 |
| Argo scribe Chris Terrio confirms the inevitable with his WGA victory. |
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Zero Dark Thirty- Marc Boal
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Argo- Chris Terrio
BEST DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY
Searching for Sugar Man- Malik Bendjelloul
Showing posts with label ZERO DARK THIRTY. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ZERO DARK THIRTY. Show all posts
Monday, February 18, 2013
WGA Winners
The Writers Guild Association of America has spoken:
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Zero Dark Thirty- Marc Boal
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Argo- Chris Terrio
BEST DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY
Searching for Sugar Man- Malik Bendjelloul
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Zero Dark Thirty- Marc Boal
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Argo- Chris Terrio
BEST DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY
Searching for Sugar Man- Malik Bendjelloul
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Top Ten of 2012
The constant fixation has completed, for the time being. Here are my picks for the ten best motion pictures of 2012:
10) SEVEN PSYCHOPATHS
Martin McDonagh's razor sharp gangster absurdest comedy brings out the very best in the famed playwright-- rapid fire dialogue, acute characterizations and a mocking self absorption all funneled into a witty and acidic crime-laced world filled with that kind of violent brio that would make a young Quentin Tarantino proud to steal from for ages. A tongue in check meta Adaptation. crossed with Pulp Fiction, McDonagh's buildhas s nicely from his first feature, 2008's In Bruges, telling the story of a struggling Los Angeles screenwriter (Colin Farrell) who becomes engaged in crooked folk and the most oddball assortment of characters in any feature from 2012 after the misbegotten theft of an idiosyncratic gangster's beloved Shih Tzu. What could have easily been thrown away as a creative writing assignment is the virtue and the strange zesty soulfulness of the cast. Woody Harrelson, Sam Rockwell, Colin Farrell, and Christopher Walken, all at their most unhinged, make Seven Psychopaths a joyful generous comedy of manners, each divisive and succinct, playing off one another, unpredictably and impenetrably, creating a delightfully warped dadaism to McDonagh's self aware violent hymn.
9) THE MASTER
The arc of writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson's cinematic career is one of the most savory in recent memory. Brash and electric when first thrust upon the scene as one of America's most exciting to watch, first he seemed to be mirroring Robert Altman's approach with the grand ensemble films like Boogie Nights and Magnolia. A shift seemed to occur after his last film, There Will Be Blood, and most certainly in his polarizing, galvanic, unsettling and gargantuan staging of The Master. At first roused upon as that movie that speaks (or mocks, or what have you) the early formation of the Church of Scientology. Anderson's ambition, as with There Will Be Blood, was far greater than a reductive tagline or concept. Instead, The Master, speaks of a culture, a lost America in search of salvation, or a cause, or something tangible. The filmmaker has never quite been so reserved before, nor as chillingly oblique, but even while the film may keep itself forever at a heady distance from its audience, there's a wonderment and poetry to be utterly savored. As teacher and student, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Joaquin Phoenix bring out the very best in each other, and as the film charts their relationship-- the film changes, morphs and alternates between a grand performance achievement, something akin to the likes of what it may have felt like to witness Marlon Brando for the first time-- and a deeper and chillier mediation of life and religion.
8) ZERO DARK THIRTY
Director Kathryn Bigelow and writer Marc Boal are back for more fun in the Middle East, following their Oscar-winning small wonder that could in 2009's The Hurt Locker, and return with a loftier bit of war of terror business in their staging of the capture and execution of Osama bin Laden, again exacting a thrillingly sharp view of the danger seekers who put their lives at sake for the safety of others. Sprawling, nervy and ambitious, Zero Dark Thirty is a chillingly masterful stroke of journalism with a savvy and sharply adept (non) character study of Maya, a top level CIA agent who holds a huge part in the eventual outcome. Playing with a tough-minded grace by Jessica Chastain, she maintains the thorny disparate narratives, in and out players, and the dead-end clues with pluck and intelligence. And while the masterful execution of Zero Dark Thirty is immense and wonderfully wrought, the tenacity and stoicism of Maya bring the film an emotional rawness and tenderness, far more interesting than the films alleged views on torture or the debatable liberties taken with may have actually occurred.
7) WRECK-IT-RALPH
There may have been little to look forward to on the onset to this animated feature about an alienated video game villain who wants to be a hero, but the joyous and inventive Wreck-It-Ralph, perhaps by playing to ones lesser-than expectations, is one of the most generously playful and moving films I saw in a movie theater in all of 2012. Witty, surprising and magnificently executed, simultaneously playing on the feverish novelty and nostalgia of arcade games, while creating something thrillingly alive at the same time. Even with the patented be-true-to-oneself message that tries to ever cloy at it's sides, director Rich Moore, his animators, and ideally cast vocal stars gently subvert any triteness with warped bits of silliness, an inspired, carefully layered screenplay that splices video game arcania with even niftier displays of the heart, and jubilant, free-associative meditation of redemption. A video game villain in a group therapy session filled with villains of yore exclaiming the virtues of being bad may be most favorite scene of any feature this past year.
6) LOOPER
Rian Johnson's ultra slick science fiction odyssey was the niftiest bit of slight of hand in 2012-- an ambitious and unassuming morality play that uses the sometimes stale device of time travel in a marvelously wrought and inventive way. Joseph Gordon Levitt and Bruce Willis are both wonderful, playing younger and older Joe, a once steely reserved professional whose life was changed by a particularly defining incident that ties the marvelously contrasted whole together. Filled with endless creativity, imagination and style, Johnson-- the man behind the indie genre busters Brick and The Brothers Bloom-- rises to graces (hopefully the grandest) of heftier Hollywood properties with a deft eye for scope, graceful notes for storytelling, and an incisive voice and bridges all those qualities into the most unique and original genre film of last year.
5) LINCOLN
The surprising things about Steven Spielberg's epic biography feature of our 16th president is that firstly, it's not really a biography feature. Missing is a great man treatise of the episodic passages of Abraham Lincoln's life. Instead we focus on one chapter-- his journey to get the 13th Amendment passed, and thus ending slavery. The second surprising part is how, and I mean this as a wondrous compliment, unlike a Spielberg film his Lincoln really is. Scripted, poetically and bountifully by Tony Kushner, Lincoln is a stirring, wonderfully entertaining master play of politics, with a sprawling ensemble that points to the most decidedly performance driven feature of all of Spielberg's career, as well as his most visually subdued-- brilliant but held back, letting the actors and their words capture the show. In that regard, the film still needed its Lincoln, and Daniel Day-Lewis, capturing the idea of this man in enough inventive little details to ruminate on for a lifetime, is jaw-dropping astounding as master and commander. What springs is an uncommonly good film that while tackling one of the single most important moments in our nations history, captures the idea, the mythology and the politics all shrouded around a grander notion of Abraham Lincoln. For whatever reason-- perhaps goading from Kushner, or Day-Lewis, or thoughts of his own legacy, Spielberg made the more surprising and the better film.
4) FRANKENWEENIE
Director Tim Burton, whose warpy imagination has for too long now been branded by an industry that has little interest nor canny sensibility to do with it, did something quietly amazing in 2012. Adapting his own live action short film, the same one that cost him his early gig at Disney, into a stop motion animated feature. No matter that it tanked at the box office, this sweetly demented riff on monster movies and the lure of mans best friend was what Burton needed to do-- either as atonement for his recent output or creative recharging-- and what his long suffering fans hoped for year now. Shot in gorgeous black and white, and made with the mystifying visual sense and style that made Burton such an electric artist to begin with, Frankenweenie was one of the most hopeful and buoyant cinematic experiences in all of 2012-- a religious experience for film nerds who came of age in the late 1980s/early 1990s.
3) BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD
Benh Zeitlin's astoundingly original and mythic tale of the denizens of "The Bathtub" and the intrepid young warrior named Hushpuppy engulf the cinematic imagination that delightful and intangible way of reminding the power and artfulness in which movie are capable of-- to absorb and the thrill the senses at the excitement of seeing something for the very first time. Even the most jaded aficionados must have recoiled with that sense at some point during Beasts of the Southern Wild, which at its simplest details a lifestyle on the fringes-- in this case off the levees of Louisiana, left with nothing to do but surrender in the awe and scope of this grandly, yet scrappy tale of survival and mysticism. Young Quvenzhane Wallis may have just been six when she made this film, but her charisma, drive and determination nets a performance that transcends mere accolades, and like the film, strikes the heart, just as the film creates an ever optimistic hopefulness for American independent filmmaking.
