able to see one of the nominees: “The Bourne Ultimatum.”

“You know, I saw the first two, but my wife never saw ‘The Bourne Supremacy,’” he said.  “Every time we’d pull out screeners, she would say ‘wait, I haven’t seen the second one!’  All I can tell you is I know Scott Milan and I love his work.  His signature is one of distinction and attention to detail.  Both of the other films in the trilogy sounded fantastic and were worthy of the possibility of a nomination, and clearly this one was, too.”

On “3:10 to Yuma,” mixed by a crew headed up by five-time nominee Paul Massey:

“I liked that movie a lot.  I felt like the sound was truly a character within the film.  It was a very clean-sounding, articulate sound job, well-crafted and well-mixed.”

On finding himself in the company of 12-time nominee Randy Thom, who racked up nominations 13 and 14 for Brad Bird’s “Ratatouille” this morning:

“I love what Randy does with these Pixar films,” he said.  “They’re just so unique and clever.  It’s a well-deserved representation of sound editing and sound mixing.  And Michael Semanick was on board with that.  He just blows me away.  The quality of his films and his versatility, this year on ‘Sweeney Todd’ and ‘There Will be Blood,’ it just always impresses me.”

And finally, on what has been considered one of the most creatively mixed films of the year – “No Country for Old Men”:

“I thought it was very interesting and that things weren’t competing; you could really feel the sense of isolation with the lack of music driving through the scenes.  People were talking about this sound job early on and there was a buzz about it in the sound community based on the bold choices being made.”

Russell’s biggest sigh of relief, he joked, was that there wasn’t a musical in the mix (so to speak) this year.  He and O’Connell have certainly had their battles with musicals, having lost in the past to “Chicago,” “Ray” and, just last year, “Dreamgirls.”  Nonetheless, the exclusion of “Hairspray” and “Sweeney Todd” from this year’s list certainly caught Russell off guard.

“I have to say, there were surprises,” he said.  “But I really like the playing field.  They’re first-rate sound jobs across the board.”

The only specter lingering over Russell’s hopeful date with Oscar destiny is the prospect of a win without a telecast.  The writers’ guild strike has left plans for this year’s ceremony up in the air without any real indication of what to expect.  Producer Gil Cates continues to assure the media and fans that a show of some sort will happen, but real answers have been few and far between.  Win, lose or draw, however, Russell would rather see the winners of this year’s Academy Awards given their day in the sun than watch the event wither into film awards obscurity like this year's Golden Globes announcement.

“I’m really hoping they work out whatever deal they need to present a show,” Russell said.  “This is the pinnacle in entertainment.  After the fiasco of the Golden Globes, I think people are really looking forward to the satisfaction.  And, I mean, come on – it’s the 80th Oscars.  The 80th Oscars.  There has to be a show.”

I first came across this factoid in the comments section of yesterday's "Oscar history" entry from a reader named Chris, and again today I see that Pete Hammond is making the assertion.  But apparently, if "Atonement" and "Sweeney Todd" both miss out on Best Picture nominations next week (as it seems they will), it will be the second time in the history of life as we know it that neither of the Golden Globe Best Picture winners received a nod from the Academy.  And you have to go way back to 1955 to find the only other instance.

I've said it a million times and I'll say it a million more: WEIRD YEAR.

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)

"Into the Wild," "Juno," "Michael Clayton," "No Country for Old Men" and "There Will Be Blood" were among the nominees of today's American Cinema Editor awards, likely solidifying the final line-up for Best Picture.  Hopefuls like "Atonement" and "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" were ignored by the guild, the former having gone 1/5 with the industry's guild announcements over the last few weeks.

Here are the ACE's nominees:


BEST EDITED FEATURE FILM (DRAMATIC):

"The Bourne Ultimatum" (Christopher Rouse)
"Into the Wild" (Jay Cassidy)
"Michael Clayton" (John Gilroy)
"No Country for Old Men" (Roderick Jaynes)
"There Will Be Blood" (Dylan Tichenor)


BEST EDITED FEATURE FILM (COMEDY OR MUSICAL):

"Hairspray" (Michael Tronick)
"Juno" (Dana E. Glauberman)
"Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End" (Craig Wood & Stephen E. Rivkin)
"Ratatouille" (Darren Holmes)
"Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" (Chris Lebenzon)

