CRIMES OF THE FUTURE (May 2022)

  

CRIMES OF THE FUTURE

(May 2022)

BODY IS REALITY

 

The senior Cronenberg is back ‘round these parts with Crimes of the Future.

No, not his second, hour-long feature from 1970, but an all-new film that feels like a thematic extension to some of his previous works like Videodrome and eXistenZ. (Little wonder, that, since the screenplay was originally written over two decades ago.)

“‘Human’ is the operative word. Human evolution is the concern. That it's going wrong. That it's... uncontrolled, it's... insurrectional. It might lead us to a bad place.”

We find ourselves in an indeterminate point in the near-future, when the human body has begun to spontaneously grow new organs of equally indeterminate function (so-called “neo-organs”), and thus, bear witness to the violent (and virulent) collision of biological evolution, art, society, politics, pollution, and revolution.

“The creation of inner beauty cannot be an accident.”

With a haunting sonic backdrop by frequent collaborator Howard Shore, the senior Cronenberg once again drops us into an unsettling, disorienting reality, a world where the most mundane of activities like sleeping or eating become disturbing visions of the human body juxtaposed with pieces of shuddery, nightmare furniture.

“An organism needs organization. Otherwise, it's just designer cancer.”

So, yes, if it sounds like old school Cronenberg is back, then you heard right.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Eastern Promises, and as he himself has asserted, he sees no difference whatsoever between that kind of film and this new Crimes.

In his personal assessment, there is no such thing as “body horror.”

But what there is, is that very Cronenberg obsession with carnal transfiguration, the (r)evolution of the human body, and the impact that has on the world outside of all that shuddering skin and mutating meat.

“Long live the New Flesh,” indeed.

“We understand human bodies are changing. I know this quite well.”

(Crimes of the Future key art courtesy of bloody-disgusting.com.)

AFTERTHOUGHTS (81)
HITCHHIKING TO SATURN 2008 (2)

So this year’s Saturns (held last night at the Universal Hilton Hotel in Universal City) have come and gone, and the notable wins are:

300:
Best Action/Adventure/Thriller Film
Best Direction (Zack Snyder)

Blade Runner:
Best Special Edition DVD Release (5 Disc Ultimate Collector’s Edition)

Cloverfield:
Best Science Fiction Film

Dexter:
Best Syndicated/Cable Television Series

Eastern Promises:
Best International Film

Heroes:
Best Television Series on DVD (Season 1)

Lost:
Best Network Television Series
Best Actor on Television (Matthew Fox)
Best Supporting Actor on Television (Michael Emerson)
Best Supporting Actress on Television (Elizabeth Mitchell)

The Mist:
Best Supporting Actress, Film (Marcia Gay Harden)

No Country For Old Men:
Best Supporting Actor, Film (Javier Bardem)

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street:
Best Horror Film
Best Costume (Colleen Atwood)

Twin Peaks:
Best Retro Television Series on DVD (The Definitive Gold Box Edition)

I’m happy for Lost, naturally, though Elizabeth Mitchell’s win for Best Supporting Actress on Television was actually a tie with Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles’ Summer Glau.
For my money (and the tremendous work she’s put in on Lost), Mitchell should have taken the category, lock, stock, and barrel.
And, as with any other awards night, there were the disappointments: El Orfanato, Stardust, Battlestar Galactica, and Pushing Daisies, all getting shut-out, as well as a bunch of other criminal calls (Jennifer Love Hewitt over Anna Friel and Evangeline Lilly?!), but hey, there’s some awfully neat stuff up there, so I’ll just accentuate the positive…
Oh, and aside from Guillermo del Toro receiving the George Pal Memorial Award for his “visionary genius,” Matt Reeves was also recognized with The Filmmakers Showcase Award, for directing Cloverfield.

To all the nominees and winners at this year’s Saturns, congratulations. (You can find a complete—and downloadable—list of winners here.)

Parting shot: Reviews of 300, Cloverfield, Eastern Promises, The Mist, No Country For Old Men, and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, can be found in the Archive, along with episodic recaps/reviews of Dexter, Heroes, and Lost.

(Images courtesy of impawards.com [Lost]; bloody-disgusting.com [Cloverfield OS]; ew.com [Javier Bardem in No Country For Old Men]; filmz.ru [Marcia Gay Harden in The Mist]; and empireonline.com [Guillermo del Toro].)

AFTERTHOUGHTS (56)
DREAMS OF GENIES-COME-TRUE 2008 (2)

Monday evening at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre saw the 28th Annual Genie Awards handed out, and the big winners, Away From Her (which won in 6 of the 7 categories it was nominated in; woot!) and Eastern Promises (which won 7 of its 12 noms; woot some more!).

