The Year of the Oscar® Rat?

In this Year of the Rat in Chinese astrology, it is may be only fitting that the Academy Awards honor Remy, the young rodent chef wannabe. The Academy members may, or may not, but the Annie Award, which is almost as important to animators as the golden statuette, did.

Pixar Animation Studios' RATATOUILLE dominated the 35th annual Annie Awards Thursday night. The International Animated Film Society (ASIFA, Hollywood) honors the best in animated features.

The Chinese consider the Year of the Rat lucky, and the Chinese lunar year 4705 (06) began 7 February, the day before the Annie Awards. The determined charismatic rodent not only took the top prize for the best animated feature movie, but the top directing and screenwriting awards for Brad Bird as well, a total of nine overall, which included character animation, character design, music, production design, storyboarding and voice acting.

RATATOUILLE is nominated for an Oscar in the best animated feature category along with PERSEPOLIS and SURF'S UP. The latter received Annies for animated effects and animated production artist, but the other ASIFA nominees, PERSEPOLIS and THE SIMPSONS MOVIE, came up empty handed.

The Annie Award has become one of those "predictors" for winning an Academy Award® in the best animated feature category. However, last year ASIFA gave CARS the Annie, and the dancing penguins won (HAPPY FEET). Win some. Lose some.

PERSEPOLIS was submitted by France to compete in the Best Foreign Language Film (BFLF) Oscar category instead of submitting THE DIVING BELL and the BUTTERFLY. The irony? PERSEPOLIS missed the Oscar BFLF nod, but is nominated in the best animated feature category.

Well, what about people born in the Year of the Rat? They are noted for their charm and attraction for the opposite sex. They work hard to achieve their goals, acquire possessions and are likely to be perfectionists. They are basically thrifty with money. Rat people are easily angered and love to gossip. Their ambitions are big, and they are usually very successful.

Are you a "rat person?" You are if you was born in 1912, 1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, or 1996. If so, this could be your lucky year, too. Uh, oh. Time to stir the Sauce Béarnaise. See my Chinese New Year Page.

80th Oscar® Nominations Announced

The President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences®, Sid Ganis, assisted by the Oscar-winning actress Kathy Bates (MISERY, 1990), announced the nominations for the 80th Academy Awards® early this morning, 22 January. They made the announcement at a press conference in the auditorium of the Samuel Goldwyn Theatre at the Academy's headquarters on Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, at 5:30 a.m., PT, broadcast live on ABC-TV (list below).

There are, essentially, no surprises to those of us who have watched the 2007 film festivals and the 2008 awards season unfold. There are, however, disappointments, but more about that in future posts.

Academy members selected the nominees in their respective branches, with the exception of the Animated Feature Film and Foreign Language Film categories, in which nominations were selected by vote of multi-branch screening committees. All voting members are eligible to select the Best Picture nominees. Ballots were mailed to the 5,829 voting members in late December and were returned directly to PricewaterhouseCoopers, the international accounting firm, for tabulation.

Official screenings of all pictures with one or more nominations will begin this weekend for members at the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater. Screenings also will be held at the Academy's Linwood Dunn Theater in Hollywood and in London, New York and the Bay Area.

The Academy's entire active membership is now eligible to select the winners in all categories, although in five of them — Animated Short Film, Live Action Short Film, Documentary Feature, Documentary Short Subject, and Foreign Language Film — members can vote only after attesting they have seen all of the nominated films in those categories.

. . . . AND THE NOMINEES ARE:

Best motion picture of 2007, feature:
ATONEMENT (Focus Features)
JUNO (Fox Searchlight)
MICHAEL CLAYTON (Warner Bros.)
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN (Miramax and Paramount Vantage)
THERE WILL BE BLOOD (Paramount Vantage and Miramax)

Best live action film of 2007, short:
AT NIGHT (Om natten, Denmark, 37 min) Christian E. Christiansen and Louise Vesth
THE SUBSTITUTE (Il Supplente, Italy), Andrea Jublin
THE MOZART OF PICKPOCKETS (Le Mozart des Pickpockets, France 31 min), Philippe Pollet - Villard
TANGOS ARGENTINIAN (Tanghi argentini, Belgium, 14 min),Guido Thys and Anja Daelemans
THE TONTO WOMAN (USA, based on the short story by Elmore Leonard), Daniel Barber and Matthew Brown

Achievement in directing in 2007:
Julian Schnabel, THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY
Jason Reitman, JUNO
Tony Gilroy, MICHAEL CLAYTON
Joel and Ethan Coen, NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
Paul Thomas Anderson,THERE WILL BE BLOOD

Adapted screenplay 2007, based on material previously produced or published:
Christopher Hampton, ATONEMENT
Sarah Polley, AWAY FROM HER (Lionsgate)
Ronald Harwood, THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY
Joel and Ethan Coen, NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
Paul Thomas Anderson, THERE WILL BE BLOOD

