By the Numbers

The Best Picture contenders by the dollars, I only mention because Juno crossed the $100 million mark this past weekend, basically doubling the competition.

Juno- $100,013,577
No Country For Old Men- $51,956,842
Michael Clayton- $41,653,439
Atonement- $37,850,799
There Will Be Blood- $14,746,644

stats from Box Office Mojo

Screen Actors Guild

THE WINNERS OF THE SCREEN ACTORS GUILD ARE:




BEST ENSEMBLE
No Country For Old Men

BEST ACTOR
Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood
Day-Lewis dedicated his award to Heath Ledger-- class act!

BEST ACTRESS
Julie Christie, Away From Her

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Javier Bardem, No Country For Old Men

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Rudy Dee, American Gangster

Directors Guild of America (DGA)

The brother Coen won the top prize at the Directors Guild for No Country For Old Men.

Statistically the DGA award matches up with the Best Picture Oscar.
Recent stats:
2006: Martin Scorcese, The Departed (director and picture won)
2005: Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain (Lee won director; Crash won picture)
2004: Clint Eastwood, Million Dollar Baby (director and picture won)
2003: Peter Jackson, The Lord of the Rings: ROTK (director and picture won)
2002: Rob Marshall, Chicago (Roman Polanski won director; won picture)
2001: Ron Howard, A Beautiful Mind (director and picture won)
2000: Ang Lee, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (neither won)

American Society of Cinematographers (ASC)

Robert Elswit won the Cinematograhers guild award for There Will Be Blood.

A fine choice in the odd year where the Oscars and the ASC matched 100%.

Prettiest Pictures of 2007

The Academy has already spoken, but my picks for the best looking films of last year are:

Across the Universe- Bruno Delbonnel

The Assassination of Jesse James- Roger Deakins

Lust, Caution- Rodrigo Prieto

Sunshine- Alwin H. Kuchler

There Will Be Blood- Robert Elswit

runners-up:

Atonement- Seamus McGravey

The Diving Bell & the Butterfly- Jamusz Kaminski

Heath Ledger (1979-2008)

The news broke, and I'm deeply saddened. When I heard the news yesterday afternoon, I couldn't believe it at all, and shortly after the story was confirmed, I passed by a poster of The Dark Knight and nearly broke out into tears. It's sad because because Heath Ledger was just starting to break out as an actor, and was starting to become really freaking good. His best performance will always go down as Ennis del Mar in Brokeback Mountain, but it's such a spectacular one. Every stuttering murmer of dialouge he spoke was a thing of beauty-- hardly ever has an actor made mumbling so graceful or poetic. The performance was put on par with the best of Brando when first released, and will probably always hold. It will always be his glory, which makes the tragedy of his untimely passing all the more depressing. This past year he wowed again in Todd Haynes' trippy Bob Dylan movie I'm Not There, giving a complete performance in a fractured film. But then again he was always surprising as an actor-- he made the most of more modest films like Monster's Ball, Lords of Dogtown, and Casanova by his pure effervesent charm and ability to go all weird. I still remember when I was 15 and saw Heath Ledger for the first time in the teen comedy 10 Things I Hate About You, the movie itself I don't really remember, but I will never forget Ledger's character (a modern take on Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew) serenading Julia Stiles with a doopy rendition of "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You." It was goofy but held with me. This is a true loss for the cinema, for his talent was undeniable, and I had always hoped to be watching him, and getting lost in his charisma for years, and decades to come. In the words of Jack Twist, "I don't know how to quit you."

80th Academy Awards Nominations

BEST PICTURE
Atonement
Juno
Michael Clayton
No Country For Old Men
There Will Be Blood

BEST DIRECTOR
Paul Thomas Anderson, There Will Be Blood
Ethan Coen & Joel Coen, No Country For Old Men
Tony Gilroy, Michael Clayton
Jason Reitman, Juno
Julian Schnabel, The Diving Bell & the Butterfly

BEST ACTOR
George Clooney, Michael Clayton
Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood
Johnny Depp, Sweeney Todd
Tommy Lee Jones, In the Valley of Elah
Viggo Mortensen, Eastern Promises

BEST ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett, Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Julie Christie, Away From Her
Marion Cotillard, La Vie en Rose
Laura Linney, The Savages
Ellen Page, Juno

