81st Academy Awards - Winners

The 81st Academy Awards were held on February 22, 2009. The winners are noted in red.

Best Picture
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

Best Actor
Richard Jenkins – The Visitor
Frank Langella – Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn – Milk
Brad Pitt - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke – The Wrestler

Best Actress
Anne Hathaway – Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie – Changeling
Melissa Leo – Frozen River
Meryl Streep - Doubt
Kate Winslet – The Reader

Supporting Actor
Josh Brolin – Milk
Robert Downey Jr. – Tropic Thunder
Philip Seymour Hoffman – Doubt
Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight
Michael Shannon – Revolutionary Road

Supporting Actress
Amy Adams – Doubt
Penelope Cruz – Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis – Doubt
Taraji P. Henson – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Marisa Tomei – The Wrestler

Best Director
David Fincher – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Ron Howard – Frost/Nixon
Gus Van Sant – Milk
Stephen Daldry – The Reader
Danny Boyle – Slumdog Millionaire

Foreign Film
The Baader Meinhof Complex (Germany)
Class (France)
Departures (Japan)
Revanche (Austria)
Waltz With Bashir (Israel)

Adapted Screenplay
Eric Roth and Robin Swicord – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
John Patrick Shanley – Doubt
Peter Morgan – Frost/Nixon
David Hare – The Reader
Simon Beaufoy – Slumdog Millionaire

Original Screenplay
Courtney Hunt – Frozen River
Mike Leigh – Happy-Go-Lucky
Martin McDonagh – In Bruges
Dustin Lance Black – Milk
Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon and Peter Docter – WALL-E

Animated Feature Film
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda
WALL-E

Art Direction
Changeling
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
The Duchess
Revolutionary Road

Cinematography
Changeling
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

Original Score
Alexandre Desplat - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
James Newton Howard – Defiance
Danny Elfman – Milk
A.R. Rahman – Slumdog Millionaire
Thomas Newman – WALL-E

Original Song
Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman - "Down to Earth" from WALL-E
A.R. Rahman and Gulzar - "Jai Ho" from Slumdog Millionaire
A.R. Rahman and Maya Arulpragasam - "O Saya" from Slumdog Millionaire

Costume
Australia
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Duchess
Milk
Revolutionary Road

Documentary Feature
The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)
Encounters at the End of the World
The Garden
Man on Wire
Trouble the Water

Makeup
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Hellboy II: The Golden Army

Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award (Oscar statuette) Jerry Lewis

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008)

Opened November 7, 2008
Runtime: 1 hour, 29 minutes
Genres: Animation, Action, Adventure, Comedy, Family
MPAA Rating: PG for some mild crude humor
Cast: Voices of Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett Smith, Sacha Baron Cohen, Cedric the Entertainer, Andy Richter, Bernie Mac, Alec Baldwin, Sherri Shepherd, Will i Am, Elisa Gabrielli, Tom McGrath
Directors: Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath
Screenwriters: Etan Cohen
Music: Hans Zimmer
Production Co.: DreamWorks Animation

Synopses:

• The sequel to 2005's "Madagascar", in which New York Zoo animals, Alex the Lion, Marty the Zebra, Melman the Giraffe and Gloria the Hippo, still stranded on Madagascar, start to leave the island. All of a sudden, they land in the wilderness of Africa, where Alex meets the rest of his family, but has trouble communicating with them after spending so much time at the Central Park Zoo.
• In the highly-anticipated sequel to 'Madagascar,' Alex, Marty, Melman, Gloria, King Julien, Maurice and the penguins and the chimps find themselves marooned on the distant shores of Madagascar. In the face of this obstacle, the New Yorkers have hatched a plan so crazy it just might work. With military precision, the penguins have repaired an old crashed plane--sort of. Once aloft, this unlikely crew stays airborne just long enough to make it to the wildest place of all--the vast plains of Africa, where the members of our zoo-raised crew encounter species of their own kind for the very first time. Africa seems like a great place...but is it better than their Central Park home?

The official website for Madagascar has multiple categories to look through including about the film. Click on the following links for more resources and information on the movie as well as reviews: Internet movie databata (imdb), Yahoo! movies, Rotten Tomatoes, About.com, NY Times, Houston Chronicle, Roger Ebert, Fandango, Moviefone, Entertainment Weekly, TV Guide, Rolling Stone, Variety

Trivia:

• Bernie Mac's last animated feature. This movie was dedicated to him.
• The sequel Madagascar 3 (2012) was confirmed months before this one came out.
  'Moto Moto' means 'Hot Hot' in Swahili.
• The line the English penguin delivers in his safety speech on the plane is the same safety tip that the rat gives the chickens in the Aardman film, Chicken Run (2000).
• The song from this movie, "Time 2 Move It/I Like To Move It", was used in a 2008 Chrysler car commercial.
• A specially-made segment featuring Julien and Private was used as part of a 2008 Comcast Digital Voice commercial.
• A specially-made segment featuring Alex, Gloria, Melman, Marty, and the penguins was used as part of a 2008 McDonald's restaurant commercial.
• Alex's family birth-mark is shaped like the continent of Africa, including the island of Madagascar.
• When the airplane takes flight, Alex look out the window, and sees Mort on the wing, messing with the engine, this is an homage to the classic Twilight Zone episode _"The Twilight Zone" Nightmare at 20,000 Feet (1963)_ featuring a young William Shatner.
• The aircraft used in the escape attempt is based on a Lockheed L-10 Electra, similar to one used by Amelia Earhart.
• When the head penguin asks to kiss the head monkey the monkey replies, "Alright, but you're so darned ugly" is a direct reference to Planet of the Apes (1968). In one scene Taylor (Charlton Heston) says to Zira (Kim Hunter) I'd like to kiss you Zira. Zira replies, "Alright, but you're so damned ugly".

