BAFTA Award Nominations!!

This year's Orange British Academy Film Awards will be held on Sunday 11 February 2007 at the Royal Opera House in London. The full list of nominees is below.

FILM
BABEL - Alejandro González Iñárritu/Jon Kilik/Steve Golin
THE DEPARTED - Brad Pitt/Brad Grey/Graham King
THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND - Andrea Calderwood/Lisa Bryer/Charles Steel
LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE*
THE QUEEN - Tracey Seaward/Christine Langan/Andy Harries

THE ALEXANDER KORDA AWARD for the Outstanding British Film of the Year
CASINO ROYALE - Michael G Wilson/Barbara Broccoli/Martin Campbell/Neal Purvis/Robert Wade/Paul Haggis
THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND - Andrea Calderwood/Lisa Bryer/Charles Steel/Kevin Macdonald/Peter Morgan/Jeremy Brock
NOTES ON A SCANDAL - Scott Rudin/Robert Fox/Richard Eyre/Patrick Marber
THE QUEEN - Tracey Seaward/Christine Langan/Andy Harries/Stephen Frears/Peter Morgan
UNITED 93 - Tim Bevan/Lloyd Levin/Paul Greengrass

THE CARL FOREMAN AWARD for Special Achievement by a British Director, Writer or Producer in their First Feature Film
ANDREA ARNOLD (Director) - Red Road
JULIAN GILBEY (Director) - Rollin' with the Nines
CHRISTINE LANGAN (Producer) - Pierrepoint
GARY TARN (Director) - Black Sun
PAUL ANDREW WILLIAMS (Director) - London to Brighton

THE DAVID LEAN AWARD for Achievement in Direction
BABEL - Alejandro González Iñárritu
THE DEPARTED - Martin Scorsese
LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE - Jonathan Dayton/Valerie Faris
THE QUEEN - Stephen Frears
UNITED 93 - Paul Greengrass

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
BABEL - Guillermo Arriaga
LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE - Michael Arndt
PAN'S LABYRINTH - Guillermo del Toro
THE QUEEN - Peter Morgan
UNITED 93 - Paul Greengrass

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
CASINO ROYALE - Neal Purvis/Robert Wade/Paul Haggis
THE DEPARTED - William Monahan
THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA - Aline Brosh McKenna
THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND - Peter Morgan/Jeremy Brock
NOTES ON A SCANDAL - Patrick Marber

FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
APOCALYPTO - Mel Gibson/Bruce Davey
BLACK BOOK (ZWARTBOEK) - Teun Hilte/San Fu Maltha/Jens Meurer/Paul Verhoeven
PAN'S LABYRINTH - Alfonso Cuarón/Bertha Navarro/Frida Torresblanco/Guillermo del Toro
RANG DE BASANTI (PAINT IT YELLOW) - Ronnie Screwvala/Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra
VOLVER - Agustín Almodóvar/Pedro Almodóvar

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
CARS - John Lasseter
FLUSHED AWAY - David Bowers/Sam Fell
HAPPY FEET - George Miller

ACTOR in a LEADING ROLE
DANIEL CRAIG - Casino Royale
LEONARDO DICAPRIO - The Departed
RICHARD GRIFFITHS - The History Boys
PETER O'TOOLE - Venus
FOREST WHITAKER - The Last King of Scotland

ACTRESS in a LEADING ROLE
PENELOPE CRUZ - Volver
JUDI DENCH - Notes on a Scandal
HELEN MIRREN - The Queen
MERYL STREEP - The Devil Wears Prada
KATE WINSLET - Little Children

ACTOR in a SUPPORTING ROLE
ALAN ARKIN - Little Miss Sunshine
JAMES MCAVOY - The Last King of Scotland
JACK NICHOLSON - The Departed
LESLIE PHILLIPS - Venus
MICHAEL SHEEN - The Queen

ACTRESS in a SUPPORTING ROLE
EMILY BLUNT - The Devil Wears Prada
ABIGAIL BRESLIN - Little Miss Sunshine
TONI COLETTE - Little Miss Sunshine
FRANCES DE LA TOUR - The History Boys
JENNIFER HUDSON - Dreamgirls

THE ANTHONY ASQUITH AWARD for Achievement in Film Music
BABEL - Gustavo Santaolalla
CASINO ROYALE - David Arnold
DREAMGIRLS - Henry Krieger
HAPPY FEET - John Powell
THE QUEEN - Alexandre Desplat

