80th Academy Awards

The 80th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2007 and took place on February 24, 2008, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles beginning at 5:30 p.m. PST / 8:30 p.m. EST. During the ceremony, AMPAS presented Academy Awards (commonly referred to as Oscars) in 24 categories. The ceremony was televised in the United States by ABC, and produced by Gil Cates and directed by Louis J, Horvitz. Actor Jon Stewart hosted the show for the second time, having previously presided over the 78th ceremony held in 2006. Two weeks earlier in a gala at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, California held on February 9, the Academy Awards for Technical Achievement were presented by host Jessica Alba.

No Country for Old Men won the most awards of the ceremony with four including Best Picture. Other winners included The Bourne Ultimatum with three awards, La Vie en Rose (La môme) and There Will Be Blood with two awards, and Atonement, The Counterfeiters, Elizabeth: The Golden Age, Freeheld, The Golden Compass, Juno, Michael Clayton, The Mozart of Pickpockets, Once, Peter & the Wolf, Ratatouille, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, and Taxi to the Dark Side with one. The telecast garnered 31 million viewers, making it the least watched Oscar broadcast since 1974, when Nielsen began keeping records of viewership.

Winners and nominees

The nominations were announced on January 22, 2008, at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, California by Sid Ganis, president of the Academy, and actress Kathy Bates. No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood tied for the most nominations with eight each.

The winners were announced during the award ceremony of February 24, 2008. Best Director winners Joel and Ethan Coen became the second pair of directors to win the award for the same film. Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise first accomplished this feat for co-directing 1961's West Side Story. This was also the second time in Oscar history (the first being 1964's 37th Academy Awards) that none of the four acting winners was American. Daniel Day-Lewis became the eighth person to win Best Actor twice. Best Actress winner Marion Cotillard was the fifth person to win for a non-English speaking performance and the second person to do so in the aforementioned category, after Sophia Loren who won for 1961's Two Women. Cate Blanchett became the eleventh performer to receive double acting nominations in the same year. By virtue of her nomination for her role as the title character in Elizabeth: The Golden Age, she also was the first actress and fifth performer overall to be nominated for portraying the same character in two different films (she previously earned a nomination for playing Queen Elizabeth I of England in 1998's Elizabeth). At age 82, Best Supporting Actor nominee Hal Holbrook was the oldest male acting nominee in Oscar history. Robert F. Boyle became the oldest recipient of the Academy Honorary award at the age of 98.

Awards

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Coen brothers, Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay winners

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Daniel Day-Lewis, Best Actor winner

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Marion Cotillard, Best Actress winner

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Javier Bardem, Best Supporting Actor winner

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Tilda Swinton, Best Supporting Actress winner

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Diablo Cody, Best Original Screenplay winner

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Brad Bird, Best Animated Feature winner

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Stefan Ruzowitzky, Best Foreign Language Film winner

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Alex Gibney, Best Documentary Feature co-winner

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Glen Hansard, Best Original Song co-winner

Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface, and indicated with a double dagger (Template:Double-dagger).

