The 2008 Academy Awards, also known as the Oscars, aired tonight, Sunday, February 24, 2008, on ABC. The night began with a half-hour Red Carpet special, in which King Philbin welcomed the stars as they arrived at the Kodak Theater for the show.
The show began with an animated slot of actors and movies featuring icons of the past and present, such as Mary Poppins in flight. London under his umbrella, and Arnold Schwarzenegger was carrying the Oscars in a UPS truck.
Jon Stewart hosted the Oscars, and opened with a monologue featuring political jokes, the famous Oscar theme, which had the audience laughing. The writer’s hit was recorded, of course.
This was the 80th Academy Awards show, and many special lines from the Oscars were shown in the eighties. George Clooney presented Oscar moments eighty years ago, showing clips from past award-winning moments. All 79 previous Best Picture winners are shown. As each moment arrives, clips of previous Oscars from that category are shown. Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones remembered their other Oscar-winning moments with each other. The clip also showed Stephen Spielberg’s winning moment for director “Schindler’s List”
Some of the evening’s special features included presenting a group of soldiers in Afghanistan named and the winner of the best documentary; a memorial for those in the film industry who died last year, including Heath Ledger; and the presentation of an Honorary Oscar to Art Director Robert Boyle.
These are the 2008 Oscar categories and nominees on the official Oscar website, http://oscars.com/nominations:
Through the performance of the actor in the main role
George Clooney in “Michael Clayton” (Warner Bros.)
Daniel Day-Lewis in “There Will Be Blood” (Paramount Vantage and Miramax)
Johnny Depp in “Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” (DreamWorks and Warner Bros., distributed by DreamWorks/Paramount)
Tommy Lee Jones in “In the Valley of Ela” (Warner Independent)
Viggo Mortensen in “Eastern Promises” (Focus Features)
And the winner is Daniel Day Lewis.
An actor in a supporting role
Casey Affleck in “The Assassination of Jesse James by the timid Robert Ford” (Warner Bros.)
Javier Bardem in “No Old Country Men” (Miramax and Paramount Vantage)
Philip Seymour Hoffman in “Charles Wilson’s War”.
Hal Holbrook in “Into the Wild” (Paramount Vantage and River Road Entertainment)
Tom Wilkinson in “Michael Clayton” (Warner Bros.)
And the winner is Javier Bardem.
By the main actress
Cate Blanchett in “Elizabeth: The Golden Age” (Universal)
Julie Christie in “From Her” (Lionsgate)
Marion Cotillard in “La Vie en Rose” (Picturehouse)
Laura Linney in “Savagos” (Fox Searchlight)
Ellen Page in “Juno” (Mandate Pictures/Mr. Mudd Productions)
Victor and Marion Cotillard.
Through the supporting role of the actress Euismod
Cate Blanchett in “I’m Not There” (The Weinstein Company)
Ruby Dee in “American Gangster” (Universal)
Saoirse Ronan in “Atonement” (Focus Features)
Amy Ryan in “Gone Baby Gone” (Miramax)
Tilda Swinton in “Michael Clayton” (Warner Bros.)
And the winner is Tilda Swinton.
Best animated feature film of the year
“Persepolis” (Sony Pictures Classics): Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud
“Ratatouille” (Walt Disney): Brad Bird
“The Surf’s Up” (Sony Pictures Release): Ash Brannon and Chris Buck
And the winner is… “Ratatouille.”
Acceptance in art direction
“American Gangster” (Universal): Art Direction: Arthur Max; Decoration: Beth A. Rubino
“Atonement” (Focus features): Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
“The Golden Compass” (New Line in association with Creative Film Partners): Art Direction: Dennis Gassner; Decoration: Anna Pinnock
“Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” (DreamWorks and Warner Bros., by DreamWorks/Paramount): Art Direction: Dante Ferretti; Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo
“There Will Be Blood” (Paramount Vantage and Miramax): Art Direction: Jack Fisk; Set Decoration: Jim Erickson
And the winner is… “Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.”
Act in cinematography
“The Assassination of Jesse James Coward Robert Ford” (Warner Bros.): Roger Deakins.
“Placing” (Focus features): Seamus McGarvey
“The War Tribe and the Butterfly” (Miramax/Pathé Renn): Janusz Kaminski
“No Country for the Old” (Miramax and Paramount Vantage): Roger Deakins
“There Will Be Blood” (Paramount Vantage and Miramax): Robert Elswit
And the winner… “There will be blood.”
