2009 Sundance award winners

See this link for interviews and more.

There are two current movies called Push (and 9 others in the not-so-distant past). One is a sci-fi thriller starring Camilla Belle, Dakota Fanning, and Djimon Hounsou, opening soon in wide release. The other, an indie about a new low in dysfunctional families, has had its title amended to "Push: Based on the Novel by Sapphire," and has won three Sundance awards, including one for actress Mo'Nique. UPDATE: the latter movie is now called Precious: Based on the Novel by Sapphire.

Grand Jury Prize: Documentary 

WE LIVE IN PUBLIC

Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic 

PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL BY SAPPHIRE originally known as PUSH: BASED ON THE NOVEL BY SAPPHIRE

World Cinema Jury Prize: Documentary 

ROUGH AUNTIES

World Cinema Jury Prize: Dramatic 

THE MAID / LA NANA

Audience Award: US Documentary, presented by Honda 

THE COVE

Audience Award: US Dramatic, presented by Honda 

PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL BY SAPPHIRE originally known as PUSH: BASED ON THE NOVEL BY SAPPHIRE

World Cinema Audience Award: Documentary 

AFGHAN STAR

World Cinema Audience Award: Dramatic 

AN EDUCATION

US Directing Award: Documentary 

Natalia Almada, EL GENERAL

US Directing Award: Dramatic 

Cary Fukunaga, SIN NOMBRE

World Cinema Directing Award: Documentary 

Havana Marking, AFGHAN STAR

World Cinema Directing Award: Dramatic 

Oliver Hirschbiegel, FIVE MINUTES OF HEAVEN

Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award 

Nicholas Jasenovec and Charlyne Yi for PAPER HEART

World Cinema Screenwriting Award 

Guy Hibbert For FIVE MINUTES OF HEAVEN

US Documentary Editing Award 

Karen Schmeer, SERGIO

World Cinema Documentary Editing Award 

Janus Billeskov Jansen and Thomas Papapetros, BURMA VJ

Excellence in Cinematography Award: US Documentary 

Robert Richman, THE SEPTEMBER ISSUE

Excellence in Cinematography Award: US Dramatic 

Adriano Goldman, SIN NOMBRE

World Cinema Cinematography Award: Documentary 

John Maringouin, BIG RIVER MAN

World Cinema Cinematography Award: Dramatic 

John de Borman, AN EDUCATION

Special Jury Prize: World Cinema Dramatic

Catalina Saavedra For THE MAID / LA NANA

Special Jury Prize: US Documentary

GOOD HAIR

Special Jury Prize: US Dramatic, for The Spirit of Independence 

HUMPDAY

Special Jury Prize: US Dramatic, for Acting 

Mo’Nique for PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL BY SAPPHIRE originally known as PUSH: BASED ON THE NOVEL BY SAPPHIRE

Special Jury Prize: World Cinema Documentary

TIBET IN SONG

Special Jury Prize: World Cinema Dramatic, for Originality 

LOUISE-MICHEL

Alfred P. Sloan Award 

ADAM

Jury prize in US Short Filmmaking 

SHORT TERM 12

International Jury Prize in Short Filmmaking 

LIES

Honorable Mention in Short Filmmaking 

OMELETTE 

WESTERN SPAGHETTI 

THE ATTACK OF THE ROBOTS FROM NEBULA-5 

TREEVENGE 

JERRYCAN 

PROTECT YOU + ME 

I LIVE IN THE WOODS 

I LOVE YOU MORE

The Wrestler (2008)

Some may call this a comeback for Mickey Rourke, but he has been working steadily. Imdb gives him at least one acting credit per year starting in 1979 (when he was 23) for a total of 62, including 6 yet to be released or made. Some of my faves were early ones: Diner (1982), Rumblefish (1983), and Nine 1/2 Weeks (1986). In the mid '80s my parents came to visit me and my roommates in LA and we had a 7:00 reservation at Wolfgang Puck's hot new restaurant, Spago in West Hollywood. We were there on time but by 7:45 they had still not seated us. Suddenly, all eyes went to the door, as Rourke sauntered in wearing a dirty, torn gray sweatshirt, followed by his entourage. He was given a warm greeting and immediately shown to a table. My friends and I stifled our giggles while my parents steamed. Now, listening to songs from the soundtrack ('80's metal "Bang Your Head" and "Balls to the Wall," way different from my '80s Talking Heads and Police), I return to the perfect desperation of Rourke's Randy "The Ram" Robinson (who drives a Dodge Ram).

This was also a tour de force for director Darren Aronofsky. I'm a huge Aronofsky fan: Pi (1998) knocked me out--the migraines were an excellent example of "show, don't tell," a rule of many creative pursuits. His follow-up, Requiem for a Dream (2000)--OMG. I knew better than to go alone, and it haunted me for a long time (last Halloween I dressed as Ellen Burstyn's Sara Goldfarb). I liked The Fountain (2006) a lot, too, which some called Aronofsky's love letter to his wife, Rachel Weisz, and The Wrestler shows how this director just keeps getting better. Co-star Marisa Tomei is no slouch, either. See this. The Springsteen song doesn't start til the credits.

