Los Angeles Film Festival 2009: UNMADE BEDS, COLD SOULS, ZMD: ZOMBIES OF MASS DESTRUCTION

Unmade Beds (top); Paul Giamatti in Cold Souls (2nd from top); Autumn (2nd from bottom); ZMD: Zombies of Mass Destruction (bottom)

Los Angeles Film Festival, Thu., June 25, highlights:
Alexis dos Santos‘ Unmade Beds (Landmark 4, 2:30 pm) chronicles the emotional, romantic, and sexual entanglements of a group of young denizens of London’s East End. In the cast: Déborah François, Fernando Tielve, Michiel Huisman, Iddo Goldberg, and Richard Lintern.
A second screening of Matthew Bissonnette’s Passenger Side (Landmark 8, 4:30 pm), which follows two estranged brothers — one an ex-junkie (Joel Bissonnette); the other a struggling writer (Adam Scott) — through the streets and freeways of Los Angeles and the nearby desert. Throughout it all the brothers get to know a little [...]

2006 SAG Award Winners

Reese Witherspoon and Joaquin Phoenix in Walk the Line (top); Philip Seymour Hoffman, Catherine Keener in Capote; Sandra Bullock in Crash

Among the winners of the 2006 Actor statuettes, the Screen Actors Guild awards, were:

Best actress Reese Witherspoon for playing country singer June Carter in the Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line
Best actor Philip Seymour Hoffman in Capote, for playing another real-life character, Truman Capote
Best (faux) supporting actress Rachel Weisz for her tragic human-rights fighter in The Constant Gardener (Weisz is actually a lead character in the political drama, and is being recognized as such in Britain)
Best supporting actor Paul Giamatti for the box-office disappointment Cinderella Man
The ethnically conscious melodrama Crash, for its all-star cast, including Matt [...]

SAG Awards 2006

2006 SAG Awards
2006 Screen Actors Guild of America award winners: January 29, 2006
("*" denotes the winner in each category)
 

Thandie Newton, Matt Dillon in Crash
 

THEATRICAL MOTION PICTURES
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
Russell Crowe / CINDERELLA MAN – Jim Braddock (Universal Pictures)
* Philip Seymour Hoffman / CAPOTE – Truman Capote (UA/Sony Pictures Classics)
Heath Ledger / BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN – Ennis Del Mar (Focus Features)
Joaquin Phoenix / WALK THE LINE– John R. Cash (20th Century Fox)
David Strathairn / GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK. – Edward R. Murrow (Warner Independent Pictures)
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
Judi Dench / MRS. HENDERSON PRESENTS – Mrs. Laura Henderson (The Weinstein Company)
Felicity Huffman / TRANSAMERICA – Bree [...]

Iowa Film Critics Awards 2006

2006 Iowa Film Critics Association Awards
2006 Iowa Film Critics Association award winners: January 10, 2006
 

Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal in Brokeback Mountain
 

Best Film: Brokeback Mountain
Best Director: Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain
Best Actor: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote
Best Actress: Joan Allen, The Upside of Anger
Best Supporting Actor: Paul Giamatti, Cinderella Man
Best Supporting Actress: Rachel Weisz, The Constant Gardener
The Best Movie Yet to Open in Iowa: Match Point directed by Woody Allen
 
Iowa Film Critics Association Awards: 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Film Awards: 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
 

Critics’ Choice Awards 2006

2006 Critics’ Choice Awards
2006 Broadcast Film Critics Association’s Critics’ Choice Awards winners: January 9, 2006
("*" denotes the winner in each category)
 

 

Best Film
* Brokeback Mountain
Capote
Cinderella Man
The Constant Gardener
Crash
Good Night and Good Luck.
King Kong
Memoirs of a Geisha
Munich
Walk the Line
Best Foreign-Language Film
2046
Caché / Hidden
* Kung Fu Hustle
Oldboy
Paradise Now
Best Documentary Feature
Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room
Grizzly Man
Mad Hot Ballroom
* La Marche de l’empereur / March of the Penguins
Murderball
Best Animated Feature
Chicken Little
Corpse Bride
Howl’s Moving Castle
Madagascar
* Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
Best Director
George Clooney – Good Night and Good Luck.
Paul Haggis – Crash
Ron Howard – Cinderella Man
Peter Jackson – King Kong
* Ang Lee – Brokeback Mountain
Steven Spielberg – Munich
Best Actor
Russell Crowe – Cinderella Man
* Philip Seymour Hoffman – [...]