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Casey Affleck, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Javier Bardem, No Country For Old Men
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Charlie Wilson's War
Hal Holbrook, Into the Wild
Tom Wilkinson, Michael Clayton

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett, I'm Not There
Ruby Dee, American Gangster
Saoirse Ronan, Atonement
Amy Ryan, Gone Baby Gone
Tilda Swinton, Michael Clayton

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Juno- Diablo Cody
Lars & the Real Girl- Nancy Oliver
Michael Clayton- Tony Gilroy
Ratatouille- Brad Bird
The Savages- Tamara Jenkins

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Atonement- Christopher Hampton
Away From Her- Sarah Polley
The Diving Bell & the Butterfly- Ronald Harwood
No Country For Old Men- Ethan Coen & Joel Coen
There Will Be Blood- Paul Thomas Anderson

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Persepolis
Ratatouille
Surf's Up

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Beaufort
The Counterfeiters
Katyn
Mongol
12

BEST DOCUMENTARY
No End in Sight
Operation Homecoming
Sicko
Taxi to the Dark Side
War\Dance

BEST ART DIRECTION
American Gangster- Arthur Max & Beth A. Rubino
Atonement- Sarah Greenwood & Katie Spencer
The Golden Compass- Dennis Gassner & Anna Pinnock
Sweeney Todd- Dante Ferretti & Francesca Lo Schiavo
There Will Be Blood- Jack Fisk & Jim Erickson

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
The Assassination of Jesse James- Roger Deakins
Atonement- Seamus McGarvey
The Diving Bell & the Butterfly- Jamusz Kaminski
No Country For Old Men- Roger Deakins
There Will Be Blood- Robert Elswit

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Across the Universe- Albert Wolsky
Atonement- Jacqueline Durran
Elizabeth: The Golden Age- Alexandra Byrne
Sweeney Todd- Colleen Atwood
La Vie en Rose- Marit Allen

BEST FILM EDITING
The Bourne Ultimatum- Christopher Rouse
The Diving Bell & the Butterfly- Juliette Welfling
Into the Wild- Jay Cassidy
No Country For Old Men- Roderick Jaynes
There Will Be Blood- Dylan Tichenor

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Atonement- Dario Marianelli
The Kite Runner- Alberto Iglesias
Michael Clayton- James Newton Howard
Ratatouille- Michael Giacchino
3:10 to Yuma- Marco Beltrami

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
"Falling Slowly," Once
"Happy Working Song," Enchanted
"Raise It Up," August Rush
"So Close," Enchanted
"That's How You Know," Enchanted

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM
I Met the Walrus
Even Pigeons Go to Heaven
Madame Tutli-Putli
My Love
Peter & the Wolf

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
At Night
Il Supplente
The Mozart of Pickpockets
Tanghi Argentini
The Tonto Woman

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
Freeheld
La Corona
Salim Baba
Sari's Mother

BEST MAKEUP
Norbit
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
La Vie en Rose

BEST SOUND EDITING
The Bourne Ultimatum
No Country For Old Men
Ratatouille
There Will Be Blood
Transformers

BEST SOUND MIXING
The Bourne Ultimatum
No Country For Old Men
Ratatouille
3:10 to Yuma
Transformers

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
The Golden Compass
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
Transformers