Defiance (2008)

The James Newton Howard score was nominated for the Oscar, and lost the Golden Globe to Slumdog Millionaire, and the movie is one of the National Board of Review's 10 best films of the year. I've listened to the score a couple of times now, and it's good, but not my favorite (ask me later--I haven't made up my mind). Based on a true story, Daniel Craig (the newest James Bond, Munich (2005), the excellent Enduring Love (2004), 2003's Sylvia and The Mother) stars as Tuvia Bielski, one of four brothers who fled Poland and hid from the Nazis in the forests of Belorussia (now Belarus) with other Jews joining them as time went on. Liev Schrieber (The Painted Veil (2006), A Walk on the Moon (1999), and director/writer of the sublime Everything is Illuminated (2005)), Jamie Bell (Flags of Our Fathers (2006) and Billy in Billy Elliot (2000)), and young George MacKay play the other brothers. Though the topic is bleak, the cinematography was anything but: those were some beautiful forests (adjacent Lithuania stood in for Belarus) in rich color. Director Edward Zwick (Glory (1989), The Last Samurai (2003), and Blood Diamond (2006)) is no stranger to making pretty pictures out of strife, now that he's done with TV's thirtysomething, where the strife was never life and death. Defiance was a tad long (2:17) but had good performances all around, lovely trees, women with speaking roles, extras with connections to the story, violin solos by Joshua Bell, and magnificent sequences in the snow.

#1 rule for movies

A character who coughs in the movie will be dead by the beginning of the credits. Over 99% of the time. See all rules.

2009 Oscar nominations (sorted by category)

What happened to Gran Torino???? Not even one?

BEST PICTURE
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
"Frost/Nixon"
"Milk"
"The Reader"
"Slumdog Millionaire"

BEST ACTRESS
Anne Hathaway, "Rachel Getting Married"
Angelina Jolie, "Changeling"
Melissa Leo, "Frozen River"
Meryl Streep, "Doubt"
Kate Winslet, "The Reader"

BEST ACTOR
Frank Langella, "Frost/Nixon"
Sean Penn, "Milk"
Brad Pitt, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
Mickey Rourke, "The Wrestler"
Richard Jenkins, "The Visitor"

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams, "Doubt"
Penelope Cruz, "Vicky Cristina Barcelona"
Viola Davis, "Doubt"
Taraji P. Henson, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
Marisa Tomei, "The Wrestler"

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Josh Brolin, "Milk"
Robert Downey Jr., "Tropic Thunder"
Philip Seymour Hoffman, "Doubt"
Heath Ledger, "The Dark Knight"
Michael Shannon, "Revolutionary Road"

BEST DIRECTOR
Danny Boyle, "Slumdog Millionaire"
Stephen Daldry, "The Reader"
David Fincher, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
Ron Howard, "Frost/Nixon"
Gus Van Sant, "Milk"

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Dustin Lance Black, "Milk"
Courtney Hunt, "Frozen River"
Mike Leigh, "Happy-Go-Lucky"
Marttin McDonagh, "In Bruges"
Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon, "WALL-E"

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Simon Beaufoy, "Slumdog Millionaire"
David Hare, "The Reader"
Peter Morgan, "Frost/Nixon"
John Patrick Shanley, "Doubt"
Eric Roth, Robin Swicord, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
"The Baader-Meinhof Complex" (Germany)
"The Class" (France)
"Departures" (Japan)
"Revanche" (Austria)
"Waltz with Bashir" (Israel)

BEST ANIMATED FILM
"Bolt"
"Kung Fu Panda"
"WALL-E"

BEST ART DIRECTION
"Changeling" Art Direction: James J. Murakami, Set Decoration: Gary Fettis
"The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button" Art Direction: Donald Graham Burt, Set Decoration: Victor J. Zolfo
"The Dark Knight" Art Direction: Nathan Crowley, Set Decoration: Peter Lando
"The Duchess" Art Direction: Michael Carlin, Set Decoration: Rebecca Alleway
"Revolutionary Road" Art Direction: Kristi Zea, Set Decoration: Debra Schutt

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
"Changeling" Tom Stern
"Slumdog Millionaire," Anthony Dod Mantle
"The Reader," Chris Menges
"The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button," Claudio Miranda
"The Dark Knight," Wally Pfister,

BEST FILM EDITING
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Kirk Baxter, Angus Wall
"The Dark Knight," Lee Smith
"Frost/Nixon," Daniel P. Hanley, Mike Hill
"Milk," Elliot Graham
"Slumdog Millionaire," Chris Dickens

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
"Australia," Catherine Martin
"The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button," Jacqueline West
"The Duchess," Michael O'Conner
"Milk," Danny Glicker
"Revolutionary Road," Albert Wolsky

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
"The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)"
"Encounters at the End of the World"
"The Garden"
"Man on Wire"
"Trouble the Water"

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
"Slumdog Millionaire," "Jai Ho," A.R. Rahman
"Slumdog Millionaire," "O Saya," A.R. Rahman & M.I.A.
"WALL-E," "Down To Earth," Peter Gabriel & Thomas Newman

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
"The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button," Alexandre Desplat
"Defiance," James Newton Howard
"Milk," Danny Elfman
"Slumdog Millionaire," A.R. Rahman
"WALL-E," Thomas Newman

