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INCEPTION

(Black Sheep's dark horse: ANOTHER YEAR)

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

(Black Sheep's dark horse: RABBIT HOLE)

BEST ACTOR

JAVIER BARDEM in BIUTIFUL

JEFF BRIDGES in TRUE GRIT

JESSE EISENBERG in THE SOCIAL NETWORK

COLIN FIRTH in THE KING'S SPEECH

JAMES FRANCO in 127 HOURS

(Black Sheep's dark horse: None. Bardem is already dark enough.)

BEST ACTRESS

ANNETTE BENING in THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT

JENNIFER LAWRENCE in WINTER'S BONE

NICOLE KIDMAN in RABBIT HOLE

NATALIE PORTMAN in BLACK SWAN

MICHELLE WILLIAMS in BLUE VALENTINE

(Black Sheep's dark horse: None. Everyone I want to see there is already there. Back off Hailee Steinfeld ... Get back into the supporting category where you belong. And you barely even belong there as far as I'm concerned.)

BEST DIRECTOR

DARREN ARONOFSKY for BLACK SWAN

DAVID FINCHER for THE SOCIAL NETWORK

TOM HOOPER for THE KING'S SPEECH

CHRISTOPHER NOLAN for INCEPTION

DAVID O. RUSSLL for THE FIGHTER

(Black Sheep's dark horse: None. I like that bunch.)

BEST PICTURE

(Black Sheep's dark horse: WINTER'S BONE easily deserves to be there more than 127 HOURS, THE TOWN, TRUE GRIT and even THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT. I seriously hope it makes this list. And the only reason I gave the advantage to 127 HOURS is because Franco is hosting the show.)

Even as I type those choices up, I am saddened to think I will not get to hear Mo'Nique tell me herself how well I did with them. Anyway, it will be late but check back tomorrow to see how many I got right and for a full list of the nominations.

(Go Canada, Denis Villeneuve and INCENDIES in the Foreign Language Film category!)

Selasa, 18 Januari 2011

Tis the Season: The BAFTA's

(Scroll over any film title for the full Black Sheep review.)

THE KING'S SPEECH may have lost the Golden Globe this weekend to THE SOCIAL NETWORK but thanks to its strong showing across the pond at the BAFTA's, the British Academy Award if you will, it is now back on track for a big splash at the Oscars. THE KING'S SPEECH leads the BAFTA nominations with 14 nods, 2 more than the second nomination leader, BLACK SWAN. Both films are nominated for Best Picture, alongside INCEPTION, THE SOCIAL NETWORK and TRUE GRIT. The BAFTA's threw a few wrenches into the awards season mix, primarily in its Best Actress category. Both Julianne Moore and Noomi Rapace are considered long shots for Oscar nods but both appear here for their films, THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT and THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, respectively. The latter actually earned two other nominations, including Foreign Language Film and Adapted Screenplay. Meanwhile, the BAFTA's cleared up a couple of confusions by placing Hailee Steinfeld in the lead category for her turn in TRUE GRIT and Lesley Manville in the supporting category for her role in ANOTHER YEAR. The BAFTA's are not tripping over THE FIGHTER like they are stateside either. The David O. Russell film only managed three nods, one for supporting actors, Christian Bale and Amy Adams, and one for the screenplay. Even Golden Globe winner, Melissa Leo, an Oscar favorite, was left off the ballot.

The BAFTA's will celebrate their 14th year by handing out the awards on February 13, at the Royal Opera House in London.

Here is the list of BAFTA nominees in the major categories ...

BEST FILM

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM

FOUR LIONS

DIRECTOR

Danny Boyle

Darren Aronofsky

Christopher Nolan

Tom Hooper

David Fincher

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Mark Heyman, Andrés Heinz, John McLaughlin

Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy, Eric Johnson

INCEPTION

Christopher Nolan

THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO

Lisa Cholodenko, Stuart Blumberg

THE KING’S SPEECH

David Seidler

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

127 HOURS

Danny Boyle, Simon Beaufoy

Rasmus Heisterberg, Nikolaj Arcel

THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO

Aaron Sorkin

TOY STORY 3

Michael Arndt

TRUE GRIT

Joel Coen, Ethan Coen

FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

BIUTIFUL

I AM LOVE

OF GODS AND MEN

THE SECRET IN THEIR EYES

ANIMATED FILM

DESPICABLE ME

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON

TOY STORY 3

LEADING ACTOR

Javier Bardem

BIUTIFUL

Jeff Bridges

Jesse Eisenberg

Colin Firth

James Franco

LEADING ACTRESS

Annette Bening

Julianne Moore

Natalie Portman

THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO

Noomi Rapace

Hailee Steinfeld

TRUE GRIT

SUPPORTING ACTOR

Chritian Bale

Andrew Garfield

Pete Postlethwaite

THE TOWN

Mark Ruffalo

Geoffrey Rush

THE WRITERS GUILD OF AMERICA

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Amy Adams

Helena Bonham Carter

Barbara Hershey

Lesley Manville

Miranda Richardson

For more information on the BAFTA's and a full list of nominees, visit the BAFTA site.

Senin, 17 Januari 2011

Tis the Season: The Golden Globes Winners

(Scroll over any film title for the full Black Sheep review.)

I spent last night on the couch with my good friend, Trista DeVries from The Toronto Film Scene, watching the 68th Annual Golden Globe Awards. We were but a few feet away from each other but most of the evening was spent in silence, staring at our computer screens while we tweeted about our reactions to the show. On occasion, we actually communicated with each other via Tweet, which is just silly no matter how you spin it. By the end of the night, I had come up short with my predictions and Trista got 17 right, besting me by two. I owe her a night at the movies now. Even my prediction for Best Picture - Drama was wrong! I feel like THE KING'S SPEECH really needed the win here to position itself properly for the Oscars but instead, it looks THE SOCIAL NETWORK might really go all the way. Regardless, this is still the most exciting Best Picture race in years.

As for the Golden Globes, I think we can all agree that Ricky Gervais will likely not be asked back next year. While I did find him often hilarious and scandalous, I also often found him to be just plain scathing and I'm never a fan of just being mean because you can't get a laugh any other way. There were no surprises in any of the film categories for me. The biggest would be overlooking the higher profile Foreign Language film choices but outside of that, the chips fell exactly as I suspected they might. Paul Giamatti is the only exception, with his win as Best Actor - Comedy, for BARNEY'S VERSION, a well deserved win for a great Canadian film. My favorite wins of the night were Natalie Portman for Best Actress - Drama, in BLACK SWAN, and little Chris Colfer, for Best Supporting Actor - Television, for his role on "Glee". Portman's speech felt really genuine and Colfer looked so surprised by his win, I could not help but get a little teary.

It was a great night - great food, wine and company. Let the award shows continue! Now, here is the complete list of Golden Globe film winners ...

BEST MOTION PICTURE - DRAMA

THE SOCIAL NETWORK

BEST MOTION PICTURE - COMEDY

THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT

BEST DIRECTOR

David Fincher - THE SOCIAL NETWORK

BEST DRAMATIC ACTOR

Colin Firth - THE KING'S SPEECH

BEST DRAMATIC ACTRESS

Natalie Portman - BLACK SWAN

BEST ACTOR - COMEDY OR MUSICAL

Paul Giamatti - BARNEY'S VERSION

BEST ACTRESS - COMEDY OR MUSICAL

Annette Bening - THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Christian Bale - THE FIGHTER

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Melissa Leo - THE FIGHTER

BEST ANIMATED FILM

TOY STORY 3

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE PICTURE

IN A BETTER WORLD

BEST SCREENPLAY

Aaron Sorkin - THE SOCIAL NETWORK

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross - THE SOCIAL NETWORK

BEST SONG

"You Haven't Seen the Last of Me" - from BURLESQUE

For a complete list of winners, visit the Hollywood Foreign Press Association website.

Selasa, 11 Januari 2011

Tis the Season: The Guilds

(Scroll over any film title for the full Black Sheep review.)

