THE 2008 MOUTON D'OR NOMINATIONS

Black Sheep’s Best of 2007

This time last year I was trudging through garbage in search of a half-eaten cheese sandwich I could dust off and pass off as one of the better films of the year. 2006 was certainly no country for an old man like myself. I’m happy to say though that this year, I was able to keep my hands clean as 2007 was the year even the rats were allowed in the kitchen to make themselves a real snack before settling in for a flick. 2007, you can rest easy for you have sufficiently atoned for the sins of 2006. I assure you there will be no blood shed here, just some love and recognition in the form of an award or two. No, Canada, this ain’t the Juno’s – it’s the 2007 BLACK SHEEP REVIEWS’ MOUTON D’OR AWARDS!

But seriously folks, 2007 has been a great year both on the screen and off for this here film critic. I have had the opportunity to see over 80 first run films and write over 50 reviews. I even manage to get myself invited to press screenings now. That might seem like nothing to some but as it doesn’t happen often for me, waking up to a movie, a coffee and a croissant with a handful of film enthusiasts is a little like heaven to me. I was published for the first time in March, discussing THE ASTRONAUT FARMER in The National Post’s Popcorn Panel and went on to find my way there another seven times. I was voted Critic of the Week twice on Zip.ca – once because I got all my friends to vote for me and once was a complete surprise. I ended my run as a regular DVD reviewer for Ioncinema.com and began covering film festivals for them instead, like the Montreal World Film Festival and the Nouveau Cinema Festival. This allowed me the chance to meet and speak with directors as diverse as Michael Davis (SHOOT EM UP), Bruce McDonald (THE TRACEY FRAGMENTS) and Jeremy Podeswa (FUGITIVE PIECES). In the online world, my work found a new forum on Montreal Film Journal and continued to be read by hundreds on Smart-Popcorn. The official Black Sheep Reviews Facebook group has reached over 450 members. The Globe and Mail and The Edmonton Sun both interviewed me as an up and coming voice in the field of freelance film criticism. My actual voice found its way to the airwaves on 940 Montreal, where I debated on an almost weekly basis what people should spend their money on at the theatres and finished the year by announcing my Top 10 on New Year’s Eve. I may have had to pay my own way but I finally found myself at the Toronto International Film Festival. I was suddenly surrounded by Ang Lee, Catherine Keener, Jake Gyllenhaal, Eddie Vedder, Reese Witherspoon, Emile Hirsch and Peter Saarsgard to name a few. Sure they had no idea I was there but who cares? A separate trip to the New York Film Festival gave me the chance to catch the advance screening of MARGOT AT THE WEDDING, with both Jennifer Jason Leigh and Noah Baumbach on hand to discuss the experience. And last, but naturally not least, Black Sheep Reviews found its face in a beautifully animated sheep named Sheldon, designed by my humble and talented friend, Trevor Adams. Sheldon makes for an amazing flyer and there are times when I’m handing them out and people tell me they’ve already been to the site or visit regularly. There are times when I’m sitting at my day job worried that all of this is for nothing and that no one is reading my words but thanks to all of my amazing supporters, that is simply not true. If it weren’t for you, Black Sheep Reviews would never have been voted the 4th Best Blog in Montreal (Montreal Mirror) or be visited by thousands monthly.

Right, so enough about me, let’s get to the movies. Before December and the onslaught of critic’s list announcements, 2007’s award race was wide open. It was exhilarating to know that any number of films could become the front-runner for the Best Picture crown. All too often, the hype machine has already solidified certain titles as sure bets but this year, all the bets were off. While this made the wide variety of possibility exciting in my MOUTON D’OR nominations, whittling the selections down to five in each category was almost exhausting … even after I added new categories to honour as many films as possible. Joining the regular categories from last year are three more technical categories – Cinematography, Editing and Original Music. Also, another year means another change for an award title that I just can’t get right … It is meant to embody the spirit of independent film but the idea of what is independent is so blurred that the best I could come up with as an award title is Best Little Movie That Could: An award for genuine intention, artistry and heart. Let’s not waste another moment … Here are the nominations for Black Sheep Reviews’ 2007 Mouton d’Or Awards:


BEST POPCORN FLICK

THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM
THE DARJEELING LIMITED
DEATH PROOF
I AM LEGEND
RATATOUILLE


BEST LITTLE MOVIE THAT COULD:
An award for genuine intention, artistry and heart

I’M NOT THERE
JUNO
LARS AND THE REAL GIRL
ONCE
WAITRESS


THE WORST MOVIE I SAW ALL YEAR

ACROSS THE UNIVERSE
ALPHA DOG
BLACK SNAKE MOAN
L’AGE DES TENEBRES (DAYS OF DARKNESS)
TRANSFORMERS


THE TREVOR ADAMS ANIMATED FEATURE AWARD

PERSEPOLIS
RATATOUILLE
THE SIMPSONS MOVIE


BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD (Roger Deakins, cinematographer)
ATONEMENT (Seamus McGarvey)
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN (Roger Deakins)
LE SCAPHANDRE ET LE PAPILLON (Janusz Kaminski)
THERE WILL BE BLOOD (Roger Elswit)


BEST ORIGINAL MUSIC

ATONEMENT (Dario Marianelli, composer)
INTO THE WILD (Eddie Vedder)
ONCE (Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova)
RATATOUILLE (Michael Giacchino)
THERE WILL BE BLOOD (Jonny Greenwood)


BEST EDITING

ATONEMENT (Paul Tothill, film editor)
THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM, Christopher Rouse)
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN (Roderick Jaynes)
LE SCAPHANDRE ET LE PAPILLON (Juliette Welfling)
ZODIAC (Angus Wall)


BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

CASEY AFFLECK
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
JAVIER BARDEM
No Country for Old Men
PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN
Charlie Wilson’s War
HAL HOLBROOK
Into the Wild
TOM WILKINSON
Michael Clayton


BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

CATE BLANCHETT
I’m Not There
JENNIFER JASON LEIGH
Margot at the Wedding
SAOIRSE RONAN
Atonement
AMY RYAN
Gone Baby Gone
TILDA SWINTON
Michael Clayton


BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

JOSH BROLIN
No Country for Old Men
DANIEL DAY-LEWIS
There Will Be Blood
RYAN GOSLING
Lars and the Real Girl
TOMMY LEE JONES
In the Valley of Elah
VIGGO MORTENSEN
Eastern Promises

BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

JULIE CHRISTIE
Away From Her
MARION COTILLARD
La Vie en Rose
ANGELINA JOLIE
A Mighty Heart
NICOLE KIDMAN
Margot at the Wedding
ELLEN PAGE
Juno


BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

EASTERN PROMISES (Steven Knight, screenwriter)
JUNO (Diablo Cody)
LARS AND THE REAL GIRL (Nancy Oliver)
RATATOUILLE (Brad Bird)
THE SAVAGES (Tamara Jenkins)


BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

ATONEMENT (Christopher Hampton, screenwriter)
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN (Joel and Ethan Coen)
LE SCAPHANDRE ET LE PAPILLON (Ronald Harwood)
THERE WILL BE BLOOD (Paul Thomas Anderson)
ZODIAC (James Vanderbilt)


BEST DIRECTOR

PAUL THOMAS ANDERSON
There Will Be Blood
JOEL AND ETHAN COEN
No Country for Old Men
TODD HAYNES
I’m Not There
JULIAN SCHNABEL
Le Scaphandre et le Papillon
JOE WRIGHT
Atonement


BEST PICTURE








Winners will be announced Oscar weekend (February 23) and be sure to check back this weekend for the first wave of the Black Sheep Reviews 2008 contest Top 5 lists.

Happy 2008!

