PB Award Nominees: The Complete List

B's Nominees

P's Nominees

Our Combined List:

Best Screenplay
Diablo Cody – Juno
Brad Bird – Ratatouille
Tony Gilroy – Michael Clayton
Paul Thomas Anderson – There Will Be Blood
Joel Cohen & Ethan Cohen – No Country for Old Men
Stephen Knight – Eastern Promises

Best Director
Paul Thomas Anderson – There Will Be Blood
Ridley Scott – American Gangster
Tony Gilroy – Michael Clayton
Joel Cohen & Ethan Cohen – No Country for Old Men
Paul Greengrass – The Bourne Ultimatum

Best Supporting Actress
Tilda Swinton – Michael Clayton
Ruby Dee – American Gangster
Kelly Macdonald – No Country for Old Men

Best Supporting Actor
Robert Downey Jr – Zodiac
Philip Seymour Hoffman – Charlie Wilson’s War
Tommy Lee Jones – No Country for Old Men
Dillon Freasier – There Will Be Blood
Tom Wilkinson – Michael Clayton
Javier Bardem – No Country for Old Men
Woody Harrelson – No Country for Old Men

Best Actress
Ellen Page – Juno
Keri Russell – Waitress
Joan Allen – The Bourne Ultimatum
Naomi Watts – Eastern Promises

Best Actor
Daniel Day-Lewis – There Will Be Blood
Ulrich Muhe – The Lives of Others
Viggo Mortensen – Eastern Promises
Matt Damon – The Bourne Ultimatum
Josh Brolin – No Country for Old Men

Most Entertaining Movie
Shoot 'Em Up
Superbad
Hot Fuzz
300
Bee Movie

Most Original Movie
Once
There Will Be Blood
Beowolf 3-D
Hostel Part II

Best "Bad" Movie
Transformers
Shoot 'Em Up
Mr. Brooks

Best Ending
The Lives of Others
Bourne Ultimatum
Hostel Part II
There Will Be Blood

Breakthrough Performer of the Year
Michael Cera
Josh Brolin
Shia LaBeouf
Jonah Hill
Justin Timberlake

And P's Nominees Are...

Best Screenplay

• Joel Cohen & Ethan Cohen – No Country for Old Men: While the Tommy Lee Jones monologues may have caught the Academy’s attention, my favorite scenes involved Javier Bardem (as stungun-wielding Anton Chigurh) scaring the s--- out of someone: forcing a gas station clerk to stake his life on a coin flip, and having a heart-to-heart at gunpoint with Woody Harrelson.
  
• Stephen Knight – Eastern Promises: Knight delivers on his promise to illuminate the shady world of Russian ex-pat mobsters, from their biographical tattoos to their sometimes conflicting beliefs in family and honor.

Best Director

• Joel Cohen & Ethan Cohen – No Country for Old Men: The Cohen Bros. have just turned out one of the most tense and intelligent horror (that’s right, horror) movies of all-time. That’s an award-worthy feat in and of itself.
  
• Paul Greengrass – The Bourne Ultimatum: He gives hope to novice directors everywhere with his hand-held camera masterpieces, and Ultimatum is the director’s handycam tour-de-force. Case in point: Bourne’s breathtaking rooftop sprint to save Julia Stiles’ damsel in distress.

Best Supporting Actress

• Kelly Macdonald – No Country for Old Men: Her simple, down-to-earth manner makes her the perfect complement to both the hero and the villain.

Best Supporting Actor

• Javier Bardem – No Country for Old Men: Anton Chigurh: most intelligent monster since the original Freddy Krueger, and probably the scariest as well. Oh, and Tommy Lee Jones: he put your coin-flipping psychopath Two Face to shame.
• Woody Harrelson –No Country for Old Men: I love it when the Academy nominates a supporting actor or actress with only minutes of screentime. On that note, my vote goes to Harrelson as the slick bounty hunter who thinks he can talk his way out of any sticky situation. Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name, but not when “everybody” includes a killer with a silenced shotgun.

