Oscars: Miramax Films Flying High with Remarkable 21 Nominations for 'No Country For Old Men,'

22 Jan 2008 20:48 Africa/Lagos


Miramax Films Flying High with Remarkable 21 Nominations for 'No Country For Old Men,' 'The Diving Bell and The Butterfly,' 'Gone Baby Gone' And 'There Will Be Blood' As The 80th Annual Academy Award Nominations Are Announced

"No Country for Old Men" and "There Will Be Blood" tie for most nominations at 8

"No Country for Old Men*" Nabs 8 Nominations, including: Best Picture Joel Coen and Ethan Coen for Best Director Joel Coen and Ethan Coen for Best Adapted Screenplay Javier Bardem for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role Roger Deakins for Best Cinematography Roderick Jaynes for Best Film Editing Peter Kurland, Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff for Best Sound Mixing Skip Lievsay for Best Sound Editing

"The Diving Bell and The Butterfly" Lands 4 Nominations: Julian Schnabel for Best Director Ronald Harwood for Best Adapted Screenplay Janusz Kaminski for Best Cinematography Juliette Welfling for Best Film Editing

"Gone Baby Gone" Lauded with Nomination for Amy Ryan for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

"There Will Be Blood*" Scores 8 Nominations, including: Best Picture Daniel Day Lewis for Best Actor in a Leading Role Paul Thomas Anderson for Best Director Paul Thomas Anderson for Best Adapted Screenplay Robert Elswit for Best Cinematography Dylan Tichenor for Best Film Editing Jack Fisk for Best Art Direction Matthew Wood for Best Sound Editing

NEW YORK, Jan. 22 /PRNewswire/ --

When the nominations for the 80th Annual Academy Award nominations were announced today in Los Angeles, Miramax Films as a company received an astounding 21 overall nominations, including 8 for "No Country for Old Men," 4 for "The Diving Bell and The Butterfly," one for "Gone Baby Gone," and 8 for "There Will Be Blood."


"I am so thrilled that Miramax's faith in these extraordinary filmmakers and their ambitious work has been rewarded by the Academy. To have 21 nominations across four films is an incredible achievement for Miramax," said Daniel Battsek, company president.


Bringing the Coen brothers together with one of America's leading novelists, Cormac McCarthy, "No Country for Old Men," is about people dealing with a morally inscrutable universe. The film received a Best Picture nomination and is produced by Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen. Executive producers are Robert Graf and Mark Roybal.


"I couldn't possibly be more thrilled for Joel and Ethan. To me, they are among the most exciting and visionary filmmakers making movies anywhere in the world. To have had the honor of making this movie with them, and of watching them collaborate with the great American writer Cormac McCarthy -- well, that's been a tremendous reward in itself. It's a thrill to see the Academy recognize their work and that of our creative partners on the movie -- Javier Bardem, Roger Deakins, Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff, Peter Kurland, and all of our colleagues," said Scott Rudin.


In addition to their Best Picture nomination for "No Country," previous Academy Award-winners Joel Coen and Ethan Coen also received nominations for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. The Coens together previously won an Academy Award for Best Screenplay in 1997 for the film "Fargo," for which Joel was nominated for Best Director and Ethan was nominated for Best Picture as producer. They also received an Oscar nomination for their screenplay for "O, Brother Where Art Thou?" in 2000.


"We are very happy to have received these nominations and would like to thank the Academy and all of our friends and associates with whom we made this film-especially Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Kelly Macdonald, Woody Harrelson, cinematographer Roger Deakins, editor Roderick Jaynes, author Cormac McCarthy, producers Scott Rudin and Robert Graf, Daniel Battsek and everyone at Miramax Films and Paramount Vantage. Thank you very much," said Ethan and Joel Coen.


Previously nominated for an Academy Award for his leading role in 2001's "Before Night Falls," Javier Bardem recently won a Golden Globe for his performance in "No Country."


Said Bardem: "It's an honor to receive this nomination, which is undoubtedly the recognition of the work and talent of all those creative and professional people from my trade, that have inspired and improved me during all these years. And especially to the Coen brothers' genius, because they have raised the character of Chigurh into a dimension that goes beyond my performance. Thanks to Scott Rudin, Miramax and Paramount Vantage for giving me the change to work alongside such talented actors - Josh Brolin, Tommy Lee Jones and Kelly Macdonald. My gratitude to all the Academy for this wonderful gift."


Cinematographer Roger Deakins received an amazing two nominations today, for both "No Country" and for "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford," marking his sixth and seventh Academy Award nominations. He was previously nominated for three of his other Coen brother collaborations, "The Man Who Wasn't There" in 2002, "O, Brother, Where Art Thou?" in 2001 and "Fargo" in 1997. In addition, he received nominations for "Kundun" in 1998 and "The Shawshank Redemption" in 1995.


"It's such an honor to be nominated for 'No Country.' What can you say about working with Joel and Ethan - they're the best!" said Deakins.


Editor Roderick Jaynes today garnered his second Academy Award nomination for Best Film Editing. A previous Oscar nominee for "Fargo," Jaynes also received an ACE nomination for that film.


Sound mixer Peter Kurland was previously nominated for an Oscar for his work on "Walk the Line." Today's nod marks sound mixer Craig Berkey's first Oscar nomination. Academy Award-winning sound mixer Greg Orloff previously won for the film "Ray." Sound mixer and editor Skip Lievsay received two nominations today, his first Academy nods. He was previously nominated for an Emmy for the HBO film "4 Little Girls."


