Oscar Season

It remains to be seen whether the Oscars will actually happen this year - in their typical format or in some bizarre starless press conference like the Globes - but the nominees are out. Let the handicapping begin!

The big winners:

Cate Blanchett -
She's won before - as Best Supporting Actress for her spot-on Katherine Hepburn impression in The Aviator. This year, she's up for both Best Actress, in Elizabeth: The Golden Age, and for channelling Bob Dylan in his Rock God era in I'm Not There. The Dylan nod was a slam-dunk, but the nomination for the underwhelming Elizabeth sequel shows just how much the Academy loves Cate. It's good to be Queen.

Juno -
It really is this year's Little Miss Sunshine - the quirky indie that gets some serious love from the Academy. With nominations for actress Ellen Page, director Jason Reitman, screenplay for Diablo Cody and, oh, by the way, best picture, Juno seems to have charmed its way into some serious categories. Go Canada!


Then there were the shoo-ins - Day-Lewis, Clooney, Javier Bardem, Philip Seymour Hoffman - in the men's categories, Hollywood's heavy hitters were all present and accounted for.

The snubs:

This what we really care about, right? Who was left out?

Atonement -
Sure, it got a bunch of nominations, including best picture, but nothing for stars Kiera Knightley or James McAvoy. Could Hollywood be getting weary of that perpetually sour look on Kiera's face, too?

Angelina Jolie -
No nomination for her Oscar-bait role as Marianne Pearl in A Mighty Heart. At least she has Brad and those dozen or so kids of theirs to comfort her.

Into the Wild -
Hmmm, maybe whining about how much you hate Awards season won't actually help your film very much, eh Sean Penn? Hmmm.