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Austin Film Critics Association Awards 2009
5th AFCA Awards ---- Best Film: ''The Hurt Locker'' The 5th Austin Film Critics Association Awards, honoring the best in filmmaking for 2009, were announced on December 15, 2009. Top 10 Films # ''The Hurt Locker'' # '' Star Trek'' # '' Up'' # ''A Serious Man'' # '' Up in the Air'' # ''Avatar'' # ''Inglourious Basterds'' # ''District 9'' # ''Where the Wild Things Are'' # ''Moon'' and '' The Messenger'' (TIE) Top 10 Films of the Decade # '' Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind'' # ''There Will Be Blood'' # ''The Lord of the Rings'' # ''The Dark Knight'' # ''Requiem for a Dream'' # ''Kill Bill'' # ''No Country for Old Men'' # ''The Incredibles'' # '' Children of Men'' # '' Memento'' and ''The Departed'' (TIE) Winners * Best Film: ** ''The Hurt Locker'' * Best Director: ** Kathryn Bigelow – ''The Hurt Locker'' * Best Actor: ** Colin Firth – ''A Single Man'' * Best Actress: ** Mélanie Laurent – ''Inglourious Basterds'' * Best Supporting Actor: ** Christoph Waltz – ''In ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Hurt Locker
''The Hurt Locker'' is a 2008 American war thriller film directed by Kathryn Bigelow and written by Mark Boal. It stars Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty, Christian Camargo, Ralph Fiennes, David Morse, and Guy Pearce. The film follows an Iraq War Explosive Ordnance Disposal team who are targeted by insurgents and shows their psychological reactions to the stress of combat. Boal drew on his experience during embedded access to write the screenplay. ''The Hurt Locker'' premiered at the 2008 Venice International Film Festival before it was released in the United States on June 26, 2009, by Summit Entertainment. The film earned acclaim from critics, who praised Bigelow's directing, Renner's performance, Boal's screenplay, editing, and action sequences. The film was nominated for nine Academy Awards and won six, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay. It was the first Best Picture winner to have been directed by a woman. The film grossed $49 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Requiem For A Dream
''Requiem for a Dream'' is a 2000 American psychological drama film directed by Darren Aronofsky and starring Ellen Burstyn, Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly, Christopher McDonald and Marlon Wayans. It is based on the 1978 novel of the same name by Hubert Selby Jr., with whom Aronofsky wrote the screenplay. The film depicts four characters affected by drug addiction and how it alters their physical and emotional states. Their addictions cause them to become imprisoned in a world of delusion and desperation. As the film progresses, each character deteriorates, and their reality is overtaken by delusion, resulting in a catastrophe. Selby's novel was optioned by Aronofsky and producer Eric Watson. Selby had always intended to adapt the novel into a film, as he had written a script years prior to Aronofsky approaching him. Aronofsky was enthusiastic about the story and developed the script with Selby, despite initial struggles to obtain funding for the film's production. He and the c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, writer, producer, and actor. His films are characterized by stylized violence, extended dialogue, profanity, Black comedy, dark humor, Nonlinear narrative, non-linear storylines, Cameo appearance, cameos, ensemble casts, and references to popular culture. Other List of filmmakers' signatures, directorial tropes associated with Tarantino include the use of songs from the 1960s and 70s, fictional brand parodies, and the prominent Framing (visual arts), framing of women's bare feet. Tarantino began his career as an independent filmmaker with the release of the crime film ''Reservoir Dogs'' in 1992. His second film, ''Pulp Fiction'' (1994), a dark comedy crime thriller, was a major success with critics and audiences winning numerous awards, including the Palme d'Or and the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. In 1996, he appeared in ''From Dusk till Dawn'', also writing the screenplay. Tarantino' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anna Kendrick
