Gawker: defamer, babel

Awards Round-Up: Web More Popular Than Ever With Oscar And Porn Aficionados

Seth — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 15:03:27 EST

· Oscars web traffic is expected to be higher than ever this year—possibly even higher than the TV ratings themselves. Why? We're suspecting it has everything to do with convenient, private access to Helen Mirren's rack. [NYT]
· Babel and The Departed tied for this year's Eddie—the American Cinema Editors award. The Eddies anticipated Crash's Oscar win last year, so when Babel and The Departed tie for Best Picture this year, don't say they didn't tell you so! [Gold Derby]
· Emmanuel Lubezki won the top feature honors for his work on Children of Men at the 21st Annual American Society of Cinematographers' Outstanding Achievement Awards. The ceremony itself took Longest Name at the Guild Award Awards. [Variety]
· With still no clear favorite in the Best Picture race, campaigning has reached a "fever pitch," with every movie adopting their own tagline, including Little Miss Sunshine's catchy, "No movie featuring a heroin-OD'd grandpa in a trunk moved you more." [LAT]
· The Cinema Audio Mixing Society, comprised of "550 sound mixers and associates in the film and TV industries," awarded Dreamgirls its top award for excellence in bringing Jennifer Hudson's heffer-lunged belting down to the same levels as her co-stars. [THR]

Oscars Round-Up: Oscar Vs. Blogger

Seth — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 16:10:18 EST

· The Academy has finally caught wind of the blogowebs, and they'll just as soon set their petticoats on fire than let Oscarwatch.com confuse readers who might be searching for the official Oscar® blog that updates once every couple of weeks. [The Envelope, Oscarwatch]
· More tidbits from this year's Oscar luncheon: A record 139 nominees showed up, Peter O'Toole got a standing ovation, and the entire cast of Babel can be clearly seen giving the shocker in the class portrait. [Variety]
· The Secret Black Oscars, which Forest Whitaker hinted at in a Newsweek interview, is "not a protest or a statement," he told a reporter at the luncheon. [Reuters]
· 19-time Oscar-nominated bridesmaid Kevin O'Connell, a sound mixer once again recognized for his work on Apocalypto, told fellow nominees never to give up: "I've saved all my acceptance speeches, all the ones I've written on the backs of napkins and programs. They are all in a drawer at home." Martin Scorsese smiled and nodded his head as he listened politely, then leaned over to Mark Wahlberg to whisper, "Do me a favor. If I become that guy, shoot me in the back of the head, will you?" [Hello]
· Thank you BBC, for bothering to report what they actually lunched on: "They dined on a menu of smoked salmon canape with dill mousse, Italian herb marinated breast of chicken and sorbets in a chocolate cup." As Abigail Breslin dove into the final course, Greg Kinnear leaned towards his Little Miss Sunshine co-star to warn her that the frozen dessert will make her too fat to win on Oscar night. [BBC]

Academy Announces Twenty Percent Reduction In Brad Grey's Best Picture Chances

Mark — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 17:59:49 EST

According to a press release that just landed in our inbox (which confirms this earlier Slate story), it seems that the Academy's Executive Committee on Whether Or Not To Ignore All These Annoying Recommendation Letters About Why Brad Grey Deserves To Get A Producing Credit On The Departed has finally ruled on the Paramount emperor's appeal to get a piece of the Warner Bros.' film's Oscar glory, deciding to crush Grey's "uncouth and distasteful" double-nomination dreams. Even though he's now freed from the embarrassing possibility of having to brush by his own defeated Babel crew on his way to deliver a potential victory speech for a competitor's movie, he should still spend some time practicing suppressing the politically ill-advised urge to point to himself and mouth, "That's my movie, assholes," should the camera pan to him following the annoucement of a Departed Best Picture win.

