When Stephen Frears' The Queen came out in 2006, all the buzz emphasized Helen Mirren's icy performance as London's reclusive royal highness. The ubiquitous praise lead to her Oscar win, but it overwhelmed recognition of the movie's secret weapon: Michael Sheen as Tony Blair, quietly pressuring his Majesty to face the public in the wake of Princess Diana's untimely demise. There's a reason why Sheen conveyed the nuances of Blair's role in the event, which transpired a mere three months after the Prime Minister rose to power -- he had practice. The Deal, a fantastic made-for-TV movie Frears directed in 2003, tracked Blair's cunning (and morally questionable) instincts in the years leading up to his position at the top of the Labor Party.

Sheen played Blair in The Deal first, and it's both a superior performance and a superior film. Whereas The Queen had a tabloid hook and only tangentially explored the deeper political ramifications of a reclusive national leader, The Deal delves into precisely how Blair managed to emerge at the top of British politics with a series of calculated maneuvers. Political drama at its finest, The Deal hit DVD in the United States last month, where it has been touted as "the prequel to The Queen." That's not quite fair; The Queen is the sequel to The Deal, and the two movies ought to be seen as a single, wholly fascinating package depicting British politics in the 1990s.

I guess it goes to show how little I've been paying attention, but I could have sworn Narcissa Malfoy already showed up in the Harry Potter movies. Of course, it could also mean I'm easily mixing up the books and the adaptations, because I must be thinking of the character's first appearance in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire -- the novel not the film. But Narcissa, who is mother to Draco (Tom Felton), wife to Lucius (Jason Isaacs) and cousin to Sirius Black (Gary Oldman) features prominently in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince -- the novel -- and so she will be making her cinematic introduction in the movie version. And now we've got word on who will be playing the role. According to BBC, Helen McCrory will play Narcissa, who in Half-Blood Prince is dealing with her husband being a prisoner of Azkaban and her son being a teenage brat.

Audiences are likely most familiar with McCrory through her role as British first lady Cherie Blair in The Queen. She also appeared recently in Becoming Jane, as Mrs. Radcliffe (somewhat a Potter-riffic name, right?), and Casanova, in which she played mother to Heath Ledger's title character. The interesting thing now is that McCrory is actually playing the sister of the character she was originally all set to play. If you remember back to the original casting announcements of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, McCrory was first attached to play Bellatrix Lestrange, a part that went to Helena Bonham Carter when McCrory became pregnant and had to bow out. And you may recall that earlier this year, the part of Narcissa was linked to Naomi Watts, whose reps quickly denied her involvement. As much as I loved the idea of Watts playing the role, I'm intrigued to see McCrory take it on. I wonder, though, will she have to dye her hair, or am I once again revealing my lack of attention to the books? Half-Blood Prince, which is currently in production at the helm of Order of the Phoenix director David Yates, is set to hit theaters in little over a year from now (21 Nov. 2008)

It's been eight months since Helen Mirren won an Oscar for her title performance in The Queen, yet people are still clamoring to give her and the film more awards. (As Cinematical's Christopher Campbell told us last week, they're even giving prizes to the movie's dogs.) Now The Queen has been nominated for six European Film Awards, including best picture, actress, director, screenwriter, composer, and editor.

How can that be, when it's a 2006 release? Because unlike the Oscars, which go by the calendar year, the European Film Awards run from July-June. So anything released in Europe after July 1, 2006 is eligible. That means that in the EFA actress category, last year's Oscar winner Helen Mirren is up against Marion Cotillard (for La Vie en Rose) -- who may very well be nominated for an Oscar this year. Kooky!

After The Queen, the next top-nominated film is another contender from last year's Oscars, The Last King of Scotland. It got five EFA nods, for picture, director, actor (James McAvoy), cinematographer, and composer.

Note that for all the awards, the nominees must be European by birth, or else have a European passport. This means, for example, that the American star of Last King of Scotland, Forest Whitaker, was ineligible, even though others in the film -- and the film itself -- qualified. The films themselves must be "European" in the sense that most of the key participants -- director, writer, leading actors, etc. -- must be from Europe. For the EFA's purposes, Israel and Palestine are considered part of Europe (even though they're, um, not.)

Three other films earned three nominations each, including best picture: La Vie en Rose, The Edge of Heaven, and 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days. The sixth best picture nominee is Persepolis -- its only nod.

As IndieWIRE reports, the nominees were announced Saturday at the Seville Film Festival. The EFA's 1,800 members will vote, and the winners will be revealed Dec. 1 at a ceremony in Berlin. This is the 20th year of the EFA awards.

