11/5 Chart Update
After intense initial doubts on my part, I'm jumping onto that "No Country for Old Men" bandwagon that is galloping away at full speed. There are detractors, and they will come out of the woodwork soon enough when the film releases. But Miramax is also more and more placing a direct and concerted emphasis on this being their big hopeful, and that says a lot. Big things are going on here in town this week for the film's premiere and you can see all involved REALLY hoofing it. "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" might be the more emotional film, but then again, when I spoke to Miramax president Daniel Battsek last week about "No Country," he made it a point of saying he "strongly believe[s] in the ability of this film to move people."
Sometimes it's simply about whether a studio is willing to go all out. Additionally, producer Scott Rudin (who again has a massive slate of product on display this year) probably senses "No Country" as his own best bet, expecially given that it looks like a Capra film next to "There Will Be Blood" (a contender still seen as a major possibility in the big category - usually by those who haven't seen it).
Elsewhere, "Into the Wild" is stirring the pot but somehow seems like it could still come up short. Will it hold the same majesty on the small screen as it does on the big screen? Eric Gautier's is some of the best work behind the camera this year, Sean Penn is working it, but that nasty feeling is floating around that parents in the Academy could lack the empathy for McCandless that is called for. We'll see.
Also in the animated field - the reaction that "Beowulf" was a solid gold possibility might have been a knee-jerk. Zemeckis doesn't consider motion-capture animation (it isn't) and the branch obviously felt the same way given the snub of "The Polar Express" in 2004. So maybe a true animation legend, Matt Groening, can slide in behind. Regardless, I think the phenomenal "Persepolis" may prove to be the frontrunner in due time.
Ah well, enough yapping. Here's the update:
Main Category Charts
Technical Category Charts
The Contenders (by category)
2007 Films-by-Studio Rundown
Oscar Predictions Archive
Previous Oscar Columns:
10/29/07 - "10/29 Chart Update"
10/15/07 - "The Oil Man vs. the Demon Barber?"
10/08/07 - "Clean-up on Aisle September"
10/01/07 - "Still Anybody's Game"
09/17/07 - "Post-Toronto Update"
09/10/07 - "Notes from the Eye of a Storm"
09/03/07 - "Launching the New Season"
08/03/07 - "August Update"
07/01/07 - "The Silence is Deafening"
02/26/07 - "Forging Ahead: In Contention's Year in Advance Oscar Speculation"
Comments
Amy Adams? Seriously?
Over Julie Christie?
Posted by: Hardy![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.incontention.com/nav-commenters.gif)
| November 5, 2007 10:30 AM
For now, yeah. I'm not sold on Christie but campaign movement can change my mind.
Posted by: Kristopher Tapley![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.incontention.com/nav-commenters.gif)
| November 5, 2007 12:09 PM
Ah, what irony. When you released your negative review of No Country for Old Men amongst all the reviews calling it a modern masterpiece, I thought you were nuts. I even thought you were more nuts to take it off your Best Picture predictions.
Now that I've seen it, I see EXACTLY where you were coming from, and now I find it disappointing you put it back in your predictions, LOL. The amount of buzz surrounding this film is very hard to ignore, but now I can't get over my feelings that the academy will never go for this. It's just too cold, not simply dark. I agree that the first two-thirds are great, and it's all downhill from there. I think the big problem lies in that it loses all the drama after you know who is out of the picture. Oh well, we'll see.
Posted by: bblasingame![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.incontention.com/nav-commenters.gif)
| November 10, 2007 02:05 PM