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PAUL BLART Beats GRAN TORINO at the Box Office

Paul Blart: Mall Cop secured the top spot at the North American box office this weekend with $33.8 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.
Sony’s Steve Carr-directed comedy stars Kevin James as a devoted security guard struggling to protect his mall against a bunch of ruthless crooks. The film just fell short of surpassing the $34.2 million opening weekend gross of James’ previous big-screen comedy, I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry.

Still going strong at No. 2 was Clint Eastwood’s drama Gran Torino, which earned $22.2 million for a total gross of $73.2 million after six weeks in release. Eastwood stars as a racist Korean War vet who [...]

Golden Globes 2009: Anne Hathaway, Renée Zellweger, Ralph Fiennes

Anne Hathaway © HFPA / 66th Golden Globe® Awards

Ralph Fiennes © HFPA / 66th Golden Globe® Awards

Renée Zellweger © HFPA / 66th Golden Globe® Awards

Anne Hathaway May Not Win the Best Actress (Drama) Golden Globe

Anne Hathaway may not win the best actress, drama, Golden Globe for her performance in Rachel Getting Married, after all.
A technical snafu is the reason for Hathaway’s name having a winner’s star next to it on the Golden Globes’ site last Thursday, on the very day she was sharing a Critics’ Choice Award with Meryl Streep (for Doubt).
Later on, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association issued the following statement:
"In the process of preparing for Sunday’s Golden Globe Awards, a technician working on the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s website made a mistake and a name of a nominee was randomly marked as a winner. The mistake was immediately corrected.
"The ballots are tabulated by the accounting firm of [...]

Broadcast Film Critics Awards 2009

2009 Critics’ Choice Awards
2009 Broadcast Film Critics Association Critics’ Choice Award nominations: December 9, 2008
2009 Critics’ Choice winners: Santa Monica Civic Auditorium on January 8, 2009
("*" denotes the winner in each category)
 

Dev Patel in Slumdog Millionaire
 

BEST PICTURE
Changeling
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Doubt
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
* Slumdog Millionaire
Wall-E
The Wrestler
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
A Christmas Tale
Gomorrah
I’ve Loved You So Long
Let the Right One In
Mongol
* Waltz With Bashir
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
I.O.U.S.A.
* Man on Wire
Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired
Standard Operating Procedure
Young at Heart
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda
[...]

Chicago Film Critics Awards 2008

2008 Chicago Film Critics Association Awards
2008 Chicago Film Critics nominations: December 14, 2008
2008 Chicago Film Critics winners: December 18, 2008
("*" denotes the winner in each category)
 

 

BEST FILM
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Milk
Slumdog Millionaire
* WALL-E
BEST FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM
The Band’s Visit
Che
A Christmas Tale
I’ve Loved You So Long
* Let the Right One In
BEST DOCUMENTARY
American Teen
Dear Zachary
IOUSA
* Man on Wire
Standard Operating Procedure
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda
The Tale of Despereaux
* WALL-E
Waltz with Bashir
BEST DIRECTOR
* Danny Boyle — Slumdog Millionaire
David Fincher — The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Christopher Nolan — The Dark Knight
Andrew Stanton — WALL-E
Gus Van Sant — Milk

BEST ACTOR
Clint Eastwood — Gran Torino
Richard Jenkins — The Visitor
Frank Langella — Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn — Milk
* Mickey Rourke — The Wrestler
BEST ACTRESS
* Anne Hathaway — Rachel [...]

Palm Springs 2009: Modern Masters

Maria Heiskanen in Everlasting Moments

PRESS RELEASE
MODERN MASTERS
Ten films have been selected as part of Modern Masters program highlighting the latest work of established directors at the forefront of contemporary international cinema.

Adam Resurrected (USA/Israel/Germany) – Paul Schrader’s brilliant new work tells the story of Adam Stein, who grapples with a paralytic case of survivor’s guilt in the aftermath of the Holocaust. An extraordinary performance by Jeff Goldblum captures the essence of the complex central character, a man who survived while those around him perished. The film also stars Willem Dafoe, Derek Jacobi, Ayelet Zurer and Moritz Bleibtreu.

Cherry Blossoms (Germany) – This profoundly moving story of marital love, directed by Doris [...]