CINEMATOGRAPHY
BABEL - Rodrigo Prieto
CASINO ROYALE - Phil Meheux
CHILDREN OF MEN - Emmanuel Lubezki
PAN'S LABYRINTH - Guillermo Navarro
UNITED 93 - Barry Ackroyd

EDITING
BABEL - Stephen Mirrione/Douglas Crise
CASINO ROYALE - Stuart Baird
THE DEPARTED - Thelma Schoonmaker
THE QUEEN - Lucia Zucchetti
UNITED 93 - Clare Douglas/Christopher Rouse/Richard Pearson

PRODUCTION DESIGN
CASINO ROYALE - Peter Lamont/Simon Wakefield
CHILDREN OF MEN - Geoffrey Kirkland/Jim Clay/Jennifer Williams
MARIE ANTOINETTE - K K Barrett/Véronique Melery
PAN'S LABYRINTH - Eugenio Caballero/Pilar Revuelta
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST - Rick Heinrichs/Cheryl A Carasik

COSTUME DESIGN
THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA - Patricia Field
MARIE ANTOINETTE - Milena Canonero
PAN'S LABYRINTH - Lala Huete
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST - Penny Rose
THE QUEEN - Consolata Boyle

SOUND
BABEL - José García/Jon Taylor/Chris Minkler/Martín Hernández
CASINO ROYALE - Chris Munro/Eddy Joseph/Mike Prestwood Smith/Martin Cantwell/Mark Taylor
PAN'S LABYRINTH - Martín Hernández/Jamie Bashkt
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST - Christopher Boyes/George Watters II/ Paul Massey/Lee Orloff
UNITED 93 - Chris Munro/Mike Prestwood Smith/Douglas Cooper/Oliver Tarney/Eddy Joseph

ACHIEVEMENT IN SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS
CASINO ROYALE - Steve Begg/Chris Corbould
CHILDREN OF MEN - Frazer Churchill/Tim Webber/Michael Eames/Paul Corbould
PAN'S LABYRINTH - Edward Irastorza/Everett Burrell
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST - John Knoll/Hal Hickel/Charles Gibson
SUPERMAN RETURNS - Mark Stetson

MAKE UP & HAIR
THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA - Nicki Ledermann/Angel De Angelis
MARIE ANTOINETTE - Jean-Luc Russier/Desiree Corridoni
PAN'S LABYRINTH*
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST - Ve Neill/Martin Samuel
THE QUEEN - Daniel Phillips
id Smith/Jim McRoberts

THE ORANGE RISING STAR AWARD (nominees announced on 8 Jan 2007)
EMILY BLUNT
EVA GREEN
NAOMIE HARRIS
CILLIAN MURPHY
BEN WHISHAW

The BAFTA's like to mimic the Oscars, but will usually throw in a few strange and or more home grown talent in the mix. The Last King of Scotland getting a nom over Children of Men for best pic puzzles me. CoM was critically praised this side of the pond, and everyone was raving about it for a long time. That was a shame, that and Pan's Labyrinth not making it either. Pan's garnered more praise then Little Miss Sunshine and LKoS, but it did get nominated else where.

What I dislike
Casino Royal. I just didn't get this at all, but never have been a Bond lover (although for Daniel I would make an exception)

What I love
Toni Collette. The Globes and BAFTAS have noticed her quiet but exceptional work in Little Miss Sunshine. Love her!!!
The Make Up nominations....it isn't all about fake noses and and rubber, sometimes an actual brush can create art.
The strong showing for Pan's Labyrinth.
The Paul Greengrass directors nod.......finally they notice him (the British are so much smarter)
The Costume noms. Again, the Oscars seem to think the more elaborately period the film is, the better the costume. This year The Devil Wears Prada and The Queen showed that contemporary costume design can say so much about character and mood.
Jennifer Hudson. The lone nomination for Dreamgirls comes from the American Idol reject.

My awards

Every year I do my MAFFE awards (the Michael Awards for Feature Film Excellence) just so I have a record of what moved me each year, and why. It is something I refer back to many times. This will be the first year they are put online. They will be starting at some point soon, but I am having the biggest problem with Best Actress. There are 2 performances I love more than any this year. Penelope Cruz and Kate Winslet, who will it be? I still have a few films left to see before I publish them so I am hoping I will see something that blows them out of the water so I don't have to decide. Until then let me leave you with this amazing little scene from Little Children where she playes a bored suburban wife and mother having an affair. Oh Kate, you are truely great. Look at the way she gains strength as the scene plays out. Her mood shifts from being uncomfortable with having to speak, to a confident calm as she seemingly realises something about herself, or something she can use to justify her actions. Look at the way her face gives the slightest emotional truth away, and all the while speaking with a faultless accent. Then at the end she leans in and subtley asserts the fact that she is the intellegent one in the argument, then relaxes back....point proven.
Before I commit to my nominations, I think I need to see a few films again. Pan's Labyrinth is haunting me. I enjoyed and admired it, but didn't LOVE it on first viewing. now I am rethinking things as this film has stayed with me. Read this wonderful article by Sasha Stone over at Oscar Watch and please go and see it.