BEST MAKEUP
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Colleen Callaghan, Fionagh Cush
"The Dark Knight," Peter Robb-King, John Caglione Jr.
"Hellboy II: The Golden Army," Mike Elizalde, Thom Floutz

BEST SOUND EDITING
"The Dark Knight," Richard King
"Iron Man," Frank Eulner, Christopher Boyes
"Slumdog Millionaire," Tom Sayers
"WALL-E," Ben Burtt, Matthew Wood
"Wanted," Wylie Stateman

BEST SOUND MIXING
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Mark Weingarten, David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce
"The Dark Knight," Ed Novick, Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo
"Slumdog Millionaire," Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke and Resul Pookutty
"WALL-E," Ben Burtt, Tom Myers, Michael Semanick
"Wanted," Chris Jenkins, Frank A. Montaño and Petr Forejt

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Eric Barba
"The Dark Knight," Chris Corbould, Nick Davis, Paul Franklin, Tim Webber
"Iron Man," John Nelson

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
"Auf der Strecke (On the Line)"
"Manon on the Asphalt"
"New Boy"
"The Pig"
"Spielzeugland (Toyland)"

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM
"La Maison en Petits Cubes"
"Lavatory - Lovestory"
"Oktapodi"
"Presto"
"This Way Up"

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM
"The Conscience of Nhem En"
"The Final Inch"
"Smile Pinki"
"The Witness - From the Balcony of Room 306"

2008 Golden Raspberry Awards - RAZZIES worst movies

29th Annual Razzie ® Award Nominees

WORST PICTURE
Disaster Movie and Meet the Spartans
(Two Movies — One Berry Badly Beaten Dead Horse of a Concept!)
The Happening
The Hottie and the Nottie
In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale
The Love Guru

WORST ACTOR
Larry the Cable Guy (Witless Protection)
Eddie Murphy (Meet Dave)
Mike Myers (The Love Guru)
Al Pacino (88 Minutes and Righteous Kill)
Mark Wahlberg (The Happening and Max Payne)

WORST ACTRESS
Jessica Alba (The Eye and The Love Guru)
The Cast of The Women (Annette Bening, Eva Mendes, Debra Messing, Jada Pinkett-Smith and Meg Ryan)
Cameron Diaz (What Happens In Vegas)
Paris Hilton (The Hottie and the Nottie)
Kate Hudson (Fools’ Gold and My Best Friend’s Girl)

WORST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Uwe Boll (as himself) (Uwe Boll’s Postal)
Pierce Brosnan (Mamma Mia!)
Ben Kingsley (The Love Guru and War, Inc. and The Wackness)
Burt Reynolds (Deal and In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale)
Verne Troyer (The Love Guru and Uwe Boll’s Postal)

WORST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Carmen Electra (Disaster Movie and Meet the Spartans)
Paris Hilton (Repo: The Genetic Opera)
Kim Kardashian (Disaster Movie)
Jenny McCarthy (Witless Protection)
Leelee Sobieski (88 Minutes and In the Name of the King)

WORST SCREEN COUPLE
Uwe Boll & ANY Actor, Camera or Screenplay
Cameron Diaz & Ashton Kutcher (What Happens in Vegas)
Paris Hilton & either Christine Lakin or Joel David Moore (The Hottie and the Nottie)
Larry the Cable Guy & Jenny McCarthy (Witless Protection)
Eddie Murphy IN Eddie Murphy (Meet Dave)

WORST PREQUEL, REMAKE, RIP-OFF OR SEQUEL
The Day the Earth Blowed Up Real Good
Disaster Movie and Meet the Spartans
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Speed Racer
Star Wars: The Clone Wars

WORST DIRECTOR
Uwe Boll (1968: Tunnel Rats, In the Name of the King, and Postal)
Jason Friedberg & Aaron Seltzer (Disaster Movie and Meet the Spartans)
Tom Putnam (The Hottie and the Nottie)
Marco Schnabel (The Love Guru)
M. Night Shyamalan (The Happening)

WORST SCREENPLAY
Disaster Movie and Meet the Spartans (both by Jason Friedberg & Aaron Seltzer)
The Happening (by M. Night Shyamalan)
The Hottie and the Nottie (by Heidi Ferrer)
In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale (by Doug Taylor)
The Love Guru (by Mike Myers & Graham Gordy)

WORST CAREER ACHIEVEMENT (Special Category!)
Uwe Boll (Germany's answer to Ed Wood)

Revolutionary Road (2008)

Jack can attest to the fact that I predicted an art direction nomination for this before I left for the inauguration (yes, I do other things besides watch movies!). The nominations are out now and this has three: Art Direction, Costume Design, and Supporting Actor for Michael Shannon, who was excellent as the mad John Givings. Before it came out, someone said, "Kate and Leonardo: together again, without all that ice." Kathy Bates was in Titanic as well, and she is fun here as John's mother Helen Givings, with her "yoo-hoo" call to announce her arrival at the back door. 

But there is not much fun in this movie. The characters are miserable for the most part. Opinions have been wildly varied on this. Kate Winslet won a Golden Globe for her April Wheeler, but more than one reviewer said she was horribly miscast. David Denby (whose reviews in the New Yorker always contain spoilers) said this movie may suffer "from the illusion that pain and art are the same thing." He liked DiCaprio's Frank Wheeler even less than he liked Winslet in this. It was pretty depressing but worth seeing. 