2) LES MISERABLES
Do you hear the people sing? Well yes, and their singing live in Tom Hooper's moving and sincere epic telling of the beyond popular musical, itself derived from the immortal work by Victor Hugo. The endless gripping and drubbing of the film has done nothing to alter my take, my love and lust for this delectable movie musical. Unapologetically wearing its heart on its sleeve and made with a go-for-broke brio that singes right into the immortal cinematic soul, Hooper's Les Miserables is firstly a grand performance piece with star Hugh Jackman baring all as the graceful lead of Jean Valjean, a fugitive imprisoned who seeks a redemptive life and Anne Hathaway's searingly emotional Fantine, a true miserables, glides in with a heavenly voice and immortalizes a classic song that long ago had faded into novelty. What's most astonishing about Les Miserables, and may be a clue as to what get people all worked up at it, is the way Hooper and his team boldly go for the gut, making a riveting, thought long ago defunct emotional epic. Les Miserables on a technical standpoint, or on a mere bits and pieces dissection may be the one film on this list that I have the most issues with, but I stand that in all strives in making the film more interesting and magical.
1) MOONRISE KINGDOM
A perfect melding of material with its artist. Wes Anderson, eternally besieged as the precocious maker of the preciously gilded and inventively art-directed. The rules of the game continue with Moonrise Kingdom, but the surprise and the delight of his best feature film since 2001's The Royal Tenenbaums, is that there's an enchanting and lovingly melancholic undertone. A tale of young, adolescent love and quirky at-odds grown-up in a vacuum of 1960s nostalgia, Moonrise Kingdom is engrossing and witty, but with the surprising tugs of something more, something deeper and ultimately something far more personal that Anderson has ever shared with us on screen before. What's left and what's taken away is the best movie of 2012.
Martin McDonagh's razor sharp gangster absurdest comedy brings out the very best in the famed playwright-- rapid fire dialogue, acute characterizations and a mocking self absorption all funneled into a witty and acidic crime-laced world filled with that kind of violent brio that would make a young Quentin Tarantino proud to steal from for ages. A tongue in check meta Adaptation. crossed with Pulp Fiction, McDonagh's buildhas s nicely from his first feature, 2008's In Bruges, telling the story of a struggling Los Angeles screenwriter (Colin Farrell) who becomes engaged in crooked folk and the most oddball assortment of characters in any feature from 2012 after the misbegotten theft of an idiosyncratic gangster's beloved Shih Tzu. What could have easily been thrown away as a creative writing assignment is the virtue and the strange zesty soulfulness of the cast. Woody Harrelson, Sam Rockwell, Colin Farrell, and Christopher Walken, all at their most unhinged, make Seven Psychopaths a joyful generous comedy of manners, each divisive and succinct, playing off one another, unpredictably and impenetrably, creating a delightfully warped dadaism to McDonagh's self aware violent hymn.
The arc of writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson's cinematic career is one of the most savory in recent memory. Brash and electric when first thrust upon the scene as one of America's most exciting to watch, first he seemed to be mirroring Robert Altman's approach with the grand ensemble films like Boogie Nights and Magnolia. A shift seemed to occur after his last film, There Will Be Blood, and most certainly in his polarizing, galvanic, unsettling and gargantuan staging of The Master. At first roused upon as that movie that speaks (or mocks, or what have you) the early formation of the Church of Scientology. Anderson's ambition, as with There Will Be Blood, was far greater than a reductive tagline or concept. Instead, The Master, speaks of a culture, a lost America in search of salvation, or a cause, or something tangible. The filmmaker has never quite been so reserved before, nor as chillingly oblique, but even while the film may keep itself forever at a heady distance from its audience, there's a wonderment and poetry to be utterly savored. As teacher and student, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Joaquin Phoenix bring out the very best in each other, and as the film charts their relationship-- the film changes, morphs and alternates between a grand performance achievement, something akin to the likes of what it may have felt like to witness Marlon Brando for the first time-- and a deeper and chillier mediation of life and religion.
Director Kathryn Bigelow and writer Marc Boal are back for more fun in the Middle East, following their Oscar-winning small wonder that could in 2009's The Hurt Locker, and return with a loftier bit of war of terror business in their staging of the capture and execution of Osama bin Laden, again exacting a thrillingly sharp view of the danger seekers who put their lives at sake for the safety of others. Sprawling, nervy and ambitious, Zero Dark Thirty is a chillingly masterful stroke of journalism with a savvy and sharply adept (non) character study of Maya, a top level CIA agent who holds a huge part in the eventual outcome. Playing with a tough-minded grace by Jessica Chastain, she maintains the thorny disparate narratives, in and out players, and the dead-end clues with pluck and intelligence. And while the masterful execution of Zero Dark Thirty is immense and wonderfully wrought, the tenacity and stoicism of Maya bring the film an emotional rawness and tenderness, far more interesting than the films alleged views on torture or the debatable liberties taken with may have actually occurred.
There may have been little to look forward to on the onset to this animated feature about an alienated video game villain who wants to be a hero, but the joyous and inventive Wreck-It-Ralph, perhaps by playing to ones lesser-than expectations, is one of the most generously playful and moving films I saw in a movie theater in all of 2012. Witty, surprising and magnificently executed, simultaneously playing on the feverish novelty and nostalgia of arcade games, while creating something thrillingly alive at the same time. Even with the patented be-true-to-oneself message that tries to ever cloy at it's sides, director Rich Moore, his animators, and ideally cast vocal stars gently subvert any triteness with warped bits of silliness, an inspired, carefully layered screenplay that splices video game arcania with even niftier displays of the heart, and jubilant, free-associative meditation of redemption. A video game villain in a group therapy session filled with villains of yore exclaiming the virtues of being bad may be most favorite scene of any feature this past year.
Rian Johnson's ultra slick science fiction odyssey was the niftiest bit of slight of hand in 2012-- an ambitious and unassuming morality play that uses the sometimes stale device of time travel in a marvelously wrought and inventive way. Joseph Gordon Levitt and Bruce Willis are both wonderful, playing younger and older Joe, a once steely reserved professional whose life was changed by a particularly defining incident that ties the marvelously contrasted whole together. Filled with endless creativity, imagination and style, Johnson-- the man behind the indie genre busters Brick and The Brothers Bloom-- rises to graces (hopefully the grandest) of heftier Hollywood properties with a deft eye for scope, graceful notes for storytelling, and an incisive voice and bridges all those qualities into the most unique and original genre film of last year.
The surprising things about Steven Spielberg's epic biography feature of our 16th president is that firstly, it's not really a biography feature. Missing is a great man treatise of the episodic passages of Abraham Lincoln's life. Instead we focus on one chapter-- his journey to get the 13th Amendment passed, and thus ending slavery. The second surprising part is how, and I mean this as a wondrous compliment, unlike a Spielberg film his Lincoln really is. Scripted, poetically and bountifully by Tony Kushner, Lincoln is a stirring, wonderfully entertaining master play of politics, with a sprawling ensemble that points to the most decidedly performance driven feature of all of Spielberg's career, as well as his most visually subdued-- brilliant but held back, letting the actors and their words capture the show. In that regard, the film still needed its Lincoln, and Daniel Day-Lewis, capturing the idea of this man in enough inventive little details to ruminate on for a lifetime, is jaw-dropping astounding as master and commander. What springs is an uncommonly good film that while tackling one of the single most important moments in our nations history, captures the idea, the mythology and the politics all shrouded around a grander notion of Abraham Lincoln. For whatever reason-- perhaps goading from Kushner, or Day-Lewis, or thoughts of his own legacy, Spielberg made the more surprising and the better film.
Director Tim Burton, whose warpy imagination has for too long now been branded by an industry that has little interest nor canny sensibility to do with it, did something quietly amazing in 2012. Adapting his own live action short film, the same one that cost him his early gig at Disney, into a stop motion animated feature. No matter that it tanked at the box office, this sweetly demented riff on monster movies and the lure of mans best friend was what Burton needed to do-- either as atonement for his recent output or creative recharging-- and what his long suffering fans hoped for year now. Shot in gorgeous black and white, and made with the mystifying visual sense and style that made Burton such an electric artist to begin with, Frankenweenie was one of the most hopeful and buoyant cinematic experiences in all of 2012-- a religious experience for film nerds who came of age in the late 1980s/early 1990s.
