Monday, February 26, 2007

The Departed -2006-

WINNER:
FILM EDITING
WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)
DIRECTING
BEST PICTURE

The Queen -2006-

WINNER: Actress in a leading role
Helen Mirren
The Queen
ACCEPTANCE SPEECH
I've got my purse in one hand, my earring in the other. Thank you, Academy. Thank you so much. Huge honor. You know, my sister told me that all kids love to get gold stars, and this is the biggest and the best gold star that I have ever had in my life. I want to share my gold star with my fellow nominees, those brilliant, brilliant actresses who gave such amazing performances this year. I also share my gold star with the filmmakers, with Stephen Frears, with Peter Morgan, with Andy Harries and all the producers and all the filmmakers and the cast. Thank you.

Now you know for 50 years and more, Elizabeth Windsor has maintained her dignity, her sense of duty, and her hairstyle. She's had her feet planted firmly on the ground, her hat on her head, her handbag on her arm and she's weathered many, many storms, and I salute her courage and her consistency. And I thank her because if it wasn't for her, I most, most certainly would not be here. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you The Queen. Thank you. Thank you very much.

Pan's Labyrinth -2006-

WINNER: Cinematography
Pan's Labyrinth
Guillermo Navarro
ACCEPTANCE SPEECH
Thank you, thank you so much to the Academy. This is a great honor. I want to congratulate my fellow nominees. It's a great honor to be among you.

This award is a recognition for the collective effort to support the vision of the genius of Guillermo Del Toro.

Pan's Labyrinth is the result of this narrative that add up to finding the look of the movie, and the narrative to continue into this incredible story that unfolds. The creative freedom that was needed to tell the story, to preserve the integrity of the story and the point of view is what was more important for us in this movie.

To my children, to my wife for giving me wings. Thank you very much.

Last King of Scotland -2006-

WINNER: Actor in a leading role
Forest Whitaker
The Last King Of Scotland
ACCEPTANCE SPEECH
Thank you. Thank you. Just a second, just a second. OK. Take it. OK. I wrote something down, because I thought if it would happen that I would be a little overwhelmed and I am. So, OK. When I was a kid, the only way that I saw movies was from the backseat of my family's car. At the drive-in. And, it wasn't my reality to think I would be acting in movies, so receiving this honor tonight tells me that it's possible. It is possible for a kid from east Texas, raised in South Central L.A. in Carson, who believes in his dreams, commits himself to them with his heart, to touch them, and to have them happen.

Because when I first started acting, it was because of my desire to connect to everyone. To that thing inside each of us. That light that I believe exists in all of us. Because acting for me is about believing in that connection and it's a connection so strong, it's a connection so deep, that we feel it. And through our combined belief, we can create a new reality. So I want to thank my fellow believers in The Last King of Scotland. I want to thank Peter, Jeremy, Andrea, Lisa, Charles, Kevin, James McAvoy, Kerry, Stephen, Fox, DNA, Channel Four. I want to thank the people of Uganda, who helped this film have a spirit. And finally, I want to thank my mom and my dad. I want to thank my wife Keisha, my children, my ancestors, who continue to guide my steps. And God, God who believes in us all. And who's given me this moment, in this lifetime, that I will hopefully carry to the end of my lifetime into the next lifetime. Thank you.

The Lives of Others

Winner: Foreign Language Film
The Lives Of Others
Germany
ACCEPTANCE SPEECH
Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck:
Oh my God! I was already crying after Tornatore's film.

I thank you Academy members from the bottom of my heart for this honor. And I thank Michael and Tom from Sony Classics for choosing The Lives of Others and bringing it to you. I thank Germany and Bavaria for making this film possible. My great department heads for making this film with me.

Schwarzenegger for teaching me that the words "I can't" should be stricken from my vocabulary. And my entire crew. I thank my producers, commissioning editors, distributors, financiers. I thank my brother Sebastian for helping with this script and for "Baumba" for believing in me. But most of all I thank my actors, especially Ulrich and Sebastian, you're the greatest artists and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

Finally, my wife Christiane. No, I have to say that one more thing. Just that one more thing: Christiane, I love you.