The prolific composer Thomas Newman got nominated for WALL-E and not for this nor Towelhead. I plan to listen to all the soundtracks many more times before the awards. A "Who's that guy?" character was the rubber-faced Dylan Baker as Jack Ordway, one of Frank's colleagues at work. Baker has done lots of good work, notably a sick and twisted Bill Maplewood in Todd Solondz' sick and twisted Happiness (1998), in NBC's brilliant-but-cancelled Book of Daniel, and in the campy Billy Connolly-starring Fido (2006). 

The one to watch was young Zoe Kazan as THE secretary. She is granddaughter of the late director Elia Kazan (A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), On the Waterfront (1954), Splendor in the Grass (1961), and many more), and daughter of writers Robin Swicord (screenplays for The Jane Austen Book Club (2007), Memoirs of a Geisha (2005), and Practical Magic (1998), as well as the screen story for this year's The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) and Nicholas Kazan (Frances (1982), At Close Range (1986), Reversal of Fortune (1990), as well as collaborating with Swicord on Matilda (1996)).

Silent Light (Stellet Licht) (2007) released 2008

As Earl Hickey (NBC's My Name is Earl) would say, Karma is trying to tell me something. I thought Still Life was slow so Karma sent me to Silent Light. I was eager to see it because it has won 25 awards and 3 nominations so far. It played only one night at the arts center at the University and opened with a beautiful time lapse shot of a sunrise (I don't think it's a spoiler to tell you it closes with a similar sunset). Clocking in at 2 hours 15 minutes, this has a turtle's pace (slightly faster than a snail) with the slowest tracking shots ever. Mexico's official entry into the Oscars (it did not get a nomination) has only a few words of Spanish. Instead the language is almost entirely an obscure Mennonite/German-like dialect spoken by the non-actors who are part of the sect in Chihuahua, Mexico. Not to say that I hated it. There was much to enjoy. But if you're in a New York state of mind, with things to do and people to see, this is not for you. Many reviewers loved it, including two from New York (Mahnola Dargis in the New York Times and J. Hoberman in The Village Voice). This will be a tough one to see on DVD unless you have a pretty good sized screen and can darken the room because some shots have very little light.

Still Life (Sanxia haoren) (2006)

Back in the late 1980s I told my cousin John, who is fluent in Chinese and had travelled there, that I didn't get the movie Red Sorghum (1987). He explained some of it to me, but my opinion didn't change. Director Yimou Zhang, without my approval of his freshman effort, has risen to fame with Ju Dou (1990), Raise the Red Lantern (1991), Happy Times (2000), Hero (2005), and Curse of the Golden Flower (2006), some of which featured the lovely Chinese actress Li Gong, formerly known as Gong Li (like a number of Chinese actors she reversed her names to reflect our tradition of family names second). My favorite was the quiet relationship story Happy Times (without Gong). I was reminded of my reaction to Red Sorghum as I watched the first half hour of Still Life, winner of the LA Film Critics Award for best cinematography. It was pretty but S...L...O...W. But as the hot and sweaty first act ended, in which a man is looking for his wife near the remains of their old home, now submerged by the construction of a Yangtze River dam called the Three Gorges Project, it began to pick up in the hot and sweaty second act, in which a woman is looking for her husband in the same region (no, it's not the same couple). The third act takes us back to the man, and by that time, perhaps my maturity and perhaps better filmmaking had acclimated me to the pace. The cinematography was, indeed, spectacular. If anyone else sees this, please tell me wtf was the rocket ship?

Towelhead (2007) released 2008

For months we would pass the poster for this movie in the mall cinema and wonder when we would get to see it. It was never released for the big screen in our town. Alan Ball, writer/producer of the multi-Oscar-winning American Beauty (1999) and writer/producer/director of HBO's Six Feet Under and True Blood, finally got to direct this feature from his own script, adapted from the novel of the same name by Alicia Erian. Beware, this is perverted. Jasira Maroun (Summer Bishil, nominated for the Independent Spirit Best Actress award) is a 13 year old, obsessed with sex, who moves from living with her dreadful Anglo mother (Maria Bello) to living with her dreadful Lebanese father (Beirut-born Peter Macdissi, who played Claire's hateful art teacher in Six Feet Under). Jack sometimes likes to quote Bugs Bunny, who said, "What a moroon!" instead of "moron." I said that a lot watching Macdissi's Mr. Maroun. There were many similarities with American Beauty, including Aaron Eckhart's tightly-wound Army reservist reminding me of Chris Cooper in American Beauty. It got mixed reviews. I have linked to three articles (one, two, three) with different points of view, but all contain major spoilers. I happened to like it, cringing or not. It was very well acted and young Ms. Bishil (don't worry, she was over 18 when they made it) convinced me she was a confused tween. Toni Collette's character was also a breath of fresh air. And good music, though not very much, by composer Thomas Newman (I just bought the soundtrack and did the math--just over 14 minutes).

It was originally released under the title Nothing Is Private, but eventually reverted to the book's title, Towelhead, the slur used often in the movie.