Away From Her:
Best Motion Picture
Achievement in Direction (Sarah Polley)
Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role (Gordon Pinsent)
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role (Julie Christie)
Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role (Kristen Thompson)
Adapted Screenplay (Sarah Polley)

Eastern Promises:
Achievement in Cinematography (Peter Suschitzky)
Achievement in Editing (Ronald Sanders)
Achievement in Music – Original Score (Howard Shore)
Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role (Armin Mueller-Stahl)
Achievement in Overall Sound (Stuart Wilson, Christian Cooke, Orest Sushko, Mark Zsifkovits)
Achievement in Sound Editing (Wayne Griffin, Robert Bertola, Tony Currie, Andy Malcolm, Michael O’Farrell)
Original Screenplay (Steve Knight)

Fido:
Achievement in Art Direction/Production Design (Rob Gray, James Willcock)

So the lack of love both Away From Her and Eastern Promises got at this year’s Oscars was upsetting, sure, but I figured they’d be treated right in their hometown, and they were, though not without some surprises.
Namely, Gordon Pinsent pinching the lead actor award from Viggo. Don’t get me wrong, Pinsent was amazing, and with all the awards attention Julie Christie got this past season, I honestly felt Pinsent was the unsung hero of Away From Her, so really, I’m happy he won.
I just feel badly for Viggo, who was not only constantly upstaged by Daniel Day-Lewis, but also had to get that “bridesmaid, but never the bride” feeling again, just when he was on a playing field that didn’t include Day-Lewis.
Sigh.

Still, I’m happy Kristen Thompson got the supporting actress award (she was great too), and I’m really happy for Sarah Polley, who was also honoured with this year’s Claude Jutra Award, which “recognizes outstanding achievement by a first-time feature film director.”
Go, Sarah!

To one and all, congratulations. You can download a complete list of winners here.

Parting shot: Reviews of Away From Her and Eastern Promises can be found in the Archive.

(Away From Her UK quad and Eastern Promises and Fido OS’s courtesy of impawards.com; Sarah Polley and Gordon Pinsent images courtesy of genieawards.ca.)

AFTERTHOUGHTS (47)
DREAMS OF GENIES-COME-TRUE 2008

Eastern Promises may have been scarce at the Oscars, but it’s the most nominated film at this year’s Genies, tied with Roger Spottiswoode’s Shake Hands With The Devil (a dozen nominations each). Sarah Polley’s Away From Her, meanwhile, received 7 nominations.
Below are the nomination breakdowns for both films, as well as those for Paul Fox‘s Everything’s Gone Green and Andrew Currie‘s Fido.

Away From Her:
Best Motion Picture
Achievement in Direction (Sarah Polley)
Achievement in Editing (David Wharnsby)
Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role (Gordon Pinsent)
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role (Julie Christie)
Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role (Kristen Thompson)
Adapted Screenplay (Sarah Polley)

Eastern Promises:
Best Motion Picture
Achievement in Art Direction/Production Design (Carol Spier)
Achievement in Costume Design (Denise Cronenberg)
Achievement in Cinematography (Peter Suschitzky)
Achievement in Direction (David Cronenberg)
Achievement in Editing (Ronald Sanders)
Achievement in Music – Original Score (Howard Shore)
Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role (Viggo Mortensen)
Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role (Armin Mueller-Stahl)
Achievement in Overall Sound (Stuart Wilson, Christian Cooke, Orest Sushko, Mark Zsifkovits)
Achievement in Sound Editing (Wayne Griffin, Robert Bertola, Tony Currie, Andy Malcolm, Michael O’Farrell)
Original Screenplay (Steve Knight)

Everything’s Gone Green:
Original Screenplay (Douglas Coupland)

Fido:
Achievement in Art Direction/Production Design (Rob Gray, James Willcock)
Achievement in Costume Design (Mary E. McLeod)
Achievement in Music – Original Score (Don MacDonald)

To one and all, congratulations. (You can download the complete list of nominees here.)
The 28th annual Genie Awards will take place on March 3, 2008.

Parting shot: Reviews of Eastern Promises and Everything’s Gone Green can be found in the Archive.

(All OS’s courtesy of impawards.com.)

