Easy Virtue

Control

Drole De Felix

Yet again I wonder why and how French cinema can produce so many thoughtful films about human relationships. This one stars the wonderful Sami Bouajila - who features in one of my favourite films Days of Glory. This is in many ways extremely 'light' (as suggested by the title

perhaps). Felix is gay, an Arab, HIV+ and seemingly happy. He sets out to find his father, someone he has never met, after he loses his job and following his mother's death he uncovers some correspondence from this man. He travels across France from Normandy to Marseilles, but isn't (naturally) finding his father - he is finding himself. The film shows his various encounters and creates a new 'family'. Like many characters in French films he is remarkably casual, careless almost - and is portrayed in the usual manner that film makers consider gay men should be shown - promiscuous, on the edge, an outsider looking in, and more lustful than emotional. However, I'd give this a 8/10 rating.

Righteous Kill

3:10 to Yuma

Brideshead Revisted

I've Loved You So Long

Law of Desire

Another strange and yet fascinating film from director Pedro Almodovar. As is his usual style the storyline is shambolic and requires a great deal of attention, tricky when you're reading subtitles simultaneously with trying to see the action! In this film Pablo ( a film director mmmm) is obsessed with Juan - a 'straight' boy who cannot love him, becomes the object of the dangerous attention of Antonio (an interesting portrayal by Antonio Banderas), who falls passionately in love with Pablo - who in turn cannot return the affection of this boy (who is also allegedly straight too). Meanwhile Pablo's transexual sister Tina (keep up damn it!) is looking after the abandoned daughter of a flighty friend. All Almodovar's films are peopled by the unusual and bizarre and are tragic in the extreme - this is no exception, there is sex, violence, extreme emotions and a dramatic ending. I always wonder how much Almodovar is playing out his own fantasies and frustrations. Nevertheless a rating of 7/10 is deserved. Is this a tragic tale?

Then She Found Me

April (played by Helen Hunt) is a late 30s recently married (to Matthew Broderick) Jewish woman desperate for children before it's too late, and adopted. Her adoptive mother dies and suddenly there appears Bette Midler (in a remarkable role, remarkably played) - her natural mother. Matthew Broderick decides he isn't grown up enough for marriage and leaves her - but

not before he impregnates April - although neither know it. Teacher April falls for Colin Firth (whose wife has abandoned him & their children), the father of two of her very young pupils. This isn't your average love story, nothing is straightforward, and Bette Midler (once a poor unmarried mother/waitress) now morning cable TV chat show hostess, plays the loud, over the top, brash, feisty part for all its worth - but with sensitivity and wit. I was impressed by this film. It could have been mawkish and truly obnoxious, but instead it was played by all actors as a thoughtful drama with humour and a punch too. Rating: 8/10

Somers Town

The Wackness

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day

This was a remarkably dull film - but I can't really work out why! Miss Pettigrew (Frances McDormand) is an extremely unsuccessful nanny and is sacked by Agency manager (Stephanie

Cole) but Miss Pettigrew picks up the details of a possible employer - and thereby walks into the life of chanteusse Delysia LaFosse (Amy Adams) who is leading a remarkably complicated life involving three suitors. The film then follows Miss Pettigrew's day as she resolutely solves the problems of Delysia and her circle of exceptionally superficial friends - all ignoring the fact that WWII is about to break out. Now this could have been funny, moving, perceptive, entertaining or exciting. Trouble is this film was none of these things. The acting was fine, but the storyline was weak, and I couldn't become sympathetic towards the fate of any of the characters - I just didn't care about what happened to any of them - rating a generous 5/10

Wall.E

An animated film of exceptional quality from the Disney/Pixar stable. I was so impressed by

this film! A fairly standard sci-fi plot - loosely based on the Noah's Ark Biblical tale. We open on earth many generations in the future. It is devoid of human habitation, Wall.E is one of the few remaining robotic machines invested with the task (apparently insuperable?) of compressing the huge quantities of rubbish that have accumulated in ages past. It is a lonely existence - the only fellow creature that he has is a cockroach. In between collecting and compacting Wall.E watches Hello Dolly with Michael Crawford on an endless loop. He has no conversation, but makes a series of electronic noises. One day a space ship lands and into Wall.E's world steps Eve - another robot - well armed, feminine and collecting and analysing 'life' on earth. Wall.E is fascinated, frightened, obsessed and desperate for the love of this new creature. Eve returns to the ship and as it leaves Wall.E becomes a stowaway in his determination to be with Eve forever. Eve turns out to be one of the regular probes from Axiom one of the many vessels sent into space 700 years before with the aim of preserving the human race. The inhabitants of this ship have been looked after by machines for so long that they have lost the use of their limbs, spending their time floating on little vehicles constantly starring at screens, never having any human interaction. The film then, with much suspense, excitement and humour follows Wall.E and Eve as they battle against the robotic controllers of this ship and achieve the revealation of the human population that they need to return to Earth and regain a proper life. Although a U certificate this is a film enjoyable at all levels - funny, moving, a love story, a romance, a parable, action, adventure and thought-provoking. The animation is truly outstanding so deserves a rating an 8/10.

Mama Mia

Now this film probably isn't to everyone's taste and has certainly got extremely mixed not to say poor reviews - especially from male reviewers, but I just love this movie! It makes you feel so uplifted and it is fun, fun, fun. Really the story doesn't matter terribly much, but lets go through

it. Sophie is about to get married, and her mother (played by Meryl Streep) a former member of a 'girl band' running a run down hotel on a remote Greek Island can't be certain which of three men she slept with 21 years ago was her daughter's father. Sophie reads her mother's diary for that fateful summer and invites the three contenders (including Colin Firth and Pierce Brosnan) along for the ceremony. Julie Walters is one of Meryl Streep's friends who is along for the ride. The tumultuous two days are illustrated by a string of ABBA hits - sung by the main actors (not dubbed) and Meryl Streep is an absolute revelation, and belts out the fast numbers with aplomb, and the slower songs with feeling (Slipping Through My Fingers is emotional). Neither Colin Firth nor Pierce Brosnan are your conventional singers - but that doesn't detract from the performance - it seems somehow more endearing - and Colin's rendition of Last Summer, made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck. Bennie & Bjorn (the composing duo of ABBA) really did write some truly cracking stuff - and the whole essence of pop songs is that they resonate and are associated with moments in your life - and ABBA songs have always been a commentary on mine - maybe Mama Mia will become part of the soundtrack of a new generation. A feel good rating of 9/10

