Thursday, 28 February 2013
You're Getting a "Justice League" Movie After All... Kinda.
Rob Zombie As The Soundtrack For A Disney Trailer. Rob Zombie. As The Soundtrack. For A DISNEY TRAILER.
Either way, it's all academic because the "Cars" brand is a moneymaking machine for Disney's toy licensing department; so we're getting spinoffs. The first of these is "Planes" - still canonically-tied to the "Cars" universe* but actually being made by regular-ol' Disney Animation. The trailer slipped out a month ago, but is back in the news now that instant-has-been Dane Cook has joined the voice cast:
*I like to imagine that "Cars World" is either pre-historic Cybertron or an alternate-timeline sequel to "Wall*E" where it didn't work out for humanity and these are Wall*E and Eve's descendants.
Check The New Trailer For CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS 2
Featuring the voices of Andy Samberg, Terry Crews, Benjamin Bratt and Neil Patrick Harris, Sony Pictures Animation is hoping for another audience embrace at the box office. The original movie made $243m worldwide - and that's not hard to swallow for the studio!
Here's the storyline for the movie:
In the wake of the disastrous food storm at the end of the first movie, Flint Lockwood and friends are forced to leave their town of Swallow Falls. But when it is discovered that sentient food beasts have overrun the island, they are asked to return to save the world…again.
CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS 2 opens on September 27.
2013 Robert Award Winners
Winners are in *BLUE. To learn winners in all film and TV categories go to official site.
Best Film
10 timer til Pardis (Teddy Bear), Mads Matthiesen
Den skaldede frisør (Love is All You Need), Susanne Bier
En kongelig affære (A Royal Affair), Nikolaj Arcel
*Kapringen (A Hijacking), Tobias Lindholm
Undskyld jeg forstyrrer (Excuse Me), Henrik Ruben Genz
Best Director
*Nikolaj Arcel for En kongelig affære (A Royal Affair)
Susanne Bier for Den skaldede frisør (Love is All You Need)
Tobias Lindholm for Kapringen (A Hijacking)
Kaspar Munk for You & Me Forever
Lotte Svendsen for Max pinlig på Roskilde
Best Actress (tie)
Alicia Vikander in En kongelig affære (A Royal Affair)
Birgitte Hjort Sørensen in Marie Krøyer
*Bodil Jørgensen in Hvidstengruppen (This is Life)
Sara Hjort in Undskyld jeg forstyrrer (Excuse Me)
*Trine Dyrholm in Den skaldede frisør (Love is All You Need)
Best Actor
Jens Jørn Spottag in Hvidstengruppen (This is Life)
Lars Mikkelsen in Viceværten (A Caretaker's Tale)
Mads Mikkelsen in En kongelig affære (A Royal Affair)
*Søren Malling in Kapringen (A Hijacking)
Søren Sætter-Lassen in Marie Krøyer
Winners in other categories
Best Supporting Actress: Trine Dyrholm in Den skaldede frisør (Love is All You Need)
Best Supporting Actor: Mikkel Boe Følsgaard in Den skaldede frisør (Love is All You Need)
1/26/13
On January 23 the Danish Film Academy announced the nominations for this year's edition and nominees confirm that 2012 was an outstanding year for Danish cinema as there are many extraordinary films that were produced -some with huge local box office success and highly honored in the awards/festival circuit- during the year, including one film that is not honored this year as was NOT released in Danish theaters during the last calendar year; I'm talking about Thomas Vinterberg's Jagten (The Hunt) that surely will be honored in the 2014 edition.
Nikolaj Arcel's A Royal Affair leads with 15 nominations, which is remarkable as the award has 16 film categories and the Oscar nominated movie got a nod in all but one categories. Arcel's film is followed by A Hijacking by Tobias Lindholm with 12 nods and as happened in the Bodils, for the first time acting brothers Mads and Lars Mikkelsen will compete against each other for the Best Actor award.
Award ceremony will take place on February 28th in Copenhagen’s Tivoli Hotel and Congress Centre and will be broadcasted by TV2 from 8:50pm local time
To check nominees in all categories go to Academy site or Danish Film Institute site, available only in Danish. Not related to film but very interesting is that for the first time the Academy will give Roberts in five television categories; believe is a great honor for television that just complements the great ratings and financial success some very famous Danish TV series have been getting overseas, some really worth watching even if are dubbed - series should be subtitled but we know television loves to dub instead of small hard-to-read subtitles BUT is time we all realize that TV size has become a lot bigger than not so long ago and subtitles have become very easy to read. Sigh.
Wednesday, 27 February 2013
PODCAST 36: Pontypool & Carrie
"Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs 2"
The original "Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs" is one of the great overlooked comedies of the 21st Century: An absolutely hillarious scifi/comedy in the mold of "Ghostbusters" that just happens to be animated. The sequel has been similarly flying under the radar, but now there's a trailer (yes, it's a shitty Yahoo embed, sorry.)
Yup, looking good. My one concern would be that it looks like they've basically re-upped and expanded the finale of the first film into an entire movie, but the trailers for the original gave ZERO indication as to how brilliant the actual movie was so we'll see. Even if it doesn't quite measure up, the visual imagination on display in just the design of the food-creatures alone looks worth it.
WHOA. New IRON MAN 3 Poster Reveals Iron Legion!
Question: Are the suits on his side or has The Mandarin managed to gain control of them in the poster? Thoughts?
Here's the movies storyline:
Marvel’s IRON MAN 3 pits brash-but-brilliant industrialist Tony Stark/Iron Man against an enemy whose reach knows no bounds. When Stark finds his personal world destroyed at his enemy’s hands, he embarks on a harrowing quest to find those responsible. This journey, at every turn, will test his mettle. With his back against the wall, Stark is left to survive by his own devices, relying on his ingenuity and instincts to protect those closest to him. As he fights his way back, Stark discovers the answer to the question that has secretly haunted him: does the man make the suit or does the suit make the man?
IRON MAN 3 opens on May 3.
Source: Yahoo
PULP CATHOLICISM #005
Tuesday, 26 February 2013
Big Picture: "Continuity Wars"
2013 Oscars Accountability, My Predictions and Some Stats
Production Design and Sound Editing were the categories where predictions and winners did not coincide as Lincoln won first category and second was a tie between Zero Dark Thirty and Skyfall. The second category was the most unexpected result for me as never imagined a tie (has happened only four times) much less that the Academy could honor Zero Dark Thirty in any way. But it happened and yes, I'm SO glad that what I consider the best American movie in 2012 did not went empty handed, no matter what I think about the most "popular" awards in the world.
As predicted the big winner of the night was Life of Pi that got 4 awards (predicted 6) most in tech specs but also in one top category, Best Director. Sharing the second position, Argo with 3 awards, 2 tech and the notorious Best Picture, and Les Miserables that also got 3, 2 tech and Best Supporting Actress. But truth is that this Oscar edition spread the wealth among several movies that obtained at least one award.