•  Alexandra Peers has the scoop on Julian Schnabel's latest art exhibit, "Navigations," amidst critical and industry kudos for "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly." [Vulture]

•  Dave Karger sits down with "In the Valley of Elah" and "No Country for Old Men" star Tommy Lee Jones. [Entertainment Weekly]

•  NBC is set to loose a bundle due to cancellation of the Golden Globes telecast. [Wall Street Journal]

•  The soundtrack to "Juno" lands at #8 on the Billboard charts. ("Sonic Youth sucks.  It's just noise.") [Extended Play]

•  The People's Choice Awards weren't much of a hit with the "people." [Variety]

•  "No Country" wins yet another Best Picture award, this time from the Online Film Critics Society. [Variety]

•  Jeffrey Wells is four-square behind "I drink your milkshake" as a marketing must for Paramount Vantage's "There Will Be Blood" Oscar campaign. [Hollywood Elsewhere]

•  David Poland talks to "Sweeney Todd" helmer Tim Burton. [The Hot Blog]

•  Nathaniel Rogers launches a new podcast series, beginning with the heart-stopping Marisa Tomei.  (Hey, she stops my heart.) [The Film Experience]

•  Oh yeah...Gurus 2.0. [Movie City News]

I almost missed this piece from the bossman, Peter Bart, about the record number of screeners studios rushed to voters' doorsteps this year.  Bart ruminates on a few second-viewing questions that arised for him, and it might give you a little peek into the brain of an Academy member.  He dings a couple of titles, like "Inot the Wild," "No Country for Old Men" and "Juno," but still makes it a point of expressing fondness for them.

He kicks it off like so:

Movie studios seem to enjoy putting out mixed messages.

Every year they complain about the evils of screeners, yet keep dispatching them in ever greater quantity. If those nasty discs truly provide grist for piracy and inadequately represent the aesthetic quality of their films, why was there a record deluge this year (I personally received roughly 100)? And why were some screeners sent out even before the theatrical release of the films?

To be sure, the legalistic admonitions at the front of every screener are longer this year (and multilingual), as though the lawyers think anyone reads their dire warnings. At least the Academy has given up on those clunky vidplayers dispatched to voters two years ago that supposedly were going to solve the piracy issue.

And in closing...

Most of our "serious" filmmakers this year seemed to reside in a very dark place. Blood was gushing in "Sweeney Todd" like oil in "There Will Be Blood" and there were moments in this year's crop of war films that could have blended into the "torture porn" genre of "Hostel, Part II." On one level, I understand all this anger, but wonder whether these filmmakers are trapped in tortuous times or trapped within their own tortured egos.

Yes, the BFCA awards are tonight, but tomorrow brings the most anticipated announcement of the Oscar season: the Directors Guild of America's list of feature film nominees.  According to the DGA's official site, Guild president Michael Apted will make the announcement at 10:00 a.m. (PT).

The DGA has long been considered the best predictor of the eventual Best Picture outcome at the Academy.  Going back over the last 35 years, the Guild has picked 139 of 170 nominees for an accuracy rate of 80% or so.  That's better than any of us "pros" could ever hope to manage, that's for sure.  The Guild has displayed 100% accuracy on nine separate occassions, the four of the last five years being chief among them.  Prior to 1970, the DGA sported 10 nominees for feature films, which makes tallying those totals kind of pointless, but this sufficient chunk of data ought to be enough to persuade you that tomorrow's announcement is an important one.

Tom O'Neil has been collecting predictions from various Oscarweb prognosticators over at Gold Derby, yours truly included.  You can see my black and white take on tomorrow's likely five over there, but let's take a moment to dig into the hopefuls in this space as well.

No one but no one can be considered a shoo-in except for the Coen brothers, whose "No Country for Old Men" has shown up this naysayer by already displaying some grit last month, taking down two Screen Actors Guild nomiantions.  (Critics awards just don't compute for me as great indicator of an industry award.)  Beyond that, it's really a free-for-all.

Sean Penn has been getting stellar reactions at DGA screenings of "Into the Wild," a film already leading the way at the BFCA and SAG.  One would have to consider the actor/director to be on solid ground.

Ridley Scott is a helmer clearly revered by his guild, taking down nominations in some cases that didn't correspond to Best Picture nods ("Thelma & Louise," "Black Hawk Down").  "American Gangster" was the only film to be making any box office headway until "Juno" came around, and two SAG nominations (in surprising categories) indicate industry love for the product.

