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Foreign Oscar Entries

The foreign film race has never been stronger than it is this year. Here's my latest sense of the top Oscar contenders based on festival buzz, reviews and feedback from insiders on the foreign film committee:

Three should definitely make it: The Lives of Others, Germany, Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck (Sony Pictures Classics), Pan's Labyrinth, Mexico, Guillermo del Toro (Picturehouse), and Volver, Spain, Pedro Almodovar (SPC). Also playing well are Indigenes, Algeria, Rachid Bouchared (Weinstein Co.), Water, Canada, Deepa Mehta (Fox Searchlight, on DVD), Curse of the Golden Flower, China, Zhang Yimou (SPC), After the Wedding, Denmark, Susanne Bier (IFC Films), Vitus, Switzerland, Fredi Murer (no distrib), The Golden Door, Italy, Emanuele Crialiese (Miramax Films), Avenue Montaigne, France, Daniele Thompson (Thinkfilm), Sweet Mud, Israel, Dror Shaul (no distrib), and Ten Canoes, Australia, Rolf de Heer (Palm Pictures).

This Oscar site has everything you've ever wanted to know about all 61 films that have been submitted for foreign film Oscar consideration so far.

Premiere Most Overrated

The much-improved Premiere website boasts a fun look at movies that some Premiere staffers claim have been way over-hyped over the years. While Easy Rider does not hold up under scrutiny—it was however a very influential product of its time— most of the movies on this list deserve their acclaim, in my opinion. My personal choices for over-praised movies include Todd Haynes' Far from Heaven, a stiff and arid exercise in style which many critics adored, but left me cold. And I wonder how last year's best picture winner Crash will hold up over time. Any other overrated movies that should have been on Premiere's list?

Worst-Reviewed Movie of 2006: Basic Instinct 2

Rotten Tomatoes has compiled its best-and-worst reviewed movies of 2006, and today announced its 8th Annual Golden Tomato Award winners. They include Casino Royal for the Wide Release / Action/Adventure category and The Queen for the Limited Release / Drama category. This year’s Moldy Tomato Award, for the worst-reviewed movie of the year, went to Basic Instinct 2. Here's a full list of winners in all 14 categories:

2006 Golden Tomato Award Winners
Wide Release / Action/Adventure: “Casino Royale”
Limited Release / Drama: “The Queen”
Animation: “Cars”
Comedy: “Borat”
Documentary: “Wordplay”
Foreign: “Pan's Labyrinth”
Horror: “The Descent”
Family: “Lassie”
Romance: “The Science of Sleep”
Sci-Fi: “Children of Men”
Thriller: “The Departed”
Moldy Tomato (Worse Reviewed Movie of the Year): “Basic Instinct 2”

National Film Society Honors Pan's Labyrinth, United 93

The National Society of Film Critics is reflecting the late-surging momentum for Pan's Labyrinth, and continuing to show the love to United 93. Here's The Envelope's blow-by-blow on how the voting went down. And here's Gregg Kilday's THR story:

Guillermo Del Toro’s imaginative fable “Pan’s Labyrinth” was voted best picture of 2006 by the National Society of Film Critics at the group’s annual meeting at Sardi’s Restaurant in New York City on Saturday.

The Spanish-language film, a Picturehouse release, prevailed in the voting over Christi Puiu’s “Death of Mr. Lazarescu,” which came in second, and Clint Eastwood’s “Letters from Iwo Jima,” which placed third. Del Toro did not receive best director honors, however. That distinction went to Paul Greengrass, for helming the docudrama “United 93.” Del Toro and “The Departed’s” Martin Scorsese tied for second place.

The society of 58 critics from around the country, who dedicated this year’s awards to the memory of the late Robert Altman, named Forest Whitaker best actor for “The Last King of Scotland.” But Whitaker eked out that victory only after an extra tie-breaking vote, which left Peter O’Toole in second place for “Venus,” followed by Ryan Gosling for “Half Nelson.”

