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The News Sleuth Presents: Sundance Festival Update

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MaineWriter:
Remember me? The News Sleuth? Back in IMDb days, and in the early days here at Bettermost, I used to comb the Internet for interesting BBM news stories. I knew I was scraping the bottom of the barrel when I was posting movies reviews of BBM from Malaysia. But, now, we are the end of the year with Top Ten Movie Lists and all the rest. So...I shall try to chase down a few interesting news items for everyone's reading pleasure. Stay tuned and comments welcome!

Leslie
News Sleuth

MaineWriter:
Okay, something interesting from the Library of Congress.

http://www.filmthreat.com/index.php?section=headlines&Id=3536


NATIONAL FILM REGISTRY ANNOUNCES 2006 ADDITIONS
(2006-12-27)
The Library of Congress has released the list of films being added to the National Film Registry for 2006. "Rocky," "Groundhog Day," "Blazing Saddles," "Notorious," "sex, lies and videotapes" and "Fargo" among the 25 that made the cut. Read on:

"Many Americans typically spend the holiday season flocking to movie theaters nationwide. But even as they enjoy the latest releases, vast portions of the nation’s movie heritage are vanishing.

It is estimated that 50 percent of the films produced before 1950, and 80 to 90 percent made before 1920, have disappeared forever. The Library of Congress is working to stanch those losses by recognizing, and working with many organizations to preserve, films that are “culturally, historically or aesthetically” significant.

Librarian of Congress James H. Billington today added 25 motion pictures to the National Film Registry to be preserved for all time, bringing the total number of films on the registry to 450.

In making the announcement, Billington said: “The annual selection of films to the National Film Registry involves far more than the simple naming of cherished and important films to a prestigious list. The Registry should not be seen as ‘The Kennedy Center Honors,’ ‘The Academy Awards,’ or even ‘America’s Most Beloved Films.’ Rather, it is an invaluable means to advance public awareness of the richness, creativity and variety of American film heritage, and to dramatize the need for its preservation.

“The selection of a film recognizes its importance to American movie and cultural history, and to history in general. The Registry stands among the finest summations of more than a century of wondrous American cinema.”

The 450 films in the National Film Registry represent a stunning range of American filmmaking, including Hollywood features, documentaries, avant-garde and amateur productions, films of ethnic and regional interest, and animated and short film subjects – all deserving recognition, preservation and access by future generations.

Despite preservation efforts by various organizations, “This key component of American cultural history is an endangered species,” Billington said. He pointed out that more and more films are lost each year to nitrate deterioration, color fading and the recently discovered “vinegar syndrome,” which threatens the acetate-based “safety film” stock on which the vast majority of motion pictures have been reproduced.

The 2006 selections span the years 1913 to 1996 and encompass films ranging from Hollywood classics to lesser-known but still vital works. Billington chose this year’s selections after evaluating nearly 1,000 titles nominated by the public and conducting intensive discussions with the Library’s Motion Picture division staff and the distinguished members and alternates of his advisory group, the National Film Preservation Board. The board also advises the Librarian on national film preservation policy.

Under the terms of the National Film Preservation Act , Congress established the National Film Registry in 1989 and reauthorized the program in April 2005 when it passed the “Family Entertainment and Copyright Act of 2005” (Public Law 109-9).

“This legislation signifies great congressional interest in ensuring that motion pictures survive as an art form and a record of our times,” Billington said.

Among other provisions, the law reauthorized the National Film Preservation Board, mandated that the Librarian and Board update the national film preservation plan (published in the mid-1990s) as needed, increased funding authorizations for the private sector National Film Preservation Foundation, and amended Section 108(h) of U.S. Copyright Law, which enables libraries and archives to make works in their final 20 years of copyright protection accessible for research and education if the works are not already commercially available.

For each title named to the registry, the Library of Congress works to ensure that the film is preserved for future generations, either through the Library’s massive motion picture preservation program or through collaborative ventures with other archives, motion picture studios and independent filmmakers.

The Library of Congress contains the largest collections of film and television works in the world, from the earliest surviving copyrighted motion picture to the latest feature releases. For more information, consult the National Film Preservation Board Web site at www.loc.gov/film.

For the complete list of movies added this year, use the URL link posted at the beginning of this message.

Leslie
News Sleuth

MaineWriter:
We used to have a resident movie critic (rt) and somewhere along the line I learned that he is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association. Remembering him, and reading this list, I have to wonder if he voted for these movies this year?

It is interesting to look at the nominees for this year, and think back to this time last year. Am I alone in thinking that 2006 was a lousy year for movies?

