Miramax Films and Paramount Vantage had double reasons to pop the champagne bottle on Jan 22 when 2 of their co-produced films,No Country For Old Men and There Will Be Blood, emerged frontrunners at this year’s Oscar race, nabbing 8 leading nominations each.

The nominations for the 80th Annual Academy Awards were announced by the president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Sid Ganis, and Oscar winner, Kathy Bates, at The Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, California that morning (Jan 22 evening, Singapore time).

Both No Country For Old Men, about the ruthless aftermath of a botched drug deal, and There Will Be Blood, starring Daniel Day-Lewis as a scheming oilman in an epic about American capitalism, are up for the Best Picture award. They will compete with each other in the same categories for 6 of their 8 nominations. These include Cinematography, Film Editing and Sound Editing. Writers and directors for both films – Joel and Ethan Coen for No Country For Old Men and Paul Thomas Anderson for There Will Be Blood – will also go head-to-head for the director and adapted screenplay awards.

The films also have an acting nomination each in its list – Actor in a Leading Role for Day-Lewis and Actor in a Supporting Role for No Country For Old Men star, Javier Bardem. Both actors are considered frontrunners in their respective categories, having won major precursor awards to the Oscars in the past few months, including the Golden Globe and the BFCA (Broadcast Film Critics Association) Critics Choice Award.

Day-Lewis is up against George Clooney, Johnny Depp , Viggo Mortensen and Tommy Lee Jones. 

Jones’ nomination came as a surprise to many Oscar predictors and critics, considering he’s received no previous recognition for his nominated performance, with the exception of a Satellite award nomination. Snubs in this category include Emile Hirsch for Into the Wild and Ryan Gosling for Lars And The Real Girl, both of whom were nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Award – a major precursor to the Oscars.

Other films up for the Best Picture prize are dramatic law thriller, Michael Clayton, Fox Searchlight’s feature on teenage pregnancy, Juno, and British filmmaker, Joe Wright’s adaptation of Ian McEwan’s acclaimed novel, Atonement.

Michael Clayton and Atonement follow closely behind No Country and Blood with 7 nominations each, while Juno received a total of 4 nods with lead actress Ellen Page, original screenplay writer Diablo Cody and director Jason Reitman each receiving honours.

Aside from Reitman, the Coen brothers and Anderson, others vying for the director trophy are Tony Gilroy for Michael Clayton and Julian Schnabel for The Diving Bell And The Butterfly.

With as many as 10 supporting performances by actors in 2007 vying for the 5 spots in supporting actor category, the competition was one of the most intense in recent history. 

In the end, aside for Bardem, the Academy chose Casey Affleck for his exceptional turn as the weakling Robert Ford in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Philip Seymour Hoffman for his hilarious performance in Charlie Wilson’s War, veteran Hal Holbrook in the heartwarming Into the Wild and the mentally ill Arthur Edens in Michael Clayton. 

Cate Blanchett made Oscar history as the 11th performer to receive nominations in both lead and supporting acting categories.

Previous performers who’ve achieved this include Al Pacino (nominated in 1993 for Scent of a Woman and Glengarry Glen Ross), Julianne Moore (nominated in 2003 for Far From Heaven and The Hours), Holly Hunter (nominated in 1994 for The Piano and The Firm), Emma Thompson (nominated in 1994 for The Remains Of The Day and In The Name Of The Father) and Jaime Foxx (nominated in 2005 for Ray and Collateral).

Blanchett’s nominated for Actress in a Leading Role for her turn as Elizabeth I in Elizabeth: The Golden Age, along with Page (Juno), Laura Linney (The Savages) and Golden Globe winners, Julie Christie (Away From Her) and Marion Cotillard (La Vie En Rose).

For the Actress in a Supporting Role category, Blachett was recognised for playing one of Bob Dylan’s personalities in Todd Haynes’ I’m Not There. She will compete with Gone Baby Gone’s Amy Ryan, Michael Clayton’s Tilda Swinton, American Gangster’s Ruby Dee and Atonement’s Saoirse Ronan.

