Woody Allen, Martin Scorsese, David Lynch Sign Roman Polanski Petition

Woody Allen, David Lynch, Martin Scorsese, Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne, and Terry Gilliam have added their names to the petition, organized by France’s Société des Auteurs et Compositeurs Dramatiques (SACD), demanding the release of Palme d’Or and Academy Award-winning filmmaker Roman Polanski, currently in the custody of Swiss authorities.
In 1978, Polanski pleaded guilty to a charge of statutory rape (sex with a minor) of 13-year-old Samantha Gailey (now Geimer), whom he allegedly drugged before having sex with her against her will. Polanski, who at the time claimed that the sex was consensual and that he was led to believe that the 13-year-old was 18, reportedly fled the United States upon learning, after spending 42 days in prison, that [...]

David Carradine

David Carradine in Bound for Glory

David Carradine, the star of the 1970s TV series Kung Fu (right), was found hanged in his Bangkok hotel room early this morning. According to reports, there was no evidence of foul play at the scene. Carradine, who was in the Thai capital working on a film, was 72.
Born in Los Angeles on Dec. 8, 1936, Carradine was the son of actor John Carradine, best known for playing assorted evildoers and mad doctors in dozens of films from the 1930s to the 1980s. David Carradine’s brothers are also actors: Keith Carradine, among whose credits is Robert Altman’s classic Nashville, and Robert Carradine, best known for his role in the Revenge of the Nerds movies.
Throughout [...]

Cannes 2009: Ken Loach, Ang Lee, Andrea Arnold, Jacques Audiard

Derek Elley on Looking for Eric (above, Ken Loach and Eric Cantona) in Variety:
"… helmer Ken Loach and writer Paul Laverty’s ninth feature together is a curious hybrid: Three movies — boilerplate, socially aware Loach; personal fantasy; romantic comedy — wrap around a central core of a hopeless soccer fanatic who’s given a second chance to sort out his life. As in many of Laverty’s scripts, problems of overall tone and character development aren’t solved by Loach’s easygoing direction, though when it works, Eric has many incidental pleasures."
***

Anthony Kaufman on A Prophet at indieWIRE:
"If James Toback’s petty-criminal tale Fingers inspired Jacques Audiard’s previous The Beat That My Heart Skipped, it’s Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas [...]

Golden Globes 2009: Tom Cruise, Kate Winslet, Penélope Cruz

Kate Winslet, Tom Cruise © HFPA / 66th Golden Globe® Awards

Penélope Cruz © HFPA / 66th Golden Globe® Awards

Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg © HFPA / 66th Golden Globe® Awards

THE AVIATOR Screening

Martin Scorsese’s 2004 Best Picture nominee The Aviator is the next feature in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences‘ "Great To Be Nominated" series. The handsome but vapid Howard Hughes biopic will be screened on Monday, July 28, at 7:30 p.m. at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.
Following the screening, cast members Alec Baldwin, Jacob Davich, J.C. Mackenzie, and Amy Sloan, production sound mixer Petur Hliddal, special effects supervisor R. Bruce Steinheimer, and miniature effects supervisor Matthew Gratzner will take part in a discussion about the film.
The US$100-million-plus The Aviator wasn’t quite the hoped-for critical and box-office hit, though the biopic won numerous accolades and did good business thanks to the casting of Leonardo DiCaprio [...]

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.

Berlin 2008: Out of Competition Film Line-Up

Out of Competition

Opening Film:
Shine a Light, USA
by Martin Scorsese
with the Rolling Stones

Fireflies in the Garden, USA (World Premiere)
by Dennis Lee
with Julia Roberts, Ryan Reynolds, Willem Dafoe, Emily Watson

Katyn, Poland (International Premiere)
by Andrzej Wajda
with Maja Ostaszewska, Artur Zmijewski and Andrzej Chyra

The Other Boleyn Girl, USA / Great Britain (World Premiere)
by Justin Chadwick
with Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson, Eric Bana

Closing Film:
Be Kind Rewind, USA (International Premiere)
by Michel Gondry
with Jack Black, Mos Def, Danny Glover, Mia Farrow, Melonie Diaz