Template:Award category No Country for Old Men – Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, producersTemplate:Double-dagger Atonement – Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner and Paul Webster, producers Juno – Lianne Halfon, Mason Novick and Russell Smith, producers Michael Clayton – Jennifer Fox, Kerry Orent and Sydney Pollack, producers There Will Be Blood – Paul Thomas Anderson, Daniel Lupi and JoAnne Sellar, producers	Template:Award category Joel Coen and Ethan Coen – No Country for Old MenTemplate:Double-dagger Julian Schnabel – The Diving Bell and the Butterfly Jason Reitman – Juno Tony Gilroy – Michael Clayton Paul Thomas Anderson – There Will Be Blood
Template:Award category Daniel Day-Lewis – There Will Be Blood as Daniel PlainviewTemplate:Double-dagger George Clooney – Michael Clayton as Michael Clayton Johnny Depp – Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street as Benjamin Barker / Sweeney Todd Tommy Lee Jones – In the Valley of Elah as Hank Deerfield Viggo Mortensen – Eastern Promises as Nikolai Luzhin	Template:Award category Marion Cotillard – La Vie en Rose as Édith PiafTemplate:Double-dagger Cate Blanchett – Elizabeth: The Golden Age as Queen Elizabeth I Julie Christie – Away from Her as Fiona Anderson Laura Linney – The Savages as Wendy Savage Ellen Page – Juno as Juno MacGuff
Template:Award category Javier Bardem – No Country for Old Men as Anton ChigurhTemplate:Double-dagger Casey Affleck – The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford as Robert "Bob" Ford Philip Seymour Hoffman – Charlie Wilson's War as Gustav "Gust" Avrakotos Hal Holbrook – Into the Wild as Ron Franz Tom Wilkinson – Michael Clayton as Arthur Edens	Template:Award category Tilda Swinton – Michael Clayton as Karen CrowderTemplate:Double-dagger Cate Blanchett – I'm Not There as Jude Quinn Ruby Dee – American Gangster as Mama Lucas Saoirse Ronan – Atonement as Briony Tallis Amy Ryan – Gone Baby Gone as Helene McCready
Template:Award category Juno – Diablo CodyTemplate:Double-dagger Lars and the Real Girl – Nancy Oliver Michael Clayton – Tony Gilroy Ratatouille – Brad Bird, Jan Pinkava and Jim Capobianco The Savages – Tamara Jenkins	Template:Award category No Country for Old Men – Joel Coen and Ethan Coen based on the novel by Cormac McCarthyTemplate:Double-dagger Atonement – Christopher Hampton based on the novel by Ian McEwan Away from Her – Sarah Polley based on the short story "The Bear Went Over The Mountain" by Alice Munro The Diving Bell and the Butterfly – Ronald Harwood based on the memoir by Jean-Dominique Bauby There Will Be Blood – Paul Thomas Anderson based on Oil! by Upton Sinclair
Template:Award category Ratatouille – Brad BirdTemplate:Double-dagger Persepolis – Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud Surf's Up – Ash Brannon and Chris Buck	Template:Award category The Counterfeiters (Austria) in German – Stefan RuzowitzkyTemplate:Double-dagger 12 (Russia) in Russian – Nikita Mikhalkov Beaufort (Israel) in Hebrew – Joseph Cedar Katyń (Poland) in Polish – Andrzej Wajda Mongol (Kazakhstan) in Russian – Sergei Bodrov
Template:Award category Taxi to the Dark Side – Alex Gibney and Eva OrnerTemplate:Double-dagger No End in Sight – Charles H. Ferguson and Audrey Marrs Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience – Richard E. Robbins Sicko – Michael Moore and Meghan O'Hara War/Dance – Andrea Nix Fine and Sean Fine	Template:Award category Freeheld – Cynthia Wade and Vanessa RothTemplate:Double-dagger La Corona – Amanda Micheli and Isabel Vega Salim Baba – Tim Sternberg and Francisco Bello Sari's Mother – James Longley
Template:Award category Le Mozart des Pickpockets (The Mozart of Pickpockets) – Philippe Pollet-VillardTemplate:Double-dagger At Night – Christian E. Christiansen and Louise Vesth (Il Supplente) The Substitute – Andrea Jublin Tanghi Argentini – Guido Thys and Anja Daelemans The Tonto Woman – Daniel Barber and Matthew Brown	Template:Award category Peter & the Wolf – Suzie Templeton and Hugh WelchmanTemplate:Double-dagger Even Pigeons Go to Heaven (Même les pigeons vont au paradis) – Samuel Tourneux and Simon Vanesse I Met the Walrus – Josh Raskin Madame Tutli-Putli – Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski My Love (Moya Lyubov) – Alexander Petrov
Template:Award category Atonement – Dario MarianelliTemplate:Double-dagger 3:10 to Yuma – Marco Beltrami The Kite Runner – Alberto Iglesias Michael Clayton – James Newton Howard Ratatouille – Michael Giacchino	Template:Award category "Falling Slowly" from Once – Music and Lyrics by Glen Hansard and Markéta IrglováTemplate:Double-dagger "Happy Working Song" from Enchanted – Music by Alan Menken; Lyrics by Stephen Schwartz "Raise It Up" from August Rush – Music and Lyrics by Jamal Joseph, Charles Mack and Tevin Thomas "So Close" from Enchanted – Music by Alan Menken; Lyrics by Stephen Schwartz "That's How You Know" from Enchanted – Music by Alan Menken; Lyrics by Stephen Schwartz
Template:Award category The Bourne Ultimatum – Karen Baker Landers and Per HallbergTemplate:Double-dagger No Country For Old Men – Skip Lievsay Ratatouille – Randy Thom and Michael Silvers There Will Be Blood – Christopher Scarabosio and Matthew Wood Transformers – Ethan Van der Ryn and Mike Hopkins	Template:Award category The Bourne Ultimatum – Scott Millan, David Parker and Kirk FrancisTemplate:Double-dagger 3:10 to Yuma – Paul Massey, David Giammarco and Jim Stuebe No Country For Old Men – Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff and Peter Kurland Ratatouille – Randy Thom, Michael Semanick and Doc Kane Transformers – Kevin O'Connell, Greg P. Russell and Peter J. Devlin
Template:Award category Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street – Art Direction: Dante Ferretti; Set Decoration: Francesca Lo SchiavoTemplate:Double-dagger American Gangster – Art Direction: Arthur Max; Set Decoration: Beth Rubino Atonement – Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer The Golden Compass – Art Direction: Dennis Gassner; Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock There Will Be Blood – Art Direction: Jack Fisk; Set Decoration: Jim Erickson	Template:Award category There Will Be Blood – Robert ElswitTemplate:Double-dagger The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford – Roger Deakins Atonement – Seamus McGarvey The Diving Bell and the Butterfly – Janusz Kamiński No Country for Old Men – Roger Deakins
Template:Award category La Vie en Rose – Didier Lavergne and Jan ArchibaldTemplate:Double-dagger Norbit – Rick Baker and Kazuhiro Tsuji Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End – Ve Neill and Martin Samuel	Template:Award category Elizabeth: The Golden Age – Alexandra ByrneTemplate:Double-dagger Across the Universe – Albert Wolsky Atonement – Jacqueline Durran La Vie en Rose – Marit Allen (posthumous nomination) Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street – Colleen Atwood
Template:Award category The Bourne Ultimatum – Christopher RouseTemplate:Double-dagger The Diving Bell and the Butterfly – Juliette Welfling Into the Wild – Jay Cassidy No Country for Old Men – Roderick Jaynes There Will Be Blood – Dylan Tichenor	Template:Award category The Golden Compass – Michael Fink, Bill Westenhofer, Ben Morris and Trevor WoodTemplate:Double-dagger Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End – John Knoll, Hal Hickel, Charles Gibson and John Frazier Transformers – Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Russell Earl and John Frazier

