Any predictions, Scott? Feinberg's list is pretty close to mine but I think (hope) The Tree of Life will get it for cinematography. Also, Albert Nobbs for make-up, TGWTDT for editing and "Man or Muppet" for song.

My list is almost identical to Feinberg. The big question is how deep the Academy’s affection goes for “The Artist” or not. But the screenwriting awards look pretty locked down for “Midnight in Paris” and “The Descendants”.

Re: The Descendants script. The script was peppered with VO. Is this a case of "NEVER use VO to tell your story--unless you're already successful." ? Break the rules only when you have the clout/experience to do so?

tracinell, I am on a pseudo-campaign against Hollywood's supposed conventional wisdom against voiceover narration and for that matter flashbacks... as long as they're done well. And that's the critical part. The main reason Hwood has a negative attitude toward VN and FB is they think both represent examples of "flabby writing" [as Robert McKee's character in "Adaptation" puts it in lecture]. And they're right when they're used poorly. But when they're used well, they can be fantastic. I've posted on this many times, how some of the very best movies of all time use voiceover narration including Shawshank, Forrest Gump, Fight Club, Goodfellas, Sunset Blvd. and on and on. Re The Descendants: Alexander Payne, as a respected wr-dr, can do pretty much any damn thing he wants. But I believe he has to use VN for a couple of reasons. First Matt is a pretty closed-up character who, as part of his transformation, opens up emotionally. But in order to get inside him, especially at first, we need to 'hear' him through VN. Second his wife is in a coma. She can't talk. We can only 'hear' her through Matt and others speaking about her, and in the case of Matt's VN in a way for her, at least tinged through Matt's POV. But none of that matters if the VN isn't handled well. Why it works in The Descendants is, I believe, that the story is so personal. It's the thoughts and feelings of a wounded guy in a horrible circumstance: Losing his wife, then discovering he'd already lost her to an affair. I'm hoping to do a new Screenwriting Lessons series from movies of 2011, if I can find the time, and one of them is The Descendants. When I do that, I'll address the VN issue more fully. But think about this: After that opening shot of Alexandra in the boat, we cut to Matt VN about Hawaii, then into the hospital room where he ends up calling out to Alexandra in his thoughts. Compare that to his very final moments with his wife after they have pulled the plug and she is at the edge of death, Matt's "my love... my pain" confession. That shift from VN to actual spoken dialogue underscores his metamorphosis from closed-up guy to more open emotionally. More later.

Thank you for the reply. When it comes to screenwriting, I've come to realize I suffer from Rule-itis Bombardment. In general, it has served me well, but there are moments when instinct for a story and rules collide. Perhaps the true difference between a professional and an amateur is a professional knows when to follow their gut.

I'm with you regarding VO - if it works, it works. I was just watching Badlands for the umteenth time and that's a film where the VO works great. It was Malick's first film so he had not yet ventured into the multiple character VOs we hear in his subsequent films. Instead it's told from Holly's POV and is almost like a teenage girl's diary entries where she describes Kit and their relationship as if it were from a romance novel. Since Kit is the one that actually does things to move the story along and Holly is pretty much just along for the ride, it makes sense to see it from her view. She is the observer of him, just like we are. And when we realize it's a distorted view, an inexperienced fifteen-year-old's fantasy of what a relationship is, it makes the story more powerful. That would have been almost impossible to portray without VO.