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Our critics’ Oscar picks

BY JAN STUART AND GENE SEYMOUR | jan.stuart@newsday.com; gene.seymour@newsday.com

February 24, 2008

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Best Picture Nominees: "Atonement;" "Juno;" "Michael Clayton;" "No Country for Old Men;" "There Will Be Blood"

JAN STUART

Should Win: "There Will Be Blood." Well, "Citizen Kane" lost to "How Green Was My Valley." Why should Paul Thomas Anderson expect any more respect than Orson Welles?

Will win: "No Country for Old Men"

Shoulda been a contender: "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly." A roller-coaster ride, from inside the head of the trolley. Along with "There Will Be Blood," the summit of movie storytelling in 2007.

GENE SEYMOUR

Should win: "There Will Be Blood." A quixotic, breathtaking confrontation with the darkness lurking in the American soul.

Will win: "No Country for Old Men"

Shoulda been a contender: "Zodiac." The more I watch it, the more I'm convinced that it's some kind of itchy masterwork.

Best Director Nominees: Paul Thomas Anderson, "There Will Be Blood;" Joel and Ethan Coen, "No Country for Old Men;" Tony Gilroy, "Michael Clayton;" Jason Reitman, "Juno;" Julian Schnabel, "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"

JAN STUART

Should win: Julian Schnabel, "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly." In anyone else's hands, this would have been just another triumph-of-the-human-spirit potboiler.

Will win: Ethan and Joel Coen, "No Country for Old Men"

Shoulda been a contender: David Fincher, "Zodiac." A regular high-wire act: an epic serial-killer mystery, with minimal gore, no resolution and terrific performances across the board.

GENE SEYMOUR

Should win: Julian Schnabel, "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly." To make an audience sympathetic to a desperate invalid is one thing. To make it feel almost exactly what that invalid is feeling is close to extraordinary.

Will win: Joel and Ethan Coen, "No Country for Old Men"

Shoulda been a contender: Brad Bird, "Ratatouille." Right now, he's as much an auteur in animation as Billy Wilder, Preston Sturges and Ernst Lubitsch were with live-action. It's high time Bird was properly acknowledged as such.

Best Actress Nominees: Cate Blanchett, "Elizabeth: The Golden Age;" Julie Christie, "Away From Her;" Marion Cotillard, "La Vie en Rose;" Laura Linney, "The Savages;" Ellen Page, "Juno"

JAN STUART