Chicago Film Critics Awards

BEST PICTURE
The Departed

BEST FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM
Letters From Iwo Jima

BEST DIRECTOR
Martin Scorsese for The Departed

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Peter Morgan, The Queen

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
William Monahan, The Departed

BEST ACTOR
Forest Whitaker for The Last King of Scotland

BEST ACTRESS
Helen Mirren for The Queen

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Jackie Earle Haley for Little Children

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Rinko Kikuchi for Babel

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Clint Mansell, The Fountain

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Emmanuel Lubezki, Children of Men

BEST DOCUMENTARY
An Inconvenient Truth

MOST PROMISING PERFORMER
Sacha Baron Cohen for Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan and Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby

MOST PROMISING DIRECTOR
Rian Johnson for Brick

Nominations

BEST PICTURE
Babel
The Departed
Little Miss Sunshine
The Queen
United 93

BEST FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM:
Apocalypto
Letters From Iwo Jima
Pan ’ s Labyrinth
Tsotsi
Volver

BEST DIRECTOR
Clint Eastwood for Letters From Iwo Jima
Stephen Frears for The Queen
Paul Greengrass for United 93
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu for Babel
Martin Scorsese for The Departed

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Babel — Guillermo Arriaga
Letters From Iwo Jima — Iris Yamashita
Little Miss Sunshine — Michael Arndt
The Queen — Peter Morgan
United 93 — Paul Greengrass

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:
The Departed — William Monahan
Little Children — Todd Field & Tom Perrotta
Notes On A Scandal — Patrick Marber
A Prairie Home Companion — Garrison Keillor
Thank You For Smoking — Jason Reitman

BEST ACTOR
Leonardo DiCaprio for The Departed
Ryan Gosling for Half-Nelson
Peter O ’ Toole for Venus
Will Smith for The Pursuit of Happyness
Forest Whitaker for The Last King of Scotland

BEST ACTRESS
Penelope Cruz for Volver
Judi Dench for Notes on a Scandal
Maggie Gyllenhaal for Sherrybaby
Helen Mirren for The Queen
Meryl Streep for The Devil Wears Prada
Kate Winslet for Little Children

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Ben Affleck for Hollywoodland
Jackie Earle Haley for Little Children
Eddie Murphy for Dreamgirls
Jack Nicholson for The Departed
Brad Pitt for Babel
Michael Sheen for The Queen

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Adriana Barraza for Babel
Cate Blanchett for Notes On a Scandal
Abigail Breslin for Little Miss Sunshine
Toni Collette for Little Miss Sunshine
Jennifer Hudson for Dreamgirls
Rinko Kikuchi for Babel

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Babel — Gustavo Santaolalla
The Fountain — Clint Mansell
Letters From Iwo Jima — Kyle Eastwood and Michael Stevens
Notes On a Scandal — Philip Glass
The Queen — Alexandre Desplat

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Babel — Rodrigo Prieto
Children of Men — Emmanuel Lubezki
The Departed — Michael Ballhaus
The Fountain — Matthew Libatique
Letters From Iwo Jima — Tom Stern

BEST DOCUMENTARY
Deliver Us From Evil
An Inconvenient Truth
Jesus Camp
Shut Up and Sing
Wordplay

MOST PROMISING PERFORMER
Ivana Baquero for Pan ’ s Labyrinth
Sacha Baron Cohen for Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan and Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby
Shareeka Epps for Half-Nelson
Rinko Kikuchi for Babel
Keke Palmer fro Akeelah and the Bee

MOST PROMISING DIRECTOR
Rian Johnson for Brick
Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris for Little Miss Sunshine
Gil Kenan for Monster House
Jason Reitman Thank You For Smoking
James McTeigue for V For Vendetta

Ellemeno:
I've only seen six of these movies.  Nice to see Our Other Boys, Gustavo and Rodrigo, nominated.

An Inconvenient Truth
A Prairie Home Companion
Little Miss Sunshine
Thank You For Smoking
The Devil Wears Prada
Wordplay

I really enjoyed all of them, except for A Prairie Home Companion not so much.

kirkmusic:

--- Quote from: MaineWriter on December 30, 2006, 07:18:18 pm ---Am I alone in thinking that 2006 was a lousy year for movies?


--- End quote ---

No one will ever be alone in thinking such a thing.  I happen to disagree however.

When Oscar season arrives (Nov-Jan) I find that I'm seeing fewer and fewer movies during the year up until then, but because I keep close watch on the critical consensus, I tend to see all of the good ones.  The two movies which critics have flipped for and I haven't are Borat (amusing but not all that) and Letters from Iwo Jima (I truly might be missing something on this one, although it was inarguably very well done).  Other than that, I really liked all of the favorites.  You (that's the royal "you") just need to get out and see the movies!  See the documentaries if you can.  An Inconvenient Truth is a must not only because it's a great movie but because it's information everybody should know, Wordplay is outstanding and great fun, and Deliver Us From Evil is the only doc I've ever seen that I wished was longer because I wanted to know more.  The latter is one of my top 5 of the year.

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