Gran Torino (2008)

Finally we are back up to speed with this excellent multi-nominee! (I felt bad for not liking Seven Pounds and Valkyrie.) If you like Clint Eastwood, you'll love this. Even if you don't, it's not just for old white guys. Eastwood directed, produced, composed and performed a song, and starred in this tale of a patronizing, bigoted, just unpleasant Korean War vet, Walt Kowalski of Detroit, who gets involved with his Hmong neighbors after the death of Walt's beloved wife, who was a devout Catholic (though he is not). Especially in the beginning, he growls as much as he speaks (listen for his growly voice on the song). We saw a 5:15 show downtown on opening night, and the quarter-full house (unusual to have that many on a Friday afternoon) laughed uncomfortably and often at Walt's unapologetic racial slurs. As usual, I had memorized the scenes from the oft-screened trailer by the time the movie opened, but the story was not entirely predictable, the pacing was excellent, and the end just right. Rated R for a reason. All of the Hmong characters were played by Hmong actors and all but one (the gangleader Spider, portrayed by Doua Moua) were acting for the first time. Wow. They did well. Eastwood's son Scott Eastwood had a good scene as Sue's Anglo boyfriend. This was his first credit under his own name (in Clint's Flags of Our Fathers (2006) and 3 others, he was credited as Scott Reeves, his mother's maiden name). His half-brother, Kyle Eastwood, composed the score.

Valkyrie (2008)

Tom Cruise was on the ballot for a Razzie Award for Worst Actor of the Year for this movie (nominated, by the way, by people who pay to vote). His work in Tropic Thunder, with a bald "wig" and pot belly, was hilarious, and I liked disliking him as the smug estranged dad in War of the Worlds (2005), especially since it was released soon after he decided his Scientology beliefs qualified him to disparage Brooke Shields for using medication to battle her post-partum depression. I liked The Firm (1993) a lot, and in fact have the soundtrack featuring fabulous jazz piano by Dave Grusin, and Cruise was brilliant in both Rain Man (1988) and Born on the Fourth of July (1989), which I just saw again in May on the 38th anniversary of the Kent State shootings. Back to Valkyrie. I didn't think Cruise was too awful as a Nazi officer plotting to assassinate Hitler, and there were great production values in locations, sets, props, wonderful old airplanes and cars, good costumes, and first-rate supporting actors (Kenneth Branagh, Bill Nighy, Tom Wilkinson, Terence Stamp, Eddie Izzard). One could, however, count on the fingers of my two hands the lines spoken by women (you'll get this joke if you see it--ask me to tell you privately if you don't want to sit through the movie for my lame gag). Like The Reader, all characters were German, but spoke English in the movie after the first minute or two. Unlike The Reader, the printed words remained in German without subtitles. There is some interesting trivia on imdb. Director Bryan Singer (The Usual Suspects (1994), two X-Men movies (2000 & 2003), Superman Returns (2006), and the Fox TV show House) is usually suspected of doing better work. If you enjoy the Hitler-y, that is, History Channel, definitely see this. If you have others you want to see first, do so.

People's Choice Awards

Another link to all the nominees and winners.

Writers, directors, cinematographers, art directors pick their own nominees

The Writers Guild of America (WGA) nominees
Check this link for more detail.

Best Original Screenplay
Woody Allen, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, Burn After Reading
Dustin Lance Black, Milk
Tom McCarthy, The Visitor
Robert Siegel, The Wrestler

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

Best Documentary Screenplay
Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story: written by Stefan Forbes and Noland Walker
Chicago 10: written by Brett Morgen
Fuel: written by Johnny O'Hara
Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson: screenplay by Alex Gibney from the words of Hunter S. Thompson
Waltz with Bashir: written by Ari Folman.

Directors' Guild of America (DGA) nominees (link to story)
Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire
David Fincher, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Ron Howard, Frost/Nixon
Christopher Nolan, The Dark Knight
Gus Van Sant, Milk

American Society of Cinematographers (ASC)
Nominees for Outstanding Achievement Award in Feature Film
For a little more detail, see this link.

Roger Deakins, Revolutionary Road
Roger Deakins & Chris Menges, The Reader
Claudio Miranda, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Wally Pfister, The Dark Knight
Anthony Dod Mantle, Slumdog Millionaire

Art Directors' Guild (ADG)
13th Annual Art Directors Guild Excellence In Production Design Awards Nominations

PERIOD FILMS

Changeling
Production Designer: James J. Murakami

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Production Designer: Donald Graham Burt

Doubt
Production Designer: David Gropman

Frost/Nixon
Production Designer: Michael Corenblith

Milk
Production Designer: Bill Groom

FANTASY FILMS

The Dark Knight
Production Designer: Nathan Crowley

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Production Designer: Guy Hendrix Dyas

Iron Man
Production Designer: J. Michael Riva

The Spiderwick Chronicles
Production Designer: James Bissell

WALL-E
Production Designer: Ralph Eggleston

CONTEMPORARY FILMS

Burn After Reading
Production Designer: Jess Gonchor

Gran Torino
Production Designer: James J. Murakami

Quantum Of Solace
Production Designer: Dennis Gassner

Slumdog Millionaire
Production Designer: Mark Digby

The Wrestler
Production Designer: Timothy Grimes

EPISODE OF A ONE HOUR SINGLE-CAMERA TELEVISION SERIES

Mad Men
Episode 211 - The Jet Set, Production Designer: Dan Bishop

Pushing Daisies
Episode 201/ 3T7053 - Bzzzzzz, Production Designer: Michael Wylie