The full press release (including the names of those awarded the Little Miss Sunshine producing credits) is after the jump:

January 26, 2007 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: [redacted]
Academy Announces
Best Picture
Producer Credits

Beverly Hills, CA — The Producers Branch Executive Committee of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced the final roster of producers nominated in the Best Picture category for the 79th Annual Academy Awards®:

Best motion picture of the year
"Babel" (Paramount and Paramount Vantage)
An Anonymous Content/Zeta Film/
Central Films Production
Alejandro González Iñárritu, Jon Kilik and Steve Golin, Producers
"The Departed" (Warner Bros.)
A Warner Bros. Pictures Production Graham King, Producer
"Letters from Iwo Jima" (Warner Bros.)
A DreamWorks Pictures/Warner Bros. Pictures
Production Clint Eastwood, Steven Spielberg and Robert Lorenz, Producers
"Little Miss Sunshine" (Fox Searchlight)
A Big Beach/Bona Fide Production David T. Friendly, Peter Saraf and Marc Turtletaub, Producers
"The Queen" (Miramax, Pathé and Granada)
A Granada Production Andy Harries, Christine Langan and Tracey Seaward, Producers

The producers of the films "The Departed" and "Little Miss Sunshine" were not announced on January 23. The nominees for these two pictures were determined by the executive committee at a meeting on Thursday evening (1/25).

Brad Grey Denied [Slate]
Brad Grey Just Happy To Be 'Nominee To Be Determined' [Defamer]

Brad Grey Just Happy To Be 'Nominee To Be Determined'

Mark — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 11:35:06 EST

When the ominous words "nominees to be determined" accompanied the announcement of The Departed's nomination for Best Picture, industry tongues reflexively clicked, heads were gravely shaken in disapproval, and the eyes of vulnerable children were shielded as if in the presence of a well-endowed drifter who unexpectedly exposed himself near a grade-school crosswalk, for it seemed clear that Paramount emperor Brad Grey had appealed the Academy for a producer credit on the film of rival studio Warner Bros (a credit recently denied by the Producers Guild), a prideful sin compounded by the fact that his own studio's Babel is also in the race for the shiniest Oscar of them all. Today's LAT reports that Academy officials are keeping quiet on the matter of Grey's presumed petition, unconvincingly asserting that they have no idea why their fax machine has recently been clogged with missives from esteemed members of the Hollywood community noting that, "For like an entire year, Brad just wouldn't shut up about how much time he spent producing this Departed thing":

On Tuesday, academy spokesman John Pavlik confirmed that an executive committee of the organization's producers branch would meet this week to decide which producers would be given credit on two films, "The Departed" and "Little Miss Sunshine." That will determine who gets to leap to the stage to accept the Oscar on Feb. 25 should either film win.
According to one person close to the matter, the decision to review's Grey's credit was prompted by letters to the academy from prominent Hollywood figures lobbying on Grey's behalf. [...]

Immediately after the [producers] guild's decision to credit King as producer of "The Departed," Grey's camp inquired about the academy's appeal process.
Grey recently acknowledged to confidants that making an appeal could be tricky especially if "The Departed" ended up competing with a Paramount film, as turned out to be the case. But he also believed he deserved credit for launching "The Departed," a view shared by Scorsese and [producer Graham] King.

Antiquated ideas about studio loyalty aside, one can hardly blame Grey for seeking the measure of Hollywood immortality granted by an Oscar; unlike antediluvian Viacom master Sumner Redstone, who recently gave him a lifetime appointment to his Paramount gig, Grey knows he won't live forever, and that his best shot at being remembered will be for the clip of his awkward acceptance speech for a The Departed Best Picture win, in which he addresses the Babel crew with, "Wow, I really wish you guys could be up here with me now to share this. The next time we all do a movie together, I promise to campaign a little harder so that you can get a chance to experience how fucking incredible this feels."

Academy to ponder credit for 'Departed' [LAT]

The Oscar Nominations: And We're Telling You 'Dreamgirls' Is Not Going To Win Best Picture

Mark — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 09:36:44 EST

Hollywood's Christmas Morning is finally here, the time when eager Oscar hopefuls rise at an obscenely early hour, rush downstairs in their footie pajamas, and hope to find the previous year's good career behavior validated with lovingly wrapped awards nominations left under the Academy's gilded tree; those deemed good enough for recognition spend the day fielding phone calls from the media, who ask difficult questions about how it feels to be on the receiving end of the golden shower of adoration offered by one's peers (invariably, it feels good! And it's an honor just to be nominated!), while the snubbed quickly retreat back up the stairs to their bedrooms, where they self-medicate their soul-crushing disappointment by swallowing handfuls of prescription painkillers, sobbing through their publicist's assurances that they're still so very, very pretty, and that in this day of the YouTubes, no one watches the Oscars anyway.

