Tag: Waltz With Bashir

BAFTA admits it needs mending

Interesting. Variety reports that BAFTA is to re-evaluate its voting process — and it appears to be a direct response to the widespread criticism that greeted this year’s nominations, which baffled pundits and industry folk alike with some questionable inclusions (Tilda Swinton, Freida Pinto, a whopping eight nods for “Changeling”) and equally baffling snubs (most notoriously, a hurtful donut for Mike Leigh’s widely acclaimed “Happy-Go-Lucky”).

To begin with, one needs to understand the eccentric, back-and-forth nature of BAFTA voting. The first round of voting produces a longlist of 15 contenders in each category — 5 of which are selected by the relevant branch (or ‘chapter’) of voters in that field (and marked as such on the ballot), with the other 10 chosen by the general BAFTA membership.

The next two rounds of voting work in a reversal of the Oscar system. The 5 nominees are determined by the general membership, while the winners are decided by the relevant ‘chapter’ voters alone — with the exception of Best Film, Best Foreign Language Film and the four acting awards, for which all members vote.

Confused? I don’t blame you. It’s a ludicrous system that has received a lot of flak in the industry (Mike Leigh himself has been a vocal critic in the past), not least because it frequently leads to some inexpertly chosen nominees. (This, for example, is how a film like “Mamma Mia!” lands a Best Score nod.) The obvious solution, then, would be to use ‘chapter’ voting to determine the nominees, right?

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January 31, 2009
1/28 Oscarweb Round-up

• Trying to get in on more of that tech action, Elizabeth Snead talks to “Benjamin Button” costumer Jacqueline West. [The Envelope]

• “Push” and “Cove” top the critics’ picks for the best of Sundance. [indieWIRE]

• Despite a nation-wide ban on Israeli products, two brave souls screen “Waltz with Bashir” in Beirut. [The Guardian]

• The Stanley Kubrick Holocaust film (and shining new ingenue) that almost was. [The Independent]

• Giving Kate Winslet shit across the pond for forgetting Angelina Jolie’s name at the Globes. [Daily Telegraph]

• The top 10 most bewildering Best Picture nominees. [Rope of Silicon]

January 28, 2009
Cesar nods include ‘Class,’ ‘Loved,’ Swinton

Now here’s a set of nominations I can get behind. As I may have mentioned before, 2008 was all about the rejuvenation of French cinema for me, with Gallic productions occupying a quarter of my year-end Top 20, including the two poll spots.

So it’s hardly surprising that I’m immensely pleased by the list of nominees revealed yesterday for the Cesar Awards, otherwise known as the French Oscars –- not least because my two list-topping films, “I’ve Loved You So Long” and newly-minted Oscar nominee “The Class,” feature strongly.

The former grabbed 6 nods, including a surefire Best Actress bid for the sadly Oscar-snubbed Kristin Scott Thomas, while I’m pleased to see her wonderful co-star, Elsa Zylberstein, finally getting some awards love in the supporting category. “The Class” managed five, though I’m a little disappointed to see the film’s excellent ensemble go unacknowledged, even in the ‘young actor’ categories.

Both films feature in the Best Picture lineup, as does “Public Enemy Number One,” a sprawling biopic of gangster Jacques Mesrine that has been a local box-office smash and leads all nominees with 10 bids. Close behind, with nine, is Arnaud Desplechin’s critical favourite “A Christmas Tale,” though I’m surprised to see its two most dynamic stars, Catherine Deneuve and last year’s Best Actor winner Mathieu Amalric, both snubbed.

Incidentally, Kristin Scott Thomas wasn’t the only Brit to receive notice: also landing in the Best Actress lineup is Tilda Swinton, for her astounding performance in Erick Zoncka’s “Julia.” Together with the insane snubs of Scott Thomas and Sally Hawkins, the fact that this fearless piece of work never even entered the Oscar discussion boggles the mind. But I digress.

(More thoughts, and a list of nominations, below the cut.)

