1939 - The year the oscars would never be hungry again

There are so many times people hyperventilate and claim one year in cinema is the greatest year in cinema causing the question of what year is the best to be completely subjective. However while the question is always subject to who you ask I just know that of the many years of cinema 1939 has to up there for any cinema fan willing to see film from way back in the golden age. 1939 is impressive how it covers an appropriate amount of genres for any film fan to watch and while the year like many post 50's years can be accused of staleness due to the type of classical directing being done at the time. I consider this a high priority year of cinema and it all stars for me with Wizard of Oz. The film is probably the most known from this year because no matter who you are everyone has to have seen this classic film because everyone was a child once and this film is watched by so many youths that for me it introduced me to fantasy I was looking for in cinema. Wizard of Oz is the most known film but alongside this film is the nearly 4 hour epic to end all epics the multi oscar winning Gone With the Wind. Even at the time of release GWTW was being built up to be the greatest epic every but even watching this film it is unquestionably a feat in cinema history. Not only is the film the first to represent civil war era relationships between the different races in while a problematic way less then what was done previously and post this film. It also follows a rarely unsympathetic heroine portrayed by Vivien Leigh who is giving one of the best characterizations of a character every to be on screen done to every perfect reaction shot from Scarlett. I just love the film having it seen it multiple times then it's running time deserves me to see. The film blows away the competition for me even though there are so many great films from this year. Just looking at the 10 nominees for best picture it is a lineup that holds up so well. The other nine nominees losing to GWTW where Dark Victory, Goodbye Mr. Chips, Love Affair, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Ninotchka, Of Mice and Men, Stagecoach, The Wizard of Oz and Wuthering Heights.

The lineup is impressive with clear standouts being Oz, Mr. Smith, Stagecoach, Dark Victory, Love Affair and Ninotchka. All this films I consider top 10 material (all of them in ascending order make my personal top 10). Oz as I said is a classic kids picture, Mr, Smith is the perfect amount of Capracorn starring in James Stewart in what I consider to be his greatest work pre Alfred Hitchcock, Stagecoach is early western cinema from John Fords, Dark Victory is Bette Davis in while a less discussed film of hers Davis in any film at this time is just perfection no matter the story, Love Affair the original film of two falling in love just done write from scene to scene and Ninochka which is essential Great Garbo cinema being probably her last great film achievement of early cinema. These six films plus GWTW are film enough for me consider 39 a great film year. The other 3 films while good are nothing for me to write home about even if they have moments cinema like today is never going to have in their less then average films.

Much of my revisits have been about me lampooning the choices made by the academy due to all the cinema in retrospective discussed more recently. However I have to congratulate the academy in their early twelfth year actually looking to the great cinema. GWTW is unquestionable my favourite film of 1939 and an extra note for the film is the Hattie McDaniel factor. At the time when people of colour where still experiencing racism GWTW while showing the archetypes of slavery is made the greater by the stellar work by McDaniel who won the academy award this year and one of the great wins in the character as she explodes and shines in the truly complex role of house servant Mammy. My runner up is Frank Capra's Mr. Smith Goes to Washington which is an example of Capra that I consider truly timeless because unlike many I hold Capra in a high echelon of early film directors. As I mentioned before it's one of Stewart's great early roles and him losing the academy award is a great crime that led to a less then agreeable win a year later for 1940's The Philadelphia Story. Wizard of Oz is timeless children's entertainment and doesn't need to be talked about too much, Stagecoach is a less exposed western from John Ford because there isn't really any shootout of a kind but instead it's a simple story following a small amount of unrelated characters as they travel south with one another. My fifth choice of the year is the rare underrated John Ford film and the big question mark to me why the academy didn't look to this classic film as much as they should've. It's Ford really stretching himself showing as unconventional film biopic where we take the Abraham Lincoln president and instead of covering his rise to presidency it instead shows us the man in his younger years. It's one of the great Henry Fonda performances for me and I just can't get enough of this film and consider it truly criminal that the only nomination this film received was a small screenplay nomination.

34 is the amount of films I've seen from 1939 and I consider this an all out strong year of cinema. I will never apolgize for loving just about everything from this year because I can never admit to doing that with recent cinema because in no way is cinema the same as it was back in the golden age. Below is my list of winners and nominees.

OUTSTANDING PICTURE:

1. Gone With the Wind (Produced by David O. Selznick)

2. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (Produced by Frank Capra)

3. The Wizard of Oz (Produced by Mervyn LeRoy)

4. Stagecoach (Produced by Walter Wanger)

5. Young Mr. Lincoln (Produced by Darryl F. Zanuck & Kenneth Macgowan)

6. Dark Victory

7. Love Affair

8. The Hunchback of Notre Dame 

9. The Women

10. Ninotchka

OUTSTANDING DIRECTOR:

Frank Capra for Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

George Cukor for The Women

Victor Fleming for Gone With the Wind

Victor Fleming for The Wizard of Oz

John Ford for Stagecoach

OUTSTANDING LEADING ACTOR:

Charles Boyer as Michel Marnet in "LOVE AFFAIR"

Henry Fonda as Abraham Lincoln in "YOUNG MR. LINCOLN"

Clark Gable as Rhett Butler in "GONE WITH THE WIND"

Charles Laughton as Quasimodo in "THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME"

James Stewart as Jefferson "Jeff" Smith in "MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON"

OUTSTANDING LEADING ACTRESS:

Jean Arthur as Clarissa Saunders in "MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON"

Bette Davis as Judith Traherne in "DARK VICTORY"

Greta Garbo as Nina Ivanovna "Ninotchka" Yakushova in "NINOTCHKA"

Judy Garland as Dorothy Gale in "THE WIZARD OF OZ"

Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O'Hara in "GONE WITH THE WIND"

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR:

Ray Bolger as Hunk / Scarecrow in "THE WIZARD OF OZ"

Thomas Mitchell as "Diz" Moore in "MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON"

Thomas Mitchell as Doc Boone in "STAGECOACH"

Frank Morgan as Professor Marvel / The Wizard / Doorman / Cabbie / Guard in "THE WIZARD OF OZ"

Claude Rains as Senator Joseph Harrison "Joe" Paine in "MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON"

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS:

Greer Garson as Katharine in "GOODBYE, MR. CHIPS"

Olivia de Havilland as Melanie Hamilton in "GONE WITH THE WIND"

Margaret Hamilton as Miss Almira Gulch / The Wicked Witch of the West in "THE WIZARD OF OZ"

Hattie McDaniel as Mammy in "GONE WITH THE WIND"

