Academy Invites 105 To Join.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has send out its yearly round of invitations to join its organization to 105 individuals on Monday.

Each year, AMPAS can only induct a maximum of 137 people. Invitations are usually sent out to a much lower number.

Notable names on this years invitation list include Jet Li, Diablo Cody, Judd Apatow and Sacha Baron Cohen.

For the full list of all 105 Invitees, click here.

Rule Changes For Oscars Put Into Effect.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences approved two changes to their nomination rules Tuesday night in an effort to address controversies from years past.

A change was made in the Best Original Song category limiting the total number of songs that can be nominated from a single film to only two.

Last year, three songs from the movie Enchanted were nominated, causing a stir amongst people who believed that one or more of the songs Eddie Vedder contributed to the Into the Wild soundtrack should have been nominated.

My opinion is mixed on this rule change. Yes, if gives more songs an chance at Oscar gold. But it could also mean that there will be great songs that deserve to be nominated left of the list just because two other great songs are in the same movie.

The second rule change pertains to the Best Foreign Language Film category. In previous years, the five nominees for this category were chosen from a list of nine films determined by a 20-member Foreign Language Film Award Executive Committee. However, there were films that many felt were deserving of a nomination that didn't even make this short list.

Under the new rules, this special committee will be responsible for only three of the nine films on this short list. The rest will be determined by a "Phase 1 committee" composed of any voting member who see a minimum number of eligible films.

I think this is a great idea. It opens up the voting to a wider range of films and lets a wider range of opinions be heard. Now, if only they could apply something similar to the Best Documentary Feature category.

Via Los Angeles Times.

Review: MONGOL

Not much is known about the early life of Genghis Khan, but that didn't stop Russian director Sergei Bodrov from doing some historical extrapolation in his film Mongol.

Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film this past year, Mongol tells the story of a young Genghis Khan and his rise in power whilst uniting the Mongol tribes into a single nation, stripping away many of the stereotypes and misconceptions accumulated on the historical figure over the years by Hollywood. (John Wayne in The Conqueror, anyone?)

The film opens in New York and Los Angeles today and will slowly roll out to other cities in the coming weeks.

You can read our review of the film here.

Academy Award winner Sydney Pollack dies.

CNN is reporting that Academy Award winning director Sydney Pollack has succumbed to his battle with cancer. He was 73.

Look for a full obituary to come in the next several days.

Academy Award Winner Charlton Heston passes away at 84

USA Today is reporting, and it has been confirmed by CNN, that movie actor Charlton Heston has passed away. He was 84.

He received an Academy Award in 1960 for his work in Ben-Hur and was awarded the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award by the Academy in 1978.

Heston starred in over 100 movies, most notably The Ten Commandments, Peer Gynt, El Cid, Earthquake, and Planet of the Apes, but was known most recently as president of the National Rifle Association and an outspoken advocate for the right to bear arms.

Cause of death is as yet unknown, but Heston revealed he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease in 2002.

You can read more on Heston's career here.

10 MONGOL Photos

It may not have won the Foreign Language Film Academy Award it was nominated for, but Russian director Sergei Bodrov's epic look at the early years of Genghis Khan, Mongul, will still be coming to theaters this June.

According to publicity materials- "Based on leading scholarly accounts and written by Bodrov and Arif Aliyev, Mongol delves into the dramatic and harrowing early years of the ruler who was born as Temudgin in 1162. As it follows Temudgin from his perilous childhood to the battle that sealed his destiny, the film paints a multidimensional portrait of the future conqueror, revealing him not as the evil brute of hoary stereotype, but as an inspiring, fearless and visionary leader. Mongol shows us the making of an extraordinary man, and the foundation on which so much of his greatness rested: his relationship with his wife, Borte, his lifelong love and most trusted advisor."

Here are a batch of recently released photos from the film that hint at the film's epic nature. Click to make bigger.

BLACK FREIGHTER Sets Sail For WATCHMEN DVD

Although we're still just a little more than a year away from the March 2009 re lase of director Zack Snyder's adaptation of the graphic novel classic Watchmen, it is evidently not too early to talk about the film's inevitable DVD release.

Empire has confirmed that Snyder will be including an animated short film adapting the "Tales Of The Black Freighter" comic that appears in Watchmen on its eventual DVD release, with Snyder's 300 star Gerard Butler supplying the voice of the main character, a sailor racing home to stop the undead crew of a haunted boat from killing his loved ones.

