Happy 80th, uncle Oscar

No point in trying to second-guess the American Academy; I'm leaving the prediction of results to thosemore attuned to the beat of Oscar's heart. Here instead is my Oscars wishlist:

Performance by an actor in a leading role
Daniel Day-Lewis in "There Will Be Blood" (Paramount Vantage and Miramax)

Performance by an actor in a supporting role
Casey Affleck in "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" (Warner Bros.)

Performance by an actress in a leading role
Ellen Page in "Juno" (A Mandate Pictures/Mr. Mudd Production)

Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Cate Blanchett in "I'm Not There" (The Weinstein Company)

Best animated feature film of the year
"Persepolis" (Sony Pictures Classics): Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud

Achievement in art direction
"There Will Be Blood" (Paramount Vantage and Miramax): Art Direction: Jack Fisk; Set Decoration: Jim Erickson

Achievement in cinematography
"The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" (Warner Bros) Roger Deakins

Achievement in costume design
"Elizabeth: The Golden Age" (Universal) Alexandra Byrne

Achievement in directing
"There Will Be Blood" (Paramount Vantage and Miramax), Paul Thomas Anderson

Achievement in film editing
"There Will Be Blood" (Paramount Vantage and Miramax): Dylan Tichenor

Best foreign language film of the year
"12" Russia (dir NIkita Michalkhov)

Achievement in makeup
"La Vie en Rose" (Picturehouse) Didier Lavergne and Jan Archibald

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)
N/A in protest: IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN JESSE JAMES!! (Nick Cave and Warren Ellis)

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
"Falling Slowly" from "Once" (Fox Searchlight) Music and Lyric by Glen Hansard and: Marketa Irglova

Best motion picture of the year
"There Will Be Blood" (Paramount Vantage and Miramax) A JoAnne Sellar/Ghoulardi Film Company Production: JoAnne Sellar, Paul Thomas Anderson and Daniel Lupi, Producers

Achievement in sound editing
"No Country for Old Men" (Miramax and Paramount Vantage): Skip Lievsay

Achievement in sound mixing
"No Country for Old Men" (Miramax and Paramount Vantage): Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff and Peter Kurland

Adapted screenplay
"There Will Be Blood" (Paramount Vantage and Miramax), Written for the screen by Paul Thomas Anderson

Original screenplay
"Juno" (A Mandate Pictures/Mr. Mudd Production), Written by Diablo Cody

Frankly I'm sad that two of my films of the year 2007 weren't even nominated (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and Eastern Promises), but we're lucky, uncle Oscar. Yes, I agree that Atonement is a bit of a turkey, but at least there's no danger of Chicago making off with the most statuettes...

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