The 2005 Awards Season Has Started!

MacGuffin · January 30, 2005, 02:10:02 AM

Clint Eastwood gets Oscars boost, wins director's union top prize

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Movie tough guy and "Million Dollar Baby" maker Clint Eastwood was crowned best director of 2004 by his fellow Hollywood filmmakers, giving him a major boost ahead of next month's Oscars.

Eastwood, 74, beat out fellow legend Martin Scorsese, the maker of "The Aviator," when the prestigious Director's Guild of America (DGA) awards were handed out at a banquet in Beverly Hills.

"The Aviator," a biopic about the life of eccentric US billionaire Howard Hughes starring Leonardo DiCaprio, is currently doing battle with Eastwood's dark story of a female boxer in the race for the Oscars.

Both men go to the Oscars armed with nominations for best director and each of their films has best picture Oscar nods as well as best actor or actress nominations.

Eastwood, who is still best known to moviegoers as the star of the "Dirty Harry" films, also trumped "Finding Neverland" director Marc Forster, Taylor Hackford for "Ray" and Alexander Payne for the acclaimed road movie "Sideways".

Winners of the DGA award have gone on to win the best director Oscar at the Academy Awards 51 times in the past 57 years, making the prizes a key barometer for the Oscars.

Eastwood's DGA win for "Million Dollar Baby," comes after he won the Golden Globe award for best director earlier this month.

He won the DGA award for his 1992 film "Unforgiven," and was nominated last year for "Mystic River" (2003).

Scorsese, 62, has never won a DGA award, despite six nominations for "Gangs of New York" (2002), "The Age of Innocence" (1993), "Goodfellas" (1990), "Raging Bull" (1980) and "Taxi Driver" (1976) and "The Aviator" this year.

Pundits have said the battle for the best director Oscar is a two-horse race between Scorsese, who has never won one of cinema's top honours, and Eastwood, who won the Academy Award for directing "Unforgiven."

The Oscars, nominations for which were announced earlier this week, will be handed out at a ceremony in Hollywood on February 27.

Director Martin Scorsese holds his nominee plaque during the 57th annual Director's Guild Awards at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills January 29, 2005. Scorsese is nominated for best director for his film 'The Aviator.'

Myxo · January 30, 2005, 02:16:53 AM

Chalk up another director loss for Scorsese at the Oscars.

I wouldn't be surprised if Aviator wins best picture however.

ono · January 30, 2005, 02:21:03 AM

Scorsese's films have never won because they aren't personal anymore. He was just getting started, he was the indie, back then when his films were admirable, gritty, and about a life he knew, and now his films are about other people who already exist instead of his own visions and dreams. They lack heart. I feel bad for him, I want him to be honored, but only for a deserving film. Gangs wasn't it. Maybe Aviator will be. But not in a year where Sideways and Million Dollar Baby were made.

In full disclosure, cine tells me Aviator is more than just a biopic but a love letter to Hughes, I believe it, and am still looking forward to it (even though it's 2 hours, 50 minutes ... ugh). so all you Scorsesephiles don't crucify me yet. My argument to him was that I couldn't ever see a bio pic being better than a heartfelt drama. Because it's about a real person, so there are bounds to the poignancy. With fictional characters, the possibilities are endless.

Myxo · January 30, 2005, 02:49:19 AM

I don't think Scorsese has jumped the shark or anything like that, but he certainly hasn't put together a movie that I enjoyed more than either Sideways or Million Dollar Baby. His movies do lack a genuine sense of warmth and vulnerability that he is so well known for. Gangs and Aviator both are a far cry from the rest of his work which is in your face no-nonsense Scorsese. Quentin Tarantino spoke well about this on Charlie Rose when he mentioned directors who, for whatever reason, just seem to run out of gas.

Alexandro · January 30, 2005, 04:59:58 AM

I think is cool that Eastwood wins for a great film, but the DGA's are even worst than the oscars towards marty...six nominations and not one single win???

anyway, i'm seeing an alfred hitchcock in scorsese´s future, his film winning the best picture oscar and some other guy getting the best director award (as with rebecca).

cine · January 30, 2005, 05:01:54 AM

Quote from: Alexandroanyway, i'm seeing an alfred hitchcock in scorsese´s future, his film winning the best picture oscar and some other guy getting the best director award (as with rebecca).

you're just saying that cause your name is alexandro.

Pubrick · January 30, 2005, 06:19:15 AM

Quote from: ono mo cuishleScorsese's films have never won because they aren't personal anymore.

this sentence doesn't make sense. the word 'never' is the problem.

ono · January 30, 2005, 08:20:51 AM

Haha, welcome back.

