I have to say, a lot of this morning's poo-pooing of the Oscar ceremony last night is a bit hyperbolic for my taste.  The mixed critical reactions, that is.  I found the night to be rather swift and host Jon Stewart to be at the top of his game.  Sure, there were a number of montages that should have been nixed.  The Best Picture bit that Jack Nicholson presented comes to mind as considerably unnecessary.  But by my watch, the thing was over in less than four hours, something around three and a half...and that's ALWAYS a good thing.  Right?

But let's get into it.  The season has come to a close and the Coen brothers, Scott Rudin and "No Country for Old Men" had their day to shine.  Good for all involved.  It's the most un-Academy win since "The Silence of the Lambs," but that's the way things go sometimes.

There were surprises in store for some.  Such as Marion Cotillard and Tilda Swinton taking the leading and supporting actress trophies, swooping in at the last minute to steal away the thunder of the night's frontrunners.  Personally, I saw this coming, but no one could deny the possibility was there and the situations were ripe for upsets.  Both speeches, by the way, were quite good.  Cotillard was appropriately emotional (as was Diablo Cody, who even choked me up with her teary acceptance).  Swinton, meanwhile, offered that Tilda charm and sass that has become something of a staple this season for the "Michael Clayton" star.

The biggest shocks of the night for me came in the craft races, where "The Bourne Ultimatum" snuck in and grabbed the sound editing and sound mixing statuettes.  The latter category had been primed as a race between "Transformers" and "No Country for Old Men," a considerable media concentration given the nominations tally of Kevin O'Connell and Greg P. Russell.  Sadly, they missed yet again and this was their last shot at getting it together.  They'll go off and, obviously, churn out great work separately, so this isn't the end of days.  But it would have been a nice bow on their partnership, to be sure.

I think the best moments of the evening both involved the film "Once."  The first was Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova's performance of "Falling Slowy," which elicited a huge cheer from the crowd.  The second was Jon Stewart's insistence that Irglova come back out and be given her moment to offer what ultimately was, let's face it, the bes speech of the evening.  Trigger happy bands really piss me off and someone needs to key them into the fact that some people you just don't scoot away like that.  This was a songwriting DUO, the two STARs of the film, for Pete's sake.  Give them both their moment, please.

The "Enchanted" numbers became a bit tedious after a while, and I couldn't help but wish Eddie Vedder had been there to mix things up.  There are no two ways about it.  The music branch embarassed itself this year.  That's my opinion, in any case.

Apparently the ratings were the lowest ever, which it is foolish to attribute (as some have) to the actual show.  I would say one need only look at the slate of rather unpopular Best Picture nominees to find out why the public at large wasn't very interested.  Personally, I thought it was the best year for movies in a long while.  But just look at the box office rankings to see what people preferred.  It's not in line with Oscar.

Anyway, now we look ahead to next year, right?  RIGHT?  Well, those of us who are nuts, in any case.  Scott Rudin and the Coens will be back, for different projects.  Josh Brolin, Sean Penn, Angelina Jolie, Frank Langella, Russell Crowe, George Clooney -- all heading back to the race.  Returning filmmakers include Ridley Scott, Joe Wright and David Fincher, while Paramount Pictures once again has the glut of product to consider.  And there'll be a "titanic" reunion in store for the nostalgic romantics in the crowd.

But we'll get there.  For now, let's just all enjoy the release of another Oscar year in the rear view mirror.  It's been a blast contributing here at variety this season,a nd I hope you've all enjoyed reading.  We'll weather the fallout in the coming days and call it quits at the end of the week.

Happy Monday.

The boys are livid as "Transformers" misses out on Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing, and lets face it, that Kevin O'Connell and Greg P. Russell remain Oscarless is a total crock.  And now, they'll have to aim for thg old separately as "Transformers" was their final collaboration.  Also handed out was Best Actress, a three-way race and a big question finally answered.  Check it out.

