Carlos

Drew's Thoughts:

Carlos is an ambitious portrait of the international terrorist known as Carlos the Jackal by French filmmaker Olivier Assayas. The 5 1/2 hour film was screened at Cannes Film Festival earlier in the year and was later broadcast on French television in 3 installments and also as an edited 2 1/2 hour theatrical cut. I watched the original 5 1/2 cut and enjoyed the film pretty thoroughly.

The film is anchored by an equally charasmatic and repugnant performance by Edgar Ramirez as Carlos, a man who views himself as a revolutionary but when it comes down to it he's all about the ego. 5 1/2 hours is a long time but the film stays pretty energetic throughout and I was never bored. Considering the large scope of the film though, its length doesn't seem so crazy. My favorite part was the hour or so covering the raid on the 1975 OPEC meeting in the middle of the film.

The film is among the best I've seen this year and Edgar Ramirez is worth considering in the Best Actor category for his empassioned, dedicated performance.

Conviction

Drew's Thoughts:

Conviction is a pretty remarkable true story and manages to avoid feeling cliched. Last year's Best Actor winner Sam Rockwell was very impressive in his role and I don't see why he won't get his third Dolphin nom in a row. Though I was worried by the trailer that she might be hammy, Hilary Swank also gave a good performance. Juliette Lewis contributes a very good one-scene performance as well.

Director Tony Goldwyn and screenwriter Pamela Gray did a good job with the material not trying to make the story seem more amazing than it already is. It was definitely an emotional story, seeing the bond between the two siblings that lasts throughout their lives. I can't tell if the film will have much replay value or not but I definitely enjoyed my first viewing.

The Killer Inside Me

Drew's Thoughts:

Michael Winterbottom's mostly botched adaptation of Jim Thompson's classic pulp novel was a disappointment. The technical aspects were on point but Winterbottom and screenwriter John Curran had difficulties capturing the feel of the novel which gets deep inside a twisted, criminal mind using extensive first person narration. As a fan of the novel, a number of key points were totally flubbed but I also feel I may have enjoyed the film more than the average viewer since I could fill in the gaps.

That said though, casting Casey Affleck as Lou Ford (no relation to Bob Ford) is absolutely perfect. He gives a very good performance as the sinister sheriff but, I can't help but think his performance could have been the best of the year (instead of just one of them) if he was working with a higher caliber filmmaker. Along with Best Actor, the film deserves consideration in the sound and makeup categories for some brutal, unflinching scenes.

The American

Drew's Thoughts:

The American is a spy movie made the way spy movies should be made. George Clooney is an assassin who spends most of his time alone, in silence, as a spy would. Unlike James Bond or the Bourne movies where the main is character is always on the move, jumping from explosion to explosion, director Anton Corbijn is very selective with his instances of violence making them highly effective.

Drawing inspiration from foreign filmmakers such as Jean-Pierre Melville, a lot of American audiences were confused when the film came out wondering why they didn't get a Bourne style movie. The film certainly has its flaws (mostly due to Rowan Joffe's screenplay) but Corbijn delivers enough memorable scenes, such as the film opener, and a well co-ordinated overall aesthetic to make it a winner in my opinion.

Animal Kingdom

Drew's Thoughts:

Animal Kingdom is an exceedingly dark Australian crime drama from David Michod. Jacki Weavers's performance has been the big story here in the states as she's won a few critics awards. She doesn't have a ton of screen time, but she definitely made my skin crawl when she was onscreen and deserves some Dolphin consideration in my opinion. Otherwise, I'd say Michod talents as a director outweigh his as a screenwriter. He creates a singular, grim atmosphere incorporating excellent cinematography and an unusual but highly effective score.

I don't see the film racking up piles of Dolphin nominations, but there's a few key categories in which it should not be forgotten.

Centurion

Drew's Thoughts:

I liked the approach to Neil Marshall's "sword and sandals" picture; it's very grimey, gritty and gorey. Unfortunately the screenplay isn't really up to the challenge as its pretty ho hum, failing to provide interesting content to match the aesthetics.

Still, the cast featuring Michael Fassbender (Fish Tank, Hunger) and Dominic West (The Wire) is decent and the movie as a whole makes for a fun, swiftly paced adventure. Just don't expect anything amazing.

Probably not many Dolphin hopes except the technical categories, it should definitely be considered in the Makeup category though.

Casino Jack

Drew's Thoughts:

I thought that Casino Jack could be a turning point for Kevin Spacey, who hasn't done anything worthwhile since 1999's American Beauty, but I was wrong. The film isn't much more than an excuse for Spacey to share his inexhaustible supply of celebrity impressions. Considering how much interesting material they had to work with the filmmakers did roughly zero interesting things with the film.

Skip this and watch Alex Gibney's documentary Casino Jack and the United States of Money instead.

Casino Jack and the United States of Money

Drew's Thoughts:

Infinitely more fascinating than the Kevin Spacey biopic Casino Jack, Dolphin-winner Alex Gibney (Gonzo) weaves the bizarre and sometimes depressing portrait of super lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his various activities with US Congress. Tracing his small beginnings as a College Republican, including an unsuccessful detour into the movie business, to becoming the top lobbyist in the D.C., scheming and screwing over people around the world to the tune of millions of dollars.

Abramoff makes for an interesting if sickening subject, particularly if you don't know much about him (like me). The sheer breadth and weirdness of his life makes for perfect documentary material.

The Trotsky

Drew's Thoughts:
Rounding out the trio of surprises this year (Easy A and The Social Network being the others) is The Trotsky a brilliantly witty and hilarious comedy about a Montreal teen who believes he's the re-incarnation of Bolshevik revolutionary Leon Trotsky. Supported by a more than capable cast,
Jay Baruchel (Tropic Thunder) delivers a fantastic central performance as he holds protests with snacking hunger strikers and throws a social justice-themed school dance. The film makes me really wish there were more high-concept comedies out there, as you have to know a bit of 20th century history to get the (hilarious) jokes. Luckily we Dolphins are a well-educated bunch.
As far as I'm concerned Jacob Tierney's joyously clever original screenplay is the front runner by a mile at this point in the race. Though you should consider the film in many other categories, not least of which Best Picture. A must see!

The Ghost Writer

Drew's Thoughts:

This movie is so achingly mediocre that the question of whether it's good or bad is pointless. Don't waste your time watching it because I won't waste any more time thinking about it.

The score is pretty good though.

I Love you Phillip Morris

Colleen's Thoughts:
Quite a crazy film indeed, but then again Ewan MacGregor and Jim Carrey don't seem to shy away from crazy flicks. This was a weird and twisted love story. I found it dragged on a bit long near the end, but I still must say I enjoyed it. I can't believe that it was based on true events. If the Kids Are Alright showed us all how normal and hetero-like gay couples can be, this movie did the opposite. I thought both Jim Carrey and Ewan MacGregor gave good perfomances. Depending on how the year lines up, they may have a shot at noms at the Colleen's.

Winter's Bone

Colleen's Thoughts:
Although I recommend knowing what you are in for, I really enjoyed this film. It was an interesting take on a rural, modern, noir type story. Jennifer Lawrence has been getting a lot of buzz for her leading performance in this film and all of it is deserved. In the film she plays a protective older sister (proud to be a dolly) who needs to find her dad or at least the body of her dad to keep her house and the rest of her family intact. She goes through scary mission after scary mission, one, which isn't scary at all to her, includes teaching her brother and sister how to hunt and skin squirrels, their dinner many nights over. This was a very interesting film about an environment I thankfully have little to no idea about. I would recommend this one to all dolphin members.

The Social Network

Drew's Thoughts:
Like Easy A, I was pretty darn skeptical of The Social Network. I mean, Facebook? Justin Timberlake? How the hell is Fincher gonna pull this one off? Answer: he's working with a solid screenplay by Aaron Sorkin, an oddly fascinating story of something trivial turned into one the most popular cultural phenomenons ever, unusually good performances from young actors and the secret to it all Dolphin winning editors Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall moving the story along at a rapid fire pace. A lot of people talk about the screenplay being the star of the show here but I really think it's how David Fincher (Dolphin winner as well) approached the material that makes it special. No one would have guessed that a movie about the invention of Facebook would be the most energetic film of year, but it is, thanks to Finch. I have yet to meet a single person who has not liked this movie which is quite a feat indeed.
Write it on your wall, put it on your newsfeed or whatever you have to, just don't forget about it when you're filling out your Dolphin ballot.