I’m going to do the voice of the captain. They're going to do it in the style of a Japanese anime and I’m totally stoked. I actually read the script before reading the comic book and I thought it was awesome. Then I read the comic book and it’s great. The little bits that have been added define it so much more. It’s very dark and there’s just something so descriptive and scary. It's this descent into madness but explained in such a sane way that you totally feel it yourself. By the end, my heart was pumping!

"Tales of the Black Freighter" has proven to be one of the harder aspects of the Watchmen novel to bring to the silver screen. A comic about pirate adventures, the excerpts seen in Watchmen provide a counterpoint to one character's particular story arc. In the two decades that Watchmen has been in development, every director has found working the material into the framework of a film to be problematic. It looks like Snyder has found a way to placate fans who may have felt cheated if the comic didn't appear in the film.

Oscar Moment Of The Night

Every year, the Academy Awards has a moment or two that has people talking about the next day. Last night's moment was when Jon Stewert brought Best Original Song co-writer Marketa Irglova back onto the stage after a commercial break so she could deliver her acceptance speech. Irgglova had just won the award a few minutes earlier for penning the song "Falling Slowly" from the movie Once, but she and co-writer Glen Hansard were played off the stage after Hansard said a few words, but before Irglova could.

Stewert, in a really classy move, brought Irglova back out on stage after the commercial break, where she delivered a beautiful speech that regardless of how she got on stage to deliver it, was a highlight in itself.

In case you missed it, here is the text of her speech, plus the whole moment on video-

Hi everyone. I just want to thank you so much. This is such a big deal, not only for us, but for all other independent musicians and artists that spend most of their time struggling, and this, the fact that we’re standing here tonight, the fact that we’re able to hold this, it’s just to prove no matter how far out your dreams are, it’s possible. And, you know, fair play to those who dare to dream and don’t give up. And this song was written from a perspective of hope, and hope at the end of the day connects us all, no matter how different we are. And so thank you so much, who helped us along way. Thank you.

FilmBuffOnLine's Live Academy Awards Coverage!

Welcome to FilmBuffOnLine's live blogging of the Academy Awards.

You'll notice that we never gave any Oscar predictions here. There's a reason for that- I'm terrible at trying to second guess how the Academy will vote. So rather than look foolish by posting a bunch of predictions that don't come to pass, I just forgo the entire thing. However, that didn't sop our Box Office maven Bill Gatevackes from giving it a shot at guessing who will win the coveted golden naked Patrick Stewart statuette over at his own blog- Gates' Rants.

Right now the Red Carpet pre-show is playing, but I honestly don't care much about the usual blather about who is wearing what designer, so I'm off to pop some corn.

8:30- Nice opening. Would be great to go through it again at slow-mo to identify all the films that cameoed in the piece.

8:40- "Before we spent four or five hours handing each other gold statues, let's take a moment to congratulate ourselves."

"Even Norbit got a nomination, which is good. Too often the Academy ignores films that are no good."

"Oscar is 80 this year, which automatically makes it the Republican nominee."

Jon Stewart is doing great. I wonder how much better it would have been if they had wrapped the strike up quicker.

8:45- Best Costume Design
Odd choice for the first award to hand out.
And it goes to Elizabeth: The Golden Age. Not surprised, the older period pieces, with the more elaborate wardrobes, seem to get this award.

8:50- "Hi, guys." Clooney is the King of Casual Cool.
A great Oscar history clip. Hopefully it'll show up on the Academy's YouTube channel.

8:55- Steve Carrell and Anne Hathaway, stars of the upcoming Get Smart remake.
"They should have come through doors," says my wife. Any questions why I married her?
How odd/cool is it to see the two Daily Show stalwarts onstage at the Academy Awards!?

Best Animated Feature-
Hope it goes to Persepolis, as much as love Pixar's output.

And it goes to Ratatouille. Oddly enough, I was watching Brad Bird's Iron Giant this afternoon.
I can't believe that they're playing Brad Bird off!

Best Makeup-
La Vie Un Rose!
Good choice.
And the two winners get played off as well. If two people win, do they have to share the short time allocated for an acceptance speech? That sucks.

9:01- Best Song Nominee Performance- "Happy Working Song"
Will the Academy actually give an Oscar to a song with the word "hairball" in it?

9:07- Why is The Rock here? Didn't anyone else see his remake of Walking Tall? Oh yeah, that's right. No one did.

Best Visual Effects-
The Golden Compass wins! (And Michael Bay is pouting right now...)

Art Direction
Tough one- I like both Golden Compass and Sweeney Todd!
And it goes to Sweeney Todd. I guess anyone who gets inside Tim Burton's head and brings it to life deserves an award!