•  David Carr camps out at the Four Seasons, chats it up with a veritable who's who of the Oscar strategist spectrum. [The Carpetbagger]

•  He also reports at length at the goings on in town this week: the parties, the prep, the pageantry. [New York Times]

•  Michael Cieply, meanwhile, digs into the matter of that Academy museum that can now see the light of day with the strike settlement. [New York Times]

•  Jeffrey Wells rattles off his perspective on the season to an eager podcaster. [Hollywood Elsewhere]

•  Tom O'Neil responds to the final Buzzmeter...and he's still predicting George Clooney! [Gold Derby]

•  Gina Piccalo writes a big, juicy love letter to Oscar savior Gil Cates. [Los Angeles Times]

•  She also profiles Bill Conti, maestro of the musical cues and "45 second rule." [The Envelope]

•  Still hoofing it, Kevin O'Connell talks his plight with Vanity Fair's Cassandra Handley. [Little Gold Men]

•  Ramin Setoodeh rounds out the year with his final guesses.  The most intriguing: an Amy Ryan forecast in Best Supporting Actress. [The Gold Digger]

•  Favorite quotables from this year's nominees. [Cinematical]

•  Leslie Simmons takes note of Marcus Carl Franklin ("I'm Not There") at Friday night's Indie Spirit nominees reception.  So did everyone else, apparently. [Gold Rush]

•  The local ABC affiliate sits down with Kevin O'Connell and Greg P. Russell to discuss the art of sound mixing and their history with Oscar. [ABC]

•  Steve Chagollan talks to this year's honorary Oscar recipient, art director Richard Boyle. [Variety]

•  Anne Thompson rounds up a few pundit predictions. [Thompson on Hollywood]

•  Sasha Stone, meanwhile, starts her big ole' compilation chart. [Awards Daily]

•  Jon Stewart speaks!  Bill Carter does the reporting at the Gray Lady. [New York Times]

•  Edward Havens handicaps the Oscar race. [Film Jerk]

•  Jeffrey Wells keeps this "Juno" thing going with one guy's assessment of some unquantifiable British sentiment. [Hollywood Elsewhere]

•  Don't think about taking an embed, biatch!  The Oscars get tubed. [YouTube]

•  Michele Norris talks to the two poor souls from Price Waterhouse tasked with counting all 6,000 ballots. [NPR]

•  Pete Hammond hits the nail on the head: it's a year of upsets; why not Oscar, too? [The Envelope]

•  Tom O'Neil tosses around the "actor rule" reagarding Best Picture winners. [Gold Derby]

•  The Gurus o' Gold do not expect "No Country for Old Men" to lose at all on Sunday. [Movie City News]

•  Gurus 2.0 offer up their final guesses as well. [Movie City News]

•  Nathaniel Rogers hearts the fact that love can survive in Hollywood, spotlighting the 34 year marriage of Sissy Spacek and "There Will be Blood" production designer Jack Fisk. [The Film Experience]

•  If you're too cool for school Sunday night and won't be watching the Oscar like the rest of us, let your cell phone do the work. [Thompson on Hollywood]

•  David Edelstein humors the reasoning that allows for a "Juno" Best Picture victory. [The Projectionist]

•  Jeffrey Wells is beside himself at such insinuations. [Hollywood Elsewhere]

•  David Carr thinks it's all a bunch of hot air and over-analysis. [The Carpetbagger]

•  Yours truly, meanwhile, happens to think it's pretty much a no-brainer at this point...sadly. [In Contention]

•  Sasha Stone advocates for "No Country" one...last...time, posting a full blown sequence from the film to make sure the point is made. [Awards Daily]

•  Jay Fernandez digs into the year's nominated scripts, with a eye toward vibrant characterizations. [The Envelope]

•  Tom O'Neil chats it up with sound mixer Kevin O'Connell backstage at the CAS Awards over the weekend. [Gold Derby]

•  Noah Forrest takes a stab at predicting the winners. [Movie City News]

•  Tim Long prolongs (heh) the anti-Oscar, elitest attitude at Vanity Fair. [Little Gold Men]

