What is the Buzzmeter?
The Envelope utilizes respected entertainment pundits to monitor who's hot and who's not in key awards races. These industry experts tap the pulse of the awards community, providing frequent updates that rank the leading contenders in a variety of categories.

 
 Up from last week  Down from last week  New buzz  No change
Academy Awards 2008: Best Actor
1 Daniel Day-Lewis, "There Will Be Blood" Same as last week
2 George Clooney, "Michael Clayton" Same as last week
3 Johnny Depp, "Sweeney Todd" Same as last week
4 Tommy Lee Jones, "In the Valley of Elah" Same as last week
5 Viggo Mortensen, "Eastern Promises" Same as last week
The Skinny:
The Envelope’s own Tom O’Neil and film critic Carrie Rickey are the only voters to go out on a limb and pick anyone other than Daniel Day-Lewis. O’Neil pegged Clooney and Rickey likes Jones. Brave souls in the face of Sunday’s “Blood”-letting.
Individual panelist's rankings
Academy Awards 2008: Best Actress
1 Julie Christie, "Away from Her" Same as last week
2 Marion Cotillard, "La Vie en Rose" Same as last week
3 Ellen Page, "Juno" Same as last week
4 Laura Linney, "The Savages" Same as last week
5 Cate Blanchett, "Elizabeth: The Golden Age" Same as last week
The Skinny:
Julie Christie should be the winner according to our panel, with only three of our 32 voters selecting her fellow nominee Marion Cotillard instead.
Individual panelist's rankings
Academy Awards 2008: Best Supporting Actor
1 Javier Bardem, "No Country for Old Men" Same as last week
2 Hal Holbrook, "Into the Wild" Same as last week
3 Tom Wilkinson, "Michael Clayton" Same as last week
4 Casey Affleck, "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" Up from last week
5 Philip Seymour Hoffman, "Charlie Wilson's War" Down from last week
The Skinny:
Bardem has won almost every award possible for his performance in “No Country” and despite admiration for Holbrook’s work in “Into the Wild,” our panel doesn’t believe that’s going to change with Oscar.
Individual panelist's rankings
Academy Awards 2008: Best Supporting Actress
1 Cate Blanchett, "I'm Not There" Same as last week
2 Ruby Dee, "American Gangster" Up from last week
3 Tilda Swinton, "Michael Clayton" Up from last week
4 Amy Ryan, "Gone Baby Gone" Down from last week
5 Saoirse Ronan, "Atonement" Same as last week
The Skinny:
Truly the most competitive of the major categories, our experts are split with Cate Blanchett barely fending off challengers Ruby Dee and Tilda Swinton. It's so close that onetime front-runner Amy Ryan has dropped all the way down to fourth.
Individual panelist's rankings
Academy Awards 2008: Best Director
1 Ethan and Joel Coen, "No Country for Old Men" Same as last week
2 Paul Thomas Anderson, "There Will Be Blood" Same as last week
3 Julian Schnabel, "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" Same as last week
4 Tony Gilroy, "Michael Clayton" Same as last week
5 Jason Reitman, "Juno" Same as last week
The Skinny:
Sam Rubin is going out on a limb and predicting “Juno’s” Reitman will upset, but according to the rest of our panel, the Coen brothers are locks to win for “No Country.”
Individual panelist's rankings
Academy Awards 2008: Best Picture
1 "No Country for Old Men" Same as last week
2 "There Will Be Blood" Same as last week
3 "Michael Clayton" Up from last week
4 "Juno" Down from last week
5 "Atonement" Same as last week
The Skinny:
Sam Rubin, Anthony Breznican and Scott Feinberg all believe “Juno” will pull an upset for the ages, but the rest of our prognosticators feel secure that “No Country for Old Men” will win the coveted big prize.
Individual panelist's rankings
Academy Awards 2008: Best Adapated Screenplay
1 Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, "No Country for Old Men" New this week
2 Paul Thomas Anderson, "There Will Be Blood" New this week
3 Ronald Harwood, "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" New this week
4 Sarah Polley, "Away from Her" New this week
5 Christopher Hampton, "Atonement" New this week
The Skinny:
“Blood’s” Anderson and “Butterfly’s” Harwood have their supporters, but a majority of our voters believe the Coen brothers will win again for “No Country.”
Individual panelist's rankings
Academy Awards 2008: Best Original Screenplay
1 Diablo Cody, "Juno" New this week
2 Tony Gilroy, "Michael Clayton" New this week
3 Brad Bird, Jan Pinkava, Jim Capobianco, "Ratatouille" New this week
4 Tamara Jenkins, "The Savages" New this week
5 Nancy Oliver, "Lars and the Real Girl" New this week
The Skinny:
Like Quentin Tarantino over a decade ago, the trendy Cody has dominated the awards season for her popular script “Juno.” All of our experts foresees her winning except one: USA Today’s Scott Bowles. He predicts Tony Gilroy pulls a stirring upset.
Individual panelist's rankings