Original screenplay 2007:
Diablo Cody, JUNO
Nancy Oliver, LARS AND THE REAL GIRL (MGM)
Tony Gilroy, MICHAEL CLAYTON
Brad Bird, RATAOUILLE (Walt Disney)
Tamara Jenkins, THE SAVAGES (Fox Searchlight)

Performance by an actor in a leading role in 2007:
George Clooney, MICHAEL CLAYTON
Daniel Day-Lewis,THERE WILL BE BLOOD
Johnny Depp, SWEENEY TODD: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (DreamWorks and Warner Bros. Distributed by DreamWorks / Paramount))
Tommy Lee Jones, IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH (Warner Independent)
Viggo Mortensen, EASTERN PROMISES (Focus Features)

Performance by an actor in a supporting role in 2007:
Casey Affleck, THE ASSASSINAION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORT (Warner Bros.)
Javier Bardem, NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
Philip Seymour Hoffman, CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR (Universal)
Hal Holbrook INTO THE WILD (Paramount Vantage and River Road Entertainment)
Tom Wilkinson, MICHAEL CLAYTON

Performance by an actress in a leading role in 2007:
Cate Blanchett, ELIZABETH: The Golden Age (Universal)
Julie Christie, AWAY FROM HER
Marion Cotillard, LA VIE EN ROSE (Picturehouse)
Laura Linney, THE SAVAGES
Ellen Page, JUNO

Performance by an actress in a supporting role in 2007:
Cate Blanchett, I'M NOT THERE (The Weinstein Company)
Ruby Dee, AMERICAN GANGSTER (Universal)
Saoirse Ronan, ATONEMENT
Amy Ryan, GONE BABY GONE (Miramax)
Tilda Swinton, MICHAEL CLAYTON

Best animated film of 2007, feature:
PERSEPOLIS (France, USA), directed by Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud (Sony Pictures Classics)
RATATOUILLE, directed by Brad Bird(Walt Disney)
SURF'S UP, directed by Ash Brannon and Chris Buck (Sony Pictures Releasing)

Best animated film of 2007, short:
I MET THE WALRUS, Josh Raskin
MADAME TUTLI-PUTLI, Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski
EVEN PIGEONS GO TO HEAVEN, (Même Les Pigeons Vont au Paradis), Samuel Tourneux and Simon Vanesse
MY LOVE (Moya Lyubov, Russia), Alexander Petrov
PETER & THE WOLFE, Suzie Templeton and Hugh Welchman

Best foreign language film of 2007, feature:
BEAUFORT, Israel, directed by Joseph Cedar
THE COUNTERFEITERS (Die Fälscher), Austria, directed by Stefan Ruzowitzky
KATYN, Poland, directed by Andrzej Wajda
MONGOL, Kazakhstan, directed by Sergei Bodrov
12, Russia, directed by Nikita Mikhalkov

Best documentary film of 2007, feature:
NO END IN SIGHT, Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs (Magnolia Pictures) (Magnolia Pictures)
OPERATION HOMECOMING: Writing the Wartime Experience, Richard E. Robbins (The Documentary Group)
SICKO, Michael Moore and Meghan O’Hara (Lionsgate / The Weinstein Company)
TAXI TO THE DARK SIDE, Alex Gibney and Eva Orner (THINKFilm)
WAR / DANCE, Andrea Nix Fine and Sean Fine (THINKFilm)

Best documentary short subject of 2007:
FREEHELD, Cynthia Wade and Vanessa Roth
LA CORONA (The Crown), Amanda Micheli and Isabel Vega
SALIM BABA, Tim Sternberg and Francisco Bello
SARI'S MOTHER, James Longley

Achievement in film editing 2007:
Christopher Rouse, THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM
Juliette Welfling, THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY
Jay Cassidy, INTO THE WILD
Roderick Jaynes, NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
Dylan Tichenor, THERE WILL BE BLOOD

Achievement in cinematography 2007:
Roger Deakins, THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD
Seamus McGarvey, ATONEMENT
Janusz Kaminski, THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY
Roger Deakins, NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
Robert Elswit, THERE WILL BE BLOOD

Achievement in costume design, 2007:
Albert Wolsky, ACROSS THE UNIVERSE
Jacqueline Durran, ATONEMENTA
Alexandra Byrne, ELIZABETH: The Golden Age
Marit Allen, LA VIE EN ROSE
Colleen Atwood, SWEENEY TODD

Achievement in makeup, 2007:
Didier Lavergne and Jan Archibald, LA VIE EN ROSE
Rick Baker and Kazuhiro Tsuji, NORBIT
Ve Neill and Martin Samuel, PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: At World’s End

Achievement in art direction, 2007:
AMRICAN GANGSTER, Art Direction: Arthur Max, Set Decoration: Beth A. Rubino;
ATONEMENT, Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood, Set Decoration: Katie Spencer;
THE GOLDEN COMPASS, Art Direction: Dennis Gassner, Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock;
SWEENEY TODD, Art Direction: Dante Ferretti, Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo;
THERE WILL BE BLOOD, Art Direction: Jack Fisk, Set Decoration: Jim Erickson.

