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Sally Potter’s RAGE Multi-Platform Release

Judi Dench, Jude Law (as a female top model), Riz Ahmed

In conjunction with its traditional media release worldwide, Sally Potter’s Rage will be released — as a series of episodes — by web TV service Babelgum online and via mobile through the fall/winter of 2009.
Starring Simon Abkarian, Patrick J. Adams, Riz Ahmed, Bob Balaban, Adriana Barraza, Steve Buscemi, Jakob Cedergren, Lily Cole, Judi Dench, Eddie Izzard, Jude Law, John Leguizamo, David Oyelowo, and Dianne Wiest, Rage premiered at the 2009 Berlin Film Festival.
The film’s setting is a New York fashion house, where a young blogger shoots behind-the-scenes interviews on his cell-phone with an eclectic group of people, including a celebrity supermodel, a seamstress, a [...]

2009 David di Donatello Winners

Matteo Garrone’s organized crime drama Gomorrah (above, top photo), based on Roberto Saviano’s polemical book, took top honors at the 2009 David di Donatello awards. The Italian Film Academy voted Gomorrah the best Italian film of the year and Garrone the best director, in addition to handing the film five other awards, including best screenplay and best producer.
Paolo Sorrentino’s Il Divo (above, lower photo), which also deals (however indirectly) with the mafia, also received a total of seven statues (out of 16 nominations), including the best actor trophy for star Toni Servillo’s brilliant caricature of former Italian prime minister Giulio Andreotti, and a best supporting actress win for Piera Degli Espositi.
Last year, Gomorrah won the Cannes [...]

David di Donatello 2009

2009 David di Donatello Awards
2009 David di Donatello Award nominations: April 9, 2009
2009 David di Donatello Award winners: May 8, 2009
("*" denotes the winner in each category)
 

Matteo Garrone’s Gomorrah (top photo); Toni Servillo in Il Divo (lower photo)
 

Best Film / miglior film
Il divo
produced by Andrea Occhipinti, Nicola Giuliano, Francesca Cima, Maurizio Coppolecchia
directed by Paolo Sorrentino
Ex
produced by Fulvio Lucisano, Federica Lucisano
directed by Fausto Brizzi
* Gomorra
produced by Domenico Procacci
directed by Matteo Garrone
Si può fare
produced by Angelo Rizzoli
directed by Giulio Manfredonia
Tutta la vita davanti
produced by Motorino Amaranto – Medusa
directed by Paolo Virzì
Best Film from the European Union / miglior film dell’Unione Europea
Entre les murs, by Laurent [...]

PAUL BLART Beats UNDERWORLD: RISE OF THE LYCANS

Paul Blart: Mall Cop topped the North American box office for the second consecutive weekend with $21.5 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.
Steve Carr’s comedy starring Kevin James as a mall security guard successfully fought off its competition, lifting its domestic gross to an impressive $64 million after only two weeks in release.

Following closely in second place was new entry Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, which took home $20.7 million but failed to beat the $26.8 million opening weekend gross of its predecessor, Underworld: Evolution.

Things didn’t go so well for Inkheart, this weekend’s second wide release. The Iain Softley-directed adaptation of Cornelia Funke’s novel [...]

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 [...]

GRAN TORINO at the Top of the Box Office

Clint Eastwood’s Gran Torino raced to the top of the North American box office this weekend with $29 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.
The film, which stars Eastwood as a war veteran who bonds with a Hmong teenager, easily shook off its competition after expanding into 2,808 theaters. Its domestic total currently stands at $40 million.

Debuting at No. 2 with $21.5 million was Gary Winick’s latest comedy, Bride Wars, starring Anne Hathaway and Kate Hudson (above) as best friends who become the worst enemies after their weddings are accidentally booked on the same day.

Meanwhile, new entry The Unborn finished third with $21 million. The David [...]

Golden Globes 2009: Beyonce Knowles, Clint Eastwood, Jennifer Lopez

Clint Eastwood, Glenn Close © HFPA / 66th Golden Globe® Awards

Beyonce Knowles © HFPA / 66th Golden Globe® Awards

Jennifer Lopez © HFPA / 66th Golden Globe® Awards

James Berardinelli Interviewed at Cosmoetica

Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman, Hilary Swank in Million Dollar Baby

Dan Schneider, whose latest conribution to the Alternative Film Guide was a — sure to be controversial — review of Casablanca, interviewed ReelViews critic James Berardinelli a few weeks ago.
Below are a couple of brief snippets, mostly focusing on Clint Eastwood’s Million Dollar Baby and Mystic River, taken from Schneider’s extensive chat with Berardinelli, which can be found at Cosmoetica:
DS: And what of actors as directors? [Clint] Eastwood’s efforts have risen to mediocrity, at best; and things like Million Dollar Baby are embarrassingly bad – from the trite screenplay to the anomic direction to the bad acting. Again, more PC and unrealistic premises, and can Morgan Freeman [...]

