A (brief) word on the Oscars, and my list of The Best Films of the Year

Well folks, it's that time of year again...

First off, it would be great to see There Will Be Blood win Best Picture, but it looks like No Country for Old Men is a lock in that category. It was sort of strange to see Juno nominated for so many things, but I liked the movie, so it was a welcome surprise. All in all, there were so many great movies this year that no matter who takes home the awards, they're basically deserved.
The nominations were pretty much what we expected to see, but there were a few surprises:

• NOTHING for Zodiac! Damn, that sucks. I was worried that the Academy would forget about it (it was released in March) and that's exactly what happened. So, since that's probably what I would've liked to see take Best Pic, I'll root for Blood instead.
• Lars and the Real Girl nominated for Best Screenplay! Wow, I was really surprised. I thought it would be a little too "out there" for the voters. That's awesome.
• Only ONE song nominated from Once? And THREE from Enchanted? WTF?
• Into the Wild's score being declared inelegible because it's "too song-based" - and then it doesn't get a song nomination. That's just stupid.
• Best Supporting Actor nomination for Casey Affleck! That's nice to see. He was excellent in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, so it's well deserved.
• Only ONE nomination for Gone Baby Gone (Supporting Actress)
• Ruby Dee nominated for Supporting Actress (American Gangster). This just came out of nowhere. This definitely reeks of trying to honor her for a lifetime of work, instead of the performance.
• A Best DIRECTOR nomination for Paul Thomas Anderson! Wow, I'm surprised. He usually only gets one for screenplay (which he also got a nod for).
• It's great to see Cate Blanchett nominated for I'm Not There, even if the movie didn't get anything else.

So, regardless of everything else, let's just hope PTA finally wins for something. This year he has two chances (director and screenplay). Fingers crossed...

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The Best Films of the Year 2007 (in order):

This is a mostly-complete list... there's about 4 major films I have yet to see, but that's about it.

1. Zodiac
2. Margot at the Wedding
3. Once
4. The Darjeeling Limited
5. I'm Not There
6. Lars and the Real Girl
7. Juno
8. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
9. There Will Be Blood
10. Gone Baby Gone
11. Wristcutters: A Love Story
12. Cassandra's Dream
13. Into the Wild
14. Rescue Dawn
15. Waitress
16. Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
17. Superbad
18. 2 Days in Paris
19. No Country for Old Men
20. Knocked Up
21. The TV Set
22. Sicko
23. My Best Friend
24. I'm Reed Fish
25. The Mist
26. Eastern Promises
27. In the Shadow of the Moon
28. We Own the Night
29. The Lookout
30. The Bucket List
31. 28 Weeks Later...
32. Charlie Wilson's War
33. Hot Fuzz