Those of you who watched "Shootout" on AMC Sunday mornings are familiar enough with our own Peter Bart and his co-host, producer Peter Guber.  You may, then, have come across the show's Oscar nominees special from earlier this month, which featured interviews with George Clooney, Julian Schnabel, Laura Linney, Marion Cotillard, Hal Holbrook and Brad Bird.

Here's a look at Clooney discussing this year's crop and some differences between the current filmmaking climate and the "glory days" when Bart was hustling material around town:




And Julian Schnabel, yet again talking about his personal fear of being locked into his body and reasons for making "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly."  But for me, it never gets old:



There is plenty more to chew on. Give it a look.

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.

Actor in a Supporting Role Hal Holbrook
Film Editing Jay Cassidy

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"

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"

Johnny Depp moved up a few nothces this week in The Envelope's Buzzmeter standings, but I was pretty stoked to see Casey Affleck bounce back into the supporting actor field.  It seems most people are pretty confident in nominations for Javier Bardem ("No Country for Old Men"), Hal Holbrook ("Into the Wild"), Tom Wilkinson ("Michaely Clayton") and Phillip Seymour Hoffman ("Charlie Wilson's War"), with a fifth slot up for grabs.

Personally, I think the last slot will come down to Affleck, Paul Dano ("There Will Be Blood") or the real performance to watch, Philip Bosco ("The Savages").  Affleck wins the day this week.

Elsewhere, Julian Schnabel muscles his way into the Best Director consensus and "The Kite Runner" takes a step up the ladder.

Also, I neglected to mention the Gurus 2.0 assessment last week at Movie City News, which holds tight to an "Into the Wild" Best Picture prediction, as well as Tommy Lee Jones in Best Actor ("In the valley of Elah").

Oh, and the Sultans of Bling over at Awards Daily checked in with thoughts on the acting, cinematography and film editing races last week as well (where Christopher Rouse gets some play for "The Bourne Ultimatum").

This is a great feature.  As part of today's SAG Awards Preview, Variety has a long list of "Actors on Actors," with many of the hottest names in the industry speaking up on some their colleagues.

In one of my favorites, Javier Bardem on Hal Holbrook, the "No Country for Old Men" star says Holbrook's moment in the truck with Emile Hirsch's Chris McCandless character is "one of the best performances [he's] seen."

Forest Whitaker talks up his co-star from "The Last King of Scotland," James McAvoy, calling the actor's "Atonement" performance "authentic," saying that when he tries to describe the portrayal to people, it "gets [him[ in [his] throat."  Josh Brolin, meanwhile, offers a humorous anecdote about the first time he met Ben Foster, and Foster pays it forward by calling Ellen Page's "Juno" portrayal a "flagship character for our generation."

There's plenty more, of course.  You can find the whole lot at Award Central.  Give it a look.

•  "Into the Wild" wins the season's first major Best Picture prize at the Gotahm Awards. [Variety]

•  David Carr reports from the scene. [The Carpetbagger]

•  Anne Thompson racks up "No Country" talk across the web, including this and that about the film's ending. [Thompson on Hollywood]

•  Martin Grove speaks up on behalf of Christopher Plummer's performance in "Man in the Chair." [The Hollywood Reporter]

•  T.L. Stanley blogs the campaign strategy for the performance. [Gold Rush]

•  Tom O'Neil compares the Gothams and the Indie Spirits. [Gold Derby]

•  Ramin Satoodeh was no fan of "Charlie Wilson's War." [The Gold Digger]

•  Nathaniel Rogers runs down a list great performances in not-so-great films. [The Film Experience]

No news out there today...holiday week...

•  Tom O'Neil takes us back to 1998. [Gold Derby]

•  David Poland has lunch with "Into the Wild" contender Hal Holbrook. [The Hot Blog]

•  Susan Wloszczyna offers an orientation to the daemons of "The Golden Compass." [USA Today]

•  Sasha Stone on Julia Roberts' Oprah appearance. [Awards Daily]

Slim pickins this Oscar Sunday...

•  The Carpetbagger cometh: David Carr ends up spinning his wheels in place on a pre-Oscar season column, quotes five industry insiders and two Oscar pundits.  [New York Times]

•  Tom O'Neil and Paul Sheehan take stock of prototypical Best Supporting Actor winners. [Gold Derby]

•  Sasha Stone talks to Hal Holbrook, who'll be coming to town any week now to promote "Into the Wild" for the awards circuit. [Awards Daily]

•  Remember "The Queen?"  Well it's still picking up awards designations -- this time at the European Film Awards. [Variety]