By Seth Schuyler Feb 19, 2007, 23:21 GMT
Prognosticators for next Sunday's Academy Awards have lots to sift but little to conjure with after a weekend where Hollywood cinematographers, costume designers, editors, production designers and sound mixers gathered to honor their peers.
Composer-conductor Ennio Morricone, who has composed more than 300 motion picture scores over a 45-year career. Morricone has been voted an Honorary Award by the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. EPA/PINO FORTE
No film ran the table as the so-called "craft" awards were sprinkled widely. "Dreamgirls," "Pan's Labyrinth" and "Curse of the Golden Flower" were the only films to come up double winners. None of the three are nominated for the best picture Oscar.
"The Departed," "Babel" and "The Queen"—which are contenders for the best film Academy Award—each garnered one kudo. "Children of Men" and "Casino Royale" also scored a single win.
"Dreamgirls" received an "Eddie" for best editing on a film or musical which went to Virginia Katz, acing out "Little Miss Sunshine," an early-line favorite in the category. "Dreamgirls," about the rise and dissolution of a 1960's girl singing group, also received the top accolade from the Cinema Audio Society for best film sound. Re-recording mixers Michael Minkler and Bob Beemer and production mixer Willie D. Burton were the recipients. "Dreamgirls" is up for eight Oscars, the most of any film.
A tie for best edited dramatic feature, only the second in the 57-year history of the Eddie Awards, resulted in two winners: Thelma Schoonmaker for "The Departed" and Stephen Mirrione and Douglas Crise for "Babel." Because the best editing on a film drama has in the past correlated with the best picture Academy Award, the surprise tie tipped both winners for the top prize at next Monday's Oscars.
Best editing on a documentary went to Jay Cassidy and Dan Swietlike for" An Inconvenient Truth," the Al Gore film about the perils of global warming, is the favorite for the best documentary Oscar.
Double-winner "Pan's Labyrinth" received an award from the Art Directors Guild for best production design on a fantasy film, for Eugenio Cabellero. And the film's costume designer, Lala Huerta, won the Costume Designer's Guild in the fantasy film category. "Pan's Labyrinth," about a young girl's fairy tale world in war-torn 1940's Spain is up for the best foreign film Oscar.
A similar pair of awards went to "Curse of the Golden Flower," the visually eye-popping Chinese historical epic made in the People's Republic. Production designer Huo Tingxiao won the Art Directors Guild award for best work on a period film. And costume designer Chung Man Yee won in the costume designer's period-film category.
Consolata Boyle, the costume designer for "The Queen," about the British Royals' conflicted response to the death of Princess Diana, won the costume guild's award for best contemporary film.
The American Society of Cinematographers handed down its award for best photographic work on a feature film to Emmanuel Lubezki, the cinematographer for "Children of Men." A four-time Academy Award nominee, Lubezki is the overwhelming favorite to win his first Oscar for his visual work on the film, directed by fellow-Mexican Alfonso Cuaron, about a nihilistic near-future world where there are no children. Last week Lubezki won the BAFTA, England's equivalent of the Oscar, for his "Children of Men" cinematography. Lubezki and Cuaron are two of the top talents in global cinema's Mexican Revolution.
Filling out the weekend's honorees, Peter Lamont, the production designer for "Casino Royale," won for best art direction on a contemporary film. Though the revved-up remake of the film based on Ian Fleming's first James Bond novel starring new 007 Daniel Craig was boffo at the global box office and a hit with critics, it garnered no Oscar noms despite spectacular production values.
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