With the telecast of the 80th Annual Academy Awards scheduled for Feb. 24 back on track following the end of the Writers Guild of America strike, Oscar excitement is escalating and Oscar buzz is building. Oklahoma Film Critics Circle members have made their predictions for the major awards categories.
“This year doesn’t seem much of a contest, given that earlier awards presentations and popular sentiment seem to favor heavily nominees in almost all the major categories,” OFCC President Kathryn Jenson White said.
“This was a stellar year in most of the categories, so the races shouldn’t seem inevitable; however, several do. While these predictions don’t necessarily reflect our personal or even group choices, these are the films, actors, writers and others the 17 members of OFCC think the Academy will select.”
OFCC Predictions
Best Picture: “No Country for Old Men”
Best Director: Ethan Coen and Joel Coen for “No Country for Old Men”
Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis in “There Will Be Blood”
Best Actress: Julie Christie in “Away From Her”
Best Supporting Actor: Javier Bardem in “No Country for Old Men”
Best Supporting Actress: Amy Ryan in “Gone Baby Gone”
Original Screenplay: Diablo Cody, for “Juno”
Adapted Screenplay: Paul Thomas Anderson, for “There Will Be Blood”
Best Animated Feature: “Ratatouille”
Best Documentary: “No End in Sight”
OFCC members predict that two major films, “Atonement” and “Sweeney Todd,” will take home honors outside what are considered the major categories by most as what are often considered consolation awards for being left out of the nominations or not having a strong chance at scoring in the majors. “Atonement,”
will take the Best Costumes and Best Score categories; “Sweeney Todd” will take home the statue for Best Art Direction.
Neither of the audience and critical favorites for Best Foreign Film — “La Vie en Rose” and “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” — earned nominations for various reasons. OFCC members did not predict in this category.