If i had an oscar ballot..........

Best Picture: ATONEMENT RU: The Assasination of Jesse James
Best Director: JOE WRIGHT, "Atonement" RU: Andrew Dominik "The Assassination"
Best Actor: DANIEL DAY-LEWIS, "There Will Be Blood" RU: Ryan Gosling, "Lars and the Real Girl." and Brad Pitt, "The Assasination"
Best Actress: MARION COTILLARD, "La Vie en Rose" RU: Ellen Page, "Juno"
Best Supp. Actor: CASEY AFFLECK, "The Assasination" RU: James McAvoy, "Atonement"
Best Supp. Actress: MARISA TOMEI, "Before the Devil.." RU: Saiorse Ronan, "Atonement"
Best Ori. Screenplay: DIABLO CODY, "Juno" RU: Kelly Masterson, "Before the Devil..."
Best Adapted Screenplay: CHRIS HAMPTON, "Atonement" RU: Andrew Dominik, "Assassinat"

Best Picture:
*The Assasination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
*Atonement
*Before the Devil Know's You're Dead
*Into the Wild
*Once

Best Director:
*Joel and Ethan Coen, "No Country For Old Men"
*Andrew Dominik, "The Assassination"
*Sidney Lumet, "Before the Devil...."
*Julian Schnabel, "The Diving Bell.."
*Joe Wright, "Atonement"

Best Actor:
*Daniel Day-Lewis, "There Will Be Blood"
*Ryan Gosling, "Lars and the Real Girl"
*Emile Hirsch, "Into the Wild"
*Viggo Mortensen, "Eastern Promises"
*Brad Pitt, "The Assassination"

Best Actress:
*Julie Christie, "Away From Her"
*Marion Cotillard, "La Vie en Rose"
*Angelina Jolie, "A Mighty Heart"
*Laura Linney, "The Savages"
*Ellen Page, "Juno"

Best Supp. Actor:
*Casey Affleck, "The Assasination"
*Javier Bardem, "No Country"
*Russell Crowe, "American Gangster"
*Hal Holbrook, "Into the Wild"
*James McAvoy, "Atonement"

Best Supp. Actress:
*Cate Blanchett, "I'm Not There"
*Catherine Keener, "Into the Wild"
*Saiorse Ronan, "Atonement"
*Tilda Swinton, "Michael Clayton"
*Marisa Tomei, "Before the Devil....."

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

This a wonderful fim here by Julian Schnabel. I would say that it is one of the most flawless films of this season. Schnabel definately deserves his nomination. The cast was extremely good here. It is a film about life and death, pain and misery, religion and atheism, remembering and not, speaking and communicating and art and passion. It completely transcends film and story. Great work by everyone involved. It strikes a chord that sparks contemplation about our own life.

Grade: A/A-

The Savages

This is a very good film here by Tamara Jenkins. It shows thes tory of two children dealing with the elderness of their father's world. The two siblings, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Linney are really great once again. Do they ever do anything bad or average? No. the answer is no. They are great, outstanding actors and the supporting cast is very good as well, especially Philip Bosco as the father. Jenkins shows very good promise here! Hoffman was great in all three of his performances this year.

Grade: A-

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

This is a brilliant, just brilliant film here. One of the top five films of the year, and joins Atonement and Assassination as my fav's this year. Sidney Lumet does a great job, showing that he is still capable to make films today. This is a great script by Kelly Masterson and is one of the most original "crime drama's" ever. Is it a crime drama or a dysfunctional family melodrama. It doesn't matter, as it works in both ways. Let me say something again. Philip Seymour Hoffman is the greatest actor in the world today. I cannot understate that enough. He gets the best scripts. Ethan Hawke is, once again, very good. He is also a very underrated actor. Marisa Tomei and Albert Finney also have mesmerizing performances. I love it when i get surprised by a film and this one did that for me. Great screenplay, great director and great performances are all in this film. This film year has about 15-20 very efficient films but it will be difficult to separate the great from the perfect this year. This film was great, and almost perfect.

Grade: A

Lars and the Real Girl

This is a great small film here. Ryan Gosling has another great performance. He is one of the best young actors around and only he could've made this film work. Nancy Oliver delivers a great script, full of "manufactured" love. The film is about a man who starts to lose his societal mind and decides to "fall in love" with a mannequin. His brother and sister-in-law are concerned for him but they decide to go along with this "stage" for his better good. This is a great supporting cast by Patricia Clarkson, Emily Mortimer and Paul Schneider, which all three are always good. Director Craig Gillespie does very good work in making this film work. It is very difficult to make this plot believable and everyone involved made it work. I love when a film, like this, takes great risks.

Grade: A-

There Will Be Blood

This is a very strong film here, but i expected something greater. The film is about the evil nature in human beings, both religious and not. It tackles business, money, the roots of greed and being a false prophet. Daniel Plainview, played by Daniel Day-Lewis is an oil-man, a buisiness-man who wont stop at anything to gain oil and money. He creates himself a family(with orphan son) and he plays all the moves that a game needs to play to win. He makes his communities believe that he wants a family-oriented, religious oil company but all he really wants is power and and his competitions' blood. It is an original story, which hasn't been explored too often. It is magically shot by Robert Elswitt and efficiently directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, who is a very succesful filmmaker. Even though i wasnt necessarily overwhelmed by the film in general, it is a very powerful, efficient film. Their is no question that Daniel Day-Lewis makes this film work like no other. Without him, the film would've been an average film. He did deserve the best actor wins. This film does add itself to a film season with a lot of depth. Paul Dano plays Eli Sunday very well, but i dont know if he perfected his role. The film has little mistakes but it didnt jump to me like Atonement, Assassination of Jesse James, Juno or Into the Wild.

Grade: A-