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Wednesday, January 24, 2007

More on DREAMGIRLS Snub and Tidbits

According to an article supplied to Yahoo! by Reuters, it turns out that the movie DREAMGIRLS, which led all the Oscar nominees with eight nominations, is a historical omission in the Best Film category. Never in the 79-year history of the awards has the film with the most nominations failed to earn a best picture nomination. Furthermore, DREAMGIRLS box office gross is second only to THE DEPARTED.

BEST FILM NOMINEES (in order of best gross, millions, as of 21 January.
DREAMGIRLS, not nominated in this category is in brackets, shows where it would have ranked in the box office gross had it been):

THE DEPARTED = $121,732,446
[DREAMGIRLS = $78,669,177]
LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE = $59,593,606
THE QUEEN = $35,557,521
BABEL = $23,658,420
LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA = $2,442,552

BABEL received seven nominations, Mexico's PAN'S LABYRINTH (nominated in the best foreign language film category) and THE QUEEN, six each. Martin Scorsese's THE DEPARTED snared five each as did BLOOD DIAMONDS.

TIDBITS:

1 - SUNSHINE A SLEEPER? - THE DEPARTED will be re-released to theaters this Friday, 26 January. Watch for it at your local theater, if you have not seen it. The DvD will be available 13 February, so get Netfilx (link on right sidebar), and/or put it in your queue, now! I've seen it, and with DREAMGIRLS out of the running, I think DEPARTED's closest competition is THE QUEEN.

However, as I wrote in yesterday's post, LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE might squeeze through and win. The article from Reuters (linked above) stated, "Rolling Stone magazine critic Peter Travers said the best picture race was now a toss-up. If Oscar voters find the Scorsese and Eastwood films too violent, THE QUEEN too British and BABEL too multilingual, LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE could win. The low-budget comedy was recently named best picture by the Producers Guild of America, a group whose choices are often echoed by the Oscars."


Another however - - The Producers Guild missed the last two years. See my recent entry for Producers Guild on my Film Awards Page (link on right sidebar). Also, the article was released after I made my post and prediction.

2 - SCORSESE/EASTWOOD BEST DIRECTOR DUEL - Interesting quote in that Reuters article, "Movie pundit Tom O'Neil was quoted as having said Eastwood and his low-profile IWO JIMA -- with U.S. ticket sales of just $2.4 million -- have 'once again ambushed the Oscar race when Martin Scorsese was out front, and was now the one to beat."


I know, with what happened to DREAMGIRLS it's easy to speculate, but I think THE DEPARTED is way out front in direction compared to MILLION DOLLAR BABY and THE AVIATOR. If Scorsese does not win this year . . . well, when?

3 - STREEP'S RECORD - Meryl Streep (The Devil Wears Prada) is the sole American contender for the best actress in the leading role. Penelope Cruz (Volver) is from Spain, while the other three are Brits Kate Winslet (Little Children) and the two Dames, Judi Dench (Notes on a Scandal) Helen Mirren (The Queen). This year Streep breaks her 2002 record for the most nominations for anyone with her 14th nomination this year. The DvD will be in my mailbox Friday!!

4 - MORE INTERESTING BOX OFFICE - Gross for some other films as of 21 January (in millions):

CARS (Best Animated Film ) = $244,082,982
HAPPY FEET (Best Animated Film ) = $190,695,949
MONSTER HOUSE (Best Animated Film) = $73,661,010
PAN'S LABYRINTH (Best Foreign Language Film) = $9,932,414
VOLVER (film not nominated) = $6,718,079

The 2006 Box Office Champ - Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest = $423,315,812.

The Box Office Reports from: http://www.boxofficemojo.com/

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