It is impossible not to notice that Lincoln almost came empty handed as from being the most nominated film (12 nods) only got two awards, one for a tech spec, Production Design, and the other more visible, Best Actor. The other two timers are Django Unchained winning Best Supporting Actor and best Original Screenplay, and Skyfall which won Best Song and Sound Editing making movie the only multi-award winner that did not had a Best Picture nomination.
From the nominated to Best Picture only one went empty handed, Beasts of the Southern Wild as Amour, Silver Linings Playbook and Zero Dark Thirty won one award each.
2013 Pundittracker
Yesterday Pundittracker publish the list of the 22 pundits they track and TO MY SURPRISE, the highest score was guessing 21 out of 24 categories (88% accuracy rating), an accomplishment that was shared by Anthony Breznican from Entertainment Weekly and Scott Feinberg from Hollywood Reporter. IF they had followed me, I would have ended on top of the list as got one more category than them. To check the list go here.
This year I was quite apathetic about playing the guessing game with prizes and most "serious" world sites were also apathetic, so they didn't play this year. But yes, I have won before and the best award for me was FREE movies at great VOD sites. Maybe next year nominated movies will have more quality and those sites will play again so I can win FREE watching at their sites. Sigh.
2013 Oscar edition broke some records and here are some of them.
Daniel Day-Lewis became the first actor to win three Best Actor awards. The highest achieving actor is Katherine Hepburn who won four Best Actress Oscars. Day-Lewis joins other three timers, Jack Nicholson (2 lead, 1 supporting), Meryl Streep (2 lead, 1 supporting), Walter Brennan (3 supporting) and Ingrid Bergman (2 lead, 1 supporting).
Brenda Chapman is the first woman to win an Oscar for Best Animated Picture, she directed Brave along Mark Andrews.
Quvenzhane Wallis, aged 9-years-old, became the youngest ever Oscar nominated for Best Actress; only two Oscar nominated young male actors, aged 8 and also 9 -but a few days younger than Wallis is- are younger than her, Justin Henry in Kramer vs. Kramer (Supporting Actor) and Jackie Cooper in Skippy (Best Actor).
Contrary to what many think Emmanuelle Riva is not the oldest person/woman to receive an Oscar nomination, the honor belongs to Gloria Stuart in Titanic -she was 87 when nominated- but her nomination was for Supporting Actress which makes Riva the oldest woman nominated for Best Actress. Previous record belonged to Jessica Tandy (80) in Driving Miss Daisy, a record that she still holds as the Oldest Best Actress Award winner.
Documentary Searching for Sugar Man becomes the first Oscar winner that has some scenes filmed with a telephone, well a smart telephone with a US$1.99 app, and the first that was partly edited using a Mac. Facts that made film must be seen for me and after watching was absolutely amazed by the documentary for the extraordinary tech specs, great story, great storytelling and an impressive director that did almost everything in the process.
Documentary Short Film Inocente is the first ever Kickstarter-funded film to win an Oscar. A milestone that is making waves in social media and giving hope to many filmmakers.
With his best pic nomination George Clooney joins Warren Beatty as the only powerhouses to have nominations for best picture, directing, writing and acting. The difference is that as of Sunday night George Clooney has two Oscars, one for Argo and another for supporting role in Syriana, while Beatty has one for directing Reds.
Thomas Newman's nod for original score for Skyfall is his 11th and brings the total for members of the musical Newman family to 87 nods. Second place belongs to Moonrise Kingdom screenplay nod for Roman Coppola's family with a total of 24 nods.
With this post officially close the American award season to continue covering awards with more interesting movies from other countries around the world. Great! Ah! One last thing, did NOT open the champagne bottle as there was NOTHING to celebrate on Sunday night as Amour only won foreign language category.
Monday, 25 February 2013
NOW SHOWING AT A BLOG NEAR YOU
There’s plenty of movie & religion talk going on right now, must be because of the Academy Awards. To begin with, my latest review for Aleteia is up. This time around I take a look at Snitch and try my best to explain why, though it will doubtless never be nominated for best picture, I actually kind of liked this movie starring The Rock.
Speaking of the Academy Awards, while you’re over at Aleteia, why not stick around and check out Daniel McInerny’s thoughts on the dirty hands at the Oscars.
But enough of that, right? What about the kind of movies we’re used to seeing around these parts? Well, for that, how about Warm Bodies, the zombie rom-com which Sr. Helena Burns surprisingly enjoyed.
Or there’s John Morehead from TheoFantastique looking for signs of religious fundamentalism in the Planet of the Apes franchise.
And finally, for those who want both bad movies and art together, then head on over to The Trousered Ape where the titular blogger has composed a ballad to Donovan’s Brain.
Happy reading, see you next time.
RiffTrax Wants Your Help Taking Down "Twilight"
Anyway, here's the skinny: RiffTrax wants to make their next big theatrical simulcast event a live-riffing of "Twilight;" but since securing the rights just to live-broadcast (to say nothing of make fun of) a recent, major motion picture is a lot more expensive than, say, "Plan 9 From Outer Space," they've set up a KickStarter to get them to what is presumed to be Summit Entertainment's price (FWIW, it looks like they already exceeded the goal, but I could be reading that wrong.)
To my way of thinking, Summit would be crazy not to do this. "Twilight" was never going to be evergreen - it's shelf-life is exactly how long it takes a majority it's original fanbase of teenage girls to become cynical and jaded about romance (so, after dating maybe one or two actual teenage boys, really) - and if they're going to keep making money of these films they need them to become ironically-beloved touchstones of "what were we thinking back then!!??" pop-culture infamy as quickly as possible. The brazen, balletic stupidity of "Breaking Dawn: Part II" was a good first step; hooking up with RiffTrax officially would be a great second.
Check The New Suit For THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2
More when we get it!
Here's the movie's storyline:
In The Amazing Spider-Man 2, for Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield), life is busy – between taking out the bad guys as Spider-Man and spending time with the person he loves, Gwen (Emma Stone), high school graduation can’t come quickly enough. Peter hasn’t forgotten about the promise he made to Gwen’s father to protect her by staying away – but that’s a promise he just can’t keep. Things will change for Peter when a new villain, Electro (Jamie Foxx), emerges, an old friend, Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan), returns, and Peter uncovers new clues about his past.
THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 opens on May 2, 2014.
Source: ComingSoon
Exclusive Update: Alfonso Cuaron Lining Up For STAR WARS Ep VIII? Simon Pegg Going STAR WARS On Us?
