The cast and crew of New York, I Love You keeps growing and growing. There's not even enough room on the headline to list all the names that were just added. New York is a collection of short stories, part of a "Cities of Love" anthology that was begun by Paris, je ta'ime. New York will reportedly be followed by Shanghai, and then cities in South America and Africa.

The stories are showcasing an incredible variety of actors and directors. Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson are both making their directing debut, there's a good representation of international talent, and Brett Ratner hasn't been driven away by pitchforks and torches. Variety reported that Orlando Bloom, Olivia Thirlby, Hayden Christensen, and Ethan Hawke had climbed aboard the film. No word on who's segments they will appear in yet -- but a far better choice for Bloom's career than Prince of Persia, wouldn't you say?

The firestorm sparked by Lindsay Lohan's decision to pose naked for a photo spread in New York Magazine is fascinating. The comments in response to Erik Davis' post were mostly negative, either disparaging Lohan's looks or her reputation as a "bad girl." I'm sure her age (21) also affected how people felt about the pictures and her exposure in them. Would the reaction have been the same if she had appeared naked in I Know Who Killed Me, in which she played a stripper who kept most of her clothes on?

We'll never know, but we do know that not every actress who doffs her duds provokes such a heated reaction. And, sometimes, it's not even the actress' body parts on display. For example, initial reports were that Cate Blanchett appeared nude in Elizabeth: The Golden Age, but that proved to be false. The actress didn't feel the nudity was required, and so a "bum double" was called in. None of the other women nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Actress category appear naked in their nominated films, though three of them have done so in the past. In the Best Supporting Actress category, we find only Tilda Swinton has bared all before. Therefore, we'll cheat a little and add screenwriter Diablo Cody, who worked as a professional unclad dancer for a brief period in her life.

We've listed four nominated actresses and a nominated writer, all good women of distinguished accomplishment who, at one time or another, have appeared naked in public, all but one on the big screen. Who's Your Favorite Good Girl Gone Nude? And don't worry, the boys get their turn tomorrow.

Finally Josh Brolin received an award for his excellent performance in No Country for Old Men. He and the rest of the film's actors won the Screen Actors Guild Award for best ensemble cast Sunday night, giving No Country its second big win of the weekend (Joel and Ethan Coen received the top Directors Guild of America award Saturday). Along with Brolin, trophies went to cast-mates Tommy Lee Jones, Woody Harrelson, Garret Dilahunt, Tess Harper and Javier Bardem, who also won the SAG award for best supporting actor. While I'm not sure how many of No Country's performers actually received their own trophy, I'm hoping that both Kelly Macdonald and Barry Corbin were also included. No Country is one of those movies that wouldn't be the same without all of its main and supporting actors, and it is certainly fitting for it to have picked up this honor.

Other film winners from Sunday night include Daniel Day-Lewis, who surprised no one by being honored with the leading actor trophy. Even I'm getting a little bored with all of his awards, despite my agreement that his is the best performance of the year. I didn't even notice if any of the other nominees (George, Emile, Viggo and Ryan) showed up to the ceremony, which was one of the first red carpet awards events of the season. Picking up the award for leading actress was Julie Christie, further cementing the fact that I really need to see Away From Her already. The supporting actress honor went to Ruby Dee, who deserves it just for being the cutest old lady on screen last year, let alone for going up strong against both Denzel and Brolin in American Gangster. Finally, The Bourne Ultimatum won the new SAG award for best stunt ensemble and Charles Durning -- one of Cinematical's favorite character actors ever -- received a lifetime achievement award. Be sure to check out Moviefone's coverage of the awards for plenty of red carpet and ceremony photos.

Best Actress (Drama)

Nominees:

Cate Blanchett -- Elizabeth: The Golden Age

Julie Christie -- Away from Her

Jodie Foster -- The Brave One

Angelina Jolie -- A Mighty Heart

Keira Knightley -- Atonement

Predicted Winner: Keira Knightley

The sexy beanpole tomboy has blossomed into a full-fledged heavyweight as a dramatic actress, gracefully inhabiting the soul of an edgy, stylish flapper turned tragic, pining romantic heroine. The Cinematical writers are sold: Keira's time has come.

