A letter to Kathryn Bigelow on Zero Dark Thirty

A letter to Kathryn Bigelow on Zero Dark Thirty's apology for torture
By peddling the lie that CIA detentions led to Bin Laden's killing, you have become a Leni Riefenstahl-like propagandist of torture
Naomi Wolf
Friday 4 January 2013
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jan/04/letter-kathryn-bigelow-zero-dark-thirty

The Hurt Locker was a beautiful, brave film; many young women in film were inspired as they watched you become the first woman ever to win an Oscar for directing. But with Zero Dark Thirty, you have attained a different kind of distinction.

Your film Zero Dark Thirty is a huge hit here. But in falsely justifying, in scene after scene, the torture of detainees in "the global war on terror", Zero Dark Thirty is a gorgeously-shot, two-hour ad for keeping intelligence agents who committed crimes against Guantánamo prisoners out of jail. It makes heroes and heroines out of people who committed violent crimes against other people based on their race – something that has historical precedent.

Your film claims, in many scenes, that CIA torture was redeemed by the "information" it "secured", information that, according to your script, led to Bin Laden's capture. This narrative is a form of manufacture of innocence to mask a great crime: what your script blithely calls "the detainee program".

What led to this amoral compromising of your film-making?

Could some of the seduction be financing? It is very hard to get a film without a pro-military message, such as The Hurt Locker, funded and financed. But according to sources in the film industry, the more pro-military your message is, the more kinds of help you currently can get: from personnel, to sets, to technology – a point I made in my argument about the recent militarized Katy Perry video.

It seems implausible that scenes such as those involving two top-secret, futuristic helicopters could be made without Pentagon help, for example. If the film received that kind of undisclosed, in-kind support from the defense department, then that would free up million of dollars for the gigantic ad campaign that a film like this needs to compete to win audience.

This also sets a dangerous precedent: we can be sure, with the "propaganda amendment" of the 2013 NDAA, just signed into law by the president, that the future will hold much more overt corruption of Hollywood and the rest of US pop culture. This amendment legalizes something that has been illegal for decades: the direct funding of pro-government or pro-military messaging in media, without disclosure, aimed at American citizens.

Then, there is the James Frey factor. You claim that your film is "based on real events", and in interviews, you insist that it is a mixture of fact and fiction, "part documentary". "Real", "true", and even "documentary", are big and important words. By claiming such terms, you generate media and sales traction – on a mendacious basis. There are filmmakers who work very hard to produce films that are actually "based on real events": they are called documentarians. Alex Gibney, in Taxi to the Dark Side, and Rory Kennedy, in Ghosts of Abu Ghraib, have both produced true and sourceable documentary films about what your script blithely calls "the detainee program" – that is, the regime of torture to generate false confessions at Guantánamo and Abu Ghraib – which your script claims led straight to Bin Laden.

Fine, fellow reporter: produce your sources. Provide your evidence that torture produced lifesaving – or any – worthwhile intelligence.

But you can't present evidence for this claim. Because it does not exist.

Five decades of research, cited in the 2008 documentary The End of America, confirm that torture does not work. Robert Fisk provides another summary of that categorical conclusion. And this 2011 account from Human Rights First rebuts the very premise of Zero Dark Thirty.

Your actors complain about detainees' representation by lawyers – suggesting that these do-gooders in suits endanger the rest of us. I have been to see your "detainee program" firsthand. The prisoners, whom your film describes as being "lawyered up", meet with those lawyers in rooms that are wired for sound; yet, those lawyers can't tell the world what happened to their clients – because the descriptions of the very torture these men endured are classified.

I have seen the room where the military tribunal takes the "testimony" from people swept up in a program that gave $5,000 bounties to desperately poor Afghanis to incentivize their turning-in innocent neighbors. The chairs have shackles to the floor, and are placed in twos, so that one prisoner can be threatened to make him falsely condemn the second.

I have seen the expensive video system in the courtroom where – though Guantánamo spokesmen have told the world's press since its opening that witnesses' accounts are brought in "whenever reasonable" – the monitor on the system has never been turned on once: a monitor that could actually let someone in Pakistan testify to say, "hey, that is the wrong guy". (By the way, you left out the scene where the CIA dude sodomizes the wrong guy: Khaled el-Masri, "the German citizen unfortunate enough to have a similar name to a militant named Khaled al-Masri.")

In a time of darkness in America, you are being feted by Hollywood, and hailed by major media. But to me, the path your career has now taken reminds of no one so much as that other female film pioneer who became, eventually, an apologist for evil: Leni Riefenstahl. Riefenstahl's 1935 Triumph of the Will, which glorified Nazi military power, was a massive hit in Germany. Riefenstahl was the first female film director to be hailed worldwide.

It may seem extreme to make comparison with this other great, but profoundly compromised film-maker, but there are real echoes. When Riefenstahl began to glamorize the National Socialists, in the early 1930s, the Nazis' worst atrocities had not yet begun; yet abusive detention camps had already been opened to house political dissidents beyond the rule of law – the equivalent of today's Guantánamo, Bagram base, and other unnameable CIA "black sites". And Riefenstahl was lionised by the German elites and acclaimed for her propaganda on behalf of Hitler's regime.

But the world changed. The ugliness of what she did could not, over time, be hidden. Americans, too, will wake up and see through Zero Dark Thirty's apologia for the regime's standard lies that this brutality is somehow necessary. When that happens, the same community that now applauds you will recoil.

Like Riefenstahl, you are a great artist. But now you will be remembered forever as torture's handmaiden.

ZERO CONSCIENCE IN “ZERO DARK THIRTY”

Jane Mayer
December 14, 2012
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2012/12/torture-in-kathryn-bigelows-zero-dark-thirty.html

At the same time that the European Court of Human Rights has issued a historic ruling condemning the C.I.A.’s treatment of a terror suspect during the Bush years as “torture,” a Hollywood movie about the agency’s hunt for Osama bin Laden, “Zero Dark Thirty”—whose creators say that they didn’t want to “judge” the interrogation program—appears headed for Oscar nominations. Can torture really be turned into morally neutral entertainment?

“Zero Dark Thirty,” which opens across the country next month, is a pulse-quickening film that spends its first half hour or so depicting a fictionalized version of the Bush Administration’s secret U.S. interrogation program. In reality, the C.I.A.’s program of calibrated cruelty was deemed so illegal, and so immoral, that the director of the F.B.I. withdrew his personnel rather than have them collaborate with it, and the top lawyer at the Pentagon laid his career on the line in an effort to stop a version of the program from spreading to the armed forces. The C.I.A.’s actions convulsed the national-security community, leading to a crisis of conscience inside the top ranks of the U.S. government. The debate echoed the moral seriousness of the political dilemma once posed by slavery, a subject that is brilliantly evoked in Steven Spielberg’s new film, “Lincoln”; by contrast, the director of “Zero Dark Thirty,” Kathryn Bigelow, milks the U.S. torture program for drama while sidestepping the political and ethical debate that it provoked. In her hands, the hunt for bin Laden is essentially a police procedural, devoid of moral context. If she were making a film about slavery in antebellum America, it seems, the story would focus on whether the cotton crops were successful.

After some critics called Bigelow a torture apologist, she defended the fairness and historical accuracy of her movie. “The film doesn’t have an agenda, and it doesn’t judge. I wanted a boots-on-the-ground experience,” she told my New Yorker colleague Dexter Filkins, who interviewed her for a Talk of the Town piece. At a Los Angeles press junket, the film’s screenwriter, Mark Boal, complained that critics were “mischaracterizing” the torture sequences: “I understand that those scenes are graphic and unsparing and unsentimental. But I think that what the film does over the course of two hours is show the complexity of the debate.” His point was that because the film shows multiple approaches to intelligence gathering, of which torture is only one tactic, and because the torture isn’t shown as always producing correct or instant leads, it offers a nuanced answer to the question of whether torture works.

But whether torture “worked” was far from the most important question about its use. I’ve seen the film and, as much as I admired Bigelow’s Oscar-winning picture “The Hurt Locker,” I think that this time, by ignoring the full weight of the dark history of torture, her work falls disturbingly short. To begin with, despite Boal’s contentions, “Zero Dark Thirty” does not capture the complexity of the debate about America’s brutal detention program. It doesn’t include a single scene in which torture is questioned, even though the Bush years were racked by internal strife over just that issue—again, not just among human-rights and civil-liberties lawyers, but inside the F.B.I., the military, the Justice Department, and the C.I.A. itself, which eventually abandoned waterboarding because it feared, correctly, that the act constituted a war crime. None of this ethical drama seems to interest Bigelow.

To establish a baseline of moral awareness, she shows her heroine—a C.I.A. counterterrorism officer called Maya, played by Jessica Chastain—delicately wincing as she hands the more muscled interrogators a pitcher of water with which to waterboard a detainee. Maya is also shown standing mutely by when the detainee is strung up by ropes, stripped naked, and forced to crawl in a dog collar. In reality, when the C.I.A. first subjected a detainee to incarceration in a coffin-size “confinement box,” as is shown in the movie, an F.B.I. agent present at the scene threw a fit, warned the C.I.A. contractor proposing the plan that it was illegal, counterproductive, and reprehensible. The fight went all the way to the top of the Bush Administration. Bigelow airbrushes out this showdown, as she does virtually the entire debate during the Bush years about the treatment of detainees.

The lone anti-torture voice shown in the film is a split-second news clip of President Barack Obama, taken from a “60 Minutes” interview, in which he condemns torture. It flashes on a television screen that’s in the background of a scene set in Pakistan; the movie’s terrorist-hunters, who are holding a meeting, barely look up, letting Obama’s pronouncement pass without comment. “By this point in the film,” as the CNN national-security analyst Peter Bergen wrote recently, “the audience has already seen that the C.I.A. has employed coercive interrogation techniques on an al Qaeda detainee that produced a key lead in the hunt for bin Laden. In the film, Obama’s opposition to torture comes off as wrongheaded and prissy.”

Bigelow has portrayed herself as a reluctant truth-teller. She recently described the film’s torture scenes as “difficult to shoot.” She said, “I wish it was not part of our history. But it was.”

