December 5, 2007–The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures named NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN the 2007 Best Film of the Year. Directed by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, released by Miramax and Paramount Vantage on November 21st, the film is based on Cormac McCarthys novel. It simultaneously strips down the American crime drama and broadens its concerns to encompass themes as ancient as the Bible, and as bloodily contemporary as this mornings headlines.
For Best Actor and Actress of 2007, the NBR honors two artists whose performances were truly outstanding. The 2007 Best Actor, GEORGE CLOONEY, was selected for his performance in the title role of Michael Clayton. For the 2007 Best Actress honor, the NBR has selected JULIE CHRISTIE for her performance in Away From Her.
Below is a full list of the awards given by the National Board of Review:
Best Film: NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
Best Director: TIM BURTON, Sweeney Todd
Best Actor: GEORGE CLOONEY, Michael Clayton
Best Actress: JULIE CHRISTIE, Away From Her
Best Supporting Actor: CASEY AFFLECK, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Best Supporting Actress: AMY RYAN, Gone Baby Gone
Best Foreign Film: THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY
Best Documentary: BODY OF WAR
Best Animated Feature: RATATOUILLE
Best Ensemble Cast: NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
Breakthrough Performance by an Actor: EMILE HIRSCH, Into The Wild
Breakthrough Performance by an Actress: ELLEN PAGE, Juno
Best Directorial Debut: BEN AFFLECK, Gone Baby Gone
Best Original Screenplay (tie): DIABLO CODY, Juno and NANCY OLIVER, Lars and the Real Girl
Best Adapted Screenplay: JOEL COEN and ETHAN COEN, No Country For Old Men
Top Ten Films:
(In alphabetical order)
THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD
ATONEMENT
THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM
THE BUCKET LIST
INTO THE WILD
JUNO
THE KITE RUNNER
LARS AND THE REAL GIRL
MICHAEL CLAYTON
SWEENEY TODD
Top Five Foreign Films:
(In alphabetical order)
4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS, 2 DAYS
THE BANDS VISIT
THE COUNTERFEITERS
LA VIE EN ROSE
LUST, CAUTION
Top Five Documentary Films
(In alphabetical order)
DARFUR NOW
IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOON
NANKING
TAXI TO THE DARKSIDE
TOOTS
Top Independent Films
(In alphabetical order)
AWAY FROM HER
GREAT WORLD OF SOUND
HONEYDRIPPER
IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH
A MIGHTY HEART
THE NAMESAKE
ONCE
THE SAVAGES
STARTING OUT IN THE EVENING
WAITRESS
Career Achievement MICHAEL DOUGLAS
William K. Everson Film History Award ROBERT OSBORNE
Career Achievement in Cinematography ROGER DEAKINS
The BVLGARI Award for NBR Freedom of Expression THE GREAT DEBATERS and PERSEPOLIS
2007 was an extremely exciting and challenging year for the NBR in determining the winners in the various categories, said NBR President Annie Schulhof. We screened 282 films and the diversity of these narratives is reflected in our 2007 Ten Best Films. NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN is a brilliant convergence of extraordinary directing, a masterful screenplay, and incredible ensemble performances. We are also proud to honor the special career achievements of Michael Douglas, Roger Deakins, and Robert Osborne, all of whom are truly gifted and deserving artists.
Additional awards given by the NBR in 2007 include The BVLGARI Award for NBR Freedom of Expression, which champions the voices of maverick filmmakers. The films that have been selected to receive The BVLGARI Award for NBR Freedom of Expression are THE GREAT DEBATERS, directed by Denzel Washington and PERSEPOLIS, directed by Vincent Paronnaud and Marjane Satrapi. Both films capture the spirit of this award, and both do it in uncompromising and unexpected ways. The 2007 NBR Awards, sponsored by BVLGARI, will be presented at the annual gala on January 15th, 2007 at Ciprianis 42nd St in New York City. Once again, the accounting firm of Lutz & Carr tabulated the actual ballots.
THE NATIONAL BOARD OF REVIEW:
Formed in 1909, the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures is dedicated to film, foreign and domestic, as both art and entertainment. The NBR has supported free expression in motion picture arts for over 98 years when, in an effort to avoid government censorship of films, the National Board became the unofficial clearinghouse for new movies. From 1916 into the 1950s thousands of motion pictures carried the legend Passed by the National Board of Review in their main or end titles. To the public, this was the catchphrase of confidence. The organization works to foster commentary on all aspects of film production, to endow scholarships for film students and to underwrite educational film programs and seminars. For more information on the National Board of Review, please visit www.nbrmp.org.