Speaking of "Juno," Jason Reitman's film has been unfairly relegated to consideration as "the 'Little Miss Sunshine' of 2007," when that's really not a computeable comparison.  Nevertheless, naysayers have been left mouth agape as the film has taken some major monetary strides on its way to potentially securing the light-hearted slot of the season with AMPAS.  Reitman's showing up here tomorrow should come as no surprise if it comes to pass, especially given all those TV directors in the guild with ties to actors like Allison Janney, Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner.

There is a real opportunity for spoilerific things to happen, I think, outside of these strong potential candidates.  Tim Burton, for instance, has already nabbed a nomination from the BFCA and a win with the National Board of Review for helming the screen adaptation of "Sweeney Todd."

Denzel Washington, meanwhile, has seen his film, "The Great Debaters," met with standing ovations at DGA screenings.  But then, who wouldn't stand for Denzel?

Julian Schnabel's "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" has been a critical darling throughout the precursor season, but did his Los Angeles antics while promoting the film leave a bad taste in voters' mouths?

Any number of peripheral surprises could pop up, from James Mangold ("3:10 to Yuma"") to Tony Gilroy (one to really watch for "Michael Clayton"), even Sidney Lumet ("Before the Devil Knows You're Dead"), a nominee here even when ignored by the Acadey ("Serpico," "Murder on the Orient Express").  David Fincher could even make good on a year-end rally of support for "Zodiac."

The real spoiler to watch, however, might just be Paul Thomas Anderson, whose "There Will Be Blood" has been the talk of the town, at least for the past two weeks.  A nomination tomorrow could be the first real step toward Best Picture aspirations, as an endorsement from the DGA has proven itself to be a telling seal of approval indeed.

But the safe bet always seems to surface, no?  Which leaves us with the very real possibility that Joe Wright could slide in for "Atonement," a film that lost steam after the festival circuit and a strong HFPA showing, but is still lingering in the mix nonetheless.

What do I know, right?  Whatever happens tomorrow, it still ain't the end of the road.  Crazy things happen, like Christopher Nolan grabbing a mention for "Memento" in 2000 or Robert Zemeckis sliding in for "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" in 1988.  You just never can be too sure, so we'll have to see what the directors have in store for us in the morning.

(Post edited with correct attribution.  I got so used to seeing McNary's by-line on breaking news this week that I gave him this one, too.  Oops!)

Variety's David S. Cohen has the scoop on the Visual Effects Society nominations, which were dominated by "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End."  The third installment in the trilogy took down six nods, while "Transformers" and "I Am Legend" weren't far behind with five.

"I Am Legend?"  Really?  For video game villains?

Anyway, those three vote hogs are each competing with "The Golden Compass" and "Spider-Man 3" in the Society's top award category, Best Visual Effects in a Visual Effects Driven Motion Picture.

Other nominations of interest included "Zodiac" finding room in the Best Supporting Visual Effects in a Motion Picture category.  Well deserved.  If you've ever investigated the work that went into recreating the era, you'd agree.  The film received one other nomination, for Best Created Environment in a Live Action Motion Picture (where "Sweeney Todd" surprisingly finds its only mention).

The biggest surprise might be the fact that AMPAS visual effects bake-off contender "300" managed only one nomination, for Best Single Visual Effect, while other bake-off contenders "The Bourne Ultimatum" and "Evan Almighty" turned up a goose egg.

Here are the full nominees.

Variety looks at the acting races this weekend with an Awards Season Focus: 10 stories, all built around the thespians.

To kick it off, Stu Levine surveys the dark horse Oscar hopefuls that grabbed Golden Globe nominations, James McAvoy ("Atonement") and Helena Bonham Carter ("Sweeney Todd") among them.  But it begs the question, and not just for the dark horses that already need all the publicity they can get: Will contenders simply be hurting themselves by not showing up?  The dress rehearsal for Oscar is always the acceptance speech at a Golden Globe ceremony, so...just sayin...

Anyway, continuing, Robert Hofler gets into comedic performances getting the shaft, while Peter Debruge takes a healthy look at critical consensus building for various portrayals.  Despite consensus, however, Robert Abele wonders whether old-timers like Frank Langella ("Starting Out in the Evening") or youthful hopefuls like Emile Hirsch ("Into the Wild") could step in and surprise a la Adrien Brody's 2002 victory for "The Pianist."

