Awards Season Begins Friday!

I am thrilled to announce that this Friday marks the nominations announcement of one of my favorite awards groups - The Golden Satellites. This wonderful wacky guild is slightly less popular than the Golden Globes (and has actually dropped the "Golden" from their name, making them now just the Satellites). It is fun because some of the nominees are so weird and out of nowhere (Joshua Jackson for Best Actor in "Aurora Borealis") but also serves as a decent predictor. Last year, eight of the eventual ten Golden Globe nominees for Best Picture showed up in the corresponding category at the Satellites. Contenders are often confirmed, but there are also false positives, like actors who were thought to have a chance and will still have no shot after their nomination here (such as Adam Beach for "Flags of our Fathers".

These nominations should pave the way for the following announcements, the nearest being the Golden Globes on December 13th. I am excited for the Satellite announcement, and tried for the first time (I never quite finished) to predict the nominees. It was fun for a while, but became tiring after I was just making up nominees to try to make them seem differentiated from other groups. Side note: all categories have six nominees, though they really can have anywhere from five to eight. Television nomination predictions can be found on the TV blog and are linked below. Without further ado, my random predictions. Nominees are in alphabetical order by film title and listed as the press release by the Satellite Awards lists them.

1. ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE, DRAMA
A. KEIRA KNIGHTLEY, ATONEMENT
B. JULIE CHRISTIE, AWAY FROM HER
C. CATE BLANCHETT, ELIZABETH: THE GOLDEN AGE
D. TANG WEI, LUST, CAUTION
E. ANGELINA JOLIE, A MIGHTY HEART
F. HALLE BERRY, THINGS WE LOST IN THE FIRE

2. ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE, DRAMA
A. BRAD PITT, THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES
B. JAMES MCAVOY, ATONEMENT
C. VIGGO MORTENSEN, EASTERN PROMISES
D. JOHN CUSACK, GRACE IS GONE
E. CHRISTIAN BALE, RESCUE DAWN
F. DANIEL DAY-LEWIS, THERE WILL BE BLOOD

3. ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE, COMEDY OR MUSICAL
A. AMY ADAMS, ENCHANTED
B. NIKKI BLONSKY, HAIRSPRAY
C. ELLEN PAGE, JUNO
D. LAURA LINNEY, THE SAVAGES
E. MARION COTILLARD, LA VIE EN ROSE
F. KERI RUSSELL, WAITRESS

4. ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE, COMEDY OR MUSICAL
A. JASON SCHWARTZMANN, THE DARJEELING LIMITED
B. JOHN TRAVOLTA, HAIRSPRAY
C. RYAN GOSLING, LARS AND THE REAL GIRL
D. PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN, THE SAVAGES
E. JOHNNY DEPP, SWEENEY TODD
F. DON CHEADLE, TALK TO ME

5. ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
A. MARISA TOMEI, BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU’RE DEAD
B. MICHELLE PFEIFFER, HAIRSPRAY
C. CATE BLANCHETT, I’M NOT THERE
D. TILDA SWINTON, MICHAEL CLAYTON
E. LAURA LINNEY, THE NANNY DIARIES
F. KELLY MACDONALD, NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN

6. ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
A. GORDON PINSENT, AWAY FROM HER
B. ALBERT FINNEY, BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU’RE DEAD
C. JAVIER BARDEM, NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
D. MARK RUFFALO, RESERVATION ROAD
E. PHILIP BOSCO, THE SAVAGES
F. PAUL DANO, THERE WILL BE BLOOD

7. MOTION PICTURE, DRAMA
A. ATONEMENT
B. AWAY FROM HER
C. BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU’RE DEAD
D. EASTERN PROMISES
E. NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
F. THERE WILL BE BLOOD

8. MOTION PICTURE, COMEDY OR MUSICAL
A. HAIRSPRAY
B. JUNO
C. ONCE
D. THE SAVAGES
E. SWEENEY TODD
F. WAITRESS

9. MOTION PICTURE, FOREIGN LANGUAGE
A. THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY
B. 4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS, AND 2 DAYS
C. THE KITE RUNNER
D. LUST, CAUTION
E. THE ORPHANAGE
F. LA VIE EN ROSE

10. MOTION PICTURE, ANIMATED OR MIXED MEDIA
A. BEE MOVIE
B. BEOWULF
C. ENCHANTED
D. PERSEPOLIS
E. RATATOUILLE
F. THE SIMPSONS MOVIE

11. MOTION PICTURE, DOCUMENTARY
A. DARFUR NOW
B. LAKE OF FIRE
C. NO END IN SIGHT
D. RAPE OF EUROPA
E. SICKO
F. THE 11TH HOUR

12. DIRECTOR
A. SARAH POLLEY, AWAY FROM HER
B. SIDNEY LUMET, BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU’RE DEAD
C. DAVID CRONENBERG, EASTERN PROMISES
D. JOEL COEN, NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
E. PAUL THOMAS ANDERSON, THERE WILL BE BLOOD
F. ADRIENNE SHELLEY, WAITRESS

13. SCREENPLAY, ORIGINAL
A. BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU’RE DEAD
B. EAGLE VS. SHARK
C. EASTERN PROMISES
D. ONCE
E. THE SAVAGES
F. WAITRESS

14. SCREENPLAY, ADAPTED
A. ATONEMENT
B. AWAY FROM HER
C. THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY
D. NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
E. INTO THE WILD
F. THERE WILL BE BLOOD

15. ORIGINAL SCORE
A. THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES
B. ATONEMENT
C. THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY
D. THE GOLDEN COMPASS
E. THE KITE RUNNER
F. THERE WILL BE BLOOD

16. ORIGINAL SONG
A. ENCHANTED – “That’s How You Know”
B. HAIRSPRAY – “Come So Far”
C. INTO THE WILD – “Guaranteed”
D. ONCE – “Falling Slowly”
E. ONCE – “Leave”
F. ONCE – “When Your Mind’s Made Up”

17. CINEMATOGRAPHY
A. THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES
B. THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY
C. LUST, CAUTION
D. NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
E. SMOKIN’ ACES
F. THERE WILL BE BLOOD

18. VISUAL EFFECTS
A. BEOWULF
B. THE GOLDEN COMPASS
C. HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX
D. LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD
E. PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN 3
F. SPIDER-MAN 3
G. TRANSFORMERS

19. FILM EDITING
A. ATONEMENT
B. EASTERN PROMISES
C. THE GOLDEN COMPASS
D. NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
E. SMOKIN’ ACES
F. THERE WILL BE BLOOD

20. SOUND (EDITING & MIXING)
A. BEOWULF
B. THE GOLDEN COMPASS
C. LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD
D. NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
E. SMOKIN’ ACES
F. TRANSFORMERS

21. ART DIRECTION & PRODUCTION DESIGN
A. BEOWULF
B. ELIZABETH: THE GOLDEN AGE
C. THE GOLDEN COMPASS
D. HAIRSPRAY
E. HARRY POTTER & THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX
F. LUST, CAUTION

22. COSTUME DESIGN
A. BEOWULF
B. ELIZABETH: THE GOLDEN AGE
C. THE GOLDEN COMPASS
D. HAIRSPRAY
E. LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA
F. LUST, CAUTION

BEST ENSEMBLE, MOTION PICTURE
JUNO

And continuing on to the TV predictions...