9:20- "I, John Stewart, am being played by Cate Blanchette..."
Seeing Cuba Gooding Jr. in that montage of Best Supporting Actors only reinforces the horrible choices he's made since he won his Oscar in 1997.

Best Supporting Actor- Javier Bardem- Not really surprised. Is this the beginning of a sweep for No Country For Old Men? "Thank you for the Coen Brothers for putting the most horrible haircut in history on my head!" Nice of him to switch to Spanish to thank his mom.

9:23- "Oscar's Salute To Binoculars and Periscopes"

9:28- Best Short Film- Four out of the five nominees are in a foreign language. It's a shame that there aren't any real commercial outlets in this country for short films outside of the film festival circuit.

Best Animated Short- Peter And The Wolf wins. It's nice to see that stop motion animation is still being produced. (And no, I'm not forgetting Nick Park.)

9:40- Best Supporting Actress- Tilda Swinton gets it.
This I didn't expect (thought that Blanchett had it sewn up, she'll probably get for Elizabeth: The Golden Age then) and it looks like neither did she.
Ha! Swinton busts Clooney's chops about Batman & Robin.

Nine categories awarded in about an hour. Will we finish by midnight?

9:47- Best Adapted Screenplay- Joel and Ethan Coen for No Country For Old Men!
This was the first of the many times the movie goes head to head with There Will Be Blood.

And now Sid Ganis will bore us with the rules...

9:51- OK, Sid Ganis will mildly entertain us with how the votes are tabulated.
Miley Cyrus is on before the ten o'clock bed time of her fan base.

Christin Chenowith is wearing platforms and heels to match the height of the rest of the performers.

10:01- "And the baby goes to... Angelina Jolie!"
Seth Rogen and Jonah Hill's schtick goes on for about two quips too long.

Best Sound Editing- Bourne Ultimatium.
Long time for the orchestra to play before they got to the stage. Do all the tech people, i.e. non-famous faces, have to sit in the back rows?

Best Sound Mixing- Bourne Ultimatum

I think it would be great if one year they would give a demonstration to explain to everyone what the difference is between these two categories.

10:12- Best Actress- Marion Cotillard for La Vie En Rose
Her tear-eyed happiness is so heartwarming.
Surprised that Blanchett didn't get it. She was definitely the favorite.

10:19- "Falling Slowly" from Once. What a beautiful song. I think this should be the winner. Let's see what the Academy thinks.

10:23- Jack has traded his sunglasses for a pair of reading glasses.
How many in the Best Picture montage gave you seen?
Me- 47.

10:28- Renee Zellweger's short hair looks terrible.
Best Film Editing- Bourne Ultimatum. (Three Oscars for this film?)
Christopher Rouse and his father have both won Oscars.

10:35- An honorary Oscar to Robert Boyle for his seven decades work in production design.
"That's the nice part of getting old. I don't recommend the other part."

10:43- Best Foreign Language Film
Still wish Persepolis had been nominated here instead of Animated Feature.
The Counterfeiters wins.
It's hard to judge this category as none of the nominated films had even the minimal distribution that the foreign language nominees usually get.

Patrick Dempsey- Who would have guessed he could be on a career comeback?
"So Close"- Not taken by the song but the production number was nicely done.

10:48- Best Song goes to "Falling Slowly" from Once.
Looks like me prediction a half hour ago came true!
I'm not surprised though. Three nominations for Enchanted probably split the vote there fatally.

10:55- Jon Stewart brings back Best Song co-winner Marketa Irglova back out to give her acceptance speech as she was played off before she could when she and Glen Hansard won. What a class act.

10:59- Best cinematography for There Will Be Blood.

11:01- The In Memoriam reel. It always saddens me to see what great talent was lost through the last 12 months.

11:10- Best Musical Score- Atonement.
Eh, the score for this film really didn't do anything for me, but the last ten minutes of the movie not only ruined the film, but actually made me angry.

11:12- Another all around class acts- Tom Hanks.
Documentary Short Subject- Freeheld. Ironic, a film about gay marriage is announced by a member of our Armed Forces.

11:17- Best Documentary Feature- All the nominees are politically tinted, so expect whoever wins to be pilloried on right wing radio tomorrow.
The winner is Taxi To The Dark Side. Definitely expect the usual "Hollywood liberals hate America" rants from the usual suspects tomorrow.

