Road to the Oscars: Critics Choice Awards

Posted by The Citizen Review | Posted in , , | Posted on 10:12 AM

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The CCA always give us an interesting bundle of nominees (last year Meryl Streep tied with Anne Hathaway).

BEST PICTURE
Avatar
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Invictus
Nine
Precious
A Serious Man
Up
Up In The Air

BEST ACTOR
Jeff Bridges – Crazy Heart
George Clooney – Up In The Air
Colin Firth – A Single Man
Morgan Freeman – Invictus
Viggo Mortensen – The Road
Jeremy Renner – The Hurt Locker


BEST ACTRESS
Emily Blunt – The Young Victoria
Sandra Bullock – The Blind Side
Carey Mulligan – An Education
Saoirse Ronan – The Lovely Bones
Gabourey Sidibe – Precious
Meryl Streep – Julie & Julia


BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Matt Damon – Invictus
Woody Harrelson – The Messenger
Christian McKay – Me And Orson Welles
Alfred Molina – An Education
Stanley Tucci – The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz – Inglourious Basterds

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Marion Cotillard – Nine
Vera Farmiga – Up In The Air
Anna Kendrick – Up In The Air
Mo’Nique – Precious
Julianne Moore – A Single Man
Samantha Morton – The Messenger

BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS
Jae Head – The Blind Side
Bailee Madison – Brothers
Max Records – Where The Wild Things Are
Saoirse Ronan – The Lovely Bones
Kodi Smit-McPhee – The Road

BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE
Inglourious Basterds
Nine
Precious
Star Trek
Up In The Air

BEST DIRECTING
Kathryn Bigelow – The Hurt Locker
James Cameron – Avatar
Lee Daniels – Precious
Clint Eastwood – Invictus
Jason Reitman – Up In The Air
Quentin Tarantino – Inglourious Basterds

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Mark Boal – The Hurt Locker
Joel Coen & Ethan Coen – A Serious Man
Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber – (500) Days Of Summer
Bob Peterson, Peter Docter – Up
Quentin Tarantino – Inglourious Basterds

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Wes Anderson, Noah Baumbach – Fantastic Mr. Fox
Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell – District 9
Geoffrey Fletcher – Precious
Tom Ford, David Scearce – A Single Man
Nick Hornby – An Education
Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner – Up In The Air

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs
Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Princess And The Frog
Up

BEST ACTION MOVIE
Avatar
District 9
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Star Trek

BEST COMEDY
(500) Days Of Summer
The Hangover
It’s Complicated
The Proposal
Zombieland

BEST PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

Gifted Hands
Grey Gardens
Into The Storm
Taking Chance

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Anvil
Capitalism: A Love Story
The Cove
Food, Inc.
Michael Jackson’s This Is It

BEST SONG
“All Is Love” – Karen O, Nick Zinner – Where The Wild Things Are
“Almost There” – Randy Newman – The Princess And The Frog
“Cinema Italiano” – Maury Yeston – Nine
“(I Want To) Come Home” – Paul McCartney – Everybody’s Fine
“The Weary Kind” – T Bone Burnett, Ryan Bingham – Crazy Heart

BEST SCORE
Michael Giacchino – Up
Marvin Hamlisch – The Informant!
Randy Newman – The Princess and the Frog
Karen O, Carter Burwell – Where The Wild Things Are
Hans Zimmer – Sherlock Holmes

Oh, boy. There were many gasps when this list was read. Here's what we found a little surprising, if not pleasing: Up and Nine for Best Picture (Yay!); Viggo Mortensen for The Road; Emily Blunt for The Young Victoria; Saoirse Ronan for Best Actress and Best Young Actor (those poor presenters are going to have to stumble on her name once again); Alfred Molina for An Education. And of course the mystifying saga of Sandra Bullock continues, but that's hardly a surprise anymore.

Road to the Oscars: National Board of Review Awards

Posted by The Citizen Review | Posted in | Posted on 9:56 AM

We tend to trust the NBR when it comes to their awards. Although this isn't exactly one of the most attention-paid exhibits, it's still important and it's all part of "the road".

