Alright, so Dario Marianelli grabs the Best Music - Original Score trophy for "Atonement," which, let's face it, was well received.  The documentary awards are handed out, and the boys and I are glad to see that Jon Stewart asked Marketa Irglova to come back out and actually say a few things.  Maybe someone should key Bill Conti into the fact that you don't play certain folks off the stage.   Check it out.

•  "Into the Wild" camera operator Jacques Jouffret wins big at the SOC (Society of Capera Operators) Awards. [Variety]

•  Andrew O'Hehir wades into the Oscar season with a dense consideration of the rift between the Academy and movie-going audiences, perceived or otherwise. [Salon]

•  Sasha Stone checks in with the bookies. [Awards Daily]

•  "For this...," "For that..."  Anyway, Scott Rudin chats it up with Patrick Goldtein. [The Envelope]

•  Tom O'Neil wonders how Jon Stewart will fare in his sophomore attempt at hosting the Oscar bash. [Gold Derby]

•  The Oscars as mobile art?  Are we losing our minds? [The Carpetbagger]

•  Anthony Breznican sits down with composer and Oscar first-timer Michel Giacchino. [USA Today]

•  If you're itchin' to be the best, enter MCN's Oscar prediction contest for a shot at the entire Stanley Kubrick collection on DVD. [Movie City News]

•  T.L. Stanley ventures some predictions of her own. [Gold Rush]

•  Meanwhile, here's a cute set of predictions from "Jose the cab driver." [Cinematical]

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.

Music (Score) Alberto Iglesias

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

Animated Feature Film  Brad Bird
Music (Score)  Michael Giacchino
Sound Editing  Randy Thom and Michael Silvers
Sound Mixing  Randy Thom, Michael Semanick and Doc Kane
Writing (Original Screenplay)  Screenplay by Brad Bird; Story by Jan Pinkava, Jim Capobianco, Brad Bird

Today's news regarding musical score disqualifications makes Jon Burlingame's piece on the music branch's consistent rule tweaking from a few weeks ago all the more prescient.  Take a look at his journey through Oscar's music history.

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.

•  Sasha Stone digs uop the International Film Music Award nominees.  Alexandre Desplat leads the pack. [Awards Daily]

•  Keeping things intresting during the Oscar season, The Envelope launches a nifty new Sundance section for full coverage. [The Envelope]

•  Tom O'Neil wonders if the DGA's deal with the producers is the lifeline Gil Cates and the Oscar ceremony was banking on. [Gold Derby]

•  Noah Forrest cranks out a personal Oscar ballot full of unique and inspired choices. [Movie City News]

•  Nathaniel Rogers, meanwhile, has his own ballot for the acting contenders.  He says to hell with a supporting actor campaign on Casey Affleck's performance in "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford."  Lead all the way, baby. [The Film Experience]

•  New York Magazine is high on Imelda Staunton's "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" turn (also showing up on Rogers' ballot). [Vulture]

•  David Poland talks with "Juno" star Ellen Page. [The Hot Blog]

Adam Sandler (no not that one) writing in Variety's Eye on the Oscars: Song and Score feature issue talked to a few people in the game to assess the slow but sure obsolescence of the ending credits, star-driven track.

It has been a pretty fortunate turn of events in recent years that the Academy has given its attention to a song's usage in a film and bearing on the stor rather than simply closing their eyes and chalking up this closing track or that as a nominee.  That little rule shift is probably the reason "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" from "Hustle & Flow" made it into contention (on the way to a win" back in 2005, and is certainly the reason the tunes of "Brokeback Mountain" didn't make the ultimate cut.  Regardless, it's good to finally see a story like this one out there.

Here's a quick look:

This creatively cautious sensitivity to not always having an end-titles song is a lingering backlash to the once ubiquitous, overwrought ballads that for years graced every studio's tentpole pic. These songs were often more a marketing ploy than a tune evocative of the film's story.

It is also part of the new fiscal reality: Songs from big artists can be expensive and prohibitive given the current state of shrinking film and music budgets. And without a robust music industry, fat soundtrack deals are scarce and a hit song is no longer the foolproof marketing tool it once was. [Variety]

There's plenty more stories in the issue for all you film music lovers out there.  Jon Burlingame has the lede with a story calling 2007 a "banner year" for music-driven films.  He also does a nice job of rounding up the constant rule changes in "Oscar's most tinkered-with category."

Sandler, meanwhile, is back with ways studios are attempting to target the music branch voters, such as YouTube videos, live concerts (like the Glen Hansard/Marketa Irglova show here at the Wiltern a few months back) and CD inserts in trade magazines (Paramount Vantage jumped on this early with "Into the Wild" supplements).

