The 2008 Awards Season Has Started!

[MacGuffin]

'I'm Not There' feels the Spirit
Todd Haynes film nabs five nominations

"I'm Not There" squeaked ahead of the pack for this year's Spirit Award kudos with four nominations plus receiving the inaugural Robert Altman award.

Also receiving four nominations each (including best feature and director) are "Juno," "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" and "The Savages."

Lisa Kudrow and Zach Braff announced the nominations Tuesday morning at the Sofitel Hotel in West Hollywood. The lighthearted duo set the tone for the day, with darker fare such as "A Mighty Heart" and "Lust Caution" earning three nominations each. "Rocket Science" also landed three nods.

Gus Van Sant's latest, "Paranoid Park" rounded out the best feature category -- an IFC pic that debuts next year but screened at Cannes.

With four noms and two wins, Van Sant has been a Spirit favorite since 1989's "Drugstore Cowboy." Ryan Werner, IFC vice president for marketing, said the writer-director "exemplifies independent spirit" with his history of personal and experimental filmmaking.

Tamara Jenkins, helmer of "The Savages" and past first feature nominee, joins Todd Haynes ("I'm Not There"), Jason Reitman ("Juno"), Julian Schnabel ("The Diving Bell and the Butterfly") and Van Sant in the director category, with those film's producers also vying for best feature.

In the acting categories, names like Angelina Jolie and Cate Blanchett are up against first-time nominees such as Tang Wei in "Lust Caution." Other female thesps up for a leading award include Sienna Miller in "Interview," Ellen Page in "Juno" and Parker Posey in "Broken English" (her second nod).

Philip Seymour Hoffman, who took home the male lead prize two years ago for "Capote," is up again this year for "The Savages," as are Pedro Castaneda in "August Evening," Don Cheadle in "Talk to Me," Frank Langella in "Starting Out In the Evening" and Tony Leung in "Lust Caution."

Writer-director Zoe Cassavetes is up for two prizes for her first film, "Rocket Science": first feature and first screenplay. Contenders for the John Cassavetes Award, which was named for her father and honors films made for less than $500,000, are "August Evening," "Owl and the Sparrow," "The Pool," "Quiet City" or "Shotgun Stories."

Other scribes to earn noms include "Diving Bell's" Ronald Harwood, Jenkins, Fred Parnes & Andrew Wagner for "Starting Out in the Evening," Adrienne Shelly for "Waitress" and Mike White for "Year of the Dog.

Fox Searchlight was the clear winner of the day with 11 noms, thanks mostly to its dysfunctional-family pics "Juno" and "The Savages." Four other shingles, including Paramount Vantage, Miramax, Focus Features and the Weinstein Co., trail with five bids each.

Missing this year is a breakout commercial success like 2006's "Little Miss Sunshine." Of the feature and director contenders, only "I'm Not There" has opened, but it's yet to break the $1 million mark. Of all the nominees, "A Mighty Heart's" $9 million domestic take is the B.O. leader.

Film Independent will host the awards — which have gone green this year — in typical fashion one day before the Oscars, on Feb. 23 in a tent on the Santa Monica beach. A telecast will air on the Independent Film Channel live (and uncensored) at 2 p.m. PST.


And the 2008 Spirit nominees are...

FEATURE (Award given to the producer)
"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" - Producers: Kathleen Kennedy, Jon Kilik
"I'm Not There" - Producers: Christine Vachon, John Sloss, John Goldwyn, James D. Stern
"Juno" - Producers: Lianne Halfon, John Malkovich, Mason Novick, Russell Smith
"A Mighty Heart" - Producers: Dede Gardner, Andrew Eaton, Brad Pitt
"Paranoid Park" - Producers: Neil Kopp, David Cress

FIRST FEATURE (Award given to the director and producer)
"2 Days in Paris" - Director: Julie Delpy; Producers: Julie Delpy, Christophe Mazodier, Thierry Potok
"Great World of Sound" - Director: Craig Zobel; Producers: Melissa Palmer, David Gordon Green, Richard Wright, Craig Zobel
"The Lookout" - Director: Scott Frank; Producers: Roger Birnbaum, Gary Barber, Laurence Mark, Walter Parkes
"Rocket Science" - Director: Jeffrey Blitz; Producers: Effie T. Brown, Sean Welch
"Vanaja" - Director: Rajnesh Domalpalli; Producer: Latha R. Domalapalli