Echoing many other critics’ groups, the National Society decided that Helen Mirren was its choice as best actress for “The Queen.” Laura Dern ranked second for “Inland Empire,” followed by Judi Dench for “Notes on a Scandal.”

Mark Wahlberg earned best supporting actor honors for his cop in “The Departed,” with Jackie Earle Haley (“Little Children”) and Alan Arkin (“Little Miss Sunshine”) as the runners-up.

Meryl Streep was hailed as best supporting actress for her performances in both “A Prairie Home Companion” and “The Devil Wears Prada.” Runners-up were Jennifer Hudson (“Dreamgirls”) and Shareeka Epps (“Half Nelson”).

Professor Dave Jennings' Milton-Free, Universe-Expanding Holiday Mid-Term

What are vacations for, if not for such guilty pleasures as eating up all the yummy holiday sweets in the house, watching Hugh Jackman in the National Theatre's Oklahoma! and playing such delightful games as this, from Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule:

Here's my filled-in version; feel free to add yours in comment form:
1) What was the last movie you saw, either in a theater or on DVD, and why?
After Christmas brunch, David, Nora, Becky, Joan and I went to the AMC-14 and couldn't get into any 2 PM show. So we broke our annual tradition and repaired to Joan's house to watch her DVD of The Holiday, sitting in comfortable chairs watching a giant flat-screen TV. This seemed indicative of where things are going these days. Her pleasant viewing room was comfortable, controlled and quiet. The four women enjoyed watching this escapist studio romantic comedy together—making catty comments of course—while David watched a Bollywood film alone on another TV. I can't imagine any red-blooded male suffering through The Holiday.

2) Name the cinematographer whose work you most look forward to seeing, and an example of one of his/her finest achievements.
Mexican Emmanuel Lubezki has delivered many extraordinary movies, from Like Water for Chocolate, Sleepy Hollow, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events to The New World, but his work in Children of Men is both brilliant and innovative, using mostly natural light and several unbelievable long takes with roving hand-held cameras. One breathtaking ten-minute shot sends Clive Owen under fire as he chases a woman who has been kidnapped with her new baby.

3) Joe Don Baker or Bo Svenson?
Bo Svenson is a better actor. Not that I feel strongly about this, but if Quentin Tarantino put him in Kill Bill, that's enough for me.

4) Name a moment from a movie that made you gasp (in horror, surprise, revelation…) When the insect morphs into a fairy sprite in Pan's Labyrinth. There's plenty of moments of all three of the above in that extraordinary movie.

5) Your favorite movie about the movies.
Buster Keaton's Sherlock Jr. is more sophisticated about deconstructing the language of cinema than any NYU professor could ever hope to be.

6) Your Favorite Fritz Lang movie.
Metropolis, by far: the most memorable, distinctive and influential.

7) Describe the first time you ever recognized yourself in a movie.
I was Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird, a scruffy motherless child in the 60s with a little brother, who adores and depends on her father. Back then, I thought my father was as stalwart and handsome as Atticus Finch. I learned better later.

8) Carole Bouquet or Angela Molina?
Playing the same character, Conchita, in Luis Bunuel's That Obscure Object of Desire, Bouquet is beautiful, French and cold; Molina is beautiful, Spanish and hot.

9) Name a movie that redeems the notion of nostalgia as something more than a bankable commodity.
With genuine affection for the period, in Good Night, and Good Luck, George Clooney recreated 50s television journalism at CBS, but with a greater purpose: to ask questions about journalism and freedom of speech today.

10) Favorite appearance by an athlete in an acting role.

My Yankee pitcher hero Jim Bouton's role in Robert Altman's The Long Good-Bye—the epitome of cool.

11) Favorite Hal Ashby movie.
The Last Detail was just about perfect: an angry, funny, witty portrait of the times, starring a pitch-perfect Jack Nicholson.