Last Minute Reviews

CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR
Mike Nichols directs from Aaron Sorkin's ("The West Wing") script starring Tom Hanks as a good ol' boy Texan senator, Julia Roberts as the wealthy (and religious) socialite who along, with Philip Seymour Hoffman as a CIA division chief about the forces that led to the US aiding Afghanistan in the 1980s against the Soviet Union. That was exhausting to write. This is an important part of American history (it's based on the acclaimed book by George Cirle), and the prestige is all over the place here- it's insanely all over the place more accurately stated. And yet as a film it feels a bit disconnected. Hanks is Charlie Wilson, Good Time Charlie-- senator and party boy more at home with whisky and a pool full of coked-up Playboy centerfolds and strippers than the House of Representatives, almost unwittingly becomes associated and awakened by "the cause of Afghans" (as Robert's mascara rich lady calls it) and the horror of this unarmed nation fighting the Soviets with a laughable amount of American support. With the aid of Joanne Harring (Roberts), and a covert sector of the CIA, Wilson raises funds from five million to forty, and contributes all the weaponry necessarily. All over the place, Nichols and Sorkin make allusions that the intentions (for the most part good) of these people either directly or indirectly changed the world and the course of the American history-- more relevant now than ever. But the film is oddly paced and strangly toned. I never got a sense of one-- is this trying to a be a message movie (it less didactic than Rendition, but still felt like it banging me over the head with it), or is it trying to be satire (the topic isn't funny, but everyone's cracking jokes) or is it trying to be a full on farce (there's a scene midway intersecting Wilson conversation with Hoffman, while his pretty secretaries barge in and out in full on slamming doors farce-- it's an entertaining scene, but does it fit?) That's my problem with Charlie Wilson's War-- nothing in the film really seems to fit. The casting seems stunt a bit, but Hanks makes it work, it's actually refreshing to see this good-guy get a little tawdry, while Roberts is game, if a bit distracting, and Hoffman mugs true to his form. In truth, my favorite performance, was from Amy Adams as Bonnie Bach, Wilson's head admistrative assistant-- she's the only calm and cool and restrained aspect of the film itself. C+

THE DIVING BELL & THE BUTTERFLY
Many critics have commented on the over-direction of Julian Schnabel here, and true it does seem the visual palette of the film gets a bit carried away from time to time, but it's so beautifully and lovingly rendered, it didn't bother, instead it just swept me up. So was I grasped by story of Jean-Dominique Bauby, and editor of Elle who in his forties suffered a massive stroke leaving him in "locked-in condition" where his cognitive abilities are fully in tact, despite being completely paralyzed. That is with the exception of his left eye. Schnabel, working with masterful cinematographer Janusz Kaminski (frequent calliborator of Steven Spielberg) really puts us in Bauby's head, blinking with him, seeing and hearing everything from his perspetive. Played in an immensely vulnerable and surprising versatile way by Mathieu Amalric, The Diving Bell & the Butterfly puts us in his head and it's a ravishingly beautiful experience. You could put the film in the same league as My Left Foot, and yet the film is even more artistic, and emotional, without being overly sentimental. It's also surprisingly funny. Written by Ronald Harwood in a spry and witty screenplay, the film details the faithful nurses who develop a language with the vocally challenged Bauby, and eventually help him in writing his memoir. Using a series of blinks, the book got written, and that's pretty freaking amazing. B+

It's Less Than Two Hours

I'm scared...I'm nervous...I'm excited, and as usual I can't sleep. It's less than two hours and counting until the announcement of the nominations of the 80th Academy Awards. With a year like this where most of the most "buzzed" (I truly hate that word) about films are actually pretty good, and one (save for No Country For Old Men and possibly\hopefully There Will Be Blood) where there's about eight viable contenders in the top catagories, anything could happen. It seems from the Internet prognisticators the consensus seems to be:

The Diving Bell & the Butterfly
Juno
Michael Clayton
No Country For Old Men

There Will Be Blood

with Into the Wild (lots of guild support, but not much else), Atonement (Golden Globe winner and BAFTA support, but critical indifference), Sweeney Todd (Golden Globe winner), American Gangster (big box office, prestige factor, but blah) as the spoilers. But who knows anything. I'll refrain from guessing, because I'm way to insecure in the end.

On a sadder note, I was announced that Jonny Greenwood's amazing, groundbreaking score for There Will Be Blood was deemed ineligible for the best score catagory. Apparently the score references other music, so it was judged as "diluted." What a way to piss off avid film geeks. This ruling seems a bit arbitrary especially after the Oscar win last year for Babel which didn't seem to me to have any original music in it. It makes me a bit bonkers, but I suppose I will just have to ignore this enormous setback on the verge of Super Tuesday. Also the scores for Into the Wild and Enchanted have been deem ineligible as well.

My Top Ten of 2007

My favorite films are:

10. GRINDHOUSE

Dimension Films has separated the two films, but together Robert Rodriguez's Planet Terror and Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof make a wonderous combo. As an homage to B-rated, grindhouse pictures, they tenderly embrace those elements while fully indulging the freedom to be proudly silly. Terror makes for a fun, dumb sci-fi lark-- Marley Shelton and her needles are my favorite part-- while Death is a complete Tarantino mix of smart writing, whip sharp acting (even from stunt performer Zoe Bell), and pure, unadulterated violent glee. With the added fake trailers and fuzzy lines included, Grindhouse is great fun, and a pure celebration of film.