Rosalind Russell as Sylvia Fowler in "THE WOMEN"

OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:

Robert Buckner for Dodge City

Delmer Daves, Donald Ogden Stewart & S.N. Behrman; Story by Leo McCarey & Mildred Cram for Love Affair

Melchior Lengyel, Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder & Walter Reisch for Ninotchka

Jules Furthman for Only Angels Have Wings

Lamar Trotti for Young Mr. Lincoln

OUTSTANDING ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:

Screenplay by Casey Robinson; Based on Dark Victory by George Emerson Brewer, Jr. & Bertram Bloch, Dark Victory

Screenplay by Sidney Howard; Based on Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell, Gone With the Wind

Screenplay by Sidney Buchman; Based on The Gentleman from Montana by Lewis R. Foster, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

Screenplay by Dudley Nichols; Based on The Stage to Lordsburg 1937 by Ernest Haycox, Stagecoach

Screenplay by Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson & Edgar Allan Woolf; Based on The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, The Wizard of Oz

OUTSTANDING ART DIRECTION:

Art Direction by Robert Haas for Dark Victory

Production Design by William Cameron Menzies; Art Direction by Lyle Wheeler; Set Decoration by Howard Bristol for Gone With the Wind

Art Direction by Van Nest Polglase; Set Decoration by Darrell Silvera for Love Affair

Production Design by Malcolm Brown, William A. Horning & Jack Martin Smith; Art Direction by Cedric Gibbons, George Gibson, Wade B. Rubottom & Elmer Sheeley; Set Decoration by Edwin B. Willis for The Wizard of Oz

Art Direction by James Basevi & Alexander Toluboff; Set Decoration by Julia Heron for Wuthering Heights

OUTSTANDING BREAKTHROUGH/DEBUT:

Greer Garson (Goodbye, Mr. Chips)

Butterfly McQueen (Gone With the Wind)

Maureen O'Hara (The Hunchback of Notre Dame)

James Stewart (Mr. Smith Goes to Washington)

John Wayne (Stagecoach)

OUTSTANDING CINEMATOGRAPHY:

Ernest Haller for Gone With the Wind

Joseph Walker & Paul Mantz for Only Angels Have Wings

Bert Glennon for Stagecoach

Harold Rosson for The Wizard of Oz

Gregg Toland for Wuthering Heights

OUTSTANDING COSTUME DESIGN:

Walter Plunkett for Gone With the Wind

Walter Plunkett for The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Orry-Kelly for Juarez

Adrian for The Wizard of Oz

Omar Klam for Wuthering Heights

OUTSTANDING ENSEMBLE OF THE YEAR:

Gone With the Wind (Thomas Mitchell, Barbara O'Neil, Vivien Leigh, Evelyn Keyes, Ann Rutherford, George Reeves, Fred Crane, Hattie McDaniel, Oscar Polk, Butterfly McQueen, Victor Jory, Everett Brown , Howard Hickman, Alicia Rhett, Leslie Howard, Olivia de Havilland, Rand Brooks, Carroll Nye, Clark Gable, Laura Hope Crews, Eddie Anderson, Harry Davenport, Leona Roberts, Jane Darwell, Ona Munson, Paul Hurst, Cammie King Conlon, J. M. Kerrigan, Jackie Moran, Lillian Kemble-Cooper, Marcella Martin, Mickey Kuhn, Irving Bacon, William Bakewell, Isabel Jewell, Eric Linden, Ward Bond, Cliff Edwards, Yakima Canutt, Louis Jean Heydt, Olin Howland, Robert Elliott, Mary Anderson)

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (James Stewart, Jean Arthur, Claude Rains, Edward Arnold, Guy Kibbee, Thomas Mitchell, Eugene Pallette, Beulah Bondi, H. B. Warner, Harry Carey, Astrid Allwyn, Ruth Donnelly, Grant Mitchell, Porter Hall, Pierre Watkin, Charles Lane, William Demarest, Dick Elliott)

Stagecoach (Claire Trevor, John Wayne, Thomas Mitchell, Andy Devine, John Carradine, George Bancroft, Louise Platt, Donald Meek, Berton Churchill, Tim Holt, Tom Tyler, Chris-Pin Martin, Elvira Ríos, Brenda Fowler, Nora Cecil, Francis Ford, Marga Ann Deighton, Vester Pegg, Joe Rickson, Jack Pennick, Duke R. Lee, Chief White Horse, Yakima Canutt)

The Wizard of Oz (Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Jack Haley, Bert Lahr, Billie Burke, Margaret Hamilton, Clara Blandick, Charley Grapewin, Pat Walshe, Terry)

The Women (Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Rosalind Russell, Mary Boland, Paulette Goddard, Phyllis Povah, Joan Fontaine, Virginia Weidler, Lucile Watson, Marjorie Main, Virginia Grey, Ruth Hussey, Hedda Hopper, Florence Nash, Cora Witherspoon, Mary Beth Hughes, Dennie Moore)

OUTSTANDING FILM EDITING:

Hal C. Kern & James E. Newcom for Gone With the Wind

Charles Frend for Goodbye, Mr. Chips

Al Clark & Gene Havlick for Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

Blanche Sewell for The Wizard of Oz

Daniel Mandell for Wuthering Heights

OUTSTANDING MAKEUP:

Ben Nye, Hazel Rogers, Paul Stanhope & Monte Westmore for Gone With the Wind

Jack Dawn for Goodbye, Mr. Chips

George Bau, Mel Berns, Robert J. Schiffer & Perc Westmore for The Hunchback of Notre Dame

William Knight & Fred B. Phillips for Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

Jack Dawn for The Wizard of Oz

OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL SCORE:

Max Steiner for Dark Victory

Max Steiner for Gone With the Wind

Alfred Newman for The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Herbert Stothart for The Wizard of Oz

Alfred Newman for Wuthering Heights

OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL SONG:

Destry Rides Again, "See What the Boys in the Back Room Will Have" (Music by Friedrich Hollaender; Lyrics by Frank Loesser)

Love Affair, "Sing My Heart" (Music by Harold Arlen; Lyrics by Ted Koehler)

Love Affair, "Whishing" (Music and Lyrics by B.G. De Sylva)

The Wizard of Oz, "Ding Dong The Witch is Dead" (Music by Harold Arlen; Lyric by E. Y. Harburg)

The Wizard of Oz, "Over the Rainbow" (Music by Harold Arlen; Lyric by E. Y. Harburg)

OUTSTANDING PERFORMER OF THE YEAR:

Jean Arthur (Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Only Angels Have Wings)

Bette Davis (Dark Victory, Juarez, The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex)

