Oscar Nominations 2008

Performance by an actor in a leading role
George Clooney in Michael Clayton (Warner Bros.)
Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood (Paramount Vantage and Miramax)
Johnny Depp in Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
(DreamWorks and Warner Bros., Distributed by DreamWorks/Paramount)
Tommy Lee Jones in In the Valley of Elah (Warner Independent)
Viggo Mortensen in Eastern Promises (Focus Features)

Performance by an actor in a supporting role
Casey Affleck in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (Warner Bros.)
Javier Bardem in No Country for Old Men (Miramax and Paramount Vantage)
Philip Seymour Hoffman in Charlie Wilson¡'s War (Universal)
Hal Holbrook in Into the Wild (Paramount Vantage and River Road Entertainment)
Tom Wilkinson in Michael Clayton (Warner Bros.)

Performance by an actress in a leading role
Cate Blanchett in Elizabeth: The Golden Age (Universal)
Julie Christie in Away from Her (Lionsgate)
Marion Cotillard in La Vie en Rose (Picturehouse)
Laura Linney in The Savages (Fox Searchlight)
Ellen Page in Juno (Fox Searchlight)

Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Cate Blanchett in I'm Not There (The Weinstein Company)
Ruby Dee in American Gangster (Universal)
Saoirse Ronan in Atonement (Focus Features)
Amy Ryan in Gone Baby Gone (Miramax)
Tilda Swinton in Michael Clayton (Warner Bros.)

Best animated feature film of the year
Persepolis (Sony Pictures Classics) Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud
Ratatouille (Walt Disney) Brad Bird
Surf's Up (Sony Pictures Releasing) Ash Brannon and Chris Buck

Achievement in art direction
American Gangster (Universal)
Art Direction: Arthur Max
Set Decoration: Beth A. Rubino
Atonement (Focus Features)
Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood
Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
The Golden Compass (New Line in association with Ingenious Film Partners)
Art Direction: Dennis Gassner
Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock
Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (DreamWorks and Warner Bros., Distributed by DreamWorks/Paramount)
Art Direction: Dante Ferretti
Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo
There Will Be Blood (Paramount Vantage and Miramax)
Art Direction: Jack Fisk
Set Decoration: Jim Erickson

Achievement in cinematography
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (Warner Bros.) Roger Deakins
Atonement (Focus Features) Seamus McGarvey
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Miramax/Path¨¦ Renn) Janusz Kaminski
No Country for Old Men (Miramax and Paramount Vantage) Roger Deakins
There Will Be Blood (Paramount Vantage and Miramax) Robert Elswit

Achievement in costume design
Across the Universe (Sony Pictures Releasing) Albert Wolsky
Atonement (Focus Features) Jacqueline Durran
Elizabeth: The Golden Age (Universal) Alexandra Byrne
La Vie en Rose (Picturehouse) Marit Allen
Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (DreamWorks and Warner Bros., Distributed by DreamWorks/Paramount) Colleen Atwood

Achievement in directing
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Miramax/Path¨¦ Renn) Julian Schnabel
Juno (Fox Searchlight) Jason Reitman
Michael Clayton (Warner Bros.) Tony Gilroy
No Country for Old Men (Miramax and Paramount Vantage) Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
There Will Be Blood (Paramount Vantage and Miramax) Paul Thomas Anderson

Best documentary feature
No End in Sight (Magnolia Pictures)
A Representational Pictures Production
Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs
Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience (The Documentary Group)
A Documentary Group Production
Richard E. Robbins
Sicko (Lionsgate and The Weinstein Company)
A Dog Eat Dog Films Production
Michael Moore and Meghan O¡¯Hara
Taxi to the Dark Side (THINKFilm)
An X-Ray Production
Alex Gibney and Eva Orner
War/Dance (THINKFilm)
A Shine Global and Fine Films Production
Andrea Nix Fine and Sean Fine

Best documentary short subject
Freeheld
A Lieutenant Films Production
Cynthia Wade and Vanessa Roth
La Corona (The Crown)
A Runaway Films and Vega Films Production
Amanda Micheli and Isabel Vega
Salim Baba
A Ropa Vieja Films and Paradox Smoke Production
Tim Sternberg and Francisco Bello
Sari¡'s Mother (Cinema Guild)
A Daylight Factory Production
James Longley