Yet what is so unsettling about “Zero Dark Thirty” is not that it tells this difficult history but, rather, that it distorts it. In addition to excising the moral debate that raged over the interrogation program during the Bush years, the film also seems to accept almost without question that the C.I.A.’s “enhanced interrogation techniques” played a key role in enabling the agency to identify the courier who unwittingly led them to bin Laden. But this claim has been debunked, repeatedly, by reliable sources with access to the facts. As the Washington Post’s Greg Sargent first reported, shortly after bin Laden was killed, Leon Panetta, then the director of the C.I.A., sent a letter to Arizona Senator John McCain, clearly stating that “we first learned about ‘the facilitator / courier’s nom de guerre’ from a detainee not in the C.I.A.’s custody.” Panetta wrote that “no detainee in C.I.A. custody revealed the facilitator / courier’s full true name or specific whereabouts.”

The Senators Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat and the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat and the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, have undermined the film’s version of events further still. “The original lead information had no connection to C.I.A. detainees,” they wrote in their own letter, revealed by the Post last year. Feinstein and Levin noted that a third detainee in C.I.A. custody did provide information on the courier, but, importantly, they stressed that “he did so the day before he was interrogated by the C.I.A. using their coercive interrogation techniques.” In other words, contrary to the plotline of “Zero Dark Thirty,” and contrary to self-serving accounts of C.I.A. officers implicated in the interrogation program, senators with access to the record say that torture did not produce the leads that led to finding and killing bin Laden.

Top senators on the Senate Intelligence Committee and the Senate Armed Services Committee have amplified that position in additional interviews this week. Speaking with the Huffington Post, Feinstein said of the movie’s narrative, “Based on what I know, I don’t believe it is true.” Republicans, too, criticized the movie’s plot. “It’s wrong. It’s wrong. I know for a fact, not because of this report—my own knowledge—that waterboarding, torture, does not lead to reliable information … in any case—not this specific case—in any case,” said John McCain, the top Republican on the Armed Services Committee, who was himself tortured during the Vietnam War. The Huffington Post also quoted South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, another Republican member of the Armed Services Committee, saying, “I would argue that it’s not waterboarding that led to bin Laden’s demise. It was a lot of good intelligence-gathering from the Obama and Bush administrations, continuity of effort, holding people at Gitmo, putting the puzzle together over a long period of time—not torture.”

As Scott Shane wrote in the Times on Thursday, so little is publicly known about the C.I.A.’s erstwhile interrogation program that it is nearly impossible for outsiders to assess the facts with total confidence. But for the past three years, Democratic staffers at the Senate Intelligence Committee have been compiling six thousand pages of records related to the secret program, and in doing so they have found little to celebrate. It is hard to understand, then, why the creators of “Zero Dark Thirty” so confidently credit the program.

In addition to providing false advertising for waterboarding, “Zero Dark Thirty” endorses torture in several other subtle ways. At one point, the film’s chief C.I.A. interrogator claims, without being challenged, that “everyone breaks in the end,” adding, “it’s biology.” Maybe that’s what they think in Hollywood, but experts on the history of torture disagree. Indeed, many prisoners have been tortured to death without ever revealing secrets, while many others—including some of those who were brutalized during the Bush years—have fabricated disinformation while being tortured. Some of the disinformation provided under duress during those years, in fact, helped to lead the U.S. into the war in Iraq under false premises.

At another point in the film, an elderly detainee explains that he wants to coöperate with the U.S. because he “doesn’t want to be tortured again.” The clear implication is that brutalization brings breakthroughs. Other ways of getting intelligence, such as bribing sources with expensive race cars, are shown to work, too. But while those scenes last only a few minutes, the torture scenes seem to go on and on.

The filmmakers subtly put their thumb on the pro-torture scale, as Emily Bazelon put it, in another scene, too. A C.I.A. officer complains that there is no way for him to corroborate a lead on bin Laden’s whereabouts now that the detainees in Guantánamo all have lawyers. The suggestion is that if they are given due process rather than black eyes, there will be no way to get the necessary evidence. This is a canard, given that virtually all suspects in the American criminal-justice system have lawyers, yet their cases proceed smoothly and fairly every day.

Bigelow has stressed that she had “no agenda” when she made “Zero Dark Thirty.” Unsurprisingly, though, those who have defended the brutalization of detainees have already begun embracing the film as evidence that they are right. Joe Scarborough, the conservative host of MSNBC’s show “Morning Joe,” said recently that the film’s narrative, “whether you find it repugnant or not,” shows that the C.I.A. program was effective and “led to the couriers, that led, eventually, years later, to the killing of Osama bin Laden.” My guess is that this is just the beginning, and that by the time millions of Americans have seen this movie, they will believe that, as Frank Bruni put it in a recent Times column, “No waterboarding, no bin Laden.”

Perhaps it’s unfair to expect the entertainment industry to convey history accurately. Clearly, the creators of “Zero Dark Thirty” are storytellers who really know how to make a thriller. And it’s true that there are no rules when it comes to fiction. As Boal, the screenwriter, has protested in recent interviews, “It’s a movie, not a documentary.” But in the very first minutes of “Zero Dark Thirty,” before its narrative begins to unspool, the audience is told that the story it is about to see is “based on first-hand accounts of actual events.” If there is an expectation of accuracy, it is set up by the filmmakers themselves. It seems they want it both ways: they want the thrill that comes from revealing what happened behind the scenes as history was being made and the creative license of fiction, which frees them from the responsibility to stick to the truth.

Knowing the real facts—the ones that led the European Court of Human Rights to condemn America for torture this week—I had trouble enjoying the movie. I’ve interviewed Khaled El-Masri, the German citizen whose suit the E.C.H.R. adjudicated. He turned out to be a case of mistaken identity, an innocent car salesman whom the C.I.A. kidnapped and held in a black-site prison for four months, and who was “severely beaten, sodomized, shackled, and hooded.” What Masri lived through was so harrowing that, when I had a cup of coffee with him, a few years ago, he couldn’t describe it to me without crying. Maybe I care too much about all of this to enjoy it with popcorn. But maybe the creators of “Zero Dark Thirty” should care a little bit more.

Votescam: Oscar Edition

From the London Guardian:
Computer security experts have warned that the 2013 Oscars ballot may be vulnerable to a variety of cyber attacks that could falsify the outcome but remain undetected, if the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences follows through on its decision to switch to internet voting for its members.

The Academy announced last week that it would be ditching its current vote-by-mail system and allowing its members to fill out electronic ballots from their home or office computers to make their choices for best picture and the other big Hollywood prizes, starting in 2013.

It announced a partnership with Everyone Counts, a California-based company which has developed software for internet elections from Australia to Florida, and which boasted it would incorporate "multiple layers of security" and "military-grade encryption techniques" to maintain its reputation for scrupulous honesty in respecting its members' voting preferences.

The ballot change will be a culture shock for an Academy voting community that tends to be older and more conservative: indeed, concerns are already surfacing as to whether all of the Academy voters even have email addresses.

But Everyone Counts' security claims have been met with deep scepticism by a computer scientist community which has grappled for years with the problem of making online elections fully verifiable while maintaining ballot secrecy – in other words, being rigorous about auditing the voting process, but still making sure nobody knows who voted for what. So far, nobody has demonstrated that such a thing is possible.

"Everybody would like there to be secure internet voting, but some very smart people have looked at the problem and can't figure out how to do it," said David Dill, a professor of computer science at Stanford University and founder of the election transparency group Verified Voting. "The problem arises as soon as you decouple the voter from the recorded vote. If someone casts a ballot for best actor A and the vote is recorded for best actor B, the voter has no way of knowing the ballot has been altered, and the auditor won't be able to see it either."

Dill and many other leading computer scientists have listed multiple potential vulnerabilities to internet systems making vote-tampering possible, including denial-of-service attacks, malware, and penetration of the server's security wall. He reacted with particular alarm to the notion that the Academy's more than 5,000 voters would cast their ballots from their own computers.

"The hardest problem is when you have malicious software on the machine where the vote is cast," he said. "If that's the user's home PC, that's a huge problem, because lots of people have undetected viruses on their machine. A lot of people are under the control of hackers in eastern Europe, or wherever, and don't even know it."

Three years ago – in the wake of a decision by the Democratic party to let overseas voters participate in its presidential primary via internet – Dill issued a formal statement outlining the problems with internet voting, and persuaded 30 of America's top computer scientists to sign it...

Dill said his concern about the arrangement went well beyond the integrity of the Academy Awards themselves. Rather, he worried about the publicity implications of an awards ceremony broadcast to tens of millions of people across America and around the world.

"I don't want this to set a precedent and give a PR push to internet voting generally," he said. "I don't want the message to be: they used it for the Academy Awards, so it's OK to use it to vote for the president."

Full Article:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2012/feb/02/oscars-vulnerable-cyber-attack-experts-warn

How did the speech disorder “stuttering” get its name?

How did the speech disorder “stuttering” get its name, and what does it literally mean?
February 28, 2011
http://hotword.dictionary.com/stutter/

“The King’s Speech” garnered four golden statues at this year’s Academy Awards ceremony, including the Oscar for Best Actor for Colin Firth’s riveting portrayal of King George VI. The film’s depiction of George VI’s lifelong struggle with stuttering has brought a renewed awareness to the speech disorder that affects over sixty-eight million people worldwide. What is the origin of this disorder and how did it get its name?

Stutter, or the Greek alalia syllabaris, is onomatopoeic – a word that suggests the sound that it describes – derived from the Middle English stutte or “stop.” The evolution of the word can be found in John Skelton’s 1529 verse: “Her fellow did stammer and stut.”

Stuttering is a communication disorder in which the flow of speech is fractured by involuntary repetitions and prolongations of sounds and syllables. Stuttering is usually associated with verbal repetition; it is also defined as an irregular hesitation before speech – commonly referred to as “blocks.” The disorder is believed to have its origin in both genetics and brain development. While the mechanisms of stuttering aren’t generally about the physical production of putting thoughts into words, the stress and anxiety experienced by a person may exacerbate the problem. The disorder is variable – in other words, depending on the situation, the stutter may be more or less severe.

Winston Churchill stuttered – as did Marilyn Monroe and James Earl Jones. Jazz musician Scatman John wrote the song “Scatman (Ski Ba Bop Ba Dop Bop)” to help children overcome stuttering.

