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No Country for Oscar Voters
Coen brothers dominate the Oscars with Cormac McCarthy adaptation; Day-Lewis, Cotillard win acting prizes. Plus: Ellen Page on Juno, abortion; sequel updates for Hoodwinked 2 and Toy Story 3; and more.
by Josh Hurst | posted 02/25/08
There were two moods that prevailed during the 80th Academy Awards, and both of them became apparent early in last night's telecast. For one, there was a spirit of gladness that there even was a telecast this year, as host Jon Stewart noted with his preliminary remarks about the relief of having the writers' strike over. And second, there was a spirit of remembrance and reminiscenceit was, after all, the 80th annual ceremony, something presenter George Clooney acknowledged while introducing the first of several retrospective looks back at Oscar ceremonies past.
All of this good cheer, of course, stood in stark contrast to the relatively dark crop of movies nominated, including Atonement, There Will Be Blood, and No Country for Old Men, the last of which won Best Picture and Best Directing honors for brothers Joel and Ethan Coen.
As expected, Daniel Day-Lewis won Best Actor for his turn as the monstrous Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood. Marion Cotillard scored one of the biggest upsets of the evening, beating out both the favored Julie Christie and the underdog Ellen Page to win Best Actress, for her work in La Vie En Rose. Best Supporting Actor went to No Country's Javier Bardem, and Best Supporting Actress to Tilda Swinton for Michael Clayton.
Writing honors for Best Adapted Screenplay went to the Coens for No Country, an honor that Joel Coen attributed to the brothers' selectivity, noting that the only authors they've ever adapted have been Homer and Cormac McCarthy. Meanwhile, crowd favorite Diablo Cody won Best Original Screenplay for Juno.
Cinematographer Robert Elswit was honored for his work on There Will Be Blood. Critical and audience favorite Ratatouille won Best Animated Feature, adding another Oscar to Pixar's shelf. The controversial and much-maligned Golden Compass took home an award for Best Visual Effects.
And one of the show's most joyful moments came when Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova won the Best Original Song award for "Falling Slowly," the beloved tune from Once.
A full list of winners can be found at the Oscar website.
For more stories, check complete coverage at Entertainment Weekly, Variety, Hollywood Reporter, Yahoo, and the Los Angeles Times.
In other movie news:
Ellen Page says Juno is not pro-life (Washington Post)
Actress says she is pro-choice, film isn't against abortion
Cory Edwards provides update for Hoodwinked 2 (Cory's Curiosities)
Brad Garrett, Amy Poehler, Martin Short among new cast members
The Master and Margarita adapted for U.S. (Hollywood Reporter)
Controversial novel tells story of Satan coming to Earth
Aimee Semple McPherson film coming to DVD (FilmArcade.net)
Drama about controversial evangelist available April 22
Toy Story 3 plot details surface (Wall Street Journal)
Woody and friends are left at daycare center as Andy goes to college
Omar Sharif, Adel Imam team for new film (Variety)
Hassan and Morcos "pokes fun at religious bigotry"
Warner remaking classic anima Akira (Hollywood Reporter)
Leonardo DiCaprio producing, maybe starring
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