Now it's your turn to vote ...

Yahoo reports that the National Society of Film Critics (made up of 61 film critics across the country) has chosen Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood as the Best Picture of the Year, beating The Diving Bell and the Butterfly and No Country for Old Men. Anderson also won Best Director, over Julian Schnabel and the Coen Brothers. Daniel Day-Lewis was named Best Actor for Blood, and Robert Elswit received an award for its cinematography. The critics are clearly crazy for Blood, but I don't think it'll take the Best Picture Oscar. It's too cold a film for Oscar voters to fully embrace, and though I know I'm practically alone in this assessment, it's too flawed.

Julie Christie was named Best Actress for her understated performance in Away from Her. Casey Affleck was named Best Supporting Actor for his excellent work in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. And Cate Blanchett was selected as Best Supporting Actress for a performance that, for me, didn't amount to much more than a pretty good Bob Dylan impression. No End in Sight, a straightforward account of the bad decisions made by the Bush administration after the invasion of Iraq, won Best Documentary. Tamara Jenkins' script for The Savages was named Best Screenplay. I really loved the first half of The Savages but felt the second got distracted with side stories that thinned out the story's impact. Only 41 of the Society's 61 members cast ballots this year (?), and their choices frequently differ from Oscar voters. We'll find out just how much they differ when the Academy Award nominations are announced on January 22nd.

Earlier this week, I along with 20 other San Francisco film critics assembled at an undisclosed location -- okay, it was a café -- to vote on the best films, best performances and best other stuff of 2007. It's an interesting experience. I spent a few weeks combing through the year's releases, coming up with my own choices. Then I second-guessed some of them, deciding whether I should eliminate certain choices. If I was absolutely certain that someone would make the final ballot, then I would cast a vote for someone more obscure, someone I really liked. After doing that, I scrapped the whole thing and went back to my favorites in each category, regardless of where they placed.

For Best Supporting Actress, I selected Amy Ryan in Gone Baby Gone (301 screens) as my #1 choice, comfortable in my certainty that she was a dark horse and that no one else would pick her. She was far from being the focus of that film, but she knocked a home run in her few scenes as a horrible, drug-ridden mother who has lost her baby girl. As a bonus, she was also in Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (321 screens), a film that also made a decent showing on my personal ballot. (She lost a few points by being in the wretched Dan in Real Life, but gained them back again by being on TV's "The Wire.") In any case, Ryan not only made our final ballot, but she actually won. Congratulations, Amy! My other picks, Taraji P. Henson in Talk to Me, Kristen Thomson in Away from Her, and Maggie Smith in Becoming Jane, didn't make it so far. As for my fifth pick, Cate Blanchett in I'm Not There (148 screens), you've not heard that last of her.

The San Francisco Film Critics Awards have been announced, and they're especially exciting for us here at Cinematical. Why? Because three of our writers are in the SFFC! Our very own James Rocchi, Jeffrey M. Anderson, and Richard Von Busack are all part of the San Francisco critic "scene." San Fran made some interesting picks, several outside of the expected Oscar nominees. So what were their choices? For Best Foreign Film, they selected Julian Schnabel's The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (which I am watching when I finish this post). For Best Documentary, they selected No End in Sight (which didn't blow me away, but was certainly well done). Best Adapted Screenplay went to Sarah Polley for Away From Her (great script, one of the most kick-in-the-stomach depressing movies I've seen lately). And Best Original Screenplay went to Tamara Jenkins for The Savages.

Amy Ryan was named Best Supporting Actress for her brilliant portrayal of a highly difficult character in Gone Baby Gone. Ryan's co-star in that film, Casey Affleck, was named Best Supporting Actor for his outstanding work in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. Best Actress was Julie Christie for Away From Her and Best Actor was George Clooney in Michael Clayton -- two choices I approve of though I disagree with them. Joel and Ethan Coen took Best Director(s) honors for their latest masterpiece, No Country for Old Men. And -- drumroll please -- the Best Picture Award went to Jesse James. A surprising pick perhaps, but it was an absolutely fantastic film, and hopefully the award encourages more people to see it. The SFFC gave a special citation to an indie called Colma: The Musical, "a homegrown song-and-dance extravaganza about the paradoxical drudgery and surreality of life in a city where the dead outnumber the living one thousand to one." That old story again? See the list for yourself here -- it's a San Francisco treat!

Christmas time isn't only for Santa and kidlets. In the world of cinema, some filmmakers and actors get notable awards to scatter amongst their presents, while others only get to scatter empty space and the dismal tarnish of broken dreams. As films push to get themselves into the running before the ball drops, critics have started to share their picks. So, while we were all enjoying our weekends, the Los Angeles, Boston, New York, and D.C. critics were picking their best films of the year. B-town was all over a certain country for old folks, while the others were crazy for a little blood. Many of the critics picked the same films, so peruse this list and weigh in on who/what they're all forgetting about.

Here are the lucky winners, all courtesy of Variety:

Los Angeles

Paul Thomas Anderson was victorious in LaLa land, with his most recent film, There Will Be Blood -- the story of a Texan prospector during the early days of the oil business. The film nabbed the best picture slot, best director, best actor for Daniel Day Lewis, best production design for Jack Fisk, and then runner-up slots for screenplay, music, and cinematography.

Julian Schnabel also made a solid showing with The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, the story about French Elle EIC Jean-Dominique Bauby and the stroke that changed his life. The film won only the award for best cinematography for Janusz Kaminski, but it received some runner-up nods as well -- best picture, director, and foreign language film.

Other winners include: La Vie en rose, 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days, and a tie between Ratatouille and Persepolis for best animated feature.

Most people consider the National Board of Review irrelevant, and yet they continue to write about the organization's annual film honors. Like the Oscars, though, it doesn't matter if the NBR is irrelevant or not. It's been around for nearly a century now, and it's been a significant part of awards season for many decades. Maybe the organization is made up of paid-entry film buffs rather than critics or "experts" but at the end of the day its members are simply movie lovers like you and me. And sometimes those members even champion and endorse movies that deserve that extra notice.

Sure, the 2007 mentions by the NBR seem so exhaustive that I almost can't even think of a movie that didn't get an award. Also, many of them seem like obvious and predictable decisions (doesn't this just mean the movies were noteworthy enough to receive the awards anyway?). Some of the winners, though, are pretty satisfying. Tim Burton probably won't win an Oscar for best director, so it's good to see him honored here. Also, I wouldn't have expected Lars and the Real Girl to get an original screenplay mention from anywhere. Nor did I expect for The Bucket List to land on any top ten lists. Mostly, I'm delighted to see Casey Affleck recognized for his acting.

Check out all the awards after the jump.

My pick of the week is the underseen Cautiva, a drama from Argentina. Cristina's biological parents were "disappeared" during the 1970s, but she knew nothing about it and is none too happy when she is torn away from her comfortable upper class existence to live with them. Cautiva (AKA Captive) does not dig very deeply into the political issues that it raises -- and I kept wishing that Cristina would react to her situation instead of simply slumping her shoulders -- but it is fascinating for its new twists on the old coming of age story.

More fully realized on every level, Away From Her marked the assured directorial debut of actress Sarah Polley. She paints a delicate portrait of a long-time marriage that reaches a breaking point from which it may never recover. In his Sundance review, our own James Rocchi wrote: "Away from Her is a truly romantic film, and it moves us because it knows the cruel, beautiful fact that how much love and life give us is often matched by how much they can cost." Julie Christie and Gordon Pinsent star. The DVD includes an audio commentary with Christie, plus deleted scenes and commentary by Polley.

