Some Movie News...

Oscar-nominee Marion Cotillard (La Vie en Rose) joins the cast of Michael Mann's Public Enemies, out 2009. The cast already includes Johnny Depp and Christian Bale. Depp will play notorious 1930s American gangster John Dillinger, while Bale will play detective Melvin Purvis. Cotillard is set to play Dillinger's wife. Source

Guillermo del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth) is in talks to direct the back-to-back films based on The Hobbit. Peter Jackson will return to produce and oversee the screenplay with del Toro. Source

Channing Tatum (She's the Man, Step Up) has been cast as Duke in the G.I. Joe film out 2009, at least according to Harry Knowles at AICN.

Screen Actors Guild Winners

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Daniel Day-Lewis (There Will Be Blood)

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN LEADING ROLE
Julie Christie (Away From Her)

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men)

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Ruby Dee (American Gangster)

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A CAST IN A MOTION PICTURE
No Country for Old Men

10 Most Anticipated Films of 2008

Runners-up:

Defiance (Directed by Edward Zwick; Starring Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber, Jamie Bell; Release date: 2008). This is possibly a major Oscar contender. Craig, Schreiber and Bell play Jewish brothers who escape from Nazi-occupied Poland and join Russian resistance fighters in the Belarussian forest. Potential awards-bait performances from the principal cast.

Dragonball (Directed by James Wong; Starring Justin Chatwin, James Marsters, Emmy Rossum, Chow Yun-Fat; Release date: 15 August 2008) and Speed Racer (Directed by the Wachowski Brothers; Starring Emile Hirsch, Christina Ricci; Release date: 9 May 2008). Two anime adaptations, the first from major Hollywood studios. My excitement over these projects is laced with great apprehension, particularly with Dragonball. Both films could go wrong in so many ways. And yet they may be crazy fun as heck.

Red Cliff (Directed by John Woo; Starring Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Zhao Wei; Release date: 2008). Based on the Battle of Red Cliffs during ancient China's Three Kingdoms period, this could be the most visually pleasing film by the end of the year, not to mention the most epic in scale.

Star Trek (Directed by J.J. Abrams; Starring Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Eric Bana, Winona Ryder, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, Bruce Greenwood, John Cho, Leonard Nimoy, Simon Pegg, Anton Yelchin; Release date: 25 December 2008). It would be very interesting to see our beloved Star Trek crew back in their Federation days. A definite highlight would be how Kirk beats the Kobayashi Maru simulation (talked about in Wrath of Khan as one of the highlights of Kirk's career). I love the casting of Zachary "Sylar" Quinto as young Spock (the resemblance is uncanny), but the rest of the cast worries me. I hope my fears about this being some teen flick in space are unrealized.

Sunshine Cleaning (Directed by Christine Jeffs; Starring Amy Adams, Emily Blunt; Release date: showing now at Sundance). Two of the hottest, most interesting actresses working today, Amy Adams (Enchanted) and Emily Blunt (The Devil Wears Prada), playing sisters in a dramedy. Need I say more?

Also: potential Oscar contenders The Argentine and Guerrilla (Directed by Steven Soderbergh; Starring Benicio del Toro as Che Guevara), Australia (Directed by Baz Luhrman; Starring Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman), The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Directed by David Fincher; Starring Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett; Release date: 26 November 2008), Doubt (Directed by John Patrick Shanley; Starring Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman), The Time Traveler's Wife (Directed by Robert Schwentke; Starring Rachel McAdams, Eric Bana; Release date: 6 June 2008), and The Women (Directed by Diane English; Starring Meg Ryan, Annette Bening, Debra Messing, Eva Mendes, Carrie Fisher, Jada Pinkett Smith).

10) Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull

Directed by Steven Spielberg
Starring Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Cate Blanchett, Shia LeBeouf
Release date: 22 May 2008

This is bound to be one of the most exciting films of this year, and it would be great to go back to a character that my generation had learned to like a lot. But it's principally Cate Blanchett as a vicious Russian villainess Agent Spalko who has me geared up to watch this one.

9) Mamma Mia!

Directed by Phyllida Lloyd
Starring Pierce Brosnan, Meryl Streep, Colin Firth, Amanda Seyfried, Stellan Skarsgard, Julie Walters
Release date: 18 July 2008

I'm not that much into musicals BUT...I love ABBA songs, and I love Meryl Streep. Streep is great at comedy and actually has a good singing voice, so I'll be watching for this one!