ATONEMENT

Written by Christopher Hampton
Directed by Joe Wright


Robbie Turner: The story can resume.

Tap tap tap goes the typewriter. The tapping is coming faster and hitting harder. The pace is set and the race has officially started. Director, Joe Wright’s ATONEMENT bursts out of the gate from the moment it starts, as a pan away from a modeled replica of the Tallis manor reveals a parade of toy animals and ends aptly on the purported queen of this particular animal kingdom, Briony Tallis (Saoirse Ronan). Briony is only thirteen years old but she is just about to finish her very first play. This precocious child is captivating. She is at once frightening while just as frightened. Her focus is eerily burning and her need for command of the situation and those involved motivate her every decision. On this particularly sweltering day, Briony believes her play to be her greatest accomplishment yet and sees her future more brightly boundless than even before. She has no idea that everything is about to crumble beneath her. Chance allows her to witness a few things she was not meant to and before long she makes a desperate play to regain control of her destiny. Who knew that one little girl could cause so much trouble for so many people and invite turmoil into her family for the rest of her days by telling one misguided lie?


When Briony falsely accuses Robbie (James McAvoy), her sister, Cecilia’s (Keira Knightly) lover, of a horrible crime, he is arrested and sent to prison. It isn’t clear whether Briony was aware of how serious her accusations were or how far Robbie would be taken from Cecilia and his future as a result but it is clear that she interrupted a love of immense proportion. ATONEMENT’s first act goes back and forth between Briony’s breakdown and the escalating sexual tension between Robbie and Cecilia. Cecilia is not your typical period drama maiden. She is provocative and sharp-tongued. For all her fierce self-awareness though, she has made a point to repress her longing for Robbie out of respect for status. Robbie too has been hiding how he feels to appease the rules that apply to status and boundaries, not so much out of respect though but rather for blind tradition. Society’s restraints cannot hold back a love of this magnitude. The passion bustling between them is palpable and exacerbated by the heat; it is no wonder that it all comes to a head on this fated day and is halted no sooner than it is just begun. As they are only given the chance to wet their lips with each other’s taste before being ripped apart, theirs is a relationship that will live in a suspended state of foreplay for a long time to come.


When Robbie is taken prisoner, ATONEMENT shifts into a new and noticeably different movement. The intensity carefully crafted in the first act dissipates as the characters enter their own individual limbos, left to meander aimlessly in search of repair. The build toward Briony’s lie was punctuated by a sharp, concise score by Dario Marianelli and highlighted by Seamus McGarvey’s bright and elegantly fluid cinematography. Both artists employ entirely new approaches toward the action that unfolds in the lie’s aftermath. The score becomes dark, somber - less driven and more haunting. The visuals follow suit, feeling heavy and dense. The change halts the flow of the film and feels like a misstep momentarily. Once you catch the breath you were holding previously, the severity of the scenario sinks in and the fresh aesthetic takes on its own significance. It cannot help but feel longer or slower in comparison but how else are we or the characters expected to feel when they are living their new lives lost and haunted by a past they could not control? Besides being relevant to the tone of the story, the shift also gives birth to a four and a half minute shot depicting the 1940 evacuation at Dunkirk Beach that is mesmerizing in its grace and awesome in scope.


ATONEMENT is a fresh and surprising spectacle. Wright impressed with charm and poise last time out in 2005’s PRIDE AND PREJUDICE (also starring Knightly) but his latest grabs the period drama by its snotty superiority and turns it inside out, thanks in no small part to Ian McEwan’s much loved novel of the same name. The gravity of how one bad decision can ruin many lives resonates loudly and the guilt that follows gives way to the need for forgiveness from those who were hurt and from the one that caused the pain. ATONEMENT does not judge Briony for what she’s done; instead it allows her the chance to heal and make things right without ever presuming that her recovery is inevitable. For breaking convention and for demonstrating sincere respect for the story, the characters and the audience, Wright has absolutely nothing to be sorry for.