AFTERTHOUGHTS (44)
HEY, IF IT ISN’T OSCAR! 2008 (2)

So after last night’s post, I searched for a complete complete Oscar nominations list, and was successful at both aintitcool.com and variety.com.
For the sake of completion, here’s a list of all the Oscar nominations I’m excited about this year…

Across The Universe:
Best Costume Design (Albert Wolsky)

Eastern Promises:
Best Actor (Viggo Mortensen)

No Country For Old Men:
Best Picture
Best Director (Joel & Ethan Coen)
Best Supporting Actor (Javier Bardem)
Best Adapted Screenplay (Joel & Ethan Coen)
Best Cinematography (Roger Deakins)
Best Film Editing (Joel &Ethan Coen)
Best Sound Editing (Skip Lievsay)
Best Sound Mixing (Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff, and Peter Kurland)

Once:
Best Song (“Falling Slowly”)

Transformers:
Best Sound Editing (Ethan Van der Ryn and Mike Hopkins)
Best Sound Mixing (Kevin O’Connell, Greg P. Russell, and Peter J. Devlin)
Best Visual Effects (Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Russell Earl, and John Frazier)

And the nominations from films I’ve mentioned here at the Iguana, but have yet to see are…

Away From Her:
Best Actress (Julie Christie)
Best Adapted Screenplay (Sarah Polley)

The Golden Compass:
Best Art Direction (Dennis Gassner, Art Direction; Anna Pinnock, Set Decoration)
Best Visual Effects (Michael Fink, Bill Westenhofer, Ben Morris, and Trevor Wood)

Juno:
Best Picture
Best Director (Jason Reitman)
Best Actress (Ellen Page)
Best Original Screenplay (Diablo Cody)

Lars and the Real Girl:
Best Original Screenplay (Nancy Oliver)

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street:
Best Actor (Johnny Depp)
Best Art Direction (Dante Ferretti, Art Direction; Francesca Lo Schiavo, Set Decoration)
Best Costume Design (Colleen Atwood)

I’m still bummed by Eastern Promises’ lack of Oscar presence, and concerned about the chances of “Falling Slowly,” though one must recall last year, when Dreamgirls had three songs up for the award, and Melissa Etheridge swooped in for the kill.
You never know, really.
Having mentioned “Falling Slowly,” though, here’s what Glen Hansard had to say about the nomination:

"It's insane. God, what a day it's been! I'd like to say I was out having a walk and wasn't bothered and took it all in stride but the truth is I didn't sleep last night and we just killed time until it came on TV, but then they only announced the major categories. We're in the Czech Republic so my friend in the States called me and we couldn't believe it. We were jumping up and down. It was hugely melodramatic and Irish. We cracked a bottle of champagne and got drunk before 3:00. It was only in the shower I realized what a riot this has been. We made the film in January 2006. We went to Sundance and won an award in January 2007 and now we have an Oscar nomination so I'm thinking January is my lucky month.”

Good on you, Glen!
Now if only the WGA strike gets resolved—fairly—within a month, so we can actually have an Oscar night, instead of an unattended event people won’t cross picket lines for…

Again, congratulations, one and all. (You can check out the now complete list here.)
Awards will be presented on February 24, 2008.

Parting shot: Reviews of Across The Universe, Eastern Promises, No Country For Old Men, Once, and Transformers can be found in the Archive.

(Oscar OS courtesy of hollywoodreporter.com.)

AFTERTHOUGHTS (43)

43.1 HEY, IF IT ISN’T OSCAR! 2008
As per my usual Oscar routine, I watched the live announcement of the major nominations (on BBC). I then quickly scuttled over to oscar.com, for the rest of the nominations.
Apparently though, what’s up at the site at the moment may not be a complete complete list (only one of the three Best Animated Feature Films is listed; Best Cinematography has four nominees listed), so if there are any nominations I’m unable to mention below, well, that’s the reason.
At any rate, the nominations I’m excited about are…

Across The Universe:
Best Costume Design (Albert Wolsky)

Eastern Promises:
Best Actor (Viggo Mortensen)

No Country For Old Men:
Best Picture
Best Director (Joel & Ethan Coen)
Best Supporting Actor (Javier Bardem)
Best Adapted Screenplay (Joel & Ethan Coen)
Best Cinematography (Roger Deakins)
Best Film Editing (Joel &Ethan Coen)
Best Sound Editing
Best Sound Mixing

Once:
Best Song (“Falling Slowly”)

Transformers:
Best Sound Editing
Best Sound Mixing
Best Visual Effects

Nominations from other films I’ve mentioned here at the Iguana, but have yet to see are…

Away From Her:
Best Actress (Julie Christie)
Best Adapted Screenplay (Sarah Polley)

The Golden Compass:
Best Art Direction

Juno:
Best Picture
Best Director (Jason Reitman)
Best Actress (Ellen Page)
Best Original Screenplay (Diablo Cody)

Lars and the Real Girl:
Best Original Screenplay (Nancy Oliver)

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street:
Best Actor (Johnny Depp)

As always there are some disappointments.
One of the most glaring is probably that Eastern Promises is severely under-represented. One nomination, and since all indications point to Daniel Day-Lewis stealing the gold for There Will Be Blood…
But then again, there are some welcome sights, like “Falling Slowly” getting in there for Best Song. It’s up against three songs from Enchanted though, so we’ll just have to see.