•  More predictions from T.L. Stanley. [Gold Rush]

•  A separate set from some cruis ship bartenders. [Cinematical]

•  Lou Lumenick predicts it right down the friggin' middle. [New York Post]

Saturday's somewhat surprising victory for "No Country for Old Men" at the Cinema Audio Society Awards has people wondering whether long-time nominees Kevin O'Connell and Greg P. Russell will perhaps miss yet again for their heavily detailed work on "Transformers."  As it turns out, "No Country" mixer Greg Orloff is hoping the duo can finally pull it out.

As Tom O'Neil reports:

"I'm rooting hard for Kevin to win," Orloff said. "Nothing would make me happier than to see him finally get his due. He's a great sound mixer. I've known Kevin for 25 years and worked with him on movies like 'Armageddon.' I know how good he is."

It's pretty hard NOT to root for them at this stage in the game.  This being their final collaboration together, it would just be a sweet end to a great ride.

There was also this bit regarding last year's sound mixer nastiness that I found interesting:

When "Dreamgirls" beat O'Connell's "Apocalypto" last year, the loss got mired in a tragic mess, I'm sure you'll recall. During the Oscar ceremony, O'Connell had to rush off to the hospital where his mother died in his arms. Meantime, backstage at the Kodak Theatre, "Dreamgirls" winner Michael Minkler trashed O'Connell to reporters, saying that it was time O'Connell went into another line of work. Minkler issued an apology later, but, as far as I know, the two have not spoken personally.

Last night they were both in the same ballroom at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel, all eyes were on them, of course, but they didn't connect.

At one point before the ceremony started, I hooked up with Kevin to arrange plans with him to shoot a video chat later out in the lobby.

"Where are you sitting?" he asked me.

"Over there at that table next to Bill Condon," I replied, forgetting for a second about the "Dreamgirls" connection as I pointed to the film's director.

"Would you introduce me to Bill, please?" Kevin said. "I'd really like to meet him."

Suddenly, I froze. Yikes. "Sure," I said and led him over to Bill and made the introductions.

Bill jumped up from his seat with a big smile, shook Kevin's hand eagerly and said, "Kevin, I'd like to apologize to you on behalf of my team."

Kevin nodded graciously and they had a cheery chat. Later, when I needed someone to run camera while I did the video chat with Kevin, Bill volunteered.

Never knew there could be so much backstage drama at a little ole' mixers' shindig, did ya?

So, if you haven't already heard, "No Country for Old Men" took down the motion picture award at tonight's Cinema Audio Society Awards, and to be truthful, it was something of a surprise.

Sure, much has been made of Kevin O'Connell and Greg P. Russell's streak of losses at the Oscars, but they've also put up a goose egg with their peers.  It's really difficult to deny a sound job like that of "Transformers," and yet here it sits, winless, staring at the same possibilities for Oscar.

There is also no denying the creativity of the mix on "No Country," so let's not miss my meaning.  I spoke with re-recording mixer Craig Berkey before the show and had to tell him "bravo" for making the tracks on this guild-dominating film another character in the pic.  The clip the Society chose (and boy did they get risque with these clips) is probably one of the best examples of this team's work on the film: Javier Bardem's chilling Anton Chigurgh ambushes a hotel room full of Mexican thus as Josh Brolin's Llewelyn Moss listens from a nearby room.

It's just a different kind of "good," as I told one of mixers seated at my table tonight.  So it goes.

Berekey, who also, coincidentally enough, did some recording work on "Transformers," said he was encouraged that the media is slowly but surely turning its gaze toward the craft achievements.  It's something Gerard Kennedy and I have been fairly passionate about for two years now, and indeed, these individuals deserve the coverage.  Dorothea Sargeant, the CAS' publicist, has made some considerable strides since she took the organization on as a client.  Here's hoping the exposure continues.

