Awards Archive for December, 2006
What
Sorry, but this is not going to be an argument against Dreamgirls. I will probably write that in February sometime, but not today
The reason I am writing this is that I am finding myself deeply amused by this week
Welcome To Oscarwood
After an afternoon of being yelled at by Oscar consultants, Marcel Giacusa and Tim Webber spent the morning being yelled at by studio executives, member directors and others and
9 Comments »Who Let The Screeners Out?
On Friday, the Directors Guild of America decided to allow screeners to be sent to their 13,400 members for the first time in its history. The previous rule had been that studio could send screeners to the DGA and that if members couldn
20 Comments »Awards Time: Blog Shmoozes, His Ego Loses
Reprinted From VANITY
This is Trade Advertising Season in Hollywood — that frenzied time when back-to-back cocktails and dinners are hurriedly mobilized in order to get studios to buy as many obscenely expensive ads as possible and we can run as many special issues as humanly possible in the hopes of staving off obsolescence. Once the buyers have been fleeced, we also get invited to parties, when all sorts of people, from stars to studio chiefs, suddenly become your best friend.
What accounts for this outburst of conviviality? No, it’s not about Christmas. This is kudo time in Hollywood — the magic moment when Golden Globes, Oscars, critics’ awards and endless heavy covered editions of Variety rain down on the entertainment community.
The rules of the game for artists and other contenders are clear: If you’re idealistic or egomaniacal enough to believe that you can win without benefit of campaigning and hand-shaking, then stay home. If you have any street smarts, however, you’ll be out there on the campaign trail and buying lots and lots of trade covers. And if you are really smart, you will pay particular attention to the tuchus of the editor of the most important trade paper
The British Are Coming
The nominations for the London Critics’ Circle Film Awards are in…
Of course, they are on a somewhat different scheudle than we are here, so noms for films like The Squid & The Whale , Good NIght, And Good Luck, and The Upside of Anger are to be found.
On the flipside, they could have nominated Peter O’Toole and didn’t, choosing Sacha Baron Cohen, Christian Bale, Jeff Daniels, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Richard Griffiths, Toby Jones, James McAvoy, Timothy Spall, David Strathairn, and Forest Whitaker instead.
There is no Daniel Craig nod either. And given the love for Children of Men, I am surprised they went for Michael Caine in The Prestige instead of COM. (I am rooting for Nighy in Supporting, though Caine is great in both roles.) In the one category that has no Brit-specific version, screenwriting, it is interesting that 4 of 5 are non-Brits (3 American, 1 Mexican).
Also of interest, another Sacha Baron Cohen nod, another foreign language nod to Apocalypto, the inclusion of Paul Verhoeven’s Black Book, and a real opportunity for an upset win (in American eyes) in Loraine Stanley for London to Brighton, a black-hearted drama with a very raw, critic-friendly performance.
The big awards… which are split between “Film of the Year” and “British Film of The Year”… have The Queen as the only film in both categories and an embrace of the very American, but directed by a Brit, United 93 and the very Spanish Volver.
The Attenborough Award, British Film of the Year
Children of Men directed by Alfonso Cuaron (UIP/UK)
The Queen directed by Stephen Frears (Pathe)
Red Road directed by Andrea Arnold (Verve Pictures)
The Last King of Scotland directed by Kevin Macdonald (20th Century Fox)
The Wind That Shakes the Barley directed by Ken Loach (Pathe)
Film of the Year
The Departed directed by Martin Scorsese (Entertainment)
Little Miss Sunshine directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris (20th Century Fox)
Volver directed by Pedro Almodovar (Pathe)
United 93 directed by Paul Greengrass (UIP/UK)
The Queen directed by Stephen Frears (Pathe)
The group’s rep tells me the films eligible for nomination were those released in the UK between February 1, 2006 and February 11, 2007, the date of the Baftas.
Amongst the late year or last year films considered and snubbed for non-Brit awards were Babel, Dreamgirls, The Pursuit of Happyness , Flags of Our Fathers (but not Letters From Iwo Jima), Blood Diamond, Bobby, The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, Walk the Line, and Brick.
The rest on MCN
The Battle Of The Publicists
One thing that came out of this morning was a fight between Fox and Paramount about who has more cumulative nods (meaning all divisions)
Here
Sacha Speaks (via publicist)
STATEMENT FROM SACHA BARON COHEN
ON BEHALF OF RECEIVING TWO GOLDEN GLOBE NOMINATIONS FOR
BORAT: CULTURAL LEARNINGS OF AMERICA FOR MAKE BENEFIT GLORIOUS NATION OF KAZAKHSTAN; FILM NOMINATED FOR BEST COMEDY OR MUSICAL; BARON COHEN NOMINATED FOR BEST ACTOR
20 Weeks – The Search For Meaning
Please note that this column was written and posted before this morning’s Globes noms… and I feel no need to change a word. Likewise, the coilumns were posted before nominations… the only adjustment was to add a “GG” notation on the nominees and to add the Oscar-impossible noms at the bottom of each list.
The Golden Globe Nominations mean nothing.
Nothing.
Okay
Let the Moron-A-Thon Begin!!!
The nominations
Before I say anything about The Golden Globes, just one word (?)… E!