Congratulations, one and all. (You can check out the sorta complete list here.)
Oscar Night is on February 24, 2008. Hopefully, the WGA strike will be over by then…

43.2 FOR THE SAKE OF ART 2008
And since we are talking about awards, the Art Directors Guild also recently announced their nominations for the 12th Annual ADG Awards.
And the nominees for Excellence in Production Design in 2007 that got me all pumped are…

300 (Fantasy Feature Film; PD: James Bissell)
Heroes: Episode 1020 “Five Years Gone” (Single Camera Television Series; PD: Ruth Ammon)
Lost: Episode 322 “Through The Looking Glass” (Single Camera Television Series; PD: Zack Grobler)
No Country For Old Men (Contemporary Feature Film; PD: Jess Gonchor)
Pushing Daisies: Episode 101 “Pie Lette” (Single Camera Television Series; PD: Michael Wylie)

Other Feature Film nominees I’ve mentioned ‘round these parts before but have yet to see are…

The Golden Compass (Fantasy Feature Film; PD: Dennis Gassner)
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Period Feature Film; PD: Dante Ferretti)

But the high point for me for this year’s ADG awards will most certainly be stop-motion animation grand master Ray Harryhausen receiving the honourary Outstanding Contribution to Cinematic Imagery Award.
Ray Harryhausen is a hero of mine from my grade school days. This is the man who painstakingly brought to life the mythical beasties that threatened the lives of cinematic heroes like Sinbad and Jason, made dinosaurs battle cowboys, and flying saucers and giant octopi and prehistoric monsters leave great swathes of property damage in their wake.
He brought a kid’s dreams to life on screen, and made that kid a lifelong devotee of cinema.
I will be forever indebted, Mr. Harryhausen. Congratulations.

Another honour for the evening is the awarding of the Lifetime Achievement Award to Stuart Craig, who did the production design for Richard Donner’s Superman: The Movie, and won awards for his work on David Lynch’s The Elephant Man, Anthony Minghella’s The English Patient, and Stephen Frears’ Dangerous Liaisons.
Craig’s work will best be known to today’s generation of movie-goers though, through the Harry Potter franchise.

Congratulations, one and all. Awards night is on February 16, 2008. (The complete list of nominees can be found here.)

Parting shot: Reviews of 300, Across The Universe, Eastern Promises, No Country For Old Men, Once, and Transformers can be found in the Archive, along with episodic recaps/reactions to Heroes, Lost, and Pushing Daisies.

(Images courtesy of hollywoodreporter.com [Oscar OS], impawards.com [No Country For Old Men OS], and rayharryhausen.com.)

AFTERTHOUGHTS (41)

41.1 WGA STRIKE
As we hit the midpoint of January, the WGA strike moves into its 11th week, and while talks haven’t yet been resumed since the December 7 collapse, there has been some headway in getting the Hollywood machine up and running again.
Following an interim agreement with Worldwide Pants (which allowed David Letterman to get back on the air with his writers in tow), similar deals have been struck with Tom Cruise’s United Artists, the Weinstein Co., Spyglass Entertainment, and Media Rights Capital.
What this means, of course, is that these companies can resume production and development of whatever projects they have on their slate, getting a jump on the majors who are still mired in the backwash of the WGA strike.
It isn’t the all-encompassing resolution that will end the strike, but it is movement that will hopefully spark a full-fledged return to the bargaining table.
You can read the full Variety story (“WGA pacts with Spyglass, MRC”) here, which partially details the terms of the interim agreement.

41.2 WHAT THE BAFTA?! 2008 (2)
And here are the nominations from the final BAFTA 2008 ballot that have got me excited.

Control:
Best British Film (Orian Williams/Todd Eckert/Anton Corbijn/Matt Greenhalgh)
The Carl Foreman Award [for Special Achievement by a British Director, Writer or Producer in their First Feature Film] (Matt Greenhalgh, Writer)
Supporting Actress (Samantha Morton)

Eastern Promises:
Best British Film (Paul Webster/Robert Lantos/David Cronenberg/Steve Knight)
Leading Actor (Viggo Mortensen)

No Country For Old Men:
Film
Director (Joel Coen/Ethan Coen)
Adapted Screenplay (Joel Coen/Ethan Coen)
Supporting Actor (Javier Bardem)
Supporting Actor (Tommy Lee Jones)
Supporting Actress (Kelly Macdonald)
Cinematography (Roger Deakins)
Editing (Roderick Jaynes)
Sound (Peter Kurland/Skip Lievsay/Craig Berkey/Greg Orloff)

This Is England:
Best British Film (Mark Herbert/Shane Meadows)
Original Screenplay (Shane Meadows)

Control’s Sam Riley was also nominated for The Orange Rising Star Award, which is voted for by the public. Riley is up against Disturbia and Transformers star Shia LaBeouf, Juno’s Ellen Page, and Stardust’s Sienna Miller for the award.

