Award Season 2006
 

I figured we should have a thread about the big awards for the films of 2006 - some perdictions etc.

Ok, so we've got the Indie awards last month, now the National Board of Review winners announced today:

http://www.showbuzz.cbsnews.com/stor...n2235396.shtml

I wonder how they define "breakthrough" since I would argue that Ryan Gosling did that years ago with The Believer and in mainstream film with The Notebook.

Oh, and I didn't like Thank You For Smoking so obviously I disagree with best directorial debut if there are other qualified candidates. And there are:

Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris with Little Miss Sunshine. So far as I know, they only did music videos and TV before that.

And they picked for best film one that won't open in the big cities for another two weeks (and most places not until next year) so I can't argue with them.

My understanding is that the movie wasn't screened for press last Sunday so that seems like an awfully rash decision. The way you feel about a movie can change a lot in the early days after viewing.

Surprised to only see on Dreamgirls on there though based on what I've heard (haven't seen it yet).

Hello, out-of-the-blue. They only recently upped Iwo Jima to a December release date. I hope it was better than Flags of Our Fathers. I guess it might be another Clint v. Marty year after all... (though, personally, I thought that The Departed was woefully pedestrian. "Oh, look at the mob and the police officers. They go undercover and drink and shoot people until they're comfortably numb. How not at all cliche.")

While I enjoyed Stranger Than Fiction, I thought that Little Miss Sunshine was superior. Bummer.

The Illusionist on the ten-best-indie list? I thought it sucked balls compared to The Prestiege. (Though I hear that The Prestiege sucks balls compared to the book.)

I haven't talked about it on the movie thread yet, but Volver is quickly becoming one of my very favorite pictures of the year. It's such a crap year for movies, though. Many fewer than I really felt drawn to or excited by.

...while I wait (im)patiently for "Pan's Labyrinth"

That's the one I can't wait for, either :D

I got to see Pan's Labyrinth earlier this year (Guillermo is a friend of mine) and it's spectacular!!! :snap: :snap:

Your one-word review has made my three-week wait feel even longer.

Sorry! :D I had actually put more, but deleted it before posting so as not to spoil or prejudice the expectant too much. Thanks for the heads-up on the hubby nod -- we hadn't noticed it!

Sorry, but I did not like Pan's Labyrinth. It was depressing. And subtitles didn't help. Frankly, it was so slow and boring at parts, that I found myself losing concentration, and then I'd fail to understand what anyone was saying.

The "otherworld" stuff was very cool looking, but the movie was a complete bummer. Ycch. Maybe just not my cup of tea. But nazi badness is just a turnoff for me. And the fantastical stuff wasn't enough to overcome the real-world dreariness and nastiness.