Richard Roeper Blog

5 Questions with Richard Roeper

From Publishers Weekly:

Bet the House: How I Gambled Over a Grand a Day for 30 Days on Sports, Poker, and Games of Chance Richard Roeper. Chicago Review (IPG, dist.), $19.95 (272p) ISBN 978-1-56976-247-9

Chicago Sun-Times columnist Roeper (Sox and the City) was inspired by filmmaker Morgan Spurlock’s documentary Super Size Me to do his own 30-day challenge: “every day for 30 days, I would risk at least $1,000” gambling. From craps and blackjack, to slots, off-track betting, poker tournaments, online poker, the lottery, and more, he gives a day-by-day account, with wins and losses, such as “Day 8: Bankroll: + $4,980.” Shuffling a full deck of anecdotes, movie references, and memoir moments, Roeper deals in such topics as gambling addiction, high rollers, casinos of choice, Indian gaming facilities, celebrity and charity poker tournaments, luck vs. strategy, and sports upsets. Amid dreams and desperation, he recalls, “I have had insane fun and I have experienced freefalling, dangerous lows in various gleaming casinos on the Strip.” As a film critic, Roeper is certainly aware that his entertaining book could easily be adapted into an equally entertaining high-stakes movie. (Apr. 1)

Two years ago, when Twitter was young, I opened an account and tried Tweeting from the Independent Spirit Awards and the Oscars. Not that I even knew what to call it back then. Read from the bottom up…

More gold love for the Coen bros. Well deserved. 10:44 PM Feb 24th, 2008 from txt

None of the four acting winners is an American. That’s probably a first… 10:41 PM Feb 24th, 2008 from txt

I talked with Diablo and her brother at the Spirit Awards after party yesterday. It’s obvious family means the world to her… 10:29 PM Feb 24th, 2008 from txt

That tattoo makes Amy Winehouse look like a wimp. 10:26 PM Feb 24th, 2008 from txt

Diablo! Score one for suburban Lemont. 10:25 PM Feb 24th, 2008 from txt

Class move by Stewart to bring Marketa back out so she could say her thank you’s. 9:59 PM Feb 24th, 2008 from txt

“Falling Slowly” — awesome. 9:50 PM Feb 24th, 2008 from txt

Backstage, Marion C. says she wanted to marry Peter Sellers when she was a little girl. 9:42 PM Feb 24th, 2008 from txt

Raise your hand if you remember Marion Cotillard was in “Big Fish” and “A Good Year.” 9:41 PM Feb 24th, 2008 from txt

I’ll be backstage shortly and I’ll keep you posted!! 7:12 PM Feb 24th, 2008 from txt

The last stragglers are making their way into the theater. 7:12 PM Feb 24th, 2008 from txt

Katherine Heigl: 27 dresses, and 27 feet tall. 7:05 PM Feb 24th, 2008 from txt

I have a $100 Oscar pool bet with Clooney. I’m favored. 7:04 PM Feb 24th, 2008 from txt

Gary Busey: scary. 7:03 PM Feb 24th, 2008 from txt

Heidi Klum: apparently not from here. 5:18 PM Feb 24th, 2008 from txt

Glamour!!! LOL 4:47 PM Feb 24th, 2008 from txt

I have about 18 inches of real estate, behind a plastic hedge. 4:47 PM Feb 24th, 2008 from txt

Early arrivals include Lisa Rinna and her lips. And Lou Gossett Jr. 4:43 PM Feb 24th, 2008 from txt

On the red carpet now. I can’t leave my perch for the next three hours. 4:42 PM Feb 24th, 2008 from txt

I just gave an interview to Poland’s largest daily newspaer. Fortunately the reporter’s English was way better than my Polish. 2:28 PM Feb 24th, 2008 from txt

They used giant vacuum machines to dry the red carpet. So we won’t have to retitle the show “There Will be Mud.” 2:16 PM Feb 24th, 2008 from txt

Speaking of performances: Hillary Clinton mocking Barack Obama makes her seem cynical, bitter and desperate. 1:39 PM Feb 24th, 2008 from txt

Gil Cates says the opening 90 seconds tonight will be earth-shattering. It’s always dangerous to make such promises. 1:38 PM Feb 24th, 2008 from txt

They’re going to keep the tent up over the red carpet. A soggy Tilda Swinton just wouldn’t do. 9:36 AM Feb 24th, 2008 from txt

We’re about eight hours away from the Oscars, and there’s a steady rain falling. 9:33 AM Feb 24th, 2008 from txt