The Kids are All Right

Colleen's Thoughts:
This was a fine-mediocre film with some outstanding lead perfomances. Coming out of the film one of the empolyees working at the theater said that he and others did not enjoy Annette Benning's perfomance. I however, think this is ludicrous. I think those people mainly just saw her as a beezy and did not see that she was actually "acting" that way and an "act"or. I thought she was great in the film.
While it is refreshing to see a movie about a committed lesbian relationship (most films with gay couples I have seen are with two men). I worry a little bit about the message of what this film is telling us is "all right." I am happy to see that people are finally coming around to believeing that two people of the same sex can raise a family just as adequately as two parents of different sexes. However, I think it is interesting that even with a queer couple at the center of the film, traditional family power dynamics seem to remain intact. Nic, Annette Benning's character, clearly the more "masculine" of the couple, seems to be the head of the household. She is logical and brings home the bacon. Julianne Moore (who also gave a stunning performance) was the "feminine" one; she was sensitive, artsy and let's face it didn't know what the hell she was doing career wise tee hee. I worry that for us to be ok with "alternative" family lifestyles they have to quite clearly mirror stereotypical heterosexual relationships. And whose to say that traditional heterosexual relationships have made kids "all right?"
Back to the more concrete of this film, I thought it was an interesting enough screenplay with a few slags. Drew was laughing his ass off when Nic said "If I hear one more person mention heirloom tomatoes.." However, it wasn't really refreshing to hear that just like for straight couples, gay married life sucks the life out of you. I believe Jules likened it to "slogging through the shit." When your relationship is likened to that, I would say get the hell out.

Easy A

Drew's Thoughts:

I am thankful that Colleen wanted to watch this as I had already written it off as a lame teen comedy, when in fact, it's actually the best teen comedy I've seen in a while. Emma Stone (one of the few legit nominees in this year's Golden Globes comedy categories) provides a truly charismatic performance in this re-imagining of The Scarlett Letter. The film features hilarious moments, throughout, a likable heroine you can get behind, and a few great supporting performances as well--mainly talking about Patricia Clarkson and Stanley Tucci here as Stone's parents.

What I really liked about the film was that the humor was never too broad, it stays within genre boundaries without sacrificing smarts which is a rare thing indeed. Definitely worth seeing, could be a dark horse in the Dolphin race. (Thanks for the suggestion Colleen!)

William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe

Colleen's Thoughts:
Watching this documentary, I was surprised by how many famous racial American events lawyer Bill Kunstler was at the center of. He is famous for representing the Chicago Seven, being the lead negotiating counsel for the prisoners at the Attica Prison riots, and representing the American Indians at Wounded Knee. However, he is also infamous for his defense of scarier folks such as cop killer Assasta Shakur and Al Sayyid Nosair who assasinated Zionist fanatic Rabbi Meir Kahane. Clearly he is a puzzling player in American history.
This documentary does a wonderful job of showing what an extraordinary man Kunstler was. At times he did things most Americans would now be proud of, but he also took on cases that not even his daughters and wife respected. Interestingly, these daughters are behind the film. They are the co-directors of this documentary. They seem most apt to tell this story. They love and respect their father but they also recognize that he was a fame hound and took on cases that they didn't appreciate him taking on. They have memories of not being able to leave their house because of Jewish organizations protesting outside. However, they also remember how terrible their father felt after the Attica prison massacre and how he taught them about white privelege and racism in America.
As someone considering a degree in law, it was fascinating to see the power that lawyers can have in such huge political situations. Bill Kunstler is admirable in his use of his position as a lawyer to fight for the causes he believed in. We desperately need more civil rights lawyers like Bill Kunstler today.

That Evening Sun

Drew's Thoughts:
Scott Teems's excellent Southern gothic slowburner That Evening Sun is the first great film I've seen this year.
Hal Holbrook gives a fantastic performance as Abner Meecham, a grizzled old Tennesseean farmer who leaves his nursing home unannounced after recovering from a hip injury to find his son has leased the farm to another family. Meecham determined to take his farm back takes up residence in the sharecropper house on the property and a power struggle ensues between him and the family.
Just about everything about the film is top-notch. The screenplay is excellent and first time filmmaker Teems sustains tension and controls the mood perfectly (even managing some unexpectedly funny moments.) The acting is strong too with good supporting performances by Oscar-winner Ray McKinnon (who also produces) as the man who Meecham wars with, Carrie Preston (Arrested Development) and Mia Wasikowska (Alice in Wonderland) as his wife and daughter and Barry Corbin (No Country for Old Men) provides his unique presence as Meecham's neighbor. Holbrook really is the star of the show though with his gruff, convicted and ultimately towering performance. I'll be surprised if he doesn't end up with a Drew nom at the end of the year.
Add to that impeccable cinematography and editing and a good piano/guitar score by Michael Penn (Boogie Nights) and you got yourself a great goddamn movie.
We're only halfway through the year, and there's a lot more films to be seen, but whether That Evening Sun is in the final five at the end of the year or not, it is certainly good enough to be there.

The Wolfman

Drew's Thoughts:
Directed by Oscar-winner Joe Johnston (Jumanji, The Rocketeer) and starring and produced by Benicio Del Toro, I was very pleasantly surprised when I watched this remake of the '41 film and the old Universal Pictures logo came on the screen. You know the one, it appears before classics like The Bank Dick and The Invisible Man. It was a good sign of things to come, as the film seems like it's trying to throwback to the monster movies of yore a little bit. Though the film gets more CGI'd as it moves on, particularly close to the end, the film has atmosphere and its a much classier horror picture than we usually see these days. It's fun to see Benicio onscreen again and his bored recitation of Hamlet at the beginning is hilarious (his character is a traveling actor) and Anthony Hopkins shows he still knows how to play malicious old men exceedingly well. The period detail was good and Donna-nominee Danny Elfman's crackerjack score tops it off. Not a great movie to be sure but a suprisingly engrossing flick. Probably not a great future at the Dolphins other than possible tech noms or a nom for Elfman's score.

The Vicious Kind

Drew's Thoughts:
The Vicious Kind is a decent, darkly comic low budget drama. The main attraction is the central performance by Adam Scott (The Aviator, TV's Party Down) who does what he does best, playing an enormous dickhead. Scott got a surprise Independent Spirit Award nomination last year for his performance despite the film never actually being shown outside the festival circuit. It was released this year and I checked it out on Netflix. First time film maker Lee Toland Krieger does a pretty good job here, doing a lot with a little. Adam Scott is good and totally commits to playing a completely unlikable asshole. He plays Caleb a character with some serious issues and the film sees things get dicey when his younger brother and his girlfriend come home for Thanksgiving to the dad Caleb doesn't speak with. There's a lot of harsh moments though the film manages to make a few of them funny. I wouldn't list it as a comedy as Netflix has though. The films feels a little long at just under an hour and a half but I found it pretty engaging for such a simple story about a jerkoff. It's a better story-about-an-asshole than Greenberg.
Probably not many Dolphin prospects beyond Scott's performance and he's in the usually tough category of Best Actor. It's one of the better lead performances so far this year though.

Green Zone

Drew's Thoughts:
This film, directed by Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Ultimatum) and starring last year's Dolphin-nominee Matt Damon, turned out to be a fair amount better than I expected it to be. It's better/less ridiculous than the Bourne movies and it doesn't cut to a new shot every second which was a pleasant surprise. Even though Brian Helgeland's script (which I gather is a mostly fictional story "inspired by" a book on Iraq) has its share of cliches and heavy-handed preaching, the story is paced quickly enough to get the job done. Matt Damon delivers a good if unadorned performance as a soldier on the WMD search squad who sets out to figure out why he's being continually given faulty intel (SPOILER: there are no weapons.) However, the supporting players Amy Ryan, a journalist, and Brendan Gleeson, a CIA man, aren't given much to work with though. Greg Kinnear plays a decent slimewad though.
Shot by Barry Ackroyd (The Hurt Locker,) Green Zone is the well-made, entertaining Iraq war thriller Body of Lies failed so miserably at being. Probably not much Dolphin potential beyond the tech categories though.
Also what the hell kind of accent is Brendon Gleeson supposed to have in this film??

