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European Film Awards 2009: Nominations

Tahar Rahim in A Prophet (top); Dev Patel, Freida Pinto in Slumdog Millionaire (middle); The White Ribbon by Michael Haneke (bottom)

Six films are vying for the top prize at the 2009 European Film Awards. They are:

Andrea Arnold’s Fish Tank, about a teenager (best actress nominee Katie Jarvis) upset that her mother has found herself a new boyfriend (Michael Fassbender)
Stephen Daldry’s The Reader, a melodrama starring Kate Winslet as a former Nazi guard who believes that being illiterate is worse than being an accomplice to mass murder
Jacques Audiard’s A Prophet, a prison drama about a toughie (best actor nominee Tahar Rahim) fighting his way to the top of the world behind bars
Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire, about a young man (best actor [...]

Pedro Almodóvar, Penélope Cruz – BROKEN EMBRACES Set

Pedro Almodóvar and Penélope Cruz on the set of Broken Embraces.
Photos: © Emilio Pereda & Paola Ardizzoni / El Deseo, Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics

Penélope Cruz – BROKEN EMBRACES Photos

Pedro Almodóvar’s noirish (in color) Broken Embraces, which was screened in competition at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, opens in New York City on November 20 and in Los Angeles on December 11.
Broken Embraces star several Almodóvar alumni: Muse Penélope Cruz (a potential Oscar 2010 contender in the best actress category), Lluís Homar of Bad Education, Blanca Portillo and Lola Dueñas of Volver, Rossy de Palma of Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, and Chuz Lampeavre of just about everything Almodóvar has ever directed.
Also: Rubén Ochandiano (of Che), Tamar Novas (of The Sea Inside), Carlos Leal (of Chef’s Special), and José Luis Gómez (of Goya’s Ghosts).
Broken Embraces Trailer.
Photos: © Emilio Pereda & Paola Ardizzoni / El Deseo, [...]

BROKEN EMBRACES Trailer

Directed by Pedro Almodóvar, Broken Embraces stars Penélope Cruz and Lluís Homar. Cruz is a potential Oscar 2010 best actress contender for this film.
Broken Embraces synopsis from the press release:
A man writes, lives and loves in darkness. Fourteen years before, he was in a brutal car crash on the island of Lanzarote. In the accident, he not only lost his sight, he also lost Lena, the love of his life.
This man uses two names: Harry Caine, a playful pseudonym with which he signs his literary works, stories and scripts, and Mateo Blanco, his real name, with which he lives and signs the film he directs. After the accident, Mateo Blanco reduces himself to his pseudonym, Harry Caine. [...]

Oscar 2010: Early Predictions – Best Supporting Actress

Best Supporting Actress

Penélope Cruz, Nine
A film director’s seductive mistress (if she’s half as tantalizing in the film as she is in the above photo, Cruz deserves not only a nod but the golden statuette itself)

Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air
A professional downsizer’s trainee

Mo’Nique, Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire
A pregnant, illiterate teen’s Mom from Hell

Julianne Moore, A Single Man (with Colin Firth)
A married alcoholic pining for an English professor — who just happens to be both gay and suicidal

Emma Thompson, An Education
A school headmistress in 1960s London

The most disputed acting category in the 2010 Oscar race. In addition to the aforementioned five actresses, five others who could easily land a nomination (in case their movies open [...]

Oscar 2010: Early Predictions – Best Actress

Best Actress

Abbie Cornish, Bright Star
Frances ‘Fanny’ Brawne has a relatively brief but intense love affair with poet John Keats

Carey Mulligan, An Education
In 1960s London, a schoolgirl falls for a man in his 30s

Michelle Pfeiffer, Cheri
An older courtesan introduces a young man to the art of lovemaking

Gabourey ‘Gabby’ Sidibe, Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire
An abused pregnant teen is befriended by a compassionate teacher

Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia
Julia Child joyfully introduces dead poultry into American kitchens

A dozen actresses — female actors if you wish — can be considered as very strong candidates for a 2010 best actress nomination (as long as their movies open in LA until December 31). In addition to the [...]

Penélope Cruz, Bernardo Bertolucci, Gael García Bernal Sign Polanski Petition

Actor Gael García Bernal, Academy Award-winning actress Penélope Cruz, veteran director Mario Monicelli, veteran screenwriter Lorenzo Semple Jr, and Academy Award-winning filmmakers Bernardo Bertolucci and Ethan Coen are a few of the latest additions to the list of signatories demanding freedom for filmmaker Roman Polanski, currently being held by Swiss authorities.
Among the other new signatories of the petition organized by France’s Société des Auteurs et Compositeurs Dramatiques (SACD) are:
Author Ariel Dorfman; actor-screenwriter Buck Henry; composer Vangelis; actors Sylvia Kristel and Anne Consigny; filmmakers Fatih Akin, Juan Antonio Bayona, Djamel Bennecib, Giuseppe Bertolucci, Alain Berliner, Guillermo del Toro, Michel Deville, Sam Gabarski, Diane Kurys, Tonie Marshall, Brett Ratner, and Jerry Schatzberg; World Cinema Foundation director Kent [...]