So what's cooking now? How about Alfonso Cuaron getting up close and personal? I mentioned Episode VIII, but it could be Episode IX as well (or both for that matter). I would LOVE to see a STARS WARS movie directed by Cuaron. So many people are going to have the light turned on as to how brilliant a director he is after they see GRAVITY this year.
Anyway, I won't further spoil the spy info - so read on and we'll discuss afterwards!
READ ON...
As far as I know Episode 7 was then, and is now, focusing on the Skywalker's offspring. As I told you before, I believe duel personalities develop, akin to Anakin and Obi Wan, and Luke and Vader in the first trilogies, which as far as I am aware, is the driving force behind the new trilogy. Things may change however, but I doubt it, this has been long in the making.
The focus is on the original trilogy in regards of reverence and tone. Remember I told you before that the tone was important, well I believe they are really taking that seriously. From everything I know, they're focusing on that directly. Remember everything has the ability to change drastically, as Star Wars right now apart from the twin trilogies is a huge blank canvas. However, the trilogies ongoing narrative will continue to focus on that particular branch, whereas the stand alone movies, will fill and expand the voids in between in multiple timelines, and have potential to then be franchised themselves in regards to the worlds they open up.
Yoda, Palpatine, Jabba, Boba, Plagueis etc.
I believe they are very clued into what fans would and wouldn't like, and considering Mr Ford himself may not be done with his character yet, I wouldn't start picketing Lucasfilm about young Han Solo movies being made just yet. Which I was led to believe couldn't be further from how they want to move forward creatively anyway.
Harrison Ford has been approached, he has not turned it down, and is from everything I hear, very interested in returning to the role of Han Solo again, but is not signed as was reported recently. Negotiating may be a better choice of words right now. Hope it shakes out.
Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher were also approached a long time ago, as was ford, and a few other key players. I would all but guarantee, they will be in Episode 7, and I would be confident that Ford will return too. If the universe aligns correctly.
J.J. Abrams name was brought up to me numerous times, but only in reference to re-brand and ground up respect for world building that the franchise was looking to take back then. Very sneaky. Interesting to see he was offered the most coveted and feared gig in cinema history. Ultimately he is the perfect choice to direct episode 7, and set up the franchise to steward through the first trilogy. The names I mentioned to you before, remember them (EDITOR'S NOTE: my source's director list can be found here). Alfonso Cuaron especially. Trust me.
J.J. Abrams mystery cube or whatever he is calling it today, is in full effect, Star Wars news is going to be very thin on the ground for the foreseeable future, but expect Simon Pegg to be involved in some capacity. Can't say why, but lets just say I have a strong feeling about that.
Star Wars fans, Kathleen and J.J have your interests at heart.
So, very interesting!! And what is Simon Pegg doing with STAR WARS? Ideas? Is he jumping with Abrams in some fashion? Clearly he is deep in STAR TREK but being the miracle worker that Scotty is, apparently Pegg is needed in the STAR WARS universe as well!
And Cuaron? Hopefully that happens. As of right now it is in the works, so fingers crossed! More exclusive STAR WARS, AVATAR and HOBBIT info when I get it!
Helm's Deep: New IRON MAN 3 Character Posters
Followed by Robert Downey Jr. with the same helm and more sparks.
Not sure of the order of things with these posters - was Potts sad to be missing Stark, or angry in the inappropriate gift from him that still had sparks flying from it?
IRON MAN 3 opens on May 3.
2013 Oscars Award Ceremony
Without getting into what I think of Seth McFarlane, there was something REALLY new in the show, he REALLY was a host as he never "disappeared" as has happened with many American awards shows where the host does a monologue/introduction, we see him/her a few times, disappears to sometimes show his/her face at the end. McFarlane was the host that also introduced presenters during the entire show, making the ceremony to seamless flow in a normal, common way, like many entertaining variety shows do.
Can't recall where I read it but I was aware that this year instructions for the show called for "an entertainment show that gives awards" instead of "an award ceremony that sometimes has entertaining moments". In this sense I have to admit that the purpose was accomplished as definitively the show was more about entertainment than "giving awards". Was a good purpose? I do not know yet as ratings are not available at this hour; but based only in my own experience it was a good purpose as did not put me to sleep, even when almost everything I predicted will win, won. Update: according to early estimates, rating is up 4%, making the best score since 2007; also, according to Twitter, Oscars generated 8.9 million tweets, 2.1 during red carpet and 6.8 during awards show but BIG winner was the Best Picture moment (thanks to the presenter) with 85,300 tweets per minute (TPM), followed by Adele's Skyfall performance with 82,300 TPM and Best Actress for Jennifer Lawrence with 71,600 TPM. For reference Super Bowl was the subject of 24 million tweets and the Grammys, 14 million; so third place is not really a good place to be on social media (used mostly by the younger generations).
So according to me the show structure worked, but what about substance?
Me for one highly enjoyed some of the musical moments, from gorgeous looking Charlize Theron dancing, to Jennifer Hudson singing the song that gave her an Oscar, Dame Shirley Basset singing Goldfinger (yes, still today I'm humming the song) and Barbra Streisand (looking so young) performing one of her classics, The Way We Were. Sorry but We saw your Boobs song bombed for me, the only thing I liked was the sarcasm behind it as the all male chorus was none other than the Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles (that obviously do not care about seeing any woman boobs).
Did not enjoy out-of-sync Catherine Zeta-Jones Chicago performance (Oscar show producers are also movie producers) nor the awful Les Mis cast singing (who told them that they can sing? - alright, there are two or three that can sing); there was something wrong with Nora Jones (I like her quite a lot) and believe that was the song she was singing that was simply not one that I could like and talking about sound mixing, Adele performance had terrible tech specs, orchestra should have been lowered and/or microphone sound risen.
But what was highly disappointing was James Bond's 50 years anniversary celebration, not even Bond deserved such a lame collection of movie clips that reduced the very successful franchise to a few minutes of nothing much. Of course, Dame Shirley Basset sang Goldfinger and I highly enjoy it, but is that what James Bond means? Only one song? No.
Have a soft spot for crooners, so when crooner Seth McFarlane sang non-stupid lyrics he was alright for me but find his humor highly unfunny, many times offensive and totally deprecating. Please recall that I highly enjoy Ricky Gervais that when compared to McFarlane becomes the King of offensive material as Gervais really has "class" to say the most offensive things in very well-delivered, well-timed way. McFarlane timing and deliverance was truly on the most bad side of the scale. Won't get into analyzing the jokes, many have done that, nor will comment on the use of the future to tell host what he does wrong for him to fix it as for me was most unfortunate use of viewers time. But if you check youth-oriented sites you will find readers polls that name him a "Genius", like in MTV site. Sigh.