Toy Story 3

Colleen's Thoughts:
After being mildly disappointed but entertained by the second Toy Story, I went into Toy Story 3 with low expectations. I wasn’t sure how I would feel about having one of my favorite toys (Barbie) front and center. After bragging to Drew and Ellen that I had the Barbie Jeep and Corvette, as well as, a 4 STORY Barbie mansion with an elevator, I felt ready to see the film. I was pleasantly surprised. But I must make a brief note that it does not even compare to the first Toy Story. How dare IMDB and People magazine say that this movie is better than the original. Shame on you people. Have you no memory? Do you not remember the brilliant craftsmanship that is the original Toy Story? That said there were certainly extremely memorable moments of this film. I thought the part with the toys betting on the farm sounds toy was so clever and hilarious. I also loved it when the toys called Ken an accessory toy; “a purse with legs.” Also, the introduction using the same exact lines from the Toy Story original opening was huge for winning me over. The Spanish Buzz was clever as well. The movie could have used some editing, too many climaxes where the toys narrowly escape death. The Andy leaving for college stuff was also a little cliché and overdone. The Pink Bear character was kind of a weak villain. And didn’t they use the whole abandoned toy thing in the last movie? All and all (minus about 15 minutes) this was a relatively enjoyable film. Toy Story 3 is certainly worth seeing but not a must see.

Greenberg

Colleen's Thoughts:
I tried to go into Noah Baumbach’s movie Greenberg with an open mind. However, I was mildly skeptical considering I listened to Terry Gross’s show, Fresh Air, with Ben Stiller and she talked to him more about Tropic Thunder than the movie he was actually promoting, Greenberg. Unfortunately almost all the great things about Margot at the Wedding (Baumbach’s last film)Greenberg lacks. True, both movies are about privileged over educated whiney snobs. However, Margot at the Wedding (mostly to the credit of the characters played by Jennifer Jason Leigh and Jack Black) never seems to lose sight of this. Margot (brilliantly played by Nicole Kidman) is a character we dislike but also see as a real and interesting person. Roger Greenberg (played competently by Ben Stiller) is certainly not interesting and here lies the major flaw of the screenplay in my opinion. Baumbach is already asking a lot of the viewer (especially this viewer) by making a movie with very little plot, all about a depressed rich asshole. Although his medical history suggests Greenberg is “deep” we do not see any evidence of this in the film. Instead Greenberg is just plain grumpy and no fun to watch. (The performance by Greta Gerwig is even less interesting if you can fathom it). I think Baumbach would have been better off channeling this privileged grumpiness into a modern remake of A Christmas Carol, though I doubt at this point he can pull off much of anything.

Don McKay

Drew's Thoughts:
This film is sort of a mix of A History of Violence and A Serious Man. Unfortunately, the quality is much closer to the former.
The film is earnest to the point of being hokey, which in turn gives it an unintended feeling of phoniness. A perfect example is the big twist, which I honestly think the film maker believes is clever, which is so dumb because it feels unearned. The twist consists of a vital piece of character background being revealed which is left out solely so it can be the twist. Had it been revealed at the beginning, there literally would not have been a movie as the entire plot is predicated on the audience not knowing this single piece of information. That's sloppy, flaccid writing.
The acting isn't great and the supposed existential angst is not felt by the audience at all. I've seen worse films, but I couldn't help wondering why this film exists and who thought it worthy of funding.

Chloe

Drew's Thoughts:
Atom Egoyan's sexual thriller starring Julianne Moore, Liam Neeson and Amanda Seyfried was alright. It's got a good performance by Moore, who manages to a make a less-than-compelling character, well, compelling. It's not up there in her top 5 performances or anything but it goes to show just what a talented actor she really is. There are a number of scenes where the much younger, less experienced Seyfried just can't match Moore's poise and power, and it's usually most evident when Seyfried has the lines and Moore is doing nothing at all. I can't blame Seyfried too much though, it's tough to hold your own against Julianne.
The film follows Moore who is obsessed with the idea that her husband Neeson is having an affair and hires Seyfried to test his susceptibility to seduction. From there things get awkward and strange as Seyfried recounts explicit details of sexcapades with Neeson and the two women gradually become closer.
There's a lot of flaws in the film that I don't really feel like getting into (Colleen may get into them, though her disappointment mostly stemmed from "not enough lesbianism") but I'll give credit where it's due. After the first few minutes I told Colleen "I don't think I'm gonna like this" but I watched the whole film without checking the clock. Chloe may be underdeveloped but at least it's well paced.

Micmacs

Drew's Thoughts:
Jean-Pierre Jeunet has more or less made a career of out-Gilliaming Terry Gilliam and his newest film Micmacs is another example of this. The inventive anti-gun/war/violence tale begins with a boy's father killed by weapons by a particular weapons manufacturer and fast forwards to the boy now grown up witnessing a shooting outside the video store where he works and gets a stray bullet, made by another Parisian weapons manufacturer, lodged in his brain which makes him go a little crazy sometimes.
The film is pure fantasy drawing on the vast history of movies to tell its story (without actually ripping off anything a la Tarantino.) Bogart and Bacall make cameos, an old Max Steiner score is used occasionally, there are hints of Chaplin's tramp (and other silent-era comedy,) westerns, capers, and, of course, desert combat films. The main character falls into a colorful gang of misfits who live beneath a junkyard (oh yeah, I forgot to mention Freaks) and eventually devises a plan and enlists their help to get back at both weapons manufacturers.
The film is briskly paced, with great art direction and cinematography. Dominique Pinon, the pug-faced Jeunet regular, provides a hilarious performance though unfortunately his part is quite small.
While Micmacs is inventive, it doesn't wield the emotional heft of Jeunet's finest hour Amelie. It's fun, well-made and doesn't get too heavy-handed with its message, yet the film still feels as though it might be a little too light to really stick in my memory. Only time will be the test. That said, it may be my second favorite of Jeunet's ouvre.
And no, I still don't get why this is called "Micmacs."

Life During Wartime

Drew's Thoughts:
Todd Solondz's latest film is an odd one for a number or reasons, not least of which is that it's a sequel to 1998's Happiness that he entirely re-casted with different actors. Apparently, Solondz wanted to see what different actors would bring to the characters; it's a risky move but it works and the film feels coherent with Happiness while also offering a fresh, more-or-less stand alone film for those unfamiliar with Solondz's previous work.
Solondz is known for challenging his audience with uncomfortable topics and this film is no different. Life During Wartime is a much funnier film than Happiness (it won best screenplay at the Venice Film Festival last year) and doesn't shred your nerves as much. Those who haven't seen Happiness will have to be patient and observant as Solondz does fill in all necessary back story but never in an overly expository, this-is-everything-that-happened way. The film is entirely character-driven and I think the cast, including Michael K. Williams (Omar from The Wire), Ally Sheedy (The Breakfast Club) and Ciaran Hinds (There Will Be Blood, Margot at the Wedding), did a uniformly good job with Paul Reubens and Allison Janney giving my favorite two performances.
There are a lot themes going on in the film: forgiveness, memory, masculinity, normalcy, guilt and responsibility (among many others) with Solondz using some of the tactics Colleen discusses in her Mrs. Dalloway thesis such as shared language and heteroglossia. Solondz seems to be particularly interested in our current time and place as both the "war" on "terror" and the internet now consistently permeate the characters' lives. I won't get into them here but there are many dilemmas here, Donna should be all over this!
Though overall I prefer this film to Happiness, there was nothing in it that matched Dylan Baker's incredible performance as Bill in the first film. Leaving me to ponder is it better to make a mixed film with an unforgettable, stand-out performance or a better film without one? I guess Solondz just side-stepped the question by making both.

Cyrus

Drew's Thoughts:
Cyrus is the third feature from the Duplass brothers, following The Puffy Chair much-lauded-by-Joe and the unfortunately Dolphin-nominated Baghead. It's no secret that I didn't care much for The Puffy Chair or Baghead but I liked Cyrus. With this film, the Duplass brothers benefit immensely from having a quality cast at their disposal including John C. Reilly, Marisa Tomei, Catherine Keener and, in a rare bit of thoughtful acting, Jonah Hill.
The film is simple. Reilly and Tomei meet at a party and hit it off and then Reilly meets her creepily obsessive son (whom Tomei creepily enables as Colleen rightly pointed out after the film) and we watch what unfolds. The film is refreshingly mellow, it doesn't devolve into an escalating war of hi-jinx between Reilly and Hill as it could have and the characters are much more well-developed than the previous Duplass films. This is due to both the performances and a script that makes even the ridiculous characters pretty believable.
The film is pretty funny too, with master craftsman Reilly, and his numerous interactions with Hill, garnering the most laughs in the theater. The cast has a good chemistry and the small amount of characters in film allows the central trio of Reilly, Tomei and Hill a lot space to develop their relationship. I'd say the actors' work is really the strong point of the movie, and though things will most likely change by the end of the year, at this point all the actors are in the running for some love at the Drews.
I still don't care for the Duplass' directorial style (they gotta take their finger off of the zoom control!) but they've done good work directing the actors and I'd say Cyrus is enjoyable and a modest but
definite success.

