MIMI'S NEW BLOG

I'm searching for the Baghdad Blogger, Salam Pax. I've added a new blog, WHERE IS SALAM PAX. Perhaps, you can help me find his current whereabouts. Click the title of this post to view the blog.

More later.

MORE ABOUT TOP MOVIES AT CANNES

In the previous post I forgot to mention that Geraldine Chaplin is appearing in THE ORPHANAGE (El Orfanato, Spain-Mexico). Her character's name is Aurora, and the director is Juan Antonio Bayona.

Also, I failed to mention Michael Moore's latest documentary, SICKO. This is the "Inconvenient Truth" about the ailing American health care system but, overall, much less entertaining than "Truth," or Moore's previous films. One thing it is - - a powerful wakeup call!

SOME TOP MOVIES AT CANNES

According to many critics, there were more top-rate movies at Cannes than were expected. The first thing that caught my eye was the Mexico-Spain co-production THE ORPHANAGE (El Orfanato), produced by director Guillermo del Toro (PAN'S LABYRINTH). It's a Spanish ghost story that has been described as, "terrifying and enthralling." I suggest you watch for it.

Others you might want to put on your must-see list:

THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY (French) that won best director at Cannes for Julian Schnabel, and A MIGHTY HEART, produced by Brad Pitt and starring Angelina Jolie as reporter Daniel Pearl's widow, were both extremely well received.

The Coen brother's NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN starring Javier Bardem, Kelly Macdonald and Josh Brolin, didn't win any awards but it received great buzz. It arrived with distribution from Miramax, which acquired DIVING BELL at the market.

Sony Pictures Classics purchased rights to the Israeli comedy THE BAND'S VISIT, while IFC bought the Palme d'Or winner, the Romanian drama 4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS & 2 DAYS (now mostly referred to as 4 MONTHS). IFC also acquired FLIGHT OF THE RED BALLOON (Le Voyage du ballon rouge, France) starring Juliette Binoche.

It's almost summer, and I'm going on a short hiatus. Of course, if anything happens that I think is interesting, movie-wise, I'll probably post it.

HAPPY SUMMER EVERYONE!

KITE RUNNER Production, and Cannes

The Kite Runner, a best-selling novel by Afghan-born Khaled Hosseini, is now in production as a movie. It is scheduled to be released this fall. The 2003 novel and the movie are set in Afghanistan under the brutal radical Islamist, the Taliban.

Marc Forster (FINDING NEVERLAND) directs. Khalid Abdalla, who played the pilot/hijacker Ziad Jarrah (UNITED 93), stars as Amir who returns to his native Afghanistan after years in the U.S. to help his boyhood friend Hassan. The novel was on the best-seller list for four years and has sold over four million copies in the U.S. After a summer of predictable movie pabulum, this movie will be welcomed by the millions of adults who read the book and, hopefully, most movie goers. Hosseini's new novel A Thousand Splendid Suns was recently published.

The summer movie season officially kicked off this weekend with PRIATES 3, the Cannes Film Festival just wrapped where the Romanian movie, 4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS, AND 2 DAYS (Cristian Mungiu, dir.), won the Palme d'Or and the FIPRESCI (International Federation of Film Critics) prize. See link on right sidebar for Mimi's Film Festival Page.

SPIDEY OPENS SUMMER MOVIE SEASON EARLY

The traditional opening of the summer movie season is the Friday of the Memorial Day weekend. However, the movie gate has been swinging open for the summer season earlier and earlier each year.

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: At World's End will open on the traditional date this year, 25 May. Traditional season: Memorial Day to Labor Day.

Oops! SPIDER-MAN 3 opened 4 May and set the bar for the "official" season by grossing over 150 million in the U.S. alone, breaking all box office records. Sympathy to the other films that opened the same time, such as the Eric Bana, Drew Barrymore, Robert Duvall cutesy LUCKY YOU, and the multi-directed, critically well-received PARIS, JE T'AIME. THE WAITRESS opened two days earlier, but caught a pie in the face anyway.

Next big blockbusters of the season? How about OCEAN'S THIRTEEN (June8), HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX (13 July), HAIRSPRAY (20 July), THE SIMPSONS MOVIE (27 July), and THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM (23 August)?

Some long-distance runners not mentioned above may be GEORGIA RULE (11 May), NANCY DREW (15 June), RUSH HOUR 3 (10 August) that is scheduled to open against STARDUST, and THE INVASION (17 August). One that critics think will not have legs? J-Marc's EL CANTANTE (The Singer), and some have dubbed it "CAN-NOT-A".

We'll see how they all shakes out come September.

Tribeca Film Festival Opens Tonight

6TH TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL
25 April - 6 May 2007, New York City

Many New Yorkers probably agree that the Tribeca Film Festival, opening tonight, has done wonders for Lower Manhattan, devastated by the attacks on the World Trade Center 9/11/2001, but the Festival has never shown a profit in it's five years. Founded in 2002 by Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal and her husband Craig Hatkoff as a response to the attacks on the World Trade Center, it was conceived to help foster the economic and cultural revitalization of Lower Manhattan through an annual celebration of film, music, and culture with the spirit of independent film as it driving force.

Since the inaugural festival, Lower Manhattan, once covered in rubble and shrouded in loss, has become a thriving cultural and economic center as Tribeca has become one of the largest and, certainly, respected film festivals in the U.S. Unfortunately, the Festival has run about a million-dollar deficit each year since it's opening and, according to Rosenthal, the same is projected for this year. That comes out of the pockets of De Niro, Rosenthal and Hatkoff.

No official figures are available on how much the festival costs, earns or loses because, since its second year, Tribeca has operated under the umbrella of the private, for-profit Tribeca Enterprises (De Niro, Rosenthal and Hatkoff). Some estimate the annual cost is probably about $13 million.

Unlike festivals such as Toronto and Cannes in Canada and France, and Sundance in the U.S., Tribeca gets no city or state funding, not even for free events. This year, ticket prices have jumped 50% to $18.00 each. The Festival probably would receive funds if it became non-profit but, then, the founding trio would lose most, if not all, of the control they now have. How long they can tolerate the loss remains to be seen.

If there are ever any Tribeca Film Festival profits, they will benefit the Tribeca Film Institute, which coordinates programs throughout the year. Currently, the institute runs the Tribeca All Access program, which assists minority filmmakers, and the Tribeca Film Fellows program, for aspiring teen directors.

Former Vice President Al Gore is the opening act at the 6th Tribeca Film Festival tonight, hosting the global warming-themed SOS Short Films Program. The SOS program will features seven shorts. Also featured at the opening, music performances by acts set to appear at the July 7th Live Earth, a worldwide 24-hour concert benefiting Gore's Alliance for Climate Protection.

Tribeca curtain will close May 6 with Antonio Ferrera and Albert Maysles' documentary about the art project that covered Central Park in orange drapes, THE GATES.

Between the opening and the closing, the slate boasts 157 films (down from 174 last year), with 73 world premieres and 28 North American premieres, including Curtis Hanson's romantic drama LUCKY YOU. The movie stars Drew Barrymore and Eric Bana, who are expected to attend. There is the popular Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film Festival, and this year's Ambassador is Billie Jean King.

SPIDER-MAN 3, directed by Sam Raimi, will have its U.S. Premiere at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival, presented by American Express. Opening worldwide 4 May, "SPIDY" 3 (Columbia Pictures) will celebrate the first-ever star-studded gala premiere in Queens, Peter Parker’s hometown. Stars of the film, including Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst, will join a crowd of 3,000 people at the UA Kaufman Astoria 14 in downtown Astoria on Monday, 30 April.

FILM FESTIVAL PAGE UPDATED

I have updated my Film Festival Page. Included are the results from the Guadalajara, Memphis, and Miami International Film Festivals. Also, for the other film festival completed in March, South by Southwest, which does not use international in its name.

This page follows film festivals from January though December 2007. See the link on the right sidebar, or click.

80th ACADEMY AWARDS® DATES ANNOUNCED

21 March 2007, President Sid Ganis, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences® (AMPAS®), announced some key dates for the 80th Academy Awards that will be presented Sunday, February 24, 2008. The telecast will again originate from the Kodak Theatre at the Hollywood and Highland Center® in Hollywood and broadcast live on ABC. Other dates will be posted when available.

The announced dates are:

Monday, December 3, 2007: Official Screen Credits forms due.
Wednesday, December 26, 2007: Nominations ballots mailed.
Saturday, January 12, 2008: Nominations polls close 5 p.m. PST.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008: Nominations announced 5:30 a.m. PST, Samuel Goldwyn Theater.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008: Final ballots mailed.
Monday, February 4, 2008: Nominees Luncheon.
Saturday, February 9, 2008: Scientific and Technical Achievement Awards presentation.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008: Final polls close 5 p.m. PST.
Sunday, February 24, 2008: 80th Annual Academy Awards presentation.

