Live-Blogging: Strictly Come Dancing and The X Factor

9.40pm: They've both performed again and Hope were much much better this time. Full of personality. So here's the result.... First to answer is Louis. He sends home FutureProof. Good lad. Sharon next. She chooses FutureProof too! I'm pleasantly surprised. Danni to go now. She chooses Hope. I thought she would. She fancies a couple of them. Simon's turn. He sends home the boys. Good call.

9.30pm: OK. It's results time. Louis looks nervous. So does Simon. I'm not sure why.... First through is Alisha. Boooo! Leon is also through. People think he's cute. Beverley as well. Meh. YAYYYYY! Rhydian is through! Of course :-P. Niki as well, which I like, but none of the groups are through so far, which is worrying. Now they are! Same Difference announced as through. Great stuff. Final act through is.... Andy! Ridiculous. FutureProof and Hope are the bottom two. What are the public thinking? I think Simon's loyalties lie with Hope but I think it could be 2-2 with Louis also voting for the girls (he can't help it). They're performing again...

9.15pm: Boyz II Men are about to perform, which I find quite perplexing since they're a) so 90's, and b) not that well-known in this country anyway. This is clearly one of Simon's American imports.

8.17pm: A round-up of my scores:

Rhydian - 9/10
Hope - 8/10
Same Difference - 8/10
FutureProof - 7/10
Niki - 7/10
Beverley - 6/10
Leon - 6/10
Alisha - 5/10
Andy - 4/10

See you for the results show at 9.10pm! XX

8.15pm: Another teary clip about Beverley providing for her family. Talk of dreams. Excuse me while I throw up. She's singing 'Feeling Good'. Tough song. Lots of attitude and the vocals are quite good but I feel like I've seen this a million times before. She isn't special. 6/10. The judges love her. Louis says it's the best performance of the night. I don't know what they're talking about. If that song doesn't make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up then it can't be outstanding. Oh well. Que sera sera.

8.05pm: Andy's turn. Boring song that I don't recognise. 'I Need Your Love'? He's wearing white and yet the stage props look gothic. Very odd. His vocals are OK but get drowned out by the backing on the loud parts of the song. I can't help but think he's a total sap. Dull. Dull. Dull. Dull. Dull. 4/10. The judges are sympathetic but criticise him. Simon says he doesn't see him as a recording artist. I agree. Danni is obviously trying to get the teen girl vote, mentioning his abs and now his female fanbase. Lame.

7.55pm: Now it's Hope. I'm sick of everyone crying on the clips. Will they not learn from Emily? They're singing Hanky Panky by Madonna. I haven't heard this in ages! Full of character and attitude. Vocals are decent and they're dressed great. 8/10. Louis says there's a gap for them in the charts, which I agree with, although Girls Aloud are doing enough for several girl bands at the moment. Sharon didn't like the song because she's a monster. Danni liked them but says the vocals aren't the best. Simon wants to invidualise them because they're his act. He's going overboard but they were good.. and original, which is the most important thing.

7.45pm: Alisha is singing Valerie (The Ronson/Winehouse version). She's sassy but the vocals are a bit ragged and flat. I almost feel like she has enunciation problems. I feel like everyone else in the competition could sing it better. She's workin it though for sure. 6/10. Unbelievably the judges love her. I think it could mainly be pity since she's Sharon's last surviving girl. I could see the fight but I thought it was kinda detremental to the whole performance.

7.40pm: Same Difference are singing S Club 7's Reach with a big band. Classic! I can see them entertaining kids in the future. They'd be great on Saturday morning TV. It's vocally sound, and super super fun. Brings me back to my childhood. Cuteness personified. 8/10. Louis says they have a career in panto. Everyone else really likes them. I'd be shocked if they were in the bottom two.

7.25pm: Rhydian does Pink's 'Get the Party Started'. I'd be lying if I said I thought it fully worked, but his vocals have such a searing majesty about them. He can do anything. I love love love love love love LOVE him. The last note is gold. 9/10. Louis didn't like the song. Everyone loved the voice. Sharon is bitter about his success. I don't like her.

7.17pm: Niki does 'All That Jazz'. It's good but there's not enough sex in there for me. Too tame. I like her but she didn't give enough. 7/10. The judges like her except Simon who calls it cabaret. The crowd don't like it, and Niki acts like she doesn't care about his opinion which clearly ticked him off. I think he's partly right. Rhydian next!!

7.11pm: It's the break and I've cracked open a bottle of Magners. It's never too early, let's be honest. It's an ad break on ITV so I'll take this opportunity to post my scores for the dancing in order of Best to Worst. Not really any awful ones this week, but at the same time not much inspiration. Here goes:

Gethin & Camilla - 9/10
Alesha & Matthew - 9/10
Dominic & Lilia - 8/10
Penny & Ian - 8/10
Kate & Anton - 7/10
Kelly & Brendan - 7/10 (disappointing!)
Letitia & Darren - 7/10
Matt & Flavia - 6/10
Kenny & Ola - 6/10
John & Nicole - 6/10

7.10pm: Penny and Ian are last to dance. They are so tall yet have so much grace!! It's the most Hollywood of the night. Didn't love it but very very classy. 8/10. They get 35, second highest of the night, and that's the end of the performances. My favourite was Gethin!

7.05pm: Matt gets good reviews. I don't know his score because FutureProof are up now on X Factor. They're singing'Can't Take My Eyes off of You', but not as well as Heath Ledger!! It's dated, and it's a solo song, but they're suave and sing it well. 7/10

7.00pm: Leon is not great. Very cabaret, and he has little individuality 6/10. Matt Di Angelo is doing the paso. It's a bit too intricate for me. I'm longing for any hip action at all, frankly. 6/10. Leon gets good reviews from the judges. Meh

6.55pm: Leon is up first. Bless him. He's so genuine but I'm not his biggest fan up until now. Kate gets 26 in Strictly. Well done honey.

6.55pm: She actually isn't awful, but I do feel she's the dancing equivalent of Orlando Bloom. Likeable but decidedly wooden in places. Someone needs to cut her a break. 7/10

6.50pm: From now on Strictly will be purple, X Factor will be red. Dominic gets 25 and is pissed off. I'm not surprised. He deserved better. Oh god. Kate Garraway is next. I'm flicking to X Factor.

6.45pm: Dominic and Lilia's paso doble definitely feels latin. I love the music. I feel transported to another country. Really good. 8/10. X Factor is starting.

