We’re feeling extremely out-of-sorts and near ill. Trying to catch up…Things that are going help shape this Oscar season.
“Slumdog Millionaire” is again showing its critical muscle. The film was named Film Of The Year, by the Washington, D.C. Critics Poll. Danny Boyle was given director prize, Mickey Rourke’s “The Wrestler” turn scored Best Actor, and Best Supporting Actor was nabbed by Heath Ledger’s ferocious perfomance in “The Dark Knight.” Meryl Streep won Best Actress in “Doubt.”
Continuing its Foreign Film domination in award season, Italy’s “Gomorra” won five awards at the 21st Annual European Film Awards. The crime film based on a novel by Roberto Saviano, won best film, best actor and best director (Matteo Garrone) and must be seen as one of the Oscar frontrunners. It was lauded at Cannes, celebrated at the New York Film Festival and is Italy’s official entry in the 2008 Oscars. We dunno, we liked it, but we can probably think of at least a half a dozen or more Foreign Films that dazzled us on a much deeper level. [Anne Thompson]
Heath Ledger was posthumously awarded the Australian Film Institute’s international award for best actor for this Joker role in “The Dark Knight.” [NYDaily News]
The International Documentary Awards awarded “Man On Wire” and “Waltz with Bashir” for the Best Documentary prize (it was a tie) and honored Werner Herzog with a tribute to his work in the doc field (many of Herzog’s docs are astonishingly good, but “Little Dieter Learns to Fly,” and “My Best Fiend” are must-must sees. Herzog gave a speech that was typically both pretentious and inspiring. [Variety]
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” might be headed for multiple Oscar nominations, but will Brad Pitt get snubbed for Best Actor? [Film.com]
Incredibly, “Frost/Nixon” won the highest per screen average of any film so far this year this weekend. “On three screens, the Universal release grossed a massive $180,147 for a $60,049 average. That average ranks as a 2008 high, beating out the likes of “Kit Kittredge: An American Girl” and last weekend’s “Milk” (which, mind you, opened on 30 more screens than ‘Nixon’). That’s remarkable and we would never have guessed that. [IndieWire]