Oscar

80th Academy Awards Headlined By ‘No Country For Old Men,’ ‘There Will Be Blood,’ ‘The Bourne Ultimatum’

HollywoodChicago.com — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 12:50:43 -0700

CHICAGO – “No Country For Old Men,” “Juno,” “Once,” “Atonement,” “The Bourne Ultimatum,” “There Will Be Blood,” “Ratatouille,” “The Golden Compass,” “Elizabeth: The Golden Age,” “La Vie en Rose,” “Michael Clayton” and more headlined the 80th Academy Awards on Feb. 24, 2008.

In total, “No Country For Old Men” led the pack with four Oscars followed by a surprising three for “The Bourne Ultimatum” and two for “There Will Be Blood”. A complete list of all 2008 Oscar winners at the 80th Academy Awards is found below. All image credits go to Oscar.com.

Best Picture:
Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen for “No Country For Old Men”

Best Director:
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen for “No Country For Old Men”

Best Original Screenplay:
Diablo Cody for “Juno”
The HollywoodChicago.com interview with “Juno” writer Diablo Cody can be found here.

Best Adapted Screenplay:
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen for “No Country For Old Men”

Best Actor:
Daniel Day-Lewis for “There Will Be Blood”

Best Actress:
Marion Cotillard for “La Vie en Rose”

Best Supporting Actor:
Javier Bardem for “No Country For Old Men”

Best Supporting Actress:
Tilda Swinton for “Michael Clayton”
The HollywoodChicago.com interview with “Michael Clayton” director Tony Gilroy can be found here.

Best Art Direction:
Dante Ferretti (art direction) and Francesca Lo Schiavo (set decoration) for “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”

Best Cinematography:
Robert Elswit for “There Will Be Blood”

Best Film Editing:
Christopher Rouse for “The Bourne Ultimatum”

Best Original Song:
“Falling Slowly” from “Once” (music and lyrics by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova)
The HollywoodChicago.com interview with “Once” director John Carney and stars Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova can be found here.

Best Original Score:
Dario Marianelli for “Atonement”

Best Sound Mixing:
Scott Millan, David Parker and Kirk Francis for “The Bourne Ultimatum”

Best Sound Editing:
Karen Baker Landers and Per Hallberg for “The Bourne Ultimatum”

Best Visual Effects:
Michael Fink, Bill Westenhofer, Ben Morris and Trevor Wood for “The Golden Compass”

Best Costume Design:
Alexandra Byrne for “Elizabeth: The Golden Age”

Best Makeup:
Didier Lavergne and Jan Archibald for “La Vie en Rose”

Best Animated Feature:
Brad Bird for “Ratatouille”

Best Animated Short Film:
Suzie Templeton and Hugh Welchman for “Peter & the Wolf”

Best Documentary Feature:
Alex Gibney and Eva Orner for “Taxi to the Dark Side”

Best Documentary Short Subject:
Cynthia Wade and Vanessa Roth for “Freeheld”

Best Live-Action Short Film:
Philippe Pollet-Villard for “Le Mozart des Pickpockets” (“The Mozart of Pickpockets”)

Best Foreign Language Film:
Stefan Ruzowitzky for “The Counterfeiters” (Austria)

Host Jon Stewart marked one of this year’s surprise moments when he offered for “Once” co-star Marketa Irglova – initially cut off by music – to return to the stage and deliver her acceptance speech. That speech has made its way to YouTube and can be seen below.

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com

HollywoodChicago.com Analyzes 10 Oscar Contenders For Best Supporting Actor, Actress

HollywoodChicago.com — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 00:37:32 -0700

CHICAGO – HollywoodChicago.com film critic Adam Fendelman has analyzed the 10 nominated contenders for best supporting actor and best supporting actress (five in each category) and reveals his selections for the top prize. Hosted by Jon Stewart, the 80th Academy Awards ceremony will be presented on Feb. 24, 2008.

Best Supporting Actor Nominees

Casey Affleck, “The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford”
Adam Fendelman says: Everyone remembers who assassinated Jesse James, but no one recalls who mowed down Robert Ford shortly thereafter. While Casey’s delivery of the spineless character might indeed embody Ford with authenticity, he ultimately shoots himself in his own back with a laissez-faire performance.

Ben Affleck (left) and brother Casey Affleck on Oct. 10, 2007 at the
Chicago International Film Festival premiere of “Gone Baby Gone”.
Photo credit: Adam Fendelman, HollywoodChicago.com

Javier Bardem, “No Country For Old Men”
Adam Fendelman says: No words necessary. The Oscar goes to Javier. (Disclosure: More words in this space only waste your time. We instead decided for no-nonsense brevity and award the haunting and brilliantly chilling villain with no contest. If the academy deviates from this path, something’s seriously gone awry.)

