2007 Oscar Shouldabeens

1998 through 2007
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Precious Doll
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Post by Precious Doll »

It's about time for my best of 2007. I still have some major films to see including Silent Light (Carlos Reygadas), Flight of the Red Balloon (Hou Hsiao-hsien), Useless (Jia Zhang-ke), The Romance of Astree and Celadon (Eric Rohmer), Alexandra (Alexander Sokurov), Secret Sunshine (Chang-dong Lee) and The Savages (Tamara Jenkins), so I will do an updated list in a few months time once I have seen the above films.

My selections are based on première in country of origin, not US release dates.

Best Film

**Ex Drummer
4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days
There Will Be Blood
The Witnesses
Zodiac

Best Director

Paul Thomas Anderson for There Will Be Blood
David Fincher for Zodiac
Koen Mortier for Ex Drummer
**Cristian Mungiu for 4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days
Andre Techine for The Witnesses

Best Actor

Casey Affleck for The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
**Daniel Day-Lewis for There Will Be Blood
Woody Harleson for The Walker
Sam Riley for Control
Dries Van Hegen for Ex Drummer

Best Actress

Emilia Fox for Cashback
Ashley Judd for Bug
Keira Knightley for Atonement
**Ana Maria Marinca for 4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days
Hilary Swank for Freedom Writers

Best Supporting Actor

**Michel Blanc for The Witnesses
Benedict Cumberbatch for Amazing Grace
Sam Rockwell for The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Alan Tudyk for Death at a Funeral
Peter Vaughan for Death at a Funeral

Best Supporting Actress

Bernadette Damman for Ex Drummer
Romola Garai for Atonement
Laura Linney for The Nannie Diaries
**Demi Moore for Mr. Brooks
Kerry Walker for The Home Song Stories
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Post by FilmFan720 »

I still have a lot left to see (especially Into the Wild, Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Atonement, 4 Months..., Persepolis, Gone Baby Gone, etc.), but here is how things look now, if I were forced to close things out.

BEST FILM
1. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (dir: Andrew Dominick, USA)
2. There Will Be Blood (dir: Paul Thomas Anderson, USA)
3. No Country for Old Men (dir: Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, USA)
4. Zodiac (dir: David Fincher, USA)
5. Away from Her (dir: Sarah Polley, Canada)
6. Juno (dir: Jason Reitman, USA)
7. Black Snake Moan (dir: Craig Brewer, USA)
8. Sunshine (dir: Danny Boyle, USA)
9. Bug (dir: William Friedkin, USA)
10. The Darjeeling Limited (dir: Wes Andersen, USA)

BEST DIRECTOR
1. Paul Thomas Anderson, There Will Be Blood
2. Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, No Country for Old Men
3. Andrew Dominick, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
4. David Fincher, Zodiac
5. Sarah Polley, Away from Her

BEST ACTOR
1. Casey Affleck, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
2. Gordon Pinsent, Away from Her
3. Michael Shannon, Bug
4. Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood
5. Josh Brolin, No Country for Old Men

BEST ACTRESS
1. Julie Christie, Away from Her
2. Ellen Page, Juno
3. Ashley Judd, Bug
4. Christina Ricci, Black Snake Moan
5. Marion Cotillard, La Vie en Rose (for lack of a better choice yet)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
1. Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men
2. Paul Dano, There Will Be Blood
3. Michael Murphy, Away from Her
4. Garrett Dillahunt, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
5. Robert Downey Jr., Zodiac

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
1. Jennifer Garner, Juno
2. Kelly MacDonald, No Country for Old Men
3. Allison Janney, Juno
4. Leslie Mann, Knocked Up
5. Imelda Staunton, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
1. Juno; Diabolo Cody
2. Black Snake Moan; Craig Brewer
3. The Darjeeling Limited; Wes Andersen, Jason Schwartzman and Roman Coppola
4. Ratatouille; Brad Bird
5. Sunshine; Alex Garland

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
1. No Country for Old Men; Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
2. Away from Her; Sarah Polley
3. There Will Be Blood; Paul Thomas Anderson
4. Zodiac; James Vanderbilt
5. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford; Andrew Dominick




Edited By FilmFan720 on 1201659241
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Post by Sabin »

I'm not going to be able to watch many new movies from here on out so I'm just going to call my year closed and post my choices. These are my limited choices so my OFTA ballot will be incredibly biased. Also, these are the product of boredom and waiting for a train. I will stop when it gets here.

Best Picture
1. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
2. There Will Be Blood
3. I'm Not There
4. No Country for Old Men
5. Into the Wild

Best Director
1. Paul Thomas Anderson, There Will Be Blood
2. Andrew Dominik, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
3. Todd Haynes, I'm Not There
4. Joel & Ethan Coen, No Country for Old Men
5. Sean Penn, Into the Wild

Best Actor
1. Casey Affleck, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
2. Gordon Pinsent, Away from Her
3. Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood
4. Tommy Lee Jones, In the Valley of Elah
5. either Josh Brolin, No Country for Old Men or Sasson Gabai, The Band's Visit

Best Actress
1. Julie Christie, Away from Her
2. Nicole Kidman, Margot at the Wedding
3. Ellen Page, Juno
4. Christina Ricci, Black Snake Moan
5. Ronit Elkabetz, The Band's Visit

Best Supporting Actor
1. Hal Holbrook, Into the Wild
2. Steve Zahn, Rescue Dawn
3. Paul Schneider, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford & Lars and the Real Girl
4. Philip Seymour Hoffman, Charlie Wilson's War
5. Sam Rockwell, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

Best Supporting Actress
1. Cate Blanchett, I'm Not There
2. Catherine Keener, Into the Wild
3. Anna Kendrick, Rocket Science
4. Amy Ryan, Gone Baby Gone
5. Patricia Clarkson, Kelli Garner & Emily Mortimer, Lars and the Real Girl (can't decide yet)

Best Screenplay
1. Zodiac
2. No Country for Old Men
3. There Will Be Blood
4. The Savages
5. The Host

Best Score
1. There Will Be Blood
2. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
3. 3:10 to Yuma
4. Ratatouille
5. Rocket Science

Best Casting
1. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
2. No Country for Old Men
3. Gone Baby Gone
4. Zodiac
5 Into the Wild

Best Cinematography
1. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
2. There Will Be Blood
3. I'm Not There
4. No Country for Old Men
5. Zodiac
(leaving off maybe ten other works of brilliance like 'The Host', 'Michael Clayton', Lust, Caution', 'We Own the Night', 'The Darjeeling Limited', and 'Sunshine', all of which would top my list any other year)

Best Film Editing
1. I'm Not There
2. Into the Wild
3. There Will Be Blood
4. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
5. No Country for Old Men
(leaving off maybe ten other works of brilliance like 'Zodiac', 'Michael Clayton', 'The Host', '3:10 to Yuma', 'The Darjeeling Limited', and 'We Own the Night')

Best Art Direction
1. Zodiac
2. There Will Be Blood
3. I'm Not There
4. The Darjeeling Limited
5. No Country for Old Men

Best Costume Design
1. Lust, Caution
2. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
3. Juno
4. I'm Not There
5. Lars and the Real Girl

Best Sound Mixing
1. No Country for Old Men
2. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
3. There Will Be Blood
4. The Bourne Ultimatum
5. Ratatouille
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Post by cam »

Now I read that Condon " had a take on it" but the wbook writer's widow had a problem with that.
I will have no problem with Mendes.
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Post by Damien »

cam wrote:BUT: I read that Bill Condon is preparing something re Follies as well. Damien, have you got any news in this department?

Although Sondheim expressed entusiasm, that fell through, cam.

My understanding is that Mendes and Sorkin are interested in mounting the project, but nothing's been finalized (unless something happened in the last week or two). There was one party standing in the way of a deal.




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Post by cam »

BUT: I read that Bill Condon is preparing something re Follies as well. Damien, have you got any news in this department?
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Post by cam »

anonymous wrote:
Big Magilla wrote:Depp and Bonham Carter are out - replaced by Mortensen and Linney. Unlike some of you I don't consider Sweeney Tood the Holy Grail of Sondheim musicals - that would be Follies, which will most likely never be filmed, but I got to thinking if they cast someone who couldn't carry a tune to sing "I'm Still Here" and "Broadway Baby" I'd be fuming, so I get the point.

Actually, according to an interview with Sondheim late last month, Follies is going to be filmed next. Sam Mendes is directing and Aaron Sorkin is writing the screenplay.
Well, it IS Mendes, who can be counted upon to be sympathetic to the material --he has done Company and Cabaret for TV -- and so I can be grateful it is NOT Tim Burton. Follies is a musical I would love to see on film--I sincerely hope they keep *all* the music in, not just the obvious ones that have been mentioned but "Could I Leave You", one of Sondehim's lyrical pearls.
I wonder who the women will be? Surely to God: someone who can actually *sing*. Lessons will have been learned from Sweeney, hopefully.
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Post by anonymous1980 »

Big Magilla wrote:Depp and Bonham Carter are out - replaced by Mortensen and Linney. Unlike some of you I don't consider Sweeney Tood the Holy Grail of Sondheim musicals - that would be Follies, which will most likely never be filmed, but I got to thinking if they cast someone who couldn't carry a tune to sing "I'm Still Here" and "Broadway Baby" I'd be fuming, so I get the point.
Actually, according to an interview with Sondheim late last month, Follies is going to be filmed next. Sam Mendes is directing and Aaron Sorkin is writing the screenplay.
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Post by Damien »

Akash wrote:Could Casey Affleck possibly enter the "If I Can't Have Ethan Hawke Sweepstakes" Damien?

LOL! Casey's a major talent but, ummm, no. I do remember the first time I saw Ben Affleck (in Chasing Amy), I referred to him as the Poor Man's Ethan's Hawke. But then, lo and behold, soon after that his career surpassed Eth's.

But, I haven't seen it yet but judging from the stills from Sweeney Todd, the winner of the "If I Can't Have Ethan Hawke Sweepstakes" might likely be Jamie Campbell Bower.




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Post by Big Magilla »

OK, I listened to you guys, as well as re-thought a few things, and consequently made a few changes.

I flipped There Will Be Blood and No Country for Old Men. Since I tend to flip-flop a lot before coming to final conclusions in these matteers, I may flip back, but as of the moment I forgive P.T. Anderson's his excesses and having previously awarded the Coens for Fargo, I now want to spread the wealth and give this year's awards to Anderson and his film.

Depp and Bonham Carter are out - replaced by Mortensen and Knightley. Unlike some of you I don't consider Sweeney Tood the Holy Grail of Sondheim musicals - that would be Follies, which will most likely never be filmed, but I got to thinking if they cast someone who couldn't carry a tune to sing "I'm Still Here" and "Broadway Baby" I'd be fuming, so I get the point.

Sorry, no change for Casey Affleck. Rightly or wrongly he stays in the supporting category.




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Post by Big Magilla »

Sonic Youth wrote:Magilla, you saw There Will Be Blood?

Stop keeping these things to yourself!

And if your tastes are nearly identical to AMPAS's, as you've just admitted, then maybe it won't be so way out for AMPAS voters.

Here's the thing. I don't think this is a new style film at all, nor do I think it excessively violent or bloody - in fact there's very little blood in it.

What it is is an old-fashioned morality tale about the fight between good and evil, the good and evil both being resident in the soul of one man with evil ultimately winning out. Comparisons to Giant and Citizen Kane are not unfounded. I would characterize the film as deliberately paced as opposed to slow moving. It would have been my no. one pick if it weren't for the ending which goes goes on too long. Though not as out there as the frogs raining down in Anderson's Magnolia, it is a bit over the top and so loses a point or two for that. I preferred the oblique ending of No Country for Old Men, which a whole is much more violent and unsettling, at the time I made up these awards, but on some days I think Blood is the overall better film. If it weren't for that damn ending it would be no contest.

Much has been made in the press of the conflict between Daniel Day-Lewis' oilman and Paul Dano's preacher, but it is Day-Lewis' relationship with his son that is at the heart of the film. Their devastating final scene together followed by flashbacks of them in happier times putting the lie to the foul words coming out of Daniel's mouth is where they should have ended the film.




Edited By Big Magilla on 1200100737
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Post by Sabin »

Yes.

I've known Casey Affleck was the real deal for years now, even though I don't think we had any reason to expect such greatness from the guy. I barely expected competence from Paul Schneider's whose mush-mouthed sensitive rural poet-schtick was old for me the first time I saw him in a David Gordon Green movie. He was the year's strongest foil in 'Lars and the Real Girl' (finding the right notes of incredible frustration) and a scene stealer in 'The Assassination of Jesse James' (from the likes of Casey Affleck, Brad Pitt, AND Sam Rockwell, no less). If that's not support...

I think my favorite male supporting actors this year so far are...

Philip Seymour Hoffman, Charlie Wilson's War
Hal Holbrook, Into the Wild
Sam Rockwell, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Paul Schneider, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford & Lars and the Real Girl
Steve Zahn, Rescue Dawn

...you know what I like about all of them? They're fucking supporting actors! Page for page? Supporting. Intention in the script? Supporting. There are quite a few solid-looking movies I haven't seen this year, so it's possible there will be others. To contrast, my favorite leading male performances so far are...

Casey Affleck, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Josh Brolin, No Country for Old Men
Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood
Tommy Lee Jones, In the Valley of Elah & No Country for Old Men
Gordon Pinsent, Away from Her




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Post by Akash »

Penelope wrote:Affleck is fully deserving of a nomination (and, in my opinion, a win), but whatever the reason for pushing him into Supporting (my suspicion is that Brad Pitt's star status is considerably larger than Affleck's and so they campaigned the former for Lead and didn't want Affleck to compete with him there), what's happening is that such a move denies a genuine Supporting Actor (such as Paul Schneider from the same film) from being nominated and puts a potentially unworthy Lead Actor (Ryan Gosling) into contention.
Yes to EVERY point you made in this paragraph Pen. Well put.
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Post by Akash »

Could Casey Affleck possibly enter the "If I Can't Have Ethan Hawke Sweepstakes" Damien?
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Post by Damien »

Bog wrote:Hopefully I don't get shot for one more thing...but Affleck is not winning anything, he's not winning Actor, he's not winning Supporting Actor...voters have to see the film for this to happen, but this is a major factor for my crusade for him in lead that has so divided and exhausted various threads (sorry) but he clearly can't beat Bardem or Holbrook...was never gonna happen, ain't gonna happen.
That may be true, but as far as I'm concerned, I'll remember 2007 as The Year Of Casey Affleck.
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