Popcorn 'N Roses

Subject:CINEMA #90 - "The 3rd Annual Poppies And Rosies Awards!"

It's all the years best in this, our annual year-end spectacular.

In this special three-hour edition (don't worry, you can listen in shifts, heh heh heh), TC and Kim pick out the best of the best of 2007, naming their official winners in over two dozen catagories, plus over two dozen more "unofficial" awards for silly things like "Valley Dude Of The Year', and "The Bad Continuity Award" among others.

It's a spectacular show, one that we're proud of. And even though we get a little long winded in these year-end wrap ups, it's worth it. Our picks rarely match other critics lists, but you can be guaranteed that when you sit down to watch the movies that win, you'll usually love it!

So sit back, relax, and have a great new year's even with TC and Kim...we know you'll have a TON of FUN!

See you in 2008!

PRESS RELEASE:Popcorn N Roses announces year-end Best of 2007 Movie Lists

Popcorn N Roses announces year-end Best of 2007 Movie Lists

With most critics' lists praising such films as "No Country For Old Men", "Juno", and "Blood Will Be Blood", the two year end top films lists coming from film website Popcorn N Roses may prove to be a refreshing change of pace.

BOSTON MA - December 28 2007

Popcorn N Roses has always marched to their own beat.

The husband and wife team of Popcorn N Roses webmaster TC Kirkham (the "Popcorn") and regular site contributor Kim Brown (The "Roses"), who are also the hosts of the website's popular weekly movie podcast, Subject:CINEMA, have compiled their own lists as a precursor to their annual year-end awards, The Poppies and Rosies, now in their third year.

Kirkham and Brown pride themselves in trying to represent the average film fan, rather than the usual critic's point of view. Their previous awards have been considered refreshingly different by many film fans in view of the similarity of other critics' lists year in and year out.

The lists are in alphabetical order. The two hosts will each name their best picture of 2007, along with over 2 dozen other awards, on the New Years' Eve edition of the Subject:CINEMA podcast, which will be available this Monday, December 31, at 6 PM ET from http://subjectcinema.com as well as the parent website at http://popcornnroses.com.

TC's Baker's Dozen - The Best Movies of 2007
TC Kirkham, Popcorn N Roses/Subject:CINEMA

Across The Universe
Air Guitar Nation
Beowulf
Black Irish
Fierce People
Hairspray
Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix
The King Of Kong -  A Fistful Of Quarters
Man In The Chair
Once
Ratatouille
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Wristcutters: A Love Story

The Best Movies of 2007
Kim Brown, Popcorn N Roses/Subject:CINEMA

3:10 To Yuma
Air Guitar Nation
Fierce People
Hairspray
Hot Fuzz
I Am Legend
The King Of Kong:  A Fistful Of Quarters
Once
Sweeney Todd:  The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street
Wristcutters:  A Love Story

This marks the first year that Popcorn N Roses has released their year-end lists before the announcement of the annual awards.

Contact TC Kirkham for more information regarding these top 10 lists, or the upcoming Poppies and Rosies Awards.  Direct line: (888)214-9311. Email: Press@popcornnroses.com. Other helpful information regarding the lists and upcoming awards can be found at: http://popcornnroses.com and http://subjectcinema.com.

Launched in 2005, Popcorn N Roses is an entertainment news and views website and blog, focusing on the coverage of both mainstream and independent films. The site also produces the  weekly podcast Subject:CINEMA, rated as one of the top 20 film and tv podcasts on Podcast Alley, which will celebrate it's 100th show in late February 2008. Subject:CINEMA is heard by an average of 10,000 fans per month on the Podshow and Blubrry podcasting networks, and can also be accessed from the Popcorn N Roses website and the PNR MySpace page (http://myspace.com/popcornnroses). Popcorn N Roses also maintains the internet radio station Marquee Mix, which celebrates it's second anniversary on January 15 2008.

Contact Information:
TC Kirkham
Popcorn N Roses
Phone : 888-214-9311
http://popcornnroses.com

Subject:CINEMA #89 - "Walking In A Winter Wonderland"

TC and Kim take a look at movies where winter, and snow in particular, play a large part.

Plus, The Callback, a HUGE E-Mail section, a discussion of Empire magazine's sexiest stars list, the VH1 Greatest Songs Of The 90s list, this week's Bonehead Of The Week, and a review of Tim Burton's "Sweeney Todd" - is it a hit or a miss?

Thanks for listening, and don't forget to join us next Monday, December 31, for our biggest event of the year - the Third Annual Poppies And Rosies Awards!