Bill Condon received the Society's Filmmaker Award.  It was good to talk it up with him outside of the awards frenzy of last year, to be sure, and his speech was a hoot.  CAS member Michael Minkler presented the trophy to Condon, who offered a biting but comedic salute to "Dreamgirls" producer David Geffen as he accepted.

Meanwhile, the great Dennis Sands won the Lifetime Achievement Award,.  Sands has left his signature on everything from "Back to the Future" to "Predator," "Contact" to "Forrest Gump."  Composer Alan Silvestri presented the award, a longtime friend of Sands going back nearly three decades.

Greg P. Russell, in presenting the TV award this evening, gave his own touching tribute to Sands before going back to the script.  He recalled walking into the sound mix of "Romancing the Stone" way back in 1984 and how the technology at the time was like nothing he'd ever seen.  He said he was honored to call Sands a mentor, a colleague and a friend.

Off the topic of sound mixing, Tom O'Neil was bouncing around with his one-man camera show, grabbing an interesting video podcast with Kevin O'Connell out in the lobby.  We chatted about this Tilda Swinton craziness that has been spreading through the Oscarweb like wildfire since the BAFTA awards and, to be truthful, he almost made me rethink my position on the matter.  Almost.

Here are some images from the show:


Kevin O'Connell (left) and Bill Condon chat in the ballroom lobby.



The most surreal shot I've ever taken: Condon, ever the sport, films
Tom O'Neil's video podcast with O'Connell.  Only on the Oscarweb.



The strike has taken its toll on poor Mr. Condon, moonlighting
anonymously as an Envelope employee.  (I kid the Times.)



Condon accepts the Filmmaker Award.



The "No Country" sound crew reigns victorious.  O'Connell
and Greg P. Russell look on from the table directly in front of the stage.

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

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

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

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

I know we're harping on and on about the sound team of "Transformers" lately, but hey, it's an exciting race packed with creative and deserving nominees, regardless of the nom tally represented by Greg Russell and Kevin O'Connell.

That said, Russell passed along this bitchin' "Behind the Sound" reel that was created in house for the pic.  It really gives you an idea of what went into the work of the sound editors on the team, and there are some nice shots of Russell and O'Connell mixing the tracks with director Michael Bay in the middle, watching it come to life.

Take a look:



Meanwhile, Tom O'Neil has some comments up regarding the Buzzmeter rankings, which have prognozticators taking the dive for "No Country for Old Men" in the Best Sound Mixing category, with "The Bourne Ultimatum" close behind and finall "Transformers" at the #3 spot.  He also gets into some of the brief history surrounding O'Connell and Russell, of which I'm sure plenty of you are aware.

It seems more and more studios are putting out a concerted effort to rally behind tech categories this season, as a number of films have received publicity treatment for craft nominations in the form of high profile demos and Q&A events.

The "Transformers" team got together at the end of last week for just such an event, and I kept forgetting to link to Anne's reaction piece.

Toward the end of the story, Anne gets to the subject of sound mixers Kevin O'Connell and Greg P. Russell, as well as their combined 32 Oscar nominations without a win.

I'm sure it was a splendid session (I regret that school took priority on the evening in question), but I wanted to know even more about what each specific contributor added to the film after reading Anne's piece, and even though I'm friendly with Russell and give a lot of attention to the tech categories, I still don't have all the screws tightened on this stuff (nor does, I'm sure, a large number of Academy members).  So I called him up to get a little more out of him.

This is how Russell broke down each individual contribution on what he calls the most difficult and complex sound job of his career:

•  Production mixer Peter Devlin (one of the three nominees for Best Sound Mixing) provided dialogue tracks to the sound team that were "well-recorded," Russell said, despite the challenging circumstances Devlin faced on the set.

•  Russell had the responsibility of handling all of the film's many aural effects, while sound editing nominees Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl created a vast palette of sounds for the mixers to work with.

•  (This is where it becomes greek to many -- myself included -- but certainly reflects a rather involved process.)  Russell and company pre-dubbed sound effects for five weeks and had a total of 29 "sound effects pre-dubs" per reel, nine of which were dedicated just for the robots.