DIRECTOR
Todd Haynes - "I'm Not There"
Tamara Jenkins - "The Savages"
Jason Reitman - "Juno"
Julian Schnabel - "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"
Gus Van Sant - "Paranoid Park"

MALE LEAD
Pedro Castaneda - "August Evening"
Don Cheadle - "Talk To Me"
Philip Seymour Hoffman - "The Savages"
Frank Langella - "Starting Out in the Evening"
Tony Leung - "Lust, Caution"

FEMALE LEAD
Angelina Jolie - "A Mighty Heart"
Sienna Miller - "Interview"
Ellen Page - "Juno"
Parker Posey - "Broken English"
Tang Wei - "Lust, Caution"

SUPPORTING MALE
Chiwetel Ejiofor - "Talk To Me"
Marcus Carl Franklin - "I'm Not There"
Kene Holliday - "Great World of Sound"
Irrfan Khan - "The Namesake"
Steve Zahn - "Rescue Dawn"More than one option(Person) Irfan Khan
(Person) Irrfan Khan

SUPPORTING FEMALE
Cate Blanchett - "I'm Not There"
Anna Kendrick - "Rocket Science"
Jennifer Jason Leigh - "Margot at the Wedding"
Tamara Podemski - "Four Sheets to the Wind"
Marisa Tomei - "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead"More than one option(Person) Jennifer Jason Leigh
(Person) Jennifer Jason Leigh

SCREENPLAY
Ronald Harwood - "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"
Tamara Jenkins - "The Savages"
Fred Parnes & Andrew Wagner - "Starting Out in the Evening"
Adrienne Shelly - "Waitress"
Mike White - "Year of the Dog"

FIRST SCREENPLAY
Jeffrey Blitz - "Rocket Science"
Zoe Cassavetes - "Broken English"
Diablo Cody - "Juno"
Kelly Masterson - "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead"
John Orloff - "A Mighty Heart"

CINEMATOGRAPHY
Mott Hupfel - "The Savages"
Janusz Kaminski - "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"
Milton Kam - "Vanaja"
Mihai Malaimare, Jr. - "Youth Without Youth"
Rodrigo Prieto - "Lust, Caution"

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD (Given to the best feature made for under $500,000; award given to the writer, director, and producer)
"August Evening" - Writer/Director: Chris Eska; Producers: Connie Hill, Jason Wehling
"Owl and the Sparrow" - Writer/Director: Stephane Gauger; Producers: Nguyen Van Quan, Doan Nhat Nam, Stephane Gauger
"The Pool" - Director: Chris Smith; Producer: Kate Noble; Writer: Chris Smith & Randy Russell
"Quiet City" - Director: Aaron Katz; Producers: Brendan McFadden, Ben Stambler
"Shotgun Stories" - Writer/Director: Jeff Nichols; Producers: David Gordon Green, Lisa Muskat, Jeff NicholsMore than one option(Film) The Pool
(Film) The Pool

DOCUMENTARY (Award given to the director)
"Crazy Love" - Director: Dan Klores
"Lake of Fire" - Director: Tony Kaye
"Manufactured Landscapes" - Director: Jennifer Baichwal
"The Monastery" - Director: Pernille Rose Grønkjær
"The Prisoner or: How I Planned to Kill Tony Blair" - Directors: Petra Epperlein & Michael Tucker
More than one option(Film) Love Is a Dog From Hell
(Film) Crazy Love

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD
"I'm Not There"
Director: Todd Haynes; Casting Director: Laura Rosenthal; Ensemble Cast: Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Marcus Carl Franklin, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Bruce Greenwood, Richard Gere, Heath Ledger, Ben Whishaw

IFC/ACURA SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD
Ramin Bahrani, director of "Chop Shop"
Ronnie Bronstein, director of "Frownland"
Lee Isaac Chung, director of "Munyurangabo"

TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD
Laura Dunn for "The Unforeseen"
Gary Hustwit for "Helvetica"
John Maringouin for "Running Stumbled"

PRODUCERS AWARD
Anne Clements, producer of "Ping Pong Playa" and "Quinceañera"
Alexis Ferris, producer of "Cthulhu" and "Police Beat"
Neil Kopp, producer of "Paranoid Park" and "Old Joy"More than one option(Person) Anne Clements
Assistant, Production Assistant
(Person) Anne Clements

[Pubrick]

out of all these, i don't think paranoid park and a mighty heart will get much recognition in the months to come. the diving bell, i'm not there, juno, and lake of fire should stick around for the long haul. with surprise appearances by marisa naked tomei as supporting actress, but she won't win, especially if cate is gonna be in that category. and what the hell is The Savages?