DGA Awards 2007: Martin Scorsese Wins

Leonardo DiCaprio in The Departed

Well on his way to his first Academy Award, last night Martin Scorsese received the Directors Guild of America’s feature-film top honors for The Departed, Scorsese’s way overrated I-can-smell-a-rat gangster flick that the director himself has referred to as his "B-movie." (And despite the presence of stellar names such as Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, and Jack Nicholson, that’s really what The Departed is — though without the flair of some of the better crime B’s of the ’40s and ’50s.)
Needless to say, Scorsese’s DGA win — much like his by now inevitable Oscar win — should be seen as a career award instead of recognition for a single achievement. It was Scorsese’s seventh DGA nomination, [...]

Martin Scorsese’s Oscar Nominated Actors

Martin Scorsese
20 Acting Nominations
(s) supporting category
(*) Academy Award winner
Martin Scorsese: Top Oscar Directors for Actors
 
1974

Ellen Burstyn Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore *
Diane Ladd (s) Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore
 
1976

Robert De Niro Taxi Driver
Jodie Foster (s) Taxi Driver
 
1980

Robert De Niro Raging Bull *
Joe Pesci (s) Raging Bull
Cathy Moriarty (s) Raging Bull
 
1986
Paul Newman The Color of Money *
Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio (s) The Color of Money
 
1990
Joe Pesci (s) Goodfellas *
Lorraine Bracco (s) Goodfellas
 
1991

Robert De Niro Cape Fear
Juliette Lewis (s) Cape Fear
 
1993
Winona Ryder (s) The Age of Innocence
 
1995
Sharon Stone Casino
 
2002

Daniel Day-Lewis Gangs of New York
 
2004

Leonardo DiCaprio The Aviator
Cate Blanchett (s) The Aviator *
 
2006
Mark Wahlberg (s) The Departed

Martin Scorsese: Top Oscar Directors for Actors

Unless things change dramatically (and no, I’m not referring only to environmental chaos and apocalyptic wars), 30 or 40 years from now Martin Scorsese is going to be the best remembered name of the current top-five Oscar directors for actors. (The others being William Wyler, Elia Kazan, George Cukor, and Fred Zinnemann.)
In addition to having the most recent career — cultural amnesia is invariably a factor — Scorsese is the single director among the top five whose films can been categorized as belonging to a particular genre. Better yet, Scorsese’s forte is that much-revered tough-guy cinema.
And ain’t Scorsese’s men tough.
His first male muse, Robert De Niro, becomes a hero after slaughtering unsavory figures from the New York underworld in [...]

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 [...]

Oscar 2007

2007 Academy Awards
2007 Academy Award nominations: January 23, 2007
2007 Academy Award winners: Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland in Los Angeles on February 25, 2007
("*" denotes the winner in each category)
Photos: © AMPAS
 

Best motion picture of the year
Babel (Paramount and Paramount Vantage)
An Anonymous Content/Zeta Film/Central Films Production
Alejandro González Iñárritu, Jon Kilik and Steve Golin, Producers
* The Departed (Warner Bros.)
A Warner Bros. Pictures Production
Graham King
Letters from Iwo Jima (Warner Bros.)
A DreamWorks Pictures/Warner Bros. Pictures Production
Clint Eastwood, Steven Spielberg and Robert Lorenz, Producers
Little Miss Sunshine (Fox Searchlight)
A Big Beach/Bona Fide Production
David T. Friendly, Peter Saraf and Marc Turtletaub
The Queen (Miramax, Pathé and Granada)
A Granada Production
Andy Harries, Christine Langan and Tracey Seaward, Producers

Best foreign language film of the year
After the Wedding [...]

2007 Golden Globes Winners

Everything — at least as far as the winners were concerned — went according to plan at the 2007 Golden Globe awards ceremony. That is, until the very last winner of the evening was announced: Babel.
Babel??
Set in multiple countries, in multiple time frames, and with dialogue in multiple languages, Babel (above, with Rinko Kikuchi) was a multiple Golden Globe nominee (7 nods in all, more than any other film) and a multiple loser. As the evening progressed, Babel lost to Dreamgirls (best supporting actress Jennifer Hudson and best supporting actor Eddie Murphy), The Departed (best director Martin Scorsese), The Queen (best screenplay, Peter Morgan), and even The Painted Veil (best music, Alexandre Desplat).
And then, just like one [...]