The Visitor

The story of widowed academic, Walter (Richard Jenkins) disaffected from his work, and seeking some kind of connection with his late wife - a classical pianist. He goes to his rarely visited flat close to a conference he's attending in New York and discovers it has been unwittingly and illegally occupied by Syrian Tarek (Haaz Sleiman) and Senegalese girlfriend Zainab. Walter allows the couple to remain (I found that slightly unbelievable - you walk into your own flat and enter your bathroom containing a naked stranger having a bath who screams prompting her boyfriend to pin you to a wall, but you then naturally welcome them both, befriend them and let them stay). Anyway, Tarek teaches Walter the drums (not your classical timpani or rock drumkit) and the two of them become buddies. Then Tarek is arrested for a minor charge on the subway and he turns out to be illegally in America (as well as in Walter's flat). He is sent to a detention centre and his mother turns up from Michigan and Walter and she become emotionally entangled. The film is a bit preachy, there is overuse of ironic symbolism - notices in the detention centre waiting room proclaiming the postive gains of immigration, the statue of liberty, etc. Perhaps this is a theme that is done better in the UK, but there were moments of entertainment and enjoyment here, and fortunately sentimentality and mawkishness were avoided, for once. Rating? 6/10

Female Agents

Another excellent French film starring Julie Depardieu, Sophie Marceau and Marie Gillain. It is the Second World War and in the days leading up to D-Day a British geologist has been lost in France. SOE sends a motley group of women agents to find him and bring him back before he is captured and spills the beans about where the landings will take place. The agents include the former mistress of a German local head of military intelligence in Normandy. Unfortunately the mission to re-capture the geologist isn't the entire picture and the women have to go on to Paris to assassinate the German colonel. This isn't your average war movie, it is thoughtful, the violence is well balanced, the suspense terrific, and the whole thing is extremely well paced. It is all very believable, and is another insight into the part played by women in the resistance in France. Rating 8/10

Couscous

A very dusappointing film. Far too long and rambling, the director seemed unclear of his purpose or the point he was trying to make. Set amongst the North African community in a port in Southern France it centres on a dysfunctional family. They seem to be constantly arguing, being unfaithful, the women are universally haradans or victims, the men cheats, liars, lazy and worthless. So what's not to like? The length (nearly three hours) to describe the setting up of a restaurant on a boat with redundancy money was just tedious, because you knew from the start that the central character would be systematically let down, betrayed and humiliated by the two families he's involved with - and thereby proving to the native French that the North Africans have nothing to offer. Surely there's more to this community than this film would lead us to believe. Rating - a grudging 4/10

Un Secret

Another wonderful French film. Francois is a thin and physically weak child of a gymnast father and elegant swimmer mother. The film opens in the 1950s and it becomes clear that he is a grave disappointment to his parents. Cutting to the present (and to black and white photography) father Maxine has disappeared following the death of his beloved dog, believing he his to blame for the dog's death. Gradually the film goes back into the past of Francois and his parents. The boy had made a discovery in the attic realising that his cold and detached parents do not want to talk about their past, the truth is revealed by a friendly adult who has known the couple throughout their lives. The secret is a pretty massive one, involving betrayal, death and dishonour. Suffice it to say the early realisation that the couple are Jewish gives a hint of what might be to come. The story line is a bit clunky in places, the frequent cutting backwards and forwards requires great concentration, but the passion comes through with looks and few words. Immensely believable and oh so tragic - the audience at the showing I went to (mainly of older patrons) were deeply moved, and some were in tears at the end. The mother, Tania, is played with just the degree of elegant aloofness that belied the underlying suppressed emotions. An interesting technique of showing some sections in black and white didn't entirely come off, but still worth a 8/10 rating.

Priceless (Hors de Prix)

Jean (Gad Elmaleh) is a barman in an upmarket hotel in the South of France. One evening Irene played by Audrey Tautou (a high class hooker or gold digger) walks into his bar and mistakes him for a millionaire. Unfortunately for them both her sugar daddy (Jacques) discovers that they have had a night of passion, and he ditches Irene just as he was due to propose marriage - her meal ticket for life. Jean is besotted.

Irene finds out the truth about Jean's lack of money, and when he pursues her to her new 'target group' in Nice she takes her revenge by emptying his bank account and abandoning him. Fortunately for him a passing rich woman takes him on as a gigolo. Irene sets about teaching him the ropes - showing how he can exploit the situation financially, but at the same time beginning to fall in love with him. This film is so typically French, and very funny. I keep asking - why don't they make British films like this? Perhaps the situation is uniquely Continental to use an old-fashioned phrase. Rating: 8/10

Mongol: The Rise of Ghengis Khan

What a great disappointment this film was. I think it was trying to be an epic, and a sort of saga/ fairy story or parable, and as a result there was a great deal of seemingly pointless riding (or galloping) about of horeseback, chatting to wolves masquerading as a local God, and totally

inexplicable escapes of the 'with one bound he was free type'. So for example at one point the young Ghengis (confusingly called throughout the film by a totally different name) disappeared through a snowdrift into freezing water, and moments later he was walking into a camp to meet the man who would become his blood brother, and evental rival and enemy. Later he was shot in the back with an arrow, his horse his sent off home with him in the saddle (arrow still in back) and then the next scene but one has him walking into another camp. So many things not explained. His wife has two children, but one seems to have been conceived while she was abucted by Ghengis' mother's first husband, the second while Ghengis was enslaved in a Chinese town. He doesn't seem to doubt their parentage at all. Even the great battle scene is a bit tame and there is a lot of the typical Chinese film action with whirling knives and swords and leaping. Although captions were flashed up on the screen giving dates of events I still didn't get the continuity nor were characters properly developed. Ghengis motivation seemed largely ignored. In an early scene Ghengis selects his bride (he was only 9) and said he would return for her 5 years later. Some 15 years later (or more - I was unclear) he bumps into her again (bearing in mind these are nomadic people I found it hard to understand how people found one another except by accident) and says 'I said I'd come back for you'. Did he not have any romantic entanglements in the meanwhile - and how risky was that during that time? I also didn't understand how he could make so many superhero escapes - totally alone, but then turn up with entire armies of men - where did he gather them from? So all in all not a success. Rating: 5/10

Pygmalion

It was interesting to see this pre-war film adaptation of George Bernard Shaw's of the play I saw recently at the Old Vic (see the review on one of my other blogs). Shaw was the screenwriter

and won an Oscar. Several changes were made and extra scenes introduced, many of which turned up in the famous post-war musical adaption - My Fair Lady. Leslie Howard takes on the Professor Higgins role and Wendy Hiller (in one of her early screen roles) is Eliza. I think this version is immensely successful, although Leslie Howard isn't really innocent enough (after all he was to be Ashley in Gone With the Wind a year later) but Hiller is terrific and believable. Although this is a 70 year old film it isn't just a stage production - the medium allows far more flexibility of scenary - and scenes, introduces crowds and much more obviously introduces the element and danger of discovery when Eliza is a guest at the Ambassador's Ball to prove how Higgins can transform her speech so dramatically. The film certainly retains the main points of Shaw's original play of an earlier generation. Very much worth seeing. Rating 9/10

