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AFI FEST 2009: THE LAST STATION, AFTER.LIFE

Helen Mirren, James McAvoy, Paul Giamatti in The Last Station

AFI FEST 2009, Sat., Nov. 7 at the Santa Monica Laemmle Theater 4 on 2nd Street in Santa Monica.
AFI FEST 2009 comes to a close with the following screenings:

Michael Hoffman’s The Last Station, which is set near the end of Leo Tolstoy’s life, has been getting lots of Oscar buzz for its stars: James McAvoy as Tolstoy’s assistant; Helen Mirren as Tolstoy’s wife; and Christopher Plummer as the verbose author of the never-ending War and Peace.
Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Ilisa Barbash’s Sweetgrass offers a look at sheepherding in Montana’s Absaroka-Beartooth mountain range. Apart from the sheep and the high peaks, there’s no connection to Brokeback Mountain.
Stéphane Aubier and Vincent Patar’s stop-motion [...]

Oscar 2010: Early Predictions – Best Actor

BEST ACTOR

George Clooney, Up in the Air
A professional downsizer finds the frequent-flying love of his life while having to come to terms with his long-lost humanity.

Matt Damon, The Informant!
A pathological liar helps the FBI nab his employer, a dishonest agribusiness conglomerate.

Daniel Day-Lewis, Nine (with Marion Cotillard)
In this musicalized remake of Federico Fellini’s 8 1/2, Daniel Day-Lewis plays the old Marcello Mastroianni role of the Italian film director trying to cope with the women in his life.

Colin Firth, A Single Man
In 1960s Los Angeles, a gay college professor is determined to kill himself after learning that his lover has died in an accident.

Viggo Mortensen, The Road
A man and his son struggle to survive in a post-apocalyptic world.

I’d say that four [...]

Oscar 2009: Academy Invites 134 New Members

James McAvoy in Atonement (top); Michelle Williams, Lucy in Wendy and Lucy (bottom)

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has invited 134 artists and executives to join its roster in 2009.
As per the Academy’s press release, all the various branches could pick a maximum of 166 new members, but as in the previous years "the several branch committees endorsed fewer candidates than were proposed to them."
Most of the invitees are actors, among them several previous Oscar nominees, e.g., Casey Affleck, Melissa Leo, Anne Hathaway, Michelle Williams, and lots of young talent, e.g., James Franco, Michael Cera, James McAvoy, Emily Blunt, Seth Rogen, Emile Hirsch. (But where are Robert Pattinson and Zac Effron??)

Among those listed in the other [...]

Oscar 2008: Anne-Marie Duff, Jessica Alba, Katherine Heigl

Jessica Alba, Robert Osborne on the red carpet

Anne-Marie Duff, James McAvoy

Katherine Heigl
Photos: Matt Petit (Heigl, Alba), Michael Yada (McAvoy & Duff). All photos: © A.M.P.A.S.

Oscar 2008: Viggo Mortensen, Ruby Dee, Tony Gilroy

Viggo Mortensen and niece

Ruby Dee; James McAvoy, Dwayne Johnson (in the background)

Robert Osborne, Tony Gilroy
Photos: Richard Harbaugh (Gilroy, Dee), Greg Harbaugh (Mortensen). All photos: © A.M.P.A.S.

BAFTA 2008: Keira Knightley, Lee Majors, James McAvoy, Anne Marie Duff

Keira Knightley

Lee Majors

James McAvoy, Anne Marie Duff

Anthony Hopkins

Kate Hudson

Daniel Day-Lewis, Rebecca Miller

Tilda Swinton
Photos: Getty Images

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

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 [...]

BAFTA Scotland Awards 2007

2007 BAFTA Scotland Awards
2007 BAFTA Scotland (aka Scottish Bafta) award winners: City Halls in Glasgow on November 18, 2007
("*" denotes the winner in each category)
 

The Last King of Scotland, an early 2007 release in the United Kingdom, was the big winner at the 2007 BAFTA Scotland awards. Directed by Kevin Macdonald and written by Peter Morgan and Jeremy Brock, the fictional drama revolves around the complex relationship between a Scottish doctor (BAFTA winner James McAvoy) and Uganda dictator Idi Amin Dada (Forest Whitaker). The American Whitaker — despite having received raves and assorted awards elsewhere earlier in the year (as a 2006 release in the U.S.) — was deemed ineligible for the Scottish BAFTAs, as the awards are geared to [...]

BAFTA 2007 Nominations

Helen Mirren, Sylvia Syms in The Queen (top); Daniel Craig in Casino Royale (bottom)

Though usually more open to non-English-language films than the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Orange British Academy of Film and Television Arts failed to place either Pedro Almodóvar’s Volver or Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth as one (or two) of this year’s best film or best director nominees.
Pan’s Labyrinth did, however, receive a total of 8 nominations, including best foreign-language film and best original screenplay (del Toro). Almodóvar had to settle for a nomination in the best foreign-language film category, plus a best actress nod for Penélope Cruz.
As to be expected, the top nominees were The Queen, with ten nods, and [...]

Oscar 2006: Best Makeup Longlist

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced the seven films being considered for Achievement in Makeup for the 2006 Academy Awards.
The films in consideration are listed below in alphabetical order:

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (above, top photo)
Cinderella Man
A History of Violence
The Libertine (above, middle photo)
Mrs. Henderson Presents
The New World
Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith (above, lower photo)

Ten-minute clips from each of the seven films will be screened for the Makeup Award Nominating Committee on Saturday, January 28. Only three of the seven films may be nominated.
The 2006 Oscar nominations will be announced on Tuesday, January 31, at 5:30 a.m. Pacific Time. The awards ceremony will [...]

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