True Blood
Episode 7 - Burning House Of Love, Production Designer: Suzuki Ingerslev

Tudors
Episode 210, Production Designer: Tom Conroy

Ugly Betty
Episode 309 - When Betty Met Yeti, Production Designer: Mark Worthington

EPISODE OF A MULTI-CAMERA TELEVISION SERIES

The Big Bang Theory
Episode 3T6615 - The Peanut Reaction, Production Designer: John Shaffner

How I Met Your Mother
Episode 320 - Miracles, Production Designer: Stephan Olson

Little Britain U.S.A.
Episode 4, Production Designers: Greg Grande & Michael Wylie

Rules Of Engagement
Rule 215 - Pimp My Ride, Production Designer: Bernard Vyzga

Two & A Half Men
Episode 3T7405 - A Jock Strap In Hell, Production Designer: John Shaffner

TELEVISION MOVIE OR MINI- SERIES

Andromeda Strain
Production Designer: Jerry Wanek

John Adams
Production Designer: Gemma Jackson

Librarian 3
Production Designer: Robb Wilson King

Lone Rider
Production Designer: Yuda Acco

Recount
Production Designer: Patti Podesta

EPISODE OF A HALF HOUR SINGLE-CAMERA TELEVISION SERIES

30 Rock
Episode 301 - Do-Over, Production Designers: Keith Ian Raywood & Teresa Mastropierro

In Treatment
Episode 3 - Sophie Week One, Production Designer: Suzuki Ingerslev

My Name Is Earl
Episode 3 A L J 0 7 - Bad Earl, Production Designer: Randy Ser

The Office
Episode 5001/5002 - Weight Loss, Production Designer: Michael G. Gallenberg

Weeds
Episode 4006 - Excellent Treasures, Production Designer: Joseph P. Lucky

AWARDS SHOW, VARIETY, MUSIC OR NON-FICTION PROGRAM

2008 Emmys
Production Designers: John Shaffner & Joe Stewart

80TH Annual Academy Awards
Production Designer: Roy Christopher

MTV Video Music Awards 2008 Hollywood
Production Designers: Keith Ian Raywood & Scott Storey

Saturday Night Live
Episode 1536 - Josh Brolin/ Adele Production Designers: Eugene Lee, Akira Yoshimura & Keith Ian Raywood

Tracey Ullman's State Of the Union
Episode 3 Production Designer: Dan Butts

Seven Pounds (2008)

I usually like a Will Smith movie: Pursuit of Happyness (2006)-good, Hancock (2008)-very good, Hitch (2005)-fun, Enemy of the State (1998)-very good, Men in Black I-II (1997-2002)-great fun, Ali (2001)-bruising. This has gotten so many bad reviews I really wanted to like it to prove them all wrong. Sigh. They were kinda right. Several people said they didn't know what was going on. We figured out what was going on, despite the jumps in sequence, but ... I think I blame the writing. Screenplay writer Grant Nieporte has, on his imdb credit list, 1 episode of Sabrina the Teenage Witch (ABC) from 2001 (I liked and watched that series) and 2 episodes of 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter (also ABC) (I didn't see any). That's it. Many can strike gold early, but he is not one of them. It's a big stretch from sitcom to what should have been a deep drama of redemption combined with a touching love story between Smith and Rosario Dawson (those scenes were among the movie's redeeming moments). Smith's director in Happyness, Gabriele Muccino, did the honors here. There's a reason this is not on the list of nominated movies for the year. I swear I'm not jaded! I still love movies. Just not this one.

The Reader (2008)

I changed the top line below the blog name to describe myself as someone who loves movies. So many reviewers seem to get their kicks tearing movies to shreds. Don't they like them? They must be jaded. I'm not...yet.

I was looking forward more to the other Kate Winslet movie, but thought this was terrific (take that, Anthony Lane of The New Yorker, you hater, you. In the link The Wrestler is praised, Doubt is trashed, and spoilers abound). Stephen Daldry, director of Billy Elliott (2000) (loved it), The Hours (2002) (loved it more), and next year's The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay (loved the book) directed David Hare's adaptation (Hare also adapted The Hours from the excellent Michael Cunningham novel) of Bernard Schlink's engrossing adult-themed novel (no, I haven't read it) about a 15 year old boy who has an affair with a woman in her 30s. This isn't Kate Winslet's movie. In fact, her win last month from the Chicago Film Critics was for Supporting Actress and rightfully so. But she morphed into the no-nonsense Hanna; even when she was naked she was harsh and raw; when she was playing her own age (33) she looked plain, which for Winslet isn't easy, and as her character aged she had the body language down pat. I also liked the sensible shoes when she was wearing any. 18 year old David Kross, who played Michael at 15 and 25 was great, and Ralph Fiennes, playing the older Michael, lent his usual sensitivity (though you should check out his supporting role in the wonderful In Bruges from earlier this year--he's a maniac).

