Road to oscars 2008 - 80th annual academy awards

The Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS)to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers. The formal ceremony at which the awards are presented is among the most prominent and most watched film awards ceremonies in the world.

The 1st Academy Awards ceremony was held on Thursday, May 16, 1929, at the Hotel Roosevelt in Hollywood to honor outstanding film achievements of 1927 and 1928. It was hosted by actor Douglas Fairbanks and director William C. DeMille. Most recently, the 79th Academy Awards ceremony was held on Sunday, February 25, 2007, at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles to honor outstanding film achievements of 2006. It was hosted by day-time television talk show host Ellen DeGeneres.

The 80th Academy Awards ceremony is scheduled for Sunday, February 24, 2008, and will be hosted by Comedy Central's The Daily Show host Jon Stewart.AMPAS, a professional honorary organization, maintains a voting membership of 5,829 as of 2007.[3] Actors constitute the largest voting bloc, numbering 1,311 members (22 percent) of the Academy's composition. Votes for Oscars have been tabulated and certified by the auditing firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (and its predecessor Price Waterhouse) for the past 72 annual awards ceremonies

NOMINEES FOR BEST MOTION PICTURE ARE:

Atonement (2007)

User Rating: 8.0/10

Plot outline : Fledgling writer Briony Tallis, as a 13-year-old, irrevocably changes the course of several lives when she accuses her older sister's (Keira Knightley) lover (James McAvoy) of a crime he did not commit. Based on the British romance novel by Ian McEwan

Juno (2007)

User Rating: 8.3/10

Plot outline : Faced with an unplanned pregnancy, an offbeat young woman makes an unusual decision regarding her unborn child.

Michael Clayton (2007)

User Rating: 7.7/10

Plot outline : An attorney known as the Fixer in his law firm comes across the biggest case of his career that could produce disastrous results for those involved

No Country for Old Men (2007)

User Rating: 8.6/10

Plot outline : Violence and mayhem ensue after a hunter stumbles upon some dead bodies, a stash of heroin and more than $2 million in cash near the Rio Grande.

There Will Be Blood (2007)

User Rating: 8.8/10

Plot outline : A story about family, greed, religion, and oil, centered around a turn-of-the-century prospector in the early days of the business

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