Academy Award Winners 2011

Here are the 2011 Oscar winners, courtesy of EW.com:
BEST PICTURE
The King’s Speech

BEST ACTOR
Colin Firth, The King’s Speech

BEST ACTRESS
Natalie Portman, Black Swan

BEST DIRECTOR
Tom Hooper, The King’s Speech

BEST SONG
“We Belong Together,” Toy Story 3, Randy Newman

BEST EDITING
The Social Network, Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Inception, Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley and Peter Bebb

BEST DOCUMENTARY
Inside Job, Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs

BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT
God of Love, Luke Matheny

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
Strangers No More, Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Alice in Wonderland, Colleen Atwood

BEST MAKEUP
The Wolfman, Rick Baker and Dave Elsey

BEST SOUND EDITING
Inception, Richard King

BEST SOUND MIXING
Inception, Lora Hirschberg, Gary A. Rizzo, and Ed Novick

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
The Social Network, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Christian Bale, The Fighter

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
In a Better World (Denmark)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
The King’s Speech, Screenplay by David Seidler

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
The Social Network, Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin

BEST ANIMATED FILM
Toy Story 3

BEST ANIMATED SHORT
The Lost Thing, Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Melissa Leo, The Fighter

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Inception, Wally Pfister

BEST ART DIRECTION
Alice in Wonderland, Robert Stromberg, Karen O’Hara

Can 'Harry Potter' ever capture Oscar magic?

http://theenvelope.latimes.com/la-en-fantasy-actors-20101202,0,2990305.story

Critic's Notebook: Can 'Harry Potter' ever capture Oscar magic?
The academy is notorious for thumbing its nose at the fantasy genre, but six films with no wins is an outrage. Maybe the penultimate 'Deathly Hallows' can cast its spell on voters.
Mary McNamara, Los Angeles Times Television Critic
December 2, 2010

There is something touching about the fact that " Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 1" opened in mid-November. It's the unofficial beginning of Oscar season, after all. Whether Warner Bros. is thumbing its nose at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences or is still holding out hope for getting voters' attention, it's hard to imagine that this year will be any different from the previous six because Oscar just does not like Harry.

Think about it. Six films and no Oscars. None. Moving staircases, talking pictures, heart-stopping Quidditch games, villains that scare even adults and no Oscars. There have been nominations — for art direction, score and costume — but no wins, which, frankly, is hard to fathom. How could none of these films have won for costume? Screenwriter Steve Kloves, an Oscar nominee for "Wonder Boys," has adapted all but one of the books, a feat unprecedented in the annals of the Writers Guild, and he's never been nominated for them. Ditto any of the directors. Or actors.

That's right, none of the actors in six of the most popular films of all time has been nominated for an Oscar for their "Potter" roles. It's not surprising that the young leads — Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint — have been passed over; the academy prefers to nominate children in supporting roles and even then only in such scrappy emo-heavy indies as "The Piano" or "Little Miss Sunshine."

But the supporting adult characters have consistently been played by some of the best actors around from Britain and Ireland. Richard Harris, Michael Gambon, Maggie Smith, Alan Rickman, Ralph Fiennes, Robbie Coltrane, Emma Thompson, Julie Walters, Brendan Gleeson, Kenneth Branagh, Imelda Staunton, Jim Broadbent and now Bill Nighy — the list borders on the absurd. All of these performers are, or have been, brilliant in roles that so easily could be over-played or phoned in or made ridiculous. Consider the trappings — Rickman has pitch-black hair and a cape; Ralph Fiennes looks like a snake; Coltrane is a hairy half-giant; Brendan Gleeson has a revolving fake eye. These are not easy things to work around. And yet, they do.

No doubt some academy members regret not nominating Harris for his final role before his death, but Gambon has been consistently passed over too. As Albus Dumbledore, the two actors wore a ZZ Top beard, sometimes with little charms hung in it, and funny hats, and yet in both cases created a fully believable headmaster who is not just the wisest and most humble of men, but also the kindest, projecting a sorrowful optimism up until the moment of his death.

Granted, none of the adults have a lot of screen time, but if Judi Dench can win supporting actress for uttering five lines and wearing an enormous side-bustle as Queen Elizabeth in "Shakespeare in Love," then Gambon's death scene, Broadbent's combination of hubris and shame, or Rickman's pained fury deserve at least a nomination.

Unfortunately, while the academy loves a good high-brow costume drama, it has never been too fond of fantasy, especially in the acting category. "Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" may have cleaned up in 2004, but none of its actors were even nominated. Imagine, a best picture and none of the actors nominated. Ian McKellen got a nod for the first installment, "The Fellowship of the Ring," but after that, nothing. Three of these films and nothing for Viggo Mortensen, Orlando Bloom, Elijah Wood or Bernard Hill, who's King Theoden still brings tears to my eyes. "Now for wrath, now for ruin and a red dawn" — these are lines that require professional courage and an ability to transcend place and time in a way that most modern drama, no matter how good, simply doesn't have to do.

It's ironic, or infuriating, depending on what side of the screen you're on, because the key to great fantasy is characters who are both extraordinary and utterly human. It's one thing to play a serial killer or a corrupt company gal; it's another when that character also has to be believable as an evil wizard or officious witch. Putting real meaning into an actual curse is way tougher than uttering an expletive, and waving a deadly wand in all seriousness takes more guts — and more acting finesse — than firing a gun.

Perhaps the academy is waiting until the final " Harry Potter," just as it waited for the third "Lord of the Rings." Or maybe now with 10 best picture nominees there will be room not only for animated films but for fantasy as well. Either way, there must be some acknowledgment not just of the success of this film franchise but also of the brilliance and effort it has required of so many.

Accio, Oscar.

mary.mcnamara@latimes.com

Some fun facts from the Pixar 'Toy' box

http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2010-06-18-tomtim18_VA_N.htm

Some fun facts from the Pixar 'Toy' box
6-18-10
Susan Wloszczyna, USA TODAY

1. Tinny, the one-man-band character from the Oscar-winning Pixar short Tin Toy, was supposed to be a star of 1995's Toy Story. But he was deemed too antiquated. A military action figure was suggested before filmmakers settled on a space toy.

2. Early on, new-fangled spaceman Buzz Lightyear was known as Lunar Larry. His first name pays tribute to Apollo astronaut Buzz Aldrin.

3. Old-fashioned cowpoke Woody began life as a ventriloquist dummy, but his hinged jaw was deemed too "creepy." John Lasseter, director of the first and second Toy Story films, instead turned him into a pull-string doll inspired by his own talking Casper the Friendly Ghost stuffed doll.

4. Woody's name honors Western actor Woody Strode.

5. In the original Toy Story, Woody's personality was abrasive and sarcastic. After a test screening went badly, he was reworked into the flawed yet dedicated leader that he is today.

6. Lasseter always wanted Tom Hanks to speak for Woody, explaining that the actor "has the ability to take emotions and make them appealing, even if the character, like the one in A League of Their Own, is down-and-out and despicable."

7.Billy Crystal was the first choice to be Buzz, but he turned the offer down — a decision he later regretted. He did play the one-eyed Mike Wazowski in 2001's Monsters, Inc.

8. Buzz started off as a Dudley Do-Right superhero given to grand gestures. But when Tim Allen joined the voice cast, the spaceman sounded more like his Tool Time guy from Home Improvement. "Tim came up with the idea of playing him like a blue-collar cop," says Lee Unkrich, director of Toy Story 3, who has worked on all the films.

9. Originally, Barbie was supposed to rescue Woody and Buzz from Sid, the vicious kid next door. But Mattel refused to grant permission for her use, only to let her appear in the sequels. Instead, Woody saved the day.

10. Toy Story was the first foray into animated voice work for Hanks and Allen.

'Hurt Locker' is best picture, wins six Oscars

http://www.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/Movies/03/07/academy.awards.night/
'Hurt Locker' is best picture, wins six Oscars
Alan Duke, CNN
March 8, 2010
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Hurt Locker" is best picture; Kathryn Bigelow wins best director
"Hurt Locker" wins six Oscars; "Avatar" has three, "Precious" two
Sandra Bullock wins best actress for "The Blind Side," Jeff Bridges is best actor for "Crazy Heart"
"Precious" star Mo'Nique wins supporting actress; "Inglourious Basterds" Christoph Waltz is supporting actor

Los Angeles, California (CNN) -- The final score: David 6, Goliath 3.

"The Hurt Locker" earned six Oscars at the 82nd annual Academy Awards Sunday night, taking home the biggest prize -- best picture -- as well as honors for its director, original screenplay, sound editing, sound mixing and film editing.

The small-budget movie, one of the lowest-grossing films to be nominated in the post-"Star Wars" blockbuster era, defeated its primary competition, James Cameron's "Avatar," the big-budget, highest-grossing film of all time. The groundbreaking "Avatar," with its dazzling effects and creative presentation, won three Oscars, for cinematography, visual effects and art direction.

Both films led the pack with nine nominations each.

"The Hurt Locker," a film about a bomb disposal unit in the early part of the Iraq War, developed its momentum slowly, winning notice at festivals in the latter part of 2008 before earning a national release in the summer of 2009. Despite fading quickly at the box office -- to date, it's earned just $21 million worldwide, versus more than $2.6 billion for "Avatar" -- it was remembered by critics and peers at the end of the year, winning several awards.

"Locker" director Kathryn Bigelow made history by becoming the first woman to win the directing prize. Presenter Barbra Streisand opened the envelope with, "Well, the time has come!" as a loud standing ovation and lots of shrieks greeted Bigelow's arrival on the stage.

"There's no other way to describe it -- it's the moment of a lifetime," she said, accepting her directing prize. She dedicated her honor "to the women and men in the military who risk their lives on a daily basis... may they come home safe."

Earlier, writer and producer Mark Boal, who based the script on his reporting from Iraq, paid tribute to director Bigelow, "all of the soldiers still over there and those who have died" and to his father, who passed away a month ago, he said in his acceptance speech.

The acting awards were divided between old favorites and rising newcomers.

Sandra Bullock won best actress for her performance as a forceful mother who brings a homeless teen into her well-off family in "The Blind Side."