Cary Grant (Gunga Din, In Name Only, Only Angels Have Wings)

Thomas Mitchell (Gone With the Wind, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Only Angels Have Wings, Stagecoach)

Claude Rains (Daughters Courageous, Four Wives, Juarez, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, They Made Me a Criminal)

OUTSTANDING SOUND RECORDING:

Thomas T. Moulton for Gone With the Wind

John E. Tribby for The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Only Angels Have Wings

Frank Maher for Stagecoach

Douglas Shearer for The Wizard of Oz

OUTSTANDING SPECIAL EFFECTS:

Jack Cosgrove, Fred Albin & Arthur Johns for Gone With the Wind

Roy Davidson & Edwin C. Hahn for Only Angels Have Wings

E. H. Hansen and Fred Sersen for The Rains Came

Arnold Gillespie for The Wizard of Oz

Now having gone back to golden age cinema I'm going to skip to 1966 next. This year is the mid point of the 60's decade and yet again Britain bet out america. A Man for All Seasons came in and won it all. Was this stage adaptation worthy tune in to see if I think so.

1999 - What a way to end the millennium

I was very familiar with the cinema released in 1999 previous to this rewatch as the year falls in the 20 years of my existence making the films released in this year more known for me as I grew up as a young film fan seeking out to see only the best of film. I've seen many of the standout features from this year and while my first film was obviously Toy Story 2 I feel I fully invested myself in watching cinema was when I watched American Beauty for the first time. I was clearly too young to watch the film at the time but even I could appreciate this film on a aesthetics level as the look of this film was a dazzle to behold. The film has been sadly millined over the years which I find undeserved because the film has moments of greatness and it shows what 90's culture was like. Another feather in Beauties cap is that it's my choice of the academy five. The other nominees were Cider House Rules, Green Mile, The Insider and Sixth Sense. Cider House is the only film no longer discussed but the other tree plus Beauty help to show what the film state was during this time. Green Mile shows the american race experience although through a studio gaze meaning their was so much further the story could've gone but being a big film it was never going to do this. The Insider is Michael Mann (Manhunter aside) at his best. It helped to increase the popularity of Russell Crowe who is sight to behold in this film. Then there's Sixth Sense the biggest culture shock of the year as it showed amrica one of the greatest (debatable) twists in modern american cinema. Cider is your typical run of the mile give this picture awards moving which under the guidance of Miramax never work for me. Insider stands high above the competition as I don't overly like Mile and Sense. So really for quite the impressive cinematic year this lineup I consider terribly disappointing.

So you must wonder why I consider this quite the impressive cinematic year when I find major issues with the choices made by the academy. The fact is that in 99 the academy was willing to embrace some of my favourite films in smaller areas but never in the major areas these films deserved.  My top choice of the year is Anthony Minghella's The Talented Mr. Ripley. So rarely would I use the word beautiful to describe every aspect of a film. Beautiful on the outside clearly as we follow these up and coming actors throughout Italy. Beautiful is thiw thrilling murder mystery that without Mighella would be half the film it is. Minghella was smart to realize that he needed to push father ideas Highsmith was covering secretly and make them clearly like the homoerotic relationship between Tom and Dickie much more allowing his actors to really shine. This film is almost too much for me to talk about because I don't think I've ever seen a film like this where a film departs far from it's source material to even better this material. My runner up is PTA's third feature film  Magnolia. Anderson continues his Robert Altman's inspired style probably even further as he follows these many characters related by their many levels of sadness rather then plot wise. Anderson creates a character study epic with Magnolia that features too many strong individual performances that there's far too many to name. Next on my list is Spike Jonze's Being John Malkovich. Really I should be saying this is a Charlie Kaufman film who was the writer of this picture and like many know Kaufman has such control on these early films that Spike becomes the perfect person to direct this multi layer romantic comedy. Next is Almodóvar's masterpiece All About My Mother. We start the film with an Opening Night (1977) inspired opening where see this actresses life possibly changed by one small accident. Truely an exceptional Spanish film that ranks up there with the best of it's countries own film. My fifth and final choice for picture is Kimberly Peirce's Boys Don't Cry. The film is rightfully praised for it's two actress performances by Sevigny and Hilary. Both are great but with Peirce crating this beautiful picture around them this is a timeless picture that should be remembered for so much more then the Swank win which I would never argue with. So yeah these five and many more films make this exceptional film year.

Too many films to number off as I was alive to live through this year and since have seen just about every important film from this year. Below is my perfered list of winners and nominees.

OUTSTANDING PICTURE:

01. The Talented Mr. Ripley (Produced by William Horberg & Tom Sternberg)

02. Magnolia (Produced by Paul Thomas Anderson, JoAnne Sellar, Dylan Tichenor & Michael De Luca)

03. Being John Malkovich (Produced by Steve Golin, Vincent Landay, Sandy Stern & Michael Stipe)

04. All About My Mother (Produced by Agustín Almodóvar & Michel Ruben)

05. Boys Don't Cry (Produced by Christine Vachon & Eva Kolodner)

06. Eyes Wide Shut

07. Rosetta

08. Topsy-Turvy

09. American Beauty

10. Election

OUTSTANDING DIRECTOR:

Pedro Almodóvar for All About My Mother

Paul Thomas Anderson for Magnolia

Spike Jonze for Being John Malkovich

Stanley Kubrick for Eyes Wide Shut

Anthony Minghella for The Talented Mr. Ripley

OUTSTANDING LEADING ACTOR:

Jim Broadbent as W. S. Gilbert in "TOPSY-TURVY"

Jim Carrey as Andy Kaufmnan/Tony Clifton in "MAN ON THE MOON"

Matt Damon as Tom Ripley in "THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY"

Kevin Spacey as Lester Burnham in "AMERICAN BEAUTY"

Denzel Washington as Rubin Carter in "THE HURRICANE"

OUTSTANDING LEADING ACTRESS:

Émilie Dequenne as Rosetta in "ROSETTA"

Nicole Kidman as Alice Harford in "EYES WIDE SHUT"

Cecilia Roth as Manuella in "ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER"

Hilary Swank as Brandon Teena in "BOYS DON'T CRY"

Reese Witherspoon as Tracy Flick in "ELECTION"

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR:

Philip Seymour Hoffman as Phil Parma in "MAGNOLIA"

Spike Jonze as Conrad Vig in "THREE KINGS"

Jude Law as Dickie Greenleaf in "THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY"

John Malkovich as John Horatio Malkovich in "BEING JOHN MALKOVICH"

Brad Pitt as Tyler Durden in "FIGHT CLUB"

