Daily Archives: December 10, 2007

Hey, That’s a Cheap Shot…

Irritations

Lest anyone think that awards season has me in the mood for dishing out superlatives and superlatives alone, it’s worth mentioning that Cameron Richardson is notably awful in Alvin and the Chipmunks, a movie which also features CGI rodent flatulence and David Cross squandering much of the accrued goodwill of Arrested Development.

I feel like I’ve seen Richardson somewhere else before, but I know it’s not my dreams, and I didn’t see Rise or Open Water 2: Adrift. She failed, too, to reprise her Dorm Daze role of Adrienne in the bootyliciously wretched sequel, whose predecessor I also missed. Maybe it was some random TV commercials for Point Pleasant from which I recognized Richardson, I’m not sure. One thing I can say, though, is that I (pray I) won’t be seeing her in a sequel to Alvin and the Chipmunks.

LAFCA Announces 2007 Awards

Awards

Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood was the big winner at the Los Angeles Film Critics Awards voting today, taking Best Picture, Best Director and Best Production Design honors, in addition to star Daniel Day-Lewis picking up the prize for Best Actor.

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly was runner-up in the Best Picture, Best Foreign Language Film and Best Director categories, but Janusz Kaminski’s cinematography for the movie was honored. Other winners include Marion Cotillard for Best Actress for her work in La Vie En Rose; Amy Ryan for Best Supporting Actress for her work in Gone Baby Gone and Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead; Vlad Ivanov for Best Supporting Actor for his work in 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days; Tamara Jenkins for Best Screenplay for The Savages; Cristian Mungiu’s 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days for Best Foreign Language Film; and No End in Sight, directed by Charles Ferguson, for Best Documentary/Non-Fiction Film. Sicko, directed by Michael Moore, was the runner-up in the latter category.

For Best Animated Film, Ratatouille and Persepolis tied, while Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova’s work in Once was honored with Best Music. Actress Sarah Polley will be presented with the New Generation Award, for her directorial debut, Away From Her; meanwhile, Colossal Youth, directed by Pedro Costa, will be awarded the Independent/Experimental Film Award.

This year’s awards ceremony, to be held January 12, 2008, will be dedicated to the memory of the late Robert Altman, Michelangelo Antonioni, Ingmar Bergman, Ousmane Sembene and Edward Yang. It was previously announced that Sidney Lumet was the organization’s Career Achievement Award winner. More on all these films — and what if anything this and other critics groups’ votes mean for Oscar chances — in the coming days.