Academy Honorary Award

• Robert F. Boyle Template:Em-dash In recognition of one of cinema's great careers in art direction.

Films with multiple nominations and awards

Template:Col-1-of-2 The following 21 films received multiple nominations: Nominations Film 8 No Country for Old Men There Will Be Blood 7 Atonement Michael Clayton 5 Ratatouille 4 The Diving Bell and the Butterfly Juno 3 The Bourne Ultimatum Enchanted La Vie en Rose Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street Transformers 2 3:10 to Yuma American Gangster The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford Away from Her Elizabeth: The Golden Age The Golden Compass Into the Wild Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End The Savages

The following four films received multiple awards: Awards Film 4 No Country for Old Men 3 The Bourne Ultimatum 2 La Vie en Rose There Will Be Blood

Presenters and performers

The following individuals presented awards or performed musical numbers.

Presenters

Name(s)	Role
Template:Sortname Randy Thomas	Co-announcers for the 80th annual Academy Awards
Template:Sortname	Presented the award for Best Costume Design
Template:Sortname	Presenter of the Academy Awards history montage
Template:Sortname Anne Hathaway	Presenters of the award for Best Animated Feature Film
Template:Sortname	Presenter of the award for Best Makeup
Template:Sortname	Introducer of the performance of Best Original Song nominee "Happy Working Song"
Template:Sortname	Presenter of the award for Best Visual Effects
Template:Sortname	Presenter of the award for Best Art Direction
Template:Sortname	Presenter of the award for Best Supporting Actor
Template:Sortname	Introducer of the performance of Best Original Song nominee "Raise It Up"
Template:Sortname	Presenter of the award for Best Live Action Short Film
Template:Sortname	Presenter of the award for Best Animated Short Film
Template:Sortname	Presenter of the award for Best Supporting Actress
Template:Sortname	Presenter of the segment of the Scientific and Technical Awards and the Gordon E. Sawyer Award
Template:Sortname James McAvoy	Presenters of the award for Best Adapted Screenplay
Template:Sortname	Presenter of a special segment explaining the Oscar selection process
Template:Sortname	Introducer of the performance of Best Original Song nominee "That's How You Know"
Template:Sortname Seth Rogen	Presenters of the awards for Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing
Template:Sortname	Introducer of the performance of Best Original Song nominee "Falling Slowly"
Template:Sortname	Presenter of the Best Picture winners montage
Template:Sortname	Presenter of the award for Best Film Editing
Template:Sortname	Presenter of the Honorary Academy Award to Robert F. Boyle
Template:Sortname	Presenter of the award for Best Foreign Language Film
Template:Sortname	Introducer of the performance Best Original Song nominee of "So Close"
Template:Sortname	Presenter of the award for Best Original Song
Template:Sortname	Presenter of the award for Best Cinematography
Template:Sortname	Presenter of the In Memoriam segment
Template:Sortname	Presenter of the award for Best Original Score
Template:Sortname Spc. Charles Highland Sgt. Andrea Knudsen Officer 3rd Class Joseph Smith Lt. Curtis Williamson Sgt. Kenji Thuloweit	Presenters of the award for Best Documentary Short Subject
Template:Sortname	Presenter of the award for Best Documentary Feature
Template:Sortname	Presenter of the award for Best Original Screenplay
Template:Sortname	Presenter of the award for Best Actor
Template:Sortname	Presenter of the award for Best Actress
Template:Sortname	Presenter of the award for Best Director
Template:Sortname	Presenter of the award for Best Picture