Gotta give it to them for the courage to put amateurs who know nothing on TV.
“Dame Judi Dench… you know her from the Bond movies.” Oy.
Okay…
As always, the early results
Another BFCA Miss
It finally hit me when I was discussing with Academy members this morning how The Lives of Others is amongst their favorite films of the year, not just foreign language, that in spite of 6 nominees, we in the BFCA failed to nominate.
Why?
Because unlike all but one of the nominees – Apocalypto – it was not in our DVD collection this season. Sony Classics missed out. Even though they sent out other films, they didn’t send that one. (Or Black Book, which BFCA may well have gone for also) Part of the value of sending the DVD is seeing and appreciating the movie and part of it is simply looking at the pile of more than 60 films sitting on the shelf when you need to come up with 3 to vote for and picking from what is in front of you
BFCA's Crtitics' Choice Award Nominations
There could be a misstep in there, but generally, BFCA finds the 5… with 10 shots.
So after Dreamgirls, Letters From Iwo Jima, The Departed, and The Queen… pick one…
Babel
Blood Diamond
Little Children
Little Miss Sunshine
Notes on a Scandal
United 93
(The one possible Oscar nominee that I am shocked to see BFCA pass on – it is soooo us – is The Pursuit of Happyness. But there is a very good chance that with the DVD arriving the day before nominations were due in that only a small percentage saw it.)
The Departed, Dreamgirls, Babel, and Little Miss Sunshine each received seven nominations. The Queen has four. Little Children has three, as does Notes on a Scandal. Embarrassingly, so does Blood Diamond. United 93 has two.
Which docs got nominated? The ones that were sent to the membership. Three of the five TV movies that got in were the only three sent to membership.
Whatever chance Borat had at a Best Picture nod – it got Best Comedy – was killed by the film not being sent out.
Apocalypto and Letters from Iwo Jima both got Foreign Language nods… Iwo Jima also got Best Picture.
I believe Will and Jaden Smith are the first father and son nominated in the same year. And I think Leonardo DiCaprio is the first person to get two Best Actor nominations in one year.
The Rest…
When Women Film Journalists Gather…
So, is it Rinko’s vagina, Sacha’s hairy ass, Kate’s parentally matured breasts, Gretchen’s petite magnificence, or Maggie hanging all out?
This is what the Alliance Of Women Film Journalists will soon tell us as they vote on:.
BEST DEPICTION OF NUDITY OR SEXUALITY:
1. Babel
2. Borat
3. Little Children
4. Notorious Bettie Page
5. Sherrybaby
The funny thing is, I am at first shocked by this and then I find myself feeling terribly proud of any group that has the balls (or not) to admit that they notice that nudity in movies exists. I think this shows the women in this group have a sense of perspective and humor… though I am sure that Nicholson is enraged that his Departed dildo didn’t make it.
The Letters From Iwo Jima review
What makes Clint Eastwood’s Letters From Iwo Jima special is that it never really offers anything like hope
7 Comments »New York Film Critics Circle
ADD, 12:45p: Ebiri reports the inside poop –
A brief silence. Then, the voice of Rex Reed.
“So that’s it.”
Pause.
“The best film of 2006.”
Pause.
“According to the New York Film Critics Circle.”
Pause.
“Is UNITED 93.”
Long, uncomfortable pause, plus some tittering.
“A film that no one in America wanted to see.”
Leah Rozen: “And how did you vote, Rex?”
This reminds us that critics are human too and not just hearts beating for the quality of film, no?
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The ever enterprising Bilge Ebiri has someone Blackerrying him the awards to the moment… (updating as they come)
Best Picture
United 93
Runners-up: The Queen, The Departed
Best Director
Martin Scorsese, THE DEPARTED
(Runners-up: Stephen Frears, THE QUEEN, Clint Eastwood, LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA)
Best First Film
Half Nelson
(Runners-up: Little Miss Sunshine, A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints)
Best Actress
Helen Mirren, THE QUEEN
(Runners-up: Judi Dench, NOTES ON A SCANDAL, Meryl Streep, THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA)
Best Actor
Forest Whitaker, THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND
(Runners-up: Ryan Gosling, HALF NELSON, Sacha Baron Cohen, BORAT)
Best Foreign Film
Army of Shadows
(Runners-up: Volver, The Death of Mr. Lazarescu)
Best Documentary
Deliver Us From Evil
(Runners-up: 49 Up, Borat, An Inconvenient Truth)
Best Animated Film
Happy Feet
(Runners-up: A Scanner Darkly, Cars)
Best Supporting Actor
Jackie Earle Haley, LITTLE CHILDREN
(Runners-up: Eddie Murphy, DREAMGIRLS, Steve Carell, LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE)
Best Supporting Actress
Jennifer Hudson, DREAMGIRLS
(Runners-up: Shareeka Epps, HALF NELSON, Catherine O’Hara, FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION)
Best Screenplay
The Queen
(Runners-up: The Departed, Little Miss Sunshine)
Best Cinematography:
Pan’s Labyrinth
(Runners-up: Curse of the Golden Flower, Children of Men)
The First Real Day Of Awards
After the first five awards groups that aren
29 Comments »