FYI, I'm doing a little live blogging to kill the boredom of tonight's ceremony over at Red Carpet District. Give it a look if you're one of those west coasters without a satellite.

Best Music – Original Score

Dario Marianelli and Alberto Iglesias both received their first nominations two years ago for “Pride & Prejudice” and “The Constant Gardener,” respectively. They return to the fold this year for “Atonement” and “The Kite Runner.” I’d call Marianelli the frontrunner for the win, while Iglesias will likely be his biggest competition.

Marco Beltrami gets his first nomination for “3:10 to Yuma,” a tribute to a great film, great score and great campaign. Meanwhile, Michael Giacchino grabs a nod for “Ratatouille,” one of five for Brad Bird’s acclaimed effort. I’d call both of these contenders dark horses in the race.

Johnny Greenwood, on the other hand, got disqualified for his amazing compositions for “There Will Be Blood” at the last minute. This is – pardon me – bullshit, as far as I’m concerned, and exemplifies the music branch’s refusal to welcome innovative, brilliant work. Every year it seems an out-of-the-box, non-traditionalist, innovative score is snubbed by these people. Greenwood may very well have gotten a nomination on his own merits without this 11th hour ruling.

Another year has brought another set of nominees to mull over, with a handful of surprises mixed with what was, for the most part, a predictable slate of nominees.

I scored 5/5 in Best Cinematography, 3/3 in Best Visual Effects and 4/5 in Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Film Editing and Best Original Score, to go along with a 2/3 prediction in Makeup. The other aural categories did me in – correctly foreseeing only 3 of the 5 nominees in Best Sound Mixing and just two in each of Best Sound Editing and Best Original Score.

Oh well.

For the most part, I’ll discuss the nominees by category today, but allow me to first make a few notes.

To start, I think we need to note the performance of “The Bourne Ultimatum.” Three nominations for a third film in a series, when both of the film’s predecessors failed to score a single tip of the hat, is an impressive achievement. It should be attributed to the fact that, not only has the series become better with each installment, but director Paul Greengrass, saddled with talent, has come to an Academy with open arms. He’s one to watch in the future (as if he wasn’t already).

Check the sidebar for updated predictions charts. All races are currently ranked as I see them right now.

This is just an early stab, kind of a gut feeling to start, and we'll analyze as we go. But I have to say, I expect this to be a brutal, ugly phase two from the PR and marketing perspective. Seriously. And the #1 and #2 films could just as easily cannibalize each other as a result, making way for "Juno" or, my real pick for a threat, "Michael Clayton."

Predicted winners are also indicated in the sidebar with asterisks.

Let the games begin.

Looking back over my year in advance predictions (the chats of which can be found here and here), the only Best Picture nominee I forecasted was -- believe it or not -- "Michael Clayton." I nailed George Clooney and Daniel Day-Lewis in the Best Actor arena, Cate Blanchett in Best Actress and Javier Bardem in Best Supporting Actor.

Elsewhere: "Atonement," "There Will Be Blood," "Michael Clayton" and "The Savages" for screenplay, "Ratatouille" for Best Animated Film (duh), and 13 other nods throughout the tech categories. So, 23 total correct guess 11 months ago. Is that good? Probably not, we're all shooting blind at that point.

Which reminds me, this year's year-in-advance coverage will land on February 25, the day after the Oscars, as usual. That's right, we think ahead 'round these parts.

Boy am I glad that's all over. Now, a month of what ought to be much easier prognosticating.

My full thoughts on the morning's nominees can be found over at Red Carpet District. The sidebar has been updated with the full list of contenders, and by the end of the morning, I'll have the charts updated in the order of predicted winners.

Oh, as for predictions, I correctly guessed 67 of the 99 nominees (76 with alternates). What's that for a percentage rate? No idea. My only pitch-perfect categories were Best Supporting Actor and Best Original Screenplay, and my worst showings were in Best Original Song, Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing. I laned a mere 2/5 in each.

Normally I talk to nominees on Oscar morning. But today, I can't do it. I'm spent. Need a reboot. I'll try to make sense of it all for a spell, come back at least moderately refreshed.

...reacting over at Red Carpet District. Full comments to follow there and here.

You ever just want it all to stop?