9. HARRY POTTER & THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX

I'm personally shocked to include this film on my top ten list, but I can't deny the power of this particular chapter in the Potter chronicles. It's easily the best of the film series thus far, and director Peter Yates incapulates the magic, but also the terror into ever scene. There's a sense of doom and darkness of the fight of young Harry and the evil Lord Voldemort. Plus the added list of ensemble players grows to the greatest heights yet with Imelda Staunton and Helena Bohman Carter's wicked turns. Staunton in her own right deserves a best supporting actress nomination for her uproarious and delicious takes on Dolores Umbridge.

8. YEAR OF THE DOG

This twee Molly Shannon comedy has stayed with me since I first saw it back in April of last year. First it was her performance, all staid and restrained that drew me in, than the perverse, yet poignant script from writer\director Mike White that tells the tale of a woman unhinged by the death of her dog, than it was the great ensemble interplay between terrific actors like Laura Dern, Peter Sarsgaard, Regina King, John C. Rielly, and Thomas McCarthy. It's a smaller film, but one that shouldn't be forgotten. The metamorphesis of Shannon's performance alone makes for a killer character study.

7. THE DARJEELING LIMITED

After the ill-fated The Life Aquatic I was just hoping for a bit of redemption with The Darjeeling Limited, but what I got was a whopper of an atmospheric tale in Wes Anderson's fifth film. A medatative reflection of three brothers trying to connect on an Indian train after a long estrangement, not only does Anderson's signature auteurian style come through and through, but the ensemble interplay of Owen Wilson (even more poignant after recent event), Adrien Brody, and Jason Schwartzman is cathartic and quite amazing. This is a deeper film than Anderson has even conjured, but still a joyous one in his familiar quirky style.

6. ONCE

In a pretty good year for musicals (Sweeney Todd, Hairspray, Enchanted), this one trumped them all on terms of pure passion and magic. Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova made a glorious Brief Encounter as an Irish musker and Czech flower girl. Known only as Guy and Girl, they had the chemistry and the music to create something special. It's a small film, but a beautiful one.

5. THE SAVAGES

Tamara Jenkins's personal dark comedy take on the natural progression of dealing with a parent about to die, she inspired the best in Philip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Linney. As sibling trying to grasp the best way to understand the devolving of their estranged, abusive father (a vibrant Philip Bosco), they're interplay is a master class of acting in itself. However it's Linney's movie full and through, her performance her (oddly un-noticed by the critics and guilds that honor the best performances of the year) is deep and frank and funny and sad. Her Wendy Savage is intelligent, but fragile and thing of beauty in the hands of one of the most natural performers in modern cinema. Jenkins's screenplay is a doozy too.

4. I'M NOT THERE

Todd Haynes's loopy, magical mood piece on the many lives of Bob Dylan is probably the most divisive film on this list, but the viseral power and kinetic energy is there in every frame of this personal, wonderfully crafted piece of art. The arresting power of I'm Not There is the obsessive, but passionate way the film honors the legend of Dylan, while poking and proding it. In a way a straight-forward biography would be insufficient to honoring the mystery of this enigma of a man. Cate Blanchett has easily won the best in show awards here, and she handily deserves them for her portrayl of the most iconic portion of this man's life, she seems to giving her soul away. But Heath Ledger, Christian Bale, Marcus Carl Franklin, and Ben Whishaw are wonderful here as well.

3. JUNO

The most joyous comedy of the year. A surge of young talents converged here (Jason Reitman's inspired direction, Ellen Page's amazing performance, and Diablo Cody's witty and energitic screenplay) and gave "birth" to the most spirited, joyously amusing comedy of the year. What could have been a Lifetime movie of the week is transcended by all of the above, but also the witty, generous interplay of the best ensemble of the year. Each character had their moments, and without any cloying sentimentality, were all lovable.