This morning, the formerly frontrunning Dreamgirls crew is caught somewhere between elation and the sweet release of barbiturate overdose, as their film led the nominations with eight, but was shut out in the Best Picture, Best Director, and lead actor categories; somewhere on their Melrose lot, Paramount and DreamWorks publicists are staring at a ringing phone, wondering whether to pick it up and emphasize the positives of their eight nods and that their boss, studio emperor Brad Grey, is happy that he's been released from the uncomfortable position of having equally beloved films facing off in the big races, or to let the calls roll into voicemail as they somberly march outside and drown themselves in the nearby fountain in the ultimate act of failed For Your Consideration self-nullification.

In other notable developments: your nominees for The Big One are The Departed, Babel, Little Miss Sunshine, The Queen, and Letters from Iwo Jima; Babel received seven nominations; Martin Scorsese gets another shot at the cruelly elusive Best Director prize; our beloved, criminally overlooked Children of Men got three bids; Leonardo DiCaprio avoided another doomed Golden Globes-style showdown with himself by landing just one Best Actor nod; Borat snuck in to the Best Adapted Screenplay race; Ryan Gosling's crackhead teacher and Jackie Earle Haley's child-molester performance were recognized in the lead and supporting categories, respectively; and the producers of Best Picture nominees The Departed and Little Miss Sunshine are sweating as the Academy sorts out who will get the chance the have their acceptance speech interrupted by the orchestra as the ceremony creeps toward the four-hour mark.

A partial list of nominees (i.e., the categories you care about) is after the jump:

Best motion picture of the year
"Babel" (Paramount and Paramount Vantage)
"The Departed" (Warner Bros.)
"Letters from Iwo Jima" (Warner Bros.)
"Little Miss Sunshine" (Fox Searchlight)
"The Queen" (Miramax, Pathé and Granada)

Achievement in directing
"Babel" (Paramount and Paramount Vantage) Alejandro González Iñárritu
"The Departed" (Warner Bros.) Martin Scorsese
"Letters from Iwo Jima" (Warner Bros.) Clint Eastwood
"The Queen" (Miramax, Pathé and Granada) Stephen Frears
"United 93" (Universal and StudioCanal) Paul Greengrass

Performance by an actor in a leading role
Leonardo DiCaprio in "Blood Diamond" (Warner Bros.)
Ryan Gosling in "Half Nelson" (THINKFilm)
Peter O'Toole in "Venus" (Miramax, Filmfour and UK Council)
Will Smith in "The Pursuit of Happyness" (Sony Pictures Releasing)
Forest Whitaker in "The Last King of Scotland" (Fox Searchlight)

Performance by an actress in a leading role
Penélope Cruz in "Volver" (Sony Pictures Classics)
Judi Dench in "Notes on a Scandal" (Fox Searchlight)
Helen Mirren in "The Queen" (Miramax, Pathé and Granada)
Meryl Streep in "The Devil Wears Prada" (20th Century Fox)
Kate Winslet in "Little Children" (New Line)

Performance by an actor in a supporting role
Alan Arkin in "Little Miss Sunshine" (Fox Searchlight)
Jackie Earle Haley in "Little Children" (New Line)
Djimon Hounsou in "Blood Diamond" (Warner Bros.)
Eddie Murphy in "Dreamgirls" (DreamWorks and Paramount)
Mark Wahlberg in "The Departed" (Warner Bros.)

Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Adriana Barraza in "Babel" (Paramount and Paramount Vantage)
Cate Blanchett in "Notes on a Scandal" (Fox Searchlight)
Abigail Breslin in "Little Miss Sunshine" (Fox Searchlight)
Jennifer Hudson in "Dreamgirls" (DreamWorks and Paramount)
Rinko Kikuchi in "Babel" (Paramount and Paramount Vantage)

Adapted screenplay
"Borat Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan" (20th Century Fox)
Screenplay by Sacha Baron Cohen & Anthony Hines & Peter Baynham & Dan Mazer
Story by Sacha Baron Cohen & Peter Baynham & Anthony Hines & Todd Phillips

"Children of Men" (Universal)
Screenplay by Alfonso Cuarón & Timothy J. Sexton and David Arata and Mark Fergus & Hawk Ostby

"The Departed" (Warner Bros.)
Screenplay by William Monahan

"Little Children" (New Line)
Screenplay by Todd Field & Tom Perrotta

"Notes on a Scandal" (Fox Searchlight)
Screenplay by Patrick Marber

Original screenplay
"Babel" (Paramount and Paramount Vantage)
Written by Guillermo Arriaga

"Letters from Iwo Jima" (Warner Bros.)
Screenplay by Iris Yamashita
Story by Iris Yamashita & Paul Haggis

"Little Miss Sunshine" (Fox Searchlight)
Written by Michael Arndt

"Pan's Labyrinth" (Picturehouse)
Written by Guillermo del Toro

"The Queen" (Miramax, Pathé and Granada)
Written by Peter Morgan

[Photo: Getty Images]

Nominations List [Oscars.org]
Oscar nominations unveiled [The Envelope]
Academy Award nominations [Variety]
'Dreamgirls' leads Oscar noms, misses best picture [THR]
'Dreamgirls' Picks Up Most Oscar Nods [AP]

Golden Globes TableHopperWatch: Brad Grey Loves Your Movie The Most

Mark — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 15:57:02 EST

Obviously looking to stir up some trouble, an anonymous tipster dropped us this note about the conspicuous table-hopping activities of Paramount emperor Brad Grey, whose various fiefdoms came away with awards for Dreamgirls and Babel:

Word on the street is that ever confident (vertically challenged?) Paramount Czar Brad Grey forced himself upon not one, but two tables at the Globes ceremony last night. Apparently he wanted to be seen at both the Dreamgirls Table AND the Babel Table... Without mentioning names, it seems that he caused a major pain in the ass for several people and displaced the guests of other key figures (talent specifically).

While constant table-flitting is an accepted staple of Globes schmoozing, we imagine it would be annoying to return after a quick trip to the bar and discover Grey plopped in your seat, and have to stand impatiently nearby until he's finished telling your tablemates that he doesn't care how big a favorite "that overrated musical" might be, he's pulling for Babel to eventually win the Oscar because he "loves a good underdog. Unless my Departed eligibility comes through, in which case I'm pulling for that one so that I don't have to feel dirty about playing favorites at the day job."

Complete Golden Globes Coverage [Defamer]

Awards Round-Up: Apparently Some Movie About The Queen Is Worth Checking Out

Seth — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 15:44:52 EST

Because it's never too late to start your Oscar pool prognosticating—especially with the all-important Canadian take to factor in—we offer another year-end awards season round-up:
· The Toronto Film Critics Association chooses to give its big prize to the woman who still appears on much of their local, bird-covered currency, The Queen, with Helen Mirren, Michael Sheen (who plays Tony Blair) and screenwriter Peter Morgan also getting nods. Just to show they aren't entirely Commonwealth monarchist snobs, Sacha Baron Cohen wins best actor for his teabagging-related work in Borat. [Variety]
· The Chicago Film Critics Association Awards announced their nominees, with Babel leading the pack at nine (including one for Brad Pitt, bringing us one step closer to those magic words, "Oscar Winner Mr. Angelina Jolie"), with The Departed and The Queen pulling in six apiece. Little Miss Sunshine and United 93 round out the best picture category. [Chicago Tribune]
· What would happen if Oscar campaigning took a cue from politics and went negative? Probably full-page Variety ads reading, "It's simple: You're either a racist who approves of gay cowboy marriage, or you think Crash was this year's Best Picture. The choice is yours." [The Envelope]

· The Las Vegas Film Society gives The Departed top honors, with Helen Mirren and Forest Whitaker once again grabbing the acting categories. The only real surprise is that Jason Reitman's Thank You For Smoking script won best screenplay—the white twentysomething dude's award of choice. [ContactMusic]
· The Southeastern Film Critics Association names The Departed the best film of the year. It remains to be seen if this regional critics' association's track record is as impressive as the Dallas Fort-Worth critics, however, who are batting 4 out of 5 in predicting the Best Picture Oscar. [TimesDispatch.com, The Envelope]