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

This is the first appearance of Indiana Jones in many years - and accurately the archaeologist adventurer has moved from tackling the Nazis to confronting the Communists in the 1950s. Star Harrison Ford is not showing his age and is almost as much of an action hero as he was in the early films, but now he has a sidekick in the form of Mutt Williams (mmm silly name played by the equally unlikely named Shia LeBeouf - and yes that is a man). The leader of the enemy is Cate Blanchett as a remarkably glamorous Soviet scientist. The film opens with a nuclear explosion and then goes along traditional lines - there is this miraculous artefact to be traced and tracked through the jungles of South America, and finding this object will bring (a) great wealth (El Dorado?) (b) the secret and meaning of life (c) the solution to ancient legends. The fun is fast and furious, but this film isn't nearly as tongue in cheek as the earlier ones, which is a pity, but well worth bringing back the formula for another outing - and maybe Shia will take the torch on for yet more adventures. Rating: 8/10

Casablanca

Wonderful to see the classic Casablanca on the big screen, and although I've seen it so often on TV each time I see this film I notice something new. The

plot is simple. It is wartime in French Morocco - controlled by the pro-Nazi Vichy government. As a staging post for refugees seeking to escape to America all kinds of people end up here - including cafe owner Rick (Humphrey Bogart) who has a past. Two German couriers are murdered for the letters of transit they were carrying - these are the 'get out of jail free' cards that everyone seeks. Into his bar steps Viktor Lazlo, hero of the resistance, and Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman) - she is Rick's past. Very simply Rick has the letters of transit dropped into his lap - who will benefit - Ilsa & Viktor or Rick & Ilsa? What will Ilsa do to get the letters of transit & who does she want to escape with? There is a brilliant supporting cast - the fence sitting Prefect of Police, the wonderful piano player Sam and the music is just so perfect - everyone knows As Time Goes By but the incidental music is just so evocative. Every time I see this film the hair on the back of my neck stands up when I hear the Marseillaise being belted out to drown out the German drinking songs of the Wehrmacht. Rating: 9/10

Honeydripper

Danny Glover plays Tyrone, the owner of a live music club in the Deep South in 1950. He's got big problems though - the old fashioned soul/blues singer is no longer popular, while the neighbouring juke box club is packing them in. The debts are mounting and the local Sherriff (brilliantly played by Stacey Keech) is determined to put him down one way or another. His only way out seems to be a live appearance by electric guitarist Guitar Sam. Enter mysterious stranger, Gary Clark Jnr, with his own home made electric guitar. Danny's wife has got religion and is faced with the choice of saving her soul or rejecting her husband and his lifestyle. A gentle, slightly meandering tale, but well acted, and avoiding sentimentality. An excellent study of the side of America rarely portrayed on film - almost every actor in this film is black, and although poor they get by with dignity and determination. Rating: 8/10

Deception

Now I had a problem the casting of this film. Ewan McGregor plays Jonathan McQuarry, who

is supposed to be a very nerdy, sexually inexperienced accountant. Hey Ewan, I've got news for you - putting on a dowdy mac and wearing your hair in an unadventurous style doesn't convince anyone that you're shy, Mr Nomates, especially when in rapid succession you bed several unbelievably attractive women. Anyway, that perhaps sums up some of the problem I had with this 'suspense/thriller'. So to the plot. McQuarry is auditing a company and bumps into charismatic Wyatt Bose and they become instant friends (yeah right). Someone their mobiles get mixed up and McQuarry thereby becomes a part of an anonymous sex club (as Charlotte Rampling remarks 'This club provides intimacy without involvement') of busy high-powered executive men and women. One of his 'dates' is 'S' played by Susan Williams, and McQuarry falls in love (totally against club rules), and now he becomes the subject of a blackmail plot to move vast sums of money out of one of the companies he's auditing, with 'S' as a hostage. His friend Wyatt is not quite the man McQuarry thought. The trail of co-incidences stetches credulity too far, and the red herrings aren't really pink or fishlike. Too light for my taste. Rating: 5/10

Flashbacks of a Fool

A film starring Daniel Craig and Harry Eden as the older and younger Joe Scot, and featuring the tremendous Miriam Karlin in a wonderful cameo role. Daniel Craig (in a non-Bond role) plays an actor in the way down - and quite dramatically so. After a drug and sex fuelled night at his beachside house in California Joe receives a phone call to say his childhood friend 'boots' has died, and this allows the film to return to the 1970s and a seemingly idyllic period in Joe's life which gradually begins to illuminate the current man. Harry Eden is so good at depicting the yearnings of adolescence, and relationships with fellow teenage boys. I'm guessing the young Joe is 15/16 and it is the summer holidays, and they are in a community by the sea. Joe is surrounded by girls & women - and spends most of his time thinking about them, setting his sights on Ruth. However, neighbour Evelyn (who is a mother of a daughter close to Joe's sister's age), sets out to seduce him - although Joe is not particularly reluctant. During one of these liaisons a tragedy befalls Evelyn's daughter and Joe runs away. Returning for the funeral of 'boots' (who went on to marry Ruth and turns out to be the perfect husband and father) Joe realises that although he is the wealthy world famous performer who was clearly the star of his childhood friends in every endeavour, perhaps he missed out on other life afirming experiences. A better than I expected 8/10

My Brother is an Only Child

The tale of two brothers Accio (Elio Germano) and Manrico (Riccardo Scamarcio) in the chaotic poltical times of 1960s Italy (although nothing really changes in Italy). Accio is the younger (less favoured) brother who tries a seminary and then falls under the spell of local Fascist leader Mario. Manrico takes the Communist path. In fact the politics turns out to be somewhat irrelevant (and is treated in my view somewhat superficially) because this is really about sibling rivalry. Manrico is charismatic, dynamic, ruthless and arrogant. He gets the admiration of his father, mother, sister and every girl that he meets. Accio is aggressive and trying to get some attention in the only way he knows how - by taking the opposite view to the rest of his family in everything. Accio also hankers after Francesca, Manrico's girlfriend. There is quite a dark tinge to the film, because as the political situation unravels after the heady excitement of the 'year of revolution' of 1968, Manrico also turns out (predictably) to have feet of clay on all kinds of levels. I think the real problem with this film is that it was trying to deal with far too many themes - and ended up dealing with them far too simply, and far too superficially. There was quite an opportunity here to examine the extremes of politics in the 1960s, and how the political system of that time failed abysmally to solve the problems facing ordinary people. More smoke than mirrors perhaps. Rating 6/10