AWARDS: Detroit, St Louis on "No Country" Bandwagon

Add two more cities to the Coen Brothers kudos....

ST LOUIS FILM CRITICS - WINNERS

BEST PICTURE
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN

BEST ACTRESS
ELLEN PAGE - JUNO

BEST ACTOR
DANIEL DAY-LEWIS - THERE WILL BE BLOOD

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
AMY RYAN - GONE BABY GONE

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
CASEY AFFLECK
- THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD

BEST DIRECTOR
ETHAN COEN AND JOEL COEN - NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
ROGER DEAKINS
- THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD

BEST SCREENPLAY (Original or Adapted)
JUNO - DIABLO CODY

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY

BEST DOCUMENTARY
SICKO

BEST COMEDY
JUNO

BEST ANIMATED OR FAMILY FILM
RATATOUILLE

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS (CGI/Special Effects)
300

BEST SCORE
SWEENEY TODD

MOST ORIGINAL OR INNOVATIVE FILM
I'M NOT THERE

WORST FILM OF THE YEAR
THE BROTHERS SOLOMON

DETROIT FILM CRITICS - WINNERS

Best Film
No Country for Old Men

Best Director
Joel and Ethan Coen, No Country for Old Men

Best Actor
George Clooney, Michael Clayton

Best Actress
Ellen Page, Juno

Best Supporting Actor
Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men

Best Supporting Actress
Tilda Swinton, Michael Clayton

Best Ensemble
Juno

Best Newcomer
Diablo Cody, screenwriter, Juno

More year-end critics lists as they come in!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

Here's a great song about what Christmas is all about....TC's all time favorite Christmas song...nothing else even COMES CLOSE...

AT CHRISTMAS

Music and Lyrics by Taylor, Issac, and Zac Hanson

Snow is falling down as you step out of your car
Presents in your arms and you’ve traveled far
Someone opens the door with a smile on their face
And you know you’ve come to the right place

Family nestled by the fire
Christmas hopes to inspire
Loved ones by your side
You know you’ll kiss your babies goodnight

At Christmas, Christmas
No matter who you are
How far you've come
This is where you belong
At Christmas

Memories ‘round the Christmas tree
Are the sweetest ones that remain with me
It’s a comfort deep inside
Though you can’t stop the race of time
To know that Christmas will always be

Family nestled by the fire
Christmas hopes will be inspired
Loved ones by your side
You know you’ll kiss your baby good night

Chorus

Well can't you feel the changing, the anticipation
Can you tell we're almost there
Well precious time we're takin, memories we're making
It's Christmas in the air

Now this is what Christmas means to me
Being together with your family
And the wise men who followed that star
To where our baby Jesus lie

Family nestled all around
Baby Jesus asleep so sound
His star shined so bright
On the very first holy night

At Christmas, Christmas
No matter who you are
How far you've come
This is where you belong

***

I don't know why, but this song gets me every time...it's everything that Christmas is, all in one song...it's just the whole sentiment of the thing, I guess...family, friends, and the real meaning of Christmas...all rolled up in a neat 4 minute package...

To all of YOU who we've come to know as fans and as friends, and everyone else too, TC and Kim wish everyone a happy and wonderful Merry Christmas!

Poppies and Rosies now just a week away!

It's that time of year again...so it's time for the hype to begin! :-)

Next Monday, Popcorn N Roses will announce it's annual Poppies and Rosies on a special episode of our weekly podcast, Subject:CINEMA.The Poppies are given by yours truly, and the Rosies by the Platinum Rose of PNR, and my better half, Kim Brown.

This year's show will hopefully be as entertaining as it is informative, and unlike the Oscars or Golden Globes, we're not hampered by the current WGA Strike...heh heh heh...

I also have to say that we usually don't fall in line with the rest of the sheep...er, critics who all seem to give the same awards to the same movies year after year. Our awards are given from the heart, and from the GUT. We don't award to just anything...but we also award smaller films that deserve more attention that do some of the "indie darlings".

That is NOT to say that they won't win an award...typically, they do. It just means that we don't take everyone else's opinion into account...we make the decisions based on quality, performance, score, and so on...and NOT on inner circle politics (and anyone who says most of the critics awards AREN'T just an entertainment political race is sadly mistaken in most cases...).

For instance...we can't include what we haven't seen. In many cases, and despite considerable efforts on our part, the studios have refused to acknowledge PNR as a legitimate press outlet, and in many cases have refused to grant us screeners. Fortunately, We've worked with a number of indie distributors who were happy to include us, and that's great, but if we haven't seen a movie like "There Will Be Blood" because it's not officially released yet, then it is the studio's fault that we cannot include it on our year end best of lists for PNR and our contributions to the various film organizations we belong to because we didn't recieve a screener. The studios are doing that to themselves.