6.40pm: Alesha gets 36, including a 9 from Craig. She clearly was very surprised. The foxtrots have been way better tonight, so let's hope Dominic and Lilia's paso doble improves on the others.

6.35pm: Kenny gets 21 and could be in trouble, although the kilt will go well with Scotland, which is his probable main fanbase. Alesha and Matthew are on. Alesha looks so pretty. Their foxtrot was elegant and looked faultless to me. 9/10

6.30pm: Gethin also gets 31. Kenny is wearing a kilt for his paso doble. Hot! Got a flash of cheek too. Haha. It wasn't great. 6/10.

6.25pm: Letitia gets 31, which I think is a bit generous. Gethin and Camilla's foxtrot was gorgeous. He has so much charm. 9/10

6.20pm: Letitia and Darren are interesting. I feel like I'm watching a musical. Plenty of drama. I can't say her dancing has particularly improved though. 7/10

6.15pm: John gets 24, including a 4 from Craig which was a bit cruel. Letitia Dean is next.

6.10pm: I like John and he did alright with the foxtrot, but it was very dull and uninspiring. 6/10

6.05pm: Kelly gets 28, which matches my score, even though I felt they were a bit harsh on her. John Barnes is next.

6.00pm: Kelly and Brendan are electric although she seems a little more ragged than usual. More style than substance but I liked it. 7/10

5.55pm: The show starts in a typically wonderful humour. Bruce is on top form :) This is easy until I have to flick over to X Factor at 6.45. Then I'll be frantic.

97. Lifeboat (1944)

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock

Starring: Talullah Bankhead, William Bendix, Walter Slezak, Mary Anderson, John Hodiak, Henry Hull, Canada Lee, Heather Angel, Hume Cronyn

When several survivors of a battle between a ship and a German U-boat board a lifeboat, they have to work together to make it to safety. Chief among these survivors is Connie Porter, played by the incredible Talullah Bankhead (and by incredible I mean, 1944: Ingrid Bergman, Barbara Stanwyck, eat your heart out). Connie's neutrality amidst a fervent sense of warfare (she is an English journalist, but can speak German and appears to abide by a policy of self-determination not dissimilar to right-wing German atittude at the time) acts as the mediator in a group pulling itself apart.

Lifeboat is itself an examination of how politics can manifest itself in a situation that, admittedly takes place in a political environment, but is essentially a battle between life and death. The dynamic of the group is believably and tangibly fragile, the pressure of their plight pushing each survivor to the darkest boundaries of their character, political or otherwise. Above all, it may be seen as a piece of social commentary; a metaphor for the casualties of war being 'all in the same boat'. It's rare that a film with such a promising concept fully lives up to it, but Lifeboat does just this. It's compelling from beginning to end.

Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting

I haven't pitched in much about the annual Saturday talent show battle between the fun and classy Strictly Come Dancing, and the tacky but nevertheless entertaining The X Factor this year. Firstly, I wanna say how fucking annoying it is that they have to compete with each other over ratings -- my fingers hurt from constantly flicking between the two. I find this particularly difficult to understand given that Strictly has proven to be the more popular of the two. ITV are much more geared towards competition, and so it seems odd that they are doing themselves a grave disservice in pursuing a battle with BBC. Although, there's a difference of an hour between the start of each programme tonight, so they may be finally starting to take the hint.

So.. I suddenly feel obliged to throw in my two cents, given the scandalous (and admittedly juicy) events of the past week. I'll start with The X Factor, which is a shamelessly commercial and manipulative venture that, let's face it, represents ITV's approach to programming very well. Having said that my curiosity and general inability to ignore music reality shows means I'm already hooked -- especially for my looovely Rhydian (but I'll get onto that later).

So onto the scandal. It turns out that Emily, a contestant who constantly weeped on camera about nearly dying (she had organ failure and her heart stopped beating for a couple of seconds, or something?) is quite up for a good ol' scrap. There is video coverage of her attacking a girl in the ever-growing aspect of youth culture deemed 'happy slapping' (which basically means bullying on camera). Her parents were so incensed that they withdrew her from the competition (nothing to do with the producers I'm sure). All laughing aside, I think it's a fairly grounding situation for the show that I sincerely hope leads them to evaluate the extent to which they build their contestants up as saints -- whether they be single parents, grief-stricken relatives, or any other alleged victim of which there are plenty NOT on television.

All this makes the layout of eliminations throughout the series uncertain but apparently there will still be one tonight. I'll post my verdicts on the performers after tonight's show, and of course reactions to results, which have tended to be more comprehensible on Simon Cowell's show than they are on rival show Strictly Come Dancing.

Strictly's results storm last week, which ended in presenter Gabby Logan being eliminated from the show, despite coming in the top half of scoring has provoked a lot of response. Even more perplexing is that the other couple in the bottom two (Penny Lancaster-Stewart and her partner Ian) had more points than Gabby and her partner. It makes you wonder if this is a dancing competition or a popularity contest. Kate Garraway, who stuck her oar in midweek with a defence of the public, has been the main winner from this, coming bottom of the scoring in the last two weeks but not in the bottom two after the audience had their say. Still, this surely can't go on for much longer. The hopeless Garraway is hardly the most famous of the celebrities taking part.

Again, I'll be giving my opinions on all the dances (not that I'm an expert on dancing or anything) later tonight. Needless to say my favourite is the model-cum-actress (I say 'actress' loosely) and one of my "I so would if I was even vaguely attracted to girls" girls, the gorgeous Kelly Brook.

Anyway, that's enough from me. Enjoy the saturday night's entertainment ... and remember. Keeeeeep dancing!

Genius

The divine Madonna doing what she does best. This is one of my favourite of her songs.

Inter-War Years - Top Ten Performances

10. Charles Laughton - The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933)
Awards: Won Oscar (Actor in a Leading Role)

Charles Laughton was one of the old guard: a charismatic and fearless presence on stage and screen. As Britain's most famous (or should that be infamous?) monarch he tears through his subjects and creates a rather touching portrayal of what is an essentially cruel and dislikeable leader. The film is rather hurriedly put together, and doesn't really ask too much of him, but Laughton eeks every bit of life from what was, even then, a fairly routine character.