Son of Rambow

This British films stars two first time actors (pictured) and centres on an unlikely friendship between school troublemaker Lee Carter and religiously excluded loner, William. Naturally these two total opposites accidentally collide and conspire together to shoot a film in an attempt to win a prize on the BBC TV children's film quiz programme Screen Test. William decides he will become Son of Rambo(w). The story is set against the backdrop of the arrival of a bus load of French foreign Exchange students including the exotic Didier. I have to say I found this film a tad unsatisfactory. The first part is slow moving, and then it suddenly gains legs and becomes a bit of a romp, with some above average gags about movie making and school life. It then rapidly descends into mawkish sentimentality, and the 'message' is somewhat trite. This has been compared (wrongly to my mind) with the coming of age film starring River Phoenix - Stand By Me. I'm sorry, for once the Americans can do it better. At the showing I went to several parents had taken their teenage children to watch, but I think it was the adults (who were probably at school in the 80s) who seemed to be enjoying themselves most. Rating - just 6/10

The Singer

I saw this film on DVD, rather than at the cinema - which always makes a difference - generally not for the better. Starring Gerard Depardieu and Cecile De France, a somewhat typical languorous slow moving French tale of romantic love and relationships. Depardieu plays aging crooner Alain (in the UK he would be the equivalent of the northern club circuit entertainer) who is a wow with middle aged single ladies. One night into one of his nightspots walks attractive young Monica (Cecile De France) suffering the effects of the break up of her marriage. Surprisingly (well in Britain this would be surprising, in France these unlikely pairings seem to cause no surprise, Alain is certainly showing his age, and she is tres chic to say the least). This is not really going anywhere, but it satisfies a need in Monica and Alain is craving for something to counteract loneliness and lack of success. French filmmakers love this kind of picking over and close examination of relationships, but generally it makes me feel uneasy. It could be better done in many cases, and this is one. Gerard slips into the role of Alain ever so easily, but the contrast with Monica is stretching credulity too far. The whole thing is just too bleak and needed more light and less shade. Rating 6/10

Love in the Time of Cholera

The film adaptation of the novel by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and starring Javier Bardem, Benjamin Bratt and Giovanna Mezzogiorno turns out to be overfull with love, and could have done with a great deal more cholera. Shambling and rambling this tale spanning five decades concerns the interwoven lives of three people in a nameless Latin American country. Poor telegraph boy Florentino falls desperately in love with wealthy Fermina, much to the disappointment of her father who sends her off into the jungle to forget. Upon her return she dumps the poor Florentino and marries instead urbane, devastatingly handsome and successful Doctor Urbino. Florentino vows to stay faithful to Fermina and keep himself until he can marry her. He does this by bedding several hundred women - a surprising feat considering his lack of looks, and increasing age - all due to the fact that he claims his heart is waiting to be filled with love and he represents no threat to the women. There are several problems with this film - all the actors talk with heavy Latin accents (I wonder why they didn't let them speak in their own language and use subtitles - fear of commercial failure perhaps?); the second difficulty is the lack of clear identification of the peripheral characters - it is never clear whether these are relatives, friends, acquaintances or (seemingly nameless) passers by. Then there is the problem of aging. The opening scene the three main characters in their seventies proves that a bit of make up and stooping isn't really convincing. These are clearly youthful actors. The story is only just this side of credible, and regularly strays into soft porn. Is this the fault of the book or the film. A pity, because much more could have been made from the basic premise. Rating - 5/10

Children of Glory

I was so pleased I managed to catch this terrific Hungarian language film - mainly on the recommendation of the film reviewer on Radio 2's Weekender programme. Starring Ivan Fenyo as a water polo player (and therefore a national hero in an Olympic year) and Kata Dobo as a student daughter of parents 'eliminated' by the secret police who becomes involved in the Hungarian Rising of 1956. The film begins with a brutal water polo match between Hungary and the Soviet Union - it is fixed to ensure a Russian victory, but because Ivan's character shows dissent he is warned by the secret police to stay loyal to Communism or his family will suffer. Shortly afterwards the insurrection begins and he meets Viki (Kata Dobo) who draws him into active participation in this doomed attempt to overthrow Soviet rule. The movie then traces the tragedy of 1956, the false hopes dashed, the brutal suppression, whilst the world expressed horror, but did nothing. As the uprising reaches its final phase, bizarrely (and truthfully) the Hungarian athletes head off to the Melbourne Olympics where the water polo team meets the Soviet Union in the semi finals - and they almost act out the clashes between Soviet troops and the Hungarian people - bloodshed in the pool. This is hardly a fun film, nor perhaps uplifting, but it is moving, very real and raw in emotional terms and the acting is believable. Oh yes, the water polo team defect to the capitalism of America. Rating 9/10

Vantage Point

A political thriller/action movie (and none the worse for that) starring William Hurt and Dennis Quaid (with several other well known actors). The film uses a clever (and effective) device of viewing events surrounding the assassination of a US President at a peace summit in Spain from various perspectives. This demonstrates how each individual (ranging from a TV producer, through secret service bodyguard, tourist, police officer to bystanding child) sees only one fraction of the drama, and often get totally conflicting (sometimes dangerously so) impressions of what is happening. Gradually the plot is uncovered and we see almost all of what has gone on. There is a wonderful car chase (rivalling that in Tell No One) and the body count is appallingly high. I was on the edge of my seat, but there are two flaws. Because there are so many contributors there is no hero - Dennis Quaid is no Bruce Willis in the Die Hard series. Secondly we never find out the plotters motivations and that undermines the 'politics' of this thriller. Still it is worthy of a 7/10 rating.

The Other Boleyn Girl

This average movie tells the tale of how conniving Anne Boleyn catches her man - but at the cost of her own life and the eventual disgrace of her family - but this time seen through the eyes of her younger sister Mary. The Boleyn family were not of the top rank but Anne and Mary's father had married into the Howard family, and was determined to use his daughters as a means of obtaining the top rank. Mary (despite being recently married) is sent in as a last minute replacement for the over pushy Anne and it is Mary who enters Henry VIII's bed and produces the long desired son - but illegimate. To say this pushes Anne's nose out of joint would be an understatement, and so she manipulates events to gain the ultimate prize - marriage to the monarch. Along the way she ousts Catherine of Aragon (and Mary) in the King's affections, but as we all know it all ends in tears. There was a big opportunity here to view history in a very different way and inject some excitement and suspense in this well known tale - but the film is pedestrian, sloppy in direction, clumsy and confusing historically. Still not a complete turkey - and the two girls are well portrayed by Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johannson. Rating: 6/10

Be Kind - Rewind

Now considering the volume of films I see I suppose eventually I must end up seeing one or two that are below acceptable. This movie starring Jack Black, Mos Def and Danny Glover was just plain dull.

