Early Oscar Buzz (2009)

[PoppyAzura]

My favorite time of the year!

The International Press Academy announced their nominations for the 14th Annual Satellite Awards on Sunday. Leading the pack with 10 nominations was "Nine," while "An Education," "Precious," "Up in the Air," and "The Hurt Locker" scored five each. Here's a list of nominations in the major categories:

Motion Picture, Drama
The Hurt Locker
Bright Star
An Education
The Messenger
Precious
The Stoning of Soraya M.

Motion Picture, Comedy/Musical
Julie & Julia
The Informant!
A Serious Man
It’s Complicated
Up in the Air
Nine

Actress, Drama
Emily Blunt, The Young Victoria
Abbie Cornish, Bright Star
Carey Mulligan, An Education
Shohreh Aghdashloo, The Stoning of Soraya M.
Catalina Saavedra, The Maid
Penélope Cruz, Broken Embraces

Actor, Drama
Johnny Depp, Public Enemies
Hugh Dancy, Adam
Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker
Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
Michael Sheen, The Damned United
Colin Firth, A Single Man

Actress, Comedy/Musical
Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia
Zooey Deschanel, (500) Days of Summer
Katherine Heigl, The Ugly Truth (LMFAO!!!!)
Sandra Bullock, The Proposal
Marion Cotillard, Nine

Actor, Comedy/Musical
Daniel Day-Lewis, Nine
Bradley Cooper, The Hangover
Matt Damon, The Informant!
Michael Stuhlbarg, A Serious Man
George Clooney, Up in the Air

Supporting Actress
Emily Blunt, Sunshine Cleaning
Mozhan Marno, The Stoning of Soraya M.
Mo’Nique, Precious
Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air
Penélope Cruz, Nine

Supporting Actor
Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds
Alfred Molina, An Education
Woody Harrelson, The Messenger
James McAvoy, The Last Station
Timothy Spall, The Damned United

Director
Neill Blonkamp, District 9
Rob Marshall, Nine
Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
Lee Daniels, Precious
Jane Campion, Bright Star
Lone Scherfig, An Education

Original Screenplay
Jane Campion, Bright Star
Mark Boal, The Hurt Locker
Bob Peterson & Pete Docter, Up
Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber, (500) Days of Summer
Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, A Serious Man

Adapted Screenplay
Nora Ephron, Julie & Julia
Nick Hornby, An Education
Geoffrey Fletcher, Precious
Neill Blonkamp & Terri Tatchell, District 9
Jason Reitman & Sheldon Turner, Up in the Air

Foreign Language Film
Red Cliff
The Maid
The White Ribbon
Broken Embraces
I Killed My Mother
Winter in Wartime

Animated or Mixed Media Film
Up
Where the Wild Things Are
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
The Princess and the Frog
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs

Score
Elliot Goldenthal, Public Enemies
Rolfe Kent, Up in the Air
Michael Giacchino, Up
Carter Burwell & Karen O, Where the Wild Things Are
Marvin Hamlisch, The Informant!
Gabriel Yared, Amelia

Song
“Almost There,” Randy Newman, The Princess and the Frog
“I Can See In Color,” Mary J. Blige, Precious
“Down in New Orleans,” Randy Newman, The Princess and the Frog
“Cinema Italiano,” Maury Yeston, Nine
“The Weary Kind,” Ryan Bingham & T-Bone Burnett, Crazy Heart
“We Are the Children of the World,” Terry Gilliam, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

10 best films of 2009
(500) Days of Summer
A Serious Man
An Education
Bright Star
Inglourious Basterds
Nine
Precious
The Hurt Lucker
The Stoning of Soraya M.
Up in the Air


The awards will be presented Dec. 20 at the InterContinental Hotel in Century City.

 

[Flashbang]

Definitely loving the award season!
500 Days of Summer

ETA: sadly I haven't seen most of the movies. But I heard The Blindside is good. Where is it?

 

[*Bianca*]

Here's the 15 documentaries that the Academy have shortlisted:

The Beaches of Agnes
Burma VJ
The Cove
Every Little Step
Facing Ali
Food, Inc.
Garbage Dreams
Living in Emergency: Stories of Doctors Without Borders
The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers
Mugabe and the White African
Sergio
Soundtrack for a Revolution
Under Our Skin
Valentino The Last Emperor
Which Way Home

The list will be cut down to 5.

