15 Oscar contenders to be considered

By DAVID S. COHEN
Source: Variety

The Motion Picture Academy’s visual effects branch made an unprecedented statement in support of visual effects in animated films as it narrowed the contenders for the vfx Oscar to 15 films that will be considered for the January “bake-off.”

The Acad included “Ratatouille” and “Beowulf” over such effects-heavy live-action pics as “Enchanted” and “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.”

The entire list of 15, in alphabetical order, is: “Beowulf,” “The Bourne Ultimatum,” “Evan Almighty,” “The Golden Compass,” “Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix,” “I Am Legend,” “Live Free Or Die Hard,” “National Treasure: Book Of Secrets,” “Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World’s End,” “Ratatouille,” “Spider-Man 3,” “Sunshine,” “300,” “Transformers,” and “The Water Horse.”

The Academy instituted the short list this year so that its vfx branch could see all the contending films before selecting the seven that will compete in the bake-off. Three of those seven will receive nominations.

Source: Daily Variety
By: KAREN IDELSON

When “300″ first screened for audiences, Larry Fong was disappointed with some of the feedback at first.

“A few people said they thought it was all CG, and that hurt,” he recalls. “But then I realized that since it had really been our goal to sort of blur this line between CG and live action as part of being true to the style of the graphic novel, these people had actually given us a big compliment.”

Helmer Zack Snyder told Fong that the look of “300″ was going to be key, and the cinematographer was intrigued by the idea of blending so many different elements. “(Snyder) intended it to be a visual feast, and when he described in those terms, I began to get very excited about the possibilities,” says Fong.

That led to a lot of testing — film, exposures, blue- and greenscreen and makeup — until the look evolved into what Synder wanted.

Fong is now at work on the adaptation of another graphic novel, “Watchmen,” with Snyder. This time the approach will be different.

“Although ‘Watchmen’ is also based on a graphic novel, it is not going to have the image manipulated in the same way as ‘300,’ ” Fong says. “We are trying to push the envelope visually, but there isn’t an overall ‘look’ per se.”

Considering the visuals of “300,” it’s no surprise Fong draws inspiration from magic. “Instilling the audience with a sense of wonder is what magic and cinema have in common,” Fong says.

Fave tool: “I don’t really have one specific thing. The shoot sort of dictates what will work in that situation.”

Fave film stock: “Again, it all depends. I want to use what my director needs me to use in order to get the look we need to tell the story.”

Inspiration: “I’m inspired by magicians and the way they can lead your eye so that you believe you’re seeing a certain thing, even if it’s not really there.”

Up next: “Watchmen,” helmed by Zack Snyder

Rep: Julia Kole, Jacob & Kole Agency

Epic blood bath named movie of the year

By DANIEL KIMMEL
Source: Variety

Feature “300″ was named 2007 movie of the year at the 11th Hollywood Film Festival’s Hollywood Awards, held Monday at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

Pic beat out summer blockbusters “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,” “Transformers” and “Spider-Man 3,” among others.

The Hollywood World Award went to Romanian film “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days,” directed by Cristian Mungiu.

The fest’s top feature award went to “Gone With the Woman,” directed by Petter Naess, and “Knee Deep” was tapped top docu. (more…)

ZACH SNYDER’S “300″ & CRISTIAN MUNGIU’S “4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS AND 2 DAYS” ARE AMONG WINNERS

HOLLYWOOD, CA, October 23, 2007 — The 11th Annual Hollywood Film Festival’s “Hollywood Awards®” ceremony, honoring independent filmmakers and established Hollywood professionals, was held last night before a standing-room-only audience of over 1,200 Hollywood Film Festival® attendees at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills..

The festival, presented by STARZ, announced this year’s winner of the “Hollywood Movie of the Year Award” — Zach Snyder’s “300″ — which was chosen by the public voting online at the Yahoo! Movies website. The voting site received 20 million visitors and 125,000 votes were cast. The nominees for the “Hollywood Movie of the Year Award” were: “300,” “The Bourne Ultimatum,” “Hairspray,” “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,” “Ocean’s Thirteen,” “Ratatouille,” “Shrek the Third,” “The Simpsons Movie,” “Spider-Man 3,” and “Transformers.”