I essence the alleged birthplace of Fats Waller in New Jersey happens to be a video rental store. Now here you have the first of my problems - surely VHS has gone the way of audiotapes and 78 rpm records? Anyway Jack Black becomes magnetised during an attempt to neutralise a local electricity sub station and thereby wipes clean all the stores video tapes, whilst owner Danny Glover is out of town on a fact finding mission to save the building from being demolished by developers. Meanwhile, back in the store, because the customers won't accept the lack of tapes Jack Black and store manager Mos Def set out to re-create the most popular films - well according to the poster with hilarious results. In fact this didn't make me laugh at all, it was dull, unimaginative, and in places offensive. The cast are all stereotypes, and as the pair end up producing a community involvement documentary on the life of Fats Waller it just becomes sentimental twaddle. Rating: a yawn producing 3/10

National Treasure: Book of Secrets

A very entertaining, if slightly ludicrous sequel starring Nicholas Cage, John Voight and Helen Mirren. Does the plot really matter? Nicholas Cage is the son of John Voight and they are treasure hunters. The film opens with the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Nicholas Cage's Great-Great(?)grandfather is shot by a Confederate agent for refusing to de-code the code which would lead them to a golden city created by Native Americans in the Wild West. However, a descendant of the Confederate agent appears and claims that in fact the old man was the leader of the plot to assassinate Lincoln, and produces a page torn form the diart of John Wilkes Booth (keeping up?) as proof. The code is discovered hidden on that page. Two hours later, after several chases and journey through the Statue of Liberty (in Paris) Buckingham Palace, the Oval Office, Mount Rushmore all the while being pursued by various nasty baddies, we end up in the City of Gold. This is pure entertainment, and not so bad for that - maybe this type of film will never win Oscars - but they are good fun. Rating 7/10

This year's Oscars

Here is the full list of winners at the 80th Academy Awards, which have been held in Los Angeles.
Best picture: Winner - No Country For Old Men; Nominations: Atonement, Juno, Michael Clayton, There Will Be Blood
Best director: Winners - Joel and Ethan Coen, No Country For Old Men Nominations: Julian Schnabel, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly; Jason Reitman, Juno; Tony Gilroy, Michael Clayton; Paul Thomas Anderson, There Will Be Blood
Best actor: Winner - Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood. Nominations: George Clooney, Michael Clayton; Johnny Depp, Sweeney Todd; Tommy Lee Jones, In the Valley of Elah; Viggo Mortensen, Eastern Promises
Best actress Winner - Marion Cotillard, La Vie en Rose; Nominations: Cate Blanchett, Elizabeth: The Golden Age; Julie Christie, Away from Her; Laura Linney, The Savages; Ellen Page, Juno
Best supporting actress: Winner - Tilda Swinton, Michael Clayton. Nominations: Cate Blanchett, I'm Not There; Ruby Dee, American Gangster; Saoirse Ronan, Atonement; Amy Ryan, Gone Baby Gone
Best supporting actor: Winner - Javier Bardem, No Country For Old Men. Nominations - Casey Affleck, The Assassination of Jesse James...; Philip Seymour Hoffman, Charlie Wilson's War; Hal Holbrook, Into the Wild; Tom Wilkinson, Michael Clayton
Best foreign language film: Winner - The Counterfeiters (Austria). Nominations -Beaufort (Israel); Katyn (Poland); Mongol (Kazakhstan); 12 (Russia)
Best animated feature film. Winner - Ratatouille. Nominated - Persepolis; Surf's Up
Best adapted screenplay. Winner - No Country For Old Men. Nominated - Atonement; Away from Her; The Diving Bell and the Butterfly; There Will Be Blood
Best original screenplay: Winner - Juno. Nominated: Lars and the Real Girl; Michael Clayton; Ratatouille; The Savages
Best music (score) Winner - Atonement. Nominated - The Kite Runner; Michael Clayton; Ratatouille; 3:10 to Yuma
Best music (song) Winner - Falling Slowly - Once (performed by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova). Nominated - Happy Working Song - Enchanted (performed by Amy Adams); Raise It Up - August Rush (performed by Jamia Simone Nash and Impact Repertory Theatre); So Close - Enchanted (performed by Jon McLaughlin); That's How You Know - Enchanted (performed by Amy Adams)
Best documentary feature: Winner - Taxi to the Dark Side. Nominated - No End in Sight; Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience; Sicko; War/Dance
Best documentary short subject: Winner - Freeheld La Corona (The Crown). Nominated - Salim Baba; Sari's Mother
Best visual effects: Winner - The Golden Compass. Nominated -Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End; Transformers
Best cinematography: Winner - There Will Be Blood. Nominated - The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford; Atonement; The Diving Bell and the Butterfly; No Country For Old Men
Best art direction: Winner - Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Nominated -American Gangster; Atonement; The Golden Compass; There Will Be Blood
Best animated short film: Winner - Peter and the Wolf. Nominated: I Met the Walrus; Madame Tutli-Putli; Meme Les Pigeons Vont au Paradis (Even Pigeons Go to Heaven); My Love (Moya Lyubov)
Best short film: Winner - Le Mozart des Pickpockets. Nominated: At Night; Il Supplente Tanghi Argentini; The Tonto Woman
Best costume design: Winner - Elizabeth: The Golden Age. Nominated - Across the Universe; Atonement; La Vie en Rose; Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Best make-up: Winner - La Vie en Rose. Nominated - Norbit; Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
Best sound mixing: Winner - The Bourne Ultimatum. Nominated - No Country For Old Men; Ratatouille; 3:10 to Yuma; Transformers
Best sound editing: Winner - The Bourne Ultimatum. Nominated - No Country For Old Men; Ratatouille; There Will Be Blood; Transformers
Best film editing: Winner - The Bourne Ultimatum. Nominated - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly; Into the Wild; No Country For Old Men; There Will Be Blood

Bad Education

I got this film out on DVD rather than watching it at the cinema - there are pluses and minuses to watching on DVD.