Reel Thoughts entertainment rating: 4/5

Reel Thoughts award-worthy rating: 3/5

BAFTA Film Winners (2009)

On February 8, 2009, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) , a British charity, hosted their annual awards shows for excellence in film, television, television craft, video games and forms of animation. They are often cited as a British equivalent to the Oscars. The full list of Winners can be seen by going to the BAFTA website. Below are the highlights with the winners in red:

BEST FILM

Slumdog Millionaire

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Frost/Nixon

Milk

The Reader

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM

Man on Wire

Hunger

In Bruges

Mamma Mia!

Slumdog Millionaire

THE CARL FOREMAN AWARD for Special Achievement by a British Director, Writer or Producer for their First Feature Film

Steve McQueen (Hunger)

Simon Chinn (Man on Wire)

Judy Craymer (Mamma Mia!)

Garth Jennings (Son of Rambow)

Solon Papadopoulos and Roy Boulter (Of Time And The City)

DIRECTOR
Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire)

Clint Eastwood (Changeling)

David Fincher (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)

Ron Howard (Frost/Nixon)

Stephen Daldry (The Reader)

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Martin McDonagh (In Bruges)

Joel Coen, Ethan Coen (Burn After Reading)

Joe Michael Straczynski (Changeling)

Philippe Claude (I've Loved You So Long)

Dustin Lance Black (Milk

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Simon Beaufoy (Slumdog Millionaire)

Eric Roth (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)

Peter Morgan (Frost/Nixon)

David Hare (The Reader)

Justin Haythe (Revolutionary Road)

FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
I've Loved You So Long

The Baader Meinhof Complex

Gomorrah

Persepolis

Waltz With Bashir

ANIMATED FILM
Wall•E

Persepolis

Waltz with Bashir

LEADING ACTOR

Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler)

Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon)

Dev Patel (Slumdog Millionaire)

Sean Penn (Milk)

Brad Pitt (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)

LEADING ACTRESS

Kate Winslet (The Reader)

Angelina Jolie (Changeling)

Kristin Scott Thomas (I've Loved You So Long)

Meryl Streep (Doubt)

Revolutionary Road (Kate Winslet)

SUPPORTING ACTOR
Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight)

Robert Downey, Jr. (Tropic Thunder)

Brendan Gleeson (In Bruges)

Philip Seymour Hoffman (Doubt)

Brad Pitt (Burn After Reading)

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Penelope Cruz (Vicky Cristina Barcelona)

Amy Adams (Doubt)

Freida Pinto (Slumdog Millionaire)

Tilda Swinton (Burn After Reading)

Marisa Tomei (The Wrestler)

MUSIC

A.R. Rahman (Slumdog Millionaire)

Alexandre Desplat (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)

Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard (The Dark Knight)

Benny Andersson andBjörn Ulvaeus (Mamma Mia!)

Thomas Newman (Wall•E)

CINEMATOGRAPHY
Anthony Dod Mantle (Slumdog Millionaire)

Tom Stern (Changeling)

Claudio Miranda (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)

Wally Pfister (The Dark Knight)

Chris Menges and Roger Deakins (The Reader)

COSTUME DESIGN
Michael O'Connor (The Duchess)

Deborah Hopper (Changeling)

Jacqueline West (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)

Lindy Hemming (The Dark Knight)

Albert Wolsky (Revolutionary Road)

ORANGE RISING STAR AWARD
Noel Clark

Michael Cera

Michael Fassbender

Rebecca Hall

Toby Kebbell

ACADEMY FELLOWSHIP
Terry Gilliam

Glory Road

Opened January 13, 2006

Runtime: 1 hour 49 minutes

Genres: Drama, Sport

MPAA Rating: PG for racial issues including violence and epithets, and mild language

Cast: Josh Lucas, Derek Luke, Austin Nichols, Evan Jones, Mehcad Brooks, Emily Deschanel, Sam Jones III, Schin A.S. Kerr, Alphonso McAuley, Damaine Radcliff, Tatyana Ali, Sharon Warren, Jon Voight, Al Shearer, Red West, Kip Weeks, Mitch Eakins, Alejandro D. Hernandez, James Olivard, Wilbur T. Fitzgerald (II)

Director: James Gartner

Screenwriters: Chris Cleveland, Bettina Gilois

Music: Trevor Rabin

Studio: Walt Disney Pictures, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Production Co.: Jerry Bruckheimer Films

Distributors: Buena Vista Pictures Distribution

Synopses:

• In 1966, Texas Western coach Don Haskins led the first all-black starting line-up for a college basketball team to the NCAA national championship.
• 40 years ago, Don Haskins went on the recruiting trail to find the best talent in the land, black or white. 7 blacks and 5 whites made up the legendary 1965-66 Texas Western Miners. They were mocked and ridiculed for their showboating and flaunting of black players on the court. Yet, in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds, Haskins and his Miners came together as a team united to reach the National Championship game against powerhouse Kentucky.
• For Don Haskins, the dream was always about winning: winning with guts, heart and grit; winning with self-respect; and winning even when the odds were completely stacked against you. What Haskins didn't know in 1966--when he was just a small-town family man trying to make an indelible mark in his first job as a collegiate basketball coach--is that his underdog team's incredible victory would transcend sport and change not only his life and the lives of his players, but the country itself. Haskins and his scrappy Texas Western Miners were unwittingly about to revolutionize basketball and the American landscape. It was still a time of innocence in the United States, yet the country was on the verge of major social changes when Haskins decided to play an all-African-American opening lineup at the NCAA championships against the all-white juggernaut of the University of Kentucky Wildcats. Haskins did it to win. But his bold decision would help break down barriers of segregation that affected every segment of society and set a new course for the future as his team did the one thing they could to prove themselves to a watching world: the played their hearts out.