There's also a great piece from Sandee Angulo Chen about the modern abandonment of Method acting technique, but take a look at the full range of stories, there's plenty to chew on.

•  If you haven't heard by now, the actors are throwing a wrench into the works. [Variety]

•  Elvis Mitchell, Glenn Kenny, Harry Knowles et al. discuss the ending of "No Country for Old Men." [Thompson on Hollywood]

•  John Horn dissects the Oscar hopes for "Zodiac" in the wake of considerable year-end critical support. [The Envelope]

•  Jeffrey Wells leaps for joy. [Hollywood Elsewhere]

•  Yes, an award for Weblogs.  Believe it. [Bloggies]

•  Stu VanAirsdale live blogs 699 minutes of Paul Thomas Anderson product for the sheer hell of it. [The Reeler]

•  Tom O'Neil and Dave Karger mull the season over.  Lots of these popping up lately.  No one has the answers! [Gold Derby]

•  Nathaniel Rogers starts his year in review with a tease.  No top 10 in sight yet, but wait for it... [The Film Experience]

•  T.L. Stanley seems perturbed at the year in advance Oscar prediction fun.  Key word: fun. [Gold Rush]

•  Ramin Setoodeh pairs off the various Oscar hopefuls with Presidential counterparts.  "Atonement" = Hilary Clinton?  [The Gold Digger]

•  "Juno" is up and "Sweeney Todd" is down, according to New York Magazine. [Vulture]

•  "Atonement" wins the vote for "Best Costume of All Time."  I like curvy women, so on Keira, I gotta say...those green threads seemed a tad wasted. [The Daily Telegraph]

•  David Poland kicks off his list of the year's best by taking a jab at supporters of "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford," "There Will Be Blood" and "Zodiac," chalks the lovefest up to "critical onanism."  Oh, and "I'm Not There" tops his list. [The Hot Button]

•  Bob Verini hypothesizes the comedy and musical categories of the Golden Globes to be a major audience draw for a telecast. [Variety]

•  Jeffrey Wells talks to filmmaker Daivd Fincher about "Zodiac" and next year's "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," among other things. [Hollywood Elsewhere]

•  Tom O'Neil and Pete Hammond call the race as it is...for now, anyway. [Gold Derby]

•  The Times of London has a sit-down with "4 Months 3 Weeks and 2 Days" helmer Cristian Mungiu. [Times Online]

•  Todd Martens on the music behind John Salyes' "Honeydripper." [Extended Play]

•  Stu VanAirsdale kicks off his annual "Top 10 Top 10 Lists" list. [The Reeler]

•  Josh Jurgensen sits down with Tim Burton to talk "Sweeney Todd." [Wall Street Journal]

•  A little Helena Bonham Carter worship from Nathaniel Rogers. [The Film Experience]

•  "Atonement," "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead" and "The Great Debaters" land on a list of the week's mostpirated flicks. [Torrent Freak]

•  The Hollywood Reporter's Andrew Wallenstein responds. [Reel Pop]

•  New York Magazine, meanwhile, wonders how long studios will continue to mail out screeners given how piracy happens each and every year...but I wouldn't worry about that yet. [Vulture]

•  Ramin Setoodeh is back with an anti-"Atonement" survey, an anti-"Sweeney Todd" hypothesis, and some pro-"Juno" sentiments. [The Gold Digger]

•  Paul Brownfield talks to Vanessa Redgrave about the "gravity" of her five minutes in "Atonement." [Los Angeles Times]

•  Donna Freydkin gets into the threads of "Sweeney Todd" with costume designer Collen Atwood. [USA Today]

•  A night out on the town with "The Kite Runner" star Khaid Abdallah. [New York Times]

•  Lindsay Lohan is guaranteed at least one award this year. [MSNBC]

I've been meaning to update more frequently with Oscarweb Round-ups, but the holidays have most of the usual suspects checking out until '08.  Awards Daily is doing a good job of updating, however, though there just isn't much news to go around.  Nathaniel Rogers has a look at "delusional Oscar hopefuls," while the LA Times has Saorise Ronan and Helena Bonham Carter profiles.  But really...not much happening.  Things will pick up around here next week, I promise.

