The front-runners in this category are Cate Blanchett (absolutely deserving for her brilliant turn in I’m Not There) and Amy Ryan (equally deserving for her amazing character work in Gone Baby Gone). Also getting a lot of mention are Tilda Swinton (Michael Clayton), Saoirse Ronan and Vanessa Redgrave (both from Atonement). I have no problem with the first two — I haven’t seen Swinton’s film and Ronan was haunting in hers — but Redgrave’s inclusion is a head-scratcher. She appears in Atonement for about five minutes total and, while she’s quite moving, it’s simply not “best of” fare. Ruby Dee (American Gangster) is also in the mix, along with Catherine Keener (Into the Wild), Marisa Tomei (Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead) and Jennifer Garner (Juno).
Golden Globes make things interesting
While the Golden Globes “ceremony” was pretty laughable (it consisted of Mary Hart and her cohorts reading the nominees and winners on a cheesy stage for all of 30 minutes) the results threw a bit of a wrench into the Oscar works.
The Globes really spread the wealth, handing out two wins apiece to a handful of films (Atonement, No Country For Old Men, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly and Sweeney Todd). The Best Picture winners were Atonement, getting a needed boost as its Oscar chances have been sagging recently, and Sweeney Todd, which has a fair chance at the Oscar.
Juno was “hurt” the most, losing not only the Best Picture (Musical or Comedy) category but in screenplay and Best Actress as well. However, the film is tearing up the box office, it’s the one light film in the mix and it should appeal more to the Academy membership than the foreign press, so I’m guessing its Oscar chances are still quite good.
The biggest shock of the night was Best Director going to Julian Schnabel over the Coen Brothers — again something that can be chalked up to the foreigners voting for one of their own. This bodes well for Schnabel’s chance at a Best Director Oscar nod and could mean the film itself has a chance.
The acting awards were more predictable, with Daniel Day Lewis, Julie Christie, Marion Cotillard, Johnny Depp, Cate Blanchett and Javier Bardem taking home trophies. My guess is at least three of those winners take home the Oscar as well.
Paris Je T’aime
Date: January 12
Location: Clifton Living Room
It’s been a good year for short films, from Wes Anderson’s quirky Hotel Chevalier to Pixar’s comic alien abduction film, Lifted and most notably, this collection of 18 short film by 21 directors, each set in a different Parisian neighborhood. Every one is worthy, and some are close to divine. My favorites were Tom Twyker’s hyperactive look at a young romance starring Natalie Portman, Alfonso Cuaron’s one-take street conversation with a twist starring Nick Nolte and Ludivine Sagnier, and Alexander Payne’s deadpan love letter to Paris by a clumsily-accented American mail carrier abroad. The Coen Brothers, Gus Van Sant, Walter Salles and a bunch of directors I’m not familiar with also turn in memorable films. The film works best as a sort of mix-CD of wonderful short films — and taken as a whole it’s a splendid travelogue for the City of Lights (almost as effective as Ratatouille in that regard).
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
The Savages
Date: January 9
Location: Clifton Living Room
A sharp, downbeat little film that features two of the best actors working today, The Savages is easy to appreciate but hard to love. Phillip Seymour Hoffman turns in his third award-worthy performance of 2008 as a son dealing with his father’s deteriorating mental health. Laura Linney, as his sister, is equally good in the showier role. These two should be in every movie released — they’re that good. As for the film itself, I respected what it was doing and I found it very real and often quite powerful. But I can’t imagine ever popping it into my DVD player again, and that hurts it a bit in my rankings.
