BFCA nominations

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The Broadcast Film Critics nominations have covered all the bases -- too many, as usual, as far as the ten Best Picture noms are concerned. (Why not twelve? why not fifteen? Spread it around.) But their choices are tasteful and well-considered, for the most part. Seven nominations each for Babel (but no Best Director nom for Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu), The Departed, Little Miss Sunshine and Dreamgirls... plus both a Best Picture and a Best Foreign Film nomination for Letters From Iwo Jima. What, they couldn't decide? I guess they're just trying to up the odds of Clint coming away with a prize.

Two Best Actor noms for Leonardo DiCaprio (The Departed, Blood Diamond) either means a cancel -out factor (most likely) or that Leo has a shot at actually taking one from The Last King of Scotland's Forrest Whitaker.

There is, of course, one bizarre omisssion in the Best Foreign Language Film category: Florian Von Henckel Donnermarck's The Lives of Others . I can't quite say this German-language film is "better" than Pan's Labyrinth or Volver, my other two favorites in this exceptionally bountiful category, but it unquestionably delivers more, I feel, in the way of a symphonic, rock-your-world dramatic payoff. Either the BFCA nominators didn't see it (inexcusable) or they're playing political games for the sake of political gain.

This hypothesis seems not only credible but persuasive in light of the BFCA having included Mel Gibson's Apocalypto as one of its Best Foreign Film nominees. What is that...a sop to Disney along with a chance that they can get Gibson to attend the awards ceremony?

Of all the Best Young Actor nominees, Little Miss Sunshine's Paul Dano gives the deepest, funniest andmost expressive performance. This guy, for me, is easily as affecting and on-target as Alan Arkin and Steve Carell are in their Sunshine roles.

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on December 12, 2006 at 7:24 AM

comment #1

Reedyb says ...

Thought I would make it easy and post the nominees here.

And the nominees are...

PICTURE:

Babel
Blood Diamond
The Departed
Dreamgirls
Letters from Iwo Jima
Little Children
Little Miss Sunshine
Notes on a Scandal
The Queen
United 93

ACTOR:
Leonardo DiCaprio - "Blood Diamond"
Leonardo DiCaprio - "The Departed"
Ryan Gosling - "Half Nelson"
Peter O'Toole - "Venus"
Will Smith - "The Pursuit of Happyness"
Forest Whitaker - "The Last King of Scotland"

ACTRESS:
Penelope Cruz - "Volver"
Judi Dench - "Notes on a Scandal"
Helen Mirren - "The Queen"
Meryl Streep - "The Devil Wears Prada"
Kate Winslet - "Little Children"

SUPPORTING ACTOR:
Ben Affleck - "Hollywoodland"
Alan Arkin - "Little Miss Sunshine"
Adam Beach - "Flags of Our Fathers"
Djimon Hounsou - "Blood Diamond"
Eddie Murphy - "Dreamgirls"
Jack Nicholson - "The Departed"

SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
Adriana Barraza - "Babel"
Cate Blanchett - "Notes on a Scandal"
Jennifer Hudson - "Dreamgirls"
Rinko Kikuchi - "Babel"
Catherine O'Hara - "For Your Consideration"
Emma Thompson - "Stranger Than Fiction"

ACTING ENSEMBLE:
Babel
Bobby
The Departed
Dreamgirls
Little Miss Sunshine
A Prairie Home Companion

DIRECTOR:
Bill Condon - "Dreamgirls"
Clint Eastwood - "Letters from Iwo Jima"
Stephen Frears - "The Queen"
Paul Greengrass - "United 93"
Martin Scorsese - "The Departed"

WRITER:
Michael Arndt - "Little Miss Sunshine"
Guillermo Arriaga - "Babel"
Todd Field and Tom Perrotta - "Little Children"
Zach Helm - "Stranger Than Fiction"
William Monahan - "The Departed"
Peter Morgan - "The Queen"

ANIMATED FEATURE:
"Cars"
"Flushed Away"
"Happy Feet"
"Monster House"
"Over the Hedge"

YOUNG ACTOR:
Cameron Bright - "Thank You For Smoking"
Joseph Cross - "Running With Scissors"
Paul Dano - "Little Miss Sunshine"
Freddie Highmore - "A Good Year"
Jaden Christopher Syre Smith - "The Pursuit of Happyness"

YOUNG ACTRESS:
Ivana Baquero - "Pan's Labyrinth"
Abigail Breslin - "Little Miss Sunshine"
Shareeka Epps - "Half Nelson"
Dakota Fanning - "Charlotte's Web"
Keke Palmer - "Akeelah and the Bee"

COMEDY MOVIE:
Borat
For Your Consideration
Little Miss Sunshine
The Devil Wears Prada
Thank You For Smoking

FAMILY FILM (LIVE ACTION):
Akeelah and the Bee
Charlotte's Web
Flicka
Lassie
Pirates of the Caribbean 2

PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION:
Elizabeth I
The Librarian
Nightmares & Dreamscapes
The Ron Clark Story
When the Levees Broke

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM:
Apocalypto
Days of Glory
Letters from Iwo Jima
Pan's Labyrinth
Volver
Water

SONG:
"I Need to Wake Up" - Melissa Etheridge - "An Inconvenient Truth"
"Listen" - Beyonce - "Dreamgirls"
"My Little Girl" - Tim McGraw - "Flicka"
"The Neighbor" - Dixie Chicks - "Shut Up & Sing"
"Never Gnna Break My Faith" - Aretha Franklin and Mary J. Blige - "Bobby"
"Ordinary Miracle" - Sarah McLachlan - "Charlotte's Web"

SOUNDTRACK:
Babel
Cars
Dreamgirls
Happy Feet
Marie Antoinette

COMPOSER:
Philip Glass - "The Illusionist"
Clint Mansell - "The Fountain"
Thomas Newman - "The Good German"
Gustavo Santaolalla - "Babel"
Howard Shore - "The Departed"
Hans Zimmer - "The Da Vinci Code"

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE:
An Inconvenient Truth
Shut Up & Sing
This Film Is Not Yet Rated
Who Killed the Electric Car?
Wordplay

Posted by Reedyb at December 12, 2006 8:55 AM

comment #2

chmoye says ...

Umm... Letters from Iwo Jima is in the Best Picture category list that I've seen and Reedyb has posted. Not sure what you're talking about, Jeff.

Posted by chmoye at December 12, 2006 10:09 AM

comment #3

VedaPierce says ...

I imagine we'll see the same Best Actress nominees at the Oscars.

Is Kate Winslet the new Deborah Kerr?

Posted by VedaPierce at December 12, 2006 10:24 AM

comment #4

Argen says ...

If Jaden Christopher Syre Smith continues acting I hope someone introduces him to the concept of the stage name.

Posted by Argen at December 12, 2006 10:32 AM

comment #5

Rod32303 says ...

Dano is superior in his film...for me, KeKe Palmer is untouchable in "Akeelah and the Bee" - real and honest and lovely and beautiful. Jeff, have you seen her in this? She wins every scene she's in, including those with master thespians Laurence Fishburne and Angela Bassett.

Posted by Rod32303 at December 12, 2006 10:51 AM

comment #6

gruver1 says ...

Wells to chmoye: Apologies -- I read too quickly before posting. The BFCA has "Letters From Iwo Jima" as both a Best Picture nom AND a Best Foreign Film nom -- another whore move. They should have just decided which category it belongs in and go with that. Being this overly generous makes the BFCA look like suck-ups, which of course they are.

Posted by gruver1 at December 12, 2006 11:06 AM

comment #7