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 [...]

Scripter Award 2008

2008 USC Scripter Awards
2008 Scripter Award winners: Feb. 18, 2007
("*" denotes the winner)
 

No Country for Old Men, which stars Josh Brolin (above), Javier Bardem, and Tommy Lee Jones, has won nearly every U.S. critics’ awards this season. The Coens’ adapted screenplay is also in the running for this year’s Writers Guild award. Literary Achievement Award recipient Steven Zaillian happens to be the only winner of three Scripters: Awakenings (1990), Schindler’s List (1993), and Gangs of New York (2002).
 

Atonment — screenplay by Christopher Hampton, based on the novel by Ian McEwan
Into the Wild — Screenplay by Sean Penn, based on the book by Jon Krakauer
* No Country for Old Men — Screenplay by Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, based [...]

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 Predictions: Best Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress

Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood
George Clooney (for Michael Clayton) might have been the sentimental favorite for he’s a local Hollywood-ite, while Daniel Day-Lewis (above, with Paul Dano), who plays a ruthless oil baron in There Will Be Blood, is an Englishman living in Ireland. Clooney, however, won an Oscar (for Syriana) a mere two years ago, while Day-Lewis’ SAG win has solidified his position as this year’s front-runner.
 

Best Actress: Julie Christie, Away from Her
Until the SAG Awards, it was a three-lane race: veteran Julie Christie for Away from Her, Marion Cotillard for La Vie en Rose, and Ellen Page for Juno — by far the biggest box-office hit among the films nominated in the best actress category. [...]

Oscar 2008 Predictions: Best Director, Screenplay

Richard Foreman / Miramax Films
Best Director: Joel and Ethan Coen, No Country for Old Men
By now the Coen brothers are veterans; they’ve been around for more than two decades and neither one has ever won a best director Oscar. Joel Coen was nominated in 1996 for Fargo, but lost to Anthony Minghella for The English Patient. (Until The Ladykillers in 2004, in which they were billed as directors, producers [along with a few other names], writers, and editors [as "Roderick Jaynes"], the Coen brothers shared credit for their films by naming Joel the director and Ethan the producer.)
It’s the Coens’ turn now — and they’ve won this year’s DGA Award, the first pair to do so since Robert Wise and [...]

Oscar 2008 Predictions: Best Film, Foreign Language Film, Documentary, Animated Film

Best Film: No Country for Old Men
Until late last week, things were still somewhat murky in the best film race. No Country for Old Men (above, with Tommy Lee Jones) and There Will Be Blood were the front-runners, while Juno was the fluffy dark horse that could potentially tip the scale against the heavy-drama heavyweights. But after its SAG best ensemble and DGA wins, No Country for Old Men, about a drug deal gone murderously wrong, has become the official front-runner.
 

Best Foreign Language Film: Katyn (Poland)
As I’ve said before, this is the toughest feature-film category to predict. None of the five nominees — Beaufort, 12, The Counterfeiters, Mongol, and Katyn — has been widely reviewed in the United States.
I’d [...]

SAG Awards 2008

2008 SAG Awards
2008 Screen Actors Guild Award nominations: December 20, 2007
2008 SAG Award winners: Los Angeles Shrine Exposition Center on January 27, 2008
("*" denotes the winner in each category)
 

 

THEATRICAL MOTION PICTURES
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
GEORGE CLOONEY / Michael Clayton — Michael Clayton (Warner Bros. Pictures)
* DANIEL DAY-LEWIS / Daniel Plainview — There Will Be Blood (Paramount Vantage)
RYAN GOSLING / Lars Lindstrom — Lars and the Real Girl (Sidney Kimmel Entertainment)
EMILE HIRSCH / Christopher McCandless — Into the Wild (Paramount Vantage)
VIGGO MORTENSEN / Nikolai — Eastern Promises (Focus Features)
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
CATE BLANCHETT / Queen Elizabeth I — Elizabeth: The Golden Age (Universal Pictures)
* JULIE CHRISTIE / [...]