Casey Affleck: definitely taller than Ellen Page. 10:58 PM Feb 23rd, 2008 from txt

Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem are sitting on a sofa next to a pillow with Bardem’s pic on it . 10:10 PM Feb 23rd, 2008 from txt

I’m now at the Miramax party. They have pillows emblazoned with images from their films. 10:09 PM Feb 23rd, 2008 from txt

Samantha Ronson is the DJ at the after-party at Shutters on the Beach. 6:46 PM Feb 23rd, 2008 from txt

‘Juno’ was the big winner at the Spirit Awards. Best pic and best actress for Ellen Page… 6:27 PM Feb 23rd, 2008 from txt

Cate Blanchett won the Spirit Award for supporting actress and dedicated it to the late Heath Ledger… 4:47 PM Feb 23rd, 2008 from txt

Parker Posey is wearing a white rain coat indoors and eating popcorn. Her life is an independent movie. 3:30 PM Feb 23rd, 2008 from txt

Had a nice chat with Diablo Cody, who wrote “Juno.” She’s a grad of Benet Academy in Lisle. 2:59 PM Feb 23rd, 2008 from txt

I’m at the Independent Spirit Awards. 2:56 PM Feb 23rd, 2008 from txt

ed carpet. 12:56 PM Feb 23rd, 2008 from txt

I’ll be on the red carpet with the Fox News Channel at 11:30 CST this morning. 11:11 AM Feb 23rd, 2008 from txt

It’s 50 degrees in LA. They’re talking about how “cold” it might be for the Oscars. From a Chicago perspective, that’s just hilarious. 8:19 PM Feb 22nd, 2008 from txt

My interview with Clooney airs on WLS-TV this Sunday at 4pm. 2:41 PM Feb 22nd, 2008 from txt

I like mine better 🙂 2:40 PM Feb 22nd, 2008 from txt

Now I see his Oscar picks in Time magazine. 2:40 PM Feb 22nd, 2008 from txt

Last week George Clooney asked me if “No Country” was going to win Best Picture. 2:40 PM Feb 22nd, 2008 from txt

Hello Oscar fans! Stay tuned for dispatches from Hollywood. 9:43 AM Feb 22nd, 2008 from txt

Howard Stern says he’s not ruling out the possibility of replacing Simon Cowell on “American Idol.” Howard hates to travel and it’s hard to picture him going to all those hotel banquet rooms in Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, etc., etc., but he says the idea of getting paid a kabillion dollars for working only a few months at a time is appealing–and who better than Howard to rip into those that deserve to be ripped?

And if they’re looking for a couple of judges to join Stern at the table, here’s a trio that’s worked before in a judging capacity:

We all know celebrities live charmed lives, but that doesn’t mean there are drawbacks that accompany the great stuff, whether it’s dealing with paparazzi trailing your every move as you pick up your dry cleaning, fans pestering you for autographs while you’re in the restroom—-or doing a grueling publicity tour for your movie. I’ve been a reporter at junkets where an actor will sit for 30, 40, even 50 interviews in a single day, trying to sound peppy and engaged as one entertainment journalist after another asks the same questions. (“What was it like to work with Co-Star A?” “What’s your next project?” “Did you do any research for this role?” “What was it like to work with Director B?”)

Even more soul-sucking than the in-person junketeer experience is the satellite interview tour. You sit in a small, hot room with the lights bearing down on you, staring into the black hole of a camera lens while fielding questions from the hosts of “Good Morning Topeka!” and, “How’s it Goin’ Cincinnati!”

I’ve been the interview subject on a few of those tours, and it gave me a whole new appreciation for what these people go through. (Again, I know: they’re millionaires. They wanted to be famous. They asked for this. Still doesn’t mean it doesn’t suck.) After about two hours, you’ve lost all track of who you’re talking to, which jokes you’ve already used, what your middle name is. You just can’t wait for it to end.

Mel Gibson was doing one of those tours recently to promote “Edge of Darkness,” and his plasma-screened image appeared alongside WGN-TV’s Dean Richards, who kept bringing up Gibson’s well-documented troubles.

Celebrities hate it when you bring up their well-documented troubles. Their publicists REALLY hate it when you bring up their well-documented troubles. Sometimes they’ll cut the interview short and usher you out of the room if you dare bring up the DUI or the messy divorce or the battery charge.