•  The biggest challenge, Russell said, was conveying a quotient of believability to the robot stars of the picture.  Russell said it was "like a kid in a candy store" for him and co-nominee/former mixing partner Kevin O'Connell.

•  Creating the robots' voices was a challenge for co-sound supervisor Mike Hopkins, Russell said.  Together with O’Connell, he used clever processing techniques and even placed the voices in each of the speakers at times (including the subwoofer), giving the robots that "larger than life feeling."

•  Finally, Van der Ryn and Aadahl had to come up with signature sounds for the different robots to give them variation and personality.  Thompson touches on this in her piece when she writes that "the sound of Optimus Prime, voiced by Peter Cullen, is about air.  Bumble Bee is about buzzing."

Well, there you go.  You learn something every day and I honestly think I could hang around with these guys a solid week and still be dizzy with the amount of work that goes into post-producing a flick like "Transformers."

Other stories of interest:

•  Gerard Kennedy interviews Kevin O'Connell about the ubiquity of Oscar. [In Contention]
•  Martin Grove talks to the sound team behind "Transformers" [The Hollywood Reporter]
•  Greg P. Russell chats up his 12th nomination with yours truly. [Red Carpet District]

•  Sasha Stone points us to the "No Country" campaign, teeth-bared, determined to win the big cheese, reaching full-blown overexposure as three -- count 'em -- three interview run on NPR (with producer Scott Rudin, directors Joel and Ethan Coen and Javer Bardem). [Awards Daily]

•  Gerard Kennedy chats it up with 20-timer Kevin O'Connell (nominated this year for "Transformers," as you surely know by now). [In Contention]

•  Jeffrey Wells was a little bummed at that mPRm BAFTA viewing party because of the -- well -- lack of suspense.  The winners, o course, were leaked earlier in the day. [Hollywood Elsewhere]

•  Anne Thompson responds to the winners, gives her account of the night's festivities. [Thompson on Hollywood]

•  Ever the authority on what we "learn," David Poland kicks off the ten lessons of the 2007-08 Oscar season. [Movie City News]

•  A pie chart representing release dates and their representation in Oscar's ultimate nominees throughout the years. [The Film Experience]

•  Robert Downey, Jr. calls it a "crime" that Joe Wright was snubbed for "Atonement" during a set visit of the director's upcoming "The Soloist." [Guardian]

Film Editing Christopher Rouse
Sound Editing Karen Baker Landers and Per Hallberg
Sound Mixing Scott Millan, David Parker and Kirk Francis

Finally I came across the panels for the crafts behind "No Country for Old Men."  Miramax has put each of them up as a handomse effort to generate buzz and support for the cinematography, sound and art direction of the piece.  Check it out.

•  Ryan Adams posits the Oscars as a repeat of the Super Bowl, with "No Country" repping the undefeated Pats and "Atonement," should it take down a BAFTA victory, standing in for those Cinderella G-Men. [Awards Daily]

•  The sound crew from "No Country" continues to make the rounds. [Variety]

•  Jeffrey Wells chimes in on the Weinstein strategy for Cate Blanchett in "I'm Not There" -- free "reel" in copies of yesterday's Variety. [Hollywood Elsewhere]

•  Sasha Stone ponders the evergreen question: Who really marks up these ballots every year? [Awards Daily]

•  Todd Martens looks at the year's Grammy nominated film music, including work from Glen Hansard ("Once") and Eddie Vedder ("Into the Wild"). [The Envelope]

•  Speaking of Vedder, New York Magazine isn't keen on Pearl Jam's latest pro-Obama track. [Vulture]

•  The Buzzmeter favors "No Country," save a select few holdouts. [The Envelope]

•  Tom O'Neil takes note. [Gold Derby]

•  Yes, the biggest Hollywood party of the year has been cancelled. [New York Times]

•  Mark Olsen sits down with Oscar nominee (and dark horse supporting actor contender) Casey Affleck. [The Envelope]

•  Donn Freydkin sits down with Javier Bardem in one of a slew of interviews the actor has been giving in recent weeks. [USA Today]

Gerard Kennedy took some time this week to speak with two of the nominated sound mixers from "No Country for Old Men": Craig Berkey and Peter Kurland.  The aural qualities of the Coen brothers film have been a talking point for some time, substituting thematically relevant room tone and production sound for original musical accompaniment.