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS:

Cameron Diaz as Lotte Schwartz in "BEING JOHN MALKOVICH"

Antonia San Juan as Agrado in "ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER"

Julianne Moore as Linda Partridge in "MAGNOLIA"

Gwyneth Paltrow as Marge Sherwood in "THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY"

Chloe Sevigny as Lana Tisdel in "BOYS DON'T CRY"

OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:

Pedro Almodóvar for All About My Mother

Alan Ball for American Beauty

Charlie Kaufman for Being John Malkovich

Paul Thomas Anderson for Magnolia

John Ridley and David O.Russell for Three Kings

OUTSTANDING ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:

Screenplay by Paul Schrader; Based on Bringing Out the Dead by Joe Connelly, Brining Out the Dead

Screenplay by Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor; Based on Election by Tom Perrotta, Election

Screenplay by Jim Uhls; Based on Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club

Screenplay by Eric Roth and Michael Mann; Based on "The Man Who Knew Too Much" by Marie Brenner, The Insider

Screenplay by Anthony Minghella; Based on The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith, The Talented Mr. Ripley

OUTSTANDING ART DIRECTION:

Production Design by K.K. Barrett; Set Design by Gene Serdena for Being John Malkovich

Production Design by Anthony Pratt; Set Design by John Bush and Joanne Woollard for The End of the Affair

Production Design by Roy Walker; Set Design by Bruno Cesari for The Talented Mr. Ripley

Production Design by Dante Ferretti; Set Design by Carlo Gervasi for Titus

Production Design by Eve Stewart; Set Design by John Bush and Eve Stewart for Topsy-Turvy

OUTSTANDING BREAKTHROUGH/DEBUT:

Amy Adams (Drop Dead Gorgeous)

Wes Bentley (American Beauty)

Emilie Dequenne (Rosetta)

Jude Law (The Talented Mr. Ripley)

Antonia San Juan (All About My Mother)

OUTSTANDING CINEMATOGRAPHY:

Conrad L. Hall for American Beauty

Lance Acord for Being John Malkovich

Larry Smith for Eyes Wide Shut

Robert Elswitt for Magnolia

John Seale for The Talented Mr. Ripley

OUTSTANDING COSTUME DESIGN:

Casey Storm for Being John Malkovich

Mimi Melgaard for Drop Dead Gorgeous

Sandy Powell for The End of the Affair

Gary Jones and Ann Roth for The Talented Mr. Ripley

Lindy Hemming for Topsy-Turvy

OUTSTANDING ENSEMBLE OF THE YEAR:

All About My Mother (Cecilia Roth, Marisa Paredes, Antonia San Juan, Penélope Cruz, Candela Peña, Rosa Maria Sardà, Fernando Fernán Gómez, Eloy Azorin, Toni Cantó, Sapic)

Being John Malkovich (John Cusack, Cameron Diaz, Catherine Keener, John Malkovich, Orson Bean, Mary Kay Place, Charlie Sheen)

Magnolia (Jeremy Blackman, Tom Cruise, Julianne Moore, Melinda Dillon, Philip Baker Hall, Philip Seymour Hoffman, William H. Macy, John C. Reilly, Felicity Huffman, Jason Robards, April Grace, Michael Murphy, Melora Walters, Michael Bowen, Ricky Jay, Luis Guzmán, Henry Gibson, Danny Wells, Patton Oswalt, Orlando Jones, Neil Flynn, Clark Gregg, Michael Shamus Wiles, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Jim Beaver, Ezra Buzzington, Robert Downey, Sr., William Mapother, Alfred Molina)

The Talented Mr. Ripley (Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law, Cate Blanchett, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jack Davenport, James Rebhorn, Sergio Rubini, Philip Baker Hall, Celia Weston, Ivano Marescotti)

Topsy-Turvy (Jim Broadbent, Ron Cook, Allan Corduner, Eleanor David, Dexter Fletcher, Vincent Franklin, Lesley Manville, Timothy Spall, Martin Savage, Dorothy Atkinson, Louise Gold, Shirley Henderson, Kevin McKidd, Wendy Nottingham, Cathy Sara, Andy Serkis, Naoko Mori, Michael Simkins, Sukie Smith, Ashley Jensen, Mark Benton, Steve Speirs, Sam Kelly, Alison Steadman, Katrin Cartlidge, Brid Brennan)

OUTSTANDING FILM EDITING:

Eric Zumbrunnen for Being John Malkovich

Thelma Schoonmaker for Bringing Out the Dead

Dylan Tichenor for Magnolia

Marthilde Bonnefoy for Run Lola Run

Walter Murch for The Talented Mr. Ripley

OUTSTANDING FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM:

All About My Mother (Directed by Pedro Almodóvar)

Rosetta (Directed by Jean-Pierre Dardenne & Luc Dardenne)

Run Lola Run (Directed by Tom Tykwer)

OUTSTANDING MAKEUP:

Jorge Hernández & Juan Pedro Hernández for All About My Mother

Lynn Barron, Debra L. Ferullo & Gucci Westman for Being John Malkovich

Jean A. Black, Julie Pearce & Margaret Prentice for Fight Club

Kevin Yagher & Peter Owen for Sleepy Hollow

Christine Blundell & Trefor Proud for Topsy-Turvy

OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL SCORE:

Thomas Newman for American Beauty

Carter Burwell for Being John Malkovich

Jocelyn Pook for Eyes Wide Shut

Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimek & Reinhold Heil for Run Lola Run

Gabriel Yared for The Talented Mr. Ripley

OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL SONG:

"Amphibian", Being John Malkovich (Music and Lyric by Björk)

"Save Me", Magnolia (Music and Lyric by Aimee Mann)

"Blame Canada", South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (Music and Lyric by Trey Parker and Marc Shaiman)

"You'll Be in My Heart", Tarzan (Music and Lyric by Phil Collins)

"When She Loved Me", Toy Story 2 (Music and Lyric by Randy Newman)

OUTSTANDING PERFORMER OF THE YEAR:

Philip Baker Hall (The Insider, Magnolia, The Talented Mr. Ripley)

Philip Seymour Hoffman (Flawless, Magnolia, The Talented Mr. Ripley)

Allison Janney (10 Thing I Hate About You, American Beauty, Drop Dead Gorgeous)

Julianne Moore (Cookie's Fortune, The End of the Affair, An Ideal Husband, Magnolia, A Map of the World)

Reese Witherspoon (Best Laid Plans, Cruel Intentions, Election)

OUTSTANDING SOUND EDITING:

