BFCA Nominations

Broadcast Critics annouced their nominations yesterday. Hmm. Didn't expect the two acting nods for Nothing But the Truth. I guess their just hedging their bets. It's also not looking good for Kristin Scott Thomas who still hasn't received any mentions.

Top Ten:
Changeling
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Doubt
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire
Wall-E
The Wrestler

Actor:
Clint Eastwood - Gran Torino
Richard Jenkins - The Visitor
Frank Langella - Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn - Milk
Brad Pitt - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler

Actress:
Kate Beckinsale - Nothing But the Truth
Cate Blanchett - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Anne Hathaway - Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie - Changeling
Melissa Leo - Frozen River
Meryl Streep - Doubt

Supp. Actor:
Josh Brolin - Milk
Robert Downey, Jr. - Tropic Thunder
Philip Seymour Hoffman - Doubt
Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight
James Franco - Milk

Supp. Actress:
Penelope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis - Doubt
Vera Farmiga - Nothing But the Truth
Taraji P. Henson - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Marisa Tomei - The Wrestler
Kate Winslet - The Reader

Ensemble:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Doubt
Milk
Rachel Getting Married

Director:
Danny Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire
David Fincher - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Ron Howard - Frost/Nixon
Christopher Nolan - The Dark Knight
Gus Van Sant - Milk

Writer:
Simon Beaufoy - Slumdog Millionaire
Dustin Lance Black - Milk
Peter Morgan - Frost/Nixon
Eric Roth - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
John Patrick Shanley - Doubt

Composer:
Alexandre Desplat - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Clint Eastwood - Changeling
Danny Elfman - Milk
Hans Zimmer/James Newton Howard - The Dark Knight
A.R. Rahman - Slumdog Millionaire

LAFCA Winners

Well, I was way off with these. It's interesting that for Best Picture they went with big studio pictures. The number of mentions for Happy-Go-Lucky is good news, since it needed a boost if it hopes to get Oscar nods. Never count out a Mike Leigh film.

Picture: WALL-E
Runner-up: The Dark Knight

Director: Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire
Runner-up: Christopher Nolan, The Dark Knight

Actor: Sean Penn, Milk
Runner-up: Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler

Actress: Sally Hawkins, Happy-Go-Lucky
Runner-up: Melissa Leo, Frozen River

Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
Runner-up: Eddie Marsen, Happy-Go-Lucky

Supporting Actress: Penelope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Runner-up: Viola Davis, Doubt

Screenplay: Happy-Go-Lucky
Runner-up: Synecdoche New York

Washington DC Film Critics Awards...zzzzz

No genuine excitement here, aside from the wins for DeWitt and Let the Right One In.

Picture: Slumdog Millionaire
Director: Danny Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire
Actor: Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler
Actress: Meryl Streep - Doubt
Supp. Actor: Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight
Supp. Actress: Rosemarie DeWitt - Rachel Getting Married
Adapted Screenplay: Slumdog Millionaire
Original Screenplay: Rachel Getting Married
Ensemble: Doubt
Animated Film: WALL-E
Documentary: Man on Wire
Foreign Film: Let the Right One In
Breakthrough: Dev Patel - Slumdog Millionaire
Art Direction: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

I continue to find it interesting that the only technical award they hand out is for Art Direction.

Predictions for the BFCA, LAFCA, and NYFCC Awards

The big awards season really kicks into gear with the announcement of the Los Angeles Film Critics winners and the nominees for the Broadcast Film Critics Awards, followed by the New York Film Critics Circle winners on Wednesday. I thought I'd give a stab at predicting the nominees/winners, which should be difficult with regards to the LA and NY critics. The Broadcast critics, however, should be rather easy, since there only true purpose for giving out awards, is to predict the Oscar nominations. The fact that they almost blatently admit this astounds me.

LAFCA:
Picture: Milk
Director: David Fincher - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Actor: Sean Penn - Milk
Actress: Kristin Scott Thomas - I've Loved You So Long
Supp. Actor: Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight
Supp. Actress: Penelope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Screenplay: The Wrestler

NYFCC:
Picture: The Wrestler
Director: Darren Aronofsky - The Wrestler
Actor: Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler
Actress: Anne Hathaway - Rachel Getting Married
Supp. Actor: Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight
Supp. Actress: Viola Davis - Doubt
Screenplay: Milk

BFCA:
Picture/Top 10:
Changeling
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Doubt
Frost/Nixon
Gran Turino
Milk
The Reader
Revolutionary Road
Slumdog Millionaire

Director:
Danny Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire
Clint Eastwood - Gran Turino
David Fincher - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Ron Howard - Frost/Nixon
Gus Van Sant - Milk

Actor:
Leonardo DiCaprio - Revolutionary Road
Clint Eastwood - Gran Turino
Frank Langella - Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn - Milk
Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler

Actress:
Anne Hathway - Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie - Changeling
Kristin Scott Thomas - I've Loved You So Long
Meryl Streep - Doubt
Kate Winslet - Revolutionary Road

Supporting Actor:
Josh Brolin - Milk
Robert Downey Jr. - Tropic Thunder
Ralph Fiennes - The Reader
Phillip Seymour Hoffman - Doubt
Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight

Supporting Actress:
Penelope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis - Doubt
Rosemarie DeWitt - Rachel Getting Married
Taraji P. Henson - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Kate Winslet - The Reader

Screenplay:
Milk
Rachel Getting Married
Slumdog Millionaire
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
The Wrestler

Sunday Blessings - Scott Caan

Today's edition of Sunday Blessings, in which we thank Jesus for blessing this Earth with a hot piece of man, features actor Scott Caan. Now, usually there's a particular reason for a Sunday Blessings selection, such as they have a new movie opening, or they have a show currently on the air, but with Scott Caan there's no genuine reason for focusing on him, other then the fact I find him hot. Yes, I find him hot. Scott is the son of actor James Caan, who was quite a looker himself, back in the seventies, and I first took notice of his appeal, after watching him in a series of god awful movies during the late nineties and early aughts - Varsity Blues, Boiler Room, Ready to Rumble. What exactly was this appeal? Umm...his ass, definitely his ass. Damn that man has a fine ass on him! Seriously, damn! It was featured in Varsity Blues and Ready to Rumble, as well as in a deleted scene on the Boiler Room DVD. Now you got to give him credit for being so easily willing to drop trough. Sigh. I don't even remember what those movies were about. Mostly I just made up my own story in my head for the films. As far as I'm conCerned, Ready to Rumble was about two cute guys, Scott and David Arquette, who enjoyed wrestling and were secretly in love with each other, and in the end Scott showed his rear. While the man has made a number of crap movies, he's also starred in some pretty good ones like Ocean's Eleven and Friends with Money, in which he shows he has some acting talent and comedic abilities. He should just stay away from doing anymore films featuring Jessica Alba or Paul Walker. Amen. Praise Jesus, especially for Scott's ass!

Current Oscar Predictions

These reflect how I currently see the race going, after this week's kick-off to the award season with NBR, the Indie Spirit noms, and the Satellight noms.

Picture:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Milk
Revolutionary Road
Slumdog Millionaire

Director:
Danny Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire
Clint Eastwood - Gran Turino
David Fincher - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Chris Nolan - The Dark Knight
Gus van Sant - Milk

Actor:
Leonardo DiCaprio - Revolutionary Road
Clint Eastwood - Gran Turino
Frank Langella - Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn - Milk
Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler

Actress:
Cate Blanchett - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Angelina Jolie - Changeling
Anne Hathaway - Rachel Getting Married
Meryl Streep - Doubt
Kate Winslet - The Reader

Supporting Actor:
Josh Brolin - Milk
James Franco - Milk
Phillip Seymour Hoffman - Doubt
Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight
Michael Shannon - Revolutionary Road

Supporting Actress:
Penelope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis - Doubt
Rosemarie DeWitt - Rachel Getting Married
Taraji P. Henson - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Kate Winslet - The Reader

Adapted Screenplay:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Doubt
The Reader
Revolutionary Road
Slumdog Millionaire

Original Screenplay:
Gran Turino
Milk
Rachel Getting Married
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
WALL-E

Cinematography:
Australia
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
The Reader
Revolutionary Road

Film Editing:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Defiance
Frost/Nixon
Slumdog Millionaire

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

Costume:
Australia
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Duchess
The Other Boleyn Girl
Revolutionary Road

Make Up:
Hellboy 2: The Golden Army
The Reader
Synecdoche New York

Original Score:
Defiance
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Milk
Revolutionary Road
WALL-E

Sound Mixing:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Defiance
Iron Man
WALL-E

Sound Editing:
The Dark Knight
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Iron Man
Kung Fu Panda
WALL-E

Visual Effects:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Iron Man

Animated Feature:
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda
WALL-E

The Inconsistent Mary McDonnell

Yeesh. How can someone be so brilliant on one show, Battlestar Galactica, and so awful on another show, Grey's Anatomy. I guess you can partially blame it on the writers for not knowing what a person with asperger's syndrome actually acts like, but McDonnell has to take most of the responsibility since it's her job to create the character onscreen. She comes off as retarded more than anything, and a person with asperger's acts nothing like a retarded person. Battlestar Galactica cannot come back soon enough to wipe away my memories of her Grey's performance. Although, apparently the character is going to stick around for a while. Mary, Mary, Mary please work the kinks out of your performance, and maybe one day I'll forgive.