This year is officially the hardest year to do this thing we do, and I am quite comfortable in saying that I've been around the block. Scott Bowles of USA Today called me up this afternoon, as is tradition these last few years it seems, to bandy about this notion of no clear frontrunners. I ultimately chalked it up to the sheer glut of quality product 2007 saw at the multi-plexes. Deeper even than that, it may be due to the apparent fact that one would be hard pressed to disagree with a lot of the effort on display, that blanketing of acceptibility I've talked about more than a few times in this space.

Maybe, then, that aura carries itself over to the balloting phase of Oscar voting, where we are likely to see the closest race yet. Or, maybe it's all a smokescreen and what was going to be, as always, is going to be.

With that, I'm following my inner muse. I can't bank on a five-for-five match-up with the PGA, as that is a group, even in the years since a vast inner shake-up within the membership, never predicts the ultimate five with such clarity. In years when the guild nominated six or more films, it still wasn't privy to one of the eventual AMPAS faves. Regardless of that, the conventional wisdom is "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly," "Juno," "Michael Clayton," "No Country for Old Men" and "There Will Be Blood."

I can't do it. I just can't.

Equally, I find it difficult to bank on the DGA, that most accurate of bellweathers, because, well, it just feels off base. However, a glance at the sidebar will indicate that I've done just that, opting for the "surprising" snub of passionate (and personal) favorite, "Juno." Reasons are both abstract and meaningful, but i've got to say, an ultimate Oscar tally of three just doesn't compute for a film with so much "passion." A lack of a DGA nomination feels indicative of...something. Maybe not. I guess if Jennifer Garner hears her name tomorrow, I'll have been proven quite wrong indeed. Sad, considering how long it has been at the top of my radar.

Elsewhere, I feel "Atonement" is lurking, waiting to pounce. The biggest reason I have held on to this column all day long is because I couldn't square myself with the film NOT getting a Best Picture nod. The lack of guild representation doesn't compute. The WGA didn't even receive screeners. The BAFTA cross-over voters are sure to make a difference in some way, but, alas, I find myself far too chicken to go there. Thankfully that rogue sentiment isn't mirrored in at least one of my colleagues' assessments, as Brian Kinsely said damn the "Blood" praise to hell...he's sticking with the Brits.

In my many chats with cinematographers this year, a couple of films popped up over and over again. They were the Roger Deakins efforts and Janusz Kaminski's celebrated work on "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly." But something that garnered a more impressive showing from the collective than I might have imagined was industry (and branch) favorite Harris Savides, mostly for his lensing of "Zodiac." I've gone out on that limb as a result, knocking ASC nominee Seamus McGarvey in the process. Normally I wouldn't bother with the explanation, but I felt it was best to clarify that in this space before reading through a ton of comments and emails asking for as much.

My vote tally isn't necessarily indicative of much beyond the fact that, clearly, I expect a big showing for "Into the Wild." This flies in the face of everything you'll read on the net this week, but things are never as they seem. And a whisper campaign against this film has been afoot in at least two quarters for most of the season, so you eventually have to drown out the voices and look at the stats. The industry, apparently, likes the film. Sean Penn's personal life may or may not have an impact here, but whatever the case, one has to presume that a healthy number of significant supporters will be behind this, his most accessible film to date.

But I'm more than prepared to be wrong. I've been wrong so much this season I've gotten kind of used to it. Even here as I sit, "No Country for Old men" and "There Will Be Blood" seem like such...anti-Academy efforts. Yet there they are, #1 and #2 respectively. "Michael Clayton" feels too pedestrian (even though the first place you likely saw it predicted was here...11 months ago), but there it is, at #3.

I don't know, it's going to be an interesting morning, to say the least. When the dust settles, hindsight will, as always, be 20/20, and the two words of the day will undoubtedly be "OF COURSE!"

We'll see. We'll see.

Main Category Charts
Technical Category Charts

Oscar Predictions Archive

Previous Oscar Columns:
01/14/08 - "1/14 Chart Update"
01/07/08 - "12/24 Chart Update"
12/24/07 - "12/24 Chart Update"
12/12/07 - "12/12 Chart Update"
12/10/07 - "12/10 Chart Update"
12/03/07 - "12/3 Chart Update"
11/27/07 - "11/27 Chart Update"
11/12/07 - "11/5 Chart Update"
11/05/07 - "11/5 Chart Update"
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"

2006 Predictions Archive

...are coming. They are. It may be late, though. I'm dying, here.

