And this time, the oscar goes to

 

 

A line-up of films, austere in tone and world view, will take centre stage at the 80th Academy Awards next month, with critically acclaimed films like There Will Be Blood, No Country for Old Men and Michael Clayton leading the nominations for the best film category.

Nothing like last year, when ostentatious hits like The Departed and Dreamgirls bagged several nominations; the 2008 Oscar race moves towards less conventional films. There Will Be Blood, with eight nominations, is loosely based on Upton Sinclair’s novel, Oil. This Paul Thomas Anderson film is about the California oil business. Nonetheless, it was No Country for Old Men, about the brutal repercussion of a failed drug deal, that stole the show. Atonement, a British saga about lives that are irrevocably changed by the lies of a teenager, received seven nominations, including best picture.

Day-Lewis, whose realistic rendering of an oil man in There Will Be Blood has won him many honours, sustained his march with a best actor nomination. Also in that category is George Clooney for Michael Clayton. Viggo Mortensen, who gave a remarkable performance as Nikolai in Eastern Promises, also bagged a nomination and so did James McAvoy, who has been widely appreciated for his work in Atonement. And there is Johnny Depp, sporting a completely new look for Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. As far as Tommy Lee Jones is concerned, critics are of the opinion that he has been nominated for the wrong film—In the Valley of Elah instead of No Country for Old Men.

In the best actor (female) category, however, there are no upsets or surprises. It’s almost certainly a race between Julie Christie as the woman with Alzheimer's in Away From Her and Marion Cotillard as Edith Piaf in the French-language film La Vie en Rose. Laura Linney got nominated for The Savages, as the daughter of a dementia victim, and Cate Blanchett got her annual nomination, this time for Elizabeth: The Golden Age.

Nevertheless, the Writers' Guild of America strike, now in its third month, has thrown the road to the Oscars into pandemonium. Replying to a mail by TSI, noted film critic from LA Times, William Arnold said: “The screenwriters’ strike continues and the producers and writers have not formally spoken since December 7. The first Oscar no-show in 80 years will beyond doubt be truly historic.” Fans and critics alike have their fingers crossed.