Dreamgirls real -2006-

WINNER: Actress in a supporting role

Jennifer Hudson
Dreamgirls
ACCEPTANCE SPEECH
Oh my God. I have to just take this moment in. I cannot believe this. Look what God can do. If my grandmother ... I didn't think I was going to win but, wow, if my grandmother was here to see me now. She was my biggest inspiration for everything because she was a singer and she had the passion for it but she never had the chance. And that was the thing that pushed me forward to continue. But I'm so grateful to have my mother here celebrating with me. My boyfriend, my sisters and my brothers back home, and then I've got two of them here. Thank you all for being here, and supporting me. I'd also like to thank Bill Condon, our director, who's a genius. Wow. Oh my God. Unbelievable cast. I'd like to thank the Academy. Definitely have to thank God again. I can't believe this. Wow, I don't know what to say but I thank you all for helping me keep the faith even when I didn't believe. Thank you and God bless you all. Jennifer Holliday, too.

West Bank Story -2006-

WINNER: Short Film
West Bank Story
Ari Sandel
ACCEPTANCE SPEECH
And on another note, I know a lot of people in America are probably watching and asking, "What are the short films?" Well, a lot of them are made by directors who are trying to get noticed and I think in a lot of ways we represent the little guy because we don't have big studios behind us or big name actors or a lot of times the budgets we need and it relies on perseverance and stick-to-itiveness and hustle and dedication and loyalty from a cast and crew who are doing it for pennies if not for nothing, so I'd be remiss if I were to take this award and not thank my co-writer Kim Ray, my producers Pascal Vaguelsy, Amy Kim, Ashley Jordan, Ravi Malhotra and my composer Yuval Ron.

And last but not least, the two people who never doubted me even when I doubted myself, my mother who's here in the audience, Kathy and my father Dan, who's watching. I love you. Thank you.

Happy Feet -2006-

WINNER: Animated Feature
Happy Feet
George Miller
ACCEPTANCE SPEECH
Oh, gosh. I asked my kids, "What should I say?" They said, "Thank all the men for wearing penguin suits." They gave me a lucky coin, a lucky penguin, but my real good luck was to work with hundreds and hundreds of amazing people, that wonderful cast, great artists, computer wizards, studios that were passionate, people who cut trailers, dubbed the movie, got it into the theaters. And on their behalf, I thank the Academy for this. Thank you.

Little Miss Sunshine -2006-

WINNER: Actor in a supporting role
Alan Arkin
Little Miss Sunshine
ACCEPTANCE SPEECH
I know you're not supposed to read but I'd be totally incoherent if I didn't. It's handwritten, it's short. More than anything, I am deeply moved by the open-hearted appreciation our small film has received. Which in these fragmented times speak so openly speak of the possibility of innocence, growth and connection.

Acting for me has always been and always will be a team sport. I cannot work at all unless I feel a spirit of unity around me. So my main sense of gratitude goes to the entire cast and crew and production team of Little Miss Sunshine for creating the same sense of joy and trust and community that the film speaks about. I'd like to thank the Academy, Fox Searchlight, my wife Suzanne, my sons Adam, Matthew and Tony for their endless support. My representation Estelle, Lee, Frank and Melody, and for the great teachers I've had throughout my life, both in and out of the profession. Thank you very much.

Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's chest -2006-

Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
WINNER: Visual Effects
John Knoll, Hal Hickel, Charles Gibson and Allen Hall
ACCEPTANCE SPEECH
John Knoll: You know the naysayers said that four blind kids from the Bronx couldn't make it in visual effects, but here we are. First, I got to thank Jerry Bruckheimer for entrusting us with this great, big project. Thanks to Gore Verbinski, your vast imagination, your humor, your tireless work ethic, and that's why we're up here. Thank you.

Bill Nighy, thanks for being such a wonderful partner in creating this character. Sorry about the deeply embarrassing computer pajamas, but we think it was worth it. And thanks to the crew.

Hal Hickel: My son Lex Addison. The pinkie promise worked. OK, bud. Thanks very much. I love you.
SPECIAL ONLINE THANKS
John Knoll:
The enormous crew at ILM that worked so hard and poured all of their talent into this project -- thank you!

Hal Hickel:
My mother Betsy Corbett for her love and support.
My brother Schell Hickel for his inspiration as an artist.
My dad Steve Hickel who I know would be proud.

Charles Gibson:
Asylum
The Orphanage
C.I.S.
Pacific Title

Allen Hall:
I would like to thank Gore, Jerry, Bruce, Doug, Eric.
I would like to thank Bill Moran for being so helpful and such a great partner.
Thanks to the Florida crew, the Bahamian crew, and the Jeffs and Bob Williams for all their hard effort.