Benh Zeitlin's astoundingly original and mythic tale of the denizens of "The Bathtub" and the intrepid young warrior named Hushpuppy engulf the cinematic imagination that delightful and intangible way of reminding the power and artfulness in which movie are capable of-- to absorb and the thrill the senses at the excitement of seeing something for the very first time. Even the most jaded aficionados must have recoiled with that sense at some point during Beasts of the Southern Wild, which at its simplest details a lifestyle on the fringes-- in this case off the levees of Louisiana, left with nothing to do but surrender in the awe and scope of this grandly, yet scrappy tale of survival and mysticism. Young Quvenzhane Wallis may have just been six when she made this film, but her charisma, drive and determination nets a performance that transcends mere accolades, and like the film, strikes the heart, just as the film creates an ever optimistic hopefulness for American independent filmmaking.
Do you hear the people sing? Well yes, and their singing live in Tom Hooper's moving and sincere epic telling of the beyond popular musical, itself derived from the immortal work by Victor Hugo. The endless gripping and drubbing of the film has done nothing to alter my take, my love and lust for this delectable movie musical. Unapologetically wearing its heart on its sleeve and made with a go-for-broke brio that singes right into the immortal cinematic soul, Hooper's Les Miserables is firstly a grand performance piece with star Hugh Jackman baring all as the graceful lead of Jean Valjean, a fugitive imprisoned who seeks a redemptive life and Anne Hathaway's searingly emotional Fantine, a true miserables, glides in with a heavenly voice and immortalizes a classic song that long ago had faded into novelty. What's most astonishing about Les Miserables, and may be a clue as to what get people all worked up at it, is the way Hooper and his team boldly go for the gut, making a riveting, thought long ago defunct emotional epic. Les Miserables on a technical standpoint, or on a mere bits and pieces dissection may be the one film on this list that I have the most issues with, but I stand that in all strives in making the film more interesting and magical.
A perfect melding of material with its artist. Wes Anderson, eternally besieged as the precocious maker of the preciously gilded and inventively art-directed. The rules of the game continue with Moonrise Kingdom, but the surprise and the delight of his best feature film since 2001's The Royal Tenenbaums, is that there's an enchanting and lovingly melancholic undertone. A tale of young, adolescent love and quirky at-odds grown-up in a vacuum of 1960s nostalgia, Moonrise Kingdom is engrossing and witty, but with the surprising tugs of something more, something deeper and ultimately something far more personal that Anderson has ever shared with us on screen before. What's left and what's taken away is the best movie of 2012.
Sunday, January 13, 2013
Crystall Ball: Golden Globe Awards
A few notables for this most interesting awards season. Because of the abbreviated schedules and the lack of the typical over-lapping of events, this years race may turn bonkers in a few short hours as the Golden Globes announced their favorites from the always interesting (!@#@) Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Because the Oscar nominations were moved up this year, ballots were due before some of the more notable shocks the Academy provided this year. All of which makes it a bit more confusing. Here's how I think it will go:
BEST PICTURE (Drama)
Will win: Argo
Or maybe: Lincoln
Argo, despite the shocking Best Director Oscar snub for Ben Affleck may still be king of the world with the Globes who looove stars. Lincoln tells a fundamentally American story, which may not have the same impact from this group (then again Argo, Zero Dark Thirty and even Django Unchained...all nominated do the same thing.) Either way, I'm still going with Argo, fresh from it's Critics Choice victory. However, the internationally more successful Life of Pi could shock as well. Damn.
BEST PICTURE (Musical or Comedy)
Will win: Silver Linings Playbook
Or maybe: Les Miserables
I'm guessing the Weinstein-loving HFPA will go for Silver Linings considering the critical drubbing of Les Miserables. Then again, they do love musicals-- Moulin Rouge!, Dreamgirls and Sweeney Todd all recently won this prize, and Les Miserables has a heavy international flavor. Silver Linings screenplay nomination makes me suggest they liked it a tad bit more...
BEST DIRECTOR
Will win: Ben Affleck, Argo
Or maybe: Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty
I'm thinking it will come down the to the two shocking Director Oscar snubs for the win. Bigelow didn't win the Golden Globe for The Hurt Locker, make me think this might be a way for a make-up, but the allure of fallen matinee idol making good on director potential me thinks will be too good for the HFPA to resist.
BEST ACTOR (Drama)
Will win: Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
Or maybe: ????
No contest-- unless the HFPA wants to submit themselves to even further ridicule and embarrassment, they will look no further than Day-Lewis' mercurial turn as Abraham Lincoln.
BEST ACTRESS (Drama)
Will win: Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
Or maybe: Marion Cotillard, Rust & Bone or Naomi Watts, The Impossible
Damn, another hard one! Chastain has the buzz and the controversy-laden movie and she's a pretty, likable star in the making who gives a tremendous performance, but who knows if this group knows that, care about that, or even liked the movie. Cotillard, who won for La Vie en Rose en route to that surprise Oscar victory may make the cut for what was assumed to be another run with Oscar, or Watts, may get an overdue credit. Best Actress is confusing this year.
BEST ACTOR (Musical or Comedy)
Will win: Hugh Jackman, Les Miserables
Or maybe: Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook
Probably the hardest to call for Jackman or Cooper both make compelling cases however I'm going with Jackman, because he's a movie star and a charmer, and one, I assume, they've been wanting to celebrate for some time now. Cooper-- who's great in Silver Linings, I just don't see as his time just yet-- it's more his welcoming nomination. Still could go either way.
BEST ACTRESS (Musical or Comedy)
Will win: Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
Or maybe: Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
No contest-- with the year she's had, she's didn't even need to be good in a good movie for the HFPA to praise her. Enough said...
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Will win: Leonardo DiCaprio, Django Unchained
Or maybe: Anyone?!?!?!
A confusing one, that seems to have many plausible scenarios. Remember, the Oscar nominations really shouldn't have any effect here, as DiCaprio was noticeably snubbed. But he's again, a star, and a HFPA favorite. However, I'll be the first to admit, I have little confidence in this one.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Will win: Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables
Or maybe: It won't matter, because Hell would have frozen over if anyone other name is called.
Les Miserables may have lost a lot of buzz and awards credibility due to some very harsh critics, but Hathaway's emotional turn as the dying and tragic dreamer Fantine is awards gold.
BEST SCREENPLAY
Will win: Lincoln- Tony Kushner
Or maybe: Silver Linings Playbook- David O. Russell
How strong is Silver Linings? We shall find out tomorrow, but I feel, again, not honoring Kushner for Lincoln will be something akin to an act of treason.
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Will win: Frankenweenie
Or maybe: Wreck-It-Ralph
BEST FOREIGN FILM
Will win: Amour
Or maybe: The Intouchables
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Will win: Life of Pi
Or maybe: Lincoln
BEST ORIGINAL SONG
Will win: "Skyfall," Skyfall- Adele
Or maybe: Not a chance
May the odds be ever in your favor. How do you see it going?
BEST PICTURE (Drama)
Will win: Argo
Or maybe: Lincoln
Argo, despite the shocking Best Director Oscar snub for Ben Affleck may still be king of the world with the Globes who looove stars. Lincoln tells a fundamentally American story, which may not have the same impact from this group (then again Argo, Zero Dark Thirty and even Django Unchained...all nominated do the same thing.) Either way, I'm still going with Argo, fresh from it's Critics Choice victory. However, the internationally more successful Life of Pi could shock as well. Damn.
BEST PICTURE (Musical or Comedy)
Will win: Silver Linings Playbook
Or maybe: Les Miserables
I'm guessing the Weinstein-loving HFPA will go for Silver Linings considering the critical drubbing of Les Miserables. Then again, they do love musicals-- Moulin Rouge!, Dreamgirls and Sweeney Todd all recently won this prize, and Les Miserables has a heavy international flavor. Silver Linings screenplay nomination makes me suggest they liked it a tad bit more...
BEST DIRECTOR
Will win: Ben Affleck, Argo
Or maybe: Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty
I'm thinking it will come down the to the two shocking Director Oscar snubs for the win. Bigelow didn't win the Golden Globe for The Hurt Locker, make me think this might be a way for a make-up, but the allure of fallen matinee idol making good on director potential me thinks will be too good for the HFPA to resist.
BEST ACTOR (Drama)
Will win: Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
Or maybe: ????
