Oscar Nominees

Busy day in the showbiz year and a bit of bad news overshadowed it all. RIP, Heath Ledger.

The 2007 Oscar nominees were announced. I haven't seen any of the Best Picture nominees yet. There was a time in the late 90's when I was pretty good about seeing them before the award show. Not so much anymore and I don't know if I should blame that more on age or parenthood.
Four of the movies interest me and I would certainly see them if time and money permitted. Both 'No Country for Old Men' and 'There Will Be Blood' were produced by the same guy (and I think shot in the same general area). I've heard gushing reviews of both of them and they look very good. The FP Gal wants to see 'Juno' and I do too. This is the one we're most likely to see in the next few weeks. (This is where I give my annual spiel about separating the comedies and dramas. If it was good enough for the Greeks, it's good enough for us.) 'Atonement' looks like 'The English Patient' and I thought that was a great movie. Both of them were based on novels that made the short list for the Man Booker Prize.
The odd one out? 'Michael Clayton'. This movie looks like a paint-by-numbers 'corporations are evil' film. We've already had 'Erin Brockovich' and 'A Civil Action' and about a hundred others. New script please.
Looking through the rest of the list... Man, I didn't see much this year! I'm amazed that 'Surfs Up' got a nod for Best Animated. The commercials had 'written by a committee' all over them. That's not a compliment.
So, who saw what and what did you think?