This is the fourth of the Oscar Best Picture nominees I watched. Compared to the other three, this movie is the one where I come out feeling that Oscar is written all over it. This is the one with the elegant epic feel, reminiscent of past Oscar winner "The English Patient".

This is where cinematography (by Seamus Mc Garvey) is a key star element. All the scenes were meticulously composed shot like a special painting on a moving canvas. So many breathtaking and sweeping landscapes. Even the scenes depicting the horrors of war were imbued with artistic insight. So many vivid portraits as well with penetrating pain and anguish.

This is where the musical score (by Dario Marianelli) harks back to bygone grandiosity, like many past Oscar winners. Yet the tension in the music is uniquely heightened by the sound of typewriters typing. This ties in neatly with the story as the central character is a writer.

The story begins with Briony Tallis (an Oscar nominated Saoirse Ronan), a fanciful 13 year old girl who loves to write. She had just read a lustfully-worded love letter by the son of their household help Robbie (James McAvoy) to her sister Cee (Keira Knightley) and actually caught them in a compromising situation in the library. That night, as an assault is perpetrated on a guest in their opulent household. Briony accuses Robbie as the culprit and thus he is brought to jail. This part of the movie felt like "Gosford Park."

The second part of the movie traces how the love story of Cee and Robbie progressed through the war years four years after the arrest. Robbie was released from jail when he decided to join the army. Cee becomes a nurse. However, Robbie gets sent to France and they continue to communicate their love through letters. This part of the movie felt like "Cold Mountain" and "A Very Long Engagement."

I felt the third and last part of this story is the one that gives it its defining characteristic and twist. The story goes back to Briony, now 18 (Romola Garai). She is now fully cognizant of her erroneous accusation and its tragic effects. She gives up her slot at Cambridge and becomes a nurse as well. She seeks out Robbie and her sister in order to atone for her past sins. And just when you thought it is all over, Briony comes back again, this time in the present (Vanessa Redgrave) in an epilogue with more.

I am not surprised that this film had already won the Golden Globe and the British Academy Awards for Best Picture. I feel that its chance for the Oscar for Best Picture may be compromised by the fact that its Director Joe Wright was not nominated. I am not surprised why its lead stars McAvoy and Knightley were not nominated. While they maybe the bigger stars, in the story, they play support to the main story of the Briony character. While this film had its flaws, particularly its derivative feel in a greater part of the story as I have already indicated. But so far in its totality, among all the nominees I have watched, this is my favored one for Best Picture of 2008.

Best motion picture of the year
"Atonement" (Focus Features)
A Working Title Production
Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner and Paul Webster, Producers
"Juno" (Fox Searchlight)
A Dancing Elk Pictures, LLC Production
Lianne Halfon, Mason Novick and Russell Smith, Producers
"Michael Clayton" (Warner Bros.)
A Clayton Productions, LLC Production
Sydney Pollack, Jennifer Fox and Kerry Orent, Producers
"No Country for Old Men" (Miramax and Paramount Vantage)
A Scott Rudin/Mike Zoss Production
Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, Producers
"There Will Be Blood" (Paramount Vantage and Miramax)
A JoAnne Sellar/Ghoulardi Film Company Production
JoAnne Sellar, Paul Thomas Anderson and Daniel Lupi, Producers

Performance by an actor in a leading 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 Elah" (Warner Independent)
Viggo Mortensen in "Eastern Promises" (Focus Features)

Performance by an actress in a leading role
Cate Blanchett in "Elizabeth: The Golden Age" (Universal)
Julie Christie in "Away from Her" (Lionsgate)
Marion Cotillard in "La Vie en Rose" (Picturehouse)
Laura Linney in "The Savages" (Fox Searchlight)
Ellen Page in "Juno" (Fox Searchlight)

Performance by an actor in a supporting role
Casey Affleck in "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" (Warner Bros.)
Javier Bardem in "No Country for Old Men" (Miramax and Paramount Vantage)
Philip Seymour Hoffman in "Charlie Wilson's War" (Universal)
Hal Holbrook in "Into the Wild" (Paramount Vantage and River Road Entertainment)
Tom Wilkinson in "Michael Clayton" (Warner Bros.)

Performance by an actress in a supporting role
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.)