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: Cate Blanchett, Foreign-Language Films

Joe Dziemianowicz in the New York Daily News:
"Who says it’s never as good as the first time! Cate Blanchett, up for leading actress for playing QE1 in Elizabeth: The Golden Age, was up for the same award for the same role in 1998’s Elizabeth. She joins an elite club that includes Al Pacino — he was nominated twice playing Michael Corleone in The Godfather and the first sequel."
***
Others who earned two Oscar nods for the same role: Bing Crosby as Father O’Malley in Going My Way (1944, he won) and The Bells of St. Mary’s (1945); Paul Newman as Fast Eddie Felson in The Hustler (1961) and The Color of Money (1986, he won); and Peter O’Toole as Henry II [...]

Berlin 2007: Cinema for Peace

Goodbye Bafana by Bille August

At Berlin’s Cinema for Peace charity event attended by Richard Gere, Catherine Deneuve, Christopher Lee, and Bob Geldorf this past Monday, a one-minute segment from a short video by Sergiu Matei was shown. Matei’s film depicts a Sept. 30, 2006, incident in which Chinese border police opened fire on Tibetan refugees attempting to flee the country.
Gere, a relentless Tibet advocate, stated that as this year’s head of the (do-nothing) G8, Germany has the "responsibility to encourage China to become part of the modern world [where] these kinds of actions and policies can not be tolerated." (Considering the atrocities perpetrated in and/or by the "modern world," I’m assuming that Gere must have been joking.)
Cinema for Peace award [...]

Oscar 2007: Nominated Producers

Toni Collette, Abigail Breslin, Alan Arkin, Paul Dano, Steve Carell, Greg Kinnear in Little Miss Sunshine

Not everyone will fit into the 2007 Academy Award’s van.
The Academy’s Producers Branch Executive Committee has announced the final roster of producers nominated in this year’s Best Picture category. They are:

Alejandro González Iñárritu, Jon Kilik and Steve Golin for Babel
Graham King for The Departed
Clint Eastwood, Steven Spielberg, and Robert Lorenz for Letters from Iwo Jima
David T. Friendly, Peter Saraf and Marc Turtletaub for Little Miss Sunshine
Andy Harries, Christine Langan and Tracey Seaward for The Queen

The nominees for The Departed and Little Miss Sunshine were determined by the executive committee at a meeting held yesterday evening.
Even though up to three producers can [...]

2006 San Diego Film Critics Winners

The San Diego Film Critics Society tends to go its own way when it comes to year-end film awards. For instance, last year most critics’ groups chose Brokeback Mountain as the best film of 2005. The San Diego Film Critics, for their part, opted for King Kong. Hardly a superior choice, but different nonetheless. Other more esoteric picks include Almost Famous as the best film of 2000 and Vera Drake as their top choice for 2004. To a large extent, the San Diego critics’ picks for 2006 demonstrate their continual avoidance of groupthink.
Even though the best film, best director, and best actress categories were filled with expected names — Letters from Iwo Jima and its director, Clint Eastwood, [...]

San Diego Film Critics Awards 2006

2006 San Diego Film Critics Society Awards
2006 San Diego Film Critics Society Award winners: December 18, 2006
 

Ken Watanabe in Letters from Iwo Jima
 

Best Film: Letters from Iwo Jima directed by Clint Eastwood
Best Foreign-Language Film: Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles, directed by Zhang Yimou
Best Non-Fiction Film: Shut Up & Sing directed by Barbara Kopple and Cecilia Peck
Best Director: Clint Eastwood, Letters from Iwo Jima
Best Actor: Ken Takakura, Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles
Best Actress: Helen Mirren, The Queen
Best Supporting Actor: Ray Winstone, The Proposition
Best Supporting Actress: Lili Taylor, Factotum
Best Ensemble Performance: Babel
Best Original Screenplay: Karen Moncrieff, The Dead Girl
Best Adapted Screenplay: Jason Reitman, Thank You for Smoking
Best Animated Film: Cars directed by John Lasseter and [...]

Satellite Awards 2006

2006 Satellite Awards
2006 International Press Academy’s Satellite Award nominations: November 30, 2006
2006 Satellite Award winners: Imperial Ballroom of le Méridian in Beverly Hills on December 17, 2006
("*" denotes the winner in each category)
 

Leonardo DiCaprio, Vera Farmiga in The Departed
 

MOTION PICTURES
Motion Picture, Drama
Half Nelson
* The Departed
Flags of Our Fathers
The Queen
The Last King of Scotland
Babel
Little Children
Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical
Little Miss Sunshine
Thank You for Smoking
The Devil Wears Prada
Stranger Than Fiction
Venus
* Dreamgirls
Motion Picture, Foreign Language
The Lives of Others, Germany
* Volver, Spain
Changing Times, France
Water, Canada
The Syrian Bride, Israel
Apocalypto, U.S.
Motion Picture, Animated or Mixed Media
Cars
Ice Age: The Meltdown
Happy Feet
Flushed Away
* Pan’s Labyrinth
Motion Picture, Documentary
* Deliver Us from Evil
Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple
An [...]

