The Gold Digger : Best Actor

A Contender, For Sure

Ramin Setoodeh — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 05:53:33 GMT

"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" is the best movie I've seen (so far) this year. I just came back from the premiere at New York's Ziegfeld theater, and there wasn't a dry eye in the house. It's the true story of Jean-Dominique Bauby, the Elle editor who was left paralyzed after a stroke, and yet he devises a system to communicate by blinking his one good eye. Although it sounds grim, it's also uplifting--in a way that the Academy won't be able to resist, even if it's in French (and not eligible for best foreign film, because France submitted "Persepolis" instead). Actually, I think "Diving Bell" will be this year's "Letters From Iwo Jima," the movie that took everyone by surprise last year, only with more nominations.

Let me count the ways. Best picture, for sure. Best actor, probably, for Mathieu Amalric. Best supporting actor, maybe, for Max von Sydow. Best screenplay, definitely, for Ronald Harwood who adapts an unadaptable book. And best director, hopefully, for Julian Schnabel. Throw in a cinematography nomination, and that's six categories. I'm right about this, I promise.

'No Country' Gets a C+

Ramin Setoodeh — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 11:06:33 GMT

Do not adjust your screens. That's the food plate from last night's New York premiere of "No Country For Old Men." This blog is becoming so schizophrenic (sorry), I thought I'd try to become the Zagat (eew) of the awards-going crowd, too. But that was until I had to photograph my dish in a crowded room of Hollywood's best, and it took nine flashes from my blackberry to produce the Ansel Adams before you. Hmm. Maybe this will be a one-time shtick. The food is (from top right corner, counterclockwise): salty red meat, yellow vegetable, one shrimp, more yellow food, chicken and a bread roll. It gets a C+.

What about the movie? Didn't you hear? It's terrific. Javier Bardem steals the picture. I can't help but wonder, though, why he's not being campaigned in the lead acting category. "He's going to win best supporting actor," a movie insider explained. Right. But he'd probably win best actor, too. Javier was there at the screening, with a bit of scruff that made him look more like Clive Owen than a sociopathic killer. Stars who go ugly always look extra primped on the red carpet--and why shouldn't they? It's a lesson from the America Ferrera School of Dude, I'm Not Really Ugly Like Ugly Betty! I also saw Josh Brolin and Frances McDormand in front of the popcorn stand. No, she's not in the movie. She's just a Coen groupie, like the rest of us.

'The Devil' (Sans Prada) Earns Praise

Ramin Setoodeh — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 11:32:22 GMT

The critics have spoken and they love "Before The Devil Knows You're Dead," which opens today in limited release. The soundbites:

Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly: "[Philip Seymour] Hoffman has become a cathartic actor, who taps his darkest sides without protection, as if to say: Admit it, you all know this pain too. Late in the movie, he has the quietest trashing-the-room tantrum I've ever seen, and it's one of the most memorable. He and Hawke, who makes Hank a jumble of duplicity and childlike trust, give seismic performances, and so does Albert Finney as the dad who towers over both of them. Before the Devil Knows You're Dead may be the only movie I've seen that earns comparison to both a great film noir and Long Day's Journey Into Night."

David Edelstein of New York: "[Sidney Lumet's] touch in Before the Devil is so sure, so perfectly weighted, that it’s hard to imagine him capable of making a bad movie. The thing is just enthralling."

J. Hoberman of The Village Voice: "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead is less Sidney Lumet's comeback than his resurrection. Three years after being presented a Lifetime Achievement Oscar, the 83-year-old director comes forth with a violent family melodrama that is his strongest movie in at least two decades."

A.O. Scott of The New York Times: "... one of the least likable guys Mr. Hoffman, a specialist in acutely observed male unpleasantness, has ever played. Andy bullies Hank mercilessly, lies to his employers and seems to experience minimal remorse after his perfect crime goes horribly awry. And yet, while never for a moment soliciting our empathy, Mr. Hoffman makes us care about this man, the scale of whose ethical failures gives him a kind of negative grandeur."

Peter Travers of Rolling Stone: "So it's a kick that Lumet, 83, puts the younger mavericks to shame with a dynamite film that ranks with the year's best ... All the actors are first-rate: Hoffman continues to astonish, Hawke digs deep to create a haunting portrayal of loss. And Lumet's direction dazzles, notably in the robbery scene, when things go wrong and Hank hyperventilates in the getaway car. No way you won't be knocked for a loop."