Javier Bardem in “No Country For Old Men”.
Photo credit: IMDb

Philip Seymour Hoffman, “Charlie Wilson’s War”
Adam Fendelman says: We empathize for him here. After devouring the best-actor cake for “Capote,” the reality is he’s always brilliant and doggedly steals the show whether or not he’s in a lead or supporting function. The only reason he falls short in this category for this year is because he’s ousted by Javier Bardem.

Philip Seymour Hoffman in “Charlie Wilson’s War”.
Photo credit: IMDb

Hal Holbrook, “Into the Wild”
Adam Fendelman says: As if he’s not actually acting, you absolutely feel his pain when denied a beautifully benevolent offer to father the family fearing Emile Hirsch. We wish two Oscars could be dished out here, and if the academy does side with him, it’ll be not only because of this performance but also his body of work.

Hal Holbrook on Jan. 26, 2008.
Photo credit: WireImage.com

Tom Wilkinson, “Michael Clayton”
Adam Fendelman says: We take back the reverie for two Oscars in this category. There should actually be three equally shared between Javier, Hal and Tom. Wilkinson’s spot-on performance as an insanely intelligent but nonetheless insane maniac is one of the year’s most memorable and clearly defined supporting men.

Tom Wilkinson in “Michael Clayton”.
Photo credit: IMDb

Best Supporting Actress Nominees

Cate Blanchett, “I’m Not There”
Adam Fendelman says: We know the rules. Of course an actress can score the winning nod both for best actress and best supporting actress. Because we so resiliently have Cate winning the best-actress statue for “Elizabeth: The Golden Age,” our chips are all in on the academy being distracted for awarding her doubly.

Cate Blanchett on Jan. 26, 2008.
Photo credit: WireImage.com

Ruby Dee, “American Gangster”
Adam Fendelman says: We have no shame confessing that we looked her up to see who the heck she was. Yes, she played Denzel Washington’s tough-loving mama, and we do grant props for her crack at slapping straight his gansta’ ways. You can’t take the chow outta the dog, of course, and this film’s entirely overshadowed by him.

Ruby Dee in “American Gangster”.
Photo credit: IMDb

Saoirse Ronan, “Atonement”
Adam Fendelman says: With two award wins and eight nominations, being recently born in 1994 is only a testament to Saorse’s burgeoning talent. She has a piercing way about her, and while her Oscar run will only go as far as a supporting-actress nomination, keep a vigilant eye on this one to take the big trophy in the future.

Saoirse Ronan in “Atonement”.
Photo credit: IMDb

Amy Ryan, “Gone Baby Gone”
Adam Fendelman says: Oh. My. God. We can only assume Wikipedia’s not in a joking mood in its entry for Amy Ryan, which is a third justifiably comprised of lines actualizing the fact that she is nominated for this award by eight societies and actually won – we repeat loudly: WON – from 19. We can’t argue here with the masses.

Amy Ryan on Feb. 3, 2008.
Photo credit: IMDb

Tilda Swinton, “Michael Clayton”
Adam Fendelman says: While she has cutthroat competition in this year’s category from Amy Ryan, her delightfully shady character and bona fide ways as a high-powered, high-paid corporate snake earn Tilda Swinton a well-deserved first Oscar nomination. She’s just one penny short, though, for the big ticket.

Tilda Swinton in “Michael Clayton”.
Photo credit: IMDb

Discuss this on our discussion boards here!

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com

HollywoodChicago.com Analyzes 10 Oscar Contenders For Best Actor, Actress

HollywoodChicago.com — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 17:15:41 -0700

CHICAGO – HollywoodChicago.com film critic Adam Fendelman has analyzed the 10 nominated contenders (five men for best actor and five women for best actress) and reveals his selections for the top prize. Hosted by Jon Stewart, the 80th Academy Awards ceremony will be presented in one form or another on Feb. 24, 2008.

Best Actor Nominees

George Clooney for the character Michael Clayton in “Michael Clayton”
Adam Fendelman says: Clooney upgrades himself from the “A” list to an “A+” grade and his report card earns him a richly deserved fighting chance. Leading this masterful but underrated film the way a leading Hollywood man should, Clooney – led by first-time director Tony Gilroy – will fight for “blood” and come up short.