ABOUT BVLGARI:
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BIOGRAPHIES:
CAREER ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS
Michael Douglas – Career Achievement
As an actor and producer with over thirty years of experience in theatre, film, and television, Michael Douglas has shown an uncanny knack for choosing projects that reflect changing trends and public concerns. The son of Kirk and Diana Douglas, Michael trained with Wynn Handman at the American Place Theatre and the Neighborhood Playhouse. He made his screen starring debut in Hail, Hero! (1969) and starred in the TV series The Streets of San Francisco, one of ABC's highest-rated prime-time programs in the mid-1970s. He earned three successive Emmy Award nominations and directed two episodes of the series.
Douglas made an auspicious move into production with One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest (1975). A critical and commercial success, Cuckoo's Nest won five Academy Awards, including Picture (Douglas and Saul Zaentz), Director (Milos Forman), Screenplay (Bo Goldman), Actor (Jack Nicholson) and Actress (Louise Fletcher). Douglas teamed with Jane Fonda to co-produce and co-star in The China Syndrome (1979); the timely thriller earned four Oscar nominations, and like Cuckoos Nest, was named to the NBRs Top Ten list. Since then Douglas has successfully balanced a career as actor, producer and actor-producer. Among his various companies productions are Starman (1984), Flatliners (1990), Made in America (1993), The Ghost and the Darkness (1996), Face/Off (1997), and The Rainmaker (1997). As an actor-producer, his credits include Romancing the Stone (1984) and its sequel Jewel of the Nile (1985), One Night at McCools (2001), It Runs in the Family (2003), opposite his father Kirk Douglas, and The Sentinel (2006).
As an actor, Douglas has established himself as one of our finest, most versatile talents (and one of the industrys biggest stars) in such films as Coma (1978), The Star Chamber (1983), A Chorus Line (1985), Black Rain (1988), The War of the Roses (1989), Basic Instinct (1992), Falling Down (1993), Disclosure (1995), The American President (1995), The Game (1997), A Perfect Murder (1998), Wonder Boys (2000), the multiple Oscar-winning Traffic (2000), Dont Say a Word (2002), The In-Laws (2003), You, Me and Dupree (2006), and The King of California (2007). Douglas earned an Emmy nomination for his guest spot on Will & Grace (2002), and co-starred with his father in the highly personal documentary A Father, A Son, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2005).
In 1987, Douglas appeared in two of his most memorable roles, as Dan Gallagher in Adrian Lynes phenomenally successful thriller Fatal Attraction, and as corporate raider Gordon Gekko in Oliver Stones Wall Street, which earned him the Academy Award and the NBR Award for Best Actor.
In 1998, Douglas was named a Messenger of Peace for the United Nations by Secretary General Kofi Annan. His two areas of concentration are nuclear abolition and small arms proliferation.
The NBR is proud to honor Michael Douglas with the 2007 Career Achievement Award.
Robert Osborne: William K Everson Film History Award
Robert Osborne has been the primetime host and anchor of Turner Classic Movies television network since TCM made its on-air debut in April 1994. Since 1977 he has also been a writer for the daily show business trade publication The Hollywood Reporter and in 1983 he began writing the paper's lead column “Rambling Reporter,” which covers all aspects of the movie, television and Broadway worlds.
He is also known as the official biographer of “Oscar” because of the series of books he's written on the subject of the motion picture industry's annual Academy Awards, his latest being 75 Years Of The Oscar which was written at the request of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and was praised by The Weekly Observer as “A scholar's dream, a researcher's paradise, a movie buff's heaven.” An update on his book, covering 80 Years Of The Oscars. is scheduled to be published by Abbeville Press in the fall of 2008.
In 2005, Osborne received an Honorary Doctorate from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. Since 2006 he has been the official red carpet greeter for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' at the annual Academy Awards ceremony at the Kodak theatre in Hollywood. Another distinction came his way in April 2006: he was satirized on Saturday Night Live.
Osborne was born in Colfax, Washington (population: 2700), graduated from the University of Washington's School of Journalism and eventually headed South to Hollywood where he was soon signed to a contract as an actor by Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz at their Desilu Studios. It was Lucy who encouraged him to seriously pursue writing (“especially after she saw me act,” he says) and he considers that suggestion the best career advice he's ever been given. Lucy remained a friend and mentor to him until her death in 1989.
For TCM, in addition to hosting four primetime movies seven days per week, he also hosts special one-on-one private screening interviews with such legendary filmmakers as Lauren Bacall, Angela Lansbury, Shirley MacLaine, three famous Janes (Fonda, Powell and Russell), Esther Williams, Mickey Rooney, Charlton Heston, Leslie Caron, Tony Curtis, James Garner, Debbie Reynolds, Patricia Neal, directors Sidney Lumet, Stanley Donen and Norman Jewison, and the late Robert Michum, Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Anthony Quinn, Rod Steiger, Ann Miller, June Allyson and Betty Hutton.
