Alright, a slight surprise for me in the adapted screenplay race (though not for plenty of the net's prognosticators), as well as another musical performance (the guys are NOT impressed).  I also add a shout out to Al Pacino in "Heat" toward the end because, let's face it, we were running out of stuff to talk about.  Give it a listen.

•  With the Indie Spirits fast approaching, Anne Thompson points us to an interview with "I'm Not There" casting director Laura Rosenthal. [Thompson on Hollywood]

•  Sasha Stone takes in the IMDb polls to get a leg up on predicting who's going to win what. [Awards Daily]

•  Oh, but wait -- she finds another poll with an even bigger pool of participants from AOL. [Awards Daily]

•  Jeffrey Wells also digs that eleventh hour "Jesse James" ad for Casey Affleck. [Hollywood Elsewhere]

•  Dennis Lim writes up the largely fresh crop of helmers nominated for Best Director this year. [The Envelope]

•  Now that yesterday's big wave of confirmed Oscar presenters has been revealed, Tom O'Neil ponders who will present what. [Gold Derby]

•  In case you missed it, David Carr looks into the field of lead actor contenders and thinks against the grain of the Day-Lewis foregone conclusion. [The Carpetbagger]

•  John Horn spends some quality time with Best Adapted Screenplay nominee Sarah Polley. [Los Angeles Times]

•  Meanwhile, source authors for much of the year's contenders get noe respect, says Daniel Ulin. [Los Angeles Times]

•  Mat Fraser isn't too happy with BAFTA brass feeling "uncomfortable" with screening Richard Butchins' "The Last American Freak Show." [Guardian]

•  From the weekend, David Gritten wonders whether Daniel Day-Lewis is a considerable talent or merely a ham. [Daily Telegraph]

I guess it would really have been a newsflash if he thought it stunk, channeling his inner Alan Moore.  Nevertheless, Min Lee has a nice piece to offer on the source material's author.   Here's a look:

Many authors find themselves disappointed when their work migrates to the big screen.

Not Ian McEwan.

He is happy with the movie version of his best-selling novel Atonement— though he concedes that, at first, he had reservations about its big budget and the medium of film itself.

The British author now praises director Joe Wright's "lush visual sense" and "real sense and eye for instinct, for the emotional heart."

And he appreciates screenwriter Christopher Hampton's ability to incorporate details from the book into the screenplay

Read the rest.

Actor in a Leading Role Daniel Day-Lewis
Art Direction Jack Fisk (Art Direction); Jim Erickson (Set Decoration)
Cinematography Robert Elswit
Directing Paul Thomas Anderson
Film Editing Dylan Tichenor
Best Picture JoAnne Sellar, Paul Thomas Anderson and Daniel Lupi, Producers
Sound Editing Christopher Scarabosio and Matthew Wood
Writing (Adapted Screenplay) Written by Paul Thomas Anderson

(This wraps up our nominees series.  Hopefully it brought back some good memories for viewers and voters alike.  Four more days until polls close!)

Joel Coen couldn't be bothered to speak more than, oh, 40 seconds at tonight's USC Scripter Award ceremony before taking his seat at stage left and finishing his meal.  But I guess it makes sense that he'd keep things brief, sense he scooted on out of the Doheny Library in order to go accept another award -- the PGA's highest honor -- and the third major guild win for "No Country for Old Men."

Ethan Coen, by the way, was "on the tarmac," according to Coen's presenter.  Maybe that was just a joke, but perhaps Ethan may have been either en route or already at the PGA ceremony.  Whatever the case, Joel was there as sole representation for the film.

Cormac McCarthy wasn't in attendance, though that is no shock, seeing as the author's only public appearance in support of the film has been an interview on "Oprah" and a showcase in Time Magazine.  Christine Lahti graciously accepted on his behalf, struggling with the teleprompter all along.  But hey, she wasn't alone on that front.

Then again, by all accounts, the evening's festivities were a major step up from years past, with Jason Alexander taking over for Henry Winkler as the Master of Ceremonies.  Alexander was actually a hell of an emcee, full of more than a few guffaw-enducing zingers and keeping the mood light and breezy enough throughout.  And, God bless him, one solitary strike joke and that was it (though talk was lingering through the crowd, including a long-gestating rumor that the whole nightmare will be over within the week).  Depending on how much the Friends of the USC Libraries are willing to allow their host to poke fun at the organization, I could see Alexander being a staple.  We'll see.