EDIT: bigideas, see what i did here is i went and found out something on my own:

Next month he's featured with Laura Linney in Tamara Jenkins' affecting "The Savages," an equally downbeat story about siblings dealing with their father's dementia.

and the actual thread

[cine]

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD

i wanna win that. 

[MacGuffin]

NBR picks 'No Country'
Tim Burton picks up directing award
Source: Variety

The Coen brothers' "No Country for Old Men," from Miramax and Paramount Vantage, was named best picture of the year by the National Board of Review, while Tim Burton drew the director nod for DreamWorks-Warner Bros. musical "Sweeney Todd."

"No Country" also picked up the awards for adapted screenplay and ensemble cast, which includes Javier Bardem, Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin and Kelly Macdonald. With three nods, pic won the most of any film.

There's always a certain amount of mystery surrounding the NBR, a group of film educators and other professionals with no official Hollywood ties, but the org's yearly announcement is considered an early bellwether of potential award winners, and its top 10 list, which it releases in alphabetical order, is among the first that roll out in December.

George Clooney picked up NBR's actor nod for his performance in Warner Bros.' "Michael Clayton," while Julie Christie won the actress prize for Lionsgate's "Away from Her."

Casey Affleck received the supporting actor prize for Warner's "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford," while Amy Ryan won supporting actress for "Gone Baby Gone."

NBR lauded Disney-Pixar's "Ratatouille" for animated feature, while French film "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" took foreign film. Phil Donahue and Ellen Spiro's Iraqi war doc "Body of War" drew the documentary nod. Ben Affleck won for directorial debut with "Gone Baby Gone." Both "Gone" and "Diving Bell" are distributed by Miramax.

In previous years, the NBR included the winning film in its list of the top 10 films of the year. This round, the org changed its rules to keep the year's best film separate, creating what amounts to a top 11 list.

Warner took three of the spots on the list: Andrew Dominik's "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford," Rob Reiner's "The Bucket List" and Tony Gilroy's "Clayton." Vantage took two with Sean Penn's "Into the Wild" and Marc Forster's "The Kite Runner."

"Sweeney," which DreamWorks- Paramount is distributing domestically, also made the list, as did Focus Features' "Atonement," Universal's "The Bourne Ultimatum," Fox Searchlight's "Juno" and MGM-Sidney Kimmel's "Lars and the Real Girl."

"We screened 328 films, and the diversity of these narratives is reflected in our 2007 ten best films," NBR prexy Annie Schulhof said. "No Country for Old Men" is a "brilliant convergence of extraordinary directing, a masterful screenplay and incredible ensemble performances."

Miramax is distributing the pic domestically.

A number of the films landing on the top 10 roster haven't yet opened in the U.S., so distribs will try to use the NBR mention to up the profile of their pics. Joe Wright's "Atonement" opens Friday, "Kite Runner" opens Dec. 14, "Sweeney" unspools Dec. 21, and "Bucket List" bows Christmas Day.

"Juno," which opened Wednesday, will look for an immediate boost. Ellen Page won NBR's prize for breakthrough performance by an actress for her role in the pic, while Emile Hirsch took breakthrough perf by an actor for "Into the Wild."

"Juno" scribe Diablo Cody and "Lars and the Real Girl" scribe Nancy Oliver tied for the original screenplay prize; Joel and Ethan Coen drew adapted screenplay kudos for "No Country," based on the tome by Cormac McCarthy.

Among the pics on NBR's list of top 10 independent movies were Sarah Polley's "Away from Her," Craig Zobel's "Great World of Sound" (Magnolia Pictures), John Sayles' "Honeydripper" (Emerging Pictures), Paul Haggis' "In the Valley of Elah" (Warner Independent), Michael Winterbottom's "A Mighty Heart" (Vantage) and Andrew Wagner's "Starting Out in the Evening" (Roadside Attractions).

Searchlight scored four of the spots on the indie list with Mira Nair's "The Namesake," Tamara Jenkins' "The Savages," John Carney's "Once" and Adrienne Shelly's "Waitress."