No contest-- unless the HFPA wants to submit themselves to even further ridicule and embarrassment, they will look no further than Day-Lewis' mercurial turn as Abraham Lincoln.
BEST ACTRESS (Drama)
Will win: Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
Or maybe: Marion Cotillard, Rust & Bone or Naomi Watts, The Impossible
Damn, another hard one! Chastain has the buzz and the controversy-laden movie and she's a pretty, likable star in the making who gives a tremendous performance, but who knows if this group knows that, care about that, or even liked the movie. Cotillard, who won for La Vie en Rose en route to that surprise Oscar victory may make the cut for what was assumed to be another run with Oscar, or Watts, may get an overdue credit. Best Actress is confusing this year.
BEST ACTOR (Musical or Comedy)
Will win: Hugh Jackman, Les Miserables
Or maybe: Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook
Probably the hardest to call for Jackman or Cooper both make compelling cases however I'm going with Jackman, because he's a movie star and a charmer, and one, I assume, they've been wanting to celebrate for some time now. Cooper-- who's great in Silver Linings, I just don't see as his time just yet-- it's more his welcoming nomination. Still could go either way.
BEST ACTRESS (Musical or Comedy)
Will win: Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
Or maybe: Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
No contest-- with the year she's had, she's didn't even need to be good in a good movie for the HFPA to praise her. Enough said...
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Will win: Leonardo DiCaprio, Django Unchained
Or maybe: Anyone?!?!?!
A confusing one, that seems to have many plausible scenarios. Remember, the Oscar nominations really shouldn't have any effect here, as DiCaprio was noticeably snubbed. But he's again, a star, and a HFPA favorite. However, I'll be the first to admit, I have little confidence in this one.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Will win: Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables
Or maybe: It won't matter, because Hell would have frozen over if anyone other name is called.
Les Miserables may have lost a lot of buzz and awards credibility due to some very harsh critics, but Hathaway's emotional turn as the dying and tragic dreamer Fantine is awards gold.
BEST SCREENPLAY
Will win: Lincoln- Tony Kushner
Or maybe: Silver Linings Playbook- David O. Russell
How strong is Silver Linings? We shall find out tomorrow, but I feel, again, not honoring Kushner for Lincoln will be something akin to an act of treason.
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Will win: Frankenweenie
Or maybe: Wreck-It-Ralph
BEST FOREIGN FILM
Will win: Amour
Or maybe: The Intouchables
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Will win: Life of Pi
Or maybe: Lincoln
BEST ORIGINAL SONG
Will win: "Skyfall," Skyfall- Adele
Or maybe: Not a chance
May the odds be ever in your favor. How do you see it going?
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
BAFTA Nominations
 |
| Lincoln leads the field at the British Academy of Arts of Television Awards with 10 nominations. |
BEST FILM
Argo
Les Miserables
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Zero Dark Thirty
OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM
Anna Karenina
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Les Miserables
Seven Psychopaths
Skyfall
BEST DIRECTOR
Ben Affleck, Argo
Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty
Michael Haneke, Amour
Ang Lee, Life of Pi
Quentin Tarantino, Django Unchained
 |
| Ben Affleck's Argo did well with the British Academy, and he himself earned a Best Director nod, and a near shock, a Best Actor nomination for his leading performance, knocking John Hawkes and Denzel Washington curbside. |
BEST ACTOR
Ben Affleck, Argo
Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook
Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
Hugh Jackman, Les Miserables
Joaquin Phoenix, The Master
 |
| The less than glowing reception for Hitchcock has nonetheless netted Helen Mirren nominations from the Golden Globes, Screen Actors Guild and now BAFTA. |
BEST ACTRESS
Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
Marion Cotillard, Rust & Bone
Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
Helen Mirren, Hitchcock
Emmanuelle Riva, Amour
 |
| Could Javier Bardem stand a chance to be the first Bond villain ever to get an Oscar nomination? |
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Alan Arkin, Argo
Javier Bardem, Skyfall
Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Master
Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln
Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained
 |
| While The Master failed to net a Best Picture nod, the actors were noticed-- Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams were all nominated by the British contingent. |
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams, The Master
Judi Dench, Skyfall
Sally Field, Lincoln
Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables
Helen Hunt, The Sessions
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Amour- Michael Haneke
Django Unchained- Quentin Tarantino
The Master- Paul Thomas Anderson
Moonrise Kingdom- Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola
Zero Dark Thirty- Mark Boal
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Argo- Chris Terrio
Beasts of the Southern Wild- Lucy Alibar & Benh Zeitlin
Life of Pi- David Magee
Lincoln- Tony Kushner
Silver Linings Playbook- David O. Russell
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Brave
Frankenweenie
ParaNorman
BEST DOCUMENTARY
The Imposter
Marley
McMillin
Searching for Sugar Man
West of Memphis
BEST FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
Amour
Headhunters
The Hunt
The Intouchables
Rust & Bone
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Anna Karenina- Seamus McGarvey
Les Miserables- Danny Cohen
Life of Pi- Claudio Miranda
Lincoln- Janusz Kaminski
Skyfall- Roger Deakins
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Anna Karenina- Sarah Greenwood & Katie Spencer
Les Miserables- Eve Stewart & Anna-Lynch Robinson
Life of Pi- David Gropman & Anna Pinnock
Lincoln- Rick Carter & Jim Erickson
Skyfall- Dennis Gassner & Anna Pinnock
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Anna Karenina- Jacqueline Durran
Great Expectations- Beatrix Aruna Pasztor
Les Miserables- Paco Delgado
Lincoln- Joanna Johnston
Snow White & the Huntsmen- Colleen Atwood
BEST FILM EDITING
Argo- William Goldenberg
Django Unchained- Fred Raskin
Life of Pi- Tim Squyres
Skyfall- Stuart Baird
Zero Dark Thirty- Dylan Tichenor & William Goldenberg
BEST ORIGINAL MUSIC
Anna Karenina- Dario Marianelli
Argo- Alexandre Desplat
Life of Pi- Michael Danna
Lincoln- John Williams
Skyfall- Thomas Newman
BEST SOUND
Django Unchained
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Les Miserables
Life of Pi
Skyfall
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
The Dark Knight Rises
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Life of Pi
Marvel's The Avengers
Prometheus
BEST MAKE-UP AND HAIRSTYLING
Anna Karenina
Hitchcock
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Les Miserables
Lincoln
RISING STAR AWARD
Elizabeth Olsen
Andrea Riseborough
Suraj Sharma
Juno Temple
Alicia Vikander
OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH FILMMAKER
Bart Layton, Dimitri Doganis, The Imposter
David Morris, Jacqui Morris, McMillin
Dexter Fletcher, Danny King, Wild Bill
James Bobin, The Muppets
Tina Gharavi, I Am Nasrine
Zero Dark Thirty
The first sequence of Zero Dark Thirty, years before the eventual capture of bin Laden in May of 2011, is one of the, perhaps now infamous torture scenes. A brutish agent is in a game of good cop/bad cop with a young man in pursuit of answers that he's not receiving. The sequence itself is shot with a nearly disconnected nonchalance-- perhaps similar to the feeling of a tough guy agent whose well practiced in the methods of such, including waterboarding. Bigelow and Boal are neither indulgent nor gratuitous in the showcase, and like everything else in the film, leave the audience to ponder for themselves the moral consequences. The agent, Dan, played by Jason Clarke, who we later learn is quite well practiced in such methods of inquiry is accompanied by a masked operative, who in a neat bit of subversion is named Maya, and played with a strong fury and innately stern femininity by Jessica Chastain. The provocative nature of torture devices, a clear and hot blooded issue that cements the film a certain controversy in the light of various statements made by well-positioned senators adds a layer of timely intrigue to Zero Dark Thirty, but the meaning behind them, as service to the film itself, prove a remarkable testament to Bigelow and Boal, who film the sequences with a rawness, but nearly essential probing in the nature of politics and safety. To say the least, none of which are sensed as glamorous nor needlessly violent for the sake of violence itself.