Other nominations for films I’ve mentioned ‘round these parts before, though have yet to see are:

Away From Her:
Leading Actress (Julie Christie)

The Golden Compass:
Special Visual Effects (Michael Fink/Bill Westenhofer/Ben Morris/Trevor Woods)

Juno:
Original Screenplay (Diablo Cody)
Leading Actress (Ellen Page)

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street:
Costume Design (Colleen Atwood)
Make Up & Hair (Ivana Primorac)

Spider-Man 3 was also nominated for Special Visual Effects.

The film with the most nominations is Joe Wright’s Atonement (14), with No Country For Old Men and Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood coming in second (9 nominations each).
Congratulations, one and all. (For the complete list of nominees, go here.)

BAFTA night is on February 10, at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London.

Parting shot: I must say though, that it’s a shame that Once (which was on 3 of the BAFTA longlists prior to the last cut) didn’t get onto the final ballot. Sad, sad shame.

Parting shot 2: Reviews of Control, Eastern Promises, No Country For Old Men, This Is England, Once, Stardust, Transformers, Disturbia and Spider-Man 3 can be found in the Archive.

(Control UK quad and Eastern Promises, No Country For Old Men, and This Is England OS’s courtesy of impawards.com.)

AFTERTHOUGHTS (39)

39.1 PIMP MY BOOK (6)
Chapters 11 and 12 of Pelicula are up at the website, where you’ll meet a former Shake, Rattle and Roll star, and find out what’s the latest iteration of the CSI franchise!
Scoot on over to the website now.
And thanx to all of you who’ve been reading Pelicula, and to Carl, for keeping the website updated.

39.2 WHAT THE BAFTA?! 2008 (1)
So the BAFTA longlists are out.
Now, note that these are lists that will be whittled down from the current 15 entries to the 5 nominees per category for BAFTA night. (That second round of voting to choose the final five nominees for each category closes on January 14.)
Still, given the insane number of films released in any given year, to snag a spot on a BAFTA longlist is still quite the achievement.
So, the possible nominations I’m excited about are:

Control:
Film
Director
Adapted Screenplay
Make Up & Hair
Sound
Editing
Cinematography
Music
Leading Actor (Sam Riley)
Supporting Actress (Samantha Morton)

Eastern Promises:
Film
Director
Original Screenplay
Make Up & Hair
Editing
Leading Actor (Viggo Mortensen)
Leading Actress (Naomi Watts)
Supporting Actor (Armin Mueller-Stahl)
Supporting Actor (Vincent Cassel)

No Country For Old Men:
Film
Director
Adapted Screenplay
Make Up & Hair
Sound
Editing
Production Design
Cinematography
Music
Leading Actor (Josh Brolin)
Supporting Actor (Javier Bardem)
Supporting Actor (Tommy Lee Jones)
Supporting Actress (Kelly MacDonald)

Once:
Original Screenplay
Music
Leading Actress (Marketa Irglova)

Stardust:
Make Up & Hair
Special Visual Effects
Costume Design
Supporting Actress (Michelle Pfeiffer)

Other longlisted films for Special Visual Effects are Beowulf, Spider-Man 3, Sunshine, Transformers, and 300, which is also longlisted for Sound.

Again, note that the 15 entries in most of the categories will get streamlined down to 5, so each of those entries above has a 33% chance of ending up on the final BAFTA 2008 ballot (if I’ve got my math right).
Congratulations, and best of luck to all of them. (You can check out all the complete longlists here.)

39.3 MORE HONOURS FOR OLD MEN

The Coens’ latest was also honoured by the Online Film Critics Society with six awards, for best Picture, Supporting Actor (Javier Bardem), Cinematography (Roger Deakins), Director, Adapted Screenplay, and Editing, the three latter awards going to the Coen brothers.

The siblings were also acknowledged by the USC with this year’s Scripter Award, “which recognizes the year’s best cinematic translation from page to screen.” Author Cormac McCarthy joins the brothers in the honour.