Cannes 2009: Best Actress Favorites

Best Actress
Charlotte Gainsbourg as a bereaved mother in Antichrist.
Penélope Cruz, Almodóvar’s diva in Broken Embraces.
Abbie Cornish as Fanny Brawne in Bright Star.
Katie Jarvis as an aimless teenager in Fish Tank.
Giovanna Mezzogiorno as Benito Mussolini’s ex in Vincere.
 
Photos: Courtesy Festival de Cannes
 

Cannes 2009: Pedro Almodóvar’s BROKEN EMBRACES

Broken Embraces: Pedro Almodóvar on the set (top); Penélope Cruz as the heroine (bottom).
In the mystery-melodrama, a director and his female star begin a passionate love affair that leads to all sorts of trouble.

Wendy Ide in The [London] Times:
"Certainly, it is unmistakably an Almodovar film. Nobody else does richly-textured melodrama quite like him; nobody else can encourage such overwrought performances without unbalancing the film; nobody else shoots Penélope Cruz with a reverence which borders on fan-worship. But what’s missing here is the warmth and emotional honesty that infuses Almodovar’s most successful features. What’s missing is, arguably, Almodovar himself."
***
Eric Kohn in indieWIRE:
"Pedro Almodovar offers nothing new in his [...]

Oscar 2009: Nominees Luncheon

Kate Winslet, David Kross in The Reader (top); Javier Bardem, Penélope Cruz in Vicky Cristina Barcelona (middle); Viola Davis in Doubt (bottom)

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced that 15 of the 20 nominees in the acting categories will be among the almost 120 Academy Award nominees gathering at noon on Monday, Feb. 2, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills for the annual Nominees Luncheon. (See images from the 2009 Nominees Luncheon and the 2008 Nominees Luncheon.)
The nominated performers who have already confirmed their presence are: Richard Jenkins, Frank Langella, Sean Penn, Mickey Rourke, Anne Hathaway, Melissa Leo, Kate Winslet, Amy Adams, Penélope Cruz, [...]

SAG Awards 2009: Meryl Streep, Penélope Cruz, Anthony Hopkins

Anthony Hopkins and Slumdog Millionaire cast

Penélope Cruz, Meryl Streep

Kristin Scott Thomas, Gary Oldman accepting Heath Ledger’s best supporting actor award
Photos: Michael Caulfield (Oldman/Scott Thomas), Michael Caulfield (Hopkins/Slumdog cast), Dimitrios Kambouris (Streep/Cruz)
Click on the photos to enlarge them.

SAG Awards 2009: Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Penélope Cruz

Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt

Kevin Bacon, Kyra Sedgwick

Penélope Cruz, Kate Winslet
Photos: Kevin Mazur (Jolie/Pitt), Lester Cohen (Bacon/Sedgwick, Cruz/Winslet)
Click on the photos to enlarge them.

Iowa Film Critics Awards 2009

2009 Iowa Film Critics Association Awards
2009 Iowa Film Critics Association award winners: Jan. 13, 2009
 

Freida Pinto in Slumdog Millionaire
 

Best Film: Slumdog Millionaire
Best Animated Feature: WALL-E
Best Director: Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire
Best Actor: Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler
Best Actress: Meryl Streep, Doubt
Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight

Best Supporting Actress: Penélope Cruz, Vicky Christina Barcelona
Best Picture Yet to Open in Iowa: The Wrestler
 
Iowa Film Critics Association Awards: 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Film Awards: 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

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

2009 Golden Globe Winners

Kate Winslet, Leonardio DiCaprio in Revolutionary Road (top); Winslet, David Kross in The Reader (bottom)

There were few surprises among the 2009 Golden Globe winners.
The biggest one was Kate Winslet’s best actress, drama, win for Revolutionary Road. Pundits everywhere — including those in this blog — were predicting either Anne Hathaway or Meryl Streep.
Sally Hawkins‘ best actress, comedy or musical, win may have caught some by surprise — those who were expecting Meryl Streep for the box-office hit Mamma Mia!. But considering that Hawkins has been a critical favorite (New York, Los Angeles, National Society of Film Critics) and that she’s a likely Oscar contender, Golden Globe prognosticators shouldn’t have been too shocked, even though Happy-Go-Lucky is hardly what one would [...]