In this case, Gibson tried to deflect Richards’ queries, but Dean-o kept hammering away at him before ending the interview with a mention of Gibson’s movie. After they said goodbye, but with Gibson still on-camera and with his mike on, we hear a one-word comment: “Asshole.”

Gibson says he was directing the comment at his publicist, who supposedly was making faces at him. There is a moment near the very end when you see Gibson’s eyes dart offscreen, as if distracted. But I don’t know—-seems to me he’s calling Richards an asshole.

I don’t know Dean very well, but he’s always been nice to me. I’ve been a guest on WGN-TV a few times with him, and he’s always professional, courteous and fun to work with. (He’s also got great pipes. If you watch Cubs baseball or other programming on superstation on WGN-TV, you hear him doing voice-overs all the time.)

Does he push it a little bit with Gibson? Absolutely. But it’s better than the usual suck-up interview where the questioner doesn’t dare mention the elephant in the room. That said, I can see why Gibson would mutter “Asshole,” at the end of that exchange. The guy fucked up big-time four years ago, but one can understand it if he said, “That’s it, I’m done, I’m not talking about this shit in public for the rest of my life.”

We all gotta learn to let things go, whether it’s our mistakes or somebody else’s.

82ND ACADEMY AWARDS® NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED

Beverly Hills, CA — Nominations for the 82nd Academy Awards were announced today (Tuesday, February 2) by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Tom Sherak and 2008 Oscar® nominee Anne Hathaway.

Sherak and Hathaway, who was nominated for an Academy Award® for her lead performance in “Rachel Getting Married,” announced the nominees in 10 of the 24 categories at a 5:38 a.m. PT live news conference attended by more than 400 international media representatives. Lists of nominations in all categories were then distributed to the media in attendance and online via the official Academy Awards Web site, www.oscar.com.

Academy members from each of the branches vote to determine the nominees in their respective categories – actors nominate actors, film editors nominate film editors, etc. In the Animated Feature Film and Foreign Language Film categories, nominations are selected by vote of multi-branch screening committees. All voting members are eligible to select the Best Picture nominees; this year that category features 10 nominees instead of 5, as has been the case since 1943.

Nominations ballots were mailed to the 5,777 voting members in late December and were returned directly to PricewaterhouseCoopers, the international accounting firm, for tabulation.

Official screenings of all motion pictures with one or more nominations will begin for members this weekend at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater. Screenings also will be held at the Academy’s Linwood Dunn Theater in Hollywood and in London, New York and the San Francisco Bay Area.

All active and life members of the Academy are eligible to select the winners in all categories, although in five of them – Animated Short Film, Live Action Short Film, Documentary Feature, Documentary Short Subject and Foreign Language Film – members can vote only if they have seen all of the nominated films in those categories.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2009 will be presented on Sunday, March 7, 2010, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network beginning at 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 200 countries worldwide.

Nominations for the 82nd Academy Awards

Performance by an actor in a leading role

Jeff Bridges in “Crazy Heart” (Fox Searchlight)

George Clooney in “Up in the Air” (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)

Colin Firth in “A Single Man” (The Weinstein Company)

Morgan Freeman in “Invictus” (Warner Bros.)

Jeremy Renner in “The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment)

Performance by an actor in a supporting role

Matt Damon in “Invictus” (Warner Bros.)

Woody Harrelson in “The Messenger” (Oscilloscope Laboratories)

Christopher Plummer in “The Last Station” (Sony Pictures Classics)

Stanley Tucci in “The Lovely Bones” (DreamWorks in association with Film4, Distributed by Paramount)

Christoph Waltz in “Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company)

Performance by an actress in a leading role

Sandra Bullock in “The Blind Side” (Warner Bros.)

Helen Mirren in “The Last Station” (Sony Pictures Classics)

Carey Mulligan in “An Education” (Sony Pictures Classics)

Gabourey Sidibe in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate)

Meryl Streep in “Julie & Julia” (Sony Pictures Releasing)

Performance by an actress in a supporting role

Penélope Cruz in “Nine” (The Weinstein Company)

Vera Farmiga in “Up in the Air” (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)

Maggie Gyllenhaal in “Crazy Heart” (Fox Searchlight)

Anna Kendrick in “Up in the Air” (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)

Mo’Nique in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate)

Best animated feature film of the year

“Coraline” (Focus Features), Henry Selick

“Fantastic Mr. Fox” (20th Century Fox), Wes Anderson

“The Princess and the Frog” (Walt Disney), John Musker and Ron Clements

“The Secret of Kells” (GKIDS), Tomm Moore

“Up” (Walt Disney), Pete Docter

Achievement in art direction

“Avatar” (20th Century Fox), Art Direction: Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg, Set Decoration: Kim Sinclair