Achievement in film editing
The Bourne Ultimatum (Universal) Christopher Rouse
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Miramax/Path¨¦ Renn) Juliette Welfling
Into the Wild (Paramount Vantage and River Road Entertainment) Jay Cassidy
No Country for Old Men (Miramax and Paramount Vantage) Roderick Jaynes
There Will Be Blood (Paramount Vantage and Miramax) Dylan Tichenor

Best foreign language film of the year
Beaufort A Metro Communications, Movie Plus Production
Israel
The Counterfeiters An Aichholzer Filmproduktion, Magnolia Filmproduktion Production
Austria
Katy¨½ An Akson Studio Production
Poland
Mongol A Eurasia Film Production
Kazakhstan
12 A Three T Production
Russia

Achievement in makeup
La Vie en Rose (Picturehouse) Didier Lavergne and Jan Archibald
Norbit (DreamWorks, Distributed by Paramount) Rick Baker and Kazuhiro Tsuji
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (Walt Disney) Ve Neill and Martin Samuel

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)
Atonement (Focus Features) Dario Marianelli
The Kite Runner (DreamWorks, Sidney Kimmel Entertainment and Participant Productions, Distributed by Paramount Classics) Alberto Iglesias
Michael Clayton (Warner Bros.) James Newton Howard
Ratatouille (Walt Disney) Michael Giacchino
3:10 to Yuma (Lionsgate) Marco Beltrami

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
Falling Slowly from Once
(Fox Searchlight)
Music and Lyric by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova
Happy Working Song from Enchanted
(Walt Disney)
Music by Alan Menken
Lyric by Stephen Schwartz
Raise It Up from August Rush
(Warner Bros.)
Nominees to be determined
So Close from Enchanted
(Walt Disney)
Music by Alan Menken
Lyric by Stephen Schwartz
That's How You Know from Enchanted
(Walt Disney)
Music by Alan Menken
Lyric by Stephen Schwartz

Best motion picture of the year
Atonement (Focus Features)
A Working Title Production
Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner and Paul Webster, Producers
Juno (Fox Searchlight)
A Dancing Elk Pictures, LLC Production
Lianne Halfon, Mason Novick and Russell Smith, Producers
Michael Clayton (Warner Bros.)
A Clayton Productions, LLC Production
Sydney Pollack, Jennifer Fox and Kerry Orent, Producers
No Country for Old Men (Miramax and Paramount Vantage)
A Scott Rudin/Mike Zoss Production
Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, Producers
There Will Be Blood (Paramount Vantage and Miramax)
A JoAnne Sellar/Ghoulardi Film Company Production
JoAnne Sellar, Paul Thomas Anderson and Daniel Lupi, Producers

Best animated short film
I Met the Walrus
A Kids & Explosions Production
Josh Raskin
Madame Tutli-Putli (National Film Board of Canada)
A National Film Board of Canada Production
Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski
M'me Les Pigeons Vont au Paradis (Even Pigeons Go to Heaven) (Premium Films)
A BUF Compagnie Production
Samuel Tourneux and Simon Vanesse
My Love (Moya Lyubov) (Channel One Russia)
A Dago-Film Studio, Channel One Russia and Dentsu Tec Production
Alexander Petrov
Peter & the Wolf (BreakThru Films)
A BreakThru Films/Se-ma-for Studios Production
Suzie Templeton and Hugh Welchman

Best live action short film
At Night
A Zentropa Entertainments 10 Production
Christian E. Christiansen and Louise Vesth
Il Supplente (The Substitute) (Sky Cinema Italia)
A Frame by Frame Italia Production
Andrea Jublin
Le Mozart des Pickpockets (The Mozart of Pickpockets) (Premium Films)
A Kar¨¦ Production
Philippe Pollet-Villard
Tanghi Argentini (Premium Films)
An Another Dimension of an Idea Production
Guido Thys and Anja Daelemans
The Tonto Woman
A Knucklehead, Little Mo and Rose Hackney Barber Production
Daniel Barber and Matthew Brown

Achievement in sound editing
The Bourne Ultimatum (Universal)
Karen Baker Landers and Per Hallberg
No Country for Old Men (Miramax and Paramount Vantage)
Skip Lievsay
Ratatouille (Walt Disney)
Randy Thom and Michael Silvers
There Will Be Blood (Paramount Vantage and Miramax)
Matthew Wood
Transformers (DreamWorks and Paramount in association with Hasbro)
Ethan Van der Ryn and Mike Hopkins

