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The WORD of the Week

Matthew 3:7-10

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.

And do not think you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.

The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.


Stupid Fact of the Week
There was only one civilian casualty during the three-day Battle of Gettysburg

27 November, 2007
Award Season Officially Open
Guns only allowed the first week, so make it count.

The nominees have been announced for the 23rd Annual Film Independent's Spirit Awards.

More of an emotional milestone than anything else, the Indy-only nods draw from a far smaller pool of candidates than that of the globes and the Academy, and although they are the first to be announced, they aren't handed out until the day before the Academy Awards, so don't count on their results helping you pick your Oscar winners.

Even so, here's the full list with my analysis:

2008 SPIRIT AWARD NOMINATIONS by category

BEST FEATURE
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
I’m Not There
Juno
A Mighty Heart
Paranoid Park


"Juno" might have a shot at an Oscar nod and possibly "I'm Not There" as the Academy loves ensembles.

BEST DIRECTOR
Todd Haynes - I’m Not There
Tamara Jenkins - The Savages
Jason Reitman - Juno
Julian Schnabel - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Gus Van Sant - Paranoid Park

Right now I'm not considering any of these directors for an Oscar Nod. But if I had to pick one: Todd Haynes (they just don't like Gus all that much).

BEST FIRST FEATURE
2 Days in Paris

Great World of Sound
The Lookout
Rocket Science
Vanaja

The Spirit awards are great for up-and-coming films/filmmakers... none of these will get Oscar love.

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD (Given to the best feature made for under $500,000; award given to the writer, director, and producer)
August Evening

Owl and the Sparrow
The Pool
Quiet City
Shotgun Stories


Again, awesome award... no Oscar.

BEST SCREENPLAY
Ronald Harwood - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Tamara Jenkins - The Savages
Fred Parnes & Andrew Wagner - Starting Out in the Evening
Adrienne Shelly - Waitress
Mike White - Year of the Dog

Jenkins, definitely Jenkins.

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
Jeffrey Blitz - Rocket Science
Zoe Cassavetes - Broken English
Diablo Cody - Juno
Kelly Masterson - Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead
John Orloff - A Mighty Heart

Cody and Masterson. Maybe Orloff just because the film's getting so much love early on. But Jenkins, Cody, and Masterson will all be in my predicted nods.

BEST FEMALE LEAD
Angelina Jolie - A Mighty Heart
Sienna Miller - Interview
Ellen Page - Juno
Parker Posey - Broken English
Tang Wei - Lust, Caution

Jolie is pretty close to a sure thing for this award as well as an Oscar nomination. My current predictions also have Page garnering a nod. I wouldn't even be too horribly surprised to see Tang Wei sneak into the Oscar running, but I'm not betting on it.

BEST MALE LEAD
Pedro Castaneda - August Evening
Don Cheadle - Talk To Me
Philip Seymour Hoffman - The Savages
Frank Langella - Starting Out in the Evening
Tony Leung - Lust, Caution

I really like Langella for this award and possibly an Oscar nod. Cheadle and Hoffman are both awesome and deserving of any award, I suppose, but I doubt either one will get Oscar love this year (at least in the lead category)

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE
Cate Blanchett - I’m Not There
Anna Kendrick - Rocket Science
Jennifer Jason Leigh - Margot at the Wedding
Tamara Podemski - Four Sheets to the Wind
Marisa Tomei - Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead

Blanchett is the closest you're going to get to a "sure thing" this year outside of "Transformers" for visual effects. But then again, "Cars" was pretty much a sure thing and we all remember what happened there. I'll still take Blanchett to win this award as well as the golden boy and Jason Leigh will be my long shot. I'm pretty sure the ladies from "Atonement" will fill at least two Oscar nods in this category.

BEST SUPPORTING MALE
Chiwetel Ejiofor - Talk To Me
Marcus Carl Franklin - I’m Not There
Kene Holliday - Great World of Sound
Irrfan Khan - The Namesake
Steve Zahn - Rescue Dawn

Oh, man. Zahn. Come on. You gotta give it to him. He's Zahn. As for Oscar potentials... Franklin? Maybe. That's about it.

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Mott Hupfel - The Savages
Janusz Kaminski - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Milton Kam - Vanaja
Mihai Malaimare, Jr. - Youth Without Youth
Rodrigo Prieto - Lust, Caution

It's gonna be hard to beat Prieto. I'll take him to win and also get an Oscar nod. Longshot for the win and an Oscar nod: Kaminski. Everybody else: just stay home.

BEST DOCUMENTARY
Crazy Love
Lake of Fire
Manufactured Landscapes
The Monastery
The Prisoner or: How I Planned to Kill Tony Blair

The only one of these on the Academy's Shortlist is "Lake of Fire," which makes it the (only) one with the best chance at an Oscar nod, which I believe it will get. I haven't yet decided if I think it will win the Oscar, but with the massive overdose of (Iraq) war docs in the running this year, a hard-hitting documentary about abortion by an acclaimed director might be the winning ticket (although, I wouldn't mind seeing "War/Dance" win).

BEST FOREIGN FILM
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (Romania)
The Band’s Visit (Israel)
Lady Chatterley (France)
Once (Ireland)
Persepolis (France)

As the Oscar's only accept one entry per country and the spoken language in the film must be no more than 49% English, the only nods here with a chance at Oscar glory are "4 months...," and "Persepolis." I've currently got both down as nominees and I'm pretty certain that Persepolis will win either Foreign Language or Animated (it'd be nice to see Austria pull an upset in Foreign), so I'd really like to see "Once" take this award.

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD
I’m Not There


This award recognizes a great film with an outstanding ensemble cast, which has me rethinking "I'm Not There" as a possible contender for a Best Pic nod at the Oscars. I don't know if this is going to be enough to convince me to bump one of my other strong contenders. We'll see what happens when the Globes are announced.
posted by Rockel @ 11:34 AM  
1 Comments:
  • At 28/11/07 7:19 PM, Blogger Doyle said…

    I don't know enough about the awards to know what all you were just talking about, but nothing for "Reign Over Me"? It may be a sign that I have not seen enough movies recently, but that one blew me away.

     
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Lyrics of the Week

ON THE NICKEL
by Tom Waits

("I'd like to do a new song here. This is eh, it's about downtown Los Angeles on 5th Street. And eh all the winos affectionately refer to it as The Nickel. So this is kind of a hobo's lullaby.")

sticks and stones will break my bones,
but i always will be true, and when
your mama is dead and gone,
i'll sing this lullabye just for you,
and what becomes of all the little boys,
who never comb their hair,
well they're lined up all around the block,
on the nickel over there.

so you better bring a bucket,
there is a hole in the pail,
and if you don't get my letter,
then you'll know that i'm in jail,
and what becomes of all the little boys,
who never say their prayers,
well they're sleepin' like a baby,
on the nickel over there.

and if you chew tobacco, and wish upon a star,
well you'll find out where the scarecrows sit,
just like punchlines between the cars,
and i know a place where a royal flush,
can never beat a pair, and even thomas jefferson,
is on the nickel over there.

so ring around the rosie, you're sleepin' in the rain,
and you're always late for supper,
and man you let me down again,
i thought i heard a mockingbird, roosevelt knows where,
you can skip the light, with grady tuck,
on the nickel over there.

so what becomes of all the little boys,
who run away from home,
well the world just keeps gettin' bigger,
once you get out on your own,
so here's to all the little boys,
the sandman takes you where,
you'll be sleepin' with a pillowman,
on the nickel over there.

so let's climb up through that button hole,
and we'll fall right up the stairs,
and i'll show you where the short dogs grow,
on the nickel over there.

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