Anna Cooke Kendrick (born August 9, 1985) is an American actress. She has received various accolades, including a Satellite Award, five Teen Choice Awards, three MTV Movie Awards, and nominations for an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award and a Tony Award; making her one of the youngest people to be nominated for the "Triple Crown of Acting" and the youngest person to do so without winning. Kendrick began her career performing in theater productions at a young age. Her first starring role was in the 1998 Broadway musical ''High Society'', for which she earned a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. She made her film debut in the musical comedy ''Camp'' (2003), and rose to prominence for her role in '' The Twilight Saga'' (2008–2012). She achieved further recognition for the comedy-drama film '' Up in the Air'' (2009), which earned her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, and for her starring role in the ''Pitch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Christoph Waltz
Christoph Waltz (; born 4 October 1956) is an Austrian-German actor. Since 2009 he has been primarily active in the United States. His accolades include two Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, two British Academy Film Awards and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. Waltz's American breakthrough role came in Quentin Tarantino's 2009 film ''Inglourious Basterds'', in which he played SS officer Hans Landa. He collaborated with Tarantino again in 2012, when he played bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz in ''Django Unchained''. For each performance, he earned an Academy Award, BAFTA Award, and Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor. He also received the Best Actor Award at the Cannes Film Festival and a Screen Actors Guild Award for his portrayal of Landa. Waltz has also starred in Roman Polanski's dark comedy '' Carnage'' (2011), Terry Gilliam's science fiction film ''The Zero Theorem'' (2013), Tim Burton's biographical film ''Big Eyes'' (2014), for which he was nominate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mélanie Laurent
Mélanie Laurent (; born 21 February 1983) is a French actress, filmmaker, and singer. The recipient of two César Awards and a Lumières Award, she is an accomplished actress in the French film industry. Globally, she is best known for her roles in ''Inglourious Basterds'', '' Now You See Me'', '' 6 Underground'', and '' Operation Finale''. Born in Paris to a Jewish family, Laurent was introduced to acting at the age of sixteen by Gérard Depardieu, who cast her in a minor role in the romantic drama ''The Bridge'' (1999). She gained wider recognition for her supporting work in several French films, most notably the 2006 comedy ''Dikkenek'', for which she won Étoiles d'Or for Best Female Newcomer. Her breakthrough role came in the 2006 drama film ''Don't Worry, I'm Fine'', for which she later won the César Award for Most Promising Actress and the Prix Romy Schneider. Laurent made her Hollywood debut in 2009 with the role as Shosanna Dreyfus in Quentin Tarantino's blockbuster ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A Single Man
''A Single Man'' is a 2009 American period romantic drama film based on the 1964 novel of the same name by Christopher Isherwood. The directorial debut of fashion designer Tom Ford, the film stars Colin Firth, who was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of George Falconer, a depressed gay British university professor living in Southern California in 1962. The film premiered on September 11, 2009, at the 66th Venice International Film Festival, and went on the film festival circuit. After it screened at the 34th Toronto International Film Festival, The Weinstein Company picked it up for distribution in the United States and Germany. An initial limited run in the United States commenced on December 11, 2009, to qualify it for the 82nd Academy Awards with a wider release in early 2010. Plot On November 30, 1962, a month after the Cuban Missile Crisis, George Falconer is a middle-aged English college professor living in Los Angeles. George drea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Colin Firth
Colin Andrew Firth (born 10 September 1960) is an English actor and producer. He was identified in the mid-1980s with the " Brit Pack" of rising young British actors, undertaking a challenging series of roles, including leading roles in '' A Month in the Country'' (1987), ''Tumbledown'' (1988) and '' Valmont'' (1989). His portrayal of Mr. Darcy in the 1995 television adaptation of Jane Austen's ''Pride and Prejudice'' led to widespread attention, and to roles in more prominent films such as ''The English Patient'' (1996), ''Shakespeare in Love'' (1998), ''Bridget Jones's Diary'' (2001), ''The Importance of Being Earnest'' (2002), '' Girl with a Pearl Earring'' (2003), Richard Curtis's romantic comedy ensemble film ''Love Actually'' (2003), and the musical comedy '' Mamma Mia!'' (2008) and its sequel, ''Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again!'' (2018). In 2009, Firth received international acclaim for his performance in Tom Ford's ''A Single Man'', for which he won a BAFTA Award and recei ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kathryn Bigelow