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January 24, 2009
After cooling off a bit…

Yesterday the Academy displayed just what a fractured organization they are, championing a small film like “Slumdog Millionaire,” for which I applaud them, but snubbing “The Dark Knight,” one of the best reviewed films of the year and a titan at the box office. All day I was asking, ‘How?’ All day I wondered just how out of touch this organization truly is and what a major overhaul is needed.

Call it ageism if you must, but we I think we need new blood in there. I have been covering the Academy Awards for more than 20 years and have had my share of disappointments and shocks over that span of time. One would think I’d get used to it.

I remember the rage when “Ghost” was nominated for Best Picture and when Roberto Begnini won Best Actor. That anger and shock was nothing like I felt yesterday morning at 8:30 Ontario time.

I could not speak. I closed my office door and quietly raged, trying to make sense of it. Reading the other reactions helped ease the wound (I take it personally you see when my films are snubbed) and tried to see the good in the nominations this year. And as Guy astutely points out, there is some good.

Melissa Leo in “Frozen River” made the cut, as did Richard Jenkins for “The Visitor.” Both deserved, both terrific performances. “Wall-E” grabbed a screenplay nod, as well as sound nominations, and “Slumdog Millionaire” did very well indeed, with 10 nods. “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” lead the pack with 13 and Brad Pitt finally got a nomination for Best Actor — long overdue. Mickey Rourke and Marisa Tomei made the list for “The Wrestler” and all four major actors from “Doubt” are nominees.

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January 23, 2009
Guessing games

I only just got round to counting up my correct predictions across all categories, and wound up with a tally of 68 from 97 slots.

This is the first year I’ve ever gone remotely public with my Oscar predictions, so while I can tell you that this was a pretty poor year for me (3/5 for Best Director and a lowly 2/5 for Best Documentary — yikes), I have nothing to prove my usual form. Still, I see I’ve tied with Kris, so no shame in that.

In the major categories, none of my left-field predictions came through for me, though I always knew that my “Gomorrah” screenplay pick and the four projected nods for “Happy-Go-Lucky” were thin limbs to climb on.

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January 22, 2009
81st annual Oscar nominations announced, ‘Button’ leads with 13, ‘Dark Knight’ snubbed in Best Pic

Weinstein is back. (As are comments…sorry for the delay there.)

The short reply is the easy reply: the Academy has embarrassed itself this day. Seven nominations across the tech branches and a tip of the hat for Heath Ledger will be the Oscar legacy of “The Dark Knight.” The director — shunned. The writers — shunned. The film as a Best Picture nominee, pulling this crusty membership out of irrelevance? A pipe dream.

And I saw it coming. I saw this sense of rigid stupidity and ignorance coming, but I just…I didn’t have the heart to predict against the grain. I bought into the hype. I thought the Academy could be a fresh organization. Clearly, it cannot. And it proves as much year after year after year.

“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” was the lead nomination hog with 13 mentions. Likely Best Picture winner “Slumdog Millionaire” was not far behind with 10, two of those nominations coming in the Best Original Song category.

Yes, the music branch proved to be a bunch of bumbling fools yet again, ignoring a solid track from a gifted rocker just like they did last year. You read it right: the Boss got the shaft.

“Milk” matched “The Dark Knight”‘s number of eight and, of course, found its way to Best Picture contention. But it also popped up surprisingly in the costume design field. Meanwhile, some singular thinking were to be had — like “Frozen River” and “In Bruges” finding recognition for their respective original screenplays (though at the unfortunate expense of Woody Allen). Or Michael Shannon, the lone acting nominee for “Revolutionary Road,” and a hell of a deserving bid. Hearing his name brought the broadest smile to my face.

And in an act of defiance against a supporting category campaign, the Academy recognized Kate Winslet as a lead in “The Reader,” which cock-blocked her performance in “Road.”

This all brings us to the elephant in the room: “The Reader” was the film to steal the Bat’s thunder, not “Gran Torino” like I expected, not “WALL-E” as others had hoped. And I think we all knew it was coming once Stephen Daldry’s name was called. A pornographic account of a sympathetic Nazi, rushed through post-production and ultimately a sloppy piece of drama, rightly abandoned by its initial producer at a crucial time on the basis of principle on one hand, politics on the other — this is one of the Academy’s five Best Pictures of the year.