This film by Pedro Almodovar and starring the talented Gael Garcia Bernal is supposedly autobiographical. I'm making no further assumptions about Slmodovar's life - this is strong stuff. Bernal plays both a man and a woman/transexual and the movie is the story of how two boys were affected by the abuse they received at a Catholic boys school. Both are scarred by the treatment they receive from the Father Principal of the School, but their lives turn out very differently. The story begins as the two are reunited when one (Enrique) is a film maker and the other an actor ('Angel') who has a screenplay written by (he says) himself. Enrique reads the play and finds he is one of the characters featured. As with all Almodovar's films there is a lot of confusing movements backwards & forwards in the story, it is a thriller, full of suspense and highly erotic content. He is very good at exploring relationships and depicting people on the edges of society - the misfits, the abnormal - or perhaps extraordinary characters. Many of his characters are ruthless in their desire to achieve everything for themselves - ammoral as well as immoral. A thought provoking film. Rating: 8/10

The Diving Bell and The Butterfly

The remarkable and moving film of the last months of the Editor-in-Chief of Elle magazine, Jean-Dominique Bauby played magnificently by Mathieu Almaric.

Mr Bauby wakes up from a coma as a result of a massive stroke. His brain is functioning perfectly, but he is totally paralysed and unable to talk. The hospital is determined to rehabilitate him and they set about establishing a means by which he can communicate. A very cumbersome and time consuming (but effective) eye blinking alphabet is set up, and by this means he dictates a book that is published shortly before his death.

The film is almost entirely shot through the eye of Jean-Dominique, (his right eye is sewn up to prevent infection) we rarely get to see the effects of the cerebrovascular accident, but he (and we) can see the shock on the faces of his family and friends when they see him for the first time. He gets about in a wheelchair, but never recovers more than minimal movement.

What a remarkable, and strangely uplifting film - and yet again why is it that European cinema comes upon with more interesting (but inevitably less commercial) films? Rating 8/10

Juno

A very above average movie about teenage pregnancy. Starring Ellen Page as the eponymous Juno, and Michael Cera as the surprised father Bleeker. The film opens with the feisty (almost aggressive) Juno finding out she is pregnant after a very much pre-planned one night stand with Bleeker - who is extremely geeky and nerdy and obsessed with running. Juno is like a whirlwind. She tells her father & stepmother (the wonderful Allison Janney) rejects the abortion route and then sees an advert by childless couple Mark (Jason Bateman) and Vanessa (Jennifer Garner), and decides they will adopt her baby. In many ways this couple mirror Juno and Bleeker - Mark has his head in the clouds and isn't ready to grow up Vanessa is desperate to be a real adult - and a mother. Juno is 16 going on 35, Bleeker is 16 going on 10. Juno is like a whirlwind in this couple's lives, and the pregnancy is smooth from Juno's viewpoint, but far from straightforward for Mark, Vanessa, Bleeker,and Juno's father and stepmother.

I'm not surprised this film has been lined up for so many awards - it is quirky, but thoughtful and is sensitively drawn - without the sentimentality usual for American films about teenagers and their families. Rating? 8/10

Winners of the British Academy Awards

Best filmWinner: Atonement - Also nominated: American Gangster; The Lives of Others; No Country For Old Men; There Will Be Blood
Best British film: Winner: This is England - Also nominated: Atonement; The Bourne Ultimatum; Control; Eastern Promises
Leading actor: Winner: Daniel Day-Lewis - There Will Be Blood - Also nominated: George Clooney - Michael Clayton; James McAvoy - Atonement; Viggo Mortensen - Eastern Promises; Ulrich Muehe - The Lives of Others
Leading actress: Winner: Marion Cotillard - La Vie En Rose - Also nominated: Cate Blanchett - Elizabeth: The Golden Age; Julie Christie - Away From Her; Keira Knightley - Atonement; Ellen Page - Juno
Supporting actor: Winner: Javier Bardem - No Country For Old Men - Also nominated: Paul Dano - There Will Be Blood; Tommy Lee Jones - No Country For Old Men; Philip Seymour Hoffman - Charlie Wilson's War; Tom Wilkinson - Michael Clayton
Supporting actress: Winner: Tilda Swinton - Michael Clayton - Also nominated: Cate Blanchett - I'm Not There; Kelly Macdonald - No Country For Old Men; Samantha Morton - Control; Saoirse Ronan - Atonement
Director: Winner: No Country For Old Men - Joel Coen, Ethan Coen - Also nominated: Atonement - Joe Wright; The Bourne Ultimatum - Paul Greengrass; The Lives of Others - Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck; There Will Be Blood - Paul Thomas Anderson
Original screenplay: Winner: Juno - Diablo Cody - Also nominated: American Gangster - Steven Zaillian; The Lives of Others - Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck; Michael Clayton - Tony Gilroy; This is England - Shane Meadows
Adapted screenplay: Winner: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly - Ronald Harwood - Also nominated: Atonement - Christopher Hampton; The Kite Runner - David Benioff; No Country For Old Men - Joel Coen/Ethan Coen; There Will Be Blood - Paul Thomas Anderson
Film not in the English language: Winner: The Lives of Others - Also nominated: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly; The Kite Runner; Lust, Caution; La Vie En Rose
Animated film: Winner: Ratatouille - Also nominated: Shrek the Third; The Simpsons Movie
Carl Foreman award for special achievement by a British director, writer or producer in their first feature film: Winner: Matt Greenhalgh (writer) - Control - Also nominated: Chris Atkins (director/writer) - Taking Liberties; Mia Bays (producer) - Scott Walker: 30 Century Man; Sarah Gavron (director) - Brick Lane; Andrew Piddington (director/writer) - The Killing of John Lennon
Music: Winner: La Vie En Rose - Christopher Gunning - Also nominated: American Gangster - Marc Streitenfeld; Atonement - Dario Marianelli: The Kite Runner - Alberto Iglesias: There Will Be Blood - Jonny Greenwood
Cinematography: Winner: No Country For Old Men - Roger Deakins; Also nominated: American Gangster - Harris Savides; Atonement - Seamus McGarvey; The Bourne Ultimatum - Oliver Wood; There Will Be Blood - Robert Elswit
Editing: Winner: The Bourne Ultimatum - Christopher Rouse - Also nominated: American Gangster - Pietro Scalia; Atonement - Paul Tothill; Michael Clayton - John Gilroy; No Country For Old Men - Roderick Jaynes
Production design: Winner: Atonement - Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer - Also nominated: Elizabeth: The Golden Age - Guy Hendrix Dyas, Richard Roberts; Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - Stuart Craig, Stepheanie McMillan; There Will Be Blood - Jack Fisk, Jim Erickson; La Vie En Rose - Olivier Raoux
Costume design: Winner: La Vie En Rose - Marit Allen - Also nominated: Atonement - Jacqueline Durran; Elizabeth: The Golden Age - Alexandra Byrne; Lust, Caution - Pan Lai; Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street - Colleen Atwood
Sound: Winner: The Bourne Ultimatum - Kirk Francis, Scott Millan, Dave Parker, Karen Baker Landers, Per Hallberg - Also nominated: Atonement - Danny Hambrook, Paul Hamblin, Catherine Hodgson, Becki Ponting; No Country For Old Men - Peter Kurland, Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff; There Will Be Blood - Christopher Scarabosio, Matthew Wood, John Pritchett, Michael Semanick, Tom Johnson; La Vie En Rose - Laurent Zeilig, Pascal Villard, Jean-Paul Hurier, Marc Doisne
Special visual effects: Winner: The Golden Compass - Michael Fink, Bill Westenhofer, Ben Morris, Trevor Wood - Also nominated: The Bourne Ultimatum - Peter Chiang, Charlie Noble, Mattias Lindahl, Joss Williams; Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - Tim Burke, John Richardson, Emma Norton, Chris Shaw; Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End - John Knoll, Charles Gibson, Hal Hickel, John Frazier; Spider-Man 3 - Scott Stokdyk, Peter Nofz, John Frazier, Spencer Cook
Make-up and hair: Winner: La Vie En Rose - Jan Archibald, Didier Lavergne - Also nominated: Atonement - Ivana Primorac; Elizabeth: The Golden Age - Jenny Shircore; Hairspray - Judi Cooper Sealy, Jordan Samuel; Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street - Ivana Primorac, Peter Owen
Short animation: Winner: The Pearce Sisters - Jo Allen, Luis Cook - Also nominated: Head Over Heels - Osbert Parker, Fiona Pitkin, Ian Gouldstone; The Crumblegiant - Pearse Moore, John McCloskey
Short film: Winner: Dog Altogether - Diarmid Scrimshaw, Paddy Considine - Also nominated: Hesitation - Julien Berlan, Michelle Eastwood, Virginia Gilbert; The One And Only Herb McGwyer Plays Wallis Island - Charlie Henderson, James Griffiths, Tim Key, Tom BasdenSoft - Jane Hooks, Simon Ellis; The Stronger - Dan McCulloch, Lia Williams, Frank McGuinness
The Orange Rising Star award (voted for by the public); Winner:Shia LaBeouf - Also nominated: Sienna Miller; Ellen Page; Sam Riley; Tang Wei
Academy Fellowship: Sir Anthony Hopkins
Outstanding British contribution to cinema; Barry Wilkinson