11:24- Best Original Screenplay- Diablo Cody for Juno!
WOW! She looks as stunned as anyone. And it's kind of touching to see her cool girl image crack their for a moment as she tears up.
(Oddly enough, this is handed out by the guy who told George Lucas- "George, you can write this s**t, but I got to say it.")
I really have to finish that review of her latest script- Jennifer's Body.

11:29- In the clip of Oscar history coming out of commercial, what the hell is Bette Davis wearing on her head?

11:32- Best Actor- Five great performances here. This is Daniel Day-Lewis's to lose.
But he doesn't!
"Thank you for whacking me with the handsomest bludgeon in town."

11:36- And we're down to just Best Director and Picture. Definitely be wound up before midnight. Given that both Juno and No Country For Old Men have won for their screenplays, it should be interesting to see who nabs Best Picture.

11:45- Best Director- Joel and Ethan Coen for No Country For Old Men! Usually Best Director and Picture go hand in hand. Will it be that way tonight?

11:48- No Country For Old Men!

Some final thoughts-
I'm rather surprised that There Will Be Blood didn't pull a few more awards. I was totally blown away that Diablo Cody won for Juno.

While this wasn't the best awards show the Oscars ever had, it held together remarkably well considering the incredible time constraint the writers were under to pull it together.

Congratulations to our own Bill G. who got six out of his eight predictions right.

And hey, we're done before midnight.

Relive Past Oscar Moments Online

The Academy Awards are about to be handed out in just a few hours, in just a few hours and there's no doubt that there will be at least one or two things that everyone will be discussing the next day over the watercooler.

But if you want a look back at some of the memorable moments from Oscar telecasts past, check out the Oscar channel that the Academy has set up over at You Tube. True, most of the clips up are intercut with folks telling you why they're great (like the David Niven-Streaker incident) or of recent vintage (like the bit from last year with Will Farrell, Jack Black and John C. Reilly singing about how comedies are ignored at Oscar time), but it's nice that they're making some of this history available.

Hopefully, going forward the Academy will dig deeper into their vault and present a lot more clips from its 80 year history. How great would it be to see acceptance speeches from some of Hollywood's Golden Era Greats? Heck, I'd love to see some of the stuff I remember from the 1970s, like when Steve Martin came out to present the visual effects award in a blue suit which they then proceeded to superimpose other imagery over. And why not give us host David Letterman's classic "Uma. Ophra." bit.

Also, check back with us as the Oscars are presented this evening to follow our live coverage!

AMC Plan Best Picture Oscar Nominee Marathon

If you haven't seen any of the five movies nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards but have no plans for February 23 and have 30 bucks burning a hole in your pocket, AMC theater chain may be able to help you out.

On that Saturday, 80 AMC Theatres in 35 cities around the country will be screening all five nominees - Atonement, Juno, Michael Clayton, No Country For Old Men and There Will Be Blood - in one day. Tickets are $30 for the day long event and includes a large popcorn with unlimited refills.

To see if you are lucky enough to be near one of the towns where AMC is screening the marathon, check out their website.

2008 Academy Award Nominations Announced

The nominations for the 80th annual Academy Awards were announced this morning and two of the most critically well received films of the last year - No Country For Old Men and There Will Be Blood - lead the pack of nominees with nods in eight categories each.

The two films will go head-to-head in six of those eight categories including Best Picture, Best Directing, Best Cinematography and Best Adapted Screenplay. In addition, There Will Be Blood nabbed a Best Actor nomination for star Daniel Day Lewis, while No Country For Old Men’s Javier Bardem received a nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

Right behind No Country and Blood is the George Clooney legal thriller Michael Clayton, which received seven total nominations including Best Picture, Best Director and Original Screenplay for Tony Gilroy, Best Actor for Clooney, Best Supporting Actor for Tom Wilkinson and Best Supporting Actress for Tilda Swinton. When released last fall, the film did steady but unremarkable business. However, Warner Brothers announced last weekend that it was going to re-release the film in approximately 1,000 theaters this Friday. These Oscar nominations should certainly help boast the film's box-office.

The World War Two drama Atonement also received seven nominations including nods for Best Supporting Actress for Saoirse Ronan, Cinematography, Art Direction, Costume Design, and Adapted Screenplay.

Rounding out the Best Picture nominees is this year’s indie hit Juno, which captured four nominations- the expected Best Original Screenplay nod for Diablo Cody, a Best Actress nomination for star Ellen Page and Best Director for sophomore helmer Jason Reitman.

Several films managed to score three nominations including La Vie En Rose, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street, The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford and Transformers. Disney’s animated/live-action mashup Enchanted dominated the Best Original Song category, taking three of the five nominations.