Richard Anderson, Elliott Koretz & Marvin Walowitz for Being John Malkovich

Ren Klyce & Richard Hymns for Fight Club

Dane A. Davis for The Matrix

Dirk Jacob, Markus Münz & Kai Storck for Run Lola Run

Blake Leyh & Glenfield Payne for Titus

OUTSTANDING SOUND MIXING:

Harry Cohen, Gerry Lentz, Dana Meeks, Jack Sherdel & Rich Weingart  for The Blair Witch Project

Todd Boekelheide, David Parker & Michael Semanick for Fight Club

John T. Reitz, Gregg Rudloff, David E. Campbell and David Lee for The Matrix

Michael Herbick, Dan Leahy, Robert Litt & Lisa Pinero for Three Kings

Howard Bargroff & Adrian Rhodes for Topsy-Turvy

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS:

Daniel Radford for Being John Malkovich

John Gaeta, Janek Sirrs, Jon Thum & Steve Courtley for The Matrix

John Andrew Berton Jr., Daniel Jeannette, Ben Snow & Chris Corbould for The Mummy

Jim Mitchell, Kevin Yagher, Joss Williams & Paddy Eason for Sleepy Hollow

John Knoll, Dennis Muren, Scott Squires & Rob Coleman for Star Wars, Episode I: The Phantom Menace

Now having done 99 I will travel back 60 years to 1939. Considered by historians one of the greatest film years the year was dominated and still is by Gone With the Wind. The film one so much but there is so much more cinema aside from it that I consider great. We'll see if I agree with the acdemy and go with Wind.

1953 - The year the academy wanted to be Deborah Kerr in the arms of Burt Lancaster on the beach

1953 had only been familar to me in one way. It was when my undying love for Audrey Hepburn began with her great breakthrough (oscar winning) turn in Roman Holiday. RH was the only film I'd seen from 53 prior to this revisit which is why the prospects looked promising going in because there was bound to be a lot of new cinema for me to discover. The academy conservation that year seemed to be dominated by Fred Zinnemann multiple award winning war romance drama From Here to Eternity. My feelings on the film are not what I would've expected as a usual fan of torn romance tales. Something about this felt off and my conclusion is that each of the romances is lacking that something special to make each section of the film as worthwhile as it could've been. I consider the fact that our two central females were miscast from the very beginning and the possibility of the two switching roles more suited to their gifts might've made the entire film work for me. The saving grace of the film however is Montgomery Clift who shines in everything I see him in and this being his peak of everything for me. Just A-Class acting that was sadly looked over because of how effortless his work is. The other nominees for picture that year were Julius Caesar, The Robe, Roman Holiday and Shane. The former two outside of some captivating elements are dated by the time they are made and don't trensend time like the best films should. I am a giant fan of Roman Holiday and find it to be one of the cutest romance films from this decade. Hepburn is winning in the role of the princess and deservedly won her academy award. Shane marks the final film performance by the legend that is Jean Arthur and she's great in it but the film aside from her also is great directed by George Stevens a director who I adore.

While these film nominated are good there are two film which being snubbed is a crime because if you ask most cinephiles these are the two discussed more then any of the academy's choices. The first being my favourite of the year and easily one of the most fun and enjoyable films I've ever seen is Howard Hawks' Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Hawks is a director known for his willingness to direct what he wants and do it to the best of his ability. This film is quintasential Marilyn Monroe and made her the icon she became for the rest of the decade. Monroe and Russell as our central pair of great chemistry that the vision of just women trying to achieve a rich husband through any means necessary one of the cinematic pleasures I seek to relive over and over again. My runner up then is Fritz Lang's The Big Heat. One of the classic crime films of this decade I could take pleasure for all time in watching all these actors in their prime directed by the visually strong director that Lang is. Whether it's Gloria Grahame as the put upon girlfriend of Lee Marvin's Victor Stone both are so iconic in their roles that they make everything in this film rise even higher to greatness. The actors and director clearly went to make the greatest film did that which is why I consider it a worthy runner up to Blondes. The other three films come from the academies lineup with my order running 3. Shane, 4. From Here to Eternity and 5. Roman Holiday. While I have a few quibables with Eternity I can't knock that it is a good film and in a year that I have to admit was probably the weakest in the history of these lineups so far it became difficult for me to nail down a solid 10 films that I see as standing the test of time.

28 was the amount of films I was able to see from 53 and maybe there are some major omssions I'm missing that where released in the states during this year but overall this was the worst lineup of films to consider of any year which is why I guess I don't hold much anger to the academies choice like I would had it been a stronger year. Below is my list of winners and nominees.

OUTSTANDING PICTURE:

1. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Produced by Sol C. Siegel)

2. The Big Heat (Produced by Robert Athur)

3. Shane (Produced by George Stevens)

4. From Here to Eternity (Produced by Buddy Adler)

5. Roman Holiday (Produced by William Wyler)

6. Calamity Jane

7. Stalag 17

8. All I Desire

9. Pickup on South Street

10. Niagara

OUTSTANDING DIRECTOR:

Howard Hawks for Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

Fritz Lang for The Big Heat

George Stevens for Shane

Fred Zinnemann for From Here to Eternity

Billy Wilder for Stalag 17

OUTSTANDING LEADING ACTOR:

Marlon Brando as Johnny Strabler in "THE WILD ONE"

Montgomery Clift as Private Robert E. Lee "Prew" Prewitt in "FROM HERE TO ETERNITY"

Glenn Ford as Det. Sgt. Dave Bannion in "THE BIG HEAT"

Burt Lancaster as First Sergeant Milton Warden in "FROM HERE TO ETERNITY"

James Mason as Brutus in "JULIUS CAESAR"

OUTSTANDING LEADING ACTRESS:

Doris Day as Calamity Jane in "CALAMITY JANE"

Audrey Hepburn as Princess Ann (Anya "Smitty" Smith) in "ROMAN HOLIDAY"

Marilyn Monroe as Lorelei Lee in "GENTLEMAN PREFER BLONDES"

Jane Russell as Dorothy Shaw in "GENTLEMAN PREFER BLONDES"

Barbara Stanwyck as Naomi Murdoch in "ALL I DESIRE"

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR:

Marlon Brando as Mark Anthony in "JULIUS CAESAR"

Jack Buchanan as Jeffrey Cordova in "THE BAND WAGON"

Brandon deWilde as Joey Starrett in "SHANE"

Lee Marvin as Vince Stone in "THE BIG HEAT"

Otto Preminger as Colonel von Scherbach in "STALAG 17"

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS:

Nanette Fabray as Lily Marton in "THE BAND WAGON"