These people should have their cards taken away. This member-for-life shit has to go because you end up with crotchety fools that have no idea what good cinema is, let alone a care about how their organization’s choices will be looked upon in the future. Years from now, “The Reader” will be a blip on the map of film obscurity. “The Dark Knight” will live on in infamy as one of the year’s titans, both a popular blockbuster and a critically acclaimed work of art.

What an absolute tragedy.

(More, plus the nods, after the jump.)

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January 22, 2009
All eyes on left field

The nominations announcement is, oh, 18 hours away (yeah, we count minutes at this stage). Even though I’m well on the record as being a prognosticative pussy this year, I can’t shake the feeling that we’re in for our share of surprises. I doubt I’m alone.

You can go back over Oscar history and write a whole book on the nominations that blind-sided everyone. Sometimes the contender in question might have popped up briefly during the season, though they were forgotten in due time. Other times, they simply manifested from thin air and smacked Oscar watchers in the face. But they’re always there, lingering, waiting to plant that seed of doubt in the viewer the next year. And the year after that.

It’s enough to pull your hair out.

Earlier today, John posted an interesting thought about Benicio Del Toro’s chances in the lead actor category, which followed a recent musing on Woody Allen’s chances as a lone director nominee. This is the kind of stuff I’m talking about.

So with that in mind, I’ve collected a brief list of four contenders that I legitimately think could pop up tomorrow and join that lineage. Some of them are certainly more plausible than others, but none of them, I feel, are terribly out of bounds. I don’t have the cojones to predict them, of course. But this is what I’m thinking.

(By the way, if I DO happen to change any of my predictions at the last minute tonight, I’ll be sure to offer a post indicating as much.)

My thoughts on the left field…

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January 21, 2009
My dream ballot: part one

Back in December, Kris offered his take on how he would fill out his nominee ballot if he were an Academy member (affording himself the luxury, obviously, of voting in all categories). Of course, playing voter is a popular sport in the blog world, with Nathaniel Rogers’ annual Film Bitch Awards as thorough and intelligent a rundown as you could ask for. Would that the Academy displayed such passion and imagination in their choices.

For my part, finalising my predictions was a dispiriting procedure, as I realized the range and depth of work that will inevitably go unrecognized as the AMPAS gravitates towards the favoured and the familiar. And so it is that, as the nominations loom over us, I decided to chalk up my own ballot, acknowledging those who I feel most deserve to hear names called on Thursday morning, whether or they’re deemed possible — or even eligible.

Today’s post focuses on the technical categories; tomorrow’s will run through the main ones. (Before I begin, let me add the caveat that, much to my chagrin, I haven’t yet seen “Let the Right One In.”)

Best Cinematography
Wally Pfister, “The Dark Knight”
Sean Bobbitt, “Hunger”
Luca Bigazzi, “Il Divo”
Darius Khondji, “My Blueberry Nights”
Maryse Alberti, “The Wrestler”

After last year’s banner year for the art of cinematography, this was a year of subtler accomplishments in the field. I must admit that much of the year’s most celebrated work in the field didn’t particularly dazzle me, with several revered names only working at (or below) par. Pfister’s muscular, burnished lensing of “The Dark Knight,” however, did not disappoint, while Bigazzi’s hyper-stylised work on “Il Divo” was no less kinetic.

In something of a breakthrough year for female DPs, Alberti effortlessly captured the rhythms of human movement, while Khondji conjured up the year’s dreamiest palette for Wong Kar-Wai’s otherwise muddled “My Blueberry Nights.” The year’s crowning achievement, however, came from Sean Bobbitt, whose breathtaking compositions for “Hunger” took equal inspiration from the art gallery and the newsroom. Just missing the cut were “The Fall,” “Gomorrah” and “The Good, The Bad, The Weird.”

