ACADEMY AWARDS 2008 - they messed up the Best Foreign Language nominations as badly as Bernanke is fucking up US monetary policy

The Oscar noms are out. Glad to see ATONEMENT and SWEENEY TODD kicked back a notch, but will someone please explain to me why anyone playing Queen Elizabeth I gets an automatic nod? Shame not to see Josh Brolin get a nod for NO COUNTRY and CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR not get a screenplay nod. On the upside, it's great to see some love for SURF'S UP. On the whole, no really glaring errors until we get to the Foreign Language Oscar. The flawed DIE FAELSHER gets nominated but not 4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS, 2 DAYS?! The voters need to beaten in the stomach with heavy branches so that they piss blood for the appropriate period for that one. For what it's worth (hardly the candle) you can see my picks here.

Best Motion Picture: Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Paul Webster, ATONEMENT; Sydney Pollack, Jennifer Fox, Kerry Orent, MICHAEL CLAYTON; Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, Scott Rudin, NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN; Paul Thomas Anderson, Daniel Lupi, JoAnne Sellar, THERE WILL BE BLOOD; Lianne Halfon, Mason Novick, Russell Smith, JUNO.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture: Daniel Day-Lewis, THERE WILL BE BLOOD; George Clooney, MICHAEL CLAYTON; Viggo Mortensen, EASTERN PROMISES; Tommy Lee Jones, IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH; Johnny Depp, SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama: Julie Christie, AWAY FROM HER; Cate Blanchett, ELIZABETH: THE GOLDEN AGE; Marion Cotillard, LA MOME; Laura Linney, THE SAVAGES; Ellen Page, JUNO.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture: Javier Bardem, NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN; Casey Affleck, THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD; Philip Seymour Hoffman, CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR; Hal Holbrook, INTO THE WILD; Tom Wilkinson, MICHAEL CLAYTON.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture: Cate Blanchett, I'M NOT THERE; Ruby Dee, AMERICAN GANGSTER; Saoirse Ronan, ATONEMENT; Amy Ryan, GONE BABY GONE; Tilda Swinton, MICHAEL CLAYTON.

Best Director - Motion Picture: Julian Schnabel, THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY; Paul Thomas Anderson, THERE WILL BE BLOOD; Joel and Ethan Coen, NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN; Jason Reitman, JUNO; Tony Gilroy, MICHAEL CLAYTON.

Best Original Screenplay: Brad Bird, Jan Pinkava, Jim Capobianco, RATATOUILLE; Tamara Jenkins, THE SAVAGES; Tony Gilroy, MICHAEL CLAYTON; Nancy Oliver, LARS AND THE REAL GIRL; Diablo Cody, JUNO.

Best Adapted Screenplay: Joel and Ethan Coen, NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN; Christopher Hampton, ATONEMENT; Sarah Polley, AWAY FROM HER; Ronald Harwood, THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY; Paul Thomas Anderson, THERE WILL BE BLOOD.

Best Cinematography: Roger Deakins, NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN; Christopher Hampton, ATONEMENT; Seamus McGarvey, ATONEMENT; Roger Deakins, THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD; Janusz Kaminski, THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY; Robert Elswitt, THERE WILL BE BLOOD.

Best Animated Film: RATATOUILLE; SURF'S UP; THE SIMPSONS MOVIE, PERSEPOLIS.