So anyway, it should be interesting and fun.  We'll Kick off our awards season by announcing our Best Of 2007 Top Ten Lists on Friday, December 28th, as a sneak peak of the Poppies and Rosies, so you won't want to miss that. Check on Friday at 10 AM ET for the official announcement!

Subject:CINEMA #88 - "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town!"

I apologize for being late today...Comcast's system crashed when about 90% of the show had been uploaded, and wouldn't come back up for almost four and a half hours....this system is driving me nuts lately..

Oh well, enough about that...today's show features Kim and TC's take on Santa Claus at the movies!

THE SHOW: Plenty of Santa talk this week, plus Kim's review of I Am Legend, and a jampacked Callback this week.

THIS WEEK'S NOTES:

Be aware that segment 5 features an edited expletive rant by Kim about a recent attack on Santa Claus by the acting Surgeon General...

Also, as we have a mid-week edition coming on Thursday, we will have a HUGE e-mail segment, and this week's Bonehead Of The Week, plus the Empire survey I mentioned in the Callback on that show - there simply wasn't room for it on this week's show!

Thursday, come by as we go "Walking In A Winter Wonderland"!  And don't forget to vote for us on Podcast Alley, and that the Poppies and Rosies are just ONE WEEK AWAY!

A few random thoughts about film and the people involved with them...

While sitting at home in pain and nursing my sore back today after yet another fall on the ice last night, I have been thinking about film, and about the people involved with films. Not so much the pros as the fans and professional film critics, both of which I lay claim to being (well, SEMI-pro on the latter...).

I took a survey sent to me today by the Toronto Film Festival. It's a festival I've never been to, and after taking their survey, I'm not sure I'm interested in going. Ever.

Why?

The questionnaire positively REEKED of pretentiousness. The VERY THING that turns me off when it comes to the independent film scene. I cannot stand "film snob" types who put on airs, and look down your nose at you when you mention something ::GASP::: MAINSTREAM.

There were a lot of choices on various questions that were specifically designed to slam on mainstream films:

"I like films strictly for their entertainment value"

"I prefer films that don't make me think"

"I love films that make me realize that I can change the world"

"Independent films are higher quality because they are made outside the studio system"

And on and on. Now I'm paraphrasing a few choices, yes. But the result is still the same. The above, and at least 10 other questions on the survey, were specifically designed to make you think you're better than everyone else if you like Independent films.

It's that attitude among film fans that I LOATHE. 

I love independent films. Indie films ARE where it's at 9 times out of 10. This much is a true statement.

But it does NOT mean you have to dislike or look down on mainstream films either.

And let me tell you a secret...everyone out there standing up and talking in a funny voice about what a masterpiece the latest movie by Wong Kar-Wai or Wes Anderson is... ALSO ::GASP AGAIN:: has a copy of "The Simpsons Movie" or "Porkys" on their DVD shelves...turned spine-in of course, to avoid being embarrassed and to limit the chance of discovery...

GIVE ME A BREAK, PEOPLE!

I'm a member of the Chlotrudis Society For Independent Film, the American Film Institute, and Film Independent. I love being able to vote in this year's Spirit Awards, and being on the Chlotrudis Nominating committee.

I also love "Transfomers", "Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix", and ::GASP YET AGAIN:: "Happy Feet". And GOD HELP my weakness for "Mystery Science Theater 3000" and Showcase Cinema's recent "Attack Of The B Movies" series.

What are you gonna do?  Put me in film jail? Take away my Zhang Yimou collection? Tell me I can't belong to Friends Of Landmark anymore?

For your information, three indie films rank in my Pantheon Top Five list - my ALL-TIME Favorite Films - "Brick", "Wristcutters:A Love Story", and "Fierce People".

Joining them in the top Five - Zhang Yimou's exquisite "Hero" and Catherine Hardwick's unfairly and much-maligned masterpiece "Lords Of Dogtown". And - get ready to scream - Peter Jackson's take on "King Kong" won my Poppy for Best Picture in 2005! So there!

(I can hear people running away screaming....Michael, you're not going to cancel my Chlotrudis membership now are you? Heh heh heh...)