Steven Zaillian later accepted the Literary Achievement Award, by the way, which he said he would like to please refrain from calling a "lifetime achievement award."  Zaillian is a three-time Scripter winner, for "Awakenings" in 1990, "Schindler's List" in 1993 and "A Civil Action" in 1998.  A true vet with the group.

Oh, and students from the university's school of music performed a lovely melody of scores from past Scripet winners.  I picked out "L.A. Confidential" and "Schindler's List" immediately.  The others kind of blurred together, but they sure sounded great.

I'll try to upload a mp3 of Coen's speech if I can, but in the meantime, you can actually check out the entire ceremony for yourself at the USC website.  They held a live webcast, and of course, it isn't the most professional of things, but they're on their way.  Biggest "doh!" moment of the night had to be the use of the logo for "The Zodiac," rather than the logo for the film that was actually nominated.  Two completely different films, folks.

Here's a couple of shots from the ceremony.  I'm no photo journalist, mind you, but I try:

Alright, I'm off to USC's Doheny Library (where I'll also be spending plenty of time on a final paper later this semester -- ugh) for tonight's Scripter Awards dinner and ceremony.  Jason Alexander is the evening's emcee and, of course, the brothers Coen and Cormac McCarthy are the belles of the ball.  I'll drop in later this evening for some news and notes from the proceedings.  I don't know if the PGA announcement will land by the time I get back, but if it does, well, you know what to do.

Actress in a Supporting Role  Saoirse Ronan
Art Direction  Sarah Greenwood (Art Direction); Katie Spencer (Set Decoration)
Cinematography  Seamus McGarvey
Costume Design  Jacqueline Durran
Music (Score)  Dario Marianelli
Best Picture  Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner and Paul Webster, Producers
Writing (Adapted Screenplay)  Written by Christopher Hampton

Actress in a Leading Role  Julie Christie
Writing (Adapted Screenplay)  Written by Sarah Polley

(To put a face to the season beyond the coverage, I thought I'd introduce this little series.  Nothing special, just the trailers from each of the nominated films.  A couple a day.  We'll start things out with the "frontrunner.")



Directing  Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
Actor in a Supporting Role  Javier Bardem
Cinematography  Roger Deakins
Film Editing  Roderick Jaynes
Best Picture  Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, Producers
Sound Editing  Skip Lievsay
Sound Mixing  Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff and Peter Kurland
Writing (Adapted Screenplay)  Written by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen

•  New York Magazine takes the horns to Miramax's campaign for "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" campaign... [Vulture]

•  ...and advocates Robert Downey, Jr.'s performance in "Zodiac." [Vulture]

•  Speaking of "Zodiac," Jeffrey Wells responds to yesterday's WGA awards announcement, which included James Vanderbuilt's adaptation. [Hollywood Elsewhere]

•  The WGA calls off its awards show, hours after rnominating screen contenders. [Variety]

•  Meanwhile, the Guild continues to make side deals with distributors. [New York Times]

•  Tom Hanks is kind of over it all. [The Envelope]

•  Oh, and the Beverly Hilton is in a pickle to say the least. [The Envelope]

•  Sasha Stone previews the ACE awards announcement. [Awards Daily]

•  Todd Martens ponders the Best Original Song race at the Golden Globes. [Extended Play]

•  Tom O'Neil tries his hand at hacking the WGA webmasters' intentions with the order in which yesterday's nominees were announced. [Gold Derby]

•  David Poland is on the same path, and also reports (sourceless, as usual) that many of the "snubbed" didn't send WGA screeners to members. [The Hot Blog]

•  He also inexplicably keeps "Into the Wild" out of his list of predicted Best Picture nominees. [Movie City News]

•  Lou Lumenick talks the Oscar season with O'Neil. [New York Post]

It shouldn't come as any surprise that the Coen brothers and Cormac McCarthy have won the USC Scripter award.  This one was almost a foregone conclusion.

