Every year the Academy Of Science Fiction & Horror Films awards what they think are the best of the year’s genre movies at the Saturn Awards. Usually it’s a lot of stuff like The Island or Men In Black, but this year I think the Saturn’s are a little more important than normal.
You see, the problem is that the Oscar folks have completely overlooked some of the year’s very best films, simply because they are science fiction movies. While garbage like Babel is getting lauded, other, more critically acclaimed 2006 films have got absolutely no attention from the more boring than ever Academy Awards. This year was a brilliant year for Science Fiction, with brain bending, emotional, beautiful, dangerous, and in some cases life-changing, important movies coming from brilliant, big name directors. Somehow the Oscars have ignored all of that. The Saturn Awards have not.
The 33rd Annual Saturn Awards Nominees have just been announced. Bryan Singer’s poetic Superman Returns leads the pack with 10 nominations. Close behind are X-Men: The Last Stand, and Guillermo Del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth with 6 nominations. But the Academy of Science Fiction has also seen fit to recognize the genius filmmaking in Oscar overlooked movies like Children of Men, Déjà vu, The Prestige, The Fountain, Charlotte’s Web, and V for Vendetta. Alright it’s not exactly an Oscar, but at least it’s something. It’s criminal the way mainstream awards have completely overlooked these films.
Below is the full list of this year’s Saturn Award Nominees in film. For all the Saturn Television nominees, visit our TV sectionhere. The winners will be announced at a ceremony hosted by ‘Heroes’ star Greg Grunberg and comedian Jeffrey Ross held in Universal City on Thursday May 10, 2007.
BEST SCIENCE FICTION FILM:
CHILDREN OF MEN (Universal)
DÉJÀ VU (Buena Vista)
THE FOUNTAIN (Warner Bros.)
THE PRESTIGE (Buena Vista)
V FOR VENDETTA (Warner Bros.)
X-MEN: THE LAST STAND (20th Century Fox)
BEST FANTASY FILM:
CHARLOTTE’S WEB (Paramount)
ERAGON (20th Century Fox)
NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM (20th Century Fox)
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN’S CHEST (Buena Vista)
STRANGER THAN FICTION (Sony)
SUPERMAN RETURNS (Warner Bros.)
BEST HORROR FILM:
THE DESCENT (Lionsgate)
FINAL DESTINATION 3 (New Line Cinema)
HOSTEL (Lionsgate)
SAW III (Lionsgate)
SLITHER (Universal)
SNAKES ON A PLANE (New Line Cinema)
BEST ACTION / ADVENTURE / THRILLER FILM:
CASINO ROYALE (Sony / MGM)
THE DEPARTED (Warner Bros.)
FLYBOYS (MGM)
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE III (Paramount)
NOTES ON A SCANDAL (Fox Searchlight)
PERFUME: THE STORY OF A MURDERER (DreamWorks / Paramount)
BEST ANIMATED FILM:
CARS (Buena Vista)
FLUSHED AWAY (DreamWorks SKG)
HAPPY FEET (Warner Bros.)
MONSTER HOUSE (Sony)
OVER THE HEDGE (DreamWorks SKG)
A SCANNER DARKLY (Warner Independent Pictures)
BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM:
APOCALYPTO (Buena Vista)
THE CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER (Sony Pictures Classics)
FEARLESS (Rogue / Focus)
THE HOST (Magnolia Pictures)
LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA (Warner Bros.)