Triad Election is a riveting drama starring Simon Yam as a Hong Kong mob boss who desperately wants to stay in power. Johnny To masterfully directed. Cinematical's Jeffrey M. Anderson says that "the movie's real strength comes in the performances, the interplay, and the unknown levels of trust." Triad Election is actually the second part of a drama that begins with 2005's Election, which details Yam's rise to power. Unfortunately, Election won't be released on Region 1 DVD until November. Taken together, they are powerful, but even separated like this, Triad Election is well worth a look.

Other indie titles that may deserve a rental include Hungarian sports drama White Palms, character drama Snow Cake (featuring Alan Rickman and Sigourney Weaver), and nightlife comedy The Boys & Girls Guide to Getting Down.

Julie Christie has been acting for over forty years, and that's not a movie here or there with lots of extracurricular space in-between. She has worked almost consistently since her start in A for Andromeda in 1961. Just a few years later, she won an Oscar for her role in Darling, as a model who climbs to the top by climbing in and out of beds. From there, God! -- Doctor Zhivago, Fahrenheit 451, McCabe & Mrs. Miller, Shampoo, Heaven Can Wait, Hamlet... Most recently, she wowed audiences as a woman suffering from Alzheimer's in Sarah Polley's Away From Her. Now she's getting another honor to add to her many wins.

indieWIRE has posted that the actress will receive the Independent by Nature Award at the Aspen Film Festival on September 29 (the fest runs from September 26-30). This is given to those "who embody individualism and creative risk-taking." The executive director of the fest, Laura Thielen, says: "We are honored to celebrate this exceptionally gifted actor." She's definitely made her own path, not following on the slim celebrity path that was laid out for her. One of my favorite quotes of hers: "All that concentrated adulation is terribly corroding." Great, eh? She doesn't have any other film work lined up, but maybe she can help some of the struggling celebs out there shape up.

It seems like an eternity since I first saw Snow Cake, starring Alan Rickman and Sigourney Weaver, at the Seattle International Film Festival in 2006. Finally, the film is actually opening. The film played heavily on the film fest ciricuit last year, opening at Berlin, then hitting a few more international fests before wending its way across the Atlantic to Tribeca, then meandering along to Seattle, Shanghai, Edinburgh and Toronto.

The film stars Rickman (who, I'm starting to think, couldn't turn in a bad performance if he tried) as Alex Hughes, a sullen man with a mysterious past who meets Vivienne (Emily Hampshire), a young hitchhiker, at a truck stop diner, and surprises himself by agreeing to give her a ride to Wawa, Ontario, where she's heading to visit her mother. A tragic car crash kills Vivienne just as they're starting out, leaving the traumatized Alan to deliver the news of her daughter's death to her mother, Linda ( Weaver). As it turns out, Linda is autistic, and doesn't handle the news of Vivienne's death quite the way Alex expected, and he ends up being drawn inexorably into Linda's life. Carrie-Ann Moss has a nice turn as the sexy next door neighbor.

Imagine that you've been happily married for over 40 years, and then your loved one is stricken with Alzheimer's. You both agree that your partner should go to a nursing home. The twist: you are not allowed to visit your memory loss-suffering loved one for 30 days, so they can adjust to their new surroundings. I'm sure you can guess what happens -- when the month is up, you head to the home and your long-term love doesn't recognize you. To add insult to injury, they've fallen for someone else.

That's the premise of Sarah Polley's directorial debut, Away From Her, for which Kim Voynar shared the poster in March. Now Cinematical has an exclusive clip of the film, courtesy of Lionsgate. I would suggest first checking out the film's website and trailer (warning: some embedded music in the beginning can't be turned off). While it might just be the saddest trailer that I've ever seen, it really gives some context to the scene above. Julie Christie plays Fiona, the woman suffering from Alzheimer's; Gordon Pinsent plays Grant, her husband; and Michael Murphy plays Aubrey, her new love. In the clip, Fiona and Grant are in the office of Dr. Fischer (Alberta Watson), and the doctor is asking a series of simple questions -- some which she can answer, and some of which elude her. If the trailer and this clip are any indication, you best prepare for a heart-wrenching ride.

