MONSTERS VS. ALIENS Soars to the Top of the Box Office

Monsters vs. Aliens easily destroyed its competition at the North American box office this weekend with a whopping $58.2 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.
DreamWorks Animation’s latest 3D-animated adventure follows a group of monsters assisting the U.S. government in the destruction of a ruthless alien leader. The film’s voice cast includes Reese Witherspoon, Seth Rogen and Hugh Laurie.

Debuting at No. 2 this weekend with $23 million was Peter Cornwell’s horror thriller The Haunting in Connecticut. Starring Virginia Madsen, Kyle Gallner and Amanda Crew, the film follows a family experiencing supernatural events in their new home.

Last week’s winner, Knowing, dropped to third place, collecting [...]

Reese Witherspoon at MONSTERS VS. ALIENS London Premiere

Reese Witherspoon attends the Monsters vs. Aliens UK premiere at the Vue West End on March 11, 2009, in London.
Photos: Jorge Herrera
Click on the images to enlarge them.

 
STAR TREK’s Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto’s Sydney Photo Shoot
Ben Affleck, Helen Mirren, Rachel McAdams in STATE OF PLAY
Ben Affleck, Russell Crowe in STATE OF PLAY Photos
Sylvia Miles, John Barry at MIDNIGHT COWBOY Screening
Oscar 2009: Robert Pattinson, Sophia Loren, Kate Winslet, Reese Witherspoon

THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL Tops Box Office

Twentieth Century Fox’s The Day the Earth Stood Still destroyed its competition at the North American box office with US$31 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.
Scott Derrickson’s critically panned remake of the 1951 sci-fi thriller directed by Robert Wise opened at 3,560 locations this weekend, landing at the No. 1 spot early Friday. The film stars Keanu Reeves as an alien who comes to Earth to warn humankind of its potentially imminent destruction.

Last week’s box office champion, Four Christmases, dropped to second place, earning $13.2 million for a domestic total of $87.9 million after a strong three-week run. Starring Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn (above, with Sissy Spacek), the holiday comedy follows a couple paying [...]

FOUR CHRISTMASES, PUNISHER: WAR ZONE Box Office

Four Christmases topped the North American box office for the second consecutive weekend with $18.1 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.
Seth Gordon’s holiday comedy starring Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon easily dominated its competition, lifting its domestic total to $70.8 million. In the film, a San Francisco couple pays a visit to all four of their divorced parents.

This week’s new releases weren’t that lucky, with Lexi Alexander’s Punisher: War Zone, with Ray Stevenson, delivering the best result at No. 8 with $4 million.

New entry Cadillac Records, starring Adrien Brody and Jeffrey Wright, closely followed in ninth place with only $3.5 million.

As for Nobel Son, the third wide release this weekend, it only finished [...]

FOUR CHRISTMASES Tops Box Office

Seth Gordon’s holiday comedy Four Christmases topped the North American box office this Thanksgiving weekend with US$31.6 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.
Starring Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon as a couple paying a visit to all four of their divorced parents on Christmas Day, the film lifted its domestic total to $46.7 million after only five days in release.

Jumping to No. 2 this weekend was Walt Disney’s Bolt, which collected another $26.5 million and brought its cumulative gross to $66.8 million. Featuring the voices of John Travolta and Miley Cyrus, the animated adventure follows a dog who believes he has superpowers until he realizes he’s [...]

Oscar 2006

2006 Academy Awards
2006 Academy Award nominations: January 31, 2006
2006 Academy Award winners: Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland in Los Angeles on March 5, 2006
2006 Oscar Ceremony
2006 Oscar Nominations
("*" denotes the winner in each category)
Photos: © AMPAS
 

Best Film
Brokeback Mountain, Diana Ossana and James Schamus
Capote, Caroline Baron, William Vince, and Michael Ohoven
* Crash, Paul Haggis and Cathy Schulman
Good Night and Good Luck., Grant Heslov
Munich, Kathleen Kennedy, Steven Spielberg, and Barry Mendel

Best Foreign Language Film
La Bestia nel cuore / Don’t Tell (Italy)
Joyeux Noël / Merry Christmas (France)
Paradise Now (Palestine)
Sophie Scholl – Die Letzten Tage / Sophie Scholl – The Final Days (Germany)
* Tsotsi (South Africa)

Best Documentary, Features
Darwin’s Nightmare, Hubert Sauper
Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, [...]

BAFTA 2006

2006 BAFTA Awards
2006 Orange British Academy of Film and Television Arts nominations: January 19, 2006
2006 BAFTA award winners: Odeon Leicester Square in London on February 19, 2006
("*" denotes the winner in each category)
 

Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain
 

FILM
* BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN – Diana Ossana / James Schamus
CAPOTE – Caroline Baron / William Vince / Michael Ohoven
THE CONSTANT GARDENER – Simon Channing Williams
CRASH – Credits TBC
GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK. – Grant Heslov
THE ALEXANDER KORDA AWARD for the Outstanding British Film of the Year
A COCK & BULL STORY – Andrew Eaton / Michael Winterbottom / Martin Hardy
THE CONSTANT GARDENER – Simon Channing Williams / Fernando Meirelles / Jeffrey Caine
FESTIVAL – Christopher Young / Annie Griffin
PRIDE & PREJUDICE – Tim Bevan / Eric [...]

