Monthly Archives: January 2012

Movie Quote of the Day – Serendipity, 2001 (dir. Peter Chelsom)

Jonathan: Maybe I am just getting cold feet.
Dean: I’m telling you right now British women do not age well. Eight years ago she was a luscious treat, you know, she probably looked like, you know, Baby Spice, now she could look like…
Jonathan: Old Spice.

Movie Quote of the Day – The Savages, 2007 (dir. Tamara Jenkins)

Wendy Savage: We’re gonna have to go out there and find him.
Jon Savage: Wendy, we are not going to have to go out there and find him. We are not in a Sam Shepard play.

84th Academy Awards Nominations Announced

Best Picture:
The Artist
The Descendants
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
The Help
Hugo
Midnight in Paris
Moneyball
The Tree of Life
War Horse

Best Director:
Michel Hazanavicius – The Artist
Alexander Payne – The Descendants
Martin Scorsese – Hugo
Woody Allen – Midnight in Paris
Terrence Malick – The Tree of Life

Best Actor:
Jean Dujardin – The Artist
Demián Bichir – A Better Life
George Clooney – The Descendants
Brad Pitt – Moneyball
Gary Oldman – Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

Best Actress:
Glenn Close – Albert Nobbs
Rooney Mara – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Viola Davis – The Help
Meryl Streep – The Iron Lady
Michelle Williams – My Week With Marilyn

Best Supporting Actor:
Christopher Plummer – Beginners
Max Von Sydow – Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Jonah Hill – Moneyball
Kenneth Branagh – My Week with Marilyn
Nick Nolte – Warrior

Best Supporting Actress
Janet McTeer – Albert Nobbs
Bérénice Bejo – The Artist
Melissa McCarthy – Bridesmaids
Jessica Chastain – The Help
Octavia Spencer – The Help

Best Animated Feature
A Cat In Paris
Chico and Rita
Kung Fu Panda 2
Puss In Boots
Rango

Best Adapted Screenplay:
The Descendants – Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
Hugo – John Logan
The Ides of March – George Clooney and Grant Heslov
Moneyball – Aaron Sorkin, Steven Zaillian and Stan Chervin
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy – Bridget O’Connor and Peter Straughn

Best Original Screenplay:
The Artist – Michel Hazanavicius
Bridesmaids – Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo
Margin Call – JC Chandor
Midnight In Paris – Woody Allen
A Separation – Asghar Farhadi

Best Foreign Film
A Separation (Iran)
In Darkness (Poland)
Footnote (Israel)
Bullhead (Belgium)
Monsieur Lazhar (Canada)

Best Art Direction
The Artist
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
Hugo
Midnight In Paris
War Horse

Best Cinematography
The Artist – Guillaume Schiffman
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo – Jeff Cronenweth
Hugo – Robert Richardson
The Tree of Life – Emmanuel Lubezki
War Horse – Janusz Kaminiski

Best Costume Design
Anonymous – Lisy Christl
The Artist – Mark Bridges
Hugo – Sandy Powell
Jane Eyre – Michael O’Connor
W.E. – Arianne Phillips

Best Film Editing
The Artist – Anne-Sophie Bion and Michel Hazanavicius
The Descendants – Kevin Tent
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall
Hugo – Thelma Schoonmaker
Moneyball – Christopher Tellefsen

Best Makeup
Albert Nobbs
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
The Iron Lady

Best Score
The Adventures of Tintin – John Williams
The Artist – Ludovic Bource
Hugo – Howard Shore
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – Alberto Iglesias
War Horse – John Williams

Best Original Song
Man or Muppet from The Muppets – Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie
Real in Rio from Rio – Music by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown Lyric by Siedah Garrett

Best Short Film
Dimanche/Sunday – Patrick Doyon
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore – William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg
La Luna – Enrico Casarosa
A Morning Stroll – Grant Orchard and Sue Goffe
Wild Life – Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby

Best Short Film (Live Action)
Pentecost – Peter McDonald and Eimear O’Kane
Raju – Max Zähle and Stefan Gieren
The Shore – Terry George and Oorlagh George
Time Freak – Andrew Bowler and Gigi Causey
Tuba Atlantic – Hallvar Witzø

Best Sound Editing
Drive – Lon Bender and Victor Ray Ennis
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – Ren Klyce
Hugo – Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty
Transformers: Dark of the Moon – Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl
War Horse – Richard Hymns and Gary Rydstrom

Best Sound Mixing
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Bo Persson
Hugo – Tom Fleischman and John Midgley
Moneyball – Deb Adair, Ron Bochar, Dave Giammarco and Ed Novick
Transformers: Dark of the Moon – Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Peter J. Devlin
War Horse – Gary Rydstrom, Andy Nelson, Tom Johnson and Stuart Wilson