And to cap this off, No Country For Old Men grabbed the # 2 slot on AICN writer Nordling’s 2007 Top Ten list, where he notes:

“Any other year, this would be # 1. And it's still a masterpiece by the Coens, and I take nothing away from it. Javier Bardem plays a villain as iconic as Hannibal Lecter or Darth Vader. Josh Brolin has had a fantastic year with this performance and American Gangster, and at first Tommy Lee Jones seems like typecasting but he gets to the heart of that character with such skill it's difficult to imagine another actor playing that part. It's a bleak movie but there's humor there and it treats the audience with intelligence that's been sorely lacking in too many studio films today. It defiantly forces you to make up your own mind. I know what the ending means to me, and I admire the Coens for letting me come up with it on my own. A perfect adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's novel.”

(At Nordling’s # 4 and # 3 spots: Once and Zodiac. His worst? Spider-Man 3. Check out the entire list here.)

Parting shot: Reviews of Control, Eastern Promises, No Country For Old Men, Once, Stardust, Zodiac, Beowulf, Spider-Man 3, Sunshine, Transformers, and 300 can be found in the Archive.

(Control UK quad and Eastern Promises and No Country For Old Men OS’s courtesy of impawards.com; Once image courtesy of Fox Searchlight and indiewire.com; Stardust image courtesy of aintitcool.com.)

AFTERTHOUGHTS (38)
WHAT’S YOUR BIFA? 2007

The 2007 British Independent Film Awards were given out last November, and it was a big night for both Anton Corbijn’s Control and David Cronenberg’s Eastern Promises.
Below are the nominations and awards both films garnered. (Wins are in bold.)

Control:
Best British Independent Film
Best Performance by an Actor in a British Independent Film (Sam Riley)
Best Performance by a Supporting Actor or Actress in a British Independent Film (Toby Kebbell)
Best Performance by a Supporting Actor or Actress in a British Independent Film (Samantha Morton)
Most Promising Newcomer (Sam Riley)
Best Screenplay (Matt Greenhalgh)
Best Director of a British Independent Film (Anton Corbijn)
Best Achievement in Production
The Douglas Hickox Award (Anton Corbijn)
Best Technical Achievement (Martin Ruhe, Cinematography)

Eastern Promises:
Best British Independent Film
Best Performance by an Actor in a British Independent Film (Viggo Mortensen)
Best Performance by a Supporting Actor or Actress in a British Independent Film (Armin Mueller-Stahl)
Best Screenplay (Steve Knight)
Best Director of a British Independent Film (David Cronenberg)

Also recognized for BIFAs was…

28 Weeks Later:
Most Promising Newcomer (Imogen Poots)
Best Technical Achievement (Enrique Chediak, Cinematography)

Congratulations to all. You can check out the complete lists of nominees and winners at http://www.bifa.org.uk/.

Parting shot: Reviews of 28 Weeks Later, Control, and Eastern Promises can be found in the Archive.
Sunshine, which also has a review in the Archive, also won for Best Technical Achievement (Mark Tildesley, Production Design) and earned a nomination for Cillian Murphy for Best Performance by an Actor in a British Independent Film.

(Images courtesy of bifa.org.uk [BIFA 2007 banner]; impawards.com [Control French OS]; amazon.com [Eastern Promises DVD cover art]; and postergeek.com [28 Weeks Later OS].)

AFTERTHOUGHTS (35)
BOUNCING OFF THE SATELLITES 2007

The International Press Academy has just conducted the 12th annual Satellite Awards, which honours special achievements in film, television, DVDs and games.
There was a lot to get stoked about here, so without further ado… (Wins are in bold.)

300:
Motion Picture, Animated or Mixed Media (nominee)
Visual Effects
Sound (Mixing & Editing) (nominee)

Beowulf:
Motion Picture, Animated or Mixed Media (nominee)
Visual Effects (nominee)

Children of Men:
Best Overall DVD (nominee)

Eastern Promises:
Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama (Viggo Mortensen)
Motion Picture, Drama (nominee)
Director (David Cronenberg: nominee)
Screenplay, Original (Steven Knight: nominee)
Original Score (Howard Shore: nominee)
Film Editing (Ronald Sanders: nominee)

El Laberinto Del Fauno (Pan’s Labyrinth):
Best Overall DVD (nominee)

Little Children:
Best Overall DVD (nominee)

Once:
Original Song (“If You Want Me”/Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova: nominee)

The Prestige:
Best Overall DVD

The Silence of the Lambs:
DVD Extras (Collector’s Edition: nominee)

Zodiac:
Actor in a Supporting Role, Drama (Brian Cox: nominee)
Screenplay, Adapted (James Vanderbilt: nominee)
Cinematography (Harris Savides: nominee)

The next batch are from films I’ve yet to see, though have mentioned ‘round here at the Iguana.