BAFTA 2006 Winners

Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal in Brokeback Mountain. Photo: Kimberly French / Focus Films

Brokeback Mountain was the big winner at the BAFTA 2006 Awards. Based on E. Annie Proulx’s short story about the doomed love affair between two Wyoming ranch hands, Brokeback Mountain won a total of four awards: best picture, best director (Ang Lee), best adapted screenplay (Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana), and, surprisingly, best supporting actor for Jake Gyllenhaal. (While accepting the best film award, producer James Schamus jokingly complained that his film has been unfairly labeled “the gay cowboy movie,” when it actually is a “universal love story about two gay shepherds.”)

Two actors portraying real-life characters also came out on top: Philip Seymour Hoffman was chosen best [...]

WALK THE LINE Awards and Nominations

Joaquin Phoenix in Walk the Line

Awards/nominations for Walk the Line are for the year 2005 unless otherwise stated.

Academy Awards: 1 win (best actress, Reese Witherspoon); 4 additional nominations (best actor, Joaquin Phoenix; best editing, Michael McCusker; best costume design, Arianne Phillips; best sound)
American Cinema Editors: 1 win (best edited feature – comedy / musical, Michael McCusker)
Art Directors Guild: 1 nomination (best production design – contemporary film, David J. Bomba)
Boston Society of Film Critics: 1 win (best actress, Reese Witherspoon)
British Academy Awards: 2 wins (best actress, Reese Witherspoon; best sound); 2 additional nominations (best actor, Joaquin Phoenix; best music, T-Bone Burnett)
Broadcast Film Critics Association: 2 wins (best actress, Reese Witherspoon; best soundtrack); 2 additional nominations (best film; best actor, Joaquin [...]

WALK THE LINE – Joaquin Phoenix, Reese Witherspoon

Walk the Line (2005)
Direction: James Mangold
Screenplay: Gill Dennis and James Mangold, from Johnny Cash’s The Man in Black and Cash: The Autobiography
Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Reese Witherspoon, Ginnifer Goodwin, Robert Patrick, Dallas Roberts
 

Reese Witherspoon, Joaquin Phoenix in Walk the Line
 

First of all, I must admit that before watching Walk the Line I knew nothing about Johnny Cash’s music. In fact, I used to think of Johnny Cash as a Las Vegas act in the style of Tony Bennett or Neil Diamond. If nothing else, James Mangold’s overlong and more than a tad melodramatic biopic — which he and Gill Dennis adapted from two Cash autobiographies — made me realize that Cash was a Nashville (not Vegas) act who became a [...]

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 [...]

Golden Globes 2006

2006 Golden Globes
2006 Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s Golden Globe nominees
2006 Golden Globe winners: Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills on January 16, 2006
("*" denotes the winner in each category)
 

James Schamus, Diana Ossana, Ang Lee. © HFPA / 63rd Golden Globe Awards®

Best Motion Picture – Drama
* Brokeback Mountain
The Constant Gardener
Good Night and Good Luck.
A History of Violence
Match Point
Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
Mrs Henderson Presents
Pride & Prejudice
The Producers
The Squid and the Whale
* Walk the Line
Best Foreign Language Film
Joyeux Noël / Merry Christmas (France)
Kung fu / Kung Fu Hustle (Hong Kong)
Mo gik / The Promise (China)
* Paradise Now (Palestine)
Tsotsi (South Africa)
Best Director – Motion Picture
Woody [...]

Online Film Critics Awards 2006

2006 Online Film Critics Society Awards
2006 Online Film Critics Society award winners: January 16, 2006
("*" denotes the winner in each category)
 

Ed Harris, Viggo Mortensen in A History of Violence
 

Best Film
Brokeback Mountain
Crash
Good Night and Good Luck.
* A History of Violence by David Cronenberg
Munich
Best Foreign-Language Film
Hidden
Kung Fu Hustle
Oldboy
2046
* Downfall by Oliver Hirschbiegel
Best Documentary
The Aristocrats
Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room
* Grizzly Man by Werner Herzog
March of the Penguins
Murderball
Best Animated Feature
Howl’s Moving Castle
Madagascar
Robots
Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride
* Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit by Nick Park and Steve Box
Best Director
George Clooney, Good Night and Good Luck.
* David Cronenberg, A History of Violence
Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain
Peter Jackson, King Kong
Steven Spielberg, Munich
Best Actor
Terrence Howard, Hustle & Flow
Heath Ledger, Brokeback Mountain
Joaquin Phoenix, Walk [...]

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 – [...]

2006 National Society of Film Critics Award Winners

Capote, which follows flamboyant writer Truman Capote while he was working on In Cold Blood, was chosen the best film of 2005 by the National Society of Film Critics. As most elsewhere this year, smaller American films and non-American productions took center stage in the voting.
Among the other winners were best director David Cronenberg for the social critique A History of Violence, which failed to win the best film award by one single vote, after six rounds of voting; best actor Philip Seymour Hoffman (above, with Catherine Keener) for Capote; best actress Reese Witherspoon for playing another real-life character, June Carter, in Walk the Line; and best foreign film Gegen die Wand / Head-On, Fatih Akin’s drama [...]