“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” (Sony Pictures Classics), Art Direction: Dave Warren and Anastasia Masaro, Set Decoration: Caroline Smith

“Nine” (The Weinstein Company), Art Direction: John Myhre, Set Decoration: Gordon Sim

“Sherlock Holmes” (Warner Bros.), Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood, Set Decoration: Katie Spencer

“The Young Victoria” (Apparition), Art Direction: Patrice Vermette, Set Decoration: Maggie Gray

Achievement in cinematography

“Avatar” (20th Century Fox), Mauro Fiore

“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” (Warner Bros.), Bruno Delbonnel

“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment), Barry Ackroyd

“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company), Robert Richardson

“The White Ribbon” (Sony Pictures Classics), Christian Berger

Achievement in costume design

“Bright Star” (Apparition), Janet Patterson

“Coco before Chanel” (Sony Pictures Classics), Catherine Leterrier

“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” (Sony Pictures Classics), Monique Prudhomme

“Nine” (The Weinstein Company), Colleen Atwood

“The Young Victoria” (Apparition), Sandy Powell

Achievement in directing

“Avatar” (20th Century Fox), James Cameron

“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment), Kathryn Bigelow

“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company), Quentin Tarantino

“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate), Lee Daniels

“Up in the Air” (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios), Jason Reitman

Best documentary feature

“Burma VJ” (Oscilloscope Laboratories), A Magic Hour Films Production, Anders østergaard and Lise Lense-Møller

“The Cove” (Roadside Attractions), An Oceanic Preservation Society Production, Nominees to be determined

“Food, Inc.” (Magnolia Pictures), A Robert Kenner Films Production, Robert Kenner and Elise Pearlstein

“The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers”, A Kovno Communications Production, Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith

“Which Way Home”, A Mr. Mudd Production, Rebecca Cammisa

Best documentary short subject

“China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan, Province”, A Downtown Community Television Center Production, Jon Alpert and Matthew O’Neill

“The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner”, A Just Media Production, Daniel Junge and Henry Ansbacher

“The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant”, A Community Media Production, Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert

“Music by Prudence”, An iThemba Production, Roger Ross Williams and Elinor Burkett

“Rabbit à la Berlin” (Deckert Distribution), An MS Films Production, Bartek Konopka and Anna Wydra

Achievement in film editing

“Avatar” (20th Century Fox), Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua and James Cameron

“District 9” (Sony Pictures Releasing), Julian Clarke

“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment), Bob Murawski and Chris Innis

“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company), Sally Menke

“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate), Joe Klotz

Best foreign language film of the year

“Ajami” (Kino International), An Inosan Production, Israel

“El Secreto de Sus Ojos” (Sony Pictures Classics), A Haddock Films Production, Argentina

“The Milk of Sorrow”, A Wanda Visión/Oberon Cinematogrà/Vela Production, Peru

“Un Prophète” (Sony Pictures Classics), A Why Not/Page 114/Chic Films Production, France

“The White Ribbon” (Sony Pictures Classics), An X Filme Creative Pool/Wega Film/Les Films du Losange/Lucky Red Production, Germany

Achievement in makeup

“Il Divo” (MPI Media Group through Music Box), Aldo Signoretti and Vittorio Sodano

“Star Trek” (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment), Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow

“The Young Victoria” (Apparition), Jon Henry Gordon and Jenny Shircore

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)

“Avatar” (20th Century Fox), James Horner

“Fantastic Mr. Fox” (20th Century Fox), Alexandre Desplat

“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment), Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders

“Sherlock Holmes” (Warner Bros.), Hans Zimmer

“Up” (Walt Disney), Michael Giacchino

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)

“Almost There” from “The Princess and the Frog” (Walt Disney), Music and Lyric by Randy Newman

“Down in New Orleans” from “The Princess and the Frog” (Walt Disney), Music and Lyric by Randy Newman

“Loin de Paname” from “Paris 36” (Sony Pictures Classics), Music by Reinhardt Wagner, Lyric by Frank Thomas

“Take It All” from “Nine” (The Weinstein Company), Music and Lyric by Maury Yeston

“The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)” from “Crazy Heart” (Fox Searchlight), Music and Lyric by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett

Best motion picture of the year

“Avatar” (20th Century Fox), A Lightstorm Entertainment Production, James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers

“The Blind Side” (Warner Bros.), An Alcon Entertainment Production, Nominees to be determined

“District 9” (Sony Pictures Releasing), A Block/Hanson Production, Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham, Producers

“An Education” (Sony Pictures Classics), A Finola Dwyer/Wildgaze Films Production, Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey, Producers

“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment), A Voltage Pictures Production, Nominees to be determined

“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company), A Weinstein Company/Universal Pictures/A Band Apart/Zehnte Babelsberg Production, Lawrence Bender, Producer

“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate), A Lee Daniels Entertainment/Smokewood Entertainment Production, Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness, Producers

“A Serious Man” (Focus Features), A Working Title Films Production, Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Producers

“Up” (Walt Disney), A Pixar Production, Jonas Rivera, Producer

“Up in the Air” (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios), A Montecito Picture Company Production, Daniel Dubiecki, Ivan Reitman and Jason Reitman, Producers

Best animated short film

“French Roast” , A Pumpkin Factory/Bibo Films Production, Fabrice O. Joubert

“Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty” (Brown Bag Films), A Brown Bag Films Production, Nicky Phelan and Darragh O’Connell

“The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte)”, A Kandor Graphics and Green Moon Production, Javier Recio Gracia

“Logorama” (Autour de Minuit), An Autour de Minuit Production, Nicolas Schmerkin

“A Matter of Loaf and Death” (Aardman Animations), An Aardman Animations Production, Nick Park

Best live action short film

“The Door” (Network Ireland Television), An Octagon Films Production, Juanita Wilson and James Flynn

“Instead of Abracadabra”, (The Swedish Film Institute), A Directörn & Fabrikörn Production, Patrik Eklund and Mathias Fjellström

“Kavi”, A Gregg Helvey Production, Gregg Helvey

“Miracle Fish”, (Premium Films), A Druid Films Production, Luke Doolan and Drew Bailey

“The New Tenants”, A Park Pictures and M & M Production, Joachim Back and Tivi Magnusson

Achievement in sound editing

“Avatar” (20th Century Fox), Christopher Boyes and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle

“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment), Paul N.J. Ottosson

“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company), Wylie Stateman

“Star Trek” (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment), Mark Stoeckinger and Alan Rankin

“Up” (Walt Disney), Michael Silvers and Tom Myers

Achievement in sound mixing

“Avatar” (20th Century Fox), Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson and Tony Johnson

“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment), Paul N.J. Ottosson and Ray Beckett

“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company), Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti and Mark Ulano

“Star Trek” (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment), Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson and Peter J. Devlin

“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” (DreamWorks and Paramount in association with Hasbro, Distributed by Paramount), Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers and Geoffrey Patterson

Achievement in visual effects

“Avatar” (20th Century Fox), Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R. Jones

“District 9” (Sony Pictures Releasing) , Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros and Matt Aitken

“Star Trek” (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment), Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh and Burt Dalton

Adapted screenplay

“District 9” (Sony Pictures Releasing), Written by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell

“An Education” (Sony Pictures Classics), Screenplay by Nick Hornby

“In the Loop” (IFC Films), Screenplay by Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche

“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate), Screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher

“Up in the Air” (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios) , Screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner

Original screenplay

“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment), Written by Mark Boal

“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company), Written by Quentin Tarantino

“The Messenger” (Oscilloscope Laboratories), Written by Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman

“A Serious Man” (Focus Features), Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen

“Up” (Walt Disney), Screenplay by Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, Story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom Mc

Biggest suprises: Maggie Gyllenhaal, The Blind Side, An Education.

Best Picture

Avatar

The Blind Side

District 9

An Education

The Hurt Locker

Inglourious Basterds

Precious

A Serious Man

Up

Up in the Air

Best Actor

Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart

George Clooney, Up in the Air

Colin Firth, A Single Man

Morgan Freeman, Invictus

Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker

Best Actress

Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side

Helen Mirren, The Last Station

Carey Mulligan, An Education

Gabourey Sidibe, Precious

Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia

Supporting Actor

Matt Damon, Invictus

Woody Harrelson, The Messenger

Christopher Plummer, The Last Station

Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones

Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds

Supporting Actress

Penelope Cruz, Nine

Vera Farmiga, Up in the Air

Maggie Gyllenhall, Crazy Heart

Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air

Mo’Nique, Precious

“Cloverfield” has nothing on me LOL