2008 OFCS Awards

Every year the Online Film Critics Society polls its members for its annual awards. Although not as indicative of the eventual Academy Awards nominees/winners as the Golden Globes, the OFCS has been recognized as a significant critical body ... and may have some influence over a few Oscar voters. The winners are listed below along with their order of finish. I'm including mypicks and nominations as well.

Best Films of 2007

Coen brothers: No Country for Old Men


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Critics' Choice Video

 

OFCS Winners (marking my top picks with *):

PICTURE: * No Country For Old Men 
There Will Be Blood
Zodiac

Juno
Atonement  


DIRECTOR: * Joel & Ethan Coen - No Country for Old Men
Paul Thomas Anderson - There Will Be Blood
David Fincher - Zodiac
Julian Schnabel - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
David Cronenberg - Eastern Promises

ACTOR: * Daniel Day-Lewis - There Will Be Blood
Viggo Mortensen - Eastern Promises
Emile Hirsch - Into the Wild
George Clooney - Michael Clayton
Frank Langella - Starting Out in the Evening
  

ACTRESS: Julie Christie - Away From Her
Ellen Page - Juno
* Marion Cotillard - La Vie En Rose
Laura Linney - The Savages
Angelina Jolie - A Mighty Heart

  

SUPPORTING ACTOR: * Javier Bardem - No Country for Old Men
Hal Holbrook - Into the Wild
Philip Seymour Hoffman - Charlie Wilson's War
Casey Affleck - The Assasination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Tom Wilkinson--Michael Clayton   

SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Amy Ryan - Gone Baby Gone
* Cate Blanchett - I'm Not There
Kelly MacDonald - No Country for Old Men
Jennifer Garner - Juno
Saoirse Ronan - Atonement
Tilda Swinton - Michael Clayton

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Juno
Ratatouille
Eastern Promises
* Before The Devil Knows You're Dead
Michael Clayton
  

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: * No Country For Old Men
There Will Be Blood
Zodiac   
Atonement
Diving Bell and the Butterfly

CINEMATOGRAPHY: No Country for Old Men
There Will Be Blood
Atonement
Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, The
* Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The

EDITING: * No Country For Old Men
Bourne Ultimatum, The
Zodiac  
Atonement
There Will Be Blood

 

SCORE: * There Will Be Blood
Once
Atonement
Into the Wild
Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, The


DOCUMENTARY: King of Kong, The
Sicko
In the Shadow of the Moon
No End in Sight
* Into Great Silence


FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM (NON-ENGLISH): * Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The
Lives of Others
Host, The
Orphanage, The
La Vie En Rose


ANIMATED FEATURE: * Ratatouille
Persepolis
Simpsons Movie, The
Paprika
Beowulf


BREAKTHROUGH FILMMAKER: Sarah Polley - Away From Her  
Ben Affleck - Gone Baby Gone
John Carney - Once
* Juan Antonio Bayona - The Orphanage
Tony Gilroy - Michael Clayton
 

BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMER: Nikki Blonsky - Hairspray
Glen Hansard - Once
* Tang Wei - Lust, Caution
Carice Van Houten - Black Book
Sam Riley - Control

It was a good year for end of the year screeners for awards consideration; however, a few expected high caliber films were neglected—meaning no available DVD screeners nor screenings outside New York City or Los Angeles. Thus, I had to leave films like There Will Be Blood and Persepolis off my nominations list. My nomination ballot (turned in on December 31, one day before the deadline) follows:

BEST PICTURE

1. No Country for Old Men
2. Killer of Sheep
3. Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
4. Ratatouille
5. The Savages

  BEST DIRECTOR

1. Joel & Ethan Coen -- No Country for Old Men
2. Julian Schanbel -- Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The
3. Todd Haynes -- I'm Not There
4. Sidney Lumet -- Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
5. Tim Burton -- Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

BEST ACTOR

1. Philip Seymour Hoffman -- Savages, The
2. Tony Leung -- Lust, Caution
3. John C. Reilly -- Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
4. Viggo Mortensen -- Eastern Promises
5. Don Cheadle -- Talk to Me

BEST ACTRESS

1. Helena Bonham Carter -- Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
2. Marion Cotillard -- La Vie en Rose
3. Tang Wei -- Lust, Caution
4. Julie Christie -- Away From Her
5. Angelina Jolie -- Mighty Heart, A

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

1. Javier Bardem -- No Country for Old Men
2. Philip Seymour Hoffman -- Charlie Wilson's War
3. Sydney Pollack -- Michael Clayton
4. Philip Bosco -- Savages, The
5. Hal Holbrook -- Into the Wild

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

1. Tabu -- Namesake, The
2. Marie-Josée Croze -- Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The
3. Cate Blanchett -- I'm Not There
4. Joan Chen -- Lust, Caution
5. Tilda Swinton -- Michael Clayton

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

1. Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
2. Once
3. Juno
4. I'm Not There
5. The Savages
(Note: Expect Juno and The Savages to both gain nominations this year. Both are worthy, and publicists sent out copies of the screenplays to critics and award voters)

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

1. No Country for Old Men
2. Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The
3. Lust, Caution
4. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
5. Into the Wild

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

1. No Country for Old Men
2. Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The
3. Orphanage, The
4. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
5. La Vie en Rose

BEST EDITING

1. No Country for Old Men
2. I'm Not There
3. Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The
4. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
5. Darjeeling Limited, The

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

1. Abstain (Note: I couldn't recall any film score that really blew me away. Expect Into the Wild to get nominated, based on the fact that the film publicists sent soundtrack CDs to critics and due to Eddie Vedder. Soundtracks were also sent by publicists for There Will Be Blood and The Kite Runner, so expect those to be nominated as well. I would have listed the latter based on the score of its opening credits, but the sledge-hammer redemption song near the end irritated me with its supreme schmaltz.

BEST DOCUMENTARY

1. Into Great Silence
2. Nanking
3. Sicko
4. Lake of Fire
5. In the Shadow of the Moon

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM (Non-English language)

1. Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The
2. Lust, Caution
3. Orphanage, The
4. Lives of Others, The
5. Offside

BEST ANIMATED FILM

1. Ratatouille

BREAKTHROUGH FILMMAKER

1. Juan Antonio Bayona -- Orphanage, The
2. Sarah Polley -- Away From Her
3. Ben Affleck -- Gone Baby Gone .

BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMER

1. Wei Tang -- Lust, Caution
2. Glen Hansard -- Once
3. Jamie Campbell Bower -- Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
4. Markéta Irglová -- Once

 


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