Jon Burlingame always does great work sussing out this and that about the Academy's music branch, and he's written up a nice piece this week that dissects many of the issues that rubbed contenders and fans the wrong way this season.  Here's quick look:

Longtime participants in the Oscar game seem even more incensed than usual this year, not so much about the missing-in-action rock 'n' rollers as about the nomination process that eliminated them, especially the bakeoff system for choosing song nominees (now in its third year) that requires branch members to attend a marathon screening of all the entered songs.

An added factor this year -- which has irritated studio execs, marketers and award-season consultants -- is the ban on CD mailings to Acad members. Music-branch executive committee members say they will "revisit" this decision, which suggests it could be overturned.

However, I have to say, I slightly disagreed with Burlingame's assessment of the fate of Jonny Greenwood's "There Will Be Blood" score:

Wall Street Journal pop music critic Jim Fusilli doesn't take issue with Greenwood's disqualification, the result of a close check of the film's musical content, which revealed 35 minutes of new music versus 46 minutes of pre-existing music (by Brahms and Arvo Part, plus two earlier Greenwood compositions). That's a clear violation of Oscar eligibility rules (which ban "scores diluted by the use of tracked themes or other pre-existing music").

What bothers him is what appears to be an inconsistency of application of Acad rules, citing last year's Gustavo Santaolalla win for "Babel" despite the presence of considerable nonoriginal music. "You had all of these songs from other sources that appeared, and yet that didn't seem to prevent the Academy from looking at the score as a whole," he says.

Yes, most of that is true.  A major issue is indeed with the inconsistency of rulings, but the even deeper issue is the subjectivity of the rule that DQ'd Greenwood's work.  The Academy decided, quite subjectively, that the viewer comes away from "Blood" predominantly recalling the unoriginal works.  But who's to say what a viewer predominantly recalls?  It is a backwards system that needs updating and, frankly, should not depend on number of minute versus number of minutes.  A lot of those 46 minutes were songs and such in the public domain that are scattered throughout the pic.

Also, the even bigger issue was the Academy's decision to notify Greenwood and Paramount Vantage at the last...possible...minute, as we reported here last month.

But that's just me.  Take a look at the rest of Burlingame's piece.  It does a nice job of taking AMPAS to task on some rusty red tape.

Jonny Greenwood's original score for "There Will Be Blood" has been ruled ineligible by the music branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

The news comes on the heels of last week's Best Foreign Language Film controversy, which left the two most critically acclaimed efforts of the year in that category out of contention (Romania's "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days" and France's "Persepolis").

(Pete Hammond is also reporting on this over at The Envelope, but there is much more to the story, which has been fluttering in the wind throughout the weekend.)

The disqualification has been attributed to a designation within Rule 16 of the Academy's Special Rules for Music Awards (5d under "Eligibility"), which excludes "scores diluted by the use of tracked themes or other pre-existing music."

Greenwood's score contains roughly 35 minutes of original recordings and roughly 46 minutes of pre-existing work (including selections from the works of Arvo Pärt, as well as pieces in the public domain, such as Johannes Brahms' "Concerto in D Major").  Peripheral augmentation to the score included sporadic but minimal useage (15 minutes) of the artist's 2006 composition "Popcorn Superhet Receiver."

"Popcorn" is a 20-minute work commissioned by the BBC in 2005.  The piece premiered at London's Queen Elizabeth Hall in November of 2006.

All musical inclusions were indicated on the score's cue sheet, of which the Academy has been in possession since early December.  The organization had over a month to run over rules and eligibility, sending out reminder sheets to Academy voters that included Greenwood's score for consideration along the way.

Other scores that were deemed ineligible include "Enchanted" and "Into the Wild," from Alan Menken and Michael Brook respectively.  Both were disqualified due to the "predominant use of songs."  But sources say Paramount Vantage was alerted to the ineligibility of "Into the Wild" far in advance.  The situation with "Blood," however, has come at the last minute, catching the studio entirely off guard.

Vantage was made aware of the Academy's "Blood" decision on January 19, seven days after balloting closed.  Greenwood himself first received word via postal mail from the Academy at his home in London on January 17.  Price Waterhouse has been instructed to discount all votes for Greenwood on Academy ballots.

According to the studio, the Academy's decision has also come, in part, due to a situation which arose with Nino Rota's score for "The Godfather" in 1972, which was pulled from the list of nominees after it was discovered that the film's love theme was used in another film, 1958's "Fortunella."  The Academy would like to right a wrong now rather than withdraw a nomination further down the road.  "The Godfather Part II" won the original score Oscar and featured the same love theme which rendered Rota's initial score ineligible.

Sources at the studio say that, though they are baffled by the surprising turn of events, they respect the Academy's decision.  They only wish they had been advised of the situation in enough time to properly appeal it.

Sean Penn's "Into the Wild" led the BFCA nominations tally today with seven tips of the hat, including nods for Best Director, Best Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay and, of course, a spot in the group's top ten list.