Now, we come to all this awards coverage...and what do I see? A bunch of pundits lauding how much better indie films are than mainstream films. One critic I read this week was having an aneurysm because ::Ga...oh, never mind you get the idea:: John Travolta got nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the Golden Globes AND the cast of Hairspray got nominated for Best Ensemble at the Screen Actors Guild awards.  And, oh, how utterly WRONG it was that these nominations happened, because they ROBBED some poor, unfortunate indie film of their nomination.

As the late, great Nell Carter used to say, "Gimme a break!"

GUESS WHAT, Mr. Critic? NONE of my favorite films of the year have been nominated for ANYTHING!  Where are the deserved nominations for "Wristcutters", "Fierce People", "Once", "December Boys", "Black Irish", "Man In The Chair" and other equally worthy films? At least "Once" is getting musical nominations, but the others? Zilch. How unfair is that?

Hell, even the year's most widely praised indie film, "Waitress", is getting snubbed in most circles.

I reinterate - How unfair is that?

Should indie film be celebrated? Absolutely! At the expense of smaller indies that don't attract much attention? Unfortunately, it happens...

But at the expense of mainstream crowdpleasers like "Hairspray" that are every bit as good as indie darlings like "Romance and Cigarettes"?

NOT IN YOUR LIFE!

I haven't seen "No Country For Old Men" yet. I plan to see it this weekend. And I plan on trying to catch "There Will Be Blood" before the Poppies are decided, though the trailer left me less than enthused.

But I can tell you this..and you "professional" film critics out there, prepare for a heart attack...

I've seen several other Coen films - "Fargo", "Raising Arizona", "Miller's Crossing" , and most of "The Big Lebowski".

Didn't like any of them. Sure there were moments, but overall, I didn't care for ANY of them. So the odds are NOT on the Coen's side when I try to get to the theater this weekend.

I've had the odd PNR visitor or two, and a few industry pros as well, question my validity as a film critic because I gave rave reviews to "Hairspray", "Transformers", and in past years, "Clerks II" and "Rent".

Apparently, these people feel I've officially flunked out of film critic school.

Well, when I started Popcorn N Roses a little over two years ago, it was my goal to shake things up a bit. I believe in trying to represent the Average Fan's Point Of View. I'm not trying to be Mr. #1 Film Critic - hell, even Roger Ebert RAVED about "Smokin' Aces" (so did Kim, come to think of it...haven't seen it, can't comment on it...)

Those who question my thinking because I love mainstream films too, I point you to my rave reviews of "Wristcutters", "Brick", "Fierce People",  and two as-yet unreleased films, "Once Upon A Film" and "Still Green", among many many other indies.

I'm even doing my part to help try to promote those indie films without major visibility or without a major distribution deal as yet; A brand new site devoted to those films - Indie Film Spotlight - launches in January.

But don't be surprised when the four or five movies on seemingly ALL the critics' lists for this year probably don't show up on mine. I'm not about to jump on the bandwagon if I think some other movie out there is better. Never have, never will.

Sure, I'd like to have major film studios use quotes from my reviews for their publicity. Sure, I'd like to get more traffic and turn PNR into a full-time gig.

But NOT at the expense of my gut feelings. Because what I like is what many average fans will like. And there will be differences of opinion, that much goes without saying (although I just said it...).

But at least I don't make fans of PNR and Subject:CINEMA feel they're any less of a film lover just because one or two of them happen to like a gawd-awful piece of garbage like "The Lost Skeleton Of Cadvera"...just because I don't like it doesn't mean I don't enjoy their friendship and listenership any less...

As Linda Ellerbee would say..."And So It Goes..."

CLOVERFIELD: FIRST LOOK

Just found this online, but what the hell...here's a look at one of the most talked-about movies of 2008, JJ Abrams' "Cloverfield"..and tell all your friends they can find it here!

AWARDS: SAG noms shocker - "Into The Wild" top nominee; "Sweeney" shut completely out

The Screen Actors Guild announced their nominees today, and what a shocker it was - "Sweeney Todd", which just landed four Golden Globe noms last week and an Oscar favorite, was completely shut out of the SAG awards race. In an unexpected list, Sean Penn's feature "Into The Wild" landed the most nominations, with four.