Kansas City Film Critics Awards 2009

2009 Kansas City Film Critics Circle Awards
2009 Kansas City Film Critics Circle award winners: January 5, 2009
 

 

Best Film: Slumdog Millionaire
Best Foreign Language Film: Let the Right One In (Sweden)
Best Documentary: Man on Wire
Best Animated Film: WALL-E
Robert Altman Award for Best Director: Darren Aronofsky – The Wrestler
Best Actor: Mickey Rourke – The Wrestler
Best Actress: Meryl Streep – Doubt
Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight
Best Supporting Actress: Penélope Cruz – Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Best Original Screenplay: Robert Siegel – The Wrestler
Best Adapted Screenplay: Simon Beaufoy – Slumdog Millionaire
Vince Koehler Award for Best Science Fiction, Fantasy or Horror Film: The Dark Knight
 
Kansas City Film Critics Circle Site
Kansas City Film Critics Circle Awards: 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Film Awards: 2004 2005 2006 [...]

Best Films of 2008: LA WEEKLY/VILLAGE VOICE Poll

J. Hoberman in The Village Voice:
"All hail Andrew Stanton’s WALL-E — even us! Sometimes, the movies really are universal. And so a major studio’s mainstream, multiplex, mega-million-dollar-grossing, Oscar-friendly “summer movie” resoundingly won the ninth annual Village Voice–L. A. Weekly poll of (mainly) alt-press critics, named on 35 of 80 ballots.
"Unlike last year, when Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood materialized in late December to snatch the prize from the Coen Brothers’ No Country for Old Men and David Fincher’s Zodiac, there was no groupthink stampede. Critics had months in which to cogitate over the eventual poll winner. Pass the popcorn, [...]

Pedro Almodóvar’s BROKEN EMBRACES Inspired by Darkness

Penélope Cruz, seen above in Woody Allen’s Vicky Cristina Barcelona, will not look like this in Pedro Almodóvar’s next film, Los Abrazos rotos, for the director asserts he doesn’t want his leading lady to "repeat those [hairstyles] she has worn in other films."
 
Pedro Almodóvar, on his website:
"Regarding the English translation of the original title, Los abrazos rotos, I have seen in some publications that it has been translated as ‘Broken Hugs’ and in others as ‘Broken embraces.’ I don’t have a sufficient knowledge of English to decide which is correct, or if both are, but I get the impression that in my story the ‘abrazos’ are more embraces than hugs.
"My ‘abrazos’ are not fraternal or [...]

Southeastern Film Critics Awards 2008

2008 Southeastern Film Critics Association Awards
2008 Southeastern Film Critics Association winners: December 15, 2008
 

 

BEST PICTURE Milk
Runners-up:
2. Slumdog Millionaire
3. WALL-E
4. The Dark Knight
5. The Wrestler
6. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
7. The Reader
8. The Visitor
9. Frost/Nixon
10. Revolutionary Road
BEST FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM: Let the Right One In (Sweden)
Runner-up: I’ve Loved You So Long (France)
BEST DOCUMENTARY: Man on Wire
Runner-up: Young@Heart
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE: WALL-E
Runner-up: Kung Fu Panda
BEST DIRECTOR: Danny Boyle – Slumdog Millionaire
Runner-up: Gus Van Sant – Milk
BEST ACTOR: Sean Penn – Milk
Runner-up: Mickey Rourke – The Wrestler
BEST ACTRESS: Anne Hathaway – Rachel Getting Married
Runner-up: Kate Winslet, The Reader
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight
Runner-up: Robert Downey Jr. – Tropic Thunder
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Penélope Cruz – Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Runner-up: Viola Davis – [...]

New York Film Critics Online Awards 2008

2008 New York Film Critics Online Awards
2008 New York Film Critics Online Award winners: December 14, 2008
 

Dev Patel, Freida Pinto in Slumdog Millionaire
 

Best Film: Slumdog Millionaire
Top Ten Films (in alphabetical order)
Che
A Christmas Tale
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Happy-Go-Lucky
Milk
Rachel Getting Married
Slumdog Millionaire
WALL-E
The Wrestler
Best Foreign Film: 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days by Cristian Mungiu
Best Documentary: Man on Wire by James Marsh
Best Animated Feature: WALL-E by Andrew Stanton
Best Director: Danny Boyle (with Loveleen Tandan) – Slumdog Millionaire
Best Actor: Sean Penn – Milk
Best Actress: Sally Hawkins – Happy-Go-Lucky
Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight
Best Supporting Actress: Penélope Cruz – Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Best Cinematography: Slumdog Millionaire – Anthony Dod Mantle
Best [...]