2. THERE WILL BE BLOOD

As serious and relevant a film that has come out in some time, Paul Thomas Anderson's masterwork is pure cinema. Visually stimulating and beautiful with note perfect acting from Daniel Day-Lewis, whose charisma, movie star mojo, and unparalled commitment is unmatched, There Will Be Blood is certainly one of the most important movies of the year, but it's emotionally intensity is strong enough to scar. It's bleak, but masterful, magical in the way it changes opinions of Anderson all together as a filmmaker. Gone is that pretentious So. California glib, instead comes a mature restraint and power.

1. NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN

In the end however, no film made me more in love with the awe power of filmmaking than the Coen Brother's opus of good sheriff's trying to make sense of world decaying and a villian so terrifying he could give Hannibal Lector the frights. The techanical accomplishment of the film is unparalelled, as well as the writing, directing and acting. THE BEST MOVIE OF THE YEAR!

Costume Designer Guild

The nominees are:

CONTEMPORARY FILM
Blades of Glory
The Diving Bell & the Butterfly
Into the Wild
Juno
Ocean's Thirteen

PERIOD FILM
3:10 to Yuma
Atonement
Elizabeth: The Golden Age
La Vie en Rose
Sweeney Todd

FANTASY FILM
300
Enchanted
The Golden Compass
Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

BAFTA

The final nominations for the British Academy of Film & Television Arts Awards are:

FILM

American Gangster

Atonement

The Lives of Others

No Country For Old Men

There Will Be Blood

BRITISH FILM

Atonement

The Bourne Ultimatum

Control

Eastern Promises

This is England

DIRECTOR

Paul Thomas Anderson, There Will Be Blood

Ethan Coen & Joel Coen, No Country For Old Men

Paul Greengrass, The Bourne Ultimatum

Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, The Lives of Others

Joe Wright, Atonement

LEAD ACTOR

George Clooney, Michael Clayton

Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood

James McAvoy, Atonement

Viggo Mortensen, Eastern Promises

Ulrich Muhe, The Lives of Others

LEAD ACTRESS

Cate Blanchett, Elizabeth: The Golden Age

Julie Christie, Away From Her

Marion Cotillard, La Vie en Rose

Keira Knightley, Atonement

Ellen Page, Juno

SUPPORTING ACTOR

Javier Bardem, No Country For Old Men

Paul Dano, There Will Be Blood

Tommy Lee Jones, No Country For Old Men

Philip Seymour Hoffman, Charlie Wilson's War

Tom Wilkinson, Michael Clayton

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Cate Blanchett, I'm Not There

Kelly MacDonald, No Country For Old Men

Samantha Morton, Control

Saoirse Ronan, Atonement

Tilda Swinton, Michael Clayton

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

American Gangster- Steven Zailian

Juno- Diablo Cody

The Lives of Others- Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck

Michael Clayton- Tony Gilroy

This is England- Shane Meadows

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Atonement- Christopher Hampton

The Diving Bell & the Butterfly- Ronald Harwood

The Kite Runner- David Benioff

No Country For Old Men- Ethan Coen & Joel Coen

There Will Be Blood- Paul Thomas Anderson

FOREIGN FILM

The Diving Bell & the Butterfly

The Kite Runner

The Lives of Others

Lust, Caution

La Vie en Rose

ANIMATED FEATURE

Ratatouille

Shrek the Third

The Simpsons Movie

MUSIC

American Gangster- Marc Streitenfeld

Atonement- Dario Marianelli

The Kite Runner- Alberto Iglesias

There Will Be Blood- Jonny Greenwood

La Vie en Rose- Christopher Gunning

CINEMATOGRAPHY

American Gangster- Harris Savides

Atonement- Seamus McGarvey

The Bourne Ultimatum- Oliver Wood

No Country For Old Men- Roger Deakins

There Will Be Blood- Robert Elswit

FILM EDITING

American Gangster- Pietro Scalia

Atonement- Paul Tothill

The Bourne Ultimatum- Christopher Rouse

Michael Clayton- John Gilroy

No Country For Old Men- Roderick Jaynes

PRODUCTION DESIGN

Atonement- Sarah Greenwood & Katie Spencer

Elizabeth: The Golden Age- Guy Hendrix Dyas & Richard Roberts

Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix- Stuart Craig & Stephenie McMilan

