Reuters North American News Service, December 10th, 2007
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - "There Will Be Blood," a
period drama depicting the rise and fall of a rugged
prospector, won three key awards including best picture of the
year from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Sunday.
Its star, Daniel Day-Lewis, was named best actor, while
Paul Thomas Anderson took the directing prize.
The actress award went to Marion Cotillard for her role as
French songbird Edith Piaf in "Ma Vie en rose."
Vlad Ivanov won the supporting actor's prize for playing a
back-street abortionist in the Romanian drama "4 Months, 3
Weeks and 2 Days," also named best foreign-language film.
Amy Ryan took the supporting actress award for her turns in
the crime dramas "Gone Baby Gone" and "Before the Devil Knows
You're Dead."
"There Will Be Blood," which opens in limited release
Dec. 26, stars Day-Lewis as a turn-of-the-century oilman who
strikes it rich in California.
Anderson, famed for the porn saga "Boogie Nights," based
his script on the 1920s novel "Oil!" by Upton Sinclair. "Blood"
was also cited for Jack Fisk's production design.
Ryan was also honored last week, for "Gone Baby Gone," when
the New York-based National Board of Review issued its picks,
but there was otherwise little crossover.
The board named the grim crime thriller "No Country for Old
Men" its best film of the year. Its top acting awards went to
George Clooney for "Michael Clayton" and Julie Christie for
"Away From Her."
Such critical nods are helpful for the studios' marketing
campaigns as they jockey to get Oscar attention for their
films. But the Los Angeles critics' best picture award is akin
to a poisoned chalice, since it rarely leads to the top Oscar.
The last film to win both awards was Steven Spielberg's
1993 film "Schindler's List." In recent years, the group has
favored smaller or edgier films such as "Brokeback Mountain,"
"About Schmidt," "In the Bedroom" and "Secrets & Lies."
Next on the awards agenda are announcements of the New York
Film Critics Circle's picks for the year Monday, the Critics
Choice Awards nominations Tuesday, and the Golden Globe
Award nominations Thursday.
(Reporting by Dean Goodman; editing by Todd Eastham)
