This time last year, I submitted a ballot to the OFCS that probably stands as one of the top 5 most thrown-away votes in the history of the organization. Idealist though I may be, life both within and without of the movies has taught me better than to vote for third parties (politically, I never have), or their cinematic equivalents (one word: Colon). The options may be better in theory, but the system itself remains so unconducive to such actually ever being the victor that the effect is that of, to quote a friend, throwing dirt at the golem.

This year, I attempted to adjust the curve a bit so as to better aid those films that already have a chance of winning, versus virtually none whatsoever. Overall, I attempted to vote for those that I liked the most, but to weigh things primarily against those choices that were already shoo-ins (much as I like Heath Ledger's Joker, he wouldn't need my enthusiastic vote to take any prizes). Only when it came to the "lesser", technical categories did I go out on a few limbs, as you will see, though a few are simply bold/stupid attempts to put the deserving out there, even if no one else will (re: category #3, choice #1, I'm completely serious).

This can later be marked in contrast to my own personal "awards", which I'm holding off on until (1) we're further along in this season, and until (2) I've been able to catch up on more of my blind spots from last year. As of now, the nominations have been tallied and the results released, with voting continuing through the 17th. Over the next 12 days, then, I hope to catch up on the equal number of blind spots I have amongst the nominees (some I won't out of inability, at least one out of complete irrelevancy).

BEST PICTURE

1. Wendy and Lucy
2. Paranoid Park
3. Rachel Getting Married
4. WALL·E
5. The Wrestler

BEST DIRECTOR

1. Kelly Reichardt (-) Wendy and Lucy
2. Joachim Trier (-) Reprise
3. Jonathan Demme (-) Rachel Getting Married
4. Andrew Stanton (-) WALL·E
5. David Fincher (-) The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

BEST ACTOR

1. WALL·E (-) WALL·E
2. Mickey Rourke (-) The Wrestler
3. Josh Brolin (-) W.
4. Guillaume Depardieu (-) The Duchess of Langeais
5. Michael Shannon (-) Shotgun Stories

BEST ACTRESS

1. Michelle Williams (-) Wendy and Lucy
2. Anne Hathaway (-) Rachel Getting Married
3. Juliette Binoche (-) Flight of the Red Balloon
4. Asia Argento (-) Boarding Gate
5. Sally Hawkins (-) Happy-Go-Lucky

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

1. Bill Irwin (-) Rachel Getting Married
2. Eddie Marsan (-) Happy-Go-Lucky
3. Tom Cruise (-) Tropic Thunder
4. Robert Downey, Jr. (-) Tropic Thunder
5. Heath Ledger (-) The Dark Knight

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

1. Rachel McAdams (-) Married Life
2. Rosemarie DeWitt (-) Rachel Getting Married
3. Marisa Tomei (-) The Wrestler
4. Amy Adams (-) Miss Pettigew Lives for a Day
5. Debra Winger (-) Rachel Getting Married

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

1. Joachim Trier and Eskil Vogt (-) Reprise
2. Andrew Stanton & Jim Reardon (-) WALL·E
3. Jenny Lumet (-) Rachel Getting Married
4. Kurt Kuenne (-) Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father
5. Mike Leigh (-) Happy-Go-Lucky

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

1. Jonathan Raymond and Kelly Reichardt (-) Wendy and Lucy
2. Ira Sachs & Oren Moverman (-) Married Life
3. Pascal Bonitzer, Christine Laurent and Jacques Rivette (-) The Duchess of Langeais
4. Simon Beaufoy (-) Slumdog Millionaire
5. Maurizio Braucci & Ugo Chiti & Gianni Di Gregorio & Matteo Garrone & Massimo Gaudioso & Roberto Saviano (-) Gomorra

BEST DOCUMENTARY

1. Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father
2. Man on Wire
3. Shine a Light
4. My Winnipeg
5. Encounters at the End of the World

BEST NON-ENGLISH FILM

1. Reprise
2. Flight of the Red Balloon
3. The Duchess of Langeais
4. CJ7
5. Gomorrah

BEST ANIMATED FILM

1. WALL·E
2. Kung Fu Panda
3. Horton Hears a Who!

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

1. David Tattersall (-) Speed Racer
2. Pin Bing Lee (-) Flight of the Red Balloon
3. Darius Khondji (-) My Blueberry Nights
4. Anthony Dod Mantle (-) Slumdog Millionaire
5. Colin Watkinson (-) The Fall

BEST EDITING

1. Roger Barton and Zach Staenberg (-) Speed Racer
2. Tim Squyres (-) Rachel Getting Married
3. Mike Burchett and Kelly Reichardt (-) Wendy and Lucy
4. Kurt Kuenne (-) Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father
5. Lee Smith (-) The Dark Knight

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

1. Michael Giacchino (-) Speed Racer
2. James Newton Howard & Hans Zimmer (-) The Dark Knight
3. Thomas Newman (-) WALL·E
4. Clint Mansell (-) The Wrestler
5. Kyle Eastwood and Michael Stevens (-) Gran Torino

BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMER

1. Anders Danielsen Lie (-) Reprise
2. Gabe Nevins (-) Paranoid Park
3. Dev Patel (-) Slumdog Millionaire
4. Norah Jones (-) My Blueberry Nights

BREAKTHROUGH FILMMAKER

1. Joachim Trier (-) Reprise
2. Kurt Kuenne (-) Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father
3. Charlie Kaufman (-) Synechdoche, New York
4. Laura Dunn (-) The Unforeseen

Labels: awards, awards 08, lists