8) The Countess

Directed by Julie Delpy
Starring Julie Delpy, William Hurt, Radha Mitchell, Vincent Gallo, Daniel Bruhl
Release date: 2008

Many films have been made about Erzebeth Bathory (there's actually another one this year starring Anna Friel of "Pushing Daisies"), but this one is directed by and stars Julie Delpy, one of France's most talented (she sings too!) and fascinating exports. Who can resist the idea of Delpy playing one of the most vilified women in history, she who was supposed to have bathed in the blood of virgins to keep her beauty? Lovely.

7) Iron Man

Directed by Jon Favreau
Starring Robert Downey Jr., Terrence Howard, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges
Release date: 2 May 2008

Quite simply, the trailers and teaser posters look amazing. Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man is a bit of truly inspired casting. Can you believe how lucky we are to see Iron Man's iconic armor so resplendent in a live action film? I just wish they had Mandarin as the villain.

6) Revolutionary Road

Directed by Sam Mendes
Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Kathy Bates
Release date: 19 December 2008

In 1998, Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet made movie magic and box office history with James Cameron's Titanic. This new film about a problematic 1950s suburban couple is unlikely to rake in as much money as the two's first pairing, but this might just be the vehicle for their first Oscars after three nominations for DiCaprio and five for Winslet. If anyone can take them there, it's probably Sam Mendes, who directed Kevin Spacey to his Oscar in the Best Picture winner American Beauty.

5) Diary of the Dead

Directed by George A. Romero
Release date: 15 February 2008

The king of zombie movies is back! No one does it like George A. Romero. Now he returns to the start of everything, when the zombie plague first appeared (same time-line as the original Night of the Living Dead), and he has a group of amateur documentary filmmakers filming the first shambling, flesh-eating undead ala The Blair Witch Project. It'd be like watching a documentary about true zombies!

4) The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

Directed by Andrew Adamson
Starring Liam Neeson, Ben Barnes, William Moseley, Georgie Henley, Anna Popplewell, Skandar Keynes
Release date: 16 May 2008

Narnia is one of the most fascinating worlds in fantastic literature, and the first film, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, was a fun and decent adaptation. Now we're going back to Narnia, and there's more war and less religious undertones. If only for WETA's wonderful designs of Narnia's myriad creatures, it's definitely going to be another great ride.

3) La Terza Madre

Directed by Dario Argento
Starring Asia Argento
Release date: February 2008

I choose to ignore the negative reviews. Nothing will keep away from this film. The mythology of the Three Sisters (Mater Suspiriorum, Mater Tenebrarum, Mater Lacrymarum), the three most horrible witches in arcane history, is one of the most creepily fascinating in the horror film genre. Dario Argento, master of Italian gallo and horror, created a masterpiece in Suspiria and a decent sequel in Inferno. La Terza Madre (The Third Mother, or Mother of Tears) concludes the trilogy. I have to see this now!

2) Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Directed by David Yates
Starring Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman, Jim Broadbent
Release date: 21 November 2008

The films in the franchise have not necessarily been getting better (for me, the best is still the third, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban), but they have been consistently good. And they've been steadily getting darker. The sixth book is simply fantastic, second in emotional impact and epic scope only to the seventh, so it would be great to see how it translates into film with an older primary cast. Those who have read the book must know to watch for a great central performance from Alan Rickman after a few films of being relegated to the background.

1) The Dark Knight

Directed by Christopher Nolan
Starring Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Heath Ledger, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, Eric Roberts, Aaron Eckhart, Cillian Murphy
Release date: 18 July 2008

I'm not alone in citing this as the most anticipated film of 2008. Christopher Nolan took the franchise to a whole new realm with the slick Batman Begins, and Christian Bale was amazing as Bruce Wayne/Batman (perhaps the best, with apologies to Mr. Keaton). They're back, this time with Batman's arch-nemesis, perhaps one of the most fascinating, disturbing, and well realized characters in comic book history: The Joker. Whoever thought of casting the late Heath Ledger in the role is a genius. If the trailers and posters are any indication, he will be BRILLIANT as the Joker. It will probably still be a bit disconcerting to watch Ledger in such a maniacal role even come July, but at least his last completed film performance will be a thing to remember forever. Will Ledger be the first actor nominated for an Oscar for a role based on a comic book character? Let's hope so.