Since 2005, he has also been hosting his own film festival, Robert Osbornes Classic Film Festival, which is held once a year in Athens, Georgia, the home of the University of Georgia. The festival's fourth edition will be held in April 2008.
Roger Deakins Career Achievement in Cinematography
No Country For Old Men is the ninth consecutive collaboration with the Coen brothers for multiple Academy Award-nominee cinematographer, Roger Deakins. It follows The Ladykillers, Intolerable Cruelty, The Man Who Wasnt There, O Brother Where Art Thou, The Big Lebowski, Fargo, The Hudsucker Proxy and Barton Fink. Deakins work with the Coen brothers has earned him critical acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic. O Brother Where Art Thou earned him BAFTA, American Society of Cinematographers and Academy Award nominations. For his work on Fargo. he received American Society of Cinematographers and Academy Award nominations, as well as Best Cinematographer citations from the New York Film Critics Circle and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association. Barton Fink earned him the Best Cinematography award from the National Society of Film Critics. The Man Who Wasnt There earned an Academy Award nomination, an ASC Award and a BAFTA.
His work on The Shawshank Redemption brought him the American Society of Cinematographers Award, as well as his first Academy Award nomination. For his work on Martin Scorseses Kundun he received Best Cinematography citations from the New York Film Critics Circle, the Boston Society of Film Critics and the National Society of Film Critics, as well as Academy Award and American Society of Cinematographers Award nominations.
Deakins began working as a stills photographer before enrolling in Britains National Film School in 1972. His association with fellow student Michael Radford led to director of photography work on three features directed by Radford: Another Time, Another Place, 1984 and White Mischief.
Deakins has also shot such feature documentaries as When the World Changed and Eritrea: Behind the Lines; and the music documentaries Blue Suede Shoes and Van Morrison in Ireland. Deakins has also shot music videos for Eric Clapton, Marvin Gaye, Herbie Hancock and Madness among others.
His other director of photography credits include Alex Coxs Sid and Nancy, Bob Rafelsons Mountains of the Moons, Michael Apteds Thunderheart, John Sayles Passion Fish, Agnieszka Hollands The Secret Garden, Tim Robbins Dead Man Walking, Edward Zwicks Courage Under Fire and The Siege, Norman Jewisons The Hurricane and Dinner With Friends, Ron Howards A Beautiful Mind, Vadim Perelmans House of Sand and Fog, M. Night Shyamalans The Village, Sam Mendes Jarhead and the upcoming Revolutionary Road; and currently, The Assassination of Jesse James with Andrew Dominik and In The Valley of Elah with Paul Haggis.
THE BVLGARI AWARD FOR 2007 NBR FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Vincent Paronnaud
Vincent Paronnaud a.k.a. Winshluss, was born in 1970 in La Rochelle. He is a major underground comic book artist. Together with his friend and collaborator Cizo, he invented the character of “Monsieur Ferraille”, the emblematic figure of the comic “Ferraille Illustr”, which he co-edited with Cizo and Felder. His solo projects include Super Ngra (1999), Welcome to the Death Club and Pat Boon -Happy End (2001). He gained public recognition when he earned a nomination
for Smart Monkey in 2004 and for Wizz and Buzz (with Cizo) in 2007 at the Angoulme Comic Book Festival. Winshluss and Cizo have also co-directed two shorts animations: OBoy What Nice Legs (B&W – 1 min – 2004) Raging Blues (B&W – 6 min – 2003).
Marjane Satrapi
Marjane Satrapi was born in 1969. She grew up in Tehran where she attended the Lyce Franais (French high school). She then studied in Vienna before she relocated to France in 1994. In Paris, through fellow comic book artists, she was introduced into the Atelier des Vosges, an artist studio which gathered major, contemporary comic book artists. In her first graphic novel, Persepolis 1,
published by L'Association in November 2000, Marjane told the story of the first ten years of her life until the overthrow of the Shah regime and the outbreak of the Iraq-Iran war. In Persepolis, published in October 2001, she described the Iraq-Iran war and her teenage years until she left for Vienna at the age of fourteen. Persepolis 2 dealt with her exile in Austria and her return to Iran. Since then, she has published Embroideries (Broderies) and Chicken with Plums (Poulet aux
Prunes). Persepolis is co-directed with Vincent Paronnaud, and is her first feature film.
Denzel Washington
Two-time Academy Award-winning actor Denzel Washington is a man constantly on the move. Never comfortable repeating himself or his successes, Washington is always in search of new challenges and his numerous and varied film and stage portrayals bear this out. From Trip, an embittered runaway slave in Glory, to South African freedom fighter Steven Biko in Cry Freedom; from Shakespeare's tragic historical figure Richard III, to the womanizing trumpet player, Bleek Gilliam in Spike Lee's Mo' Better Blues, Washington has amazed and entertained us with a rich array of characters distinctly his own.
