Surprise surprise! The first critic’s year-end best list is out via the National Board of Review and it looks like an Eastwood/Scorsese duel might unfold yet again. Letters From Iwo Jima tops the chart as Best Picture, but Marty picks up Best Director honors. I imagine that more West coast circles and associations might give higher grades for Dreamgirls, while the bizarre omission of Little Children in all of the categories will be compensated by east coast critics.
It is award season in Australia again and the time for the small number of people in the Australian film industry to come together and pat each other on the back for a mostly mediocre job well done. The most prestigious of the three major award ceremonies that occur over the next month is the L’Oreal Paris Australian Film Institute (AFI) Awards. It is the ceremony that attracts big names and they like people to know that. Russell Crowe hosted last year. Who cares if he isn’t actually Australian?