My Predictions for the The Academy Awards 2008

Here are my predictions for the winners of the Oscars this weekend.

Best Supporting Actor

Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men

Best Actress

Julie Christy, Away from Her

Best Supporting Actress

Cate Blanchett, I'm Not There

Best Animated Film

Ratatouille
Best Director

the Coen Brothers, No Country for Old Men

Best Screenplay (Adapted)

the Coen Brothers, No Country for Old Men

Best Screenplay (Original)

Juno

Best Actor
Daniel-Day Lewis, There Will be Blood

Best Picture
There Will be Blood (they will possibly vote No Country for Old Men but I will go with There Will be Blood)

My favorite film of the year was There Will be Blood. It is brilliant in all respects. And while among my friend there is debate whether No Country for Old Men is a little bit better I disagree. When you are watching this film, or maybe after you watch it. Three things stand out. First, that every shot matters and there is no such thing as even a two dimensional character--all of them have three dimensions!

Second, the story is deep on so many levels. It is about oil, it is about greed, it is about selfishness--but it is also about family, and is a depressing commentary on the sacrifices people as individuals and we as a society make for success (more specifically, success and exploitation of people based on a thirst for oil that does not end). And the plot grows on you over time. I have thought of different angles and presented them to people and had them agree and say "I never thought of that." I have said to many people, who are confused about the movie and their expectations about violence, that my feeling was that "blood" in the title is a metaphor for oil--the blood of the earth. No one has fully agreed yet, but they do not fully disagree either. The fact that the story it was based on is entitled Oil! might help this argument.

Third, and most important. While you watch the movie you literally sit there and say to yourself: I am watching a historical performance right now. Daniel-Day Lewis as Daniel Plainview is possibly the most extraordinary acting I have ever seen in my life. People are saying that it is one of the greatest performances ever. Up there with Gregory Peck in To Kill a Mockingbird, Orson Welles in Citizen Kane and Marlon Brando in (while just about everything he did: On the Waterfront, Streetcar Named Desire, and Godfather). This is not about whether Day-Lewis deserves the Oscar for this performance...there is zero doubt that he deserves and will get that. The question is: is it deserving of something better than that? I don't even know what that means. But after Sunday when he has an Oscar, if you have seen the movie I think you will be saying...but that's it? That performance deserves something more.

I am interested to see hot I do out of 9.