The official website for Glory Road has multiple categories to look through including about the film. Click on the following links for more resources and information on the movie as well as reviews: Wikipedia, Internet movie databata (imdb), Yahoo! movies, Rotten Tomatoes, NY Times, Houston Chronicle, Roger Ebert, Fandango, Moviefone, Entertainment Weekly, TV Guide, Rolling Stone, Variety

Trivia:

• Ben Affleck was originally set to play Don Haskins, but pulled out of the project due to scheduling conflicts.
• Josh Lucas gained forty-three pounds to play Coach Don Haskins.
• Former coach Don Haskins was cast as an extra in the film as the gas station attendant.
• Chicago Bulls guard Kirk Hinrich was offered a part in the movie, but had to turn it down due to schedule conflicts.
• One of the sequences in the "historical" footage at the beginning of the movie is a computer generated shot made for Apollo 13.
• The technical adviser for the basketball scenes was USC head coach Tim Floyd, who was chosen because of his closeness to the film's subject, Don Haskins. During the 1980s, Floyd was Haskins' top assistant coach at UTEP (formerly Texas Western). His father, Lee Floyd, was a longtime coach and also a former Texas Western basketball player.
• Cameo: Don Haskins playing a gas station attendant on the recruiting trip.
  Prosthetic ears, cheeks, and nose was added to Jon Voight to make his angular face more rounded like Coach Rupp.
• The photo shown at the end of the movie is a photo of the real 1965-66 Texas Western team, rather than of the actors playing those parts in the film.

Reel Thoughts entertainment rating: 4/5
Reel Thoughts award-worthy rating: 3.5/5

AFI's Top 10 Movies of 2008

The following movies are AFI's top 10 movies of 2008:

1. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
2. The Dark Knight
3. Frost/Nixon
4. Frozen River
5. Gran Torino
6. Iron Man
7. Milk
8. Wall*E
9. Wendy and Lucy
10. The Wrestler

Time Magazine's Top 10 Best Movies of 2008

The following is Time Magazine's list of the top 10 best movies of 2008:

1. WALL-E
2. Synecdoche, New York
3. My Winnipeg
4. 4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days
5. Milk
6. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
7. Slumdog Millionaire
8. Iron Man
9. Speed Racer
10. Encounters at the End of the World.

Roger Ebert's Top 20 Movies of 2008

Roger Ebert has released his Best of the Year column, listing off his top 20 films of 2008. Unfortunately Ebert took the cowards way out and didn’t list the movies in any specific order. You can go to RogerEbert.com to read his full column on his best of 2008.

1. Ballast
2. The Band’s Visit
3. Che
4. Chop Shop
5. The Dark Knight
6. Doubt
7. The Fall
8. Frost/Nixon
9. Frozen Friver
10. Happy-Go-Lucky
11. Iron Man
12. Milk
13. Rachel Getting Married
14. The Reader
15. Revolutionary Road
16. Shotgun Stories
17. Slumdog Millionaire
18. Synecdoche, New York
19. W.
20. Wall-E

Life & Style Magazine's Best Movies of 2008

The January 12, 2009, issue of Weekly Life & Style magazine published its list of the best movies of 2008:

1. Slumdog Millionaire
2. Wall * E
3. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
4. Tropic Thunder
5. Defiance
6. The Visitor
7. Frost/Nixon
8. Synecdoche, New York
9. The Wrester
10. In Bruge

Directors Guild of American Outstanding Directorial Achievement Awards (2008)

The winners of the 2008 Directors Guild of America Outstanding Directorial Achievement Awards and the recipients of the Guild's 2009 Career Achievement Awards were announced tonight during the 61st Annual DGA Awards Dinner at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Los Angeles. Danny Boyle won the DGA's Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film for Slumdog Millionaire.

• Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film: Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire)
• Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television/Miniseries: Jay Roach (Recount)
• Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Dramatic Series Night: Dan Attias (The Wire – “Transitions”)
• Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy Series: Paul Feig (The Office – “Dinner Party”)
• Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Musical Variety: Brent (Bucky) Gunts (Opening Ceremony Beijing 2008 Olympic Summer Games)
• Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Reality Programs: Tony Cross (America’s Next Top Model - “1002”)
• Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Daytime Serials: Larry Carpenter (One Live to Live – Episode #10,281 – “So You Think You Can be Shane Morasco’s Father?”)
• Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary: Ari Folman (Waltz with Bashir)
• Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Commercials: Peter Thwaites (Production Company – Gorgeous Enterprises)
• Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Children’s Programs: Amy Schatz (Classical Baby (I’m Grown Up Now) - “The Poetry Show”)
• Service and Achievement Award Recipient: Roger Ebert (Film Critic/Author)

Feature Film has traditionally been one of the industry's most accurate barometers for who will win the Best Director Academy Award. Only six times since the DGA Awards began in 1948 has the Feature Film winner not gone on to win the corresponding Academy Award. The six (6) exceptions are as follows:

• 1968: Anthony Harvey won the DGA Award for The Lion in Winter while Carol Reed took home the Oscar for Oliver!
• 1972: Francis Ford Coppola received the DGA’s nod for The Godfather while the Academy selected Bob Fosse for Cabaret.
• 1985: Steven Spielberg received his first DGA aware for The Color Purple while the Oscar went to Sydney Pollack for Out of Africa.
• 1995: Ron Howard was chosen by the DGA for his direction of Apollo 13 while the Academy votes selected Mel Gibson for Braveheart.
• 2000: Ang Lee won the DGA Award for his direction of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon while Steven Soderbergh won the Academy Award for Traffic.
• 2002: Rob Marshall won the DGA Award for Chicago while Roman Polanski received the Academy Award for The Pianist.

