The Oscars are right around the corner, so i figured I would offer up my picks for all of the categories. These are not really the ones I think WILL win, but the ones I want to win. for your own full list of nominees got to: Oscar.com or for a printable list: Click here


Performance by an actor in a leading role:
Daniel Day-Lewis in "There Will Be Blood": His performance is beyond belief. A great actor that just gets better.

Performance by an actor in a supporting role
Javier Bardem in "No Country for Old Men": This movie was amazing and probably would have been half the film it was with anyone else in that role.

Performance by an actress in a leading role
Ellen Page in "Juno": She did a fantastic job as a relative newcomer in a difficult role with some iffy dialogue in the beginning.

Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Tilda Swinton in "Michael Clayton": A great movie that would deserve more awards any other year when the competition was not so tough.

Best animated feature film of the year
"Persepolis," Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud: Honestly, didn't see any of the nominees, but I would love to see a film not made for kids win this category.

Achievement in art direction
"Atonement," Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer: Good movie with a weak, rushed ending, but it was beautiful to watch.

Achievement in cinematography
"No Country for Old Men," Roger Deakins: Always shoots beautiful pictures, and is competing with himself in this category, but No Country was just visually stunning.

Achievement in costume design
"Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street," Colleen Atwood: Stylish and slick are almost always words to describe Tim Burton movies, and this one is no exception with the costumes being one of the main visual elements tying the style together.

Achievement in directing
"No Country for Old Men," Joel Coen and Ethan Coen: Always great directors. That is all.

Best documentary feature
"Sicko," A Dog Eat Dog Films Production: Michael Moore and Meghan O'Hara: Mr. Moore can do no wrong as far as filmmaking. His politic views are a point of contention for many people, but too many people can't see past the politics and see what a terrific filmmaker he is.

Best documentary short subject
I saw none of these movies, so I can't even try to pick one.

Achievement in film editing
"The Bourne Ultimatum" (Universal): Christopher Rouse: Even though it strayed almost completely from the book, fast-paced, enjoyable films that are well made can be forgiven for some oversights.

Best foreign language film of the year
Again, saw none.

Achievement in makeup
"Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" (Walt Disney): Ve Neill and Martin Samuel: Norbit's makeup may be fantastic, but if Norbit wins an Oscar, there is no hope for the future of Hollywood.

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)
"The Kite Runner," Alberto Iglesias: Great movie that should have been up for more awards, but the score was great too.

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
I don't care.

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: see a blog entry a couple spots down for mroe info on this one.

Best animated short film
Dunno about this one either.

Best live action short film
Yawn.

Achievement in sound editing
"Transformers" (DreamWorks and Paramount in association with Hasbro): Ethan Van der Ryn and Mike Hopkins: The kid in me wants this to get some kind of award. Even though it was too much talking not enough fighting robots.

Achievement in sound mixing
"No Country for Old Men" (Miramax and Paramount Vantage): Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff and Peter Kurland: I don't really know enough about sound mixing to judge this one, so i'll just go with the one i like most.

Achievement in visual effects
"The Golden Compass" (New Line in association with Ingenious Film Partners): Michael Fink, Bill Westenhofer, Ben Morris and Trevor Wood: Not a great movie, but the special effects looked great, as did most of the visual design overall.

Adapted screenplay
"No Country for Old Men" Written for the screen by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen: Great story, great dialogue, great use of silence.

Original screenplay
"The Savages" Written by Tamara Jenkins: See my last review for more on this one, but the script was touching and funny and thought-provoking, peppered with some well crafted banter between the brother and sister leads.