Colleen's Thoughts:
For the most part, I would agree with Drew. I would say a moderate success is an adequate description of Cyrus. It was nice to see Marissa Tomei out of her typecast role as slutty/stripper/skank. All of the performances were enjoyable and the movie was cast impeccably. (I also applaud whoever was doing the outfitting /costuming). It was also nice that the movie didn’t devolve into a kooky comedy about Reilly and Hill pulling pranks non-stop. I thought it was a sweet entertaining movie. However, I would say that Tomei's character should be reamed more in the movie for her own terrible parenting skills. The movie had hints of what made Puffy Chair so special. For example, I like the whole running shoes bit. However, it was missing a little bit of the originality that set Puffy Chair apart from other movies. (For example the one person per hotel room bit that was oh-so-Kenny). I thought it was a cute movie that will appeal to a wide audience. I am looking forward to the next Duplass film which I hope will stay the course and not feel too “inde” but have a little more of the Puffy Chair flair.

Shutter Island

Drew's Thoughts:
It's not often you get a Scorsese movie within the first two months of a new year and I was justifiably concerned. February, the month in which this was released, is notorious as a dumping ground for studios to unload their crappiest productions since the heat of Oscar season is still on and a lot of people are just going to see Oscar movies anyway. As things turned out Shutter Island is a decent film so its release was more of a money-making strategy to be a big fish in a small pond of crappy fish.
Shutter Island is one of those twisty thrillers (like The Sixth Sense and all the other M. Night Shyamalan flicks) and the downside is that the film definitely doesn't transcend its genre or do anything especially interesting with it. However, Marty is behind the camera making the film about as good as can be within the genre limitations.
The film centers on Leonardo Dicaprio as a Federal Marshall investigating a mysterious asylum for the criminally insane on an isolated island along the northeastern seaboard and when Leo arrives he finds that something strange is going on. The less I tell you about the plot, the more fun it will be so I'll leave it there.
It's probably a good 20 minutes too long, but it was pretty fun to watch even with the obligatory "unexpected" final twist. (For once, I just want the twist to be that there isn't a twist!)
There's solid work by a strong cast, Leo D. and Ruffalo were good and Jackie Earle Haley (Little Children) and the always welcome presence of Patricia Clarkson (Good Night and Good Luck.) were fun in their single scenes, but the script doesn't provide a lot for the cast to really sink their teeth into.
The art direction was good, if a little overly CGI'd, and it could potentially make it to the Dolphin ceremony next year depending on what competition materializes. I also liked the score which has a cold, hard and very sinister presence.
This is no Raging Bull (obviously!) or even The Aviator, but it's more or less the quality level of The Departed, though Departed has some great scenes intermingled with some pretty bad ones and Shutter Island just maintains being pretty good throughout. I did enjoy it more than Cape Fear, Scorsese's other genre thriller, which may be the most apt comparison.
All in all though, Shutter Island is a slick mainstream thriller that benefits from actual craftsmanship and care behind the camera.

Colleen's Thoughts:
Martin Scorsese’s Shutter Island has the stamp of entertaining approval from this Kenny. While the movie was no Taxi Driver or even Aviator (as Drew mentioned) it was entertaining and, I felt, well directed. I would like to watch the film again now knowing the twist to see what details I can pull out or see the clues I should have seen before. I am not that great at guessing twists so this one, of course, got me. It was plain to see beginning to end that the movie had a heavy dose of suspenseful psycho-thriller Hitchcock influence which, for the most part, served Marty well. The cinematography and art direction are worth remembering for this Dolphin Season. While I did thoroughly enjoy this film sometimes I can’t stop myself from wishing Marty would return to his 70s and 80s style and throw a bit more grit on the screen.

2009 Golden Dolphin Awards

Best Picture
Nominees:
Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal, Nicolas Chartier, Greg Shapiro - The Hurt Locker
Jan Chapman, Caroline Hewitt, Mark L. Rosen - Bright Star
Ethan Coen, Joel Coen - A Serious Man
Stuart Fenegan, Trudie Styler - Moon
Kevin Loader, Adam Tandy - In the Loop

Best Director
Nominees:
Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker
Jane Campion - Bright Star
Ethan Coen, Joel Coen – A Serious Man
Duncan Jones – Moon
Spike Jonze – Where The Wild Things Are

Best Actor
Nominees:
Matt Damon – The Informant!
Tom Hardy - Bronson
Tahar Rahim - A Prophet
Sam Rockwell – Moon
Michael Stuhlbarg - A Serious Man

Best Actress
Nominees:
Abbie Cornish - Bright Star
Penelope Cruz – Broken Embraces
Katie Jarvis – Fish Tank
Gabourey Sidibe - Precious
Audrey Tautou – Coco Before Chanel

Best Supporting Actor
Nominees:
Peter Capaldi – In The Loop
Woody Harrelson – The Messenger
Tom Hollander - In the Loop
Anthony Mackie – The Hurt Locker
Paul Schneider – Bright Star

Best Supporting Actress
Nominees:
Leonie Benesch - The White Ribbon
Marcia Gay Harden – The Maiden Heist
Mimi Kennedy - In the Loop
Sari Lennick - A Serious Man
Gina McKee - In the Loop

Best Original Screenplay
Nominees:
Jacques Audiard, Thomas Bidegain, Abdel Raouf Dafri, Nicolas Peufaillit - A Prophet
Mark Boal – The Hurt Locker
Ethan Coen, Joel Coen - A Serious Man
Adam Elliot - Mary and Max
Duncan Jones, Nathan Parker - Moon

Best Adapted Screenplay
Nominees:
Wes Anderson, Noah Baumbach – Fantastic Mr. Fox
Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Ian Martin, Tony Roche - In the Loop
Scott Z. Burns – The Informant!
David Eggers, Spike Jonze – Where The Wild Things Are
Tom Ford, David Scearce - A Single Man

Best Cinematography
Nominees:
Lance Acord - Where The Wild Things Are
Christian Berger - White Ribbon
Roger Deakins - A Serious Man
Greig Fraser - Bright Star
Eduard Grau - A Single Man

Best Editing
Nominees:
Anthony Boys, Billy Sneddon - In the Loop
Nicolas Gaster - Moon
James Haygood, Eric Zumbrunnen - Where The Wild Things Are
Chris Innis, Bob Murawski - The Hurt Locker
Roderick Jaynes - A Serious Man

Best Art Direction
Nominees:
K. K. Barrett - Where the Wild Things Are
Dan Bishop - A Single Man
Nelson Lowry - Fantastic Mr. Fox
Tony Noble - Moon
Adrian Smith - Bronson

Best Costume
Nominees:
Moidel Bickel - The White Ribbon
Doug Hall - Crazy Heart
Janet Patterson – Bright Star
Arianne Phillips - A Single Man
Casey Storm – Where The Wild Things Are

Best Sound
Nominees:
Ray Beckett, Paul N.J. Ottosson - The Hurt Locker
Chris C. Benson, Craig Berkey, Peter F. Kurland, Skip Lievsay, Greg Orloff - A Serious Man
Lori Dovi, Robert Jackson, Leslie Schatz - A Single Man
Ren Klyce, Mark Weingarten, Gary Wilkins - Where the Wild Things Are
Eric McKimm, Peter Walker - Mary and Max

Best Makeup
Nominees:
Lily Beckett, Niamh Morrison - Bronson
Vivianna Delgado, Michael Fuentes, Alfredo Garcia et. all - Sin Nombre
Daniel Parker - The Hurt Locker

Best Score
Nominees:
Carter Burwell – A Serious Man
Michael Giacchino – Up
Marvin Hamlisch – The Informant!
Abel Korzeniowski – A Single Man
Clint Mansell - Moon

Best Foreign Language Film
Nominees:
Pedro Almodóvar - Broken Embraces
Jacques Audiard - A Prophet
Cary Fukunaga - Sin Nombre
Michael Haneke - The White Ribbon
Ole Christian Madsen - Flame & Citron

Best Animated Film
Nominees:
Wes Anderson - Fantastic Mr. Fox
Ron Clements, John Musker - The Princess and the Frog
Adam Elliot - Mary and Max

Best Documentary
Nominees:
Sacha Gervasi - Anvil! The Story of Anvil
Larry Psihoyos - The Cove
Chris Smith - Collapse
Jeff Stilson - Good Hair
James Toback - Tyson

The First Annual 1/10 Awards 2009!!!

