National Society of Film Critics: 'Pan's Labyrinth' is best pic
The National Society of Film Critics returned to old form today by picking a foreign-language movie as the best of the year, which it commonly did back in the 1970s and 1980s. In fact, all top-three vote-getters in the best-pic category didn't feature English dialog: Spanish-language "Pan's Labryinth" by Mexican director Guillermo del Toro won with a score of 34 over "The Death of Mr. Lazurescu" by Romanian helmer Cristi Puiu (31) and Clint Eastwood's Japanese-language "Letters from Iwo Jima" (29). Otherwise, the vote results mirrored the outcome of most other top critics' groups, with the acting honors going to Helen Mirren ("The Queen") and Forest Whitaker ("Last King of Scotland").
BEST PICTURE
*1. Pan's Labyrinth - 34 (Guillermo del Toro)
2. The Death of Mr. Lazurescu - 31 (Cristi Puiu)
3. Letters from Iwo Jima - 29 (Clint Eastwood)
BEST DIRECTOR
*1. Paul Greengrass - 21 (United 93)
2. Martin Scorsese - 15 (The Departed)
2. Guillermo del Toro - 15 (Pan’s Labyrinth
BEST NONFICTION FILM
*1. An Inconvenient Truth - 26
2. Deliver Us From Evil - 24
3. Shut Up & Sing - 13
BEST ACTOR
*1. Forest Whitaker - 9 in tiebreaker - 54 (The Last King of Scotland)
2. Peter O’Toole - 8 in tiebreaker - 54 (Venus)
3. Ryan Gosling - 37 (Half Nelson)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
*1. Mark Wahlberg - 28 (The Departed)
2. Jackie Earle Haley - 18 (Little Children)
3. Alan Arkin - 17 (Little Miss Sunshine)
BEST ACTRESS
*1. Helen Mirren - 94 (The Queen)
2. Laura Dern - 32 (Inland Empire)
3. Judi Dench - 25 (Notes on a Scandal)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
*1. Meryl Streep - 25 (The Devil Wears Prada and A Prairie Home
Companion)
2. Jennifer Hudson - 22 (Dreamgirls)
3. Shareeka Epps - 16 (Half Nelson)
BEST SCREENPLAY
*1. The Queen - 67 (Peter Morgan)
2. The Departed - 25 (William Monahan)
3. The Good Shepherd - 15 (Eric Roth)
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
*1. Children of Men - 66 (Emmanuel Lubezki)
2. Pan’s Labyrinth - 41 (Guillermo Navarro)
3. Curse of the Golden Flower - 10 (Xiaoding Zhao)
BEST EXPERIMENTAL FILM to David Lynch’s labyrinthine INLAND EMPIRE, a
magnificent and maddening experiment with digital video possibilities.
FILM HERITAGE AWARD to Jean-Pierre Melville’s ARMY OF SHADOWS (1969),
lovingly restored and released by Rialto Pictures for the first time in
the United States.
FILM HERITAGE AWARD to the Museum of the Moving Image for presenting
the first complete U.S. retrospective of French filmmaker Jacques
Rivette, including the premiere American showing of the director’s
legendary “Out 1.”
The results of the meeting were dedicated to the memory of Robert
Altman.
No comment in this website will highlight United 93 achievements in the Award Season race. It is the film with the most Best Picture wins and nominations, and its second place in Best Director. So Bill F, no, they will never pay attention to that...
Posted by: Mark | January 06, 2007 at 05:55 PM
Lemme see...UNITED 93 has won the most BEST PICTURE citations (8) and 4 BEST DIRECTOR designations from critic associations across the country. I really think the academy won't be reluctant to honor it. Will The Envelope ever pay attention to it?
Posted by: Bill F | January 06, 2007 at 04:06 PM