Away From Her:
Actress in a Motion Picture, Drama (Julie Christie: nominee)
Motion Picture, Drama (nominee)
Director (Sarah Polley: nominee)
Screenplay, Adapted (Sarah Polley: nominee)

El Orfanato (The Orphanage):
Motion Picture, Foreign Film (Spain: nominee)

The Golden Compass:
Motion Picture, Animated or Mixed Media (nominee)
Original Song (“Lyra”/Kate Bush: nominee)
Cinematography (Henry Braham: nominee)
Visual Effects (nominee)
Sound (Mixing & Editing) (nominee)

Juno:
Actress in a Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical (Ellen Page)
Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical
Screenplay, Original (Diablo Cody)

Lars and the Real Girl:
Actor in a Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical (Ryan Gosling)
Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical (nominee)
Screenplay, Original (Nancy Oliver: nominee)

And these are from films whose reviews you’ll find in the Archive.

Sunshine:
Art Direction & Production Design (nominee)

Transformers:
Visual Effects (nominee)
Youth DVD (Two Disc Special Edition: nominee)

And now onto TV…

Chuck:
Television Series, Comedy or Musical (nominee)
Actor in a Series, Comedy or Musical (Zachary Levi: nominee)

Dexter:
Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made For Television (David Zayas)
Television Series, Drama
Actor in a Series, Drama (Michael C. Hall)
DVD Release of a TV Show (Season 1)

Heroes:
Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made For Television (Masi Oka: nominee)

Lost:
Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made For Television (Michael Emerson: nominee)
DVD Release of a TV Show (The Complete Third Season: nominee)

Masters of Horror:
DVD Extras (Season 1: tied for the win with Borat)

Nip/Tuck:
DVD Release of a TV Show (Season 4: nominee)

Pushing Daisies:
Television Series, Comedy or Musical
Actress in a Series, Comedy or Musical (Anna Friel: nominee)
Actor in a Series, Comedy or Musical (Lee Pace: nominee)

Twin Peaks:
DVD Release of a TV Show (Season 2: nominee)

And then there were the special awards, two of which were the Mary Pickford Award for Outstanding Artistic Contribution to the Entertainment Industry, which went to Kathy Bates, and the Tesla Award in Recognition of Visionary Achievement in Filmmaking Technology, which went to Dennis Muren.

To one and all, congratulations!
You can find the complete list of nominees and winners here.

Parting shot: Reviews of 300, Eastern Promises, El Laberinto Del Fauno, Sunshine, Transformers, and Zodiac, can be found in the Archive, where episodic recaps and reactions to Chuck, Dexter, Heroes, Lost, and Pushing Daisies also lurk.
And though the Satellite for DVD Extras went to Season 1, the reviews of the 13 episodes of Season 2 of Masters of Horror are just waiting to pounce from the darkness of the Archive as well.
There are also reviews of Beowulf and Once already written and raring to go, but at the time of this posting, have yet to be released into the wilds of the world wide web. (Though if you’re reading this way after I actually posted it, then those reviews should be in the Archive too.)

(Images courtesy of firstshowing.net [Eastern Promises]; amazon.com [The Prestige DVD cover art]; magneticmediafed.com [Dexter]; bloody-disgusting.com [Masters of Horror]; and pushing-daisies.com [Pushing Daisies].)

EASTERN PROMISES (Review)

EASTERN PROMISES
(Review)

I have two all-time favorite directors. One is David Lynch. The other is another namesake of mine, David Cronenberg.

My first exposure to Cronenberg’s virulent brand of cinema was in the now vanished (and still sorely missed) Magallanes Theater. The film was Scanners. Enraptured by visions of exploding heads, and aided by the magick of the Betamax, I subsequently sought out this man’s earlier work, and was further mesmerized by Rabid and The Brood.

Moving forward, his became a name I vigilantly kept an eye out for...

Cronenberg’s latest, Eastern Promises, sees him team up once again with his A History of Violence star, Viggo Mortensen.

It’s an excellent and controlled morality tale involving a young English midwife, Anna (Naomi Watts), who crosses paths with the Russian Mafia when she comes into possession of a diary belonging to an under-aged girl who died while giving birth to a baby.

Like A History of Violence before it, Eastern Promises observes the shuddering impact that occurs when the world of crime collides with ordinary, everyday life, and perhaps even more tragically, with the dream of an ordinary, everyday life.
Like Violence, it also boasts some very impressive performances.