MacGuffin · February 05, 2005, 09:24:57 PM

Foxx, Swank Take Actors Guild Honors

LOS ANGELES - Jamie Foxx's uncanny re-creation of Ray Charles in "Ray" earned him the Screen Actors Guild Award for best actor Saturday, while Hilary Swank won the best actress prize for "Million Dollar Baby," playing a spirited boxer whose life takes a tragic turn. The cast prize for best movie ensemble went to the road-trip comedy "Sideways."

Cate Blanchett won the supporting-actress honor for her role as Katharine Hepburn in "The Aviator," and Morgan Freeman took the supporting-actor prize for "Million Dollar Baby," playing a sage-like ex-prizefighter.

"Thank you for Ray Charles for just living so complex and so interesting, and making us all just come together," said Foxx, the front-runner to win the best-actor prize at the Academy Awards on Feb. 27. Addressing his director on "Ray," Foxx added, "Thank you for Taylor Hackford for taking a chance with an African-American film. Taylor, you're my director of the year."

Swank offered gushing praise for her director and co-star, Clint Eastwood. "I bow down to you," Swank said to the 74-year-old Eastwood. "You are a talent beyond compare. If I'm half the person you are and half the talent you are when I'm 74, I will know that I've accomplished something great."

The SAG honors presented the first big head-to-head competition between Swank and Oscar rival Annette Bening, a nominee for the theater farce "Being Julia." At the Golden Globes, Swank won for best dramatic actress while Bening was honored for best actress in a musical or comedy.

The two actresses are the front-runners at the Oscars, a rematch of the showdown five years ago, when underdog Swank pulled an upset best-actress win for "Boys Don't Cry" over Bening, who had been the favorite for "American Beauty."

The wins gave all the actors an Oscar boost just as voting gets under way for Hollywood's top honors. Oscar ballots were mailed Wednesday to academy members, with voting scheduled to end Feb. 22, five days before the ceremony.

Freeman paid respect to fellow contender James Garner by singing a verse from the theme song of Garner's old TV Western "Maverick." Garner was nominated as supporting actor for the romantic drama "The Notebook" and received the guild's lifetime-achievement award.

Covering all his bases, Freeman added, "I want to thank everybody I ever met."

Blanchett thanked co-star Leonardo DiCaprio and especially "The Aviator" director Martin Scorsese. Looking at her trophy, a statue of a performer holding the comedy and tragedy masks that symbolize actors, Blanchett said, "I think the head, shoulders, knees and toes of this belong to Martin Scorsese, who led us all and brought us great courage."

For dramatic TV series, the late Jerry Orbach won the actor honor for "Law and Order." Orbach died in December.

"How bittersweet. But it's still sweet," said Orbach's widow, Elaine. "Jerry had a motto: Never leave a hit show. ... May you all never leave your hit show."

Jennifer Garner earned the dramatic actress honor for "Alias," and "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" received the dramatic ensemble award for the entire cast.

Tony Shalhoub, star of "Monk," won the guild prize for the second straight year as actor in a TV comedy. Teri Hatcher won the TV comedy actress honor for "Desperate Housewives," which also won the comedy ensemble award.

The 11th annual guild awards provided a warmup bout for "The Aviator" and "Million Dollar Baby" before they duke it out for best-picture at the Oscars. Although "Sideways" won the guild ensemble honor, "The Aviator" and "Million Dollar Baby" are still considered the best bets for the top prize at the Oscars on Feb. 27.

The winner of the SAG cast-performance prize has gone on to receive the top Oscar four times in the nine years since the guild added that category.

11TH ANNUAL SCREEN ACTORS GUILD AWARDS WINNERS

THEATRICAL MOTION PICTURES

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
Jamie Foxx / RAY

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
Hilary Swank / MILLION DOLLAR BABY

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
Morgan Freeman / MILLION DOLLAR BABY

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
Cate Blanchett / THE AVIATOR

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
SIDEWAYS

PRIMETIME TELEVISION

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
Geoffrey Rush / THE LIFE AND DEATH OF PETER SELLERS

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
Glenn Close / THE LION IN WINTER

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series
Jerry Orbach / LAW & ORDER

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series
Jennifer Garner / ALIAS

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series
Tony Shalhoub / MONK

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series
Teri Hatcher / DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION - CBS

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES - ABC

MacGuffin · February 09, 2005, 09:32:53 PM

London Critics Hail Scorsese, 'Sideways'

Martin Scorsese was named director of the year for "The Aviator" at the London Film Critics' Circle awards Wednesday.

But Scorsese's Howard Hughes biopic was beaten for film of the year by "Sideways."

Local film "Vera Drake" proved to be the evening's biggest winner, walking off with five awards, including two for veteran filmmaker Mike Leigh: British director of the year and British screenwriter of the year.

Imelda Staunton, the movie's leading lady, was crowned actress of the year, while Phil Davis, her co-star in "Drake," was named best British actor in a supporting role.

Kate Winslet and Eva Birthistle shared the British actress of the year award for "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" and "Ae Fond Kiss," respectively.