Usually gay sites praise the Oscars show but this year to my surprise and as of this moment, not many are praising last night show; most have the news with what seems like editorial describing what happened during the show. That is unusual. Then you have dispatches from what could be the American right press that trash the show as they claim is sold for "Family Viewing" and definitively was not. Morning TV news were mostly polite saying that "is hard to please everyone" but also saying that show was "controversial".
So the second most viewed TV show in the "domestic" market (meaning USA) and the first in the world was again in general, disappointing for many viewers. But no matter what you read or hear people saying, for many show was also not a sleeping pill (I am not alone in this), so there is something new that perhaps the Academy should consider for future shows, keep the structure but change the substance. If they do that then perhaps someday we will have a show that evenly mixes structure and substance, translates into good ratings (like in the "old" days) and pleases many. Sigh.
The Red Carpet
Was very surprised to find so many live streaming of the infamous red carpet which suggests that we are arriving to a "real" starting point of live streaming, which is great as slowly but surely we are reaching the moment when device watching will become a real choice for viewers. This fact allowed me to follow whatever I was interested in watching in many sites, including TV channels, and was most fascinated by being able to follow Charlize Theron all over the place (lol!).
Backstage Pass
Most disappointed by my first experience with (ABC) Oscar app that allowed us to go backstage, not even the six cameras made something worth watching. Today's multiple videos have better backstage entertaining moments than the ones I saw, but then to be honest got so bored that turned off my iPad as was distracting me from watching the show (lol!). Now is time to do the winners post but was more interesting doing this one first.
Closing
I am truly glad the American award season is over, was not one of my favorite seasons at all for all the "changing of opinion" by critics, the mixing of politics and (fictionalized) movies, the mediocrity of many honored movies, performances, etc. and on top, another uneven show. So let's close in a positive note with some spectacular photos (love black and white photos) and one interview I saw on TV this morning and made me laugh hard, Jennifer Lawrence and Jack Nicholson moment. Lawrence is so refreshing in Hollywood mostly "plastic" world. Note: Last photo does not have good quality but is here anyway (lol!)
Cautious Optimism
"The Amazing Spider-Man 2" puts me into a profoundly schizophrenic state: It's a movie I absolutely should be looking forward to (Spider-Man vs. Electro and Paul Giamatti as The Rhino? Awesome!) and by all right would sound like something worth getting psyched about - except it's a sequel to "The Amazing Spider-Man," which was fetid dog shit. And since most of the crew guilty of that previous film has come back for this one, well...
Problem is, that in-and-of itself doesn't actually prove anything. It's totally possible that Mark Webb has become a competent director of action, that Andrew Garfield has sat down and found a way to play Peter Parker that doesn't make me want to wring his neck and stab out my own eyes (in no particular order), that the asinine "Peter's Parents" backstory and all the other awful ideas and executions that plagued the first film have been purged from this one and that Rhino and Electro will show up looking an acting awesome (read: "like themselves," because they are both awesome) ...not likely, but possible. So until I start hearing concrete BAD stuff about this one, call me cautiously-optimistic. For now.
Case in point: This is a snap of the "new" costume for the sequel. LOVE the classic comic-style eyepieces. That's something. That's a concrete "like." Let's see the rest of it (and we will, shortly, as the film starts shooting today.)
WRITTEN REVIEW: The Elvira Show: An Unaired Pilot
Sunday, 24 February 2013
BMC MOVIE OF THE WEEK: FRANKENSTEIN ISLAND
“This uproariously bad film marks the less-than-glorious return of producer/director Jerry Warren, shameless purveyor of such cinematic abominations as Teenage Zombies, of which this is a remake of sorts. The crazy-quilt story line defies all rational explanation, but essentially begins with a wayward hot-air balloon crew - including Warren alumnus Robert Clarke and a dog named Melvin - becoming stranded on an island overrun by nubile jungle girls in Frederick's of Hollywood leopard-skin thongs. What sounds like an ideal vacation is disrupted by a bunch of zombies in Ray-Bans, the monster-making practices of a bleach-blonde mad scientist named Sheila, and the superimposed face of John Carradine (lifted from another film) mumbling "The Power! The Power! The Power!" Also on hand is a gibbering, drooling Steve Brodie as a howling mad pirate, and Cameron Mitchell as an equally deranged sea captain. It's very likely Warren himself had no idea what his own film was about, so viewers shouldn't waste valuable time trying to make sense of it.” – rovi’s AllMovie Guide
February 24, 2013: Second Sunday of Lent (Year C)
So what exactly is it that makes Frankenstein Island so excruciatingly painful to watch, even for the most inveterate bad movie aficionado? Is it the direction (or lack thereof) by Jerry Warren, the same auteur who brought the world the likes of Face of the Screaming Werewolf, Attack of the Mayan Mummy, and The Wild World of Batwoman? Is it the unavoidable fact that the movie was released in 1981, but looks like it was filmed sometime in the late sixties on a budget leftover from the fifties? Or is it the impression that the actors appear to have spent a lot of time rehearsing… some other movie besides the one they’re in, because they sure as heck don’t know their lines in this one?
No, while all that certainly adds to the misery, what really brings the pain to Frankenstein Island is the script. Or perhaps scripts would be a better description. The whole movie is so disjointed that it seems like Warren took five or six unfinished film treatments he had lying around, tossed them all into the air, and then picked up random pages and filmed them, oblivious as to whether any one scene connected to another. The most glaring example of this is the sheer number of seemingly unrelated characters who periodically wander in and out of the film, doing things that have no relationship to anything else going on. Over the course of the first 60 minutes of the movie, the viewer is introduced to the following:
- a bedridden mad scientist who mugs it up worse than Jim Carrey in full Riddler mode
- a tribe of bikini clad Amazons
- the Frankenstein Monster (who apparently has a deep hatred of empty plastic jugs)
- a few lumpy white dudes and their jungle girl protégé who mistakenly believe they’re in Enter The Dragon
- a brain in a jar
- Melvin the dog
- an insane one-eyed pirate
- a horde of the walking dead dressed like the Penguin’s henchmen from the old Adam West Batman show
- a cougar-esque Sheila Frankenstein von Helsing (no, really, that’s her name)
- a snapshot of John Carradine
- a weird Phillipino guy with a syringe and an eyeball fetish
- a strange assortment of mannequins
- a tribal sorceress who manages to hide snakes and tarantulas in her lingerie until she needs them
- Cameron Mitchell in a
drunken stupornear coma - a constipated looking homeless guy
- and a zombie with a plastic pitchfork that turns people into vampires
None of it makes a lick of sense, but undaunted, Jerry Warren has every single character in the movie (except for the insane one-eyed pirate who dies one scene earlier) show up to participate in the climatic showdown, as if that will somehow bring everything together into some semblance of coherency. You have to see it to believe it…
Pretty sad, huh? It’s like they scheduled a WWE battle royal, but forgot to work out any of the plot points beforehand, so everybody just wanders around trying to figure out what’s going on. But hey, that’s the way life is sometimes, isn’t it? Heck, if you read the Bible, it seems like even the apostles spent half their time just asking questions and trying to make sense out of all the things they saw and heard during their brief time together, and that’s despite the fact that they had Jesus himself there to explain things to them.