George Clooney in “Michael Clayton”.
Photo credit: IMDb

Daniel Day-Lewis for the character Daniel Plainview in “There Will Be Blood”
Adam Fendelman says: Like a bat, Daniel Day-Lewis goes into Hollywood hibernation and only comes out when the pickings are prime and perfect. “There Will Be Blood,” which is only his third film in the past decade, is a monster of an epic and he’s nothing short of brilliant in it. This best-actor shoo-in should fit snugly.

Daniel Day-Lewis in “There Will Be Blood”.
Photo credit: IMDb

Johnny Depp for the character Sweeney Todd in “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”
Adam Fendelman says: Watch closely and you’ll see Depp in “Sweeney Todd” superbly slip back into his haunted, quirky “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” mindset. His vengeance, though, is bittersweet, his melodies serve justice to Stephen Sondheim’s music and Depp’s creative license merits a formidable runner up.

Johnny Depp in “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”.
Photo credit: IMDb

Tommy Lee Jones for the character Hank Deerfield in “In the Valley of Elah”
Adam Fendelman says: No. No. No. While Paul Haggis’ “In the Valley of Elah” pulls at your patriotic heartstrings on an important and niche topic, Tommy Lee Jones delivers an adroit but subdued lead performance that won’t compete with the memorable punch and power of the other gentleman in this year’s best-actor race.

Tommy Lee Jones in the film “In the Valley of Elah”.
Photo credit: IMDb

Viggo Mortensen for the character Nikolai Luzhin in “Eastern Promises”
Adam Fendelman says: Viggo Mortensen has clout and solid industry backing in his “Eastern Promises” performance and especially earns theatrical kudos for a particularly difficult and raw fight scene in the nude. Mortensen, though, deserves to stay among his mammoth peers on the best-actor nominee list.

Viggo Mortensen in “Eastern Promises”.
Photo credit: IMDb

Best Actress Nominees

Cate Blanchett for the character Queen Elizabeth I in “Elizabeth: The Golden Age”
Adam Fendelman says: Yes. Yes. Yes. After winning best-supporting actress for “The Aviator” in 2005 and being recognized as not only one of the most successful actresses by Forbes but one of the most influential people in the world by Time, it’s Cate Blanchett’s time to shine in this year’s best-actress limelight.

Cate Blanchett in “Elizabeth: The Golden Age”.
Photo credit: IMDb

Julie Christie for the character Fiona Anderson in “Away From Her”
Adam Fendelman says: Julie Christie in “Away From Her” authentically portrays the ghastly and evocative battle that is Alzheimer’s disease with conviction, reality and heart. She’s making lists across the U.S. as a best-actress nominee but has at least two adversaries who deserve the ultimate prize more.

Julie Christie in “Away From Her”.
Photo credit: IMDb

Marion Cotillard for the character Édith Piaf in “La Vie en Rose”
Adam Fendelman says: Chicago and Boston film critics along with various film festivals say she’s their best actress. She’s nominated by the Broadcast Film Critics Association and the British Academy of Film & TV Arts. Industry experts speak loudly: Marion Cotillard is this year’s top foreign-language selection.

Marion Cotillard in “La Vie en Rose”.
Photo credit: IMDb

Laura Linney for the character Wendy Savage in “The Savages”
Adam Fendelman says: Any daughter who deals with a dad who literally writes wall messages with poop is a fine sibling indeed. In “The Savages,” though, her somewhat memorable performance is trumped by the always dominating Philip Seymour Hoffman, which reminds you she’d more appropriately be up for a supporting role.

Laura Linney in “The Savages”.
Photo credit: IMDb

Ellen Page for the character Juno MacGuff in “Juno”
Adam Fendelman says: Though many haven’t heard of the meek Ellen Page until now and interpret her “Juno” performance as a breakout, she actually broke out in “Hard Candy” in 2005. In 2007’s “Little Miss Sunshine”-like film you can’t help but love, she’s the underdog with a shot at being recognized for coming full circle.

Ellen Page in “Juno”.
Photo credit: IMDb

Discuss this on our discussion boards here!

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com

Trailer For Oscar Hopeful ‘The Great Debaters’ Goes Online

HollywoodChicago.com — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 13:40:40 -0700

The trailer for the Denzel Washington-directed film “The Great Debaters” just went online at Yahoo! Movies.

Click here for “The Great Debaters” trailer.

Denzel Washington in “The Great Debaters”.
Photo credit: IMDb
The film, which is produced by Oprah Winfrey, stars Washington and 2006’s best-actor Oscar winner Forrest Whitaker. It’s set for release on Christmas Day and is expected to be the Weinstein Company’s big entry for this year’s Oscars.