The complete nominees are-

Best Actor
George Clooney - Michael Clayton
Daniel Day-Lewis - There Will Be Blood
Johnny Depp - Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Tommy Lee Jones - In The Valley Of Elah
Viggo Mortensen - Eastern Promises


Best Supporting Actor
Casey Affleck - The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford
Javier Bardem - No Country For Old Men
Philip Seymour Hoffman - Charlie Wilson's War
Hal Holbrook - Into The Wild
Tom Wilkinson - Michael Clayton


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 Supporting Actress
Cate Blanchett - I'm Not There
Rudy Dee - American Gangster
Saoirse Ronan - Atonement
Amy Ryan - Gone Baby Gone
Tilda Swinton - Michael Clayton


Best Animated Feature
Persepolis
Ratatouille
Surf's Up


Art Direction
American Gangster
Atonement
The Golden Compass
Sweeney Todd
There Will Be Blood


Cinematography
The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford
Atonement
The Diving Bell And The Butterfly
No Country For Old Men
There Will Be Blood


Costume Design
Across The Universe
Atonement
Elizabeth: The Golden Age
La Vie En Rose
Sweeney Todd


Best Director
Julian Schnabel - The Diving Bell And The Butterfly
Jason Reitman - Juno
Tony Gilroy - Michael Clayton
Joel & Ethan Coen - No Country For Old Men
Paul Thomas Anderson - There Will Be Blood


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)
Salim Baba
Sari's Mother


Best Editing
The Bourne Ultimatum
The Diving Bell And The Butterfly
Into The Wild
No Country For Old Men
There Will Be Blood


Best Foreign Language Film
Beaufort
The Counterfeiters
Katyn
Mongol
12


Best Makeup
La Vie En Rose
Norbit
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End


Best Music Original Score
Atonement
The Kite Runner
Michael Clayton
Ratatouille
3:10 To Yuma


Best Music - Original Song
“Falling Slowly”- Once
“Happy Working Song”- Enchanted
“Raise It Up”- August Rush
“So Close”- Enchanted
“That’s How You Know”- Enchanted


Best Picture
Atonement
Juno
Michael Clayton
No Country For Old Men
There Will Be Blood


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 Pickpokets
Tanghi Argentini
The Tonto Woman


Best Sound Editing
The Bourne Ultimatum
No Country For Old Men
Ratatouille
There Will Be Blood
Transformers


Best Sound Mixing
The Bourne Ultimatum
No Country For Old Men
Ratatouille
3:10 To Yuma
Transformers


Best Visual Effects
The Golden Compass
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
Transformers


Adapted Screenplay
Atonement
Away From Her
The Diving Bell And The Butterfly
No Country For Old Men
There Will Be Blood


Original Screenplay
Juno
Lars and the Real Girl
Michael Clayton
Ratatouille
The Savages

Oscar's Foreign Film Short List Has Surprising Omissions

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have released the short list of films being eligible to be nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award.

But the big surprise isn't which films made the list, but which ones did not. Critic and audience favorites Persepolis, Exiled, The Orphanage and Four Months, Three Weeks And Two Days all failed to make the cut. All four films received decent distribution with Persepolis and Four Months earning both numerous film festival awards as well as places on several critics year end "Best of" lists.

The selected films were chosen from 63 qualifying films that were submitted to the Academy last year. Of the nine, five will be selected as the nominees for the Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award.

The shortlisted films, listed in alphabetical order by country, are:

• The Counterfeiters, Stefan Ruzowitzky, director, Austria
• The Year My Parents Went on Vacation, Cao Hamburger, director, Brazil
• Days of Darkness, Denys Arcand, director, Canada
• Beaufort, Joseph Cedar, director, Israel
• The Unknown Woman, Giuseppe Tornatore, director, Italy
• Mongol, Sergei Bodrov, director, Kazakhstan
• Katyn, Andrzej Wajda, director, Poland
• 12, Nikita Mikhalkov, director, Russia
• The Trap, Srdan Golubovic, director, Serbia

GOLDEN GLOBE nominations announced.

The nominees for the 65th Annual Golden Globes were announced today. This is the list of the Motion Picture nominations:

Picture, Drama: "American Gangster," "Atonement," "Eastern Promises," "The Great Debaters," "Michael Clayton," "No Country for Old Men," "There Will Be Blood."