Achievement in sound mixing
The Bourne Ultimatum (Universal)
Scott Millan, David Parker and Kirk Francis
No Country for Old Men (Miramax and Paramount Vantage)
Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff and Peter Kurland
Ratatouille (Walt Disney)
Randy Thom, Michael Semanick and Doc Kane
3:10 to Yuma (Lionsgate)
Paul Massey, David Giammarco and Jim Stuebe
Transformers (DreamWorks and Paramount in association with Hasbro)
Kevin O¡¯Connell, Greg P. Russell and Peter J. Devlin

Achievement in visual effects
The Golden Compass (New Line in association with Ingenious Film Partners)
Michael Fink, Bill Westenhofer, Ben Morris and Trevor Wood
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World¡'s End (Walt Disney)
John Knoll, Hal Hickel, Charles Gibson and John Frazier
Transformers (DreamWorks and Paramount in association with Hasbro)
Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Russell Earl and John Frazier

Adapted screenplay
Atonement (Focus Features)
Screenplay by Christopher Hampton
Away from Her (Lionsgate)
Written by Sarah Polley
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Miramax/Path¨¦ Renn)
Screenplay by Ronald Harwood
No Country for Old Men (Miramax and Paramount Vantage)
Written for the screen by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
There Will Be Blood (Paramount Vantage and Miramax)
Written for the screen by Paul Thomas Anderson

Original screenplay
Juno (Fox Searchlight)
Written by Diablo Cody
Lars and the Real Girl (MGM)
Written by Nancy Oliver
Michael Clayton (Warner Bros.)
Written by Tony Gilroy
Ratatouille (Walt Disney)
Screenplay by Brad Bird
Story by Jan Pinkava, Jim Capobianco, Brad Bird
The Savages (Fox Searchlight)
Written by Tamara Jenkins

By Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

http://www.huliq.com/47927/2008-oscar-nominations-are

Well, at least TRANSFORMERS and 3:10 TO YUMA got some noms (3 for one, 2 for the other), so I guess I can't complain. :P

Freakin' JUNO for Best Picture? Wow. I guess we can now call it LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE 2007.

EDIT: OMG! I just noticed that ATONEMENT's Joe Wright isn't nominated for Best Director but Jason Reitman is!

I don't usually do this, but I feel unusually confident in the 'narrative' of this year's major awards:


Best motion picture of the year
Atonement

Achievement in directing
No Country for Old Men - Joel Coen and Ethan Coen

Original screenplay
Juno - Written by Diablo Cody

Adapted screenplay
Atonement - Written for the screen by Christopher Hampton

Performance by an actor in a leading role
Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood

Performance by an actor in a supporting role
Javier Bardem in No Country for Old Men

Performance by an actress in a leading role
Julie Christie in Away from Her

Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Cate Blanchett in I'm Not There

Best animated feature film of the year
Ratatouille - Brad Bird

Achievement in cinematography
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford - Roger Deakins

Achievement in film editing
The Bourne Ultimatum - Christopher Rouse

The Best Animated list is a pleasant surprise. Though arguably PERSEPOLIS should have gotten a Best Foreign Film nod and RATATOUILLE should have gotten a Best Picture nomination. I'd go into my usual rant, but you've heard it all before...

SURF'S UP is the real surprise. I'm sure a lot of people were expecting to see THE SIMPSON'S MOVIE or THE BEE MOVIE. I don't expect it to win, that'll go to either PERSEPOLIS or RATATOUILLE, but it's nice that it was nominated.

I had no doubt that, for SWEENEY TODD, Depp would get a nod, as would costuming and art direction. If there were still "Adapted Score," that would've been another nom.

Zero nominations for GRINDHOUSE, which is ridiculous. However, I'd love to see "Roderick Jaynes" pick up an Editing trophy. I wonder if the Academy will let the Coens accept the award for him. ;)

Yeah, I was thinking about that - either the potential for inside baseball amusement will cinch it, or will lead directly to votes being cast elsewhere as a tiny rebuke (which is where I think BOURNE may slip in).

I like GRINDHOUSE fine, but what on earth would the academy nominate it for?

Zero nominations for ZODIAC, one for EASTERN PROMISES and two for INTO THE WILD.

