The excitement has been in the air since the Writers Guild agreed to end the writers’ strike and settled on an agreement on time for the big big affair called the 80th Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars. Thank goodness for Hollywood dishing out more dough for the hardworking and talented pool of writers! It’s about time writers are given due recognition considering the actors/actresses earn so much together with the producers/directors of the movies made in Tinseltown!

And I’m very excited to announce the list of nominees and the winners, straight from CNN! I have to say I agree with most of the winners since most of the movies (or at least those that I managed to watch are excellent works of art). But having said that, I do wish that there is more categories so that each film is recognised in their own right.

Is there not a Musical category that Across the Universe will be able to emerge winner considering it’s such an original labour of love on the part of the director, Julie Taymore who managed to merge the Beatles songs into a mtv-like movie with a strong storyline as well.

And why is not Persepolis nominated under the Foreign film category, losing to Ratatouille in the Animated Feature category? I love Ratatouille and totally agree that it’s a perfect family entertainment movie that I can’t find anything to criticise or dislike about. But Persepolis is a wonderful animated film as well, apart from being too dark, too angst-filled.

And since I’m biased towards the evergreen and mesmerizing Julie Christie in Away From Her, I really really wanted her to win. But then again, Marion Cotillard was excellent in her portrayal of the ill-fated Edith Piaf in La Vie En Rose as well, even when I listen to Edith’s soundtrack again and again, I grow to appreciate her music even more after watching her film. But is there a category where thespians may be recognized so that Julie Christie can go home with something?

And what about the Viggo Mortensen in Eastern Promises? Sigh, so many great films, all classics in the making and wonderful actors/actresses who are not awarded. Perhaps like what everyone says, being nominated is good enough already? But is it? Wouldn’t it be like the second man who landed on the moon? Buzz Aldrin anyone? Buzz who? Yes, no one will remember second best. For the record, Buzz Aldrin is the second man who landed on the moon, after Neil Armstrong. But who cares? And this is how I feel about the Oscars as well. Only the BEST will be remembered and go down cinema history. Oh well, how about having a Gangster category for Viggo? Oh well, too far-fetched it seems.

I totally agree with Juno’s win on the best original screenplay but I also wanted Atonement to win Best Picture because I enjoyed the twist at the end very much, but it didn’t. And I also thought Tommy Lee Jones portrayal of a pained father who really believed in his son and his unwavering faith towards his country brought my attention to the works of this veteran. He also walked home empty-handed. Sigh. Oh well, at least Javier Bardem won Best Actor for “No Country For Old Men”. He was certainly chilling and his senseless killings made my hair stand.

Perhaps the competition was too keen. Perhaps it is because I like too many of the films and actors/actresses to be able to make a decision if I had to choose only one out of each category. Well, thank god for the Oscars!

And here’s the eagerly awaited list of nominees and winners….


(CNN) -- Who won and who walked away empty-handed? The following are the nominees and the winners at the 80th annual Academy Awards.

Best Picture
"Atonement"
"Juno"
"Michael Clayton"
** "No Country for Old Men" WINNER
"There Will Be Blood"


Actor
George Clooney, "Michael Clayton"
** Daniel Day-Lewis, "There Will Be Blood" WINNER
Johnny Depp, "Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street"
Tommy Lee Jones, "In the Valley of Elah"
Viggo Mortensen, "Eastern Promises"


Actress
Cate Blanchett, "Elizabeth: The Golden Age"
Julie Christie, "Away From Her"
** Marion Cotillard, "La Vie en Rose" WINNER
Laura Linney, "The Savages"
Ellen Page, "Juno"


Supporting Actor
Casey Affleck, "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford"
** Javier Bardem, "No Country for Old Men" WINNER
Hal Holbrook, "Into the Wild"
Philip Seymour Hoffman, "Charlie Wilson's War"
Tom Wilkinson, "Michael Clayton"


Supporting Actress
Cate Blanchett, "I'm Not There"
Ruby Dee, "American Gangster"
Saoirse Ronan, "Atonement"
Amy Ryan, "Gone Baby Gone"
** Tilda Swinton, "Michael Clayton" WINNER


Director
Julian Schnabel, "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"
Jason Reitman, "Juno"
Tony Gilroy, "Michael Clayton"
** Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, "No Country for Old Men" WINNER
Paul Thomas Anderson, "There Will Be Blood"


Foreign Film
"Beaufort," Israel
** "The Counterfeiters," Austria WINNER
"Katyn," Poland
"Mongol," Kazakhstan
"12," Russia


Adapted Screenplay
Christopher Hampton, "Atonement"
Sarah Polley, "Away from Her"
Ronald Harwood, "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"
** Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, "No Country for Old Men" WINNER
Paul Thomas Anderson, "There Will Be Blood"


Original Screenplay
** Diablo Cody, "Juno" WINNER
Nancy Oliver, "Lars and the Real Girl"
Tony Gilroy, "Michael Clayton"
Brad Bird, Jan Pinkava and Jim Capobianco, "Ratatouille"
Tamara Jenkins, "The Savages."

Animated Feature Film
"Persepolis"
** "Ratatouille" WINNER
"Surf's Up"


Art Direction
"American Gangster"
"Atonement"
"The Golden Compass"
** "Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street" WINNER
"There Will Be Blood"


Cinematography
"The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford"
"Atonement"
"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"
"No Country for Old Men"
** "There Will Be Blood" WINNER


Sound Mixing
** "The Bourne Ultimatum" WINNER
"No Country for Old Men"
"Ratatouille"
"3:10 to Yuma"
"Transformers"


Sound Editing
** "The Bourne Ultimatum" WINNER
"No Country for Old Men"
"Ratatouille"
"There Will Be Blood"
"Transformers"


Original Score
** "Atonement," Dario Marianelli WINNER
"The Kite Runner," Alberto Iglesias
"Michael Clayton," James Newton Howard
"Ratatouille," Michael Giacchino
"3:10 to Yuma," Marco Beltrami


Original Song
** "Falling Slowly" from "Once," Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova WINNER
"Happy Working Song" from "Enchanted," Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz
"Raise It Up" from "August Rush," Jamal Joseph, Charles Mack and Tevin Thomas
"So Close" from "Enchanted," Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz
"That's How You Know" from "Enchanted," Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz


Costume
"Across the Universe"
"Atonement"
** "Elizabeth: The Golden Age" WINNER
"La Vie en Rose"
"Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street"


Documentary Feature
"No End in Sight"
"Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience"
"Sicko"
** "Taxi to the Dark Side" WINNER
"War/Dance"


Documentary (short subject)
** "Freeheld" WINNER
"La Corona (The Crown)"
"Salim Baba"
"Sari's Mother"


Film Editing
** "The Bourne Ultimatum" WINNER
"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"
"Into the Wild"
"No Country for Old Men"
"There Will Be Blood"


Makeup
** "La Vie en Rose" WINNER
"Norbit"
"Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End"
Animated Short Film
"I Met the Walrus"
"Madame Tutli-Putli"
"Meme Les Pigeons Vont au Paradis (Even Pigeons Go to Heaven)"
"My Love (Moya Lyubov)"
** "Peter & the Wolf" WINNER


Live Action Short Film
"At Night"
"Il Supplente (The Substitute)"
** "Le Mozart des Pickpockets (The Mozart of Pickpockets)" WINNER
"Tanghi Argentini"
"The Tonto Woman"


Visual Effects
** "The Golden Compass" WINNER
"Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End"
"Transformers"