Here's the full press release, which includes the announcement of Steven Zaillian's receiving the first ever Scripter Literary Achievement Award:

LOS ANGELES—Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Cormac McCarthy and Oscar-winning screenwriters Ethan and Joel Coen have won the 20th-annual USC Libraries Scripter Award for “No Country for Old Men.”

Scripter recognizes the writers’ contribution to the critically-lauded “No Country for Old Men” as the year’s greatest achievement in cinematic adaptation. The University of Southern California Libraries announced the winners today on behalf of the selection committee and the Friends of the USC Libraries, who sponsor the award.

The Scripter selection committee, led by Academy Award-nominated screenwriter Naomi Foner Gyllenhaal, chose “No Country for Old Men” from an unprecedented field of nearly 50 eligible films adapted from novels, short stories or novellas. Said Gyllenhaal of the winning film and writers, “‘No Country for Old Men’ is an accomplished work of filmmaking from the Coen brothers, who have adapted Cormac McCarthy's book with enormous skill and feeling for the dark places in our souls.”

“Atonement,” “Into the Wild,” “There Will Be Blood” and “Zodiac” rounded out this year’s group of five Scripter finalists.

“No Country for Old Men” stars Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem and Tommy Lee Jones. The film has been nominated for four Golden Globes; has been named film of the year by the Boston, Chicago, Dallas, New York, Phoenix, and Washington D.C. critics associations and the National Board of Review; and has been compared to the films of Anthony Mann and Sam Peckinpah.

“No Country for Old Men” author Cormac McCarthy’s career spans more than four decades and includes such books as “The Orchard Keeper” (1965), “Child of God” (1974) and “Blood Meridian, or the Evening Redness in the West” (1985). McCarthy was a Scripter finalist in 2001 when his 1992 book “All the Pretty Horses” was adapted for the silver screen. His novel “The Road” earned a 2007 Pulitzer.

The Coen brothers’ screenwriting credits include “Blood Simple” (1984), “Raising Arizona” (1987), “Miller’s Crossing” (1990), “The Hudsucker Proxy” (1994) and “Intolerable Cruelty” (2003). Their 1996 collaboration “Fargo” won the Oscar for best original screenplay. Other Academy Award nominations came for their adapted screenplay for “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” (2000) and for editing and directing “Fargo.” They also directed “No Country for Old Men.”

Vintage Books, a division of Random House, publishes “No Country for Old Men.” Miramax Films distributes the film in the United States.

Scripter 2008 marks the award’s platinum anniversary. To celebrate this 20-year milestone, the USC Libraries will honor director, producer, and Academy Award-winning screenwriter Steven Zaillian with the inaugural Scripter Literary Achievement Award. The Friends of the USC Libraries created this new prize to recognize writers who have made significant and sustained contributions to the art of adaptation.

USC Trustee, Scripter co-founder and president of the Friends of the USC Libraries Glenn A. Sonnenberg described Zaillian as the ideal first recipient, noting the scribe’s Academy Award-recognized screenplays for “Awakenings” (1990), “Schindler’s List” (1993) and “Gangs of New York” (2002). Zaillian also is a three-time Scripter winner, receiving honors for “Schindler’s List,” “Awakenings,” and “A Civil Action” (1998).

“As our only three-time Scripter winner, Steven embodies what the Scripter is all about—outstanding storytelling,” Sonnenberg said. “His body of work represents the best in adapted screenwriting.”

Zaillian’s other credits include the screenplays for “American Gangster” (2007), “The Interpreter” (2005), “Searching for Bobby Fischer” (1993) and “The Falcon and the Snowman” (1985).

Tony Award-winning actor Jason Alexander will serve as master of ceremonies for the Feb. 2 Scripter gala on the University of Southern California campus. Dean of the USC Libraries Catherine Quinlan will host the annual black-tie event in USC’s historic Edward L. Doheny Jr. Memorial Library.

I probably wouldn't have thought of this if I wasn't a grad student over at USC, but wouldn't it be interesting if Paul Thomas Anderson won the Scripter award next week at the Doheny Memorial Library ceremony for "There Will be Blood?"  After all, the character of Daniel Plainview was largely inspired by Southern California oil tycoon Edward L. Doheny, after whom the library was named.

