Nastri d’Argento 2008

2008 Nastri d’Argento
National Union of Italian Film Journalists’ 2008 Nastri d’Argento (Silver Ribbons) nominations: May 11, 2008
2008 Nastri d’Argento winners: Teatro Antico di Taormina, Sicily, on June 14, 2008
(”*” denotes the winner in each category)
 

Isabella Ragonese plays a college grad who struggles to find work in A Whole Life Ahead
 

Best Director
Antonello GRIMALDI – Caos calmo
Daniele LUCHETTI – Mio fratello è figlio unico
Silvio SOLDINI – Giorni e nuvole
* Paolo VIRZÌ – Tutta la vita davanti / A Whole Life Ahead
Gianni ZANASI – Non pensarci
Best European Film
Across the Universe – Julie Taymor
Elizabeth: The Golden Age – Shekar Kapur
Atonement – Joe Wright
La vie en [...]

Richard Attenborough Film Awards 2008

2008 Richard Attenborough Film Awards
2008 regional British film critics’ Richard Attenborough Film Award winners: Jan. 30, 2008
 

James McAvoy in Atonement
 

Film of the Year: Atonement
Best Director: Joe Wright, Atonement
Best Actress: Cate Blanchett, Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Best Actor: James McAvoy, Atonement
Best Screenwriter: Christopher Hampton, Atonement
Rising Star Award: Sam Riley, Control
 
People’s Choice Awards
Film of the Year: The Bourne Ultimatum
 
Richard Attenborough Film Awards: 2007 2008
Film Awards: 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Oscar 2008 Predictions: Best Art Direction, Visual Effects

Best Art Direction
Atonement, Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
All of this year’s nominees are period pieces, but Atonement is the only one with the "classical European" look that Academy-ites most appreciate.
By the way, the last film with a contemporary setting that won the best art direction Academy Award was the 1979 musical All That Jazz.
 

Best Costume Design
Atonement, Jacqueline Durran
See best art direction. (As in the art direction category, all of this year’s nominees are period pieces.)
The last film with a contemporary setting that won the best costume design Academy Award was the 1994 Australian drag-queen comedy-drama The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.
 

Best Visual Effects
Transformers, Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Russell Earl and John Frazier
From what I’ve [...]

Oscar 2008 Predictions: Best Cinematography, Editing, Music

Best Cinematography
There Will Be Blood, Robert Elswit
Robert Elswit won the American Society of Cinematographers award, beating Roger Deakins for two films, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and No Country for Old Men. Though Deakins does have a chance to win the Oscar for either film, this is one instance where the much overused — and almost invariably absurd — "votes are split; a third party wins" logic actually makes sense. That’s why I predict that Elswit will take home the Oscar.
 

Best Film Editing
No Country for Old Men, "Roderick Jaynes" (Joel and Ethan Coen)
An atmospheric suspense thriller that wins the best film Oscar will most likely also win for best film editing. If, however, Academy-ites feel [...]

Oscar 2008: Nominations Buzz

Josh Brolin in No Country for Old Men

Alex Ben Block at Hollywood Today:
"Even if the writer’s strike is over on Feb. 24 when Oscars are handed out, the appeal of this year’s nominees, led by No Country For Old Men, There Will Be Blood and Michael Clayton, will be limited. The 80th Academy Award nominations are not just art house movies, but most of the leading contenders are so dark, violent, slowly paced and often purposely confusing or obscure that it will put mainstream audiences off the awards this year."
***

Julie Christie, Gordon Pinsent in Away from Her

Tom O’Neil in The Envelope:
"If Julie Christie wins best actress for Away from Her, she’ll set a new record for longest gap between two [...]

Oscar 2008 Nominations

Javier Bardem in No Country for Old Men

A few brief remarks about the Oscar 2008 nominations:
The top nominees are: There Will Be Blood (8 nominations), No Country for Old Men (8), Atonement (7), Michael Clayton (7), Ratatouille (5), The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (4), Juno (4).
***
Whether in dramas or in comedies, dark themes dominated in just about every category:

greed (There Will Be Blood, American Gangster),
murder (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Sweeney Todd, Eastern Promises, No Country for Old Men, In the Valley of Elah),
corruption (Michael Clayton, Sicko, Charlie Wilson’s War),
war (No End in Sight, War/Dance, Beaufort, Katyn),
illness (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The Savages, Away from Her),
political/religious [...]

Golden Globes 2008: Surprises at the Un-Ceremony

Keira Knightley, James McAvoy in Atonement

The smaller, shorter, subdueder 2008 Golden Globes "news show" — a result of the ongoing WGA strike, now entering its tenth week — ended not too long ago. There was no red carpet, no dress parade, no dumb questions from journalists, no mind-numbing speeches, no godawful jokes, no poorly staged musical numbers, no toilet paper stuck on anyone’s shoe.
Many have lamented this year’s loss of glamour, glitz, and tasteless jokes. But personally, I don’t think that’s a bad thing. Much to the contrary. I find the vast majority of those glitzy and glamorous — and tasteless and phony — award shows all but unwatchable, and the Golden Globes ceremony is one of the tackiest [...]

Golden Globes 2008

2008 Golden Globes
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s 2008 Golden Globe nominations: December 13, 2007
2008 Golden Globe Award winners: January 13, 2008
("*" denotes the winner in each category)
 

Keira Knightley, James McAvoy in Atonement
 

MOTION PICTURES
Best Motion Picture – Drama
American Gangster, Imagine Entertainment/Scott Free Productions; Universal Pictures
* Atonement, Working Title Productions; Focus Features
Eastern Promises, Kudos Pictures — UK Serendipity Point Films — Canada A UK/Canada Co-Production; Focus Features
The Great Debaters, Harpo Films; The Weinstein Company/MGM
Michael Clayton, Clayton Productions LLC; Warner Bros. Pictures
No Country for Old Men, A Scott Rudin/Mike Zoss Production; Miramax/Paramount Vantage
There Will Be Blood, A Joanne Sellar/Ghoulardi Film Company Production; Paramount Vantage and Miramax Films
Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
Across The Universe, Revolution Studios International; Sony Pictures Releasing
Charlie Wilson’s War, [...]

BAFTA 2008 Longlists

James McAvoy, Saoirse Ronan in Atonement (top); Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Tang Wei in Lust, Caution (middle); Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood (bottom)

According to Variety, among the eligible films utterly ignored by British Academy of Film are The Great Debaters, Grace Is Gone, The Savages, Hallam Foe, When Did You Last See Your Father?, and Half Nelson.
I’m Not There and Away from Her only managed one mention a piece, for Cate Blanchett and Julie Christie, respectively.
Half Nelson apparently suffered the fate of other films that arrive in the UK after the Oscar ballyhoo is over for them. Letters from Iwo Jima, which appears twice (adapted screenplay and special visual effects) in the longlists, probably suffered for the [...]

Oscar 2008 Predictions: Best Screenplay, Animated Feature

Elle Page, Michael Cera in Juno

Oscar 2008 Predictions: Acting Categories
Best Original Screenplay:

Diablo Cody, Juno
Kelly Masterson, Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead
Tamara Jenkins, The Savages
Brad Bird, Ratatouille
Tony Gilroy, Michael Clayton

Possibly: Steven Zaillian, American Gangster (though actually "inspired" by a magazine article)
 

Mathieu Amalric, Marie-Joseé Croze in The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Best Adapted Screenplay:

Joel and Ethan Coen, No Country for Old Men
Paul Thomas Anderson, There Will Be Blood
Christopher Hampton, Atonement
Ronald Harwood, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Possibly: Sarah Polley, [...]