In the meantime, Gerard and Brian have gone out on their respective limbs. We also linked to some other pundits' picks in the round-up at Variety this morning. Lots of thoughts. Lots of possibilities. Lots of tums.

...putting together "final predictions" is like pulling teeth. JEEZ.

We took final glances at the Sound Mixing, Sound Editing, Visual Effects and Makeup categories yesterday. Today we finish up the tech fields with last looks at the rest. Check back tomorrow for my full list of predictions.

Best Art Direction

The legendary Dante Ferretti seems a solid bet for his designing of “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” this year. Meanwhile, with guild and BAFTA nominations behind them, I’d also say “Atonement”’s Sarah Greenwood and “Elizabeth: The Golden Age”’s Guy Dyas would appear in solid shape. Jack Fisk, also a guild and BAFTA nominee for “There Will Be Blood,” would seem like he is finally heading towards his first nomination. The outdoors nature of the film gives me pause, but the love it has been shown makes me cautiously optimistic.

As for the fifth spot, I feel it could go a lot of places, but I’d venture to guess it will go to a fantasy, especially considering at least one nominee every year in this category tends to be fantastical.

Hard to believe we’re here – in just a few days, the nominations for the 80th Annual Academy Awards will be announced. I’ll spend the next two days affording analysis of the various tech categories. Today, Best Visual Effects, Best Makeup, Best Sound Mixing and Best Sound Editing, to be followed tomorrow by Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Film Editing and Best Music. Kris will be back on Monday will be back Friday with his final pre-nomination Oscar column and predictions, and I will do the same in this space at that time.

Let’s dig in here.

The full list can be found here. They liked "American Gangster," "No Country for Old Men" and "There Will Be Blood," each of which grabbed unexpected nods in various areas. Congrats at the start to Orian Williams and the "Control" boys for a Best British Film nod, but no Sam Riley in lead actor is inexplicable.

"Atonement," of course, was all over the place, the last resort for a film floundering with stateside guilds. The BAFTA continues its love of the "Bourne" series with a tip of the hat to director Paul Greengrass, cinematographer Oliver Wood and editor Christopher Rouse, among other citations, while "The Kite Runner" also showed up in a number of areas (too many if you ask me).

And that's about it. The only nods that moderately surprised me were Kelly Macdonald ("No Country") and Paul Dano ("Blood") showing up in the supporting ranks. Everything else seems business as usual. Of ourse they weren't going to go for the Americana of "Into the Wild." Of course they'd settle for Best Film Not in the English Language for "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly." But I'll let someone else handle BAFTA to AMPAS comparison duties. I'm calling it a night.

...is probably going to stay pretty damn close to the top of my top 10 list throughout the year.

My apologies for the lateness of this column.

With a week’s worth of guilds behind us, the underlying picture of the industry’s favorites has taken on a certain shape that is difficult to ignore. Five films (“The Diving Bell and the Butterfly,” “Into the Wild,” “Juno,” “Michael Clayton,” “No Country for Old Men” and “There Will Be Blood”) have surfaced as definitive frontrunners for the five coveted Best Picture slots, and with a week to go before the nominations announcement (and ballots being submitted before the late Globes rush for “Atonement” and “Sweeney Todd”), the smart money would be on five of these contenders.

But there is no “smart money” in the Oscar game, is there? Why can’t I shake the feeling that, as so often is the case with the Academy, the group will go its own way and afford at least a shock or two? Can we really be so “locked in” to the line of logic that “Juno” is our Best Picture nominee sans director bid, while Julian Schnabel is tailor-made for a lone director nomination? Isn’t that, I don’t know…too easy? Yet that’s what I’m predicting still, as I have been for months upon months. It just seems too convenient a scenario.

I’m quite willing to offer up humble pie when I miss the boat, and so it is with much humility that I’m prepared to say “I was wrong” about “No Country for Old Men” and “There Will Be Blood.” At the same time, guild support for those films was never something I was betting against. Perhaps “Blood” surprises me more than the Coens’ effort, but even that was assured many of the tips of the hat it received this week.

Thankfully I see there actually are levelheaded readers out there, witnessed by a comment in the comments section below about how obviously un-Academy “Blood” is. But this is a world with more than its fair share of fanboys and biased bystanders, so it was kind of inevitable that I would take shots for leaving the film (one of my favorites of the year) off of the charts for so long.

