And the Oscar Goes To...

There weren't a lot of surprises tonight, but overall everyone was deserving of their wins. Hooray for the MN nominees - The Coen bros and Diablo Cody - for coming out victorious.

The Winners are...

Picture: No Country for Old Men

Director(s): Joel & Ethan Coen

Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis

Actress: Marion Cotillard 

Supporting Actor: Javier Bardem

Supporting Actress: Tilda Swinton

Original Screenplay: Juno - Diablo Cody

Adapted Screenplay: The Coen Bros - No Country for Old Men

Animated Film: Ratatouille

Art Direction: Sweeney Todd

Cinematography: There Will Be Blood

Costume Design: Elizabeth: The Golden Age

Documentary Feature: Taxi to the Dark Side

Documentary Short: Freeheld

Film Editing: The Bourne Ultimatum

Sound Editing: The Bourne Ultimatum

Sound Mixing: The Bourne Ultimatum

Foreign Language Film: The Counterfeiters

Makeup: La Vie en Rose

Original Screenplay: Atonement

Original Song: "Falling Slowly", Once

Animated Short: Peter and the Wolf

Live Action Short: Le Mozart des Pickpockets

Visual Effects: The Golden Compass

Fun Oscar Facts!

- Joel & Ethan Coen have never won an Academy Award for their directing. Their only Oscar comes from Best Screenplay for Fargo.

- Joel Coen is married to actress Frances McDormand.

- The Coen brothers refused to give Josh Brolin (Llewelyn Moss) an audition for No Country for Old Men. Brolin had directors Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino direct an audition tape for him, helping him to get the part.

- The hairstyle of Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem) in NCFOM, was modeled from a photograph of a 1979 brothel patron. 

- While filming on location in Texas, the Coen brothers had to stop a day of filming after a dark black cloud of smoke appeared in the sky, ruining the shot. The dark cloud turned out to be the result of director Paul Thomas Anderson practicing oil derrick pyrotechnics on the set of There Will be Blood. The Coen brothers were able to resume filming the next day, after the smoke finally dissipated. 

- Paul Thomas Anderson (There Will Be Blood) had his first big break directing Boogie Nights.

- Paul Thomas Anderson has never won an Academy Award.

- Paul Thomas Anderson dated Fiona Apple for 2 years. Currently he is dating SNL actress, Maya Rudolph. The 2 have a daughter, Pearl, together.

- Daniel Day-Lewis is married to the daughter of famous playwright, Arthur Miller (Death of a Salesman).

- Michael Clayton is the only film in the 2008 Academy Awards to obtain more than one acting nomination.

- Viggo Mortensen briefly dated the daughter of another '08 nominee. He dated Lola Schnabel, Julian Schnabel's (The Diving Bell & the Butterfly) daughter for 2 years.

- Viggo Mortensen is multi-talented. He speaks 6 languages - 4 fluently. He is a published poet and currently owns his own publishing company. He is an accomplished photographer - having an exhibit at the Robert Mann gallery in NYC in 2000. He is a Jazz musician who, to date, has released 3 CDs. For the film, A Perfect Murder, where he played an artist, he actually painted the murals for his character's art studio.

I Love Oscar Night!

The 80th Annual Academy Awards are this Sunday (2/24) on ABC. I love going to see the nominated films. It's like a scavenger hunt - crossing off the movies/performances as I see them. Below, I'll recap some of the nominees, who's projected to win and who I'd like to win.

Best Picture:

Atonement

Juno 

Michael Clayton

*No Country For Old Men - People Magazine pick, Entertainment Weekly pick

*There Will Be Blood - Jodi's pick

I would love to see There Will Be Blood win this category, but I also loved No Country, and have to route for the MN natives, the Coen Brothers. I'd say either of those 2 have a good chance, but it looks like the critics are going with NCFOM.

Best Actor:

George Clooney: Michael Clayton

*Daniel Day-Lewis: There Will Be Blood - People, EW, Jodi

Johnny Depp: Sweeney Todd

Tommy Lee Jones: In the Valley of Elah

Viggo Mortensen: Eastern Promises

The only performance I haven't seen is Tommy Lee Jones'. I have In The Valley of Elah next on my Netflix queue. Hands down, though, DDL blew me away. He definitely deserves it.

Best Actress:

Cate Blanchett: Elizabeth, The Golden Age

*Julie Christie: Away from Her - People, EW

*Marion Cotillard: La Vie en Rose - Jodi

Laura Linney: The Savages

Ellen Page: Juno

I saw both La Vie en Rose and Away from Her. I found Marion Cotillard's performance to be far more riveting than Julie Christie's.

Best Supporting Actor:

Casey Affleck: The Assassination of Jesse James

*Javier Bardem: No Country for Old Men - People, EW, Jodi

Phillip Seymour Hoffman: Charlie Wilson's War

Hal Holbrook: Into the Wild

Tom Wilkinson: Michael Clayton

Best Supporting Actress:

Cate Blanchett: I'm Not There

Ruby Dee: American Gangster

Saoirse Ronan: Atonement

*Amy Ryan: Gone Baby Gone - People, Jodi

*Tilda Swinton: Michael Clayton - EW

This one I am not sure about at all. While I haven't see Gone Baby Gone, I think Amy Ryan could have a chance here.

Best Director:

Julian Schnabel: The Diving Bell & the Butterfly

Jason Reitman: Juno

Tony Gilroy: Michael Clayton

*Coen Brothers: No Country for Old Men - People, EW, Jodi

Paul Thomas Anderson: There Will be Blood