2007 Critics’ Choice Awards: Nominations

There were quite a few surprises among the nominees for the Broadcast Film Critics Association’s 2007 Critics’ Choice Awards.
Both Todd Field’s psychological sex drama Little Children (above, with Kate Winslet and Patrick Wilson) and Clint Eastwood’s Japanese-language Letters from Iwo Jima were nominated in the best film category, but Eastwood’s highly praised Flags of Our Fathers was not.
Letters from Iwo Jima also showed up in the best foreign language film shortlist (a first at the Critics’ Choice Awards), along with Mel Gibson’s Apocalypto, which has been both panned and praised (sometimes in the same review).

Leonardo DiCaprio received two best actor nods (another first), for Blood Diamond and The Departed, while Ben Affleck (above, with Diane Lane) was [...]

2006 Los Angeles Film Critics Award Winners

The most interesting winner at the 2006 Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards was best supporting actress Luminita Gheorghiu (above, with Ion Fiscuteanu), who plays a nurse assisting a sick old man in Cristi Puiu’s acclaimed Romanian comedy-drama The Death of Mr. Lazarescu.
Not only was Gheorghiu’s win a major surprise — U.S. film critics only sporadically opt for performers acting in non-English-language productions — but I could visualize Catherine O’Hara, one of this year’s top best supporting actress contenders and National Board of Review Award winner going nuts because L.A. critics chose a Romanian instead of her. (I saw the funny For Your Consideration yesterday; in that film, there’s a French Oscar nominee who inadvertently pushes O’Hara’s Oscar contender [...]

Italian Film Critics Awards 2006

2006 Nastri d’Argento
2006 Nastri d’Argento winners: Auditorium di Via della Conciliazione in Rome on February 7, 2006
("*" denotes the winner in each category)
 

Set mostly in the 1970s, Michele Placido’s Crime Novel follows three juvenile delinquents whose goal is to reach the top of Italy’s underworld. Things get complicated when an investigator obsessed with bringing them to justice falls in love with the girlfriend of one of the criminals. In the cast: Kim Rossi Stuart (photo, left), Pierfrancesco Favino, Stefano Accorsi, Riccardo Scamarcio, Claudio Santamaria, Anna Mouglalis, and Elio Germano. Crime Novel is the second consecutive Nastri d’Argento winner starring Kim Rossi Stuart, following last year’s The Keys to the House.
 

REGISTA DEL MIGLIOR FILM ITALIANO / BEST ITALIAN DIRECTOR
Pupi Avati La [...]

Directors Guild Awards 2006

2006 Directors Guild Awards
2006 DGA award winners: January 28, 2006
("*" denotes the winner in each category)
 

Clint Eastwood, Ang Lee © Directors Guild of America
 

Theatrical Features:
George Clooney, Good Night and Good Luck.
Clooney’s Directorial Team:
Unit Production Manager: Barbara A. Hall
First Assistant Director: David Webb
Second Assistant Director: Melissa V. Barnes
Second Second Assistant Director: Richard Gonzales
Paul Haggis, Crash
Haggis’s Directorial Team:
Unit Production Manager: Betsy Danbury
First Assistant Director: Scott Cameron
Second Assistant Director: Simone Farber
* Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain
Lee’s Directorial Team:
Unit Production Managers: Scott Ferguson, Tom Benz
First Assistant Directors: Michael Hausman, Pierre Tremblay
Second Assistant Director: Donald Murphy
Second Second Assistant Director: Brad Moerke
Bennett Miller, Capote
Miller’s Directorial Team:
Unit Production Managers: Ellen Rutter, Caroline Baron
First Assistant Directors: Ronaldo Nacionales, Richard O’Brien Moran
Second Assistant Director: [...]

Oscar 2005

2005 Academy Awards
2005 Academy Award winners: Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland in Los Angeles on February 27, 2005
("*" denotes the winner in each category)
Photos: © HO/AMPAS
 

Best Film
The Aviator – Michael Mann, Graham King†
Finding Neverland – Richard N. Gladstein, Nellie Bellflower
* Million Dollar Baby – Clint Eastwood, Albert S. Ruddy, Tom Rosenberg†
Ray – Taylor Hackford, Stuart Benjamin, Howard Baldwin†
Sideways – Michael London

Best Foreign-Language Film
Les Choristes / The Chorus – Christophe Barratier (France)
Der Untergang / Downfall – Oliver Hirschbiegel (Germany)
* Mar adentro / The Sea Inside – Alejandro Amenábar (Spain)
Så som i himmelen / As in Heaven – Kay Pollak (Sweden)
Yesterday – Darrell Roodt (South Africa)

Best Documentary, Features
* Born Into [...]