Bullock started her speech with jokes, paying tribute to her "lover, Meryl Streep" -- a fellow nominee -- and asking, "Did I really earn this or did I just wear you all down?" But her voice cracked with emotion as she dedicated her award to "the moms that take care of the babies and the children, no matter where they come from," and then turned her attention to her own mother, whom Bullock described as firm but supportive.

Jeff Bridges won the best actor Oscar for his performance as an alcohol-soaked country singer in "Crazy Heart."

"Thank you, Academy members!" he exulted, raising his Oscar high. "Thank you Mom and Dad for turning me on to such a groovy profession. ... They loved showbiz so much, and I feel like an extension of them. This is as much for them as it is for me."

Bridges' father was Lloyd Bridges, star of the TV show "Sea Hunt" and many movies, and his mother was actress Dorothy Bridges.

The nominated song from "Crazy Heart," "The Weary Kind," won best original song.

Get backstage with the Oscars on the Marquee Blog

Mo'Nique won the best supporting actress Oscar for her role as Mary Jones, an abusive mother in "Precious."

In a fierce and memorable acceptance speech, she thanked the Oscar voters "for showing that it can be about the performance and not the politics."

"I want to thank Miss Hattie McDaniel for enduring all that she did so I don't have to," Mo'Nique said.

McDaniel was the first African-American to win an Academy Award when she was given the best supporting actress Oscar for playing Mammy in the 1939 film "Gone with the Wind."

Mo'Nique said before the show that she was wearing a gardenia in her hair in tribute to McDaniel, because she wore one for her acceptance speech 70 years ago.

She also thanked Tyler Perry and Oprah Winfrey, who helped director Lee Daniels land a distribution deal for the movie.

"Because you touched it, the whole world saw it," Mo'Nique said.

Backstage, Mo'Nique was asked whether she still considered herself a stand-up comedian now that she is an Oscar-winning actress.

"I am a standup comedian who won an Oscar," she said.

The success of her role "was so not about my acting career," she said. "This role was about my life, to teach me not to judge."

The story of a downtrodden inner-city teenager also pulled off a mild upset earlier, winning best adapted screenplay over perceived front-runner "Up in the Air."

"I don't know what to say," said visibly moved writer Geoffrey Fletcher, paying tribute to the filmmakers, his two brothers, his mother and father. "I thank everyone," said Fletcher, gasping emotionally.

Christoph Waltz won the first Oscar of the night, a best supporting actor award for "Inglourious Basterds."

"This is your welcoming embrace, and there's no way I can ever thank you enough," Waltz said. "But I can start right now, thank you."

"Up" won best animated feature, yet another victory for the Pixar studios, which has dominated the category since its introduction for the 2002 awards. Pixar has now won three straight animated feature Oscars and five of the nine overall. Michael Giacchino's music for the film won best score.

Best foreign language film went to "The Secret in Their Eyes," from Argentina. "The Cove" won best documentary feature.

Hosts Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin kept the ceremony moving until the big-award slowdown at the end. The two were lowered from the ceiling after an over-the-top opening number featuring a singing-and-dancing Neil Patrick Harris, and maintained a Bob Hope/Bing Crosby rhythm through much of the festivities, zinging one-liners at all and sundry.

And in a moving tribute, several stars of John Hughes movies -- including Molly Ringwald, Matthew Broderick, Jon Cryer, Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy, Anthony Michael Hall and Macaulay Culkin -- came out to talk about the director of "The Breakfast Club" and "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," who died in 2009. Hughes' family, which was sitting in the audience, received an ovation.

CNN's Todd Leopold contributed to this story.

Razzie Award nominations

http://goldderby.latimes.com/awards_goldderby/2010/01/razzie-awards-razzies-nominations-7594106284-news-story-article.html

Gold Derby
Tom O'Neil has the inside track on Oscars, Emmys, Grammys and all the award shows.
Razzie Award nominations: Can Sandra Bullock win worst AND best actress?
February 1, 2010

"Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" and "Land of the Lost" are tied for the most Razzie Award nominations, scoring seven chances each to take gold paint-sprayed statuettes hailing the worst films of 2009.

Also noteworthy: two of this year's Oscar players could also end up as Razzie stars when trophies are doled out one night before the Academy Awards gala. Oscar ceremony co-host Steve Martin is nominated for worst actor in "Pink Panther 2." No other actor has ever been up for a Razzie the same year he or she emceed the Academy Awards, although Martin's co-host on March 7, Alec Baldwin, was nominated for a Razzie in 2003 (worst supporting actor, "Cat in the Hat").

Sandra Bullock is considered an Oscar best actress front-runner for "The Blind Side," but she's also nominated for 2009's worst actress for "All About Steve." If Bullock claims both trophies, she'll be the first star ever to pull off the dual win in the same year. Others have done so in nonacting categories. In 1992, Alan Menken won two Oscars for composing the music in "Aladdin" and a Razzie for a tune in "Newsies." In 1997, Brian Helgeland reaped an Oscar for writing "L.A. Confidential" screenplay and a Razzie for penning "The Postman."

Two stars have been nominated for an Oscar and a Razzie in the same year for the same role, but they lost: James Coco ("Only When I Laugh") and Amy Irving ("Yentl"). Halle Berry famously bagged a Razzie soon after her Oscar, but three years separated her wins for "Catwoman" (2004) and "Monster's Ball" (2001).

John Wilson, Razzie president and founder, tells Gold Derby that "Transformers 2" creator Michael Bay is overdue for Razzie glory after a past worst-picture loss for "Armageddon" (1998) and two defeats for worst director: "Armageddon" and "Pearl Harbor" (2001). "Bay is totally talent-free and untouched by the muse," Wilson says with a sigh.

Wilson says that 2009 was such a banner year for bad movies that the Razzies considered expanding their worst-picture list to 10 nominees like the Oscars' best-picture list, "but then I realized that our membership is only one-tenth of the academy, and it would have no meaning. It would be just like the Golden Globes where a movie can win with only 17 votes."

If the Razzies had expanded its top category, "Twilight: New Moon" would've been nominated for worst picture since it came in sixth place in the voting, so alas, it got snubbed.

" 'Twilight: New Moon' just wasn't bad enough," Wilson adds, noting that its star Taylor Lautner also barely missed out receiving a nomination for worst supporting actor. Nonetheless, he was cited along with "Twilight" costars in the category for worst screen couple as "Kristin Stewart and either Robert Pattinson or Taylor Whatz-His-Fang." Pattinson is nominated for worst supporting actor, and "New Moon" is listed in the race for worst screenplay.

Wilson is surprised at a few omissions from the performance lists. "Gerard Butler had a banner bad year with 'Gamer,' 'The Ugly Truth' and 'Law Abiding Citizen,' and Nicolas Cage was terrible in 'Knowing,'" he says. "In any other year they would've been nominated."

It's the Razzies' 30th anniversary year, so it's time to bestow prizes for worst filmmaking of the decade. They'll be doled out with 2009's trophies at Hollywood's Barnsdall Gallery Theatre at 7:30 p.m. March 6.

WORST PICTURE OF 2009

"All About Steve"
"G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra"
"Land of the Lost"
"Old Dogs""
"Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" (a.k.a. "Trannies, Too")

WORST ACTOR OF 2009

All Three Jonas Brothers, "Jonas Brothers: The 3-D Concert Experience"
Will Ferrell, "Land of the Lost"
Steve Martin, "Pink Panther 2"
Eddie Murphy, "Imagine That"
John Travolta, "Old Dogs"

WORST ACTRESS Of 2009

Beyonce, "Obsessed"
Sandra Bullock, "All About Steve"
Myley Cyrus, "Hannah Montana: The Movie"
Megan Fox, "Jennifer’s Body" and "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen"
Sarah Jessica Parker, "Did You Hear About the Morgans?"

WORST SCREEN COUPLE OF 2009

Any Two (or More) Jonas Brothers, "The Jonas Brothers 3-D Concert Experience"
Sandra Bullock and Bradley Cooper, "All About Steve"
Will Ferrell and any co-star, Creature or "Comic Riff," "Land of the Lost"
Shia Lebouf & Either Megan Fox or Any Transformer, "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen"
Kristin Stewart and either Robert Pattinson or Taylor Whatz-His-Fang, "Twilight Saga: New Moon"

WORST SUPPORTING ACTRESS OF 2009

Candice Bergen, "Bride Wars"
Ali Larter, "Obsessed"
Sienna Miller, "G.I. Joe"
Kelly Preston,"Old Dogs"
Julie White (as Mom), "Trannies, Too"

WORST SUPPORTING ACTOR OF 2009

Billy Ray Cyrus, "Hannah Montana: The Movie"
Hugh Hefner (as himself), "Miss March"
Robert Pattinson, "Twilight Saga: New Moon"
Jorma Taccone (as Cha-Ka), "Land of the Lost"
Marlon Wayans, "G.I. Joe"

WORST REMAKE, RIP-OFF OR SEQUEL (COMBINED CATEGORY FOR 2009)

"G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra"
"Land of the Lost"
"Pink Panther 2" (A Rip-Off of a Sequel to a Remake)
"Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen"
"Twilight Saga: New Moon"

WORST DIRECTOR OF 2009

Michael Bay, "Trannies, Too"
Walt Becker, "Old Dogs"
Brad Silberling, "Land of the Lost"
Stephen Sommers, "G.I. Joe"
Phil Traill, "All About Steve"

WORST SCREENPLAY OF 2009

"All About Steve," screenplay by Kim Barker
"G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra," screenplay by Stuart Beattie and David Elliot & Paul Lovett, based on Hasbro's G.I. Joe Characters.
"Land of the Lost," written by Chris Henchy & Dennis McNicholas, based on Sid & Marty Krofft's TV series
"Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen," written By Ehren Kruger & Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman, based on Hasbro’s Transformers Action Figures
"Twilight Saga: New Moon," screenplay by Melissa Rosenberg, based on the novel by Stephenie Meyer

WORST PICTURE OF THE DECADE (3 SPECIAL 30TH RAZZIE-VERSARY AWARDZ)