Golden Globes 2007

2007 Golden Globes
Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s 2007 Golden Globe nominations: December 14, 2006
2007 Golden Globe winners: Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills on January 15, 2007
("*" denotes the winner in each category)
 

© HFPA 64th Golden Globe® Awards
FILM
Best Motion Picture – Drama
* Babel
Bobby
The Departed
Little Children
The Queen
Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical
Borat: Cultural Learnings of America For Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
The Devil Wears Prada
* Dreamgirls
Little Miss Sunshine
Thank You for Smoking
Best Foreign Language Film
Apocalypto (USA)
* Letters from Iwo Jima (USA/Japan)
Das Leben der Anderen / The Lives of Others (Germany)
El Laberinto del fauno / Pan’s Labyrinth (Mexico)
Volver (Spain)
Best Animated Feature Film
* Cars
Happy Feet
Monster House

© HFPA 64th Golden Globe® Awards
Best Director – Motion Picture
Clint Eastwood, Flags of Our Fathers
Clint [...]

Critics’ Choice Awards 2007

2007 Critics’ Choice Awards
2007 Broadcast Film Critics Association Critics’ Choice Awards nominations: December 12, 2006
2007 Critics’ Choice Awards winners: Santa Monica Civic Auditorium on January 12, 2007
("*" denotes the winner in each category)
 

Mark Wahlberg, Matt Damon in The Departed
 

BEST FILM:
Babel
Blood Diamond
* The Departed
Dreamgirls
Letters from Iwo Jima
Little Children
Little Miss Sunshine
Notes on a Scandal
The Queen
United 93
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM:
Apocalypto
Days of Glory
* Letters from Iwo Jima
Pan’s Labyrinth
Volver
Water
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE:
* An Inconvenient Truth
Shut Up & Sing
This Film Is Not Yet Rated
Who Killed the Electric Car?
Wordplay
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE:
* Cars
Flushed Away
Happy Feet
Monster House
Over the Hedge
BEST DIRECTOR:
Bill Condon – Dreamgirls
Clint Eastwood – Letters from Iwo Jima
Stephen Frears – The Queen
Paul Greengrass – United 93
* Martin Scorsese – The Departed
BEST ACTOR:
Leonardo DiCaprio – Blood Diamond
Leonardo DiCaprio [...]

Iowa Film Critics Awards 2007

2007 Iowa Film Critics Association Awards
2007 Iowa Film Critics Association award winners: January 10, 2007
 

Kate Winslet in Little Children
 

Best Film: Little Children directed by Todd Field
Best Animated Film: Cars directed by John Lasseter and Joe Ranft
Best Director: Martin Scorsese, The Departed
Best Actor: Forest Whitaker, The Last King of Scotland
Best Actress: Helen Mirren, The Queen
Best Supporting Actor: Jackie Earle Haley, Little Children
Best Supporting Actress: Abigail Breslin, Little Miss Sunshine
The Best Movie Yet to Open in Iowa: Pan’s Labyrinth directed by Guillermo del Toro
 
Iowa Film Critics Association Awards: 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Film Awards: 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
 

Central Ohio Film Critics Awards 2007

2007 Central Ohio Film Critics Association Awards
2007 Central Ohio Film Critics Association award winners: January 11, 2007
 

Clive Owen, Michael Caine in Children of Men
 

Best Film: Children of Men directed by Alfonso Cuarón
Runner-Up: The Departed directed by Martin Scorsese
Others in the Top Ten:
Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
Pan’s Labyrinth
Little Miss Sunshine
Brick
United 93
Babel
Thank You for Smoking
Casino Royale
Best Foreign Language Film: Pan’s Labyrinth directed by Guillermo del Toro
Runner-Up: Letters from Iwo Jima directed by Clint Eastwood
Best Director: Martin Scorsese, The Departed
Runner-Up: Alfonso Cuarón, Children of Men
Best Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio, The Departed
Runner-Up: Sacha Baron Cohen, Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of [...]