Away From Her will head into limited release on May 4.

Trying to figure out how many prostitutes have turned up in the movies is a mug's game, but let's play it a little, shall we? James Robert Parish's 1991 Prostitution in Hollywood Films (McFarland) lists 389 films in which prostitution is a subject or subplot. Parrish includes everything from Porky's to all six versions of the penthouse-to-pavement melodrama Madame X. The IMDB tops this number by claiming about 800 movies with prostitution as a subject. Ever since the first important film on the flesh trade -- the 1913 Traffic in Souls, just inducted into the Library of Congress -- the subject of the Fate Worse Than Death has fueled comedy, drama, and film noir. Oh, and science fiction -- remember the "Furniture Girls" in Soylent Green? Playing a hooker is also good Oscar fodder. So far it's gained six Best Actress awards and 15 nominations, as well as seven Best Supporting Actress wins and five nominations.

This count requires some give and take: Madeleine Kahn's Lili von Shtupp in Blazing Saddles (an Oscar nominee) was officially a dance hall girl (wink, nod). Sally Bowles in Cabaret didn't make the count, though it's fairly clear how she paid the rent. Ditto the no-visible-means-of-support Holly Golightly. Hey, we're all prostitutes! So the top seven below need kibitzing and counter suggestions, and perhaps some flame-broiling. The idea here is for time-tested films, meaning that more recent working girls aren't aboard, despite impressive acting by Sophie Okonedo in Dirty Pretty Things, Taraji P. Henson in Hustle and Flow or Morena Baccarin in Serenity. (And Brittany Murphy was no slouch as The Dead Girl.) Let's overlook Reagan-age free-market propaganda disguised as sex comedies, and pass on that famous trio of savvy businesswomen Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman, Jamie Lee Curtis in Trading Places and Rebecca de Mornay in Risky Business. (How about Kathy Baker in Street Smart, Marilia Pera in Pixote and Louise Smith in Lizzie Borden's neo-doc Working Girls instead?)


Janet Gaynor, Seventh Heaven (1927) The ultimate Victorian-era victim of circumstances, gold heart beating under a manhandled breast, pursued by the same hypocrite society that drove her to a life of crime. And now I'm making this really beautiful film sound terrible. Gaynor, a small and frail-looking actress--a shadow of the streets, as Edith Piaf put it--is teamed with ultimate woman's-film director Frank Borzage. And Borzage was one of the few men who could make a movie that you'd weep at without hating yourself for it in the morning. Matching her here is frequent co-star Charles Farrell, who plays a Parisian sewer worker who wants to rise out of the depths to the open air. Some (Catholics, probably) would make the mental connection between Seventh Heaven's pairing of the two trades and St. Thomas Aquinas's cold-blooded comment that prostitutes were like sewers: despicable but necessary to society.

One of my favorite films from the last year, Sarah Polley's Away from Her, has a spandy-new poster (above) as it gears up for its May 4 release date. Away from Her tells the tale of Grant (Gordon Pinsent) and Fiona (Julie Christie), married for 40 years when Fiona starts to lose her memory to early-onset Alzheimer's. Fiona insists on moving into a home for the "memory-impaired," and the home they choose requires that Grant not visit for the first 30 days to give Fiona time to adjust. By the time he's able to see Fiona again, she's forgotten who he is, and has developed an attachment to Aubrey (Michael Murphy), another patient at the facility.

The script is original and well-written, the acting superb, and the direction truly spectacular, especially considering this is Ms. Polley's first foray into helming a film. Watching this film, I couldn't help but think ... "Wow, if this is what she's capable of her first time out, I can't wait to see what she does in the future."

If you're in the Dallas/Forth Worth area (or close enough to drive there), you don't have to wait until May to see this film -- it's playing the AFI Dallas International Film Festival on Saturday, March 31, and rumor has it Polley will be there.