The hunt for the Best Actor trophy has been an interesting one all year long.

At one point along the way, somebody out there floated the idea that nothing seemed strong enough to compete with Daniel Day-Lewis or Johnny Depp and that the race was likely between those two scenery-chewing performances.  That settled into the conventional wisdom for a spell, then George Clooney began to take down critics award after critics award, making him in that hunt to say the least.  But Clooney just won the Oscar two years ago for "Syriana," albeit a supporting trophy.  And then Depp couldn't manage a nomination from the guild that gave him a win in this category fur years ago for playing a pirate.

All of this is the long way of getting to today's conventional wisdom, which is that Daniel Day-Lewis has the win in the bag.  It's been nearly 20 years since "My Left Foot," the performance is one for the ages, the movie is burning up the critical scene like wildfire.  In a season determined to be elusive (does ANYONE have a convincing argument for one of the films in play taking Best Picture?), maybe we can all finally put this one to bed.

But...still...I've done this long enough to know that things aren't always as they seem.

Took a few days off as I dealt with family, holiday nightmares and shopping fiasco, but I thought I'd pop in tody to see what's happening on the Oscarweb -- call it the Christmas edition.  I hope you and yours are enjoying a splendid holiday season.

•  Jeffrey Wells thinks Janusz Kaminski is an overrated lenser to say the least.  Yeah, I thought he was out of his skull when he posted that, too. [Hollywood Elsewhere]

•  But he at least has the guts to call the "Titanic" bashers of the world reactive to its pop culture phenomenon rather than the actual content: a sweeping epic that works quite well, especially in the finale. [Hollywood Elsewhere]

•  The top 10 lists keep on a'collectin' at MCN. [Movie City News]

•  A Merry Christmas from Tom O'Neil's family never hurt anyone! [Gold Derby]

•  The "Great Debaters" campaign kicks into high gear (try though they might) as Robert Welkos talks to actress Jurnee Smollett. [The Envelope]

•  Gerard Kennedy has a lot on his mind following the crush of Fall finals. [In Contention]
•  Nathaniel Rogers offers some thoughts on "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd" and tim burton's long-awaited screen adaptation of a Sondheim classic. [The Film Experience]
•  Claudia Puig loves, loves, loves her some "Persepolis"... [USA Today]

•  ...hates, hates, hates "The Bucket List"... [USA Today]..and is somewhere in the middle on "The Great Debaters." [USA Today]
•  The local paper also reviews all three this holiday week. [Los Angeles Times]

•  Rainn Wilson will be stepping in for Sarah Silverman as host of the IFP Awards. [Variety]

•  Following in the footsteps of Nathaniel Rogers, David Carr offers up a list of contingency plans for a non-telecast Oscar ceremony. [The Carpetbagger]

•  Tom O'Neil becomes Oscar blogger #603 to quote A.O. Scott's "Sweeney Todd" review for all it's worth. [Gold Derby]

•  Slow news week much?  The LA Times offers up a gallery of Oscar winners turned blockbuster performers... [The Envelope]

•  ...and one covering the goings-on of Hollywood couples this year, of all things. [The Envelope]

•  Jeffrey Wells gives year's worst honors to "Are We Done Yet?" [Hollywood Elsewhere]

•  Ryan Pearson profiles "The Bucket List" star Jack Nicholson. [Associated Press]

•  Sasha Stone surveys the Best Picture field one...more...time, and keeps the ball rolling on Jamie Lynn Spears/"Juno."  Personally, I think that whole idea is a media creation. [Awards Daily]

•  David Poland offers one more Oscar column for 2007, somehow thinks the SAG-ignored "Sweeney Todd" is ahead of the SAG-embraced "Into the Wild." [Movie City News]

•  But at least he has his head in the right place regarding the fact that the Oscar ceremony simply won't shut down due to the strike. [The Hot Blog]

•  After this week's Vulture commentary on male nudity in films this year, Ramin Setoodeh offers up his list of 2007's top 10 nude scenes. [The Gold Digger]

•  Geoff Boucher cataches up with the brilliant Marjane Satrapi. [Los Angeles Times]

•  And Paul Brownfield catches up with the eccentric Julian Schnabel. [Los Angeles Times]

•  "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]

In a month given to superlatives lists, this post at New York Magazine's Vulture blog gets my vote for best blog entry of the year.