But finally, near the end of the second year of Jesus’ public ministry, things finally started to become a bit clearer for the apostles, beginning with the event we commemorate in this Sunday’s reading, the transfiguration. As I’m sure you remember, this is where Jesus took Peter, James and John up on a high mountain where His body took on a dazzling brightness, He is visited by Moses and Elijah, and the voice of God calls Him son and tells the apostles to listen to Him. We’ve already discussed the theological significance of the transfiguration, how it brought to the forefront the concept of the holy trinity, but there are also more personal reasons the event was important for the apostles, and for us as well if we allow it to be.
Pope St. Leo the Great points out that “the great reason for this transfiguration was to remove the scandal of the cross from the hearts of his disciples, and to prevent the humiliation of his voluntary suffering from disturbing the faith of those who had witnessed the surpassing glory that lay concealed. With no less forethought he was also providing a firm foundation for the hope of holy Church. The whole body of Christ was to understand the kind of transformation that it would receive as his gift. The members of that body were to look forward to a share in that glory which first blazed out in Christ their head… In the preaching of the holy Gospel all should receive a strengthening of their faith. No one should be ashamed of the cross of Christ, through which the world has been redeemed. No one should fear to suffer for the sake of justice; no one should lose confidence in the reward that has been promised. The way to rest is through toil, the way to life is through death. Christ has taken on himself the whole weakness of our lowly human nature. If then we are steadfast in our faith in him and in our love for him, we win the victory that he has won, we receive what he has promised.”
So if Pope St. Leo the Great was correct (and considering he’s known as “The Great” the odds are pretty good that he was), then the transfiguration becomes our first sign that all the crap we put up with for our faith, all the insults and prejudices and (in some places) persecutions, will make sense in the end, that they will all be worth it. Probably not a bad thing to remember as the news coverage surrounding the election of a new pope amps up over these next few weeks.
The InSneider Live-Blogs the 2013 Oscars!
8:58: ARGOLD! That has to be the headline tomorrow somewhere, right?
8:48 Meryl Streep just cheated and peeked at the Envelope early! Daniel Day-Lewis takes the stage, where he belongs.
8:47 You have to admit, this was a hell of a year for the Best Actor category, especially when you consider that John Hawkes' incredible work in The Sessions wasn't even nominated.
8:44 JENNIFER LAWRENCE wins Best Actress for SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK. I thought she gave the best female performance of the year. Interestingly enough, Twitter (via Sasha) tells me that she didn't thank Harvey Weinstein. Uh oh...
8:41 I predicted three months ago that the scene where Jessica Chastain chews out Kyle Chandler would be her Oscar clip. Lo and behold...
8:35 Aaron argues that "Spielberg is the Tom Brady to Ang Lee's Eli Manning." Lee drops the 'Namaste,' knowing full-well that no one else can pull it off.
8:34 ANG LEE!!!
8:32 Steven Spielberg needs to win Best Director here for LINCOLN to have a shot at winning Best Picture.
8:27 I may have passed on JUNO once upon a time, but as soon as I read DJANGO UNCHAINED, I knew it was going to make a great movie. My man Quentin Tarantino wins Best Original Screenplay... again!
8:24 Chris Terrio wins Best Adapted Screenplay for ARGO. I'm totally okay with this. He researched the hell out of that movie. My friend thinks he looks like Stifler.
8:22 Charlize Theron is gorgeous. That is all.
8:12 More music, this tune from TED courtesy of Norah Jones. And Sasha correctly points out, we still have the closing number with Chenoweth.
8:11 The uniquely-named Mychael Danna wins Best Score for LIFE OF PI, as predicted. Really nice guy who has handled the 6-month-long press tour well thanks to publicist Jeff Sanderson. His score was excellent. And now for Best Song...
8:01 Marvin Hamlisch appears to close it out, leading to a classy Barbra Streisand number. Not bad...
8:00 This year took great writers Nora Ephron and Frank Pierson, director Tony Scott and cinematographer Harris Savides. Bummer.
7:58 In Memoriam. I'm baking cookies and I'm still sad. Michael Clarke Duncan and Adam Yauch. Too young...
7:51 LINCOLN pulls off a surprise win for Production Design!
7:47 Pretty smart of producers to put DJANGO UNCHAINED clip later in the Oscar broadcast when there are fewer younger viewers.
7:39 Mic drop.
7:36 Skyfall is such a great fucking song. Can't wait for it to win an Oscar within the hour... And screw the haters, Adele is sexy and has an incredible voice.
7:33 William Golenberg wins Best Editing for Argo, as expected. And now the tables begin to turn...
7:25 Anne's manager Suzan Bymel and publicist Stephen Huvane get shout-outs. I really like Team Hathaway.
7:24 Can we get a little emotion here? This looks pretty damn rehearsed... Anne says she "looks up to" all of her competitors... as she looks down on them from the winner's circle.
7:23 ANNE HATHAWAY wins Best Supporting Actress. "It came true." Oh boy...
7:22 Wait, Helen Hunt wore clothes in THE SESSIONS?
7:21 Cue the waterworks...
7:16 Think of the 2-minute wait while Skyfall had to listen to Zero Dark Thirty's speech. CRAZY!
7:14 'You've got a 'berg' on the end of your name, Mark.' Secret synagogue meetings. The old 'Jews run Hollywood' joke! Whoa, A TIE! Insane....
7:13 LES MISERABLES wins Best Sound Mixing, as predicted. Sometimes, you've gotta trust the experts, i.e., the people who knows the difference between Sound Mixing and Sound Editing. I think I finally learned it this year.
7:11 Ted begging for the location of the VIP Hollywood sex party. Wahlberg admits it's at Jack Nicholson's house. Nice bit. Glad this must-see duo is being used for the kinda boring sound awards.
7:09 Sci-tech awards announcement means intermission.
7:05 Has the entire cast of a movie ever been onstage at the Oscars if it doesn't win Best Picture?
7:04 Everyone singing seems really bored. I hope they're getting a cut of the soundtrack sales...
7:02 Anne Hathaway is dreaming dreams onstage. Her name is already IN THE ENVELOPE!
7:01 What the hell happened to Wolverine's claws?
7:00 Jack Nicholson is like, 'REALLY? We're standing for THIS?'
6:57 I'm sorry, but this Tribute To Musicals is taking way too long and boring the hell out of me. Dreamgirls time, really?