The 1/10 awards are designed to highlight the worst of the year in film making. All nominees were culled from films I watched for the sake of the Dolphins, so it's the worst of what is "supposed" to be good. It should be noted that I never watched Amelia

Worst Picture
(500) Days of Summer
Avatar
The Blind Side
The Boat That Rocked
Coraline
Inglourious Basterds
Invictus
Julie & Julia
Public Enemies
The Road

Worst Director
James Cameron - Avatar
John Lee Hancock - The Blind Side
John Hillcoat - The Road
Michael Mann - Public Enemies
Sam Mendes - Away We Go
Quentin Tarantino - Inglourious Basterds

Worst Actor
Sharlto Copley - District 9
Tobey McGuire - Brothers
Viggo Mortensen - The Road
Chris Pine - Star Trek
Sam Worthington - Avatar

Worst Actress
Amy Adams - Julie & Julia
Sandra Bullock - The Blind Side
Zooey Deschanel - (500) Days of Summer
Zoe Saldana - Avatar
Rachel Weisz - The Brothers Bloom

Worst Supporting Actor
Jae Head - The Blind Side
Eli Roth - Inglourious Basterds
David Schwimmer - Nothing but the Truth
Kodi Smit-McPhee - The Road
Karl Urban - Star Trek

Worst Supporting Actress
Anjoa "Ruhhhgby" Andoh - Invictus
Vera Farmiga - Nothing but the Truth
Eva Mendes - Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
Mo'Nique - Precious
Charlize Theron - The Road

Worst Original Screenplay
(500) Days of Summer
Avatar
The Boat That Rocked
Cold Souls
Inglourious Basterds
Up

Worst Adapted Screenplay
The Blind Side
Coraline
Invictus
Julie & Julia
Public Enemies
The Road

Worst Editing
Avatar
Big Fan
Inglourious Basterds
Public Enemies
The Road

Worst Score or Soundtrack
(500) Days of Summer
Avatar
Away We Go
Invictus
Precious

Worst Animated Film
Avatar
Coraline
Up

Worst Technical Achievement
Avatar - Smurf Effects; "Costumes"
The Brothers Bloom - Pretending to be Wes Anderson
Cold Souls - Ripping off all its ideas from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Adaptation., Synecdoche, NY and Being John Malkovich; general lack of a point
Julie & Julia - Amy Adams' hair
The Lovely Bones - Peter Jackson's dumb vision of Heaven or whatever it's supposed to be

Special Achievement: Worst 2 1/2 Hour Video Game Advertisement Masquerading as a Film
Avatar

Lifetime Failure Award: James Cameron

Few filmmaker's have mastered the twin trajectories of wasting egregious amounts of money making completely asinine shit and being a huge, egomaniacal prick the way James Cameron has. We all know the crap he's made so I'll save everyone some time and remind you all just of a couple of his achievements perhaps destined to be less remembered. Cameron spoke in "Na'vi" during his pompous, god-complex-laden Golden Globes speech and also, earlier in the decade, confirmed that not only is he a complete douche but a horrendous actor during his multi-episode guest starring role on Entourage. Congratulations Jim!

Nomination Tally
4/10 Avatar
1/7 The Road
4/5 The Blind Side
0/5 Inglourious Basterds
0/4 (500) Days of Summer
0/4 Invictus
0/4 Julie & Julia
0/4 Public Enemies
0/3 Coraline
1/2 Away We Go
0/2 The Boat That Rocked
0/2 The Brothers Bloom
1/2 Cold Souls
0/2 Nothing but the Truth
0/2 Precious
0/2 Star Trek
0/2 Up
0/1 Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
0/1 Big Fan
1/1 Brothers
0/1 District 9
0/1 The Lovely Bones

2009 Drew Awards

Best Picture
John B. Carls, Gary Goetzman, Tom Hanks, Vincent Landay, Maurice Sendak - Where the Wild Things Are
Jan Chapman, Caroline Hewitt, Mark L. Rosen - Bright Star
Ethan Coen, Joel Coen - A Serious Man
Stuart Fenegan, Trudie Styler - Moon
Kevin Loader, Adam Tandy - In the Loop

Best Director
Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker
Jane Campion - Bright Star
Duncan Jones - Moon
Spike Jonze - Where the Wild Things Are
Steven Soderbergh - The Informant!

Best Actor
Jeff Bridges - Crazy Heart
Matt Damon - The Informant!
Tom Hardy - Bronson
Sam Rockwell - Moon
Michael Stuhlbarg - A Serious Man

Best Actress
Abbie Cornish - Bright Star
Penelope Cruz - Broken Embraces
Charlotte Gainsbourg - Antichrist
Katie Jarvis - Fish Tank
Gabourey Sidibe - Precious

Best Supporting Actor
Peter Capaldi - In the Loop
Paul Higgins - In the Loop
Tom Hollander - In the Loop
David Rasche - In the Loop
Paul Schneider - Bright Star

Best Supporting Actress
Leonie Benesch - The White Ribbon
Mimi Kennedy - In the Loop
Edie Martin - Bright Star
Gina McKee - In the Loop
Catherine O'Hara - Away We Go

Best Original Screenplay
Jacques Audiard, Thomas Bidegain, Abdel Raouf Dafri, Nicolas Peufaillit - A Prophet
Ethan Coen, Joel Coen - A Serious Man
Adam Elliot - Mary and Max
Michael Haneke - The White Ribbon
Duncan Jones, Nathan Parker - Moon

Best Adapted Screenplay
Wes Anderson, Noah Baumbach - Fantastic Mr. Fox
Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Ian Martin, Tony Roche - In the Loop
Scott Z. Burns - The Informant!
Dave Eggers, Spike Jonze - Where the Wild Things Are
Peter Straughan - The Men Who Stare at Goats

Best Cinematography
Lance Acord - Where the Wild Things Are
Christian Berger - The White Ribbon
Greig Fraser - Bright Star
Eduard Grau - A Single Man
Gary Shaw - Moon

Best Editing
Anthony Boys, Billy Sneddon - In the Loop
Nicolas Gaster - Moon
Chris Innis, Bob Murawski - The Hurt Locker
Roderick Jaynes - A Serious Man
Joe Walker - Harry Brown

Best Art Direction
Dan Bishop - A Single Man
Nelson Lowry - Fantastic Mr. Fox
Anastasia Masaro - The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Tony Noble - Moon
Adrian Smith - Bronson

Best Costume
Janet Patterson - Bright Star
Arianne Phillips - A Single Man
Monique Prudhomme - The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Louise Stjernsward - Creation
Casey Storm - Where the Wild Things Are

Best Sound
Peter Albrechtsen, Kristian Eidnes Andersen - Antichrist
Ray Beckett, Paul N.J. Ottosson - The Hurt Locker
Chris C. Benson, Craig Berkey, Peter F. Kurland, Skip Lievsay, Greg Orloff - A Serious Man
Ren Klyce, Mark Weingarten, Gary Wilkins - Where the Wild Things Are
Erin McKimm, Peter Walker - Mary and Max

Best Makeup
Lily Beckett, Niamh Morrison - Bronson
Christine Beveridge, Kay Georgiou - The Informant!
Daniel Parker - The Hurt Locker

Best Score
Carter Burwell - A Serious Man
Carter Burwell, Karen O. - Where the Wild Things Are
Dale Cornelius - Mary and Max
Abel Korzeniowski - A Single Man
Clint Mansell - Moon

Best Foreign Language Film
Pedro Almodóvar - Broken Embraces
Jacques Audiard - A Prophet
Henrik Ruben Genz - Terribly Happy
Michael Haneke - The White Ribbon
Ole Christian Madsen - Flame & Citron

Best Animated Film
Wes Anderson - Fantastic Mr. Fox
Ron Clements, John Musker - The Princess and the Frog
Adam Elliot - Mary and Max

Best Documentary Film
Kirby Dick - Outrage
Sacha Gervasi - Anvil: the Story of Anvil
Louie Psihoyos - The Cove
Chris Smith - Collapse
Jeff Stilson - Good Hair

Lifetime Achievement Award: Warren Beatty for mastery in acting, producing, screenwriting, and directing in a career spanning 50 years.