The Screen Actors Guild made their announcements before the year ended and now it is time for the three other major factions of the film voting community to weigh in with their choices for best film achievements of 2010. They are the Producers Guild of America, the Writers Guild of America and the Directors Guild of America. The producers and directors nominations are ordinarily strong indicators of what to expect when the Oscars are announced on January 25 but the writers have come under a fair amount of flack this year. Major Oscar contenders like THE KING'S SPEECH and TOY STORY 3 were not eligible because they were not affiliated with the guild during production. It is difficult to give much credit to a group that would not consider the screenplays for WINTER'S BONE, BLUE VALENTINE or ANOTHER YEAR when they are all serious Oscar contenders in their respective screenplay categories. Especially when they don't fill those voids with films like RABBIT HOLE. Meanwhile, the PGA Top 10 is another variation on the same 11 films that are being tossed around in the Best Picture race this year, with WINTER'S BONE not making the cut this time out. And the DGA favoured newcomers to the Best Direction race, Darren Aronofsky (BLACK SWAN) and David O. Russell (THE FIGHTER) over past winners, Joel Coen and Ethan Coen for TRUE GRIT.

The PGA will announce its winners on January 22, in a ceremony hosted by Judd Apatow. The WGA will announce its winners on February 5, in simultaneous ceremonies in Los Angeles and New York City to cater to both the Eastern and Western divisions of the guild. The DGA will announce its winner on January 29, at its 75th anniversary edition of the ceremony.

Here are the major nominees from each of the guilds ...

THE WRITERS GUILD OF AMERICA

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

BLACK SWAN

Screenplay by Mark Heyman and Andres Heinz and John McLaughlin; Story by Andres Heinz

THE FIGHTER

Screenplay by Scott Silver and Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson; Story by Keith Dorrington & Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson

INCEPTION

Written by Christopher Nolan

THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT

Written by Lisa Cholodenko and Stuart Blumberg

PLEASE GIVE

Written by Nicole Holofcener

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

127 HOURS

Screenplay by Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy; Based on the book Between a Rock and a Hard Place by Aron Ralston

I LOVE YOU PHILLIP MORRIS

Written by John Requa & Glenn Ficarra; Based on the book by Steven McVicker

THE SOCIAL NETWORK

Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin; Based on the book The Accidental Billionaires by Ben Mezrich

THE TOWN

Screenplay by Peter Craig and Ben Affleck & Aaron Stockard; Based on the novel Prince of Thieves by Chuck Hogan

TRUE GRIT

Screenplay by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen; Based on the novel by Charles Portis

THE DIRECTORS GUILD OF AMERICA

Darren Aronofsky

BLACK SWAN

David Fincher

THE SOCIAL NETWORK

Tom Hooper

THE KING'S SPEECH

Christopher Nolan

INCEPTION

David O. Russell

THE FIGHTER

THE PRODUCERS GUILD OF AMERICA

127 HOURS

Producers: Danny Boyle, Christian Colson

BLACK SWAN

Producers: Scott Franklin, Mike Medavoy, Brian Oliver

INCEPTION

Producers: Christopher Nolan, Emma Thomas

THE FIGHTER

Producers: David Hoberman, Todd Lieberman, Mark Wahlberg

THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT

Producers: Gary Gilbert, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte, Celine Rattray

THE KING'S SPEECH

Producers: Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, Gareth Unwin

THE SOCIAL NETWORK

Producers: Dana Brunetti, Ceán Chaffin, Michael De Luca, Scott Rudin

THE TOWN

Producers: Basil Iwanyk, Graham King

TOY STORY 3

Producer: Darla K. Anderson

TRUE GRIT

Producers: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, Scott Rudin

SOURCES:

THE DIRECTORS GUILD OF AMERICA

THE PRODUCERS GUILD OF AMERICA

Selasa, 04 Januari 2011

Tis the Season: The CAST Awards

Yesterday, the Online Film Critics Society announced THE SOCIAL NETWORK as Best Picture of 2010. Seeing as how I have asked to be a part of that society for essentially every year I've been online and and every year they reject me, I've decided not to bother reporting about them this year. (No offense to the members I actually know.) Instead, I bring you today a year end list from a group that is happy to have me - the CAST Awards. CAST stands for Cinema Appreciation Society of Toronto and the society consists of a good chunk of Toronto film bloggers who meet monthly to talk about what they love most, film. These good people, myself included, voted in two rounds and collectively have voted INCEPTION as the Best Picture of 2010. The full Top 25 is listed below and the participants are then listed below that. You can click on any links to go to their sites and/or follow them on Twitter. Thanks to James McNally of Toronto Screen Shots for organizing and compiling the whole affair.