“No Country” is a different story altogether. Again, it was destined for the guild nominations it received, but beyond that, actual Academy members are beginning to jump on the bandwagon as if they feel they NEED to do so. Where early reactions were quite deflated, recent chatter has been through the roof. Make of that what you will.

The one film I totally missed the boat on was “Michael Clayton,” a well made, craftily written, but painfully average lawyer drama that has just set this town ablaze. I chalk it up to the Clooney factor and the fact that heavy-hitters like Steven Soderbergh, Anthony Minghella and Sidney Pollock are on producing duties, but it certainly has been one hell of a reception for Tony Gilroy’s directorial debut. Couldn’t have happened to a cooler guy, however, so I can’t get all grumpy about it. I didn’t see it coming, regardless. So never underestimate the Academy’s attraction to “good enough.”

“Juno” is the one film set to get a nod that has made considerable money going into announcement, and that might just be enough to sneak it through. The film didn’t have the guild showing it might have (missing a DGA nomination is telling, considering the group awards its Best Picture choices more so than its Best Director choices). But I suppose it has turned up in key areas nonetheless: ACE, PGA, WGA. I believe it to be a flip of the coin between “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” and Diablo Cody’s ditty for the last slot, but who knows what kind of goodwill Julian Schnabel’s film has earned behind the scenes.

Surprising PGA and DGA (given that the guild rarely goes “artsy”) nominations, as well as a showing on the makeup bake-off list, indicate that there is a real chance there -- and not exactly a totally surprising one either. The first week the film appeared on the charts was September 10, during the Toronto International Film Festival (and when it wasn’t really on anyone’s Best Picture radar). It experienced some slipping and sliding throughout October and November before making its top five debut on November 27. So, suffice it to say, I’ve considered it a contender – if they actually watched it. Apparently, “they” did.

And finally, the other “frontrunner” along with “No Country” has to be “Into the Wild,” a film clearly embraced across the board, with surprising showings with the CAS and SAG (the film led the field there). The only critics group worth noting for Oscar prognostication, the BFCA, nominated it more than any other effort (though gave it no trophies last week). Ultimately I think it may come down to this film or “Michael Clayton” for the win, to be quite honest, because “No Country” and “There Will Be Blood” seem destined to split the vote in some strange way, but we’ll see. “Clayton” has a lot of goodwill for the ailing Sidney Pollock on its side right now as well, which might be a morbid way of looking at things, but there we are.

All of this is fine and good, but I say again, it can’t be this sewn up, can it? Of course, there is no late entry the likes of “Letters from Iwo Jima” that couldn’t find guild viewership in time but had plenty of mojo left for Academy members to see it and like it. “Sweeney Todd” was, I believe, the last screener to arrive, so there might be a line of logic that the SAG didn’t see it in time. “There Will Be Blood” was late to doorsteps, but Paramount Vantage has screened it endlessly, so there have been opportunities.

And poor “Atonement” seems to be experiencing some homeland pride against the effort or something. Even “Cold Mountain,” a Best Picture miss chalked up in some circles to anti-runaway production philosophy, managed a strong guild showing. “Atonement” has popped up at the ASC and ADG and nowhere else, despite, ironically enough, winning the Golden Globe for Best Picture. Could that be the “surprise” waiting for those of us crunching the numbers for the “obvious” scenario? I can’t be sure.

For now, I’ll just go with a set of predictions, as always, and let the rest of it marinate as we lead up to next week’s announcement. Final predictions will be posted Monday.

Main Category Charts
Technical Category Charts

Oscar Predictions Archive

Previous Oscar Columns:
01/07/08 - "12/24 Chart Update"
12/24/07 - "12/24 Chart Update"
12/12/07 - "12/12 Chart Update"
12/10/07 - "12/10 Chart Update"
12/03/07 - "12/3 Chart Update"
11/27/07 - "11/27 Chart Update"
11/12/07 - "11/5 Chart Update"
11/05/07 - "11/5 Chart Update"
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"

2006 Predictions Archive

(EDITED 11:16 AM): Well, I clearly was predicting based on the PGA of old. Oops.