Events for which dates are yet to be announced:

Deadline for documentary filmmakers to submit their short subject and feature-length documentaries to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for consideration for the 79th Academy Awards®.

Entry forms for acceptance in the process for nomination in the Best Foreign Language Film and Short Films categories must be received at the Academy.

Deadline for Academy to receive film prints for the Best Foreign Language category.

Official Screen Credits Forms Due for all categories.

80th Awards Schedule will be available through the link on the right sidebar until the awards in 2008.

GUADALAJARA FESTIVAL OF CINEMA

The 22nd Guadalajara International Festival of Cinema will run 22 - 30 March 2007, in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Mexican director Guillermo del Toro (PAN'S LABYRINTH) will receive the first Guadalajara Award. This new award is for outstanding personalities of the Ibero-American cinematographic community who have distinguished themselves at the international level.

American Actress Elizabeth Peña will present the movie, ADRIFT IN MANHATTAN, directed by Alfredo de Villa. It will screen in a new event at the Festival: From the Other Side (Desde el Otro Lado).

Spanish actor/director Antonio Banderas will present his movie SUMMER RAIN (El Camino de los Ingleses). RAIN will screen Saturday, 24 March. Several films from Mexico will also screen. The 5th Guadalajara Film Market will run concurrently with the festival.

For more about this festival and many others, see Mimi's Film Festival Page. Link also on right sidebar.

Two More Movie Series for Los Angeles

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will again present continuations of two of its popular film series, "Rediscovered Silent Films" and "Great to be Nominated, Part Four." The first begins 29 March and the second 23 April.

Series # 1 - Rediscovered Silent Films, Linwood Dunn Theater

THE CURSE OF QUON GWON, the first known feature made by Chinese-Americans, and HER WILD OAT, starring the quintessential 1920s flapper Colleen Moore, will unspool as part of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ “Lost and Found” film series on Thursday, March 29, at 7:30 p.m., Linwood Dunn Theater at the Academy’s Pickford Center for Motion Picture Study in Hollywood. Both films will be accompanied by live music performed by Michael Mortilla.

THE CURSE OF QUON GWON, directed by Marion Wong, is one of the few American silent feature films directed by a woman. It was thought to be lost until filmmaker Arthur Dong discovered two surviving reels in the possession of the lead actress’s daughters. Dong brought the nitrate 35mm negative reels, as well as ten minutes of additional 16mm footage, to the Academy Film Archive for preservation. In December 2006 the Library of Congress selected the movie for the National Film Registry.

In HER WILD OAT, Moore, with her signature flapper haircut, stars as a woman who owns a small lunch wagon and falls for a duke’s son who is pretending to be his own chauffeur. Many of Moore’s films have been lost to nitrate decomposition. This print newly restored by the Archive provides the public a rare opportunity to rediscover Moore’s work. Her filmography includes both silent and sound films. Her final movie role was as Hester Prynne in the 1934 version of THE SCARLET LETTER.

“Lost and Found” is a periodic screening series designed to showcase archival prints that have been recently rediscovered, or films that have been restored from new materials that improve the presentational quality of previous available versions. In some instances, the films may be incomplete or damaged, making access unlikely through more traditional venues. The series provides renewed access to “lost” films and brings to light some of film preservation’s more notable success stories.

Tickets to “Lost and Found” are $5 for the general public, and $3 for Academy members and students with a valid ID. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Get your tickets beforehand, and get their early to be safe. I think you can pay for the tickets a pick them up at the boxoffice that evening. For more information, call (310) 247-3600.

The Linwood Dunn Theater is located at 1313 North Vine Street in Hollywood. Free parking is available behind the building through the entrance on Homewood Avenue.

Series # 2 - “Great To Be Nominated” blasts off with STAR WARS, Samuel Goldwyn Theater

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will launch part four of its popular “Great To Be Nominated” series on Monday, April 23 with George Lucas' STAR WARS. The 16-week series will once again showcase the Academy Award® nominees for Best Picture that garnered the most Oscar® nominations in a particular year but did not win the Oscar for Best Picture. This installment will cover films from 1977 to 1992. A different film will screen each Monday evening, plus one Tuesday night, at 7:30 p.m. in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater on Wilshire Boulevard.

The “Great To Be Nominated” screening of STAR WARS coincides with the 30th anniversary of the breakthrough science fiction film that launched an empire. George Lucas and many of his fellow filmmakers will be present for a post-film panel discussion.

The film was nominated for ten Academy Awards® and took home Oscars® for Art Direction (John Barry, Norman Reynolds, Leslie Dilley; Set Decoration: Roger Christian), Costume Design (John Mollo), Film Editing (Paul Hirsch, Marcia Lucas, Richard Chew), Music - Original score (John Williams), Sound (Don MacDougall, Ray West, Bob Minkler, Derek Ball), and Visual Effects (John Stears, John Dykstra, Richard Edlund, Grant McCune, Robert Blalack). Benjamin Burtt, Jr. received a Special Achievement Award for the creation of the alien, creature and robot voices in the film.

The film was also honored with nominations for Actor in a Supporting Role (Alec Guinness), Directing (George Lucas), Best Picture (Gary Kurtz, producer) and Writing – Screenplay written directly for the screen (Lucas).

STAR WARS was the first, and only, best picture nomination for a Lucas-directed movie. It lost to ANNIE HALL (Woody Allen). Also, George Lucas received his only best director nomination for this movie and lost to Woody Allen.

The series will continue through August 20. “Great To Be Nominated” will then go on hiatus until Spring 2008, when part five will begin with REMAINS OF THE DAY (1993). The complete screening schedule for part four of “Great To Be Nominated” is:

April 23 - Star Wars (1977); April 24 - (Tuesday) - Julia (1977); April 30 - Heaven can Wait (1978); May 7 - All That Jazz (1979); May 14 - Raging Bull (1980); May 21 - Reds (1981); June 4 - Tootsie (1982); June 11 - The Right Stuff (1983); June 18 - A Passage to India (1984); June 25 - The Color Purple (1985); July 9 - A Room with a View (1986); July 16 - Broadcast News (1987); July 23 - Dangerous Liaisons (1988); July 30 - Born on the Fourth of July (1989); August 6 - The Godfather, Part III (1990); August 13 - Bugsy (1991); August 20 - Howards End (1992).

Passes for part four of “Great To Be Nominated” will be available starting April 2 at a cost of $30 for film buffs wishing to see the series in its entirety. A $5 discount is available for those who wish to renew their passes from parts one, two or three of the series. Tickets for the first four individual screenings will be available starting April 9 at a cost of $5 for the general public and $3 for Academy members and students with a valid ID. They may be purchased by mail, in person at the Academy during regular business hours or, depending on availability, on the night of the screening when the doors open at 6:30 p.m., but you better purchase beforehand.

Other elements from each year, such as short subjects, behind-the-scenes footage, trailers and music, will be incorporated into each evening’s program. Curtain time for all features is 7:30 p.m., and pre-show elements will begin at 7 p.m. The Academy is located at 8949 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills. For more information, call 310-247-3600.

# # #
See links for A.M.P.A.S.® and Oscars Web sites on right sidebar.

MOVIE & ART EVENTS IN LOS ANGELES

1. Exhibit of movie Posters. Posters honoring the 50-year anniversary of the inauguration of the Oscar® category for Best Foreign Language Film is currently in the Grand Lobby Gallery at the home of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences® (AMPAS®) on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles. The exhibit, "From Amarcord to Z," featuring posters of Oscar winning foreign movies since 1956 will run through 15 April, and is presented by the Academy Foundation of the AMPAS.

The history of the award actually goes back to 1947, when the Academy recognized SCIUSCIÁ (Shoe Shine, Italy, directed by Vittorio De Sica) from war-scarred Italy, for offering “proof to the world that the creative spirit can triumph over adversity.” The Academy presented seven more “special” or “honorary” foreign language film Oscars® before officially establishing the category in 1956, to be awarded for the first time in 1957. The first competitive Academy Award went to Italy for LA STRADA (The Road, 1956, directed by Frederico Fellini).

The exhibition, which has been assembled from the extensive poster collection of the Academy’s Margaret Herrick Library, many of which are originals, includes the posters for both those Italian films. The Academy’s Grand Lobby Gallery is open Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and weekends from noon to 6 p.m. Admission is free.