The greatest measure of Zero Dark Thirty is that Maya is the guiding light and glue of the mission, and the determined and thrillingly mighty performance by Chastain gives the film its deepest human connection. On the onset, the seemingly very girly and nearly fragile actress, best known for the massive heap of films that a lit her name in 2011, namely The Tree of Life and her Oscar-nominated work in The Help. Maya is a totally different creation altogether-- a strong, sterling piece of work, one that would have likely dumbfounded by the mightiest and bravest of soldiers, male or female, Chastain maintains a poise and a pose-- often all at once-- as the films treks her obsession with not just finding bin Ladin, but more importantly, being right. Given nary a backstory, nor a flicker of an outer life-- the most significant bit of information we learn from Maya herself is that she's single, and likely has no friends-- matters not, as Maya, constantly living in the shadows of the world, and in consistent danger and her obsession, determination and guile are all that really matter. While Chastain is front and center, she's surrounded by an ace and immense cast of supporting players, some of whom played by familiar faces (James Gandolfini, Kyle Chandler, Joel Edgerton, Edgar Ramariez, Mark Strong and many more provide vital pop-ins, all largely unsung for the meaning of the work) in an ensemble cast that boasts bountifully. But it's Chastain that draws us in, as she blows through Zero Dark Thirty imbuing Maya with a smartest person in the room bravado, but in her case, she not just sells it, but justifies it, even in a few rabble-rousing lines of dialogue that might have proved an error or hooky from someone who hadn't earned audience plaudits, but respect as well. Another female CIA agent who works closely with Maya is Jessica, played with an amiable and delightful charm by Jennifer Ehle, who becomes central in one of the films most chilling and devastating scenes. It's a credit to the actors that Zero Dark Thirty feels so lived in and credible, nearly as much so as to the journalistic integrity displayed by Mark Boal.
As in The Hurt Locker, the more austere younger cousin to Zero Dark Thirty, what drives the characters is the near obsession of finality, bridging danger and ingenuity with a sort of person hooked on an adrenaline rush. Maya plots and thinks and reacts and yells at the boys who think little of the dicey chances she predicts, and at times the workmanlike, behind the scenes navigating of Zero Dark Thirty becomes a bit confusing. Fast paced with multiple characters coming and going at all turns, keeping track of who's who and what's where the progress that lay ahead is a bit jarring from time to time. It hardly matters so much, however, as Bigelow's fluid and spectacular control is directed from the open-- a staggering, in the dark, beginning in which we hear 9/11 responses first hand. She moves with a swiftness and a directness that's remarkably controlled once we get to the thrilling climax-- a cleverly shot and nerve-inducing sequence that matters nil that we all know the eventual outcome.
If there is a fault, it may lie in that the zig-zaging from Pakistan to Afghanistan to Washington D.C. and single Easter egg of Obama appearing briefly on a television screen-- addressing America's stern anti-torture vein, no less-- it's that the nonstop steadfastness of Zero Dark Thirty is quite swift, even at it's estimate two-and-a-half-hour plus running time, that the human drama is made of small fragments. The film may have the heart of the a very special episode of a television procedural drama, but Bigelow and Boal make up in ambition and directness, and the unerring desire to move things ahead. The slightest moment of reflection is saved for the singular and nearly beatific final shot-- a prime, and for the only time a tight close of an emotional Maya, fraught with a seeming sense of not just relief and a need for release, but also a quietly poetic moment of "What now?" as her service as come to an end. A-
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Art Directors Guild Nominations
Anna Karenina- Sarah Greenwood
Argo- Sharon Seymour
Django Unchained- J. Michael Riva
Les Miserables- Eve Stewart
Lincoln- Rick Carter
Cloud Atlas- Uli Hanisch & Hugh Bateup
The Dark Knight Rises- Nathan Crowley & Kevin Kavanaugh
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey- Dan Hannah
Life of Pi- David Gropman
Prometheus- Arthur Max
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel- Alan MacDonald
Flight- Nelson Coates
The Impossible- Eugenio Caballero
Skyfall- Dennis Gassner
Zero Dark Thirty- Jeremy Hindle
Monday, December 24, 2012
Climate Change
The tragic events that occurred in Aurora, Colorado, during a midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises this past July, was something I felt I wanted to leave aside here. For someone who values and holds true that some of the my savory and precious moments have occurred in the peaceful tranquility of the confines of a movie theater, there was a nod and threat that almost as if a tragedy had struck inside my own backyard. The events were dreadful, as was the fearful loom of panic and anxiety that would come (and likely hasn't quite quelled) for ones safety in the most ordinary and commonplace of scenarios. Big Hollywood made their usual immediate adjustments-- the cancelling of movie premieres and the like, Warner Bros. (the distributor behind The Dark Knight Rises) withheld opening weekend grosses out of respect to victims, and a saving face for the opening week records that suddenly seemed unattainable. The same distributor also pushed back and retooled the violent feature Gangster Squad, the awards wannabe featuring Ryan Gosling, Sean Penn and a ill-timed movie theater melee. Again the issues of violence presented in movies, television and video games was sought as a defacto claim for the horrific events. A few months later, and dreadfully in tune with the yuletide season, another massive shooting occurred in another unforgivable place. And yet again, fingers are pointed at the same targets, without underlying the greater problems.
A full week went on before the NRA made an official statement in the aftermath of the tragedy that occurred in Newtown, Connecticut. During the address, spokesman Wayne LaPierre posited a few ideas that will rattle around the media maelstrom, and again waged the war against violent content in movies, television and video games as a trigger for the insane trigger-happy likes. And again, Hollywood made swift decisions like cancelling the movie premieres of the violent Tom Cruise film Jack Reacher and the ultra violent Django Unchained. It's worth noting that similar causes of actions for major American players remains firmly similar, and without a proper measure or even the slightest bit of necessary dialogue in a culture permeating with unease and violent content. That is what is missing-- pointing the fingers at one another does no such good, and until this nation can address violence without the need of "he said, she said," child-like back-talking, more of the same will be cause and effects relations.
There's another discussion to be raised to, if the effect of violent representations in artistic content is to be a factor in begetting violence in real life. After all, there's two classes of representations of violence in film especially. There's the gratuitous type that glorifies the like, and the rarer and more insightful of which explores violence in an artfully real world situation, without bestowing further glorification, instead raising the question of its purpose. For instance another hard-hitting holiday offering, Zero Dark Thirty comes courtesy of Oscar-winning team of The Hurt Locker in director Kathryn Bigelow and screenwriter Marc Boal. The film explores the manhunt behind the eventual capturing and killing of Osama bin Laden. Here's another film, that's striking a chord in Washington for different reasons-- that of the graphic scenes and questionable realities of torture and waterboarding used in the investigations. Senators from the both sides, including Rep. John McCain and Dem. Dianne Fienstein argue no such methods were actually used. It's a blow to a film that's seeking Oscar consideration on top of it's roaring critical reaction. Again, rather than an exploration of the content itself, Hollywood is questioning how this blow will hurt in garnering further Oscar buzz. On the basis, and at the very least for viewers who haven't seen Zero Dark Thirty yet, the real questions should be bestowed on the content themselves, and as The Hurt Locker showcased three years ago, the imagery and intensity of that the film was wrought, tense and moving because the filmmakers never once politicized or glorified the situation, instead leaving it the eyes of the beholders to decide what to think.
The world is scary, and media content (perhaps a largely ignored aspect could rest in twenty-four news coverage, which I would argue is more grisly than anything I typically see in a movie theater) is sometimes varying to far over the edge. By now means should an argument ever be based on back up the second amendment by reducing the first amendment, and if the National Rifle Association seeks to uphold films and other content to such reductive confines that were introduced back in Production Code, that would be deplorable and inexcusable for all. It's the discussion that needs to happen, and for that, by all means, we're at a stalemate.
A full week went on before the NRA made an official statement in the aftermath of the tragedy that occurred in Newtown, Connecticut. During the address, spokesman Wayne LaPierre posited a few ideas that will rattle around the media maelstrom, and again waged the war against violent content in movies, television and video games as a trigger for the insane trigger-happy likes. And again, Hollywood made swift decisions like cancelling the movie premieres of the violent Tom Cruise film Jack Reacher and the ultra violent Django Unchained. It's worth noting that similar causes of actions for major American players remains firmly similar, and without a proper measure or even the slightest bit of necessary dialogue in a culture permeating with unease and violent content. That is what is missing-- pointing the fingers at one another does no such good, and until this nation can address violence without the need of "he said, she said," child-like back-talking, more of the same will be cause and effects relations.