Hitman (2007)

Opened November 21, 2007
Runtime: 1 hour 33 minutes
Genres: Action, Adventure, Crime, Thriller
MPAA Rating: R for strong bloody violence, language and some sexuality/nudity
Cast: Timothy Olyphant, Dougray Scott, Olga Kurylenko, Robert Knepper, Ulrich Thomsen, Henry Ian Cusick
Director: Xavier Gens
Screenwriters: Skip Woods
Composer: Geoff Zanelli
Studio: Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation
Producers: Vin Diesel, Charles Gordon, Adrian Askarieh (II)

Synopses:

• A gun-for-hire known only as Agent 47 hired by a group known only as 'The Agency' is ensnared in a political conspiracy, which finds him pursued by both Interpol and the Russian military as he treks across Eastern Europe.
• The "Hitman" is a genetically-engineered, elite assassin known only as Agent 47. His hallmarks are lethal grace, unwavering precision, and resolute pride in his work. But even 47 couldn't anticipate a "random equation" in his life exactitude: the unexpected stirrings of his conscience and the unfamiliar emotions aroused in him by a mysterious Russian woman.

The official website for Hitman has multiple categories to look through including about the film. Click on the following links for more resources and information on the movie as well as reviews: Wikipedia, Internet movie databata (imdb), Yahoo! movies, Rotten Tomatoes, NY Times, Houston Chronicle, Movies Online, Roger Ebert, Fandango, Moviefone, Entertainment Weekly, TV Guide

Trivia:

• When the project was first announced, Vin Diesel was going to star as Agent 47. Despite Timothy Olyphant taking over, Diesel is still credited as executive producer.
• The car Agent 47 drives is an Audi S5.
• When Agent 47 jumps through the hotel window into the kid's room, they're playing Hitman: Blood Money (2006) (2006) (VG) for the PlayStation 2. (They're playing through "Death of a Showman", the training level.)
• Diana and Agent Smith, characters from the video games, make appearances in the film.
• The movie was delayed from its October 2007 release, to late November 2007 to facilitate for re-shoots.
• Timothy Olyphant underwent muscle and martial-arts training in preparation for his role.
• The character of Nika (Olga Kurylenko) draws inspiration from a recurring female character from the games known as Lei Ling (changed to 'Mei Ling' in 'Contracts'). Lei/Mei Ling was a prostitute that 47 saved on two occasions, receiving vital information in return.
• Olga Kurylenko was distraught after having to cut her hair for the role. She said she didn't feel like herself anymore, which she used to help her connect with her character.
• Director Xavier Gens was originally asked by the studio to make the movie PG-13, which he refused to do because of the source material. He was allowed to shoot the movie aiming for an R, however in the final stages, he was removed and Nicolas De Toth was brought in to re-edit the movie for commercial purposes, as he did with Live Free or Die Hard (2007) (he is thanked in the credits for this editing).
• The production had originally tried to use Jesper Kyd's music, but instead opted for an original score by Geoff Zanelli.
• During the restaurant sequence, the scene in which Nika talks about owning a squirrel/chipmunk when she was young was actually true for the actress, and the scene was improvised during filming.
• The scene where Agent 47 sits atop the roof, sniper in hand and red lettering behind him is taken directly from artwork from the game, as is the scene between 47 and Yuri in the bathtub, including the rubber duck.
• Most of the footage from the opening credits is edited from footage from the TV show “Dark Angel” (2000), which shares a similar story line about genetically enhanced children trained as super assassins and soldiers.

Reel Thoughts entertainment rating: 2/5
Reel Thoughts award-worthy rating: 2/5

15th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards (2009)

On January 25, 2009, the winners of the SAG awards were announced. Below find the nominations with the winners in red:

THEATRICAL MOTION PICTURES

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role

Richard Jenkins (Walter Vale in The Visitor)
Frank Langella (Richard Nixon in Frost/Nixon)
SEAN PENN (Harvey Milk in Milk)
Brad Pitt (Benjamin Button in The Curious Case of Ben jamin Button)
Mickey Rourke (Randy in The Wrestler)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role

Anne Hathaway (Kym in Rachel Getting Married)
Angelina Jolie (Christine Collins in Changeling)
Melissa Leo (Ray Eddy in Frozen River)
MERYL STREEP (Sister Aloysius Beauvier in Doubt)
Kate Winslet (April Wheeler in Revolutionary Road)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role

Josh Brolin (Dan White in Milk)
Robert Downey, Jr. (Kirk Lazarus in Tropic Thunder)
Philip Seymour Hoffman (Father Brendan Flynn in Doubt)
HEATH LEDGER (Joker in The Dark Knight)
Dev Patel (Older Jamal in Slumdog Millionaire)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role

Amy Adams (Sister James in Doubt)
Penelope Cruz (Maria Elena in Vicky Cristina Barcelona)
Viola Davis (Mrs. Miller in Doubt)
Taraji P. Henson (Queenie in The Curious Case of Ben jamin Button)
KATE WINSLET (Hanna Schmitz in The Reader)

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Doubt
Frost/Nixon
Milk
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

PRIMETIME TELEVISION

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries

Ralph Fiennes (Bernard Lafferty in Bernard and Doris)
PAUL GIAMATTI (John Adams in John Adams)
Kevin Spacey (Ron Klain in Recount)
Kiefer Sutherland (Jack Bauer in 24: Redemption)
Tom Wilkinson (Benjamin Franklin in John Adams)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries

Laura Dern (Katherine Harris in Recound)
LAURA LINNEY (Abigail Adams in John Adams)
Shirley MacLaine (Coco Chanel in Coco Chanel)
Phylicia Rashad (Lena Younger in A Raisin in the Sun)
Susan Sarandon (Doris Duke in Bernard and Doris)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series

Michael C. Hall (Dexter Morgan in Dexter)

Jon Hamm (Don Draper in Mad Men)
HUGH LAURIE (Gregory House in House)
William Shatner (Denny Crane in Boston Legal)
James Spader (Alan Shore in Boston Legal)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series