DGA Awards 2007: Nominations

Helen Mirren in The Queen (top); Brad Pitt in Babel (middle); Jennifer Hudson, Beyoncé Knowles, Anika Noni Rose in Dreamgirls (bottom)

The Directors Guild of America has announced the five features nominated for the 2007 DGA Award.
The biggest surprise was the absence of the much-revered Clint Eastwood — for either Flags of Our Fathers or Letters from Iwo Jima, or both — winner of last year’s DGA Lifetime Achievement Award. (In The Envelope, Tom O’Neil states that DGA members, who weren’t able to receive screeners this year, didn’t get a chance to check out Letters from Iwo Jima, which opened late in December.)
Also missing from the DGA list were Paul Greengrass, whose United 93 has been chosen best film of [...]

St. Louis Film Critics Awards 2007

2007 St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Awards
2007 St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association award nominations: December 22, 2006
2007 St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association award winners: January 7, 2007
† Films, performances, etc. nominated during the voting process
("*" denotes the winner in each category)
 

Leonardo DiCaprio in The Departed
 

Best Picture
Blood Diamond
* The Departed by Martin Scorsese
Flags of Our Fathers
The Good Shepherd
The Queen
United 93
† Dreamgirls
† The Last King of Scotland
† Notes on a Scandal
Best Foreign Language Film
Apocalypto
The Lives of Others
* Pan’s Labyrinth directed by Guillermo del Toro
Volver
Fateless
Three Times
Best Documentary
* An Inconvenient Truth by Davis Guggenheim
Why We Fight
Iraq for Sale
The Heart of the Game
† Deliver Us from Evil
Best Director
Clint Eastwood (Flags of Our Fathers)
Edward Zwick (Blood Diamond)
* Martin Scorsese (The Departed)
Paul [...]

Online Film Critics Awards 2007

2007 Online Film Critics Society Awards
2007 Online Film Critics Society award nominations: January 2, 2007
2007 Online Film Critics Society award winners: January 8, 2007
("*" denotes the winner in each category)
 

 

Best Picture
Babel
Children of Men
The Departed
Pan’s Labyrinth
* United 93 by Paul Greengrass
Best Foreign Film
The Death of Mr. Lazarescu
The Child
* Pan’s Labyrinth by Guillermo del Toro
Volver
Water
Best Documentary
Dave Chappelle’s Block Party
* An Inconvenient Truth by Davis Guggenheim
Jesus Camp
Neil Young Heart of Gold
Shut Up & Sing
Best Director
Alfonso Cuarón – Children of Men
Paul Greengrass – United 93
Alejandro González Iñárritu – Babel
* Martin Scorsese – The Departed
Guillermo del Toro – Pan’s Labyrinth
Best Actor
Sacha Baron Cohen – Borat
Leonardo DiCaprio – The Departed
Ryan Gosling – Half Nelson
Peter O’Toole – Venus
* Forest Whitaker – [...]

The DGA vs. the Academy: 1980s

Bob Hoskins, Jessica Rabbit in Who Framed Roger Rabbit (top); Willem Dafoe in The Last Temptation of Christ (bottom)

The DGA vs. the Academy: 1970s
1980
DGA: Michael Apted for Coal Miner’s Daughter
AMPAS: Roman Polanski for Tess
 
1982
DGA: Taylor Hackford for An Officer and a Gentleman
AMPAS: Sidney Lumet for The Verdict
 
1983
DGA: Lawrence Kasdan for The Big Chill and Philip Kaufman for The Right Stuff
AMPAS: Mike Nichols for Silkwood and Peter Yates for The Dresser
 
1984
DGA: Norman Jewison for A Soldier’s Story
AMPAS: Woody Allen for Broadway Danny Rose
 
1985
DGA: Steven Spielberg for The Color Purple and Ron Howard for Cocoon
AMPAS: Akira Kurosawa for Ran and Hector Babenco for Kiss of the Spider Woman
 
1986
DGA: Randa Haines for Children of a Lesser God [...]

Chicago Film Critics Awards 2006

2006 Chicago Film Critics Association Awards
2006 Chicago Film Critics Association Award nominations: December 19, 2006
2006 Chicago Film Critics Association Award winners: December 28, 2006
("*" denotes the winner in each category)
 

