Awards Watch: Odds and Ends

Here's a quick roundup of the latest awards news from the past couple of days:

• The National Society of Film Critics named There Will Be Blood their Best Picture, along with three other awards, including Best Actor for Daniel Day Lewis. (For a quick look at their winners, see the comments section below.)
• The British Academy of Film and Television Arts has revealed their "long list" of initial contenders for their awards, with Atonement leading the pack with a whopping 17 "pre-nominations", including Best Picture (duh) and six acting nods, including ones for James McAvoy and Keira Knightley. The final cut will be announced January 16.
• These two films are also among the nominees for this year's USC Libraries "Scripter Award", which is given to not only the screenwriter of an adapted work but also the original author. Into the Wild, No Country for Old Men and Zodiac round out the nominees; the winner will be announced January 9.
• The seven finalists for the Oscars' Visual Effects category have been revealed: The Bourne Ultimatum, Evan Almighty, The Golden Compass, I Am Legend, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, 300 and Transformers. And yes, you read that right: that list does not include the latest adventures of a certain boy wizard or web-slinger.
• The Academy has also announced the winners for this year's Scientific and Technical Achievement Awards, as well as the recipients of the Gordon E. Sawyer Award and the John A. Bonner Medal of Commendation, all to be handed out February 9.
• And finally: Be sure to watch the Broadcast Film Critics Association's Critics' Choice Awards on VH-1 tomorrow night ... it may be your only chance to see the big names walk the red carpet this year if this cursed strike doesn't get resolved soon.

Links via HollywoodReporter.com, Variety.com, Oscars.org, BFCA.org and VH1.com.