SALLY FIELD (Nora Walker in Brothers & Sisters)
Mariska Hargitay (Det. Olivia Benson in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit)
Holly Hunter (Grace Hanadarko in Saving Grace)
Elisabeth Moss (Peggy Olson in Mad Men)
Kyra Sedgwick (Dep. Chief Brenda Johnson in The Closer)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series

ALEC BALDWIN (Jack Donaghy in 30 ROCK)
Steve Carell (Michael Scott in The Office)
David Duchovny (Hank Moody in Californication)
Jeremy Piven (Ari Gold in Entourage)
Tony Shalhoub (Adrian Monk in Monk)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series

Christina Applegate (Samantha Newly in Samantha Who?)
America Ferrera (Betty Suarez in Ugly Betty)
TINA FEY (Liz Lemon in 30 ROCK)
Mary-Louise Parker (Nancy Botwin in Weeds)
Tracey Ullman (Various Characters in Tracey Ullman's State of the Union)

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series

Boston Legal
The Closer
Dexter

House
MAD MEN

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series

30 ROCK

Desperate Housewives
Entourage
The Office
Weeds

Push: Based on the Novel by Sapphire wins 2009 Grand Jury Prize at Sundance

The 25th Sundance Film Festival culminated with a celebration recognizing the films that Festival juries and audiences selected for awards. Festivalgoers packed into the Park City Racquet Club for this special evening highlighting some of the 2009 Festival’s most original voices.

Jane Lynch, the ceremony's host, followed in the spirit of this year's storytime theme and opened with a windy mad-lib pieced together by this year's film titles.” In fact, at the risk of sounding Crude let me tell ya, going Toe to Toe with that damn sexy Louise-Michel was The Greatest,” Lynch said at one point during her opening remarks.

16 U.S. films comprised the Dramatic Competition, and the 2009 Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic went to Lee Daniels' Push: Based on the Novel by Sapphire. The film tells the heartbreaking and uplifting story of Precious Jones, a young girl in Harlem struggling to overcome tremendous odds to find her own voice. "This is so important to me. Speaking for every minority in Harlem, in Detroit, in the Bronx, who has been abused, can't read, that's obese, that's been turned their back on," he said. "If I can do this shit, ya'll can do this shit." In a very rare occurrence of the jury and audience agreeing on the top honor, in addition to the Grand Jury Prize, Push also picked up the Audience Award: Dramatic.

For the Documentary Competition top honor, the jury selected Ondi Timoner's We Live in Public from the 16 films in the U.S. Documentary category. Timoner's second Grand Jury Prize (she won in 2004 for Dig!) is the story of the Internet's revolutionary impact on human interaction portrayed through the perspective of Josh Harris, the web maverick notorious for his experimental public art projects. "Sundance is home to me,” Timoner said as she accepted her award. “It's such a nurturing environment."

Sundance Institute Executive Director Ken Brecher welcomed the jurors, filmmakers, and Festivalgoers by noting the air of change at this year's Festival. "When we began this Festival George Bush was the president, and we ended it with Obama," he said.

Festival Director Geoffrey Gilmore remarked how this year's unpredictable lineup signaled the innovations still to come in filmmaking. "We opened the Festival with animation and closed with science fiction and in between showcased some of the best films we've ever seen," he said. "People ask us how independent film has evolved over the past 25 years and the answer is, quite simply, it's better."

Films receiving jury awards were selected from the four categories: U.S. Dramatic and Documentary Competitions and World Dramatic and Documentary Competitions; these films were also eligible for the 2009 Audience Awards. Joseph Gordon-Levitt announced the U.S. Audience Awards presented by Honda. Push won for Dramatic, and the Audience Award: Documentary was presented to Louie Psihoyos' The Cove, which captures the horrors of a secret cove in Japan used to kill dolphins.

The World Cinema Competition categories celebrated a range of films from continents spanning the globe. The World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic was awarded to Sebastián Silva's The Maid (La Nana) about a bitter servant who wreaks havoc on her mistress when another servant is brought into the household.

The World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary went to Rough Aunties, directed by Kim Longinotto. Set in Durban, South Africa, Rough Aunties follows the story of a fearless and unwavering group of women who serve to protect abused, neglected, and forgotten children.

The World Cinema Audience Awards were presented by Benjamin Bratt. Lone Scherfig's An Education received the World Cinema Audience Award: Dramatic. An Education, which Nick Hornby wrote the screenplay for, is a coming-of-age story stationed in an early 60's Oxford on the cusp of cultural revolution.

The World Cinema Audience Award: Documentary went to Afghan Star by Havana Marking. This film follows the dramatic story of four contestants risking their lives to sing on an Afghan American Idol-like television program.

The 2009 Sundance Film Festival Juries consisted of: U.S. Dramatic Competition: Virginia Madsen, Scott McGehee, Maud Nadler, Mike White, and Boaz Yakin; U.S. Documentary Competition: Patrick Creadon, Carl Deal, Andrea Meditch, Sam Pollard, and Marina Zenovich; World Dramatic Competition: Colin Brown (U.S.), Christine Jeffs (New Zealand), and Vibeke Windeløv (Denmark); World Documentary Competition: Gillian Armstrong (Australia), Thom Powers (U.S.), and Hubert Sauper (France); Shorts Competition: Gerardo Naranjo, Lou Taylor Pucci, and Sharon Swart; The Alfred P. Sloan Prize: Fran Bagenal, Rodney Brooks, Raymond Gesteland, Jeffrey Nachmanoff, and Alex Rivera.