Monday, February 19, 2007

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind -2004-

A man awakes disheveled; impulsively, he skips work, heading instead to the shore. On this chilly February day, a woman in orange, hair dyed blue, chats him up: she's Clementine, he's Joel, shy and sad; by day's end, he likes her. The next night she takes him to the frozen Charles River. After, as he drops her off, she asks to sleep at his place, and she runs up to get her toothbrush. Strange things occur: their meeting was not entirely chance, they have a history neither remembers. Our seeing how the lacunae came to be and their discovery of the memory loss take the rest of the film.

Technorati Profile

Seven -1995-

A film about two homicide detectives' desperate hunt for a serial killer who justifies his crimes as absolution for the world's ignorance of the Seven Deadly Sins. The movie takes us from the tortured remains of one victim to the next as the sociopathic "John Doe" sermonizes to Detectives Sommerset and Mills -- one sin at a time. The sin of Gluttony comes first and the murderer's terrible capacity is graphically demonstrated in the dark and subdued tones characteristic of film noir. The seasoned and cultured Sommerset researches the Seven Deadly Sins in an effort to understand the killer's modus operandi while green Detective Mills scoffs at his efforts to get inside the mind of a killer...

Taxi Driver -1976-

Vietnam vet Travis Bickle is 26, a loner in the mean streets of New York City, slipping slowly into isolation and violent misanthropy. In solving his insomnia by driving a yellow cab on the night shift, he grows increasingly disgusted by the low-lifes that hang out at night: "Someday a real rain will come and wash all the scum off the streets." His touching attempts to woo Betsy, a Senator's campaign worker, turn sour when he takes her to a porn movie on their first date. He even fails in his attempt to persuade child prostitute Iris to desert her pimp and return to her parents and school. Driven to the edge by powerlessness, he buys four handguns and sets out to assassinate the Senator, heading for the infamy of a 'lone crazed gunman'...

Apocalypse Now -1979-

Vietnam, 1969. Burnt out Special Forces officer Captain Willard is sent into the jungle with top-secret orders to find and kill renegade Colonel Kurtz who has set up his own army within the jungle. As Willard descends into the jungle, he is slowly over taken by the jungle's mesmerizing powers and battles the insanity which surrounds him. His boat crew succumbs to drugs and is slowly killed off one by one. As Willard continues his journey he becomes more and more like the man he was sent to kill.

Friday, February 16, 2007

The Matrix -1999-

In the near future, a computer hacker named Neo (Keanu Reeves) discovers that all life on Earth may be nothing more than an elaborate facade created by a malevolent cyber-intelligence, for the purpose of placating us while our life essence is "farmed" to fuel the Matrix's campaign of domination in the "real" world. He joins like-minded Rebel warriors Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) and Trinity (Carrie Ann Moss) in their struggle to overthrow the Matrix.

American beauty -1999-

Lester Burnham is in a mid-life crisis, caused by his stressed wife Carolyn and rebelling teenage daughter Jane. When Lester and Carolyn go watch Jane cheerleading, they meet Angela Hayes, and Lester, caught in sudden lust for Angela, decides to change his life. Angela and Jane's friendship is not all it seems, too, because Angela only brags about how many times she's done it with guys and stuff. That doesn't help an already insecure Jane very much but she finds solace in the arms of the next-door-neighbors' son, Ricky Fitts. Ricky, himself from a broken home as well, and Jane find they have a lot in common and eventually turn out to be soulmates.

fight club -1999-

You're young. You have an easy, well-paid deskjob. You have a condo, Swedish furniture, artistic coffee tables and a fridge full of condiments. Yet you feel emotionally and spiritually empty. You eventually find comfort in going to support groups for lukemia and cancer victims when there's nothing wrong with you until they're hijacked from you by another faker. Then you meet Tyler Durden, a man that shows you that not only can you live without material needs but that self-destruction, the collapse of society and making dynamite from soap might not be such a bad idea either.

The Silence of the Lambs -1991-

A psychopath known as Buffalo Bill is kidnapping and murdering young women across the midwest. Believing it takes one to know one, the F.B.I. sends Agent Clarice Starling (Foster) to interview a demented prisoner who may provide psychological insight and clues to the killer's actions. The prisoner is psychiatrist, Dr. Hannibal Lector (Hopkins), a brilliant, murderous cannibal who will only help Starling if she feeds his morbid curiosity with details about her own complicated life. This twisted relationship forces Starling not only to confront her psychological demons, but leads her to face with a demented, heinous killer, an incarceration of evil so powerful, that she may not have the courage -- or strength -- to stop him!