6:55 I don't get why we're watching Catherine Zeta-Jones sing a song from CHICAGO. What does this have to do with this year? Zadan and Meron could stand to take it down a notch...
6:51 Michael Haneke's drama AMOUR wins Best Foreign Language Film. Director proves to be just as weird as everyone here imagined.
6:44 SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN wins Best Documentary! Congrats to Rodriguez and Sony Pictures Classics!
6:42 After a funny but kind of awkward joke about the Kardashians looking like Ben Affleck, he emerges from backstage (hence no earlier cutaway) 'I actually thought the show was going pretty well (until the joke)... but I'm sure you'll turn it around.'
6:40 Seth jokes that the man who really got into Lincoln's head was John Wilkes Booth. Sasha asks, "Too soon?" I thought it landed with a thud and was a little too easy and Family Guy-ish.
6:39 Another third of the Best Picture montage, and the producers actually get it right by pairing the historical dramas together. Zero Dark Thirty is clearly the best film and gets a proper backdrop with haunting, classy score, while Argo is set to a bluesy rock 'n roll song. This leads to a brief but interesting discussion about why Zero Dark Thirty was better than Argo.
6:37 Is Liam Neeson even American?
6:35 Sean Fine & Andrea Nix's INOCENTE wins Best Documentary Short, which I ALSO predicted. I am putting some of the REAL pundits to shame. Watch me miss the next three categories...
6:34 The short films categories make or break Oscar pools. CURFEW wins Best Narrative Short, which I predicted. This guy seems like a real romantic...
6:21 A very predictable ceremony so far. Waltz was technically the frontrunner according to Vegas, so no surprises yet.
6:19: Anna Karenina's JACQUELINE DURRAN gives a VERY efficient speech for Best Costume Design. LES MISERABLES for the makeup & hairstyling win. I really liked the work done in HITCHCOCK but I acknowledge that a lot of people didn't...
6:12 I'm really happy for the team at Fox, which took years developing the project, and it was time well-spent. They took a risk and hit a home run.
6:11 As expected, LIFE OF PI wins Best Visual Effects. Orchestra playing off the winners with music from JAWS. The Academy cuts his microphone! Crazy...
6:10 Overheard: "There are motherfucking tigers on this motherfucking boat!"
6:07 CLAUDIO MIRANDA wins for shooting the hell out of LIFE OF PI. I may have had a problem with the ending but that movie looked incredible, particularly in 3D. Can't say it's not well deserved...
6:06: The Avengers UNITE! Is Mark Ruffalo in FOXCATCHER mode? My lady friend didn't recognize him.
6:03 I like this montage of Best Picture nominees. Speeds things up... Quevenzhane Wallis is ADORABLE.
5:59 PAPERMAN wins Best Animated Short! Yay! Moments later, Pixar wins AGAIN for BRAVE. Happy for co-director Brenda Chapman, who fought quite the battle, but I was hoping something (anything!) else would win.
5:56 People (Rex Reed, Jeff Wells, etc.) will say what they will about Melissa McCarthy, but she's funny, even if this bit with Paul Rudd kinda bombed. But dug what they were doing at first but it went sour fast and a quiet crowd didn't help.
5:51 CHRISTOPH WALTZ wins Best Supporting Actor for the 2nd time after working with Quentin Tarantino. De Niro looks a little disappointed. Publicist Lisa Kasteler gets a shout-out!
5:46 More singing, drawing minor complaints from the audience in my apartment. Let's get this AWARD show started!
5:44 Ain't that cute? A 'Flying Nun' joke for the kids. Sketch ends with Seth making out with Sally Field. Easy there, Aunt May... who still looks pretty good for her age.
5:41 A puppet show. "Hey, you want some drugs? Yay!" An inspired little aside. Shatner urging Seth to "keep it classy." More singing and dancing... I guess there's only so much you can do onstage at the Oscars.
5:38 Seth sings "We Saw Your Boobs." Naomi Watts looks mortified. Kate Winslet's list goes on and on, including "whatever you're shooting right now." Sophomoric but funny since he keeps it about the movies.
5:37 William Shatner beams himself up on the stage. Wishes Tina Fey and Amy Poehler were hosting...
5:35 Seth MacFarlane killing it with "This Is 90" and Jodie Foster begging for her privacy in front of a billion people. He was a smart, edgy choice to host and I think he's going to deliver tonight. The challenge will be keeping the show moving...
5:10 p.m. There's plenty to snark about on the red carpet, but I'll stick to the merits of the actual show. Back in 20 minutes if this thing starts on time...
85th Academy Award Winners
Feature Films
Best Picture
Amour (Love), Michael Haneke
*Argo, Ben Affleck
Beasts of the Southern Wild, Benh Zeitlin
Django Unchained, Quentin Tarantino
Les Misérables, Tom Hooper
Life of Pi, Ang Lee
Lincoln, Steven Spielberg
Silver Linings Playbook, David O. Russell
Zero Dark Thirty, Kathryn Bigelow
Animated Feature Film
*Brave, Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman
Frankenweenie, Tim Burton
ParaNorman, Sam Fell and Chris Butler
The Pirates! Band of Misfits, Peter Lord
Wreck-It Ralph, Rich Moore
Foreign Language
*Amour (Love), Michael Haneke, Austria
Kon-Tiki, Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg, Norway
NO, Pablo Larraín, Chile
En kongelig affære (A Royal Affair), Nikolaj Arcel, Denmark
Rebelle (War Witch), Kim Nguyen, Canada
Directing
Michael Haneke for Amour
Benh Zeitlin for Beasts of the Southern Wild
*Ang Lee for Life of Pi
Steven Spielberg for Lincoln
David O. Russell for Silver Linings Playbook
Actress in a Leading Role
Jessica Chastain in Zero Dark Thirty
*Jennifer Lawrence in Silver Linings Playbook
Emmanuelle Riva in Amour
Quvenzhané Wallis in Beasts of the Southern Wild
Naomi Watts in The Impossible
Actress in a Supporting Role
Amy Adams in The Master
Sally Field in Lincoln
*Anne Hathaway in Les Misérables
Helen Hunt in The Sessions
Jacki Weaver in Silver Linings Playbook
Actor in a Leading Role
Bradley Cooper in Silver Linings Playbook
*Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln
Hugh Jackman in Les Misérables
Joaquin Phoenix in The Master
Denzel Washington in Flight
Actor in a Supporting Role
Alan Arkin in Argo
Robert De Niro in Silver Linings Playbook
Philip Seymour Hoffman in The Master
Tommy Lee Jones in Lincoln
*Christoph Waltz in Django Unchained
Cinematography
Seamus McGarvey for Anna Karenina
Robert Richardson for Django Unchained
*Claudio Miranda for Life of Pi
Janusz Kamiski for Lincoln
Roger Deakins for Skyfall
Original Screenplay
Michael Haneke for Amour
*Quentin Tarantino for Django Unchained
John Gatins for Flight
Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola for Moonrise Kingdom
Mark Boal for Zero Dark Thirty
Adapted Screenplay
