Oscar noms throw some curveballs

It's Button v Slumdog at the Oscars - and Revolutionary Road and Clint Eastwood have been snubbed. Benjamin Button leads the race with 13 nominations, ahead of Slumdog on 10. The only surprise among the top two is Cate Blanchett missing out for Supporting Actress.

The next-best is Milk with a surprise 8: Oscar’s not known for being this gay-friendly, but it’s a biopic, which always goes down well. Among its noms is a surprise Best Supporting Actor nod for Josh Brolin.

The Dark Knight collected 7 nods, mostly technical, but inevitably Heath Ledger is recognised. Wall*E follows on 6.

Frost/Nixon only picked up 5 nominations – but still no recognition for Michael Sheen. Also on 5 is The Reader – with Kate Winslet recognised in Best Actress rather than Supporting (the Golden Globe category she was slotted into and won) – and Doubt, with 4 of its cast being rewarded with noms.

Changeling garnered just 3 nods (including Best Actress for Angelina Jolie), while The Wrestler got 2 for Mickey Rourke and Marisa Tomei.

The big losers were Revolutionary Road, scoring just 3 noms (2 of which are in crafts), and Clint Eastwood, who’s work behind the camera on Changeling, and in front of the camera as well as behind it in Gran Torino, failed to chime with voters.

Predictions? Tough: Ledger for Best Supporting Actor and Jolie for Actress – everything else is wide open!

Best Picture
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

Best Director
Danny Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire
Stephen Daldry - The Reader
David Fincher - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Ron Howard - Frost/Nixon
Gus Van Sant - Milk

Best Actor
Richard Jenkins - The Visitor
Frank Langella - Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn - Milk
Brad Pitt - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler

Best Actress
Anne Hathaway - Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie - Changeling
Melissa Leo - Frozen River
Meryl Streep - Doubt
Kate Winslet - The Reader

Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams - Doubt
Penelope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis - Doubt
Taraji P Henson - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Marisa Tomei - The Wrestler

Best Supporting Actor
Josh Brolin - Milk
Robert Downey Jr - Tropic Thunder
Philip Seymour Hoffman - Doubt
Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight
Michael Shannon - Revolutionary Road

Best Foreign Film
Revanche
The Class
The Baader Meinhof Complex
Departures
Waltz With Bashir

Best Animated Feature Film
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda
Wall-E

Best Adapted Screenplay
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Doubt
Frost/Nixon
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

Best Original Screenplay
Happy-Go-Lucky
Milk
Wall-E
In Bruges
Frozen River

Best Original Score
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Defiance
Milk
Slumdog Millionaire
Wall-E

Best Original Song
Down To Earth - Wall-E
Jai Ho - Slumdog Millionaire
O Saya - Slumdog Millionaire

Art Direction
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Changeling
The Dark Knight
The Duchess
Revolutionary Road

Cinematography
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Changeling
The Dark Knight
Slumdog Millionaire
The Reader

Costume Design
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Australia
Milk
The Duchess
Revolutionary Road

Film Editing
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Frost/Nixon
Milk
Slumdog Millionaire

Make-up
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Hellboy II: The Golden Army

Sound Editing
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Iron Man
Wanted
Slumdog Millionaire
Wall-E

Sound Mixing
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Wanted
Slumdog Millionaire
Wall-E

Visual Effects
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Iron Man

BAFTA noms: Slumdog rollercoaster continues

BAFTA continued its mild eccentricity and desire to buck the trend with eclectic nominations. Slumdog Millionaire and Benjamin Button lead with 11 noms each - but some of those noms are surprising. For instance, Dev Patel and Freida Pinto have been recognised by the Academy in Slumdog, but Cate Blanchett in Button has not. At the moment, Slumdog must be the hot favourite for Film, Director, Adapted Screenplay and Cinematography.

Next most-nominated is The Dark Knight with 9 nods - but only one major, inevitably for the late Heath Ledger. Changeling picked up 8, including Best Director for Clint Eastwood, Leading Actress for Angelina Jolie and JMS's script, plus a slew of technical and craft nods; however, it was not nominated for Best Film, effectively losing out to Milk, which is otherwise recognised only for Sean Penn (Leading Actor) and the script.

Frost/Nixon picked up 6 nods - but Michael Sheen failed to secure a nod. The Reader followed on 5. Doubt's powerhouse cast all secured nods, while Brit-flicks In Bruges (4) and Hunger (2) both did well. Burn After Reading secured a surprise 3.

The Wrestler only garnered 2 noms (for Mickey Rourke and Marisa Tomei). Thankfully Woody Allen's awful VCB only got 1 nod.