12) Name the first double feature you’d program for opening night of your own revival theater.
Jean-Luc Godard's Alphaville and Ridley Scott's Blade Runner

13) What’s the name of your revival theater?
The Nemo, after the theatre I grew up with on 110th Street and Broadway

LA Weekly Poll

The LA Weekly's Scott Foundas polled quite a large group of critics—about 62 in fact, many of them with alternative or indie leanings. Again, the wonderful 60s French World War II movie Army of Shadows leads the list, followed closely by The Death of Mr. Lazarescu and United 93. This group, for example, went big for Three Times, L'Enfant, Inland Empire and Old Joy, which should tell you something.

# Artist/Title Points Mentions
1 Army of Shadows 263 33
2 The Death of Mr. Lazarescu 214 29
3 United 93 184 26
4 The Queen 176 29
5 Letters From Iwo Jima 174 25
6 The Departed 163 29
7 Three Times 132 21
8 L'Enfant 127 22
9 Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan 114 18
10 Inland Empire 111 16
11 Pan's Labyrinth 110 23
12 Children of Men 104 20
13 L'Intrus 102 14
14 Old Joy 91 18
15 Flags of Our Fathers 81 13
16 A Scanner Darkly 78 13
17 A Prairie Home Companion 75 16
18 Climates 70 11
19 Volver 57 11
20 Casino Royale 52 12
20 Half Nelson 52

UPDATE: The Reeler reports on the latest New Times slash.

Top Ten Round-Up

The thing to remember about critics' top ten lists is that each writer will include a few popular choices that everybody else likes too—say, The Departed or The Queen. They will also add a few movies that they can claim as their own, peculiar, individual choices. That's why many critics' lists are so bizarre. (MCN is collecting ten bests.) And yet, a strange consensus starts to emerge—like The Death of Mr. Lazarescu, which blew me away. Much like HBO's The Wire, that movie reveals the cruel and relentless dysfunction of our world in a way that I will not soon forget.

Some movies that I will try to check out: District B13—a French movie on Time's top ten, which supposedly has amazing parkour in it—like that James Bond chase sequence at the beginning of Casino Royale, and the London kids in Breaking and Entering. Very cinematic. Also Neil Young: Heart of Gold, The Science of Sleep, Red Road, Man Push Cart, 51 Birch Street, Shortbus, 49 Up and The Wind that Shakes the Barley.

One movie that some critics adore that I don't get at all: Old Joy. The NYT's Manohla Dargis raved about it, so I watched it, and Dave Kehr likes it too. I found it dull, slow and interminably pretentious.

Roger Ebert, who is making a steady recovery from complications from cancer, isn't doing a Ten Best this year, but he wrote an intro for a feature compiling his 4-star reviews of 2006. Chicago Sun-Times blogger Jim Emerson turned his Ten Best into Double Bills. And MSN Movies contributors' ten bests, including Emerson, Richard Jameson, Kathleen Murphy and Kim Morgan, are here.

Time's Top Ten

Time critics Richard Corliss and Richard Schickel pick their top ten. Clint Eastwood's Letter from Iwo Jima is number one.

Indiewire Critics' Poll

107 critics voted in this Indiewire poll. Here are the results.

Best Film
# Title Points Mentions
1 The Death of Mr. Lazarescu 641 54
2 L'Enfant 478 45
3 The Departed 422 40
4 Inland Empire 416 35
5 Army of Shadows 394 30
6 Three Times 365 31
7 Old Joy 334 34
8 United 93 313 27
9 Children of Men 285 26
10 Half Nelson 271 26
11 The Queen 261 28
12 Climates 254 23
13 A Scanner Darkly 250 22
14 Pan's Labyrinth 240 25
15 Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan 230 24
16 A Prairie Home Companion 194 21
17 Volver 186 18
18 Battle in Heaven 177 17
19 Letters From Iwo Jima 146 14
20 Mutual Appreciation 143 16

Top Ten List

Here's my top ten, many titles have been obvious favorites for some time now.