Psycho - Theatrical Trailer -1960-

Phoenix officeworker Marion Crane is fed up with the way life has treated her. She has to meet her lover Sam in lunch breaks and they cannot get married because Sam has to give most of his money away in alimony. One Friday Marion is trusted to bank $40,000 by her employer. Seeing the opportunity to take the money and start a new life, Marion leaves town and heads towards Sam's California store. Tired after the long drive and caught in a storm, she gets off the main highway and pulls into The Bates Motel. The motel is managed by a quiet young man called Norman who seems to be dominated by his mother.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest -1975-

McMurphy, a man with several assault convictions to his name, finds himself in jail once again. This time, the charge is statutory rape when it turns out that his girlfriend had lied about being eighteen, and was, in fact, fifteen (or, as McMurphy puts it, "fifteen going on thirty-five"). Rather than spend his time in jail, he convinces the guards that he's crazy enough to need psychiatric care and is sent to a hospital. He fits in frighteningly well, and his different point of view actually begins to cause some of the patients to progress. Nurse Ratched becomes his personal cross to bear as his resistance to the hospital routine gets on her nerves.

Pulp Fiction -1994-

Pumpkin and Honey Bunny are two thieves who, while dining at a coffee shop, decide that the best thing to do is to rob it. Vincent and Jules, two hit men working for mob kingpin Marcellus Wallace, are sent to retrieve a very special and very mysterious briefcase for their boss. Vincent later must also show Mrs. Wallace a good time while her husband is out. Butch Coolidge is an aging prizefighter who is being paid to "take a dive", but instead, accidentally kills him opponent, and tries to flee town, but not before getting his dead father's lucky golden watch. These four seemingly unrelated stories are interwoven together in a non-linear fashion.

Casablanca -1942-

During World War II, Europeans who were fleeing from the Germans, sought refuge in America. But to get there they would first have to go Casablanca and once they get there, they have to obtain exit visas which are not very easy to come by. Now the hottest spot in all of Casablanca is Rick's Cafe which is operated by Rick Blaine, an American expatriate, who for some reason can't return there, and he is also extremely cynical. Now it seems that two German couriers were killed and the documents they were carrying were taken. Now one of Rick's regulars, Ugarte entrusts to him some letters of transit, which he intends to sell but before he does he is arrested for killing the couriers. Captain Renault, the Chief of Police, who is neutral in his political views, informs Rick that Victor Laszlo, the European Resistance leader, is in Casablanca and will do anything to get an exit visa but Renault has been "told" by Major Strasser of the Gestapo, to keep Laszlo in Casablanca. Laszlo goes to Rick's to meet Ugarte, because he was the one Ugarte was going to sell the letters to. But since Ugarte was arrested he has to find another way. Accompanying him is Ilsa Lund, who knew Rick when he was in Paris, and when they meet some of Rick's old wounds reopen. It is obvious that Rick's stone heart was because of her leaving him. And when they learn that Rick has the letters, he refuses to give them to him, because "he doesn't stick his neck out for anyone".

The Godfather -1972-

The story begins as "Don" Vito Corleone, the head of a New York Mafia "family", oversees his daughter's wedding. His beloved son Michael has just come home from the war, but does not intend to become part of his father's business. Through Michael's life the nature of the family business becomes clear. The business of the family is just like the head of the family, kind and benevolent to those who give respect, but given to ruthless violence whenever anything stands against the good of the family. Don Vito lives his life in the way of the old country, but times are changing and some don't want to follow the old ways and look out for community and "family". An up and coming rival of the Corleone family wants to start selling drugs in New York, and needs the Don's influence to further his plan. The clash of the Don's fading old world values and the new ways will demand a terrible price, especially from Michael, all for the sake of the family.

A Clockwork Orange -1971-

In a futuristic Britain, a gang of teenagers go on the rampage every night, beating and raping helpless victims. After one of the boys quells an uprising in the gang, they knock him out and leave him for the police to find. He agrees to try "aversion therapy" to shorten his jail sentence. When he is eventually let out, he hates violence, but the rest of his gang members are still after him.

SCARFACE (Trailer) -1983-

An update of the 1932 film, Scarface (1983) follows gangster Tony Montana and his close friend Manny Ray from their trip on the Cuban Boat Lift for refugees to their arrival in Miami. After killing a powerful Cuban figure, Montana and company gain the ability to leave their refugee camps and roam around the U.S. After unsuccessfully trying to make it legitamately in the country, Montana and Ray resort to selling cocaine to dealers around the world. Tony's rise is quick, but as he becomes more powerful, his enemies and his own paranoia begin to plague his empire.