(EARLIER): ...because I'm bored sitting here waiting. A new Oscar column should follow later in the afternoon. For now, I'm thinking:

"The Bourne Ultimatum"
"Hairspray"
"Juno"
"No Country for Old Men"
"Ratatouille"

But who knows? "Bourne" could be replaced with "Michael Clayton" or even "Atonement." "Sweeney Todd" could pop up, or "There Will Be Blood," of course. And I guess "American Gangster" could certainly show up, since it made good dough. I have no clue. Just being brazen.

Apologies for the disconnect. A few days in New York to unwind was what I needed, though, as we approach phase two with a vengeance.

The Variety blog has been cooking, most recently with a run down of the guild noms per film. Very telling. Now that the guilds are cooking, things are certainly clearing up. I think it's fairly clear that six films are fighting for the five spots.

Check out Red Carpet District tomorrow, as we'll be live blogging the Golden Globes travesty. A new Oscar column with updated predictions will land Monday and back-to-back Tech Support columns from Gerard on Wednesday and Thursday. Enjoy the weekend (and go Jaguars/Chargers/Packers/Giants).

The first chart update of the New Year, and really, there isn't much else to go on than what was available a few weeks ago. Yes, "There WIll Be Blood" took home the NSFC win, a rather high brow designation that doesn't translate to a best Picture nod as often as some might like to think. But tonight's BFCA awards will be interesting to say the least.

I'll steer clear of predictions given affiliation, but I think "Into the Wild" still has heated support within their ranks. However, with the late year surge of "Blood" and the fact that Paul Thomas Anderson's film is the one fresh on everyone's mind (we got ballots on Tuesday, deadline was Friday), I wouldn't be shocked to see that film stake a claim as well.

My Oscar winner predictions from earlier in the week have certainly sparked some thoughts from the readership. But I think anyone who thinks one set of winner predictions is crazier than the next is out to lunch at this point. This is the most wide open Oscar race in all my years of covering it.

So with that, a fresh set of predictions leading into the first week that will really have something to say in the precursor season. The BFCA goes down tonight, the DGA nominations land tomorrow, the USC Scripter winner(s) on Wednesday, the Cinema Audio Society and WGA announce nominees Thursday and the editors and art directors chime in Friday. Sometime in the next seven days the ASC will also announce, but suffice it to say, by this time next week, we'll have our first truly clear picture of what the industry thinks of the films in play.

Main Category Charts
Technical Category Charts

Oscar Predictions Archive

Previous Oscar Columns:
12/24/07 - "12/24 Chart Update"
12/12/07 - "12/12 Chart Update"
12/10/07 - "12/10 Chart Update"
12/03/07 - "12/3 Chart Update"
11/27/07 - "11/27 Chart Update"
11/12/07 - "11/5 Chart Update"
11/05/07 - "11/5 Chart Update"
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"

2006 Predictions Archive

It's a weird year. No one, but no one is willing to stake a claim on who is going to win what at this year's Academy Awards. Unlike in year's past, when we were pretty sure of at least a couple of categories going into the New Year, this time around, the frontrunners are silent. As a result, I haven't even bothered with that monthly list of winner predictions over at The Blog this time around because I just have no idea what to think, folks. And I'm not the only one confused.

So with that in mind, I thought it is as good a time as any to pull my head out of the sand and make some calls. Any and all of these could be grossly wrong in the end, but you gotta go on the record sooner or later. With that, here's how I think the winners list might shake out for the 80th Annual Academy Awards:

Best Picture: "Into the Wild"
Best Director: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, "No Country for Old Men"
Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis, "There Will Be Blood"
Best Actress: Marion Cotillard, "La Vie en Rose"
Best Supporting Actor: Hal Holbrook, "Into the Wild"
Best Supporting Actress: Catherine Keener, "Into the Wild"
Best Adapted Screenplay: "No Country for Old Men"
Best Original Screenplay: "Juno"
Best Art Direction: "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street"
Best Cinematography: "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford"
Best Costume Design: "Elizabeth: The Golden Age"
Best Film Editing: "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street"
Best Makeup: "La Vie en Rose"
Best Music - Original Score: "Atonement"
Best Music - Original Song: "Into the Wild
Best Sound: "Transformers"
Best Sound Editing: "Transformers"
Best Visual Effects: "Transformers"
Best Animated Feature: "Ratatouille"
Best Foreign Language Film: "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days"

Tally:
"Into the Wild" - 4
"Transformers" - 3
"La Vie en Rose" - 2
"No Country for Old Men" - 2
"Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" - 2
"4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days," "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford," "Juno," "Ratatouille," "There Will Be Blood" - 1

Just a note, we'll be getting back into the swing of things next week, new charts on Monday, new column from Gerard on Thursday, various announcement coverage, etc. Hold tight.