Directors Guild Awards 2008

2008 Directors Guild Awards
2008 DGA feature film nominations: January 8, 2008. Documentary and television nominations: January 10, 2008
2008 DGA award winners: January 26, 2008
("*" denotes the winner in each category)
 

Josh Brolin in No Country for Old Men
 

FEATURE FILMS
Paul Thomas Anderson – There Will Be Blood (Paramount Vantage)
Unit Production Manager: Daniel Lupi
First Assistant Director: Adam Somner
Second Assistant Directors: Eric Lasko, Ian Stone, Richard Oswald Second Second Assistant Director: Jenny Nolan
* Joel Coen & Ethan Coen – No Country for Old Men (Miramax Films and Paramount Vantage)
Unit Production Manager: Robert J. Graf
First Assistant Director: Betsy Magruder Second Assistant Director: Bac DeLorme Second Second Assistant Director: Jai James
Tony Gilroy – Michael Clayton (Warner Bros.)
Unit Production Manager: Christopher Goode First Assistant [...]

Oscar 2008: Film Editors and Art Directors Seminars at the American Cinematheque

Josh Brolin in No Country for Old Men (top); Matt Damon in The Bourne Ultimatum (bottom)

A couple of American Cinematheque events at the Egyptian Theatre at 6712 Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles:
The American Cinema Editors‘ seminar "Invisible Art, Visible Artists" will be held at 10 a.m. on Saturday, February 23. The scheduled participants are the 2008 Oscar nominees:

Christopher Rouse, The Bourne Ultimatum
Juliette Welfling, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Jay Cassidy, Into the Wild
"Roderick Jaynes" (Joel and Ethan Coen), No Country for Old Men
Dylan Tichenor, There Will Be Blood

Saoirse Ronan, James McAvoy in Atonement (top); Jayne Wisener in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (bottom)

The Art Directors [...]

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 [...]

Iowa Film Critics Awards 2008

2008 Iowa Film Critics Association Awards
2008 Iowa Film Critics Association award winners: January 16, 2008
 

Josh Brolin in No Country for Old Men
 

Best Film: No Country for Old Men by Joel and Ethan Coen
Best Director: Joel and Ethan Coen, No Country for Old Men
Best Actor: Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Savages, Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead, Charlie Wilson’s War
Best Actress: Julie Christie, Away From Her
Best Supporting Actor: Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men
Best Supporting Actress: Amy Ryan, Gone Baby Gone
Best Animated Film: Ratatouille by Brad Bird
Best Film Yet to Open in Iowa: There Will Be Blood by Paul Thomas Anderson
 
Iowa Film Critics Association Awards: 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Film Awards: 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 [...]

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 [...]

Central Ohio Film Critics Awards 2008

2008 Central Ohio Film Critics Association Awards
2008 Central Ohio Film Critics Association award winners: January 11, 2008
 

Josh Brolin in No Country for Old Men
 

Best Film: No Country for Old Men by Joel and Ethan Coen
Runners-up:
Das Leben der Anderen / The Lives of Others
Juno
Once
There Will Be Blood
Lars and the Real Girl
3:10 to Yuma
The Savages
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Le Scaphandre et le papillon / The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Best Foreign Language Film: The Lives of Others by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
Runner-Up: El Orfanato / The Orphanage
Best Documentary: The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters by Seth Gordon
Runners-Up (tie): In the Shadow of the Moon and No End in Sight
Best Director: Joel [...]

Online Film Critics Awards 2008

2008 Online Film Critics Society Awards
2008 Online Film Critics Society award winners: January 8, 2008
("*" denotes the winner in each category)
 

Javier Bardem in No Country for Old Men
 

PICTURE
Atonement
Juno
* No Country for Old Men
There Will Be Blood
Zodiac
FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM
* The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Julian Schnabel
The Host
La Vie en Rose
The Lives of Others
The Orphanage
DOCUMENTARY
In the Shadow of the Moon
Into Great Silence
* The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters by Seth Gordon
No End in Sight
Sicko
ANIMATED FEATURE
Beowulf
Paprika
Persepolis
* Ratatouille by Brad Bird
The Simpsons Movie
DIRECTOR
Paul Thomas Anderson – There Will Be Blood
* Joel and Ethan Coen – No Country for Old Men
David Cronenberg – Eastern Promises
David Fincher – Zodiac
Julian Schnabel – The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
ACTOR
George Clooney – Michael Clayton
* Daniel [...]

