Javier Bardem in No Country For Old Men

Winners take it all

Best Picture of the Year: No Country for Old Men

Achievement in Directing: Joel & Ethan Coen (No Country for Old Men)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role: Daniel Day-Lewis (There Will Be Blood)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role: Marion Cotillard (La Vie en Rose)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role: Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men)

The Coen Brothers — Joel & Ethan — were, ummm, restrained in their acceptance speeches. All that Ethan managed was a “Thank you” in the brothers’ three trips to the big stage — for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. It was left to their No Country For Old Men actor Javier Bardem, winner of the Best Supporting Actor, to give the duo the ultimate accolade. “Thank you to the Coens for being crazy enough to think that I could do that and put one of the most horrible haircuts (in) history over my head.”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role: Tilda Swinton (Michael Clayton)

Best Foreign Language Film of the Year: The Counterfeiters (Austria)

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year: Ratatouille

Best Animated Short Film: Peter & the Wolf

Best Live Action Short Film: Le Mozart des Pickpockets (The Mozart of Pickpockets)

Best Documentary Short Subject: Freeheld

Best Documentary Feature: Taxi to the Dark Side

Achievement in Costume Design: Elizabeth: The Golden Age

Achievement in Makeup: La Vie en Rose

Achievement in Art Direction: Sweeney Todd — The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Best Original Score: Atonement

Best Original Song: Once (Falling Slowly)

Achievement in Sound Editing: The Bourne Ultimatum

Achievement in Sound Mixing: The Bourne Ultimatum

Achievement in Film Editing: The Bourne Ultimatum

Achievement in Cinematography: There Will Be Blood

Achievement in Visual Effects: The Golden Compass

Best Adapted Screenplay: No Country for Old Men

Best Original Screenplay: Juno

Honorary Oscar: Robert Boyle (production designer)

“George Clooney, you know, the seriousness and the dedication to your art, seeing you climb into that rubber Batsuit from Batman & Robin, the one with the nipples, every morning under your costume, on the set, off the set, hanging upside-down at lunch — you rock man.” That’s Best Supporting Actress winner Tilda Swinton thanking her Michael Clayton co-star George Clooney

t2 prophecy

In our issue dated February 21, we had picked our favourites in the top six categories. Here’s what t2 had predicted...

BEST PICTURE: No Country For Old Men — A great return to form for the Coen Brothers. Cormac McCarthy’s 2005 novel No Country For Old Men served up the perfect material for the director duo with a taste for the offbeat. A Texan Fargo, the new film is more brutal and the pace quite relentless. Aided by three great performances (Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Tommy Lee Jones), No Country... is the universal — and our — favourite to take home the ultimate prize in cinema.

BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE: Daniel Day Lewis for There Will Be Blood — The outstanding performance of the year, perhaps only matched by Johnny Depp as Sweeney Todd. But the Academy usually favours dramatic performances over star turns in rom coms and musicals. Another factor would be Lewis’s losing out to Adrien Brody (The Pianist) in 2002 despite his super performance in Gangs of New York. The Academy is known to compensate for past disappointments.

BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE: Julie Christie for Away From Her — It’s a toss up between Christie and Cotillard but what gives the senior citizen an edge is the history behind her performance. That she came out of retirement is likely to swing the pendulum towards Christie. But there’s no denying the brilliance of Cotillard and this should be the first of many nods for the French woman

BEST director: Joel & Ethan Coen for No Country For Old Men — Despite their incredible filmography — Fargo, Barton Fink, Brother, Where Art Thou? — the Coen Brothers have never won the one that really matters. They came closest with Fargo but lost out to Anthony Minghella (The English Patient). This year the Academy shouldn’t look beyond the Coens, honouring them for their body of work and not just for the brilliant No Country For Old Men.

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE: Javier Bardem for No Country For Old Men — His performance has been compared to Anthony Hopkins’s legendary portrayal of Hannibal Lecter. Such is the fire in Bardem’s performance of a sociopathic bounty hunter, that this is the one fight with a, kind of, foregone finish. The only possible challenge can come from the 83-year-old Holbrook. But our vote still goes to Bardem.

“I’m speechless. Thank you life. Thank you love. It is true there (are) some angels in this city,” beamed Marion Cotillard, who caused an upset by edging past sentimental favourite Julie Christie (Away From Her) to win the Best Actress Oscar for La Vie en Rose

BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE: Cate Blanchett for I’m Not There —When you have two nominations in the same year you are likely to pick up the trophy for one. Blanchett has no more than a far shot when it comes to her Best Actress nomination for Elizabeth 2 and that makes her the natural choice in this category. Also, the Academy loves such eccentricities like a woman playing a man, having handed over the trophy to Linda Hunt for playing a man in The Year of Living Dangerously.

Reader pick

Of the letters we received,

Abhishek Bhattacharya came closest to the Oscar jury. He wins a Rs 1,000 gift voucher from Crossword. Here’s what he picked...

BEST PICTURE: No Country For Old Men — This movie would go down in history books as one of the best movies ever made in terms of technical work. When one sees the movie one may think what’s so great about it, but its greatness lies in the way it has been handled. The sharp screenplay and editing, and not to forget the cinematography by Roger Deakins, makes the movie a great watch. Lastly, the performance by the three main actors — Josh Brolin, Tommy Lee Jones and Javier Bardem — was brilliant.

BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE: Johnny Depp for Sweeney Todd — This is the third nomination in the same category in the last five years for Captain Jack Sparrow. I don’t agree with t2 that Daniel Day Lewis will win the award just because Academy prefers dramatic performances. One has to accept that times have changed and we are in 21st century now. Sweeney Todd is said to be one of the strongest performance ever in a musical feature film. That’s why I go with Johnny Depp.

“My deepest thanks to the members of the Academy for whacking me with the handsomest bludgeon in town,” chuckled Daniel Day Lewis who bagged his second Best Actor Oscar for There Will Be Blood. Moments before that, Lewis had bowed to Helen Queen Mirren before picking up the golden statuette. “That’s the closest I’ll ever come to getting a knighthood,” he smiled. Just like his performances, Lewis had come very well prepared!

BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE: Julie Christie for Away From Her — Coming out of retirement this British celluloid vet has given the performance of a lifetime playing an Alzheimer’s patient.

BEST director: Joel & Ethan Coen for No Country For Old Men — I can say only one thing, that the Academy would do gross injustice if they don’t give the award to them. The Academy is always known for making blunders. Just like they made one years back when they awarded Robert Redford the Best Director for Ordinary People when everyone thought Martin Scorsese would win it for Raging Bull.

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE: Javier Bardem for No Country For Old Men — Javier Bardem was superb in the role of the sociopath killer Anton Chigurh. He seemed to be a real hitman and scared me to death when I saw the movie. I would say that his performance actually drives the movie. His movie The Sea Inside won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film three years back and I hope this time it’s Bardem who will win it. I would agree with t2 that Hal Holbrook,the 83-year-old actor, who is nominated for his role in Into the Wild, can pose a threat as the Academy is always known for honouring “celluloid vets” just like Alan Arkin won it last year over Dijmon Honsou.

BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE: Cate Blanchett for I’m Not There — I’m pretty confused on this one because I think the fight will be between Cate Blanchett (I’ m Not There) and the 13-year old Saoirse Ronan for Atonement.