The 80th Annual Academy Awards

[MacGuffin]

Academy to Invite Jon Stewart Back as Oscar Host
Source: New York Times

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 11 — The Academy Awards haven't exactly turned into a yearly show with Jon Stewart. But Mr. Stewart, the political satirist and star of "The Daily Show," is getting another shot at the Oscar podium.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which bestows the Oscars, is expected to bring back Mr. Stewart, who was host of the ceremony in 2006. An announcement is scheduled for Wednesday, according to two people involved with the plan who spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to talk to the news media.

A spokesman for the academy declined to comment. And a publicist for Mr. Stewart declined to comment.

The show, scheduled for Feb. 24 on ABC, will be produced by Gil Cates, who was also the producer when Mr. Stewart made his appearance in 2006.

The comedian mostly toned down his trademark political humor for the broadcast, and scored some of biggest laughs with a riff and montage on gay cowboys, keyed to a 2006 nominee for best picture, "Brokeback Mountain." ("Crash" won the big prize.)

The ceremony drew just 38.9 million viewers on Mr. Stewart's watch. The number was smaller than the 39.9 million drawn by this year's ceremony, whose host was Ellen DeGeneres, who played it folksy in an open collar and red velvet, or the 42.1 million who watched Chris Rock, who played with fire when he tweaked stars like Jude Law in 2005.

It was also far below the 55 million who tuned in when the immensely popular "Titanic" swept the awards in 1998, and Billy Crystal made one of his eight appearances as host.

As in recent years, next year's ceremony, the 80th, will be held at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood.

[Kal]

I wish Chris Rock would come back... Seinfeld or Sasha Baron Cohen would be amazing. But I guess Stewart is ok...

[hedwig]

stewart was good.

i want conan.

[Stefen]

Might as well cancel them.

IT'S OVER.

[MacGuffin]

80th Academy Awards Nominations

BEST PICTURE
"Atonement"
"Juno"
"Michael Clayton"
"No Country for Old Men"
"There Will Be Blood"

BEST ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett, "Elizabeth: The Golden Age"
Julie Christie, "Away From Her"
Marion Cotillard, "La Vie en Rose"
Laura Linney, "The Savages"
Ellen Page, "Juno"

BEST ACTOR
George Clooney, "Michael Clayton"
Daniel Day-Lewis, "There Will Be Blood"
Johnny Depp, "Sweeney Todd"
Viggo Mortensen, "Eastern Promises"
Tommy Lee Jones, "In the Valley of Elah"

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett, "I'm Not There"
Ruby Dee, "American Gangster"
Saoirse Ronan, "Atonement"
Amy Ryan, "Gone Baby Gone"
Tilda Swinton, "Michael Clayton"

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Casey Affleck, "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford"
Javier Bardem, "No Country for Old Men"
Hal Holbrook, "Into The Wild" 
Philip Seymour Hoffman, "Charlie Wilson's War"
Tom Wilkinson, "Michael Clayton"

BEST DIRECTOR
Paul Thomas Anderson, "There Will Be Blood"
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, "No Country for Old Men" 
Tony Gilroy, "Michael Clayton"
Jason Reitman, "Juno"
Julian Schnabel, "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Diablo Cody, "Juno"
Nancy Oliver, "Lars and the Real Girl"
Tony Gilroy, "Michael Clayton"
Brad Bird, Story by Jan Pinkava, Jim Capobianco, Brad Bird, "Ratatouille"
Tamara Jenkins, "The Savages"

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Paul Thomas Anderson, "There Will Be Blood"
Christopher Hampton, "Atonement"
Ronald Harwood, "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, "No Country for Old Men"
Sarah Polley, "Away From Her"

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
"Beaufort" (Israel)
"The Counterfeiters" (Austria)
"Katyn" (Poland)
"Mongol" (Kazakhstan)
"12" (Russia)

BEST ANIMATED FILM
"Persepolis"
"Ratatouille"
"Surf's Up"

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
"The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" Roger Deakins
"Atonement," Seamus Mcgarvey
"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly," Janusz Kaminski
"No Country For Old Men," Roger Deakins
"There Will Be Blood," Robert Elswit

BEST FILM EDITING
"The Bourne Ultimatum," Christopher Rouse
"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly," Juliette Welfling
"Into the Wild," Jay Cassidy
"No Country for Old Men," Roderick Jaynes
"There Will Be Blood," Dylan Tichenor

BEST SOUND EDITING
"The Bourne Ultimatum,"  Karen Baker Landers and Per Hallberg
"No Country For Old Men," Skip Lievsay
"Ratatouille," Randy Thom and Michael Silvers
"There Will Be Blood," Matthew Wood
"Transformers," Ethan Van der Ryn and Mike Hopkins

BEST SOUND MIXING
"The Bourne Ultimatum," Scott Millan, David Parker and Kirk Francis
"No Country For Old Men," Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff and Peter Kurland
"Ratatouille," Randy Thom, Michael Semanick and Doc Kane
"3:10 to Yuma," Paul Massey, David Giammarco and Jim Stuebe
"Transformers," Kevin O'Connell, Greg P. Russell and Peter J. Devlin

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
"The Golden Compass," Michael Fink, Bill Westenhofer, Ben Morris and Trevor Wood
"Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End," John Knoll, Hal Hickel, Charles Gibson and John Frazier
"Transformers," Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Russell Earl and John Frazier