The Kate Winslet steamroller continued - but she can't win 2 BAFTAs as she's up against herself in the Leading Actress category (whereas at the Globes she was in two different categories). Brad Pitt also picked up 2 nods for Button and Burn After Reading.

Aside from the Slumdog-favoured categories, look to In Bruges of Hunger taking British Film, Mickey Rourke for The Wrestler, a Heath Ledger v Philip Seymour Hoffman battle for Supporting Actor, and Tilda Swinton to take Supporting Actress. Leading Actress is tough to call: Kate could cancel herself out, leaving the way open...

The BAFTAs are announced on 8 February. For the record, the Oscar noms are Thursday 22 January.

Best Film
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

Best British Film
Hunger
In Bruges
Mamma Mia!
Man On Wire
Slumdog Millionaire

Director
Danny Boyle - Slumdog Milllionaire
Stephen Daldry - The Reader
Clint Eastwood - Changeling
David Fincher - The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
Ron Howard - Frost/Nixon

Leading Actor
Frank Langella - Frost/Nixon
Dev Patel - Slumdog Millionaire
Sean Penn - Milk
Brad Pitt - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler

Leading Actress
Angelina Jolie - Changeling
Kristen Scott Thomas - I've Loved You So Long
Meryl Streep - Doubt
Kate Winslet - Revolutionary Road
Kate Winslet - The Reader

Supporting Actor
Robert Downey Jr - Tropic Thunder
Brendan Gleeson - In Bruges
Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight
Brad Pitt - Burn After Reading
Philip Seymour Hoffman - Doubt

Supporting Actress
Amy Adams - Doubt
Penelope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Freida Pinto - Slumdog Millionaire
Tilda Swinton - Burn After Reading
Marisa Tomei - The Wrestler

Original screenplay
Burn After Reading
In Bruges
I've Loved You So Long
Milk
Changeling

Adapted Screenplay
The Curious case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
The Reader
Revolutionary Road
Slumdog Millionaire

The Carl Foreman award for special achievement by a British director, writer or producer for their first feature film
Simon Chinn (producer) - Man On Wire
Judy Craymer (producer) - Mamma Mia!
Garth Jennings (writer) - Son of Rambow
Steve McQueen (director/writer) - Hunger
Solon Papadopoulos, Roy Boulter (producers) - Of Time And The City

Film not in the English language
The Baader Meinhof Complex
Gomorrah
I've Loved You So Long
Persepolis
Waltz With Bashir

Animated Film
Persepolis
Wall-E
Waltz With Bashir

Music
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Mamma Mia!
Slumdog Millionaire
Wall-E

Cinematography
Tom Stern - Changeling
Claudio Miranda = The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Wally Pfister - The Dark Knight
Chris Menges, Roger Deakins - The Reader
Anthony Dod Mantle - Slumdog Millionaire

Editing
Changeling
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Frost/Nixo
In Bruges
Slumdog Millionaire

Production design
Changeling
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Revolutionary Road
Slumdog Millionaire

Costume design
Changeling
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
The Duchess
Revolutionary Road

Sound
Changeling
The Dark Knight
Quantum Of Solace
Slumdog Millionaire
Wall E

Special visual effects
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Iron Man
Quantum Of Solace

Make-up and hair
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
The Duchess
Frost/Nixon
Milk

Golden Globe winners

And the Golden Globe winners are Slumdog Millionaire ( Picture, Director, Screenplay and Score) and Kate Winslet (Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress).
Surprises: Colin Farrell winning for In Bruges, Sally Hawkins for Happy-Go-Lucky, and VCB winning Best Comedy (whoops...)

BEST MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE


BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
KATE WINSLET – REVOLUTIONARY ROAD

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
MICKEY ROURKE – THE WRESTLER

BEST MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
SALLY HAWKINS – HAPPY-GO-LUCKY


BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
COLIN FARRELL – IN BRUGES


BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
WALL-E

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
WALTZ WITH BASHIR

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE
KATE WINSLET – THE READER

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE
HEATH LEDGER – THE DARK KNIGHT

BEST DIRECTOR – MOTION PICTURE
DANNY BOYLE – SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE


BEST SCREENPLAY – MOTION PICTURE
SIMON BEAUFOY – SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE


BEST ORIGINAL SCORE – MOTION PICTURE
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE


Review: The Reader

The Reader is full of cracking performances from its star-filled cast, its plot – complete with twist – raises questions about morality and the law, and the direction is assured, but there’s some magic ingredient missing somewhere.

