AARP The Magazine Keeps the Hollywood Red Carpet Alive With Movies for Grownups Awards Gala

AARP The Magazine Keeps the Hollywood Red Carpet Alive With Movies for Grownups Awards Gala

Jamie Lee Curtis, John Cleese Among Those Stepping Out to Honor the 'Silver' Screen's Best Films of 2007 at Feb. 4th Awards Gala in Los Angeles

WASHINGTON, Jan. 17 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Savages, a darkly funny story of middle-age siblings suddenly forced to care for their ailing dad, was announced today as the year's Best Movie for Grownups by AARP The Magazine, the definitive voice for 50+ Americans and the world's largest-circulation magazine with 33 million readers. Selected each year by the magazine's editors, the winners of the 7th annual Movies for Grownups Awards are often a bellwether for the upcoming Oscar nominations -- although it's unlikely the Oscars will soon adopt such offbeat secondary categories as Best Grownup Love Story (John Travolta and Christopher Walken in Hairspray), Best Buddy Picture (The Bucket List) and Best Movie for Grownups Who Refuse to Grow Up (Enchanted). These and 12 additional categories, including Best Actor and Actress 50 and Over, are featured in the March/April issue, available February 1, 2008.

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AARP The Magazine is thrilled to provide a forum for actors and the motion picture community to step out and celebrate movies from 2007 that engaged grownup audiences with challenging topics, thoughtful new approaches, and sterling work by actors, actresses, directors, and writers age 50+, all at the top of their game. Chris Cooper won Best Actor 50 and Over honors for his under-the-radar performance as a CIA spy in Breach; Julie Christie was named Best Actress 50 and Over for her spellbinding turn as an Alzheimer's stricken woman in Away From Her; and Tony Gilroy was honored as best director for his complex tale of corporate greed, stricken consciences and murder, Michael Clayton.

With moviegoers age 50 and over increasing their movie attendance by almost 20% in the last year, it's clear that Hollywood recognizes the power of the 50+ audience and is tailoring more and more movies to appeal to this demographic. "We're excited to see more dynamic characters and grownup love stories for actors 50+," said Bill Newcott, Entertainment Editor of AARP The Magazine and host of AARP's weekly "Movies for Grownups" radio show. "When we began these awards seven years ago, there weren't enough great parts out there for actors 50 and over. Now, thanks to the ever-growing demands of older audiences, we've seen real progress."

The 2008 Movies for Grownups Award winners will be presented with the coveted La Chaise d'Or trophy -- The Golden Chair -- a whimsical trophy in the shape of a vintage movie theater seat -- at a private gala awards dinner held at the Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles on February 4, 2008. The event will be hosted by Golden Globe winner Jamie Lee Curtis (A Fish Called Wanda; True Lies) and Oscar nominee John Cleese (A Fish Called Wanda; Monty Python films and television series), with a special 20th anniversary tribute to A Fish Called Wanda planned to take place at the event as well.

After weeks and hundreds of hours spent screening the latest Hollywood and independent films, the editors of AARP the Magazine voted to select winners and nominees in each of the 15 categories. And this year, for the first time, readers of the magazine were invited to select their own Reader's Choice Best Movie for Grownups, with The Bucket List coming out on top.

The 2008 Movies for Grownups Award winners are as follows:

Best Movie for Grownups: The Savages

With Laura Linney and Philip Seymour Hoffman as a brother and sister duo who reunite to make arrangements for their ailing father, director Tamara Jenkins challenges us to stop making excuses for failures and just get over it.

Runners-Up:

-- The Kite Runner: The tale of childhood friendship that transcends war, time and even death.

-- Atonement: A tragic love story told on an epic scale.

-- Michael Clayton: This drama follows a lawyer that learns you have to be a bit crazy to do the right thing.

-- The Bucket List: This comedy follows two terminally ill men as they escape from a cancer ward and head off on a road trip with a wish list of to-dos before they die.

Best Actor 50 and Over: Chris Cooper, Breach

Cooper reveals self-destructing spiritual, psychosexual and envy-driven demons in his portrayal of real-life spy Robert Hanssen, who is believed to be the single most damaging mole in FBI history.

