The Oscars

February 26th, 2008 by Lucy Rodriguez-Watson

I was on a plane and I was not able to watch but from what I hear, I did not miss much. I‘m glad the Coen Brothers won the coveted awards, (Best Picture & Director), however, it would have been nice if Julie Taymor‘s film Across the Universe would have gotten a nomination. Yes, I would have been content with at least a nomination, when it comes to the coveted directing category women can‘t seem to get a break.

At the 2007 Oscars, Little Miss Sunshine got nominated for Best Picture but not for Directing - see where I‘m getting at? The award for Best Picture goes to the Producers, The award for Directing goes to the director. While I was rooting for Mr. Scorsese to win on both counts (because how many times hasn‘t he been robbed!) it would have been nice to see Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris get a directing nomination. If they would have gotten the nomination, Valerie Dayton would have been the 4th woman in the 79th year history of The Oscars to get nominated for Directing! (See Heidi‘s entry about appalling Oscar facts).

I‘m hoping that the upcoming Celluloid Ceiling study by Dr. Martha M. Lauzen shows a progressive change in the employment of women in the top 250 films of 2007. Check out the previous studies on our website. http://www.moviesbywomen.com/stats_celluloid_ceiling_2006.php Here’s a list of the women who took one home last Sunday:

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY - Diablo Cody - Juno
ORIGINAL SONG - “Falling Slowly” - Marketa Irglova & Glen Hansard - Once
ART DIRECTION - Dante Ferretti, Francesca Lo Schiavo - Sweeney Todd
COSTUME DESIGN - Alexandra Byrne - Elizabeth: The Golden Age
SOUND EDITING - Karen Baker Landers and Per Hallberg - The Bourne Ultimatum
SHORT FILM (ANIMATED) - Suzie Templeton and Hugh Welchman - Peter & The Wolfe
MAKEUP - Didier Lavergne and Jan Archibald - La Vie en Rose
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE – Alex Gibney and Eva Orner - Taxi to the Dark Side
DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT - Cynthia Wade and Vanessa Roth – Freehold
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE - Marion Cotillard - La Vie en Rose
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE - Tilda Swinton - Michael Clayton