09. Anny Ondra - Blackmail (1929)
Awards: None

The Eastern-European actress was dubbed in Hitchcock's first sound-included film, which makes her performance even more of a revelation. I'm not a fan of the film but Ondra's absorption of guilt, horror and subsequent mental collapse is raw and wholly convincing, adding dimensions to the character of Alice; Hitch's first female victim, and perhaps his best.

08. Lionel Barrymore - Grand Hotel (1932)
Awards: None

I can't help but fall in love with Barrymore's performance here as a desperate dying man trying to live out his days in the luxurious Grand Hotel. He's successful in winning you over with his hopeless, resigned, yet curiously warm persona, the vital cog within the film's message of class and community now commonly associated with the serial drama. He is crucially, and adorably, a man of the people.

07. Cary Grant - The Awful Truth (1937)
Awards: None

The wonderful thing about Grant as a comedy actor is that he can play both the unstable hapless victim (Bringing Up Baby, Arsenic and Old Lace) and the sly, scheming charmer, seen in His Girl Friday and most wonderfully Leo McCarey's The Awful Truth. Grant revels in his love/hate relationship with Dunne, and sells every wisecrack with brisk, perfect timing and unrivalled charisma.

06. Claudette Colbert – It Happened One Night (1934)
Awards: Won Oscar (Actress in a Leading Role)

Shrewdly leading while being led, Colbert gives a warm, funny and incredibly infectious performance that is the heart and soul of Capra's It Happened One Night. Thanks largely to her, even at its most heightened points of escalation, everything in the film feels like a natural, swift, and delightful jaunt.

05. Fredric March - Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)
Awards: Won Venice, Oscar (Actor in a Leading Role)

Aside from the obvious make-up gimmick (he plays both Jekyll and Hyde), March is scrumptiously brilliant as the classic hero/villain, capturing the spiralling madness of a doctor both dismayed and excited by what he has achieved, and the subsequent struggle between his double-persona.

04. Katharine Hepburn - Bringing Up Baby (1938)
Awards: None

Her manic, frustrating inability to listen or acknowledge the concerns of, not only Cary Grant's doctor character, but indeed anyone she encounters, is both hilarious and infuriating. It takes some audacity to carry off a character like this, and expert comic timing. She has both in abundance.

03. Irene Dunne - The Awful Truth (1937)
Awards: Nominated for Oscar (Actress in a Leading Role)

It's an utter joy watching Dunne try to convince both herself and her husband that she's happy enough without him when she clearly isn't. Their one-upmanship throughout the film is enthralling, Dunne staging an act of comic genius towards the end that is the final victory in a mammoth battle of pride.

02. Cary Grant - Bringing Up Baby (1938)
Awards: None

Grant's best comes when he reacts to the ever-increasing mania going on all around him, (i.e. in Arsenic and Old Lace, possibly the finest comedic performance there's ever been). In BUB his behaviour and rationality fades in sync with this ever-maddening environment, his character eventually reduced from skepticism to acceptance in what is a rousing reversal.

01. Renee Falconetti - La passion de Jeanne d’arc (1928)
Awards: None

However hard I try I can't see past Renee Falconetti's figure of victimisation and sacrifice. As the saintly Joan of Arc she's poked, prodded, interrogated, ridiculed and eventually put to death in what is essentially a slaughter. Her plight in this way encourages us to sympathise and remember Falconetti as the martyr she's portrayed, but, likening the performance to another cinematic victim, Bjork's Selma in Dancer In the Dark (a performance I cherish), it achieves so much, without anywhere near the same quality of tools at hand, or level of characterisation. Falconetti is as exposed as any actor has ever been asked to. She is everything; the essence of injustice, the mark of faith, the truest protagonist.

98. Ten Things I Hate About You (1999)

Directed by Gil Junger

Starring: Julia Stiles, Heath Ledger, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Larisa Oleynik

This might seem an odd one to include in an all-time Top 100 but whenever I'm dismayed at the barrage of crappy teen movies being produced at the moment, or even just when I'm feeling a little goofy, I pop this wonderful example of a romantic comedy into the DVD player.

Based on William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew it embraces teen culture and its shallow, black-and-white demeanor, while never losing its Shakespearian foundations. The script is consistently witty and dynamic, with excellent characterisation and executed finely by a wonderful young ensemble, led by an energetic and tireless turn from the revelatory Julia Stiles as the shrew, Katarina Stratford.

If you haven't seen it, please do.

Mini-Reviews (Batch 1)

Death Proof

Directed by Quentin Tarantino
Starring: Kurt Russell, Vanessa Ferlito, Rosario Dawson, Rose MacGowan
Grade: C+

Originally coupled with Robert Rodriguez' Planet Terror, as part of Grindhouse, a double-bill homage to B-movie's, Death Proof is the latest directorial feat of the infrequent Quentin Tarantino. It follows two groups of four women as they encounter the mysterious and dangerous Stuntman Mike (Kurt Russell) in two separate incidents, both of which end up in a bloody mess.

Both groups of women exchange long periods of conversation that admittedly reveal little about them, but do provide some funny, snappy, and at times electric dialogue that give us enough to care about and/or relate to them. It's clear from the character of the 'Bride' in the Kill Bill movies that Tarantino has decided to exercise a more feminist approach to the role of women in action films, and thus we are treated to what is essentially a tribute to them. There is a definite subversion of gender roles evident with the traditional qualities of women in the genre (physical beauty and relative kick-ass ability) remaining but used to ultimately convey their superiority over men in what acts as a conceptual rebirth.

But to dig much deeper into the film would be contradicting the style in which it's made. Many will be dismayed at Death Proof's abandonment of any real attempt to adhere to any narrative structure, nor to detail the motivations of its characters beyond thrill-seeking. There's few who can get away with it but Tarantino has always been one to put the pleasure of his audience above cinematic protocol, and his passion in this respect amazingly atones somewhat for the film's often senseless disregard for clarity or cohesion. Death Proof may be a cinematic rebel of the most unfastidious variety, but there are few films this year I would rather be subjected to two more hours of.

Disturbia

Directed by D.J. Caruso

Starring: Shia LaBoeuf, Sarah Roemer, Aaron Yoo, David Morse, Carrie-Ann Moss, Jose Pablo Cantillo
Grade: B

Shia LaBeouf stars as troubled teenager Kale Brecht, who, after his Dad is killed in a car accident, struggles to cope with his grief, culminating in his assault of a teacher. The result is that he's put under house arrest for three months, but as Kale's boredom sets in he begins to develop a deep fascination with one of his neighbours' sinister activities. Couple that with a hot young blonde moving in next door and his punishment becomes a little more difficult to tolerate.

