The 2006 Awards Season Has Started!

[MacGuffin]

Six Indie Spirit noms to 'Squid'
Source: Hollywood Reporter

With six nominations, Noah Baumbach's "The Squid and the Whale," the autobiographical tale of two boys dealing with their parents' divorce, led the list of nominees for Film Independent's 2006 Independent Spirit Awards, which were announced Tuesday morning.

It will compete for best feature with "Brokeback Mountain," "Capote," "Good Night, and Good Luck" and "The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada," which all picked up four nominations each.

Selected from more than 200 submissions, winners of the Independent Spirit Awards, which recognize American independent features, made for less than $20 million, will be presented March 4 in Santa Monica.

Jeff Daniels, who plays the novelist dad in "Squid," was nominated for best male lead, along with Philip Seymour Hoffman, who portrays the title character in "Capote"; Terrence Howard, who stars as a pimp who aspires to be a rapper in "Hustle & Flow," Heath Ledger, who's a taciturn cowboy who falls in love with another man in "Brokeback Mountain," and David Strathairn, who embodies journalist Edward R. Murrow in "Good Night, and Good Luck."

In the best female lead category, "Squid" also earned a nomination for Laura Linney, who plays a mom who is having an affair. The category also includes Felicity Huffman, who appears as a male-to-female transexual in "Transamerica," Dina Korzun, in the role of a Russian woman living in Memphis in "Forty Shades of Blue," S. Epatha Merkerson, who runs a boarding house in "Lackawanna Blues," and Cyndi Williams, who plays a Texas woman haunted by psychic visions in "Room."

Nominees for best supporting female are Amy Adams, "Junebug"; Maggie Gyllenhaal, "Happy Endings"; Allison Janney, "Our Very Own"; Michelle Williams, "Brokeback Mountain"; and Robin Wright Penn, "Nine Lives."

Those nominated for best supporting male are Firdous Bamji, "The War Within"; Matt Dillon, "Crash"; Jesse Eisenberg, "The Squid and the Whale"; Barry Pepper, "The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada"; and Jeffrey Wright, "Broken Flowers."

Of the best feature nominees, three of the films also picked up nominations for best director: "Brokeback's" Ang Lee, "Good Night's" George Clooney and "Squid's" Noah Baumbach. The other two best director nominations went to Gregg Araki for "Mysterious Skin," a tale of how sexual molestation shapes the lives of two boys, and Rodrigo Garcia for "Nine Lives," a portrait of nine different women.

Nominations for best first feature, an award that goes to both director and producers, include: "Crash," directed by Paul Haggis and produced by Cathy Schulman, Don Cheadle, Bob Yari, Mark R. Harris, Bobby Moresco and Paul Haggis; "Lackawanna Blues," directed by George C. Wolfe and produced by Nellie Nugiel; "Me and You and Everyone We Know," directed by Miranda July and produced by Gina Kwon; "Thumbsucker," directed by Mike Mills and produced by Anthony Bregman and Bob Stephenson; and "Transamerica," directed by Duncan Tucker and produced by Rene Bastian, Sebastian Dungan and Linda Moran.

Nominations in other categories include:

John Cassavetes Award, for best first feature made for under $500,000: "Brick," "Conventioneers," "Jellysmoke," "The Puffy Chair" and "Room."

Best screenplay: Ayad Akhtar, Joseph Castelo and Tom Glynn for "The War Within," Guillermo Arriaga for "The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada," Baumbach for "The Squid and the Whale," Dan Futterman for "Capote" and Garcia for "Nine Lives."

Best first screenplay: Kenneth Hanes for "Fixing Frank," July for "Me and You and Everyone We Know," Angus MacLachlan for "Junebug," Sabina Murray for "The Beautiful Country" and Tucker for "Transamerica."

Best cinematography: Robert Elswit for "Good Night, and Good Luck," John Foster for "Keane," Adam Kimmel for "Capote," Chris Menges for "The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada" and Harris Savides for "Last Days."

Best foreign film: Christi Puiu's "The Death of Mr. Lazarescu" (Romania); Fernando Eimbcke's "Duck Season" (Mexico); Fatih Akin's "Head-On" (Germany/Turkey); Hany Abu-Assad's "Paradise Now" (Palestine/Netherlands/Germany/France) and Jun Ichikawa's "Tony Takitani" (Japan).