Following are the nominees for the 80th Annual Academy Awards:

BEST MOTION PICTURE OF THE YEAR

  • Atonement
  • Juno
  • Michael Clayton
  • No Country for Old Men
  • There Will Be Blood

 

BEST DIRECTOR

  • Julian Schnabel – “The Diving Bell And The Butterfly”
  • Jason Reitman – “Juno”
  • Tony Gilroy – “Michael Clayton”
  • Ethan Coen and Joel Coen – “No Country for Old Men”
  • Paul Thomas Anderson – “There Will Be Blood”

BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

  • George Clooney – “Michael Clayton”
  • Daniel Day-Lewis – “There Will Be Blood”
  • Johnny Depp – “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”
  • Tommy Lee Jones – “In The Valley Of Elah”
  • Viggo Mortensen – “Eastern Promises”

 

BEST 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”

 

BEST 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”

 

BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

  • Cate Blanchett – “I’m Not There”
  • Ruby Dee – “American Gangster”
  • Saoirse Ronan – “Atonement”
  • Amy Ryan – “Gone Baby Gone”
  • Tilda Swinton – “Michael Clayton”

 

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

  • Persepolis
  • Ratatouille
  • Surf’s Up

 

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

  • Beaufort
  • The Counterfeiters
  • Katyn
  • Mongol
  • 12

 

BEST ART DIRECTION

  • American Gangster
  • Atonement
  • The Golden Compass
  • Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
  • There Will Be Blood

 

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

  • The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robet Ford
  • Atonement
  • The Diving Bell And The Butterfly
  • No Country for Old Men
  • There Will Be Blood

 

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

  • Across The Universe
  • Atonement
  • Elizabeth: The Golden Age
  • La Vie En Rose
  • Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

 

BEST MAKEUP

  • La Vie En Rose
  • Norbit
  • Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World’s End

 

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

  • Atonement
  • The Kite Runner
  • Michael Clayton
  • Ratatouille
  • 3:10 to Yuma

 

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

  • Raise It Up – “August Rush”
  • That’s How You Know – “Enchanted”
  • Happy Working Song – “Enchanted”
  • So Close – “Enchanted”
  • Falling Slowly – “Once”

 

BEST SOUND MIXING

  • The Bourne Ultimatum
  • No Country for Old Men
  • Ratatouille
  • 3:10 To Yuma
  • Transformers

 

BEST SOUND EDITING

  • The Bourne Ultimatum
  • Ratatouille
  • No Country for Old Men
  • Transformers
  • There Will Be Blood

 

BEST FILM EDITING

  • The Bourne Ultimatum
  • The Diving Bell And The Butterfly
  • Into The Wild
  • No Country for Old Men
  • There Will Be Blood

 

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

  • The Golden Compass
  • Pirated of the Caribbean: At World’s End
  • Transformers

 

BEST WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY)

  • Diablo Cody – “Juno”
  • Nancy Oliver – “Lars And The Real Girl”
  • Tony Gilroy – “Michael Clayton”
  • Brad Bird – “Ratatouille”
  • Tamara Jenkins – “The Savages”

 

BEST WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)

  • Christopher Hampton – “Atonement”
  • Sarah Polley – “Away From Her”
  • Ronald Harwood – “The Diving Bell And The Butterfly”
  • Ethan Coen and Joel Coen – “No Country for Old Men”
  • Paul Thomas Anderson – “There Will Be Blood”

 

The 80th Annual Academy Awards will take place at the Kodak Theatre on Feb 24 (Feb 25 morning, Singapore time) in Hollywood, Los Angeles. The Academy Awards, also known as the Oscars, are presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences for excellence in motion pictures. The awards were first presented in 1928 and the awards celebrates its 80th anniversary this year.

For more information about the Academy Awards, visit www.oscar.com.