The Online Film Critics Society Noms

As you all know I am totally 'meh' with this years Oscar race. Not sure why, perhaps it is just the lack of surprises, or the large margins the 'front runners' have.
It seems a 'No Country for Old Men' no brainer in Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay and Supporting Actor. Amy/Cate has Supporting Actress, Julie/Ellen has Best Actress and Daniel/George has Lead Actor (most probably, unless Sweeney pulls the lead out).

But then the Online Film Critics Society throw a few surprises in that give me hope. They are not a reliable source, but anything that breaks the same old-same old line up is WONDERFUL news in my book.

The Noms:

PICTURE
- Atonement
- Juno
- No Country For Old Men
- There Will Be Blood
- Zodiac - nice little reminder to the powers that be. try not to forget one of the years best.

DIRECTOR
- Paul Thomas Anderson - There Will Be Blood
- Joel & Ethan Coen - No Country for Old Men
- David Cronenberg - Eastern Promises - over Joe Wright???? as much as I admire David, not a cool move.
- David Fincher - Zodiac - again a nice little reminder.
- Julian Schnabel - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

ACTOR
- George Clooney - Michael Clayton
- Daniel Day-Lewis - There Will Be Blood
- Emile Hirsch - Into the Wild
- Frank Langella - Starting Out in the Evening - happy about this. hope he can translate it.
- Viggo Mortensen - Eastern Promises

ACTRESS
- Julie Christie - Away From Her
- Marion Cotillard - La Vie En Rose
- Angelina Jolie - A Mighty Heart
- Laura Linney - The Savages - finally...YAY Laura....breaking up a boring line up
- Ellen Page - Juno

SUPPORTING ACTOR
- 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

- boring line up

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
- Cate Blanchett - I’m Not There
- Jennifer Garner - Juno
- Kelly MacDonald - No Country for Old Men
- Saoirse Ronan - Atonement
- Amy Ryan - Gone Baby Gone
- Tilda Swinton - Michael Clayton

- and here I was thinking they would struggle to find 5 worthy nominees. Well we can assume Garner and MacDonald are not going to replicate this to Oscar (but who knows) So that leaves the other four as likely candidates. As long as Swinton and Ronan are nominated I am happy

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
- Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead
- Eastern Promises
- Juno
- Michael Clayton
- Ratatouille - all the way Mae!

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
- Atonement
- The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
- No Country For Old Men
- There Will Be Blood
- Zodiac

CINEMATOGRAPHY
- The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
- Atonement
- The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
- No Country for Old Men
- There Will Be Blood

EDITING
- Atonement
- The Bourne Ultimatum
- No Country For Old Men
- There Will Be Blood
- Zodiac

SCORE
- The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
- Atonement
- Into the Wild
- Once - hurrah and hazzah
- There Will Be Blood

DOCUMENTARY
- In the Shadow of the Moon
- Into Great Silence
- King of Kong, The
- No End in Sight
- Sicko

FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM (NON-ENGLISH)
- The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
- The Host - So damn cool
- La Vie En Rose
- Lives of Others
- The Orphanage

ANIMATED FEATURE
- Beowulf
- Paprika
- Persepolis
- Ratatouille
- The Simpsons Movie

BREAKTHROUGH FILMMAKER
- Ben Affleck - Gone Baby Gone
- Juan Antonio Bayona - The Orphanage
- John Carney - Once - Yay again....another nice reminder...too little, but nice anyway
- Tony Gilroy - Michael Clayton
- Sarah Polley - Away From Her

BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMER
- Nikki Blonsky - Hairspray
- Glen Hansard - Once
- Sam Riley - Control
- Carice Van Houten - Black Book
- Tang Wei - Lust, Caution

Atonements Other Ending

How much would I have hated this film had this happened. Check out the rest of the interviews here

The best of the year (not a movie list)

Well it is that time of year again. As I sit home with the flu (teach me to over work myself over Christmas!!) on New Years eve I am remembering the year that was. What was good, and what was bad. I will list these off in top 10 form, but in no particular order.

The good:

1 The movies were great this year. Or perhaps I have only gone to see movies that were good by making decisions based soely on critical reviews and my own instinct.
The worst film I have seen all year was “La Vie En Rose” and I still came away looking to download a whole pile of Edith Piaf and singing the praises of the lead.
I still have not seen some of the heavy heavy hitters yet, and that can only make this one of the best years in film.

2 Adam Shankman’s wonderful job in “Hairspray”. Say what you will, but the man actually made me excited about the movie musical, and its endless possibilities. “Moulin Rogue” was the pinnacle for me, and since that masterpiece I have slowly given up hope that the musical is back, so thank you Adam for restoring that hope!
Not only was the cast fantastic (even John Travolta warmed to me in the end) but you perfectly captured the giddy musical loving child in me.
Also I have missed big ole dance numbers on the screen. So thank you again.