There's another discussion to be raised to, if the effect of violent representations in artistic content is to be a factor in begetting violence in real life. After all, there's two classes of representations of violence in film especially. There's the gratuitous type that glorifies the like, and the rarer and more insightful of which explores violence in an artfully real world situation, without bestowing further glorification, instead raising the question of its purpose. For instance another hard-hitting holiday offering, Zero Dark Thirty comes courtesy of Oscar-winning team of The Hurt Locker in director Kathryn Bigelow and screenwriter Marc Boal. The film explores the manhunt behind the eventual capturing and killing of Osama bin Laden. Here's another film, that's striking a chord in Washington for different reasons-- that of the graphic scenes and questionable realities of torture and waterboarding used in the investigations. Senators from the both sides, including Rep. John McCain and Dem. Dianne Fienstein argue no such methods were actually used. It's a blow to a film that's seeking Oscar consideration on top of it's roaring critical reaction. Again, rather than an exploration of the content itself, Hollywood is questioning how this blow will hurt in garnering further Oscar buzz. On the basis, and at the very least for viewers who haven't seen Zero Dark Thirty yet, the real questions should be bestowed on the content themselves, and as The Hurt Locker showcased three years ago, the imagery and intensity of that the film was wrought, tense and moving because the filmmakers never once politicized or glorified the situation, instead leaving it the eyes of the beholders to decide what to think.
The world is scary, and media content (perhaps a largely ignored aspect could rest in twenty-four news coverage, which I would argue is more grisly than anything I typically see in a movie theater) is sometimes varying to far over the edge. By now means should an argument ever be based on back up the second amendment by reducing the first amendment, and if the National Rifle Association seeks to uphold films and other content to such reductive confines that were introduced back in Production Code, that would be deplorable and inexcusable for all. It's the discussion that needs to happen, and for that, by all means, we're at a stalemate.
Friday, December 21, 2012
Utah Film Critics Awards
 |
| Wes Anderson wins his first Best Director prize of the season for Moonrise Kingdom |
runner-up: Looper
DIRECTOR: Wes Anderson, Moonrise Kingdom
runner-up: Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty
ACTOR: Joaquin Phoenix, The Master
runners-up: Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln; John Hawkes, The Sessions
ACTRESS: (tie) Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook; Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Dwight Henry, Beasts of the Southern Wild
runner-up: Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Master
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables
runner-up: Ann Dowd, Compliance
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Looper- Rian Johnson
runner-up: The Cabin in the Woods- Drew Goddard & Joss Whedon
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: The Perks of Being a Wallflower- Stephen Chbosky
runner-up: Silver Linings Playbook- David O. Russell
ANIMATED FEATURE: ParaNorman
runners-up: Frankenweenie; Wreck-It-Ralph
DOCUMENTARY: Indie Game: The Movie
runner-up: The Invisible War
NON-ENGLISH LANGUAGE FILM: Headhunters
runner-up: Amour
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Skyfall- Roger Deakins
runner-up: Life of Pi- Claudio Miranda
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Austin Film Critics Awards
DIRECTOR: Paul Thomas Anderson, The Master
ACTOR: Joaquin Phoenix, The Master
ACTRESS: Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Looper- Rian Johnson
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Argo- Chris Terrio
ANIMATED FEATURE: Wreck-It-Ralph
DOCUMENTARY: The Imposter
FOREIGN FILM: Holy Motors
CINEMATOGRAPHY: The Master- Mihai Malaimare, Jr.
SCORE: Cloud Atlas- Reinhold Heil, Johnny Klimek & Tom Tykwer
FIRST FILM: Beasts of the Southern Wild
BEST AUSTIN FILM: Bernie
ROBERT R. McCURDY MEMORIAL BREAKTHROUGH ARTIST PRIZE: Quvenzhane Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild
SPECIAL HONORARY AWARD: Matthew McConaughy- Magic Mike, Bernie, The Paperboy, Killer Joe
TOP TEN OF 2012
- Zero Dark Thirty
- Argo
- Moonrise Kingdom
- Django Unchained
- Cloud Atlas
- Holy Motors
- Beasts of the Southern Wild
- The Master
- Silver Linings Playbook
- Looper
Dallas-Ft. Worth Film Critics Associaton
PICTURE: Lincoln
DIRECTOR: Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty
ACTOR: Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
ACTRESS: Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Sally Field, Lincoln
FOREIGN FILM: Amour
TOP TEN OF 2012:
- Lincoln
- Argo
- Zero Dark Thirty
- Life of Pi
- Les Miserables
- Moonrise Kingdom
- Silver Linings Playbook
- Skyfall
- The Master
- Beasts of the Southern Wild
Chicago Film Critics Association
DIRECTOR: Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty
ACTOR: Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
ACTRESS: Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Master
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Amy Adams, The Master
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Zero Dark Thirty- Marc Boal
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Lincoln- Tony Kushner
ANIMATED FEATURE: ParaNorman
DOCUMENTARY: The Invisible War
FOREIGN FILM: Amour
CINEMATOGRAPHY: The Master
ART DIRECTION: Moonrise Kingdom
FILM EDITING: Zero Dark Thirty
SCORE: The Master
BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMER: Quvenzhane Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild
BREAKTHROUGH FILMMAKER: Benh Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild
African American Film Critics Awards
TOP TEN OF 2012
- Zero Dark Thirty
- Argo
- Lincoln
- Middle of Nowhere
- Life of Pi
- Les Miserables
- Django Unchained
- Beasts of the Southern Wild
- Moonrise Kingdom
- Think Like a Man
ACTOR: Denzel Washington, Flight
ACTRESS: Emayatzy Corineadli, Middle of Nowhere
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Nate Parker, Arbitrage
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Sally Field, Lincoln
SCREENPLAY: Middle of Nowhere- Ava DuVernay
BREAKOUT PERFORMANCE: Quvenzhane Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild
ANIMATED FEATURE: Rise of the Guardians
DOCUMENTARY: (tie) The House I Live In; Versailles '73
FOREIGN FILM: The Intouchables
MUSIC: Middle of Nowhere
INDEPENDENT FILM: Middle of Nowhere
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Golden Globe Nominations
Argo
Django Unchained
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Zero Dark Thirty
BEST PICTURE (Musical or Comedy)
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Les Miserables
Moonrise Kingdom
Salmon Fishing on the Yemen
Silver Linings Playbook
BEST DIRECTOR
Ben Affleck, Argo
Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty
Ang Lee, Life of Pi
Steven Spielberg, Lincoln
Quentin Tarantino, Django Unchained
BEST ACTOR (Drama)
Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
Richard Gere, Arbitrage
John Hawkes, The Sessions
Joaquin Phoenix, The Master
Denzel Washington, Flight
BEST ACTRESS (Drama)
Jessica Chastian, Zero Dark Thirty
Marion Cotillard, Rust & Bone
Helen Mirren, Hitchcock
Naomi Watts, The Impossible
Rachel Weisz, The Deep Blue Sea
BEST ACTOR (Musical or Comedy)
Jack Black, Bernie
Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook
Hugh Jackman, Les Miserables
Ewan McGregor, Salmon Fishing on the Yemen
Bill Murray, Hyde Park on Hudson
BEST ACTRESS (Musical or Comedy)
Emily Blunt, Salmon Fishing on the Yemen
Judi Dench, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
Maggie Smith, Quartet
Meryl Streep, Hope Springs
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Alan Arkin, Argo
Leonardo DiCaprio, Django Unchained
Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Master
Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln
Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams, The Master
Sally Field, Lincoln
Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables
Helen Hunt, The Sessions
Nicole Kidman, The Paperboy
BEST SCREENPLAY
Argo- Chris Terrio
Django Unchained- Quentin Tarantino
Lincoln- Tony Kushner
Silver Linings Playbook- David O. Russell
Zero Dark Thirty- Marc Boal
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Brave
Frankenweenie
Hotel Transylvania
Rise of the Guardians
Wreck-It-Ralph
BEST FOREIGN FILM
Amour (Austria
The Intouchables (France)
Kon-Tike (Norway)
A Royal Affair (Denmark)
Rust & Bone (France)
BEST SCORE
Anna Karenina
Argo
Cloud Atlas
Life of Pi
Lincoln
BEST SONG
"For You," Act of Valor
"Not Running Anymore," Stand Up Guys
"Safe and Sound," The Hunger Games
"Skyfall," Skyfall
"Suddenly," Les Miserables
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Critics Choice Awards Nominations
The Broadcast Film Critics Association have announced their awards. The winners-- everyone!