The Oscar(R) nominations for "No Country for Old Men," are the latest in a series of honors the film has already received, including Best Film awards from the National Board of Review, the New York Film Critics Circle, the Washington Area Film Critics Association, the Boston Society of Film Critics and the Chicago Film Critics Association; Best Acting Ensemble awards from the National Board of Review and the Washington Area Film Critics; Best Director awards from the New York Film Critics Circle, the San Francisco Film Critics Circle and the Chicago Film Critics Association; Best Screenplay from the Golden Globes, the National Board of Review, the New York Film Critics Circle and the Chicago Film Critics Association; and Best Supporting Actor awards for Javier Bardem from the Golden Globes, the New York Film Critics Circle, the Washington Area Film Critics Association, the Boston Society of Film Critics, the New York Film Critics Online and the Chicago Film Critics Association. "No Country for Old Men" also received 9 BAFTA nominations including Best Film.


Through a mesmerizing blast of color, beauty and humor, and a rousing spirit of creativity, "The Diving Bell and The Butterfly" tells the story of Jean-Dominique Bauby, the high-flying editor of French Elle and father of two, who was renowned for his sense of humor and style, his joie de vivre and amorous energy, when, in an instant, his world was plunged into the depths of catastrophe. The film earned Julian Schnabel a nomination for Best Director, Ronald Harwood a nod for Best Screenplay, Janusz Kaminski a Best Cinematography nomination and Juliette Welfling a Best Film Editing nomination.


Among numerous other accolades this season, Julian Schnabel recently won the Golden Globe award for Best Director. This is his first Oscar nomination. Screenwriter Ronald Harwood won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay in 2003 for "The Piano" and was nominated in the same category for "The Dresser" (1984).


"Thank you, this is a great honor. I am extremely happy for Juliette Welfling, Janusz Kaminski and Ronald Harwood for their nominations. It's hard to believe that this foreign language film received four big nominations for director, editing, cinematography and screenplay - that in itself is a huge win for us," said Julian Schnabel.


Said Harwood: "This nomination is particularly important to me since the screenplay was the most challenging and difficult of my career. When Kathy Kennedy first sent me Jean-Dominique's moving memoir I wasn't sure how it could be translated into a viable film given the complicated nature of the subject matter. After much agonizing when I finally came up with the concept of focusing the first part of the film from Jean-Do's point-of-view and through his eyes the rest seemed to flow quite naturally. Given this was such complicated and challenging material this honor from the motion picture academy is not only a vote of confidence for me and my work but also celebrates Jean-Dominique's life."


Cinematographer Janusz Kaminski has previously won two Academy Awards for his work, in 1999 for "Saving Private Ryan" and in 1994 for "Schindler's List." In addition, he was nominated for 1998's "Amistad."


"Getting this recognition from the Academy is a tremendous honor and to have them recognize my colleagues with Director, Adapted Screenplay and Editing nominations as well makes it even more thrilling. Hopefully these nominations will encourage more people to see the film because it's a life- affirming story full of hope," said Janusz Kaminiski.


With these nominations, "The Diving Bell and The Butterfly" continues an impressive streak of honors that includes: the Best Film award from the New York Film Critics Online; the Best Foreign Film award from the National Board of Review, the Boston Society of Film Critics, the Washington Area Film Critics Association and the San Francisco Film Critics Circle; the Best Director award for Julian Schnabel from the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, the Golden Globe awards and the Boston Society of Film Critics; the Best Cinematography award for Janusz Kaminiski from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and the Boston Society of Film Critics; the Sloan Award at the 2007 Hamptons Film Festival; the Audience Award at the 2007 AFI Film Festival; the Grand Prize Best of Fest at the 2007 Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival and the Gateway Film Critic's Award for Best Film of the Festival at the 2007 St. Louis Film Festival. "Diving Bell" also recently received two BAFTA nominations.


Amy Ryan received a nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role for her harrowing portrayal of a missing child's mother in Ben Affleck's "Gone Baby Gone." With this nod, Ryan caps off a year that has including winning countless Best Supporting Actress awards including: the National Board of Review, the New York Film Critics Circle, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, the Washington Area Film Critics Association, the Boston Society of Film Critics, the San Francisco Film Critics Circle, the Phoenix Film Critics Society, the Southeastern Film Critics Association. Ryan is also nominated for a Screen Actors Guild award for this performance.


"Thank you so much to the Academy for this honor. In a year with so many great films, it is truly amazing to be nominated in the company of such talent actresses. I must thank Ben Affleck who is an extraordinary and gifted writer and director. I also want to thank Aaron Stockard, who wrote the script with Ben, and Dennis Lehane, for giving me Helene - this wonderfully delicious role to play. I am forever grateful to my fellow cast members, Miramax, and everyone else involved in 'Gone Baby Gone,'" said Amy Ryan.


"There Will Be Blood," a Miramax co-production with Paramount Vantage, was honored with nominations for Best Picture, Best Actor for Daniel Day-Lewis, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay for Paul Thomas Anderson, Best Cinematography for Robert Elswit, Best Film Editing for Dylan Tichenor, Best Art Direction for Jack Fisk and Best Sound Editing for Matthew Wood. Day-Lewis previously received an Academy Award for his performance in "My Left Foot" in 1990 and was nominated for his performances in "Gangs of New York" in 2003 and "In the Name of the Father" in 1994. Anderson was previously nominated for two Academy Awards for Best Original Screenplay for "Magnolia" in 2000 and "Boogie Nights" in 1998. Cinematographer Robert Elswit was previously nominated for his work on 2006's "Good Night, and Good Luck." Today's nominations mark the first Academy Award nominations for Dylan Tichenor, Jack Fisk and Matthew Wood.


*Both "No Country For Old Men" and "There Will Be Blood" are co- productions with Paramount Vantage.


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