2008 Oscars 80th Academy Awards

2008 Oscars 80th Academy Awards

Winners Announced: February 24, 2008
Held at: Kodak Theatre, Hollywood, California
Host: Jon Stewart
Eligibility Year: 2007

The Oscars 2008 Trivia

  • No Country for Old Men was the night’s big winner, taking home four awards, including Best Picture and Best Director for the Coen brothers.
  • Daniel Day-Lewis bagged his second Best Actor Oscar for his role in There Will Be Blood. His method acting gained a lot of attention during the award season.
  • Tilda Swinton was a surprise winner for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Michael Clayton, beating out favorite Cate Blanchett.
  • Once’s song Falling Slowly won Best Original Song, and the heartfelt acceptance speech by its songwriters, Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová, was a highlight of the evening.
  • The Writers Guild of America strike almost derailed the show, which ended just days before the ceremony. There were fears the show might be picketed or even canceled.
  • French actress Marion Cotillard won Best Actress as Édith Piaf in La Vie en Rose, marking only the third time an Oscar had been awarded for a foreign-language performance.
  • Jon Stewart invited Markéta Irglová back on stage to finish her acceptance speech after she was played off, a moment that won him accolades for his hosting.

2008 Oscar Nominees and Winners


Best Picture:
No Country for Old Men – Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, producers (WINNER)
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
Best Director:
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen – No Country for Old Men (WINNER)
Julian Schnabel – The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Jason Reitman – Juno
Tony Gilroy – Michael Clayton
Paul Thomas Anderson – There Will Be Blood
Best Actor:
Daniel Day-Lewis – There Will Be Blood as Daniel Plainview (WINNER)
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
Best Actress:
Marion Cotillard – La Vie en Rose as Édith Piaf (WINNER)
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
Best Supporting Actor:
Javier Bardem – No Country for Old Men as Anton Chigurh (WINNER)
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
Best Supporting Actress:
Tilda Swinton – Michael Clayton as Karen Crowder (WINNER)
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
Best Original Screenplay:
Juno – Diablo Cody (WINNER)
Lars and the Real Girl – Nancy Oliver
Michael Clayton – Tony Gilroy
Ratatouille – Brad Bird, Jan Pinkava and Jim Capobianco
The Savages – Tamara Jenkins
Best Adapted Screenplay:
No Country for Old Men – Joel Coen and Ethan Coen based on the novel by Cormac McCarthy (WINNER)
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
Best Animated Feature Film:
Ratatouille – Brad Bird (WINNER)
Persepolis – Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud
Surf’s Up – Ash Brannon and Chris Buck
Best Foreign Language Film:
The Counterfeiters (Austria) in German – Stefan Ruzowitzky (WINNER)
12 (Russia) in Russian – Nikita Mikhalkov
Beaufort (Israel) in Hebrew – Joseph Cedar
Katyn (Poland) in Polish – Andrzej Wajda
Mongol (Kazakhstan) in Russian – Sergei Bodrov
Best Documentary Feature:
Taxi to the Dark Side – Alex Gibney and Eva Orner (WINNER)
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
Best Documentary Short Subject:
Freeheld – Cynthia Wade and Vanessa Roth (WINNER)
La Corona – Amanda Micheli and Isabel Vega
Salim Baba – Tim Sternberg and Francisco Bello
Sari’s Mother – James Longley
Best Live Action Short Film:
Le Mozart des Pickpockets (The Mozart of Pickpockets) – Philippe Pollet-Villard (WINNER)
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
Best Animated Short Film:
Peter & the Wolf – Suzie Templeton and Hugh Welchman (WINNER)
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
Best Original Score:
Atonement – Dario Marianelli (WINNER)
3:10 to Yuma – Marco Beltrami
The Kite Runner – Alberto Iglesias
Michael Clayton – James Newton Howard
Ratatouille – Michael Giacchino
Best Original Song:
“Falling Slowly” from Once – Music and Lyrics by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová (WINNER)
“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
Best Sound Editing:
The Bourne Ultimatum – Karen Baker Landers and Per Hallberg (WINNER)
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
Best Sound Mixing:
The Bourne Ultimatum – Scott Millan, David Parker and Kirk Francis (WINNER)
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
Best Art Direction:
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street – Art Direction: Dante Ferretti; Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo (WINNER)
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
Best Cinematography:
There Will Be Blood – Robert Elswit (WINNER)
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford – Roger Deakins
Atonement – Seamus McGarvey
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly – Janusz Kaminski
No Country for Old Men – Roger Deakins
Best Makeup:
La Vie en Rose – Didier Lavergne and Jan Archibald (WINNER)
Norbit – Rick Baker and Kazuhiro Tsuji
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End – Ve Neill and Martin Samuel
Best Costume Design:
Elizabeth: The Golden Age – Alexandra Byrne (WINNER)
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
Best Film Editing:
The Bourne Ultimatum – Christopher Rouse (WINNER)
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
Best Visual Effects:
The Golden Compass – Michael Fink, Bill Westenhofer, Ben Morris and Trevor Wood (WINNER)
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