One of the most overlooked films of 2010 may have just had it's Oscar chances greatly boosted today…
Australia's ANIMAL KINGDOM walked off with EIGHTEEN Australian Film Institute nominations today, setting an new record for total nominations – the AFI Awards are Australia's Oscar equal. It got at least one nomination in every catagory it was eligible in, and almost completely dominates the Supporting Actor catagory, with three of the four positions taken up by it's stars.
As regular PNR/Subject:CINEMA/IFS fans will know, ANIMAL KINGDOM was one of our best reviewed films of the year, with Kim giving it 4 1/2 bouquets and my five star rating. I have been pushing Ben Mendelsohn for best actor for MONTHS now and Jacki Weaver for best supporting actress for just as long. Quite simply, the film is not just one of the best of this year, but one of the best films of ALL TIME, IMHO.
If you haven't seen it, ANIMAL KINGDOM was expected to hit DVD in January, but given these award nominations, and the push it's getting from within critics circles, it may make it onto DVD in December so people who vote for the Spirit Awards will have a chance to see it if they haven't seen it yet. According to VideoETA, the official release date will be announced on November 8th (one of my sources just got back to me, and it's apparently hitting stores on December 29th, so we'll see).
Here's the complete list of nominees for the Australian Film Institute awards. Winners will be announced in a ceremony on December 11th in Melbourne.
AFI Members’ Choice Award
Animal Kingdom. Liz Watts.
Beneath Hill 60. Bill Leimbach.
Bran Nue Dae. Robyn Kershaw, Graeme Isaac.
Bright Star. Jan Chapman, Caroline Hewitt.
The Boys Are Back. Greg Brenman, Tim White.
Tomorrow When The War Began. Andrew Mason, Michael Boughen.
SAMSUNG Mobile AFI Award for Best Film
Animal Kingdom. Liz Watts.
Beneath Hill 60. Bill Leimbach.
Bran Nue Dae. Robyn Kershaw, Graeme Isaac.
Bright Star. Jan Chapman, Caroline Hewitt.
The Tree. Sue Taylor. Yaël Fogiel.
Tomorrow When The War Began. Andrew Mason, Michael Boughen.
AFI Award for Best Direction
Animal Kingdom. David Michôd.
Beneath Hill 60. Jeremy Hartley Sims.
Bright Star. Jane Campion.
The Tree. Julie Bertuccelli.
Macquarie AFI Award for Best Original Screenplay
Animal Kingdom. David Michôd.
Beneath Hill 60. David Roach.
Bright Star. Jane Campion.
Daybreakers. Peter Spierig, Michael Spierig.
Macquarie AFI Award for Best Adapted Screenplay
Bran Nue Dae. Reg Cribb, Rachel Perkins, Jimmy Chi.
The Boys Are Back. Allan Cubitt.
The Tree. Julie Bertuccelli.
Tomorrow When The War Began. Stuart Beattie.
AFI Award for Best Cinematography
Animal Kingdom. Adam Arkapaw.
Beneath Hill 60. Toby Oliver ACS.
Bright Star. Greig Fraser.
The Waiting City. Denson Baker ACS
AFI Award for Best Editing
Animal Kingdom. Luke Doolan.
Beneath Hill 60. Dany Cooper ASE.
Bright Star. Alexandre de Franceschi ASE.
Tomorrow When The War Began. Marcus D’Arcy.
AFI Award for Best Sound
Animal Kingdom. Sam Petty, Rob Mackenzie, Philippe Decrausaz.
Beneath Hill 60. Liam Egan, Alicia Slusarski, Mark Cornish, Tony Murtagh.
Bran Nue Dae. Andrew Neil, Steve Burgess, Peter Mills, Mario Vaccaro, Blaire Slater, David Bridie, Scott Montgomery.
Tomorrow When The War Began. Andrew Plain, David Lee, Gethin Creagh, Robert Sullivan.
AFI Award for Best Original Music Score
Animal Kingdom. Antony Partos, Sam Petty.
Beneath Hill 60. Cezary Skubiszewski.
Bran Nue Dae. Cezary Skubiszewski, Jimmy Chi, Patrick Duttoo Bin Amat, Garry Gower, Michael Manolis Mavromatis, Stephen Pigram.
Bright Star. Mark Bradshaw.
AFI Award for Best Production Design
Animal Kingdom. Jo Ford.
Beneath Hill 60. Clayton Jauncey.
Bright Star. Janet Patterson.
Tomorrow When The War Began. Robert Webb, Michelle McGahey, Damien Drew, Bev Dunn.
AFI Award for Best Costume Design
Animal Kingdom. Cappi Ireland.
Beneath Hill 60. Ian Sparke, Wendy Cork.
Bran Nue Dae. Margot Wilson.
Bright Star. Janet Patterson
AFI Award for Best Lead Actor
Brendan Cowell. Beneath Hill 60.
James Frecheville. Animal Kingdom.
Ben Mendelsohn. Animal Kingdom.
Clive Owen. The Boys Are Back.
AFI Award for Best Lead Actress
Abbie Cornish. Bright Star.
Morgana Davies. The Tree.
Charlotte Gainsbourg. The Tree.
Jacki Weaver. Animal Kingdom.
AFI Award for Best Supporting Actor
Joel Edgerton. Animal Kingdom.
Guy Pearce. Animal Kingdom.
Kodi Smit-McPhee. Matching Jack.
Sullivan Stapleton. Animal Kingdom.
AFI Award for Best Supporting Actress
Julia Blake. The Boys Are Back.
Kerry Fox. Bright Star.
Deborah Mailman. Bran Nue Dae.
Laura Wheelwright. Animal Kingdom.
AFI International Award for Best Actor
Simon Baker. The Mentalist, Season 2. Nine Network
Ryan Kwanten. True Blood, Season 3. Showcase
Kodi Smit-McPhee. The Road
Sam Worthington. Avatar
AFI International Award for Best Actress
Toni Collette. United States of Tara, Season 2. ABC1
Bojana Novakovic. Edge of Darkness
Mia Wasikowska. Alice in Wonderland
Naomi Watts. Mother and Child
AFI Young Actor Award
Ashleigh Cummings. Tomorrow When The War Began
Morgana Davies. The Tree
James Frecheville. Animal Kingdom
Harrison Gilbertson. Beneath Hill 60
AFI Visual Effects Award
Daybreakers. Peter Spierig, Michael Spierig, Rangi Sutton, James Rogers, Randy Vellacott
The Tree. Dave Morley, Felix Crawshaw, Claudia Lecaros, Tim Walker
Tinglewood. Wil Manning
Tomorrow When The War Began. Chris Godfrey, Sigi Eimutis, Dave Morley, Tony Cole
Now, let's bring Tomorrow When The War Began to the US PLEASE!!! I can't wait to see that one either!!!