Heath Ledger Dead

From Variety:

Heath Ledger was found dead Tuesday at a downtown Manhattan apartment, naked in bed with sleeping pills nearby, police said. The Australian-born actor was 28.

It wasn't immediately clear if Ledger had committed suicide. He had an appointment for a massage at a residence in the tony neighbourhood of SoHo, NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said. A housekeeper who went to let him know the massage therapist had arrived found him dead at 3:26 p.m.

A large crowd of paparazzi and gawkers gathered outside the building on an upscale block. Ledger's body was still inside, and several police officers guarded the door.

The medical examiner's office planned an autopsy Wednesday, spokeswoman Ellen Borakove said.

While not a marquee movie star, Ledger was a respected, award-winning actor who chose his roles carefully rather than cashing in on his heartthrob looks. He was nominated for an Oscar for his performance as a gay cowboy in "Brokeback Mountain," where he met Michelle Williams, who played his wife in the film. The two had a daughter, Matilda, and lived together in Brooklyn until they split up last year.

Ledger most recently appeared in "I'm Not There," in which he played one of the many incarnations of Bob Dylan - as did Cate Blanchett, whose performance in that film earned an Oscar nomination Tuesday for best supporting actress.

Ledger had finished filming his role as the Joker this year in "The Dark Knight," a sequel to 2005's "Batman Begins."

He's had starring roles in "A Knight's Tale" and "The Patriot," and played the suicidal son of Billy Bob Thornton in "Monster's Ball." He also played a heroin addict in the 2006 Australian film "Candy."

Before settling down with Williams, Ledger had relationships with actresses Heather Graham and Naomi Watts. He met Watts while working on "The Lords of Dogtown," a fictionalized version of a cult classic skateboarding documentary, in 2004.

Ledger was born in 1979 in Perth, in western Australia, to a mining engineer and a French teacher, and got his first acting role playing Peter Pan at age 10 at a local theatre company. He began acting in independent films as a 16-year-old in Sydney and played a cyclist hoping to land a spot on an Olympic team in a 1996 television show, "Seat."

After several independent films, Ledger moved to Los Angeles at age 19 and co-starred opposite Julia Stiles in "10 Things I Hate About You," a teen comedy reworking of "The Taming of the Shrew."

Offers for other teen flicks soon came his way, but Ledger turned them down, preferring to remain idle than sign on for projects he didn't like.

"It wasn't a hard decision for me," Ledger told the Associated Press in 2001. "It was hard for everyone else around me to understand. Agents were like, 'You're crazy,' my parents were like, 'Come on, you have to eat."'

His movie career caught on anyway, culminating with his Academy Award nomination opposite Jake Gyllenhaal in "Brokeback."

"Dark Knight" director Christopher Nolan said earlier this month that Ledger's performance as the Joker would be wildly different than Jack Nicholson's memorable turn in 1989's "Batman."

"It was a very great challenge for Heath," Nolan said. "He's extremely original, extremely frightening, tremendously edgy. A very young character, a very anarchic presence that taps into a lot of our basic fears and panic."

80th Academy Award Nominees

The nominees, with scores and comments:

BEST MOTION PICTURE OF THE YEAR
Atonement
Juno
Michael Clayton
No Country for Old Men
There Will Be Blood

Score: 4/5. Predicted Into the Wild instead of Michael Clayton. But it was my alternate. This is just one of the many snubs for Into the Wild. Glad to see Atonement here. I never took it off my list, even when most others already did.

ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTING
Julian Schnabel (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly)
Jason Reitman (Juno)
Tony Gilroy (Michael Clayton)
Joel and Ethan Coen (No Country for Old Men)
Paul Thomas Anderson (There Will Be Blood)

Score: 3/5. Predicted Sean Penn (Into the Wild) and Sidney Lumet (Before the Devil Knows You're Dead) instead of Reitman and Gilroy. The nod for Reitman is rather surprising, especially in light of the snub for Penn.

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
George Clooney (Michael Clayton)
Daniel Day-Lewis (There Will Be Blood)
Johnny Depp (Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street)
Tommy Lee Jones (In the Valley of Elah)
Viggo Mortensen (Eastern Promises)

Score: 4/5. Predicted James McAvoy (Atonement) instead of Jones. Poor McAvoy, overlooked yet again. But hooray for Jones, who surprisingly was not forgotten.

