Mehta's Water wins Oscar nomination
TERRY WEBER
Globe and Mail Update
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070123.woscars0123/BNStory/Entertainment/home
Toronto-based director Deepa Mehta's film Water has scored an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign-Language Film.
Other nominations with a Canadian connection include Ontario-born actor Ryan Gosling, who was recognized for his work in the highly regarded film Half Nelson.
Paul Haggis, born in London, Ont., whose Crash won a surprise best-picture Oscar last year, was nominated for his work as a screenwriter on the Clint Eastwood-directed Letters From Iwo Jima. That nomination came in the Best Original Screenplay category. He shares the nomination with Iris Yamashita Full nominations for the 79th annual Academy Awards were announced Tuesday in Los Angeles.
The National Film Board also earned an animated short nomination for the NFP/Norway co-production, The Danish Poet.
It was the NFB's 69th Academy Award nomination. So far, the NFB has won 11 Oscars, including 10 for individual titles and a special award for overall achievement in recognition of its 50th anniversary in 1989.
Overall, the well-received film adaptation of the musical Dreamgirls won a leading eight nominations but failed to score in the Oscars' top category of best film. It's director Bill Condon also failed to make the list of best-director nominees. Three of the film's nominations came in the best original song category.
Dreamgirls was followed by the Babel, which picked up seven nods.
Contenders for Best Picture include: Babel, The Departed, Letters from Iwo Jima, Little Miss Sunshine and The Queen.
Directing nominations went to Babel's Alejandro Gonzalez, The Departed's Martin Scorsese, Letters from Iwo Jima's Clint Eastwood, The Queen's Stephen Frears and United 93's Paul Greengrass.
As expected, a trio of the industry's top actresses managed nominations in the Best Actress category. Judi Dench received a nomination for Notes on a Scandal, while Helen Mirren ? largely viewed as the front runner ? was recognized for her work in The Queen and Meryl Streep ? already Hollywood's most nominated actor ? was singled out for her comedic turn in The Devil Wears Prada.
They are joined in the category by Penelope Cruz, who starred in director Pedro Almodovar's Volver and Little Children's Kate Winslet.
Joining Gosling in the Best Actor category are Leonardo DiCaprio for Blood Diamond, Peter O'Toole for Venus, Will Smith for The Pursuit of Happyness, and Forest Whitaker for The Last King of Scotland.
In the supporting categories, a big surprise came with the absence of a nomination for Jack Nicholson for his work in The Departed. His co-star in the film Mark Wahlberg, however, won a surprise nod.
The other nominees are Alan Arkin for Little Miss Sunshine, Jackie Earle Haley for Little Children, Djimon Hounsou for Blood Diamond and Eddie Murphy for Dreamgirls.
Breakout star Jennifer Hudson, the American Idol contestant who has already won a Golden Globe for her role in Dreamgirls, won a Best Supporting Actress nomination for the film. She is joined by Babel's Adriana Barraza and Rinko Kikuchi as well as past winner Cate Blanchett for Notes on a Scanda l and Abigail Breslin for Little Miss Sunshine.
Sacha Baron Cohen, who took home a Golden Globe for his performance in Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhsta, didn't make the acting category at the Oscars, instead grabbing a writing nomination in the adapted screenplay category.
He shares the nomination with Anthony Hines, Peter Baynham, Dan Mazer and Todd Phillips. They are joined in the category by Children of Men's Alfonso Cuaron, Timothy J. Sexton, David Arata, Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby; The Departed's William Monahan; Little Children's Todd Field and Tom Perrotta and Notes on a Scandal's Patrick Marber.
Alongside Haggis and Yamashita in the original screenplay category are: Guillermo Arriaga for Babel; Michael Arndt for Little Miss Sunshine; Guillermo del Toro for Pan's Labyrinth and Peter Morgan for The Queen.
Mehta's nomination for Water is particularly sweet, given the Hindi-language film's difficult history. Protests initially shutdown production of the film, which tells the story of a group of widows forced to live in poverty in Varanasi in the 1930s. It was later shot in Sri Lanka.
“When the Oscars ― the nominations ― started, I mean I thought there is no chance because they do them alphabetically and Water as you know is pretty low down in the alphabet,” Mehta told CBC Newsworld following Tuesday's announcement.
“So when it came up, we were just thrilled.”
Other films nominated in the category include: Denmark's After the Wedding, Algeria's Days of Glory ( Indigènes), Germany's The Lives of Others and Mexico's Pan's Labyrinth.
The nominations were read by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Sid Ganis and actress Salma Hayek, who is a past nominee for her work in the film Frida.
The Oscar telecast will take place Feb. 25 with Ellen DeGeneres hosting.