Ralph Fiennes is Michael Berg, a German lawyer; being played by the king of the stiff upper lip – any emotion tightly reined in – clearly indicates he must have been scarred in the past to make him the way he is. The film charts his encounter, at the age of 15, with Hanna Schmitz (Kate Winslet) in the late 50s.

Setting aside any qualms the audience might have of a 30-something woman to all intents and purposes seducing a 15-year old boy and any questions of credibility (it’s easy to see what he sees in her, but what on earth does she see in him?), Berg and Schmitz are fleshed out well by David Kross and Winslet, building audience empathy, but we know it can’t last. In between the sex, she asks him to read her to her – and essentially that’s their relationship: sex and him reading aloud to her.

Inevitably she leaves him (although the reasons are not entirely clear) and the city. A decade later, as a law student, Berg finally sees her again – in court, on trial for war crimes, accused of being an SS guard who death-marched 300 women out of Auschwitz.

Berg must wrestle with his feelings for her, the resentment he still carries, and, as the case heads towards its conclusion, the knowledge that he can save her. But does he want to save her? Does she deserve saving? If he withholds what he knows, does it matter that she’ll be punished for the wrong reasons?

30 years later he still wrestles with the same questions and sets out to find some catharsis.

Ultimately, Bernhard Schlink’s book, on which David Hare based this adaptation, is clearly concerned with Germany’s national guilt over the horrors of WWII. Apparently, director Stephen Daldry and his producers the late Sydney Pollack and Anthony Minghella were concerned that the universal themes of the novel not be confined to the time and place of the book’s setting – and they decided the only way to resolve this was to go with an English-speaking cast.

And that’s a mistake, I feel. It’s the same as if Scorsese had made Schindler’s List: it wasn’t his movie to make. This is a story about Germany’s past – and it should have been made by a German. Indeed two of the cream of the crop of German acting talent (Bruno Ganz and Alexandria Maria Lara) are in the movie, playing telling supporting roles, lending authenticity.

Everything about the movie is of the very highest quality and there are many outstanding scenes – Fiennes, as ever, suffers exquisitely and slightly perversely he commands the two or three most emotional scenes in the movie – and yet, like I said at the start, there’s something missing.
Score: 7.5/10

2008 box office review

2008 was the year of the Bat and Abba: between them The Dark Knight and Mamma Mia! took $1.5bn worldwide.
Dark Knight ended up a few dollars short of the $1bn mark, its take split $530m/$466m in favour of the US. It was No.1 in the US by a $212m margin, but was beaten by Indy Jones 4 by just a few dollars in the international marketplace.

Mamma Mia! made most of its money in the international marketplace, ending in third place ahead of Kung Fu Panda. The top four films grossed more than $400m each internationally. Passing the $300m barrier were Hancock (just shy of $400m) and Quantum of Solace (which in most major markets failed to match the success of Casino Royale).

Aside from Mamma Mia!, other box office surprises were Iron Man and Sex And The City, both taking $260m or more internationally. Box office under-performers were The Mummy 3 and Prince Caspian, the second part in the Narnia franchise, falling 44% short of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.

In the UK, Mamma Mia! is now the most successful film ever (at least in terms of box office receipts), with Bond in second place, and Batman, bloodied and bruised in third. High School Musical 3 did surprisingly well in seventh.

Worldwide Top 10
The Dark Knight $996.9m
Indy Jones 4 $786m
Kung Fu Panda $631.6m
Hancock $624m
Iron Man $581.6m
Mamma Mia! $570.5m
Quantum of Solace $531.3m
Wall*E $500.6m
Prince Caspian $419.6m
Sex And The City $412.6m

US Top 10
The Dark Knight $530.9m
Iron Man $318.3m
Indy Jones $317m
Hancock $227.9m
Wall*E $223.8m
Kung Fu Panda $215.4m
Madagascar 2 $174m
Quantum of Solace $164m
Sex And The City $152.6m
Mamma Mia! $143.8m

UK Top 10
Mamma Mia! £69.1m
Quantum of Solace £50m
The Dark Knight £48.6m
Indy Jones 4 £40m
Sex And The City £26.1m
Hancock £24.5m
High School Musical 3 £22.6m
Wall*E £22.3m
Kung Fu Panda £20m
Iron Man £17.1m

International Top 10
Indy Jones 4 $469m
The Dark Knight $466m
Mamma Mia! $426.7m
Kung Fu Panda $416.2m
Hancock $396.1m
Quantum of Solace $367m
The Mummy 3 $289.8m
Prince Caspian $278m
Wall*E $276.8m
Iron Man $263.3m