Best Film
Up In The Air by Jason Reitman

Ten Best Films (in alphabetical order)
An Education
(500) Days of Summer
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Invictus
The Messenger
A Serious Man
Star Trek
Up
Where the Wild Things Are

Best Foreign Film
A Prophet

Five Best Foreign-Language Films (in alphabetical order)
The Maid
Revanche
Song of Sparrows
Three Monkeys
The White Ribbon

Best Documentary
The Cove

Five Best Documentaries (in alphabetical order)
Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country
Crude
Food, Inc.
Good Hair
The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers

Best Animated Feature
Up

Top Ten Independent Films (in alphabetical order)
Amreeka
District 9
Goodbye Solo
Humpday
In the Loop
Julia
Me and Orson Welles
Moon
Sugar
Two Lovers

Best Director
Clint Eastwood,
Invictus

Best Actor (tie)
Morgan Freeman,
Invictus, and George Clooney, Up In The Air

Best Actress
Carey Mulligan,
An Education

Best Supporting Actor
Woody Harrelson,
The Messenger

Best Supporting Actress
Anna Kendrick,
Up In The Air

Best Ensemble Cast
It’s Complicated

Breakthrough Performance by an Actor
Jeremy Renner,
The Hurt Locker

Breakthrough Performance by an Actress
Gabourey Sidibe,
Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire

Best Original Screenplay
Joel & Ethan Coen,
A Serious Man

Best Adapted Screenplay
Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner,
Up In The Air

The surprises abound. First of all, we like how they have an independent category, props to the NBR on that. Here is what we were surprised to find: tie between Clooney and Freeman for best actor; Anna Kendrick for best supporting actress (what the what?); It's Complicated for best ensemble (what the WHAT?); Star Trek for top ten films; We were happy for 500 Days of Summer as well.

Road to the Oscars: SAG Award Nominees

Posted by The Citizen Review | Posted in | Posted on 9:30 AM


The SAGs are big for actors. A nominee here can almost definitely secure an Oscar nominee. Also keep in mind that although the SAG doesn't do a Best Picture category exactly but the Best Ensemble category can pretty much be thought of as the same thing.

ACTOR:
Jeff Bridges - Crazy Heart
George Clooney - Up in the Air
Colin Firth - A Single Man
Morgan Freeman - Invictus
Jeremy Renner - The Hurt Locker

ACTRESS:
Sandra Bullock - The Blind Side
Helen Mirren - The Last Station
Carey Mulligan - An Education
Gabourey Sidibe - Precious
Meryl Streep - Julie & Julia

SUPPORTING ACTOR:
Matt Damon - Invictus
Woody Harrelson - The Messenger
Christopher Plummer - The Last Station
Stanley Tucci - The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz - Inglourious Basterds

SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
Penelope Cruz - Nine
Vera Farmiga - Up in the Air
Anna Kendrick - Up in the Air
Diane Kruger - Inglourious Basterds
Mo'nique - Precious

ENSEMBLE CAST:
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Nine
Precious

Outstanding performance by an ensemble in a drama series

The Closer
Dexter
The Good Wife
Mad Men
True Blood

Outstanding performance by an ensemble in a comedy series

30 Rock
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Glee
Modern Family

The Office

Outstanding performance by a male actor in a drama series

Simon Baker, The Mentalist
Bryan Cranston,
Breaking Bad
Michael C. Hall,
Dexter
Jon Hamm, Mad Men
Hugh Laurie,
House

Outstanding performance by a female actor in a drama series

Patricia Arquette, Medium
Glenn Close,
Damages
Mariska Hargitay,
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Holly Hunter,
Saving Grace
Julianna Margulies,
The Good Wife
Kyra Sedgwick,
The Closer

Outstanding performance by a male actor in a comedy series

Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
Steve Carell,
The Office
Larry David,
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Tony Shalhoub,
Monk
Charlie Sheen,
Two and a Half Men

Outstanding performance by a female actor in a comedy series

Christina Applegate, Samantha Who?
Toni Collette,
United States Of Tara
Edie Falco,
Nurse Jackie
Tina Fey,
30 Rock
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, The New Adventures of Old Christine

Outstanding performance by a male actor in a television movie or miniseries

Kevin Bacon, Taking Chance (HBO)
Cuba Gooding Jr.,
Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story (TNT)
Jeremy Irons,
Georgia O’keeffe” (Lifetime)
Kevin Kline,
Great Performances: Cyrano De Bergerac (PBS)
Tom Wilkinson,
A Number (HBO)

Outstanding performance by a female actor in a television movie or miniseries

Joan, Georgia O’keeffe (Lifetime)
Drew Barrymore,
Grey Gardens (HBO)
Ruby Dee,
America (Lifetime)
Jessica Lange,
Grey Gardens (HBO)
Sigourney Weaver,
Prayers For Bobby (Lifetime)

We're still pretty shocked about Sandra Bullock's success but maybe it's her Norma Rae? Other than that, there aren't any major surprises with these nominees.