Houston Film Critics Awards 2009

2008 Houston Film Critics Society Awards
2008 Houston Film Critics Society award winners: December 17, 2008
 

Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
 

BEST PICTURE
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
MONGOL
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
MAN ON WIRE
BEST ANIMATED FILM
WALL-E
BEST DIRECTOR
Danny Boyle, SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
BEST ACTOR
Sean Penn, MILK
BEST ACTRESS
Anne Hathaway, RACHEL GETTING MARRIED
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Heath Ledger, THE DARK KNIGHT
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Viola Davis, DOUBT
BEST ENSEMBLE CAST
DOUBT
BEST SCREENPLAY
Simon Beaufoy, SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Claudio Miranda, THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
MIRACLE AT ST. ANNA by Terence Blanchard
BEST ORIGINAL SONG
"Down to Earth," WALL-E
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMA
Andrea Grover and the Aurora Picture Show
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN FILM PROGRAMMING
Marian Luntz and the Museum of Fine Arts [...]

Dallas-Ft. Worth Film Critics Awards 2008

2008 Dallas-Ft. Worth Film Critics Association Awards
2008 Dallas-Ft. Worth Film Critics Association Award winners: December 17, 2008
 

Dev Patel, Freida Pinto in Slumdog Millionaire
 

Best Film: SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
Top Ten Films (runners-up): MILK (2), THE DARK KNIGHT (3), THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON (4), THE WRESTLER (5), THE VISITOR (6), FROST/NIXON (7), DOUBT (8), WALL-E (9), HAPPY-GO-LUCKY (10)
Best foreign-language film: TELL NO ONE
Runners-up: WALTZ WITH BASHIR (2), LET THE RIGHT ONE IN (3), I’VE LOVED YOU SO LONG (4) and GOMORRAH (5)
Best Documentary: MAN ON WIRE
Runners-up: WALTZ WITH BASHIR (2), YOUNG @ HEART (3), STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE (4) and DEAR ZACHARY: A LETTER TO A SON ABOUT HIS FATHER (5)
Best Animated Film: WALL-E
Runners-up: KUNG FU PANDA
Best Director: Danny Boyle [...]

Austin Film Critics Awards 2009

2008 Austin Film Critics Association Awards
2008 Austin Film Critics Association award winners: December 16, 2008
 

Christian Bale in The Dark Knight
 

Best Picture: The Dark Knight
Top 10 Films:

Slumdog Millionaire
Milk
Synecdoche, New York
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Wrestler
WALL-E
Frost/Nixon
Let the Right One In

Gran Torino

Best Foreign Language Film: Let the Right One In
Best Documentary Film: Man on Wire
Best Animated Feature: WALL-E
Best Director: Christopher Nolan, The Dark Knight
Best Actor: Sean Penn, Milk
Best Actress: Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married
Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
Best Supporting Actress: Taraji P. Henson, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Best Original Screenplay: Synecdoche, New York, Charlie Kaufman
Best Adapted Screenplay: The Dark Knight, Jonathan Nolan & Christopher Nolan
Best Cinematography: The Fall, Colin Watkinson
Best Original Score: The Dark Knight, James [...]

Southeastern Film Critics Awards 2008

2008 Southeastern Film Critics Association Awards
2008 Southeastern Film Critics Association winners: December 15, 2008
 

 

BEST PICTURE Milk
Runners-up:
2. Slumdog Millionaire
3. WALL-E
4. The Dark Knight
5. The Wrestler
6. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
7. The Reader
8. The Visitor
9. Frost/Nixon
10. Revolutionary Road
BEST FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM: Let the Right One In (Sweden)
Runner-up: I’ve Loved You So Long (France)
BEST DOCUMENTARY: Man on Wire
Runner-up: Young@Heart
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE: WALL-E
Runner-up: Kung Fu Panda
BEST DIRECTOR: Danny Boyle – Slumdog Millionaire
Runner-up: Gus Van Sant – Milk
BEST ACTOR: Sean Penn – Milk
Runner-up: Mickey Rourke – The Wrestler
BEST ACTRESS: Anne Hathaway – Rachel Getting Married
Runner-up: Kate Winslet, The Reader
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight
Runner-up: Robert Downey Jr. – Tropic Thunder
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Penélope Cruz – Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Runner-up: Viola Davis – [...]

National Board of Review Awards 2008

2008 National Board of Review Awards
2008 National Board of Review Award winners: December 4, 2008
 

 

Best Film: Slumdog Millionaire
Top Ten Films (in alphabetical order):
Burn After Reading
Changeling
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Defiance
Frost/Nixon
Gran Torino
Milk
WALL-E
The Wrestler
Best Foreign Language Film: Mongol
Top Five Foreign Films (in alphabetical order):
The Edge of Heaven
Let the Right One In
Roman de Gare
A Secret
Waltz with Bashir
Best Documentary: Man on Wire
Top Five Documentaries (in alphabetical order):
American Teen
The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)
Dear Zachary
Encounters at the End of the World
Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired
Top 10 Independent Films of the Year:
Frozen River
In Bruges
In Search of a Midnight Kiss
Mr. Foe
Rachel Getting Married
Snow Angels
Son of Rambow
Wendy and [...]