The film was nominated for both sound mixing and sound editing, the latter being a surprise even to those of us obsessive enough to follow the crafts races.

Here's a quick look at Kennedy's piece:

Kurland has been working with the Coens for nearly 25 years (he was the boom operator on “Blood Simple”) and loves their joint efforts.

“There’s never any hysteria or screaming on the set,” he says. “They are exceptionally well prepared. It isn’t that there aren’t surprises but there are very few completely unexpected elements.”

Berkey adds to the notion that the helmers know exactly what they want to do, having “the whole thing laid out as they’re writing the script. But they also listen to new ideas regarding sound, having the confidence to have a minimal score in a film like this.”

Having been on the set with the brothers on many occasions, Kurland says new challenges still manage to arise on each shoot. He says this was definitely the warmest set apart from “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” and that, being out in the desert, wind was a large problem (as it always is for production sound). But the work was particularly pivotal in this film and had to be recorded just right. He also notes a new and somewhat bizarre element on the production called “dusk panic.” Only about 10 takes were done in the daylight and the rest were done during sunset or sunrise, with very little time to get those shots right.

Also, I particularly liked this bit of insight into building the character of Anton Chigurgh with sound elements:

Berkey also says he and his colleagues attempted to keep the mix quiet, at the same time trying to create a “theme” of sound for Bardem’s character akin to what might be present in a score, notably in the fact that the sound of a train almost always accompanies, or slightly precedes, his presence. “We wanted to get the idea that a big bad freight train is coming,” he recalls.

It is probably worth noting that this film is the biggest competition for Kevin O'Connell and greg P. Russell at the moment, and the infamous 32 nominations they claim between them.  But there is no denying the sheer complexity of the sound work in "Transformers," so at least we're looking at a race between equally deserving candidates rather than finding a musical in the mix that keeps the Academy from actually THINKING about this section of the ballot.

Check out the rest of Kennedy's column.

The Hollywood publicity machine is well-oiled at the start of this week, to be sure.  I count at least four studios with events lined up this evening, and who knows what shin-digs I haven't been invited to today.  We all make our blacklists.

First, there's Picturehouse's celebration of Marion Cotillard, Oscar nominated for "La Vie en Rose," if you're into a poolside gathering at the Chateau Marmont.

If a nuts and bolts dialogue is more your speed, Paramount Vantage has set up the "There Will Be Blood" crew for a screening and Q&A over at the Harmony gold Theater on Sunset.  Film editor Dylan Tichenor, cinematographer Robert Elswit, sound designer Chris Scarabosio, supervising sound editor Matthew Wood, and set decorator Jim Erickson -- nominees all of them -- are expected to attend.

Down the street at Book Soup, screenwriter Christopher Hampton is participating in a book signing of his Oscar-nominated adaptation, "Atonement," while Ariana Huffington will be hosting a screening of Charles Ferguson's "No End In Sight" at the Paley Center for Media out in Beverly Hills, for those really jonsing for a political experience, what with Super Tuesday right around the corner.  Huffington just hosted a similar "No End" event over the weekend at the Hotel Plaza Athenee in New York.

Oh, and Tamara Jenkins was just at Book Soup yesterday reading from her "Savages" screenplay.

All of these events come on the heels of last weekend's spotlight of the below the line nominees from "No Country for Old Men" -- coverage of which I've yet to stumble across, by the way.  Come on.  Somebody was there, right?

