Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Critics' Choice Awards

The meteoric rise of Juno made it's mark on the Critics' Choice Awards last night, where the film picked up awards for "Best Screenwriter" for Diablo Cody (why do they always have to mention that she was a stripper? no wonder she didn't show up to accept the award) and Best Comedy. I was disappointed that Ellen Page wasn't nominated for her performance, but she was interviewed on the red carpet where she seemed genuinely thrilled at her success, and so far, unspoiled by Hollywood's attention. During the show, she received plenty of camera time, and her co-stars Michael Cera and were both mentioned in awards and as presenters Bella was ignored, but wait till the People's Choice Awards, that's what it won at Toronto.

Best family film was Enchanted, and Ratatouille won the best animated film and seemed quite popular with the crowd. The best film was No Country for Old Men, a shoot-em-up film that was quite popular among the critics. Two actors we haven't heard from in a while, Daniel Day Lewis,and Julie Christie won Best Actor/Actress Awards. NO surprise that Michael Moore's Sicko won Best Documentary, and the ensuing political correctness party made me want to change channels.

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly won Best Foreign Film, and as the nominees were read for this category, an interesting thing happened. Cannes Film Festival Winner, Four months, 3 weeks, 2 Days, the graphic film about a woman obtaining an illegal abortion at that gestation in Communist Romania, was described to the audience, and there was no applause. Dead silence followed. The words "obtains an illegal abortion" were left hanging in the air awkwardly.
Very telling.

No comments: