Mr. Sandler WILL win for Reign Over Me.

Music & Lyrics' Way Back Into Love better be nominated for Best Original Song.

Is this a joke? If he plays extremely well in it, think about Carrey, Murphy. Sandler will never win an Oscar.

You just watch.

Also... It's not as if Sandler has never done serious movies before.

He has a running list of them. Carrey and Murphy didn't really... well, I can't remember most of Murphy's movies.

Only to be moved back to October.

I've been working on some rough early predictions. His Dark Materials - potential contender to rebuild bridges between the public and the Academy?

And not to jinx it for Loyal's sake, but I'm currently predicting There Will Be Blood for Picture, Director, Actor and Screenplay. Need to work on techs still.

I have There Will Be Blood going the way of Boogie Nights and Magnolia: An acting nom or two and a screenplay... maybe one for song or something else random like that. PTA and best picture/director nomination would surprise me, I think it may happen sometime, but so far his movies have been the type that have no chance. Maybe he'll break out here though.

Unlike his past films, this one actually sounds a lot more accessible than his past films, which were about the porn industry, a three-hour modern epic about nothing, and a quirky romance starring Adam Sandler. Here it's a period piece about a Texan oil mogul. I'm sure it'll have the PTA touch, but I don't think it'll warp the film itself enough to alienate voters. Also, when it's good enough to get Day-Lewis to work (This will be only his eighth film since winning for My Left Foot 17 years ago), it's gotta be good.

I think it's good for at least Actor and Screenplay. BTW, was it comfirmed that this photo was fake? Just wondering.

For those that are trying to do year in advance predictions or want want to get an idea of what to expect, Kris Tapley made this master list of just about every possible contender short of Eddie Murphy in Norbit:

http://incontention.com/predictions/con ... ories.html

Lions for Lambs and Charlie Wilson's War are currently the contenders with the highest pedigree.

Though now that Arkin won an Oscar, Rendition's status is even more increased with it starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Arkin, Witherspoon and Streep.

YAY!!!!!

The Assassination of Jesse James might actually be really great http://www.aintitcool.com/node/31722

07' looks like a fantastic year all around

Please god, let Sweeney Todd be good enough for Burton to get his first Oscar.

isn't australia coming out in '08?

I'll start with daring predictions and say Ai Win Li and Julie Christie will be nominated for best lead actress and Sarah Polley for best director.

AMEN!!!

I'm so pissed, I was gonna see that movie tonight, only a one shot thing in my town... But I have a school band concert. Ergh. I think I might have a 30% chance of scraping my butt to the movie theatre in time though, depends on whether I have to clean things up after the performance.

Did you see it?

I will have to wait til May (I assume you mean "Away from Her") but it received great reviews at Sundance. At to that Sarah Polley and it's one of my most anticipated films in 07. I definitely think Christie is in..not sure about Polley. She's young. And female.

I'd also list Olympia Dukakis as a contender for best supporting actress, but just that...a contender at this point. Unlike Christie who I tihnk has an excellent shot, and maybe even a chance to win.

Musical??? Pass

Sweeney Todd is so going to bomb. I fail to see how it's going to get any passionate fans outside of Burton nuts?

I think it'll be big with the techs though.

Au contraire, mon enemie. I think it has the potential to fit Burton's sensibilities perfectly and still woo the Oscar crowd. He's already big on the production values, he's shown he can do musical numbers with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and, barring a Dreamgirls style cock-block, it should be almost guaranteed an Oscar-nom.

I doubt it'll win, but its the best chance he's had in years. I.e., ever.

I doubt it makes the cut for best picture, but Evening could get some acting nominations. The cast includes Vanessa Redgrave, Meryl Streep, Toni Collette, Glenn Close, and Claire Danes. I could see Redgrave getting nominated, esp. since she fits the 'older British actress' slot that Jud Dench always occupies.

I just had to post this and the highlighted sentence made me chuckle considering Whitaker's win.

Has anyone actually seen pictures of Leto?

It's disgusting, lol.

Judi Dench doesn't have anything coming out this year, does she? Looks like she won't get nominated again

I think at least someone from Reservation Road will get nominated. I mean Hotel Rwanda was well-praised and I still believe that it just barely missed out on a BP nom. Starring Joaquin Phoenix (two noms), Jennifer Connelly (1 win) and Mira Sorvino (1 win), I don't see the Academy passing over all members of the cast if the film is somewhat solid.

Looks like Australia won't hit the theatres this year, so we can forget that one.

American Gangster will get some noms, I am sure. I mean, let's look past A Good Year and face the fact FOUR of Russell Crowe's films were nominated for BEST PICTURE and that Denzel Washington is quite a "hot commodity" as well...

Also, this project comes to my mind...

http://imdb.com/title/tt0974554/

Elegy: Dying Animal

The plot sounds promising and Kingsley/Cruz/Clarkson are well-acclaimed. Acting noms could result.

I think Joaquin Phoenix is as a lock as we can get for a nomination at this point of the season. He should be considered the front-runner to win as well, but this year's actor lineup is going to be loaded, with Daniel Day-Lewis, Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington, George Clooney, Johnny Depp, Jack Nicholson, Benicio Del Toro all having some baity roles.

Did Reservation Road play at Sundance or something? I don't really consider him quite the lock that he was for WTL considering the role of Johnny Cash is hard to miss out on and all, and I think there may be some people like me who feel he was given a nomination in a stacked year over Crowe and Hopkins that he probably shouldn't have gotten, but think if George delivers he'll probably get in there yeah. Jennifer Connelly had a good enough year in 06 to probably get herself some attention if she delivers too.

Considering Terry George had made all of 1 major movie in Rwanda, I'm not completley sold on him coming up with another Oscar worthy film automatically, he hasn't proven himself quite yet.