Anthony D'Alessandro wraps things up by pondering Oscar telecast performances and their effect on the longevity of "film-dwelling hits."

•  Gerard Kennedy reviews some of the film scores of 2007. [In Contention]

•  Matching Nathaniel Rogers, Peter Debruge also takes a quick look at the Oscar season's last two takers: "Honeydripper" and "The Orphanage." [Thompson on Hollywood]

•  Jeffrey Wells gives into the cross-over box office success of "Juno," but makes the mistake of thinking "good enough" has anything to do with what gets nominated for an Oscar. [Hollywood Elsewhere]

•  Sasha Stone points us to a Washington Post story asking whether TWC's "The Great Debaters" has the stuff to push it to an Oscar nod.  Hm... [Awards Daily]

•  More fashion talk. [The Envelope]

•  Nathaniel Rogers spotlights the year's overrated cinematic efforts... [The Film Experience]

•  ...and chalks "300" up as one of the year's worst.  What???  But I'm with him on "The Brave One." [The Film Experience]

•  Martin Grove is already forecasting the 2008 holiday movie season -- box office, that is. [The Hollywood Reporter]

We're anxiously awaiting the SAG announcement, but in the meantime...

•  Hilton Als calls "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" a "visual essay about physical and spiritual isolation," compares the film to Elaine Scarry's "The Body in Pain."  Heavy. [The New Yorker]

•  Golden Globe nominee Tom Hanks apparently tells unruly and disrespectful MySpacers to go f*** themselves. [Hollywood Elsewhere]

•  Todd Martens gets "Juno" composer Mateo Messina to answer a few queries about his experimental score and, of course, working in the shadow of Sonic Youth and the Kinks on the film's soundtrack. [Extended Play]

•  Sasha Stone thinks it might be time to take "Charlie Wilson's War" seriously again.  Eh. [Awards Daily]

•  Speaking of which, here's yet another pre-release piece on the film. [USA Today]

•  Ramin Satoodeh points us to David Ansen's mixed-bag top 10 list (and his own to boot). [The Gold Digger]

•  The strike gives David Cronenberg second thoughts about attending the Golden Globes -- he expects to be a no-show. [Gold Rush]

•  New York Magazine stretches for a story by indicating rash of recent pregnancies as perhaps detrimental to the awards success of "Juno." [Vulture]

•  BUT, they also start a cool "For Your Consideration" feature.  This week" McLovin' for Best Supporting Actor. [Vulture]

The only thing that sticks out about this morning's Golden Globe nominations is that "The Great Debaters" finally got a leg up, a "surprise" that a number of forecasters saw coming in the days leading up to the announcement.  But seriously, a monkey could have seen this stuff coming.

Focus' "Atonement" led the field by a wide margin with seven nominations, including the first tip of the hat this year for lead actor James McAvoy.  "Charlie Wilson's War" grabbed five nods while "No Country for Old Men" and "Sweeney Todd" each managed four.

Paramount Vantage's "Into the Wild," meanwhile, got a significant ding -- two nominations, for Best Original Score and Best Original Song -- while "There Will Be Blood" showed up as one of SEVEN Best Drama nominees and in the Best Actor category for Daniel Day-Lewis' maniacal portrayal.

On the whole, it really does read like business as usual.  Nothing to talk about that tickles MY fancy, in any case.  Here's the Variety story.

(The HFPA website is slow to update the list, but it's coming.)

•  The "Eye on the Oscar" features look to film music... [Variety]

•  ...and visual effects. [Variety]

•  Will the industry really turn down the chance to get loaded on NBC's dime? [Variety]

•  Susan Thea Posnock talks to "Eastern Promises" star Viggo Mortensen. [Awards Daily]

•  T.L. Stanley thinks the Bay area critics picked the wrong western. [Gold Rush]

•  David Poland has a chat with Chicago Film Critics nominee Leslie Mann. [The Hot Blog]

•  Ramin Satoodeh attends the NYC premiere of "There Will Be Blood." [The Gold Digger]

•  New York Magazine takes a stab at predicting the Golden Globe nominees. [Vulture]

•  So does Tom O'Neil. [Gold Derby]

•  Lou Lumenick takes a Catholic Bishop to task regardin ghte message of "Juno."  Only in Oscar season, folks. [New York Post]

•  59 songs make the Oscar "short" list.  Pick three. [The Envelope]

•  Rachel Abramowitz talks to the "Bucket" boys, Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson. [Los Angeles Times]

•  Oprah Winfrey splits her advocacy between a presdential candidate and an Oscar contender. [USA Today]

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"

This isn't exactly a shocker, but Ang Lee's racy "Lust, Caution" swept the Golden Horse Awards this weekend (kind of the Asian version of the Oscars).  Variety has the story.