Actress, Drama: Cate Blanchett, "Elizabeth: The Golden Age"; Julie Christie, "Away From Her"; Jodie Foster, "The Brave One"; Angelina Jolie, "A Mighty Heart"; Kiera Knightley, "Atonement."

Actor, Drama: George Clooney, "Michael Clayton"; Daniel Day-Lewis, "There Will Be Blood"; James McAvoy, "Atonement"; Viggo Mortensen, "Eastern Promises"; Denzel Washington, "American Gangster."

Picture, Musical or Comedy: "Across the Universe," "Charlie Wilson's War," "Hairspray," "Juno," "Sweeney Todd."

Actress, Musical or Comedy: Amy Adams, "Enchanted"; Nikki Blonsky, "Hairspray"; Helena Bonham Carter, "Sweeney Todd"; Marion Cotillard, "La Vie En Rose"; Ellen Page, "Juno."

Actor, Musical or Comedy: Johnny Depp, "Sweeney Todd"; Ryan Gosling, "Lars and the Real Girl"; Tom Hanks, "Charlie Wilson's War"; Philip Seymour Hoffman, "The Savages"; John C. Reilly, "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story."

Supporting Actress: Cate Blanchett, "I'm Not There"; Julia Roberts, "Charlie Wilson's War"; Saoirse Ronan, "Atonement"; Amy Ryan, "Gone Baby Gone"; Tilda Swinton, "Michael Clayton."

Supporting Actor: Casey Affleck, "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford"; Javier Bardem, "No Country for Old Men"; Philip Seymour Hoffman, "Charlie Wilson's War"; John Travolta, "Hairspray"; Tom Wilkinson, "Michael Clayton."

Director: Tim Burton, "Sweeney Todd"; Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, "No Country for Old Men"; Julian Schnabel, "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"; Ridley Scott, "American Gangster"; Joe Wright, "Atonement."

Screenplay: Diablo Cody, "Juno"; Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, "No Country for Old Men"; Christopher Hampton, "Atonement"; Ronald Harwood, "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"; Aaron Sorkin, "Charlie Wilson's War."

Foreign Language: "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days," Romania; "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly," France and U.S.; "The Kite Runner," U.S.; "Lust, Caution," Taiwan; "Persepolis," France.

Animated Film: "Bee Movie," "Ratatouille," "The Simpsons Movie."

Original Score: Michael Brook, Kaki King, Eddie Edder, "Into the Wild"; Clint Eastwood, "Grace Is Gone"; Alberto Iglesias, "The Kite Runner"; Dario Marianelli, "Atonement"; Howard Shore, "Eastern Promises."

Original Song: "Despedida" from "Love in the Time of Cholera"; "Grace Is Gone" from "Grace Is Gone"; "Guaranteed" from "Into the Wild"; "That's How You Know" from "Enchanted"; "Walk Hard" from "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story."

I am slightly disapointed that Russell Crowe didn't get a nod for American Gangster. Sure, Denzel Washington had the showier role, but Crowe did a great job in an equal role. Anyhow, the Golden Globes usually give us a sneak peek at what the Oscar Nominations might look like. Take a look at the above and see if you can guess the Academy will select.

And I got this via CNN. They are the ones who credited the original score for Into the Wild to Eddie Edder instead of Eddie Vedder. So all you Pearl Jam fans out there, direct your correspondence to them, not me.

Welles' CITIZEN KANE Oscar Statue A Bust At Auction

An investment is only as good as the price you can get when you ultimate divest yourself of it, and it looks like the Dax Foundation's 2003 investment in the Academy Award statue awarded to Orson Welles for co-authoring the screenplay for Citizen Kane might not have been a wise move.

As we reported back in October, the Dax Foundation had purchased the Oscar statue back in 2003 and was planning to have it auctioned by Sotheby's earlier this week, hoping to earn anywhere between $800,00 and $1.2 million. However, it failed to find a bidder who would meet the minimum price that the Dax Foundation had placed on it.

Welles' personal copy of the film's 156-page script, the last revised draft before the final shooting script, was sold for $97,000 to an anonymous telephone bidder.

I have to admit to some surprise that there wasn't a single bid that met the reserve price the Oscar had on it. Since the Academy clamped down on the sale of the statues starting in 1950, very few Oscars have hit the auction block and recent years, those that have were bought up by Academy members who then donated them back to the Academy. Steven Spielberg is known to have done this on a couple of occasions and I figured the historical value of this particular Oscar would have pulled an Academy-friendly philanthropist out of the woodwork.