*Chris Terrio for Argo
Lucy Alibar and Benh Zeitlin for Beasts of the Southern Wild
David Magee for Life of Pi
Tony Kushner for Lincoln
David O. Russell for Silver Linings Playbook
Film Editing
*William Goldenberg for Argo
Tim Squyres for Life of Pi
Michael Kahn for Lincoln
Jay Cassidy and Crispin Sruthers for Silver Linings Playbook
Dylan Tichenor and William Goldenberg for Zero Dark Thirty
Production Design
Sarah Greenwood and Katie Spencer for Anna Karenina
Dan Hennah, Ra Vincent and Simon Bright for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Eve Stewart and Anna Lynch-Robinson for Les Misérables
David Gropman and Anna Pinnock for Life of Pi
*Rick Carter and Jim Erickson for Lincoln
Visual Effects
Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton and R. Christopher White for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
*Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik-Jan De Boer and Donald R. Elliott for Life of Pi
Janek Sirrs, Jeff White, Guy Williams and Dan Sudick for Marvel’s The Avengers
Richard Stammers, Trevor Wood, Charley Henley and Martin Hill for Prometheus
Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, Philip Brennan, Neil Corbould and Michael Dawson for Snow White and the Huntsman
Sound Editing (tie)
Erik Aadahl and Ethan Van der Ryn for Argo
Wylie Stateman for Django Unchained
Eugene Gearty and Philip Stockton for Life of Pi
*Per Hallberg and Karen Baker Landers for Skyfall
*Paul N.J. Ottosson for Zero Dark Thirty
Sound Mixing
John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff and Jose Antonio Garcia for Argo
*Andy Nelson, Mark Paterson and Simon Hayes for Les Misérables
Ron Bartlett, D.M. Hemphill and Drew Kunin for Life of Pi
Andy Nelson, Gary Rydstrom and Ronald Judkin for Lincoln
Scott Millan, Greg P. Russell and Stuart Wilson for Skyfall
Costume Design
*Jaqueline Durran for Anna Karenina
Paco Delgado for Les Misérables
Joanna Johnston for Lincoln
Eiko Ishioka for Mirror Mirror
Colleen Atwood for Snow White and the Huntsman
Makeup and Hairstyling
Howard Berger, Peter Montagna and Martin Samuel for Hitchcock
Peter Swords King, Rick Findlater and Tami Lane for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
*Lisa Westcott and Julie Dartnell for Les Misérables
Music – Original Score
Dario Marianelli for Anna Karenina
Alexandre Desplat for Argo
*Mychael Danna for Life of Pi
John Williams for Lincoln
Thomas Newman for Skyfall
Music – Original Song
"Before My Time" from Chasing Ice Music and Lyric by J. Ralph
"Everybody Needs A Best Friend" from Ted Music by Walter Murphy; Lyric by Seth MacFarlane
"Pi's Lullaby" from Life of Pi Music by Mychael Danna; Lyric by Bombay Jayashri
*"Skyfall" from Skyfall Music and Lyric by Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth
"Suddenly" from Les Misérables Music by Claude-Michel Schönberg; Lyric by Herbert Kretzmer and Alain Boublil
Documentary
5 Broken Cameras, Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi
The Gatekeepers, Dror Moreh
How to Survive a Plague, David France
The Invisible War, Kirby Dick
*Searching for Sugar Man, Malik Bendjelloul
Short Films
Live Action
Asad, Bryan Buckley and Mino Jarjoura
Buzkashi Boys, Sam French and Ariel Nasr
*Curfew, Shawn Christensen
Dood van een Schaduw (Death of a Shadow), Tom Van Avermaet and Ellen De Waele
Henry, Yan England
Animated
Adam and Dog, Minkyu Lee
Fresh Guacamole, PES
Head over Heels, Timothy Reckart and Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly
Maggie Simpson in The Longest Daycare, David Silverman
*Paperman, John Kahrs
Documentary
*Inocente, Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine
Kings Point, Sari Gilman and Jedd Wider
Mondays at Racine, Cynthia Wade and Robin Honan
Open Heart, Kief Davidson and Cori Shepherd
Redemption, Jon Alpert and Matthew O’Neill
1/10/13
As predicted and expected Lincoln leads the pack with 12 nominations, two short of the record holder Titanic; Life of Pi follows closely with 11, then Silver Linings Playbook with 8 and Les Misérables and Argo with 7 each. Most nominations were expected BUT there are HUGE surprises.
The biggest surprise is the absence of critics most honored directors: Kathryn Bigelow and Ben Affleck but as you can imagine just love that Michael Haneke got a nomination! Not easy for me to understand why Benh Zeitlin can be considered above Bigelow, Affleck and many more, but well is the only indie that got in. So, the Academy softened and nominated Spielberg, that’s news. Notable is that the five directors nominated have also their pictures nominated
Nine films got into the Best Picture category and there are no blockbusters nominated and as expected plus predicted, The Master did not got into the list. For me there are no surprises in this category.
The BEST surprise is in the Foreign Language category as France did NOT got a nomination! Of course now my interest in category is back and just hope Amour wins as honestly the other four nominees are not even close to Amour’s quality. But I’m very glad that NO and Rebelle got nominated.
Other surprises come from supporting actress category as with Jacki Weaver nod is the first time in 31 years that a film scored ALL four acting categories, putting Silver Linings Playbook in a league with Sunset Boulevard and Streetcar Named Desire. Notable is that Silver Linings Playbook is labelled as a comedy, which probably makes movie the most honored comedy in many years -will confirm-.
The most negative surprise is Marion Cotillard not being nominated as in my opinion the young girl in Beasts of the Southern Wild is good but not as good as Cotillard in Rust and Bone; suspected that Naomi Watts could be nominated because the high buzz, but definitively can’t agree as The Impossible best performance is the older kid, Tom Holland, who absolutely steals the movie. Very glad Emmanuelle Riva got a nod as her performance quality is well-above standards. Won’t be easy to guess who could win in this category.
Another surprise is Joaquin Phoenix getting a nomination, which indeed I’m pleased with; but that meant John Hawkes out of the race and he was great in The Sessions. No surprises in supporting actor for me.
Today we got a preview of the humor the awards ceremony will have and well, definitively is NOT my kind of humor, but imagine that will please many, especially Americans and maybe will rise ratings for ABC network in the younger demo.
Later will do an in-depth analysis with more stats and info; check official press release here.
28th Film Independent Spirit Award Winners
As we are about to close the American award season it is not surprising that Silver Linings Playbook was the big winner with four awards but the best news is that The Sessions was honored with two awards for the main actors.
