80th Annual Academy Award Oscar Nomination WInners (2008)

There were few surprises but a solid list of choices was nominated for the Oscars which are going to be revealed on February 24th, 2008:

	Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role:
	George Clooney, Michael Clayton
	Daniel Day-Lewis, There will be Blood
	Johnny Depp, Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street
	Tommy Lee Jones, In the Valley of Elah
	Viggo Mortensen, Eastern Promises
	Performance By an Actor in a Supporting Role:
	Casey Affleck, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
	Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men
	Philip Seymour Hoffman, Charlie Wilson's War
	Hal Holbrook, Into the Wild
	Tom Wilkinson, Michael Clayton
	Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role:
	Cate Blanchett, Elizabeth: The Golden Age
	Julie Christie, Away From Her
	Marion Cotillard, La Vie En Rose
	Laura Linney, The Savages
	Ellen Page, Juno
	Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role:
	Cate Blancett, I'm Not There
	Ruby Dee, American Gangster
	Saoirse Ronan, Atonement
	Amy Ryan, Gone Baby Gone
	Tilda Swinton, Michael Clayton
	Best Animated Feature Film of the Year:
	Persepolis
	Ratatouille
	Surf's Up
	Achievement in Art Direction:
	American Gangster
	Atonement
	The Golden Compass
	Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street
	There will be Blood
	Achievement in 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
	Achievement in Costume Design:
	Across the Universe
	Atonement
	Elizabeth: The Golden Age
	La Vie En Rose
	Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street
	Achievement in Directing:
	The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
	Juno
	Michael Clayton
	No Country for Old Men
	There will be Blood
	Best Documentary Feature:
	No End in Sight
	Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience
	Sicko
	Taxi to the Dark Side
	War/Dance
	Best Documentary Short Subject
	Freeheld
	La Corona (The Crown)
	Salim Baba
	Sari's Mother
	Achievement in Film Editing:
	The Bourne Ultimatum
	The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
	Into the Wild
	No Country for Old Men
	There will be Blood
	Best Foreign Language Film of the Year:
	Beaufort
	The Counterfeiters
	Katyn
	Mongol
	12
	Achievement in Makeup:
	La Vie En Rose
	Norbit
	Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
	Achievement in Music (Original Score):
	Atonement
	The Kite Runner
	Michael Clayton
	Ratatouille
	3:10 to Yuma
	Achievement in Music (Original Score):
	Once
	Enchanted
	August Rush
	Enchanted
	Enchanted
	Best Animated Short Film:
	I Met the Walrus
	Madame Tutli-Putli
	MÊme (sic) Les Pigeons vont au Paradis (Even Pigeons Go To Heaven)
	My Love (Moya Lyubov)
	Peter & The Wolf
	Best Live Action Short Film:
	At Night
	Il Supplente (The Substitute)
	Le Mozart des Pickpockets (The Mozart of Pickpockets)
	Tanghi Argentini
	The Tonto Woman
	Achievement in Sound Editing:
	The Bourne Ultimatum
	No Country for Old Men
	Ratatouille
	There will be Blood
	Transformers
	Achievement in Sound Mixing:
	The Bourne Ultimatum
	No Country for Old Men
	Ratatouille
	3:10 to Yuma
	Transformers
	Achievement in Visual Effects:
	The Golden Compass
	Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
	Transformers
	Adapted Screenplay:
	Atonement
	Away From Her
	The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
	No Country for Old Men
	There will be Blood
	Original Screenplay:
	Juno
	Lars and the Real Girl
	Michael Clayton
	Ratatouille
	The Savages
	Best Motion Picture of the Year:
	Atonement
	Juno
	Michael Clayton
	No Country for Old Men
	There will be Blood

Never

Change falling out my pocket clanging against the pavement. Playground balls whizzing at my head. Not a clap to be heard with my diploma in hand. Laughs, chuckles, and inconsiderate ‘We’ll give you a call’s one after another.

I find myself as alone as it is imaginable. My apartment could just as well be a dessert or an uninhabited island. Sandy floors sound better than concrete. The only place to rest my feet is my lumpy twin mattress. My resources for food are what my high school friends were eating forty years ago at college. Falling into dreams at night, I can’t imagine how I could ever share my bed with someone, as uncomfortably cramped as it is already.

The only place I’ve felt wanted since my grandmother passed away has been my habitat more-so than my apartment. She used to take me to the zoo when I was young. Before I was out of the stroller I could mimic every animal I saw.

It is surprising. They make such a big deal in school about graduating and they say you won’t go anywhere in life if you don’t. Well I got my diploma, I tried to apply for jobs in the city, but now it was a college degree I needed. It didn’t seem fair.

Like second nature, I turned to my childhood and got a job as a caretaker at the zoo. I usually worked eighteen hour days. My boss, Mr. Jenkins, didn’t mind overtime because they didn’t pay overtime.

“Custodian guy!” All the college educated kids who got to train, feed, name and cure the animals would always yell at me to clean up the shit and trash from the cages. I had my own names for most of the animals. My best friends were the bald eagle, Windy; Honey the grizzly bear; Jackson the jaguar; and the crocodile, Chompers. When people weren’t looking, I’d occasionally still make those animal noises. Somewhere deep down I hoped they could understand me and they were attempting to communicate back.

“Yes, Mister Jenkins?”

“I wanted to talk to you about your time here at the zoo. I think its great how much emotion and feeling you have towards these animals. Most of these kids I’ve hired spent six years in college pretending they cared, but they have no idea.”

“I-I agree, no idea sir.”

“Do you remember when the last time you received a paycheck from us in the mail?” I thought back and remembered nothing but those playground balls and my empty nest. “Nineteen months ago. Almost two years.” I questioned what he was telling me. Had it really been that long? I couldn’t make any distinction between memories from forty years ago or yesterday.

All I could say was “I’m sorry.” I walked out the door holding back the rain. The animals hated the rain. I strolled past the cages on my own two feet now. These were my memories, this was my life. I thought, “No one has ever loved me as much as I loved them.” Just before I passed through the gate I looked over at Jackson. He tilted his head and seemed to purr like a housecat would. I knew that I was wrong.