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January 20, 2009
BAFTA predictions

The BAFTA nominations drop tomorrow, and while I hardly covered myself in glory with my foreign film Oscar forecast yesterday, I’m going to wade into the murky waters of prediction once more.

On the one hand, it’s a fool’s errand trying to predict the BAFTA nods, as they can frequently be the most perverse and contrarian awards voters of the lot. On the other, they make the task a little easier for us pundits by releasing 15-strong longlists in each category ahead of the voting.

As I wrote back in November, the BAFTAs can be inconsistently parochial in their voting, frequently handing multiple nods to middlebrow homegrown product, while simultaneously sidelining the most acclaimed British films of the year. A look at this year’s longlists confirms that trend, as relatively mediocre Brit flicks like “The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas,” “Mamma Mia!” and “The Duchess” all received multiple mentions, while critical darlings “Hunger” and “Happy-Go-Lucky” landed in a paltry three categories each — Best Film not among them.

The BAFTA voters’ provincialism is most shamefully evident in the Best Supporting Actress longlist, which features such bizarre inclusions as Judi Dench for “Quantum of Solace” and Rebecca Hall for her arm-candy role in “Frost/Nixon.” As for the Best Adapted Screenplay citation for “Mamma Mia!,” well, the less said the better. Of course, it’s a mistake to read too much into these lists. The idle frequency with which certain titles pop up — “Frost/Nixon” and “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” lead with 14 mentions each, but more surprisingly, a lightweight contender like “Burn After Reading” managed a staggering 11 — suggests the voters weren’t thinking too hard either.

Which films will fare best tomorrow is another matter — it’s not uncommon for a film to feature strongly in the longlists only to go MIA on nomination morning. Below the cut are my best guesses, together with some thoughts on the top categories.

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January 14, 2009
‘Gomorrah’ doesn’t deliver, says AMPAS

Kris has already given the philistines on the Academy’s foreign-language film committee a deserved telling-off for sidelining Italy’s astonishing entry “Gomorrah,” but I feel compelled to add my voice to his — not least because, if I had my way, Matteo Garrone’s cinematic gut-punch about the Camorra crime syndicate would be in line for a Best Picture nod, not just a puny ghetto-category citation.

I could be here all day if I decided to go through the innumerable landmark films, from “City of God” to “The Celebration” to “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days,” that have been similarly mistreated by this ever-disappointing branch of voters, so I shouldn’t have been surprised when they failed us yet again, right?

And yet I was, because the newly formed executive committee, which added an extra three titles to the list of six elected by the main body, was specifically designed to avoid such travesties. I can believe that they may well have used one of their slots to save France’s masterpiece “The Class” from exclusion, and if that’s the case, I’m most grateful. (Though I still wouldn’t put it past the boneheads to omit it from the final five.) Hell, it’s not inconceivable to me that they coud have stepped in on behalf of a popular favourite like “Waltz With Bashir” — the ignorance of the larger committee knows no bounds.

But even given that worst case scenario, and speaking as someone who has seen 8 of the 9 shortlisted titles, I can’t fathom how the executive committee didn’t deem “Gomorrah” worthy of their company. What was the rule change for, if not to protect challenging, relevant, widely acclaimed works like Garrone’s film?

Well, Jeff Wells has done some digging, and seems to have found the explanation. He spoke to a member of the committee, who had this to say:

Voices in the foreign branch’s executive elite committee just didn’t think Gomorrah “delivered in the way it could or should have,” he said. “It’s not a matter of it not being heart-warming. It’s a matter of our respecting the film without believing that it really brought the goods home.”

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January 14, 2009
Foreign film shortlist revealed, ‘Gomorrah’ snubbed

This is the most vile of all Academy committees. They prove their disdain for truly great cinema year in and year out (let’s not forget last year’s snubs of “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days” and “Persepolis” early on), and they’ve done it again this year, skewering Matteo Garrone’s blistering “Gomorrah,” leaving it for the dogs, cast aside, abandoned.