1. The Lives of Others
2. Pan’s Labyrinth
3. Little Miss Sunshine
4. United 93
5. The Death of Mr. Lazarescu
6. Babel
7. Little Children
8. The Departed
9. Children of Men
10. The Queen

The next five:

11. Inside Man--Spike's best in a while, I also loved 25th Hour.
12. Happy Feet--George Miller outdoes John Lasseter-this movie was truly innovative
13. The Devil Wears Prada--much closer to the bone than your average studio picture
14. The Dead Girl--Karen Moncrieff is the real deal
15. The Painted Veil --lovely

And after that:
16. After the Wedding --Susanne Bier is brilliant--Denmark's Oscar entry
17. Monster House --amazing performance capture
18. Superman Returns --Singer did a smart job reinventing this franchise, amazing fx
19. Half Nelson --Ryan Gosling should get nominated
20. Volver --Almodovar's most accessible movie to date

And finally, I really enjoyed the smart and well-crafted Borat, Brick, The Pursuit of Happyness, Cars and Stranger than Fiction.

UPDATE: I'm not the only one who loves The Death of Mr. Lazarescu. No movie in recent memory has hit me so hard. It was Romania's Oscar entry last year—those Academy members who saw it stood around discussing it afterwards, but it probably hit too close to home. What's it about? How we all die alone. Indiewire's critics' poll voted it Number One.

Phoenix nods

The Phoenix Film Critics Society (PFCS), which consists of 30 radio, broadcast and print critics, has voted "United 93" as the best picture of the year. In an all-too familiar pattern, Helen Mirren was named best actress for "The Queen" and Forest Whitaker best actor for "The Last King of Scotland." Martin Scorsese nabbed best director for "The Departed." That film's Jack Nicholson earned best supporting actor, while best supporting actress went to Cate Blanchett for "Notes On A Scandal.""The Departed" and "Little Miss Sunshine" took home best screenplay awards, and "Little Miss Sunshine" collected the best acting ensemble. "Letters From Iwo Jima" was named best foreign language film;"An Inconvenient Truth" was best documentary; "Flushed Away" was best animated film, and "Charlotte's Web" was best live action family film.

Here's the complete list of Phoenix Film Critics Society Award winners:

Awards Watch

For a quick peek at where all the critics' groups and ten best lists are going, check out David Poland's most valuable Awards Watch.

San Diego Critics Vote

Today the San Diego Film Critics Society announced their best of 2006: they voted Letters From Iwo Jima Best Film and also honored Clint Eastwood as Best Director for Iwo Jima. They voted Helen Mirren as Best Actress for The Queen, while Ken Takakura took Best Actor for Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles.

The Best Supporting Actress nod went to Lili Taylor for her role in the drama Factotum. Ray Winstone, playing a beleaguered military man in the Australian drama The Proposition, was chosen as Best Supporting Actor. Writer-director Karen Moncrieff’s screenplay The Dead Girl won Best Original Screenplay, while writer-director Jason Reitman's screenplay for Thank You for Smoking won Best Adapted Screenplay. The screenplay is based on the novel by Christopher Buckley. Chosen as Best Foreign Language Film was the drama Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles, directed by Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou.

Voted Best Animated Film was the Disney-Pixar outing Cars. Chosen as Best Documentary was Shut Up And Sing, the real-life story of the recent uproar surrounding the Dixie Chicks. For Best Cinematography honors, the critics chose Dick Pope, the director of photography on The Illusionist.
Owen Paterson won honors for Best Production Design for his work on the futuristic V for Vendetta.
Winner of the Best Editing award went to Christopher Rouse, Richard Pearson and Clare Douglas for their work on United 93. Winning for Best Score was Gustavo Santaolalla for his work on Babel. The cast of Babel was also honored for Best Ensemble Performance.
The critics honored Edward Norton for Body of Work during 2006, citing the actor's performances in the films The Illusionist, Down in the Valley and The Painted Veil.

And here's last week's Washington, D.C. area film critics' picks: they named Forest Whitaker Best Actor, Helen Mirren Best Actress, United 93 as Best Film and Scorsese as Best Director: