February 14, 2008

December 10, 2007

LA, BOSTON, DC CRITICS WEIGH IN WITH LOTS OF 'BLOOD' (VAR, MCN, THB, WAFCA)

By Nancy Vialatte

This weekend marked the first of the major critics awards with a lot of love for the Coens, �There Will Be Blood� and Julian Schnabel. The LA Film Critics Association named Paul Thomas Anderson�s �Blood� its best picture while Anderson was best director and star Daniel Day-Lewis came up tops in the acting category. French actress Marion Cotillard, meanwhile, was named best actress for �La Vie En Rose.� Also weighing in were the Boston, Washington DC and NY Online critics.

�Blood� is produced by Anderson, JoAnne Sellar and Daniel Lupi, but the Paramount Vantage release won�t open until Dec. 26.

Cannes Palme d'Or winner "4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days" took foreign-language honors from the LA critics as well as being awarded the best supporting actor title for Vlad Ivanov's performance as an illegal abortionist.

�Gone Baby Gone�s� Amy Ryan was named supporting actress for her work in that film and Sidney Lumet�s "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead."

Tamara Jenkins received the group's screenplay award for "The Savages," while Charles Ferguson's "No End in Sight" was named top documentary.

In the tightest race of the afternoon, notes Variety, Brad Bird's "Ratatouille" tied with Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud's French-language toon "Persepolis."

Julian Schnabel's "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" was recognized for Janusz Kaminski's cinematography and was also named runner-up in the picture, directing and foreign-language film categories.

Although only the winner and runner-up are identified in each category, it is notable that, after "There Will Be Blood," the subsequent four vote-getters for picture all premiered in competition at the Cannes Film Festival.

Sarah Polley received the LA group's New Generation award for her directing debut "Away From Her.�

Other runners-up included Frank Langella ("Starting Out in the Evening"), actor; Anamaria Marinca ("4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days"), actress; Hal Holbrook ("Into the Wild"), supporting actor; Cate Blanchett ("I'm Not There"), supporting actress; Anderson's "There Will Be Blood," screenplay; Robert Elswit ("There Will Be Blood"), cinematography; and Michael Moore's "Sicko," documentary. (see full list below)

The LA awards will be presented on Jan. 12 at the Hotel Intercontinental in Century City.

The Boston Society of Film Critics went with the Coen brothers� �No Country for Old Men� as best film although it battled throughout the meeting with "Diving Bell" and won by only one vote on the third ballot.

The film also garnered supporting actor kudos for Javier Bardem.

But, Julian Schnabel beat out the Coens for director, while cinematographer Janusz Kaminski was selected over "No Country's" Roger Deakins.

"Diving Bell" drew the foreign-language film nod although under Academy rules it is considered an American production and ineligible for the foreign-film category.

In what could now be considered a trend, hometown favorite "Gone Baby Gone" picked up the supporting actress award for Amy Ryan (who was also honored by the DC critics). Director Ben Affleck was honored with the David Brudnoy New Filmmaker Award.

In other categories the Boston scribes seemed determined to surprise. Brad Bird won the screenplay category for his animated "Ratatouille," while "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead" was cited for its ensemble cast. Marion Cotillard took the actress kudos for her bravura performance as chanteuse Edith Piaf in "La Vie en rose," while Frank Langella's portrait of an aging Jewish novelist in "Starting Out in the Evening" won him the actor nod. (VAR)

In the documentary category the prize went to "Crazy Love."

In addition to the awards, the organization voted on two significant changes for 2008. First, they will hold their first-ever award ceremony on Jan. 27 at the historic Brattle Theater in Cambridge. It will include the screening of one of the award-winning films and an appearance by one or more winners. Local recipients (for film festivals and production) also will be honored at that time. Also, beginning in 2008, the critics will vote on two new categories: animated feature and film editing. (VAR)

The Washington, DC Area Film Critics Association echoed Boston�s choice for best film with �No Country for Old Men� which also took best director for Joel and Ethan Coen, best acting ensemble and best supporting actor for Javier Bardem.