Kathryn Ann Bigelow (; born November 27, 1951) is an American filmmaker. Covering a wide range of genres, her films include ''Near Dark'' (1987), ''Point Break'' (1991), '' Strange Days'' (1995), '' K-19: The Widowmaker'' (2002), ''The Hurt Locker'' (2008), ''Zero Dark Thirty'' (2012), and ''Detroit'' (2017). Bigelow was the first woman to win the Academy Award for Best Director with ''The Hurt Locker'', the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing, and the BAFTA Award for Best Direction. She was also the first woman to win the Saturn Award for Best Director, with ''Strange Days''. In addition, ''Time'' magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2010. Early life and education Bigelow was born in San Carlos, California, the only child of Gertrude Kathryn (née Larson; 1917–1994), a librarian, and Ronald Elliot Bigelow (1915–1992), a paint factory manager. Her mother was of Norwegian descent. She attended Sunny Hills High Scho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Departed
''The Departed'' is a 2006 American epic crime thriller film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by William Monahan. It is both a remake of the 2002 Hong Kong film ''Infernal Affairs'' and also loosely based on the real-life Boston Winter Hill Gang; the character Colin Sullivan is based on the corrupt FBI agent John Connolly, while the character Frank Costello is based on Irish-American gangster Whitey Bulger. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, and Mark Wahlberg, with Martin Sheen, Ray Winstone, Vera Farmiga, and Alec Baldwin in supporting roles. The film takes place in Boston. Irish Mob boss Frank Costello (Nicholson) plants Colin Sullivan (Damon) as a spy within the Massachusetts State Police; simultaneously, the police assign undercover state trooper Billy Costigan (DiCaprio) to infiltrate Costello's crew. When both sides realize the situation, Sullivan and Costigan each attempt to discover the other's identity before they are found out. ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Memento (film)
''Memento'' is a 2000 American neo-noir mystery thriller film written and directed by Christopher Nolan, and produced by Suzanne and Jennifer Todd. The film's script was based on a pitch by Nolan's brother Jonathan Nolan, who wrote the 2001 story " Memento Mori" from the concept. Guy Pearce stars as Leonard Shelby, a man who suffers from anterograde amnesia, resulting in short-term memory loss and the inability to form new memories. He is searching for the people who attacked him and killed his wife, using an intricate system of Polaroid photographs and tattoos to track information he cannot remember. Carrie-Anne Moss and Joe Pantoliano were the co-stars of the film. The film's nonlinear narrative is presented as two different sequences of scenes interspersed during the film: a series in black-and-white that is shown chronologically, and a series of color sequences shown in reverse order (simulating for the audience the mental state of the protagonist). The two sequences meet ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Children Of Men
''Children of Men'' is a 2006 dystopian action thriller film co-written and directed by Alfonso Cuarón. The screenplay, based on P. D. James' 1992 novel '' The Children of Men'', was credited to five writers, with Clive Owen making uncredited contributions. The film takes place in 2027, when two decades of human infertility have left society on the brink of collapse. Asylum seekers seek sanctuary in the United Kingdom, where they are subjected to detention and refoulement by the government. Owen plays civil servant Theo Faron, who must help refugee Kee ( Clare-Hope Ashitey) escape the chaos. ''Children of Men'' also stars Julianne Moore, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Pam Ferris, Charlie Hunnam, and Michael Caine. The film was released by Universal Pictures on 22 September 2006 in the UK and on 25 December in the US. Critics noted the relationship between the US' Christmas opening and the film's themes of hope, redemption, and faith. Despite the limited release and lack of any clear m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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