Transformers (3 nominations)
Michael Bay’s Transformers goes up against The Bourne Ultimatum in the sound editing and sound mixing categories, and earns a third berth for its visual effects. What, no screenplay nomination? 

UNDERRATED: These Films Deserved Better

The sanctimonious Sean Penn, a great actor, went behind the camera to direct Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild for the big screen, with life-affirming results. The film starts out as a generational snub by a young graduate toward his materialistic parents, but evolves into something much more nuanced and ultimately profound.

The actress Sarah Polley made her directorial debut with Away from Her and brought out the year’s best performance from Julie Christie as a woman facing the onset of Alzheimer’s disease. Though Christie is considered the favorite to win Best Actress, the film deserves much wider exposure than it’s received, and could easily have garnered another acting nomination for Christie’s co-star, Gordon Pinsent.

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, another great adaptation of a novel, is a rare film that effectively incorporates voiceover narration, setting it against uniquely distorted visuals that blur the truth—and legend—of Jesse James into a larger story of how America builds up and tears down reputations.

Those four films are all nominated for Oscars, if not in as many categories as they might have been. However, 2007 was a very strong year at the movies, and it’s hard to know which of the other nominated films should be struck from the list to make way for personal preferences.

That said, a few films were completely overlooked by the Academy, including Hairspray, an infectious, uplifting tale that allows an actress who doesn’t resemble a fashion model to end up getting the guy. It’s a fun film for adolescent girls who have moved beyond the fairy-tale world of Enchanted and are looking for something slightly more grown up.

Zodiac, overlooked during its theatrical run, has since been heralded far and wide by critics groups, and is destined to assume the deserving status of classic. The movie embeds multiple themes—obsession, male responsibility, media culpability—into a cat-and-mouse thriller that is never less than fascinating.