FILM TITLE	POINTS	MENTIONS
1. Inception	411	22
2. Toy Story 3	311	20
3. Black Swan	307	16
4. Shutter Island	297	19
5. The Social Network	261	17
6. Scott Pilgrim	254	17
7. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo	231	16
8. Winter’s Bone	180	11
9. I Am Love	165	9
10.The King’s Speech	149	11
11. Rubber	149	9
12. Never Let Me Go	147	11
13. Trigger	140	9
14. Fish Tank	134	9
15. Buried	134	9
16. The White Ribbon	130	7
17. True Grit	127	9
18. Chloe	124	8
19. Easy A	121	10
20. Marwencol	117	7
21. 127 Hours	115	9
22. A Prophet	114	8
23. Rabbit Hole	112	7
24. Blue Valentine	110	8
25. Heartbeats	110	7

Participants:

Source: Toronto Screen Shots

Kamis, 16 Desember 2010

Tis the Season: The Screen Actors Guild

(Scroll over any film title for the full Black Sheep review.)

You can always rely on the Screen Actors Guild to throw a couple of bones the way of unexpected nominees. And these folks have some serious sway with the Oscars, as actors make up the largest voting component of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. This year, the most glaring and bewildering inclusion is that of Hilary Swank in the Best Actress category for the little seen and widely panned, CONVICTION. Her co-star, Sam Rockwell, has earned a couple of nods so far this season, but he misses out here. Michelle Williams is inexplicably and inexcusably shut out for BLUE VALENTINE as a result. Oh, and can someone please explain to me why Jeremy Renner keeps scoring nods for his simply adequate performance in THE TOWN.

Leaders in SAG nominations this year are THE KING'S SPEECH and THE FIGHTER. These are actor's films so it is truly not surprising to see these two out in front. It is also no surprise not to see awards season favorite, INCEPTION, as that, for all its combined cast talent, is more plot and effects driven, and so was completely shut out by the SAG, save for a nod for the stunt work. With INCEPTION missing from the roster, that left room for one film to sneak into the Best Ensemble category, the SAG equivalent of Best Picture. Aside from the expected titles listed below, that wild card slot went the THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT. Still no nod for Julianne Moore though. Her Oscar odds are all but dead.

The winners for the 17th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards will be handed out on January 30, 2011. Here is the full list of film nominees:

OUTSTANDING MALE ACTOR - LEAD

Jeff Bridges, TRUE GRIT

Robert Duvall, GET LOW

Jesse Eisenberg, THE SOCIAL NETWORK

Colin Firth, THE KING'S SPEECH

James Franco, 127 HOURS

OUTSTANDING FEMALE ACTOR - LEAD

Annette Bening, THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT

Nicole Kidman, RABBIT HOLE

Jennifer Lawrence, WINTER'S BONE

Natalie Portman, BLACK SWAN

Hilary Swank, CONVICTION

OUTSTANDING MALE ACTOR - SUPPORTING

Christian Bale, THE FIGHTER

John Hawkes, WINTER'S BONE

Jeremy Renner, THE TOWN

Mark Ruffalo, THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT

Geoffrey Rush, THE KING'S SPEECH

OUTSTANDING FEMALE ACTOR - SUPPORTING
Amy Adams, THE FIGHTER

Helena Bonham Carter, THE KING'S SPEECH

Mila Kunis, BLACK SWAN

Melissa Leo, THE FIGHTER

Hailee Steinfeld, TRUE GRIT

BEST ENSEMBLE

For a full list of the SAG nominees, please visit their website at www.sag.org

Selasa, 14 Desember 2010

Tis the Season: The Golden Globes

(Scroll over any film title for the full Black Sheep review.)

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association may not be the most definitive factor in determining what the Oscar nominations will be, but it certainly is the highest profile film awards ceremony outside of the Academy, so it's got to count for something, right? Regardless, it is always a pretty good party to enjoy from the comfort of my couch.

Leading the pack this year is THE KING'S SPEECH, with 7 nominations, including one for each of the three major performances, as well as the direction, screenplay and picture itself. Following closely in second place are THE FIGHER and THE SOCIAL NETWORK, both with 6 nominations apiece. BLACK SWAN and INCEPTION round out the Best Motion Picture - Drama cateogry, each also earning a total of 4 nods. If the Oscars were still doing a Top 5, I'm pretty sure these five would be the finalists and rightfully so. Wait a minute though; where are the Coen Brothers and TRUE GRIT?