Runners-Up:

-- Denzel Washington, American Gangster: As a murderous drug kingpin, he's the man the police most want to catch and the guy you most want to be friends with.

-- Richard Gere, The Hoax: As Clifford Irving, his unabashed joy in pulling off the biggest con of the 1970s is infectious.

-- Tommy Lee Jones, In the Valley of Elah: As a father tracking down the story of his son's death, he's both heartbreaking and heroic.

-- Tom Hanks, Charlie Wilson's War: The transformation from lovable rascal to tower of virtue is magical.

Best Actress 50 and Over: Julie Christie, Away From Her

Christie's heart-rending performance as a woman stricken with Alzheimer's makes the audience fall in love with her and then share in the sense of loss as she begins an inevitable decline.

Runners-Up:

-- Sally Field, Two Weeks: As a dying mom, she paints a bravely painful portrait of a woman tying up loose ends.

-- Vanessa Redgrave, Evening: She delicately takes on the serene, older version of her character.

-- Meryl Streep, Lions for Lambs: Head-to-head with Tom Cruise, she's a hoot as a no-nonsense reporter.

Best Supporting Actor 50 and Over: Tom Wilkinson, Michael Clayton
Runners-Up:
-- Philip Bosco, The Savages
-- Hal Holbrook, Into the Wild
-- Homayoun Ershadi, The Kite Runner
-- Andy Griffith, Waitress

Best Supporting Actress 50 and Over: Ruby Dee, American Gangster
-- Olympia Dukakis, Away From Her
-- Jane Asher, Death at a Funeral
-- Fernanda Montenegro, Love in the Time of Cholera
-- Vanessa Redgrave, Atonement

Best Director 50 and Over: Tony Gilroy, Michael Clayton

This complex tale of corporate greed, stricken consciences and murder plays out in a steady, enjoyable pace and expects the audience to view each plot twist and turn with a critical eye.

Runners-Up:

-- Joel and Ethan Coen, No Country for Old Men: It's a masterwork of suspense, violence, and unexpected beauty.

-- Paul Haggis, In the Valley of Elah: This story about a father's quest for truth about his son's death is surprisingly poetic.

-- Julian Schnabel, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly: He seals us into the body of a paralyzed man and makes us share in his reawakening to the possibilities of life.

-- Mike Nichols, Charlie Wilson's War: Nichols infuses his trademark mix of humor and earnestness into this jaunty, irreverent, and slyly subversive political saga.

Best Grownup Love Story: John Travolta and Christopher Walken, Hairspray

Okay, half of this long-married husband-and-wife pair is John Travolta in drag. But we dare you to watch this duo dance and sing "You're Timeless to Me," an ode to the wonderful predictability of longtime love and tell us these two aren't hopelessly, endlessly in love.

Best Buddy Picture: The Bucket List

Not since Bing and Bob headed off to Morocco have two stars as watchable as Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman hit the road together. The poignant plot -- two cancer-stricken guys trying to cram a lifetime of adventure into a few months -- can't mask the delight of watching two pros in their prime.

Best Comedy for Grownups: The Darjeeling Limited

Three oddball brothers embark on a train trip across India in what's defined loosely as a spiritual quest. In addition to capturing unique dynamics between the brothers, the movie asks questions about brotherhood, parenthood, and whether it's wise to smuggle a poisonous snake onboard a train.

Runners-Up:

-- Dan in Real Life: Fortysomething widower Steve Carell discovers that the woman of his dreams is his brother's girlfriend.

-- Death at a Funeral: It's all veddy British and veddy funny when a dead aristocrat's gay lover turns up at the funeral.

-- Juno: Her first mistake was looking for prospective parents for her unborn baby in the PennySaver...

-- Wild Hogs: John Travolta is a stitch as the head of a middle-aged cycle gang.

Best Movie for Grownups Who Refuse to Grow Up: Enchanted

This story of an animated princess stuck in real-life New York City is both cute and cutting edge.

Runners-Up:
-- Ratatouille: A rat in the kitchen? C'est magnifique!
-- Mr. Bean's Holiday: Hilariously ageless.
-- Knocked Up: Too crude for kids, but a thoughtful morality play.
-- The Simpsons Movie: And you think your family's dysfunctional?