SCREEN ACTORS GUILD AWARDS - FILM NOMINEES

ACTOR
George Clooney - "Michael Clayton"
Daniel Day-Lewis - "There Will Be Blood"
Ryan Gosling - "Lars And The Real Girl"
Emile Hirsch- "Into the Wild"
Viggo Mortensen - "Eastern Promises"

ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett - "Elizabeth: The Golden Age"
Julie Christie - "Away From Her"
Marion Cotillard - "La Vie en rose"
Angelina Jolie - "A Mighty Heart"
Ellen Page - "Juno"

SUPPORTING ACTOR
Casey Affleck - "The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford"
Javier Bardem - "No Country For Old Men"
Tommy Lee Jones - "No Country for Old Men"
Hal Holbrook - "Into the Wild"
Tom Wilkinson - "Michael Clayton

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett - "I’m Not There"
Ruby Dee - "American Gangster"
Catherine Keener - "Into the Wild"
Amy Ryan - "Gone Baby Gone"
Tilda Swinton - "Michael Clayton"

ENSEMBLE CAST
"3:10 to Yuma" - Christian Bale, Russell Crowe, Peter Fonda, Gretchen Mol, Dallas Roberts, Vinessa Shaw, Ben Foster, Alan Tudyk, Logan Lerman
"American Gangster" - Armand Assante, Josh Brolin , Russell Crowe, Ruby Dee, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Idris Elba, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Carla Gugino, John Hawkes, Ted Levine, Joe Morton, Lymari Nadal, John Ortiz, Rza, Yul Vazquez, Denzel Washington
"Hairspray" - Nikki Blonsky, Amanda Bynes, Paul Dooley, Zac Efron, Allison Janney, Elijah Kelley, James Marsden, Michelle Pfeiffer, Queen Latifah, Brittany Snow, Jerry Stiller, John Travolta, Christopher Walken
"Into the Wild" - Brian Dierker, Marcia Gay Harden, Emile Hirsch, Hal Holbrook, William Hurt, Catherine Keener, Jena Malone, Kristen Stewart, Vince Vaughn
"No Country for Old Men" - Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Garret Dillahunt, Tess Harper, Woody Harrelson, Tommy Lee Jones, Kelly Macdonald

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A STUNT ENSEMBLE IN A MOTION PICTURE
"300" (Warner Bros.)
"The Bourne Ultimatum" (Universal)
"I Am Legend" (Warner Bros.)
"The Kingdom" (Universal)
"Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World's End" (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)

The SAG awards are the union presenting their own with kudos, and has been considered in recent years as a decent barometer of the acting nominees for the Oscars...so this should be a very interesting month before Oscar noms are announced.

More awards news as we get it...stay tuned

AWARDS: A ton of critics lists

OK, there's been a TON of awards and year end lists since my last post, so let's play a little catch-up, shall we?

***

AUSTIN FILM CRITICS - WINNERS

Best Film
There Will Be Blood

Best Director
Paul Thomas Anderson, There Will Be Blood

Best Actor
Daniel Day Lewis, There Will Be Blood

Best Actress
Ellen Page, Juno

Best Supporting Actor
Javier Bardem, No Country For Old Men

Best Supporting Actress
Allison Janney, Juno

Best Foreign Film
Black Book

Best Documentary
The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters

Best Animated Film
Ratatouille

Best First Film
Ben Affleck, Gone Baby Gone

Best Original Screenplay
Diablo Cody, Juno

Best Adapted Screenplay
Ethan & & Joel Coen, No Country For Old Men

Best Cinematography
Robert Elswit, There Will Be Blood

Best Original Score
Jonny Greenwood, There Will Be Blood

Breakthrough Artist
Michael Cera, Superbad, Juno

Austin Film Award
Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez, Grindhouse

Top Ten
There Will Be Blood
No Country for Old men
Juno
Into the Wild
310 to Yuma
Knocked Up
Before the Devil Knows Youre Dead
Atonement
American Gangster
Eastern Promises

TORONTO FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION - WINNERS

BEST PICTURE
No Country for Old Men (Alliance Films)

BEST PERFORMANCE, MALE
Viggo Mortensen, Eastern Promises

BEST PERFORMANCE, FEMALE -- TIE
Julie Christie, Away From Her
and
Ellen Page, Juno

BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE, MALE
Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men

BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE, FEMALE
Cate Blanchett, I'm Not There

BEST DIRECTOR
Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, No Country for Old Men

BEST SCREENPLAY
Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, No Country for Old Men

BEST CANADIAN FILM
Away From Her (Mongrel Media)

BEST FIRST FEATURE
Away From Her, directed by Sarah Polley

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Ratatouille (Disney/Pixar)

BEST FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM
4 months, 3 weeks and 2 days (Mongrel Media)

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
No End in Sight (Mongrel Media)

SAN DIEGO FILM CRITICS - WINNERS

Best Film
No Country for Old Men by Joel and Ethan Coen

Best Foreign Language Film
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Julian Schnabel

Best Documentary (tie)
Crazy Love by Dan Klores and Fisher Stevens,
and Deep Water by Louise Osmond and Jerry Rothwell