Jamie Foxx took the actor of the year accolade for his performance in "Ray," and Daniel Craig took the British actor of the year award for his turn in "Enduring Love."

The London Critics' Circle, the film section of the Critics' Circle, has 100 members who write for British newspapers and magazines. The event came just days ahead of the British Academy Film Awards, due to be dished out Saturday.

MacGuffin · February 12, 2005, 06:06:50 PM

'The Aviator' Soars at British Awards

"The Aviator" soared Saturday at the British Academy Film Awards, taking four prizes including best film. The abortion drama "Vera Drake" won three, including best director for Mike Leigh.

"The Aviator" which has 11 nominations for the Feb. 27 Academy Awards had led the field with 14 nominations. But members of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts scattered the prizes widely.

While "Aviator" director Martin Scorsese and star Leonardo DiCaprio went home empty-handed, the film won a best supporting actress award for Cate Blanchett, as well as prizes for production design and best hair and makeup.

Imelda Staunton won best actress for her wrenching performance as a 1950s Cockney housewife who performs illegal abortions in "Vera Drake." The film also took the costume design prize.

Jamie Foxx was named best actor for his uncanny depiction of singer Ray Charles in "Ray"; the film also won the award for best sound. British star Clive Owen was named best supporting actor for "Closer."

The British awards, known as BAFTAs, have become an essential pre-Oscars stop since they were moved in 2000 from April to a February date, preceding the Academy Awards.

A clutch of Hollywood stars including DiCaprio, Keanu Reeves, Richard Gere, Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell and model Claudia Schiffer braved the rain and cold to walk up the red carpet in London's Leicester Square, watched by hundreds of fans.

The Che Guevara road movie "The Motorcycle Diaries" won two awards best foreign-language film and best music. Another double winner was fractured romantic comedy "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," which took BAFTAs for editing and for Charlie Kaufman's original screenplay.

The prize for best adapted screenplay went to Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor for the wine-tasting comedy "Sideways."

"My Summer of Love," Pawel Pawliowski's bittersweet tale of romance between two teenage girls, was named best British film. The Orange Film of the Year prize the only award decided by the public went to "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban."

Redlum · February 12, 2005, 08:35:56 PM

The Baftas were pretty bad this year (in terms of entertainment anyway). As always its the foreign film contenders who really seem to appreciate it, so I was only really glad for their two wins. Particularly the score.

cowboykurtis · February 12, 2005, 09:01:15 PM

Quote from: ono mo cuishleScorsese's films have never won because they aren't personal anymore. He was just getting started, he was the indie, back then when his films were admirable, gritty, and about a life he knew, and now his films are about other people who already exist instead of his own visions and dreams. They lack heart. I feel bad for him, I want him to be honored, but only for a deserving film. Gangs wasn't it. Maybe Aviator will be. But not in a year where Sideways and Million Dollar Baby were made.

In full disclosure, cine tells me Aviator is more than just a biopic but a love letter to Hughes, I believe it, and am still looking forward to it (even though it's 2 hours, 50 minutes ... ugh). so all you Scorsesephiles don't crucify me yet. My argument to him was that I couldn't ever see a bio pic being better than a heartfelt drama. Because it's about a real person, so there are bounds to the poignancy. With fictional characters, the possibilities are endless.

this is one of the most idiotic arguements i've ever heard. how do you know that this film isn't personal to him? because it's based off a character that's non-fictitious? how does that logic work? did you ever think that he tells stories that inspire him, stories that he sees a peice of himself in, characters that he relates to and understands. -- to say it lacks heart because it a biopic is an ignorant statement. did raging bull lack heart for you? was that boring and uninspired -- it must of been becuase jake lamotta was real, and by your logic REAL lives can't be heartfelt. howard hughes is a character so rich and interesting because he WAS real. You do realize that many reasons why heartfelt dramas are powerful, is mainly due to the fact that the creator's are bringing REAL experince to the table -- experiences that are more real and powerful than fiction ever could be. Saying a real character has a disadvantage because they don't have endless possibilities -- howard hughes's life was endless, he acheived what many dream of, which results in one of the most dynamic dramas I've scene in a while. To each's own I guess. But you're really not entitled to an opinion until you've seen the film. So I'll just write you off as a a critic who doesn't know the ground he walks on. Word of advice, don't open your mouth until you know the shot.

ono · February 13, 2005, 01:08:35 AM

How old are you?

Gold Trumpet · February 13, 2005, 04:23:08 AM

Quote from: ono mo cuishleHow old are you?

You guys got to get off that reply.

And besides, Scorsese is more likely to get an oscar with a film like Aviator. When has the Academy ever awarded personal and challenging works? The year Spike Lee made Do The Right Thing, they chose Driving Miss Daisy.

The Aviator will win best picture but Eastwood will get best director.