Tea Time

A Documentary film by Alexandra Moskalenko. This short movie is about the Blackheath Tea Hut, a facility that has sat on the edge of Blackheath on the A2 at Shooter's Hil since 1924. This area was riddled with highwaymen a century or more ago, and now this tiny building is open around the clock, and around the year (closed for Christmas though) and serves a varied community of locals and passers by, come rain come shine.

The director makes no contribution at all, the customers and staff do all the talking, interspersed with film of the area (with customer voiceovers) and film of the customers who treat it as a meeting place and open air community centre.

I found it fascinating, as the contributors spoke candidly, even therapeutically, about their lives, and how the Hut helped them and raised their sense of well-being.

Of course the Hut is not universally popular - the Blackheath Society wants it closed - it is (in their opinion) an eyesore, attracts the wrong elements, is a magnet for litter and degrades the environment. Their main concern was the 24 hour opening, something that has been happening for over 30 years. I reckon it would a great shame to end this institution.

This film is not on general release - but the original two showings have been extended to 6 - so get to the Greenwich Picturehouse to see this wonderful 'reality' picture. Rating: 8/10

The Golden Compass

Starring Nicole Kidman and Dakota Blue Richards, with Ian McKellan as the voice of a giant armoured polar bear. Frankly I'm not a fan of fantasy adventure movies - Harry Potter leaves me cold, and these child orientated stories rarely do it for me. The film is based on Philip Pullman's novels - all based on the notion that there are dozens of parallel universes in existence and they are connected in some way. The universe he has created is populated by people who have external souls called daemons in the form of some creature. In this episode Lyra a teenager who is the possessor of a golden compass that can tell the truth to the right person. She will undermine the authority of the sinister magisterium. I have to say that it was about half an hour in that I almost lost the will to live - I was just confused by the premise upon which this is all based. For reasons I couldn't quite understand there was a lot of traipsing about snowy wastes, a battle between giant armoured polar bears, vast numbers of children were encarcerated within a scientific establishment seeking to forcibly part them from their daemons before they stopped changing shape (keep up) whilst Daniel Craig in something slightly more than a cameo role was doing experiments in some isolated laboratory. Maybe I just don't buy the simplicity of the good versus evil thing that is depicted here - but this wasn't exciting, nor truly fantastical enough, nor adventurous enough. It's a bit rubbish really. Rating 5/10

The Savages

A film starring the wonderful (but seemingly rarely used) Laura Linney and the exceptional (but remarkably overused) Philip Seymour Hoffman. The movie follows the last few months of father Lenny Savage and his two children Wendy and Jon. The story is more about the children and their reaction to Lenny's sinking into dementia than about Lenny himself - he is always something of an onlooker. This is not a close family. The film opens with Lenny in Arizona, Wendy in New York and Jon in Buffalo. None seem terribly successful, none seem to want to talk about their lives together - in fact they are leading separate and rarely connecting lives. Only one sentence is said about Lenny's wife, Wendy & Jon's mother. The film opens with the death of Lenny's long time girlfriend and it becomes clear he cannot cope alone. What are the children to do with him? We move through guilt, anger, disappointment, frustration - and without sentimentality touch upon all those things that worry us all as we grow old - how would we deal with a parent or loved one who cannot cope independently. This is movingly handled, and with humour, darkly. It does, unusually, deal with a family situation where love does not come naturally, there are clearly bad aspects to the childhoods of both Wendy and Jon - but these aren't paraded like a psycho-analysts clinic, they are skirted around, left hanging unspoken, and referred to only on the edge. This is realistic. I would rate this much more highly than Julie Christie's Away From Her. Go see it - Rating 8/10

Heath Ledger

Sad news today with the announcement of the death of Heath Ledger, found 'surrounded by pills' in his New York flat. The star of Brokeback Mountain had not yet achieved the megastar status that he probably deserved. In a way it seems a pity that this talented actor will only be remembered for that one role.

Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

Now one of my absolute all time favourite films is Airplane. So any spoof parody film is going to be good for me, and this was very enjoyable. Starring John C Reilly and Jenna Fischer this is a movie sending up every biopic that has come out of Hollywood. This is especially aimed at the Cash film Walk the Line, but manages to nod at the Buddy Holly biopic, The Coalminer's Daughter, the Ray Charles film and every other film about the life of a singer you can think of. Dewy Cox is a Rock & Roll musician of the 1950s whose childhood is overshadowed by a tragic machete fight accident, resulting him in losing his sense of smell - and killing his brother. Through the next fifty years the John C Reilly character (and yes the same actor improbably plays Dewey from age 14 to 70) through two marriages, prison, endless addictions, tragedy and shows. During his career (going through Jerry Lee Lewis lookalike performances, Presley, the Beatles, Tamla, and every other musical style you can think of) he meets every famous singer - Holly, Presley, the Beatles, the Temptations, all played by people who really don't look anything like the people they are supposed to be. The songs are clever pastiches and the jokes are silly but to my mind funny. Rating 8/10

Golden Globes results

Not a great deal of glitz & glamour at this year's golden globes because of the stars' support for the writers' strike, but the results - winners & losers produced some surprises, as well as the usual predictability!

Best film (drama)
Atonement
Also nominated: American Gangster; Eastern Promises; The Great Debaters; Michael Clayton; No Country for Old Men; There Will Be Blood

Best film (musical or comedy)
Sweeney Todd
Also nominated: Across the Universe; Charlie Wilson's War; Hairspray; Juno

Best director - film
Julian Schnabel - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Also nominated: Tim Burton - Sweeney Todd; Ethan Coen and Joel Coen - No Country for Old Men; Ridley Scott - American Gangster; Joe Wright - Atonement

Best actor (drama)
Daniel Day Lewis - There Will Be Blood
Also nominated: George Clooney - Michael Clayton; James McAvoy - Atonement; Viggo Mortensen - Eastern Promises; Denzel Washington - American Gangster
Best actress (drama)
Julie Christie - Away from Her
Also nominated: Cate Blanchett - Elizabeth: The Golden Age; Jodie Foster - The Brave One; Angelina Jolie - A Mighty Heart; Keira Knightley - Atonement
Best actor (musical or comedy)
Johnny Depp - Sweeney Todd
Also nominated: Ryan Gosling - Lars and the Real Girl; Tom Hanks - Charlie Wilson's War; Philip Seymour Hoffman - The Savages; John C Reilly - Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
Best actress (musical or comedy)
Marion Cotillard - La Vie en Rose
Also nominated: Amy Adams - Enchanted; Nikki Blonsky - Hairspray; Helena Bonham Carter - Sweeney Todd; Ellen Page - Juno
Best supporting actor
Javier Bardem - No Country for Old Men
Also nominated: Casey Affleck - The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford; Philip Seymour Hoffman - Charlie Wilson's War; John Travolta - Hairspray; Tom Wilkinson - Michael Clayton
Best supporting actress
Cate Blanchett - I'm Not There
Also nominated: Julia Roberts - Charlie Wilson's War; Saoirse Ronan - Atonement; Amy Ryan - Gone Baby Gone; Tilda Swinton - Michael Clayton
Best foreign language film
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (France and US)
Also nominated: 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (Romania); The Kite Runner (US); Lust, Caution (Taiwan); Persepolis (France)
Best animated feature film
Ratatouille
Also nominated: Bee Movie; The Simpsons Movie
Best screenplay
Ethan Coen and Joel Coen - No Country for Old Men
Also nominated: Diablo Cody - Juno; Christopher Hampton - Atonement; Ronald Harwood - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly; Aaron Sorkin - Charlie Wilson's War
Best original song
Guaranteed - Into the Wild
Also nominated: Despedida - Love in the Time of Cholera; Grace is Gone - Grace is Gone; That's How You Know - Enchanted; Walk Hard - Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
Best original score
Dario Marianelli - Atonement
Also nominated: Michael Brook, Kaki King, Eddie Vedder - Into the Wild; Clint Eastwood - Grace is Gone; Alberto Iglesias - The Kite Runner; Howard Shore - Eastern Promises
TELEVISION CATEGORIES
Best series (drama)
Mad Men
Also nominated: Big Love; Damages; Grey's Anatomy; House; The Tudors
Best series (musical or comedy)
Extras
Also nominated: 30 Rock; Californication; Entourage; Pushing Daisies
Best mini-series or film made for TV
Longford
Also nominated: Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee; The Company; Five Days; The State Within
Best actor (drama)
Jon Hamm - Mad Men
Also nominated: Michael C Hall - Dexter; Hugh Laurie - House; Jonathan Rhys Meyers - The Tudors; Bill Paxton - Big Love
Best actor (musical or comedy)
David Duchovny - Californication
Also nominated: Alec Baldwin - 30 Rock; Steve Carrell - The Office; Ricky Gervais - Extras; Lee Pace - Pushing Daisies
Best actor (mini-series or film made for TV)
Jim Broadbent - Longford
Also nominated: Adam Beach - Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee; Ernest Borgnine - A Grandpa for Christmas; Jason Isaacs - The State Within; James Nesbitt - Jekyll
Best actress (drama)
Glenn Close - Damages
Also nominated: Patricia Arquette - Medium; Minnie Driver - The Riches; Sally Field - Brothers and Sisters; Holly Hunter - Saving Grace; Kyra Sedgwick - The Closer; Edie Falco - The Sopranos
Best actress (musical or comedy)
Tina Fey - 30 Rock
Also nominated: Christina Applegate - Samantha Who?; America Ferrera - Ugly Betty; Anna Friel - Pushing Daisies; Mary-Louise Parker - Weeds

Best actress (mini-series or film made for TV)
Queen Latifah - Life Support
Also nominated: Bryce Dallas Howard - As You Like It; Debra Messing - The Starter Wife; Sissy Spacek - Pictures of Hollis Woods; Ruth Wilson - Jane Eyre

Best supporting actor (mini-series or film made for TV)
Jeremy Piven - Entourage
Also nominated: Ted Danson - Damages; Kevin Dillon - Entourage; Andy Serkis - Longford; William Shatner - Boston Legal; Donald Sutherland - Dirty Sexy Money

Best supporting actress (mini-series or film made for TV)
Samantha Morton - Longford
Also nominated: Rose Byrne - Damages; Rachel Griffiths - Brothers and Sisters; Katherine Heigl - Grey's Anatomy; Anna Paquin - Bury My Heart On Wounded Knee; Jaime Pressly - My Name is Earl