More Golden Globes Fallout: A Round-Up

Seth — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 19:28:10 EST

· A distribution of nominations according to studio puts Paramount Pictures at the head of the pack with 15, not including Paramount Vantage's 7 for Babel. You can bet the hugs were flying at Vantage today! [GoldDerby]
· If you caught a replay of the nomination announcements this morning (or, heavens forfend, actually woke up to watch them), then you probably caught an ethereal Jessica Biel's shimmering cascade of giggles as she twice had to read the words Borat: Cultural Learnings Of America For Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. You then fell back to Earth with a thud when permanent grouch-face Matthew Perry approached the podium to cough up his list of nominees. [Reuters]
· Nominee quote orgy! The Gloater: "I'm just going to sit and bask in people's envy." -Justin Kirk. The Anhedonic: "Our film is really about enjoying the experience of life...and not getting caught up in the contest." -Jonathan Dayton, co-director, Little Miss Sunshine. The Liar: "It is a privilege to be mentioned in the same breath with actors like...Will Smith..." -Leonardo DiCaprio. [AP]
· Desperate Housewives creator Marc Cherry describes the typical writers' room post nomination announcement celebration: "I will probably toast my writing staff with Diet Coke and we'll spend about 10 minutes talking about it and then we'll just jump back into work," putting their celebration at roughly five times the duration of the one Teri Hatcher and Eva Longoria have planned for their nominated co-stars, Marcia Cross and Felicity Huffman. [AP]

The Golden Globes Nominations: Leo Vs. Leo, Clint Vs. Clint

Mark — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 10:37:25 EST

With no Golden Globes story line as compelling as last year's tension over whether or not the Hollywood Foreign Press Association would pit Heath Ledger's mumble-mouthed rancher against Jake Gyllenhaal's dreamy-eyed-yet-mercurial cowpoke (or, more accurately, "sheep-poke") bottom, we suppose we'll have to settle for the one you're going to be reading about all day: the double nominations of Clint Eastwood in the directing category (for both of his World War II movies) and Leonardo DiCaprio's dual Best Actor nods for The Departed and Blood Diamond. For those so inclined, squeezing one's eyes shut and imagining the steamy Leo-on-Leo action of DiCaprio's Boston cop and South African smuggler wrestling over the gilded Globe statue while grunting in passable Southie and Afrikaner accents might fill the erotic void left by the celebrated gay cowboys. In other multiple nominations news, Helen Mirren was recognized for playing both Elizabeth I in a TV miniseries and Elizabeth II in The Queen, an achievement that we genuinely hope you won't use to concoct transgressive, cross-generational fantasies that sully the monarchy. Leave the queens alone, sicky.

In the interest of summary: Babel led all films with seven nominations (including Best Drama), The Departed landed six, Borat hit the Best Comedy or Musical list (with Sacha Baron Cohen getting a nomination in the corresponding acting category), and Apocalypto garnered a nod in the HFPA's obscure, but prestigious, Best Mayan-Language Splatter Film Directed By A Noted Anti-Semite.

The full list of nominations is after the jump (including all the TV categories we couldn't be bothered to discuss above), and fine round-ups of this morning's Globes announcement can be found here, here, here, and here, should you not care to peruse our loving cut-and-paste of the HFPA's press release.

BEST MOTION PICTURE - DRAMA

BABEL
Anonymous Content Production/Una Producci n De Zeta Film/Central Film Production; Paramount Pictures/Paramount Vantage

BOBBY
Bold Films; The Weinstein Company

THE DEPARTED
Warner Bros. Pictures; Warner Bros. Pictures

LITTLE CHILDREN
New Line Cinema; New Line Cinema

THE QUEEN
A Granada Production; Miramax Films

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE - DRAMA

PEN LOPE CRUZ
VOLVER

JUDI DENCH
NOTES ON A SCANDAL

MAGGIE GYLLENHAAL
SHERRYBABY

HELEN MIRREN
THE QUEEN

KATE WINSLET
LITTLE CHILDREN

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE - DRAMA

LEONARDO DICAPRIO
BLOOD DIAMOND

LEONARDO DICAPRIO
THE DEPARTED

PETER O'TOOLE
VENUS

WILL SMITH
THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS

FOREST WHITAKER
THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND

BEST MOTION PICTURE - COMEDY OR MUSICAL

BORAT: CULTURAL LEARNINGS OF AMERICA FOR MAKE BENEFIT GLORIOUS NATION OF KAZAKHSTAN
One America; Twentieth Century Fox

THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA
Twentieth Century Fox; Twentieth Century Fox

DREAMGIRLS
DreamWorks Pictures/Paramount Pictures; DreamWorks Pictures/Paramount Pictures

LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
Big Beach/Bonafide Productions; Fox Searchlight Pictures

THANK YOU FOR SMOKING
Room 9 Entertainment/David O. Sacks Production/Content Film; Fox Searchlight Pictures

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE - COMEDY OR MUSICAL

a. ANNETTE BENING
RUNNING WITH SCISSORS

b. TONI COLLETTE
LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE

c. BEYONC KNOWLES
DREAMGIRLS

d. MERYL STREEP
THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA

e. RENEE ZELLWEGER
MISS POTTER

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE - COMEDY OR MUSICAL

a. SACHA BARON COHEN
BORAT: CULTURAL LEARNINGS OF AMERICA FOR MAKE BENEFIT GLORIOUS NATION OF KAZAKHSTAN

b. JOHNNY DEPP
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST

c. AARON ECKHART
THANK YOU FOR SMOKING

d. CHIWETEL EJIOFOR
KINKY BOOTS

e. WILL FERRELL
STRANGER THAN FICTION

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

CARS
Walt Disney Pictures/Pixar Animation Studio; Buena Vista Pictures Distribution

HAPPY FEET
Kingdom Pictures, LLC; Warner Bros. Pictures/Village Roadshow Pictures

MONSTER HOUSE
Columbia Pictures; Sony Pictures Releasing

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

APOCALYPTO (USA)
Touchstone Pictures/Icon Productions; Buena Vista Pictures Distribution

LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA (USA/JAPAN)
Warner Bros. Pictures/DreamWorks Pictures; Warner Bros. Pictures

THE LIVES OF OTHERS (GERMANY)
Wiedemann & Berg Filmproduktion; Sony Pictures Classics

PAN'S LABYRINTH (MEXICO)
Estudios Picasso/Tequila Gang/Esperanto; Picturehouse

VOLVER (SPAIN)
El Deseo; Sony Pictures Classics

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE

ADRIANA BARRAZA
BABEL

CATE BLANCHETT
NOTES ON A SCANDAL

EMILY BLUNT
THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA

JENNIFER HUDSON
DREAMGIRLS

RINKO KIKUCHI
BABEL

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE

BEN AFFLECK
HOLLYWOODLAND

EDDIE MURPHY
DREAMGIRLS

JACK NICHOLSON
THE DEPARTED

BRAD PITT
BABEL

MARK WAHLBERG
THE DEPARTED

BEST DIRECTOR - MOTION PICTURE

CLINT EASTWOOD
FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS

CLINT EASTWOOD
LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA

STEPHEN FREARS
THE QUEEN

ALEJANDRO GONZALEZ I ?RRITU
BABEL

MARTIN SCORSESE
THE DEPARTED

BEST SCREENPLAY - MOTION PICTURE

GUILLERMO ARRIAGA
BABEL

TODD FIELD & TOM PERROTTA
LITTLE CHILDREN

PATRICK MARBER
NOTES ON A SCANDAL

WILLIAM MONAHAN
THE DEPARTED

PETER MORGAN
THE QUEEN

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE - MOTION PICTURE

ALEXANDRE DESPLAT
THE PAINTED VEIL

CLINT MANSELL
THE FOUNTAIN

GUSTAVO SANTAOLALLA
BABEL

CARLO SILIOTTO
NOMAD

HANS ZIMMER
THE DA VINCI CODE

BEST ORIGINAL SONG - MOTION PICTURE

"A FATHER'S WAY" — THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS
Music by: Seal and Christopher Bruce
Lyrics by: Seal

"LISTEN" — DREAMGIRLS
Music & Lyrics by: Henry Krieger, Anne Preven, Scott Cutler and Beyonc Knowles

"NEVER GONNA BREAK MY FAITH" — BOBBY
Music & Lyrics by: Bryan Adams, Eliot Kennedy and Andrea Remanda

"THE SONG OF THE HEART" — HAPPY FEET
Music & Lyrics by: Prince Rogers Nelson

"TRY NOT TO REMEMBER" — HOME OF THE BRAVE
Music & Lyrics by: Sheryl Crow

BEST TELEVISION SERIES - DRAMA

24 (FOX)
Imagine Television and 20th Century Fox Television i.a.w. Real Time Prods.