 

[MyNameIs]

ETA: sadly I haven't seen most of the movies. But I heard The Blindside is good. Where is it?

This award group is pretty nutz (albeit kinda fun), so don't take their nominations too seriously. They probably didn't care for The Blind Side since it's such an 'American' movie and this group are foreign journalists of sorts (as I understand it).

 

[Miss Dalloway]

It will be interesting to see which ones get the acutal Oscar nods, but seriously what a weak year, pfft!

 

[xerq]

^ exactly! none of these movies seem like worthy Oscar contenders.

 

[Northern Star]

An Education is receiving a lot of buzz right now, so I'm expecting that to feature come Oscar time. I haven't seen it yet though.

 

[Tinetush]

^Yeah I'm dying to see that one..
And yeah It really doesn't seem like there are any real heavy lifters this year.. Maybe that's a good thing.

 

[MyNameIs]

I don't necessarily understand what you all mean by weak, no good movies competing? I mean there have been a number of movies getting raves from the critics, including films like The Hurt Locker, Up, Up in the Air, An Education, Bright Star, Precious, etc, not to mention the yet unreleased films with great Oscar pedigree like Invictus, Nine, The Lovely Bones etc. Seems like a typical year to me in that regard.

However, I seriously have no interest in seeing most of those movies. That's so weird to me. Usually there are a dozen of 'buzzed' movies that I'm dying to see, not this year. The only ones are Precious (already saw, blah), The Single Man and maybe Avatar. The rest look SOOOOOO BORING to me. For example Up in the Air and An Education, both getting glowing reviews but I fall asleep during previews, and have no interest in watching either of them. Same applies to The Hurt Locker, Crazy Hearts, Bright Star, etc. I don't know what that's all about.

 

[lottie342]

I prefer the Oscars when it isn't obvious who is going to win, however I'm disappointed by the films that have been out this year, there are not many films which I have watched and thought "That deserves an Oscar".

There is definitely a lot of buzz about An Education - I want to see it but I'm not too sure...

 

[lizbabe09]

I really hope Mo'nique wins for her role in Precious..she was SOOO good!

 

[LolaSvelt]

The Hurt Locker won some awards yesterday at the Gotham Awards.

The Independent Spirit Awards' nominations will be revealed today (expect to see Precious!). On Thursday, the NBR Awards will be revealed (they are considered to be one of the most prestigious critic awards during Award Season).

 

[LUXXX]

Sandra Bullock is looking like the dark horse to take one of the slots in Best Actress for The Blind Side, it would be her first nomination.

 

[PoppyAzura]

Nominees for the 25th Film Independent Spirit Awards

Best feature: "(500) Days of Summer," "Amreeka," "Precious," "Sin Nombre," "The Last Station"

Best director: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, "A Serious Man"; Lee Daniels, "Precious"; Cary Joji Fukunaga, "Sin Nombre"; James Gray, "Two Lovers;" Michael Hoffman, "The Last Station"

Best screenplay: Alessandro Camon, Oren Moverman, "The Messenger"; Michael Hoffman, "The Last Station"; Lee Toland Krieger, "The Vicious Kind"; Greg Mottola, "Adventureland"; Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber, "(500) Days of Summer"

Best first feature: "A Single Man," "Crazy Heart," "Easier With Practice," "Paranormal Activity," "The Messenger"

Best first screenplay: Sophie Barthes, "Cold Souls"; Scott Cooper, "Crazy Heart"; Cherien Dabis, "Amreeka"; Geoffrey Fletcher, "Precious"; Tom Ford, David Scearce, "A Single Man"

John Cassavetes Award: "Big Fan," "Humpday," "The New Year Parade," "Treeless Mountain," "Zero Bridge"

Best female lead: Maria Bello, "Downloading Nancy"; Nisreen Faour, "Amreeka"; Helen Mirren, "The Last Station"; Gwyneth Paltrow, "Two Lovers"' Gabourey Sidibe, "Precious"

Best male lead: Jeff Bridges, "Crazy Heart"; Colin Firth, "A Single Man"; Joseph Gordon-Levitt, "(500) Days of Summer"; Souleymane Sy Savane, "Goodbye Solo"; Adam Scott, "The Vicious Kind"