The entry is a response to a New York Observer story about Hollywood's willingness this year to rock out with its c*** out.
There are plenty of chuckle-inducing wang awards throughout, but here are the Oscar-related ones, I suppose:

Fiercest Wang: Viggo Mortensen, Eastern Promises. In Mortensen's much-talked-about naked knife-fight scene, he skillfully used his wang to create a diversion. It worked. On us, anyway.

Most Committed to Wangs: Judd Apatow, who has vowed to put wangs in all of his films, like he does with Seth Rogen.

Best Foreign-Language Wang: Tony Leung, Lust, Caution. Unfortunately, not even its NC-17 rating, full-frontal nudity, and violent, kinky sex scenes were enough to make Ang Lee's three-hour Chinese-language drama about the Japanese occupation of Shanghai in the thirties a box-office hit, proving once again that American moviegoers are a bunch of culture-less prudes.

Wang Most in Need of a Sandwich: Emile Hirsch, Into the Wild. Thanks to some cold water and the fact that Hirsch's character is in the midst of dying of starvation, his nude scene was not all that it could've been, tragically.

Best Wang in a Musical or Comedy: Sacha Baron Cohen, Sweeney Todd. Baron Cohen's "augmented" member is so huge and so tightly constricted by the pants he's wearing, it very nearly distracts from his excellent performance. Actually, it steals the movie.

Best Wang-Related Credit Sequence: Superbad.

Much as I hate to put a damper on Mr. Hirsch's SAG nomination this morning by linking to a jest of his junk, I have to say that "Wang Most in Need of a Sandwich" is a phrase that will have me laughing for the rest of the holiday -- easily.

Also, with all this in mind, I can't help but wonder whether Viggo Mortensen's nude brawl in the bath house has at least 90% to do with his awards notices this season.

The Screen Actors Guild announced its list of nominees in five cateogries today, and boy did Focus Features' "Atonement" take a major hit.  The Golden Globe nom leader showed a big goose egg from the actors, leaving some serious doubt for its Best Picture prospects this season.

On the other hand, Paramount Vantage's "Into the Wild" picked up a major head of steam after a weak HFPA showing by grabbing four nods, including a mention for Best Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.  The film led the pack with four nods altogether.

Surprises included Johnny Depp (and his film, "Sweeney Todd") being absent from the roster, the first major mention of the season for Ruby Dee's supporting performance in "American Gangster" and, in a total head-spinner, "3:10 to Yuma" picking up some attention for its enemble.

Regarding the latter, it seems all the hard work Ben Foster and Peter Fonda have been putting into Q&A appearances for the film, not to mention Christian Bale's latest wave of December publicity here in town, paid off in the long run.  I couldn't be happier as I've been waiting patiently for some awards notice for the film all season long.

Typically SAG gets the ladies' categories right when i t comes to forecasting Oscar, especially in the leading category.  So we might have those arenas sewn up.  The fellas' areas are a different bag of tricks, however, seeing past mentions for actors like Russel Crowe ("Cinderella Man"), Don Cheadle ("Crash") and James Garner ("The Notebook") that didn't carry over with AMPAS.  With that in mind, I would personally say the weak spots are Ryan Gosling ("Lars and the Real Girl"), Viggo Mortensen ("Eastern Promises") and Tommy Lee Jones ("No Country for Old Men").

Today's announcement is significant in that it is the first set of nominations to come from the industry rather than critics groups and journalists.  The guilds are where it's at where predicting Oscar is concerned, so stay tuned over the next couple of weeks.

The full list of nominees:

Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
George Clooney, "Michael Clayton"
Daniel Day-Lewis, "There Will Be Blood"
Ryan Gosling, "Lars and the Real Girl"
Emile Hirsch, "Into the Wild"
Viggo Mortensen, "Eastern Promises"

Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
Cate Blanchett, "Elizabeth: The Golden Age"
Julie Christie, "Away from Her"
Marion Cotillard, "La Vie en Rose"
Angelina Jolie, "A Mighty Heart"
Ellen Page, "Juno"

Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
Casey Affleck, "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford"
Javier Bardem, "No Country for Old Men"
Hal Holbrook, "Into the Wild"
Tommy Lee Jones, "No Country for Old Men"
Tom Wilkinson, "Michael Clayton"

Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
Cate Blanchett, "I'm Not There"
Ruby Dee, "American Gangster"
Catherine Keener, "Into the Wild"
Amy Ryan, "Gone Baby Gone"
Tilda Swinton, "Michael Clayton"

Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
"3:10 to Yuma"
"American Gangster"
"Hairspray"
"Into the Wild"
"No Country for Old Men"

Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture
"300"
"The Bourne Ultimatum"
"I Am Legend"
"The Kingdom"
"Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End"

It's like clockwork.  LA Times columnist Patrick Goldstein wheels his ornery bones out in the middle of December for a healthy chorus of Oscar blogger hatred and critics pouncing on the way to both offering critical assessments of films in play and trying his hand at prognosticating the Academy Awards to come.

You couldn't make this stuff up.

This year the points of attack are Scott Foundas (who got his panties in a twist over Oscar bloggers two weeks ago), The Envelope (cleverly, I guess diplomatically disguised as "this paper" by Goldstein) and the harmless And the Winner Is, of all things.  I guess Scott Feinberg has finally hit it big.

Goldstein left favorite whipping boys David Poland and Jeffrey "the Lewis Black of Oscar bloggers" Wells alone this time around.  And thankfully, I didn't have to deal with one of those "Kris, I love your site, would love to talk with you about Oscar blogs for a piece I'm putting together" emails this year.  But regardless, this song and dance grows more and more tedious with each...passing...year.

Anyway, Goldstein seems to think Tim Burton's "Sweeney Todd" will take down the Best Picture award with 7-1 odds.  Say what you will about Oscar bloggers, but we don't concoct ODDS.  And we're the ones appearing to be "breathless racetrack tipsters?"

"Atonement" (8-1), "No Country for Old Men" (9-1), "Michael Clayton" (12-1) and "Juno" (14-1) round out Goldstein's top five contenders.

For some context, here are Goldstein's past rankings:

2006
"Dreamgirls" (4-1)
"The Queen" (6-1)
"The Departed" (9-1)
"Little Miss Sunshine" (10-1)
"Flags of Our Fathers" (12-1)

2005
Can't find them.  Anyone know?  Sadly, I also can't find Goldstein's infamous "Beware of Blog" column from the very same year that contained more vitriol than usual.

2004
"Ray" (6-1)
"Million Dollar Baby" (7-1)
"Sideways" (8-1)
"Spanglish" (9-1)
"Finding Neverland" (12-1)

2003
"Mystic River" (6-1)
"Lord of the Rings: Return of the King" (8-1)
"Cold Mountain" (10-1)
"Finding Nemo" (14-1)
"House of Sand & Fog" (15-1)

2002
"Chicago" (5-1)
"Road to Perdition" (8-1)
"Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" (10-1)
"Antwone Fisher" (12-1)
"About Schmidt" (14-1)

2001
"Ali" (4-1)
"A Beautiful Mind" (6-1)
"The Majestic" (8-1)
"The Shipping News" (10-1)
"Shrek" (12-1)

•  Anne Thompson talks up the new trailer for "Miss Petigrew Lives for a Day" starring Frances McDormand and Amy Adams. [Thompson on Hollywood]

•  The WGA picks and chooses yet again, denies awards shows waivers for its members to write on telecasts. [Variety]

•  Meanwhile, sources tell Tom O'Neil that the Golden Globes may go on without a telecast at all. [Gold Derby]

•  Adam Baer claims that Tim Burton has "re-invented the movie musical" with "Sweeney Todd."  Really? [Los Angeles Times]

•  Jeffrey Wells is not-so-stealthily anticipating the release of "The Dark Knight" and Heath Ledger's maniacal portrayal of the Joker. [Hollywood Elsewhere]

•  Speaking of Batsy, Matthew Dessem decides to smack Warner Bros. down for the exhaustive PR campaign behind the film. [Vulture]

•  "Live Free or Die Hard" actually makes a top 10 list. [Gold Rush]

•  As expected, "No Country for Old Men" is walking away with the title "critics' favorite" this year. [Movie City News]

•  Speaking of top 10 lists, "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" tops David Edelstein's at New York Magazine. [The Projectionist]

•  Warner Bros. unleashes the high def tailer for "The Dark Knight" onto a salivating web-geek community. [A Taste for the Theatrical]

