The critics have spoken: National Society snubs ‘The Departed,’ lauds ‘Labyrinth’, ‘The Queen’
The critics have spoken: National Society snubs ‘The Departed,’ lauds ‘Labyrinth’, ‘The Queen’By James VerniereBoston Herald Film Critic Sunday, January 7, 2007 - Updated: 12:53 AM EST
Forget “The Departed.” And forget Martin Scorsese. At New York City’s historic Sardi’s restaurant, the big winner yestereday was a movie that’s been described as a Spanish-language “Alice in Wonderland” for grown-ups. “Pan’s Labyrinth” was chosen best film of the year by the National Society of Film Critics. In a confab dedicated to the memory of director Robert Altman, the voting resulted in several very close contests, with a wide variety of films being honored. Repeating his win at the Boston Society of Film Critics, Dorchester homeboy Mark Wahlberg won the Best Supporting Actor award for his explosive performance in “The Departed.” But that was it for the Scorsese tour de force - the Whitey Bulger saga grafted onto a remake of the Hong Kong thriller “Internal Affairs.”
The frequently feted Meryl Streep added to her groaning awards shelf by taking Best Supporting Actress for two performances, her sulfurous turn in the title role of “The Devil Wears Prada” and her sweetly melodic dosie-do in Altman’s final film, “A Prairie Home Companion.” Only one film, Stephen Frears’ “The Queen,” copped more than one award. Those went to Helen Mirren for her performance as Queen Elizabeth in the week following the death of Diana, and to Peter Morgan’s screenplay. The Best Picture winner, Guillermo del Toro’s “Pan’s Labyrinth,” is a coming-of-age tale set in the years following the Spanish Civil War. The movie, which opens Friday in Boston, has won wide critical acclaim since its debut at the Cannes Film Festival last spring and has been a surprise hit in the U.S. cities where it’s played. The Best Director prize went to Paul Greengrass (“The Bourne Supremacy”) for his wrenching reenactment “United 93.” In the closely contested Best Actor category, Forest Whitaker, playing Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, edged out veteran star and multiple Academy-Award nominee Peter O’Toole (playing an aged actor in “Venus”) by a single vote. As has Mirren, Whitaker has virtually swept the critics’ awards this year. “An Inconvenient Truth,” the cautionary documentary about the threat of global warming (and a rare documentary box-office success), featuring Al Gore in a tub-thumping presentation, took the prize for Best Nonfiction Film. The second half of Clint Eastwood’s World War II diptych,“Letters From Iwo Jima,” was a close contender in several categories, though it and several other highly touted films such as “Dreamgirls [trailer]” and “Babel” came up empty.
- jverniere@bostonherald.com
http://theedge.bostonherald.com/movieNews/view.bg?articleid=175757
Forget “The Departed.” And forget Martin Scorsese. At New York City’s historic Sardi’s restaurant, the big winner yestereday was a movie that’s been described as a Spanish-language “Alice in Wonderland” for grown-ups. “Pan’s Labyrinth” was chosen best film of the year by the National Society of Film Critics. In a confab dedicated to the memory of director Robert Altman, the voting resulted in several very close contests, with a wide variety of films being honored. Repeating his win at the Boston Society of Film Critics, Dorchester homeboy Mark Wahlberg won the Best Supporting Actor award for his explosive performance in “The Departed.” But that was it for the Scorsese tour de force - the Whitey Bulger saga grafted onto a remake of the Hong Kong thriller “Internal Affairs.”
The frequently feted Meryl Streep added to her groaning awards shelf by taking Best Supporting Actress for two performances, her sulfurous turn in the title role of “The Devil Wears Prada” and her sweetly melodic dosie-do in Altman’s final film, “A Prairie Home Companion.” Only one film, Stephen Frears’ “The Queen,” copped more than one award. Those went to Helen Mirren for her performance as Queen Elizabeth in the week following the death of Diana, and to Peter Morgan’s screenplay. The Best Picture winner, Guillermo del Toro’s “Pan’s Labyrinth,” is a coming-of-age tale set in the years following the Spanish Civil War. The movie, which opens Friday in Boston, has won wide critical acclaim since its debut at the Cannes Film Festival last spring and has been a surprise hit in the U.S. cities where it’s played. The Best Director prize went to Paul Greengrass (“The Bourne Supremacy”) for his wrenching reenactment “United 93.” In the closely contested Best Actor category, Forest Whitaker, playing Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, edged out veteran star and multiple Academy-Award nominee Peter O’Toole (playing an aged actor in “Venus”) by a single vote. As has Mirren, Whitaker has virtually swept the critics’ awards this year. “An Inconvenient Truth,” the cautionary documentary about the threat of global warming (and a rare documentary box-office success), featuring Al Gore in a tub-thumping presentation, took the prize for Best Nonfiction Film. The second half of Clint Eastwood’s World War II diptych,“Letters From Iwo Jima,” was a close contender in several categories, though it and several other highly touted films such as “Dreamgirls [trailer]” and “Babel” came up empty.
- jverniere@bostonherald.com
http://theedge.bostonherald.com/movieNews/view.bg?articleid=175757
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