When it comes time to pick Oscar nominees, the Academy can just look back at the lowest-grossing films of November and December and throw them all into the mix. What makes the actual winner-choosing difficult, though, is that 2007 actually had some pretty great movies - at least a half-dozen - and they are all nominated for every possible award.
Take, for starters, "Michael Clayton," which is nominated for Best Leading and Supporting Actors, Best Supporting Actress, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Original Score and Best Picture. These nominations all come despite the fact that the film is exactly what one might expect from a Ken Burns adaptation of a John Grisham novel. People touted it as taking risks, but its only risk seemed to be in making a soporific, dumbed-down version of "Syriana" (2005) with a smaller scope. It can be paired with this year's "The Savages" (which is up for Best Leading Actress and Best Original Screenplay) in the category of movies that were well constructed but not particularly memorable.
The polar opposite of "Michael Clayton," at least in terms of dealing with human emotions and likable characters, is 2007's little movie that could, "Juno." Upon its release, feminists saw it as a pleasant counterbalance to "Knocked Up": what if a girl got pregnant, actually considered abortion, and didn't get turned into a screaming incomprehensible shrew by those lady-hormones that so upset Judd Apatow?
Within two months of its release, however (around the same time it began to be released in every theater of every multiplex in every country in the known universe), it became an object of revulsion, its friends abandoning it like cabinet members abandoning Bush. "Why does she run out of the clinic?" "Why do they talk like that?" "Why does nobody mention that the screenwriter used to be a stripper?" (Everybody mentioned this - she also wrote a book.)
By that time, it was too late to stop it, and Roger Ebert had already called it the best movie of the year, giving it the momentum to be nominated for Best Leading Actress (if she wins, Ellen Page will be the youngest woman to do so), Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best Picture. This is all quite something for a movie that was supposed to be the new "Little Miss Sunshine" (2006).
"Juno" is almost visible in the Best Picture category, though it is overshadowed by two of the three most violent movies of the year, "There Will Be Blood" and "No Country for Old Men." These two movies both represent distinct changes of pace for their directors, P.T. Anderson and Joel and Ethan Coen, respectively.
"There Will Be Blood" does not include any of the trademark aspects of Anderson's other films; the shots don't last longer than twenty minutes, there are fewer than a dozen main characters, and it doesn't take place in Los Angeles. It seems almost as if Anderson set out to make the ultimate Oscar-winning movie, and with "TWBB" he nearly succeeds. One is reminded of Peter Bogdanovitch's "The Last Picture Show" (1971): both movies suggest that their directors had just watched "Citizen Kane" (1941) and thought, "I can top that."
Within its nearly three hours, the audience is treated to the rise and fall of a greedy megalomaniac, played by acclaimed actor-turned-cobbler-turned-acclaimed-actor Daniel Day-Lewis. It also takes place in the past. If ever there's been a movie angling for an Oscar, "There Will Be Blood" is that movie. It is also recognized with nominations for Best Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Directing and Best Picture.
This is what makes "No Country for Old Men" such a pleasant surprise. One wouldn't think that the Coen Brothers, adapting a book by Cormac McCarthy (the previous attempt at adapting his work, "All the Pretty Horses" (2000), being pretty awkwardly bad), into a movie starring that guy from "The Goonies" (1985), would end up being the most engaging movie of the year, one that would burrow its way into the minds of its audience until they have no choice but to see it three or four times. For this achievement it is nominated for Best Supporting Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Directing and Best Picture, among others.
The competition between "No Country" and "TWBB" actually parallels a similar battle going on in the redheaded stepchild category, Best Animated Feature. "Ratatouille" (2007) was widely hailed as the best Pixar movie in some time, cementing Brad Bird's reputation as the Albert Brooks of animated film. The Best Animated Feature Oscar was his until along came a little movie by Marjane Satrapi. "Persepolis" (2007) is a story about growing up in a liberal family in Iran in the '80s. The film marks an innovating reinvention of two-dimensional cell animation. It's also brilliantly adapted by the author of the original memoir of the same title.
The Academy is faced with a tough choice here. They are two great movies, each competing to beat "Surf's Up" (2007). It's actually a great example of why the Best Animated Feature category is a mistake. It's like the Academy is afraid to admit that an animated movie could be as good as a live-action one. If they would admit to the skills of animators, Marjane Satrapi could be nominated for Best Director, and Brad Bird would retain his nomination for Best Original Screenplay. Maybe we could even get Marjane Satrapi to direct an animated version of Maus.
This year's Official Travesty Award goes to the Best Original Song category, where someone decided that "Falling Slowly" could replace the entire, brilliant soundtrack to "Once" (2006). And, inexplicably, three songs from "Enchanted" (2007) were nominated, where one (the delightful "That's How You Know") would have done fine to stand in for the rest.
Perhaps this year the Oscars should consider also including live performances for Best Sound Mixing, which is notorious for giving Oscars to otherwise unimpressive movies. There must be a way to show why "The Bourne Ultimatum" (2007) is more deserving of this award than, say, "Transformers" (2007).
This distinction may be necessary, as the writers have had only two weeks to prepare the entire 14-hour ceremony. So when you're watching Jon Stewart make a joke about Jack Nicholson, and the camera cuts to Jack grinning from behind those sunglasses, like every year, just think to yourself: this ceremony almost didn't happen.
Predictions: Best Supporting Actress: Tilda Swinton, "Michael Clayton"; Best Supporting Actor: Javier Bardem, "No Country for Old Men"; Best Leading Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis, "There Will Be Blood"; Best Leading Actress: Julie Christie, "Away from Her"; Best Adapted Screenplay: Joel & Ethan Coen, "No Country for Old Men"; Best Original Screenplay: Tamara Jenkins, "The Savages"; Best Direction: Julian Schnabel, "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"; Best Animated Feature: Brad Bird, "Ratatouille"; Best Picture: "There Will Be Blood."