Act in costume design
“Across the Universe” (Sony Pictures Releases) Albert Wolsky
“Filing” (Focus features) Jacqueline Durran
“Elizabeth: The Golden Age” (Universal) Alexandra Byrne
“La Vie en Rose” (Picturehouse) Marit Allen
“Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” (DreamWorks and Warner Bros., distributed by DreamWorks/Paramount) Colleen Atwood
And Elizabeth’s winner: Gold.
Adaptation to direct
“The War Tribe and the Butterfly” (Miramax/Pathé Renn), Julian Schnabel
“Juno” (Mandate Pictures/Mr. Mudd Production), Jason Reitman
“Michael Clayton” (Warner Bros.), Tony Gilroy
“No Country for Old Men” (Miramax and Paramount Vantage), Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
“There Will Be Blood” (Paramount Vantage and Miramax), Paul Thomas Anderson
And he is a winner.
The best feature of literature
“No End in Sight” (Magnolia Pictures) Production representative photos: Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs
“Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience” (The Documentary Group) A Documentary Group Production: Richard E. Robbins
Sicko” (L O’Hara
“Taxi to Darkness” (THINKFilm) An X-Ray Production: Alex Gibney and Eva Orner
“War/Dance” (THINKFilm) Shine Global and Fine Films Production: Andrea Nix Fine and Sean Fine
And the winner is… “Taxi to Darkness.”
The best of the short documentary
“Freeheld” Legacy Films Production: Cynthia Wade and Vanessa Roth
“La Corona (The Crown)” Films and Vega Films production: Amanda Micheli and Isabella Vega
“Salim Baba” by Ropa Vieja Films and Paradox Smoke Production: Tim Sternberg and Francis Bello
“Sari’s Mother” (Cinema Guild) Right Factory Production: James Longley
And he is a winner.
Acting in the film editing
“The Burne Ultimatum” (Universal): Christopher Rouse
“The Bell and the Butterfly Tribe” (Miramax/Pathé Renn): Juliette Welfling
“Into the Wild” (Parmount Vantage and River Road Entertainment): Jay Cassidy
“No Country for Old Men” (Miramax and Paramount Vantage) Roderick Jaynes
“There Will Be Blood” (Paramount Vantage and Miramax): Dylan Tichenor
And the winner is… “The Burne Ultimatum.”
Best foreign language movie of the year
“Baufort” Israel
The “factors” of Austria
“Katyn” Poland
“Mongol” Kazakhstan
“12” Russia
And he is a winner.
Act on the website
“La Vie en Rose” Didier Lavergne and Jan Archibald
Norbit” (DreamWorks, distributed by Paramount): Rick Baker and Kazuhiro Tsuji
“Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” (Walt Disney): Ve Neill and Martin Samuel.
And the winner is … “La Vie en Rose.”
Act in music written for motion pictures (Original score
“Limatio” (Focus features) Dario Marianelli
“Mivus Cursor” (DreamWorks, Sidney Kimmel Entertainment and Participant productions, Distributed by Paramount Classics): Albertus Iglesias
“Michael Clayton” (Warner Bros.) James Newton Howard
“Ratatouille” (Walt Disney) Michael Giacchino
“3:10 to Yuma” (Lionsgate) Marco Beltrami
And the winner is… Atonement.
Act in music written for motion pictures (Original song>).
“Falling Slowly” from “Once Upon a Time” (Fox Searchlight) Music and Lyric by Glen Hansard and: Marketa Irglova
“Happy Working Song” from “Cantata” (Walt Disney): Music by Alan Menken; Lyric by Stephen Schwartz
“Wake Up” from “August Rush” (Warner Bros.): Music and Lyrics by Jamal Joseph, Charles Mack and Thomas Tevin.
“So Close” from “Enchanted” (Walt Disney): Music by Alan Menken; Lyric by Stephen Schwartz
“To Know” from “Enchanted” (Walt Disney): Music by Alan Menken; Lyric by Stephen Schwartz
And he is a winner.
The best motion picture of the year
“Atonement” (Focus Features) Working Title Production: Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner and Paul Webster, Executives
“Juno” (Mandate Pictures/Mr. Mudd Production) Mandate Pictures/Mr. Mudd Production: Lianne Halfon, Mason Novick and Russell Smith, Producers
“Michael Clayton” (Warner Bros.) Clayton Productions, LLC Production: Sydney Pollack, Jennifer Fox and Kerry Orent, Producers
“No Country for Old Men” (Miramax and Paramount Vantage) By Scott Rudin/Mike Zoss Production: Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, Producers
“There Will Be Blood” (Paramount Vantage and Miramax) A JoAnne Sellar/Ghoulard Film Company Production: JoAnne Sellar, Paul Thomas Anderson and Daniel Lupi, Producers
And he is a winner.
