Oscar reactions from Thelma, Mark, etc As many times as she's been nominated, you might think Thelma Schoonmaker would be blasé about another Oscar nod. "Oh, no, it's great," Martin Scorsese's longtime film editor , who's won two , told us yesterday. "I've been pummeled all day with e - mails and phone calls." Schoonmaker, whose remarkable career will be honored at the Coolidge Corner Theatre in the spring, received her sixth Academy Award nomination yesterday, this time for "The Departed." (She won for "The Aviator" and "Raging Bull.") Schoonmaker set up shop at Emerson while editing the Boston-based crime drama, and said she enjoyed her time here. "We were overlooking the Common and could watch people getting busted for drugs," she said, laughing. Asked about working with Scorsese, she said it's always interesting. "Every job is another hurdle and I'm always stretching myself," she said. "It's never boring with Marty." Word that Mark Wahlberg earned an Oscar nomination for his fine performance in "The Departed" thrilled his family. "I called and told him, 'It's a long way from Mercier Avenue,' " big brother Bob told us yesterday, referring to the Dorchester street where the Wahlbergs grew up. "He's excited. Who wouldn't be?" Bob, who played an FBI agent in the film, said it was a treat to work with his brother, not to mention Matt Damon, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Jack Nicholson. "I'm so grateful that I was a part of that project," he said. "It's nice to be in one of the best pictures in the last several years." . . . And Carolyn Pickman, whose CP Casting worked with Martin Scorsese's casting director, Ellen Lewis, on lining up the extras and smaller speaking roles for the Boston filming, was equally pleased with the nominations. "What Martin Scorsese did was mix the real people with the famous and did so to achieve the authenticity that the movie has become so famous for and something we worked so hard to achieve," said Pickman, who found a number of the actors she needed at Southie's L Street Bath House , where she also cast "Good Will Hunting" and "Mystic River." Pickman said the entire film community benefited by working with the cast and crew of "The Departed , " particularly those actors who got to meet with DiCaprio , who snuck into Pickman's South End offices to work on his character . " I think it shows in the movie," Pickman said. Arnz I can see by YOUR response that there will be NO need for me to tackle Eastwood on his way to the stage as you would have already stopped him before he ever stood up !!!! :) Also thanks for blog entry....too funny !!! Courtney Thanks for film boxoffice info... :)

Will As always just my personal take but as I said earlier I don't feel the fact that "TD" doesn't have lead actor nod hurts it one bit as NONE of the BP nominees have either Best Actor or Best Actress nods...that is a non factor toward increasing your chances of of BP Oscar glory this Oscar season Arnz As to Anne Thompson article....appears to me to say "behind the scenes" that Warners never did change their original Oscar strategy ...campaign DiCaprio for "BD" and ALL the "TD" actors for supporting hoping to get as many supporting nods as they could And the only change is that DiCaprio didn't want to compete against his cast members and thus asked not to be listed under supporting....and even tho 'ad wise' it appeared they then placed him in LEAD and were campaigning for him as "TD" lead they never really ever did PLus...be it the SAGS or the OSCARS... DiCaprio in no way kept voters from voting for Nicholson or others.....as SAG and Academy voters CHOSE to give two supporting nods to Babel ladies and the Oscar voters could have also awarded two or more "TD" men Stormy As to your Oscar vote question....I'm going to whisper my answer in the ear of Mr Berrigan You have my permission to use PHYSICAL force if need be to get him to reveal it ! :roll:

Does Leo vote for the Academy Awards? AMPAS does not disclose who is on the list of Academy voters. Membership in the Academy is by invitation of the Board of Governors. A candidate for membership in the Academy is normally sponsored by at least two members of the branch for which the person may qualify. Individuals nominated for Academy Awards who are not already members of the Academy are considered for membership without the need for sponsors. So with Leo having already received 2 Academy Award nominations, I would be SHOCKED if he was not a member of AMPAS.

I was really shocked that Wahlberg got a nom over Jack (or Leo for that matter) but all I really care about this year is Marty getting it for director. Anything else would be icing. I knew Dreamgirls would be off the list when I actually saw the film. I don't why the buzz was so immense around that film... it was fun, but not good enough to get a best pic nom. Here's my predictions for what will win on Oscar night: Best pic: Babel Best Actor: Forest Whitaker (though I'd rather it be Leo - considering how long Leo's deserved one and also that Forest's character was more like a supporting character IMO) Best Actress: Helen Mirren Best Diretor: Martin Scorsese Best Supporting Actor: Mark Wahlberg (I just don't think they'll give an Oscar to Eddie Murphy - just can't picture that... I personally would rather they gave it to Djimon though, I thought he was amazing in BD) Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Hudson As far as screenplay, I think it'll be The Queen and The Departed. And I think Clint will be totally left out this year since they didn’t nom him for Best Foreign Film. So nyah nyah Mr. Eastwood! Ok, so those are my early predictions... we'll see on Oscar night!