Performers

Name(s)	Role	Performed
Template:Sortname	Musical Arranger Conductor	Orchestral
Template:Sortname	Performer	"Happy Working Song" from Enchanted
Template:Sortname Jamia Simone Nash	Performers	"Raise It Up" from August Rush
Template:Sortname Marlon Saunders	Performers	"That's How You Know" from Enchanted
Template:Sortname Markéta Irglová	Performers	"Falling Slowly" from Once
Template:Sortname	Performer	"So Close" from Enchanted

Ceremony information

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Jon Stewart hosted the 80th Academy Awards.

In September 2007, the Academy hired Gil Cates to oversee production of the telecast for a record 14th time. Ganis explained his decision to hire Cates as producer stating, "He's so talented...so creative and inventive, and so enormously passionate about the Oscars. All of that will again translate into a night that people can't wait to experience." Immediately, Cates selected actor, comedian, and talk-show host Jon Stewart as host of the 2008 ceremony. "Jon was a terrific host for the 78th Awards," Cates said about Stewart in a press release. "He is smart, quick, funny, loves movies and is a great guy. What else could one ask for?"

Furthermore, the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike affected the telecast and its surrounding events. Over a month after the labor dispute began, the striking Writers Guild of America (WGA) denied a waiver requested by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in connection with film clips and excerpts from previous award ceremonies to be shown at the 2008 awards. The material could have been used, as the denial only affected the conditions under which the clips are shown. Previously, the 60th ceremony held in 1988 occurred 37 days after that year's writers strike began. At the time, material was already completed in anticipation for the strike, and actors were in full attendance of the ceremony.

In anticipation that the strike would continue through Oscar night, AMPAS developed a Plan B show that would not have included actors accepting their awards. It would have included the musical numbers, but would have relied heavily on historic film clips, emphasizing the 80th anniversary of the awards. However, both the WGA and Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) reached an agreement effectively ending the strike on February 12, 2008, and the ceremony proceeded under its normal format.

Box office performance of nominated films

Continuing a trend in recent years, the field of major nominees favored independent, low-budget films over blockbusters. The combined gross of the five Best Picture nominees when the Oscars were announced was $217 million; the average gross per film was $43.3 million.

None of the five Best Picture nominees was among the top ten releases in box office during the nominations. When the nominations were announced on January 22, Juno was the highest earner among the Best Picture nominees with $87.1 million in domestic box office receipts. The film was followed by No Country for Old Men ($48.9 million), Michael Clayton ($39.4 million), Atonement ($32.7 million), and finally There Will Be Blood ($8.7 million).

Out of the top 50 grossing movies of the year (prior to announcement), 29 nominations went to 12 films on the list. Only Ratatouille (9th), American Gangster (18th), Juno (31st), Charlie Wilson's War (39th), and Surf's Up (41st) received nominations for Best Picture, Best Animated Feature, directing, acting, or screenwriting. The other top-50 box office hits that earned nominations were Transformers (3rd), Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (4th), The Bourne Ultimatum (7th), Enchanted (20th), Norbit (29th), The Golden Compass (37th), and 3:10 to Yuma (45th).

Critical reviews

The show received a mixed reception from media publications. Some media outlets were more critical of the show. The Washington Post television critic Tom Shales quipped that the ceremony was "Overstocked with clips from movies -- from this year's nominees and from Oscar winners going back to 1929 -- that it was like a TV show with the hiccups." Columnist James Poniewozik of Time commented that Stewart was "an Oscar host–sometimes a funny one, but a pretty conventional one, whose routine was loaded up with kiss-up softballs about how hot Colin Farrell is, what range Cate Blanchett has and what a tomcat Jack Nicholson is." Of the show itself, he wrote, "What we got instead was a show that half the time seemed like the show the Academy would have put on if there had been a strike, chockful of montages. The other half of the time, it was an typical-to-dull Oscars." Columnist Robert Bianco of USA Today said, "Has it ever felt like more of a padded bore than it did Sunday night? If so, blame the writers' strike, which left the producers with only a few weeks to prepare for the ABC broadcast and persuaded them to lean less on the host and more on old clips." He also observed that numerous film montages seemed to diminish Stewart's job as host.