Best documentary: Alex Gibney's "Enron: The Smarest Guys in the Room"; Werner Herzog's "Grizzly Man"; Scott Dalton and Margarita Martinez's "La Sierra"; Mark Becker's "Romantico" and David Zeiger's "Sir! No Sir!"

The IFC/Acura Someone to Watch Award, recognizing a filmmaker "who has not yet received appropriate recognition": Ian Gamazon and Neill Dela Llana, directors of "Cavite"; Robinson Devor, director of "Police Beat"; and Jay Duplass, director of "The Puffy Chair."

The Truer Than Fiction Award, presented to an emerging director of nonfiction features: Rachel Boynton for "Our Brand Is Crisis"; Garrett Scott and Ian Olds for "Occupation: Dreamland"; Mark Becker for "Romantico"; and Thomas Allen Harris for "Twelve Disciples of Nelson Mandela."

The AMC/American Express Producers Award, honoring emerging producers: Caroline Baron for "Capote" and "Monsoon Wedding," Ram Bergman for "Brick" and "Conversations with Other Women"; and Mike S. Ryan for "Junebug" and "Palindromes."

[MacGuffin]

'Brokeback' best pic, director for L.A. critics

"Brokeback Mountain" was voted top honors from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association on Saturday, taking best picture and best director for Ang Lee.

Best actor honors went to Philip Seymour Hoffman for his portayal of writer Truman Capote in "Capote," while best actress went to Vera Farmiga for "Down to the Bone."
 
William Hurt was named best supporting actor for "A History of Violence," while Catherine Keener was named best supporting actress for her work in "Capote" as well as in "The Ballad of Jack and Rose," "The Interpreter" and "The Forty Year Old Virgin."

Best screenplay honors were a split decision for "Capote," written by Dan Futterman, and "The Squid and the Whale" by Noah Baumbach.

Actor Terrence Howard won voting for the New Generation Award for his work in "Hustle & Flow," "Four Brothers" and "Get Rich or Die Tryin'".

Nick Park and Steve Box's stop-motion film "Wallace & Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit" was named best animated feature. Werner Herzog's "Grizzly Man," a bleak portrait of a man killed by bears, was named best documentary, while Michael Haneke's "Cache" ("Hidden") was named best best foreign-language film.

In the craft categories, Robert Elswit's black-and-white cinematography for director George Clooney's "Good Night, and Good Luck" received the top nod. Production design honors went to William Chang Suk-Ping for his work on Wong Kar Wai's "2046," and Joe Hisaishi's won top honors for his music for director Hayao Miyazaki's animated "Howl's Moving Castle."

The 2005 Los Angeles Film Critics Association awards will be handed out Jan. 17 at the Park Hyatt Hotel in Century City.

[Kal]

AFI AWARDS 2005

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) -- Critics' darling "Brokeback Mountain," the upcoming effects extravaganza "King Kong" and the raucous comedy "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" are among the 10 films that the American Film Institute has judged as the most outstanding motion pictures of the year.

The official selections of AFI Awards 2005 for top films and TV programs were announced Sunday after two days of deliberations by two juries that selected the year's best in film and television.

The AFI will honor the creative ensembles behind each of the honorees January 13 at a luncheon at the Four Seasons in Los Angeles.

"AFI is proud to honor these 20 collaborative teams. As the institute recognizes and celebrates excellence across the century, these honorees will be part of the record that documents America's enduring cultural legacy," AFI director and CEO Jean Picker Firstenberg said.

In addition to "Mountain," "Kong" and "Virgin," the movies chosen are "Capote," "Crash," "Good Night, and Good Luck," "A History of Violence," "Munich," "The Squid and the Whale" and "Syriana."

The 10 TV programs are: "24," "Battlestar Galactica," "Deadwood," "Grey's Anatomy," "House," "Lost," "Rescue Me," "Sleeper Cell," "Sometimes in April" and "Veronica Mars."

The film jury was: producer Robert G. Rehme, director Martha Coolidge, critic David Denby, scholar Anna Everett, director Norman Jewison, producer Tom Pollock, director Jay Roach, critic Lisa Schwarzbaum, scholar Vivian Sobchack, author David Thomson, critic Kenneth Turan, scholar Stephen Ujlaki and producer Laura Ziskin.