Achievement in sound editing, 2007:
THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM, Karen Baker Landers and Per Hallberg
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, Skip Lievsay
RATATOUILLE, Randy Thom and Michael Silvers
THERE WILL BE BLOOD, Matthew Wood
TRANSFORMERS, Ethan Van der Ryn and Mike Hopkins

Achievement in sound mixing, 2007:
THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM, Scott Millan, David Parker and Kirk Francis
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff and Peter Kurland
RATATOUILLE, Randy Thom, Michael Semanick and Doc Kane
3:10 TO YUMA, Paul Massey, David Giammarco and Jim Stuebe
TRANSFORMERS, Kevin O’Connell, Greg P. Russell and Peter J. Devlin

Achievement in visual effects, 2007:
THE GOLDEN COMPAS, Michael Fink, Bill Westenhofer, Ben Morris and Trevor Wood
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: At World’s End, John Knoll, Hal Hickel, Charles Gibson and John Frazier
TRANSFORMERS, Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Russell Earl and John Frazier

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score) 2007:
ATONEMENT, Dario Marianelli
THE KITE RUNNER, Alberto Iglesias
MICHAEL CLAYTON, James Newton Howard
RATATOUILLE, Michael Giacchino
3:10 TO YUMA, Marco Beltrami

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song) 2007:
ONCE, "Falling Slowly,” Music and Lyric by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova
ENCHANTED, “Happy Working Song,” Music by Alan Menken
Lyric by Stephen Schwartz
AUGUST RUSH, “Raise It Up,” Nominees to be determined
ENCHANTED, “So Close,” Music by Alan Menken and Lyric by Stephen Schwartz
ENCHANTED, “That’s How You Know,” Music by Alan Menken and Lyric by Stephen Schwartz
_______

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2007 will be presented on Sunday, 24 February 2008, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network beginning at 5 p.m. PT. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 200 countries worldwide.

That's the hope at this point, but all eyes are on the possible settlement of the writer's strike!

LINKS RELEVANT:

There is a permanent link to this list on right sidebar of this blog. Links and other information will be added as made available, or find it here. There is a permanent link to AMPAS on right sidebar, or click title of this post.
Companion site for Oscars 2008
IMDb's ROAD TO THE OSCARS

65th Golden Globes® Announced

13 January 2008 - Here are some of the major motion picture winners:

THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY (France, USA) won Best Foreign Film, and a best director nod for Julian Schnabel.
ATONEMENT (UK, France) won best picture - drama. The movie received the most nominations, but won only two, The other was for the original score by Dario Marianelli (Italian).
SWEENEY TODD (USA, UK) won best picture - musical or comedy.
Marion Cotillard (French) won best actress in a leading role - musical or comedy - for her role in LA VIE EN ROSE (La Môme, Germany, USA).
Johnny Depp (USA) won best actor in a leading role - musical or comedy - for his role of the barber in SWEENEY TODD.
Julie Christie (UK, born in India) for best actress in a leading role - drama - for AWAY FROM HER (Canada).
Daniel Day-Lewis (UK) won best actor in a leading role - drama - for THERE WILL BE BLOOD (USA).
Cate Blanchett (Australian) won best actress in a supporting role - drama - for I'M NOT THERE (USA, Germany).
Javier Bardém (Spanish) won best actor in a supporting role - drama - for NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN (USA). Ethan and Joel Coen won for the screenplay.
RATATOUILLE voted best animated movie.

MIMI COMMENTS: I watched some of the Peoples Choice Awards last week, Queen Latifah hosting. They had a snappy cinematic presentation with a lively host who moved, sang and cracked a few jokes.

Last night, Bush and O'Dell stood like statues behind a podium. The announcements were crammed into an hour. IMDb clocked it, and the actual award time was 35 minutes. Commercials received almost as much time as the announcement of winners. How uncool is that?

What? NBC couldn't give the HFPA even 90 minutes of air time? Also, who was that couple sitting there bantering? If they had cut them out, maybe Bush and O'Dell could have slowed their speech and we might have been able to understand them.

My list of nominees is five pages long, and I flipped them back and forth, trying to mark everything. Of course, I taped it so that I could go back and check. I hope the first thing the HFPA does is pull the awards from NBC for next year!

Links relevant:

Globes Official Site's List of All Nominees and Winners.

IMDb Site for More, especially pictures!

See my previous posts, "Golden Globes 'Press Conference' Tonight" and "Globes Gala No Go."