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Cate Blanchett (Elizabeth: The Golden Age)
Julie Christie (Away from Her)
Marion Cotillard (La Vie en Rose)
Laura Linney (The Savages)
Ellen Page (Juno)

Score: 4/5. Predicted Angelina Jolie (A Mighty Heart) instead of Blanchett. Wow, the Academy loves its Blanchett. As far as I can tell, she's the first actress in many many years to be nominated for a performance in a film deemed Rotten by Rotten Tomatoes. But I also love her, so I'm happy. Even if Jolie was snubbed for an amazing performance. As I predicted, Linney got in despite having been overlooked in the pre-Oscar races.

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Casey Affleck (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford)
Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men)
Philip Seymour Hoffman (Charlie Wilson's War)
Hal Holbrook (Into the Wild)
Tom Wilkinson (Michael Clayton)

Score: 5/5!

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Cate Blanchett (I'm Not There)
Ruby Dee (American Gangster)
Saoirse Ronan (Atonement)
Amy Ryan (Gone Baby Gone)
Tilda Swinton (Michael Clayton)

Score: 5/5!

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Diablo Cody (Juno)
Nancy Oliver (Lars and the Real Girl)
Tony Gilroy (Michael Clayton)
Brad Bird (Ratatouille)
Tamara Jenkins (The Savages)

Score: 5/5!

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Christopher Hampton (Atonement)
Sarah Polley (Away from Her)
Ronald Harwood (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly)
Ethan Coen, Joel Coen (No Country for Old Men)
Paul Thomas Anderson (There Will Be Blood)

Score: 4/5. Predicted Sean Penn (Into the Wild) instead of Polley. Into the Wild just crashed.

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM OF THE YEAR
Vincent Paronnaud, Marjane Satrapi (Persepolis)
Brad Bird (Ratatouille)
Ash Brannon, Chris Buck (Surf's Up)

Score: 2/3. Predicted David Silverman (The Simpsons Movie) instead of Brannon and Buck. WTF?! The Simpsons Movie was not a great film, but still... Surf's Up?!

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM OF THE YEAR
Austria (The Counterfeiters)
Israel (Beaufort)
Kazakhstan (Mongol)
Poland (Katyn)
Russia (12)

Score: 3/5. Predicted Brazil (The Year My Parents Went on Vacation) and Italy (The Unknown Woman) instead of Israel and Kazakhstan. What an odd category, more for the omissions than for the actual nominees. The Academy seems to be trying to make amends to Israel for disqualifying The Band's Visit.

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
No End in Sight
Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience
Sicko
Taxi to the Dark Side
War/Dance

Score: 1/5. Pathetic. Got only Sicko right. I made guesses simply based on what the documentaries are about.

ACHIEVEMENT IN ART DIRECTION
American Gangster
Atonement
The Golden Compass
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
There Will Be Blood

Score: 4/5. Predicted Elizabeth: The Golden Age instead of American Gangster.

ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY
Roger Deakins (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford)
Seamus McGarvey (Atonement)
Janusz Kaminski (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly)
Roger Deakins (No Country for Old Men)
Robert Elswit (There Will Be Blood)

Score: 4/5. Predicted Rodrigo Prieto (Lust, Caution) instead of Deakins's other nod. A masterpiece ignored.

ACHIEVEMENT IN COSTUME DESIGN
Albert Wolsky (Across the Universe)
Jacqueline Durran (Atonement)
Alexandra Byrne (Elizabeth: The Golden Age)
Marit Allen (La Vie en Rose)
Colleen Atwood (Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street)

Score: 3/5. Predicted Patricia Norris (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford) and Rita Ryack (Hairspray) instead of Wolsky and Allen. I'm happy for the nod for La Vie en Rose.

ACHIEVEMENT IN FILM EDITING
Christopher Rouse (The Bourne Ultimatum)
Juliette Welfling (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly)
Jay Cassidy (Into the Wild)
Roderick Jaynes (No Country for Old Men)
Dylan Tichenor (There Will Be Blood)

Score: 3/5. Predicted Paul Tothill (Atonement) and John Gilroy (Michael Clayton) instead of Rouse and Welfling. The Bourne series finally gets the notice that it deserves with its last installment. I had once predicted Welfling's nom but discarded it for the more conventional choices. Wow, finally a mention for Into the Wild.