Undoubtedly the film bears significant resemblances to Hitchcock's 1954 masterpiece Rear Window, substituting James Stewart's broken leg for Shia LaBeouf's tracking device, and so forth. Indeed it's pre-decessor is often mimicked in the film, most notably by its villain Robert Turner (David Morse), a near-double of Rear's chilling antagonist Lars Thorwald. But what of this mimicry? Disturbia is most definitely an attempt to bring a classic story to a younger audience, re-vamping it through romance, gadgetry and the presence of youth. It's fresh, compelling, and has a script that's close to the tightness of the '54 classic, exercising a volatility that works well with the more impulsive younger generation Disturbia represents. Where it does fall short is with regard to voyeuristic obsession and combative showdown, of which it teeters, more than once, on the brink of teen-slasher territory.

The main reason for the film's success however, probably resides with Shia LaBoeuf, who demonstrates a charm, cuteness and likeability that you just cannot help but root for. His troubled, misunderstood badboy demeanor forming the basis for Disturbia's continual sense of injustice, Shia's Kale is a 'have-a-go' hero of the most convincing stature, driving our interest through his. LaBoeuf is more the dark wannabe than Stewart's bored busybody, and in this way epitomises Disturbia. But there's nothing wrong with being the dark wannabe. Such is youth.

The Brave One

The Brave One

Directed by Neil Jordan

Starring: Jodie Foster, Terrence Howard, Naveen Andrews

Grade: C -

Perhaps the most aptly titled film of this year, Neil Jordan's The Brave One sees radio presenter Erica Bane (Jodie Foster) undergo an extreme transformation when she and her fiancee (Naveen Andrews) are brutally attacked by a gang of youths. Her lover does not survive the ordeal, and so Erica is left to deal with life alone, prompting her to develop a different, severely hostile attitude to the world around her; illegally purchasing a gun that inevitably features increasingly as the film advances.

It initially reads as a fascinating character study, our glimpse of Erica's cute, happy-go-lucky, loved-up character being moulded into something dark and ugly. As Erica transforms, Foster carries with her a bitter and desperate thirst for vengeance that sidesteps the self-righteous nobility that could so easily have been manifested with a character as tragic and wronged as this. The self-evaluative nature of Erica is forgivably analysed through voice-overs throughout, which do mix well with the feel of the film, despite contributing little emotion or insight.

As Erica begins to get into a few scrapes, she attracts the attention of both the police, led by Detective Mercer (Terrence Howard), and the media, who deem her "the vigilante". But as The Brave One bounds on it becomes less of a battle between grief and morality than it does a confused smattering of ideas. It seems to be battling most with itself, as the plot progresses in an all too convenient, and resultantly contrived manner. Erica confesses mid-way through the film that her newfound persona, the 'stranger' inside of her, is one that looks for trouble. But it's an all too lame excuse to justify the ease at which she finds this trouble, especially given the somewhat random nature that two of the events in question occur.

Erica conducts a radio phone-in on the public opinion of the 'vigilante', only to receive a mixed response; some treating her in the ilk of a super heroine, others condemning her for taking the law into her own hands. It comes at a particularly ruminative point in the film, and is perhaps intended to reflect the differing political, moral and ethical values of its audience, but does transfer as unncessary, and in truth a bit obtrusive. It's at this point in the film where Erica begins to develop an unlikely relationship with the Detective attempting to track her down, his curiosity with her ordeal and subsequent public questioning of New York City crime drawing them together. Foster and Howard have a definite chemistry, their careful interplay surprisingly convincing, given the film's other contrivances. Their relationship, however, moves at a fairly unnatural pace, and does lead to a couple of needless plot devices that signal the film's intentions way too easily.

Credit Jordan for his assiduous approach to the film's prevalent theme of bravery. He makes us think about what exactly it takes to be brave, and whether bravery is as admirable a quality as its reputation would imply. What is bravery? Is it acceptance? The Brave One questions both Erica and Mercer, whether she is brave for confronting the world that took her husband away and whether he is brave for risking his career to cut her a break.

But the finale of The Brave One seems to reject the attitude and values of both it's characters' towards the vigilante. Foster's Erica -- a woman without regret, but who recognises that her actions are morally reprehensible, or Howard's detective, who begins to grapple with his own conscience, as he puts the pieces of his vigilante case together. Jordan wants us to think about who 'The Brave One' actually is, but as the hunt for Erica's fiancee's killers is ever more overshadowed by her relationship with Mercer, it becomes irrelevant and glaringly overblown. The Brave One is always watchable, occasionally admirable, and maybe even a little brave itself ; but its failure is best summarised in reaction to Erica's moral questioning, "How many wrongs to make it right?". The answer: one too many.

Oscars: Where They Stand {Best Picture}

Best Picture

As we near the end of September the Oscar races are now officially starting to hot up (yay!), and after the Venice and Tornto festivities we now have a clearer idea of what might succeed and what will surely fail. Many hopefuls remain untouched, so as to those one can only guess.

We may as well start with the probable Best Picture winner, Joe Wright's stunning Atonement. A sweeping statement you might say, but one that carries with it the enviable confidence of Atonement itself. Yes, it is really that good, and I honestly think this is very nearly a done deal. It's epic, romantic, grand, and is above all successful in its hugely ambitious statement.

But let's treat this as the race it is. Venice finished a couple of weeks ago, giving the coveted Golden Lion to Ang Lee again, this time for his sumptuous-looking period romance, Lust, Caution. It's hard to know how valuable the Golden Lion is in terms of the Oscars. Worryingly for Lee his film was poorly received by the Italian critics, ranked lowest of all the in-competition films. And lest we forget foreign films have enough of a disadvantage when it comes to Oscar, without reviews scuppering their chances. Lust, Caution's NC-17 rating is in itself a suicidal move if it wanted to appeal to the Academy. I can't see many people flocking to see this kind of film in America, Ang Lee or no Ang Lee.