The majority of other media outlets received the broadcast more positively. Television critic Matthew Gilbert of the Boston Globe gave an average critique of the ceremony but praised Stewart writing that "It was good to see Jon Stewart being Jon Stewart. He is shaping up to be a dependable Oscar host for the post-Billy Crystal years. He's not musical, but he's versatile enough to swing smoothly between jokes about politics, Hollywood, new media, and, most importantly, hair." Variety columnist Brian Lowry lauded Stewart's performance noting that he "earned his keep by maintaining a playful, irreverent tone throughout the night, whether it was jesting about Cate Blanchett's versatility or watching Lawrence of Arabia on an iPhone screen." Frazier Moore from the Associated Press commended Stewart's improvement from his first hosting stint commenting, "He proved equal to the challenge posed by Oscarcast's quick turnaround. His crash-deadline material worked. And even when it didn't, he was genial, relaxed, and seemed utterly at home." In addition, he quipped that although there was a lack of surprise amongst the winners, he marveled "The evening was plenty elegant. The stage setting was handsome. The orchestra sounded full and lush. Everyone behaved."

Ratings and reception

The American telecast on ABC drew in an average of 32 million people over its length, which was a 21% decrease from the previous year's ceremony. An estimated 64 million total viewers watched all or part of the awards. The show also earned higher Nielsen ratings compared to the previous ceremony with 18.7% of households watching over a 29 share. In addition, it garnered a higher 18–49 demo rating with a 10.7 rating over a 26 share among viewers in that demographic. Many media outlets pointed out that the Writers Guild strike and the niche popularity amongst the field of major nominees contributed to the low ratings. It earned the lowest viewership for an Academy Award telecast since figures were compiled beginning with the 46th ceremony in 1974.

In July 2008, the ceremony presentation received nine nominations at the 60th Primetime Emmy Awards. Two months later, the ceremony won two of those nominations for Outstanding Art Direction (Roy Christopher and Joe Celli) and Outstanding Directing for a Variety, Music, or Comedy Program (Louis J. Horvitz).

In Memoriam

The annual In Memoriam tribute, presented by actress Hilary Swank, honored the following people:

Roscoe Lee Browne Barry Nelson Kitty Carlisle Hart Betty Hutton Calvin Lockhart Jane Wyman Melville Shavelson – Writer Curtis Harrington – Director Jack Valenti – Executive Michael Kidd – Dancer Michelangelo Antonioni – Director Delbert Mann – Director Monty Westmore – Makeup Peter T. Hanford – Sound Bud Ekins – Stuntman Bernard Gordon – Writer Dabbs Greer Jean-Claude Brialy Harold Michelson – Art Director Laraine Day Jean-Pierre Cassel

Lois Maxwell Laszlo Kovacs – Cinematographer Robert Clark – Director George Jenkins – Art Director Johnny Grant – Executive Frank Rosenfelt – Executive Martin Manulis – Producer Donfeld – Costume Designer Ousmane Sembène – Director Freddy Fields – Agent Robert Lantz – Agent Ray Kurtzman – Executive Miyoshi Umeki Suzanne Pleshette Deborah Kerr Peter Ellenshaw – Visual Effects Peter Zinner – Film Editor Freddie Francis – Cinematographer Ingmar Bergman – Director Ray Evans – Music William Tuttle – Makeup Heath Ledger

See also

• 14th Screen Actors Guild Awards
• 28th Golden Raspberry Awards
• 50th Grammy Awards
• 60th Primetime Emmy Awards
• 61st British Academy Film Awards
• 62nd Tony Awards
• 65th Golden Globe Awards
• List of submissions to the 80th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film

Bibliography

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External links

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Official websites

• Academy Awards Official website
• The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Official website
• Oscar's Channel at YouTube (run by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences)

Analysis

• 2007 Academy Awards Winners and History Filmsite
• Academy Awards, USA: 2008 Internet Movie Database

News resources

• Oscars 2008 BBC News
• 80th Academy Awards Boston.com
• Academy Awards coverage CNN
• Oscars 2008 The Guardian

Other resources

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