ACHIEVEMENT IN MAKEUP
La Vie en Rose
Norbit
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

Score: 1/3. Predicted Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street and 300 instead of Norbit (eew) and Pirates of Caribbean: At World's End. The voters love their fat suits...even when they're disgusting and in a stupid movie. Last year it was Click. This is beginning to become the default category for normally un-Oscar-worthy films to be able to add the tag "Academy Award nominated" to their title. Eew. Where's Sweeney Todd?!

ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)
Dario Marianelli (Atonement)
Alberto Iglesias (The Kite Runner)
James Newton Howard (Michael Clayton)
Michael Giacchino (Ratatouille)
Marco Beltrami (3:10 to Yuma)

Score: 3/5. Predicted Alexandre Desplat (Lust, Caution) and Jonny Greenwood (There Will Be Blood) instead of Giacchino and Beltrami. Sad double snub for Desplat. Learned of Greenwood's disqualification too late. Finally, a nod for Giacchino (he should have been nominated for The Incredibles)!

ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)
"Raise It Up" (August Rush)
"Happy Working Song" (Enchanted)
"So Close" (Enchanted)
"That's How You Know" (Enchanted)
"Falling Slowly" (Once)

Score: 2/5. Predicted "Do You Feel Me" (American Gangster), "Guaranteed" (Into the Wild), and "Despedida" (Love in the Time of Cholera) instead of "Raise It Up," "Happy Working Song," and "So Close." Three noms from Enchanted. Totally unexpected. The result: snubs of Shakira's song and, again, Into the Wild. At least "Once" got in, as deserved.

ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND MIXING
The Bourne Ultimatum
No Country for Old Men
Ratatouille
3:10 to Yuma
Transformers

Score: 3/5. Predicted Into the Wild and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street instead of Ratatouille and 3:10 to Yuma. Musicals usually get in, so the snub of Sweeney Todd is odd.

ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND EDITING
The Bourne Ultimatum
No Country for Old Men
Ratatouille
There Will Be Blood
Transformers

Score: 2/5. Predicted Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Spider-Man 3, and 300 instead of The Bourne Ultimatum, No Country for Old Men, and There Will Be Blood.

ACHIEVEMENT IN VISUAL EFFECTS
The Golden Compass
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
Transformers

Score: 2/3. Predicted 300 instead of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
Freeheld
La Corona (The Crown)
Salim Baba
Sari's Mother

No predictions.

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM
I Met the Walrus
Madame Tutli-Putli
Even Pigeons Go to Heaven
My Love
Peter & the Wolf

No predictions.

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
At Night
Il Supplente (The Substitute)
Le Mozart des Pickpockets (The Mozart of Pickpockets)
Tanghi Argentini
The Tonto Woman

No predictions, but I'm surprised that Hotel Chevalier didn't get in.

Pretty exciting, with all the surprises. No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood lead the nominations with eight each, with Atonement and Michael Clayton following closely with seven each.

Did I Just Overlook Jones and Macdonald?

Now that I've watched No Country for Old Men, I'm feeling like an idiot for not predicting Tommy Lee Jones and Kelly Macdonald as nominees in the Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress categories, respectively. The film is of course set to be the one to beat for the top prize. Jones has had praised turns in this film and in In the Valley of Elah. Macdonald is the lone female in the movie, and her last scenes are powerfully affecting. Neither one has a lot of pre-Oscar citations, but those early awards don't completely dictate who will be nominated for the Oscar.

Oh well, I've already put up my FINAL predictions, so I'm not changing them anymore (except for the Foreign Language Film category, which I adjusted after the shortlist of nine was released...not so fair either, I suppose, but what the heck).

2008 BAFTA nominees

Source

FILM

AMERICAN GANGSTER – Brian Grazer/Ridley Scott
ATONEMENT – Tim Bevan/Eric Fellner/Paul Webster
THE LIVES OF OTHERS – Quirin Berg/Max Wiedemann
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN – Scott Rudin/Joel Coen/Ethan Coen
THERE WILL BE BLOOD – JoAnne Sellar/Paul Thomas Anderson/Daniel Lupi

BEST BRITISH FILM

ATONEMENT – Tim Bevan/Eric Fellner/Paul Webster/Joe Wright/Christopher Hampton
THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM – Frank Marshall/Patrick Crowley/Paul L Sandberg/Paul Greengrass/Tony Gilroy/Scott Z Burns/George Nolfi
CONTROL – Orian Williams/ Todd Eckert/Anton Corbijn/Matt Greenhalgh
EASTERN PROMISES – Paul Webster/Robert Lantos/David Cronenberg/Steve Knight
THIS IS ENGLAND – Mark Herbert/Shane Meadows

THE CARL FOREMAN AWARD

for Special Achievement by a British Director, Writer or Producer in their First Feature Film

CHRIS ATKINS (Director/Writer) – Taking Liberties
MIA BAYS (Producer) – Scott Walker: 30 Century Man
SARAH GAVRON (Director) – Brick Lane
MATT GREENHALGH (Writer) – Control
ANDREW PIDDINGTON (Director/Writer) – The Killing of John Lennon

DIRECTOR

ATONEMENT – Joe Wright
THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM – Paul Greengrass
THE LIVES OF OTHERS – Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN – Joel Coen/Ethan Coen
THERE WILL BE BLOOD – Paul Thomas Anderson

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

AMERICAN GANGSTER – Steven Zaillian
JUNO – Diablo Cody
THE LIVES OF OTHERS – Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
MICHAEL CLAYTON – Tony Gilroy
THIS IS ENGLAND – Shane Meadows

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

ATONEMENT – Christopher Hampton
THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY – Ronald Harwood
THE KITE RUNNER – David Benioff
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN – Joel Coen/Ethan Coen
THERE WILL BE BLOOD – Paul Thomas Anderson

FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

nominations announced on Friday 4 January

THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY – Kathleen Kennedy/Jon Kilik/Julian Schnabel
THE KITE RUNNER – William Horberg/Walter Parkes/Rebecca Yeldham/Marc Foster
THE LIVES OF OTHERS – Quirin Berg/Max Wiedemann/Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
LUST, CAUTION – Bill Kong/James Schamus/Ang Lee
LA VIE EN ROSE – Alain Goldman/Olivier Dahan

ANIMATED FILM

RATATOUILLE – Brad Bird
SHREK THE THIRD – Chris Miller
THE SIMPSONS MOVIE – Matt Groening/James L Brooks

LEADING ACTOR

GEORGE CLOONEY – Michael Clayton
DANIEL DAY-LEWIS – There Will Be Blood
JAMES McAVOY – Atonement
VIGGO MORTENSEN – Eastern Promises
ULRICH MÜHE – The Lives of Others

LEADING ACTRESS

CATE BLANCHETT – Elizabeth: The Golden Age
JULIE CHRISTIE – Away From Her
MARION COTILLARD – La Vie en Rose
KEIRA KNIGHTLEY – Atonement
ELLEN PAGE – Juno

SUPPORTING ACTOR

JAVIER BARDEM – No Country for Old Men
PAUL DANO – There Will Be Blood
TOMMY LEE JONES – No Country for Old Men
PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN – Charlie Wilson’s War
TOM WILKINSON – Michael Clayton

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

CATE BLANCHETT – I’m Not There
KELLY MACDONALD – No Country for Old Men
SAMANTHA MORTON – Control
SAOIRSE RONAN – Atonement
TILDA SWINTON – Michael Clayton

Films up for Foreign Language Oscar

The nine films that have advanced to the next round of competition are:

Austria, The Counterfeiters, Stefan Ruzowitzky, director
Brazil, The Year My Parents Went on Vacation, Cao Hamburger, director
Canada, Days of Darkness, Denys Arcand, director
Israel, Beaufort, Joseph Cedar, director
Italy, The Unknown, Giuseppe Tornatore, director
Kazakhstan, Mongol, Sergei Bodrov, director
Poland, Katyn, Andrzej Wajda, director
Russia, 12, Nikita Mikhalkov, director
Serbia, The Trap, Srdan Golubovic, director

WHAT A SHOCKER. Just like the snub for Volver last year. No Persepolis or 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, and these were the supposed frontrunners. Prediction for this category to be adjusted accordingly in a bit.

Two Films on Harry Potter 7

Daily Mail reports that the adaptation of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," the seventh book in the series, will be split into two films. The same item reports that Warner Bros. seems to be intent on getting the film(s) Oscar attention, and part of that is getting a big director the likes of Steven Spielberg. All these sound good to me, as long as I do not have to wait a full year between two films based on the same book. Hopefully, they can do it the way the two Matrix sequels did it.

Golden Globe Winners

Here are the winners of the 65th Golden Globe Awards. Those marked with asterisk are those that I predicted correctly.

