Tommy Lee Jones by Jim Spellman/WireImage.com
Tommy Lee Jones is suing the makers of No Country for Old Men for more than 10 million of outstanding bonuses promised to him for starring in the picture The San Antonio Express-News reportsIn a lawsuit filed against Paramount Pictures on Thursday Jones who played Sheriff Ed Tom Bell in the Oscar-winning film claims his contract assured him significant box office bonuses and back-end compensation depending on the movies box-office success No Country went on to gross 160 millionThe reimbursement was meant to compensate for Jones reduced upfront feeThe actor asserts he was denied such compensation over the winter when Paramount informed him of various mistakes in his contractJones wants an auditor to review records to determine how much he ought to be owed Joyce Eng
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No Country for Old Men courtesy Walt Disney Video
When a man stumbles upon a bloody scene and two million dollars in cash, his decision to take the money sets off an unstoppable chain reaction of violence. Hunted by a psychopathic killer, the man tries desperately to put an end to his pursuer while the local Sheriff follows the bodies left behind. No Country for Old Men is the 4-time Oscar-winning movie from Joel and Ethan Coen starring Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin and Javier Bardem, winner of the Academy Award for "Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role."No Country for Old Men arrived at my house as an Oscar-nominated film, and it walked away with 4 awards before I had a chance to watch it. The "best picture" winner is always worthy of viewing, either because it's a great movie, or because you're able to shake your head in disgust after viewing it, proclaiming another movie as being "much, much better." I went in with an open mind, even though I strongly disliked Fargo, the other movie that provided the Coen brothers wi...
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Ellen Page and Michae Ceral in Juno courtesy Fox Searchlight
Thanks primarily to good timing, this year's Academy Award contenders for best picture drew in an extra $111 million between the Jan. 22 announcement of the nominees and Sunday's telecast, E! reports.Unlike some past years when all of the nommed films were released before November, many of this year's nominees rolled out much closer to the nominations, taking advantage of the buzz. Juno was the biggest earner, adding about $43.3 mil to its previous earnings. There Will Be Blood made 75 percent of its $35 mil post-nominations, having been in limited release until late January.Even Michael Clayton, which had a disastrous box office debut last fall, tacked on nearly $10 mil with a re-release. Atonement earned an extra $16 mil, while big winner No Country for Old Men added a respectable $15 mil to its gross in the past month. — Adam Bryant
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Javier Bardem by Tim Ogier/ABC
The Coen brothers' No Country for Old Men saw no shortfall of love from Academy voters, who on Sunday night handed the drama a bevy of gold, including a win for best picture. Javier Bardem, an early front-runner in the supporting-actor race, earned kudos for his role in the film, while the Coens' script won for best adapted screenplay.In the lead-acting categories, Daniel Day-Lewis won for There Will Be Blood and Marion Cotillard took home a statue for La Vie en Rose. Tilda Swinton earned supporting-actress honors for Michael Clayton.Ratatouille scurried off with the prize for best animated feature.Click here for a complete list of the winners.More from TVGuide.com's Oscars special: • A series of fab photo galleries• Watch videos of red-carpet interviews• Our live Oscars blog recaps every memorable moment!
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As anticipation for this Sunday's 80th Academy Awards grows, some Oscar fans just can't help looking back. In a survey by Parade magazine, readers were asked to pinpoint the most memorable moments from the show's 80-year history as well as sound off on this year's races. Categories included everything from most memorable acceptance speech — which went to Sally Field's "You like me right now!" declaration — to the viewers' preferred host of the annual event, where Billy Crystal was the landslide winner.Richard Gere and Sandra Bullock came away as the fans' favorite actor and actress to never receive an Oscar nod, while (shocker, not!) 69 percent of readers want the acceptance speeches cut shorter. Looking toward this weekend's ceremony, George Clooney (Michael Clayton) and Cate Blanchett (Elizabeth: The Golden Age) are your picks in the lead-acting contests, while No Country for Old Men has the viewers' support for best picture. (Full results from the survey can be found he...