Best Director
Paul Thomas Anderson, There Will Be Blood

Best Actor
Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood

Best Actress
Julie Christie, Away from Her

Best Supporting Actor
Tommy Lee Jones, No Country for Old Men

Best Supporting Actress
Amy Ryan, Gone Baby Gone

Best Original Screenplay
Diablo Cody, Juno

Best Adapted Screenplay
Paul Thomas Anderson, There Will Be Blood

Best Ensemble
No Country for Old Men

Best Animated Film
Ratatouille by Brad Bird

Best Cinematography
Roger Deakins, No Country for Old Men

Best Editing
Paul Tothill, Atonement

Best Score
Jonny Greenwood, There Will Be Blood

Best Production Design
Dante Ferretti, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Body of Work
Christian Bale
3:10 to Yuma, Rescue Dawn and I’m Not There

Kyle Counts Award
Honors those who have made a contribution to film in the city
Larry Zeiger

PHOENIX FILM CRITICS - WINNERS

Best Picture
No Country for Old Men

Best Foreign Language Film
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Julian Schnabel

Best Documentary Feature Film
Sicko by Michael Moore

Best Achievement in Direction
Ethan and Joel Coen for No Country for Old Men

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
Daniel Day-Lewis for There Will Be Blood

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Julie Christie for Away from Her

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
Javier Bardem for No Country for Old Men

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
Amy Ryan for Gone Baby Gone

Best Acting Ensemble
No Country for Old Men

Best Screenplay written directly for the screen
Diablo Cody for Juno

Best Screenplay adapted from another medium
Joel and Ethan Coen for No Country for Old Men

Best Animated Feature Film
Ratatouille by Brad Bird

Best Achievement in Cinematography
Seamus McGarvey, Atonement

Best Achievement in Editing
Joel and Ethan Coen, No Country for Old Men

Best Original Score
Dario Marianelli, Atonement

Best Original Song
"Falling Slowly" by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, Once

Best Achievement in Production Design
Dante Ferretti, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Best Achievement in Costume Design
Colleen Atwood, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Best Achievement in Visual Effects
300

Best Achievement in Stunts
The Bourne Ultimatum

Breakthrough on Camera
Ellen Page for Juno

Breakthrough behind the Camera
Sarah Polley for Away from Her

Best Performance by a youth in a Lead or Supporting Role - Male
Edward Sanders for Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Best Performance by a youth in a Lead or Supporting Role - Female
Saoirse Ronan for Atonement

Overlooked Film of the Year
Stardust by Matthew Vaughn

Best Live Action Family Film
Enchanted by Kevin Lima

LAS VEGAS FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION - WINNERS

Best Picture
No Country for Old Men

Best Actor
Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood

Best Actress
Ellen Page, “Juno”

Best Supporting Actor
Javier Bardem, “No Country for Old Men”

Best Supporting Actress
Cate Blanchett, “I’m Not There”

Best Director
Joel & Ethan Coen, “No Country for Old Men

Best Screenplay (Original or Adapted)
Diablo Cody, “Juno”

Best Cinematography
Robert Elswit, “There Will Be Blood”

Best Film Editing
Christopher Rouse, “The Bourne Ultimatum”

Best Costume Design
Colleen Atwood, “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”

Best Art Direction
“Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix”

Best Visual Effects
“Transformers”

Best Score
Jonny Greenwood, “There Will Be Blood”

Best Song
“Walk Hard” by Marshall Crenshaw, John C. Reilly, Judd Apatow and Jake Kasdan
Performed by John C. Reilly

Best Animated Film
“Ratatouille”

Best Family Film
“Ratatouille”

Best Documentary
“Sicko”

Best Foreign Film
“The Diving Bell and the Butterfly”

Youth in Film Award (Male)
Ed Sanders, “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Youth in Film Award (Female)
Saoirse Ronan, Atonement

Best DVD (Packaging, Design and Content)
Blade Runner Ultimate Edition (Warner Home Entertainment)

William Holden Lifetime Achievement Award
James Hong

LVFCS Top Ten Films for 2007
No Country for Old Men
Sweeney Todd
3:10 to Yuma
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Zodiac
Into the Wild
Juno
Eastern Promises
The Lookout
Sunshine

SOUTHEASTERN FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION - WINNERS

BEST PICTURES (IN RANKED ORDER)
1. No Country for Old Men
2. There Will Be Blood
3. Atonement
4. Juno
5. Michael Clayton
6. Zodiac
7. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
8. Gone Baby Gone
9. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
10. Into the Wild

BEST ACTOR
Daniel Day-Lewis - There Will Be Blood

BEST ACTRESS
Julie Christie - Away from Her

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Javier Bardem - No Country for Old Men

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Ryan - Gone Baby Gone

BEST DIRECTOR
Joel & Ethan Coen - No Country for Old Men

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Diablo Cody - Juno

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Joel & Ethan Coen - No Country for Old Men

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (France)

BEST DOCUMENTARY
No End in Sight

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Ratatouille

WYATT AWARD
Waitress

***

WHEW!  What a list! Clearly, the Coen Brothers are on top, but There Will Be Blood is in the race in a close second.