The TV jury's members were: director Marshall Herskovitz, Academy of Television Arts & Sciences president Dick Askin, writer Lionel Chetwynd, scholar Mary Corey, producer Tony Jonas, producer Jeffrey Kramer, critic Melanie McFarland, scholar Tara McPherson, producer Dorothea Petrie, director Frank Pierson, critic James Poniewozik, writer Del Reisman and critic Matt Roush.

[Fernando]

AFI AWARDS 2005

The 10 TV programs are: "24," "Battlestar Galactica," "Deadwood," "Grey's Anatomy," "House," "Lost," "Rescue Me," "Sleeper Cell," "Sometimes in April" and "Veronica Mars."

No Six Feet Under????? These ppl have no memory.

[grand theft sparrow]

The only thing that will make me more nauseous than seeing Crash on this list, even though I knew it was coming, is when Paul Haggis wins the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. 

[SHAFTR]

The only thing that will make me more nauseous than seeing Crash on this list, even though I knew it was coming, is when Paul Haggis wins the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. 

I saw Crash a few months before it came out and Haggis was there for a Q&A.  I saw the film, thought it was awful and then listened for 30+ mins as people kept telling him how great it was.  They (as does haggis himself) really think Crash is a very important film in the way it looks at race relations.  In fact, one girl suggested he should win a Nobel Peace Prize for how incredible and important it will be for society.

[grand theft sparrow]

They (as does haggis himself) really think Crash is a very important film in the way it looks at race relations.

I'd like to do a poll of people of all different races in LA finding out who liked it and who didn't.  I'd bet Asians, who were basically just macguffins in the movie (no offense, MacGuffin), would like it the least.

The only important thing that came out of this film, re: race relations, is that it woke me up to how many people in this country see themselves and others as one-dimensional stereotypes.  Even friends of mine whose opinions I otherwise respect thought this movie was great. 

I'm sorry for my digression.  I'm going to try to stop talking about this, as I've ranted to everyone I've had contact with in the last month or so just how much I hated this movie and I didn't want to bump the Crash thread just to get this off my chest again. 

[MacGuffin]

"Brokeback" builds Oscar buzz with NY award

N.Y. critics ride with 'Brokeback'

NEW YORK -- Focus Features' gay-themed western "Brokeback Mountain" swept the top New York Film Critics Circle honors Monday, garnering awards for best picture, best director (Ang Lee) and best actor (Heath Ledger). The group's best actress award went to Reese Witherspoon for "Walk The Line." Wong Kar Wai's "2046" earned the group's best foreign-language film and best cinematography kudos, while Werner Herzog was honored for two best non-fiction films, the docus "Grizzly Man" and "White Diamond." Bennett Miller earned a best first film nod for his direction of "Capote," and best animated feature went to Hayao Miyazaki's "Howl's Moving Castle." "The Squid and the Whale" earned Noah Baumbach the NYFCC best screenplay award. David Cronenberg's "A History of Violence" locked up best supporting actor and actress honors for William Hurt and Maria Bello. The 71st annual awards will be presented on Jan. 8 at New York's Cipriani's 42nd Street.

NATIONAL BOARD OF REVIEW AWARDS

NBR picks 'Good Night' as year's best

NEW YORK -- Three Warner Independent Pictures releases topped the National Board of Review's list of awards Monday, including George Clooney's sophomore feature "Good Night, and Good Luck" as best film, Hany Abu-Assad's terrorism-themed "Paradise Now" as best foreign-language film and Luc Jacquet's surprise hit "March of the Penguins" as best documentary. WIP's parent company, Warner Bros. Pictures, scored a best animated feature win with "Tim Burton's Corpse Bride."

Reflecting this year's trend in films with gay themes and characters, the 150-member NBR committee voted Philip Seymour Hoffman ("Capote") and Felicity Huffman ("Transamerica") as best actor and actress, while Ang Lee and Jake Gyllenhall earned best director and best supporting actor awards, respectively for "Brokeback Mountain." Best supporting actress honors went to Gong Li for her role in "Memoirs of a Geisha."


After "Good Night," NBR's list of 2005's best 10 films includes (in alphabetical order) "Brokeback Mountain," "Capote," "Crash," "History of Violence," "Match Point," "Memoirs of a Geisha," "Munich," "Syriana" and "Walk The Line." "Brokeback" led the pack with three awards, while "Capote," "Crash," "History," "Hustle & Flow" "Memoirs" and "Syriana" nabbing two each.