It was nice to see Viggo Mortensen :ph43r: and Hal Holbrook get nominations, but outisde of that, the three films above received one nomination between them (achievement in film editing, INTO THE WILD).

Disappointing, but not surprising. :(

Y'know, in thinking about it, if ATONEMENT is to win Best Picture (and I really do think it will), it will appear imbalanced for the Coens to otherwise sweep, since they've a lock on Director and Joe Wright wasn't nominated. It would be too out of nowhere for ATONEMENT to only win the big award of the night, so I'm thinking the Coens are definitely out for Best Editing, and very possibly Best Adapted Screenplay as well. I'm thinking Christopher Hampton gets it.

Making the change...

I think NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN will probably win Best Picture. I'm rooting for ATONEMENT, but I just feel the Academy might see it as the only chance to give a Coen brothers film that kind of honor.

Funny - I'd much prefer NO COUNTRY take it, but feel ATONEMENT is irresistible catnip for the academy.

My money is on Ruby Dee there.

HCH

I blogged a few thoughts. I'm not seeing Atonement go all the way, but it's certainly possible. It's a fairly wide open year in some categories and, figuring Zodiac would come up empty, I'm not too vexed, yet. Something will no doubt madden me. :)

I'm glad that I live in a world where NORBIT has a 33.3 % chance of winning an Academy Award.

This is the most egregious Oscar oversight in some time that I can think of. Please, does anyone really think there were five Hollywood films released last year that are better than ZODIAC? Or five better adapted screenplays? Well, I could go on.

As for GRINDHOUSE, its editing (despite the talky portions of DEATH PROOF), Robert Rodriguez's scoring, visual effects and Kurt Russell's performance should have been shoo-ins. That THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM scored an Editing nod over GRINDHOUSE is utter nonsense. I think GRINDHOUSE was worthy of a Best Picture nod too, though I can possibly be talked out of that one. I think it's unlikely that anyone who saw GRINDHOUSE had a better time in a theater last year, and if that's not worth consideration, I don't know what is.

On the bright side, it's about time fan fave Marco Beltrami was recognized by the Academy. He's often stuck scoring crummy genre movies, but he was finally able to land a more respectable (genre) gig in 3:10 TO YUMA, and I thought his score was very good.

ZODIAC was most definitely shafted. I don't know if it is early-in-the-year release status helped it drop from memory of Academy voters, but it was definitely more deserving that what it got.

I'd also agree that Kurt Russell would be a perfectly valid Best Supporting Actor candidate for GRINDHOUSE, and feel that Gordon Pinsent was jobbed for AWAY FROM HER. I'm happy that Julie Christie was recognized (and Sarah Polley for that matter), but if you see the movie - one of the finest of the past year - so much of it rests on Pinsent's shoulders and that work should not have been overlooked.

I'd say that simple thing (and not making money to boot) is what pretty much managed to shut it out of the conversation.

As for GRINDHOUSE, yeah, it is a shame it's not nominated for everything, but I guess we'll have to be satisfied with Cirio H. Santiago's long overdue receipt of the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. :ph43r:

Wow, I thought Machete deserved the award.

Robbed, ...again! :o

Everyone involved with Atonement just seemed so be trying so desperately to win awards, that, like all underachievers, I hoped to see it get shut out. Zodiac, on the other hand, is filled with actors doing such good work in service of a greater good – regardless of how flashy the role. Mark Ruffalo’s performance is just so damn good; as much as I enjoyed Daniel-Day Lewis in TWBB (“…and I drink up all your milkshake…”) he’s got nothing on Ruffalo’s quiet control in Zodiac.

The New York Times erroneously reported that Cate Blanchett's nomination for the ELIZABETH movie marked the first time that someone got nominated for playing the same role in two different movies. Ummm...someone there clean forgot about Al Pacino and his two Michael Corleone noms. For my money, THE GODFATHER and THE GODFATHER, PART II count as two different movies.

I also checked to see if Bette Davis had gotten nominated for either of her Elizabeth I movies--or Flora Robson, for that matter--but no, neither actress was nominated for either of their Elizabeth movies. Nor was Glenda Jackson. For the record, Judi Dench won an Oscar for playing Elizabeth in SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE. I believe that's the only other nomination for an actress playing this role aside from the Cate Blanchett ones.