2. Contemporary Documentaries Screening Series (Part II), 14 March – 6 June 2007

Presented by the Academy Foundation of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the UCLA Film & Television Archive. The 25th annual Contemporary Documentaries series is a showcase for feature-length and short documentaries drawn from the 2005 Academy Award® nominations, including the winners, as well as other important and innovative films considered by the Academy that year. This is Part II of the series. Part I was screened in December - November 2006. All films in the series screen on Wednesdays at the Linwood Dunn Theater at the Academy’s Pickford Center for Motion Picture Study at 7 p.m., unless otherwise noted. The filmmakers will be present at screenings whenever possible.

Docs Screenings in March:

Wednesday, March 14: MARCH OF THE PENGUINS, directed by Luc Jacquet, and GRIZZLY MAN, directed by Werner Herzog.

Wednesday, March 28: THE DEATH OF KEVIN CARTER: Casualty of the Bang Bang Club, directed by Dan Krauss, and KORDA VISION, directed by Héctor Cruz Sandoval.

For list of additional screenings, visit "2006-2007 Contemporary Documentaries".

The Linwood Dunn Theater is located at the Academy’s Pickford Center for Motion Picture Study, 1313 North Vine Street, Hollywood. Free parking is available behind the building through the entrance on Homewood Avenue (one block north of Fountain). Admission is free. Doors open at 6 p.m. All seating is unreserved. For additional program information call (310) 247-3600.

General Information

Tickets for these, and other, Academy programs may be purchased by mail, at the Academy during normal business hours, or at the box office which opens one hour before the start of the event.

The Academy's main location is at 8949 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills, California. Office hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, except most major holidays. For further information on all Academy events and exhibitions in Los Angeles, call (310) 247-3600, unless otherwise noted.

The Academy's New York office is located at 111 East 59th Street, New York, New York, closed most major holidays. For further information on all Academy events and exhibitions in New York, call (888) 778-7575, unless otherwise noted.

To purchase tickets by mail, please send your check or money order made to "Academy Foundation" to: Academy Foundation Programs Dept., 8949 Wilshire Boulevard, Beverly Hills, CA 90211.

MOVIE & ART EVENTS IN NYC

1. Exhibit of Famous Spanish Artists. The exhibit "Barcelona and the Modernity: Gaudí to Dalí" opened Wednesday, 7 March, at the Metropolitan Museum, NYC, Special Exhibition Galleries, The Tisch Galleries, 2nd floor.

Andalusian Pablo Picasso, the Catalans Joan Miró, Salvador Dalí and Antoni Gaudí are represented in the exhibition that will close 3 June. The president of the Metropolitan, Emily Rafferty, referred to the exhibition as one of the biggest international exhibitions of modern art."

The Metropolitan Museum is located at 1000 Fifth Avenue. New York, New York 10028 -0198. It appears that admission prices are recommended: Adults, $20; Seniors (65 and older) $15; Students, $10 (with some restrictions); and Children under 12 with an adult are free. For more specific information call 212-535-7710. Visit online.


2. "Monday Nights With Oscar®" Screenings. The movie NETWORK (1976) will screen at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences® (AMPAS®) Theater at Lighthouse International in New York City, Monday, 19 March. NETWORK opens the "Monday Nights With Oscar" screening series in New York City (NYC). The movie contains the famous line, “I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore!”

Hosted by Robert Osborne, host of Turner Classic Movies, the special guest will be the movie's director Sidney Lumet, and showtime is 7:30 p.m. The Theater at Lighthouse International is located at 111 East 59th Street, New York.

Tickets are $5 for the general public and $3 for Academy members and students with a valid ID and may be reserved over the phone by calling 1-888-778-7575. Depending on availability, tickets may be purchased in person the night of the screening. Doors open at 7 p.m. For more information.

General Information

Tickets for these, and other, Academy programs may be purchased by mail, at the Academy during normal business hours, or at the box office which opens one hour before the start of the event.

The Academy's main national office is at 8949 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills, California. Office hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, except most major holidays. For further information on all Academy events and exhibitions in Los Angeles, call (310) 247-3600, unless otherwise noted.

The Academy's New York office is at 111 East 59th Street, New York, New York, closed most major holidays. For further information on all Academy events and exhibitions in New York, call (888) 778-7575, unless otherwise noted.

Best Foreign Language Movie Goes English

Actors Ulrich Muehe and Ulrich Tukur in a scene from the Oscar®-winning foreign movie THE LIVES OF OTHERS. Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.
When it came time for me to choose a Best Foreign Language Film, I was stumped. The winner in the too-close-to-call race was THE LIVES OF OTHERS from Germany.

As I posted 23 February, it was easy to conclude that the two front runners were THE LIVES OF OTHERS (Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, director, Germany), and PAN'S LABYRINTH (Guillermo del Toro, director, Mexico), order of rank undeterminable. I, like many writing about the Oscars®, found myself unable to make a decision in this category. I bemoaned I had seen neither movie. Had I seen both of them, I would have gone out on a limb and picked THE LIVES OF OTHERS. I did warn PAN'S fans that I was doubtful it would win.

Possible reasonsing for LIVES win? The Academy mandates that all Academy members casting final votes in this category must prove that they have seen all five nominees. Up until this time it was only important for members of the two evaluating committees who made the preliminary cuts to see the movies.

Let's face it, the younger members of the Academy are busy. In the main, they do not have time to view all the films in the Foreign Language category. Many are simply not interested.

That skews the votes towards the older members of the Academy. Now, knowing that, I should have gone out the limb and predicted THE LIVES OF OTHERS as the winner. I was about 90% certain that this was the way the votes would come down but, in the Oscar race, 90% is not good enough. Well, next year is another year, and since Martin Scorsese did win the Best Director Oscar, I will, God willing, be watching and evaluating this category again next year.

MEANWHILE, Daily Variety reported yesterday (Thursday), that THE LIVES OF OTHERS will be remade as an English-language movie, if the current round of plans and deal-making is successful. The team is composed of former Miramax Films chiefs Bob and Harvey Weinstein, and Oscar-winning filmmakers Sydney Pollack (OUT OF AFRICA, 1985) and Anthony Minghella (THE ENGLISH PATIENT, 1996), partners in Mirage Productions. The Weinstein brothers will develop the project through their Weinstein Co., partnering with Mirage.

According to Pollack, the partners teamed to secure the rights to do the project from the writer/director von Donnersmarck. The development team feels that this movie about wiretaps, spying, and loss of personal privacy is relevant in the lives of Americans today, and the movie deserves wider distribution than it will receive in the original German language. The remake in English will facilitate this.

LIVES is von Donnersmarck's debut movie. Oh, my. Might we possibly see this movie nominated again in the best feature motion picture category for 2008? It is possible. Keep watching the movies!

Honorary Oscars® at Gala - Morricone and Lansing

Composer-conductor Ennio Morricone, who has composed more than 300 motion picture scores over a 45-year career, was voted an Honorary Award by the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences last December. The Oscar statuette, was presented at the 79th Academy Awards® Gala, 25 February 2007, by Clint Eastwood for "Morricone's magnificent and multifaceted contributions to the art of film music.” Eastwood translated into English as Morricone read his acceptance speech in Italian.

Morricone has never received an Oscar, although he has earned five Academy Award nominations for original scores, DAYS OF HEAVEN (1978), THE MISSION (1986), THE UNTOUCHABLES (1987), BUGSY (1991) and MALẺNA (2000).

It was fitting for the Oscar presentation was made by Eastwood, long associated with Morricone and director Sergio Leone in the so-called "spagetti westerns." Born in Rome, Morricone was hired in 1964 by Leone and began a long collaboration with him, although Morricone's career has spanned most film genres from comedy and romance to horror.

The bulk of his work has been on Italian films, including THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY; A FISTFULL OF DOLLARS; ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA; and CINEMA PARADISO. Yet, Morricone has composed memorable scores for such international titles as BULWORTH; IN THE LINE OF FIRE; LA CAGE AUX FOLLES; and TWO MULES FOR SISTER SARA. Due for a 2008 release is his current project, LENINGRAD. More about Morricone.

Also, the Board of Governors voted to honor Sherry Lansing, the former chairman of Paramount Communications Motion Picture Group, and first woman to head a major movie studio, with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. Tom Cruise presented the golden statuette at the gala. The Hersholt Award is given to an individual in the motion picture industry whose humanitarian efforts have brought credit to the industry.

Lansing helped Dr. Armand Hammer form the nonprofit organization Stop Cancer and serves on its board. She is on the board of the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation, founded to honor excellence in basic and clinical science, and is a trustee of the American Association for Cancer Research. In addition, she serves on the Citizens’ Oversight Committee of the California Institute for Stem Cell Research, on the American Red Cross Board of Governors Advisory Committee and is a trustee of the Carter Center, the human rights organization formed by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn. She also serves as a regent of the University of California.