Venice was also kind to Kenneth Branagh's Sleuth remake, which is supposed to differ a lot (in a good way) from its predecessor. I'm dubious as to whether it can make the Picture lineup, since it is in effect a rejuvenation of a film popular with the Academy. It's also a very short film. Something we know AMPAS does not associate with the prestige of a Best Picture nominee. I think that Oscar are more likely to go for their man of the moment, Paul Haggis, brimming with buzz once again after his film about an Iraq soldier (In the Valley of Elah) got great reviews in Italy. It seems to be going for the AMERICA AMERICA AMERICA route -- one that's likely to appear very profound and meaningful regardless of whether it is or not.

Along with the triumphant Lust, Caution Toronto's winning picture, David Cronenberg's Eastern Promises should also face difficulty getting a BP nomination. AMPAS have historically ignored Cronenberg for their major awards, his films perhaps a little too heavy for mass institutional backing. Indeed Toronto helped to eliminate a couple of earlier-touted films, Cate Blanchett's second stab at Elizabeth I, The Golden Age, which received less than inspiring reviews, and Terry George's Reservation Road, received poorly and dead in this race now, along with highly-fancied Joaquin Phoenix.

Philip Seymour Hoffman was the man that Toronto hailed, for his performances in both The Savages, which is increasingly beginning to look like the indie comedy BP slot this year, with a distinct absence of comedies, and Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, Sidney Lumet's film about a bungled robbery attempt. The latter does not seem like Picture material, although Lumet does have an undisputed record with AMPAS.

Of the other Toronto hopefuls the main encouragement was for the Coen bros. latest crazy crime film, No Country for Old Men, which has fantastic reviews. Oscar loves the Coens but one would hardly call this type of film easy to take. Juno, a quirky film about a girl who gives her baby up for adoption, is also garnering praise, but will probably be too slight to feature on this kind of scale.

I don't have much hope for Once, however much everyone has loved it this year. It's just too small, and too indie without any showy sense of purpose, to get enough votes. Similarly I doubt Tim Burton, who has been royally screwed over by Oscar in his grand career thus far, will break through with Sweeney Todd, a typically dark and cartoonish Burton-esque story. For some reason films like this just aren't deemed credible enough.

As much as I admire Ridley Scott the American Gangster trailer hardly instigates a frenzy within me, and it certainly does not have baity themes to flaunt. But it does have a stellar cast, and is bound to be well-made. Gavin Hood and Susanne Bier have previous success with low-budget projects but now find themselves in bigger territory. The trailers look good (especially Rendition), but will they succeed? I'm reserving judgement for now.

But amidst this festival fever I can't help thinking that people are forgetting about Mike Nichols' Charlie Wilson's War, which was a favourite in the year's early months, and which boasts a confident release date and impressive list of cast and credits. Hard to know without a trailer but on paper, it's strong.

Predictions:

• 1. Atonement (Lock)
• 2. In the Valley of Elah (Very Likely)
• 3. There Will Be Blood (Likely)
• 4. The Savages (Maybe)
• 5. Charlie Wilson's War (Maybe)
  

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Alternates:

• 6. No Country For Old Men (Maybe)
  
• 7. Rendition (Maybe)
  

Sunshine (2007)

Sunshine
Directed by Danny Boyle
Starring: Cillian Murphy, Chris Evans, Michelle Yeoh, Rose Byrne
Grade: A -

*Contains spoilers*

Six astronauts set out to implant a device in the Sun so that it does not die within the next century, in this action-adventure by Trainspotting director Danny Boyle. Hearthrobs Chris Evans and Cillian Murphy play the red-blooded males of the ship, who endure many trials and tribulations on their way to the perilous light source of our solar system.

The astronauts themselves all feel the burden of responsibility and are thus presented with the moral and ethical conflicts of being, essentially, soldiers going into battle. The group, even at their most disagreeable, all seem geared towards their given goal, instilling the journey with a heightened significance. It's almost irrelevant that they have little identity singularly, because they serve to represent a decision, a stance, a mission, that reflects that of war itself. As the crew progress on their journey things become increasingly unhinged, the six confronted with decisions that create resentment and unrest. Almost as if the spaceship itself be closing in around them there is a chilling inevitability about the crew and their mission. A vicious, palpable, nauseous tension in the air.

As a visual spectacle, the sight of space, and the Sun in particular, is nothing less than breathtaking. The aesthetic treatment of the celestial body throughout the film that of respect and authority, alluding greatly to nature's awesome power. It is with this idea then, of the Sun as a living entity, a beacon, a symbol of life, that the scale of the mission becomes intensified. As the ship grows closer to the sun the inhabitants alter -- they lose their individual voice, begin to possess some form of guilt. This can be attributed to Sunshine's continual idea of God as the sun, and questions of man versus nature that threaten to, and eventually do, erupt. Do we have a right to tamper with nature for our own means? Is their mission to cheat death or prevent it?

The final act of the film has fallen under a cloud of debate, as it admittedly carries with it much melodrama. The introduction of an additional character alters the tone of the film, and leads to a crescendo of action in the last few minutes. Up until then Sunshine had been both a glorious sci-fi adventure and a psychological thriller, but at the precise moment where the feel of the picture shifts, its themes of spirituality, horror, and adventure come together to create what is an exhilarating finale. I think it's fair to say that the suddeness with which this occurs allows some of what has taken place to be diluted and dismissed, however, the film retains both its blockbuster appeal and its spiritual subtext.

The mystery 'villain' introduced to us may at first appear familiarly archetypal, but the purpose behind the presence of this person, and what they represent, adds dimension to the character -- if indeed we can refer to him as a character. The man can be seen as God (the Sun's) messenger, strengthening the sense of 'battle' between nature and artificiality, or more fascinatingly as a personified product of the group's conscience -- their internal conflicts, their engulfing dread.

So when the time finally does come to save the day it's with, at first, sombre acquiescence, and then uplifting martyrdom, that Sunshine bows out. As a whole, it stands as a patiently-built, fine piece of sci-fi cinema, and a definite visual feast upon the eyes. It forces us to view the ship and its passengers on both a grand and smaller scale, giving us a fiercely entertaining time in the process, and must be congratulated on the large sucess of its provocative spiritual voice.

Waitress (2007)

Waitress

Directed by Adrienne Shelly

Starring: Keri Russell, Nathan Fillion, Cheryl Hines, Adrienne Shelly, Jeremy Sisto, Andy Griffith, Eddie Jemison, Lew Temple

Grade: D -

If only life was as easy as pie. This statement, the tagline for Waitress, a comedy about the life of Jenna, a pregnant and thoroughly miserable waitress in America's deep South, may at first appear apt, but fatefully relinquishes all importance in the hours that follow.