I think this is the longest list i've ever posted in one sitting...that's what I get for having problems getting to the site this week! We will have more today, including the SAG Nominations and the Indie Critics Polls from INDIEWire as they come in!

No S:C on Thursday after all..i'm so sorry...

I just wanted to let everyone know i'm very very sorry for the fact that there isn't going to be a mid-week S:C after all. I slipped the other day on the ice, and hurt my back and leg, and that combined with Kim's recent illness and work pressures have made it impossible for us to find the time to sit down and prep for both this week and next week's show in the way we feel necessary to do a good show.

We will be back on Sunday with the Santa Claus show; I apologize but we've simply not been able to find the spare time to sit down and watch some Capra movies for our intended director's chair show. So the schedule looks like this:

Saturday December 22 - Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
Thursday December 27 - Walking In A Winter Wonderland
Monday, December 31 - The Third Annual Poppies And Rosies Awards

After that, we'll be back to our regular schedule.

I have managed to find some time to make some small asethetic changes to the site (i'm lucky work has been somewhat slow on a couple days), and I promise I will try to get the awards news - and there's been lots in the last 48 hours - caught up today sometime.

Thanks for your understanding, it's much appreciated!

AWARDS: AFI names "No Country", "Into The Wild" among the year's 10 best films

The American Film Institute, or AFI for short, has just moments ago released its list of the top 10 films of 2007. They are, in alphabetical order:

BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU'RE DEAD

THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY

INTO THE WILD

JUNO

KNOCKED UP

MICHAEL CLAYTON

NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN

RATATOUILLE

THE SAVAGES

THERE WILL BE BLOOD

More awards news as it happens!

No S:C this Sunday; will air this Thursday instead

Due to Kim being a bit under the weather, we have decided to postpone recording the next show until Monday to give her a bit more time to feel a bit better. So we've rearranged some of our our year-end shows a bit to accomodate, and our schedule for the next two weeks now looks like this:

Thursday, December 20
S:C #88 - "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town"

Sunday, December 23
S:C #89 - "Directors' Chair - It's A Wonderful Life - The Films Of Frank Capra"

Thursday, December 27
S:C #90 - "Walking In A Winter Wonderland"

MONDAY, December 31 - 8 PM - **SPECIAL DAY AND TIME**
S:C #91 - "The Third Annual Poppies and Rosies Awards"

Thanks for your patience and indulgence, it's much appreciated. We WILL have plenty of stuff on the site over the rest of the weekend and into next week as the awards continue to pile up.

And PLEASE DON'T FORGET (subtle, aren't I?) to send in your preliminary ballot for the Podlistener's Choice Movie Awards. If you don't have one, it means you aren't a member of the mailing list - you can get the ballot and take part by checking out our PNR Newsline Group!  Preliminary ballots are due in one week from tomorrow, December 23rd and we need all the input we can get to make this year's awards as successful as last years!

AWARDS: Chicago jumps on "No Country" bandwagon

The Chicago Film Critcs Association has selected the Coen Brothers epic "No Country For Old Men" as best picture, putting that film in the lead among winners so far.

The complete list of winners is below:

CHICAGO FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION - WINNERS

BEST PICTURE – "No Country for Old Men"

BEST FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM – "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days"

BEST DIRECTOR – Joel & Ethan Coen for "No Country for Old Men"

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY – Diablo Cody for" Juno"

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY – Joel & Ethan Coen for "No Country for Old Men"

BEST ACTOR – Daniel Day-Lewis for "There Will Be Blood"

BEST ACTRESS – Ellen Page for "Juno"

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR – Javier Bardem for "No Country for Old Men"

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS – Cate Blanchett for "I’m Not There"

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE – Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova for "Once"

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY – Roger Deakins for "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford"

BEST DOCUMENTARY – "Sicko"

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE – "Ratatouille"

MOST PROMISING PERFORMER – Michael Cera for "Juno" and "Superbad"

MOST PROMISING FILMMAKER – Ben Affleck for "Gone Baby Gone"

Chicago is also jumping aboard the Ben Affleck gravy train for his debut feature, as noted above. Affleck should think about a permanent jump to behind the camera given his good notices for "Gone Baby Gone".

