NAACP Image Award Nominations

OUTSTANDING FILM
12 Years a Slave
The Best Man Holiday
Fruitvale Station
Lee Daniels' The Butler
Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

DIRECTING
Justin Chadwick, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
Lee Daniels, Lee Daniels' The Butler
Malcolm D. Lee, The Best Man Holiday
Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave
Jono Oliver, Home 

ACTOR
Chadwick Boseman, 42
Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave
Idris Elba, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
Michael B. Jordan, Fruitvale Station
Forest Whitaker, Lee Daniels' The Butler

ACTRESS
Angela Bassett, Black Nativity
Nicole Beharie, 42
Halle Berry, The Call   
Jennifer Hudson, Winnie Mandela
Kerry Washington, Tyler Perry Presents Peeples

SUPPORTING ACTOR
Morris Chestnut, The Best Man Holiday
Cuba Gooding, Jr., Lee Daniels' The Butler
Terrence Howard, The Best Man Holiday
Terrence Howard, Lee Daniels' The Butler 
David Oyelowo, Lee Daniels' The Butler

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Naomie Harris, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
Lupita Nyong'o, 12 Years a Slave
Octavia Spencer, Fruitvale Station
Oprah Winfrey, Lee Daniels' The Butler
Alfre Woodard, 12 Years a Slave

Gotham Award Winners

BEST FEATURE: Inside Llewyn Davis
BEST ACTOR: Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club
BEST ACTRESS: Brie Larson, Short Term 12
BREAKTHROUGH DIRECTOR: Ryan Coogler, Fruitvale Station
BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE: Michael B. Jordan, Fruitvale Station
DOCUMENTARY: The Act of Killing
AUDIENCE AWARD: Life on Four Strings
EUPHORIA CALVIN KLEIN SPOTLIGHT ON WOMEN FILMMAKERS AWARD: Beneath the Harvest Sky- Gita Pullapilly

The Coen Brothers' Inside Llewyn Davis shocked presumed frontrunner 12 Years a Slave by claiming the top prize at the 23rd Gotham Awards, the first major prize of the season.  Steve McQueen's heart-wrenching slavery drama led with three nominations, but went home empty-handed.  Larson and McConaughey got spikes in momentum, while Sundance winner Fruitvale Station emerged with two prizes, boosting its profile.

And so it begins...

Fruitvale Station

Shortly after midnight on January 1, 2009, Oscar Grant, a 22-year-old African American, was shot by a BART transit police officer in Oakland, California; he died a few hours later in the hospital.  Grant, who was unarmed, was returning home from New Year's Eve celebrations in San Francisco.  This real-life tale, which in of itself was a hot bed of instant news-making-- the event was captured by many a civilian cell-phones at the time it happened-- re-surged it's case for urgency and immediacy in wake of the recent events and subsequent trail of George Zimmerman.  The film which posits the last twenty-four hours in the life of Oscar Grant is the focus of Fruitvale Station, Ryan Coogler's alert debut feature won both the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award at this years Sundance Film Festival.  Neither filmmaker, nor distributor (in this case, The Weinstein Company) could have known that the Zimmerman events (a case of another young and unarmed African American) would have coincided at the very same time.  It may seem a bit cynical to note, but it gives Fruitvale Station that unexpected glimmer of urgency that it may not have otherwise possessed.

Not that the film itself isn't a well calibrated movie.  Coogler, a youngster, aged twenty-seven, exhibits a clear-eyed expressiveness in telling his tale, an authority and a clarity that's for the most part devoid of earnestness and easy reductions.  His greatest asset exhibited in Fruitvale Station is in his view of Oscar himself, taking a harder to trod, more difficult assertion of raw humanity rather than painting the young man as saint nearing martyrdom.  It's in his unflinching presentation of man over issue that keeps the film fresh and nearly always above the surface.  We learn throughout that Oscar spent the New Years holiday a few years earlier incarcerated; Coogler neither judges nor dismisses.

Halftime

The first half of the year usually is devoid of Oscar-y titles-- typically a dumping ground for product and the hopeful launch of things big and shiny-- but nonetheless we are well behind the first six months of 2013 and a short time ahead of the fall festival circuit when things start getting wonky.  Are there any takeaways thus far that may have any impact on the 2013 Oscar race?

It's true that Best Picture winners and nominees typically are introduced in the latter part of the calendar year-- since 2000 only three eventual Best Picture winners were released in the first half (The Hurt Locker, Crash, Gladiator) and only a handful of nominees (Up, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Midnight in Paris, Moulin Rouge!, Erin Brockovich) have managed that feat.  Still at this stage of the game when all is mere speculation and all in the movie awards land still feels pure and innocent, it's fun to ponder the playful possibilities.

The only Best Pictures winners since 2000 to be released before July.