Best supporting female: Dina Korzun, "Cold Souls"; Mo'Nique, "Precious"; Samantha Morton, "The Messenger"; Natalie Press, "Fifty Dead Men Walking"; Mia Wasikowska, "That Evening Sun"

Best supporting male: Jemaine Clement, "Gentlemen Broncos"; Woody Harrelson, "The Messenger"; Christian McKay, "Me and Orson Welles"; Raymond McKinnon, "That Evening Sun"; Christopher Plummer, "The Last Station"

Best cinematography: Roger Deakins, "A Serious Man"; Adriano Goldman, "Sin Nombre"; Anne Misawa, "Treeless Mountain"; Andrij Parekh, "Cold Souls"; Peter Zeitlinger, "Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans"

Best documentary: "Anvil! The Story of Anvil," "Food, Inc.," "More Than a Game," "October Country," "Which Way Home"

Best foreign film: "A Prophet," "An Education," "Everlasting Moments," "Mother," "The Maid"

Acura Someone to Watch Award: Kyle Patrick Alvarez, "Easier With Practice"; Asiel Norton, "Redland"; Tariq Tapa, "Zero Bridge"

Truer Than Fiction Award: Natalia Almada, "El General"; Jessica Oreck, "Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo"; Bill Ross, Turner Ross, "45365"

Piaget Producers Award: Karin Chien, ("The Exploding Girl," "Santa Mesa"); Larry Fessenden, ("I Sell the Dead," "The House of the Devil"); Dia Sokol, ("Beeswax," "Nights & Weekends")

 

[Decalion]

It's been a very weak year indeed. For BP, I myself would only nominate 500 Days of Summer and Inglourious Basterds, and neither of those are quite as good as, say Atonement and No Country For Old Men were in 07. I'd give Tarantino the best director Oscar without hesitation, though.

 

[PoppyAzura]

19th Annual Gotham Award winners:

BEST FEATURE
The Hurt Locker (Summit Entertainment)
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Producers: Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal, Nicolas Chartier, Greg Shapiro

BEST DOCUMENTARY
Food, Inc (Magnolia Pictures)
Director: Robert Kenner
Producers: Robert Kenner, Elise Pearlstein

BEST ENSEMBLE PERFORMANCE
The Hurt Locker

BREAKTHROUGH DIRECTOR
Robert Siegel, Big Fan

BREAKTHROUGH ACTOR
Catalina Saavedra, The Maid

BEST FILM NOT PLAYING AT A THEATER NEAR YOU
You Won’t Miss Me
Director: Ry Russo-Young
Producer: Ry Russo-Young

 

[Northern Star]

The first of the critics awards are up.....

The National Board Of Review 2009
Best Film
Up in the Air

Best Director
Clint Eastwood, Invictus

Best Actor
George Clooney, Up in the Air
Morgan Freeman, Invictus

Best Actress
Carey Mulligan, An Education

Best Supporting Actor
Woody Harrelson, The Messenger

Best Supporting Actress
Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air

Best Foreign Language Film
A Prophet

Best Documentary
The Cove

Best Animated Feature
Up

Best Ensemble Cast
It's Complicated

Breakthrough Performance by an Actor
Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker

Breakthrough Performance by an Actress
Gabourey Sidibe, Precious

Best Directorial Debut
Duncan Jones, Moon
Oren Moverman, The Messenger
Marc Webb, 500 Days of Summer

Best Original Screenplay
Joel & Ethan Coen, A Serious Man

Best Adapted Screenplay
Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner, Up in the Air

Special Filmmaking Achievement
Wes Anderson, The Fantastic Mr. Fox

Ten Best Films
(in alphabetical order)
AN EDUCATION
(500) DAYS OF SUMMER
THE HURT LOCKER
INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS
INVICTUS
THE MESSENGER
A SERIOUS MAN
STAR TREK
UP
WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Five Best Foreign-Language Films
(in alphabetical order)
THE MAID
REVANCHE
SONG OF SPARROWS
THREE MONKEYS
THE WHITE RIBBON
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Five Best Documentaries
(in alphabetical order)
BURMA VJ: REPORTING FROM A CLOSED COUNTRY
CRUDE
FOOD, INC.
GOOD HAIR
THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN IN AMERICA: DANIEL ELLSBERG AND THE PENTAGON PAPERS[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Top Ten Independent Films:
(in alphabetical order)
AMREEKA
DISTRICT 9
GOODBYE SOLO
HUMPDAY
IN THE LOOP
JULIA
ME AND ORSON WELLES
MOON
SUGAR
TWO LOVERS[/FONT]

[/FONT]
(moviecitynews.com)

 

[MyNameIs]

WASHINGTON DC FILM CRITICS
Winners in bold.