Warren Beatty gave his breakthrough performance in Elia Kazan's 1961 melodrama Splendor in the Grass in which he starred with then girlfriend Natalie Wood. Even in his first performance, he displayed his charismatic, understated and naturalistic style he would go on to perfect throughout his career. Six years later, Beatty received his first Oscar recognition for producing and starring in the 1967 benchmark film Bonnie & Clyde. In the 1970s, Beatty co-wrote, starred and produced Shampoo (1975) and co-wrote, starred, produced and co-directed Heaven Can Wait (1978) two of the finest and funniest comedies of the decade, while also delivering good performances in films such as McCabe & Mrs. Miller, The Parallax View and $ (Dollars). He received an Oscar nomination for Shampoo's screenplay and was also nominated for writing, acting, producing and directing Heaven Can Wait. In 1981, Beatty co-wrote, starred, produced and directed Reds, the epic biopic of John Reed, Marxist journalist and activist. Among nominations for writing, acting and producing, Beatty won Best Director for that picture, his first and only Oscar, as well as directing Maureen Stapleton to a Best Supporting Actress trophy as Emma Goldman. He is still the only person to receive Oscar nominations for writing, directing, producing and acting for the same film on two occasions. In 1990, Beatty made the pop art-styled Dick Tracy based on the popular comic. The film, despite a troubled production, was a big financial success and netted Al Pacino an Oscar nomination along with a series of technical nominations. With the exception of Madonna's presence, the film still remains one of the finest comic book adaptations in history. In 1992, Beatty was nominated for acting and producing for the final time in Bugsy, the biopic of gangster Bugsy Siegel, which co-starred Annette Bening his eventual wife and was written by recent Colleen winner James Toback. 1998 marked Beatty's final work as a writer and director, and his final Oscar nomination (for screenplay,) with the political satire Bulworth. Since 2001, Beatty has mainly been retired other than a executive producer credit or two.
He now, at the ripe old age of 73, receives his biggest honor yet, the Drew Lifetime Achievement Award. Thank you for all you have given to us, Mr. Beatty. You, sir, are a living treasure.

Win/Nomination Tally:
6/8 Moon
3/9 In the Loop
2/7 Bright Star
2/4 Mary and Max
2/4 A Single Man
1/4 The Hurt Locker
1/4 The White Ribbon
1/1 Collapse
1/1 Warren Beatty
0/7 Where the Wild Things Are
0/6 A Serious Man
0/4 The Informant!
0/3 Bronson
0/3 Fantastic Mr. Fox
0/2 Antichrist
0/2 Broken Embraces
0/2 The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
0/2 A Prophet
0/1 Anvil: the Story of Anvil
0/1 Away We Go
0/1 The Cove
0/1 Crazy Heart
0/1 Creation
0/1 Fish Tank
0/1 Flame & Citron
0/1 Good Hair
0/1 Harry Brown
0/1 The Men Who Stare at Goats
0/1 Outrage
0/1 Precious
0/1 The Princess and the Frog
0/1 Terribly Happy

The 3rd Annual Donna Awards 2009!

Best picture
Stefan Arndt, Veit Heiduschka, Michael Katz, Margaret Menegoz, Andrea Occhipinti - The White Ribbon
Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal, Nicolas Chartier, Greg Shapiro - The Hurt Locker
Stuart Fenegan, Trudie Styler - Moon
Melanie Coombs - Mary and Max
Kevin Loader, Adam Tandy - In the Loop

Best Director
Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker
Adam Elliott - Mary and Max
Michael Haneke - The White Ribbon
Armando Iannucci - In the Loop
Duncan Jones - Moon

Best Actor
Edgar Flores - Sin Nombre
Tahar Rahim - A Prophet
Sam Rockwell - Moon
Michael Sheen - The Damned United
Michael Stuhlbarg - A Serious Man

Best Actress
Carey Mulligan - An Education
Gabourey Sidibe - Precious
Meryl Streep - Julie & Julia
Audrey Tatou - Coco Before Chanel
*There are only 4 that deserve the Dolphin Award

Best Supporting Actor
Peter Capaldi - In the Loop
Tom Hollander - In the Loop
Anthony Mackie - The Hurt Locker
Alfred Molina - An Education
Stanley Tucci - Julie & Julia

Best Supporting Actress
Leonie Benesch - The White Ribbon
Paulina Gaiton - Sin Nombre
Sari Lennick - A Serous Man
Gina McKee - In the Loop
Julianne Moore - A Single Man

Best Original Screenplay
Jacques Audiard, Thomas Bidegain, Abdel Raouf Dafri, Nicolas Peufaillit - A Prophet
Mark Boal - The Hurt Locker
Cary Fukanaga - Sin Nombre
Michael Haneke - The White Ribbon
Duncan Jones, Nathan Parker - Moon

Best Adapted Screenplay
Wes Anderson, Noah Baumbach - Fantastic Mr. Fox
Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Ian Martin, Tony Roche - In the Loop
Scott Z. Burns - The Informant!
Dave Eggers, Spike Jonze - Where the Wild Things Are
Tom Ford, David Scearce - A Single Man

Best Cinematography
Barry Ackroyd - The Hurt Locker
Lance Acord - Where the Wild Things Are
Christian Berger - The White Ribbon
Roger Deakins - A Serious Man
Stéphane Fontaine - A Prophet

Best Makeup
Barney Burman, Mindy Hall, Joel Harlow - Star Trek
Vivianna Delgado, Michael Fuentes, Alfredo Garcia et. all - Sin Nombre
John Henry Gordon, Jenny Shircore - The Young Victoria

Best Score
Carter Burwell - A Serious Man
Alexandre Desplat - Fantastic Mr. Fox
Michael Giacchino - Up
Marvin Hamlisch - The Informant!
Abel Korzeniowski - A Single Man

Best Foreign Lang. Film
Jacques Audiard - A Prophet
Michael Haneke - The White Ribbon
Anne Fontaine - Coco Before Channel
Cary Fukunaga - Sin Nombre

Best Anim. Film
Wes Anderson - Fantastic Mr. Fox
Pete Docter, Bob Peterson - Up
Adam Elliott - Mary & Max

Best Editing
Anthony Boys, Billy Sneddon - In the Loop
Nicolas Gaster - Moon
James Haygood, Eric Zumbrunnen - Where the Wild Things Are
Chris Innis, Bob Murawski - The Hurt Locker
Juliette Welfing - A Prophet

Art Direct./Set
K. K. Barrett - Where the Wild Things Are
Dan Bishop - A Single Man
Frederick Blum - Coco Before Channel
Karl Júlíusson - The Hurt Locker
Christoph Kanter - The White Ribbon

Best Costume
Moidel Bickel - The White Ribbon
Catherine Leterrier - Coco before Chanel
Arrianne Phillips - A Single Man
Casey Storm - Where the Wild Things Are
Mary Zophres - A Serious Man

Best Sound
Ray Beckett, Paul N.J. Ottosson - The Hurt Locker
Ben Burtt, Mark A. Mangini, Alan Rankin - Star Trek
Ren Klyce, Mark Weingarten, Gary Wilkins - Where the Wild Things Are
Erin McKimm, Peter Walker - Mary and Max
Brigitte Taillandier, Francis Wargnier - A Prophet

3rd Annual Golden Dolphin Nominations 2009

Best Picture
Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal, Nicolas Chartier, Greg Shapiro - The Hurt Locker
Jan Chapman, Caroline Hewitt, Mark L. Rosen - Bright Star
Ethan Coen, Joel Coen - A Serious Man
Stuart Fenegan, Trudie Styler - Moon
Kevin Loader, Adam Tandy - In the Loop

Best Director
Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker
Jane Campion - Bright Star
Ethan Coen, Joel Coen – A Serious Man
Duncan Jones – Moon
Spike Jonze – Where The Wild Things Are

Best Actor
Matt Damon – The Informant!
Tom Hardy - Bronson
Tahar Rahim - A Prophet
Sam Rockwell – Moon
Michael Stuhlbarg - A Serious Man

Best Actress
Abbie Cornish - Bright Star
Penelope Cruz – Broken Embraces
Katie Jarvis – Fish Tank
Gabourey Sidibe - Precious
Audrey Tautou – Coco Before Chanel

Best Supporting Actor
Peter Capaldi – In The Loop
Woody Harrelson – The Messenger
Tom Hollander - In the Loop
Anthony Mackie – The Hurt Locker
Paul Schneider – Bright Star