Noah Baumbach scored a best original screenplay award for "The Squid and the Whale," while Stephen Gaghan won best adapted screenplay for "Syriana."

Rounding out the top five in the best foreign language slot are "2046," "Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress,""Downfall" and "Walk on Water." The runners-up for best documentaries were "Ballets Russes," "Grizzly Man," "Mad Hot Ballroom" and "Murderball."

The unofficial secondary list for best film, which NBR dubs a "Special Mention for Excellence in Filmmaking," includes "Breakfast on Pluto," "Cape of Good Hope," "The Dying Gaul," "Everything Is Illuminated," "Hustle & Flow," "Junebug," "Layer Cake," "Lord of War," "Nine Lives," "The Thing About My Folks" and "The Upside of Anger."

Among the thespian honors, "Mrs. Henderson Presents" earned best acting by an ensemble cast. Terrence Howard took the breakthrough performance award for an actor in "Crash," "Get Rich or Die Tryin'" and "Hustle & Flow," while Q'Orianka Kilcher earned breakthrough performance for an actress in "The New World."

Julian Fellowes earned a best directorial debut award for "Separate Lies," and, in a semi-annual award, "Lackawanna Blues" won best film or miniseries made for cable TV. The socially relevant pics "Innocent Voices" and "The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till" each earned special recognition for films that reflect freedom of expression.

"King Kong" was given an outstanding achievement in special effects award, which an NBR spokesperson said is only the second such honor in the group's 96-year history. In 1997, James Cameron received a special effects technology award for "Titanic."

Previously announced career achievement awards for Jane Fonda and composer Howard Shore were fleshed out by three more: David Cronenberg was given the Billy Wilder award for excellence in direction, George Feltenstein received the William K. Everson Award for Film History, and Saul Zaentz was named producer of the year.

Due to a clerical error, not all 2005 films were lsted on the group's original ballot, and so the award announcements were delayed from Wednesday until Monday as NBR members were asked to recast their ballots. "Almost 97% of the group revoted," said recently installed NBR president Annie Schulhof.

The award ceremony will be held Jan. 10 at New York's Tavern On The Green, with Paul Reiser serving as emcee.

[modage]

man, this year sucked!

while Ang Lee and Jake Gyllenhall earned best director and best supporting actor awards, respectively for "Brokeback Mountain."

thats total BS politics.  jake is just as leading as heath was. 

[Gamblour.]

man, this year sucked!

I dunno if that was in reference to just that nomination, but this is one time where the bigger movies, like Batman, War of the Worlds, even Virgin, were better than the smaller ones. BUT I still haven't seen Capote, Squid, Grizzly, Junebug, etc etc etc.

[modage]

man, this year sucked!

I dunno if that was in reference to just that nomination, but this is one time where the bigger movies, like Batman, War of the Worlds, even Virgin, were better than the smaller ones. BUT I still haven't seen Capote, Squid, Grizzly, Junebug, etc etc etc.

yeah.  i guess i meant that seeing the award nominees all laid out like that is a reminder of what a shitty year it truly has been.  and yeah, my list is mostly cluttered with bigger films.

in response to above: brokeback is already WAAAAY overrated.  no MUNICH!?  no kong?   

[JG]

I'm surpised that Squid is getting the recogntion.  I'm happy though, cause currently it's my favorite of the year (without seeing 2046, grizzly man, brokeback, kiss kiss, history of violence).  batman needs recognition though.  cause that movie was awesome. 

[pete]

any year with Turtles Can Fly and Nobody Knows and Save the Green Planet all playing side by side can't be that bad.  but too bad American critics don't really watch those films.

[MacGuffin]

PRIDE of the British
Joe Wright's Pride & Prejudice and Fernando Meirelles' The Constant Gardener lead this year's London Critics Circle Awards nominations.

The London Film Critics showed their Pride earlier this week awarding Joe Wright's adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice with eight nominations for the London Critics Circle Awards. Not only is the film up for British Film of the Year, it also scored nods for Wright as British Director with Wright and co-star Matthew Macfadyen picking up mentions in the British Newcomer category.