Best Screenwriter 50 and Over: Ronald Harwood, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Veteran screenwriter Ronald Harwood tackles the challenge of internal narration of the victim of a crippling stroke whose thoughts play on the soundtrack like words of an unseen companion.

Runners-Up:

-- Christopher Hampton, Atonement: A cleverly written love story that assembles varying points of view that lead to the story's great misunderstanding.

-- Joel and Ethan Coen, No Country for Old Men: Stripping down Cormac McCarthy's spare novel to its bones, the brothers find humor, pathos, and even beauty in mayhem.

-- Paul Haggis, In the Valley of Elah: In classic Haggis fashion, regular people find a dignified voice as they sort out life's injustices.

-- Steve Zaillian, American Gangster: Zaillian's glimpse into the mind of a drug kingpin gives us chills while it thrills.

Breakaway Accomplishment: Gena Rowlands, Screenwriter, Paris, je t'aime

After agreeing to appear in a segment of this anthology film of love stories set in Paris, Gena Rowlands couldn't find a script she liked. Never having written a screenplay, she sat down and created an exquisite scene, the story of a long-married couple on the eve of their divorce. The scene creates the discomfort of overhearing a too private conversation in too public a place.

Best Documentary: TIE -- In the Shadow of the Moon, directed by David Sington and Sicko, directed by Michael Moore

In the Shadow of the Moon is a triumphant retelling of America's Apollo program, the crowning human technical achievement of the 20th century while Sicko looks at America's scandalous inability to provide quality health care coverage for all. Both films may well leave an audience muttering.

Runners-Up:
-- Run, Granny, Run: At 94, Doris Haddock runs for the U.S. Senate.

-- For the Bible Tells Me So: This film looks at the debate about the Bible's take on homosexuality, through true stories of parents with gay and lesbian children.

-- Hear and Now: Director Irene Taylor Brodsky's deaf parents have surgery to experience sound for the first time, in their mid-sixties.

Best Intergenerational Movie: The Namesake

In this cultural portrait, two parents from India raise their children in the suburbs of New York and find that their traditions clash with the U.S. culture. Both sides eventually awaken to a comforting understanding: where we're from, and where we live, are always trumped by who we are.

Runners-Up:

-- The Great Debaters: The debate coach (Denzel Washington) at a black college inspires his team to greatness.

-- 3:10 to Yuma: A father puts his life on the line to teach his son a life lesson.

-- The Savages: Selfish grownup kids learn that a parent's mistakes are no license to screw up their own lives.

-- Juno: A pregnant teen and an adoptive couple have a lot to learn from each other.

Best Foreign Language Film: My Best Friend (France)
Runners-Up:
-- After the Wedding (Denmark)
-- Vitus (Switzerland)
-- La Vie en Rose (France)
-- Persepolis (France)

Visit www.aarpmagazine.org/movies to read the full lineup of Movies for Grownups 2007 award winners.

About AARP

AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan membership organization that helps people 50+ have independence, choice and control in ways that are beneficial and affordable to them and society as a whole. AARP does not endorse candidates for public office or make contributions to either political campaigns or candidates. We produce AARP The Magazine, published bimonthly; AARP Bulletin, our monthly newspaper; AARP Segunda Juventud, our bimonthly magazine in Spanish and English; NRTA Live & Learn, our quarterly newsletter for 50+ educators; and our website, http://www.aarp.org/. AARP Foundation is an affiliated charity that provides security, protection, and empowerment to older persons in need with support from thousands of volunteers, donors, and sponsors. We have staffed offices in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

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For more information or to schedule an interview with Features Editor
Bill Newcott regarding AARP The Magazine's Movies for Grownups Awards, please
contact Michelle Alvarez, 202.434.2555/202.390.0032 or malvarez@aarp.org.
First Call Analyst:
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CONTACT: Michelle Alvarez of AARP Media Relations, +1-202-434-2555 or
+1-202-390-0032, malvarez@aarp.org; or Meghan Holston, of Coburn
Communication, +1-212-382-4450, Meghan.Holston@coburnww.com

Web Site:

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