Don't think Leo can win with some people whatever he did: some complain if he campaigned for supporting because they felt he is actually a lead and it would take away from the "real" supporting candidates; but if he chose not to campaign for it so as not to compete with his costars, then he's faulted for not aiding in getting another nomination to add to TD tally? :roll: In a perfect world, there wouldn't be any awards campaigning by anyone or any studios and just let the voters vote on their own without being swayed by ads, interviews, speeches, appearance on talk shows, etc. :lol:

ArtReborn, Are you picking "Babel" for best picture because you saw it and liked it, or because you feel it has the most Oscar buzz? My husband and I saw it just last week, and we really did not care for it at all. I really don't get what people see in this movie, so if you saw it and liked it, please tell me why, I am just curious. The movie was a real downer, and I just did not care for ANY of the characters. The only ones I could feel anything for were the two Moroccan kids. We thought "Blood Diamond" was far better. I was in an Oscar prediction pool and I thought "Letters" would make the cut and "Babel" would be left off the list since it only had a 69% rating at Rotten Tomatoes. Of course I will be upset if "The Departed" does not win Best Picture, but I will be REALLY upset if "Babel" is the movie that beats it. Even though I do not feel that "Little Miss Sunshine" and "The Queen" are worthy of Best Picture, at least they were entertaining and worthy of my $9.00 and two hours of my life. I have not seen "Letters" and probably won't in a theater, I will wait for DVD for that one.

Congratulations to Marty, Thelma, Leo, Mark, Graham King and Bill Monahan on their Oscar nominations. And I'm also very pleased to see the Departed nominated in the best picture catagory. It's a bit disheartening to see Clint nominated yet again after the unpromising performance of his films. It feels like it's become automatic. I'm beginning to suspect he could release three hours of blank film and still get nominated. He must have AMPAS hypnotised. :lol: Jack's absence was more surprising, but it does at least show voters are capable of independent thought afterall. I think Leo's nomination for Blood Diamond reflects his strong performance in The Departed too. It was always difficult to single out any one person from what is a very strong emsemble piece. I do want them all to win but I dunno if I'm confident enough to stay up all night to watch them do it yet :?

Does Leo vote? I wasn't questioning that he's a member of AMPAS but whether or not he votes. I recall some years ago in his chatroom that a chatmaster said he didn't because he couldn't view all the films - time constraints - so didn't vote. But his mates were happy to get all the films on tape to view. Someone with a better memory than me might either confirm or set me straight?

nah, don't buy it It's Scorsese's year. I hear from people in the industry that Clint Eastwood is telling everyone to vote for Scorsese rather than him for best director. Eastwood's still feeling sheepish at taking the director prize for Million Dollar Baby when Scorsese was up for The Aviator. For my money, the most fascinating race is foreign film: The three I've seen (Water, The Lives of Others and Pan's Labyrinth,) are superlative. But if you put a gun to my head, I couldn't tell you which was the best. Do you have a favorite among them? http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/16527179.htm?source=rss&channel=philly_movies orrrr, maybe he is and then he can say WHEN Scorsese does win, that he (Clint) told people to vote for Marty and not him and take the credit, :lol:

Lena You got that right , girl ! :) orrrr, maybe he is and then he can say WHEN Scorsese does win, that he (Clint) told people to vote for Marty and not him and take the credit, Art Like Az-Sun also curious is your CHOICE of Babel for best film based on your thinking it IS the best or just going by Oscar comments you've read ??? Like Az-Sun I ..also ..saw the film with a friend. I would say we both liked it tho we both felt that the 'intersecting storylines' was better done by "Crash" As I said before ....maybe it is not possible for me to like a film more than "TD" but having seen Babel/Queen/LMS ...."TD" is still the BEST to me ! Leela Your comment below is too funny..... And as to hypnotizing them ...one only had to watch the Beatty speech during GG to know the 'old boyz' love to 'stroke each other's egos' I'm beginning to suspect he could release three hours of blank film and still get nominated. He must have AMPAS hypnotised.

Az, Pea: No I haven't seen Babel yet, but chose it because of the hype about it being such a serious subject matter and so forth (this year's Crash, right?) But I did plan on seeing it very soon - before the Oscars anyway. However, now that you are giving it such negative reviews, I'm wondering how I'm going to manage to sit through it! But I have to make myself see it... as well as The Queen. I don't really feel like seeing Letters until it's on video. I suppose I feel like if you've seen one blue-ish grey Clint film, you've seen them all. ;) To be honest, my personal choice for best pic this year would be Blood Diamond. Out of the films I have seen (TD included) I felt it was an amazing achievement. But apparently, the subject matter was to "controversial" to be given due rewards, other than for Leo and Djimon's acting. Don't get me wrong, I think TD is a wonderful movie. But overall, I felt BD was a film that should be remembered as "best pic."