•  Pete Hammond keeps those speculative wheels spinning on Will Smith's "I Am Legend" turn. [The Envelope]

•  That's probably because the film shattered box office records this weekend. [Variety]

•  Tom O'Neil calls the Lond critics noms "curious."  Why, because they strayed from the herd? [Gold Derby]

•  The American Film Institute sticks with the herd. [Variety]

•  Jeffrey Wells responds... [Hollywood Elsewhere]

•  ...and gets into the ins and outs of Daniel Day-Lewis' wardrobe choices. [Hollywood Elsewhere]

•  David Poland gets into the specifics of the year's top ten lists. [The Hot Blog]

•  Speaking of top tens, yours truly adds his opinion to the collective. [In Contention]

•  Jesse Green gets into Stephen Sondheim and "Sweeney Todd" at the Gray Lady. [New York Times]

•  Richard Berke, meanwhile, reports on screenplay alterations that led to something of a white-washed "Charlie Wilson's War," among other things. [New York Times]

•  Glenn Kenny also does "Wilson," with director Mike Nichols. [Los Angeles Times]

•  Sasha Stone points us to a massive collection of FYC ads (though hers is still fabulous). [Awards Daily]

•  "Juno" seems to have a new fan site on the web. [And the Winner Is...]

•  Speaking of which, star Ellen Page fields unnecessary "Knocked Up" comparisons at New York Magazine. [Vulture]

Variety has the story.  The 15 films eligible for January's bake-off are:

"Beowulf"
"The Bourne Ultimatum"
"Evan Almighty"
"The Golden Compass"
"Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix"
"I Am Legend"
"Live Free Or Die Hard"
"National Treasure: Book Of Secrets"
"Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World's End"
"Ratatouille"
"Spider-Man 3"
"Sunshine"
"300"
"Transformers" 
"The Water Horse"

I have to say, I'm somewhat surprised that "Sweeney Todd" didn't at least make this initial list of 15.

Anyway, I've been getting a weird feeling lately that "The Water Horse" could pop up and surprise as the third nominee in this category.  Everyone pretty much concedes that "Transformers" is in (and likely the eventual winner), while some think sequel fatigue could hurt "Pirates" or "Spider-Man 3."  But surely one of those will get in, right?

I'm thinking the third might come down to "The Golden Compass," "Live free or Die Hard" or "The Water Horse," judging from the branch's typicalities.  Though "300" slipping in certainly wouldn't surprise.

Hey, maybe those seven will be next week's bake-off finalists.

•  Globe reactions all over the place, starting with Anne Thompson. [Thompson on Hollywood]

•  David Carr chimes in with ruminations per category. [The Carpetbagger]

•  Brian Kinsley gives some knee-jerk thoughts. [In Contention]

•  Sasha Stone throws in her two cents. [Awards Daily]

•  Scott Feinberg tosses down the gauntlet, seems to take it all quite personally. [And the Winner Is...]

•  T.L. Stanley says the HFPA went with their typical M.O., sticking with "safe star power" and shunned risky efforts for the most part. [Gold Rush]

•  Lou Lumenick live-blogged the proceedings. [New York Post]

•  Stephen Galloway talks foreign contenders. [The Hollywood Reporter]

•  Nathaniel Rogers bemoans the snubbed. [The Film Experience]

•  Anthony Breznican talks to "Atonement" director Joe Wright and "Ratatouille" writer/director Brad Bird in a nice summary piece. [USA Today]

•  And David Poland would like to take credit for a number of the nominations due to his "Lunch with David" interview segments, thank you very much. [The Hot Blog]

•  Casey Affleck, Marion Cotillard, James McAvoy and Ellen Page to receive Santa Barbara's Virtuoso Award. [Variety]

•  The Features department turns its "Eye" toward the animation contenders. [Variety]

•  Colleen Atwood's march to an Oscar nod begins with the specifics of Pirelli's package. [E!]

•  Jeffrey Wells gets into why "Charlie Wilson's War" might have seemed a bit...neutered. [Hollywood Elsewhere]

•  John Horn and Chris Lee talk "I Am Legend" with Best Actor hopeful Will Smith. [Los Angeles Times]

•  Finally, Poland writes over 1,500 words on Scott Foundas' Oscar blogger meltdown earlier in the week, with nary a thesis in sight. [The Hot Blog]