BEST PICTURE

Last year, the winner of the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance was a plucky bit of poetry called Beasts of the Southern Wild which managed the nearly unbelievable task of netting four Oscar nominations including Picture and Director-- it became just the third Sundance to Oscar translation in history following Precious (2009) and Winter's Bone (2010.)  This year Sundance bestowed its top prize (as well as the Audience Award) to Fruitvale Station, Ryan Coogler's feature debut about the 2009 BART shooting of Oscar Grant.  The Weinstein Company hopes magic strikes again for the well-received film.  It opened last week in limited release to one of the biggest per-screen averages of the year (third to only Spring Breakers and A Place Beyond the Pines) and may very well enter the zeitgeist due to the sense of urgency bestowed due to the Zimmerman verdict (also last weekend.)  The key, of course, will be the position the great Harvey puts the film in towards the end of the year (remember, he's got a lot of awards potential set to come at the end of the year including August: Osage County, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, Philamena and Grace of Monaco.)

Weekend Box Office

We can bemoan til the end of the time that the summer movie seasons is nothing more than a cacophony of sequels and spectacles (not to mention the latest iterations of global terrorists on display for our popcorn enjoyment), and yet we bemoan as well when Hollywood has the nerve or gall to present a grandly expensive original property in the mix.  "Original" is a strange choice for words in the case of the last weekend big Disney blunder The Lone Ranger, a property that has existed for decades, as well as this weekend's offering, Pacific Rim, Guillermo del Toro's Transformers meets Godzilla, monsters vs. machines spectacular spectacular, but for all the franchise-in-wait question marks, both films couldn't excite audience interest more than the readily-disposable, already franchises.  Whatever the cause and whatever the effect, Despicable Me 2 again topped the box office charts this weekend, and Grown Ups 2, the latest in Adam Sandler's middle finger to cinema opened in a close runner-up showing, assuring that #3's are coming to a theater new a few summers from now.

1. Despicable Me 2 (-46%)- $44.7 million / $229 total
2. Grown Ups 2 (new)- $42 million- which is slightly ahead of the 2010's original, and a bright spot for distributor Sony after expensive flops After Earth and White House Down-- "bright spot" is a loose term.
3. Pacific Rim (new)- $38.3 million- Guillermo del Toro may not yet be ready for primetime, but this will be a curious one to watch, considering it's widely all-over-the-place reception.
4. The Heat (-43%)- $14 million / $112 million total
5. The Lone Ranger (-61%)- $11 million / $71 million total
6. Monsters University (-46%)- $10 million / $237 million total
7. World War Z (-48%)- $9.4 million / $177 million total
8. White House Down (-54%)- $6.1 million / $62 million total
9. Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain (-50%)- $5 million / $26 million total
10. Man of Steel (-57%)- $4 million / $280 million total

OUTSIDE THE TOP TEN

The Way, Way Back- The Fox Searchlight comedy expanded nicely in its second weekend of limited play grossing $1.1 million on 79 screens for a stellar per-screen average of $14,000.  It has now earned $1.8 million total.
Fruitvale Station- The Weinstein Company Sundance winner concerning the real life story of the murder of a young black Bay Area resident in 2009 opened as the Zimmerman trail was closing, providing a frightening, even-more-in-the-headlines sense of urgency to the from-the-headlines story.  While it's strikingly cynical, it's a story that even media shark Harvey Weinstein himself couldn't have concocted to be so eerily in-sync.  The awards hopeful had one of the years strongest per-screen averages of $53,000 on a mere seven screens, debuting to a stellar $377,000 first weekend gross, with the potential to be a counter-programming summer success story.
Crystal Fairy- Michael Cera's drug comedy, which debuted at Sundance this year, netted a $12,000 per-screen average on 2 screens.

Fruitvale Station

Fruitvale Station, retitled after winning both the Grand Jury Prize and the Dramatic Audience Award at this years Sundance Film Festival gets a winning teaser poster as well.  The Weinstein Company will release the film this summer as a counterpoint to the comic-book bonanza fest.

Cannes Film Festival

The line-up for the 2013 Festival de Cannes is currently being announced.

OPENING FILM:

• The Great Gatsby (USA)- directed by Baz Luhrmann- out of competition

IN COMPETITION:

• Behind the Candelabra (USA)- directed by Steven Soderbergh- Soderbergh's HBO film about the relationship between Liberace (Michael Douglas) and his much younger boyfriend (Matt Damon.)  Rumored to be Soderbergh's final film; Soderbergh won the Palme D'Or for his breakout film, sex, lies and videotape.
• Borgman (The Netherlands)- directed by Alex van Warmerdam
• Grigris (France)- directed by Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
• Heli (Spain)- directed by Arnat Escalante
• The Immigrant (USA)- directed by James Gray- Gray's romantic drama stars Joaquin Phoenix, Jeremy Renner and Marion Cotillard and tells the story of an immigrant woman and a dazzling musician.  Gray previously visited Cannes with Two Lovers, also starring Phoenix.
• Inside Llewyn Davis (USA)- directed by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen- The Coen Brothers return to Cannes (their first trip since No Country For Old Men in 2007) with their latest revolving around a 60s-era folk singer.  Stars Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan and Justin Timberlake.  CBS Films picked up the film for a fall release.
• Jeune et Jolie (France)- directed by Francois Ozon- The director of Under the Sand and 8 Women returns to Cannes with his latest, described as a portrait of a 17-year-old girl in four songs and four seasons.  Charlotte Rampling co-stars.
• Jimmy P. (Psychotherapy of a Plains Indian) (USA)- directed by Arnaud Desplechin- Cannes regular and French filmmaker Desplechin (A Christmas Tale) makes his English language debut starring Benicio Del Toro and Mathieu Amalric.
• La Grande Bellezza (France)- directed by Paolo Sorrentino- The story of an aging writer who bitterly recollects about this lost youth.  Sorrentino is no stranger to Cannes with This Must Be the Place (which starred Sean Penn as an aging rock star) and Il Divo, which won the Jury Prize in 2008.
• La Vie D'Adele (France)- directed by Abdellatif Kechiche
• Michael Kohlhass (France)- directed by Arnaud des Pallieres- French period drama starring Mads Mikkelsen.
• Nebraska (USA)- directed by Alexander Payne- Payne returns to Cannes (he previously brought About Schmidt in 2002) with his latest family-strewn drama, this one stars Bruce Dern, Will Forte and Stacey Keach.  Paramount plans to release this film sometime later this year.  Curiously many reported Nebraska wouldn't be ready in time for Cannes.
• Only God Forgives (USA)- directed by Nicolas Winding Refn- Refn's follow-up to Drive, which earned him the Directors Prize at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, is a grisly noir with Ryan Gosling and Kristin Scott Thomas.  The trailer has already elicited fan boy excitement and is due for release stateside, courtesy of Radius/TWC this summer.
• The Past (The Netherlands)- directed by Asghar Farhardi- Farhardi follows-up the Oscar-winning A Separation with another tale of marital strife starring Berenice Bejo and Tahar Rahim.  Coincidentally, Cannes passed on the opportunity to screen A Separation two years ago.
• Shield of Straw (Japan)- directed by Takashi Miike- From the director of 13 Assassins.
• Soshite Chichi Ni Naru (Like Father, Like Son) (Japan)- directed by Hirokazu Koreeda
• Tian Zhy Ding (South Korea)- directed by Khang Ke Jia
• Un Chateau en Italie (France)- directed by Valera Bruni Tedeschi- Drama about a family forced to sell their family home.
• Venus in Fur (France)- directed by Roman Polanski- Drama concerning an actress trying to convince a director she's perfect for a part; based on the play by David Ives.  Polanski won the Palme D'Or in 2002 for The Pianist.

OUT OF COMPETITION:

• All is Lost (USA)- directed by J.C. Chandor- Survival story starring Robert Redford from the writer/director of Margin Call.
• Blood Ties (USA)- directed by Guillaume Canet- Crime drama about two brothers on opposing sides of the law.  Clive Owen, Mila Kunis, Zoe Saldana, and in her second Cannes film of 2013, Marion Cotillard, star.

UN CERTAIN REGARD:

• The Bling Ring (USA)- directed by Sophia Coppola (opener)- Previously reported.
• Anonymous (Iran)- directed by Mohammad Rasoulof
• As I Lay Dying (USA)- directed by James Franco- Franco directs and adapts the William Faulkner novel.
• Bends- directed by Flora Lau
• Death March- directed by Adolfo Alix, Jr.
• Fruitvale Station (USA)- directed by Ryan Coogler- Given an extended title since winning the Sundance Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award and being snapped up by the Weinstein Company, Fruitvale will tour Cannes before entering art house cinemas this summer.
• Grand Central (France)- directed by Rebecca Zlotwski
• La Jaula de Oro (Spain)- directed by Diego Quernada-Diez
• Les Salauds (France)- directed by Claire Denis- The legendary Denis (White Material, Beau Travail) returns to Cannes with her latest.
• L'Image Manquante (France)- directed by Rithy Panh
• L'Inconnu du Lac (France)- directed by Alain Guiraudie
• Miele (Italy)- directed by Valeria Golino
• Norte, Hangganan ng Kasaysayan (The Philippines)- directed by Lav Diaz
• Omar (Israel)- directed by Hany Abu-Assad
• Sarah Prefere La Course (Canada)- directed by Chloe Robichaud

Special screenings:

• Otdat Konci – Taisia Igumentseva
  
• Seduced and Abandoned – James Toback
  
• Week of a Champion – Roman Polanski
  
• Stop the Pounding Heart – Roberto Minervini
  
• Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Fight – Stephen Frears
  
• Max Rose – Daniel Noa

Midnight screenings:

• Blind Detective – Johnnie To
  
• Monsoon Shootout – Amit Kumar

CLOSING FILM:

• Zulu (France)- directed by Jerome Salle