PICTURE
Argo
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Django Unchained
Les Miserables
Life of Pi
Lincoln
The Master
Moonrise Kingdom
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty
DIRECTOR
Ben Affleck, Argo
Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty
Tom Hooper, Les Miserables
Ang Lee, Life of Pi
David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook
ACTOR
Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook
Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
John Hawkes, The Sessions
Hugh Jackman, Les Miserables
Joaquin Phoenix, The Master
Denzel Washington, Flight
ACTRESS
Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
Marion Cotillard, Rust & Bone
Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
Emmanuelle Riva, Amour
Quvenzhane Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild
Naomi Watts, The Impossible
SUPPORTING ACTOR
Alan Arkin, Argo
Javier Bardem, Skyfall
Robert DeNiro, Silver Linings Playbook
Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Master
Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln
Matthew McConaughey, Magic Mike
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams, The Master
Judi Dench, Skyfall
Ann Dowd, Compliance
Sally Field, The Sessions
Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables
Helen Hunt, The Sessions
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Django Unchained- Quentin Tarantino
Flight- John Gatins
Looper- Rian Johnson
The Master- Paul Thomas Andersno
Moonrise Kingdom- Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola
Zero Dark Thirty- Marc Boal
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Argo- Chris Terrio
Life of Pi- David Magee
Lincoln- Tony Kushner
The Perks of Being a Wallflower- Stephen Chbosky
Silver Linings Playbook- David O. Russell
ANIMATED FEATURE
Brave
Frankenweenie
Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Watned
ParaNorman
Rise of the Guardians
Wreck-It-Ralph
DOCUMENTARY
Bully
Central Park Five
The Imposter
The Queen of Versailles
Searching for Sugarman
West of Memphis
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Amour
The Intouchables
A Royal Affair
Rust & Bone
YOUNG ACTOR\ACTRESS
Elle Fanning, Ginger & Rosa
Kara Hayward, Moonrise Kingdom
Tom Holland, The Impossible
Logan Lerman, The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Suraj Sharma, Life of Pi
Quvenzhane Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild
ACTING ENSEMBLE
Argo
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Les Miserables
Lincoln
Moonrise Kingdom
Silver Linings Playbook
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Les Miserables- Danny Cohen
Life of Pi- Claudio Miranda
Lincoln- Janusz Kaminski
The Master- Mihai Malaimare Jr.
Skyfall- Roger Deakins
ART DIRECTION
Anna Karenina- Sarah Greenwood & Katie Spencer
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey- Dan Hennah, Ra Vincent & Simon Bright
Les Miserables- Eve Stewart & Anna Lynch-Robinson
Life of Pi- David Gropman & Anna Pinnock
Lincoln- Rick Carter & Jim Erickson
FILM EDITING
Argo- William Goldenberg
Les Miserables- Melanie Ann Oliver & Chris Dickens
Life of Pi- Tim Squyres
Lincoln- Michael Kahn
Zero Dark Thirty- William Goldenberg & Dylan Tichenor
COSTUME DESIGN
Anna Karenina- Jacqueline Durran
Cloud Atlas- Kym Barrett & Pierre-Yves Gayraud
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey- Bob Buck, Ann Maskrey & Richard Taylor
Les Miserables- Paco Delgado
Lincoln- Joanna Johnson
ORIGINAL SCORE
Argo- Alexandre Desplat
Life of Pi- Mychael Danna
Lincoln- John Williams
The Master- Jonny Greenwood
Moonrise Kingdom- Alexandre Desplat
ORIGINAL SONG
"For You," Act of Valor
"Learn Me Right," Brave
"Suddenly," Les Miserables
"Still Alive," Paul Williams Still Alive
"Skyfall," Skyfall
MAKE-UP
Cloud Atlas
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Les Miserables
Lincoln
VISUAL EFFECTS
Cloud Atlas
The Dark Knight Rises
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Life of Pi
Marvel's The Avengers
ACTION MOVIE
The Dark Knight Rises
Looper
Marvel's The Avengers
Skyfall
ACTOR IN AN ACTION MOVIE
Christian Bale, The Dark Knight Rises
Daniel Craig, Skyfall
Robert Downey, Jr., Marvel's The Avengers
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Looper
Jake Gyllenhaal, End of Watch
ACTRESS IN AN ACTION MOVIE
Emily Blunt, Looper
Gina Carano, Haywire
Judi Dench, Skyfall
Anne Hathaway, The Dark Knight Rises
Jennifer Lawrence, The Hunger Games
COMEDY MOVIE
21 Jump Street
Bernie
Silver Linings Playbook
Ted
This is 40
ACTOR IN A COMEDY MOVIE
Jack Black, Bernie
Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook
Paul Rudd, This is 40
Channing Tatum, 21 Jump Street
Mark Wahlberg, Ted
ACTRESS IN A COMEDY MOVIE
Mila Kunis, Ted
Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
Shirley MacLaine, Bernie
Leslie Mann, This is 40
Rebel Wilson, Pitch Perfect
SCI-FI\HORROR MOVIE
The Cabin in the Woods
Looper
Prometheus
PICTURE
Argo
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Django Unchained
Les Miserables
Life of Pi
Lincoln
The Master
Moonrise Kingdom
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty
DIRECTOR
Ben Affleck, Argo
Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty
Tom Hooper, Les Miserables
Ang Lee, Life of Pi
David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook
ACTOR
Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook
Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
John Hawkes, The Sessions
Hugh Jackman, Les Miserables
Joaquin Phoenix, The Master
Denzel Washington, Flight
ACTRESS
Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
Marion Cotillard, Rust & Bone
Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
Emmanuelle Riva, Amour
Quvenzhane Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild
Naomi Watts, The Impossible
SUPPORTING ACTOR
Alan Arkin, Argo
Javier Bardem, Skyfall
Robert DeNiro, Silver Linings Playbook
Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Master
Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln
Matthew McConaughey, Magic Mike
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams, The Master
Judi Dench, Skyfall
Ann Dowd, Compliance
Sally Field, The Sessions
Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables
Helen Hunt, The Sessions
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Django Unchained- Quentin Tarantino
Flight- John Gatins
Looper- Rian Johnson
The Master- Paul Thomas Andersno
Moonrise Kingdom- Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola
Zero Dark Thirty- Marc Boal
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Argo- Chris Terrio
Life of Pi- David Magee
Lincoln- Tony Kushner
The Perks of Being a Wallflower- Stephen Chbosky
Silver Linings Playbook- David O. Russell
ANIMATED FEATURE
Brave
Frankenweenie
Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Watned
ParaNorman
Rise of the Guardians
Wreck-It-Ralph
DOCUMENTARY
Bully
Central Park Five
The Imposter
The Queen of Versailles
Searching for Sugarman
West of Memphis
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Amour
The Intouchables
A Royal Affair
Rust & Bone
YOUNG ACTOR\ACTRESS
Elle Fanning, Ginger & Rosa
Kara Hayward, Moonrise Kingdom
Tom Holland, The Impossible
Logan Lerman, The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Suraj Sharma, Life of Pi
Quvenzhane Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild
ACTING ENSEMBLE
Argo
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Les Miserables
Lincoln
Moonrise Kingdom
Silver Linings Playbook
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Les Miserables- Danny Cohen
Life of Pi- Claudio Miranda
Lincoln- Janusz Kaminski
The Master- Mihai Malaimare Jr.