3 Music charts….if the radio stations were not bribed to play such repetitive shit I would not have gone out searching for something new and exciting and discovered new works by these wonderful artists” Robyn, Siobhan Donaghy, Roisin Murphy, M.I.A. (pictured), Amy Winehouse, Mika, LCD Soundsystem, The Arcade Fire, The Gossip and many more.

4 With so many young actresses and pop stars falling over the edge, it was refreshing to see one of the youngest being able to put her celebrity to better use. Hayden Panettiere risked her life to try to save a family of dolphins being slaughtered by Japanese fishermen.
Not everyone may agree with her actions, but how many of todays tabloid chasing celebs do you see fighting for injustices they believe in? Watch it here….warning disturbing!!

5 Madonna. Celebrating the Goddess in my ‘I LOVE Madonna’ tribute, bought it all back to me. She is AMAZING.

6 Pixar. Not only did they get things SO right with “Ratatouille” (perhaps the best film of the year) but then they go and cause me to shriek with delight and spin around in excitement by releasing the trailer for “Wall-E”. I know you should never judge a movie by its trailer, but I am so going to love this!

7 Buffy the Vampire Slayer season 8 comic. Thank you Joss, for not letting the best TV show die. I have read the first 5 of this series and it stays true to the show while giving you that extra freedom that live action couldn’t allow.
Damn you Sarah Michelle Gellar for walking out!

8 Diablo Cody. I have not seen “Juno”, so I know you will all wonder why I am mentioning this larger than life screen writer?
Well because since there is a massive writers strike, this woman could not have come along at a better time.
With star salaries sky rocketing to undeserved heights, the writers (you know, the people who are responsible for the actual story of the movie, and the dialogue these over-paid under-fed actors are saying) are all but forgotten.
Now we have a celebrity writer in Diablo Cody who is not only getting loads of press for herself, but she is also on the picket lines fighting for pay.
I do not remember a celebrity screenwriter before her, and why not? It is about time the spotlight was shone on these guys…they deserve it.

9 Tom Cruise becomes Box Office poison. YAY!!!!!

10 All you bloggers who I have added to my “Blogs I read and admire” list to the right. You have all humoured me and educated me so much this year. I thank you all!P

My Shiny New Years box

So decided to update the ole BOX to represent my Christmas Booty. I got a lot of lovely presents this year. The ole BF spoiled me rotten, as did my family, our friends and his family.

Not included because I have not had a chance to listen to it all yet is the following.
The entire Kate Bush back catalogue which my friends Dean and Lee gave me. I need a whole day to just sit back and take this all in. I am so excited, and need to book it soon! YAY Kate!!

The BF got me the “Sex and the City” shoebox set. Various DVD’s that I have been yearning for, loads of Lush products (I am addicted hence why I was delighted that my sister got me the same!) as well as a lot of stuff from American Apparel. He also got me the AMAZING first part of Buffy season 8!!!
Anywhoo...here are my new songs of love for 2008!


1) Wow…do I love Robyn. Her album is wonderful and refreshing. Madonna can only hope her album sounds as fresh as this. So Thank you Gerry for my wonderful Secret Santa gift…it has played non stop since I got it!!


2) BF’s little sister, husband and two little daughters bought me (along with the untra addictive Bob It, Kylie’s new album. I do like Kylie in as a cheap alternative to Madonna, and the album is good. This is one of the best tracks, pure dance pop!


3) Lovely Gemma bought me the gayest of my gifts. She bought me the shake and shimmy edition of “Hairspray”. I would have to say I LOVED the movie. It was bright and breezy and a whole lot of fun. (A -This song will be competing for Best Original Song, and I hope it gets the nomination. Here is “Come So Far (Got So Far To Go)”


4) Annie Lennox – Sing. Annie is just plain amazing, and here she duets with Madonna and others (Mads has the biggest part of course). I urge you to get the Album “Songs of Mass Destruction”

Keira, you will get yours.

So once again the Globes have been the only precursors to have chimed in to say "We loved your performance Keira!". Just like they did two years ago with "Pride and Prejudice". That did translate into Oscar love, but can "Atonement"?

Doubtful, which means I have to give a big overhaul to my charts....bugger!!! S.A.G. passed over the "Prejudice" performance, but the BFCA did not, and they have done so this year.......the bastards.

This awards race is shaping up to be very very boring, considering all my favourites are struggling to get nominations. Even my little Saoirse is looking to be in trouble. Why has "Atonement" not caught on like it should have?

Could it be that American audiences see this as being too foreign? Sure it is British, but not a comedy, not a Bond film, and not a Bio Pic of the famous so therefore it may as well be a 9 hour documentary on ants.

So dear Keira....perhaps next year you will impress with "The Duchess" (not the Bio Pic of a certain over rated and undertalented member of The Black Eyed Peas - Seriously...the girl looks like syphilis on a stick)

The film is a chronicle of the life of 18th century aristocrat Georgiana, duchess of Devonshire, an ancestor of Princess Diana who was alternately celebrated and reviled for her extravagant political and personal lives. Let's hope Ms. Knightly takes what she has learned from Joe Wright and translates into a blockbuster performance.

There is The Trailer