The almighty foreign language film committee has chosen the following to proceed to the next stage of the season:

“3 Monkeys” (Nuri Bilge Ceylan — Turkey)
“The Baader Meinhof Complex” (Uli Edel — Germany)
“The Class” (Laurent Cantet — France)
“Departures” (Yojiro Takita — Japan)
“Everlasting Moments” (Jan Troell — Sweden)
“The Necessities of Life” (Benoit Pilon — Canada)
“Revanche” (Gotz Spielmann — Austria)
“Tear This Heart Out” (Roberto Sneider — Mexico)
“Waltz with Bashir” (Ari Folman — Israel)

Turns out Guy correctly foresaw only four of these in his post this morning. From these, I’d anticipate “3 Monkeys,” “The Baader Meinhof Complex,” “The Class,” “Everlasting Moments” and, the likely winner, “Waltz with Bashir” to make the final five.

(Thanks to Blake for passing along the list, and kudos to him for anticipating the “Gomorrah” shaft. I just wanted to disregard all that talk about the committee having an issue with the film’s violence, but you can’t give these bozos the benefit of the doubt, I guess.)

January 13, 2009
Foreign film shortlist to drop soon

I believe the 9-title shortlist for Best Foreign Language Film is due today, but details on the announcement are oddly hard to come by, so I could be wrong.

In any case, it’s one I’m having a tough time calling. The new voting system should ensure that some of the year’s most acclaimed contenders are spared the indignity of being left off the shortlist (as happened, notoriously, to “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days” and “Persepolis” last year), so it’s difficult to see favorites “Waltz With Bashir” (fresh from its Globe win) and “Gomorrah” missing the cut.

I’d like to say that the best film of 2008, “The Class,” is similarly assured a spot, but it’s a risky, tough-minded docudrama, and I’m not sure how the committee (even the executive panel created to keep things in check) will respond to it — especially with “Gomorrah” and “Bashir” also occupying contemporary, genre-spanning territory. Fingers crossed.

Beyond that, my predictions get shaky. I think my projected list is a little heavy on European entries, but it’s hard to predict which one/s will miss. The Academy invariably throws a few less-heralded curveballs into the mix, but with 67 entries to choose from (and many of them fairly unknown quantities), it’s anyone’s guess which obscurities have caught the committee’s eye.

(More thoughts, and my predicted shortlist, below the cut.)

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January 13, 2009
A night at the Critics’ Choice Awards

$Sean Penn at the 14th Annual Critics\' Choice Awards$ It’s an event that keeps on getting better and better, a little awards show that’s escalated into one of the hallmarks of the film awards season, whether the “we’re one of the best Oscar predictors” stuff is annoying or not (which it is).

The night had a number of surprises, but in a sense, one of those surprises became a foregone conclusion half-way through the show. The whole room could tell — “Slumdog Millionaire” was going to walk away with the first clean BFCA sweep since “A Beautiful Mind” in 2001. Nothing for “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.” Nothing for “Frost/Nixon.” Nothing but the usual for the slowly-becoming-silver-medal-bound “The Dark Knight.”

Two big wins for “Milk” were nice. Sean Penn’s victory as Best Actor might have been inevitable, even though Mickey Rourke’s portrayal was probably the year’s most critically acclaimed of the year. I couldn’t help keeping an eye trained on Mickey two tables over, one of the wandering cameras crammed in his face as Penn delivered his acceptance. Clearly the “Wrestler” gang was a bit disheartened, nabbing only one win — for Bruce Springsteen’s title track. But Fox Searchlight was beaming nonetheless with it’s five “Slumdog” trophies.

I did as much mingling as the two minute commercial intervals would allow, but I did manage to finally meet the lovely Kate Beckinsale, nominated tonight for her criminally underseen performance in “Nothing But the Truth.” She’s a real sweetheart, happy for the few pockets of support she’s been able to find for the film, which was essentially avalanched by the Yari bankruptcy last month. There’s still Santa Barbara in a couple of weeks.