Best Supporting Actress
Leonie Benesch - The White Ribbon
Marcia Gay Harden – The Maiden Heist
Mimi Kennedy - In the Loop
Sari Lennick - A Serious Man
Gina McKee - In the Loop

Best Original Screenplay
Jacques Audiard, Thomas Bidegain, Abdel Raouf Dafri, Nicolas Peufaillit - A Prophet
Mark Boal – The Hurt Locker
Ethan Coen, Joel Coen - A Serious Man
Adam Elliot - Mary and Max
Duncan Jones, Nathan Parker - Moon

Best Adapted Screenplay
Wes Anderson, Noah Baumbach – Fantastic Mr. Fox
Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Ian Martin, Tony Roche - In the Loop
Scott Z. Burns – The Informant!
David Eggers, Spike Jonze – Where The Wild Things Are
Tom Ford, David Scearce - A Single Man

Best Cinematography
Lance Acord - Where The Wild Things Are
Christian Berger - White Ribbon
Roger Deakins - A Serious Man
Greig Fraser - Bright Star
Eduard Grau - A Single Man

Best Editing
Anthony Boys, Billy Sneddon - In the Loop
Nicolas Gaster - Moon
James Haygood, Eric Zumbrunnen - Where The Wild Things Are
Chris Innis, Bob Murawski - The Hurt Locker
Roderick Jaynes - A Serious Man

Best Art Direction
K. K. Barrett - Where the Wild Things Are
Dan Bishop - A Single Man
Nelson Lowry - Fantastic Mr. Fox
Tony Noble - Moon
Adrian Smith - Bronson

Best Costume
Moidel Bickel - The White Ribbon
Doug Hall - Crazy Heart
Janet Patterson – Bright Star
Arianne Phillips - A Single Man
Casey Storm – Where The Wild Things Are

Best Sound
Ray Beckett, Paul N.J. Ottosson - The Hurt Locker
Chris C. Benson, Craig Berkey, Peter F. Kurland, Skip Lievsay, Greg Orloff - A Serious Man
Lori Dovi, Robert Jackson, Leslie Schatz - A Single Man
Ren Klyce, Mark Weingarten, Gary Wilkins - Where the Wild Things Are
Erin McKimm, Peter Walker - Mary and Max

Best Makeup
Lily Beckett, Niamh Morrison - Bronson
Vivianna Delgado, Michael Fuentes, Alfredo Garcia et. all - Sin Nombre
Daniel Parker - The Hurt Locker

Best Score
Carter Burwell – A Serious Man
Michael Giacchino – Up
Marvin Hamlisch – The Informant!
Abel Korzeniowski – A Single Man
Clint Mansell - Moon

Best Foreign Language Film
Pedro Almodóvar - Broken Embraces
Jacques Audiard - A Prophet
Cary Fukunaga - Sin Nombre
Michael Haneke - The White Ribbon
Ole Christian Madsen - Flame & Citron

Best Animated Film
Wes Anderson - Fantastic Mr. Fox
Ron Clements, John Musker - The Princess and the Frog
Adam Elliot - Mary and Max

Best Documentary
Sacha Gervasi - Anvil! The Story of Anvil
Larry Psihoyos - The Cove
Chris Smith - Collapse
Jeff Stilson - Good Hair
James Toback - Tyson

Nomination Tally:
8 - A Serious Man
7 - The Hurt Locker
7 - In the Loop
7 - Moon
7 - Where The Wild Things Are
6 - Bright Star
6 - A Single Man
4 - The White Ribbon
3 - Bronson
3 - Fantastic Mr. Fox
3 - The Informant!
3 - Mary and Max
3 - A Prophet
2 - Broken Embraces
2 - Sin Nombre
1 - Anvil! The Story of Anvil
1 - Coco Before Chanel
1 - Collapse
1 - The Cove
1 - Crazy Heart
1 - Fish Tank
1 - Flame & Citron
1 - Good Hair
1 - The Messenger
1 - The Maiden Heist
1 - Precious
1 - The Princess and the Frog
1 - Tyson
1 - Up

1, 2, 3, REPEATER! - The repeat dolphin nominees this year
Ethan Coen, Joel Coen - 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th nominations. Hold the record for most dolphin nominations per person with 8
Sam Rockwell - 2nd nomination.
Roger Deakins - 4th nomination but no wins yet. The only person to be nominated at every Dolphin ceremony.
Skip Lievsay - 2nd nomination
Carter Burwell - 2nd nomination

Also, In the Loop is the second film with the distinction to be nominated 4 times in the acting categories. Doubt was the first and it went on to win 2 of them.

2009 3rd Annual Colleen Awards

Best Picture:
The Hurt Locker—Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal, Nicolas Chartier & Greg Shapiro
Flammen & Citronnen—Lars Bredo Rahbek
Bright Star—Jan Chapman, Caroline Hewitt & Mark L. Rosen
Moon—Stuart Fenegan, Trudie Styler
In the Loop—Kevin Loader & Adam Tandy

Best Director:
Jacques Audiard - A Prophet
Kathryn Bigelow –The Hurt Locker
Jane Campion—Bright Star
Armando Ianucci—In the Loop
Ole Christian Madsen—Flame & Citron

Best Actor in a Lead Female Role:
Abbie Cornish—Bright Star
Penelope Cruz—Broken Embraces
Katie Jarvis—Fish Tank
Gabourey Sidibe—Precious: Based on the novel Push by Sapphire
Meryl Streep—Julie & Julia

Best Actor in a Supporting Female Role:
Leonie Benesch—The White Ribbon
Mimi Kennedy—In the Loop
Melanie Linskey—The Informant!
Blanca Portillo—Broken Embraces
Stine Stengade—Flame & Citron

Best Actor in a Lead Male Role
Edgar Flores—Sin Nombre
Tom Hardy—Bronson
Thure Lindhardt—Flame and Citron
Tahar Rahim—A Prophet
Sam Rockwell—Moon

Best Actor in a Supporting Male Role:
Peter Capaldi—In the Loop
Michael Fassbender—Fish Tank
Tom Hollander—In the Loop
Mads Mikkelson—Flame& Citron
Paul Schneider—Bright Star

Best Original Screenplay:
Lars Anderson and Ole Christian Madsen—Flame & Citron
Thomas Bidegain and Jacques Audiard—A Prophet
Jane Campion—Bright Star
Adam Elliot—Mary and Max
Cary Fukunaga—Sin Nombre

Best Adapted Screenplay:
Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach—Fantastic Mr. Fox
Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Ian Martin, Tony Rochen— In the Loop
Scott Z. Burns—The Informant!
Tom Ford--A Single Man
Peter Straughan—The Men Who Stare at Goats

Best Cinematography:
Christian Berger—The White Ribbon
Greig Fraser—Bright Star
Eduard Grau—A Single Man
Jorgen Johansson—Flame & Citron
Rodrigo Prieto—Broken Embraces

Best Editing:
Anthony Boys & Billy Sneddon—In the loop
Sorren B. Ebbe—Flame& Citron
Nicolas Gaster—Moon
Chris Innis & Bob Murawski— The Hurt locker
Billy Murphy—Mary & Max

Best Art Direction:
Hidiki Arichi—Moon
Craig Fison—Mary & Max
Jane Levick—Bronson
Nelson Lowry—Fantastic Mr. Fox
Jeffrey Thorp—Where the Wild Things Are

Best Costume:
Manon Rasmussen, Margrethe Rasumussen & Rikke Simonsen—Flame & Citron
Janet Patterson—Bright Star
Sonia Grande—Broken Embraces
Arianne Phillips—A Single Man
Doug Hall—Crazy Heart

Best Make Up:
Lily Beckett & Niamh Morrison—Bronson
Vivianna Delgado, Michael Fuentes, Alfredo Garcia et. all—Sin Nombre
Daniel Parker—The Hurt Locker

Best Sound:
Erin McKimm, Peter Walker—Mary and Max
Ray Beckett, Paul N.J. Ottosson—The Hurt Locker
Hans Moller—Flame & Citron
Leslie Shatz—A Single Man
Benjamin Viau--A Prophet

Best Score:
Dale Cornelius—Mary and Max
Alexandre Desplat—Fantastic Mr. Fox
Abel Korzeniowski—A Single Man
Clint Mansell—Moon
Hans Zimmer—Sherlock Holmes


Best Animated Feature Film:
Fantastic Mr. Fox—Wes Anderson
Princess and the Frog—Jon Clements and Ron Musker
Mary & Max—Adam Elliot

Best Foreign Film:
A Prophet—Jacques Audiard
Broken Embraces—Pedro Almodavor
Sin Nombre—Cary Fukanaga
The White Ribbon—Michael Haneke
Flame & Citron—Christian Ole Madsen

Best Documentary:
Outrage—Kirby Dick
The Cove—Louie Pisihoyos
Anvil: The Story of Anvil—Sasha Gervasi
Good Hair—Jeff Stilson
Tyson—James Toback

Colleen's First Lifetime Achievement:
Lauren Bacall From The Big Sleep to Dogville few actors rival Bacall's commanding presence. She has a charisma to match her husband's--may they reunite in heaven.