Achievement in directing
"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" (Miramax/Pathé Renn) Julian Schnabel
"Juno" (Fox Searchlight) 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

Best foreign language film of the year
"Beaufort" (Israel)
"The Counterfeiters"  (Austria)
"Katyn" (Poland)
"Mongol" (Kazakhstan)
"12" (Russia)

Best animated feature film of the year
"Persepolis" (Sony Pictures Classics) Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud
"Ratatouille" (Walt Disney) Brad Bird
"Surf's Up" (Sony Pictures Releasing) Ash Brannon and Chris Buck

Adapted screenplay
"Atonement" (Focus Features) Screenplay by Christopher Hampton
"Away from Her" (Lionsgate) Written by Sarah Polley
"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" (Miramax/Pathé Renn) Screenplay by Ronald Harwood
"No Country for Old Men" (Miramax and Paramount Vantage) Written for the screen by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
"There Will Be Blood" (Paramount Vantage and Miramax) Written for the screen by Paul Thomas Anderson

Original screenplay
"Juno" (Fox Searchlight) 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
"The Savages" (Fox Searchlight) Written by Tamara Jenkins

Achievement in sound editing
"The Bourne 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)
Matthew Wood
"Transformers" (DreamWorks and Paramount in association with Hasbro)
Ethan Van der Ryn and Mike Hopkins

Achievement in sound mixing
"The Bourne 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

Achievement in visual effects
"The Golden Compass" (New Line in association with Ingenious 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 Earl and John Frazier

Achievement in film editing
"The Bourne Ultimatum" (Universal) Christopher Rouse
"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" (Miramax/Pathé Renn) Juliette Welfling
"Into the Wild" (Paramount 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

Achievement in art direction
"American Gangster" (Universal)
Art Direction: Arthur Max, Set Decoration: Beth A. Rubino
"Atonement" (Focus Features)
Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood, Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
"The Golden Compass" (New Line in association with Ingenious Film Partners)
Art Direction: Dennis Gassner, Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock
"Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" (DreamWorks and
Warner Bros., Distributed by DreamWorks/Paramount)
Art Direction: Dante Ferretti, Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo
"There Will Be Blood" (Paramount Vantage and Miramax)
Art Direction: Jack Fisk, Set Decoration: Jim Erickson

Achievement in cinematography
"The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" (Warner Bros.) Roger Deakins
"Atonement" (Focus Features) Seamus McGarvey
"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" (Miramax/Pathé Renn) Janusz Kaminski
"No Country for Old Men" (Miramax and Paramount Vantage) Roger Deakins
"There Will Be Blood" (Paramount Vantage and Miramax) Robert Elswit

Achievement in costume design
"Across the Universe" (Sony Pictures Releasing) Albert Wolsky
"Atonement" (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

 Achievement in makeup
"La Vie en Rose" (Picturehouse) 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

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)
"Atonement" (Focus Features) Dario Marianelli
"The Kite Runner" (DreamWorks, Sidney Kimmel Entertainment and Participant Productions, Distributed by Paramount Classics) Alberto Iglesias
"Michael Clayton" (Warner Bros.) James Newton Howard
"Ratatouille" (Walt Disney) Michael Giacchino
"3:10 to Yuma" (Lionsgate) Marco Beltrami

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
"Falling Slowly" from "Once"
Music and Lyric by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova
"Happy Working Song" from "Enchanted"
Music by Alan Menken, Lyric by Stephen Schwartz
"Raise It Up" from "August Rush"
Nominees to be determined
"So Close" from "Enchanted"
Music by Alan Menken, Lyric by Stephen Schwartz
"That's How You Know" from "Enchanted"
Music by Alan Menken, Lyric by Stephen Schwartz

The 2008 Academy Awards will be presented (hopefully) on Sunday, February 24, 2008, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center.

The Countdown to the Oscars gets more and more exciting.  Apart from "Ratatouille", these winning movies have not yet hit the local theaters.  And I have not watched any of these winners, including "Ratatouille".  I must confess that I do not even know what "Diving Bell and the Butterfly" is all about.  I intend to watch as much as I could before Oscar night, as my schedule would permit.  I am very excited that "Sweeney Todd" is coming out this week already!

I'm very happy that "Guaranteed" from "Into the Wild" won for Best Song!  Yay to Eddie Vedder!

These were the nominees:

http://3xhcch.multiply.com/journal/item/141

THE 2008 GOLDEN GLOBE WINNERS FOR MOVIES

BEST MOTION PICTURE DRAMA
Atonement

BEST ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE DRAMA
Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood

BEST ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE DRAMA
Julie Christie, Away From Her

                        BEST MOTION PICTURE MUSICAL OR COMEDY
                        Sweeney Todd

                        BEST ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE MUSICAL OR COMEDY
                        Johnny Depp, Sweeney Todd

                        BEST ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE MUSICAL OR COMEDY
                        Marion Cotillard, La Vie en Rose

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE
Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE
Cate Blanchett, I'm Not There

                        BEST DIRECTOR
                        Julian Schnabel, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

                        BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
                        Ratatouille

                        BEST SCREENPLAY
                        Ethan and Joel Coen, No Country for Old Men

BEST FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (France/U.S.)

 BEST SCORE
 Atonement

 ORIGINAL SONG
 'Guaranteed,'' Into the Wild