All eyes will be on the films nominated for Best Ensemble, as in previous years, usually at least four of these films will go on to be nominated for Best Picture. This is the final major awards nominations to come out in 2007 before the guilds weigh in next year. We think “Atonement” and “Michael Clayton” may score big here. Oscar Frenzy’s predictions are below.

Best Actor:

Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood
George Clooney, Michael Clayton
Johnny Depp, Sweeney Todd
James McAvoy, Atonement
Viggo Mortenson, Eastern Promises

Best Actress:

Julie Christie, Away From Her
Ellen Page, Juno
Keira Knightley, Atonement
Marion Cotillard, La Vie En Rose
Amy Adams, Enchanted

Best Supporting Actor:

Javier Bardem, No Country For Old Men
Hal Holbrook, Into the Wild
Casey Affleck, The Assasination of Jesse James
Tom Wilkinson, Michael Clayton
Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Charlie Wilson’s War

Best Supporting Actress:

Tilda Swinton, Michael Clayton
Amy Ryan, Gone Baby Gone
Cate Blanchett, I’m Not There
Catherine Keener, Into the Wild
Vanessa Redgrave, Atonement

Best Ensemble:

Atonement
Into the Wild
Michael Clayton
No Country For Old Men
Juno

In the Coen Brothers’ latest film, “No Country for Old Men,” a down on his luck hunter Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) stumbles across the bloody aftermath of a drug deal gone wrong and finds two million dollars. At long last, the destitute man thinks, fate has smiled upon me. However, by taking the money, he unwittingly becomes the target of Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem) a relentless killer who sets out to find Moss and retrieve the money.

Fate’s a funny thing.

I went into “No Man” with some trepidation. Of late, the Coen Brothers’ movies have been nothing more than slapsticky hokum. “O Brother Where Art Thou?,” “The Lady Killers” and “Intolerable Cruelty” were populated by dim bulb caricatures designed to be nothing more than punchline delivery systems. In returning to the deadly serious Texas noir of “Blood Simple,” the Coens have created characters so undeniably human that they come close to breaking your heart.

Moss is the perfect noir protagonist, the everyman succumbing to irresistable temptation that eventually threatens to destroy him. Moss’ decision to keep the money and go on the run stems not from greed, but from a dogged stubbornness. He’s an unemployed Vietnam vet forced to hunt in order to put food on the table. Fate has taken everything else away from him, and, Goddammit, it’s not going to take away this.

Bardem’s Chigurh begs to differ. He is the most chilling monster to come out of American cinema in a decade. In his unblinking gaze, there is no glimmer of mercy or uncertainty. He is terrifying, because his murderous tendenices are not in service of greed, politics or pride. He cannot be bought off. He cannot be flattered. He is an agent of fate itself; Moss’ windfall has thrown the universe out of balance, and Chigurh intends to right the scales… even if he has to kill every single man, woman and child in East Texas to do it.

And while sad-eyed, old Sheriff Bell tries to save Moss from Chigurh, all he can do is watch helplessly as the inevitable mayhem ensues. Tommy Lee Jones’ Bell is the polar opposite of Deputy Gerard, the brilliant, driven manhunter Jones played in “The Fugitive.” While Gerard had all the answers and knew just what to do, Bell seems completely outmatched by the brutal Chigurh. In the end, the old man accepts that he is powerless to change fate, whether it be Llewellyn’s or his own. And in that wisdom, he finds a kind of grace.

The Hollywood Foreign Press did precisely the opposite of what the Broadcast Critics did a few days ago. They lavished praise upon early season frontrunner “Atonement” and kicked “Into The Wild” into the curb. “Into The Wild” got 7 Broadcast noms, but only two Globes nods, both for music. Did Sean Penn piss someone off?

It should not be surprising that “Atonement” ruled the Globes. After all, the HFPA previously went crazy for epic romances like “The English Patient” and “Cold Mountain.” James McAvoy and Keira Knightley must be breathing a sigh of relief. Both were shut out at the BFCAs, but now they are back on track for the Oscars.

The Globes haven’t been as good of a predictor as the BFCAs, but there are some subtle signs to look for this time around. Last year, Dreamgirls’ director Bill Condon didn’t get a director nod. That was sort of the beginning of the end for Dreamgirls’ Oscar bid. Notice that Tim Burton did for Sweeney Todd this morning. This might be an indicator that Sweeney Todd has more staying power. Also, note that three films got nominations for directing and writing: Atonement, No Country For Old Men, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. These three films will be tough to beat come Oscar nominations time.

Meanwhile, what is up with the Golden Globes listing SEVEN films for Best Picture Drama. It was bad enough when they picked six a few years ago. This is just downright ridiculous. It dilutes the significance of the other nominees and reveals an inexcusable indecisiveness among the HFPA.

Next week, we’ll update our Best Picture predictions and try to make some sense of the awards season so far.