Drew's Dolphin nomination predictions

I did some "analysis" yesterday tallying up the personal awards in an attempt to predict what some of these crazy Dolphin nominations will look like this year. We've already seen the Joes (I probably should be tweaking my predix but whatever) but I wanted to post this before I crack open the ballots and start tallying.

Best Picture
Moon - Drews, Joes, Colleens, Donnas
In the Loop - Drews, Colleens, Donnas
The Hurt Locker - Joes, Colleens, Donnas
A Serious Man - Drews, Joes
Bright Star - Drews, Colleens
Where the Wild Things Are - Drews
Fantastic Mr. Fox - Joes
The Informant! - Joes
Flame & Citron - Colleens
The White Ribbon - Donnas
Mary and Max - Donnas

We've got an interesting slate of Best Picture hopefuls this year, not a bad apple in the bunch. Moon has all but secured it's spot as the frontrunner being the only film grab spots at everyone's awards. Both In the Loop and The Hurt Locker and appear to have a strong amount of support as well. All three of those are good position for the Dolphin nom. A Serious Man and Bright Star both garnered two noms but their chances aren't as stable. A surprise win from any of the other best picture hopefuls could catapult them into the final five.

Best Director
Duncan Jones - Moon - Drews, Joes, Donnas
Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker - Drews, Colleens, Donnas
Spike Jonze - Where the Wild Things Are - Drews, Joes
Steven Soderbergh - The Informant! - Drews, Joes
Jane Campion - Bright Star - Drews, Colleens
Armando Iannucci - In the Loop - Colleens, Donnas
Wes Anderson – Fantastic Mr. Fox - Joes
Ethan and Joel Coen – A Serious Man - Joes
Jacques Audiard - A Prophet - Colleens
Ole Christian Madsen—Flame & Citron - Colleens
Michael Haneke - The White Ribbon - Donnas
Adam Elliott - Mary and Max - Donnas

Duncan Jones and Kathryn Bigelow each secured three nominations so the Dolphins could be a showdown between those two. Of the four directors to receive two nominations I think Spike Jonze and Jane Campion might stand a better chance since their films ended up being love it or hate it types. Getting a couple high votes is a lot more important a lot of low votes. From there it seems Soderbergh and Iannucci might be dueling for last spot but a surprise win from someone (Ole Christian Madsen maybe?) would overtake both of them easily.

Best Actor
Sam Rockwell - Moon - Drews, Joes, Colleens, Donnas
Matt Damon - The Informant! - Drews, Joes
Tom Hardy - Bronson - Drews, Colleens
Michael Stuhlbarg - A Serious Man - Drews, Donnas
Jeff Bridges - Crazy Heart - Drews, Joes
Tahar Rahim - A Prophet - Colleens, Donnas
Michael Sheen – The Damned United - Joes, Donnas
Edgar Flores - Sin Nombre - Colleens, Donnas
Jeremy Renner – The Hurt Locker - Joes
Thure Lindhardt - Flame and Citron - Colleens

To my surprise, Best Actor has turned into the most heated race of all. Other than Rockwell scoring noms with everyone like his film did, second place (and 3rd, 4th, 5th for that matter) is a tie between 7 actors. It's going to end up with the actors with the strongest bases taking the 4 spots. I feel like Damon, Stuhlbarg and maybe Hardy could all get in though I think we're going to see at least one if not two of Donna's remaining picks earn spots as well. I don't have much idea how this will turn out.

Best Actress
Katie Jarvis - Fish Tank - Drews, Joes, Colleens
Penelope Cruz - Broken Embraces - Drews, Joes, Colleens
Gabourey Sidibe - Precious - Drews, Colleens, Donnas
Meryl Streep – Julie and Julia - Joes, Colleens, Donnas
Abbie Cornish - Bright Star - Drews, Colleens
Audrey Tautou – Coco Before Chanel - Joes, Donnas
Charlotte Gainsbourg - Antichrist - Drews, Joes
Carey Mulligan - An Education - Donnas

Barring a surprise win from Carey Mulligan or Audrey Tautou at the Donnas, I'm pretty confident we'll be seeing Jarvis, Cruz, Streep, Cornish and Sidibe at the Dolphins.

Best Supporting Actor
Peter Capaldi - In the Loop - Drews, Joes, Colleens, Donnas
Tom Hollander - In the Loop - Drews, Colleens, Donnas
Paul Schneider - Bright Star - Drews, Joes, Colleens
Anthony Mackie – The Hurt Locker - Joes, Donnas
Paul Higgins - In the Loop - Drews
David Rasche - In the Loop - Drews
Woody Harrelson – The Messenger - Joes
Brad Pitt – Inglorious Bastards - Joes
Michael Fassbender - Fish Tank - Colleens
Mads Mikkelson - Flame & Citron - Colleens
Alfred Molina - An Education - Donnas
Stanley Tucci - Julie & Julia - Donnas

Capaldi confirmed himself as the front runner at the Donnas today and Schneider and Hollander look solid as well. From there it's a bit of a crapshoot, Mackie is in surprisingly good position for a nom but I think we could see Fassbender and/or Harrelson enter into the five based on the love of Colleen and Joe respectively. You never know what Donna has up here sleeve either.

Best Supporting Actress
Mimi Kennedy - In the Loop - Drews, Joes, Colleens
Leonie Benesch - The White Ribbon - Drews, Colleens, Donnas
Melanie Lynskey – The Informant! - Joes, Colleens
Gina McKee - In the Loop - Drews, Donnas
Edie Martin - Bright Star - Drews
Catherine O'Hara - Away We Go - Drews
Jennifer Connelly– Creation - Joes
Marcia Gay Hayden – The Maiden Heist - Joes
Samantha Morton – The Messenger - Joes
Blanca Portillo—Broken Embraces - Colleens
Stine Stengade—Flame & Citron - Colleens
Sari Lennick - A Serious Man - Donnas
Julianne Moore - A Single Man - Donnas
Paulina Gaiton - Sin Nombre - Donnas

Despite an emerging 4 frontrunners who really knows with this category. Mimi Kennedy and Leonie Benesch look solid but it's hard to say anything more than that.

Best Original Screenplay
Jacques Audiard, Thomas Bidegain, Abdel Raouf Dafri, Nicolas Peufaillit - A Prophet - Drews, Joes, Colleens, Donnas
Duncan Jones, Nathan Parker - Moon - Drews, Joes, Donnas
Ethan Coen, Joel Coen - A Serious Man - Drews, Joes
Adam Elliot - Mary and Max - Drews, Colleens
Michael Haneke - The White Ribbon - Drews, Donnas
Mark Boal – The Hurt Locker - Joes, Donnas
Cary Fukunaga—Sin Nombre - Colleens, Donnas
Pedro Almodovar – Broken Embraces - Joes
Jane Campion—Bright Star - Colleens
Lars Anderson and Ole Christian Madsen—Flame & Citron - Colleens

Surprisingly A Prophet's screenplay was the only one everyone agreed on and Moon has probably secured a nom with 3 notices. Otherwise just about all the choices seem possible, I'm guessing A Serious Man and Mary and Max will make appearances and I wouldn't be surprised if Flame & Citron creeps in either.

Best Adapted Screenplay
Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Ian Martin, Tony Roche - In the Loop - Drews, Joes, Colleens, Donnas
Scott Z. Burns - The Informant! - Drews, Joes, Colleens, Donnas
Wes Anderson, Noah Baumbach - Fantastic Mr. Fox - Drews, Joes, Colleens, Donnas
Peter Straughan - The Men Who Stare at Goats - Drews, Joes, Colleens
Dave Eggers, Spike Jonze - Where the Wild Things Are - Drews, Joes, Donnas
Tom Ford--A Single Man - Colleens, Donnas

I'm guessing Tom Ford's film will be the odd (single) man out come dolphin time.