Following is a list of other awards presented:

Directing Award: U.S. Documentary - Natalia Almada, El General

Directing Award: U.S. Dramatic - Cary Joji Fukunaga, Sin Nombre

World Cinema Directing Award: Documentary - Havana Marking, Afghan Star

World Cinema Directing Award: Dramatic - Oliver Hirschbiegel, Five Minutes of Heaven

Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award - Nicholas Jasenovec and Charlyne Yi, Paper Heart

World Cinema Screenwriting Award - Oliver Hirschbiegel, Five Minutes of Heaven

U.S. Documentary Editing Award - Karen Schmeer, Sergio, directed by Greg Barker

World Cinema Documentary Editing Award - Janus Billeskov Jansen and Thomas Papapetros, Burma VJ, directed by Anders Østergaard

Excellence in Cinematography Award: U.S. Documentary - Bob Richman, The September Issue, directed by R.J. Cutler

Excellence in Cinematography Award: U.S. Dramatic - Adriano Goldman, Sin Nombre, directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga

World Cinema Cinematography Award: Documentary - John Maringouin, Big River Man

World Cinema Cinematography Award: Dramatic - John De Borman, An Education, directed by Lone Scherfig

World Cinema Special Jury Prize for Originality - Benoît Delépine and Gustave de Kervern, Louise-Michel

World Cinema Special Jury Prize: Documentary - Ngawang Choephel, Tibet in Song

World Cinema Special Jury Prize for Acting - Catalina Saavedra, The Maid (La Nana)

Special Jury Prize: U.S. Documentary - Jeff Stilson, Good Hair

Special Jury Prize for Spirit of Independence - Lynn Shelton, Humpday

Special Jury Prize for Acting - Mo'Nique, Push: Based on the Novel by Sapphire

Earlier this week, the awards for the Festival shorts were announced. The 2009 Jury Prize in U.S. Short
Filmmaking was awarded to Short Term 12, directed by Destin Daniel Cretton.

The jury also presented the International Jury Prize in International Short Filmmaking to Lies, directed by Jonas Odell. Honorable Mentions in Short Filmmaking were presented to The Attack of the Robots from Nebula-5, directed by Chema García Ibarra; Protect You + Me, directed by Brady Corbet; Western Spaghetti, directed by PES; Jerrycan, directed by Julius Avery; Love You More, directed by Sam Taylor-Wood, I Live in the Woods, directed by Max Winston, Omelette, directed by Nadejda Koseva; and Treevenge, directed by Jason Eisener.

As announced on Friday, Adam, directed by Max Mayer, is the recipient of this year’s Alfred P. Sloan Prize. The prize, which carries a $20,000 cash award to the filmmaker provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, is presented to an outstanding feature film focusing on science or technology as a theme, or depicting a scientist, engineer, or mathematician as a major character.

On Thursday, Sundance Institute and NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) announced the winners of the 2009 Sundance/NHK International Filmmakers Awards honoring and supporting emerging filmmakers – one each from the United States, Japan, Europe, and Latin America. The winning filmmakers and projects for 2009 are Diego Lerman, Ciencias Morales (Moral Sciences), from Argentina; David Riker, The Girl, from the United States; Qurata Kenji, Speed Girl, from Japan; and Lucile Hadzihalilovic, Evolution, from France.

Sundance – Day 6 (Thursday, January 22, 2009)

Today is the travel day home which, of course, is a bummer. This was one of the perfect vacations for me: cold weather, snow and movies!

There are a few movies from the Festival that I would like to see but didn’t get the opportunity: 500 Days of Summer, Adam, Adventureland, An Education, Art & Copy, Big Fan, Black Dynamite Brooklyn’s Finest, Cold Souls, Endgame, Five Minutes of Heaven, Good Hair, Humpday, Lymelife, Push, The Killing Room, The Maid, The Missing Person and The September Issue. Hopefully some of them will get picked up for distribution.

Well, that’s it for this year’s Sundance Film Festival. It’s been a great vacation!

Sundance – Day 5 (Wednesday, January 21, 2009)

The Greatest

Run time: 98 minutes
Director/Screenwriter: Shana Feste
Cast: Pierce Brosnan, Susan Sarandon, Carey Mulligan, Johnny Simmons, Aaron Johnson, Michael Shannon
Theater: Library

Synopsis and review (by Geoffrey Gilmore in the Sundance Film Guide):

Crying your eyes out at the movies used to be commonplace. But the difficulty of affecting a contemporary audience emotionally demonstrates how much respect a work like The Greatest engenders: it is an enormously moving, intelligent exploration of pain and grieving, a film that will touch you and stay with you.

The death of their teenage son, Bennett, in a car crash is almost too much for the Brewer family to bear, not just because his was a life of such promise but also because the impact of his death unleashes the turmoil that was just beneath the surface of their lives. His mother becomes obsessed and can’t let go; his father, in turn, can’t face it at all; and his brother’s secondary status is magnified and entrenched. And when Bennett’s girlfriend appears, the family must come to grips with circumstances that complicate their loss even further.

An ensemble film that is the debut of Shana Feste, a particularly talented young filmmaker, this sensitive and heartbreaking feature showcases Susan Sarandon and Pierce Brosnan at their best and launches a career for young actress Carey Mulligan that is certain to be impressive. This is one of the standout works of this Festival and is as fine a debut as we can present.

Notes and observations:

This movie had moments of sheer brilliance; for example, one of the opening scenes with the family in the limousine was filmed in one long shot and so completely and totally told the story of each of the family member’s roles with no dialogue. It was an amazing scene to watch. Pierce Brosnan had a number of scenes which were incredibly acted. Susan Sarandon’s performance, although good, was nothing that we haven’t seen from her before (think Lorenzo’s Oil). Carey Mulligan was charismatic and impressive as was the remainder of the cast’s performances.

After seeing The Greatest, I decided to stand in the wait list line and see if, by chance, I would get into Shrink. They start giving away wait list numbers about 2 hours prior to the movie. When I got there just after 2 hours before the start of the movie, I was number 128. I waited about 2 hours and they only let in 40 people so I decided I would just go back to the condo, take a nap and get ready for the late movie. As I was walking out, a staff volunteer asked me a question which I heard as “Are you single?” I answered “no” and then politely asked to repeat her question again. She asked me “Are you a single?” meaning only needed one ticket. I said “yes’ and she handed me a ticket so I got in the movie!!! What a nice volunteer … I wish I had gotten her name so I could have thanked her again.