BEST ART DIRECTION
"American Gangster" Art Direction: Arthur Max; Set Decoration: Beth A. Rubino
"Atonement" Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
"The Golden Compass" Art Direction: Dennis Gassner; Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock
"Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" Art Direction: Dante Ferretti; Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo
"There Will Be Blood" Art Direction: Jack Fisk; Set Decoration: Jim Erickson

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
"Across the Universe," Albert Wolsky
"Atonement," Jacqueline Durran
"Elizabeth: The Golden Age," Alexandra Byrne
"La Vie En Rose," Marit Allen
"Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street," Colleen Atwood

BEST MAKEUP
"La Vie en Rose," Didier Lavergne and Jan Archibald
"Norbit," Rick Baker and Kazuhiro Tsuji
"Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End," Ve Neill and Martin Samuel

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
"Atonement", Dario Marianelli
"The Kite Runner", Alberto Iglesias
"Michael Clayton", James Newton Howard
"Ratatouille", Michael Giacchino
"3:10 to Yuma", Marco Beltrami 

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
"Falling Slowly" from "Once"
"Happy Working Song" from "Enchanted"
"Raise It Up" from "August Rush"
"So Close" from "Enchanted"
"Come So Far (Got So Far to Go)" from "Hairspray"
"That's How You Know" from "Enchanted"

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
"No End in Sight"
"Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience"
"Sicko"
"Taxi to the Dark Side"
"War/Dance"

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
"Freeheld"
"La Corona" ("The Crown")
"Ochberg's Orphans"
"Salim Baba"
"Sari's Mother"

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM
"I Met the Walrus"
"Madame Tutli-Putli"
"Même Les Pigeons Vont au Paradis (Even Pigeons Go to Heaven)"
"My Love (Moya Lyubov)"
"Peter & the Wolf"

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
"At Night"
"Il Supplente (The Substitute)"
"Le Mozart des Pickpockets (The Mozart of Pickpockets)"
"Tanghi Argentini"
"The Tonto Woman"

[cine]

so if i'm reading this correctly, There Will Be Blood LEADS the nominations with No Country for EIGHT nods.

whatta great year.

[modage]

so if i'm reading this correctly, There Will Be Blood LEADS the nominations with No Country for EIGHT nods.

whatta great year.

 

they'll get it wrong.  (don't forget they snubbed THE FUCKING SCORE!)  they'll give it to DDL, and maybe a minor award or two.  otherwise i'm predicting shutout.  and if i'm WRONG, things might be far worse!  if the academy actually recognized PTA in Film, Direction or Screenplay i fear for the worst.

[Tommy Both]

omg

BLOOD
NO COUNTRY
CLAYTON
ATONEMENT
JUNO

wtf

[Tommy Both]

that score was snubbed because it used existing pieces (bbc?), not because it sucked

[©brad]

so if i'm reading this correctly, There Will Be Blood LEADS the nominations with No Country for EIGHT nods.

whatta great year.

 

they'll get it wrong.  (don't forget they snubbed THE FUCKING SCORE!)  they'll give it to DDL, and maybe a minor award or two.  otherwise i'm predicting shutout.  and if i'm WRONG, things might be far worse!  if the academy actually recognized PTA in Film, Direction or Screenplay i fear for the worst.

yeah maybe, but 8 noms is still pretty awesome.

i don't understand juno being nominated for best pic and director. and this really wasn't a good year for actresses.

[cine]

they'll give it to DDL, and maybe a minor award or two.  otherwise i'm predicting shutout.

haha they can't win a few awards and ALSO get shutout. it's one of the two and the reality is the former. based on oscars history with masterful directors (like PTA's idols ALTMAN and SCORSESE) you really think PTA gives a shit if he doesn't get an award himself? if anything he'll prolly take it as a huge compliment.

also, thank god for the writer's strike we won't have to hear jon think up shitty jokes for this year's contenders. if anything he'll poke fun at being pregnant and that's about it.

[grand theft sparrow]

Well, we all know that No Country is going to win over Blood.  It's unfortunate that both films have the same studios distributing them, as they're gonna push No Country more.  But if I have to watch PTA suffer a Best Picture loss to the Coens, it's a good fucking year.

But it's nice to see Once get some recognition as the performance of the nominated song in the movie made me almost start crying like pete on an airplane.  And I'd be just as happy about Ratatouille's screenplay nod if it wasn't going to honest-to-blog lose.

No Zodiac, though.  Not even for visual effects, which it deserves more than any of the nominees.  And sad to see no chance of an Eddie Vedder performance.

And I'm OK with Juno (a.k.a. the movie that brands you a hipster no matter what your opinion is of it) getting all those nominations because I keep reminding myself that my circumstances in late 1999 put me in a spot to really like American Beauty.  And at least PTA got some more recognition this year than in 2000.

As much as we like to remember that these awards are bullshit, we still want our favorites to win.

[Sleepless]

What the fuck about ZODIAC?!

[Markyboy]

It feels like he's a stronger showing in the Best Director category than Best Adapted Screenplay. Great stuff for the movie and PTA even if it doesn't materialize into awards.  Here's hoping the ticket sales go through the roof thanks to all these noms. It can only mean good things for future PTA projects taking off smoother and quicker than TWBB. 

[cine]

It feels like he's a stronger showing in the Best Director category than Best Adapted Screenplay.

uh not really. way more often than not, the director gets the prize when his picture wins. so PTA getting the Sofia Coppola Award makes a lot more sense.