Critics’ Choice Awards 2008

2008 Critics’ Choice Awards
Broadcast Film Critics Association’s 2008 Critics’ Choice Award nominations: December 11, 2007
2008 Critics’ Choice Award winners: Santa Monica Civic Auditorium on January 7, 2008
("*" denotes the winner in each category)
 

Josh Brolin in No Country for Old Men
 

Best Picture
American Gangster
Atonement
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Into the Wild
Juno
The Kite Runner
Michael Clayton
* No Country for Old Men
Sweeney Todd
There Will Be Blood
Best Foreign Language Film
* The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days
La Vie en Rose
Lust, Caution
The Orphanage
Best Documentary
Darfur Now
In the Shadow of the Moon
The King of Kong
No End in Sight
Sharkwater
* Sicko by Michael Moore
Best Director
Tim Burton – Sweeney Todd
* Joel Coen and Ethan Coen – No Country for Old Men
Sidney Lumet – Before the Devil Knows [...]

BAFTA 2008 Longlists: Screenplay, Animated Film

Glen Hansard, Marketa Irglova in Once (top); Javier Bardem in No Country for Old Men (middle); Ulrich Mühe in The Lives of Others (bottom)

BAFTA 2008 Longlists
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
American Gangster
Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead
Eastern Promises
Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Hot Fuzz
In the Valley of Elah
Juno
Knocked Up
The Lives of Others
Michael Clayton
Once
Ratatouille
Things We Lost in the Fire
This is England
La Vie en Rose
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
3:10 to Yuma
Atonement
The Bourne Ultimatum
Brick Lane
Charlie Wilson’s War
Control
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Into the Wild
The Kite Runner
Letters from Iwo Jima
Lust, Caution
No Country for Old Men
Sweeney Todd: [...]

Houston Film Critics Awards 2008

2008 Houston Film Critics Society Awards
2008 Houston Film Critics Society award winners: January 3, 2008
 

Javier Bardem in No Country for Old Men
 

Best Picture: No Country for Old Men
Runners-up:
Juno
Atonement
Michael Clayton
Into the Wild
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead
Charlie Wilson’s War
I’m Not There
Best Foreign Language Film: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Julian Schnabel
Best Documentary: The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters by Seth Gordon
Best Director of a Motion Picture: Tim Burton, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role: Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role: Julie Christie, Away from Her
Best Performance by [...]

Oscar 2008 Predictions: Best Film, Foreign Language Film

Javier Bardem in No Country for Old Men

I haven’t been following too closely the debates about who will or won’t be nominated for the 2008 Academy Awards, though a few front-runners — No Country for Old Men, There Will Be Blood, Ratatouille, Joel and Ethan Coen, Daniel Day-Lewis, Julie Christie, George Clooney, Marion Cotillard, Ellen Page — have become rather obvious after U.S. critics, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, and the Screen Actors Guild began announcing their winners and/or nominees.
That said, I have also read here and there comments on how this film, that star, or that sound technician (joke) will fare in the voting.
The list below is incomplete and quite likely not all that accurate. The only reason [...]

U.S. Critics’ Awards 2007

Josh Brolin in No Country for Old Men

Much has been said about the absence of a front-runner for this year’s Academy Awards. Be that as it may, one film is clearly the favorite among the myriad film critics’ groups in the United States.
Directed and written by Joel and Ethan Coen, No Country for Old Men has been chosen the top film of 2007 by nearly all critics’ societies, associations, and circles in the US and by the Toronto critics.
What often crosses my mind whenever I look at those award lists is their lack of variety. (That could be the result of the way votes are tabulated; if so, perhaps the rules should be changed.) Generally speaking, the [...]