Here we are again. A Happy New Year to you all and, as is tradition, my list of the most anticipated films of the next 365 days. Wait, isn’t it a leap year? Ah well, let’s get on with it.

Indiana Jones, Batman and James Bond all in one year – toss in Egon, Ray, Peter and Winston and we’re looking at 1989 again. Weird.

2008 already has a promising summer on the way. Then again, 2007 also had a slate in the sultry months that could have been something special and we all see how that turned out. But this year’s tent poles should be something to behold indeed. When it comes to columns like these, I have to confess that my anticipations tend to lie toward the spectacle. That’s just my nature, but there are plenty of peripheral films I’m looking forward to as well. I’ll get to them in a moment.

On the whole, 2007 was a great year for films, I thought. I see my opinion is shared in many quarters, so we can all hold out hope that 2008 comes close to matching the quality of last year. There are some interesting projects in play, and the Oscar season, already bouncing around inside my head, should be a fun time of year once again. But from where I sit, these are the most promising films of the new year...

10. “Cloverfield”
I fear that my anticipation for this may be totally founded in the clever and anticipatory marketing. Personally, I thought “The Blair Witch Project” was a steaming pile, and it boasted some similarities. But it’s hard not to be MODERATELY curious, and seeing the potential of a film like this, the creativity going into the visual concept and the overall edge of our seat anticipation for what exactly the monster is going to be, I have to say, they have me. Even still, a January release? I hope that isn’t the omen it tends to be.

9. “Australia”
Baz Luhrmann is one of the screen’s most original talents. “Strictly Ballroom” was a great initiation to his wonderfully neon personality, while “William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet” was a mind-bending twist on the classic tale that certainly has its fans, yours truly right there with them. “Moulin Rouge!,” however, was the height of Luhrmann’s genius in 2001 and remains the greatest musical of the modern era to my mind. And this year he is taking the work to his Australian homeland for an epic that has a lot of promise, starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman in what could be one of next year’s serious Oscar contenders.

8. “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
I never read the F. Scott Fitzgerald short story on which Eric Roth’s adaptation has been based, but nevertheless, I’m familiar enough with the concept of “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.” A man suddenly begins to age backwards. I get it. But there is so much that could be put into a feature length screenplay with that surface drama happening that I am dizzy with the possibilities. Even though I’m friendly with Roth these days, he’s also careful not to spill too much on the film (though his script is making the rounds, regardless). Building anticipation, one would imagine, but I also think there are some treats in store here. One thing I look forward to is how director David Fincher will combine the visual and makeup effects along the way to sell Brad Pitt in the lead role throughout. Should be dazzling.

7. “Wall-E”
I always look forward to Pixar films. I don’t know how you couldn’t. And “Wall-E” has its roots way back at the beginning of Pixar’s work a decade ago, finally coming to fruition in the summer of 2008. The trailers released so far haven’t offered a lot, though it’s clear the film will be a sound engineer’s dream, but I’m looking forward to seeing the Pixar team stretch creatively yet again. It seems to be what the studio was built for and, despite one or may two disappointments along the way, they always find the right marks in their productions.

6. “Iron Man”
Speaking of the summer of 2008, Jon Favreau seems to have one of the fanboy wet dreams in store for us in five months time. I’ll be in London when “Iron Man” releases, so I won’t be able to gauge the domestic reaction as well as I might have, but I imagine this long-anticipated comic book adaptation will be a global event for multitudes of fans. The casting of Robert Downey, Jr. in the lead was a stroke of genius, though Favreau continued to follow it up with inspired choices: Terrence Howard, Jeff Bridges and Gwyneth Paltrow among them. The visual effects look, quite simply, off the chain, and at the end of the day, the Caped Crusader and Indy himself might have a run for their money at the box office.