If you love movie awards and dog shows, there's a new event that's perfect for you: the Fido Awards, which recognizes cinematic canines. Presented in conjunction with the London Film Festival, these awards were presented Sunday night with the top honor, "Best in World", going to five corgis -- named Poppy, Anna, Alice, Oliver and Megan -- that appear alongside Oscar-winner Helen Mirren in The Queen. The same dogs also won another award, "Best Historical Hounds for a dog/dogs in a film set in bygone days", beating out dogs from Control (I don't even remember a dog in this, which means it makes sense it didn't win) and Molière. Other winners include Travis, a Welsh cardigan corgi named "Comedy Canine for smochiest pooch in a romantic comedy " for his "method-acting" in Year of the Dog, Logan, a "Bernese Mtn English Mastiff X" named "Blockbuster Bowser -- best canine achievement in an action flick" for sharing a beer with Mark Wahlberg in Shooter, and dogs from the short film Dog Flap and the London Film Festival entry Far North. In addition to those from Control and Molière, losers included pups from The Holiday, Feast of Love, Shoot 'Em Up, The Savages (for some reason listed in the action category) and Paddy Considine's short Dog Altogether. Hopefully none of them were Old-Yellered because of their failures.

Isn't that cute? The Fidos are technically considered "the world's first-ever international awards ceremony for canine screen stars," but this isn't the first time awards have been given out to animal performances in film (I would be shocked if it were). Since 1939 -- after a horse was accidentally killed on the set of Jesse James -- the American Humane Association has honored animals in cinema and television with the PATSY Awards (yet apparently the first actual PATSY went to "Francis the Talking Mule" in 1951). Some of the obvious past winners include Lassie, the pig from Green Acres, the dog that played Benji (name: Higgins), Gypsy the horse (from Gypsy Colt) and Orangey the cat, who appeared in Rhubarb and Breakfast at Tiffany's. Unfortunately I can't seem to find a full list of the winners through the years, just this spotlight from TCM.

What is your favorite animal performance, canine or otherwise?

"This summer...hold on to your crown...The Queen rules again bitches!" Yes, Variety is reporting that writer Peter Morgan is working on a follow-up to last year's Oscar-winning hit, The Queen. The Queen was a very British story, but this time he's bringing America into the mix, specifically Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. The new film will deal with their relationships to Prime Minster Tony Blair (played wonderfully in The Queen by Michael Sheen, who is expected to return for the sequel). The film "will focus on Blair's reaction to the handover of power between Clinton, a natural liberal ally, and Bush, who came from the other end of the political spectrum." The project will actually be the third in Morgan's series of films about Blair, which began with the Channel 4 telepic The Deal.

The most intriguing aspect of this film might just be its casting. Who can effectively capture the good old boy charisma and charm of Bill Clinton? John Travolta did a very nice job playing a highly Clintonesque character in Primary Colors. I sure wish Phil Hartman was still alive (for a variety of reasons), I don't think anyone's nailed Clinton better, and I always sensed Hartman could have easily handled drama. Who can get across the thick layer of bluster, blind confidence, and -- what's a nice word? -- naivete present in a George W. Bush speech? Something tells me they won't go the Will Ferrell route. My pick for Dubya would be the great William H. Macy, he's got the "shifty dude whose world is crumbling around him" thing down pat. What do you guys think? Assuming they don't go with unknowns, who would you cast as two of the most recognizable figures in politics -- Bush and Clinton?

Hot on the heels of The Queen, Pathé Pictures and BBC Films have teamed up for a film about former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Like The Queen, which was co-produced by Pathé, this picture will not be a biopic and will instead deal with only a few weeks. Specifically, it will focus on the 17 days leading up to the Falklands War (Malvinas War, for the Argentines) of 1982. Aside from the production company, there isn't much else connecting this and The Queen, but that certainly won't stop its marketing. Currently the only people attached to the project are screenwriter Brian Fillis and producer Damian Jones, so it is of course still possible for others involved with The Queen to become involved here -- would Helen Mirren make a good Thatcher? (I couldn't see it). I actually say make up Julianne Moore for the part. Seriously.

It is too bad nobody thought about making a film earlier since it would tie in perfectly right now -- today is the 25th anniversary of Argentina's initial flag raising on South Georgia, which kicked off the conflict (I'm figuring it is the first of the 17 days). I'm not an expert on the proceedings from March 19 on, but much of the plot of the proposed film would likely consist of the attempted negotiations prior to Argentina's actual invasion of the islands. It is also too bad the film will be stopped at the moment the war begins, as it would make an interesting companion piece to last year's excellent Argentine film Blessed by Fire (read my Tribeca film festival review), in a Flags of Our Fathers/Letters from Iwo Jima-sort of way. The aftermath would be a worthy focus, too, because the war positively changed the British people's attitude toward Thatcher and the government. In any regard, I'm looking forward to the film and I hope it can be somewhat close to as good as The Queen.

Aside from the short film categories, the hardest part of your Oscar pool will be guessing the winners of the artisan trophies. But thanks to guild awards, you can at least have an idea of who to pick on your ballot. This past weekend a number of these guild awards took place, and though none of the winners are sure bets, their chances are now narrowed down a lot.