Making the shortlist of top foreign films were "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days," "The Band's Visit," "The Counterfeiters," "La Vie en rose" and "Lust, Caution."

"Darfur Now," "In the Shadow of the Moon," "Nanking," "Taxi to the Darkside" and "Toots" were named the top five docus.

Michael Douglas will receive NBR's career achievement award, while the William K. Everson Film History Award will go to Robert Osborne. Longtime Coen brothers collaborator Roger Deakins will receive the award for career achievement. The Bulgari Award for NBR Freedom of Expression will go to films "The Great Debaters" and "Persepolis."

Kudos will be handed out during a Jan. 15 gala dinner at Cipriani in Gotham.


And the nominees are...

Director:
Tim Burton, "Sweeney Todd"

Actor:
George Clooney, "Michael Clayton"

Actress:
Julie Christie, "Away From Her"

Supporting Actor:
Casey Affleck, "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford"

Supporting Actress:
Amy Ryan, "Gone Baby Gone"

Foreign Film:
"The Diving Bell And The Butterfly"

Documentary:
"Body Of War"

Animated Feature:
"Ratatouille"

Ensemble Cast:
"No Country For Old Men"

Breakthrough Performance by an Actor:
Emile Hirsch, "Into The Wild"

Breakthrough Performance by an Actress:
Ellen Page, "Juno"

Best Directorial Debut:
Ben Affleck, "Gone Baby Gone"

Best Original Screenplay (tie):
Diablo Cody, "Juno" and
Nancy Oliver, "Lars and the Real Girl"

Best Adapted Screenplay:
Joel and Ethan Coen, "No Country For Old Men"

Besides "No Country," here's NBR's top ten, in alphabetical order:
"The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford"
"Atonement"
"The Bourne Ultimatum"
"The Bucket List"
"Into The Wild"
"Juno"
"The Kite Runner"
"Lars And The Real Girl"
"Michael Clayton"
"Sweeney Todd"

[Pubrick]

congratulations, National Board of Retards, for the year's first batch of wrong.

no cmb, no lake off, no credibility.

[Sleepless]

Just out of interest, did TWBB qualify for these awards? At first I thought not, but then other films that haven't yet been released did get recognition... Just wondering.

[modage]

wow, 1 whole movie from the first 2/3rds of the year!

[©brad]

congratulations, National Board of Retards, for the year's first batch of wrong.

hah, totally.

sad that zodiac will be completely ignored this year.

[Sunrise]

sad that zodiac will be completely ignored this year.

It will only be ignored by those organizations, publications, etc. that aren't worthy of your attention anyway. It could be thought of as a sort of litmus test for critical credibility. NBR flunked it. We'll see who's next. I would guess it will be in contention for Xixax best picture, and if it were any other year it may have had a chance.

[Fernando]

In a week the globes are announced (the 13th) and we'll see which route cmbb will take:

1. the ronnie howard route - awards all over the place.

2. the little miss indy darling route - few nods here and there, some wins.

3. the malick route - some nods, no wins.

4. the kubrick route - 

[modage]

i can't believe its december already.  besides 1 film i've never been less excited about the crop of nominees/awards contenders.

[Gamblour.]

Really? I've thorougly enjoyed this year. Normally I have a hard time filling out a top ten anything, but this year it will be hard to pick and choose. Are you just upset at NBR's picks? I mean, sure CMBB and Zodiac and others are missing, but I think some good work is being recognize. By this, I mean Casey Affleck in Assassination and all the love for Juno. I can't wait for more people here to see Juno.

[modage]

yeah i saw Juno a month ago and i really liked it.  i just feel like normally in december there are like 5 or 6 last minute prestigey releases i'm dying to see but other than Blood i have a vague interest in Sweeney Todd and thats about it.  but honestly, i have complained about every year sucking since i joined this board.  haha, so maybe i suck now.

[Fernando]

haha, so maybe i suck now.

Modage sucks now!

Stefen got it right then? 

[Sunrise]

2007 Poll by Sight & Sound: http://www.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/pdf/films-of-the-year-2007.pdf

Still no love for Blood, but a much more legitimate list (if you read through the individual lists, however, a few of the UK critics that have seen Blood and K. Jones recognize it). {fixed}
And I would have to side with Gamblour in that I think 2007 has been a remarkable year.