A graduate of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, Lansing got her feet wet in Hollywood as an actress, a career she quickly abandoned for production. She joined Talent Associates as an executive in charge of development in 1974, moving to MGM in 1975. Two years later, she became vice president in charge of production at Columbia Pictures.

She was named president of 20th Century-Fox Productions in 1980, and in 1983 formed Jaffe-Lansing Productions with Stanley Jaffe. After Jaffe was appointed president of Paramount Communications in 1990, Jaffe-Lansing Productions disbanded, and Lansing became chairman of the Motion Picture Group in 1992. Viacom became the parent company of Paramount Communications in 1993 after a hostile takeover fight with Barry Diller.

Under pressure from Viacom's Chief Executive Sumner Redstone, she resigned that position when her contract expired in 2000. While at Paramount, Lansing was responsible for the studio's biggest hit, FORREST GUMP, among others. More about Lansing.

Actors, Director, and Best Motion Picture Oscars®

ACTORS AND ACTRESSES

I apologize that I will be unable to make a more evaluative post concerning these categories. We had bad storms for over 24 hours, which cut into my time on the computer the last couple of days. Here are some of my picks. I'll justify them later, if I must. Okay?

For best performance by a lead actress in a motion picture: Helen Mirren for THE QUEEN, winner of a Golden Globe. Period.

For best performance by a lead actor in a motion picture: Forrest Whitaker, THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND, winner of a Golden Globe. Ditto.

For best supporting actor or actress in a motion picture: This is one I never try to call, and that's especially true this year. The Academy has the habit of picking a newcomer here and all but Cate Blanchett (NOTES ON A SCANDAL) are in that sphere in the supporting actress category. There are two nominations from BABEL, a best motion picture nominee. A win for either Adriana Barraza or Rinko Kikuchi could bode well for BABEL as best motion picture, but not necessarily. Then, there's LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE'S Abigail Breslin, the youngest nominee this year, and that gives her an edge. A win for her could bode well for a best picture win for SUNSHINE. Not to be left behind is DREAMGIRLS' Jennifer Hudson, whom many consider a shoo-in.

In the supporting actor category, look early on to see if either of the veterans Alan Arkin (LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE) or Mark Wahlberg (THE DEPARTED) win. A win here could bode well for either of these candidates for best motion picture, but not necessarily.

The favorite here is Eddy Murphy from DREAMGIRLS. Yet, it seems to me that he had more screen time performing than acting. We'll see. The two unknowns are Jackie Earle Haley (LITTLE CHILDREN) and Djimon Hounsou (BLOOD DIAMOND).

BEST DIRECTOR

I have seen BABEL(Alejandro González Iñárritu), THE DEPARTED (Martin Scorsese), and LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE. Directors are nominated for the first two, but not for SUNSHINE. Also, the directors for LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA (Clint Eastwood), and THE QUEEN (Stephen Frears) are nominated. PAN'S LABYRINTH (Guillermo del Toro) is nominated in the best foreign-language motion picture category.

I've only seen the directing in BABEL and THE DEPARTED. In my opinion, Scorsese's direction is miles above Iñárritu's. Get the bonus disk for THE DEPARTED. The interview "Scorsese on Scorsese" is not to be missed.

THE AVIATOR was not his best work but with THE DEPARTED Scorsese is back doing what he does best. This time, he's walking the Mean Streets of Boston with the Irish Goodfellows. He's my pick to win.

The Directors Guild of America (DGA) named Scorsese the Best Director for THE DEPARTED. Although Scorsese has been nominated by the Guild seven times, this is his first win. He received a lifetime achievement award in 2003. This year marks Scorsese's sixth Oscar nomination for best director, which he has never won. Fifty-one of the last 57 DGA winners have gone on to win best director Oscars, and many of the movies they directed have won best picture awards.

If Scorsese doesn't win? I may never follow the Academy Awards® again.

BEST MOTION PICTURE of 2006

By now you should know the nominees in this category. I have only seen three. Two of those were disappointments.

BABEL is too slow and contemplative for my taste. It's a good premise. A Japanese businessman gives his hunting guide from a Muslim country a high-powered rifle as a gift. The recipient sells it to a goat herder, who turns it over to his two young sons. The younger foolishly shoots at a tour bus, wounding a young American woman. This sets in motion actions that will devastates five families in four countries, including the family of the Japanese man. The moral? We are all connected on Planet Earth. However, overall, the movie doesn't jell.

I also feel that LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE doesn't jell, either. The movie is great in the beginning, but it falls apart when the family reaches its destination at the beauty pageant. The stereotypes at the event, and outlandish action of the family members during the talent competition are both over the top.

As for LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA, what the heck is this film in Japanese doing being nominated in this category? Okay, they are throwing flowers at Eastwood, a favorite son. However, it is totally a foreign-language film. Can't judge this movie, or THE QUEEN, as I have seen neither.

That brings me back to THE DEPARTED, which won the DGA award. In light of not having seen all the nominated movies, I can't pick one, but I will be disappointed if either of the other four win. Can't help it. You see, I'm mainly Irish, but I have a wee bit of I-tie blood, too. I get this movie!

This category is a 52-card pickup. Toss the cards and see which one hits the floor first.

Well, it's time to prepare the snacks, chill the wine and get dressed for my party tonight. Hope everyone has a very enjoyable evening!

Songs, Scores, Performers for Tonight's Oscar® Gala

SONGS and PERFORMERS

Beyoncé, Melissa Etheridge, Jennifer Hudson, Randy Newman, Keith Robinson, Anika Noni Rose, and James Taylor are set to perform this year’s Oscar®-nominated songs on the 79th Academy Awards® show tonight, telecast producer Laura Ziskin announced late last week. In case you haven't heard, the host is Ellen DeGeneres. To read my post about DeGeneres, click my Archive for September 2006 on the right sidebar.

Three nominated songs from DREAMGIRLS will be sung. Beyoncé will sing “Listen” (music by Henry Krieger and Scott Cutler, lyric by Anne Preven). “Love You I Do” (music by Henry Krieger and lyric by Siedah Garrett) will be song by Jennifer Hudson. “Patience” (music by Henry Krieger and lyric by Willie Reale) will be sung and performed by Anika Noni Rose, Keith Robinson, and other cast mates.

“I Need to Wake Up” from the documentary feature AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH will be sung by Melissa Etheridge, who also wrote the music and lyric for the nominated song.

Randy Newman wrote both the music and lyric for "Our Town," nominated from the animated feature CARS, and he will perform with singer-guitarist James Taylor. Newman also composed the score for CARS.

NOMINATED SCORES

First of all, you can read about, and listen to, excerpts from all five nominated scores from the features BABEL, THE GOOD GERMAN, NOTES ON A SCANDAL, PAN'S LABYRINTH, and THE QUEEN at NPR.org. There you can also read excellent evaluations by NPR's movie-music expert Andy Trudeau. So, go there first, but please come back.

When I attended film school, two things about film scores were drummed into our heads:

1. The score should not overpower the visuals, dialog, and story. If the viewer keeps noticing it, then it is not a good score.
2. The score should stand alone as a unique musical composition, allowing it to be performed in concerts.

Based the second criteria, Gustavo Santaolalla's score for BABEL should be disqualified. I noticed it more than a few times, too. Second strike. It is unique, so that may give it some extra points.

Thomas Newman's score for THE GOOD GERMAN captures the big orchestrations in the Hollywood scores of the golden age with enough variations to ward off the copycat label. It can definitely stand alone as a composition but since I haven't seen the film, I must wonder about it being intrusive. Yes, he is the son of Alfred, the famous film-score composer, but Thomas has his own track record, including the score for AMERICAN BEAUTY.

Composer Philip Glass's score for NOTES ON A SCANDAL? Well, Philip Glass is Philip Glass, is Philip Glass, is Philip Glass. Even a rank amateur listener can discern a Glass composition. To me his music gets monotonous but Trudeau says that in NOTES Glass actually reaches moments of crescendo when there should be a crescendo to match the action of the movie. I did notice more contrast. I'm not sure I would go all the way with Trudeau's statement, "The result is a soundtrack brimming with melodic writing and a moody oboe theme." With those crescendos and melodic moments, the score is not as boring as his earlier works. Nonetheless, it is still somewhat sedate.

As to Alexandre Desplat's score for THE QUEEN, Trudeau says it is a score with many levels, which manages the movie's transitions between pomp and lightheartedness. Since I haven't seen the film, or heard much of the score, there it rests.

Trudeau says that Javier Navarette's score for PAN'S LABYRINTH, is a "rich, intimate score that walks the delicate line between fantasy and horror." Navarette has been composing in Spain for 20 years. His work is well known there and in Europe, but this is his first exposure in the U.S.