There Will Be Blood- Jack Fisk & Jim Erickson

La Vie en Rose- Oliver Raoux

COSTUME DESIGN

Atonement- Jacqueline Durran

Elizabeth: The Golden Age- Alexandra Byrne

Lust, Caution- Pan Lai

Sweeney Todd- Colleen Atwood

La Vie en Rose- Marit Allen

SOUND

Atonement

The Bourne Ultimatum

No Country For Old Men

There Will Be Blood

La Vie en Rose

VISUAL EFFECTS

The Bourne Ultimatum

The Golden Compass

Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

Spider-man 3

MAKE UP & HAIR

Atonement

Elizabeth: The Golden Age

Hairspray

Sweeney Todd

La Vie en Rose

THE ORANGE RISING STAR AWARD

Shia LeBeouf

Sienna Miller

Ellen Page

Sam Riley

Tang Wei

There Will Be Blood

A bleak, depressing, at times achingly intense and uneasy movie going experience, There Will Be Blood is also a marvel of atmosphere and scope. Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, in a fashion that's thrilling and completely different from his Altman-esque Southern California tales before, this is a movie. He has dared to make the great American movie (many critics in their more quote friendly reviews have dubbed it his Citizen Kane), and that daring has bequeathed an adult audience a challenging, relevant story about oil, greed, religion, even parenthood. Ready for this challenging, darkly rich tale (partially based on Upton Sinclair's Oil) is star Daniel Day-Lewis. An actor famous for his method in-character takes creates a theatrical cadence, a thick moustache, and a limp for oilman Daniel Plainview, but what makes his performance amazing is that while those actorly tics are there in view, he still makes this epic, grandiose film feel intimate and personal. The staggering brilliance of Day-Lewis (in a four year absence from film) is how he embodies this man, consumes him, breathes him. His acting, evident for a long time, is such a step above what accounts for movie acting most of the time, that his achievement here is what it must of felt like watching Marlon Brando in A Streetcar Named Desire.

The film starts in 1898, and for the first ten minutes or so, we look at Plainview hacking away in a mine, consumed entirely by the prospect of finding the black stuff. There's no dialouge, just the man working while Jonny Greenwood's triumphant and possibly revolutionary musical score hammers alongs side him. Already I was hooked by this man, riveted by his ambition. We learn he has a son whose his partner named H.W. Plainview (Dillon Freasier-- natural and completely unafraid of the power of Day-Lewis), his wife we're told died during childbirth. They've become a small scaled success, as news comes out of possible riches in a small California nook. It here were Plainview butts heads with a rambunctous young preacher named Eli Sunday (Paul Dano-- allowed to speak here in a triumphant performance, startling in it's departure from his role in Little Miss Sunshine.) I'm inclined to stop talking plots points right here since so much of the narrative, I believe, relies on surprise. To reveal too much would likely take away from the lulling power and authority of the story.

Instead I'd like to write about the beauty of the film-- cinematograher Robert Elswit (he of Good Night, & Good Luck and Magnolia fame) has photographed an amazing widescreen affair. Shot by shot-- there's greatness snapped into every shot of There Will Be Blood. The soul in fact of the American west, in fact. The production of Jack Fisk underlines the startup and development of these tiny nooks of the American west, right when everything started to change, while we as a country were still in the era of Manifest Destiny. Mark Bridges' costume design is subtle but quite good in developing Plainview's financial gain (while stressing his moral decline.) And Dylan Tichenor's editing is flowing, but adroitly paced. The film is almost three hours long, but never feels long, and in hindsight-- if you could cut something, what would it be-- everythings seems so essential in presenting the relevance of the tale, and the masterful character study.

In a way there seems to be common link between There Will Be Blood and 2007's other mastery achievement, No Country For Old Men. Both are bleak and relentless in their directness. Both serve as astounding achievements for the provocative auteurs at the helm. The Coen Brothers and P.T. Anderson have concocted masterful films that remind and provoke and challenge. The questions both films confront aren't easy, or necessary pleasant in parts (there's a scene in Blood towards the end that's easily one of the most sadistic scenes in recent movie history-- and the power of it is derived from nothing more than Day-Lewis' voice), but both are revelant and blazing in their channeling of the American spirit in all it's disparaging ways. A

Producers Guild of America

The nominees are:

FEATURE
The Diving Bell & the Butterfly
Juno
Michael Clayton
No Country For Old Men
There Will Be Blood

ANIMATED FEATURE
Bee Movie
Ratatouille
The Simpsons Movie

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Body of War
Hear & Now
Pete Seeger: The Power of Song
Sicko
White Light\Black Rain

Golden Globes

The Golden Globes (further deemed irrelevant this year being reduced to press conference) has bestowed their annual statues. While I disapprove of most of their selections (not an uncommon thing) at least they branched out from the boredom and redunduncy of the critical selections.