Best Actress

• Joan Allen – The Bourne Ultimatum: As B and I discussed, it was kind of a slow year for female acting performances. I’ll give Allen a nod for her third time portraying CIA honcho Pam Landy, if for no other reason than the fact that she’s finally a major player in this installment.
  
• Naomi Watts – Eastern Promises: Watts could have turned in an over-the-top performance, but her restraint is refreshing. She’s definitely a great foil to the stone-faced Viggo Mortensen.

Best Actor

• Viggo Mortensen – Eastern Promises: Speaking of Viggo, the man’s got this rogue thing down (c.f., The Lord of the Rings, A Perfect Murder). Why he had to be part of a nude shower fight scene, I don’t know…but I’ll forgive Viggy in time.
  
• Matt Damon – The Bourne Ultimatum: Damon doesn’t get the props he deserves for being a believable actor and an unbelievable (in a good way) action star.
  
• Josh Brolin – No Country for Old Men: My No Country love fest rolls on with a nom for the film’s reluctant “hero”. “Solid” is the word B used to describe his performance, and I’ll second that. It’s hard to make a country bumpkin who steals a bag of money from drug runners into a likable character, yet Brolin makes it nearly impossible not to root for the guy.

And last but not least, the original categories...

Most Entertaining Movie

• 300: This is the cinematic equivalent of “World’s Craziest Car Crashes”. Take the 20 coolest gladiator-esque fight sequences you can find, film ‘em in front of a green screen, and queue ‘em up on the IMAX projector/DVD player. Play. Watch. Enjoy.
  
• Bee Movie: I had low expectations, which is why I didn’t see this film until I was on an airplane recently. To my surprise, this movie was amusing and occasionally laugh-out-loud funny. Its depiction of the hive society was quite creative, and Jerry Seinfeld was gold, solid gold.

Most Original Movie

• Hostel Part II: Can a horror movie sequel qualify for the “Most Original” award? It can if it flips the script, as Part II does by letting the audience tag along with a pair of sadistic Wall Streeters. I may be alone on an island in asserting that Part II surpasses the original, but let me explain. Hostel gave us a rather conventional introduction to the hostel and it’s torture-for-profit operation. Part II gives slasher auteur Eli Roth the opportunity to change our frame of reference.

Best "Bad" Movie

• Mr. Brooks: Forget the casting choices for a second (AHEM…Dane Cook…Demi Moore). The concept is intriguing and the script is smart. And who better to play Mr. Brooks’ serial-killing alter-ego than the ever-creepy William Hurt? Mr. Brooks may not be Patrick Bateman or Dexter Morgan, but he was interesting enough to keep me captivated for two hours. The ending, because it comes out of the blue, feels oddly satisfying.

Best Ending

• Hostel Part II: To quote the tagline of Wayne’s World, “I laughed, I cried, I hurled” (not literally, of course…except for the laughing part). Director Eli Roth knows how to bring the house down (c.f., the Grindhouse faux trailer for “Thanksgiving”).
• There Will Be Blood: A fitting coda for one of the most entertaining (but violent) films of the year.

Breakthrough Performer of the Year

• Shia LaBeouf: It was a Disturbing yet Transformative year for the next Young Indiana Jones. (“I made anutha funny!”) First he gets to make out with a hot chick in a remake of Rear Window. Then he gets to make out with a hot chick in a sweet car that is actually a forty foot-tall alien robot. You’ve come a long way from digging holes, my young apprentice.
  
• Jonah Hill: Overshadowed by his Superbad co-star, Jonah probably doesn’t have a prayer here. Can’t the fat guy with the Jew ‘fro get some love around here? There’s no denying Jonah’s scene-stealing ability; the “bare-ass fart causes pink eye” explanation in Knocked Up was equally hilarious and nausea-inducing. Here’s hoping there are a few more Apatow vehicles for Jonah on the horizon.
  
• Justin Timberlake: Just kidding, though I have to admit he was pretty decent in Alpha Dog.

And B's Nominees Are...

