Academy Award Picks 2007

A.O. SCOTT

Sweeney Todd

4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days

I'm Not There

Ratatouille

Into the Wild

MANOHLA DARGIS

There Will Be Blood

The Bourne Ultimatum

4 Months,, 3 Weeks and 2 Days

I'm Not There'

Zodiac

STEPHEN HOLDEN

There Will Be Blood

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Starting Out in the Evening

No Country for Old Men

Across the Universe

A.O. SCOTT

Paul Thomas Anderson--There Will Be Blood

Julian Schnabel--The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Sean Penn--Into the Wild

Cristian Munglu--4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days

Sidney Lumet--Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

MANOHLA DARGIS

Paul Thomas Anderson--There Will Be Blood

David Cronenberg--Eastern Promises

David Fincher--Zodiac

Cristian Munglu--4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days

Todd Haynes--I'm Not There

STEPHEN HOLDEN

Paul Thomas Anderson--There Will Be Blood

Julian Schnabel--The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Joel and Ethan Coen--No Country for Old Men

Julie Taymor--Across the Universe

Andrew Wagner--Starting Out in the Evening

A.O.SCOTT

Daniel Day-Lewis--There Will Be Blood

Emile Hirsch--Into the Wild

George Clooney--Michael Clayton

Frank Langella--Starting Out in the Evening

Johnny Depp--Sweeney Todd

MANOHLA DARGIS

Daniel Day-Lewis--There Will Be Blood

Phillip Seymour Hoffman--Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

Viggo Mortensen--Eastern Promises

Tommy Lee Jones--No Country for Old Men

Son Kang-ho--The Host

STEPHEN HOLDEN

Daniel Day-Lewis--There Will Be Blood

Philip Seymour Hoffman--Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

Frank Langella--Starting Out in the Evening

Tommy Lee Jones--No Country for Old Men

Chris Cooper--Breach

A.O. SCOTT

Julie Christie--Away From Her

Marina Hands--Lady Chatterly

Norma Aleandro--Live-in Maid

Annamaria Marinca--4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days

Ellen Page--Juno

MANOHLA DARGIS

Cate Blanchett--I'm Not There

Marina Hands--Lady Chatterley

Anamaria Marinca--4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days

Ashley Judd--Bug

STEPHEN HOLDEN

Julie Christie--Away From Her

Marion Cotillard--La Vie En Rose

Ellen Page--Juno

Angelina Jolie--A Mighty Heart

Laura Linney--The Savages

A.O.SCOTT

Michael Cera--Juno, Superbad

Kene Holliday--Great World of Sound

Phillip Seymour Hoffman--Charlie Wilson's War

Vlad Ivanov--4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days

Paul Dano--There Will Be Blood

MANOHLA DARGIS

Michael Cere--Superbad

Casey Affleck-The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

Robert Downey, Jr.--Zodiac

Vlad Ivanov--4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days

Mark Ruffalo--Zodiac

STEPHEN HOLDEN

Javier Bardem--No Country for Old Men

Hal Holbrook--Into the Wild

Philip Seymour Hoffman--Charlie Wilson's War

Paul Dano--Charlie Wilson's War

Tom Wilkinson--Michael Clayton

A.O. SCOTT

Charlotte Gainsbourg--I'm Not There

Marie-Josee Croze--The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Lauren Ambrose--Starting Out in the Evening

Tabu--The Namesake

Catherine Keener--Into the Wild

MANOHLA DARGIS

Charlotte Gainsbourg--I'm Not There

Amy Ryan--Gone Baby Gone

Tilda Swinton--Michael Clayton

Sarah Michelle Gellar--Southland Tales

Marisa Tomei--Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

STEPHEN HOLDEN

Cate Blanchett--I'm Not There

Amy Ryan--Gone Baby Gone

Tilda Swinton--Michael Clayton

Lauren Ambrose--Starting Out in the Evening'

Saoirse Ronan--Atonement

Since I've only seen a few of the top movies, I'm not in a position to make a complete list of my Oscar picks. However, here are a few comments on movies and actors that I have seen.

BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU'RE DEAD and NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN

"Before the Devil Knows You're Dead" is a masterpiece movie exploration of the interplay of evil and luck or chance in people's lives. I was surprized and disappointed that the NYTimes critics didn't rate it higher. Philip Seymor Hoffman deserves an Oscar nomination for his leading role in the movie. Marisa Tomei was outstanding as his philandering wife. The movie said a lot more to me than did "No Country for Old Men," which was also well acted and directed. However, "No Country" was essentially a "bogey man" movie about an extreme and improbable super-killer (Javier Bardem) whereas the characters in ":Before the Devil" could be living across the street or around the corner. "No Country" didn't really explore what was motivating the Bardem character to kill at the drop of a hat whereas "Before the Devil" thoroughly explored the motivations behind the evil events that unfolded in the movie. "No Country" was a compelling horror movie; "Before the Devil" was a horror movie that was much closer to MacBeth or the Greek tragedies. Tommy Lee Jones and Javier Bardem were excellent in "No Country." However, the movie held my interest as a sophisticated version of "Nightmare on Elm Street."

A final thought on "Before the Devil": I thought the final scene in the hospital with Albert Finney was a bit over the top. I wonder if anyone else shares this opinion.

THE SAVAGES

The Savages offered masterful performances by Philip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Linney as brother and sister as in "You Can Count on Me" for which she received a Best Actriess Nomination playing Mark Ruffalo's sister. This movie is one that everyone should see when they are in good spirits, because if they are already depressed it could lead to unfortunate consequences. The plot deals with the relationship of two siblings faced witht he task of bringing their father back from Sun City, Arizona and finding him a nursing home near Hoffman who is a professor in Buffalo, NY. Hoffman and Linney both nailed their roles. I recall somewhere seeing this movie called a comedy. There were quite a few comedic moments, but for me it was a downer."

I'M NOT THERE

"I'm Not There" was quite good, however, it made me wish I'd boned up a bit on Bob Dylan before seeing it. I was able to recognize only a small fraction of the characters and events in the movie (e.g. Joan Baez and his fans' resentment of his abandonment of the acoustic guitar). Cate Blanchette stood out as the most effective portrayer of Dylan. Some of the scenes, e.g. the ones played by Richard Gere, were a bit off the wall, like something out of Fellini's "8l1/2" or "Appocalypse Now."

LARS AND THE REAL GIRL

"Lars and the Real Girl" was a low-budget indie movie not mentioned by the NYT critics, but easily could have been. Lars was a young man, possibly afflicted with Asperger's syndrome, who didn't relate to other people especially women. He lived in a one room apartment behind the house inhabited by his older brother and his wife. His brother's wife took an interest in Lars, but he repeatedly declined her invitations to come to dinner with her and his brother. He also rebuffed overtures from a woman employee where he worked. Then his cubicle mate showed him an ad for an anatomically correct blow-up doll. Lars ordered one of the dolls and soon brought her to dinner with his brother and wife, explaining that she was from Brazil and didn't speak English. He sat her at the table and cut her food for her. Lars's brother and sister-in-law were alarmed by his strange behavior and after a few days persuaded him to take her to a wise woman doctor of their acquaintance. She sized up the situation quickly and advised them to go along with Lars's fantasy. And she told lars that his girl friend needed treatment and began weekly appointments where she gave Lars therapy while the doll was hooked up to a machine in the next room getting her "treatment." Meanwhile Lars continued to squire his "girl" around town to restaurants and to church. The word spread and nearly everyone in the town joined in accepting Lars and his new "girl friend." I won't reveal the ending. Suffice it to say that, compared to the others I mentioned above, this one is not a downer. You''ll walk out with a smile onl your face.

There Will Be Blood

"There Will Be Blood" is an unforgettable movie about a ruthless, turn-of-the century California oil man, Daniel Plainview, played convincingly by Daniel Day-Lewis. Day-Lewis's Plainview can be compared to Orwell's Kane, Gregory Peck's Ahab, Brando's Kurtz or even Javier Bardem's bogeyman character in "No Country for Old Men." Another character in the movie deserves mention--the coniving evangelist preacher, Eli Sunday, played by Paul Dano. Eli Sunday is solidly in the tradition of self-promoting, ethically deficient evangelist preachers but not up to the standard of Burt Lancaster's Elmer Gantry. The movie has been nominated for eight Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director, Best Actor and Best Cinematography.

