Let The Awards Season Begin!

[NEON MERCURY]

. i thought brits had good taste.

.....they gots yellow tooths.......... :mrgreen:

[MacGuffin]

'Rings' triumphs in UK's Oscars

LONDON, England (Reuters) -- In what could be a trial run for the Oscars, the last "Lord of the Rings" movie was declared Best Film at the BAFTAs on Sunday, the British film industry's big night of the year.

"The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" landed four BAFTAs at the glittering London awards ceremony, which augurs well for the film's chances of landing Hollywood's ultimate accolade.

But Peter Jackson, the New Zealand director of the fantasy trilogy about Middle Earth, had to share the limelight with the sea-going epic "Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World," starring Russell Crowe, which also landed four BAFTAs.

Jackson, heading a 60-strong delegation of stars and crew at the London ceremony, captured the most coveted prize of the night but was beaten to the BAFTA Best Director gong by "Master And Commander" director Peter Weir.

Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson scooped the top acting honors of the night for their roles in "Lost in Translation." They beat off some tough competition from the likes of Sean Penn, Johnny Depp, Uma Thurman and Naomi Watts.

Johansson, the new darling of Hollywood, had also been nominated for Best Actress for "Girl with a Pearl Earring."

Best Supporting Actor went to Britain's Bill Nighy for his riotously over-the-top portrayal of an ageing rock star in the hit feel-good comedy "Love Actually."

The American civil war drama "Cold Mountain" led the BAFTA field with 13 nominations, widely seen as a valuable pointer to the Oscars.

But on the big night, the only major award for the film was landed by Renee Zellweger, who won Best Supporting Actress for her role as a tough-minded mountain girl.

She has already won a Golden Globe for the part and now looks a hot favourite to land the big one on Hollywood's Oscar night on February 29.

But Anthony Minghella, the British director of "Cold Mountain," insisted it was not just a clash of epics. "It's just a great night for the movies that have been nominated," he said.

The BAFTAs used to be announced after the Oscars which meant the British awards ended up a damp squib after the main event.

But now they have been switched, the BAFTA awards have been given a major fillip with Hollywood studios eager to send their big guns to London for publicity in the run-up to Hollywood's big night.

[Redlum]

Actually pretty good mix apart from a little nepotism here and there. Bill Murrays speech (as read by Sofia) was fantastic:

"First of all - Johnny Depp, Jude Law, Sean Penn. That is all. If you seem them, tell them I mentioned them"

Bill and Scarlett kings and queens this year which is very nice. Only guy who looked a little upset from that camp was Lance Accord.

I'm actually starting to prefer the Baftas to the Oscars. Its a lot more intimate and there's not an hour of costume bullshit. Stephen Fry does a great job of putting all that stuff down. Always having something nice to say about the love of movies, and to 'keep growing those DVD collections' that comes accross as really sincere.

Full list of winners here:
http://www.bafta.org/film/announce.htm

[Pubrick]

Actually pretty good mix apart from a little nepotism here and there. Bill Murrays speech (as read by Sofia) was fantastic:

"First of all - Johnny Depp, Jude Law, Sean Penn. That is all. If you seem them, tell them I mentioned them"

Bill and Scarlett kings and queens this year which is very nice. Only guy who looked a little upset from that camp was Lance Accord.

yeah sofia stole the show. her laugh was so goofy.

but what about tim curry, was he the one sitting next to laura linney? he and the ppl around him looked really pissed off when LotR:RotK won best adapted screenplay. i didn't even realise mystic river was a book.

fry's innuendos and witty remarks were nice, and when he referred to ian mckellan as the "king" of the world/stage, i just had to laugh -- the ironing was delicious.

oh that's another thing, all the superlatives used to describe the presenters and movies.. was a bit much.

