Atonement vs No Country for Old Men (2007)

[jez89 Joined: Aug 14th, 2018 Topics: 1 Posts: 285 View Predictions]

#1203393017

I watched Atonement for the first time the other day (just one of those films I missed at the time and never caught up on). Really good film and story. The only bits that lagged slightly were the war sequences and I was keen for the action to get back to Cecilia and Briony.

It’s interesting that No Country won Best Picture when Atonement is far more of an Academy friendly film. No Country is one of my favourite films and it deserved its win but what are people’s theories behind why Atonement didn’t pull through here?

Atonement won the Drama Golden Globe (not televised that year) and the BAFTA. No Country won SAG ensemble. Atonement would have had the famous British block. In hindsight I’m surprised Atonement didn’t win Picture and the Coens Director.

Curious for people’s thoughts on this race.

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[Nameizmann]

#1203393022

No Country won PGA+DGA+SAG+WGA, so it winning BP was a done deal. GG/BAFTA/CC are immaterial and only relevant for predicting upsets in a somewhat close year (which this year wasn’t, since No Country swept the four big guilds.)

For the same reason, TSN vs. Kings Speech and Boyhood vs. Birdman weren’t close, either.

• This reply was modified 11 months, 1 week ago by Nameizmann.
• This reply was modified 11 months, 1 week ago by Nameizmann.

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[John Berchmans Joined: Jan 22nd, 2018 Topics: 6 Posts: 4429 View Predictions]

#1203393131

Nameizmann wrote:

No Country won PGA+DGA+SAG+WGA, so it winning BP was a done deal. GG/BAFTA/CC are immaterial and only relevant for predicting upsets in a somewhat close year (which this year wasn’t, since No Country swept the four big guilds.) For the same reason, TSN vs. Kings Speech and Boyhood vs. Birdman weren’t close, either.

People seriously undervalue the guilds when predicting Best Picture winners. They’re one of the reasons why even though 1917 won PGA and DGA I knew Parasite would win, because it had the most guild wins overall and just as many big ones. Same goes for Spolight (WGA + SAG vs Big Short’s PGA only and Revenant’s DGA only) and The Shape of Water (PGA + DGA vs Three Billboards’ SAG only).

John's Best of 2020

Best Picture: Soul
Best Director: George Clooney-The Midnight Sky
Best Actor: Chadwick Boseman-Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Best Actress: Viola Davis-Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Best Supporting Actor: Delroy Lindo-Da Five Bloods
Best Supporting Actress: Amanda Seyfried-Mank
Best Original Screenplay: Soul
Best Adapted Screenplay: The Midnight Sky

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[Gabe Guarin Joined: Feb 23rd, 2017 Topics: 40 Posts: 2389 View Predictions]

#1203393174

John Berchmans wrote:

People seriously undervalue the guilds when predicting Best Picture winners. They’re one of the reasons why even though 1917 won PGA and DGA I knew Parasite would win, because it had the most guild wins overall and just as many big ones. Same goes for Spolight (WGA + SAG vs Big Short’s PGA only and Revenant’s DGA only) and The Shape of Water (PGA + DGA vs Three Billboards’ SAG only).

I think a lot of people got tripped up by the quadruple whammy of Golden Globes, BAFTAs, DGA and PGA. As we learned this year, that combo can’t overcome lacking support where it matters the most: in 1917’s case, the acting branch.

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[Gabe Guarin Joined: Feb 23rd, 2017 Topics: 40 Posts: 2389 View Predictions]

#1203393335

What’s funny is that even though Atonement won the Drama Golden Globe and BAFTA Award, it was snubbed by all the guilds: SAG, DGA, PGA, and WGA.

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[Elazul Joined: Sep 2nd, 2017 Topics: 8 Posts: 1006 View Predictions]

#1203393406

I think Atonement is quite disjointed and it’s “message” didn’t come across while NCFOM is not the typical Oscar bait but it still has that “important” feel the Academy loves…

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[Mickmack Joined: Jan 25th, 2018 Topics: 6 Posts: 510 View Predictions]

#1203393413

ZODIAC!!!

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[Jeffrey Kare Joined: Jan 23rd, 2013 Topics: 292 Posts: 5456 View Predictions]

#1203394500

Not to mention that Atonement was the only Best Picture nominee that year where its director (who in this case is Joe Wright) wasn’t even in contention.

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[Atypical Joined: Dec 1st, 2011 Topics: 355 Posts: 21785 View Predictions]

#1203394514

The correct answer is:

“There Will Be Blood”

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