Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Brain Candy: Genie Noms...The Envelope, Please...

As if all this Grammy and Oscar buzz wasn’t enough, nominees were announced today for the Genie Awards, which honor the best in Canadian film. The noms weren’t all that surprising.

After winning three awards last May at BC’s Leo Awards, auteur Carl Bessai's celluloid meditation Normal, is up for three Genie Awards, including Best Motion Picture, Best Achievement in Direction (Bessai), Best Performance By an Actor in a Supporting Role (Callum Keith Rennie) and Best Original Screenplay (Travis McDonald).

Passchendaele’s showing is no surprise, considering its boffo box office. The First World War epic is up for Best Motion Picture and actor Paul Gross is nominated for Best Actor. No noms for direction, cinematography, screenplay. But it’s up for Best Motion Picture. You figure it out.

Meanwhile, the mind-and-life altering Amal, by Richie Mehta, is up for six awards, including Best Motion Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Direction and Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role (Rupinder Nagra).

Remember the little picture that could, and did start all that excitement (about Bill C-10)? One of its actors, Kristin Booth, is nominated in the category Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role. One nom for Young People F*cking...Is it just me or is that anti-climactic, no actual pun intended?

Some highly recognizable names are also up for awards, including Christopher Plummer, nominated for Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role, for Emotional Arithmetic. Susan Sarandon (Emotional Arithmetic) and Ellen Burstyn (The Stone Angel) are both in the running for the Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role trophy. The Genies will be handed out in Ottawa on April 4. Here's not-not-quite-complete list of noms.

1) Best Motion Picture

Amal
David Miller, Steven Bray

Ce qu'il faut pour vivre / The Necessities of Life
Bernadette Payeur, René Chénier

Normal
Andrew Boutilier, Carl Bessai

Passchendaele
Niv Fichman, Francis Damberger, Paul Gross, Frank Siracusa

Tout est Parfait / Everything is Fine
Nicole Robert

2) Achievement in Cinematography

Fugitive Pieces
Gregory Middleton csc

Le Banquet
Nicolas Bolduc

Le piège américain / The American Trap
Pierre Gill

The Stone Angel
Bobby Bukowski

Tout est Parfait / Everything is Fine
Sara Mishara

3) Achievement in Direction

Amal
Richie Mehta

Borderline
Lyne Charlebois

Ce qu'il faut pour vivre / The Necessities of Life
Benoit Pilon

Normal
Carl Bessai

Tout est Parfait / Everything is Fine
Yves-Christian Fournier

4) Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

Borderline
Isabelle Blais

Emotional Arithmetic
Susan Sarandon

Heaven on Earth
Preity Zinta

Maman est chez le coiffeur / Mommy is at the Hairdresser's
Marianne Fortier

The Stone Angel
Ellen Burstyn

5) Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

Ce qu'il faut pour vivre / The Necessities of Life
Eveline Gélinas

Fugitive Pieces
Rosamund Pike

Maman est chez le coiffeur / Mommy is at the Hairdresser's
Céline Bonnier

Tout est Parfait / Everything is Fine
Anie Pascale

Young People Fucking
Kristin Booth

6) Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

Amal
Rupinder Nagra

Ce qu'il faut pour vivre / The Necessities of Life
Natar Ungalaaq

Emotional Arithmetic
Christopher Plummer

Passchendaele
Paul Gross

This Beautiful City
Aaron Poole

7) Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

Emotional Arithmetic Max Von Sydow

Fugitive Pieces
Rade Sherbedgia

Le Banquet
Benoit McGinnis

Normal
Callum Keith Rennie

Tout est Parfait / Everything is Fine
Normand D'Amour

8) Original Screenplay

Ce qu'il faut pour vivre / The Necessities of Life
Bernard Émond

Heaven on Earth
Deepa Mehta

Normal
Travis McDonald

Real Time
Randall Cole

Tout est Parfait / Everything is Fine
Guillaume Vigneault

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