National Society of Film Critics Awards 2006

2006 National Society of Film Critics Awards
2006 National Society of Film Critics award winners: New York City on January 7, 2006
 

Philip Seymour Hoffman, Catherine Keener in Capote
 

Best Film: Capote (12, on sixth ballot)
Runners-up: A History of Violence (11, on sixth ballot); 2046 (fifth ballot)
Best Foreign-Language Film: Head-On by Fatih Akin (26)
Runner-up: 2046 by Wong Kar Wai (23); Hidden by Michael Haneke (18)
Best Documentary: Grizzly Man by Werner Herzog (60)
Runners-up: Darwin’s Nightmare by Hubert Sauper (27); Ballets russes by Daniel Geller and Dayna Goldfine (19)
Best Director: David Cronenberg, A History of Violence (32)
Runners-up: Wong Kar Wai, 2046 (26); Bennett Miller, Capote (23)
Best Actor: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote (68)
Runners-up: Jeff Daniels, The Squid and [...]

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 [...]

Utah Film Critics Awards 2005

2005 Utah Film Critics Association Awards
2005 Utah Film Critics Association award winners: December 25, 2005
 

 

Best Film: Brokeback Mountain
Runner-up: Me and You and Everyone We Know by Miranda July
Best Foreign-Language Film: Kung Fu Hustle by Stephen Chow
Runner-up: Downfall by Oliver Hirschbiegel
Best Director: Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain
Runner-up: Woody Allen, Match Point
Best Actor: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote
Runner-up: Heath Ledger, Brokeback Mountain
Best Actress: Reese Witherspoon, Walk the Line
Runner-up: Maria Bello, A History of Violence
Best Supporting Actor: Andy Serkis, King Kong
Runner-up: Paul Giamatti, Cinderella Man
Best Supporting Actress: Rachel Weisz, The Constant Gardener
Runner-up: Amy Adams, Junebug
Best Screenplay (tie): Shane Black, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and Miranda July, Me and You and Everyone We Know
Best Documentary: Murderball by Henry Alex Rubin 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 [...]

Las Vegas Film Critics Awards 2005

2005 Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards
2005 Las Vegas Film Critics Society winners: December 19, 2005
 

Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal in Brokeback Mountain
 

Best Film: Brokeback Mountain
Runners-up:
Crash
King Kong
Good Night and Good Luck.
A History of Violence
Cinderella Man
The Constant Gardener
Capote
The New World
Walk the Line
Best Foreign-Language Film: Kung Fu Hustle by Stephen Chow
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: Heath Ledger, Brokeback Mountain
Best Actress: Reese Witherspoon, Walk the Line
Best Supporting Actor: Matt Dillon, Crash
Best Supporting Actress: Frances McDormand, North Country
Best Screenplay: Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco, Crash
Best Cinematography: Andrew Lesnie, King Kong
Best Film Editing: [...]

New York Film Critics Awards 2005

2005 New York Film Critics Circle Awards
2005 New York Film Critics Circle Award winners: December 12, 2005
 

Jake Gyllenhaal, Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain
 

Best Film: Brokeback Mountain
Best Foreign-Language Film: 2046 directed by Wong Kar Wai
Best Non-Fiction Film: Grizzly Man and The White Diamond directed by Werner Herzog
Best Animated Film: Hauru no ugoku shiro / Howl’s Moving Castle by Hayao Miyazaki
Best Director: Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain
Best Actor: Heath Ledger, Brokeback Mountain
Best Actress: Reese Witherspoon, Walk the Line
Best Supporting Actor: William Hurt, A History of Violence
Best Supporting Actress: Maria Bello, A History of Violence
Best Screenplay: Noah Baumbach, The Squid and the Whale
Best Cinematographer: Christopher Doyle, Lai Yiu Fai, and Kwan Pun Leung, 2046
Best First Film: Bennett Miller, [...]

San Francisco Film Critics Awards 2005

2005 San Francisco Film Critics Circle Awards
2005 San Francisco Film Critics Circle Award winners: December 12, 2005
 

 

Best Film: Brokeback Mountain
Best Foreign-Language Film: Hidden directed by Michael Haneke
Best Director: Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain
Best Actor: Heath Ledger, Brokeback Mountain
Best Actress: Reese Witherspoon, Walk the Line
Best Supporting Actor: Kevin Costner, The Upside of Anger
Best Supporting Actress: Amy Adams, Junebug
Best Screenplay: George Clooney and Grant Heslov, Good Night and Good Luck.
Best Documentary: Grizzly Man directed by Werner Herzog
Marlon Riggs Award (for local talent): Jenni Olson for The Joy of Life
 
San Francisco Film Critics Circle Site
San Francisco Film Critics Circle Awards: 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Film Awards: 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
 

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 [...]