[Chest Rockwell]

These BAFTA awards seem to make more sense than the Oscar nominations. I like the fact no movie really dominated the awards like what happens at the Oscars, e.g. Lost in Translation had nearly as many awards as LoTR and Master and Commander. But I think it's crap Sofia Coppola didn't even win Best Original Screenplay. Though it's exciting both Scarlett and Bill won for LIT, a big fuck-you to the fact Scarlett wasn't even nominated for the Oscar. I will say also that Lance Acord should have won Cinematography instead Mr. Unimportant from LoTR. Either way, a very nice list of winners overall. Do they show the BAFTAS on the Tee-Vee?

EDIT: Where can I find the acceptance speeches online?

[Redlum]

I will say also that Lance Acord should have won Cinematography instead Mr. Unimportant from LoTR.

??? ....Andrew Lesnie. Respect.
All the cinematography nominations were excellent in their own way. Lance Accords work really stands about because of how much was just free styling around Tokyo, yet the beauty is still there.

oh that's another thing, all the superlatives used to describe the presenters and movies.. was a bit much.

True. But he didn't use the same ones twice and between them (plus the moments of genuine praise) and his mocking wit, I think he struck a pretty nice balance.

His year of the colon piece was very good.

[Chest Rockwell]

Someone needs to find me those fucking speeches.

[©brad]

someone needs to wash his mouth out with soap. damn.

[Chest Rockwell]

someone needs to wash his mouth out with soap. damn.

Or vinegar.

[MacGuffin]

Canadian filmmaker takes home 3 French "Oscars" for Barbarian Invasions

PARIS (CP) - Canadian filmmaker Denys Arcand's The Barbarian Invasions took home three prizes Saturday from the Cesar awards - France's equivalent of the Oscars - best film, best director and best original screenplay.

"It's too much, it's way too much, but I'll take it anyway," Arcand quipped.

Hours earlier, Arcand was decorated as a Commander of the Ordres des arts et des lettres, the country's highest cultural honour.

The Barbarian Invasions, the sequel to Arcand's The Decline of the American Empire, tells the story of a cranky Montreal intellectual who is dying of cancer and whose friends and family gather around for an emotional but joyous sendoff.

The film won the best screenplay prize at last year's Cannes Film Festival while Marie-Jozee Croze won for best actress for her performance as a sympathetic junkie.

The Barbarian Invasions is up for two Academy Awards later this month, best foreign film and best original screenplay.

Arcand has previously received Oscar nominations for Decline of the American Empire in 1986 as well as 1989's Jesus of Montreal.

In accepting the Cesar, Arcand thanked his "partner and producer" Denise Robert: "Without whom the film wouldn't have been possible."

He also thanked co-producer Fabienne Vonier.

Robert thanked "Denys Arcand for being Denys Arcand."

Also at Saturday's Cesar ceremony, Canadian Benoit Charest, picked up the prize for best original music for Les Triplettes de Belleville, an animated film almost entirely drawn in a vast workshop in Old Montreal.

Meanwhile, Clint Eastwood won the best foreign film award for Mystic River, a dark drama about friends haunted by a tragedy from their childhoods.

Omar Sharif captured the prize for his performance in Mr. Ibrahim and the Flowers of the Qur'an. He played a Parisian grocer who befriends a young French boy.

Sylvie Testud won best actress for her role in Stupor and Trembling, about a young French woman who confronts culture shock working in an office in Tokyo.

Good Bye, Lenin! by Germany's Wolfgang Becker, won the award for best film from within the European Union.

The ceremony was marked by a protest by French show business workers who are unhappy with reforms by the government to trim their unemployment benefits. Before the awards, about 200 actors, musicians and technicians protested outside the theatre and a few performers raised the issue during the ceremony.

[MacGuffin]

Writers Guild Award Winners Named  

LOS ANGELES - "Lost in Translation" and "American Splendor" took top screenwriting honors Saturday from the Writers Guild of America.

Sofia Coppola's "Lost in Translation," about two lonely Americans who strike up an unlikely friendship in Tokyo, was named best original screenplay. She also directed the film, which stars Bill Murray.

Best adapted screenplay honors went to Robert Pulcini and Shari Springer Berman for "American Splendor," which is based on the underground comic books that detail the life of Harvey Pekar and a novel Pekar wrote with his wife, Joyce Brabner.

TELEVISION:

Animation: "The Dad Who Knew Too Little" (episode of "The Simpsons"); written by Matt Selman; aired on Fox.

Original Long Form: "And Starring Pancho Villas As Himself"; Larry Gelbart; HBO.

Adapted Long Form: "Out of the Ashes"; Anne Meredith, based on the book "I Was a Doctor in Auschwitz" by Dr. Gisella Perl; Showtime.

Episodic Drama: "7:00 P.M.-8:00 P.M." ("24"); Evan Katz; Fox.

Episodic Comedy: "No Sex, Please, We're Skittish" ("Frasier"); Bob Daily; NBC.

[Chest Rockwell]

Damn right Sofia Coppola won.

[BrainSushi]

Wow... I'm really glad American Splendor got the WGA... too bad it probably won't win the Oscar though.

[Chest Rockwell]

Wow... I'm really glad American Splendor got the WGA... too bad it probably won't win the Oscar though.

As much as it should, it certainly will not win.

[MacGuffin]

Depp, Theron Win SAG Acting Honors  

LOS ANGELES - Johnny Depp was a surprise lead actor winner Sunday at the Screen Actors Guild Awards for "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl," while Charlize Theron took the best-actress honor for the serial-killer drama "Monster."

Depp, who did not attend the awards, won for his role as a jittery buccaneer in the summer blockbuster, beating out Sean Penn, who had been considered the favorite for "Mystic River."

Theron won for her portrayal of executed murderer Aileen Wuornos, a role for which the actress gained 30 pounds and obscured her cover-girl beauty behind false teeth, dark contact lenses and a splotchy complexion.

"I'm so honored and proud to be an actor, 'cause God knows, I don't know what else to do," said Theron, a native of South Africa. She thanked her cast mates and director Patty Jenkins, along with "my angel and my date tonight, my mom, who put me on the plane with a one-way ticket to Hollywood when I was 19 years old. Thank you for being so brave and letting me go to make my dreams come true."

The supporting acting awards went to Tim Robbins for the brooding drama "Mystic River" and Renee Zellweger for the Civil War saga "Cold Mountain."

The ensemble acting award, the guild's equivalent of a best-picture prize, went to "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," the front-runner to win the top honor at next Sunday's Academy Awards.

The SAG wins boost the individual actors' Oscar prospects. Theron, Robbins and Zellweger have been viewed as front-runners through awards season, and guild honors provide one last push among Oscar voters, who must cast their ballots by the end of the day Tuesday.

Robbins won for his role as a man emotionally crippled by childhood trauma and suspected of murder as an adult in "Mystic River."

"Oh, boy. That's so cool. Susan's got one of these," Robbins said, referring to his romantic partner Susan Sarandon, who won the guild's 1996 lead-actress honor for "Dead Man Walking," which Robbins directed. "I'm going to get them alone in a dark room and see what happens."

Zellweger, who won the guild's lead-actress award last year for "Chicago," was honored this time as a salt-of-the-earth Confederate handywoman in "Cold Mountain." She thanked co-stars Nicole Kidman and Jude Law and director Anthony Minghella.

"I was spoiled for riches on this experience," Zellweger said. "It was such an honor to go to work every day beside you."

Among the guild's TV awards, "Sex and the City" won for comedy-acting ensemble on the same night the series ended its six-year run. The cast won the same prize two years ago, while star Sarah Jessica Parker won the comedy-actress honor in 2001.

"You guys have been incredibly generous to us over the course of the show," said co-star Kristin Davis, who accepted the award with cast mates Kim Cattrall and Cynthia Nixon. "And so many of you have come to act with us. We've had more good-looking men on our show. ...

"We will all miss you so much."

Other comedy TV honors went to Megan Mullally for "Will & Grace" and Tony Shalhoub for "Monk."

Kiefer Sutherland of "24" and Frances Conroy of "Six Feet Under" won for best dramatic actor and actress. "Six Feet Under" also was honored for best acting ensemble in a drama.

"Angels in America" earned Meryl Streep and Al Pacino the acting awards for a TV movie or miniseries.