A little thing I appreciated about this: like The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, it was about Germans in Germany but was in English, with no German spoken whatsoever. The characters in Pajamas had fairly strong English accents. The characters in The Reader spoke with mild German accents and were easy for me to understand (unlike Memoirs of a Geisha (2005), a beautiful experience, but for the thick Asian accents by actors who were perfectly able to speak English intelligibly). Sad trivia about The Reader: it was to be directed by Anthony Minghella (1997 Oscar winner for The English Patient, nominated for the screenplay adaptation, also director of Truly Madly Deeply (1990) and The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)), and co-produced by Minghella and Sydney Pollack ('nuff said). Minghella died in March at 54 and Pollack in May at 74, so they are both listed among the 12 producers, but remembered in the closing credits. There was a lot more going on during production, too, such as waiting for Kross's 18th birthday before filming the sex scenes! After you see the movie, read this article.

Producers' Guild Awards nominees

Apparently these nominations are often the bellwethers for the Oscars (12 PGA winners in 19 years have won the Best Picture Oscar, even better with nominees). Also, they, like the Screen Actors and Writers' Guild Awards, are chosen by moviemakers--peers.

* Please note that productions that list producer(s) as TBD are still in the arbitration process.

The Darryl F. Zanuck Producer of the Year Award in Theatrical Motion Pictures

THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
Kathleen Kennedy & Frank Marshall
Ceán Chaffin

THE DARK KNIGHT
Christopher Nolan
Charles Roven
Emma Thomas

FROST/NIXON
Brian Grazer
Ron Howard
Eric Fellner

MILK
Dan Jinks
Bruce Cohen

SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
Christian Colson

The Producers Guild of America Producer of the Year Award in Documentary Theatrical Motion Pictures

MAN ON WIRE
Simon Chinn

STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE
Julie Bilson Ahlberg
Errol Morris

TROUBLE THE WATER
Carl Deal
Tia Lessin

The Producers Guild of America Producer of the Year Award in Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures

BOLT
Clark Spencer

KUNG FU PANDA
Melissa Cobb

WALL-E
Jim Morris

The Danny Thomas Producer of the Year Award in Episodic Television - Comedy

CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM
Larry David
Jeff Garlin
Tim Gibbons
Erin O’Malley
Alec Berg
Dave Mandel
Jeff Schaffer

ENTOURAGE
Stephen Levinson
Doug Ellin
Rob Weiss
Denis Biggs
Lori Jo Nemhauser
Wayne Carmona

THE OFFICE
Greg Daniels
Kent Zbornak

30 ROCK
Lorne Michaels
Tina Fey
Marci Klein
Robert Carlock
Jeff Richmond
Jerry Kupfer
David Miner

WEEDS
**TBD**

Norman Felton Producer of the Year Award in Episodic Television-Drama:

BOSTON LEGAL
Bill D’Elia
David E. Kelley
Mike Listo
Steve Robin
Janet Knutsen

DAMAGES
Mark A. Baker
Glenn Kessler
Todd A. Kessler
Daniel Zelman

DEXTER
John Goldwyn
Sara Colleton
Clyde Phillips
Robert Lloyd Lewis

LOST
Jack Bender
Carlton Cuse
Drew Goddard
Jean Higgins
Edward Kitsis & Adam Horowitz
Damon Lindelof
Liz Sarnoff
Stephen Williams
Ra’uf Glasglow

MAD MEN
**TBD**

Producer of the Year Award in Non-Fiction Television:

DEADLIEST CATCH
Thom Beers
Jeff Conroy
Lisa Tanzer
Ethan Prochnik

FRONTLINE
David Fanning

KATHY GRIFFIN: MY LIFE ON THE D-LIST
Marcia Mulé
Bryan Scott
Lisa M. Tucker
Kathy Griffin
Chris Carlson
Amy Kohn

60 MINUTES
Jeff Fager

THIS AMERICAN LIFE
Ken Druckerman
Ira Glass
Lisa Pollak
Julie Snyder
Banks Tarver
Nancy Updike
Kevin Vargas
Christopher Wilcha

Producer of the Year Award in Live Entertainment and Competition Television:

AMAZING RACE
Jerry Bruckheimer
Bertram van Munster
Jonathan Littman
Hayma “Screech” Washington
Amy Chacon
Elise Doganieri
Mark Vertullo

THE COLBERT REPORT
Stephen T. Colbert, DFA
Jon Stewart
Allison Silverman
Richard Dahm
Meredith Bennett
Tom Purcell

PROJECT RUNWAY
Rich Bye
Rich Buhrman
Jane Cha
Dan Cutforth
Desiree Gruber
Heidi Klum
Jane Lipsitz

REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER
Bill Maher
Scott Carter
Sheila Griffiths
Dean Johnsen

TOP CHEF
Rich Buhrman
Liz Cook
Dan Cutforth
Jane Lipsitz
Shauna Minoprio
Nan Strait
Andrew Wallace

David L. Wolper Producer of the Year Award in Long-Form Television:

24: REDEMPTION
**TBD**

BERNARD AND DORIS
**TBD**

JOHN ADAMS
David Coatsworth
Frank Doelger
Gary Goetzman
Tom Hanks
Steven Shareshian