Jason Reitman's "Juno" wasn't far behind with six nods, while "Atonement," "Michael Clayton," "No Country for Old Men" and "Sweeney Todd" each managed five.

The morning's announcement was a huge boost -- nay, a shot in the arm for "Wild," one of a trio of Paramount Vantage hopefuls in this year's race.  Combined with a number of key mentions in yesterday's Chicago Film Critics nominations and the fact that, as far as I can tell, no film has ever solely led the BFCA field and missed out on a Best Picture nomination with the Academy, I'd say the Sean Penn effort is looking better than ever for a slot in the big five come January.

"Juno"'s tally of six was also exactly what Fox Searchlight's comedy hopeful needed to silence nay-sayers regarding its Academy potential.  It's clearly a formiddable contender.

Surprises included Best Actor mentions for Ryan Gosling ("Lars and the Real Girl") and Viggo Mortensen ("Eastern Promises"), as well as supporting actress berths for Catherine Keener in "Into the Wild" (a quiet contender this season) and Vanessa Redgrave in "Atonement" (for all of five minutes of screentime).

Casey Affleck, meanwhile, grabbed some more steam for his supporting portrayal in "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford," perhaps on his way to securing the same nod with the Academy.  And Amy Adams finally makes a significant appearance this awards season for her performance in "Enchanted."

A definite nod of note is Cate Blanchett's citation for Best Actress in "Elizabeth: The Golden Age."  It might perhaps be read as Oscar tea leaf reading on the BFCA's part more than anything, given how critically reviled the film was, yet how undeniably Academy friendly the performance might still be perceived.

Finally, six composers were allowed room to wiggle in that category, including the first notices of the season for Marco Beltrami ("3:10 to Yuma"), Clint Eastwood ("Grace is Gone") and Alan Menken ("Enchanted").

The BFCA tends to be the best precursor for predicting the eventual Oscar turn-out, mostly due to a list of ten Best Picture contenders and a willingness to nominate across a wide spectrum of categories.  This year they seem to have spread the wealth evenly enough to have a decent prediction percentage yet again.

The BFCA's ten Best Picture nominees (with vote totals):

"American Gangster" (2)
"Atonement" (5)
"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" (4)
"Into the Wild" (7)
"Juno" (6)
"The Kite Runner" (2)
"Michael Clayton" (5)
"No Country for Old Men" (5)
"Sweeney Todd" (5)
"There Will Be Blood" (3)

The full list of nominees can be found on the BFCA website.  The awards will be broadcast live on VH1 on Monday, January 7, 2008, LIVE at 9:00 p/m. (e.s.t.).

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"

Today, copies of Jonny Greenwood's "There Will Be Blood" score showed up on doorsteps across town.  It is an experimental score on one hand, touches of classic work on the other, but unconventional throughout.  It might be a tough sell for that insular music branch, but the studio is clearly getting the work out there.

•  The Hollywood Reporter is ripping off the web as they work on rebuilding their Oscar coverage sections. [In Contention]

•  The Buzzmeter finds new love for James McAvoy and Tim Burton. [The Envelope]

•  Rachel Abramowitz talks to Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman about the upcoming "The Bucket List." [The Envelope]

•  Having attended Monday night's screening of "There Will Be Blood," Todd Mrtens digs a little deeper into Jonny Greenwood's score. [Extended Play]

•  Anne Thompson on the twisted road of Oscar publicity, and Sunday night's Behind the Camera awards. [Thompson on Hollywood]

•  Elizabeth Snead adds her two cents on the awards. [The Envelope]

•  Jeffrey Wells thinks Oscar handicappers are hindered by an "obeisance before established power" when predicting the outcome of the awards season -- as if they have any real say in the proceedings. [Hollywood Elsewhere]

•  He also has a recording of Monday nights snooze-fest Q&A with David Ansen, Paul Thomas Anderson, Daniel Day-Lewis and Paul Dano. [Hollywood Elsewhere]

•  David Poland talks to Best Actor dark horse Frank Langella about "Starting Out in the Evening," among other things. [The Hot Blog]

•  Sasha Stone gives in to Nikki Blonsky, observes a nomination for Best Actress is a possibility. [Awards Daily]

•  Ramin Setoodah thinks there are two lonks in the Oscar race for Best Picture: "Atonement" and "No Country for Old Men." [The Gold Digger]

•  Lou Lumenick's chart of ten for Best Picture. [New York Post]

•  Stephen Galloway previews a bleak Oscar slate. [The Hollywood Reporter]

•  But Sam Adams sees politics instead.  I hope the irony isn't lost on you.  [The Hollywood Reporter]

•  Diseny has an "Enchanted" music video starring Carrie Underwood in four formats. [Quicktime, Flash, Windows Media Player, iPod]

•  Warner Bros. kicks "I Am Legend" marking into high gear with a new website. [I-Am-Immune.com]

•  The Spirit awards go green. [Variety]