Since I have some knowledge of Spanish music and scores for Spanish movies, I've listened to some of this score, and I think the musical references in the score are excellent, especially the overarching theme of the lullaby, a rich tradition in Spanish music. I may have a bias here, but I'm going to choose this score as my favorite. I think it has an excellent chance of winning.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2006 will be presented tonight, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®. The Oscars® will be televised live by the ABC Television Network at 5 p.m. PST (8 p.m. EST), beginning with a half-hour red carpet arrivals segment, “The Road to the Oscars.”

Foreign Language Features in Oscar® Race

The nominees are:

Algeria, DAYS OF GLORY (Indigènes), Rachid Bouchareb, director.
Canada, WATER, Deepa Mehta, director.
Denmark, AFTER THE WEDDING, Susanne Bier, director.
Germany, THE LIVES OF OTHERS, Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, director.
Mexico, PAN'S LABYRINTH, Guillermo del Toro, director.

All of the above are set during WW II, or relate to it in some way, save one, WATER, which is the only one I have seen. Before you continue, please read my post of 2 February.

Did that? Now, you are back? Good. Proceed.

Lets look at the country list again, this time noting the countries that have received a nomination, and/or have received a win since the category began with the 29th Academy Awards in 1956:

Algeria - 3 nominations, 1 win
Canada - 3 nominations, 1 win
Denmark - 6 nominations, 2 wins
Germany - 6 nominations, 1 win
Mexico - 6 nominations, 0 wins

Just in case you are interested, the top six countries nominated have been:
France - 34 noms, 9 wins
Italy - 27 noms, 10 wins
Spain - 19 noms, 4 wins
Sweden - 14 noms, 3 wins
Japan - 11 noms, 0 wins
U.S.S.R. - 9 noms, 3 wins

Statistics aside, the front-runner in this competition is without a doubt Guillermo del Toro's PAN'S LABYRINTH. Yet, when it comes to the Academy, the voters who must see all five nominated films to vote in this category seldom favor movies with magical, or surrealistic qualities. They tend to prefer their foreign-language movies served straight-up - strong linier story, simple, emotional, nostalgic, beautifully filmed, well acted, no frills. The final choice also depends upon how many females and males vote in the final round.

PAN'S LABYRINTH (Mexico, Guillermo del Toro, coping in Franco's rural Spain, 1944, WW II.) definitely has identity problems. A.O. Scott, wrote in the New York Times that Pan's Labyrinth, ". . . is a political fable in the guise of a fairy tale. Or maybe it's the other way around. Does the moral structure of the children's story - - with its clearly marked poles of good and evil, its narrative of dispossession and vindication - - illuminate the nature of authoritarian rule? Or does the movie reveal fascism as a terrible fairy tale brought to life?"

Here's the biggest irony. A Mexican making a film about Spain with a subject that still stirs mixed emotions within Spaniards. Because I can't see this film, I can only surmise that del Toro is bringing forward the works of Buñuel, Borau, Erice, Saura, and so many others of the New Spanish Cinema.

I have seen all of their movies. Yet, none of these directors were ever honored in this category, except for Luis Buñuel. He won for his French language version of THE DISCREET CHARM OF THE BOURGEOSISE (1972), nominated by France. Considering more irony, despite a number of nominations, Spain first won and Oscar in this category in1982 for TO BEGIN AGAIN, ten years after that award to Buñuel for a "French" movie.

PAN'S LABYRINTH, a Mexican/Spanish/USA co-production, swept the Spanish Goya Awards. Mexico has never won a foreign language Oscar®. It is overdue. Perhaps this is Mexico's year. PAN'S LABYRINTH is also nominated for: Original screenplay (Guillermo del Toro), achievement in art direction, achievement in cinematography (Guillermo Navarro), achievement in makeup, achievement in music - original score (Javier Navarrete from Spain), 6 nominations over-all.

THE LIVES OF OTHERS (Germany, Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, Cold War), working with and against the East German D.D.R.'s STASI toward the end of the Cold War is considered the movie that will give PAN the biggest competition. However, neither movie won a Golden Globe. That honor went to a movie that should have been in this category for the Oscars but couldn't be, because there is no mechanism in place in the U. S. to submit a foreign language movie made by an American to the Academy. I am referring to LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA, Clint Eastwood director.

Will someone found an AMERICAN ACADEMY OF CINEMATIC ARTS in the U.S.A.? In this time when the Academy is going more international, we need another Academy in the U.S. to champion U.S. movies. An Academy that equally honors various genres in American cinema, and can nominate to AMPAS® in this category. Listening, George Lucas?

But, I digress.

WATER (Canada, Deepa Mehta), a film about India, with Indian actors, in two Indian languages plus some English is the third main contender. This movie portrays the treatment of widows in India in the 1930's, 175 years after India’s former colonial rulers outlawed sati, an ancient Hindu practice whereby a widow is obligated by law to burn herself alive on her husband’s funeral pyre. There are documentations of this practice in rural areas as late as last December, but this movie does not go there. Instead, it deals with the practice of disenfranchising widows in all areas of their lives by sending them away to live in poverty under the care of Hindu nuns, or whatever they are called.

WATER's director, a female, was born in Indian but has been based in Toronto, Canada, for most of her life. She began filming in India around 2001. It was immediately shut down, the set dismantled and thrown in the Ganges River, because Hindus considered it dangerous to the Hindu religion. It was finally filmed in Sri Lanka, and is the bookend to two of her previous movies FIRE and EARTH, completing the trilogy.

This film is a long shot in this category, but it has all those things voting Academy members like: a cause, made under difficult conditions, beautiful cinematography, excellent editing, handsome actor (John Abraham) and beautiful lead actress (Lisa Ray) both of Bollywood fame, exotic locale, great love story, linier, simple, emotional, and nostalgic with a social conscience. If more women members vote in this category in the final round, its chances are enhanced.

I would vote for this one. Sorry, PAN'S fans, but I think WATER is excellent. If the votes for either of the leaders from Mexico and Germany are not overwhelming, WATER's chances are enhanced. When, and if, I see PAN, I reserve the right to amend my choice and offer a mea culpa.

As to the other two? Well, I don't know enough about either to vote for or against. They are: AFTER THE WEDDING (Denmark, Susanne Bier, after WW II), A manager of an orphanage in India is sent to Copenhagen, Denmark, where he discovers a life-altering family secret; and DAYS OF GLORY (Indigènes, Algeria, Rachid Bouchareb, WW II), Four North African men enlist in the French army to liberate that country from Nazi oppression, and to fight French discrimination.

Good luck in making your decision!

Nicholson, Streep to present at Oscars®

Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep, each holding the record for most Academy Award® nominations by actors in their respective categories, will join Oscar® winner Philip Seymour Hoffman as presenters on the 79th Academy Awards, telecast producer Laura Ziskin announced today. Also announced as presenters: Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert Downey, Jr., Greg Kinnear, Helen Mirren, Clive Owen, Ken Watanabe, Naomi Watts, Gael Garcia Bernal, Emily Blunt, Catherine Deneuve, former Vice President Al Gore, James McAvoy, and Jerry Seinfeld.

Previously listed in the post of 22 February:
Ben Affleck, Jessica Biel, Jack Black, Cate Blanchett, Abigail Breslin, Steve Carell, George Clooney, Tom Cruise, Penélope Cruz, Cameron Diaz, Kirsten Dunst, Will Ferrell, Jodie Foster, Eva Green, Tom Hanks, Anne Hathaway, Hugh Jackman, Diane Keaton, Nicole Kidman, Jennifer Lopez, Tobey Maguire, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jaden Christopher Syre Smith, Rachel Weisz, Kate Winslet, and Reese Witherspoon.

Once PricewaterhouseCoopers has tabulated the votes, the winners’ names will be placed in sealed, foil-lined envelopes. Only two people at PWC will know the results before the envelopes are opened onstage Oscar Night®, Sunday, 25 February, lead partners Brad Oltmanns and Rick Rosas. 5,830 final ballots were mailed to voting members of the Academy on Wednesday, 31 January.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2006 will be presented this Sunday night at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®. The Oscars® will be televised live by the ABC Television Network at 5 p.m. PST (8 p.m. EST).

The evening begins with a half-hour arrivals segment, "The Road to the Oscars®," before the start of the presentation ceremony at 5 p.m., PST. Film historian, television host, and Hollywood Reporter columnist Robert Osborne will once again serve as the Academy's red carpet celebrity greeter. Vogue editor-at-large André Leon Talley will be the voice of fashion, and Allyson Waterman will interview the various celebrities.

Animated and Doc Features in Oscar® Race

Animated Features -

I have seen two of the animated features nominated for an Oscar, CARS and MONSTER HOUSE. I was not impressed with MONSTER HOUSE, getting bored within the first half. If I had young children, I would not let them see it.