BIG LOVE (HBO)
Anima Sola and Playtone Prods. i.a.w. HBO Entertainment

GREY'S ANATOMY (ABC)
Touchstone Television

HEROES (NBC)
NBC Universal Television Studios i.a.w. Tailwind Prods.

LOST (ABC)
Touchstone Television

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES - DRAMA

PATRICIA ARQUETTE
MEDIUM

EDIE FALCO
THE SOPRANOS

EVANGELINE LILLY
LOST

ELLEN POMPEO
GREY'S ANATOMY

KYRA SEDGWICK
THE CLOSER

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES - DRAMA

PATRICK DEMPSEY
GREY'S ANATOMY

MICHAEL C. HALL
DEXTER

HUGH LAURIE
HOUSE

BILL PAXTON
BIG LOVE

KIEFER SUTHERLAND
24

BEST TELEVISION SERIES - COMEDY OR MUSICAL

a. DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES (ABC)
Touchstone Television

b. ENTOURAGE (HBO)
Leverage and Closest to the Hole Prods. i.a.w. HBO Entertainment

c. THE OFFICE (NBC)
Deedle Dee Prods. with Reveille i.a.w. NBC Universal Television Studio

d. UGLY BETTY (ABC)
Touchstone Television

e. WEEDS (SHOWTIME)
Showtime i.a.w. Lionsgate Television and Tilted Prods., Inc.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES -COMEDY OR MUSICAL

MARCIA CROSS
DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES

AMERICA FERRERA
UGLY BETTY

FELICITY HUFFMAN
DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES

JULIA LOUIS-DREYFUS
THE NEW ADVENTURES OF OLD CHRISTINE

MARY-LOUISE PARKER
WEEDS

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES - COMEDY OR MUSICAL

ALEC BALDWIN
30 ROCK

ZACH BRAFF
SCRUBS

STEVE CARRELL
THE OFFICE

JASON LEE
MY NAME IS EARL

TONY SHALHOUB
MONK

BEST MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

BLEAK HOUSE (PBS)
BBC and WGBH Boston Prod. i.a.w. Deep Indigo

BROKEN TRAIL (AMC)
Butchers Run Films and Once Upon a Time Films i.a.w. Sony Pictures Television

ELIZABETH I (HBO)
Company Pictures and Channel 4 i.a.w. HBO Films

MRS. HARRIS (HBO)
Killer Films, Number 9 Films and John Wells Prod. i.a.w. HBO Films

PRIME SUSPECT: THE FINAL ACT (PBS)
Granada and WGBH-Boston Prod.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

GILLIAN ANDERSON
BLEAK HOUSE

ANNETTE BENING
MRS. HARRIS

HELEN MIRREN
ELIZABETH I

HELEN MIRREN
PRIME SUSPECT: THE FINAL ACT

SOPHIE OKONEDO
TSUNAMI, THE AFTERMATH

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

ANDR BRAUGHER
THIEF

ROBERT DUVALL
BROKEN TRAIL

MICHAEL EALY
SLEEPER CELL: AMERICAN TERROR

CHIWETEL EJIOFOR
TSUNAMI, THE AFTERMATH

BEN KINGSLEY
MRS. HARRIS

BILL NIGHY
GIDEON'S DAUGHTER

MATTHEW PERRY
THE RON CLARK STORY

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

EMILY BLUNT
GIDEON'S DAUGHTER

TONI COLLETTE
TSUNAMI, THE AFTERMATH

KATHERINE HEIGL
GREY'S ANATOMY

SARAH PAULSON
STUDIO 60 ON THE SUNSET STRIP

ELIZABETH PERKINS
WEEDS

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

THOMAS HADEN CHURCH
BROKEN TRAIL

JEREMY IRONS
ELIZABETH I

JUSTIN KIRK
WEEDS

MASI OKA
HEROES

JEREMY PIVEN
ENTOURAGE

[Photo: Getty Images]