All of the buzz about this film has been regarding Adrienne Shelly, the diector, writer and supporting player of the film, who was tragically shot dead just months ago. The nature of her character in the film, the ditzy but very endearing waitress Dawn, will certainly contribute to the overall sadness of the event, and to Shelly's credit, she plays the character well. Of the three tasks she undertakes however, (acting, directing, and writing) her success is sadly confined to her comic turn.

It's clear from the outset that Shelly intends to use the naivety and idiocy of her characters to get laughs, the beginning sequence seeing the three waitresses huddled around Jenna's pregnancy test, speculating about the outcome and possible re-percussions in a giddily frantic childish nature. It immediately imprints a fluffy tone to the film, and a galloping comic pace that's initially entertaining. Once Jenna is revealed pregnant she is devastated, and immediately resents the baby's presence, baking a 'Bad Baby Pie' to reflect her negative mood. Strangely though, Jenna is given few actual concerns about the pregnancy, and I'm at a loss to remember a time when she details why a baby would be so bad. The film gives her only one legitimate concern in her aggressive and possessive husband Earl, who is never quite convincing enough.

The continual metaphor of the pie in reflecting Jenna's mentality is itself very troubling. A pie is defined by it's filling, but Waitress wanders through this weak and silly metaphor as if it were as intelligent as, say, Sideways' use of wine. It does little but add to the absurdity that filters through Waitress, from its cast of one-dimensional charicatures, who seem to have no motivation for any actions they undertake, to Jenna's relationship with Doctor Pomatter (Nathan Fillion), which is predictable and altogether perplexing. The majority of Waitress and its characters feel positioned and controlled to act like impulsive puppets. Indeed, at times it feels like the story is being made up as it goes along. There's very little opportunity for consistency and recognition, and as a result Keri Russell and Nathan Fillion appear unaware of what on earth Jenna and Pomatter are supposed to be thinking. I'll be damned if anyone else knows.

Fittingly, the end of Waitress is as throwaway as the rest of it, for what few evident concerns Jenna did have about the baby are single-handedly eradicated by the child's birth instead of being addressed. Jenna's mentality completely switches. She's a completely different person afterwards, correlating with the continual spiralling feel of the film -- a forced and contrived exercise if ever there was one. The film says nothing about anything, or anyone in it, aside from that they're the hollow product of some godawful ventriloquist act. If I never see another pie again it'll be too soon.

R.I.P Ernst Ingmar Bergman [1918-2007]

#99 Sideways (2004)

Directed by Alexander Payne

Starring: Paul Giamatti, Thomas Haden Church, Virginia Madsen, Sandra Oh

I first saw Sideways before I began to like, or at least appreciate wine. Seminally though, this story of two friends who travel through the Californian wine country on a bachelor week, uses the drink as a metaphor for human depth and body. Middle-aged buds Jack and Miles are so uniformally different in refinement and nature, but are never judged in terms of quality. After all, its all in the name of taste. You can be in the mood for a heavy cabernet sauvignon, but sometimes a light white number does just the trick.

Although I haven't quite entered middle-age yet (Haha, thankfully a while to go yet) the desperation and transparency of the two men -- and in many ways, of the two women -- mirror the insecurities of people stuck in their youth, afraid of commitment, and of people with the frantic need to settle down. It's also a madcap and at times stupid comedy, but the soulful essence of the people enduring the tale are enough to allow you to submit to the slightly depressing aura that Sideways continually seems to emananate.

#100 Beauty and the Beast (1991)

Directed by Gary Trousdale & Kirk Wise

Starring: Paige O'Hara, Robby Benson, Richard White

Beauty and the Beast is a simple story with a moral that you shouldn't judge people based on appearance. An admirable and oft-used message within Disney films. Although the film shies away from allowing Belle to marry the beast in his cursed animal form (presumably and understandably for fear of being too radical) this is forgivable in the sense that the heroine is rewarded for falling in love with someone physically intimidating and undesirable. Beauty can also be construed as a social commentary on the treatment of outsiders in society, coming shortly after the exploratory views of Tim Burton's Edward Scissorhands.

The magical thing about classic Disney is in the music. Disney songs don't feel included for the mere sake of it. They further the narrative, and in some ways develop the characters involved. Whether it's the manic yet charming 'Be Our Guest', which instantly alters the pre-conception of the castle as a dark and heavy environment, or the sweet and poignant title track, detailing the implications of judging somebody at face value; Beauty and the Beast is a funny and sweepingly grand fairy tale with gorgeous intentions.

My Own 100

When I look back on the list of Top Fifty films I made about three years ago, I'm a little shocked. At that time I had both Pay It Forward and Erin Brockovich in my Top Ten, which now do not reach my all-time 100. It makes me contemplate how many films I've seen in the last three years and how enlightened I feel now. I still like those two films by the way :-P no matter what anyone says! Anyway, the point is, a couple of weeks ago I decided to create my personal canon. The one hundred films I believe are the greatest I have feasted my eyes upon. I'm gonna count them down and write a lil somethin about each one. So here goes.

Enjoy.

Am I the Only Person That Likes This?

Please. Enlighten me.

Big Brother 8: One Week In

So a week ago today eleven girls went into the Big Brother 8 house, making it the first all-female Big Brother. However, on Friday their prayers for a man were answered as one bloke, former boyband singer Zach, entered to frenetic excitement. Here is a quick summary of every housemate, and what they have done so far:

Amanda - 18 Year Old student. One half of the first twins to be in Big Brother UK. Entered dressed as a 'beach babe' complete with lollipop. Excessive screaming and shrieking ensued but has since died down. Currently boring but thankfully no longer annoying.

Carole - 53 Year Old Youth worker and political activist. Entered to masses of cheers. Very no-nonsense and ballsy woman who'll say what she think. Excellent. So far has not disappointed.

Chanelle - 19 Year Old bank worker and student. Wants to be Victoria Beckham and I'm sure she isn't the only one. Also wouldn't mind being a WAG. So why isn't she detestable? Hmm.. maybe because she put Emily well and truly in her place yesterday.

Charley - 21 Year Old socialite. That's all we need to know thankyou very much. "I'm well the hottest"

Emily - 19 Year Old Tory waitress. Clearly thinks she's something special. She's also bossy and very selfish. Loved her saying Lesley was the 'least considerate' housemate.