Lee and Tony Leung were cited for Best Director and Best Actor, while Tang Wei grabbed the newcomer award.  The film also took down Best Feature Film, Best Screenplay Adaptation, Best Costume Design and Best Original Film Score.

They liked the film so much, they apparently tossed another award Lee's way, for Outstanding Taiwanese Filmaker of the Year.

Anyway, like I said, no major twist of events.  It'll be interesting to see if the film can gain any traction whatsoever with the Academy.  There are people who hate it, there are people who think it's in the realm of a masterpiece.  Funny how these things work out.

Nathaniel Rogers of The Film Experience has some reactions to the awards up.  Give it a look.

A letter from James Mangold circulated this evening calling BFCA attention to Marco Beltrami and his musical score for "3:10 to Yuma."  Included was a link to an interesting video featurette on the scoring of the film.  Take a look.

Personally, I thought Beltrami's work on the film was singular in the genre and one of the freshest scores of the year.  Seeing this featurette gives you some insight to the creativity that went into it.  Perhaps Lionsgate's campaign can garner more and more awards traction (starting with that Best Picture nomination today form the International Film Press).

James Newton Howard is a busy man this year.  In addition to composing the music for "The Great Debaters," "I Am Legend," "The Lookout" and "Michael Clayton," I'm just now realizing he was tapped by Mike Nichols to replace the original composer on "Charlie Wilson's War" (which, FYI, explains the film's tardiness in a certain regard -- the sound mix is said to still be in the process of completion).  Five films, four of them, perhaps, aiming for major awards contention.

Hope you catch up on some sleep over the holidays, Mr. Howard.  Sheesh...

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.

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.

•  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]

It appears you can now listen to each of Eddie Vedder's "Into the Wild" tunes at VantageGuilds.com.  The studio also says that it will soon be adding production notes and Jonny Greenwood's score to the "There Will Be Blood" section, an interview with Angelina Jolie to the "A Mighty Heart" section (presumably Pete Hammond's much publicized Q&A from Sunday night) and the music video for Vedder's "Guaranteed," which I mentioned in this space over the weekend.

•  "American Gangster" draws heat and accusations of drifting a bit too far from the truth from the real Richie Roberts. [New York Post]

•  Lou Lumenick talks about it in his blog. [New York Post]

•  Tom O'Neil responds to all. [Gold Derby]

•  And Jeffrey Wells takes the wrong-headed approach. [Hollywood Elsewhere]

•  O'Neil also stirs the waters of a potential smear campaign to come, yet AGAIN pulling out the old "A Beautiful Mind" scenario from 2001. [Gold Derby]

•  Lots of action at The Envelope, as Paul Lieberman talks to Nicole Kidman about "Margot at the Wedding." [The Envelope]

•  Mark Olsen, meanwhile, dishes "Gone Baby Gone" with supporting actress hopeful Amy Ryan. [The Envelope]

•  Susan King has a chat with harm-warming favorite Hal Holbrook. [The Envelope]

•  And Elizabeth Snead discusses the threads of "The Golden Compass" with veteran costume designer Ruth Myers. [The Envelope]

•  Anne Thompson responds to yesterday's Gurus o' Gold director and screenplay predictions. [Thomspon on Hollywood]

•  Admitted Jonny Greenwood fan Ryan C. Adams gets into Entertainment Weekly's holiday preview tid-bit on the score of "There Will Be Blood," with a couple of other interesting insights. [Awards Daily]

•  A far cry from "A Mighty Heart," Angie talks macabre delights and "Beowulf" with William Keck. [USA Today]

•  Old news, but Steve Daly -- one of the chosen ones who has seen "Sweeney Todd" -- talks the bloddy musical up and down in a cover story. [Entertainment Weekly]

•  Karen Valby has a Diablo Cody profile. [Entertainment Weekly]

•  Eugene Hernandez launches his "Awards Watch" articles... [indieWIRE]

•  ...and offers his first set of predictions at his blog, "Eugonline." [indieWIRE]

•  Peter Knegt does same at "The Lost Boy." [indieWIRE]

•  "But seriously, folks"...amidst all the awards chatter, Variety launches a new blog dedicated to WGA strike talk and coverage. [Scribe Vibe]

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

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

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

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

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