HOLLYWOOD FOREIGN PRESS ASSOCIATION ANNOUNCED THE NOMINATIONS FOR THE 64TH GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS [HFPA.org]

Broadcast Film Critics Willing To Forgive Ben Affleck His Past 'Gigli' Transgressions

Seth — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 15:23:16 EST

We here at Defamer love the holiday season for no other reason than the bounty of movie critics' year-end lists and awards it brings us, like decrees handed down from on high from our pull-quote producing, thumb-direction-assigning cinematic sages. The Broadcast Film Critics Association adds another layer of intrigue to the process, ~~dragging things out~~ heightening the suspense by first releasing a list of nominees in every category, and later announcing the winners at the E!-broadcast Critics' Choice Awards—a mini-Oscars, as it were, only with the added feature of having Ryan Seacrest backstage to helpfully offer select Best Actor and Supporting Actor nominees stress-relieving lower back rubs. A partial list of the nominees, from The Envelope:

Martin Scorsese's gangster film "The Departed" received nominations for best film, best director, best actor (Leonardo DiCaprio), supporting actor (Jack Nicholson), best acting ensemble, best writer (William Monahan) and best composer (Howard Shore). [...]
Also competing for best picture are ["Babel," "Little Miss Sunshine," "Dreamgirls,"] "Blood Diamond," "Letters From Iwo Jima," "Little Children," "Notes on a Scandal," "The Queen" and "United 93."

Joining DiCaprio for best actor are Ryan Gosling for "Half Nelson," Peter O'Toole for "Venus," Will Smith for "The Pursuit of Happyness" and "Forest Whitaker for "The Last King of Scotland."
Competing for best actress are Penelope Cruz for "Volver," Judi Dench for "Notes on a Scandal," Helen Mirren for "The Queen," Meryl Streep for "The Devil Wears Prada" and Kate Winslet for "Little Children."

Also worth nothing is their singling out of Ben Affleck for his turn in Hollywoodland—a role that had garnered positive reviews and a Venice film fest award when the movie was released back in early September, but that might have otherwise gotten lost in the awards shuffle—and the lack of a nomination for former bromance partner/better-career-decision-maker Matt Damon's work in The Departed. It remains to be seen if this might herald a reversal of fortune for the duo, with Damon unexpectedly entering a semi-retirement of taking care of his newborn and making well-photographed Starbucks runs, while Affleck, even more astoundingly, finds himself no longer the object ot tabloid ridicule as he embarks on a string of well-received movies.

Broadcast Film Critics announce noms [The Envelope]

Cate Blanchett Graciously Feigns Hysterics At Brad Pitt 'Babel' Set Antics

Seth — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 22:24:15 EDT

Sometimes, the pressures of working on a Big Important Picture get to be just a little too much; it then falls to the star to help loosen the mood of a challenging production, using anything and everything at their disposal to raise the spirits of cast and crew. And while George Clooney is considered a master of the genre, concocting elaborate ruses that can take months to unfold, his frequent Oceans co-star Brad Pitt tends to go for the easier laugh:

In an interview in Entertainment Weekly's Oct. 30 issue, the 42-year-old actor says he amused himself and his colleagues by yanking up his pants to give himself a wedgie, sticking out his rear and waddling about like a duck. "Throughout the movie, I'd walk around like this," he says.
"You've gotta find things to make you laugh during the shoot," he adds. "Cate (Blanchett) called it the Hungry Bum."

He explains: "When your bum's so hungry it's trying to eat your pants."

Less amused than Blanchett at Pitt's high-waisted antics was Angelina Jolie, who, upon being introduced to Pitt's "Hungry Bum" for the first time, sat stone-faced for several moments before delivering an earnest and impassioned lecture on how the two of them should be spending less time clowning around, and more time starting a foundation to help ensure no other bums go hungry ever again.

Brad Pitt a Wedgie Jokester on Set [AP]