Kansas City Film Critics Awards 2006

2006 Kansas City Film Critics Circle Awards
2006 Kansas City Film Critics Circle award winners: January 3, 2006
 

Mathieu Kassovitz, Eric Bana in Munich
 

Best Film: Munich
Best Foreign-Language Film: Downfall directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel
Best Documentary (tie): Murderball by Henry Alex Rubin and Dana Adam Shapiro and Grizzly Man directed by Werner Herzog
Best Animated Film: Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit by Nick Park and Steve Box
Best Director: Steven Spielberg, Munich
Best Actor: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote
Best Actress: Reese Witherspoon, Walk the Line
Best Supporting Actor: Paul Giamatti, Cinderella Man
Best Supporting Actress: Maria Bello, A History of Violence
Best Original Screenplay: George Clooney and Grant Heslov, Good Night and Good Luck.
Best Adapted Screenplay: Tony Kushner and [...]

Florida Film Critics Awards 2005

2005 Florida Film Critics Circle Awards
2005 Florida Film Critics Circle Award winners: December 24, 2005
 

Jake Gyllenhaal, Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain
 

Best Film: Brokeback Mountain
Best Foreign-Language Film: Kung Fu Hustle by Stephen Chow
Best Director: Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain
Best Actor: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote
Best Actress: Reese Witherspoon, Walk the Line
Best Supporting Actor: Paul Giamatti, Cinderella Man
Best Supporting Actress: Amy Adams, Junebug
Best Screenplay: Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana, Brokeback Mountain
Best Documentary: Grizzly Man by Werner Herzog
Best Animated Film: Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit by Nick Park and Steve Box
Best Cinematography: Rodrigo Prieto, Brokeback Mountain
Paul Kael Award for Breakthrough Performance: Terrence Howard, Hustle & Flow, Crash, and Get Rich or Die Tryin’
 
Florida Film Critics [...]

Toronto Film Critics Awards 2005

2005 Toronto Film Critics Association Awards
2005 Toronto Film Critics Association Award winners: December 21, 2005
 

Viggo Mortensen, Maria Bello in A History of Violence
 

Best Film: A History of Violence
Best Canadian Film: A History of Violence
Best Foreign Film: The World by Zhang Ke Jia
Best First Feature: Capote by Bennett Miller
Best Documentary: Grizzly Man by Werner Herzog
Best Animated Film: Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit by Nick Park and Steve Box
Best Director: David Cronenberg, A History of Violence
Best Actor: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote
Best Actress: Laura Linney, The Squid and the Whale
Best Supporting Actor: Paul Giamatti, Cinderella Man
Best Supporting Actress: Catherine Keener, Capote
Best Screenplay: Noah Baumbach, The Squid and the Whale
 
Toronto Film Critics Association Site
Toronto [...]

Southeastern Film Critics Awards 2005

2005 Southeastern Film Critics Association Awards
2005 Southeastern Film Critics Association winners: December 19, 2005
 

Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain
 

Best Film: Brokeback Mountain
Runners-up: Good Night and Good Luck., Capote, Crash, A History of Violence, The Constant Gardener, Syriana, Cinderella Man, King Kong, Walk the Line
Best Foreign-Language Film: Hidden directed by Michael Haneke
Best Documentary: March of the Penguins by Luc Jacquet
Best Animated Film: Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit by Nick Park and Steve Box
Best Director: Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain
Best Actor: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote
Best Actress: Felicity Huffman, Transamerica
Best Supporting Actor: Paul Giamatti, Cinderella Man
Best Supporting Actress: Amy Adams, Junebug
Best Original Screenplay: Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco, Crash
Best Adapted Screenplay: Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana, [...]

Washington Film Critics Awards 2005

2005 Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Awards
2005 Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association winners: December 12, 2005
 

Above, Eric Bana, Geoffrey Rush in the political thriller Munich. The most surprising aspect of the Washington Film Critics’ list was the total exclusion of critics’ fave Brokeback Mountain.
 