The Hollywood Film Festival® presented the “Hollywood World Award” to the film “4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS AND 2 DAYS” by Cristian Mungiu. A drama from Romania, distributed by IFC Films and starring Anamaria Marinco, Laura Vasiliu, Vlad Ivanov, Alexandru Potocean, and Luminita Gheorghiu, “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days” is a story centered around an illegal abortion. (more…)

It only took three years of being the most-nominated program, but “Battlestar Galactica” is finally a winner at the SyFy Genre Awards, being the favorite for Best Series/Television by the more than 25,000 voters participating in the eighth annual event.

“Galactica” once again came into this year with the most nominations, spread out through various actor categories and even a couple of nods in the Gene Roddenberry Lifetime Achievement Award category, but was shut out from every one except for Best Series, where it beat out some tough competition like “Doctor Who,” “Lost,” “Heroes” and “Jericho.”

The Frank Miller epic “300″ also did well in this year’s Genre Awards, sweeping all the movie categories including Best Actor for Gerard Butler, Best Actress for Lena Headey and Best Movie.

But don’t discount any of the other shows. The Stargate series did very well with Amanda Tapping from “Stargate: SG-1″ winning Best Actress/Television, Richard Dean Anderson winning Best Special Guest for his role in “SG-1’s” “200,” and Joe Flanigan making a surprise win as Best Actor/Television for “Stargate: Atlantis.”

Another Tapping project, the online series “Sanctuary,” won the first-ever award for Best Web Production, beating out two Webisodes of “Battlestar Galactica” and a “Star Trek: New Voyages” episode. In the same vein, GateWorld outlasted some strong Web sites, including last year’s winner Whedonesque, to win Best Web Site.

“Heroes” on NBC also took home a trio of awards including Best Supporting Actor/Television for Masi Oka, Best Supporting Actress/Television for Ali Larter, and Best Young Actor for Hayden Panettiere.

For Best Episode/Television, the first season finale of “Doctor Who” was a winner, “The Parting of the Ways” while the late James Doohan won this year’s Gene Roddenberry Lifetime Achievement Award.

A video production of all the winners can be found here, which already has been viewed by more than 1,000 people since being released Saturday night.

The SyFy Genre Awards started in 1999 and has been a staple of the SyFy Portal universe for nearly a decade. Considered the original virtual awards (and one of the largest), the Genre Awards get a list of nominees from a hand-picked committee from around the world. Then, fans have a chance to vote for their favorites once per day for 30 days, which this year attracted more than 25,000 people.

BEST ACTOR/Television
2007 - Joe Flanigan, “Stargate: Atlantis”
2006 - Nathan Fillion, “Firefly”
2005 - Ben Browder, “Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars”
2004 - David Boreanaz, “Angel”
2003 - Ben Browder, “Farscape”
2001 - Ben Browder, “Farscape”
2000 - Avery Brooks, “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine”
1999 - Avery Brooks, “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine”

BEST ACTRESS/Television
2007 - Amanda Tapping, “Stargate SG-1″
2006 - Evangeline Lilly, “Lost”
2005 - Claudia Black, “Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars”
2004 - Sarah Michelle Gellar, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”
2003 - Claudia Black, “Farscape”
2001 - Kate Mulgrew, “Star Trek: Voyager”
2000 - Kate Mulgrew, “Star Trek: Voyager”
1999 - Kate Mulgrew, “Star Trek: Voyager”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR/Television
2007 - Masi Oka, “Heroes”
2006 - Adam Baldwin, “Firefly”
2005 - Michael Shanks, “Stargate SG-1″
2004 - James Marsters, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”
2003 - James Marsters, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”
2001 - Robert Picardo, “Star Trek: Voyager”
2000 - Robert Picardo, “Star Trek: Voyager”
1999 - David Hemblen, “Earth Final Conflict”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS/Television
2007 - Ali Larter, “Heroes”
2006 - Amy Acker, “Alias”
2005 - Amy Acker, “Angel”
2004 - Amy Acker, “Angel”
2003 - Gigi Edgley, “Farscape”
2001 - Jeri Ryan, “Star Trek: Voyager”
2000 - Jeri Ryan, “Star Trek: Voyager”
1999 - Jeri Ryan, “Star Trek: Voyager”

