Category Archives: oscars

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Writers and Directors Guild nominees


Over the past few days, the writers and directors have chimed in with their nominees for outstanding work in 2007. The director nominees often match up closely with the Oscars… the writers not so much.

One curious bit of information: A mistake by the writers guild led them to post the nominees in order of total votes, so the lists below reflect the descending degree of passion in the guilds for those titles. Good news for Diablo Cody and the Coen Brothers.

At this point, it looks like No Country for Old Men, Michael Clayton and There Will Be Blood are positioned very well for Best Picture nominations. Juno, too, is likely to show up there.

Oscar nominations will be announced on Jan. 22. I will solicit contest entries about a week before then.

ORIGINAL SCRENPLAY
Diablo Cody – Juno
Tony Gilroy – Michael Clayton
Tamara Jenkins – The Savages
Judd Apatow – Knocked Up
Nancy Oliver – Lars and the Real Girl

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
The Coens – No Country For Old Men
Paul Thomas Anderson – There Will Be Blood
Ronald Harwood – The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Sean Penn – Into The Wild
James Vanderbilt – Zodiac

DIRECTION
Paul Thomas Anderson – There Will Be Blood
The Coen Brothers – No Country for Old Men
Tony Gilroy – Michael Clayton
Sean Penn – Into the Wild
Julian Schnabel – The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

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Screen Actors Guild nominations

Into the Wild gets the biggest boost from the SAG nominations, picking up four, while Atonement and Sweeney Todd are completely shut out. No Country for Old Men and Michael Clayton pick up three apiece.

The biggest surprise is the ensemble category, the SAG equivalent of Best Picture, where No Country and Into the Wild are joined by Hairspray, 3:10 to Yuma and American Gangster, three films that have been pretty much out of the awards race thus far.

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role

GEORGE CLOONEY / Michael Clayton
DANIEL DAY-LEWIS / There Will Be Blood
RYAN GOSLING / Lars And The Real Girl
EMILE HIRSCH / Into The Wild
VIGGO MORTENSEN / Eastern Promises

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role

CATE BLANCHETT / Elizabeth: The Golden Age
JULIE CHRISTIE / Away From Her
MARION COTILLARD / La Vie En Rose
ANGELINA JOLIE / A Mighty Heart
ELLEN PAGE / Juno

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role

CASEY AFFLECK / The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford
JAVIER BARDEM / No Country For Old Men
HAL HOLBROOK / Into The Wild
TOMMY LEE JONES / No Country For Old Men
TOM WILKINSON / Michael Clayton

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role

CATE BLANCHETT / I’m Not There
RUBY DEE / American Gangster
CATHERINE KEENER / Into The Wild
AMY RYAN / Gone Baby Gone
TILDA SWINTON / Michael Clayton

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture

3:10 TO YUMA (Lionsgate)
AMERICAN GANGSTER (Universal Pictures)
HAIRSPRAY (New Line Cinema)
INTO THE WILD (Paramount Vantage)
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN (Miramax Films)

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Overlooked performances

Every year, the critics groups and the Academy inevitably narrow their focus to a group of about 6-7 actors in each category. The Oscar nominations almost always come from those shortlists — it’s the reason the winner of our annual contest usually goes 25-out-of-30 or better.

But of course there are many more performances just as worthy of awards each year that get lost because their films weren’t well-received overall, came out too early, flew too far under the radar or some other unfortunate combination of events.

So rather than heap praise on the Julie Christies and Marion Cotillards, the Javier Bardems and Daniel Day Lewises, I’m going to look at each acting category and sing the praises of some wonderful performers who won’t hear their names called at year end.

Stay tuned for the first installment soon.

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Dallas/Ft. Worth Critics


OK, one more…

Best Films

1. No Country for Old Men
2. Juno
3. There Will Be Blood
4. Atonement
5. Michael Clayton
6. Into the Wild
7. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
8. The Kite Runner
9. The Assassination of Jesse James
10. Charlie Wilson’s War

Best Actor
Daniel Day-Lewis

Best Actress
Julie Christie

Best Supporting Actor
Javier Bardem

Best Supporting Actress
Tilda Swinton

Best Director
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen

Screenplay
Juno, Diablo Cody

Best Animated Film
Ratatouille

Cinematography
Roger Deakins, Assassination of Jesse James

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Southeastern Film Critics Awards

So now we’re getting into the deluge of small critics groups chiming in with their awards. I won’t post all of them — they’re already running together — but I like this one because they release a top ten list, and as you know, I’m all about top ten lists.

Javier Bardem and Amy Ryan add to their growing tally — and now that I’ve seen both performances, I must say I’m thrilled that they are the front-runners.

BEST PICTURE
1. No Country for Old Men
2. There Will Be Blood
3. Atonement
4. Juno
5. Michael Clayton
6. Zodiac
7. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
8. Gone Baby Gone
9. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
10. Into the Wild

BEST ACTOR
Daniel Day-Lewis – There Will Be Blood
* Runner-up: George Clooney – Michael Clayton

BEST ACTRESS
Julie Christie – Away from Her
* Runner-up: Ellen Page – Juno

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Javier Bardem – No Country for Old Men
* Runner-up: Casey Affleck – The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward
Robert Ford

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Ryan – Gone Baby Gone
* Runner-up: Cate Blanchett – I’m Not There

BEST DIRECTOR
Joel & Ethan Coen – No Country for Old Men
* Runner-up: J oe Wright – Atonement

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Diablo Cody – Juno
* Runner-up: Tamara Jenkins – The Savages

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Joel & Ethan Coen – No Country for Old Men
* Runner-up: Christopher Hampton – Atonement

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (France)
* Runner-up: La vie en rose (France)

BEST DOCUMENTARY
No End in Sight
* Runner-up: Sicko

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Ratatouille
* Runner-up: The Simpsons Movie

WYATT AWARD
Waitress
* Runner-up: Black Snake Moan