PRECIOUS Sweeps 25th Spirits Awards

Gabourey Sidibe, Mo’Nique in Precious (top); Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart (bottom)

Lee Daniels‘ urban family drama Precious swept the 25th Spirit Awards held this evening at L.A. Live in downtown Los Angeles.
Precious won a total of five awards out of five nominations: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress (Gabourey Sidibe), Best Supporting Actress (Mo’Nique), and Best First Screenplay (Geoffrey Fletcher). Upon receiving his Best Director trophy from The Hurt Locker’s Jeremy Renner and two-time Oscar winner Jodie Foster, Daniels referred to the odds-on Oscar favorite: “Kathryn Bigelow isn’t here tonight. I am.” Lucky him, though, ironically, Bigelow was not nominated last year, when her Iraq War drama was eligible for the Spirits. (There had been no Oscar buzz [...]

by Steve Montgomery | March 5, 2010   
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Mo’Nique, Roger Deakins Win Spirit Awards

Mo’Nique won Precious its second Spirit Award. The Best Supporting Actress winner was present to receive her award at a ceremony being held in downtown Los Angeles. Previously known for her comedy work, Mo’Nique’s highly dramatic turn as an abusive mother has made her the odds-on favorite to win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress on Sunday evening.
“Gabby, you are truly a special gift to the universe, baby,” Mo’Nique said upon accepting her trophy. “For people to get to know you and be in your presence, they are all honored.” Best Actress Spirit Award nominee Gabourey Sidibe is also up for this year’s Best Actress Academy Award.
Roger Deakins took home the Best Cinematography Award for his work on [...]

by Steve Montgomery | March 5, 2010   
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NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN d: Joel and Ethan Coen

Josh Brolin in No Country for Old Men

NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN: The Pros
The Cons:

I was unable to either relate to or care about any of the "good" characters. Josh Brolin’s Llewelyn Moss is supposed to be the "ordinary guy" who acts the way ordinary guys would act under similar circumstances. Well, perhaps it’s true that the average guy is really stupid, selfish, and greedy, but there’s nothing ordinary about the way the Vietnam veteran uses a firing weapon to shoot both animals and his pursuer. Worse yet, Llewelyn’s deadly foolhardiness — innocent bystanders get slaughtered because of him — had me rooting for Chigurh to come and eliminate that tough-talking health hazard fast.
The final battle [...]

by Andre Soares | December 26, 2009   
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American Society of Cinematographers Awards 2008

2008 American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) Awards
2008 ASC award winners: Hollywood & Highland complex in Los Angeles on January 26, 2008
("*" denotes the winner in each category)
 

Roger Deakins became the first cinematographer to receive two ASC nominations in the same year: for No Country for Old Men and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. He lost, however, to Robert Elswit for There Will Be Blood.
 

Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in a Motion Picture
Roger Deakins, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Roger Deakins, No Country for Old Men
* Robert Elswitt, There Will Be Blood
Janusz Kaminski, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Seamus McGarvey, Atonement
Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in Motion Picture, Miniseries or [...]

by Andre Soares | January 26, 2008   
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Oscar 2008 Nominations: Foreigners and Those Missing in Action

Brad Pitt in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

Oscar 2008 Nominations: Part I
Roger Deakins is competing against himself in the best cinematography category: for The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and There Will Be Blood.
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Jonny Greenwood’s much praised score for There Will Be Blood was deemed ineligible reportedly because "the majority of the music was not composed specifically for the film." Alan Menken’s score for Enchanted was also deemed ineligible because it was based on the "predominant use of songs" and not on actual scoring of dramatic/comedy scenes. There was no "best adapted/best song score" category this year — though apparently there should have been. (More at The Envelope.)
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Best costume design nominee [...]

by Andre Soares | January 22, 2008   
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