Scorcese deserves an Oscar- Leonardo

Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio said on Thursday that director Martin Scorsese deserved to win an Oscar for his new movie, "The Departed," adding it was a "joke" the veteran director still had not been awarded for any of his works.
"It would be wonderful if this film was rewarded, I think it very much deserves it," said DiCaprio, who stars in the crime thriller that won a Golden Globe award for best film this week.
"And I certainly think the man to my left does. It's quite long overdue, almost a practical joke at this point that that hasn't happened," he said, referring to Scorsese who was also attending a news conference ahead of the film's opening in Japan this weekend.
Despite being regarded by many as a master of cinema, Scorsese has never received an Academy Award for a single film, including for such revered works as "Raging Bull" and "Taxi Driver."
In addition to the Golden Globes, the Broadcast Film Critics Association named Scorsese the best director and "The Departed" the best film, raising expectations that he might finally win an Oscar either for best picture or best director.
The director said he did not have any expectations about an Academy Award.
"I learned a long time ago that, with "Mean Streets" and "Taxi Driver," that you can't make a film to get the golden statue. And if you try it doesn't work."

Water makes it to Oscar shortlist, Rang De Basanti out

New Delhi: The shortlist ahead of the nominations for the Best Foreign Film category at this year's Oscars is out and director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s smash hit Range de Basanti has not featured in it.

Mehra’s film was one of the 61 entries vying for the coveted statuette in the Best Foreign Language Film category this year.

But the Academy sprung a surprise when Deepa Mehta’s Water, which is Canada's official entry for the Oscars, was shortlisted in the same category.

Pedro Almodovar's Volver has also been named among the shortlisted nine films, reports AFP.

The veteran Spanish director's movie will be one of the favourites at the Oscars but it will have to wait until January 23 for the Academy Award nominations to be announced to confirm its entry in the final five.

The shortlist in the Foreign Film category was announced by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Tuesday.

Other notable movies included on the shortlist are Mexico's entry Pan's Labyrinth, a fantasy film from Guillermo Del Toro, and Germany's The Lives of Others.
But a surprise omission was China's Curse of the Golden Flower, the Zhang Yimou's epic, which had been tipped to vie for the top prize at the Oscar.
The Oscars will be held on February 25 at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood.
As many as 61 films originally qualified for consideration by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the foreign-language film Oscar, but only nine of them have advanced to the final voting phase.
The rules for the category changed this year. Instead of several hundred members of the foreign-language film committee selecting the five nominees, this year – during what the Academy calls Phase I – their ballots selected nine finalists for nomination.
A Phase II committee of 30, comprised of 10 randomly selected members of the larger group and two 10-member contingents from New York and Los Angeles, will choose the final five nominees.
Screenings for Phase II will be held on Friday-Sunday in New York and Los Angeles.
Rang De Basanti, Lage Raho Munnabhai and Omkara were all considered by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for the Golden Globe in the Best Foreign Language Film category, but neither managed to make the cut.

The full shortlist for the Oscars in Best Foreign Film Category is as follows:


Algeria, Days of Glory, Rachid Bouchareb, director;

Canada, Water, Deepa Mehta, director;

Denmark, After the Wedding, Susanne Bier, director;

France, Avenue Montaigne, Daniele Thompson, director;

Germany, The Lives of Others, Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, director;

Mexico, Pan's Labyrinth, Guillermo del Toro, director;

The Netherlands, Black Book, Paul Verhoeven, director;

Spain, Volver, Pedro Almodovar, director;

Switzerland, Vitus, Fredi M Murer, director.

 

GURU Review!!!

I watched Guru. I can assure you its a great movie. The movie talks about a 'industrialist' in making. Mani ratnam is not making any judgements here , he is just telling a story. India many many years ago had its issues where only rich people got away with everything(happens now too but..) and all the rules and regulations were only for the middle class this stunted lot of people. Here in this movie he talks about a middle class boy who bends the rules for a bigger benefit for the public while making a lot of money himself typical of a buisness man. Its a great movie if you understand each scene and read betwen the lines. If you don't understand unless you are shouted at and dramatically told(like johars movies) then you might have to go a long way in life and face reality to understand mani's movies. Anyway about madhavans or vidya roles what can you say? I mean surely you dont expect one newspaper company to stop a growing industrialist?then how can you expect madhavan(role of shyam saxena) to succeed? Vidya had a role of a strong women but no women had astrong role but wasn't India that way during independence? Mani gave lot of respect for each character to each actress. Even mallika sherawat looked sensuous and not vulgar. The movie was about abhishek and he did a wonderful job. Mithun proved his calibre. Aishwarya can act contrary to her jealous critics. Arya babbar did well. All the credit goes to Mani as no one else could have brought out the talent out of each person

Every thing looked real and carried subtle unsaid words. Isn't life like that with lot of grey. Go for the movie! Its not everyday you come across realistic stories and watch a director who has a script and really 'directs'. Watch it also for the actors who have worked hard. And contemplate.

