USA: "No Country For Old Men" and "There Will Be Blood" lead Oscar field

Record ID: 497870

  • Title: USA: "No Country For Old Men" and "There Will Be Blood" lead Oscar field
  • Date: 24th January 2008
  • Summary: BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (JANUARY 22, 2008) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACADEMY PRESIDENT SID GANIS SAYING: "The point is we're going to have a show and we're going to give these incredible artists what they're due. We're going to present Oscar on February 24th and that's the important thing, artists are giving their fellow artists a one time event in
  • Embargoed: 8th February 2008 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Usa
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Entertainment
  • Reuters ID: LVABGHR31707EWS2ENP2ES6RIJ9J
  • Story Text: The gritty dramas "No Country For Old Men" and "There Will Be Blood" scored eight Academy Award nominations each on Tuesday (January 22), leading a somber field in an Oscar season overshadowed by the Hollywood writers' strike.
    The British period romance "Atonement" scored seven nominations before the awards ceremony in late February, as did the legal thriller "Michael Clayton."
    All four films were nominated for best picture, along with the quirky teen comedy "Juno."

    "No Country For Old Men" and "There Will Be Blood"
    each got only one acting nomination. Spanish actor Javier Bardem was cited for his supporting role as a cool-headed killer in "No Country For Old Men" and British actor Daniel Day-Lewis for his lead role as a misanthropic oilman in "There Will Be Blood."
    Both films were nominated for best director, along with "Michael Clayton," "Juno" and the fact-based French-language story "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly." "Juno" and "Butterfly" each received four nominations in all.
    The lion's share of films nominated in major categories deal in dark themes of human tragedy and struggle.
    Day-Lewis will compete against George Clooney for "Michael Clayton," Johnny Depp for the bloody musical "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street," Tommy Lee Jones for the Iraq war-themed "In the Valley of Elah" and Viggo Mortensen for the mobster thriller "Eastern Promises."
    Day-Lewis, Clooney and Jones already have Oscars.
    Australian actress Cate Blanchett, another Oscar laureate, received two nominations -- for her title role as the British monarch in "Elizabeth: The Golden Age" and for her supporting role as Bob Dylan in "I'm Not There."
    The other lead-actress contenders were British veteran Julie Christie for "Away From Her," French actress Marion Cotillard for "La Vie en rose," Laura Linney for "The Savages" and Canadian actress Ellen Page for "Juno." Christie previously won an Oscar for 1965's "Darling."
    A notable absentee from the top categories was Sean Penn's "Into the Wild," which got just two nominations -- for Hal Holbrook's supporting role and for film editing.
    Other supporting actress nominees included Ruby Dee in "American Gangster, " Saoirse Ronan in "Atonement," and Amy Ryan in "Gone Baby Gone."
    Supporting actor nominees also included Casey Affleck in "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" Philip Seymour Hoffman in "Charlie Wilson's War," and Tom Wilkinson in "Michael Clayton."
    In the increasingly competitive animated feature film category, The French language Persepolis" is up against "Ratatouille" and "Surf's Up."
    The 80th annual Academy Awards will be handed out in Hollywood on Feb.
    The screenwriters' strike against major studios, now in its 12th week, could force organizers to change the format if the walkout is not resolved by then. Regardless, Academy president Sid Ganis says the show will go on.
    "The point is we're going to have a show and we're going to give these incredible artists what they're due. We're going to present Oscar on February 24th and that's the important thing, artists are giving their fellow artists a one time event in many of their lives you know the academy award, the oscar and without overdoing it I must say that is the honor of honors in our industry." Asked whether the stars would show up if there's a strike, Ganis was a bit more reticent.
    "Well, you know, that remains to be seen and I would just suggest that you're patient."
    The Writers Guild of America has said it would protest the event and the Screen Actors Guild reiterated on Monday that its members would not cross the picket line to attend Hollywood's biggest night of the year.
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