• Children of Men (and its DP, Emmanuel Lubezki) won the top feature film honor at the American Society of Cinematographers' Outstanding Achievement Awards. A lot of people are rooting for Lubezki for the Oscar, so you can't feel wrong picking him for your pool.
  
• The American Cinema Editors Eddie Awards had a tie for its top award for dramatic film editing, which went to Babel editors Stephen Mirrione and Douglas Crise and The Departed editor Thelma Schoonmaker. The ACE also gives out a comedy/musical award, which this year went to Dreamgirls editor Virginia Katz and a documentary award, which this year went to An Inconvenient Truth editors Jay Lash Cassidy and Dan Swietlik. Both Babel and The Departed are nominated for editing Oscars, but since Schoonmaker has already won twice, Mirrione has won only once and Crise has never won, expect the award to go to Babel.
  
• The Costume Designer Guild splits their awards into three categories. The period film winner is Chung Man Yee for The Curse of the Golden Flower. The fantasy film winner is Lala Huete for Pan's Labyrinth. The contemporary film winner is Consolata Boyle for The Queen. Both Chung Man Yee and Consolata Boyle are nominated for Oscars, but the Academy will likely choose something from a period piece. Then again, my predictions for the guild awards were all wrong.
  
• The Art Directors Guild Awards are also split in the same manner, and the honored films were nearly identical to the costumers' honored (and nearly identical to my predictions). The period film winner is Tingxiao Huo for The Curse of the Golden Flower. The fantasy film winner is Eugenio Caballero for Pan's Labyrinth. The contemporary film winner is Peter Lamont for Casino Royale. Of these winners, only Caballero is nominated for an Oscar.

The only award Casino Royale picked up Sunday at the British Academy Awards (BAFTAs) was for Best Sound. It was nominated in nine categories -- ten if you count the publicly voted Rising Star Award, which did go to Casino Royale actress Eva Green. But it would have been very shocking if the 007 movie had beaten The Queen for the Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film. Oh wait; The Queen didn't win it either. Surprisingly, The Last King of Scotland won Best British Film, as well as Best Adapted Screenplay (for Jeremy Brock and Peter Morgan, who also wrote The Queen) and, of course, Best Actor for Forest Whitaker. The Queen did win for Best Film, though, and also took the obvious prize for Best Actress for Helen Mirren.

Some of the other unexpected wins were Paul Greengrass for the David Lean Award for Direction and Alan Arkin for Best Supporting Actor for Little Miss Sunshine, which won for Best Original Screenplay. Other prizes went to Pan's Labyrinth for Best Film Not in the English Language, Best Makeup & Hair and Best Costume Design, Children of Men for Best Cinematography and Best Production Design and Babel for the Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music. For the most part, the British Academy disagreed with last week's London Film Critics Circle Awards, which gave added honors to specifically British performers like Emily Blunt, Toby Jones, Michael Caine and Leslie Philips. However, Casino Royale fared badly with the critics' choices too.

If you don't already have plans for Saturday, February 24, I have the best option for what to do -- provided you live near a participating AMC theater, that is. The cinema chain is offering an amazing deal to moviegoers on the eve of the Oscars: for the price of $30, you can see all five films nominated for best picture. Of course, you have to watch them in a row, from 11am to 11:30pm (or whatever time the 9:45 showing of Little Miss Sunshine lets out). In addition to the movies, though, you also get a large popcorn, a large drink -- with unlimited refills all day long -- and a "collectible pass."

Now, I can see if this is a little too much movie for most people to handle, but I can't express enough how good a deal it is. Plus, you could always leave before Sunshine (I would; I hate it), if you fear a numb butt (try to imagine 24 hours!). Considering I still need to see two of the nominees, it would be worth it for me to attend the whole marathon since at the participating megaplex in Manhattan two movies and concessions would run me about $30 anyway (unless I theater-hopped).

There seems to have been a bit of a mix-up at Jaguar Distribution, the company that distributes films to airlines for their mid-air movie fare. A number of lucky travellers were able to view a specially-censored version of The Queen, the film that just got Helen Mirren an Oscar nomination. On Delta Air Lines, Air New Zealand and others, the movie was shown with all mentions of God bleeped out. That's right, God has entered the ranks of f*ck and all the other words that bring innocent letters together for vulgar means.

I guess I was lucky earlier this month when I got to see Queen on American Airlines. As the story goes, a newbie censor was supposed to edit out profanities and "any blasphemy" for the in-flight version. The employee took this to mean editing out mentions of God as well, and worked himself into a bleeping frenzy. According to Jaguar's president, Jeff Klein, "A reference to God is not taboo in any culture that I know of ... We excise foul language, excessive violence and nudity."

It's too bad that the film didn't contain that oft-used phrase that would've become: "Bleep Save the Queen." The "bleep" gives the phrase a whole new ring. What happened to the employee with strange logic? He or she is still working for the editing laboratory, but I imagine that they're also working under a cloud of mockery.