Pickford Oscar Trial Location Set

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge has tentatively ruled that a lawsuit filed to halt the sale of one of two Academy Award statuettes originally awarded to silent film star Mary Pickford should be tried in Riverside County, California, home of one of Pickford's heirs.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences contends that it has the right, as per an Academy bylaw enacted in 1950, to buy back any Academy Award statuette for the nominal sum of $10.00 and has filed an injunction against the estate of Beverly Lorraine Rogers, the late second wife of Pickford's husband Buddy Rogers, to prevent its three co-executors from selling the statuettes to anyone.

Kim Boyer, niece of Beverly Rogers and one of the three co-executors of the estate claims that the Oscar they wish to sell is the one Pickford received for her work on the 1930 film Coquette and is therefore not subject to the Academy's restriction. The Academy claims that when Pickford was given a second, honorary, award in 1976, the agreement she signed that retroactively included her 1930 statuette.

Rogers, who passed away in 1999, was previously married to Pickford for 41 years until her death in 1979. Rogers received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award from the Academy in 1986. Pickford won the Best Actress Oscar in 1930 for Coquette.

Previously- Academy Attempts To Block Sale Of Oscar

Via Hollywood Reporter

Feature Documentary Oscar Short List Announced

Fifeteen feature length documentaries have made it to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science's short list for Academy Award consideration. The films are-

• Autism: The Musical- directed by Tricia Regan
• Body of War- directed by Phil Donahue and Ellen Spiro
• For The Bible Tells Me So- directed by Daniel G. Karslake
• Lake of Fire- directed by Tony Kaye
• Nanking- directed by Bill Guttentag and Dan Sturman
• No End in Sight- directed by Charles Ferguson
• Operation Homecoming - Writing the Wartime Experience,- directed by Richard Robbins
• Please Vote For Me- directed by Wejun Chen
• The Price of Sugar- directed by Bill Haney
• A Promise to the Dead: The Exile Journey of Ariel Dorfman- directed by Peter Raymont
• The Rape of Europa- directed by Richard Berge and Bonni Cohen
• Sicko- directed by Michael Moore
• Taxi to the Dark Side- directed by Alex Gibney
• War/Dance- directed by Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine
• White Light/Black Rain- directed by Steven Okazaki

I've only seen a few of the nominated films, so I can't speak to the others' worth. Still, I am a bit surprised that such critical well received films as In The Shadow Of The Moon and The King Of Kong didn't make the cut.

Out of these 15, five films will be selected to be placed on the ballot for Oscar voting. The official nominees will be announced on January 22, 2008.

HDNet To Air DePalma's REDACTED Tonight

Brian De Palma's controversial new film Readacted will screen tonight on HDNet Movies as an exclusive "sneak preview" before the film opens in limited release this weekend. The movie will run at 10:15 pm Eastern, with an encore presentation at midnight.

Though inspired by real events, Redacted is the fictionalized story of a small group of soldiers stationed in Iraq who rape a teenaged local girl and then murder her and her family. It is a powerful film, and with its structure of being told from the point of view of various media outlets, challenges its audience to examine its relationship with how they are informed by the media and what effect this war is having on our country's honor.

You can read our review of the film from our New York Film Festuival coverage here.

In a press release, HDNet Chairman Mark Cuban, who also served as a producer on the film states, "Redacted is a perfect choice for HDNet Movies Sneak Previews. We want to present our viewers with the opportunity to preview films that are critically acclaimed and thought-provoking."

The television airing of the film won’t harm its chances for any potential Academy Award nominations, as the film has already had its week-long qualifying screening in California.

12 Oscar Hopeful Animated Features Announced

While it seems as if the entire world is already gearing up for the holiday season, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences already has their eye on the new year and the Academy Awards ceremony set for the end of February. The Academy has announced the list of films who should met all the preliminary requirements for being eligible for nomination for Best Animated Feature Film. (Alvin And The Chipmunks, Beowulf and Persepolis have not yet met the requirement that they screen for at least one week in Los Angeles, but are all scheduled to go into general release by the end of the year.)

The 12 eligible films are-

• Alvin and the Chipmunks
• Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters
• Bee Movie
• Beowulf
• Meet the Robinsons
• Persepolis
• Ratatouille
• Shrek the Third
• The Simpsons Movie
• Surf’s Up
• Tekkonkinkreet
• TMNT
  

Out of these 12, three films will be selected to be placed on the ballot for Oscar voting. The official nominees will be announced on January 22, 2008.