Eh, who am I kidding...the Coens and Cormac McCarthy probably have it in the bag.

Looking at Awards Daily's USC Scripter preview, something just seems a bit clinical about Sasha Stone's list of predicted nominees.  This is an award that has certainly included curevablls in the mix:  "The Bourne Supremacy," "Friday Night Lights" and "The Door in the Floor" in 2004; "The Shipping News" in 2001; "All the Pretty Horses" and "The House of Mirth" in 2000, etc.  Granted, looking back over the award's match-up with Best Adapted Screenplay at the Oscars, the safe bet is usually to expect the frontrunners to pop up, but there's a wide swath to pick from this year.

Sasha is going with "Atonement," "Charlie Wilson's War," "Into the Wild," "No Country for Old Men," and "There Will Be Blood."  Of course, as Stone points out, the Scripter honors both the screenwriters and the originalauthors of the source material, so it's really hard to expect Ian McEwan, Cormac McCarthy and Upton Sinclair missing from the mix.  I'm not as sold on George Crile and even Jon Krakauer, but it's certainly likely we'll see these scripts show up here and with Oscar.  Still, "The Kite Runner" was such a global hit when it landed on bookshelves and Dennis Lehane ("Gone Baby Gone") is such a celebrated author.  And given the "Bourne" entry in '04, who's to say Tony Gilroy can't slide in yet again for what has widely been considered the best offering in the trilogy?

It's all speculation for now, so we'll have to wait and see.  But the USC Scripter kicks off 2008's continuance of the Oscar season tomorrow, so stay tuned...

•  Our own Anne Thompson runs through some Oscar prognostication off-site... [Premiere]

•  ...and wraps up the holiday season at her blog. [Thompson on Hollywood]

•  Jumping ahead to next year's rat race (I know), Jeffrey Wells runs a reaction from behind the scenes to David Fincher's upcoming "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button." [Hollywood Elsewhere]

•  The Envelope jumps on that bandwagon with a photo gallery preview. [The Envelope]

•  Sasha Stone has a preview of tomorrow's USC Scripter nominations announcement. [Awards Daily]

•  Tom O'Neil is hearing "multiple reports" of back room dealings with guys in smoking jackets holding snifters of brandy coming close to a deal that will permit the Golden Globes show to go on in the midst of the strike. [Gold Derby]

•  David Carr comes back and focuses on the "other" horse race of 2008. [The Carpetbagger]

•  The Baltimore Sun's Michael Sragow, perhaps rightly, hypothesizes that hero lampooning no longer interests audiences, weighing the box office receipts of "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story" against those of "The Great Debaters." [Los Angeles Times]

•  Ryan Stewart sits down with the "There Will be Blood" script to find clues of Daniel Plainview's impotence over the holiday break. [Cinematical]

First and foremost, a happy and safe New Year to you all.  With 2008 coming in, oh, about fifteen and a half hours (for us west coasters, anyway), I thought it would be beneficial to offer up a list of important dates.  A lot of key events are slated for the next few weeks and the Oscar season will pretty much be full steam ahead from here on out.

The guilds are the focus of January, all of which are more likely to forecast the Oscar situation more than any critics group thus far, of that you can be sure.  Taking a measure of the guilds is key when it comes to gauging apparent disinterest ("Cold Mountain") or surprising unanimity for films that might have otherwise been considered far-fetched in the big race ("Capote," "Little Miss Sunshine").

Here's what to look for next month:

January 3: Five finalists for USC Scripter award announced.
January 7: BFCA hosts the Critics Choice Awards (Live on VH1).
January 7: VES nominees announced (Visual Effects Society).
January 7: ASC theatrical and TV nominees announced (American Society of Cinematographers)*
January 8: DGA feature film nominees announced (Directors Guild of America).
January 9: Winners of USC Scripter awards announced.
January 10: CAS nominees announced (Cinema Audio Society).
January 10: DGA documentary nominees announced.
January 10: WGA screen nominees announced (Writers Guild of America).
January 11: ACE nominees announced (American Cinema Editors).
January 11: ADG announces nominees (Art Directors Guild).
January 12: AMPAS nominations polls close, end of Oscar voting.
January 13: HFPA hosts Golden Globe Awards (Live on NBC...maybe).
January 14: PGA motion picture and long-form television nominees announced. (Producers Guild of America).
January 16: AMPAS announces seven bake-off finalists for Best Visual Effects category.
January 16: BAFTA nominations announced (British Academy).
January 18: CDG nomees announced (Costume Designers Guild).
January 22: Oscar nominees announced for the 80th Annual Academy Awards (Live on E!, et al).
January 26: DGA Awards.
January 27: SAG Awards (Live on TNT, except on west coast).