Matt Damon in The Departed
 

Best Picture
Babel
* The Departed
Little Miss Sunshine
The Queen
United 93
Best Foreign Language Film
Apocalypto
* Letters from Iwo Jima
Pan’s Labyrinth
Tsotsi
Volver
Best Director
Clint Eastwood for Letters from Iwo Jima
Stephen Frears for The Queen
Paul Greengrass for United 93
Alejandro González Iñárritu for Babel
* Martin Scorsese for The Departed
Best Actor
Leonardo DiCaprio for The Departed
Ryan Gosling for Half Nelson
Peter O’Toole for Venus
Will Smith for The Pursuit of Happyness
* Forest Whitaker for The Last King of Scotland
Best Actress
Penélope Cruz for Volver
Judi Dench for Notes on a Scandal
Maggie Gyllenhaal for Sherrybaby
* Helen Mirren for The Queen
Meryl Streep for The [...]

Oklahoma Film Critics Awards 2006

2006 Oklahoma Film Critics Circle Awards
2006 Oklahoma Film Critics Circle award winners: December 24, 2006
 

 

Best Film: United 93 directed by Paul Greengrass
Runner-up: The Departed directed by Martin Scorsese
Others in the top ten (in alphabetical order):
Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
Casino Royale
Half Nelson
The Last King of Scotland
Little Children
Little Miss Sunshine
Pan’s Labyrinth
The Queen
Best Foreign-Language Film: Pan’s Labyrinth directed by Guillermo del Toro
Best Director: Martin Scorsese, The Departed
Best Actor: Forest Whitaker, The Last King of Scotland
Best Actress: Helen Mirren, The Queen
Runner-up: Judi Dench, Notes on a Scandal
Best Supporting Actor: Jackie Earle Haley, Little Children
Best Supporting Actress: Cate Blanchett, Notes on a Scandal
Best Documentary: An Inconvenient Truth directed by Davis [...]

Florida Film Critics Awards 2006

2006 Florida Film Critics Circle Awards
2006 Florida Film Critics Circle Award winners: December 22, 2006
 

Leonardo DiCaprio in The Departed
 

Best Film: The Departed directed by Martin Scorsese
Best Foreign-Language Film: Pan’s Labyrinth directed by Guillermo del Toro
Best Director: Martin Scorsese, The Departed
Best Actor: Forest Whitaker, The Last King of Scotland
Best Actress: Helen Mirren, The Queen
Best Supporting Actor: Jack Nicholson, The Departed
Best Supporting Actress: Cate Blanchett, Notes on a Scandal
Best Screenplay: William Monahan, The Departed
Best Non-Fiction Film: An Inconvenient Truth by Davis Guggenheim
Best Animated Film: Monster House directed by Gil Kenan
Best Cinematography: Guillermo Navarro, Pan’s Labyrinth
Pauline Kael Breakout Award: Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls
Golden Orange for Outstanding Contribution to Film: Billy Corben and Alfred Spellman, director and producer [...]

Phoenix Film Critics Awards 2006

2006 Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards
2006 Phoenix Film Critics Society award winners: December 19, 2006.
 

 

Best Film: United 93 directed by Paul Greengrass
Runners-up (in alphabetical order):
Babel
Bobby
Borat
Children of Men
The Departed
The Last King of Scotland
Letters from Iwo Jima
Little Miss Sunshine
The Queen
Best Foreign-Language Film: Letters from Iwo Jima directed by Clint Eastwood
Best Documentary: An Inconvenient Truth directed by Davis Guggenheim
Best Animated Film: Flushed Away directed by David Bowers and Sam Fell
Best Director: Martin Scorsese, The Departed
Best Actor: Forest Whitaker, The Last King of Scotland
Best Actress: Helen Mirren, The Queen
Best Supporting Actor: Jack Nicholson, The Departed
Best Supporting Actress: Cate Blanchett, Notes on a Scandal
Best Original Screenplay: Michael Arndt, Little Miss Sunshine
Best Adapted Screenplay: [...]

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