Best Film: Munich
Best Foreign-Language Film: Kung Fu Hustle directed by Stephen Chow
Best Director: Steven Spielberg, Munich
Best Actor: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote
Best Actress: Reese Witherspoon, Walk the Line
Best Supporting Actor: Paul Giamatti, Cinderella Man
Best Supporting Actress: Amy Adams, Junebug
Best Original Screenplay: Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco, Crash
Best Adapted Screenplay: Dan Futterman, Capote
Best Documentary: Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room by Alex Gibney
Best Animated Film: Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of [...]

Boston Society of Film Critics Awards 2005

2005 Boston Society of Film Critics Awards
2005 Boston Society of Film Critics Award winners: December 11, 2005
 

Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain
 

Best Film: Brokeback Mountain
Runner-up: Munich
Best Foreign-Language Film Kung Fu Hustle by Stephen Chow
Runner-up: 2046 by Wong Kar Wai
Best Director: Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain
Runner-up: Steven Spielberg, Munich
Best Actor: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote
Runner-up: Heath Ledger, Brokeback Mountain
Best Actress: Reese Witherspoon, Walk the Line
Runner-up: Keira Knightley, Pride & Prejudice
Best Supporting Actor: Paul Giamatti, Cinderella Man
Best Supporting Actress: Catherine Keener, Capote, The Ballad of Jack and Rose, and The 40 Year Old Virgin
Best Ensemble: Syriana
Best Screenplay: Dan Futterman, Capote
Best Cinematography: Robert Elswit, Good Night and Good Luck.
Best Documentary: Murderball by Henry Alex Rubin and Dana Adam Shapiro
Runner-up: Grizzly Man [...]

Spirit Awards 2005

2005 Spirit Awards
Film Independent’s 2005 Spirit Award winners: Santa Monica on February 26, 2005
("*" denotes the winner in each category)
 

Sandra Oh, Thomas Haden Church, Virginia Madsen, Paul Giamatti in Sideways
 

BEST FILM (Award given to the Producer)
Baadasssss! Mario Van Peebles
Kinsey Gail Mutrux
Maria Full of Grace Paul Mezey
Primer Shane Carruth
* Sideways Michael London
BEST FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM (Award given to the Director)
La Mala educación / Bad Education – Spain, Pedro Almodóvar
Oasis – South Korea, Lee Chang-Dong
Feux rouges / Red Lights – France, Cédric Kahn
* Mar adentro / The Sea Inside – Spain, Alejandro Amenábar
Yesterday – South Africa, Darrell James Roodt

BEST FIRST FILM (Award given to the Director and Producer)
Brother to Brother Director: Rodney Evans, Producers: Rodney Evans, Jim [...]

Iowa Film Critics Awards 2005

2005 Iowa Film Critics Association Awards
2005 Iowa Film Critics Association award winners: January 10, 2005
 

 

Best Picture: Sideways by Alexander Payne
Runner-up: Million Dollar Baby by Clint Eastwood
Best Director: Alexander Payne for Sideways
Runner-up: Martin Scorsese for The Aviator
Best Actor: Paul Giamatti for Sideways
Runner-up: Jamie Foxx for Ray
Best Actress: Imelda Staunton for Vera Drake
Runner-up: Kate Winslet for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Best Supporting Actor: Thomas Haden Church for Sideways
Runner-up: Jamie Foxx for Collateral
Best Supporting Actress: Virginia Madsen for Sideways
Runner-up: Cate Blanchett for The Aviator
Best movie yet to open Iowa: Hotel Rwanda by Terry George
 
Iowa Film Critics Association Awards: 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Film Awards: 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
 

Online Film Critics Awards 2005

2005 Online Film Critics Society Awards
2005 Online Film Critics Society award winners: January 10, 2005
("*" denotes the winner in each category)
 

 

Best Film
Before Sunset
* Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind by Michel Gondry
Garden State
The Incredibles
Sideways
Best Foreign-Language Film
* Hero by Zhang Yimou
House of Flying Daggers
Maria Full of Grace
The Motorcycle Diaries
A Very Long Engagement
Best Documentary
Control Room
* Fahrenheit 9/11 by Michael Moore
Metallica: Some Kind of Monster
Super Size Me
Touching the Void
Best Animated Feature
Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence
* The Incredibles by Brad Bird
The Polar Express
Shrek 2
Team America: World Police
Best Director
Clint Eastwood – Million Dollar Baby
* Michel Gondry – Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Alexander Payne – Sideways
Martin Scorsese – The Aviator
Zhang Yimou – Hero
Best Actor
Jim Carrey – Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless [...]