Allyn Ann McLerie as Katie Brown in "CALAMITY JANE"

Jeanette Nolan as Bertha Duncan in "THE BIG HEAT"

Thelma Ritter as Moe in "PICKUP ON SOUTH STREET"

Teresa Wright as Annie Jones in "THE ACTRESS"

OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:

Betty Comden, Adolph Green & Alan Jay Lerner for The Band Wagon

James O'Hanlon for Calamity Jane

Sam Rolfe & Harold Jack Bloom for The Naked Spur

Samuel Fuller & Dwight Taylor for Pickup on South Street

Dalton Trumbo, Ian McLellan Hunter & John Dighton for Roman Holiday

OUTSTANDING ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:

Screenplay by Robert Blees, James Gunn & Gina Kaus Bases on Stopover by Carol Ryrie Brink, All I Desire

Screenplay by Sydney Boehm; Based on the Saturday Evening Post serial by William P. McGivern, The Big Heat

Screenplay by Daniel Taradash; Based on From Here to Eternity by James Jones, From Here to Eternity

Screenplay by Charles Lederer; Based on Gentlemen Prefer Blondes by Anita Loos and Joseph Fields, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

Screenplay by A.B. Guthrie Jr. & Jack Sher; Based on Shane by Jack Schaefer for Shane

OUTSTANDING ART DIRECTION:

Art Direction by Preston Ames & Cedric Gibbons; Set Design by Keogh Gleason & Edwin B. Willis for The Band Wagon

Art Direction by Robert Peterson; Set Design by William Kiernan for The Big Heat

Art Direction by John Beckman; Set Design by G.W. Berntsen for Calamity Jane

Art Direction by Lyle Wheeler & Joseph C. Wright; Set Design by Claude Carpenter for Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

Art Direction by  Edward Carfagno & Cedric Gibbons; Set Design for Hugh Hunt & Edwin B. Willis for Julius Caesar

OUTSTANDING BREAKTHROUGH/DEBUT:

Brandon De Wilde (Shane)

Audrey Hepburn (Roman Holiday)

Lee Marvin (The Big Heat)

Allyn Ann McLerie (Calamity Jane)

Gerladine Page (Hondo)

OUTSTANDING CINEMATOGRAPHY:

Carl Guthrie for All I Desire

Charles Lang for The Big Heat

Burnett Guffey for From Here to Eternity

Harry J. Wild for Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

Loyal Griggs for Shane

OUTSTANDING COSTUME DESIGN:

Rosemary Odell for All I Desire

Mary Ann Nyberg for The Band Wagon

Howard Shoup for Calamity Jane

Travilla for Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

Edith Head for Roman Holiday

OUTSTANDING ENSEMBLE OF THE YEAR:

The Band Wagon (Fred Astaire, Cyd Charisse, Oscar Levant, Nanette Fabray, Jack Buchanan, James Mitchell)

Calamity Jane (Doris Day, Howard Keel, Allyn Ann McLerie, Philip Carey, Dick Wesson, Paul Harvey, Chubby Johnson, Gale Robbins, Francis McDonald, Monte Montague, Bess Flowers)

From Here to Eternity (Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Deborah Kerr, Donna Reed, Frank Sinatra, Philip Ober, Mickey Shaughnessy, Harry Bellaver, Ernest Borgnine, Jack Warden, John Dennis, Merle Travis, Tim Ryan, George Reeves, Claude Akins, Alvin Sargent, Robert J. Wilke, Carleton Young, Arthur Keegan, Barbara Morrison)

Shane (Alan Ladd, Jean Arthur, Van Heflin, Brandon deWilde, Walter Jack Palance, Ben Johnson, Edgar Buchanan, Emile Meyer, Elisha Cook, Jr., Douglas Spencer, John Dierkes, Ellen Corby, Paul McVey, John Miller, Edith Evanson, Leonard Strong, Nancy Kulp)

Stalag 17 (William Holden, Don Taylor, Otto Preminger, Robert Strauss, Harvey Lembeck, Peter Graves, Sig Ruman, Neville Brand, Richard Erdman, Michael Moore, Peter Baldwin, Robinson Stone, Robert Shawley, William Pierson, Gil Stratton, Jay Lawrence, Erwin Kalser, Paul Salata)

OUTSTANDING FILM EDITING:

Charles Nelson for The Big Heat

William Lyon for From Here to Eternity

Hugh S. Fowler for Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

William Hornbeck & Tom McAdoo for Shane

Everett Douglas for The War of the Worlds

OUTSTANDING MAKEUP:

Clay Campbell for The Big Heat

Gordon Bau for Calamity Jane

Clay Campbell for From Here to Eternity

Ben Nye & Allan Snyder for Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

Alberto De Rossi & Wally Westmore for Roman Holiday

OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL/MUSICAL SCORE:

Adolph Deutsch for The Band Wagon

Ray Heindorf for Calamity Jane

George Duning for From Here to Eternity

Lionel Newman for Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

Victor Young for Shane

OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL SONG:

Calamity Jane, "I Can Do Without You" (Music by Sammy Fain; Lyrics by Paul Francis Webster)

Calamity Jane, "Secret Love" (Music by Sammy Fain; Lyrics by Paul Francis Webster)

From Here to Eternity, "Re-Enlistment Blues" (Music and Lyrics by James Jones, Fred Karger, Robert Wells)

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, "Anyone Here for Love?" (Music by Hoagy Carmichael; Lyrics by Harold Adamson)

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, "When Love Goes Wrong" (Music by Hoagy Carmichael; Lyrics by Harold Adamson)

OUTSTANDING PERFORMER OF THE YEAR:

Montgomery Clift (From Here to Eternity, I Confess, Terminal Station)

Lee Marvin (The Big Heat, Gun Fury, The Wild One)

James Mason (Botany Bay, Charade, The Desert Rats, Julius Caesar, The Man Between)

Marilyn Monroe (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, How to Marry a Millionaire, Niagara)

Jean Simmons (The Actress, The Robe, Young Bess)

OUTSTANDING SOUND RECORDING:

Dave Forrest & Stanley Jones for Calamity Jane

Lodge Cunningham for From Here to Eternity

Roger Heman & E. Clayton Ward for Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

Loren L. Ryder for The War of the Worlds

George Cooper for The Wild One

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS:

Calamity Jane

From Here to Eternity

Niagara

Farciot Edouart & Gordon Jennings for Shane

Ivyl Burks, Jan Domela, Gordon Jennings, Wallace Kelley, Paul Lerpae & Irmin Roberts for The War of the Worlds

Now having gone back to my favourite decade I will next travel just over 45 years in the future to 1999 one of the best cinematic years in modern cinema history. The year ended with Sam Mendez' American Beauty seemingly came out of nowhere and won the top prizes at that years academy awards. Did it deserve the praise or was there something better.