Laura - 23 Year Old nanny. My initial favourite but seems to have been dragged down by the bitching and domestic catfights of the first week. I still think she's genuine though.

Lesley - 60 Year Old retired businesswoman. Very strange, and not at all likeable, but she stirs things up everywhere she goes. Her "Piggy at the table" jibe at Emily has to be the most hilarious moment of the series so far.

Nicky - 27 Year Old Accounts Executive. Was very boring up until yesterday's meeting. Seems like a practical woman, and one that gets on with most people. She's missing the fun factor though.

Sam - Other half of the twins. Meh.

Shabnam - 22 Year Old temp. Too confident. "I'm entertainment". And very annoying. Shouted at Tracey in the task because she thought herself more attractive.

Tracey - 36 Year Old cleaner. Completely intolerant to all the young wannabes but who can blame her? At least she has her feet on the ground. Her "Just don't talk to me" comment to Shabnam is completely understandable.

Ziggy - 26 Year Old broker and former boyband singer. He alone is representative of why I am attracted to men rather than women. Not that he's majorly attractive, but that he's so direct and honest which completely contrasts with most of the women.

28 Weeks Later (2007)

28 Weeks Later
Directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo
Starring: Robert Carlyle, Rose Byrne, Imogen Poots, Mackintosh Muggleton
Grade: C+

While Danny Boyle had his hands full last year making the efervescent spiritual Sunshine, he was also an executive producer to the sequel of his 2002 horror flick, 28 Days Later, handily titled, 28 Weeks Later. While Days left us wanting more -- and certainly with room for more -- the virus at a relatively recent point of outbreak, this installment of the franchise carries the story from a much more developed point, the virus having been all but eradicated and Brits stranded overseas being returned to a zone in London deemed free of infection. These include the daughters of Don (Carlyle), who we see survive an onslaught of 'rage' victims in the opening sequence of the film.

The decision not to use the same characters as in the original may have been out of the control of many involved but nevertheless does seem strange, given that we associate every element of the virus plot with Harris, Murphy and Burns, the original battling survivors (depending on which ending you've seen, of course). Still, Fresdanillo and co. do a generally successful job in making the central characters in the film identifiable and empathetic, as do Muggleton and Poots, who are believable, if not up to the standards of the original trio. It is however, even creepier than the first, maintaining the sense of desperation within the characters, as well as their raw and intense thirst for survival so evident in Days, making for some incredibly tense sequences. However, the film seems so eager to shock that when the jump-enducing moments arrive they feel staged and eventually repetitive, descending Weeks into a kind of exercise in cheap-thrill armchair-clutching discomfort that feels all too imposed by Fresdanillo.

Indeed, the film often feels incoherent, taking what feels like contrived recesses from the plot to launch its indulgent airstrike of "Will they won't they?" frenzied editing before giving us sweeping political commentary on the US military and majestic towering overhead views of London. It almost feels like a half-hearted effort to veer from a primarily thrill-seeking picture, which if done well there is absoloutely nothing wrong with, but as it happens the commentary of Weeks ends up awkward and truthfully a little insincere. While Days gave us an insight into humanity, Weeks barely breaches the doldrums, but crucially it is always entertaining and admittedly often effective.

Featured Performance: Molly Ringwald In Pretty In Pink

In all my years of watching films, I have rarely registered with and admired a character as much as Andie Walsh. She is admittedly a character with very few flaws (if indeed any), and numerous strong traits that distinguish her from the rest of the film's major players. Seemingly carrying the weight of the world on her brawny shoulders -- trying not to hurt her unhealthily obsessive best friend, battling the critics of her non-conformist ideology, dealing with her mothers abandonment of herself and her father, and struggling with that familiar obstacle of love -- Andie is the essence of teenage angst.

Molly Ringwald, best known for her role in The Breakfast Club, a fantastic and similarly themed portrait of prejudice and assumption that shed light on the social pressures of the adolescent, is freshest here, her graceful, dignified, and thoroughly natural demeanor aptly tuned to Andie's cracks and layers. The honesty of Andie, and her acknowledgment of having to confront problems and issues wherever they may arise helps to build this statuesque individualist with painful delicacies and youthful identity.

It's wholly natural to root for the outsider in life's common 'battles', on whatever scale, but Ringwald's Andie is never really an outsider. She may dress differently and think differently, but her liberated attitude towards society in general and the constraints it puts upon people is itself representative of one of the most relevant questions within the zone of adolescence. Ringwald's monument of Andie is seamless, her patient measured dignity an iconic gesture to perhaps the most enlightened, if not the most enviable era in which to grow up.

The Death of Feminity

So the Serbian lesbian and her band of stone cold foxes (literally) reigned supreme at the Eurovision Song Contest in Helsinki on Saturday. The contest just gets stranger and stranger every year. Many people attribute the Serbian win to Eastern block voting which kind of holds water (by the way my prediction of five of the top ten ending in "ia" fell just short, although Moldova were also in the top ten which strengthens the point I was trying to make) but to be honest, Serbia got a lot of points off Western European countries as well. I always say the winner of Eurovision is the most popular song, and I still think it this year. I just have no idea where people are coming from. =)

Here are my ratings for the songs (out of twelve):

Bosnia & Herzegovina - 8
Spain - 6
Belarus - 9

Ireland - 5
Finland - 7
FYR Macedonia - 7
Slovenia - 8
Hungary - 10
Lithuania - 7
Greece - 9
Georgia - 8
Sweden - 12
France - 8
Latvia - 7
Russia - 6
Germany - 8
Serbia - 7
Ukraine - 8
United Kingdom - 8
Romania - 5
Bulgaria - 7

Turkey - 6
Armenia - 7
Moldova - 7

Finn Fun

For perhaps the first time in Eurovision history my patriotism has been called into question. Earlier this week I slapped £10 on Sweden's entry "The Worrying Kind" to win, partly because I love it, and partly because I can't believe that there's a song that's going to beat it (duh). My heart will of course be with the United Kingdom's absurd hyper-gay anthem, "Flying the Flag For You", but for tonight, I'm an honourary semi-Swede.

So onto the competition. Sweden is my big tip, but a lot of people are raving about Serbia's entry, which resembles some band of pagaent rejects, and since there are loads of states across that way in the competition this year, they could get a leg up. The usual political voting should be rabid as ever, but I'm hoping that the political distance of the UK from most of Europe has grown a little less apparent, otherwise we could be in big trouble again.

