AND THE OSCAR BLUTH GOES TO...

At D&C, the only Oscar we usually care about has the last name Bluth. This Oscar is a fifty something year old head full of hair hippie with a marijuana addiction to boot. But today we’ll focus on that other Oscar, the Oscar that wields more excitement than any other eight-inch golden entity, standing all tall and naked about to be snatched by the Hollywood gorgeous.

Here are the nominees of the Eightieth Annual Academy Awards hosted by Jon Stewart on February Twenty-fourth, Two Thousand and Eight…

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

George Clooney – MICHAEL CLAYTON
Daniel Day-Lewis – THERE WILL BE BLOOD
Johnny Depp – SWEENEY TODD THE DEMON BEARER OF FLEET STREET
Tommy Lee Jones – IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH
Viggo Mortensen – EASTERN PROMISES

Duck’s pick: I’m an oil man. I choose Daniel Day-Lewis.
Chick's pick: Day-Lewis. The only way he won't win is if people finally protest the practice of using hyphenated last names, which they should. Though kudos to him for pulling off something that I thought only middle-aged career oriented women who refuse to give up their last names were capable of.
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

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

Duck’s pick: Tom Wilkinson. He’s just as deranged in this role as he was in Batman Begins.
Chick's pick: Bardem will win unless Holbrook plays the "I'm old!" card, which he should.
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

Cate Blanchett – ELIZABETH: THE GOLDEN AGE
Julie Christie – AWAY FROM HER
Marion Cotillard – LA VIE EN ROSE
Laura Linney – THE SAVAGES
Ellen Page – JUNO

Duck’s pick: I’ve only seen Juno and that’s enough for me to vote Cate Blanchett.
Chick's pick: Page. Damn kids always win these things. I vote age requirement, make her play one year of college basketball.
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Cate Blanchett again – I’M NOT THERE
Ruby Dee – AMERICAN GANGSTER
Saoirse Ronan – ATONEMENT
Amy Ryan – GONE BABY GONE
Tilda Swinton – MICHAEL CLAYTON

Duck’s pick: One Oscar going to a cross dresser is enough for me (id est Hilary Swank – BOYS DON’T CRY/1999). So that rules out Cate Blanchett. Ruby Dee had all of five minutes of screen time in AG. Haven’t seen GONE BABY GONE. That leaves Swinton and Ronan. Swinton showcased her sweaty armpits, I’ll go with her in Michael Clayton.
Chick's pick: Uhhh, Tilda Swinton? Yeah. American Gangster should be proud they got a nomination, legitimately awful and overrated film. Congratulations on officially being the Louisville football of film. Yeah sure you have a ton of talent and were ranked highly at the beginning of award season, but the production just wasn't there and now you're struggling to get a supporting actress nomination or a bid to play a MAC team in a bowl game.
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

PERSEPOLIS
RATATOUILLE
SURF’S UP

Duck’s pick: SURF’S UP because it had The Dude.
Chick's pick: Surf's Up is just a quality film.
ART DIRECTION

AMERICAN GANGSTER
ATONEMENT
THE GOLDEN COMPASS
SWEENEY TODD THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET
THERE WILL BE BLOOD

Duck’s pick: ATONEMENT. Just go see the movie.
Chick's pick: How do people even judge this. The art's not moving, I don't get it, are there art meteorologists for this? If I had to pick I'd say it's moving northeast. I'm officially protesting this award and the next three to follow.
CINEMATOGRAHPY

THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES…
ATONEMENT
THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
THERE WILL BE BLOOD

Duck’s pick: THERE WILL BE BLOOD. The first scene sealed the deal.

COSTUME DESIGN

ACROSS THE UNIVERSE
ATONEMENT
ELIZABETH: THE GOLDEN AGE
LA VIE EN ROSE
SWEENEY TODD…

Duck’s pick: ATONEMENT. Watching this movie was the first time I paid any heed to the actual possibility of having an actual opinion for this category. That's saying something.

DIRECTING

THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY
JUNO
MICHAEL CLAYTON
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
THERE WILL BE BLOOD

Duck’s pick: NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN. I only shy away from THERE WILL BE BLOOD because Day-Lewis needs no direction. So I went with the Coen brothers. Plus I have a wicked mancrush on Josh Brolin.
Chick's pick: Juno - not so much. When will Hollywood stop allowing the clever and witty comments that come out of 16-year-olds mouths. Someone is aware that kids don't speak in a condescending monotone at all times. Right?

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

NO END IN SIGHT
OPERATION HOMECOMING: WRITING THE WARTIME EXPERIENCE
SICKO
TAXI TO THE DARK SIDE
WAR/DANCE

Duck’s pick: Haven’t seen any of them. Sorry.
Chick's pick: If you haven't stopped reading this post by now you care way too much about the cinema and are probably videotaping yourself as you read this post, in black and white most likely, with some sort of emotion evoking music playing in the background in an attempt to make your own documentary. Dumb.
MUSIC (SCORE)

ATONEMENT
THE KITE RUNNER
MICHAEL CLAYTON
RATATOUILLE
3:10 TO YUMA

Duck’s pick: ATONEMENT. I like the sound of typewriters.
Chick's pick: Atonement. I too am a neat guy. And I too like the sound of typewriters.
BEST PICTURE

ATONEMENT
JUNO
MICHAEL CLAYTON
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
THERE WILL BE BLOOD

Duck’s pick: ATONEMENT. It’s my dark horse.
Chick's pick: There Will Be Blood.

Note: Pan's Labyrinth - not for me.