I have to say, being in the middle of Heath Ledger’s standing ovation was somewhat emotional. The win wasn’t surprising in hindsight, but as Laura Dern was opening the envelope, I couldn’t help but think the idea of major awards was suddenly a pipe dream for this performance. But it all went away quickly and Christopher Nolan gave a touching, spot-on acceptance speech on behalf of the actor.

(More, plus the full list of winners, after the jump.)

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January 8, 2009
BAFTA announces foreign-language nominees

I remain perplexed as to why they announce these separately from the main field of nominees (why further ghettoise a ghetto category?), but oh well. The BAFTA nominees for Best Film Not In The English Language are:

“The Baader Meinhof Complex”
“Gomorrah”
“I’ve Loved You So Long”
“Persepolis”
“Waltz With Bashir”

Hardly surprising, though you’d think the dismal UK reviews for “The Baader Meinhof Complex” might have put them off a bit. Better options out there, folks… I’m just sayin’. (I’m not sure whether “The Class”‘s late-February release date made it ineligible, but in any case, why has this masterwork been so sorely overlooked this awards season?)

Can’t really complain about the rest. You know where I stand on two of them in particular, while I’m glad to see “Persepolis”‘s distant UK release date hasn’t caused the film to slip their minds.

January 8, 2009
WGA nominees

Original Screenplay
“Burn After Reading” (Ethan Coen, Joel Coen)
“Milk” (Dustin Lance Black)
“Vicky Cristina Barcelona” (Woody Allen)
“The Visitor” (Thomas McCarthy)
“The Wrestler” (Robert Siegel)

Adapted Screenplay
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Eric Roth; screen story by Eric Roth and Robin Swicord; based on the short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald)
“The Dark Knight” (Christopher Nolan, Jonathan Nolan; screen story by Christopher Nolan, David S. Goyer; based on characters appearing in comic books published by DC Comics; Batman created by Bob Kane)
“Doubt” (John Patrick Shanley; based on his stage play)
“Frost/Nixon” (Peter Morgan; based on his stage play)
“Slumdog Millionaire” (Simon Beaufoy; based on the novel “Q and A” by Vikas Swarup)

Documentary
“Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story” (Stefan Forbes, Noland Walker)
“Chicago 10” (Brett Morgan)
“Fuel” (Johnny O’Hara)
“Gonzo: The Life and Work of Hunter S. Thompson” (Alex Gibney; from the words of Hunter S. Thompson)
“Waltz With Bashir” (Ari Folman)

So, the lesson? “The Dark Knight” is in this thing for real now. As I said last night, this was going to be the real test. “I wanted to see what you’d do. And you didn’t disappoint.” The rest of the adapted screenplay nominees will likely translate to Oscar 5/5, but I somehow doubt the Coen brothers will turn their guild mention into an Oscar berth. Remember, the WGA likes comedies, so “Burn After Reading” was always going to have a leg up here.

More love for “The Wrestler,” and though it’s not entirely unexpected, I must say it was a pleasant surprise. And we all figured Thomas McCarthy would find love with the same group that nomianted him for 2003’s “The Station Agent.” He may or may not translate that into an Oscar nomination, but it’s certainly a good possibility.

And remember, animated films are not eligible, so “WALL-E” still has a shot at sliding in. Maybe. It is, indeed, the most critically acclaimed film of the year, but it’s a slightly different case than “Toy Story,” “Finding Nemo” and “Ratatouille,” I think.

Biggest snub: “Rachel Getting Married” (very odd, but frankly, a welcome exclusion)
Needed this one bad: “In Bruges” (the studio is trying hard); “The Reader” (that Scripter nod might have provided elevated hopes)

Anyway, I think Christopher Nolan’s DGA nomination is pretty much in the bag tomorrow. I’d be tempted to call the Best Picture five a done deal after that, but we must always remember “Almost Famous and “Being John Malkovich,” two films that landed nominations from the PGA, DGA, WGA and a grabbed a SAG ensemble mention, yet failed to make into Oscar’s Best Picture five. And “The Dark Knight” didn’t even get the SAG Ensemble nod, so “Doubt” is still lurking. It ain’t over yet.