Oklahoma Film Critics Awards 2007

2007 Oklahoma Film Critics Circle Awards
2007 Oklahoma Film Critics Circle award winners: December 23, 2007
 

Javier Bardem in No Country for Old Men

 
Best Film: No Country for Old Men by Joel and Ethan Coen
Runners-up:
Juno
Zodiac
Atonement
Michael Clayton
Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead
King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters
Gone Baby Gone
Once
Eastern Promises
Best Foreign Film: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Julian Schnabel
Best Documentary: The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters by Seth Gordon
Best Animated Film: Ratatouille by Brad Bird
Best First Feature: Ben Affleck, Gone Baby Gone
Best Directors: Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, No Country for Old Men
Best Actress: Ellen Page, Juno
Best Actor: George Clooney, Michael Clayton
Best Supporting Actress: Amy Ryan, Gone Baby Gone
Best [...]

St. Louis Film Critics Awards 2008

2008 St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Awards
2008 St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association award nominations: December 17, 2007
2008 St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association award winners: December 21, 2007
("*" denotes the winner in each category)
 

Javier Bardem in No Country for Old Men
 

BEST PICTURE
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Into the Wild
Juno
The Kite Runner
* No Country for Old Men by Joel and Ethan Coen
Sweeney Todd
Atonement
Michael Clayton
There Will Be Blood
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
* The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Julian Schnabel
The Host
The Kite Runner
La Vie en Rose
Lust, Caution
Persepolis
BEST DOCUMENTARY
In the Shadow of the Moon
The King of Kong: A Fist Full of Quarters
Manufactured Landscapes
No End in Sight
* Sicko by Michael Moore
BEST DIRECTOR
Paul [...]

Utah Film Critics Awards 2007

2007 Utah Film Critics Association Awards
2007 Utah Film Critics Association award winners: December 21, 2007
 

 
Best Film: No Country for Old Men by Joel and Ethan Coen
Runner-up: Juno by Jason Reitman
Other runners-up (in alphabetical order): The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, I’m Not There, Into the Wild, Juno, Knocked Up, Michael Clayton, No Country for Old Men, Once, There Will Be Blood, 3:10 to Yuma
Best Non-English Language Feature: The Host by Bong Joon-ho
Runner-up: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Julian Schnabel
Best Documentary Feature: The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters by Seth Gordon
Runner-up: My Kid Could Paint That by Amir Bar-Lev
Best Animated Feature: Ratatouille by Brad Bird
Runner-up: The Simpsons Movie [...]

Florida Film Critics Awards 2007

2007 Florida Film Critics Circle Awards
2007 Florida Film Critics Circle Award winners: December 21, 2007
 

 
Best Picture: No Country for Old Men by Joel and Ethan Coen
Best Foreign-Language Film: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Julian Schnabel
Best Documentary: No End in Sight by Charles Ferguson
Best Directors: Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, No Country for Old Men
Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood
Best Actress: Ellen Page, Juno
Best Supporting Actor: Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men
Best Supporting Actress: Amy Ryan, Gone Baby Gone
Best Screenplay: Diablo Cody, Juno
Best Animated Film: Ratatouille by Brad Bird
Best Cinematography: Roger Deakins, No Country for Old Men and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Pauline Kael Breakout Award: Ellen Page, Juno
Best Original Songs: [...]

Detroit Film Critics Awards 2007

2007 Detroit Film Critics Society Awards
2007 Detroit Film Critics Society award nominations: December 14, 2007
2007 Detroit Film Critics Society award winners: December 19, 2007
("*" denotes the winner in each category)
 

Javier Bardem in No Country for Old Men
 

Best Film
* No Country for Old Men
Juno
Into the Wild
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
There Will Be Blood
Best Director
* Joel and Ethan Coen, No Country for Old Men
Julian Schnabel, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Paul Thomas Anderson, There Will Be Blood
Sean Penn, Into the Wild
Tim Burton, Sweeney Todd
Jason Reitman, Juno
Best Actor
Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood
* George Clooney, Michael Clayton
Emile Hirsch, Into the Wild
Tommy Lee Jones, No Country for Old Men
Mathieu Amalric, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Best Actress
* Ellen Page, Juno
Julie Christie, Away [...]

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