No offense to HAPPY FEET. I haven't seen it, so I can't judge it, but after seeing the American heart and soul contained in CARS, I think it will be the winner. It did win the Annie Award as best animated feature. At any rate, I would vote for it, and not having seen HAPPY FEET makes no difference.

Once I saw CARS, the deal was sealed. The setting is the small town of Radiator Springs on the famous old Route 66 after the Interstate has bypassed the town. As a consequence, the town sank into despair and depression. When a hot-shot race car named Lightning McQueen gets waylaid in Radiator Springs, the town cars, with McQueen's help, find a cause, which helps them gain back their self esteem through collective positive action, and they help McQueen find the true meaning of friendship and family. There's nothing more American than that!

Also, unlike the characters in MONSTER HOUSE, the cars are downright loveable. In the viewer's mind they grow almost human during the course of the movie, each one keeping "his/her" individual behavior characteristics throughout.

Documentary Features -

I have seen three out of the five documentary features nominated for an Oscar, AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH, JESUS CAMP, and MY COUNTRY, MY COUNTRY. Therefore, I can only judge these three. They all deal with strong, often controversial subjects.

The first - the environment, effects of global warming, and Al Gore. Just remember, the threat is real and it is here today! When there is no Planet Earth, there will be nothing.

The second - indoctrination of innocent children by fundamentalist evangelical Christians (here, Pentecost). Their elders use fear and other abusive tactics to warp their young minds. Child abuse in the name of relgion.

The third - the negative impact upon one Iraqi family in Baghdad during the first election after the U.S. invaded, and the gradual demise of the Sunni father's idealism as he runs for a political office, facing life-threatening odds. Filmmaker Laura Poitras actually lived with an Iraqi family for over seven months, documenting the routine and the horror of their everyday lives.

DELIVER US FROM EVIL is about sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church. Sorry, seen several of these. It, too, addresses child abuse in the name of relgion.

IRAQ IN FRAGMENTS is about the situation in Iraq. I'm not sure of the time frame, or the actual subject matter, except that it contains stories from modern day Iraq as told by Iraqis living in a time of war, occupation and ethnic tension.

It behooves me as to why the Academy nominated two documentaries about Iraq. Why didn't they do as they did when confronted with two Spanish language features for the Best Foreign Movie, pick the one they thought was better? Well, it seems the Academy today is not a standout when logic is involved.

I am sure that the front runner here is AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH. I would vote for it. It is possible that those who are anti Al Gore will vote for one of the other four, but I think the Academy members on the whole support this documentary and that for which it stands. So, I think it will be the winner.

Click the movie titles to read more about these feature films.

Presenters at 79th Academy Awards®

UPDATE - 22 February - Academy Award®-winning actress Jodie Foster is slated to be an Oscar presenter, and has been added to the following.

So far, the following presenters have been announced for Sunday's gala: Ben Affleck, Jessica Biel, Jack Black, Cate Blanchett, Abigail Breslin, Steve Carell, George Clooney, Tom Cruise, Penélope Cruz, Cameron Diaz, Kirsten Dunst, Will Ferrell, Jodie Foster, Eva Green, Tom Hanks, Anne Hathaway, Hugh Jackman, Diane Keaton, Nicole Kidman, Jennifer Lopez, Tobey Maguire, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jaden Christopher Syre Smith, Rachel Weisz, Kate Winslet, and Reese Witherspoon.

See previous posts for more details about the telecast.

BERLINALE prizes awarded at jaded festival

The Bears were awarded today at the 57th International Berlin Film Festival, and some question the continued virility of the Festival. But, first, the awards:

TUYA'S MARRIAGE (Tu ya de hun shi) from China received the top prize, the Golden Bear for Best Film. It was chosen from among 22 competitors in competition at the festival by a seven-member jury led by TAXI DRIVER screenwriter Paul Schrader. The other jury members were: Hiam Abbas, Mario Adorf, Willem Dafoe, Gael García Bernal, Nansun Shi, and Malene Stensgaard.

Director Wang Quan'an's movie follows the troubles of a young farming woman in fast-changing China. It stars Yu Nan as Tuya, a herdswoman in Inner Mongolia trying to resist pressure to leave her pastures and move to the city as China's industry expands. She seeks a man who can help her look after her sick husband and two children. Director Wang Quan'an and producer Le Wang accepted the Bear. The other Chinese movie at the festival, LOST IN BEIJING (Ping Guo) and directed by Li Yu, screened too late to generate any buzz.

The Silver Bear for the Grand Jury Prize went to Argentina's EL OTRO (The Other), directed by Ariel Rotter.

Silver Bears for acting went to Argentina's Julio Chavez as Juan in EL OTRO, and Germany's Nina Hoss for her role as the heroine of the film's title, YELLA, directed by Christian Petzold.

U.S.-born Israeli director Joseph Cedar won the Silver Bear for best director for BEAUFORT, which takes place in an outpost in southern Lebanon ahead of Israel's withdrawal from that country in 2000.

The Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution 2007 was awarded to the ensemble cast of Robert D Niro's THE GOOD SHEPHERD.

French director Francois Ozon's ANGEL made its world premiere as the Festival's closing film.

As to the Festival being jaded, "Berlin film festival fails to reel in the critics," was the header for a Reuters' news release written by Mike Collett-White late in the Festival in which he quotes A. O. Scott, New York Times, as writing, "The 57th Berlinale might best be thought of as an average festival." Scott went on, to say that Berlin, once a bastion of serious cinema, has become "something bigger, more varied and perhaps less distinctive."

For instance there are critics who argue that some of the best films in Berlin this year were outside the main lineup, and wondered whether festival director Dieter Kosslick had shied away from incendiary topics. Collett-White mentions one such film, THE LARK FARM, a drama depicting the tragedy of a family almost wiped out in the mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915. According to him, this could have been this year's FAHRENHEIT 9/11 at the Berlinale.

Turkey continues to deny allegations by Armenia and others that 1.5 million Armenians died in systematic genocide at Turkish hands. Critic Peter Zander of the German newspaper Die Welt (The World) wrote, "The film comes at precisely the right time -- after the murder of the Armenian journalist Hrant Dink and threats against the Turkish Nobel prize winner Orhan Pamuk . . . It would have been a highlight of the Berlinale, perhaps the most important film of the year. But it's not in the main section. Perhaps they wanted to avoid the big controversy. How unfortunate."

I went to the Berlinale when it was held in the summer. They moved it to February, the Berlin Wall came down, and I no longer had an appetite to attend. Also when I went, Germany was still divided. The Festival was the showcase of East German and Eastern European movies, showing at least twice as many movies as they do today. It was a fantastic opportunity to see wonderful films that I could never see in the U.S. because of State Department restrictions, and dance the night away at the U.S.S.R.'s party.

The festival has grown rapidly in recent years, now mainly spotlighting Hollywood glamour-types and art-house films. This year, they had an agreement with Sundance to feature the top movies shown at the Sundance International Film Festival and, of course, to attract the stars of those movies. I have followed this Festival since the late 1970's, and have watched the Festival's slide. I agree that it is now an average film festival. What made it unique is gone. As we approach the end of this decade, the "old gal" ain't what she used to be. Sad.

That said, the Festival this year had some films, besides the winners, from which you will hear more this year:

IRINA PALM, starring British singer and actress Marianne Faithful; Germany's YELLA; the French biopic Edith Piaf, LA VIE EN ROSE; Germany's THE COUNTERFEITERS, based on a real Nazi plot to disrupt Britain's wartime economy by flooding it with counterfeit banknotes made by Jewish craftsmen in a concentration camp; Brazilian director Cao Hamburger's THE YEAR MY PARENTS WENT ON VACATION, about the country's military dictatorship seen through the eyes of a boy; as well as two French films, WITNESSES (Andre Techine, director) about the start of the AIDS epidemic and Jacques Rivette's DON'T TOUCH THE AXE, a version of a Balzac novella.

For more, click the link for my Film Festival Page on the right sidebar, or click the title of this post.

Final Oscar® Ballots Due by 5 p.m. Tuesday

Voting members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences are reminded the Post Office will be closed this Monday, 19 February, for Presidents Day. Since they must return their completed final Oscar ballots to PricewaterhouseCoopers before 5 p.m. Tuesday, 20 February, California voters should post them today or tomorrow. New York voters better get overnight delivery now, if they have not yet done it. Ballots received after the 5 p.m. deadline will not be counted.

I remember receiving a call, at what was then Price Waterhouse, from actor Richard Crenna the day after the ballot deadline. He said his secretary had failed to mail his ballot, he had just discovered it, and asked if he could send it by courier immediately. I told him, as politely as possible, that the deadline had passed, and there were no exceptions to the rule. He understood, just thought he would give it the old college try.

