2009 British Independent Film Award Nominations

Katie Jarvis in Fish Tank (top); Sam Rockwell in Moon (middle); Carey Mulligan, Dominic Cooper in An Education (bottom)

Andrea Arnold’s Fish Tank leads the list of 2009 British Independent Film Award nominees.
The tale of a rough teenager (Katie Jarvis) whose life is upended after her mother gets a new boyfriend, Fish Tank was shortlisted in eight categories including best independent British film, best director, best screenplay (Arnold), best actress (Jarvis), best supporting actress (Kierston Wareing), best supporting actor (2008 BIFA best actor winner Michael Fassbender), and most promising newcomer (also Jarvis).
Duncan Jones‘ feature-film debut, the sci-fi thriller Moon, received seven nominations including best British film, best director, best debut director, and best actor (Sam Rockwell).
Lone [...]

Oscar 2010: Early Predictions – Best Supporting Actor

Best Supporting Actor

Alfred Molina, An Education (with Cara Seymour, Carey Mulligan, Peter Sarsgaard)
An overprotective father worries about his wayward daughter in 1960s London.

Christopher Plummer, The Last Station (with Helen Mirren)
Initially touted as a potential best actor contender, Plummer is getting the supporting treatment for his performance as the elderly Leo Tolstoy. In that category, the veteran actor has a much better chance of landing a nomination. (James McAvoy, formerly in this list for his role in The Last Station, is now in the Oscar 2010 best actor race.)

Paul Schneider, Bright Star
John Keats‘ not too sympathetic best friend Charles Armitage Brown.

Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones
Apparently, nothing lovely about Tucci in this one.

Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds (with Diane Kruger)
Nazi [...]

Oscar 2010: Early Predictions – Best Actress

Best Actress

Abbie Cornish, Bright Star
Frances ‘Fanny’ Brawne has a relatively brief but intense love affair with poet John Keats

Carey Mulligan, An Education
In 1960s London, a schoolgirl falls for a man in his 30s

Michelle Pfeiffer, Cheri
An older courtesan introduces a young man to the art of lovemaking

Gabourey ‘Gabby’ Sidibe, Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire
An abused pregnant teen is befriended by a compassionate teacher

Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia
Julia Child joyfully introduces dead poultry into American kitchens

A dozen actresses — female actors if you wish — can be considered as very strong candidates for a 2010 best actress nomination (as long as their movies open in LA until December 31). In addition to the [...]

Oscar 2010: More Best Picture Contenders

Abbie Cornish, Ben Whishaw in Bright Star

Oscar 2010: Early Predictions for Best Picture Part I
Among the top runners-up in that category are: Jane Campion’s period romance Bright Star, which would have a much better chance had its box-office figures been more impressive; Quentin Tarantino’s dark World War II fantasy Inglourious Basterds; Marc Webb’s quirky 500 Days of Summer; Tom Hooper’s The Damned United, about Leeds United coach Brian Clough; Tom Ford’s A Single Man, based on a Christopher Isherwood novel; Michael Moore’s anti-Wall Street Capitalism: A Love Story; and Pete Docter’s animated hit Up.

And here are some more: Clint Eastwood’s Invictus (above, with Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon), adapted by Anthony Peckham from John Carlin’s [...]

Cannes 2009: Best Actress Favorites

Best Actress
Charlotte Gainsbourg as a bereaved mother in Antichrist.
Penélope Cruz, Almodóvar’s diva in Broken Embraces.
Abbie Cornish as Fanny Brawne in Bright Star.
Katie Jarvis as an aimless teenager in Fish Tank.
Giovanna Mezzogiorno as Benito Mussolini’s ex in Vincere.
 
Photos: Courtesy Festival de Cannes
 

Cannes 2009: Best Actor Favorites

Best Actor
Tahar Rahim as a young man behind bars in A Prophet.
Ben Whishaw as John Keats in Bright Star.
André Dussollier as the elderly hero in Wild Grass.
François Cluzet as a con man in In the Beginning.
 
Photos: Courtesy Festival de Cannes
 

Cannes 2009: Best Director Favorites

Best Director
Pedro Almodóvar for Broken Embraces
Jacques Audiard for A Prophet
Jane Campion for Bright Star
Michael Haneke for The White Ribbon
Alain Resnais for Wild Grass
 
Photos: Courtesy Festival de Cannes
 

Cannes 2009: Palme d’Or Favorites

Palme d’Or 2009, Grand Prix, Special Jury Prize:
Alain Resnais‘ romantic fantasy Wild Grass (adapted by Alex Reval and Laurent Herbiet from Christian Gailly’s novel), about a man who becomes intrigued by a younger woman
Jacques Audiard’s tough prison drama A Prophet (written by Audiard, Thomas Bidegain, Abdel Raouf Dafri, and Nicolas Peufaillit)
Writer-director Michael Haneke’s The White Ribbon, about a northern German community enmeshed in a series of nasty events right before the beginning of World War I
Writer-director Jane Campion’s Bright Star, about the doomed love affair between British poet John Keats and his neighbor, Fanny Brawne
 
Photos: Courtesy Festival de Cannes
 

Cannes 2009: Jane Campion, Alain Resnais, Brillante Mendoza, Johnnie To, Lou Ye

Peter Bradshaw on Bright Star (with Abbie Cornish and Ben Whishaw, above) in The Guardian:
"Jane Campion has put herself in line for her second Palme d’Or here at the Cannes film festival with a film which I think could be the best of her career; an affecting and deeply considered study of the last years in the short life of John Keats, and the ecstasy of loss which suffuses his love affair with Fanny Brawne – a love thwarted not due to illness, but to a pernicious web of money worries, social scruples and irrelevant male loyalties."
***

Maggie Lee on Kinatay in The Hollywood Reporter:
"Festival darling Brillante Mendoza’s Kinatay is a long night’s journey into the [...]

Cannes 2009: Competition Films

Cannes Film Festival 2009: Competition Line-Up
Click on the photos to enlarge them.

Los abrazos rotos (Broken Embraces), Pedro Almodóvar, Spain

Fish Tank, Andrea Arnold, UK

Un prophète (A Prophet), Jacques Audiard, France

Vincere, Marco Bellocchio, Italy

Bright Star, Jane Campion, UK

Bakjwi (Thirst), Park Chan-wook, South-Korea

Map of the Sounds of Tokyo, Isabel Coixet, Spain

À l’origine (In the Beginning), Xavier Giannoli, France

Das weisse Band (The White Ribbon), Michael Haneke, Austria

Taking Woodstock, Ang Lee, USA
Palme d’Or Line-Up: Part II