PAN’S LABYRINTH (Picturehouse)
BEST ACTOR:
DANIEL CRAIG (Casino Royale)
TOM CRUISE (Mission Impossible III)
WILL FARRELL (Stranger Than Fiction)
HUGH JACKMAN (The Fountain)
CLIVE OWEN (Children of Men)
BRANDON ROUTH (Superman Returns)
BEST ACTRESS:
KATE BOSWORTH (Superman Returns)
JUDY DENCH (Notes on a Scandal)
MAGGIE GYLLENHAAL (Stranger Than Fiction)
SHAUNA MACDONALD (The Descent)
NATALIE PORTMAN (V For Vendetta)
RENEE ZELLWEGER (Miss Potter)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:
BEN AFFLECK (Hollywoodland)
KELSEY GRAMMER (X-Men: The Last Stand)
PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN (Mission Impossible III)
SERGI LOPEZ (Pan’s Labyrinth)
JAMES MARSDEN (Superman Returns)
BILL NIGHY (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
CATE BLANCHETT (Notes on a Scandal)
EVA GREEN ( Casino Royale)
RACHEL HURD-WOOD (Perfume: The Story of a Murderer)
FAMKE JANSSEN (X-Men: The Last Stand)
PARKER POSEY (Superman Returns)
EMMA THOMPSON (Stranger Than Fiction)
BEST PERFORMANCE BY A YOUNGER ACTOR: KO A-SUNG (The Host)
IVANA BAQUERO (Pan’s Labyrinth)
JODELLE FERLAND (Tideland)
TRISTAN LAKE LEABU (Superman Returns)
MITCHEL TATE MUSSO (Monster House)
EDWARD SPELEERS (Eragon)
BEST DIRECTION:
J.J. ABRAMS (Mission Impossible III)
ALFONSO CUARON (Children of Men)
GUILLERMO DEL TORO (Pan’s Labyrinth)
MEL GIBSON (Apocalypto) (Buena Vista)
BRYAN SINGER (Superman Returns)
TOM TYKWER (Perfume: The Story of a Murderer)
BEST WRITING:
ANDREW BIRKIN BERND EICHINGER TOM TYKWER (Perfume: The Story of a Murderer)
GUILLERMO DEL TORO (Pan’s Labyrinth)
MICHAEL DOUGHERTY DAN HARRIS (Superman Returns)
ZACH HELM (Stranger Than Fiction)
NEAL PURVIS & ROBERT WADE and PAUL HAGGIS (Casino Royale)
THE WACHOWSKI BROTHERS (V for Vendetta)
BEST MUSIC:
DAVID ARNOLD (Casino Royale)
JOHN OTTMAN (Superman Returns)
DOUGLAS PIPES (Monster House)
JOHN POWELL (X-Men: The Last Stand)
TREVOR RABIN (Flyboys)
TOM TYKWER JOHNNY KLIMEK REINHOLD HEIL (Perfume: The Story of a Murderer)
BEST COSTUME:
JOAN BERGIN (The Prestige)
YEE CHUNG-MAN (Curse of the Golden Flower)
PENNY ROSE (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest)
JUDIANNA MAKOVSKY (X-Men: The Last Stand)
GILLY MARTIN (Flyboys)
SAMMY SHELDON (V For Vendetta)
BEST MAKE-UP:
HOWARD BERGER GREGORY NICOTERO MARIO MICHISANTI (The Hills Have Eyes)
PAUL HYETT VICKIE LANG (The Descent)
DAVID MARTI MONTSE RIBE (Pan’s Labyrinth)
TODD MASTERS (Slither)
VE NEILL JOEL HARLOW (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest)
GREGORY NICOTERO SCOTT PATTON (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning)
BEST SPECIAL EFFECTS:
JOHN BRUNO ERIC SAINDON CRAIG LYN MICHAEL VEZINA (X-Men: The Last Stand)
JEREMY DAWSON DAN SCHRECKER MARK SOPER PETER PARKS (The Fountain)
ROGER GUYETT RUSSELL EARL PATRICK TOBACH DAN SUDICK (Mission Impossible III)
KARIN JOY JOHN BERTON BLAIR CLARK JOHN DIETZ (Charlotte’s Web)
JOHN KNOLL HAL HICKEL CHARLES GIBSON ALLEN HALL (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest)
MARK STETSON NEIL CORBOULD RICHARD R. HOOVER JON THUM (Superman Returns)