Once PricewaterhouseCoopers has tabulated the votes, the winners’ names will be placed in sealed, foil-lined envelopes. Only two people at PWC will know the results before the envelopes are opened onstage Oscar Night®, Sunday, 25 February, lead partners Brad Oltmanns and Rick Rosas. 5,830 final ballots were mailed to voting members of the Academy on Wednesday, 31 January.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2006 will be presented that night at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®. The Oscars® will be televised live by the ABC Television Network at 5 p.m. PST (8 p.m. EST).

The evening begins with a half-hour arrivals segment, “The Road to the Oscars®,” before the start of the presentation ceremony at 5 p.m., PST. Film historian, television host, and Hollywood Reporter columnist Robert Osborne will once again serve as the Academy's red carpet celebrity greeter. Vogue editor-at-large André Leon Talley will be the voice of fashion, and Allyson Waterman will interview the various celebrities.

Banderas' SUMMER RAIN in Berlinale

Antonio BanderasI was in Spain, including Malaga, the summer of 1978, traveling, studying and teaching Spanish Cinema for the University of Southern California (USC). It was my first time in Spain, and I was struck by the repression lingering after the death of Francisco Franco in 1975. It was everywhere. At that time, movies were concerned with two subjects: religion and sex, in that order. However, it wasn't overt sex. Everything was cloaked, including criticism of the church. Yet, they were already taking open potshots at Franco.

There was no love lost between the new King Juan Carlos and the late dictator, although Franco had picked Juan Carlos as successor. The new king was already easing Franco's fascistic fist that controlled Spanish society.

I went back three years later. Censorship had been lifted, and the order of movie themes had definitely reversed. Most of the films dealt with sexual repression. Oh, my, titillating sexual images were on display everywhere, especially in the movies.

Now, someone who was there at the same time and experiencing this enormous change has made a movie about it. SUMMER RAIN, (El Camino de los Ingleses, Spain, 2006), directed by Antonio Banderas, had its world premiere at this year's Sundance International Film Festival, and will screen at the Berlin Film Festival. RAIN is set in Malaga, Spain, in the late 1970's as Spain emerges from the almost four-decade dictatorship of Francisco Franco.

During a news conference at the Berlinale, talking about SUMMER RAIN and his life in Malaga, the AP reported that "Banderas, 46, recalled being laughed at for wanting to be an actor. 'The 70s were years in which they actually didn't allow me to dream — not only in a political context but in my family, even my friends. What I remember being in Malaga at the time, very strongly was the complex of inferiority that we had.' "

I first saw Banderas in Carlos Saura's LOS ZONCOS (The Stilts, 1984), during another time in Spain. Then, I saw MATADOR (1986) at the Santa Barbara Film Festival in 1987. I remarked to my companion, "Wow! If Banderas can speak English, he can be a huge international star." He didn't at the time, but he learned, and broke out in the U.S. market in the 1992 THE MAMBO KINGS as one of the Castillo brothers. It was his first English-language movie and in it he did it all -- act, sing and dance. Hollywood noticed!

Pedro Almodóvar is given credit for discovering Bandares. Actually, he didn't, but he gave Bandaras his first starring roles in the 1986 MATADOR and 1987 La Ley del deseo (LAW OF DESIRE). Both screened in the U.S., and were well received. In 1999, Banderas directed his first film, CRAZY IN ALABAMA, and then returned to acting in SPY KIDS and THE LEGEND OF ZORRO. With SUMMER RAIN, he returns to his Spanish roots.

This movie, based on a novel by Banderas' childhood friend Antonio Soler who also cowrote the screenplay with Banderas, follows the lives, loves and dreams of a group of teens growing up in the Mediterranean resort still impacted by fascistic repression, especially sexual repression. The cast: Victoria Abril, Alberto Amarilla,Raúl Arévalo, María Ruiz, Juan Diego, Félix Gómez, and Fran Perea.

See post of 27 January for more details about SUMMER RAIN, and click the links on the right sidebar for my Film Festival Page and Spain/Cinema page. Note: I cannot explain why the movie's English title is SUMMER RAIN when the Spanish title literally translates to THE ENGLISH ROAD. Hu-u-u-um.

Oscar's "Shorts" to Show in NYC

Prior to the 79th Academy Awards® show, New York moviegoers will have two opportunities to see all ten of this year’s Oscar®-nominated films in the Animated and Live Action Short Film categories on Saturday, 17 February.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences annual “Shorts!” program will be presented 12 p.m. and 4 p.m. at the Academy Theater in New York City.

Robert Osborne, Hollywood Reporter columnist, host of Turner Classic Movies, and official biographer of the Academy Awards, will host. The 2006 Animated Short Film and Live Action Short Film nominees are:

Short Film (Animated) and director(s) - -
“The Danish Poet," Torill Kove, director;
“Lifted,” Gary Rydstrom, director;
“The Little Matchgirl,” Roger Allers, director;
“Maestro,” Geza M. Toth, director;
“No Time for Nuts,” Chris Renaud and Michael Thurmeier, directors.

Short Film (Live Action) and director - -
“Binta and the Great Idea,” Javier Fesser, director;
“Eramos Pocos,” Borja Cobeaga, director;
“Helmer & Son,” Soren Pilmark, director;
“The Saviour,” Peter Templeman, director;
“West Bank Story,” Ari Sandel, director.

Tickets for “Shorts!” are $5 for the general public, $3 for Academy members and students with a valid ID. All seating is unreserved. Reserve tickets by calling 1-888-778-7575. Depending on availability, tickets may be purchased the day of the screenings. Doors open at 11:30 a.m. The Academy Theater is located at 111 East 59th Street in New York City.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2006 will be presented Sunday, February 25, 2007, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network at 5 p.m. PST (8 p.m. EST), beginning with a half-hour arrivals segment, “The Road to the Oscars.” Vogue editor-at-large André Leon Talley, and Allyson Waterman will co-host. Talley will be the voice of fashion, and Waterman the main interviewer for the Oscar® red carpet arrivals segment.

Foreign Language Motion Picture Nominees

Nominees for the Best Motion Picture in a Foreign Language for 2006, listed by country with director:

Algeria, DAYS OF GLORY (Indigènes), Rachid Bouchareb;

Canada, WATER, Deepa Mehta;
Denmark, AFTER THE WEDDING, Susanne Bier;
Germany, THE LIVES OF OTHERS, Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck;
Mexico, PAN'S LABYRINTH, Guillermo del Toro.


Other foreign-language movies that made the final cut for possible nomination but were not nominated, listed in alphabetical order by country with director:

France, AVENUE MONTAIGNE, Daniele Thompson;
Spain, VOLVER, Pedro Almodovar;
Switzerland, VITUAS, Fredi M. Murer;
The Netherlands, The Netherlands, BLACK BOOK, Paul Verhoeven.


Nominated Best Motion Picture in a Foreign Language for 2006, listed by title and with some detail:

AFTER THE WEDDING (Denmark, Efter brylluppet), Susanne Bier, director / co-writer A manager of an orphanage in Denmark is sent to Copenhagen, where he discovers a life-altering family secret.

DAYS OF GLORY (Algeria, Indigènes), Rachid Bouchareb, director / co-writer. During WWII, four North African men enlist in the French army to liberate that country from Nazi oppression, and to fight French discrimination.

PAN'S LABYRINTH (Mexico, El Laberinto del Fauno), Guillermo del Toro, director / writer / producer. A young girl travels with her pregnant mother to live with her mother's new husband in a rural area of northern Spain in 1944. Franco's fascist repression is at its height in Spain and the girl must come to terms with it through her imaginary world. This movie is NOT for children.

THE LIVES OF OTHERS (Germany, Das Leben der Anderson), Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, director / writer). This is Von Donnersmarck's debut movie, which focuses on the horrifying, sometimes unintentionally funny former East Germany, set in the 1980s.

WATER (Canada), Deepa Mehta, director / writer. The plight of a group of widows forced into poverty at a temple in the holy city of Varanasi. It focuses on a relationship between one of the widows, who wants to escape the social restrictions imposed on widows, and a man who is from a lower caste and a follower of Mahatma Gandhi.


Mimi Comments - -

LABYRINTH reminds me of Spanish director Victor Erice's THE SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE, (El Espíritu de la colmena, 1973) in which two young sisters, also in Franco's rural Spain of the 1940s, set out to find the Frankenstein monster after a traveling picture show visits their small town. One sister, played by Ana Torrent in her movie debut, finds only an army deserter, despite all her fantasizing about the monster Mary Shelley created within her own imagination. The late great Fernando Fernan Gomez plays Ana's detached bee-keeping father. Actually, the entire family is never seen together, leading the viewer to speculate if the family is also imaginary. If you can, rent the DVD.

I really think this category should be called Best Motion Picture in a Foreign Language. I once had a professor in film school who constantly reminded us that film is the physical material that facilitates the process of making a motion picture so that it may be exhibited. That was before video tape, digital, or computer generated images (CGI). The award IS given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, not the Academy of Film Arts and Sciences.

Furthermore, is it necessary to attach "film" to the categories? Why not Best Animated Short, Best Animated Feature, Best Live Action Short, Best Documentary Feature, Best Documentary Short, etc. The use of "film" is superfluous in all the categories except, Achievement in Film Editing. That is, if anyone actually edits using film stock anymore. Think about it.

8-)

Final Oscar® Ballots Mailed Today & Tidbits

Final ballots for the 79th Academy Awards® were mailed today to the 5,830 voting members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Completed ballots must be returned to Pricewaterhouse-Coopers by 5 p.m. Tuesday, February 20. Ballots received after the deadline will not be counted.

Listed on the ballots are nominees in 19 Oscar® categories. Separate ballots for five Awards categories (Documentary Feature, Documentary Short Subject, Foreign Language Film, and Animated and Live Action Short Films) will be distributed after verification of mandatory member attendance at screenings.

Following the tabulation of the votes, the winners’ names will be placed in sealed envelopes to be opened on Oscar Night®, Sunday, February 25.

TIDBITS:

1 - Laura Ziskin, 79th Academy Awards® telecast producer, announced yesterday that Vogue editor-at-large André Leon Talley will be the voice of fashion for “Road to the Oscars®,” the Oscar red carpet arrivals segment. Talley would be one of four commentators tapped to co-host the pre-show. Talley’s comments will focus on red carpet fashions.

2 - Representing Algeria, Canada, Denmark, Germany and Mexico, five of the world’s leading filmmakers will participate in the Academy’s standing-room-only Foreign Language Film Award (FLFA) Nominees Symposium on Saturday, February 24, at 10 a.m. at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. In addition to presenting clips from the nominated films, the two-hour event will also provide the opportunity for questions from the audience. Doors open at 9 a.m. All seating is unreserved.

Free advance tickets to the Foreign Language Film Award Nominees Symposium are necessary to secure admission. There is a two ticket per person limit. Tickets will be available beginning tomorrow, February 1st, at the Academy’s ticket office. For ticket order information, call (310) 247-3600 or visit http://www.oscars.org/events.

3 - The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced 15 winners of Scientific and Technical Academy Awards on 11 January, which will be presented at the Beverly Wilshire hotel on Saturday, February 10.

Awards Administration Director Rich Miller said that unlike other Academy Awards, achievements receiving Scientific and Technical Awards do not have to have been developed and introduced during 2006. “The achievement can be a device or a discovery, a formula or a method, but it must demonstrate a proven record of contributing significant value to the process of making motion pictures,” Miller said.

4 - For the 18th consecutive year, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has chosen special events producer Cheryl Cecchetto to produce its annual Governors Ball, the post-telecast celebration for the 79th Academy Awards® on Sunday, February 25, 2007. Cecchetto, along with her Sequoia Productions team, will work with Governors Ball Chair Cheryl Boone Isaacs (not Pat's daughter) to manage every detail pertaining to the event, including décor, entertainment, food and personnel.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2006 will be presented on Sunday, February 25, 2007, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network at 5 p.m. PST (8 p.m. EST), beginning with a half-hour arrivals segment, “The Road to the Oscars.”

PADRE NUESTRO Wins at Sundance

PADRE NUESTRO, an immigrant saga about a Mexican teen's heartbreaking search for his father in America, received the grand-jury prize for best U.S. drama at the Sundance Film Festival. Jorge Adrian Espindola portrays the youth who sneaks into the U. S., Jesus Ochoa the father, and Armando Hernandez a conniving fellow illegal immigrant.

PADRE NUESTRO (Our Father, U.S.) is Christopher Zalla's debut film, and it follows last year's QUINCEAÑERA (Fifteenth Birthday, Brazil/ U.S., 06 - also known as Echo Park), which qualified for this year's Oscars but received no nominations. This makes two years in a row that a Mexican-immigrant tale with U.S. producing credits have won top dramatic honors.

For more about PADRE NUESTRO, see the previous post, "Banderas Film Premieres at Sundance." For more of my notes about the winners, click my Film Festival Page's link on the right sidebar.

The grand-jury award in the U.S. documentary competition went to another Latin Amercian story recounting government corruption and kidnapping in Brazil, MANDA BALA (Send a Bullet, Brazil / U.S.), directed by Jason Kohn, MANDA BALA also won the documentary cinematography prize for Heloisa Passos.

From the U.S., GRACE IS GONE, a tear-jerker movie about a father (John Cusack) who takes his young daughters on a road trip to postpone breaking the news that their Army sergeant mother has been killed in Iraq, won the audience award for favorite U.S. drama. The award is chosen by balloting among Sundance movie-goers. Writer-director James C. Strouse won the Waldo Salt screenwriting award for the movie.

For a full list of winners, click (.pdf).

Banderas Film Premieres at Sundance

SUMMER RAIN, (El Camino de los Ingleses, Spain), directed by Antonio Banderas had its world premiere at this year's Sundance International Film Festival, wrapping tonight. The film is adapted from an award-winning novel written by the director's childhood friend, Antonio Soler, who wrote the screenplay. It is a deeply personal and lyrical recreation of their generation growing up in Malaga in the late 1970s, pulsating with sexuality, resonant with poetry and song. The cast: Alberto Amarilla, María Ruiz, Raúl Arévalo, Victoria Abril, Félix Gómez, Juan Diego, and Fran Perea. In 1999, Banderas directed his first film, Crazy in Alabama, and then returned to acting in Spy Kids and The Legend of Zorro. With SUMMER RAIN, he returns to his Spanish roots.

— The film follows the lives of three young men--Miguelito, Paco, and Babirusa--each of whom must confront his past, as well as his future, while indulging in the expected pursuits of youth on the threshold of adulthood, especially, of course, love and sex. For Miguelito, the poet, this centers on one girl in particular, Luli. As each young man discovers what life's erratic fortunes have in store for him, they venture forth together, leaving their past and youthful indiscretions behind.

SUMMER RAIN also screened on the evening of 24 January as a part of SUNDANCE EN ESPAÑOL (Sundance in Spanish), which featured a collection of six Spanish Language films, selected from throughout the Festival program. Each film was selected by the Festival’s programming team and reflects a variety of Spanish speaking cultures from Spain, Mexico, Bolivia, and the U.S. The other films screened were:

BAJO JUAREZ, THE CITY DEVOURING ITS DAUGHTERS (Mexico, Alejandra Sánchez and José Antonio Cordero, directors)

— In an industrial town in Mexico near the U.S. border, hundreds of women have been sexually abused and murdered. As the body count continues to rise, a web of corruption unfolds that reaches the highest levels of Mexican society. U.S. Premiere.

COCALERO (Bolivia/Argentina, Alejandro Landes, director)

— Set against the backdrop of the Bolivian government’s attempted eradication of the coca crop and oppression of the indigenous groups that cultivate it and the American war on drugs, an Aymara Indian named Evo Morales travels through the Andes and the Amazon in jeans and sneakers, leading a historic campaign to become the first indigenous president of Bolivia. World Premiere.

LA MISMA LUNA (The Same Moon, U.S., Patricia Riggen, director, and Ligiah Villalobos, screenwriter.)

— When his grandmother dies a young Mexican boy struggles to cross the border to reunite with his beloved mother, who is working hard in Los Angeles to create a better life for the family. World Premiere.

EL BUFALO DE LA NOCHE (The Night Buffalo, Mexico, Jorge Hernandez Aldana, director. Jorge Hernandez Aldana and Guillermo Arriaga, screenwriters,) BUFALO, adapted from a novel by Guillermo Arriaga, who also co-wrote and produced the film, is best known for his longtime collaboration with director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (Amores Peros, 21 Grams), and for making waves with their film BABEL at the Golden Globes this year, winning best picture and six other nominations including best screenplay. BABEL is one of the five nominees for best screenplay and best picture Oscar®. See most previous posts.

— The Night Buffalo tells the erotic tale of, Manuel a young man of 22, whose lust for beautiful women leads him down a path of deception, betrayal, and disillusionment. He lays out a plan that will drive him and his lover into an abyss of madness. World Premiere.

PADRE NUESTRO (Our Father, U.S., Christopher Zalla, director and screenwriter)

— Fleeing a criminal past, Juan hops a truck transporting illegal immigrants from Mexico to New York City, where he meets Pedro, who is seeking his long-lost father. World Premiere.

For more on Sundance, click Film Festival Page link on right sidebar.

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/