More this weekend, including AFI's best of list and the Satellite winners on Sunday!

AWARDS: Globe noms shock many; "Atonement" leads with 7 nominations

"Atonement", the british drama that hits theaters this weekend, and that has been almost completely ignored by the many critics' groups thus far, swept its' way into Oscar contention today, landing 7 Golden Globe nominations, more than any other film. "No Country For Old Men", "There Will Be Blood", and "Juno" also racked up multiple nominations.

Other favorites were left out in the cold - "Into the Wild", which just led the Critics' Choice nominations earlier this week, got only musical nominations here, and two other comedies thought to be shoo-in's for the usually eclectic Hollywood Foreign Press, "Superbad" and "Knocked Up" were completely shut out, as was critically acclaimed but so far ignored "Beowulf".

But the Globes are always controversial for both what they pick and what they don't, and things just got a little more interesting...

GOLDEN GLOBE NOMINATIONS FOR FILM - 2007

Motion picture -- drama
"American Gangster"
"Atonement"
"Eastern Promises"
"The Great Debaters"
"Michael Clayton"
"No Country for Old Men"
"There Will Be Blood"

Actress -- drama
Cate Blanchett, "Elizabeth: The Golden Age"
Julie Christie, "Away From Her"
Jodie Foster, "The Brave One"
Angelina Jolie, "A Mighty Heart"
Keira Knightley, "Atonement"

Actor -- drama
George Clooney, "Michael Clayton"
Daniel Day-Lewis, "There Will Be Blood"
James McAvoy, "Atonement"
Viggo Mortensen, "Eastern Promises"
Denzel Washington, "American Gangster"

Picture -- musical or comedy
"Across the Universe"
"Charlie Wilson's War"
"Hairspray"
"Juno"
"Sweeney Todd"

Actress -- musical or comedy
Amy Adams, "Enchanted"
Nikki Blonsky, "Hairspray"
Helena Bonham Carter, "Sweeney Todd"
Marion Cotillard, "La Vie En Rose"
Ellen Page, "Juno"

Actor -- musical or comedy
Johnny Depp, "Sweeney Todd"
Ryan Gosling, "Lars and the Real Girl"
Tom Hanks, "Charlie Wilson's War"
Philip Seymour Hoffman, "The Savages"
John C. Reilly, "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story"

Supporting actress
Cate Blanchett, "I'm Not There"
Julia Roberts, "Charlie Wilson's War"
Saoirse Ronan, "Atonement"
Amy Ryan, "Gone Baby Gone"
Tilda Swinton, "Michael Clayton"

Supporting actor
Casey Affleck, "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford"
Javier Bardem, "No Country for Old Men"
Philip Seymour Hoffman, "Charlie Wilson's War"
John Travolta, "Hairspray"
Tom Wilkinson, "Michael Clayton"

Director
Tim Burton, "Sweeney Todd"
Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, "No Country for Old Men"
Julian Schnabel, "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"
Ridley Scott, "American Gangster"
Joe Wright, "Atonement"

Screenplay
Diablo Cody, "Juno"
Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, "No Country for Old Men"
Christopher Hampton, "Atonement"
Ronald Harwood, "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"
Aaron Sorkin, "Charlie Wilson's War"

Foreign-language film
"4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days," Romania
"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly," France and U.S.
"The Kite Runner," U.S.
"Lust, Caution," Taiwan
"Persepolis," France

Animated film
"Bee Movie"
"Ratatouille"
"The Simpsons Movie"

Original score
Michael Brook, Kaki King, Eddie Vedder, "Into the Wild"
Clint Eastwood, "Grace Is Gone"
Alberto Iglesias, "The Kite Runner"
Dario Marianelli, "Atonement"
Howard Shore, "Eastern Promises"

Original song
"Despedida" from "Love in the Time of Cholera"
"Grace Is Gone" from "Grace Is Gone"
"Guaranteed" from "Into the Wild"
"That's How You Know" from "Enchanted"
"Walk Hard" from "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story"

I'll have further commentary on the nominations soon, and don't forget, we'll have analysis of the Globe noms and other awards handed out this week on this weekend's edition of Subject:CINEMA, Sunday at 12 noon!

Stay tuned, folks, things just got interesting! More awards news as they happen from Popcorn N Roses!