Perhaps one of his most critically acclaimed performances to date was his Academy-Award winning performance in Training Day, directed by Antoine Fuqua. It was one of only two films in 2001 that spent two weeks at the number one spot at the box office.
Next up for the talented thespian is his starring role alongside Russell Crowe in American Gangster, directed by Ridley Scott. The film is based on the true juggernaut success story that portrays the life of a cult hero from the streets of 1970s Harlem during one of Americas biggest drug wars.
More recent feature films include Dj Vu, re-teaming Washington with director Tony Scott whom he previously collaborated with on Man On Fire. Washington was also seen in Spike Lees The Inside Man, opposite Clive Owen, and The Manchurian Candidate, a modern day remake of the 1962 classic film in the part that Frank Sinatra made famous.
In 2002, Washington starred in John Q, a story about a down-on-his-luck father whose son is in need of a heart transplant. The film established an opening day record for Presidents Day weekend, grossing $24.1 million and was the highest weekend gross in Washingtons illustrious career. The film also garnered Washington a NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture.
With many movies to his credit, other notable features include Jerry Bruckheimers box-office sensation ($115 million domestic gross) Remember the Titans. He also starred in The Hurricane, where he received a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor and an Academy Award nomination (his fourth) for his portrayal of Rubin Hurricane Carter, who was the world middleweight champion boxer during the 1960s, and wrongfully imprisoned twice for the murder of three white people in a New Jersey bar.
Another critically acclaimed performance was his portrayal of Malcolm X, the complex and controversial Black activist from the 1960s, in director Spike Lee's biographical epic, Malcolm X, hailed by critics and audiences alike as one of the best films of 1992. For his portrayal, Washington received a number of accolades including an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.
His other key films are The Bone Collector, Fallen, Hes Got Game, The Siege, Courage Under Fire, The Preachers Wife, Crimson Tide, Virtuosity, and Devil In A Blue Dress. Additional film credits include Kenneth Branaugh's film adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing, Jonathan Demme's controversial Philadelphia with Tom Hanks and The Pelican Brief, based on the John Grisham novel.
In addition to his accomplishments on screen, Washington took on a very different type of role in 2000. He produced the HBO documentary Half Past Autumn: The Life and Works of Gordon Parks, which was nominated for two Emmys. He also served as Executive Producer on Hank Aaron: Chasing The Dream, a biographical documentary for TBS that was nominated for an Emmy Award. Additionally, Washington's narration of the legend of John Henry was nominated for a 1996 Grammy Award in the category of Best Spoken Word Album for Children and he was awarded the 1996 NAACP Image Award for his performance in the animated children's special, Happily Ever After: Rumpelstiltskin. He made his directorial debut with Antwone Fisher that was released in 2002.
A native of Mt. Vernon, New York, Washington had his career sights set on medicine when he attended Fordham University. During a stint as a summer camp counselor he appeared in one of their theatre production and was bitten by the acting bug. He returned to Fordham that year seeking the tutelage of Robinson Stone, one of the school's leading professors, and upon graduation from Fordham, Washington was accepted into San Francisco's prestigious American Conservatory Theater. Following an intensive year of study in their theater program, he returned to New York after a brief stop in Los Angeles.
Washington's professional career began with Joseph Papp's Shakespeare in the Park and was quickly followed by numerous off-Broadway productions including Ceremonies in Dark Old Men; When The Chickens Came Home to Roost (in which he portrayed Malcolm X); One Tiger to a Hill; Man and Superman; Othello; A Soldier's Play, for which he won an Obie Award. Washington's other stage appearances include the Broadway production of Checkmates and Richard III, which was produced as part of the 1990 Free Shakespeare in the Park series hosted by Joseph Papp's Public Theatre in New York City.
Washington was discovered by Hollywood when he was cast in 1979 in the television film Flesh and Blood. It was his award-winning performance on stage in A Soldier's Play that captured the attention of the producers of the NBC television series, St. Elsewhere, and he was soon cast in the long-running hit series as Dr. Phillip Chandler.
In 1982, Washington re-created his role from A Soldier's Play for Norman Jewison's film version. Re-titled A Soldier's Story, Washingtons portrayal was critically well-received. He went on to star in Sidney Lumet's Power, Richard Attenborough's Cry Freedom for which he received his first Oscar nomination, For Queen and Country, The Mighty Quinn, Heart Condition, Glory, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and Spike Lee's Mo' Better Blues. Washington also starred in the action adventure film, Ricochet, and in Mira Nair's bittersweet comedy Mississippi Masala.