BEST ACTOR/Movie
2007 - Gerard Butler, “300″
2006 - Daniel Radcliffe, “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire”
2005 - Will Smith, “I Robot”
2004 - Johnny Depp, “Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl”
2003 - Viggo Mortensen, “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers”
2001 - Patrick Stewart, “X-Men”
2000 - Tom Hanks, “The Green Mile”
1999 - Patrick Stewart, “Star Trek: Insurrection”

BEST ACTRESS/Movie
2007 - Lena Headey, “300″
2006 - Emma Watson, “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire”
2005 - Kate Winslet, “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”
2004 - Liv Tyler, “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King”
2003 - Liv Tyler, “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers”
2001 - Anna Paquin, “X-Men”
2000 - Sigourney Weaver, “Galaxy Quest”
1999 - Donna Murphy, “Star Trek: Insurrection”

BEST YOUNG ACTOR
2007 - Hayden Panettiere, “Heroes”
2006 - Emma Watson, “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire”
2005 - Daniel Radcliffe, “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban”
2004 - Elijah Wood, “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King”
2003 - Daniel Radcliffe, “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets”
2001 - Manu Intiraymi, “Star Trek: Voyager”
2000 - Scarlett Pomers, “Star Trek: Voyager”
1999 - Scarlett Pomers, “Star Trek: Voyager”

BEST SPECIAL GUEST/Television
2007 - Richard Dean Anderson, “200,” Stargate SG-1
2006 - Christina Hendricks, “Trash,” Firefly
2005 - Claudia Black, “Prometheus Unbound,” Stargate SG-1
2004 - Charisma Carpenter, “You’re Welcome,” Angel
2003 - Juliet Landau, “Lies My Parents Told Me,” Buffy the Vampire Slayer
2001 - Susanna Thompson, “Unimatrix Zero,” Star Trek: Voyager
2000 - Marina Sirtis, “Pathfinder,” Star Trek: Voyager
1999 - Bill Mumy, “The Siege of AR-558,” Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

BEST EPISODE/Television
2007 - “Parting of the Ways,” Doctor Who
2006 - “Trash,” Firefly
2005 - “Prometheus Unbound,” Stargate SG-1
2004 - “A Hole in the World,” Angel
2003 - “Conversations With Dead People,” Buffy the Vampire Slayer
2001 - “The Body,” Buffy the Vampire Slayer
2000 - “What You Leave Behind,” Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
1999 - “Dark Frontier,” Star Trek: Voyager

BEST WEB PRODUCTION
2007 - “Episode 1,” Sanctuary

BEST WEB SITE
2007 - GateWorld
2006 - Whedonesque

BEST SERIES/Television
2007 - Battlestar Galactica
2006 - Firefly
2005 - Stargate SG-1
2004 - Angel
2003 - Farscape
2001 - Star Trek: Voyager
2000 - Star Trek: Voyager
1999 - The X-Files

BEST MOVIE
2007 - 300
2006 - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
2005 - The Incredibles
2004 - The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
2003 - The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
2001 - X-Men
2000 - Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace
1999 - The Matrix

GENE RODDENBERRY LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
2007 - James Doohan*
2006 - Stan Lee
2005 - Steven Spielberg
2004 - Joss Whedon
2003 - J.R.R. Tolkien*
2001 - Leonard Nimoy
2000 - George Lucas
1999 - Gene Roddenberry*
– posthumously