 

New York Film Critics Dub 'United 93' Best Picture

New York Film Critics Dub 'United 93' Best Picture
NEW YORK (December 11, 2006) -- "United 93," which unflinchingly depicts the hijacked 9/11 flight that crashed into a Pennsylvania field, was chosen Monday as best picture of the year by the New York Film Critics Circle.
Written and directed by Paul Greengrass and featuring a cast of unknowns to give it an authentic, documentary-style feel, the film painstakingly recreates the events of that morning. It culminates with passengers bursting into the cockpit and wrestling their attackers for control of the jet, which ultimately plummets nose-first into the ground.
Forest Whitaker and Helen Mirren continue to solidify their positions as Oscar front-runners -- each won the top acting prize from the New York critics, Whitaker for his thunderous portrayal of Idi Amin in "The Last King of Scotland" and Helen Mirren for her withering take on Queen Elizabeth II in "The Queen." Both have received the same awards in recent days from the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and the New York Film Critics Online.
Supporting-actor awards went to Jackie Earle Haley for his haunting turn as a sex offender in "Little Children" and Jennifer Hudson, who is emerging as an awards favorite for her showstopping performance in "Dreamgirls." She received the same honor Sunday from the New York Film Critics Online and won a breakthrough-performance award last week from the National Board of Review.
Martin Scorsese was the group's choice for best director for his Boston mob epic "The Departed."
Peter Morgan earned yet another award for his screenplay for "The Queen" after winning the same honor from Los Angeles critics and the National Board.
The penguin musical "Happy Feet" was the New York critics' choice for best animated film, while "Deliver Us From Evil," about a sexually abusive Roman Catholic priest, was their pick for best documentary. And French director Jean-Pierre Melville's "Army of Shadows," a World War II thriller that originally was made in 1969 but just released this year in the United States, was named best foreign film.
The New York Film Critics Circle consists of 27 writers for New York-based newspapers and magazines. Last year they made "Brokeback Mountain" their top pick; in 2004, they chose "Sideways."

Golden weekend for Mirren

Golden Weekend
LOS ANGELES, Calif. (January 14, 2007) -- Oh, to be Helen Mirren this weekend. It started Friday morning, when Mirren got word that her film "The Queen" topped the list of nominees for the British Academy Film Awards, the British equivalent of the Academy Awards.
On Friday afternoon, the American Film Institute honored another Mirren movie, "Elizabeth I," as one of the year's 10 best television productions.
Then Friday night, the Broadcast Film Critics Association named that film the best picture made for television, and Mirren herself was honored as best actress for "The Queen."
Her golden weekend continued Saturday night, when American Cinematheque threw a sold-out tribute to her at the historic Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood.
Mirren was set to collect a statuette Sunday night from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, which named her best actress for "The Queen."
And she's a triple nominee for Monday's Golden Globe for "The Queen" and "Elizabeth I," as well as the television film "Prime Suspect: The Final Act."
"Oh my goodness," Mirren told AP Television News before entering the tribute Saturday night. "There seems to be nonstop fittings for clothes. It's like playing a role, actually."
Mirren said that during off moments this weekend, she has been getting together with fellow actors for drinks.
"A drink or two but not many because you might have to get up and say something," she said.
Some critics predict Mirren could be asked to get up and say something multiple times on Monday.
Mirren won a Globe for the 1996 television movie "Losing Chase," has three Emmys and has been nominated twice for an Oscar. This year's Oscar nominations will be announced Jan. 23.
At age 61, never has Mirren's profile been so high.
"It doesn't matter when (success) comes," she said. "Early or late. It would be nice if it came two or three times in one's life. But it's wonderful. It's really great."
Mirren said the roles she's gotten the past couple of years have been a big part of her success.
"I had a year of incredible work. 'Elizabeth I,' then 'The Queen,' then 'Prime Suspect,' and each one of those roles were very demanding, very wonderful leading roles."
Mirren said she's not sure what her great year will mean for future roles.
"The downside of this kind of success is that people want to stick you in that box, the box in which they saw you in being successful. And you're constantly trying to break out of that box."
So no more playing royals for a while?
"No, I will not," Mirren replied with a laugh. "Possibly for the rest of my life."

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