The comedy categories are appropriately laughable. Whereas THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT is rewarded with 4 nominations (Julianna Moore is in; Mark Ruffalo is out.), obvious choices like BARNEY'S VERSION and EASY A, miss out on the main event, while their stars earn token nods, and complete misfires like BURLESQUE and THE TOURIST compete for the top prize. Johnny Depp is even nominated twice in the Comedy Actor category, scoring his second nod for ALICE IN WONDERLAND. Clearly, 2010 was not a very funny year.

All in all, the Golden Globe nominations have hardly changed the road to the Oscars for the major competitors. They did manage to give a little push to Mark Wahlberg (Best Actor - Drama), Halle Berry (Best Actress - Drama), Andrew Garfield (Best Supporting Actor), Jacki Weaver (Best Supporting Actress) and Mila Kunis (Best Supporting Actress). Michael Douglas for Best Supporting Actor in WALL STREET: MONEY NEVER SLEEPS though? Really?

The Golden Globes will be handed out in a ceremony to be held on January 16, 2011 and aired on NBC. Here are the major category nominees:

BEST MOTION PICTURE - DRAMA

BEST ACTRESS - DRAMA

Halle Berry, FRANKIE AND ALICE

Nicole Kidman, RABBIT HOLE

Jennifer Lawrence, WINTER'S BONE

Natalie Portman, BLACK SWAN

Michelle Williams, BLUE VALENTINE

BEST ACTOR - DRAMA

Jesse Eisenberg, THE SOCIAL NETWORK

Colin Firth, THE KING'S SPEECH

James Franco, 127 HOURS

Ryan Gosling, BLUE VALENTINE

Mark Wahlberg, THE FIGHTER

BEST MOTION PICTURE - COMEDY OR MUSICAL

ALICE IN WONDERLAND

BURLESQUE

RED

THE TOURIST

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Amy Adams, THE FIGHTER

Helena Bonham Carter, THE KING'S SPEECH

Mila Kunis, BLACK SWAN

Melissa Leo, THE FIGHTER

Jacki Weaver, ANIMAL KINGDOM

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Christian Bale, THE FIGHTER

Michael Douglas, WALL STREET: MONEY NEVER SLEEPS

Andrew Garfield, THE SOCIAL NETWORK

Jeremy Renner, THE TOWN

Geoffrey Rush, THE KING'S SPEECH

BEST DIRECTOR

Darren Aronofsky, BLACK SWAN

David Fincher, THE SOCIAL NETWORK

Tom Hooper, THE KING'S SPEECH

Christopher Nolan, INCEPTION

David O. Russell, THE FIGHTER

BEST SCREENPLAY

127 HOURS

INCEPTION

For more information on the Golden Globes and a full list of nominees, visit the Hollywood Foreign Press Association website at www.goldenglobes.org

Tis the Season: The Toronto Film Critics Association

(Scroll over any film title for the full Black Sheep review.)

Yes, I live in Toronto. No, I am not part of the Toronto Film Critics Association. These babies are tough to crack some times. I am however part of an association comprised on Toronto's best and brightest online film critics. Mostly we just get together and drink once a month but we do occasionally discuss the odd film here and there and our list of 2010's best will be coming near the close of the year. In the meantime, the Toronto film critics that actually get paid to do what I do have announced their choices for the best of 2010.

Toronto is just as taken with THE SOCIAL NETWORK as all the other major film critic associations stateside, awarding the film the top prize, as well as prizes for director (David Fincher), screenplay (Aaron Sorkin) and actor (Jesse Eisenberg). They also recognized the film's Armie Hammer as Best Supporting Actor for his dual role as the Winklevoss twins. Other interesting choices include newcomer, Hallee Steinfeld for her supporting turn in TRUE GRIT and HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON as animated feature.

The Toronto Film Critics Association will hand out its awards on January 12, 2011, at a ceremony at Nota Bene, a restaurant that I could walk to right now if I felt like. They will then announce the winner of the Rogers Best Canadian Feature Award. The nominees in that category and all the other winners are listed below.

BEST PICTURE