Boston Society of Film Critics Awards 2008

2008 Boston Society of Film Critics Awards
2008 Boston Society of Film Critics Award winners: December 14, 2008
 

Dev Patel in Slumdog Millionaire (top); WALL-E by Andrew Stanton (bottom)
 

Best Picture (tie): Slumdog Millionaire directed by Danny Boyle and WALL-E directed by Andrew Stanton
Best Foreign-Language Film: Let the Right One In directed by Tomas Alfredson
Best Documentary: Man on Wire directed by James Marsh
Best Animated Film: WALL·E directed by Andrew Stanton
Best Director: Gus Van Sant for Milk and Paranoid Park
Best Actor (tie): Sean Penn for Milk and Mickey Rourke for The Wrestler
Best Actress: Sally Hawkins for Happy-Go-Lucky
Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger for The Dark Knight
Best Supporting Actress: Penélope Cruz for Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Best Screenplay: Dustin Lance Black for Milk
Best Cinematography: [...]

2008 New York Film Critics Winners

There were no major surprises in the list of the New York Film Critics Circle’s 2008 winners — unless you count last year’s Romanian abortion drama 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days being chosen this year’s best foreign film. (Last year, the New York critics’ picked the German drama The Lives of Others — released in Los Angeles in 2006 — as their top foreign film; the previous year, their choice was the French underground drama Army of Shadows, a 1969 release in its country of origin.)
Milk was voted best film, Sean Penn (above) was the best actor for his performance as slain gay leader Harvey Milk, and Josh Brolin was chosen best supporting actor for the same film. [...]

New York Film Critics Awards 2008

2008 New York Film Critics Circle Awards
2008 New York Film Critics Circle Award winners: Dec. 10, 2008
 

Best Picture: Milk directed by Gus Van Sant
Runners-up: Rachel Getting Married; Happy-Go-Lucky and Slumdog Millionaire (tie)

Best Foreign Film: 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days directed by Cristian Mungiu
Runners-up: A Christmas Tale; The Class

Best First Film: Courtney Hunt, Frozen River
Runners-up: Ballast; Reprise

Best Documentary: Man on Wire directed by James Marsh
Runners-up: Waltz with Bashir; Trouble the Water

Best Animated Film: WALL-E directed by Andrew Stanton
Runner-up: Waltz with Bashir

Best Director: Mike Leigh, Happy-Go-Lucky
Runners-up: Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire; David Fincher, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Best Actor: Sean Penn, Milk
Runners-up: Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler; Clint Eastwood, Gran Torino

Best Actress: Sally Hawkins, Happy-Go-Lucky
Runners-up: Melissa Leo, Frozen River; Kate Winslet, [...]

2008 Los Angeles Film Critics Winners

For the first time in its 34-year history, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association has bestowed its best picture award on an animated film, the Disney/Pixar production Wall-E.

Other surprises included Berlin Film Festival winner Sally Hawkins (above) as best actress for Happy-Go-Lucky, which means that Hawkins is now a potential Oscar contender; Jia Zhangke’s 2006 Venice Film Festival-winning Chinese drama Still Life as best foreign-language film and for the year’s best cinematography, for Lik Wai Yu; and Happy-Go-Lucky for best screenplay (Mike Leigh, who also directed the film).

Non-surprises were Heath Ledger (above) as best supporting actor for The Dark Knight; James Marsh’s widely acclaimed Man on Wire as best documentary; and National Board of Review winner Penélope [...]

Los Angeles Film Critics Awards 2008

2008 Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards
2008 Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award winners: Dec. 9, 2008
 

 

Best Film: Wall-E directed by Andrew Stanton
Runner-up: The Dark Knight directed by Christopher Nolan
Best Foreign-Language Film: Still Life directed by Jia Zhangke
Runner-up: The Class directed by Laurent Cantet
Best Documentary: Man on Wire directed by James Marsh
Runner-up: Waltz with Bashir directed by Ari Folman
Best Animated Film: Waltz with Bashir
Best Director: Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire
Runner-up: David Fincher, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Best Actress: Sally Hawkins, Happy-Go-Lucky
Runner-up: Melissa Leo, Frozen River
Best Actor: Sean Penn, Milk
Runner-up: Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler
Best Supporting Actress: Penélope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona and Elegy
Runner-up: Viola Davis, Doubt
Best supporting Actor: Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
Runner-up: Eddie Marsan, Happy-Go-Lucky
Best Screenplay: Mike Leigh, [...]

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