Whew.  Hope you're ready...

*This is listed as "week of" at the ASC's official website, so expect a date to be nailed down in due time.

A final shout out to the Features department this year as a trio of stories tackle those slaving away on Final Draft and Movie Magic.

Steven Gaydos first talks to "Ratatouille" scribe Brad Bird about due respect to animation writers, while David Cohen draws parallels between "Atonement" and "The Kite Runner" on another front.

There is also a great piece from Cohen's upcoming book, "Screen Plays: How 25 Scripts Made It to a Theater Near You -- For Better or Worse."  Cohen talks to screewnriter and novelist Michael Cunningham about the differences between writing for the page and writing for the screen.

And of course, how can the round-up be complete without an Oscar quiz?  How savy are you when it comes to Oscar's history with screenwriters?

•  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]

Miramax is stepping up the campaign for "No Country for Old Men" a notch, as hardcover editions of Cormac McCarthy's novel are arriving critics' doorsteps this week.  I've been searching out a copy of this thing in vain all month long.

Variety's Features department has been super busy this week, with the addition of three new editions as we close in on the end of the year.

First up, as part of the "Crix' Picks" edition, Sasha Stone analyzes the effect of punditry on the Oscar race.  Manohla Dargis, Dave Karger and Pete Howell are quoted.

Meanwhile, Elsa Bertet looks at the European blogosphere and the "uncharted territory" of Web sites dedicated to the kudos season overseas.

David Mermelstein has the lede in the screenplays collective, looking at the writers' race as one chocked full of "fractured families" and "dysfunctional dynsaties."  There is also a boatload of screenwriter profiles to click through.

Finally, Dade Hayes launches the Best Picture edition by making sure you understand that Oscar campaigns ain't what they used to be, while Dave McNary reminds us of the Academy's June decision to change its "rule of three" regarding allowable credited producers on Best Picture nominees.

There are plenty more stories in that issue, including a giant list of prducer profiles per film.

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"

More of these!

The Washington, D.C. critics voted today, giving their Best Picture honors to "No Country for Old Men."  So in one day, it's the Coens vs. P.T.A across four awards-giving bodies.  INTERESTING.

Here's the full list of D.C. winners

Best Film: "No Country for Old Men"
Best Director: Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, "No Country for Old Men"
Best Actor: George Clooney, "Michael Clayton"
Best Actress: Julie Christie, "Away From Her"
Best Ensemble: "No Country for Old Men"
Best Supporting Actor: Javier Bardem, "No Country for Old Men"
Best Supporting Actress: Amy Ryan, "Gone Baby Gone"
Best Breakthrough Performance: Ellen Page, "Juno"
Best Adapted Screenplay: Aaron Sorkin, "Charlie Wilson's War"
Best Original Screenplay: Diablo Cody, "Juno"
Best Animated Feature: "Ratatouille"
Best Foreign Language Film: "The Diving Bell and The Butterfly"
Best Documentary: "Sicko"
Best Art Direction: "Sweeney Todd:The Demon Barber of Fleet Street"

So that's 3 for 4 for Amy Ryan today.  I didn't see that coming, I have to say.  Aaron Sorkin's win for "Charlie Wilson's War" is a bit out of left field, given that "No Country for Old Men" racked up three other wins (including a second score for ensemble acting).

No precursor love so far for "Atonement" and "American Gangster."

The New York-based National Board of Review has announced its list of award winners for the year, kick-starting the precursor circuit on the march through the 2007 film awards season.

The Coen brothers' "No Country for Old Men" took the Best Picture prize, leading a top ten list that included somewhat surprising mentions for "The Bourne Ultimatum" and "The Bucket List."

