Essentially, the Annual Satellite Award nominations (now in their 13th year) is some crazy round up that resembles what the Golden Globes usually looks like, and with the extra categories it comes as no surprise that we find a horrible picture like Baz Luhrmann‘s Australia leading the nominations (thankfully it covers the tech categories and not the main) with Van Sant’s Milk and Boyle’s Slumdog leading the main caegories. But what I’m taking away from 24 or so categories are the names and film titles that you probably won’t find in many more top of the year end honors lists. There are so many categories that are puzzling here, because of the inclusions, the omissions and the badly labeled films in wrong categories (see the Best Original Screenplay below).
I’m happy to see that the work in the frigid Nova Scotian weather didn’t prevent David Gordon Green’s DOP Tim Orr from getting a mention and I’m glad that the ugly character but fun perf from Sam Rockwell allowed him to get a nod for Best Actor in a Comedy with Choke. I expect that Viola Davis’ perf in Doubt will be compensated down the line, but it’s nice to see the early buzz begin to build. Josh Brolin’s take on George Bush will unfortunately not get any year-end kudos which is too bad – because he did some really good work in speaking and chewing like the prez. I’m glad to see Michael Shannon get a nod for Revolutionary Road and while I have yet to see the film I was grateful to have discovered him in a lead role earlier this year with Shotgun Stories. And speaking of indies and guns, the top ten list that included a film that easily figures at the top tier of my favorite films of the year in Ballast.
The complete nominations are listed below. The awards, given by the Intl. Press Academy, will take place Dec. 14 at Century City’s InterContinental Hotel.
Motion Picture, Drama
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire
Revolutionary Road
Frost/Nixon
Milk
Frozen River
Director
Thomas McCarthy – The Visitor
Ron Howard – Frost/Nixon
Gus Van Sant – Milk
Christopher Nolan – The Dark Knight
Danny Boyle – Slumdog Millionaire
Stephen Daldry – The Reader
Actress In A Motion Picture, Drama
Melissa Leo – Frozen River
Angelina Jolie – Changeling
Anne Hathaway – Rachel Getting Married
Kristin Scott Thomas – I’ve Loved You So Long
Meryl Streep – Doubt
Kate Winslet – The Reader
Actor In A Motion Picture, Drama
Mickey Rourke -The Wrestler
Mark Ruffalo – What Doesn’t Kill You
Richard Jenkins – The Visitor
Frank Langella -Frost/Nixon
Leonardo Dicaprio – Revolutionary Road
Sean Penn – Milk
Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical
Happy-Go-Lucky
Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Tropic Thunder
In Bruges
Choke
Actress In A Motion Picture, Comedy Or Musical
Sally Hawkins – Happy-Go-Lucky
Meryl Streep – Mamma Mia!
Lisa Kudrow – Kabluey
Kat Dennings – Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist
Catherine Deneuve – A Christmas Tale
Debra Messing – Nothing Like the Holidays
Actor In A Motion Picture, Comedy Or Musical
Ricky Gervais – Ghost Town
Sam Rockwell – Choke
Josh Brolin – W.
Michael Cera – Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist
Brendan Gleeson – In Bruges
Mark Ruffalo – The Brothers Bloom
Actress In A Supporting Role
Rosemarie DeWitt – Rachel Getting Married
Penelope Cruz – Elegy
Anjelica Huston – Choke
Sophie Okonedo – The Secret Life of Bees
Emma Thompson – Brideshead Revisited
Viola Davis – Doubt
Beyonce Knowles – Cadillac Records
Actor In A Supporting Role
Michael Shannon – Revolutionary Road
Robert Downey, Jr. – Tropic Thunder
Rade Sherbedgia – Fugitive Pieces
James Franco – Milk
Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight
Philip Seymour – Hoffman Doubt
Motion Picture, Foreign Language Film
Let the Right One In – Sweden
The Class – France
Sangre de mi Sangre – Mexico
Reprise – Norway
Gomorrah – Italy
Caramel – Lebanon / France
Motion Picture, Animated Or Mixed Media
The Tale of Despereaux
Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who!
WALL-E
Bolt
Waltz With Bashir
The Sky Crawlers
Motion Picture, Documentary
Man on Wire
Pray the Devil Back to Hell
Encounters at the End of the World
Religulous
Anita O’Day – The Life of a Jazz Singer
Waltz With Bashir
Screenplay, Original
Philip Roth – Elegy
Thomas McCarthy -The Visitor
Eric Roth, Robin Swicord – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Courtney Hunt – Frozen River
Baz Luhrmann, Stuart Beattie, Ronald Harwood, Richard Flanagan – Australia
Dustin Lance Black – Milk
Screenplay, Adapted
John Patrick Shanley – Doubt
Peter Morgan – Frost/Nixon
David Hare – The Reader
Simon Beaufoy – Slumdog Millionaire
Justin Haythe – Revolutionary Road
Original Score
David Arnold – Quantum of Solace
Thomas Newman – WALL-E
John Powell – Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who!
A.R. Rahman – Slumdog Millionaire
David Hirschfelder – Australia
Danny Elfman – Milk
Original Song
“Another Way to Die”/Jack White – Quantum of Solace
“If the World”/Guns N’ Roses – Body of Lies
“Down to Earth”/Peter Gabriel – WALL-E
“By the Boab Tree”/Angela Little et al. – Australia
“Jaiho”/ A.R. Rahman and Gulzar – Slumdog Millionaire
“The Wrestler”/Bruce Springsteen – The Wrestler
Cinematography
Jess Hall – Brideshead Revisited
Gyula Pados – The Duchess
Mandy Walker – Australia
Tim Orr – Snow Angels
Tom Stern – Changeling
Claudio Miranda – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Visual Effects
Quantum of Solace
Iron Man
The Dark Knight
The Day the Earth Stood Still
Australia
Film Editing
Quantum of Solace
Iron Man
The Dark Knight
Australia
Slumdog Millionaire
Frost/Nixon
Sound (Mixing & Editing)
Quantum of Solace
Iron Man
The Dark Knight
Australia
WALL-E
The Day the Earth Stood Still
Art Direction & Production Design
Australia
Brideshead Revisited
The Duchess
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
City of Ember
Revolutionary Road
Costume Design
The Duchess
Brideshead Revisited
Australia
Sex And The City
City of Ember
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Auteur Award
Baz Luhrmann
TOP 10 FILMS OF 2008 – [ listed alphabetically ]
BALLAST
CHANGELING
DOUBT
THE DARK KNIGHT
FROST / NIXON
FROZEN RIVER
MILK
THE READER
REVOLUTIONARY ROAD
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