George Clooney was named best actor for �Michael Clayton,� while Julie Christie was awarded best actress for �Away From Her.�

�In the year of the big-budget sequel, The Coen Brothers, Clooney and Christie proved a well-written, expertly directed and amazingly acted movie is just as important to filmgoers as special effects and loud explosions,� said Tim Gordon, president of WAFCA.

In other categories, �Ratatouille� was named best animated feature, and Tim Burton�s �Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street� was honored for Best Art Direction.

Ellen Page was awarded best breakthrough performance for her turn in �Juno.�

Finally, the NY Online Film Critics tied in voting for best picture on �Diving Bell� and �Blood.�

Paul Thomas Anderson was best director and his star, Daniel Day-Lewis, best actor. Julie Christie took the top actress award.

Javier Bardem was best supporting actor while Cate Blanchett got her only nod of the day in supporting actress for �I'm Not There.�

Michael Moore�s �Sicko� got some love from NY and France�s Oscar entry, �Persepolis� was crowned animated favorite.

The NY Online Critics also listed 10 best pictures of the year (in alphabetical order)

�Atonement�

�Before the Devil Knows You're Dead�

�The Darjeeling Limited�

�The Diving Bell and the Butterfly�

�I'm Not There�

�Juno�

�Michael Clayton�

�No Country for Old Men�

�Persepolis�

�Sweeney Todd�

�There Will Be Blood�

Commenting on the critics picks, David Poland wrote: �So far, it�s exactly as expected. A big blur spread amongst the many well-deserving films of the season.�

It�s funny. A lot of industry people keep talking about the critics being more influential this year. But I think it will be one of the least influential years. They will get credit for what is now looking like an Amy Ryan nomination for Supporting Actress� but you can credit 42 West and a modest Ben Affleck for that, and of course, the performance. But basically, it continues to look like critics will give kudos to films they don�t really think will get the love on Oscar Sunday and hope that one or two less mainstreamed picks will slide in with their help. Nothing wrong with that. (THB)

The NY Film Critics Circle announces its awards today.

Complete list of LAFCA winners:

PICTURE: "There Will Be Blood"

RUNNER-UP: "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"

DIRECTOR: Paul Thomas Anderson, "There Will Be Blood"

RUNNER-UP: Julian Schnabel, "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"

ACTOR: Daniel Day-Lewis, "There Will Be Blood"

RUNNER-UP: Frank Langella, "Starting Out in the Evening"

ACTRESS: Marion Cotillard, "La Vie en rose"

RUNNER-UP: Anamaria Marinca, "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days"

SUPPORTING ACTOR: Vlad Ivanov, "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days"

RUNNER-UP: Hal Holbrook, "Into the Wild"

SUPPORTING ACTRESS:Amy Ryan, "Gone Baby Gone" and "Before the Devil Knows You�re Dead"

RUNNER-UP: Cate Blanchett, "I�m Not There"

SCREENPLAY: Tamara Jenkins, "The Savages"
RUNNER-UP: Paul Thomas Anderson, "There Will Be Blood"

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days"

RUNNER-UP: "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"

DOCUMENTARY: "No End in Sight"

RUNNER-UP: "Sicko"

ANIMATION: "Ratatouille" and "Persepolis" (tie)

MUSIC: Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, "Once"

RUNNER-UP: Jonny Greenwood, "There Will Be Blood"

PRODUCTION DESIGN: Jack Fisk, "There Will Be Blood"

RUNNER-UP: Dante Ferretti, "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street"

CINEMATOGRAPHY: Janusz Kaminski, "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"

RUNNER-UP: Robert Elswit, "There Will Be Blood"

NEW GENERATION: Sarah Polley, "Away From Her"

INDEPENDENT/EXPERIMENTAL: Pedro Costa�s "Colossal Youth"

SPECIAL CITATION: New Crowned Hope series commissioned by director Peter Sellars to honor the anniversary of Mozart�s 250th birthday

LEGACY AWARDS: Milestone Film and Video and the Outfest Legacy Project

LA, BOSTON, DC CRITICS WEIGH IN WITH LOTS OF 'BLOOD' (VAR, MCN, THB, WAFCA)

By Nancy Vialatte

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