BEST PICTURE (Drama)

Atonement

BEST PICTURE (Musical or Comedy)
Sweeney Todd

BEST DIRECTOR
Julian Schnabel, The Diving Bell & the Butterfly

BEST ACTOR (Drama)
Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood

BEST ACTRESS (Drama)
Julie Christie, Away From Her

BEST ACTOR (Musical or Comedy)
Johnny Depp, Sweeney Todd

BEST ACTRESS (Musical or Comedy)
Marion Cotillard, La Vie en Rose
Pure outright category fraud-- she doesn't sing (that's Ms. Piaf's voice) nor tell jokes-- if she won the drama award I wouldn't be so outraged. I'm just bitter that she stole it away from Ellen Page whose hilarious and wonderous in Juno.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Javier Bardem, No Country For Old Men

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett, I'm Not There

BEST SCREENPLAY
No Country For Old Men- Ethan Coen & Joel Coen

BEST FOREIGN FILM
The Diving Bell & the Butterfly

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Ratatouille

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Atonement- Dario Marianelli

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
"Guaranteed," Into the Wild

What does this all mean-- who knows? Everybody's all but ruled out Atonement and Sweeney Todd by now, but maybe they're not completely dead yet. No awards for Juno, which upsets me dearly, but maybe it's great box office and geniune good will will overule the foolishness of HFPA. The Diving Bell & the Butterfly is going place. But c'mon-- Atonement over No Country and There Will Be Blood... what the @$!%?

Central Ohio Film Critics Circle

BEST PICTURE

No Country For Old Men

runners-up:

The Lives of Others

Juno

Once

There Will Be Blood

Lars & the Real Girl

3:10 to Yuma

The Savages

Sweeney Todd

The Diving Bell & the Butterfly

BEST DIRECTOR

Ethan Coen & Joel Coen, No Country For Old Men

runner-up:

Paul Thomas Anderson, There Will Be Blood

BEST ACTOR

Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood

runner-up:

Ryan Gosling, Lars & the Real Girl

BEST ACTRESS

Ellen Page, Juno

runner-up:

Amy Adams, Enchanted

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Javier Bardem, No Country For Old Men

runner-up:

Ben Foster, 3:10 to Yuma

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Cate Blanchett, I'm Not There

runner-up:

Emily Mortimer, Lars & the Real Girl

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Juno- Diablo Cody

runner-up:

The Savages- Tamara Jenkins

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

No Country For Old Men- Ethan Coen & Joel Coen

runner-up:

There Will Be Blood- Paul Thomas Anderson

BEST FOREIGN FILM

The Lives of Others

runner-up:

The Orphanage

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

Ratatouille

runner-up:

Paprika

BEST DOCUMENTARY

The King of Kong: A Fistful of Dollars

runner-up:

In the Shadow of the Moon & No End in Sight

BEST ENSEMBLE

No Country For Old Men

runner-up:

3:10 to Yuma

ACTOR OF THE YEAR

Philip Seymour Hoffman-- Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, Charlie Wilson's War & The Savages

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

The Orphanage- Oscar Faura

runner-up:

No Country For Old Men- Roger Deakins

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

Once- Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova

runner-up:

Atonement- Dario Marianelli

BREAKTHROUGH ARTIST

Sarah Polley, Away From Her

Coolest Movie Posters of 2007

In a series of reflection of the past year in movies, I start by sharing my favorite ad work of the year, the most superficial, which is fitting since the poster is one of the first selling points of a film. My faves have beauty (The Assassination of Jesse James, Youth Without Youth), ecclectism (The Darjeeling Limited, Year of the Dog), wry amusement (Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, Black Snake Moan), striking imagery that makes me want more (Zodiac, Control, Grindhouse-- Marley Shelton was my favorite character-- and Sweeney Todd) and Across the Universe just because it makes me happy.