Best Film
The Hurt Locker | Summit Entertainment
Inglourious Basterds | Weinstein Company
Precious | Lionsgate
Up | Walt Disney
Up in the Air | Paramount


Best Breakthrough Performance
Anna Kendrick | Up in The Air
Christian McKay | Me and Orson Welles
Carey Mulligan | An Education
Jeremy Renner | The Hurt Locker
Gabourey Sidibe | Precious


Best Ensemble
The Hurt Locker | Summit Entertainment
Nine | The Weinstein Company
Precious | Lionsgate
Star Trek | Paramount
Up in the Air | Paramount


Best Animated Film
Coraline | Focus Features
Fantastic Mr. Fox | Fox Searchlight
9 | Focus Features
Ponyo | Walt Disney
Up | Walt Disney


Best Foreign Film
Broken Embraces | Sony Picture Classics
Red Cliff | Magnet / Magnolia
Sin Nombre | Focus Features
Summer Hours | IFC Features
The White Ribbon | Sony Picture Classics


Best Art Direction
The Lovely Bones | Paramount
Nine | The Weinstein Company
Star Trek | Paramount
Where the Wild Things Are | Warner Bros.
The Young Victoria | Apparition


Best Documentary
Anvil! The Story of Anvil | Abramorama
Capitalism: A Love Story | Overture
The Cove | Lionsgate
Food, Inc. | Magnolia
Good Hair | Roadside Attractions


Best Actor
George Clooney | Up in the Air
Colin Firth | A Single Man
Morgan Freeman | Invictus
Viggo Mortensen | The Road
Jeremy Renner | The Hurt Locker


Best Actress
Sandra Bullock | The Blind Side
Carey Mulligan | An Education
Maya Rudolph | Away We Go
Gabourey Sidibe | Precious
Meryl Streep | Julie & Julia


Best Supporting Actor
Woody Harrelson | The Messenger
Anthony Mackie | The Hurt Locker
Alfred Molina | An Education
Stanley Tucci | The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz | Inglourious Basterds


Best Supporting Actress
Vera Farmiga | Up in the Air
Anna Kendrick | Up in the Air
Mo’Nique | Precious
Julianne Moore | A Single Man
Samantha Morton | The Messenger


Best Director
Kathryn Bigelow | The Hurt Locker
Lee Daniels | Precious
Clint Eastwood | Invictus
Jason Reitman | Up in the Air
Quentin Tarantino | Inglourious Basterds


Best Screenplay, Adapted
The Blind Side | Warner Bros.
An Education | Sony Picture Classics
Precious | Lionsgate
The Road | Dimension
Up in the Air | Paramount


Best Screenplay, Original
(500) Days of Summer | Fox Searchlight
The Hurt Locker | Summit Entertainment
Inglourious Basterds | Weinstein Company
A Serious Man | Focus Features
Up | Walt Disney

 

[Flashbang]

'Up in the Air' is definitely in my to-watch-immediately list. The story is interesting.

 

[TheCheekyCritic]

I'm really advocating for an Academy Award-nomination for Christoph Waltz's absolutely phenomenal(!) performance in Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds. Whether you liked the film or not, the genius that was his portrayal of Hans Landa is simply undeniable. If Waltz is ignored here, the AMPAS will to me lose the little credibility it has left as a serious motion picture association. (Well, that is unless they can't nominate him due to some nom regulation of theirs -- I'm not that familiar with how exactly that works. Then again, they also nominated Heath Ledger posthumously...)

I'm still a bit undecided on Inglourious Basterds as a whole, but the last time I was this riveted by an acting performance was when I first saw David Wenham's touching portrayal of Faramir in Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.