TERRY WEBER
Globe and Mail Update
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070123.woscars0123/BNStory/Entertainment/home
Toronto-based director Deepa Mehta's film Water has scored an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign-Language Film.
Other nominations with a Canadian connection include Ontario-born actor Ryan Gosling, who was recognized for his work in the highly regarded film Half Nelson.
Paul Haggis, born in London, Ont., whose Crash won a surprise best-picture Oscar last year, was nominated for his work as a screenwriter on the Clint Eastwood-directed Letters From Iwo Jima. That nomination came in the Best Original Screenplay category. He shares the nomination with Iris Yamashita Full nominations for the 79th annual Academy Awards were announced Tuesday in Los Angeles.
The National Film Board also earned an animated short nomination for the NFP/Norway co-production, The Danish Poet.
It was the NFB's 69th Academy Award nomination. So far, the NFB has won 11 Oscars, including 10 for individual titles and a special award for overall achievement in recognition of its 50th anniversary in 1989.
Overall, the well-received film adaptation of the musical Dreamgirls won a leading eight nominations but failed to score in the Oscars' top category of best film. It's director Bill Condon also failed to make the list of best-director nominees. Three of the film's nominations came in the best original song category.
Dreamgirls was followed by the Babel, which picked up seven nods.
Contenders for Best Picture include: Babel, The Departed, Letters from Iwo Jima, Little Miss Sunshine and The Queen.
Directing nominations went to Babel's Alejandro Gonzalez, The Departed's Martin Scorsese, Letters from Iwo Jima's Clint Eastwood, The Queen's Stephen Frears and United 93's Paul Greengrass.
As expected, a trio of the industry's top actresses managed nominations in the Best Actress category. Judi Dench received a nomination for Notes on a Scandal, while Helen Mirren ? largely viewed as the front runner ? was recognized for her work in The Queen and Meryl Streep ? already Hollywood's most nominated actor ? was singled out for her comedic turn in The Devil Wears Prada.
They are joined in the category by Penelope Cruz, who starred in director Pedro Almodovar's Volver and Little Children's Kate Winslet.
Joining Gosling in the Best Actor category are Leonardo DiCaprio for Blood Diamond, Peter O'Toole for Venus, Will Smith for The Pursuit of Happyness, and Forest Whitaker for The Last King of Scotland.
In the supporting categories, a big surprise came with the absence of a nomination for Jack Nicholson for his work in The Departed. His co-star in the film Mark Wahlberg, however, won a surprise nod.
The other nominees are Alan Arkin for Little Miss Sunshine, Jackie Earle Haley for Little Children, Djimon Hounsou for Blood Diamond and Eddie Murphy for Dreamgirls.
Breakout star Jennifer Hudson, the American Idol contestant who has already won a Golden Globe for her role in Dreamgirls, won a Best Supporting Actress nomination for the film. She is joined by Babel's Adriana Barraza and Rinko Kikuchi as well as past winner Cate Blanchett for Notes on a Scanda l and Abigail Breslin for Little Miss Sunshine.
Sacha Baron Cohen, who took home a Golden Globe for his performance in Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhsta, didn't make the acting category at the Oscars, instead grabbing a writing nomination in the adapted screenplay category.
He shares the nomination with Anthony Hines, Peter Baynham, Dan Mazer and Todd Phillips. They are joined in the category by Children of Men's Alfonso Cuaron, Timothy J. Sexton, David Arata, Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby; The Departed's William Monahan; Little Children's Todd Field and Tom Perrotta and Notes on a Scandal's Patrick Marber.
Alongside Haggis and Yamashita in the original screenplay category are: Guillermo Arriaga for Babel; Michael Arndt for Little Miss Sunshine; Guillermo del Toro for Pan's Labyrinth and Peter Morgan for The Queen.
Mehta's nomination for Water is particularly sweet, given the Hindi-language film's difficult history. Protests initially shutdown production of the film, which tells the story of a group of widows forced to live in poverty in Varanasi in the 1930s. It was later shot in Sri Lanka.
“When the Oscars ― the nominations ― started, I mean I thought there is no chance because they do them alphabetically and Water as you know is pretty low down in the alphabet,” Mehta told CBC Newsworld following Tuesday's announcement.
“So when it came up, we were just thrilled.”
Other films nominated in the category include: Denmark's After the Wedding, Algeria's Days of Glory ( Indigènes), Germany's The Lives of Others and Mexico's Pan's Labyrinth.
The nominations were read by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Sid Ganis and actress Salma Hayek, who is a past nominee for her work in the film Frida.
The Oscar telecast will take place Feb. 25 with Ellen DeGeneres hosting.