2007 - The year of the modern western

2007 the 80th anniversary of the academy awards themselves for me marked a rare change for this long standing academy and the film world in general where the dark and gritty stories where the films being fully embraced by audiences of all kinds. This is especially reflected in the top choices at the 80th academy awards where the race came down to two films so interconnected that they even filmed in close proximity to one another around the same time. Those two film were the Coen Brothers No Country for Old Men and Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood The final choice by the academy was the long overdue Coen brothers and their great film No Country for Old Men. Other films nominated alongside these two for the top picture prize were Atonement, Juno and Michael Clayton. All great films in opinion and completely different ones which is why the fact the race came down to the top two seems so surprising because they are not typical choices for how dark and dreary they are. Of the two I would've gone with There Will Be Blood which also happens to be my favourite film of the entire year outside of the race. The film I feel has reached a level of iconic status for it's epic scale and dynamic leading performance given by Daniel Day-Lewis. Daniel had gone places no actor has gone before this performance but he truly outdid himself with this performance fully committing himself to such a deplorable character like no other actor could. The film is epic for it's grandeous story of a many achieving oil. It also is spectacular for it being a change of pace for PTA from Altman inspired director to John Huston inspired with this joint. I haven't rewatched the film nearly enough times but I know that the film is as great as I believed to be on my first viewing because PTA and DDL are so in sync with one another they make the film as brilliant as it is. 

While I do think the lineup chosen is pretty good there are however some needed changes I would make to it. My runner up for favourite film of the year is John Carney's Once. Carney in the films he has made since Once (Begin Again, Sing Street) has tried to capture the magic he did with Once and really he has been unable to do that with me but that never takes away from the love I have for Once. It's the great modern romance of two people who belong to one another. The music is great and music I know I'll listen to forever. Next in what I feel was overlooked is Todd Haynes spralling semi biopic on the life and music of Bob Dylan. It's quite the experimental film like all Haynes film are where in the most unconventional way Haynes has multiple actors male and female play personas of the Bob Dyland myth. Only Haynes the visual stylist he is could've crafted this inventive biopic and delivered an exceptional film to boot. My fourth favourite film is No Country For Old Men. The Coen Brothers are themselves exceptional talents and I do not mind them winning for this feature because it is itself a great film. It's more western then Blood featuring many of the western tropes and delivering on the promise to craft a visually and aurally exciting feature. While I see three films better then this I have to again mention how I do not protest their wins because they deserved at least one win throughout their career. My fifth choice is Sidney Lumet's final film Before the Devil Knows Your Dead. It's difficult for many film makers to say they departed on a film considered high with the rest of their films. Lumet is a proven rare case because Devil is for me at least in my top 5 favourite of his. Lumet is a director like no other where he can film this ever shifting film of time in equal ways where you respect his control of film as he can blend scenes all together to create griping work. When I look at my top 5 for the year they are very director driven which is the case for what I consider to be great art as film is most commonly known as the director's medium.

I've seen far too many films from 2007 as like most recent years I see just about everything and this isn't as much a revisit as annoucing what I had chosen during my awards back in 2007. Below were the winners and nominees I would've chosen.

OUTSTANDING PICTURE:

01. There Will Be Blood (Produced by Paul Thomas Anderson, Daniel Lupi & JoAnne Sellar)

02. Once (Produced by Martina Niland)

03. I'm Not There (Produced by John Goldwyn, John Sloss, James D. Stern & Christine Vachon)

04. No Country for Old Men (Produced by Ethan Coen, Joel Coen & Scott Rudin)

05. Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (Produced by Paul Parmar, Michael Cerenzie, Brian Linse &  William S. Gilmore)

06. The Wind that Shakes the Barley

07. 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days

08. Zodiac

09. Into the Wild

10. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

OUTSTANDING DIRECTOR:

Paul Thomas Anderson for There Will Be Blood

John Carney for Once

Joel Coen & Ethan Coen for No Country for Old Men

Todd Haynes for I'm Not There

Ken Loach for The Wind that Shakes the Barley

OUTSTANDING LEADING ACTOR:

Daniel Day-Lewis as Daniel Plainview in "THERE WILL BE BLOOD"

Emile Hirsch as Christopher McCandless / Alexander Supertramp in "INTO THE WILD"

Philip Seymour Hoffman as Andy in "BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU'RE DEAD"

Cillian Murphy as Damien O'Donovan in "THE WIND THAT SHAKES THE BARLEY"

Ulrich Muhle as Hauptmann Gerd Wiesler in "THE LIVES OF OTHERS"

OUTSTANDING LEADING ACTRESS:

Amy Adams as Giselle in "ENCHANTED"

Marion Cotillard as Edith Piaf in "LA VIE EN ROSE"

Markéta Irglová as Girl in "ONCE"

Angelina Jolie as Marlane Pearl in "A MIGHTY HEART"

Anamaria Marinca as Otilia in "4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS AND 2 DAYS"

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR:

Javier Bardem as Anton Chigurh in "NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN"

Liam Cunningham as Dan in "THE WIND THAT SHAKES THE BARLEY"

Robert Downey Jr. as Paul Avery in "ZODIAC"

Albert Finney as Charles in "BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU'RE DEAD"

Hal Holbrook as Ron Franz in "INTO THE WILD"

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS:

Cate Blanchett as Jude in "I'M NOT THERE"

Allison Janney as Bren MacGuff in "JUNO"

Saoirse Ronan as Briony Tallis (Aged 13) in "ATONEMENT"

Tilda Swinton as Karen Crowder in "MICHAEL CLAYTON"

Marisa Tomei as Gina in "BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU'RE DEAD"

OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:

Cristian Mungiu for 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days

Kelly Masterson for Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

Todd Hayes & Oren Moverman for I'm Not There

Diablo Cody for Juno

John Carney for Once

OUTSTANDING ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:

Screenplay by Andrew Dominik; Based on The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford by Ron Hanse, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

Screenplay by Sarah Polley; Based on "The Bear Came over the Mountain" by Alice Munro, Away From Her

Screenplay by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen; Based on No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy, No Country for Old Men

Screenplay by Paul Thomas Anderson; Based on Oil! by Upton Sinclair, There Will Be Blood

Screenplay by James Vanderbilt; Based on Zodiac by Robert Graysmith, Zodiac

OUTSTANDING ANIMATED FEATURE FILM:

Meet the Robinsons (Directed by Stephen J. Anderson)

Persepolis (Directed by Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud)

Ratatouille (Directed by Brad Bird)

The Simpsons Movie (Directed by David Silverman)

Surf's Up (Directed by Ash Brannon and Chris Buck)

OUTSTANDING ART DIRECTION:

Production Design by Sarah Greenwood; Set Design by Katie Spencer for Atonement

Production Design by Stuart Craig; Set Design by Stephenie McMillan for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoneix

Production Design by Judy Becker; Set Design by Ann Smart & Louise Tremblay for I'm Not There

Production Design by Jack Fisk; Set Design by Jim Erickson for There Will Be Blood

Production Design by Donald Graham Burt; Set Design by Victor J. Zolfo for Zodiac

OUTSTANDING BREAKTHROUGH/DEBUT:

Padraic Delaney (The Wind That Shakes the Barley)

Ellen Page (Juno)

Sam Riley (Control)

Saoirse Ronan (Atonement)

Emma Stone (Superbad)

OUTSTANDING CINEMATOGRAPHY:

Roger Deakins for The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

Edward Lachman for I'm Not There

Roger Deakins for No Country for Old Men

Robert Elswit for There Will Be Blood

The Wind That Shakes the Barley

OUTSTANDING COSTUME DESIGN:

Albert Wolsky for Across the Universe

Jacqueline Durran for Atonement

Mona May for Enchanted

John A. Dunn for I'm Not There

Marit Allen for La Vie en Rose

OUTSTANDING ENSEMBLE OF THE YEAR:

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Albert Finney, Marisa Tomei, Rosemary Harris, Brian F. O'Byrne, Aleksa Palladino, Michael Shannon, Amy Ryan, Sarah Livingston, Jordan Gelber, Anita Sklar, Josh Mowery, Diane Bradley, Richard K. Lublin)

Hairspray (Nikki Blonsky, John Travolta, Michelle Pfeiffer, James Marsden, Christopher Walken, Amanda Byne, Queen Latifah, Brittany Snow, Zac Efron, Elijah Kelley, Allison Janney, Paul Dooley, Jayne Eastwood, Jerry Stiller, Taylor Parks, George King)

I'm Not There (Marcus Carl Franklin, Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Richard Gere, Heath Ledger, Ben Whishaw, Charlotte Gainsbourg, David Cross, Eugene Brotto, Bruce Greenwood, Julianne Moore, Michelle Williams, Mark Camacho, Benz Antoine, Craig Thomas, Richie Havens, Kim Roberts, Kris Kristofferson, Don Francks, Vito DeFilippo, Paul Spence)

Juno (Ellen Page, Michael Cera, Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman, Allison Janney, J. K. Simmons, Olivia Thirlby, Candice Accola, Rainn Wilson)

No Country for Old Men (Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Kelly Macdonald, Woody Harrelson, Garret Dillahunt, Tess Harper, Barry Corbin, Beth Grant, Stephen Root, Gene Jones, Brandon Smith)

OUTSTANDING FILM EDITING:

Jay Rabinowitz for I'm Not There

Jay Cassidy for Into the Wild

Roderick Jaynes for No Country for Old Men

Dylan Tichenor for There Will Be Blood

Angus Wall for Zodiac

OUTSTANDING FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM:

4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (Directed by Cristian Mungiu)

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Directed byJulian Schnabel)

The Lives of Others (Directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck)

OUTSTANDING MAKEUP:

Jenny Shircore for Elizabeth: The Golden Age

Rick Findlater, Jessica Heeren, Peter Swords King & Colleen Quinton for I'm Not There

Didier Lavergne & Jan Archibald for La Vie en Rose

Peter Owen & Ivana Primorac for Sweeney Todd and the Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Kimberly Ayers, John Blake & Catherine Conrad for There Will Be Blood

OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL SCORE:

Nick Cave & Warren Ellis for The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

Dario Marianelli for Atonement

Glen Hansard & Markéta Irglová for Once

Michael Giacchino for Ratatouille

Jonny Greenwood for There Will Be Blood

OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL SONG:

"So Long", Enchanted (Music by Alan Menken; Lyrics by Stephen Schwartz)

"That's How You Know", Enchanted (Music by Alan Menken; Lyrics by Stephen Schwartz)

"Guaranteed", Into the Wild (Music and Lyrics by Eddie Vedder)

"Falling Slowly", Once (Music and Lyrics by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová)

"The Hill", Once (Music and Lyrics by Markéta Irglová)

OUTSTANDING PERFORMER OF THE YEAR:

Casey Affleck (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford Robert Ford, Gone Baby Gone, Ocean's Thirteen)

Josh Brolin (American Gangster, Grindhouse, In the Valley of Elah, No Country for Old Men)

Philip Seymour Hoffman (Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, Charlie Wilson's War, The Savages)

Ellen Page (Juno, The Stone Angel, The Tracey Fragments)

Susan Sarandon (Emotional Arithmetic, Enchanted, In the Valley of Elah, Mr. Woodcock)

OUTSTANDING SOUND EDITING:

Karen Baker Landers & Per Hallberg for The Bourne Ultimatum

Christopher Barnett, Martín Hernández & Arturo Zarate for Into the Wild

Skip Lievsay for No Country For Old Men

Matthew Wood & Christopher Scarabosio for There Will Be Blood

David C. Hughes,  Richard Hymns, Ren Klyce, Addison Teague & Gwendolyn Yates Whittle for Zodiac

OUTSTANDING SOUND MIXING:

Scott Millan, David Parker & Kirk Francis for The Bourne Ultimatum

Paul Massey, David Giammarco & Jim Stuebe for 3:10 to Yuma

Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff & Peter Kurland for No Country for Old Men

Tom Johnson, Juan Peralta, Christopher Scarabosio & Michael Semanick for There Will Be Blood

Kevin O'Connell, Greg P. Russell & Peter J. Devlin for Transformers

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS:

Chris Watts, Grant Freckelton, Derek Wentworth & Daniel Leduc for 300

Michael Fink, Bill Westenhofer, Ben Morris & Trevor Wood for The Golden Compass

Tim Burke, John Richardson, Emma Norton & Chris Shaw for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoneix

Richard Conway, Kieron Helsdon, Marian Mavrovic & Tom Wood for Sunshine

Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Russell Earl & John Frazier for Transformers

Now having covered a year only 9 years ago I will next return to the 50's. 1953 in fact the year where Fred Zinnemann's From Here to Eternity won. Was this loving romance worthy tune in a week's time and see if I consider it worthy.