Oscar (sort of) watch

I have purposely kept this an Oscar free zone of late, for reasons previously outlined. But the continual blanket coverage of what will be this year's biggest media event (outside of the Olympics that is) has worn me down some what. I've been particularly intrigued by the supposed last-minute rallying of Juno as a possible Best Picture winner from certain quarters. The same quarters that predicted a win for Little Miss Sunshine last year and we all remember what went of to win then. No Country For Old Men has been the favourite for so long now, picking up virtually every critics and guild award going en route to O-Day, that it always seemed impossible that it wouldn't win despite the overwhelming love that's out there for There Will Be Blood. But suddenly the Oscars soothsayers are predicting an upset. Or rather one of two upsets. Because the current "wisdom" is that No Country and There Will Blood will split the vote and allow Juno to win. Or maybe Michael Clayton. Depending on who you believe. Now, I liked both Juno and Michael Clayton very much indeed. The former was in my top twelve films of the year, the latter was a bubbling under. But, to me, neither is a Best Picture winner. If you pushed me to pick a winner, out of the five nominated films, I'd have to give it to There Will Be Blood. I love the Coens, and I love the movie, but I have certain problems with it that I don't have with TWBB.