George Clooney won the Best Actor award for his performance in Tony Gilroy's "Michael Clayton," while Julie Christie took down Best Actress for her portrayal in Sarah Polley's "Away from Her."

Casey Affleck ("The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford") and Amy Ryan ("Gone Baby Gone") won in the supporting categories, while Tim Burton was named Best Director for "Sweeney Todd."

The last NBR Best Picture winner to miss a nomination from the Academy was "Quills" in 2000, and "Gods and Monsters" before that in 1998.  With "Charlie Wilson's War" coming up short (though some would argue this point), the film looks better for placement with AMPAS now than it did when it only had critics championing the cause.  Oh the give and take of Oscar season.

Winners from the press release:

Best Film: "No Country for Old Men"
Best Director: Tim Burton, "Sweeney Todd"
Best Actor: George Clooney, "Michael Clayton"
Best Actress: Julie Christie, "Away from Her"
Best Supporting Actor: Casey Affleck, "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford"
Best Supporting Actress: Amy Ryan, "Gone Baby Gone"
Best Foreign Film: "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"
Best Documentary: "Body of War"
Best Animated Feature: "Ratatouille"
Best Ensemble Cast: "No Country for Old Men"
Breakthrough Performance by an Actor: Emile Hirsch, "Into the Wild"
Breakthrough Performance by an Actress: Ellen Page, "Juno"
Best Directorial Debut: Ben Affleck, "Gone Baby Gone"
Best Original Screenplay (tie): Diablo Cody, "Juno" and Nancy Oliver, "Lars and the Real Girl"
Best Adapted Screenplay: Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, "No Country for Old Men"

The top ten (in alphabetical order):
"The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford"
"Atonement"
"The Bourne Ultimatum"
"The Bucket List"
"Into the Wild"
"Juno"
"The Kite Runner"
"Lars and the Real Girl"
"Michael Clayton"
"Sweeney Todd"

Top five foreign films (in alphabetical order):
"4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days"
"The Band's Visit"
"The Counterfeiters"
"La Vie en Rose"
"Lust, Caution"

Top five documentary films (in alphabetical order):
"Darfur Now"
"In the Shadow of the Moon"
"Nanking"
"Taxi to the Darkside"
"Toots"

Top independent films (in alphabetical order):
"Away from Her"
"Great World of Sound"
"Honeydripper"
"In the Valley of Elah"
"A Mighty Heart"
"The Namesake"
"Once"
"The Savages"
"Starting Out in the Evening"
"Waitress"

Career Achievement: Michael Douglas
William K. Everson Film History Award: Robert Osbourne
Career Achievement in Cinematography: Roger Deakins
The BVLGARI Award for NPR Freedom of Expression: "The Great Debaters" and "Persepolis"

•  Anne Thompson on the recent Variety screening of "The Savages" with Laura Linney and Tamara Jenkins Q&A. [Thompson on Hollywood]

•  Brian Kinsley points us to a couple of below-the-radar contenders.  I like the "Persepolis" mention for Best Adapted Screenplay. [In Contention]

•  Todd Martens gets into the tracks of "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story." [Extended Play]

•  The Envelope has officially gone off the deep end with its awards season content: I give you, a gallery of the top 9 dinner scenes of the year? [The Envelope]

•  Tom O'Neil talks to "Into the Wild" star Emile Hirsch. [Gold Derby]

•  Jeffrey Wells responds to an item from yours truly, stirs the waters of his comments section in the process. [Hollywood Elsewhere]

•  While at Jeffrey's site, I came across this interesting piece regarding potential inspirations for Cormac McCarthy's "No Country for Old Men." [Anti-Dis-Arts-And-Entertainmentalism]

•  David Poland has taken to iPosting, and his wheels are spinning about the box office of "Beowulf." [The Hot Blog]

•  Nathaniel Rogers, in the fifth of a superlative on-going Oscar column, sizes up musicals at the Oscars. [The Film Experience]

•  Checking names off his interview wish lists, Scott Feinberg gets ahold of veteran Max von Sydow to discuss "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly." [And the Winner Is...]