Winners are in *BLUE.
11/27/13
Today actors Anna Kendrick, Zoe Saldana and Common presented the nominees in a press conference at The W Hotel in Hollywood. In these awards only Film Independent members vote to determine the winners.
The live-to-tape Awards ceremony will take place on Saturday, February 23 and will premier later that evening on IFC at 10:00 pm ET/PT. So we will have to learn winners on twitter again, just like today we had to learn nominations from organizers live tweets.
It's kind of strange that nowadays a film event does not stream live, as those that could be interested in watching live have to resign to use social media to learn nominations/awards live and we will do it to most likely skip the later TV broadcast.
Moonrise Kingdom and Silver Linings Playbook lead with five nominations each, which is understandable; however, how about Matthew McConaughey getting two nominations, one for Magic Mike (?!) and the other for Killer Joe, not really understandable. Seems that we started with the complications as I wonder if Helen Hunt has a supporting role in The Sessions, for me she is one of the two leads so she should be in the Best Actress category, but being considered here for the supporting role makes me think that she has very little possibilities for an Oscar Best Actress nod.
It is remarkable that three of the five directors nominated for the John Cassavettes award are women, but then is kind of sad that they are in the category that honors films with under US$500,000 budgets; still have to admit that there are more female filmmakers nominated in different categories with the most notable exception, Best Feature were all are male directors.
These are the nominees.
Best Feature
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Bernie
Keep The Lights On
Moonrise Kingdom
*Silver Linings Playbook
Best Director
Wes Anderson for Moonrise Kingdom
Julia Loktev for The Loneliest Planet
*David O. Russell for Silver Linings Playbook
Ira Sachs for Keep the Lights On
Benh Zeitling for Beasts of the Southern Wild
Best Screenplay
Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola for Moonrise Kingdom
Zoe Kazan for Ruby Sparks
Martin McDonagh for Seven Psychopaths
*David O. Russell for Silver Linings Playbook
Ira Sachs and Mauricio Zacharias for Keep The Lights On
Best First Feature
Lemale et ha'halal (Fill the Void), Rama Burshtein, Israel
Gimme The Loot, Adam Leon
Safety Not Guaranteed, Colin Trevorrow
Sound of My Voice, Zal Batmanglij
*The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Stephen Chbosky
Best First Screenplay
Rama Burshtein for Lemale et ha'halal (Fill the Void), Israel
*Derek Connolly for Safety Not Guaranteed
Christopher Ford for Robot and Frank
Rashida Jones and Will McCormack for Celeste and Jesse Forever
Jonathan Lisecki for Gayby
John Cassavetes Award (given to film made for a budget under US$500,000)
Breakfast With Curtis, Laura Colella
*Middle of Nowhere, Ava DuVernay
Mosquita y Mari, Aurora Guerrero
Starlet, Sean Baker
The Color Wheel, Alex Ross Perry
Best Cinematography
Yoni Brook for Valley of Saints
Lol Crawley for Here
*Ben Richardson for Beasts of the Southern Wild
Roman Vasyanov for End of Watch
Robert Yeoman for Moonrise Kingdom
Best Female Lead
Linda Cardellini in Return
Emayatzy Corinealdi in Middle of Nowhere
*Jennifer Lawrence in Silver Linings Playbook
Quvenzhané Wallis in Beasts of the Southern Wild
Mary Elizabeth Winstead in Smashed
Best Supporting Female
Rosemarie DeWitt in Your Sister's Sister
Ann Dowd in Compliance
*Helen Hunt in The Sessions
Brit Marling in Sound of My Voice
Lorraine Toussaint in Middle of Nowhere
Best Male Lead
Jack Black in Bernie
Bradley Cooper in Silver Linings Playbook
*John Hawkes in The Sessions
Thure Lindhart in Keep the Lights On
Matthew McConaughey in Killer Joe
Wendell Pierce in Four
Best Supporting Male
*Matthew McConaughey in Magic Mike
David Oyelowo in Middle of Nowhere
Michael Pena in End of Watch
Sam Rockwell in 7 Psychopaths
Bruce Willis in Moonrise Kingdom
Best International Film
*Amour, Michael Haneke, France, Austria and Germany
Bir zamanlar Anadolu'da (Once Upon a Time in Anatolia), Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Tukey and Bosnia Herzegovina
De Rouille et d’Os (Rust & Bone), Jacques Audiard, Belgium and France
L'enfant d'en haut (Sister), Ursula Meier, Switzerland and France
Rebelle (War Witch), Kim Nguyen, Canada
Best Documentary
How to Survive a Plage, David France
Marina Abramovic: The Artist is Present, Matthew Akers
The Central Park Five, Ken Burns and Sarah Burns
*The Invisible War, Kirby Dick
The Waiting Room, Peter Nicks
Robert Altman Award: Starlet, Sean Baker
16th Piaget Producers Award
Alicia Van Couverign for Nobody Walks
*Mynette Louie for Stones in the Sun
Derrick Tseng for Prince Avalance
19th Someone to Watch Award
David Fenster for Pincus
*Adam Leon for Gimme The Loot
Rebecca Thomas for Electrick Children
18th Stella Artois Truer Than Fiction Award
Lucien Castain-Taylor and Véréna Paravel for Leviathan
*Peter Nicks for The Waiting Room
Jasonyyee Tipet and Elizabeth Mimms for Only The Young
Find Your Audience Award
Sara Lamm and Mary Wigmore for Birth Story
*Laura Colella for Breakfast With Curtis
J. Anderson Mitchell for History of Future Folk
A total of 49 films have nominations and all but 6 films have no distributor yet, with Fox Searchlight topping the ranking with 9 nominated films; but, as always, is The Weinstein Company the one that captures my attention as only has ONE film nominated but is not other than Silver Linings Playbook that collected five nods. If you wish to read the official press release go here and to check stats about the nominees use the link to a pdf file. But if you wish to read about each film go here.
Among all the nominees we have one film that has lesbian-interest, Mosquita y Mari, one with clear gay-interest, Keep the Lights On and another with some gay-interest, Gayby. I was not aware that non-American films can be nominated as is surprising to find an Israel produced film among the nominees.
Nevertheless the most interesting category for me is the International Film as has to be really hard to choose between films by Haneke, Audiard, Ceylan and Meier, all directors that I closely follow as highly enjoy watching their films.
These nominations not necessarily reflect possible Oscar nominations as not many independent films make it to the Oscar, nevertheless believe there is at least one performance that could be considered for Oscar, John Hawkes in The Sessions. Still there is another possibility, Silver Linings Playbook getting some recognition mainly because WHO is behind the film, but also know that Oscar usually does not honor comedies.
To see the video with the nominations announcement go here.
Photos
Michael Haneke interview