2008/2009 Major Critics Awards

OK, the Academy came up with their shortlist for Best Foreign Language film, and who would have thunk it? Controversy strikes again! Omitted films include Gomorra, A Christmas Tale, Edge of Heaven and MoFo's personal fave, the previously-disqualified Let the Right One In. The Swedish vampire film was not submitted by the country as their official entry, but some believe that it's because it was released after September 30, the cutoff date for these foreign language film nominations. If that's true, it may get nominated next year (don't count on it). These are the actual ones who are able to take the final five spots:

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

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It's what you learn after you know it all that counts. - John Wooden
My IMDb page

Waltz with Bashir looks interesting and I always pull for my fellow Canuckers, but to be honest, in my opinion the Aacdemy slacks even more in the Foreign Language category than the Best Picture or Best Director.

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"Don't be so gloomy. After all it's not that awful. Like the fella says, in Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love - they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock."

Don't have any yet -- think I mentioned in another thread that I'm kind of behind on some of the "usual suspects" -- IE: the films on most people's lists. So I figure I'd better wait until I've caught a few more before making any best of lists. Hopefully I'll catch up in the next 2-3 weeks.

Well that kind of blows... Waltz with Bashir should waltz away with the award then. Get it? Waltz away with it? I'm so clever.

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We are both the source of the problem and the solution, yet we do not see ourselves in this light...

From EW.com...


The British Academy of Film and Television Arts announced their nominations today, anointing The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Slumdog Millionaire with 11 nods each. The Dark Knight and Changeling were the runners-up with nine and eight nominations, respectively, though neither film was cited in the Best Film category (Frost/Nixon, Milk, and The Reader scored the other three slots instead). Here are a few other results I found interesting.

1. Slumdog star Dev Patel landed in the lead actor race alongside heavyweights Sean Penn, Mickey Rourke, Brad Pitt, and Frank Langella. In this country, his campaign has been in the supporting category.


2. Kate Winslet earned two lead actress nods, for Revolutionary Road and The Reader. The Oscars don't allow actors to receive multiple nominations in the same category.


3. Doubt stars Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Amy Adams all won nominations, but their scene-stealing costar Viola Davis was overlooked, and the film earned no other nominations at all.


4. Two actresses considered strong Oscar contenders for Best Actress -- Anne Hathaway and Sally Hawkins -- were both snubbed. Word is that UK audiences didn't warm to Happy-Go-Lucky like American critics have.


Anne Hathaway was indeed eligible for the BAFTA. If you look at the longlists of 15 semifinalists that were announced a few weeks ago, you'll see that she was on that list. Gran Torino, however, was not eligible this year.


Here are all the important BAFTA nominees:



BEST FILM
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
FROST/NIXON
MILK
THE READER
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE



OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM
HUNGER
IN BRUGES
MAMMA MIA!
MAN ON WIRE
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE



DIRECTOR
CHANGELING Clint Eastwood
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON David Fincher
FROST/NIXON Ron Howard
THE READER Stephen Daldry
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE Danny Boyle


ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
BURN AFTER READING Joel Coen / Ethan Coen
CHANGELING J. Michael Straczynski
I’VE LOVED YOU SO LONG Philippe Claudel
IN BRUGES Martin McDonagh
MILK Dustin Lance Black


ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON Eric Roth
FROST/NIXON Peter Morgan
THE READER David Hare
REVOLUTIONARY ROAD Justin Haythe
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE Simon Beaufoy


FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
THE BAADER MEINHOF COMPLEX
GOMORRAH
I'VE LOVED YOU SO LONG
PERSEPOLIS
WALTZ WITH BASHIR



ANIMATED FILM
PERSEPOLIS
WALL•E
WALTZ WITH BASHIR



LEADING ACTOR
FRANK LANGELLA Frost/Nixon
DEV PATEL Slumdog Millionaire
SEAN PENN Milk
BRAD PITT The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
MICKEY ROURKE The Wrestler


LEADING ACTRESS
ANGELINA JOLIE Changeling
KRISTIN SCOTT THOMAS I’ve Loved You So Long
MERYL STREEP Doubt
KATE WINSLET The Reader
KATE WINSLET Revolutionary Road


SUPPORTING ACTOR
ROBERT DOWNEY JR. Tropic Thunder
BRENDAN GLEESON In Bruges
PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN Doubt
HEATH LEDGER The Dark Knight
BRAD PITT Burn After Reading


SUPPORTING ACTRESS
AMY ADAMS Doubt
PENÉLOPE CRUZ Vicky Cristina Barcelona
FREIDA PINTO Slumdog Millionaire
TILDA SWINTON Burn After Reading
MARISA TOMEI The Wrestler


MUSIC
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON Alexandre Desplat
THE DARK KNIGHT Hans Zimmer / James Newton Howard
MAMMA MIA! Benny Andersson / Björn Ulvaeus
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE A. R. Rahman
WALL•E Thomas Newman


CINEMATOGRAPHY
CHANGELING Tom Stern
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON Claudio Miranda
THE DARK KNIGHT Wally Pfister
THE READER Chris Menges / Roger Deakins
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE Anthony Dod Mantle


EDITING
CHANGELING
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
THE DARK KNIGHT
FROST/NIXON
IN BRUGES
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE



PRODUCTION DESIGN
CHANGELING
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
THE DARK KNIGHT
REVOLUTIONARY ROAD
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE



COSTUME DESIGN
CHANGELING
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
THE DARK KNIGHT
THE DUCHESS
REVOLUTIONARY ROAD



SOUND
CHANGELING
THE DARK KNIGHT
QUANTUM OF SOLACE
SLUMDOG MILLIONARE
WALL•E



SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
THE DARK KNIGHT
INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL
IRON MAN
QUANTUM OF SOLACE



MAKE UP & HAIR
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
THE DARK KNIGHT
THE DUCHESS
FROST/NIXON
MILK