Alternative Film Guide

There were few major surprises in the Online Film Critics Society’s list of 2006 nominees, though Guillermo del Toro’s haunting and ultra-violent "fairy tale for adults," El Laberinto del fauno / Pan’s Labyrinth, scored remarkably well: 6 nominations, including Best Picture, Best Foreign Film, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay (also del Toro). (Unfortunately, there was no Best Supporting Actor nod for Sergi López, whose performance as a sadistic military fascist is probably this reviewer’s favorite in that category — or it’s at least right up there.)

Also, Children of Men — which has been mostly ignored by year-end awards groups (except for Emmanuel Lubezki’s cinematography) received a surprising five nominations — including Best Picture and Best Director (Alfonso Cuarón). (Cuarón was recently voted Best Director by the Utah Film Critics Association.)

Pedro Almodóvar’s Volver — this reviewer’s top 2006 film released in the U.S. — received a mere two nods: Best Foreign Film and Best Actress for Penélope Cruz. Perhaps the Online critics felt that to have four Spanish-speakers as the year’s top directors would be a bit much… (Mexicans del Toro, Cuarón, and Alejandro González Iñárritu - for Babel — are the three that did get shortlisted.)

In any case, considering how poorly Volver has fared with award-giving U.S. critics’ groups, two nominations are not bad at all.

Other top Online Film Critics nominees include Babel (9 noms), The Departed (7), and Little Miss Sunshine (4).

The winners will be announced on Jan. 8.

Full list of Online Film Critics Society 2006 nominees

Oklahoma Film Critics Circle Awards - 2006

Utah Film Critics Association Awards 2006

The DGA vs. the Academy

The Directors Guild of America’s 2007 Special Awards

Oscar 2007 Poster

Alternative Film Guide

Trackback URI | Comments RSS