Having seen a majority of the films listed, I would say that the major contenders would be Bee Movie, Beowulf, Persepolis, Ratatouille and Shrek The Third, although I have some reservations on how a film created almost entirely through live actors’ actions being translated into animation through a process called motion capture manages to be considered animation.

Personally, Persepolis, which opens at Christmas, is the best of the lot, but as we all know, the Oscar doesn’t always go to the best in the nominated category. Yes, Shrek’s 2001 Oscar win, I’m looking at you.

The Academy Awards will be presented on February 24, 2008.

Welles's CITIZEN KANE Oscar Up For Auction

New York auction house Sotheby's has announced plans to auction the Academy Award that Orson Welles won for co-authoring the screenplay to Citizen Kane. Although it is a perennial topper of critics "Best" lists, Citizen Kane only won one of the nine Oscar statues it was nominated for in 1941. It is also the only Academy Award Welles would ever win over the course of his career.

The Oscar statue will go under the gavel on December 11, with Sotheby's expecting it to be sold for anywhere between $800,00.00 and $1.2 million.

Long thought lost, Welles's Oscar was revealed to be in the possession of cinematographer Gary Graver, who stated that the director had given him the statue as payment for working on Welles's unfinished 1974 film The Other Side Of The Wind. Graver tried to auction the Oscar through Sotheby's, but was sued by Welles' daughter Beatrice Welles, who was eventually awarded ownership of the Academy Award by a California court.

Beatrice Welles put the Oscar up for auction herself, but was sued by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences. The Academy had enacted a stipulation that the Oscar statues could not be resold without first offering to sell them back to the Academy for the nominal sum of $1.00. However, a California court ruled that as this rule was enacted in 1950, the Citizen Kane Oscar was not covered by the policy. The auction went ahead in 2003, with the Oscar being acquired by the Dax Foundation, who has decided to resale the statue and use the proceeds to help fund the non-profit organization’s charitable works.

Several older Oscars have been sold at auction and by private dealers for sums in the six-figure range. The Best Picture Oscar for Gone With The Wind (1939) fetched $1.5 million at auction while its star Vivien Leigh’s Best Actress statue went for $550,000.00. Director Steven Spielberg has shelled out six-figure prices for pre-1950 Oscar statues awarded to Clark Gable and Bette Davis in order to donate them back to the Academy in perpetutity.

Previously: Academy Attempts To Block Sale Of Oscar

Foreign Film Oscar Hopefuls

Today is the deadline for countries to submit their nominations to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for consideration for the Best Foreign Language Feature Film Oscar.

According to the Academy's rules, "a foreign language film is defined as a feature-length motion picture produced outside the United States of America with a predominantly non-English dialogue track. Every country shall be invited to submit its best film to the Academy. Only one picture will be accepted from each country." Of these nominations, five will be selected for by the Academy’s Foreign Language Film Award committee. These nominees will be announced on January 22, 2008.

Although the deadline for submission is today, some countries, most notably China and Thailand, have held off on making their announcements until the last minute. Here’s a list of those countries’ submissions that have been announced so far-

• Bangladesh – Swopnodonay (On The Wings Of Dreams)
• Belgium – Ben X
• Brazil - The Year My Parents Went On Vacation
• Czech Republic – I Served The King Of England
• Estonia – The Class
• Finland – A Man’s Job
• France - Persepolis
• Germany – The Edge Of Heaven
• Hong Kong - Exiled
• Hungary - Taxidermia
• India - Eklavya: The Royal Guard
• Ireland - Kings
• Israel - The Band’s Visit
• Italy - The Unknown
• Japan – I Just Didn’t Do It
• Korea – Secret Sunshine
• Macedonia – Shadows
• Mexico - Luz Silenciosa (Silent Light)
• Netherlands - Duska
• Norway – Gone With The Woman
• Philippines - Donsol
• Singapore - 881
• Spain - The Orphanage
• Sweden - You, The Living

Jon Stewart To Host 2008 Oscars

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have announced that comic Jon Stewart will be hosting this year’s Academy Awards. This marks Stewart's second time fronting the show, having first hosted back in 2006.

Frankly, I think this is great news. Sure, Ellen DeGeneres' turn this past year as host scored 1 million viewers more than Stewart's first time at the mic the previous year. But out of all the comics who have hosted over the past two decades – and that list includes Billy Crystal, Chris Rock, Steve Martin and Whoopi Goldberg – Stewart is the one who was consistently funny with both prepared and ad-libbed material. But then again I thought David Letterman's turn as host in 1995 was hysterical too. Uma… Oprah.

The Academy Awards will be presented on February 24, 2008.