The love for ZODIAC I can understand, but I very nearly put GRINDHOUSE on my Ten Worst list, settling instead for Overrated. The trailers and parts of the Tarantino piece mitigated. I could not stand Rodriguez's effort, and if saying so gets my Mobian card revoked so be it. :)

What about Paul Newman as Eddie Felson?

Consider that sucka yanked!

Ah, you know I couldn't do that to you, Bob. Just don't let me see you over on the Cult & Exploitation Board anytime soon. Not 'til I cool down, that is. :D

I think Mr. Rydell nailed it, although I'm not sufficiently interested in Best Adapted Screenplay to really care who wins Best Adapted Screenplay.

I'm less annoyed by ZODIAC's shutout (I think Fincher is a genius but one of those "difficult", Kubrick-style geniuses, if he ever wins anything I'd be surprised) than I am by Kurt Russell's shutout for GRINDHOUSE (that's a standout supporting performance -- Casey Aflleck is the *star* of ASSASINATION, for pete's sake.)

doug

I thought Russell was really robbed three years ago when he wasn't nominated as Best Actor for MIRACLE.

Yep, that's another one. Newman was nominated twice for that role, THE HUSTLER (1961) and THE COLOR OF MONEY (1986)--25 years apart--and won the second time!

And Peter O'Toole was nominated for his two portrayals of Henry II in the quite different BECKET and THE LION IN WINTER.

From the IMDb O'Toole entry:

"He is only one of four actors to be nominated for an Oscar twice for playing the same role in two separate films. He was nominated as Best Actor for Henry II in Becket (1964) and for Henry II in The Lion in Winter (1968). The others are Paul Newman as Fast Eddie Felson in The Hustler (1961) and The Color of Money (1986), Bing Crosby as Father O'Malley in Going My Way (1944) and The Bells of St. Mary's (1945), and Al Pacino as Michael Corleone in The Godfather (1972) and The Godfather: Part II (1974). Furthermore, O'Toole is the only one of these four who was nominated for playing the same character (at two different stages in his life) in two totally different films, neither of which was a sequel or prequel to the other."

Oops.

Didn't do much better myself. I was very disappointed that Julie Christie didn't win, also disappointed that WAR/DANCE didn't win, but was glad to see the recognition for ONCE.

As it's now 5am here, I really should be going to bed as I've got work tomorrow, or rather later today, so I look forward to reading the post mortem tomorrow, including lots of irate JUNO-haters.

Oh yeah, and I thought Jon Stewart was really funny.

Ehh, not so bad, Mr R. At least most of the good guys (and gals) won this year. Swinton included references to Batman and buttocks in her acceptance speech! Good for her! Really brutal with that sweep-em-off-the stage orchestra though.

Besides the Academy, I'd like to thank Zodiac for not being nominated in any category whatsoever, making the voting much easier.

Regardless, The Coen Bros just won the three top Oscars. The part of me that became a life-long fan in the 80s is very happy for their success.

I picked 13 of the 24 winners, which is pretty much my average. It was another very boring Oscar telecast. Did anything unusual or unexpected happen? Actually, yes, I loved when Jon Stewart brought the ONCE songwriter back out to give her speech. Bravo. You mean the telecast has room for the binoculars montage, but not for her warm, thrilling thank yous? That was a sweet moment.

Otherwise, no upsets that I can see. The Academy continues to shoot itself in the foot by trotting out presenters the audience doesn't give a damn about. Why do we have to see Jessica Alba, Miley Cyrus, Colin Farrell, Keri Russell and Jonah Hill, instead of DeNiro, Pacino, Eastwood, Redford, Newman, Borgnine, Widmark, Kennedy, Hackman, Dunaway, Beatty, Streep, Field, hell, Julie Christie was there, how about teaming her and Omar Sharif to present? What ABC and the Academy don't get is that the people who are staying up to watch the Oscars do not give a rat(atouille)'s behind about Patrick Dempsey.

It was great when Stewart had the best song winner come back out to give her short, sweet speech. I'm tired of seeing people who have just won an Oscar being hounded off the stage while we are subjected to one tiresome montage after another. The main purpose of hammering us with past winners is to say to the audience "See folks, it's not all freaks and psychos, remember Henry Fonda and John Wayne?"

All in all though, not a bad show. Two fine musical performances from Amy Adams and Kristen Chenoweth when the usual average is zero, Stewart had the right touch with minimal preparation and none of the winners enraged me. ZODIAC should have been nominated for best picture but NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN was the best picture.