And now for the post you have all been waiting for - The First Annual PB Award Nominees, Part I (B's Nominees). We'll be posting nominees in two parts, first my nominees, then P will post his sometime over the next week (from what I gather, P saw no more than 3 quality movies this year and is in the midst of a week-long 2007 movie-catch-up marathon). We'll be nominating for awards in the standard categories Best Screenplay, Best Director, Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Actress, and Best Actor, plus a few PB originals, like Most Entertaining Movie, Most Original Movie, Best "Bad" Movie, Best Ending, and Breakthrough Performer of the Year.

P and I will not be maintaining a requisite number of nominees per category. If we feel there were a ton of excellent performances in a particular category (e.g. Supporting Actor), there will be a ton of nominees. Likewise, if there was a dearth of quality in a category (e.g. Supporting Actress), we aren't going to give out charity nominees.

This year was a terrific year for quality film. After a few years in a row with only sporadic highlights, 2007 kept the good flicks and excellent performances coming one after the next. Without further ado, these were the best of the best:


Best Screenplay

• Diablo Cody – Juno: Hilarious but poignant dialogue in the mouths of Ellen Page, Michael Cera and J.K. Simmons takes Juno from a Knocked Up-esque summer comedy to a serious award-contender.

• Brad Bird – Ratatouille: The wittiest, most sophisticated animated movie I have ever seen. Particular highlights are the characters of Anton Ego, the food critic, and Gusteau, the deceased chef.

• Tony Gilroy – Michael Clayton: The scribe of the Bourne screenplays, in his directorial debut, provided some of the best dialogue of the year in the extremely talky, but riveting Michael Clayton.

• Paul Thomas Anderson – There Will Be Blood: The sheer weight of silence in There Will Be Blood magnifies the impact of what little dialogue there is.

Best Director

• Paul Thomas Anderson – There Will Be Blood: A work of originality and genius that succeeds as both a captivating character study and a commentary on the dark faults of humanity. Anderson deserves a lion's share of the credit for bringing the story together with tremendous cinematography and editing.

• Ridley Scott – American Gangster: Ridley Scott pulls off yet another epic, deftly combining terrific performances, engaging action, and an authentic re-creation of 1960s Harlem.

• Tony Gilroy – Michael Clayton: Michael Clayton is well paced, well acted, well shot, and extremely well written, all a credit to Gilroy.

Best Supporting Actress

• Tilda Swinton – Michael Clayton: In my opinion, Swinton's performance as the all-too-human General Counsel for evil fertilizer company UNorth was the best female performance of the year, period.

• Ruby Dee – American Gangster: If you can steal scenes from Denzel Washington, you deserve an award. Plus, Dee plays the main role in the most unintentionally hilarious bit from the film and trailer (Mama Lucas: Whose house is that? Frank Lucas: It's your house mama!).

Best Supporting Actor

• Robert Downey Jr – Zodiac: Zodiac didn't nearly satisfy my lofty expectations, but Downey Jr.'s performance as journalist Paul Avery single-handedly prevented me from fast-forwarding through the first half of the 2 hr 40 min film.

• Philip Seymour Hoffman – Charlie Wilson’s War: Hoffman is always a pleasure to watch, and his role as humorously irreverent CIA agent Gust Avrakotos is one of his best.

• Tommy Lee Jones – No Country for Old Men: As the "Old Man" in No Country, Tommy Lee Jones delivers one of the best performances of his career and provides the moral center to a film of violence and greed.

• Dillon Freasier – There Will Be Blood: While everyone seems to be giving Paul Dano all the credit for his supporting role as a small-town preacher, my vote for the best supporting performance in There Will Be Blood goes to the young boy Dillon Freasier who flawlessly plays Daniel Day-Lewis' character's adopted son in his first acting job ever (see how he got the role here).

• Tom Wilkinson – Michael Clayton: Wilkinson's dynamic performance as a mentally troubled lawyer with a newly developed conscience fuels the first half of Michael Clayton. In a lesser year, Wilkinson would walk away with this award. Unfortunately for him, this is the strongest slew of Supporting Actors I can remember.

