I saw this movie in theaters as soon as it came out. I was dying to see it; I’d read the book early in the year and thought the story was just perfect for the Coen Brothers.

For those who have yet to see it, the story follows Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin), a poor sap who is in the wrong place at the wrong time when he finds a bunch of dead people in the middle of the desert and a bag filled with money. When he brings the bag home, everything spirals out of control as the cold-blooded killer (Javier Bardem) who wants his money back comes after Llewlyn and his family. Tommy Lee Jones also stars and narrates as the cop who is always one step behind the carnage. It’s a beautifully shot, very quiet film (the composer composed just 16 minutes of music, the bulk of which is used in the end credits) that will scare the hell out of you. Javier Bardem is fantastic as the eerie murderer Chigurh and Josh Brolin really brings to life the resilient Llewelyn.

Nominations:

Best Picture
This film is definitely the front runner here. It could be upset by There Will Be Blood, but I truly think that it will take home the top honors come Oscar night. I’ll wait to pass absolute judgment until I see Michael Clayton and There Will Be Blood.

Best Director – The Coen Brothers
Once again, this is another race between No Country and Blood. Julian Schnabel is the dark horse here, but his vote is hurt because his film isn’t nominated for Best Picture. Based on the many awards they’ve already won, I think the Coen Brothers will have no problem taking this one home.

Best Supporting Actor – Javier Bardem
Of all the shoe-ins this year, this is by far the biggest. There hasn yet to be an award yet that Bardem hasn’t taken home for this role and all the other supporting actors don’t stand a chance. I love what he did for this character. He really embraced it and I was more afraid of him than I was of Chigurh when I was reading the book. It was an amazing performance.

Best Cinematography
Roger Deakins, the "go to" cinematographer for the Coen Brothers, is nominated twice here with No Country and Assassination of Jesse James. Generally when people are nominated twice for the same award, or two people for the same film, they split the vote. So banking on that, I’m hoping that this award will go to Janusz Kaminski, the amazing cinematographer behind the beautiful work of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. The truth is, all these films are contenders. I haven’t seen Jesse James or Blood yet, but for now, I’m sticking with Diving Bell.

Best Editing
I’ve already claimed that I think (hope) that Into the Wild will take this award home, however when a film gets on a roll, like this one just may, it tends to sweep all the “little” categories it’s nominated for. Sadly, not everyone understands how the editing makes the film and just votes for their favorites here.

Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing
Because this film is so sparse on sound, the only way I can see it taking these home is if it’s picked for its artful use of silence. However, I really believe these awards will go to the big sound guys like Transformers.

Best Adapted Screenplay
Here’s a great race this year. Yes, I think No Country will win. There Will Be Blood is so loosely based on Oil! that that will perhaps hinder it’s chances. The dark horse here is Atonement, which will likely be getting beat left and right come Oscar night, but I personally think should win this category. I loved No Country, I loved its adaptation, which was very direct, but Atonement did the best with it’s source material.

Snubbed?
There’s been a lot of talk about Josh Brolin not catching a nomination for his performance, but he’s just another great actor that slipped through the cracks this year along with Emile Hirsch and Casey Affleck. However, as people are complaining that good, meaty women’s roles in films are getting harder and harder to come by, I felt Kelly Macdonald did a great job as Carla Jean Moss, Llewelyn’s wife. In what is largely a man’s film, she shines through in her performance and deserved to get recognized in some way.