MAFFE 2006

BEST PICTURE

The award goes to "Pan's Labyrinth"





BEST DIRECTOR

The Award goes to Guillermo del Torro






BEST ACTRESS

The Award goes to Meryl Streep - The Devil Wears Prada





I struggled to include Shareeka Epps for Half Nelson and Helen Mirren for The Queen, but whom do I leave off??? Difficult choices all the way around.

BEST ACTOR

The Award goes to Hugh Jackman - The Fountain





I struggled to include Sasha Baron Cohen – Borat , Clive Owen – The Children of Men and Ryan Gosling - Half Nelson , but could not upset the top 5.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

The Award goes to Maribel Verdu - Pan's Labyrinth





Leaving off Adrianna Barraza - Babel, Sook-Yin Lee - Shortbus, Carrie-Ann Moss - Snowcake and Vanessa Redgrave - Venus was extremely difficult. I have no idea what I will do with the lead performances. I hate leaving people off, but at least I have let you all know I was thinking of them

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

The Award goes to Michael Caine - The Children of Men





Well I like to keep five nominees and sometimes it is very difficult as if there is a shift in my mood then I may like to place in either Eddie Murphy - Dreamgirls or Mark Wahlberg - The Deprated or Alan Arkin - Litttle Miss Sunshine and take out one of the above. However the hardest to leave off the list was Steve Carrell - Litttle Miss Sunshine. As of now I am happy with this line up, but I did feel Wahlberg, Arkin and Murphy were both very deserving of their nominations.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

The Award goes to Pedro Almodavar - Volver


BEST APADPTED SCREENPLAY

The Award goes to Alfonso Cuaron - The Children of Men

Cinematographers Announce Nominees!

Emmanuel Lubezki - Children of Men
Dick Pope - The Illusionist
Robert Richardson - The Good Shepherd
Dean Semler - Apocalypto
Vilmos Zsigmond - The Black Dahlia

I really do not know how this will link up to Oscar. I am happy to see Children of Men here. I would no be surprised if Dreamgirls, Babel, or Pan's Labyrinth showed up on nomination day (I should get the day off work for this day).

Costume Design Guild Announces Nominees

Here are the CDG noms:

Period:
Milena Canonero for "Marie Antoinette"
Sharen Davis, "Dreamgirls"
Chung Man Yee, "Curse of the Golden Flower"
Ngila Dickson, "The Illusionist"
Penny Rose, "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest."

Contemporary:
Patricia Field for "The Devil Wears Prada"
Consolata Boyle for "The Queen"
Nancy Steiner for "Little Miss Sunshine"
"Casino Royale"
Michael Wilkinson "Babel"

Fantasy:
Kym Barrett for "Eragon"
Renee April, "The Fountain"
Sammy Sheldon, "V for Vendetta"
Lala Huete, "Pan's Labyrinth"
Judianna Makovsky, "X-Men: The Last Stand."

Since the Academy does not think contemporary and fantasy design are worthy, just look at the period category. Although I hope The Devil Wears Prada shows up.

MAFFE - BEST SCREENPLAY 2007

A little break from Awards Season.

I need to get all my other Oscar categories done and then get everything so I am happy with it. Difficult year, and I am hoping a few surprises are thrown my way on nomination day. Until this I thought I would leave you all with a little video of this group that I am so loving. The Puppini Sisters do Kate Bush - Wuthering Heights.



If you are wondering about the choreography, check out Kate's video also on Utube, direct copy. Genious!!!

Directors Guild Nominations

Bill Condon, Dreamgirls
Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, Little Miss Sunshine
Stephen Frears, The Queen
Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu, Babel
Martin Scorsese, The Departed

I think this will be your Oscar Best Picture line up. I still think the Director line up will be different at the Oscars. The DGA and the PGA have agreed 100% this year. An interesting stat for you Oscar watchers as this is the first time in a while this has happened. Also Martin Scorses has been nominated for the DGA 7 times, this is everyone elses first nomination.

GO LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE!!!!