Roman Polanski Petition

Veteran filmmakers Marco Bellocchio, Wim Wenders, and Claude Lelouch; Oscar winners Woody Allen, Martin Scorsese, and Pedro Almodóvar; the French Film Academy; the Cannes Film Festival; and hundreds of other individuals and organizations have signed a petition demanding the release of Roman Polanski, who was arrested by Swiss police — at the behest of the American Justice Department — following his arrival at the Zurich airport on Sept. 26. Polanski was headed to the Zurich Film Festival, where he was to have received a Lifetime Achievement Award.
In 1978, Polanski pleaded guilty to having unlawful intercourse with a minor (13-year-old Samantha Gailey, now Geimer) at a Los Angeles court, but fled to France before he could be sentenced. His court [...]

Venice 2009: Werner Herzog, Marisa Berenson, Michael Shannon

Werner Herzog, Michael Shannon

Marisa Berenson

Tilda Swinton
Photos: Courtesy Venice Film Festival
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Venice 2009: Oliver Stone, Tilda Swinton Photos

Kalki Koechlin, Mahie Gill, Abhay Deol at the Dev.D photocall at the Palazzo del Cinema during the 2009 Venice Film Festival.
Photos: François Durand / 2009 Getty Images. Courtesy: Jaeger-LeCoultre
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Oliver Stone at the South of the Border photocall at the Palazzo del Casino

Tilda Swinton at the Informant premiere

THE MAN FROM LONDON d: Béla Tarr

A londoni férfi / The Man from London (2007)
Direction: Béla Tarr
Screenplay: Béla Tarr and László Krasznahorkai; from Georges Simenon’s novel
Cast: Miroslav Krobot, Tilda Swinton, Ági Szirtes, János Derzsi, Erika Bók, István Lénárt
 

 

By Dan Schneider of Cosmoetica:
Style over substance.
That is the plaint of many a critic when they come across a film or book or any work of art they do not like, but which has undeniable merit, at least technically, if not in a few other measures as well. But the fact is that my opening words have little to do with most of the gripes labeled as such. While there are artworks for which the opening plaint is valid, far more often the correct plaint is [...]

THE MAN FROM LONDON Review III

THE MAN FROM LONDON: Part I
THE MAN FROM LONDON: Part II
We then follow Maloin to his home, where Tarr offers some great scenes of him trying to sleep and dreaming of the prior night. We also see his protectiveness toward his daughter, Henriette (Erika Bok), and his arguments with his nameless wife (played by Swinton), who comes off as a typical harridan. All of these scenes, no matter how well filmed, feel tired and repetitive. By contrast, in Tarr’s earlier Satantango, Erika Bok plays a small girl who violently wrestles with and kills her cat. Despite the ugly nature of that sequence, it elucidates both Bok’s character and one of that film’s major plot points and themes. No such corresponding [...]

Saturn Awards 2009

2009 Saturn Awards
The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films’ 2009 Saturn Award winners: June 25, 2009
(”*” denotes the winner in each category)
 

Iron Man (top); Brad Pitt in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2nd from top); Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2nd from bottom); Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight (bottom)
 

FEATURE FILMS
Best Science Fiction Film
The Day the Earth Stood Still
Eagle Eye
The Incredible Hulk
Indiana Jones & the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
* Iron Man
Jumper
Best Fantasy Film
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
* The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Hancock
The Spiderwick Chronicles
Twilight [...]

Oscar 2008: Javier Bardem, Tilda Swinton, Glen Hansard, Marketa Irglova

Glen Hansard, Marketa Irglova – best original song winners

Tilda Swinton – best supporting actress winner

Javier Bardem – best supporting actor winner
Photos: Matt Petit / © A.M.P.A.S.
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Oscar 2008: Daniel Day-Lewis, Tilda Swinton, Marion Cotillard

Daniel Day-Lewis, Tilda Swinton, Marion Cotillard, Javier Bardem

Christopher Rouse – Best Film Editing Oscar winner

Jan Archibald, Didier Lavergne – Best Makeup Oscar winners
Photos: Matt Petit / © A.M.P.A.S.
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Kansas City Film Critics Awards 2008

2008 Kansas City Film Critics Circle Awards
2008 Kansas City Film Critics Circle award winners: January 7, 2008
 

Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood
 

Best Film: There Will Be Blood by Paul Thomas Anderson
Best Foreign Language Film: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Julian Schnabel
Best Documentary: In the Shadow of the Moon by David Sington
Robert Altman Award for Best Director (tie): Paul Thomas Anderson, There Will Be Blood, and Julian Schnabel, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood
Best Actress: Marion Cotillard, La Vie en Rose
Best Supporting Actor: Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men
Best Supporting Actress: Tilda Swinton, Michael Clayton
Best Original Screenplay: Diablo Cody, Juno
Best Adapted Screenplay: Joel and Ethan Coen, No Country for Old [...]

Oscar 2008 Predictions: Acting Categories

George Clooney in Michael Clayton

Oscar 2008 Predictions: Best Film, Director, Foreign Language Film
Best Actor:

George Clooney, Michael Clayton
Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood
Viggo Mortensen, Eastern Promises

Possibly: Denzel Washington, American Gangster; Frank Langella, Starting Out in the Evening; James McAvoy, Atonement; Johnny Depp, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street; Emile Hirsch, Into the Wild; Ryan Gosling, Lars and the Real Girl; Tommy Lee Jones, In the Valley of Elah
 

Marion Cotillard in La Vie en Rose
Best Actress:

Julie Christie, Away from Her
Marion Cotillard, La Vie en Rose
Ellen Page, Juno
Angelina Jolie, A [...]

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 [...]

Dallas-Ft. Worth Film Critics Awards 2007

2007 Dallas-Ft. Worth Film Critics Association Awards
2007 Dallas-Ft. Worth Film Critics Association Award winners: December 17, 2007
 

Tommy Lee Jones in No Country for Old Men
 

Best Picture: No Country for Old Men by Joel and Ethan Coen
Runners-up:
Juno
There Will Be Blood
Atonement
Michael Clayton
Into the Wild
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
The Kite Runner
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Charlie Wilson’s War
Best Foreign Language Film: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Julian Schnabel
Runners-up:
La Vie en rose
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days
Lust, Caution
Black Book
Best Documentary: The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters by Seth Gordon
Runners-up:
Sicko
No End in Sight
My Kid Could Paint That
Crazy Love
Best Animated Film: Ratatouille by Brad Bird
Best Director: Joel and Ethan Coen, No Country for Old [...]