Another year, another countdown

And so the big day looms. Oscar nominations will be announced Tuesday morning, shrouded in doubt and uncertainty over the fate of the big show itself. This, however, has not hindered fans and fanatics form making their predictions in an especially heated, perhaps even frenzied, cycle of debates. I'd chalk this up to the number of really good movies released in 2007 which has resulted in an Oscar derby in which some genuine contenders will sadly be left in the dust.

I'll wait and make my own (traditionally misguided) predictions on Monday night. However, I'll go ahead and put my money on three nominees for the big prize: No Country for Old Men, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly and even There Will Be Blood (although it's chances, I am told, despite its passionate support in some circles, might be tad wobbly depending on how it ranks in the final balloting...)

Now here's an interesting tidbit: every year since the Hollywood Foreign Press began doling out their globes, the winner of Best Drama and/or Best Picture has gone on to earn a Best Picture nomination from the Academy. There is only one exception in more than sixty years: waaaay back in '55 neither of the Globes' winners, East of Eden and Guys and Dolls made it to the Oscars' final five. With this in mind, it would seem to me that Sweeney Todd and Atonement, both just annointed by the HFPA, are still in the running for a Best Picture nomination, with the latter perhaps having the better shot. I'm not saying it's guaranteed, but I think its chances are still pretty good.

Finally, one last hurrah to Ben Foster and Peter Fonda whose names, alas, will more than likely not be heard come Tuesday morning.