Chicago Film Critics Awards 2004

2004 Chicago Film Critics Association Awards
2004 Chicago Film Critics Association Award winners: December 20, 2004
 

Paul Giamatti, Thomas Haden Church in Sideways
 

Best Film Sideways
Best Foreign-Language Film A Very Long Engagement
Best Director Clint Eastwood, Million Dollar Baby
Best Actor Paul Giamatti, Sideways
Best Actress Imelda Staunton, Vera Drake
Best Supporting Actor Thomas Haden Church, Sideways
Best Supporting Actress Virginia Madsen, Sideways
Best Screenplay Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor, Sideways
Best Cinematography (tie) Christopher Doyle, Hero, and Robert Richardson, The Aviator
Best Score Howard Shore, The Aviator
Best Documentary Fahrenheit 9/11
Best New Director Zach Braff, Garden State
Most Promising Performer Catalina Sandino Moreno, Maria Full of Grace
 
Chicago Film Critics Association Site
Chicago Film Critics Association Awards: 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Film Awards: 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 [...]

Toronto Film Critics Awards 2004

2004 Toronto Film Critics Association Awards
2004 Toronto Film Critics Association Award winners: December 16, 2004
 

 

Best Film Sideways
Best Foreign-Language Film Hero directed by Zhang Yimou
Best Director Michel Gondry Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Best Actor Paul Giamatti Sideways
Best Actress Imelda Staunton Vera Drake
Best Supporting Actor Clive Owen Closer
Best Supporting Actress Virginia Madsen Sideways
Best Screenplay Charlie Kaufman Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Best Non-Fiction Film The Fog of War
Best Animated Film The Triplets of Belleville
Best Canadian Film The Triplets of Belleville
Best First Film Maria Full of Grace
Clyde Gilmour Award – Film professor and former Toronto International Film Festival programmer Kay Armatage, for her contribution to the appreciation and promotion of Canadian cinema.
Special Award Ryan, a [...]

New York Film Critics Awards 2004

2004 New York Film Critics Circle Awards
2004 New York Film Critics Circle Award winners: December 13, 2004
 

 
Best Film Sideways
Best Foreign Film La Mala educación / Bad Education
Best Director Clint Eastwood Million Dollar Baby
Best Actor Paul Giamatti Sideways
Best Actress Imelda Staunton Vera Drake
Best Supporting Actor Clive Owen Closer
Best Supporting Actress Virginia Madsen Sideways
Best Screenplay Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor Sideways
Best Cinematographer Christopher Doyle Ying xiong / Hero
Best Non-Fiction Film Fahrenheit 9/11
Best Animated Film The Incredibles
Best First Film Maria Full of Grace
Special Award Milestone Films received a special award in honor of 15 years of restoring classic films.
 
New York Film Critics Circle Site
New York Film Critics Circle Awards: 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Film Awards: 2004 2005 2006 [...]

SIDEWAYS d: Alexander Payne

Sideways (2004)
Director: Alexander Payne
Screenplay: Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor, from Rex Pickett’s novel
Cast: Paul Giamatti, Thomas Haden Church, Virginia Madsen, Sandra Oh

 

 
DAYS OF WINE AND LOSERS
With Election, Alexander Payne demonstrated a flair for satirical comedy the likes of which would have turned Billy Wilder green with envy. With About Schmidt, Payne demonstrated that his comedic flair could go the way of Wilder’s in fluff like Sabrina — artificial, cutesy, and bland. In Sideways, Payne unfortunately opted for Schmidt’s route. I found his adaptation (with Jim Taylor) of Rex Pickett’s novel an overlong, superficial, and thoroughly unconvincing road movie about adult men — who should have been killed at birth — learning to grow up.
First of all, the film’s [...]