"Battlefield Earth" (2000) -- Nominated for 10 Razzies, "winner" of 8 (including Worst Drama of Our First 25 Years)
"Freddy Got Fingered" (2001) -- Nominated for nine Razzies, "winner" of five
"Gigli" (2003) -- Nominated for 10 Razzies, winner of seven (including Worst Comedy of Our First 25 Years)
"I Know Who Killed Me" (2007) -- Nominated for nine Razzies, "winner" of eight
"Swept Away" (2002) -- Nominated for nine Razzies, "winner" of five

WORST ACTOR OF THE DECADE

Ben Affleck -- (Nominated for nine "achievements,"winner" of two Razzies) "Daredevil," "Gigli," "Jersey Girl," "Paycheck," "Pearl Harbor," "Surviving Christmas"
Eddie Murphy -- (Nominated for 12 "achievements," "winner" of three Razzies) "Adventures of Pluto Nash," "I Spy," "Imagine That," "Meet Dave," "Norbit," "Showtime"
Mike Myers -- (Nominated for four "achievements," "winner" of two Razzies), "Cat in the Hat," "The Love Guru"
Rob Schneider -- (Nominated for six "achievements," "winner" of one Razzie) "The Animal," "Benchwarmers," "Deuce Bigalo: European Gigolo," "Grandma's Boy," "The Hot Chick," "I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry," "Little Man," "Little Nicky"
John Travolta -- (Nominated for six "achievements," "winner" of three Razzies) "Battlefield Earth," "Domestic Disturbance," "Lucky Numbers," "Old Dogs," "Swordfish"

WORST ACTRESS OF THE DECADE

Mariah Carey – (The Single Biggest Individual Vote Getter of the Decade: 70+% Of ALL Votes For Worst Actress Of 2001), "Glitter"
Paris Hilton (Nominated for five "Achievements," "Winner" of four Razzies) "The Hottie & The Nottie," "House of Whacks," "Repo: The Genetic Opera"
Lindsay Lohan -- (Nominated for five "achievements," "winner" of three Razzies) "Herbie Fully Loaded," "I Know Who Killed Me," "Just My Luck"
Jennifer Lopez -- (Nominated for nine "achievements," "winner" of two Razzies) "Angel Eyes," "Enough," "Gigli," "Jersey Girl," "Maid in Manhattan," "Monster-in-Law," "The Wedding Planner"
Madonna -- (Nominated for six "achievements," "winner" of four Razzies) "Die Another Day," "The Next Best Thing," "Swept Away"

Oscars 2010: expect an open field

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8359404.stm

Monday, 30 November 2009
Oscars 2010: expect an open field
By Neil Smith
Entertainment reporter, BBC News

With three months to go before the Academy Awards are held in Los Angeles, early indications suggest it will be one of the most open races in years.

Actor Alec Baldwin will co-host next year's Oscar ceremony

Indeed, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences seems to have anticipated this by opening the best picture category up to 10 movies, as opposed to the usual five.

That is not the only change either. In order not to coincide with the Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, the 2010 Oscars will take place a fortnight later than this year's were.

It will also boast not one but two hosts, the comedian Steve Martin sharing the presenting duties with actor Alec Baldwin.

The 2010 Oscar nominations will not be announced until 2 February. Already, though, industry pundits are identifying potential runners, riders and also-rans.

Here, then, is a rundown of some of the stars, films and film-makers we may be hearing more of in the weeks and months ahead.

BEST PICTURE

You have to go all the way back to 1944 for the last time 10 movies were shortlisted for the best picture Oscar.

On that occasion Casablanca won the prize, picking up additional awards for its director and three screenwriters.

However, the decision to expand the field again is less to do with recognising more movies than with appealing to a wider audience.

The general perception is the Academy celebrates niche pictures aimed at an art-house crowd - a notion it hopes to challenge by adding more populist nominees to next year's line-up.

It is expected, for instance, that JJ Abrams's well-regarded Star Trek film will find a berth among this year's hopefuls.

James Cameron's ambitious 3D blockbuster Avatar may also feature, with some tipping District 9 - a science-fiction adventure about bug-like aliens who become refugees on Earth - as an outside bet.

Take away the District and you have another potential contender - Nine, the big-screen version of the Broadway musical inspired by Federico Fellini's 1963 Oscar-winner 8 1/2.

Director Rob Marshall has some previous in this department, having steered Chicago - another stage to screen transfer - to its best picture Oscar in 2003.

Clint Eastwood has become a regular fixture on Oscar night and is sure to be in contention again with the sport-based Invictus.

The drama - like District 9 - is set in South Africa and tells of how president Nelson Mandela united the country behind its World Cup-winning rugby team in 1995.

The Hurt Locker, Kathryn Bigelow's drama about three bomb disposal experts stationed in Iraq, is generating a lot of positive buzz.

Some optimistic pundits are also tipping another, rather different war movie as a best picture contender - Inglourious Basterds, Quentin Tarantino's flamboyant epic about commandos in Nazi-occupied France.

A safer bet might be Precious, the hard-hitting tale of a high school student coping with obesity, illiteracy, illegitimate pregnancy and sexual abuse.

No less gruelling is The Road, an adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's post-apocalyptic novel that could muscle into the final 10.

McCarthy, you may recall, also penned No Country for Old Men, the book Joel and Ethan Coen adapted into an Oscar-winning hit.

The Coens are back this year with A Serious Man, a comedy drama based on their childhoods in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The Lovely Bones, Peter Jackson's adaptation of Alice Sebold's novel about a murdered child, is another book-inspired work that may make the shortlist.

And with Pixar's Up heavily tipped to win the best animated feature Oscar, some are expecting it to be in with a shout in the best picture category as well.

BEST ACTOR

For many years, Morgan Freeman battled to turn Nelson Mandela's autobiography, Long Walk To Freedom, into a film.

The fact he finally gets to play the South African icon in Invictus might therefore win him some consideration from the Academy's famously sentimental members.

Morgan Freeman is reunited with director Clint Eastwood in Invictus

George Clooney missed out on a best actor Oscar last year when Daniel Day-Lewis beat him to the coveted prize.

Their respective performances in romantic comedy Up in the Air and the aforementioned Nine opens up the possibility of a rematch.

Strangely enough, Viggo Mortensen was also nominated that year and may be so again for The Road.
Homegrown interest, meanwhile, is sure to focus on Colin Firth, considered a strong contender for his role as a grief-stricken gay academic in A Single Man.

Other possible nominees include Matt Damon, whose performances as an FBI whistle-blower in The Informant! and as South African rugby captain Francois Pienaar could conceivably see him cited in both the best actor and best supporting actor categories.

There is a chance Jeff Bridges might also make the cut for his role as a hard-drinking country music singer in Crazy Heart.

BEST ACTRESS

Last February Kate Winslet received this award for her portrayal as a former concentration camp guard in The Reader.

And early indications suggest Britain's best chances of Oscar success in 2010 will also be found in this hotly contested category.

Dame Helen Mirren, who received this award in 2007 for The Queen, is tipped to feature again for her role as Tolstoy's mercurial wife in The Last Station.

The smart money, though, is on newcomer Carey Mulligan, whose performance as a precocious 1960s schoolgirl in An Education has been tipped for glory on both sides of the Atlantic.

Australia's Abbie Cornish may also land a nomination for her role as John Keats's neighbour in the period drama Bright Star.

The endearingly full-figured Gabourey Sidibe, star of Precious, is another fresh talent who could be recognised.

Serial Oscar nominee Meryl Streep, meanwhile, will surely be up for an award for which she has been nominated a remarkable 12 times.

Will her next nod be for her portrayal of eccentric cookery guru Julia Child in Julie and Julia, however, or for her upcoming turn opposite Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin - yes, them again - in romantic comedy It's Complicated?

Up In The Air gets four top awards

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8394545.stm

Friday, 4 December 2009
George Clooney movie Up In The Air gets four top awards
In the film, Clooney plays a man who fires people for a living

George Clooney's latest movie Up In the Air has been named best film by the National Board of Review.

The NBR - seen as the first major prize of the US awards season - also named Clooney best actor alongside Morgan Freeman for Invictus.

Up In The Air director Jason Reitman said he was "overwhelmed with gratitude" at the honour.

His movie also won best supporting actress for Anna Kendrick and best adapted screenplay.

'Anxiety and anticipation'

The film, about a man (Clooney) who fires people for a living, is already creating an Oscar buzz.

Previous NBR best film winners, such as No Country for Old Men and Slumdog Millionaire, have gone on to win best picture at the Academy Awards.

Reitman's father, Ivan Reitman - who directed Ghostbusters - is a producer of Up In The Air.

"I'm simply overwhelmed with gratitude for the many honours the National Board of Review has bestowed upon Up In The Air," Jason Reitman said.

"I'm thrilled for George, I'm thrilled for Anna, and of course, most thrilled for my father."

Freeman plays Nelson Mandela in Eastwood's film Invictus

Reitman went on to admit that the days leading up to his movie's release date are filled with "anxiety and anticipation".

He then thanked the NBR for "making today perfect".

The best director prize went to Clint Eastwood for Invictus, which tells the story of former South African President Nelson Mandela's embrace of the national rugby team.

There were also prizes for Carey Mulligan, who was named best actress for An Education and best supporting actor went to Woody Harrelson for The Messenger.

Best animated film went to Pixar's Up and The Cove, about the slaughter of dolphins in a Japanese village, won best documentary.

The NBR special filmmaking achievement award went to Wes Anderson for his stop-motion animated The Fantastic Mr Fox, which he co-wrote, directed and lent his voice to.

The judges on the National Board of Review, consist of film historians, students and educators.

The awards will be handed out 12 January during a a New York gala hosted by Meredith Vieira.

Early Oscars are presented to 4 honorees

http://theenvelope.latimes.com/news/la-me-academy-awards15-2009nov15,0,995694.story

Early Oscars are presented to 4 honorees
The 2009 Governors Awards are given to actress Lauren Bacall, 85; producer-director-writer Roger Corman, 83; and cinematographer Gordon Willis, 78.
By Susan King
November 15, 2009

A who's who of Hollywood -- Alec Baldwin, Warren Beatty and Steven Spielberg among them -- turned out Saturday night for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' 2009 Governors Awards.

