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Oscars race enters home straight as nominees unveiled
2008-01-20
The race for the Oscars enters the home straight on Tuesday as nominees for the 80th Academy Awards are unveiled amid uncertainty about how Hollywood's writers strike will affect this year's showpiece red carpet event. Oscar pundits say a crop of acclaimed dark or offbeat films have made this year's battle for the Academy's famous gold statuettes, which will be handed out on February 24. The competition is one of the hardest to call in years, but the picture should become slightly clearer at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences headquarters at around 5:30 am (1330 GMT) on Tuesday, when the contenders for each category are announced. The early front-runner for the coveted best picture prize is Joel and Ethan Coen's "No Country for Old Men," a bleak crime thriller about the murders unleashed when a drug deal on the US-Mexico border goes wrong. However the film, which has won a string of critics prizes during awards season, was overlooked for the best picture prize at the Golden Globes on January 13, with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association instead choosing to honor period drama "Atonement." Tom O'Neil, of Los Angeles Times awards blog theenvelope.com, said "No Country for Old Men," the powerful drama "There Will Be Blood" and low-budget comedy "Juno" were likely to be among the five best picture nominees. But the other two places were harder to call with "Atonement," "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly," "American Gangster," "Into the Wild," "Michael Clayton," and "Sweeney Todd" all possible nominees. While "Atonement," a sweeping adaptation of Ian McEwan's novel about love and betrayal set during World War II, would have been a classic Oscars contender in years gone by, O'Neil believes Academy voters tastes may have changed. "'Atonement' has the big epic feel of an Oscar movie and Oscar voters love this kind of movie, just as they've loved 'The English Patient' and 'Out of Africa' in the past," O'Neil said. "However we've seen a sea change in recent years with films like 'The Departed' winning." That could strengthen "No Country for Old Men's" chances, O'Neil said, warning there was a slim chance that the Golden Globes two best picture winners "Atonement" and musical "Sweeney Todd" may both fail to get nominated. "If that happens it will be the first time ever that one of the two best picture winners at the Globes did not translate into an Oscar," O'Neil said. "That would be shocking." In the acting awards, clear front-runners have emerged in most categories, with Daniel Day-Lewis the best actor favorite for his performance as a tyrannical oil prospector in Paul Thomas Anderson's "There Will Be Blood." The best actress front-runners are tipped to be France's Marion Cotillard for her startling portrayal of tragic chanteuse Edith Piaf in "La Vie En Rose" and British veteran Julie Christie for her performance as an Alzheimer's sufferer in "Away from Her." In the best supporting actor category, Javier Bardem is considered a lock for his role as a psychopathic hitman in "No Country for Old Men" while Australian Cate Blanchett is fresh from a Golden Globe for her gender-bending performance as Bob Dylan in "I'm Not There." The build-up to the Oscars has been dominated this year by concerns that Tinseltown's biggest night of the year may be disrupted by picket lines set up by writers who have been striking since November. Actors vowed to steer clear of the Golden Globes after the Writer's Guild of America vowed to set up picket lines, forcing the cancellation of the ceremony, which was replaced by a 30-minute news conference. Despite fears that a similar scenario may play out at the Oscars, Academy officials are adamant that the show will go on next month, with or without the appearance of A-list stars. Awards show producer Gil Cates told the Los Angeles Times he was praying stars showed up for the event, but hinted the ceremony could survive without the appearance of actors. "There are enough clips in 80 years of Oscar history to make up a very entertaining show," Cates told the Times. "We'd have a lot of people on stage. Much as this is shocking to people, there are a lot of people who don't act. I just hope that the actors are there. I pray that the actors are there. I'm planning that the actors are there." Sets for the show at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood were already being designed and built, while planners would start choosing actors to be presenters and musical numbers after Tuesday's nominations. "I don't want to say read my lips, but it's not going to be canceled," Cates said. "It's a big moment for the town. The grand-daddy of all the shows and it awards excellence."
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