January 7, 2009
For the completists

Over at Gold Derby, Tom O’Neil lists all the runners-up (with points tallies) from yesterday’s National Society of Film Critics awards, along with other gossipy tidbits from the days proceedings. (Most stupid/amusing nugget: Eve, the eerily Applesque female robot from “WALL-E,” garnered a lone Best Actress vote.)

The full list is below the cut, but here are a couple of bits and bobs that jumped out at me. It’s interesting to see that Sally Hawkins and Sean Penn won their respective categories by a landslide, in a single round of voting. (Seriously, what does distant runner-up Mickey Rourke have to do to gain some traction?)

Meanwhile, “Waltz With Bashir” pulled off its stunning Best Picture victory in the second round of voting, after its animated cohort “WALL-E” led in the first round. Talk about a good day for the animated medium. What a second Best Picture citation from one of the ‘big three’ critics groups could have done for “WALL-E”s chances is a matter for contemplation, but it’s still very much on the radar — I’m still betting (naively, perhaps) it’ll make the Academy’s top five.

Elsewhere it’s nice to see Michelle Williams’ extraordinary work in “Wendy and Lucy” at least appearing in the mix, while “Synecdoche, New York” and “A Christmas Tale” (narrowly behind “Happy-Go-Lucky”) make the NSFC’s Best Screenplay table a very classy one indeed. An interesting oddity in the Best Supporting Actress category is that Viola Davis actually tied on points with winner Hanna Schygulla (a truly inspired choice, for my money), but was placed second as she appeared on fewer ballots.

Finally, can I just say how much I love these guys for giving Eddie Marsan some props? Finally.

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January 4, 2009
NSFC goes with ‘Bashir’ and ‘Happy’ in a big way

This is just like the National Society of Film Critics. Sorry, just coming around to this (football has taken some precedence this afternoon as I unwind post-vacation). “Waltz with Bashir” may have taken the top prize, but “Happy-Go-Lucky” was the clear favorite. Perhaps added fuel to the film’s Oscar fire. Lone director nomination? Hmmm…

Best Picture
“Waltz with Bashir”

Best Director
Mike Leigh, “Happy-Go-Lucky”

Best Actor
Sean Penn, “Milk”

Best Actress
Sally Hawkins, “Happy-Go-Lucky”

Best Supporting Actor
Eddie Marsan, “Happy-Go-Lucky”

Best Supporting Actress
Hanna Schygulla, “The Edge of Heaven”

Best Screenplay
“Happy-Go-Lucky”

Best Cinematography
“Slumdog Millionaire”

Best Non-Fiction Film
“Man on Wire”

Best Experimental Film
“Razzle Dazzle”

January 3, 2009
December winner predictions

Before we get to the end of the month here I thought I’d go ahead and toss up another set of winner predictions. This’ll be the last pre-nom set. I’ll go back to them next month, probably the day of the nominations announcement. But for now, it’s really all blind guessing, as always.

For last month’s set, click here.

Best Picture: “Slumdog Millionaire”
Best Director: Danny Boyle, “Slumdog Millionaire”
Best Actor: Clint Eastwood, “Gran Torino”
Best Actress: Kate Winslet, “Revolutionary Road”
Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger, “The Dark Knight”
Best Supporting Actress: Penélope Cruz, “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”
Best Adapted Screenplay: “Slumdog Millionaire”
Best Original Screenplay: “Milk”
Best Art Direction: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Best Cinematography: “Defiance”
Best Costume Design: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Best Film Editing: “Slumdog Millionaire”
Best Makeup: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Best Music – Original Score: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button””
Best Music – Original Song: “The Wrestler”
Best Sound Editing: “The Dark Knight”
Best Sound Mixing: “The Dark Knight”
Best Visual Effects: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Best Animated Feature Film: “WALL-E”
Best Documentary Feature: “Man on Wire”
Best Foreign Language Film: “Waltz with Bashir”

December 27, 2008