The Online Reflector

By Emmanuel Casillas, Staff Writer

As far as Oscars go, this year will be remembered as the year when the Oscars nearly didn’t happen. As is the case every year, there are things about the nominations to cheer for and things to yell about. Come on, it wouldn’t be the Oscars if that weren’t possible. So here’s a rundown of the major categories, and why Oscar made some of the stupidest decisions this year.

Best Picture: “No Country for Old Men,” “Michael Clayton,” “Atonement,” “There Will Be Blood,” “Juno”

The Deal: While I thoroughly enjoyed all these films, it’s a shame that a few very strong works were left out of the race. I was very much expecting “Sweeney Todd” to grab a nomination in this category. It’s possibly Tim Burton’s best. That spot went to “Juno.” Ridley Scott has a history of spectacular movies (“Blade Runner,” “Gladiator”), and “American Gangster” was no different. Another director who made a major masterwork was the always-reliable David Cronenberg with his fantastic thriller “Eastern Promises”. It would have made up for his “History of Violence” snub.

Best Director: Julian Schnabel for “The Diving Bell and The Butterfly,” Joel and Ethan Coen for “No Country For Old Men,” Jason Reitman for “Juno,” Tony Gilroy for “Michael Clayton,” Paul Thomas Anderson for “There Will Be Blood”

The Deal: Sidney Lumet, at 83, is still a major movie-making force. His body of work includes masterpieces such as “Twelve Angry Men” and “Network,” yet he has never been awarded an Oscar for Best Director, and this year will be no different. A shame, since his latest, “Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead,” is absolutely electrifying. If he never wins, he will join a host of great film directors who were also never awarded, such as Alfred Hitchcock, Robert Altman and Orson Welles. Other shameful shut-outs are the aforementioned Ridley Scott and David Cronenberg. While I like “Juno” and “Michael Clayton,” it was more the scripts and ensemble casts that moved things forward, more so than the directors. And what’s with the lack of a nomination for Joe Wright, the mastermind behind the miracle of a film that was “Atonement”? Other sad snubs include Werner Herzog (“Rescue Dawn”), Sean Penn (“Into The Wild”) and the genius experimenter Todd Haynes (“I’m Not There”).

Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis in “There Will Be Blood,” George Clooney in “Michael Clayton,” Johnny Depp in “Sweeney Todd,” Tommy Lee Jones in “In The Valley of Elah,” Viggo Mortensen in “Eastern Promises”

The Deal: Denzel Washington may already have two Oscars, but there was no ignoring his mighty awesome performance as Frank Lucas in “American Gangster”. Pity there was no buzz for Christian Bale’s incredible turn in “Rescue Dawn.”

Best Actress: Cate Blanchett in “Elizabeth: The Golden Age,” Ellen Page in “Juno,” Marion Cotillard in “La Vie En Rose,” Julie Christie in “Away From Her,” Laura Linney in “The Savages”

The Deal: Just what the heck did Angelina Jolie do to tick off the Academy? She was a sensation in “A Mighty Heart,” her best acting yet. Instead, Cate Blanchett (who is always fantastic) gets another nomination for a part she already played, even though she’s got the Best Supporting Actress award in the bag. That spot could have gone to Angie or Nicole Kidman as the acid-tongued Margot in “Margot At The Wedding,” or even Amy Adams (“Enchanted”) as the best Disney character since Mary Poppins.

Best Supporting Actor: Javier Bardem in “No Country for Old Men,” Tom Wilkinson in “Michael Clayton,” Hal Holbrook in “Into The Wild,” Philip Seymour Hoffman in “Charlie Wilson’s War,” Casey Affleck in “The Assassination of Jesse James by The Coward Robert Ford”

The Deal: At least Philip Seymour Hoffman gets some recognition. He was a livewire in all three movies he was in last year. Too bad there can only be five, or a just nod could have gone to Paul Dano who is a knockout in “There Will Be Blood”

Best Supporting Actress: Cate Blanchett in “I’m Not There,” Ruby Dee in “American Gangster,” Soairse Ronan in “Atonement,” Amy Ryan in “Gone Baby Gone,” Tilda Swinton in “Michael Clayton”

The Deal: So many lovely performances, but One criminal absence is the exclusion of Jennifer Jason Leigh as the emotionally frazzled sister in “Margot at the Wedding.” And I held out hope for Leslie Mann’s no-nonsense turn in “Knocked Up.” And it wouldn’t have been a bad thing to see a nod go to Jennifer Garner (“Juno”). Someone who should definitely be on this list is the luminous Vanessa Redgrave for her soul-shaking seven-minute appearance in “Atonement.”

Best Adapted Screenplay: “Atonement,” “Away From Her,” “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly,” “No Country for Old Men,” “There Will Be Blood”

The Deal: Too bad Ben Affleck’s screen adaptation of Dennis Lehane’s “Gone Baby Gone” was overlooked. It was a fantastic debut feature. The same can be said for “Into The Wild,” another dumb exclusion, as well as Aaron Sorkin’s “Charlie Wilson’s War.”

Best Original Screenplay: “Juno,” “Michael Clayton,” “Lars and The Real Girl,” “Ratatouille,” “The Savages”

The Deal: How could they get this so wrong? I like “Ratatouille,” but that could have been a well-deserved spot for Todd Haynes and Oren Moverman’s genius script for “I’m Not There.” The spot also could have garnered a posthumous nomination for Adrienne Shelly’s swan song feature “Waitress.”

Other Sins of Omission: For some reason, the Academy likes to pretend only three animated films are released a year, failing to even capture what was a particularly strong year for animation. While “Persepolis” and “Ratatouille” received just nods, Satoshi Kon’s “Paprika” is nowhere to be seen, and neither is “Beowulf,” “The Simpsons Movie” or “Aqua Teen Hunger Force.”

Apparently, because of sampling of other composers, the Academy disqualified Johnny Greenwood’s magnificent score for “There Will Be Blood.” Eddie Vedder also got a suspicious snub, despite winning the Golden Globe for Best Song for “Into The Wild.” Instead the Academy went with three songs from “Enchanted”, and one from the sappy crap-fest “August Rush.”

And what’s with the Best Foreign Film category? I won’t doubt the chosen films since I haven’t seen them, but where are “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly,” “Black Book,” or “Lady Chatterly”?
And honorable mention goes to Eddie Murphy’s horrid “Norbit” for Best Make-Up design. Enjoy the Oscars!