Aside from Watts and Mortensen, Armin Mueller-Stahl and Vincent Cassel also grace the screen, as father and son, Semyon and Kirill. (A tattooed Mortensen plays Kirill’s driver, Nikolai.)
Considering the accents involved in this one, the performances here are arguably even better than those in Violence. One has to acknowledge the fascinating display of thespian prowess when an Australian plays an Englishwoman, and an American, a Frenchman, and a German, all play Russians, and you wouldn’t know it by listening to them.*

Granted, the plot isn’t terribly complicated, but what Steven Knight‘s script manages to do is to lay down some very interesting characters, with complexities that are skillfully tapped into by Cronenberg and his brilliant cast.
Cronenberg also brings in frequent collaborators Howard Shore on music, and cinematographer extraordinaire Peter Suschitzky, to make Eastern Promises an even more fulfilling viewing experience.

Yes, there are no Mugwumps or Brundleflies or video assassins here. Not any longer. Cronenberg has apparently left behind his days as the so-called King of Venereal Horror.

As evidenced by A History of Violence, and now, Eastern Promises, his characters no longer find themselves in extraordinary circumstances. These days, we’ll have to settle for extreme instead.

Despite the grounding in the more mundane aspects of existence though, current Cronenberg cinema continues to be riveting and absorbing, and still displays textured performances that draw the audience in, and seduce them to stay, despite instinctive feelings of revulsion towards the on-screen action.
The spell he weaves today is still as potent and all-encompassing as it was in 1977, when a porn star’s armpit became a vector for disease, or in 1979, when Samantha Eggar externalized her rage into murderous dwarves, or in 1981, when a man’s head exploded in full Technicolor glory, and a 13-year-old boy became a life-long devotee.
Yes, Cronenbergia may no longer be as bizarre as it once was, but it’s still a brilliant place to visit.

* Well, technically, Watts was born in England, then raised in Australia, thus, her Australian accent.
And perhaps ironically—given his role in Eastern Promises as a displaced Russian living in England—Mueller-Stahl was born in Tilsit, in East Prussia, Germany, which was annexed by the Soviet Union in 1945, and populated by Russian citizens once the original German residents had either evacuated or been expelled.
Tilsit is now Sovetsk, Russia.

Parting shot: Aside from the 3 Golden Globe nominations (Best Motion Picture Drama, Best Actor in a Motion Picture Drama for Viggo Mortensen, and Best Score for Howard Shore), Eastern Promises has also been recognized by the Broadcast Film Critics Association, who gave a nod to Mortensen for Best Actor.
Check out the 2008 Golden Globe nominees I’m excited about in Afterthoughts (33) in the Archive.

(Eastern Promises OS courtesy of impawards.com.)

AFTERTHOUGHTS (33)
2008 GOLDEN GLOBE NOMINEES (I’m excited about)

So another awards season has begun, and amidst a sea of critics’ nods, the Hollywood Foreign Press releases the first big salvo before the Oscars and the BAFTAs.
Below are the Golden Globe nominations that got me stoked.

Eastern Promises:
Best Motion Picture Drama
Best Actor in a Motion Picture Drama (Viggo Mortensen)
Best Score (Howard Shore)

(Sorry, but it’s the only nominated film I’ve actually seen, so it’s the only one I can legitimately get excited about, though below are some nominations for films I’ve mentioned ‘round these parts before.)

Juno:
Best Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
Best Actress in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy (Ellen Page)
Best Screenplay (Diablo Cody)

Lars and the Real Girl:
Best Actor in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy (Ryan Gosling)

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street:
Best Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
Best Director (Tim Burton)
Best Actor in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy (Johnny Depp)
Best Actress in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy (Helena Bonham Carter)

And since I’m also a Sarah Polley and Coen Brothers fan…

Away From Her:
Best Actress in a Motion Picture Drama (Julie Christie)

No Country for Old Men:
Best Motion Picture Drama
Best Director (Joel and Ethan Coen)
Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture (Javier Bardem)
Best Screenplay (Joel and Ethan Coen)

On the TV end of things…

Dexter:
Best Actor in a Drama Series (Michael C. Hall)

Entourage:
Best Musical or Comedy TV Series
Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Miniseries or TV Movie (Kevin Dillon and Jeremy Piven)

Pushing Daisies:
Best Musical or Comedy TV Series
Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy TV Series (Lee Pace)
Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy TV Series (Anna Friel)

Congratulations, one and all, and to Pushing Daisies, an additional pat on the back, for scooping up three nominations on the strength of only 9 episodes to date.

You can find the complete list of 2008 Golden Globe nominees here.

Parting shot: Regulars here to the Iguana know I follow Dexter, Entourage, and Pushing Daisies, so you’ll find episodic recaps and reactions in the Archive, where a review of David Cronenberg’s Eastern Promises also resides in happy comfort. (Feed it some peanuts. It likes those.)

(Images courtesy of screenhead.com [Eastern Promises]; latimes.com [Dexter]; hbo.com [Entourage]; and thepiemaker.com [Pushing Daisies].)