I hear ya, Marty, but it's NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN AND WOMEN (to haul out that joke again) where the Oscar telecast is concerned. Hell, the 33-year-old Amy Adams is already vying for grandmother roles. :)

Did the Coen bros acknowledge Cormac McCarthy when the one for best screenplay adapted for other material? I know they showed McCarthy in the audience a couple of times (with his young son I believe), but I don't remember hearing any acknowledgement of CM on stage.

Oh that's right, Joel -apparently the talkative one (barely)- said that Homer and Cormac McCarthy where the only two writers they had adapted in their careers. Very select company, though, Hammett, Cain, Chandler and Thompson would have all probably been surprised to hear it, though, I believe Joel said it somewhat tongue-in-cheek.

Anyways, I like NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN well enough, but I had read the novel beforehand, so with the Coen's doing such a literal adaptation there wasn't as much surprise for me as those going in without having read the novel.

Apparently, Ridley Scott is set to direct McCarthy's BLOOD MERIDIAN, anyone heard of any casting yet?

Michael Berryman, though he may be a little old now, would be great as the Judge http://img76.imageshack.us/img76/9831/049qr9.jpg

Tom Noonan, who may also be a little old now, would be great.
http://i.imdb.com/Photos/Events/2416/Charl...2306233_400.jpg

Peter Garrett would be great too. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Ac.garrett1.jpg

If there not available, we can always get Richard Harland Smith, though I hear he's busy doing the Jack Nicholson role in the remake of THE SHINING in late 2008.
http://www.lightningstrikes.org/images/ensemble/smith_hs.jpg
I hear that Sofia Coppola and Diablo Cody are doing the screenplay.
If it overruns its shooting schedule, RHS may not be available, which would be a shame.

Anyways, hope BLOOD MERIDIAN gets made. :)

In interviews, it's just the opposite (barely).

Well, I hope they get the job. They seem like such nice boys.

ccording to ABC's very preliminary household metered market overnights, the awards averaged a 21.9 rating/33 share. That's down a sharp 21% from last year and the lowest on record in at least 20 years.

No kidding. And I'm telling you the reason why: Cyrus, Alba, James McAvoy. You could have had me presenting an Oscar, and the audience would have barely known the difference. The Academy's head-scratching insistence upon attracting a television audience that has little to no interest in the telecast baffles me. The only ones staying up until 11:00 (Central) to watch the telecast are folks like you and me who don't give a damn about Cameron Diaz and Katherine Heigl (who said, "I'm not very good at this," which led me to quip, "Well, good thing there aren't 4000 other actresses within a 100-mile radius who are.).

This I can guarantee. Next year, stack the presenters roster with big stars from yesterday and today, however the Academy wants to do it--two at a time, solo, pair young talent with comparable older stars. Bring Hackman out of retirement to present Best Picture. Let's see George Kennedy and Elizabeth Taylor (heck, I'd like to see those two together; wouldn't that be weird?). Let's see Will Ferrell and Jim Carrey, Hanks and Crowe. Shirley MacLaine. Seth Rogen? Are you kidding me?? Nothing against Robert Boyle, but where's the love for Richard Widmark and several other deserving stars while they're still alive? For crying out loud, give Roger Corman the honorary Oscar he deserves; can you imagine all the great clips they could compile, while Ron Howard, Jack Nicholson, Martin Scorsese and Peter Bogdanovich hand him his trophy?

And, then, once you've amassed this great list of presenters...advertise it! I want to see their names on the poster and in the ABC promos.

Hollywood Reporter reports the dire ratings

When "Halle Berry" and "Judi Dench" came on, I missed any actual identifications if there were any and I had to call up my daughter to ask, "Who are these guys?" She, of course, being part of the "Apatow Generation," knew. To be honest, I kind'a figured that was Rogen, but the other guy? I hadn't a clue.

I haven't heard any casting news on Blood Meridian yet. I think that my ideal choice for The Judge would be Rutger Hauer circa 1982. He's probably a little too old now, but I think that Ridley Scott and Rutger Hauer working together again would be pretty cool.

I could also see Tom Noonan playing The Judge. I remember Roger Ebert saying that The Judge can't be played by anyone who's a recognizable Hollywood star, and he's probably right.