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In what could be a pointer to the 2007 Oscar awards, The Directors Guild of America named him filmmaker of the year at its awards ceremony for his Oscar nominated movie, The Departed.

Oscar observers are unanimous that bagging a DGA award is a sure indicator to the Oscar nomination trends of this year. Has always been so, will be so, it seems.

Here are some selected quotes from entertainment and movie websites on the Net:

E Online:

For Scorsese, the DGA had been just as hard to win as the Oscar. Prior to Saturday, he'd been nominated—and lost—six times, coming away empty-handed for Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, GoodFellas, The Age of Innocence, Gangs of New York and The Aviator.

CBS News:

It's Scorsese's first guild prize after six previous nominations. And the award has been a solid predictor of who might win the best directing Oscar. Since the first DGA award was handed out in 1949, 51 out of 57 winners went on to Oscar gold.

Canada.com:

Martin Scorsese won the top honour Saturday from the Directors Guild of America for his mob saga "The Departed," moving him a step closer to finally receiving Hollywood's biggest filmmaking prize at the Academy Awards.

ABC News:

It has become Scorsese's biggest commercial hit, and critics praised it as a welcome return to the vivid, bloody crime genre whose modern conventions the director helped pioneer in such films as "Taxi Driver" and "Goodfellas."

Guardian UK:

The self-deprecating Scorsese said he was pleased at the apparent success of the film but that he only became convinced it was doing well when the studio called with box-office revenues from the first couple of weekends.

Labels: Oscar-2007

posted by a correspondent @ 10:09 AM 0 comments

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Letters from Iwo Jima by Clint Eastwood, Oscar best picture nominations

You a fan of the Clint Eastwood who directed Unforgiven - and not particularly of the gunslinger in the Wild West movies? No problem. I am going to love this movie, I have a feeling.

Letters from Iwo Jima - I still have to learn how to pronounce that Iwo - is about Japan's last stand in the island of Iwo Jima, and the people who make it work despite knowing that they may never return from this hopeless battle.

You have Ken Watanabe playing the pivotal role. I don't remember a movie where he has been anything but exceptional. Perhaps you can remind me. It seems Iwo Jima follows up on the conematical approach adopted by Clint Eastwood in Unforgiven. I loved the aging cowboys and their panting attempts to clamber atop their horses in that movie. Sad and poignant. Will make it a point to watch the Letters from Iwo Jima when it lands in Indian movie screens. For now, best wishes for Mr Eastwood at the Oscars 2007!

Labels: Oscar-2007

posted by a correspondent @ 7:27 PM 0 comments

2007 Oscar nominations: Nominee list

List of 2007 Oscar nominees / nominations in major categories

Oscar nominees / nominations 2007 for Best Picture

-- "Babel"
-- "Letters from Iwo Jima"
-- "Little Miss Sunshine"
-- "The Departed"
-- "The Queen"

Oscar nominees / nominations 2007 for Best Actor in a Leading Role

-- Leonardo DiCaprio for "Blood Diamond"
-- 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"

Oscar nominees / nominations 2007 for Best Actress in a Leading Role

-- Penelope Cruz for "Volver"
-- Judi Dench for "Notes on a Scandal"
-- Helen Mirren for "The Queen"
-- Meryl Streep for "The Devil Wears Prada"
-- Kate Winslet for "Little Children"

Oscar nominees / nominations 2007 for Best Actor in a Supporting Role

-- Alan Arkin for "Little Miss Sunshine"
-- Jackie Earle Haley for "Little Children"
-- Djimon Hounsou for "Blood Diamond"
-- Eddie Murphy for "Dreamgirls"
-- Mark Wahlberg for "The Departed"

Oscar nominees / nominations 2007 for Best Actress in a Supporting Role

-- Adriana Barraza for "Babel"
-- Cate Blanchett for "Notes On A Scandal"
-- Abigail Breslin for "Little Miss Sunshine"
-- Jennifer Hudson for "Dreamgirls"
-- Rinko Kikuchi for "Babel"

Oscar nominees / nominations 2007 for Best Director

-- Clint Eastwood for "Letters from Iwo Jima"
-- Stephen Frears for "The Queen"
-- Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu for "Babel"
-- Paul Greengrass for "United 93"
-- Martin Scorsese for "The Departed"

Labels: movies, Oscar-2007

posted by a correspondent @ 8:07 AM 0 comments

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