5. “Redbelt”
I love David Mamet. I adore how “fuck you” he is about the solipsism in which his films wallow. “Spartan” was his last effort, a very respectable film that lived and breathed its own air, powered by a Val Kilmer performance of a character that seemed perfectly tailored to the star’s other-worldly aura (he’s a nut, folks). This time around, however, Mamet tackles the world of mixed martial arts fighting in “Redbelt,” starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, an actor just waiting to break out in a star role. I came across a YouTube video recently where Mamet is going on and on about how boxing is “out,” that MMA is where it’s at, so, to say the least, he isn’t just picking a world and setting a film in it. He’s wrapped up in it as usual. Could be a blast, could be a piece, but I’m looking forward to the snappy dialogue as always.

4. “The Argentine”/”Guerilla”
Steven Soderbergh is on his way to pulling off what Clint Eastwood did last year, two films centered on the same subject in the same year. “The Argentine” and “Guerilla” will star Benicio Del Toro as Ernesto “Che” Guevera at different times in the revolutionary’s life. Though “Guerilla” was the first project conceived, it seems that “The Argentine” might be the bigger powerhouse of the two, but I can’t be too sure right now. Regardless, one film would have been worth the wait. Two is a Godsend given the actor in the lead, and should the navel-gazing director get out of his head long enough to produce something serviceable yet again, this one-two punch might be a significant player during the awards season.

3. “Appaloosa”
If it hasn’t been made clear enough by now, I love westerns. If they ever made a Batman western, my readers know, I would literally explode. “Appaloosa” isn’t a Batman western, but it is Ed Harris’ second directorial effort as he stars alongside Viggo Mortensen in what could be a fantastic little adaptation in the New Line stable this year. The plot seems to be something like “The Magnificent Seven,” with two blokes rather than a posse, but suffice it to say I’ll be checking out the Robert B. Parker novel in due time. It’ll be interesting to see how Harris handles the reins on his second flick (I was quite a fan of 2000's “Pollock”), but I’m delighted it is an entry in this genre, and that studios also seem to be taking chances with the western yet again.

2. “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”
I’m scared to death. I’m literally terrified. Let alone the fact that the worst screenwriter on the planet is behind the page, but the Indiana Jones series probably should have remained in the eighties. Too much has changed for there to be the right kind of consistency, and really, I lose sleep at night thinking this film could be a massive blight on the trilogy’s glory. Okay, it’s not that bad, but I am a tad concerned. Regardless, how do you not perk up at the notion of Indy coming back to the big screen once again? In most circles, it’s probably the #1 most anticipated film of the year, but it’s a distant #2 for me. I just hope it all turns out in the wash. That “alien” head on the poster has me a bit perturbed, though.

1. “The Dark Knight”
It isn’t really a contest for me. In 2005, I kind of surprised more than a few readers when I chalked up “Sin City” as my most anticipated film as opposed to “Batman Begins.” A huge Bat-fanatic, it was indeed an odd choice on my part, but I had a great feeling about the former. Sadly, my anticipation was misplaced on Robert Rodriguez’s effort in the end. In any case, I’m not making the same mistake this year. Every little piece of info I get on “The Dark Knight” has me more and more excited. Though I am substantially more irritated by the marketing scheme than a lot of the fans out there (seriously…it’s getting tired), I am totally amped by materials when they do finally come along: posters, trailers, footage, etc. And, of course, I think Heath Ledger has something extraordinary in store for us all. Knowing that director Christopher Nolan has taken from the classic original Joker story in Batman #1 (the most ruthless depiction of the character aside from perhaps “The Killing Joke” – also a source for the film), I expect this to be something “dark” indeed. And bravo to those involved for having the balls to stick to that title and not toss a “Batman” at the beginning.

Other Anticipations of Note:

Classic Filmmakers Doing Their Thing
“Body of Lies” (Ridley Scott)
“The Changeling” (Clint Eastwood)
“Shine a Light” (Martin Scorsese)

Comedies Looking Up
“Burn After Reading” (Ethan Coen, Joel Coen)
“Leatherheads” (George Clooney)
“Pineapple Express” (David Gordon Green)

Films Showcasing (Hopefully) Strong Central Performances
“Blindness” (Fernando Meirelles)
“Frost/Nixon” (Ron Howard)
“Seven Pounds” (Gabriele Muccino)

Eye Candy and Popcorn Goodies
“The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian” (Andrew Adamson)
“The Incredible Hulk” (Louis Leterrier)
“Red Cliff” (John Woo)