Directors Guild Awards 2005

2005 Directors Guild Awards
2005 Directors Guild of America winners: Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills on January 29, 2005
("*" denotes the winner in each category)
 

Clint Eastwood, Hilary Swank in Million Dollar Baby
 

Best Director – Motion Picture
Martin Scorsese – The Aviator
Marc Forster – Finding Neverland
* Clint Eastwood – Million Dollar Baby
Taylor Hackford – Ray
Alexander Payne – Sideways
Best Director – Documentary
* Byambasuren Davaa, Luigi Falorni – The Story of the Weeping Camel
Ross Kauffman, Zana Briski – Born Into Brothels
Ross McElwee – Bright Leaves
Michael Moore – Fahrenheit 9/11
Jehane Noujaim – Control Room
Best Director – Television Movie
Robert Altman – Tanner on Tanner, Parts 1-4
Stephen Hopkins – The Life and Death of Peter Sellers
Lloyd Kramer – The [...]

Central Ohio Film Critics Awards 2005

2005 Central Ohio Film Critics Association Awards
2005 Central Ohio Film Critics Association award winners: January 25, 2005
 

Hilary Swank in Million Dollar Baby
 

Best Film: Million Dollar Baby
Runners-up (tie): Sideways and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Others in the top ten: The Incredibles, The Aviator, Before Sunset, Closer, Dogville, The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou, Maria Full of Grace
Best Direction: Alexander Payne, Sideways
Runner up: Clint Eastwood, Million Dollar Baby
Best Lead Performance: Hilary Swank, Million Dollar Baby
Runner up: Jamie Foxx, Ray
Best Supporting Performance: Thomas Haden Church, Sideways
Runner up: Clive Owen, Closer
Best Screenplay: Charlie Kaufman, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Runner up: Alexander Payne & Jim Taylor, Sideways
Actor of the Year (for an exemplary body of work): Cate Blanchett, Coffee [...]

BAFTA 2005: Nomination Issues

Clint Eastwood’s Million Dollar Baby (above, with Eastwood and Hilary Swank), Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Un long dimanche de fiançailles / A Very Long Engagement, Bill Condon’s Kinsey, and Alexander Payne’s Sideways have been shortchanged by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts‘
new rules.
The aforementioned films were officially eligible for the 2004 BAFTA awards, but Sideways only managed to get one nomination for its screenplay, Un long dimanche de fiançailles received one nod in the best foreign-language film category, while Million Dollar Baby and Kinsey were completely ignored.
The problem is that several potential contenders for the BAFTA Awards have been just released in the United Kingdom, or they are yet to be released in that country.
Since the BAFTAs are [...]

Golden Globes 2005

2004 Golden Globes
2005 Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s Golden Globe winners: Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills on January 16, 2005
("*" denotes the winner in each category)
 

Leonardo DiCaprio, Jude Law, Cate Blanchett in The Aviator
 

Best Motion Picture – Drama
* The Aviator
Closer
Finding Neverland
Hotel Rwanda
Kinsey
Million Dollar Baby
Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
The Incredibles
The Phantom of the Opera
Ray
* Sideways
Best Foreign Language Film
Les Choristes / The Chorus (France)
Diarios de motocicleta / The Motorcycle Diaries (Brazil / Argentina / US)
Un long dimanche de fiançailles / A Very Long Engagement (France)
* Mar adentro / The Sea Inside (Spain / France / Italy)
Shi mian mai fu / House of Flying [...]

Seattle Film Critics Awards 2004

2004 Seattle Film Critics Awards
2004 Seattle Film Critics Award winners: December 30, 2004
 

Clint Eastwood, Hilary Swank in Million Dollar Baby
 

Best Film: Million Dollar Baby
Best Foreign-Language Film: Maria Full of Grace
Best Documentary (tie): Control Room and Touching the Void
Best Animated Film: The Incredibles
Best Director: Clint Eastwood – Million Dollar Baby
Best Actor: Jamie Foxx – Ray
Best Actress: Imelda Staunton – Vera Drake
Best Supporting Actor: Thomas Haden Church – Sideways
Best Supporting Actress: Virginia Madsen – Sideways
Best Original Screenplay: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Charlie Kaufman
Best Adapted Screenplay: Sideways, Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor
Living Treasure Award: Henry Bumstead
Special Citation: Brian Jamieson and Richard Schickel for the reconstruction of Samuel Fuller’s 1980 The [...]

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