Visual Effects
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 – Tim Burke, David Vickery, Greg Butler and John Richardson
Hugo – Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossman and Alex Henning
Real Steel – Erik Nash, John Rosengrant, Dan Taylor and Swen Gillberg
Rise of the Planet of the Apes – Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White and Daniel Barrett
Transformers: Dark of the Moon – Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Matthew Butler and John Frazier

Best Documentary Feature
Hell and Back Again
If A Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front
Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory
Pina
Undefeated

Best Documentary Short Subject
The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement – Robin Fryday and Gail Dolgin
God Is the Bigger Elvis – Rebecca Cammisa and Julie Anderson
Incident in New Baghdad – James Spione
Saving Face – Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy
The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom – Lucy Walker and Kira Carstensen

From The Warner Archive: Tall Story, 1960 (dir. Joshua Logan)

I am a big fan of Joshua Logan’s Picnic, Bus StopSayonara and Paint Your Wagon (and Mister Roberts, which he took over when John Ford became ill; though I must say I did not really like Fanny), so when I heard the Warner Archive was releasing a remastered copy of 1960’s Tall Story (a film I’d been trying to see or ages) I was overjoyed. While the title sequence is still a little grainy, the rest of the remaster is wonderful and crisp. Nothing makes me happier than crisp black and white cinematography and this remaster does justice to Ellsworth Fredericks‘ excellent work.

Read the rest of this entry

Movie Quote of the Day – Laura, 1944 (dir. Otto Preminger)

Waldo Lydecker: I cannot stand these morons any longer. If you don’t come with me this instant I shall run amok.

Movie Quote of the Day – Stranger Than Paradise, 1984 (dir. Jim Jarmusch)

Willie: I really hate that kind of music.
Eva: It’s Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, and he’s a wild man, so bug off.

“The Artist” Named Best Picture By PGA

Last year’s winner at the Producer’s Guild of America went on to win Best Picture, so it seems The Artist is well on its way to Oscar gold.

Darryl F. Zanuck Producer of the Year Award in Theatrical Motion Pictures:

THE ARTIST
Producer: Thomas Langmann
BRIDESMAIDS
Producers: Judd Apatow, Barry Mendel, Clayton Townsend
THE DESCENDANTS
Producers: Jim Burke, Alexander Payne, Jim Taylor
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO
Producers: Ceán Chaffin, Scott Rudin
THE HELP
Producers: Michael Barnathan, Chris Columbus, Brunson Green
HUGO
Producers: Graham King, Martin Scorsese
THE IDES OF MARCH
Producers: George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Brian Oliver
MIDNIGHT IN PARIS
Producers: Letty Aronson, Stephen Tenenbaum
MONEYBALL
Producers: Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz, Brad Pitt
WAR HORSE
Producers: Kathleen Kennedy, Steven Spielberg

The Producers Guild of America Producer of the Year Award in Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures:

THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN
Producers: Peter Jackson, Kathleen Kennedy, Steven Spielberg
CARS 2
Producer: Denise Ream
KUNG FU PANDA 2
Producer: Melissa Cobb
PUSS IN BOOTS
Producers: Joe M. Aguilar, Latifa Ouaou
RANGO
Producers: John B. Carls, Gore Verbinski

Movie Quote of the Day – The Talk of the Town, 1942 (dir. George Stevens)

Leopold Dilg: I don’t approve of, but I like people who think in terms of ideal conditions. They’re the dreamers, poets, tragic figures in this world, but interesting.

Movie Quote of the Day – Eraserhead, 1977 (dir. David Lynch)

Mrs. X: It’s Henry isn’t it? Mary tells me you’re a very nice fellow. What do you do?
Henry Spencer: Oh, I’m on vacation.
Mrs. X: What did you do?

“The Artist,” “A Separation” Top London Film Critics’ Circle Awards

Best Picture – The Artist
Best British Film – We Need to Talk About Kevin
Best Director – Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Best Actor – Jean Dujardin, The Artist
Best Actress – Anna Paquin – Margaret and Meryl Streep – The Iron Lady
Best Supporting Actress – Sareh Bayat –  A Separation
Best Supporting Actor – Kenneth Branagh – My Week With Marilyn
Best British Actress – Olivia Colman – The Iron Lady/Tyrannosaur
Best British Actor  – Michael Fassbender – A Dangerous Method/Shame
Best Young British Performer: – Craig Roberts, Submarine
Best Screenplay: – A Separation
Best Foreign Language Film – A Separation
Best Documentary: – Senna
Technical Achievement Award – production designer Maria Djurkovic, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Breakthrough British Filmmaker – Andrew Haigh, Weekend

You can see all the nominees here.