A RAISIN IN THE SUN
**TBD**

RECOUNT
**TBD**

PGA honorary awards and recipients:

Milestone Award
Brian Grazer and Ron Howard

David O. Selznick Achievement Award in Theatrical Motion Pictures
Michael Douglas

Norman Lear Achievement Award in Television
David Chase

Visionary Award
Jeff Skoll

Vanguard Award
MySpace founders Chris DeWolfe and Tom Anderson

The Stanley Kramer Award
Milk
Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen

Son of Rambow (2007) released 2008

This sweet movie, the second outing for writer-director Garth Jennings (his first was directing Douglas Adams' zany adaptation of Adams' own brilliant book The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy in 2007) has garnered some nominations from fellow Brits for Jennings and his young stars, Bill Milner and Will Poulter. Will (Milner), a sheltered boy from a religious community called the Brethren, and Lee (Poulter), the bad-boy-with-absent-parents in the elementary school forge an unlikely friendship over a mutual love of a Rambo movie and, hey, kids, let's put on a show! As a former film student I particularly liked when they said, "We're losing the light," and "At least we got the shot." Because this is set in the Rambo 1980's, their production is on videotape, and the older kids are done up with big ratty hair and lots of eyeliner. The French exchange student (Jules Sitruk) is a riot. Will's mom (not a very big part) is played by Jessica Stevenson Hynes, who was in the mock-umentary Confetti (2006), which I thought was very funny, with Martin Freeman, who starred in Hitchhiker's Guide. Asa Butterfield, who is gaining kudos for The Boy in The Striped Pajamas, has one line, as a child in the Brethren. The soundtrack is dotted with pop music from that decade. Be sure you wait to hear the voice-over at the very end of the credits!

Top movies of the year: some more opinions

From this link you can read the top 22 picks of Bob Mondello, one of the movie critics for NPR's All things Considered, and move on from there to the top picks of their others: Kenneth Turan (who also writes for the Los Angeles Times), Mark Jenkins, and David Edelstein. There is a link to listen to Edelstein with Terry Gross on Fresh Air (where he includes movies he hated--look out for spoilers) at the top of his page, and Mondello at the top of the first link.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)

My regular readers have guessed by now that soundtracks are important to me. So far, composer Alexandre Desplat has received for this movie 1 runner-up award (the movie's only LA Film Critics' mention) and nominations by the Golden Globes and Critics' Circle. He hasn't won an Oscar yet, but was nominated for The Queen (2006), and has been recognized by the Golden Globes before, winning for The Painted Veil (2006), and nominated for Syriana (2005) and Girl with a Pearl Earring (2003). When the Oscar nominations are announced I try to make a point of listening to all the nominated soundtracks before the awards. To hear the score yourself, open this link (in another window if you'd like to listen while reading, as I am listening while writing--you will need to manually advance to the next track each time). 

I tried to convince Amy to make time on her winter break to see this movie with me, but she was dissuaded by David Edelstein on NPR, who said that he only liked the first hour and a half (a link to his Fresh Air segment is also in the following post). I agree with Edelstein that Button was too long by over a half hour, but Jack & I still enjoyed this fairy tale loosely based on an F. Scott Fitzgerald short story about a man who ages in reverse. In fact, we both think Jack might have stayed awake for all 2 hours and 48 minutes! 

You can read the story, or the Wikipedia synopsis, and it won't really spoil the movie for you, as very few details were kept. The dates are different (Benjamin is born in 1860, not 1918), the location is Baltimore, even the family business is different, and other details don't match but I won't give them away. 

David Fincher (Se7en (1995), Panic Room (2002), Zodiac (2007)) directs. Screenwriter Eric Roth is familiar with blending fiction and history, having won an Oscar for writing Forrest Gump in 1994 (as well as nominations for The Insider (1999) and Munich (2005)) and co-wrote the movie's story with Robin Swicord. The movie opens on Daisy (Cate Blanchett), covered in prosthetic wrinkles, dying in a New Orleans hospital bed days before Katrina's landfall and murmuring unintelligibly--I wished for closed captions then and in a few other places. Her daughter finds a book and reads to her. It flashes back to just before Benjamin's (Brad Pitt--if you have been living in a cave you might need me to tell you that) birth and the narrative flip-flops between Daisy's and Benjamin's points of view, travelling all over the world but often returning to lush New Orleans, just as Forrest kept returning to Alabama (Gump was actually shot mostly in the Carolinas, the bench was in Savannah, and now it is not). 

I did not recognize little Elle Fanning as the 7 year-old Daisy with her hair dyed red, but she does a good job as always (Babel and Deja Vu, both 2006). Little Old Benjamin is played by a number of actors and computer effects (but nothing, so far, beats the animatronic baby in Children of Men (2006)). Tilda Swinton (Oscar winner for her jittery part in Michael Clayton (2007), scary in the first Narnia movie (2005), awesome in indies The Deep End (2001) and Thumbsucker (2005)) was wonderful as Elizabeth Abbott, and she and Taraji P. Henson (scenery-chewing in both Hustle & Flow (2005) and Talk to Me (2007)) as Queenie deserve every nomination. Yes, it may drag now and then, or hit you over the head with its metaphors about aging (Jack noticed there was a clock in nearly every transition), but see it for the acting, the music, and the images.