Shrink

Run time: 110 minutes

Screenwriter: Thomas Moffett

Director: Jonas Pate

Cast: Kevin Spacey, Keke Palmer, Mark Webber, Dallas Roberts, Saffron Burrows, Robert Loggia

Theater: Eccles

Synopsis and review (by John Cooper in the Sundance Film Guide):

What happens when the people we count on to hold us together … are barely holding it together themselves? Jonas Pate’s Shrink is a striking, fast-paced expose of the “other” Hollywood, featuring folks living outside their comfort zone and the people who put them there.

Henry Carter (Kevin Spacey) is a psychiatrist with an A-list clientele, including a once-famous actress (Saffron Burrows), an insecure writer (Mark Webber), and a comically obsessive-compulsive superagent (Dallas Roberts). Henry is not in a good place, however. He has been asked to take his first pro bono case, a troubled teenage girl from a neighborhood far from the Hollywood hills. Considering his present state of mind, is he ready for the real-life troubles of a young woman who loves the world of movies he has become so jaded by?

At its core, Shrink is a study of control and our endless need for it, even when it grows increasingly impossible to obtain. Writer Thomas Moffett uses classic archetypes in this modern Hollywood tale, but never pushes them over the edge of credibility. Performed by a well-matched cast at the top of their form, the result is both satisfying and exhilarating. Watching Shrink makes us feel like voyeurs looking through a window into the lives of people who look great, feel worse, and end up behaving badly.

Notes and observations:

To see Kevin Spacey in the flesh at the Q&A was surreal! Keke Palmer, Mark Webber, Dallas Roberts, Saffron Burrows, Pell James and Robert Loggia were at the Q&A as was the director, Jonas Pate and his wife, Jennifer Pate, who was also in the film. The movie was a good movie but not one of the best I’ve ever seen.

As the Q&A was about to start, I overheard the lady sitting next to me tell someone on her cell phone that she wasn’t feeling well so she was going to see if she could sell her ticket to someone on her way out. She got off the phone and apologized to me for coughing throughout the movie. I told her (honestly) that I hadn’t noticed her coughing and gave her my Vicks tip since I had just been sick and it worked for me. She said she was going to skip her next movie and I asked her what she was going to see. She said “Motherhood” and I told her that I hadn’t been able to get a ticket for it. She offered to sell me hers and I bought it! So, I got to see both of the movies that I wanted to when I didn’t think I was going to get to see them. The only downside was that it was going to get out too late for me to catch the last movie with Lisa and Ron.

Motherhood

Run time: 90 minutes
Director/Screenwriter: Katherine Dieckmann
Cast: Uma Thurman, Anthony Edwards, Minnie Driver, Jodie Foster
Theater: Eccles

Synopsis and review (by David Courier in the Sundance Film Guide):

Eliza Welch is having a really bad day. A middle-aged mom in post-9/11 Manhattan with two kids, an oblivious husband, and an incontinent dog. Eliza is a consummate multitasker facing the soul-crushing fear that her dreams of being a writer are going down the diaper bin.

Motherhood takes places in a single day – a day when Eliza becomes a magnet for the entire city’s hostility. She has to throw her daughter’s sixth birthday party, battle for a parking space, chase her toddler son, navigate playground politics, repair a botched birthday cake, contemplate a fling with a sexy messenger half her age, juggle a career-changing opportunity, find time to have a breakdown, briefly run away from home, and realize what is truly valuable in her life – all in one day.

As Eliza, the irresistibly charming Uma Thurman is up to the task. Anthony Edwards and Minnie Driver lend expert support. With a keen eye for the delicious details that define authenticity, Motherhood depicts a world we may think we know and injects it with freshness and humor. Written and directed by Katherine Dieckmann, Motherhood is a funny and poignant comedy about one woman’s quest to hold onto her true self as she embraces the foibles, heartache, and joys of being a mother.

Notes and observations:

Uma Thurman, Minnie Driver, Anthony Edwards and Jodie Foster were all at this premiere. Wow!!! So cool to see them all and so close! The movie was good and all of them gave solid performances. Again, it wasn’t one of the best movies I had ever seen but I enjoyed it. The director and screenwriter, Katherine Dieckmann, was there and quite humorous during her responses to the questions.

I was sad that I didn’t get to see “Push” with Ron and Lisa because it was supposed to be one of the standout films of the Festival. They both said the movie was incredible and gave it the highest rating on the audience voting ballot. I will have to hope that it gets picked up for distribution so that I can see it as some point.

Sundance – Day 4 (Tuesday, January 20, 2009)

The morning movie seems to come so quickly! I got to the movie theater this morning and realized that I forgot to put my battery in my camera. All of the pictures from World's Greatest Dad and Taking Chance are from other sources.
World's Greatest Dad

Run time: 98 minutes
Director/Screenwriter: Bobcat Goldthwait
Cast: Robin Williams, Daryl Sabara, Alexie Gilmore, Tom Kenny, Geoffrey Pierson, Henry Simmons, Mitzi Mccall, Tony V
Theater: Prospector Square Theater

Synopsis and review (by David Courier in the Sundance Film Guide):

As the saying goes, be careful what you wish for. In World’s Greatest Dad, a wickedly funny dark comedy, Lance Clayton (Robin Williams) discovers that what he covets most in life may not be what makes him happy, and being lonely is not necessarily the same as being alone.