The academy bestowed its honorary awards during a three-hour-plus ceremony at the Grand Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland on 85-year-old actress Lauren Bacall, who made her film debut opposite Humphrey Bogart in 1944's "To Have and Have Not"; noted cinematographer Gordon Willis, 78, who brought new meaning to shadow and light in such classics as "The Godfather" trilogy; and maverick 83-year-old producer-director-writer Roger Corman, who excelled in making stylish films on a shoestring budget while giving up-and-coming directors such as Francis Ford Coppola and Jonathan Demme their start.

Producer and former studio executive John Calley, 79 ("Remains of the Day") was the recipient of the Irving G. Thalberg Award, but because Calley is ill he was unable to attend the ceremony.

"Lauren Bacall defines what it means to be an actress," said Anjelica Huston as she presented the award to Bacall. "She is a woman of great charisma and beauty but one not to be trifled with."

Bacall, looking radiant in a brown gown with her hair pulled back, then lifted her Oscar and whooped. "I can't believe it, a man at last!" she quipped. "This is quite an event. I've been very lucky in my life," she said. "I feel very emotional and grateful."

Several of Hollywood's reigning filmmakers stood up for the ailing Calley. Spielberg, Beatty, George Lucas, Norman Jewison, Walter Mirisch, Dino De Laurentiis and Saul Zaentz -- all previous winners of the Thalberg Award -- took to the stage, with Spielberg accepting the honor for Calley from Tom Hanks.

Speaking for the group, he said, "We are privileged to accept this award that he is so deserving of."

Others spoke in tribute to Corman before he took the stage earlier in the evening.

"He changed my life," actor-director Ron Howard said in a toast. "Dying for him was a badge of honor."

Honoring Corman, Quentin Tarantino added, "is a dream come true. Only Roger would make 'The Raven' a comedy. Roger was the original maverick," he said while showing clips of Corman's films based on Edgar Allan Poe works.

"People, what took you so long?" Demme asked, referring to the Oscar bestowed upon the "Little Shop of Horrors" director.

But Corman showed no frustration at the wait. "Needless to say, I'm delighted to accept this Oscar," he said, adding that those in Hollywood work in "the only true modern art form."

Of Willis, cinematographer Caleb Deschanel said he was a true New Yorker: "He loved to complain about Hollywood." The honor, he went on, was "well deserved."

Woody Allen added to the praise in a taped segment, saying, "He is the best cinematographer we have ever seen."

As Jeff Bridges presented him the award, Willis noted that moviemaking is a collaborative affair, saying, "Everything good that happened to me happened because of another person."

Saturday night's banquet and awards ceremony marked the first time the academy has presented its honorary awards anywhere other than during the annual Oscar telecast, scheduled this season for March 7.

By giving the awards their own showcase, producer Bruce Cohen hoped the event would pay homage to the Academy Awards' early years, when the ceremonies were a more intimate affair.

Although Saturday's event was not televised, Oscars producers Bill Mechanic and Adam Shankman may decide to show highlights of the night's events during the broadcast of Hollywood's biggest awards celebration.

susan.king@latimes.com

Diablo & behold

http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/diablo_behold_Vhse59eYWJPEeaao0J0XZO

Diablo & behold
‘Juno’ scribe returns with a hot new film — and a hot new look
By SARA STEWART
September 17, 2009

SHE burst onto the scene two years ago as an R-rated Cinderella story: Ex-stripper from Minnesota sells her first screenplay, “Juno,” which becomes the indie darling of the year and wins her both an Oscar and a reputation as the sharpest dialogue writer in Hollywood.

But Diablo Cody (real name Brook Busey) didn’t use the award — as many first-timers have — as a springboard to immediate overexposure. She’s maintained a fairly low profile, picking and choosing her projects judiciously: writing Showtime’s “United States of Tara,” now filming a second season; penning a pop-culture column for EW; and making a much-cherished cameo on “90210.”

Sporting a new platinum pixie, Cody’s back with her first feature since “Juno.”

“Jennifer’s Body,” both written and executive produced by Cody, deals with a subject in which she’s more well-versed than either teen pregnancy or the pole: high school demon spawn.

If you’ve ever been a teenage girl, you’ll probably know whereof she speaks.

How to spot the succubus from hell? She’s the glamorous friend with a near-supernatural hold on boys. She says she’s your BFF, then cuts you down with one perfectly timed insult. She scares the crap out of you, but you don’t want to get on her bad side: She knows how to eviscerate you, and if you cross her, she just might.

“A male bully will shove you against a locker,” Cody says, “but a female bully will tear your psyche apart.”

In “Jennifer’s Body,” Cody has gone substantially darker than her last movie, in which a clever-beyond-her-years teen gets knocked up, gives the baby to a really nice lady, and everything works out swell.

This time, the heroine is a possessed cheerleader (Megan Fox) — bitchy even before she’s kidnapped by a Satan-worshipping indie band — who’s putting a serious dent in the local boy population and, like, totally hurting the feelings of her best friend (Amanda Seyfried) in the process.

Cody, a straight talker, is not sure how “Jennifer” will go over.

“Neither the protagonist or the villain is socially sympathetic,” she says. “It’s not as upbeat or uplifting as ‘Juno.’ I think it’s definitely riskier. I hope people appreciate it.”

But even if “Jennifer” is a flop, Cody is in a rather unassailable position. She’s the first screenwriter in ages to have actually become a household name. (How many others can you think of?) She’s brought a touch of leopard-printy glamour to a profession that consists mostly of sitting in front of a laptop in sweatpants. And with multiple projects in production or development, she’s not going away anytime soon.

Cody’s looking a little more Hollywood insider these days, but her love of all things teen remains intact; she cites John Hughes as her patron saint of teen-film “emotional truth.”

"Jennifer's Body," while billing itself as a horror movie, inhabits terrain more similar to "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" than actual slasher movies -- monsters and bloodshed are obvious metaphors for intangible adolescent terrors.

Cody especially steered away from the tropes of the horror genre when it came to the beast with two backs. "It was important to me that the good girl in the film have a sex scene that didn't necessarily culminate in her being murdered," she says.

"Jennifer" is shot through with smart-alecky lines that will feel familiar to anyone who's seen "Juno" ("It smells like Thai food in here. Have you two been f - - - ing?"), but Cody says she doesn't want to become irreversibly linked with that kind of dialogue tic.

"I don't know how much more I'm going to do that," she says. "I like the way it worked in this, but I think you can only make the sassy lingo go so far."

sara.stewart@nypost.com

Actor Karl Malden dies at age 97

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/07/01/MN8O11IQEF.DTL

Actor Karl Malden dies at age 97
Ruthe Stein, Special to The Chronicle
Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Karl Malden, the Academy Award-winning actor who played Lt. Mike Stone in the 1970s TV series "The Streets of San Francisco," died today at his Los Angeles home. He was 97.

Mr. Malden's acting career spanned more than six decades, during which he won an Oscar as Blanche DuBois' milquetoast suitor in Elia Kazan's "A Streetcar Named Desire." But he was perhaps even better known for his role as widowed Lt. Mike Stone of the San Francisco Police Department in the 1970s TV series "The Streets of San Francisco." The show, which debuted as a TV film of the same title in September 1972, ran for five seasons, with Michael Douglas playing Inspector Steve Keller through most of the show's run.

Unlike many current TV shows supposedly set in San Francisco, such as "Monk," the series was actually filmed on location and it could be said that city itself was the show's other co-star. The series opened every week with quick-cut aerial shots of San Francisco, swooping over the Civic Center, through Chinatown, over the Wharf, with the immediately identifiable percussive theme playing in the background.

The ABC series was based on the book "Poor, Poor Ophelia," by Carolyn Weston and was a classic police procedural: The older, more experienced cop teaches his brash, younger partner the value of experience, but grudgingly finds himself conceding that the kid has pretty good instincts as well.

To millions of TV fans, Douglas, who left the show after the second episode of the final season, was always "buddy-boy," Stone's half-mocking but affectionate name for his younger partner. From the beginning, Mr. Malden's Mike Stone treated Douglas' Keller as a surrogate son, poking gentle fun at his bachelor-on-the-prowl lifestyle.

Virtually the entire city was the back lot for "Streets of San Francisco," but careful viewers will find a particular emphasis on Potrero Hill. In fact, one of the early episodes called "The House on Hyde Street," featuring veteran actor Lew Ayres as a reclusive old man, wasn't filmed anywhere near Hyde Street but on the corner of Pennsylvania and 18th streets.

The show's producers were also fond of filming at Fisherman's Wharf and at the Hall of Justice before the construction of the jail facilities. Once, while the series was shooting in Chinatown, a teenage boy was hit by a car. Mr. Malden immediately jumped in to assist, holding up traffic until an ambulance arrived. A gathering crowd thought it was a scene from the show.

Although "Streets" went off the air in 1977, NBC brought Mr. Malden back for a made-for-TV film in 1992 called "Back to the Streets of San Francisco." Stone had been promoted and supervised two younger inspectors. By that time, Douglas had a healthy film career and did not participate in the film.

Mr. Malden earned five Emmy nominations for his "Streets" role.

For many critics and viewers, what made Mr. Malden so perfect for Stone was that he looked like a regular guy, not a Hollywood actor. And that was perhaps one of the keys to his long career.

"The fact that Karl Malden broke his nose twice guaranteed that he would never be a leading man, but the look helped define him in ways that helped him as a character actor," said Chronicle Film Critic Mick LaSalle. "Malden was really at his best when playing off the humble-man appearance, for example in Hitchcock's 'I Confess' (1953), in which he played a relentless police inspector. Often in Malden's films, whether he was the star or the supporting player, there would come a moment when the audience would suddenly see past the Everyman looks. And there, suddenly revealed, would be someone shrewder, more observant and more formidable than they expected - someone with the dignity of true intelligence."

Mr. Malden was born Mladen Sekulovich on March 22, 1912, in Chicago and grew up in Gary, Ind. His father was a Serb who worked in the steel mills and as a milkman, and his Czech mother was a seamstress.

A high school basketball star, Mr. Malden yearned for an athletic college scholarship, but was turned down for refusing to play anything except basketball. He worked at the mills, finding time for amateur theater. Envisioning his name in lights, he shortened it by switching around the letters of his first name and making it his last and co-opting his uncle's given name. Later on, when he played the priest in "On the Waterfront," he insisted that Fred Gwynne's character be named Sekulovich to honor his original name.