BEST PICTURE - DRAMA
Atonement*

BEST PICTURE - COMEDY/MUSICAL
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Predicted: Juno

BEST ACTOR - DRAMA
Daniel Day-Lewis (There Will Be Blood)*

BEST ACTOR - COMEDY/MUSICAL
Johnny Depp (Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street)*

BEST ACTRESS - DRAMA
Julie Christie (Away from Her)*

BEST ACTRESS - COMEDY/MUSICAL
Marion Cotillard (La Vie en Rose)*

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men)*

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett (I'm Not There)*

BEST DIRECTOR
Julian Schnabel (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly)
Predicted: Joel and Ethan Coen (No Country for Old Men)

BEST SCREENPLAY
Joel and Ethan Coen (No Country for Old Men)
Predicted: Diablo Cody (Juno)

BEST ANIMATED FILM
Ratatouille

BEST FOREIGN FILM
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly*

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Dario Marianelli (Atonement)*

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
"Guaranteed" (Into the Wild)*

I am thrilled about the wins for Atonement, Blanchett, and Cotillard. All well deserved. Hopefully, these translate into Oscar wins for the two actresses and at least a nomination for Atonement.

Golden Globe Winner Predictions

BEST PICTURE - DRAMA
Atonement

BEST PICTURE - COMEDY/MUSICAL
Juno

BEST ACTOR - DRAMA
Daniel Day-Lewis (There Will Be Blood)

BEST ACTOR - COMEDY/MUSICAL
Johnny Depp (Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street)

BEST ACTRESS - DRAMA
Julie Christie (Away from Her)

BEST ACTRESS - COMEDY/MUSICAL
Marion Cotillard (La Vie en Rose)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett (I'm Not There)

BEST DIRECTOR
Joel and Ethan Coen (No Country for Old Men)

BEST SCREENPLAY
Diablo Cody (Juno)

BEST FOREIGN FILM
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Dario Marianelli (Atonement)

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
"Guaranteed" (Into the Wild)

Critics Choice Awards 2007 Winners

BEST PICTURE
No Country for Old Men

BEST DIRECTORS
Ethan Coen and Joel Coen (No Country for Old Men)

BEST ACTOR
Daniel Day-Lewis (There Will Be Blood)

BEST ACTRESS
Julie Christie (Away from Her)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Ryan (Gone Baby Gone)

BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE
Hairspray

BEST WRITER
Diablo Cody (Juno)

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Ratatouille

BEST YOUNG ACTOR
Ahmad Khan Mahmoodzada (The Kite Runner)

BEST YOUNG ACTRESS
Nikki Blonsky (Hairspray)

BEST COMEDY MOVIE
Juno

BEST FAMILY FILM
Enchanted

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

BEST SONG
"Falling Slowly" (Once)

BEST COMPOSER
Jonny Greenwood (There Will Be Blood)

BEST DOCUMENTARY
Sicko

Critics Awards Thus Far

The following critics groups have released their list of winners:

Austin Film Critics
Boston Society of Film Critics
Broadcast Film Critics Association
Chicago Film Critics
Dallas Fort Worth Critics
Detroit Film Critics Society
Kansas City Film Critics
London Critics Circle
Los Angeles Film Critics Association
National Society of Film Critics
New York Film Critics Circle
New York Film Critics Online
Online Film Critics Society
Phoenix Film Critics Society
San Francisco Critics Circle
St. Louis Gateway Critics
Southeastern Film Critics
Toronto Film Critics
Washington DC Critics

Final Oscar predictions coming soon.

2007 National Society of Film Critics

BEST PICTURE
There Will Be Blood
2nd: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
3rd: No Country for Old Men

BEST DIRECTOR
Paul Thomas Anderson (There Will Be Blood)

BEST ACTOR
Daniel Day-Lewis (There Will Be Blood)

BEST ACTRESS
Julie Christie (Away From Her)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Casey Affleck (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett (I'm Not There)

BEST SCREENPLAY
Tamara Jenkins (The Savages)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Robert Elswit (There Will Be Blood)

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (Romania)

BEST NON-FICTION FILM
No End in Sight

BEST EXPERIMENTAL FILM
Profit Motive and the Whispering Wind

2008 Bloggies

To the readers of Film-Otaku: Please vote for my blog in the 2008 Bloggies. I'm targeting particularly the Best Asian Weblog category, but getting nominated in the Best Entertainment Weblog and Best-Kept Secret Weblog would be nice, too. Thanks! Here's the link again: 2008 Bloggies.