Lance is a high school poetry teacher who dreams of becoming a rich and famous writer. A single father, he tries desperately to connect with his teenage son, Kyle (Daryl Sabara), an insolent, hormone-raging smartass who defies his dad at every turn. Lance exercises his own hormones with Claire (Alexie Gilmore), a painfully adorable art teacher who may have her eyes on a bigger prize. After a freak accident, Lance suddenly faces both the worst tragedy in his life, and the greatest opportunity. Determined to make lemonade from life’s lemons, Lance treads a path that could land him everything he’s ever dreamed of, as long as he can live with the knowledge of how he got there.

Alexie Gilmore is cheeky and Daryl Sabara is droll incarnate, but it’s the outstanding performance by Robin Williams that propels World’s Greatest Dad. Writer/director and longtime-comedian Bobcat Goldthwait returns to Sundance with another lusciously perverse, and refreshingly original comedy that tackles love, loss, and our curious quest for infamy.

Thoughts and observations:

Who knew that Bobcat Goldthwait could be something other than irritating and annoying? I certainly didn’t think he was capable of writing and directing such an original movie.

Bobcat Goldthwait was at the movie as was Alexie Gilmore, Daryl Sabara and numerous other cast members. He was funny, humble (maybe honestly so) and irreverent. He seemed genuinely touched by the audience’s reaction and praise for his body of work and for this film in particular.

In the same way that I was skeptical about seeing Jim Carrey in I Love You Phillip Morris¸ I was hesitant to see Robin Williams in such a dramatic role. I haven’t been crazy about some of his other serious films (One Hour Photo, for instance). But, Williams was funny, dramatic and totally captivating in this film. It is quite possibly his greatest film to date.

Taking Chance

Run time: 85 minutes
Director: Ross Katz
Screenwriter: Lt. Col. Michael R. Strobl (ret.), Ross Katz
Cast: Kevin Bacon
Music: Marcelo Zarvos
Cinematography: Alar Kivilo
Theater: Eccles Theater

Synopsis and review (by Geoffrey Gilmore in the Sundance Film Guide):

You might presume that yet another film about the war in Iraq couldn’t possibly reveal anything new, and that, regardless, you can anticipate its message from what is almost always a clearly defined ideological point of view: Left or Right, pro- or antiwar, pro-administration or opposed. But you would be wrong. Taking Chance is, without question, one of the most powerful and vital films ever made about Iraq – or, for that matter, the military – and yet its potency comes not from melodramatic or political statements but simply from its reality and execution.

The true story of a Marine who volunteers to escort the remains of a 19-year-old killed in Iraq to his family in a small Wyoming town, the film is based on a book by Lieutenant Colonel Michael Strobl. It is in every sense a personal narrative, beautifully presented by first-time filmmaker Ross Katz - who was heretofore an accomplished producer and now makes a remarkable debut as a director.

Fueled by an outstanding performance by Kevin Bacon, Taking Chance is about respect, about death and sadness, about honor and the military fraternity, and about the American community during a time of tragedy. It is an extraordinary film from any perspective.

Thoughts and observations:

Let me start by saying I am not a Kevin Bacon fan. From the first movie I saw him in (Footloose), I have never found Bacon appealing as an actor. Bacon’s recent turn in Frost/Nixon had me beginning to believe that perhaps I didn’t dislike him as much as I thought. Now I know that is true. Bacon was wonderful in this film. A film about the war in Iraq could have easily and quickly turned political and been used as a vehicle for expressing personal opinions regarding the Iraq war. This movie never interjected a political agenda or position and, for that, I am eternally grateful because this movie was brilliant and, if it had become a political statement, the movie would not have been so powerful. This movie was beautifully and brilliantly directed with a lush score and lovely cinematography. I haven’t seen a movie like this since I can’t remember when. I wasn’t sure I wanted to see this movie but I’m so glad that I didn’t miss it. It’s a movie that shouldn’t be missed because it’s one of the best films to come around in a long time. The audience gave it standing ovations and you just don’t see that much in a movie theater anymore.

Kevin Bacon, Ross Katz, Lt. Col. Michael R. Strobl (ret.), Marcelo Zarvos, Alar Kivilo were all at the Q&A.

I was very tired and really didn’t know if I was going to be up for the movie tonight. Lisa and Ron were going to see Passing Strange, the Spike Lee movie, but I wanted to see either The Killing Room or The Vicious Kind. I decided to see The Vicious Kind because I could drive to the theater and park across the street.

The Vicious Kind

Run time: 92 minutes
Director/Screenwriter: Lee Toland Krieger
Cast: Adam Scott, Brittany Snow, Alex Frost, J.K. Simmons
Theater: Library

Synopsis and review (by Rosie Wong in the Sundance Film Guide):

In his second feature film, director Lee Krieger presents a redemption tale focused on Caleb Sinclaire, a bitter construction worker whose life is turned upside down one Thanksgiving weekend.

Estranged from his family, Caleb lives an isolated, but contented, life. Following a difficult breakup, he becomes scornful toward women and wears his disdain as a badge of honor. Caleb’s resolve is tested, however, when he meets his younger brother Peter’s new girlfriend, Emma. Immediately distrustful of her, Caleb warns Peter that she will only end up hurting him. Despite his efforts to protect his brother, he finds himself drawn to Emma and surprised by his growing attraction, Caleb’s unexpected feelings force him finally to confront the vulnerability he has struggled so long to conceal.

Adam Scott gives an inspired performance as Caleb, a misanthrope not only prone to angry diatribes but also susceptible to flashes of naked frailty. Superbly shot, and supported by a lush score and hip soundtrack, The Vicious Kind offers a glimpse into the soul of a damaged man whose obstinate defense mechanisms are laid bare by his fractured relationships.

Notes and observations:

After reading the review in the Sundance Film Guide, I expected to be more moved by this movie. Adam Scott does give a great performance but, unfortunately, the story was not one that captured me more.

Lee Krieger, the director and screenwriter, was at the Q&A. He talked about how he came up with the script and I enjoyed hearing him speak.