Best Actress

• Ellen Page - Juno: I don't know where Ellen Page came from (supposedly she was in X-Men 3: The Last Stand, but I don't remember her), but I hope she's here to stay. She is hilarious and refreshingly frank as Juno's title character.

• Keri Russell – Waitress: Keri Russell is as delicious as the pies she bakes in Waitress.

Best Actor

• Daniel Day-Lewis – There Will Be Blood: Daniel Day-Lewis' performance as There Will Be Blood's Daniel Plainview is easily the best acting of the decade, and possibly the best since Dustin Hoffman in Rain Main or even Marlon Brando in The Godfather. It is that good.

• Ulrich Muhe – The Lives of Others: The Lives of Others won Best Foriegn Language Film at last year's Oscars, but it wasn't released in the U.S. until 2007. Muhe's performance as an eavesdropping Stasi (East German Communist Secret Police) captain makes the movie a masterpiece. Sadly, Muhe passed away this past July, leaving the incredible The Lives of Others behind as his legacy.
  

Now for a few original categories...

Most Entertaining Movie

• Shoot 'Em Up: Per my review earlier this year, Shoot 'Em Up was by far the most enjoyable 90 minutes I spent in a movie theater this year. If you still haven't seen it, this needs to be at the top of your rental queue.

• Superbad: Hilarious in the theater and equally hilarious upon repeat DVD viewing. Instant classic.

• Hot Fuzz: While the first 2/3rds of Hot Fuzz was enjoyable but not spectacular, the final 20 minutes of over-the-top mayhem is non-stop laugh, cringe, laugh, cringe.

Most Original Movie

• Once: This small-budget independent Irish film features two musicians acting the lead roles of "Guy" and "Girl," lending serious authenticity to the songs that make up the bulk of the dialogue. Equally heart warming and heart wrenching, Once is a dysfunctional love story, a romantic comedy, an inspirational drama, and a rock musical all at the same time. The feature song, "Falling Slowly," deserves to win an Oscar and be in your iPod.

• There Will Be Blood: I had never seen anything like There Will Be Blood before and I don't think I ever will again. I can't even really describe what it is other than to say that it sticks with you.

• Beowolf 3-D: I hope the box office success of Beowolf means that we will see quite a few more high-quality 3-D films in the years to come. I hadn't watched a movie in 3-D since going to Epcot Center more than fifteen years ago. The quality entertainment of Beowolf assured me that I would be returning for another 3-D adventure far sooner than that (particularly if it features a digitally enhanced Angelina Jolie).

Best "Bad" Movie

• Transformers: As bad as Transformers was, I loved watching blatant product placement ads (e.g. the Mountain Dew machine) turn into murderous robots. Plus, Shia LaBeouf made the most of bad material, Megan Fox was hot, and John Tuturro, though entirely unnecessary, was extremely entertaining.

• Shoot 'Em Up: Some critics said that Shoot 'Em Up was bad - The NYT even went so far as to call it a "worthless piece of garbage" - and bad it was... bad ass!

Best Ending

• The Lives of Others: The film seems to end twice, and both endings would have been sufficient, but it is the unexpected final scene that adds a perfect post-script to a perfect film and keeps resonating long after the credits have finished rolling.

• Bourne Ultimatum: I'll try not to spoil it for those who haven't seen the final Bourne - suffice to say, I enjoyed the swimming.

Breakthrough Performer of the Year

• Michael Cera: 2007 was the year Michael Cera broke out. With "Arrested Development" firmly in rearview, Cera gave us memorably hilarious turns in Superbad and Juno, while also co-leading the internet comedy revolution (see Cera at http://www.clarkandmichael.com/, and check out http://www.funnyordie.com/ for more internet comedy).

• Josh Brolin: Josh Brolin is the one actor who gets no credit for his solid performance in No Country for Old Men, and he certainly gets no credit for his equally solid performance in American Gangster. Maybe it is because he is so good at playing unlikeable sleaze balls? Regardless, he gets his props here on PB & Movies.