Awards Season

The stars, the films, the analysis. Full coverage of the new awards season.

“No Country For Old Men,” about the ruthless aftermath of a botched drug deal, and “There Will Be Blood,” starring Daniel Day-Lewis
as a scheming oil man in an epic about American capitalism, took the
lead in the Oscar race with eight nominations each, including best
picture and best director.

Meanwhile, “Michael Clayton,” a throwback thriller to the 1970s, starring George Clooney
as a corporate fixer, received seven nominations, including nods for
best picture, best actor (Mr. Clooney) and best supporting actress (Tilda Swinton). “Atonement,” the adaptation of Ian McEwan’s
time-shifting, betrayal-filled novel, also captured seven nominations,
including for best picture and best supporting actress (Saoirse Ronan).

Unlike last year, when flashy mainstream hits like “The Departed,” “Dreamgirls” and “Little Miss Sunshine”
dominated, the 2008 Oscar race swings back toward critic-driven films.
Many of the movies that received multiple nominations feature dark
themes and unconventional endings that, for the most part, have failed
to attract broad audiences.

Even the Warner Brothers picture
“Michael Clayton,” which had the only budget of any consequence among
the best-picture nominees, has only sold $39 million in tickets at
North American theaters.

All but shut out from the key categories were “American Gangster,” the Universal Pictures blockbuster about a Harlem heroin kingpin, and “Into the Wild,” a story about a boy’s journey to a remote corner of Alaska that was directed by Sean Penn. Each film received just one nomination in the major categories and two overall. Ruby Dee was nominated for best supporting actress in “American Gangster,” and Hal Holbrook garnered a nod— his first — for best supporting actor in “Into the Wild.”

One of the more upbeat films of the year and a hit — “Juno,”
the tale of a quirky teenager who gives her baby up for adoption —
received four nominations, including best picture, best director, best
actress and best original screenplay.

Still, many of the
nominations were expected. Daniel Day-Lewis, whose fierce portrayal of
an oil man in “There Will Be Blood” has already won him a wheelbarrow
full of accolades, continued his march to the ultimate awards podium
with a best actor nomination.

Julie Christie and Marion Cotillard, who won respective best actress plaudits at the Golden Globe Awards for playing an Alzheimer’s victim in “Away From Her” and the singer Edith Piaf in “La Vie en Rose,” will vie for the academy’s top female acting honor.

One
of the biggest questions about this year’s Oscar race — how a
continuing writers strike will affect the ceremony — went unanswered.
Sid Ganis, president of the academy, did not address the matter during
the nominations announcement. The academy has said it has contingency
plans in case the writers’ strike is not settled by the ceremony,
scheduled for Feb. 24.

Oscar noms rare double feature for Deakins.

LOS ANGELES — Here’s an Oscar fact to focus on: Roger Deakins is the first director of photography to receive two nominations in the same year since 1971.

The cinematographer on “No Country for Old Men” and “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford” pulled off the first double in the category since Robert Surtees was nominated for “The Last Picture Show” and “Summer of ’42.”

Deakins is no stranger to Oscar’s attention, having earned five noms — for the Coen brothers’ “The Man Who Wasn’t There,” “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” and “Fargo” as well as “Kundun” and “The Shawshank Redemption.”
“It’s fantastic. How often do you get so lucky to do two such great and varied films?” a surprised Deakins said, adding that this year saw “such stiff competition and such diverse work.”

“No Country” and “Jesse James” both are Westerns in the broadest sense but vary in approach. “No Country” is a dark, contemporary thriller with lighting that builds suspense. “Jesse James” is a widescreen period drama.
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