Skyfall- Roger Deakins
ART DIRECTION
Anna Karenina- Sarah Greenwood & Katie Spencer
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey- Dan Hennah, Ra Vincent & Simon Bright
Les Miserables- Eve Stewart & Anna Lynch-Robinson
Life of Pi- David Gropman & Anna Pinnock
Lincoln- Rick Carter & Jim Erickson
FILM EDITING
Argo- William Goldenberg
Les Miserables- Melanie Ann Oliver & Chris Dickens
Life of Pi- Tim Squyres
Lincoln- Michael Kahn
Zero Dark Thirty- William Goldenberg & Dylan Tichenor
COSTUME DESIGN
Anna Karenina- Jacqueline Durran
Cloud Atlas- Kym Barrett & Pierre-Yves Gayraud
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey- Bob Buck, Ann Maskrey & Richard Taylor
Les Miserables- Paco Delgado
Lincoln- Joanna Johnson
ORIGINAL SCORE
Argo- Alexandre Desplat
Life of Pi- Mychael Danna
Lincoln- John Williams
The Master- Jonny Greenwood
Moonrise Kingdom- Alexandre Desplat
ORIGINAL SONG
"For You," Act of Valor
"Learn Me Right," Brave
"Suddenly," Les Miserables
"Still Alive," Paul Williams Still Alive
"Skyfall," Skyfall
MAKE-UP
Cloud Atlas
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Les Miserables
Lincoln
VISUAL EFFECTS
Cloud Atlas
The Dark Knight Rises
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Life of Pi
Marvel's The Avengers
ACTION MOVIE
The Dark Knight Rises
Looper
Marvel's The Avengers
Skyfall
ACTOR IN AN ACTION MOVIE
Christian Bale, The Dark Knight Rises
Daniel Craig, Skyfall
Robert Downey, Jr., Marvel's The Avengers
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Looper
Jake Gyllenhaal, End of Watch
ACTRESS IN AN ACTION MOVIE
Emily Blunt, Looper
Gina Carano, Haywire
Judi Dench, Skyfall
Anne Hathaway, The Dark Knight Rises
Jennifer Lawrence, The Hunger Games
COMEDY MOVIE
21 Jump Street
Bernie
Silver Linings Playbook
Ted
This is 40
ACTOR IN A COMEDY MOVIE
Jack Black, Bernie
Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook
Paul Rudd, This is 40
Channing Tatum, 21 Jump Street
Mark Wahlberg, Ted
ACTRESS IN A COMEDY MOVIE
Mila Kunis, Ted
Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
Shirley MacLaine, Bernie
Leslie Mann, This is 40
Rebel Wilson, Pitch Perfect
SCI-FI\HORROR MOVIE
The Cabin in the Woods
Looper
Prometheus
Washington D.C. Film Critics
PICTURE: Zero Dark Thirty
DIRECTOR: Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty
ACTOR: Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
ACTRESS: Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Master
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Looper- Rian Johnson
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Silver Linings Playbook- David O. Russell
ANIMATED FEATURE: ParaNorman
DOCUMENTARY: Bully
FOREIGN FILM: Amour
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Life of Pi- Claudio Miranda
ART DIRECTION: Cloud Atlas
SCORE: The Master- Johnny Greenwood
ENSEMBLE CAST: Les Miserables
YOUTH PERFORMANCE: Quvenzhance Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild
New York Film Critics Online
PICTURE: Zero Dark Thirty
DIRECTOR: Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty
ACTOR: Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
ACTRESS: Emmanuelle Riva, Amour
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables
SCREENPLAY: Zero Dark Thirty- Marc Boal
ENSEMBLE CAST: Argo
ANIMATED FEATURE: Chico & Rita
DOCUMENTARY: Central Park Five
FOREIGN FILM: Amour
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Life of Pi- Claudio Miranda
BEST USE OF MUSIC: Django Unchained- Mary Ramos
BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE: Quvenzhane Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild
DEBUT DIRECTOR: Benh Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild
Boston Society of Film Critics
 |
| Ezra Miller, surprise winner of Best Supporting Actor for Perks of Being a Wallflower |
PICTURE: Zero Dark Thirty
runners-up: Moonrise Kingdom and Amour
DIRECTOR: Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty
runner-up: Paul Thomas Anderson, The Master
ACTOR: Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
runner-up: Denis Levant, Holy Motors
ACTRESS: Emmanuelle Riva, Amour
runner-up: Deanie Yip, A Simple Life
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Ezra Miller, The Perks of Being a Wallflower
runner-up: Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Sally Field, Lincoln
runner-up: Emma Watson, The Perks of Being a Wallflower
SCREENPLAY: Lincoln- Tony Kushner
runner-up: Moonrise Kingdom- Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola
ANIMATED FEATURE: Frankenweenie
runner-up: ParaNorman
DOCUMENTARY: How to Survive a Plague
runner-up: The Queen of Versailles
FOREIGN FILM: Amour
runner-up: Holy Motors
CINEMATOGRAPHY: The Master
runners-up: Moonrise Kingdom and Life of Pi
EDITING: Zero Dark Thirty
runner-up: Argo
BEST USE OF MUSIC: Moonrise Kingdom
runner-up: Django Unchained
BEST NEW FILMMAKER: Benh Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild
runner-up: David France, How to Survive a Plague
Saturday, December 8, 2012
Entertainment Weekly's 10 Best of 2012
- Lincoln
- Amour
- Silver Linings Playbook
- Room 237
- Zero Dark Thirty
- The Perks of Being Wallflower
- Killing Them Softly
- Argo
- Flight
- Bernie
and the 5 Worst of 2012:
- John Carter
- 2016: Obama's America
- House at the End of the Street
- Rust & Bone
- Tyler Perry's Madea's Witness Protection
- Zero Dark Thirty
- Lincoln
- The Master
- Amour
- Argo
- The Gatekeepers
- Beasts of the Southern Wild
- Skyfall
- The Loneliest Planet
- How to Survive a Plague
and the 5 Worst of 2012:
- Hitchcock
- That's What She Said
- Hyde Park on Hudson
- Butter
- Trouble with the Curve
Boston Online Film Critics Association
Not to be confused with the reputable Boston Society of Film Critics, which will announce their best of the year prizes any day now, comes a new organization-- Boston Online Film Critics Association. Whatever dubious origins or membership they may consist upon, here is their prizes:
PICTURE: Zero Dark Thirty
DIRECTOR: Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty
ACTOR: Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
ACTRESS: Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables
SCREENPLAY: Lincoln- Tony Kushner
FOREIGN FILM: Oslo, August 31st
DOCUMENTARY: How to Survive a Plague
ANIMATED FEATURE: ParaNorman
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Skyfall- Roger Deakins
FILM EDITING: Zero Dark Thirty- William Goldenberg & Dylan Tichenor
SCORE: The Master- Jonny Greenwood
ENSEMBLE: Moonrise Kingdom
TOP TEN OF 2012:
PICTURE: Zero Dark Thirty
DIRECTOR: Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty
ACTOR: Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
ACTRESS: Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables
SCREENPLAY: Lincoln- Tony Kushner
FOREIGN FILM: Oslo, August 31st
DOCUMENTARY: How to Survive a Plague
ANIMATED FEATURE: ParaNorman
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Skyfall- Roger Deakins
FILM EDITING: Zero Dark Thirty- William Goldenberg & Dylan Tichenor
SCORE: The Master- Jonny Greenwood
ENSEMBLE: Moonrise Kingdom
TOP TEN OF 2012:
- Zero Dark Thirty
- Beasts of the Southern Wild
- Lincoln
- Moonrise Kingdom
- Django Unchained
- Oslo, August 31st
- Holy Motors
- The Master
- Argo
- Cloud Atlas
National Board of Review
FILM: Zero Dark Thirty
Ten Best Films of 2012:
- Argo
- Beasts of the Southern Wild
- Django Unchained
- Les Miserables
- Lincoln
- Looper
- The Perks of Being a Wallflower
- Promised Land
- Silver Linings Playbook
DIRECTOR: Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty
ACTOR: Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook
ACTRESS: Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Leonardo DiCarprio, Django Unchained
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Ann Dowd, Compliance
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Looper- Rian Johnson
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Silver Linings Playbook- David O. Russell
BREAKTHROUGH ACTOR: Tom Holland, The Impossible
BREAKTHROUGH ACTRESS: Quvenzhane Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild
DIRECTORIAL DEBUT: Benh Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild
ENSEMBLE PERFORMANCE: Les Miserables
ANIMATED FEATURE: Wreck-It-Ralph
DOCUMENTARY: Searching for Sugarman
Top 5 Documentaries of 2012:
- Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry
- Detropia
- The Gatekeepers
- The Invisible War
- Only the Young
FOREIGN FILM: Amour
Top 5 Foreign Films of 2012:
- Barbara
- The Intouchables
- The Kid with the Bike
- No
- War Witch
SPOTLIGHT AWARD: John Goodman, Argo, Flight, ParaNorman, The Trouble With Curve
SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT IN FILMMAKER: Ben Affleck, Argo
NBR FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION: Central Park Five, Promised Land
WILLIAM K. EVERSON FILM HISTORY AWARD: 50 Years of Bond
Top Ten Independent Films of 2012:
Arbitrage
Bernie
Compliance
End of Watch
Hello I Must Be Going
Little Birds
Moonrise Kingdom
On the Road
Quartet
Sleepwalk with Me
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