Te Quiero Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Penelope Cruz = Great. Rebecca Hall = Great. Javier Bardem = Great. Scarlett Johansson = Great (I don't care if you turn on me). Woody Allen = Great. This Movie = Great.

Really, if you haven't seen it, it's more than worth checking out. It's an excellent film.

First Round Predix: Best Original/Adapted Screenplay

Well, here we are. The last part of our first-round predix. Overall, there are about...a million things I want to change. But I won't let myself.

Now, onward...

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

1. Vicky Cristina Barcelona-I'm starting to love this project...

2. Hamlet 2-This one, too...

3. Synecdoche, New York-And yet, this is a great premise. The script reviews have been mixed, though, so I don't know.

4. Australia-I'm warming up to this quite a bit, but dramas have a clear disadvantage in this category.

5. WALL-E-Pixar is overdue for a win, but this category tends to prefer dialogue-heavy comedies.

IN THE RUNNING

6. The Soloist (original or adapted? It says it's based on articles, but the Academy counted Letters from Iwo Jima as original, so...)
7. Burn After Reading
8. Milk
9. Changeling
10. The Trial of the Chicago 7 (anyone else get a bad vibe from this?)

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

1. Doubt-This is a very dialogue-intense play, which will help it greatly in this category.

2. Frost/Nixon-Play adaptations tend to do well in this category, but Doubt is baitier.

3. Body of Lies-Wow, I have little faith in this project anymore. It gets this spot just because it's my BP prediction as of now.

4. The Road-This might be too bleak and sci-fi-oriented for the Academy to embrace, but if it's a success (which it probably will be), I can see it getting nods here and for Best Actor.

5. The Reader-The push here will probably be in Best Actress, but this looks to be another intellegent film, which they love here.

IN THE RUNNING

6. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
7. Revolutionary Road
8. Appaloosa
9. Defiance
10. Blindness