Persepolis

"Persepolis" has been nominated for best animated picture along with Disney's "Ratatouille." I haven't seen "Ratatouille," but I saw "Persepolis" today and enjoyed it a lot. It was adapted from two autobiographical novels by Marjane Satrapi about her experiences growing up in Iran, first under the Shah and then under the Islamic revolution. As an outspoken and unruly teenage daughter of well-to-do parents descended from Persian royalty, she didn't get along with Islam in school and elsewhere. So, she was sent by her parents to Vienna where she enrolled in a Catholic school. Surprise! She didn't get along with the nuns much better. Persepolis was directed by Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Parannaud. Catherine Deneuve and her daughter, Chiara Mastroiani, provided the voices of Marjane's mother (Deneuve) and Marjane. Danielle Darrieux provided the voice for Marjane's colorful grandmother who was one of the most interesting characters in teh movie. The animation is much different from anything I've seen by Disney or other animators. Everyone in our group that saw it at the Detroit Film Theater enjoyed it a lot. Those who had seen "Ratatouille" liked Persepolis better. Worth a look.

Michael Clayton

"Michael Clayton" received six Oscar nominations--best picture, best director (Tony Gilroy), best actor (George Clooney), best supporting actress (Tilda Swinton), best script (Tony Gilroy) and best original score (James Newton Howard).

Michael Clayton is one of those Runyonesque, good-bad guy characters. He's a former cop and former prosecutor with a gambiling habit, divorced wife and son, who works, as he put it as a janitor or fixer-upper, for a big corporate law firm in New York. By that he means that he uses his skills and contacts as a former cop and prosecutor for cleaning up messes involving delicate personal legal matters for bigwigs from his firm's corporate clients.

The movie opens with Clayton being dispatched in the middle of the night to help a very unlikeable top official of a client deal with having left the scene of an accident after running over a jogger and probably killing him.This brief episode sets the stage for the theme of the movie which is similar to that of "Erin Brockovich," that is class action law suits claiming a corporation covered up criminal behavior.

In this case the corporation is North U an agribusiness company which resembles ADM or perhaps Montsanto. Clayton's firm is representing North U in a multi-billion dollar class action lawsuit over a product that poisoned the water supply of a town in Iowa. The firm's star litigator on the case, played by Tom Wilkinson well enough to deserve an Oscar nomination, discovers evidence that would put a nail in North U's coffin on the case and decides he can no longer represent the company in good conscience. He is in the process of attempting to convince the plaintiffs not to settle with North U because they can go to trial and win the case, and in the middle of a deposition he either has a breakdown or possibly fakes one. Clooney is assigned to get Wilkinson out of the picture by committing him to a mental institution and clean up the mess.

Tilda Swinton is chief counsel of North U who is handling the case and trying to get it settled without the risk of going to trial. She is fully aware of the evidence which proves the company was aware of the product's risks. Swinton nails her role as an ambitious, amoral corporate schemer who will stop at nothing or no one in her way. Clooney discovers the evidence found by Wilkinson and is faced by a dilemma of whether to accept a big bonus (which he needs to pay off a gamblind debt) offered him by Sydney Pollace, head of the firm, in return for maintining the cover up, or to do the "right thing" and blow the whistle on North U.

I would be very surprised if Tilda Swinton doesn't win the best supporting actress Oscar. She has reportedly said she modelled her portrayal of her character after Condolezza Rice. Whatever the case, I can't imagine anyone doing a better job with the role. Sydney Pollack was also excellent as the amoral, pragmatic managing partner of the law firm. He is unequalled in playing this kind of character except perhaps by Christopher Plummer.

Of the nominated films I've seen the Best Picture award is a toss-up between "Michael Clayton" and "There Will Be Blood." Unfortunately, my favorite for Best Picture, "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead," was not one of the nominees.