•  Lou Lumenick gets around to "There Will Be Blood," is dazzled by Daniel Day-Lewis' performance. [New York Post]

•  Susan Wloszczyna talks to Josh Brolin about that silly "overnight success" story business.  Anyone seen "The Goonies???" [USA Today]

Reading through Jeffrey Wells' mini-tirade yesterday regarding Oscar analysts and prognosticators "bowing" at the feet of conventional wisdom, I figured his heart was in the right place.

I mean, let's face it, as I noted in this blog's introductory entry, the Oscars piss many people off each and every year due to this perceived injustice or that.  Most of the time, we cover it as it happens because, well -- that's what journalists do.

But it doesn't mean we don't have favorites that we want to stand up for.  Personally I think Marco Beltrami's score in "3:10 to Yuma" is worth consideration from a music branch that tends to vote the same five or six guys into the line-up more often than not.

Ditto the cinematography branch, which one would never expect to nominate a deserving newbie like Andy Reed ("Quiet City") into the fold.  Just because he and the film don't have major awards pushes behind them doesn't mean they don't deserve a long, hard look.

I think the acting branch could do well by thinking outside of the box and taking into account the work on display from Greg Kinnear ("Feast of Love"), Sam Riley ("Control"), Michael Sheen ("Music Within") and Tang Wei ("Lust, Caution") this year, but so what?

We play it as it lays.  You'll drive yourself crazy if you get on that soap box for too long.

In the last two days I've had the joy of speaking with two of the creative geniuses (yeah -- I think that's a fair term) behind "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" that AREN'T Julian Schnabel.

Ronald Harwood -- nicely juxtaposed with Diablo Cody earlier in the week by our own Anne Thompson -- is a delightful Brit with all the candor in the world.  Freshly back from The Hollywood Reporter's writer's roundtable, the talented scribe celebrated his 73rd birthday today.  Congrats, good sir.

Janusz Kaminski, meanwhile, has recently wrapped shooting "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" and had nothing but enthusiasm to show for what he accomplished "Diving Bell."  He mentioned that even though his career has largely been dominated by the big budget Spielberg efforts of the last 14 years, he was quite refreshed by the ability to be so artistically expressive this time around.

Funnily enough, both gentlemen dropped the F-bomb in separately hilarious ways.  Harwood, regarding the obvious health drawbacks of a life-long smoking habit, stated calmly and smoothly, "I'm 72 and I don't give a f***."

Kaminski, on the other hand, when responding to a question regarding colleague reception of his work on "Diving Bell," said that he had prepared himself over the years due to this rejection or that.  "I don't give a f** what they think," he said, "because I made a great movie.  But I wish them well!"  Then he added a maniacal laugh that makes me chuckle just thinking about it.

Both are characters to say the least.

Anne Thompson has a nice piece up chatting with "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" and "Juno" scribes Ronald Harwood and Diablo Cody.

Personally I think Harwood is a cinch for an Oscar bid, given how cheeky and delightful his adaptation of Jean-Dominique Bauby's memoir turned out to be.  That's a film that is moving many people in the run-up to Oscar season.

Cody, meanwhile, is a personal crush.  Can't help it.  And "Juno" is just heart-warming enough underneath all that blog jargon and comedic molasses to potentially eke out a win in the original department.  But that's my view.  Long ways to go.

•  Anne Thompson has "Beowulf" reactions.  [Thompson on Hollywood]

•  Jeffrey Wells finall unleashes his "There Will Be Blood" review, smartly acknowledges that it takes a few moments of gathering oneself before fully appreciating the value of the film.  Calls it "diseased greatness." [Hollywood Elsewhere]

•  Elizabeth Snead talks to Paul LeBlanc about Bardem's do in "No Country." [The Envelope]

•  The Buzzmeter gets a fresh update. [The Envelope]

•  As do the Gurus, this time taking a stab at the screenplay races.  Good showing for Tony Gilroy. [Movie City News]

•  Noah Forrest makes an awards case for subtle performers. [Movie City News]

•  Scott Feinberg talks to Tabu from "The Namesake," getting an agressive push from Fox Searchlight. [And the Winner Is...]

•  Yet ANOTHER award...this time, Tommy Lee Jones is tapped to win the Santa Barbara Fest's American Riviera Award. [Variety]