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Keira Knightley, Atonement by Alex Bailey/Focus Features
If you haven't seen most (or any) of the Best Picture nominees, have no fear: Neither have most of your friends. So here's a quick primer — an Oscars cheat sheet, if you will, to Hollywood's top prize. —Steve PondAtonement• Themes: Love, guilt, war, memory, obligation... and, well, atonement.• Covers six decades, using three actresses (Saoirse Ronan, Romola Garai and Vanessa Redgrave) to play the lead character.• Adapted by Christopher Hampton from the novel by Ian McEwan, an award-winning British writer who, between writing acclaimed novels, also penned the screenplay for the 1993 Macaulay Culkin flop The Good Son.• Acting style inspired by British movies of the '30s and '40s, especially Brief Encounter.• Made use of all eight World War II vintage British ambulances still known to exist.• Includes a mammoth, uninterrupted five-and-a-half-minute tracking shot that covers the British evacuation of Dunkirk; director Joe Wright said he was forced...
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No Country For Old Men courtesy Miramax
No Country for Old Men arrives on DVD March 11, albeit not in time for a pre-Oscars living-room viewing.... Showtime will sneak-peek the Feb. 24 episode of The L Word on Feb. 18, at OurChart.com.... Scottish-born Craig Ferguson has passed his U.S. citizenship test, he announced on Monday's Late Late Show. "All of you people born here, if you had to take that test... well, Canada would be building a fence right now," he quipped. (Someone help me out here — I don't get it.)
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George CLooney in Michael Clayton courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures
And now to the films that made out like banditsTheres Juno of course and Paul Thomas Andersons bleak There Will Be Blood based on Upton Sinclairs muckraking 1927 novel Oil was nominated for best picture best actor Daniel Day-Lewis best director and best adapted screenplay The quietly effective Paul Dano of last years indie favorite Little Miss Sunshine was passed over for best supporting actor Lewis was widely considered a shoo-in but the rest of the nominations were less than givens despite critical raves for this lengthy 158 minutes epic examination of greed false prophets and near-biblical retributionThinking-mans thriller Michael Clayton scored big with critics without exciting much attention among moviegoers Its nominated for best picture with star George Clooney recognized in the best-actor category Costars Tilda Swinton and Tom Wilkinson were both nominated in the supporting categories and first-time director Tony Gilroy got a nod both for direct
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George Clooney in Michael Clayton courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures, Ellen Page in Juno by Doane Gregory/Fox Searchlight
Nominations for the 80th-annual Academy Awards were announced on Tuesday morning, and No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood led the pack with eight nods each, among them best picture and acting honors for Daniel Day-Lewis and Javier Bardem. Who else is going for gold come Feb. 24, in a ceremony of as-yet-to-be-determined magnitude? The contenders are:Lead ActorGeorge Clooney, Michael ClaytonDaniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be BloodJohnny Depp, Sweeney ToddTommy Lee Jones, In the Valley of ElahViggo Mortensen, Eastern PromisesLead ActressCate Blanchett, Elizabeth: The Golden AgeJulie Christie, Away from HerMarion Cotillard, La Vie en RoseLaura Linney, The SavagesEllen Page, JunoSupporting ActorCasey Affleck, The Assassination of Jesse James... Javier Bardem, No Country for Old MenPhilip Seymour Hoffman, Charlie Wilson's WarHal Holbrook, Into the WildTom Wilkinson, Michael ClaytonSupporting ActressCate Blanchett, I'm Not ThereRuby Dee, American GangsterSaoirse Ronan, AtonementAmy...
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Olga Kurylenko by J. Vespa/WireImage.com
Following in the footsteps of such sexpots as Jane Seymour, Kim Basinger and Halle Berry, Hitman hottie Olga Kurylenko has been cast as the Bond girl in the upcoming, as-yet-untitled 007 flick.... Michael Chiklis will play the U.S. Secretary of Defense in Eagle Eye, the Shia LaBeouf terrorist thriller.... Skeet Ulrich will star opposite Matt Dillon in Armored, about a Brinks-truck heist.... On Monday night, the Broadcast Film Critics Association named No Country for Old Men the year's best picture, Joel and Ethan Cohen best director, and Javier Bardem best supporting actor. There Will Be Blood lead Daniel Day-Lewis won best actor, while Away from Her's Julie Christie was honored as best actress. — Ben Katner
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