Best Animated Short Film
“I Met the Walrus” A Kids & Explosions Production: Josh Raskin
“Madame Tutli-Putli” (National film Board of Canada) A National film Board of Canada Production Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski
“Meme les Pigeons Vont au Paradis (Feathers Even Go to Heaven)” (Premium Films) A BUF Compagnie Production Samuel Tourneux and Simon Vanesse
“My Love (Moya Lyubov)” (Channel One Russia) Studio A Dago-Film, Channel One Russia and Dentsu Tec Production Alexander Petrov
“Peter & the Wolf” (BreakThru Films) A BreakThru Films/Se-ma-pro Studios production by Suzie Templeton and Hugh Welchman
And the winner is Peter and the Wolf.
Best Liveaction short film
“In Nocte” A Zentropa Entertainments 10 Production: Christian E. Christiansen and Ludovica Vesth.
“Il Supplente (The Substitute)” (Sky Cinema Italia) A Frame by Frame Italia Production: Andrea Jublin
“Le Mozart des Pickpockets (Mozart of Pickpockets)” (Premium Films) A Karé Production: Philippe Pollet-Villard
“Tanghi Argentini” (Premium Films) Another concept of the production: Guido Thys and Anja Daelemans
“The Dumb Woman” By Knucklehead, Little Mo and Rose Hackney Barber Production: Daniel Barber and Matthew Brown
And the winner is… “Le Mozart des Pickpockets (The Mozart of Pickpockets).”
Acceptance in healthy improvement
“The Burne Ultimatum” (Universal): Karen Baker Landers and Per Hallberg
“No Country for Old Men” (Miramax and Paramount Vantage): Skip Lievsay
“Ratatouille” (Walt Disney): Randy Thom and Michael Silvers
“There Will Be Blood” (Paramount Vantage and Miramax): Christopher Scarabosio and Matthew Wood
“Transformers” (DreamWorks and Reign in association with Hasbro): Ethan Van der Ryn and Mike Hopkins
And the winner is… “The Burne Ultimatum.”
Acceptance in sound mixing
“The Burne Ultimatum” (Universal) Scott Millan, David Parker and Kirk Francis
“No Country for Old Men” (Miramax and Paramount Vantage): Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff and Peter Kurland
“Ratatouille” (Walt Disney): Randy Thom, Michael Semanick and Doc Kane
“3:10 to Yuma” (Lionsgate): Paul Massey, David Giammarco and Jim Stuebe.
“Transformers” (DreamWorks and Paramount in association with Hasbro): Kevin O’Connell, Greg P. Russell and Peter J. Devlin
And the winner is… “The Burne Ultimatum.”
Adaptation in visual effects
“Golden Compass” (New Line in association with Creative Film Partners): Michael Fink, Bill Westenhofer, Ben Morris and Trevor Wood
“Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” (Walt Disney): John Knoll, Hal Hickel, Charles Gibson and John Frazier
“Transformers” (DreamWorks and Paramount in association with Hasbro): Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Russell Earls and John Frazier.
And he is a winner.
Appropriate screenplay
“Placatio” (Focus features), Screenplay by Christopher Hampton
“From Her” (Lionsgate), Written by Sarah Polley
“The War Tribe and the Butterfly” (Miramax/Pathé Renn), Screenplay by Ronald Harwood
“No Country for Old Men” (Miramax and Paramount Vantage), screenplay by Joel Coen & Ethan Cohen
“There Will Be Blood” (Paramount Vantage and Miramax), Screenplay by Paul Thomas Anderson
And he is a winner.
Original screenplay
“Juno” (Mandate Pictures/Mr. Mudd Production), Written by Diablo Cody
“Lars and the Real Girl” (MGM), Written by Nancy Oliver
“Michael Clayton” (Warner Bros.), written by Tony Gilroy
“Ratatouille” (Walt Disney), Screenplay by Brad Bird; Story by Jan Pinkava, Jim Capobianco, Brad Bird
“Savage” (Fox Searchlight), written by Tamara Jenkins
and he is victorious. “Juno.”
The 2008 Oscars produced some wonderful moments, got a lot of laughs and some surprises. Perhaps the biggest surprise of all was that only twenty minutes of overtime ran.