In addition, several of Pride's key cast members picked up nominations, including Keira Knightley, Rosamund Pike, Brenda Blethyn and Tom Hollander.

Following not far behind was the indie British pic The Constant Gardener, which garnered seven nominations. The Ralph Fiennes starrer was nominated for both Film of the Year and British Film of the Year and picked up a nomination for helmer Fernando Meirelles and a nod for scribe Jeffrey Caine. Leads Fiennes and Rachel Weisz were also mentioned in the British Actor and British Actress categories, respectively.

Awards season favorite Brokeback Mountain also landed a slot in the Film category, with helmer Ang Lee and actor Heath Ledger also taking nods. The Film of the Year category is rounded out by Crash, A History of Violence and King Kong, while those films' directors - Paul Haggis, David Cronenberg and Peter Jackson - round out the directing category.

Most studio films were left out of the London loop this year, although King Kong and Warner Bros. Pictures' Batman Begins both picked up two nods. Instead, in addition to the likes of Pride and Constant Gardener, indie fare, such as Mrs. Henderson Presents and Separate Lies, earned the most nods.

The London Critics Circle Awards well be held on February 9 at the Dorchester Hotel.

A list of the nominees follows:

FILM:
Crash
A History of Violence
Brokeback Mountain
King Kong
The Constant Gardener

DIRECTOR:
Fernando Meirelles - The Constant Gardener
Ang Lee - Brokeback Mountain
Paul Haggis - Crash
Peter Jackson - King Kong
David Cronenberg - A History of Violence

SCREENWRITER:
Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana - Brokeback Mountain
Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco - Crash
Jeffrey Caine - The Constant Gardener
Shane Black - Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
Bernd Eichinger - Downfall

ACTRESS:
Juliette Binoche - Cache
Naomi Watts - King Kong
Catalina Sandino Moreno - Maria Full of Grace
Laura Linney - Kinsey
Maria Bello - A History of Violence

ACTOR:
Bruno Ganz - Downfall
Heath Ledger - Brokeback Mountain
Don Cheadle - Hotel Rwanda
Viggo Mortensen - A History of Violence
Johnny Depp - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

FOREIGN FILM:
Downfall
Cache
The Sea Inside
The Beat My Heart Skipped
The Chorus

ATTENBOROUGH AWARD FOR BRITISH FILM:
Pride & Prejudice
Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
The Constant Gardener
The Descent
Mrs. Henderson Presents

BRITISH PRODUCER:
Peter Lord - Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
Simon Channing Williams - The Constant Gardener
Andrew Eaton and Michael Winterbottom - A Cock and Bull Story
Christian Colson - The Descent
Mark Boothe and Ruth Caleb - Bullet Boy

BRITISH DIRECTOR:
Joe Wright - Pride & Prejudice
Terry George - Hotel Rwanda
Neil Marshall - The Descent
Christopher Nolan - Batman Begins
Stephen Frears - Mrs. Henderson Presents

BRITISH ACTOR:
Ralph Fiennes - The Constant Gardener
Christian Bale - The Machinist
Liam Neeson - Kinsey
Chiwetel Ejiofor - Kinky Boots
Tom Wilkinson - Separate Lies

BRITISH ACTRESS:
Rachel Weisz - The Constant Gardener
Judi Dench - Mrs. Henderson Presents
Keira Knightley - Pride & Prejudice
Emily Watson - Separate Lies
Kristin Scott Thomas - Keeping Mum

BRITISH ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:
Thandie Newton - Crash
Sophie Okonedo - Hotel Rwanda
Tildon Swinton - The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Rosamund Pike - Pride & Prejudice
Brenda Blethyn - Pride & Prejudice

BRITISH ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:
Brendan Gleeson - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
James McAvoy - The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Paddy Considine - Cinderella Man
Tom Hollander - Pride & Prejudice
Cillian Murphy - Batman Begins

BRITISH NEWCOMER:
Joe Wright, director - Pride & Prejudice
Kelly Reilly, actress - Mrs. Henderson Presents
Annie Griffin, writer-director - Festival
Julian Fellowes, director - Separate Lies
Matthew Macfadyen, actor-writer - Pride & Prejudice.

[NEON MERCURY]

where the fuck is the love for the new world...?
and why all the love for brokeback...if it wasnt for the fact that the characters are gay this would be young guns III..but hollywood loves the risque stuff...