Anyway, lots of media exposure for lots of deserving contenders this season.  Some might think no more than usual, but the agression on the part of campaigners and strategists seems to have slid up a notch to me this year.  Lucky us, eh?

You might recall the recent wave of publicity behind sound mixer Kevin O'Connell and his 19th nomination last year for "Apocalypto," along with his partner, Greg P. Russell.  The chatter is back this season as the duo was nominated for their final collaboration, "Transformers" -- nomination numbers 20 and 12 respectively.  They actully have a really good shot at finally taking the award this time around, as their only true competition might be the creativity of "No Country for Old Men."  But, as Russell told me last month, at least there isn't another musical in their way this season.

Martin Grove of The Hollyood Reporter has a huge write-up on the contenders and their history with Oscar.  Co-nominee Peter J. Devlin (two nods to his credit) is also featured.  Here's a look:

Academy members, whose final ballots are starting to turn up in their mailboxes, will now have another chance to consider O'Connell, Russell and Devlin's work. Looking at the sound trio individually, O'Connell's 20 nominations go back to 1984 and "Terms of Endearment." Among his noms are those for "A Few Good Men," "Twister," "The Rock," "Armageddon," "Pearl Harbor," "Spider-Man" and "Spider-Man 2," all of which are shared with Russell except for "Twister." Among Russell's 12 noms going back to 1990 and "Black Rain," all of which are shared with O'Connell, are "Con Air," "The Mask of Zorro," "The Patriot" and "Memoirs of a Geisha." Devlin's twin nominations for "Transformers" and "Pearl Harbor" are both shared with O'Connell and Russell.

And later:

Looking back at all those noms he's amassed over the years, O'Connell observed, "One of the things about being nominated 20 times and never winning is it's given me a little bit of a voice to the world as to what we do. I've been talking to radio stations. I've been doing TV interviews and a lot of print interviews. I believe the more the world realizes what we do, the more exciting it is for people because everyone at home has their home theater and their 5.1 sound, but they don't know why they have it. They have it because of what we do. We're the guys who create that. We create the 5.1, which is six channels of sound -- 10,000 tracks boiled down to six. And that is not technical. That's all artistic."

Check out the rest!

Earlier: Yours truly gets Greg P. Russell's view of things (Jan. 23) [Red Carpet District]

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

Sound Editing  Ethan Van der Ryn and Mike Hopkins
Sound Mixing  Kevin O'Connell, Greg P. Russell and Peter J. Devlin
Visual Effects  Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Russell Earl and John Frazier

(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

•  David Carr live blogs last nights SAG Awards with his special breed of insight and commentary. [The Carpetbagger]

•  T.L. Stanley does the same. [Gold Rush]

•  Wait, so does Lou Lumenick. [New York Post]

•  Deborah Netburn was also hot on the case.  Live-blogging is so "in" again.  [The Envelope]

•  David Poland kinda-sorta responds to the festivities. [The Hot Blog]

•  Tom O'Neil thinks it's now in the bag for "No Country for Old Men." [Gold Derby]

•  Nathaniel Rogers talks to 12-time Oscar nominee Greg P. Russell. [The Film Experience]

•  New York Magazine dug back into the Kevin O'Connell/Greg P. Russell thing, by the way, uncovering some old wounds in the process. [Vulture]

•  Following Saturday's DGA victory for the Coens, Susan King spotlights directing partners throughout cinema history. [The Envelope]

•  William Keck follows up on the Sean Young fiasco from Saturday in his DGA coverage. [USA Today]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

...because it's a slow day and I'm bored, but the sound crew on "Cloverfield" better find some kind of love to last throughout the year.

According to Variety, "Into the Wild" and "No Country for Old Men" were among the nominees for the Cinema Audio Society, making them the clear industry favorites as the guild announcements continue to flow this week.  Each film was well represented by the Screen Actors Guild (4 nods for "Wild," 3 for "No Country"), each received a Directors Guild nomination and now, the Cinema Audio Society.  "No Country" also got some love from the American Society of Cinematographers, but surely Eric Gautier was this close to getting a mention there as well.

