For years I ran an Oscar pool I'd open up to the public. It got to be a pretty big pain the ass as it grew and grew, so a couple of years ago I opened it up to family members only.
This year, I did the same. I sent the link out to select family members weeks ago. The deadline came and went, I extended it and reminded everybody to get in their picks, but it's official. Worst. Oscar. Pool. Response. Ever.
In addition to my wife and I, only two others bothered to join in on the action. If you're in a pool and you want to know the winners before Sunday night, here are my picks.
- Best Picture: No Country for Old Men
- Best Director: Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
- Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood
- Best Actress: Julie Christie in Away from Her
- Best Supporting Actor: Javier Bardem in No Country for Old Men
- Best Supporting Actress: Cate Blanchett in I'm Not There
- Best Original Screenplay: Juno
- Best Adapted Screenplay: No Country for Old Men
- Cinematography: No Country for Old Men
- Film Editing: No Country for Old Men
- Art Direction: Atonement
- Costume Design: Elizabeth: The Golden Age
- Original Score: Atonement
- Original Song: "Falling Slowly" -- Once
- Best Makeup: Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
- Sound Editing: No Country for Old Men
- Sound Mixing: No Country for Old Men
- Best Visual Effects: Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
- Best Animated Feature Film: Ratatouille
- Best Foreign Language Film: Beaufort -- Israel
- Best Documentary Feature: Sicko
- Best Documentary Short: La Corona
- Best Live Action Short: Le Mozart des Pickpockets
- Best Animated Short: Madame Tutli-Putli
I think you're wrong about Best Director. It will go to Paul Thomas Anderson.
The brothers will pick up enough and this is the Acadamey's way of telling PT that he did good work.
I also think that a few of the "other" categories could be split from No Country. It may be one of those "Let's reward a lot of movies years".
And lastly....Sicko won't win. One of the Anti-war movies will...