Most of the semi-final qualifiers were apparentely very questionable, and a lot of them were from baltic states. Turkey's entry comes from a guy with a big European fanbase. Having said that, in recent memory that isn't always a great sign (Anna Vissi, T.A.T.U). But the favourite this year is the Ukraine, who are led by a drag queen (like that's never happened before.. viva la divaaa). Well it has been nine years.

My Tip - Sweden (Alt: Turkey)

Wild Guess - Five of the top ten end in "ia"

Big Hope - The drag queen keeps it in his pants

Happy eurovision parties everyone!!!

The Verdict On Volta [Part One]

So the jury is still out on Bjork's much-anticipated new album Volta. Although reviews are favourable many say this album is a disappointment. Having bought it on Wednesday and had a couple of days to digest most of the songs, here's part one of my commentary:

Volta opens with the tribal marching of "Earth Intruders", a light-hearted yet stamping anthem that has the fitting effect of a musical starters gun, sending us into the remainder of the album like an army of troops, unbeknownst to the chaos that lies ahead. The song is remeniscent of Human Behaviour in its bold and wacky audacity, contrasting to the second song "Wanderlust", which seems to draw more on her Homogenic album than anything else. The song has a sense of reach and longing, but on a grand rather than personal scale. Kind of like a political pleading, which would co-incide with the loosely composed theme of the album.

The best song on the album is "The Dull Flame of Desire", which features the vocal talents of both Bjork and Antony, from 'Antony and the Johnsons'. The lyrics are from a poem, featured in Andrei Tarkovsky's film 'Stalker' (which I've yet to see), and they resonate so beautifully throughout the song, serving as an emotionally wrought ode to a lost love. The music has a sense of frontier and battlement that creates a doomed undertone to the song, marking it with a distant dullness that reflects the lyrical resignment. Gorgeously composed.

The transition between this song and the next, "Innocence" is abrupt and uncontrolling, perhaps mirroring the powerlessness and disorientation of war. The sound of "Innocence" is possibly the most appealing and instilling of Volta's many melodies. You can feel the sharpness of its beat, the punch of Bjork's tone. It's the song in the pack that you could most easily and happily dance to -- not without orchestral intricacy, but with a throwaway anecdotal quality (like "There's More to Life Than This") that's fun and free-spirited.

I must admit I'm not completely sure what Bjork is trying to do with "I See Who You Are", the fifth track on the album. It has a light rhythm and what sounds like a brass accompaniment in places. The lyrics include "Lets celebrate this flesh on our bones". In any case, the song feels out of place and it isn't magnetic enough. Maybe I just didn't get it.

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1. Earth Intruders 8/10
2. Wanderlust 7.5/10
3. The Dull Flame of Desire 9.5/10
4. Innocence 9/10
5. I See Who You Are 6/10

The End of Teenage Life is Nigh

More Freaky Hills

The Hills Have Eyes 2

Directed by Martin Weisz

Starring: Jessica Stroup, Michael McMillan, Jacob Vargas

Grade: C-

I was not without praise for Alexandre Aja's remake of brutal 1977 horror 'The Hills Have Eyes'. Wes Craven, who directed the original, pens this sequel, which sees a group of National Guard trainees venture into sector 13 after the disappearance of a troop based there. The first scene of The Hills Have Eyes II is vile. A woman gives birth to a mutant baby, a mutant yanking the baby out by its head, the umbilical cord in full view, a distasteful and sickening sight. Craven may well be playing up to his cult status here with this hard-hitting bloodthirsty statement, but its a message of things to come.

Last year's remake has certainly bloomed more positively in my mind as time has gone on. I think, initially, for me, it was hard to distinguish between how much of what the film achieves is down to its explicit shock tactics and how much is created aesthetically. Speaking in terms of narrative, the fact that both 1977 and 2006 versions of the story centre around a family certainly intensifies our feelings towards the protagonists, which is absoloutely key in terms of horror. Perhaps that's why this sequel feels more of an exercise than it does a battle. The group are loosely bound by a comradeship that's fairly thin, none of the characters on show displaying any type of identifiable pain or strength -- the only real attempt at creating empathy involving a video of one of the women's son on her mobile phone. But Hills II feels less about maternal and communal instinct than it does about internal affairs, and the battle between institutions and outsiders -- a bold yet puzzling concept, given Aja's efforts to focus on family and distance the mutants' humanity evident in Craven's original.

Indeed, it seems that Craven's updated story veers from Aja's course, in some ways re-discovering more closely the nature of the mutants, and the strength they pose as a united force. Again, there's a 'good mutant' that aids the group in their quest to escape. Yet in other ways dismissing their actions as evil and leisurely rather than harsh and practical, which is a tad contradictory. In any case, these latest Hills are just as gory, and just as claustrophobic. It's just a shame that the film doesn't have as clear a direction as last year's, and isn't anywhere near as polished, leaving you with little to take from the experience. Well, maybe a slight shudder at the thought of a third installment.

First 2007 Oscar Predictions [Major Categories]

Picture

American Gangster
Atonement
Lust, Caution
My Blueberry Nights
There Will Be Blood

Director

Paul Thomas Anderson - There Will Be Blood
Todd Haynes - I'm Not There
Ang Lee - Lust, Caution
Ridley Scott - American Gangster
Wong Kar Wai - My Blueberry Nights

Actress In a Leading Role

Cate Blanchett - The Golden Age
Julie Christie - Away From Her
Marion Cotillard - La Vie En Rose
Norah Jones - My Blueberry Nights
Laura Linney - The Savages

Actor In a Leading Role

Don Cheadle - Talk To Me
Russell Crowe - American Gangster
Daniel Day-Lewis - There Will Be Blood
Benicio Del Toro - Things We Lost In the Fire
Johnny Depp - Sweeney Todd

Actress In a Supporting Role

Abbie Cornish - The Golden Age
Romola Garai - Atonement
Natalie Portman - The Other Boleyn Girl/My Blueberry Nights
Susan Sarandon - In the Valley of Elah
Meryl Streep - Rendition

Actor In a Supporting Role

Philip Bosco - The Savages
Bruno Ganz - Youth Without Youth
Clive Owen - The Golden Age
Alan Rickman - Sweeney Todd
Denzel Washington - American Gangster