All of this is substantially important because the case continues to be made that these two films are the two best bets for Best Picture nominations in two weeks time.  Everything else is way up in the air, so it'll be an ugly fight to see who lands in the final three slots.

The Writers Guild of America will take time away from the picket lines today to announce its screen nominees.  "No Country" and "Wild" figure to be represented there as well.  Both screenplays were nominated for the USC Scripter award, which "No Country" won yesterday.

The other CAS nominees were "300," "The Bourne Ultimatum" and "Transformers."  No love for musicals "Hairspray" and "Sweeney Todd," the latter of which has been experiencing a nose-dive this awards season.

The Features department continues to plough exhaustively through the season, this week spotlighting the sound mixers, sound editors and visual effects artists.  There's also a roundup of contending producers.

Additionally, you'll find a phase one wrap-up that starts with a look behind the veil at the Academy's preferential voting process.  Peter Debruge follows that up with a look at the Academy's short film categories, and the philosophy that those arenas are considered an "incubator for future talent" by AMPAS.

Finally, the issue closes on an interesting piece about the "controversial, unexpected or downright puzzling" endings of films such as "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford," "Atonement," "No Country for Old Men" and "There Will Be Blood."  Andrew Barker has the byline.

•  More awards talk from The Paper of Record as Dennis Lim digs into the audio details and silent eccentricities of the "No Country for Old Men" soundtrack... [New York Times]

•  ...Mark Harris spotlights the benefits of seamless editing... [New York Times]

•  ...and production designer Jack Fisk offers up some of his sketches for "There Will Be Blood." [New York Times]

•  John Horn gets into the box office of "Charlie Wilson's War" and the neccessity of a light-hearted stance to get it there. [Los Angeles Times]

•  Nathaniel Rogers takes in a conversation between Martin Scorsese and Paul Thomas Anderson in NYC.  Kris Tapley is jealous.  So jealous. [The Film Experience]

•  Anne Thompson rounds up the awards announcements of the week, plus looks at Buzzmeter and Gurus o' Gold updates, with a dash of her own speculation thrown in for good measure. [Thompson on Hollywood]

•  Tom O'Neil has some DGA thoughts on tomorrow's announcement. [Gold Derby]

•  Edward Copeland surveys the hisory of Best Actor Oscar winners from worst to best. [Edward Copeland on Film]

•  Sasha Stone previews tonight's Critics Choice Awards. [Awards Daily]

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.

There is a lot of talk lately about the eligibility of Robert Zemeckis' upcoming "Beowulf" in the Best Animated Feature category.  There is also a concerted effort to refrain from pitching the film as an animated endeavor for awards attention.  Additionally, the director himself has even said that "to call performance capture animation is a disservice to the great animators."

The fact is that it's very likely the animation branch will not nominate Zemeckis' motion-capture film, just as they snubbed "The Polar Express" in 2004.  The sound departments will certainly be on board (Gerard Kennedy fleshed out some interesting talking points with sound mixer Randy Thom at In Contention yesterday), and perhaps the music branch will follow suit -- again, just as in 2004.  But whether the film is good enough to muster a Best Picture nomination is still to be seen

Regardless of all of this, I think it's worth taking note of Zemeckis' obvious desire to push the industry forward by leaps and bounds.  Maybe he deserves some kind of recognition outside of the Oscar ceremony's typical order of proceedings.

In 1988, Zemeckis' "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" garnered a Special Achievement award for animation director Richard Williams, and it was obviously very deserving considering how innovative the effort was at the time.  It's been a while since the Academy has gone out of its way to offer such a designation, and given that Zemeckis is leading the charge on what very well could be the next major phase in cinema technology, perhaps it's time to dust that award off and toss it his way once again.

After "Beowulf," Zemeckis will be diving right back into the motion-capture fray with the Jim Carrey-starrer "A Christmas Carol," in which Carrey will portray Ebenezer Scrooge and all four of the ghosts from the tale.