Mr. Malden studied at the Goodman Theater in Chicago. He made his Broadway debut in 1937 and joined the Group Theatre where he met Elia Kazan, who would eventually direct him in "A Streetcar Named Desire" and "On the Waterfront."

Mr. Malden put his career on hold to serve in the 8th Air Force during World War II. As soon as the war ended, he returned to Broadway and took a small role in "Truckline Café" opposite a mumbling novice by the name of Marlon Brando. Mr. Malden and Brando's careers would crisscross over the years.

Mr. Malden's big breaks on the stage were to originate roles in Arthur Miller's "All My Sons" and Tennessee Williams's "A Streetcar Named Desire." Not all stage-trained actors transitioned as easily into film. You never caught Mr. Malden overacting in the dozens of movies he made during the 1950s, '60s' and '70s, including, notably, "Baby Doll," "Birdman of Alcatraz" and "Gypsy."

In a 2004 interview, he described his method for getting into a role. "You go to the character they have given you and say, 'What is this character about?' You find the truth of the character, his 'spine' or 'trunk.' Where is the trunk that holds it all together? That's the truth. You've got to get the truth and then as you get older, the roots get thicker and stronger so you can do more."

In addition to his long acting career, Malden is remembered for the 21 years he spent as a pitchman for American Express credit cards, delivering its catch phrase, "Don't leave home without it."

While studying at the Goodman, Mr. Malden courted an actress named Mona Greenberg. They wed in 1938 and became one of Hollywood's longest-running couples, marking their 70th anniversary in December. In addition to his wife, Mr. Malden is survived by daughters Mila and Cara, his sons-in-law, three granddaughters, and four great grandchildren.

Funeral arrangements are pending.

Chronicle staff writer David Wiegand and Chronicle news services contributed to this report. E-mail Ruthe Stein at datebookletters@sfchronicle.com.

Oscars doubling best-picture nominees to 10

Thanks to Chris Halverson for the following...

http://movies.yahoo.com/news/movies.ap.org/oscars-doubling-bestpicture-nominees-10-ap

Oscars doubling best-picture nominees to 10
Wed Jun 24, 2009

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - The best-picture lineup at the Academy Awards is doubling from five films to 10, a move organizers said Wednesday will open the field to more worthy movies and possibly boost the ceremony's TV ratings.

The change, which was approved Tuesday night by the board of governors for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, takes effect at next year's Oscars on March 7.

The plan is a return to Oscar traditions of the 1930s and '40s, when a best-picture field of 10 or more films was common.

Academy President Sid Ganis said the board looked at last year's slate of films and decided there was room for more in the top category. "We nominated five, but there were many other great films last year," Ganis said.

Among last year's most acclaimed movies was the Batman blockbuster "The Dark Knight," which wound up snubbed. Another was "WALL-E," which won the Oscar for feature-length animation but was not among best-picture nominees.

Ganis said the broader field might make room for documentaries, foreign-language films, animated movies and even comedies, which typically do not fare well for best-picture nominations.

"Everybody says the academy will never nominate a comedy," Ganis said. "Well, maybe we will."

The Oscars have separate categories for animated, foreign-language and documentary films. A best-picture nomination would not preclude films from competing in those categories, as well.

With extra movies competing for the top honor, the Oscar show might draw a bigger TV audience as more fans tune to see how their favorite films fare, Ganis said.

The ratings for last February's Oscars were up solidly, but that followed a ceremony a year earlier that drew the lowest ratings ever. Along with other awards shows, the Oscars generally have been losing viewers over the past couple of decades.

Having 10 or more was common in Hollywood's golden age some 70 years ago. Ganis noted that 1939's 10 best-picture nominees were "Gone with the Wind," which won, "The Wizard of Oz," "Stagecoach," "Wuthering Heights," "Love Affair," "Goodbye, Mr. Chips," "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," "Of Mice and Men," "Dark Victory" and "Ninotchka."

All are generally considered classics today.

The last time there were 10 nominees was the Oscar ceremony for 1943, when "Casablanca" won best picture. There have been only five nominees each year since then.

On the Net:

http://www.oscars.org

Anne Hathaway could contend at Oscars

http://goldderby.latimes.com/awards_goldderby/2009/03/anne-hathaway-c.html

Gold Derby by Tom O'Neil
Anne Hathaway could contend at Oscars and Tonys for playing Judy Garland
March 23, 2009

If you thought Anne Hathaway was brave for singing and dancing with Hugh Jackman on the recent Oscarcast, that was a walk in the park compared with her next performance — playing Judy Garland on both stage and screen. The Oscar-nominated actress ("Rachel Getting Married") is to star in upcoming film and legit adaptations of Gerald Clarke's 2000 biography "Get Happy: The Life of Judy Garland."

With the Weinstein Co. producing both these properties, Anne Hathaway is in good hands. While there is no word as to any of the other creatives involved in these projects, the source material is rich with possibilities, including as it does material in Judy Garland's own words. Gerald Clarke's biography of the late, great writer Truman Capote was the basis for "Capote," which was nominated for five awards at the 2005 Oscars including best picture and won lead actor for Philip Seymour Hoffman.

If Hathaway can pull this part off, she would be a leading contender at both the Oscars and the Tonys. Seven of the last 10 women to win lead actress at the Academy Awards did so by playing real-life roles. The irony of course is that Judy Garland never won a competitive Oscar. In 1939, she was awarded an honorary one for her timeless performance in "The Wizard of Oz."

However, she lost both of her Oscar races. In 1954, Judy Garland made one of the all-time great screen comebacks, proving herself a triple threat with her acting, singing and dancing in the musical remake of "A Star Is Born." So sure was the academy that she would win the lead actress Oscar that they set up a television camera in Judy's hospital room where she was resting after having given birth to son Joey just days before. However, it was Grace Kelly's name that was announced, for her role as the dutiful wife to an alcoholic actor (Bing Crosby) in "The Country Girl." And while Judy Garland was nominated for her 1961 supporting performance as a witness in "Judgment at Nuremberg," she lost to Rita Moreno for "West Side Story."

Judy Garland never appeared in a Broadway musical in her all-too-short life. In 1967, she was so eager to take over from Tony winner Angela Lansbury in "Mame" that she watched the show from the wings for nights on end. However, the producers could not get the insurance to cover the costs should Garland not appear. She did win an honorary Tony Award in 1952 for "for an important contribution to the revival of vaudeville through her recent stint at the Palace Theatre."

Broadway usually favors the fanciful over the fact-driven, though the last two Tonys for lead actress in a musical went to hopefully heightened portrayals of real-life women — Christine Ebersole ("Grey Gardens") and Patti Lupone ("Gypsy"). While Hathaway has never appeared on Broadway, in 2002 she tackled a Tony-winning role for five performances of a concert version of the 1961 musical "Carnival." As the orphaned Lili (a part that earned Anna Maria Alberghetti the lead actress award), Hathaway shone opposite Tony winner Brian Stokes Mitchell ("Kiss Me Kate"). This summer, Hathway is to star in a production of "Twelfth Night" as part of the Public Theatre's celebrated Shakespeare in the Park series in New York's Central Park.

The big question is whether Anne Hathaway will sing the songs so associated with Judy Garland or mime along to recordings. In 2001, both Tammy Blanchard and Judy Davis won Emmy Awards for playing Judy Garland in the mini-series "Me and My Shadows." They both lip synced to Judy's unique song stylings. In 2004 Isabel Keating earned a Tony nomination as featured actress in a musical for her portrayal of Garland in "The Boy From Oz." She lost to Anika Noni Rose for "Caroline or Change."

While Isabel Keating performed musical numbers as Judy, she was not singing Garland songs. Rather, as the musical told the story of one-time Garland son-in-law Peter Allen, she sang some of his tunes. And bringing this item full circle, Hugh Jackman won the lead actor in a musical Tony Award for playing the singer-songwriter once married to Liza Minnelli.

81st Academy Awards nominations

http://www.variety.com/awardcentral_article/VR1117998919.html

81st Academy Awards nominations
The full list of Oscar nominees
By VARIETY STAFF
Thurs., Jan. 22, 2009

And the nominees are:

BEST MOTION PICTURE OF THE YEAR
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
(Paramount and Warner Bros.) A Kennedy/Marshall Production; Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall and Ceán Chaffin, Producers
"Frost/Nixon"
(Universal) A Universal Pictures, Imagine Entertainment
and Working Title Production; Brian Grazer, Ron Howard and Eric Fellner, Producers
"Milk"
(Focus Features) A Groundswell and Jinks/Cohen Company Production; Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen, Producers
"The Reader"
(The Weinstein Company) A Mirage Enterprises and Neunte Babelsberg Film GmbH Production; Nominees to be determined
"Slumdog Millionaire"
(Fox Searchlight) A Celador Films Production; Christian Colson, Producer

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Richard Jenkins in "The Visitor" (Overture Films)
Frank Langella in "Frost/Nixon" (Universal)
Sean Penn in "Milk" (Focus Features)
Brad Pitt in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.)
Mickey Rourke in "The Wrestler" (Fox Searchlight)

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Josh Brolin in "Milk" (Focus Features)
Robert Downey Jr. in "Tropic Thunder" (DreamWorks, Distributed by DreamWorks/Paramount)
Philip Seymour Hoffman in "Doubt" (Miramax)
Heath Ledger in "The Dark Knight" (Warner Bros.)
Michael Shannon in "Revolutionary Road" (DreamWorks, Distributed by Paramount Vantage)

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Anne Hathaway in "Rachel Getting Married" (Sony Pictures Classics)
Angelina Jolie in "Changeling" (Universal)
Melissa Leo in "Frozen River" (Sony Pictures Classics)
Meryl Streep in "Doubt" (Miramax)
Kate Winslet in "The Reader" (The Weinstein Company)

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Amy Adams in "Doubt" (Miramax)
Penélope Cruz in "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" (The Weinstein Company)
Viola Davis in "Doubt" (Miramax)
Taraji P. Henson in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.)
Marisa Tomei in "The Wrestler" (Fox Searchlight)