Oscar 2008: Marion Cotillard, Martin Scorsese, Steve Carell, Anne Hathaway

Ethan Coen, Martin Scorsese, Joel Coen

Steve Carell, Brad Bird, Anne Hathaway

Marion Cotillard
Photos: Matt Petit / © A.M.P.A.S.
Click on the images to enlarge them.

Oscar 2008: Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Penelope Cruz, Amy Adams

Cate Blanchett

Anne Hathaway

Penélope Cruz

Amy Adams
Photos: Matt Petit (Adams), Richard Harbaugh (Blanchett), Michael Yada (Hathaway), Armando Flores (Cruz). All photos: © A.M.P.A.S.

THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA Awards and Nominations

Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway in The Devil Wears Prada

Unless otherwise stated, all awards/nominations for The Devil Wears Prada are for the year 2006.

Academy Awards: 2 nominations (best actress, Meryl Streep; best costume design, Patricia Field)
American Cinema Editors: 1 nomination (best edited feature film, comedy or musical, Mark Livolsi)
Boston Society of Film Critics: Runner-up for best supporting actress (Meryl Streep)
British Academy Awards: 6 nominations (best actress, Meryl Streep; best supporting actress, Emily Blunt; best adapted screenplay, Aline Brosh McKenna; best costume design, Patricia Field; best makeup and hair; rising star, Emily Blunt)
Broadcast Film Critics Association: 2 nominations (best actress, Meryl Streep; best comedy)
Central Ohio Film Critics Association: Runner-up for best actress (Meryl Streep)
Chicago Film Critics Association: 1 nomination (best actress, Meryl [...]

2006 National Society of Film Critics Awards Winners

The National Society of Film Critics (NSFC), composed of 58 U.S. critics mostly based in New York City and Los Angeles, has chosen Guillermo del Toro’s Spanish-language dark fantasy Pan’s Labyrinth as the best film of 2006.
Set in 1940s Spain, Pan’s Labyrinth tells the story of a girl (Ivana Baquero) who finds herself living in two worlds: One of Fascist horror above ground, one of dark magic below ground. Also in the cast are Sergi López, Ariadna Gil, Doug Jones, and Maribel Verdú, none of whom made the NSFC’s list of winners or top runners-up. (In the last couple of decades, acting categories have tended to be restricted to English-speaking roles.)
The last time the NSFC chose a foreign-language [...]

2005 National Board of Review Award Winners

The New York-based group National Board of Review has selected George Clooney’s black-and-white biopic-cum-sociopolitical drama Good Night and Good Luck. (above, with Clooney and David Strathairn) as the best film of 2005.
Other winners include best director Ang Lee for critics’ fave Brokeback Mountain; another critics’ fave, Philip Seymour Hoffman, chosen as best actor for Capote; and best actress Felicity Huffman, who plays a pre-op male-to-female transsexual in Transamerica.

The best foreign film was Paradise Now, the story of two Palestinian suicide bombers directed by Hany Abu-Assad; while, inexplicably, leading man Jake Gyllenhaal (above, with Anne Hathaway) won as best supporting actor for his gay rodeo cowboy in Brokeback Mountain.
Perhaps the NBR decided to categorize Gyllenhaal’s Jack Twist as [...]

BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN Trivia

Background
E. Annie Proulx’s short story "Brokeback Mountain" was originally published in the October 13, 1997, issue of The New Yorker. A prologue was added to the tale when it was included in Proulx’s collection of short stories, Close Range: Wyoming Stories. Proulx won a Pulitzer for her 1994 novel, The Shipping News.
***
"’Brokeback Mountain’ was/is one of a number of stories examining rural Western social situations. I was trained as an historian (French Annales school), and most of my writing is focused on rural North American hinterlands. The story was not ‘inspired,’ but the result of years of subliminal observation and thought, eventually brought to the point of writing." E. Annie Proulx, interviewed by Matthew Testa for Planet Jackson Hole.
***
Long before [...]

BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN II – Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal

BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN Review: Part I
Much of the publicity surrounding Brokeback Mountain has focused on presenting Ledger and Gyllenhaal as hetero off-screen studs playing homo on-screen studs, as if "acting gay" — a couple of rough kissing scenes and a simulated sex act — is per se both a display of thespian courage and an example of great screen acting. Whatever those actors’ sexual orientation may be, perhaps it’s true that they have been brave to tackle those roles.
That said, in their scenes together Ledger and Gyllenhaal are utterly incapable of conveying, whether through a spark in the eye or a quivering in the voice, the passion that Ennis and Jack are supposed to feel for one another. The chemistry [...]

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