Miramax Films Flying High with Remarkable 21 Nominations for 'No Country For Old...

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

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.
For more information, please visit:
www.miramaxhighlights.com
SOURCE Miramax Films

Emily Bear, +1-917-606-5500