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
(Paramount and Warner Bros.) Screenplay by Eric Roth; Screen story by Eric Roth and Robin Swicord
"Doubt" (Miramax) Written by John Patrick Shanley
"Frost/Nixon" (Universal) Screenplay by Peter Morgan
"The Reader" (The Weinstein Company) Screenplay by David Hare
"Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight) Screenplay by Simon Beaufoy

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
"Frozen River" (Sony Pictures Classics); Written by Courtney Hunt
"Happy-Go-Lucky" (Miramax); Written by Mike Leigh
"In Bruges" (Focus Features); Written by Martin McDonagh
"Milk" (Focus Features); Written by Dustin Lance Black
"WALL-E" (Walt Disney); Screenplay by Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon; Original story by Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM OF THE YEAR
"Bolt" (Walt Disney) Chris Williams and Byron Howard
"Kung Fu Panda" (DreamWorks Animation, Distributed by Paramount) John Stevenson and Mark Osborne
"WALL-E" (Walt Disney) Andrew Stanton

ACHIEVEMENT IN ART DIRECTION
"Changeling" (Universal) Art Direction: James J. Murakami, Set Decoration: Gary Fettis
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.) Art Direction: Donald Graham Burt, Set Decoration: Victor J. Zolfo
"The Dark Knight" (Warner Bros.) Art Direction: Nathan Crowley, Set Decoration: Peter Lando
"The Duchess" (Paramount Vantage, Pathé and BBC Films) Art Direction: Michael Carlin, Set Decoration: Rebecca Alleway
"Revolutionary Road" (DreamWorks, Distributed by Paramount Vantage) Art Direction: Kristi Zea, Set Decoration: Debra Schutt

ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY
"Changeling" (Universal) Tom Stern
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.) Claudio Miranda
"The Dark Knight" (Warner Bros.) Wally Pfister
"The Reader" (The Weinstein Company) Chris Menges and Roger Deakins
"Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight) Anthony Dod Mantle

ACHIEVEMENT IN COSTUME DESIGN
"Australia" (20th Century Fox) Catherine Martin
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.) Jacqueline West
"The Duchess" (Paramount Vantage, Pathé and BBC Films) Michael O'Connor
"Milk" (Focus Features) Danny Glicker
"Revolutionary Road" (DreamWorks, Distributed by Paramount Vantage) Albert Wolsky

ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTING
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.) David Fincher
"Frost/Nixon" (Universal) Ron Howard
"Milk" (Focus Features) Gus Van Sant
"The Reader" (The Weinstein Company) Stephen Daldry
"Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight) Danny Boyle

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
"The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)" (Cinema Guild) A Pandinlao Films Production, Ellen Kuras and Thavisouk Phrasavath
"Encounters at the End of the World" (THINKFilm and Image Entertainment) A Creative Differences Production, Werner Herzog and Henry Kaiser
"The Garden" A Black Valley Films Production, Scott Hamilton Kennedy
"Man on Wire" (Magnolia Pictures) A Wall to Wall Production, James Marsh and Simon Chinn
"Trouble the Water" (Zeitgeist Films) An Elsewhere Films Production, Tia Lessin and Carl Deal

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
"The Conscience of Nhem En" A Farallon Films Production Steven Okazaki
"The Final Inch" A Vermilion Films Production, Irene Taylor Brodsky and Tom Grant
"Smile Pinki" A Principe Production, Megan Mylan
"The Witness - From the Balcony of Room 306" A Rock Paper Scissors Production, Adam Pertofsky and Margaret Hyde

ACHIEVEMENT IN FILM EDITING
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.) Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall
"The Dark Knight" (Warner Bros.) Lee Smith
"Frost/Nixon" (Universal) Mike Hill and Dan Hanley
"Milk" (Focus Features) Elliot Graham
"Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight) Chris Dickens

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM OF THE YEAR
"The Baader Meinhof Complex" A Constantin Film Production; Germany
"The Class" (Sony Pictures Classics) A Haut et Court Production; France
"Departures" (Regent Releasing) A Departures Film Partners Production; Japan
"Revanche" (Janus Films) A Prisma Film/Fernseh Production; Austria
"Waltz with Bashir" (Sony Pictures Classics) A Bridgit Folman Film Gang Production; Israel

ACHIEVEMENT IN MAKEUP
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
(Paramount and Warner Bros.) Greg Cannom
"The Dark Knight" (Warner Bros.) John Caglione, Jr. and Conor O'Sullivan
"Hellboy II: The Golden Army" (Universal) Mike Elizalde and Thom Floutz

ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC WRITTEN FOR MOTION PICTURES (ORIGINAL SCORE)
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.) Alexandre Desplat
"Defiance" (Paramount Vantage) James Newton Howard
"Milk" (Focus Features) Danny Elfman
"Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight) A.R. Rahman
"WALL-E" (Walt Disney) Thomas Newman

ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC WRITTEN FOR MOTION PICTURES (ORIGINAL SONG)
"Down to Earth" from "WALL-E" (Walt Disney) Music by Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman; Lyrics by Peter Gabriel
"Jai Ho" from "Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight) Music by A.R. Rahman; Lyrics by Gulzar
"O Saya" from "Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight) Music and Lyrics by A.R. Rahman and Maya Arulpragasam

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM
"La Maison en Petits Cubes" A Robot Communications Production; Kunio Kato
"Lavatory - Lovestory" A Melnitsa Animation Studio and CTB Film Company Production; Konstantin Bronzit
"Oktapodi"(Talantis Films) A Gobelins, L'école de l'image Production; Emud Mokhberi and Thierry Marchand
"Presto" (Walt Disney) A Pixar Animation Studios Production; Doug Sweetland
"This Way Up" A Nexus Production; Alan Smith and Adam Foulkes

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
"Auf der Strecke (On the Line)" (Hamburg Shortfilmagency); An Academy of Media Arts Cologne Production; Reto Caffi
"Manon on the Asphalt" (La Luna Productions) A La Luna Production; Elizabeth Marre and Olivier Pont
"New Boy" (Network Ireland Television) A Zanzibar Films Production; Steph Green and Tamara Anghie
"The Pig"An M & M Production; Tivi Magnusson and Dorte Høgh
"Spielzeugland (Toyland)" A Mephisto Film Production; Jochen Alexander Freydank

ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND EDITING
"The Dark Knight" (Warner Bros.) Richard King
"Iron Man" (Paramount and Marvel Entertainment) Frank Eulner and Christopher Boyes
"Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight) Tom Sayers
"WALL-E" (Walt Disney) Ben Burtt and Matthew Wood
"Wanted" (Universal) Wylie Stateman

ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND MIXING
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.) David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Mark Weingarten
"The Dark Knight" (Warner Bros.) Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo and Ed Novick
"Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight) Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke and Resul Pookutty
"WALL-E" (Walt Disney) Tom Myers, Michael Semanick and Ben Burtt
"Wanted" (Universal) Chris Jenkins, Frank A. Montaño and Petr Forejt

ACHIEVEMENT IN VISUAL EFFECTS
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.) Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton and Craig Barron
"The Dark Knight" (Warner Bros.) Nick Davis, Chris Corbould, Tim Webber and Paul Franklin
"Iron Man" (Paramount and Marvel Entertainment) John Nelson, Ben Snow, Dan Sudick and Shane Mahan

***

'Benjamin' buttons down 13 Oscar nominations

http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/movieawards/oscars/2009-01-22-oscar-nominations_N.htm


'Benjamin' buttons down 13 Oscar nominations
1-22-9
By Susan Wloszczyna, USA TODAY

Batman and Clint Eastwood? Forget about it.

The Dark Knight, the superhero thriller that was expected to make history as the first comic-book adaptation to take a best-picture nomination, and Gran Torino, which the Hollywood veteran starred in and directed, were left out of the contest for Oscar's top prize.

Instead, the far more serious Holocaust-themed The Reader took the fifth berth and its director, Stephen Daldry, also managed to slip into his category.

The other nominees announced for top prize in the 81st Academy Awards Thursday morning in Los Angeles followed the script of the prognosticators: the era-spanning fable The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which led the crowd with 13 nominations; gay-themed political biopic Milk; TV-landmark drama Frost/Nixon; and romantic crowd-pleaser Slumdog Millionaire.

As expected, Heath Ledger's vividly twisted take on the villainous Joker in The Dark Knight scored a supporting nomination for the Australian actor, who died a year ago today at age 28 after suffering an accidental prescription-drug overdose. He's the seventh actor to compete posthumously in the race, though only Peter Finch won a best-actor trophy for 1976's Network.

Going up against Ledger are Philip Seymour Hoffman as a problematic priest in Doubt, Josh Brolin as a city supervisor turned assassin in Milk, Robert Downey Jr. as the ultimate Method actor in Tropic Thunder and Michael Shannon as a perceptive mental patient in Revolutionary Road.

After her two Golden Globe wins, Kate Winslet was expected to earn a supporting nomination for her tormented concentration-camp guard in The Reader as well as a lead spot as a distraught suburban housewife in Revolutionary Road.

Instead, only her work in Reader was recognized. The British actress, 33, has been up for an Oscar five times before without a win.

Others in the lead-actress lineup are Meryl Streep as a formidable nun in Doubt, Anne Hathaway as the black-sheep sister in Rachel Getting Married, Angelinia Jolie as the troubled mother of a missing boy in The Changeling and Melissa Leo as a struggling single mom in Frozen River.

Making up the supporting-actress category: Penelope Cruz's tempestuous ex-wife in Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Viola Davis as the mother of a possible abuse victim in Doubt, Taraji P. Henson as a loving adoptive mother in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Marisa Tomei as a worn-out stripper in The Wrestler and Amy Adams as a naïve nun in Doubt.

Making it into the lead actor lineup: Sean Penn as an openly gay politician in Milk, Mickey Rourke as a washed-up grappler in The Wrestler, Frank Langella as the ever-enigmatic Richard Nixon in Frost/Nixon, Brad Pitt as the foundling who ages backward in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Richard Jenkins as the burnt-out professor who gains a new lease on life in The Visitor.

Joining Daldry in the director's race: David Fincher for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Gus Van Sant for Milk, Ron Howard for Frost/Nixon and Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire.

The Oscar ceremony will air Feb. 22 on ABC with Hugh Jackman stepping into the host spot for the first time.