Oscar-nomics: Producers Guild Nominees for Best Documentary

The Guild awards are generally the ones to follow if you want to do well on your Oscar Ballots. Most of the voters in the guild, vote for the academy as well. The Academy had already posted their 15 Best Documentary Shortlist, which surprisingly left out Werner Herzog's "Into The Abyss" or the critical darling "The Interrupters." Even Senna, which has received strong buzz as well, did not make the shortlist, but it did reap a guild nomination. I have to admit, my knowledge on most of these is limited, but if I had to make an educated guess, I have a strong feeling that Project Nim can go the distance. Last years race was incredible tight, in my opinion, but Inside Job prevailed, which isn't surprising since it was the only Documentary to be nominated in every notable guild (Producers, Editing, Writing, Directing), so this list of nominees could be a sign of good things to come for Nim, or some of the other nominees. Again, pure speculation, we shall see hot it pans out in the future. The Producers guild will announce the nominees for Best Motion Picture January 3, so there is some breathing space for those in contention (such as building up a healthy box office, and such). Here are the list of nominees:

• Beats, Rhymes & Life: the Travels Of A Tribe Called Quest
• Not on the Academy's Shortlist

• Bill Cunningham New York

• Project Nim

• Senna
• Not on the Academy's Shortlist

• The Union

Check back later for more information concerning awards season...

Oscar-nomics: NBR Awards

Words cannot describe the awesomeness of this picture

Hey everyone, so today was the National Board of Review Awards (or the NBR awards). Again, its a little early to make out true frontrunners, but considering every award wants to be the first out of the gate, have to start somewhere. Here are the winners:

Best Film: Hugo

Best Director: Martin Scorsese, Hugo

Best Actor: George Clooney, The Descendants

Best Actress: Tilda Swinton, We Need to Talk About Kevin

Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer, Beginners

Best Supporting Actress: Shailene Woodley, The Descendants

Best Original Screenplay: Will Reiser, 50/50

Best Adapted Screenplay: Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, & Jim Rash, The Descendants

Best Animated Feature: Rango

Best Foreign Language Film: A Separation

Best Documentary: Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory

Best Ensemble: The Help

Breakthrough Performance: Felicity Jones, Like Crazy / Rooney Mara, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Spotlight Award: Michael Fassbender (A Dangerous Method, Jane Eyre, Shame,X-Men: First Class)

Debut Director: J.C. Chandor, Margin Call

NBR Freedom of Expression: Crime After Crime / Pariah

Special Achievement in Filmmaking: The Harry Potter Franchise for a distinguished translation from book to film

Top Films
The Artist
The Descendants
Drive
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
The Ides of March
J. Edgar
The Tree of Life
War Horse

Top 5 Foreign Language Films
13 Assassins
Elite Squad: The Enemy Within
Footnote
Le Havre
Point Blank

Top 5 Documentaries
Born to be Wild
Buck
George Harrison: Living in the Material World
Project Nim
Senna

Top 10 Independent Films
50/50
Another Earth
Beginners
A Better Life
Cedar Rapids
Margin Call
Shame
Take Shelter
We Need To Talk About Kevin
Win Win



Overall Thoughts: Kind of surprised by the Hugo win, but not as surprised by the acting wins. This is Clooney's 3rd win, the other two failed to get Oscar gold however (kiss of death?). With the NBR having a bad  track record of aligning with Best Picture (2/10 for the past decade, and the other categories haven't fared well either), I'm not going to back Hugo just yet, or any other choice for right now (even Tree of Life at this point). Surprised there is no love for Woody Allen, but J. Edgar (which critics were meh about), made the cut. Breakout performances were a bit of a surprise, I am now even more excited for Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (if that is even possible). Glad to see Michael Fassbender get some recognition, hopefully he will have a good run this awards season. All in all, a fair choice in each category, lets hope the fact that winning an NBR doesn't hurt their chances in the long rung (to hell with history at this point, I want to see a Plummer/Brooks showdown, that'd be something, wouldn't it?).


Oh, and two more thoughts: great to see Harry Potter finally recognized, hopefully this will carry some good will for it come Oscar season. Also, great list for Indie films, but no love for Martha Marcy May Marlene, what's up with that?

Audio blog: an introduction...

Just thought I would try and do a little more to stay on top of my blogging, so I'm going to try and do some audio blogs to try and keep up with my movie reviews and awards reviews/predictions, here is just my opening one of hopefully many others, assuming my consistency remains intact...

Oscar-nomics: NYFCC Awards Recipients 2011

Best First Feature: "Margin Call"

Thoughts: Kind of felt “Martha Marcy May Marlene” would be the one to take this in the awards circuit, but oh well my thoughts overall are limited to what I’ve heard and read.

Best Non-Fiction Film: "Cave of Forgotten Dreams"

Thoughts: Any win for the great Werner Herzog is a win in my book, glad to see him win, especially for him being snubbed from the Oscar Documentary shortlist a couple of weeks back.

Best Supporting Actress: Jessica Chastain, "The Help," "Take Shelter" and "The Tree of Life"

Thoughts: She is my pick to win in the long run, glad to see her start off strong. I’m sure hoping she will choose soon which film she will submit for Oscar consideration. I will keep drumming the “Tree of Life” drum as long as I damn well have to, “The Help,” was fine but she doesn’t really stand out in that film as she does in “Tree of Life.” Still, great to see her off to a strong start.

Best Actress: Meryl Streep, "The Iron Lady"

Thoughts: Not a big surprise, considering its Streep we are talking about here. Word on the street is its Streep vs. Davis (rightfully so for the latter lady), but since “Iron Lady” hasn’t opened yet, I will stick with the simple idea that Streep is simply the best.

Best Supporting Actor: Albert Brooks, "Drive"

Thoughts: This might be my favorite win of the day. Mnay have pegged Plummer as the one to beat, and that is still rather plausible, but I am really glad Brooks get his due for a strong performance. Side note, upon hearing he won, he tweeted "Was just told about N.Y.F.C.C. and Spirit Awards! THANK YOU. I feel like Herman Cain at a Dallas Cheerleader convention." Albert “Hank Scorpio” Brooks for the win!!!

 

Best Actor: Brad Pitt, "Moneyball" and "The Tree of Life"

Thoughts: Glad to see Pitt getting his due for a strong year. Though many, myself included, consider his “Tree of Life” performance as more of a supporting turn, to see Mr. Pitt get some awards attention means Best Actor is going to be a fun competition to watch this year, especially with Clooney not off to as such a strong start that many thought he would when “Descendants” came out a week or so ago.

Best Foreign Language Film: "A Separation"

Thoughts: Heard good things, will check it out when I can, but for now, congratulations on the win.

Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius, "The Artist"

Thoughts: Not my first choice, what with Malick, Refn and perhaps even Bennett Miller, but I won’t rag on the choice, but I probably still don’t see this as truly being the best with all the choices I have previously mentioned, particularly Malick (I would also like to mention Soderbergh, but I don’t really feel as though Contagion has much of a chance to get nominated, let alone win).

Best Screenplay: Aaron Sorkin, Steven Zaillian, "Moneyball"

Thoughts: This is a huge win for the film. Sorkin and Zaillian are arguably the best of the best in terms of writers, so seeing them get their due (even though each have received Oscar gold in the past) is always welcome, congrats!!!

Best Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki, "The Tree of Life"

Thoughts: I've said it before, and I will say it again, if this man doesn't dominate the awards season, then I'm giving up on movie awards/reviewing all together. Emmanuel Lubezki deserves Oscar gold!!!!

Special Award: Filmmaker Raoul Ruiz (posthumously)

Thoughts: Not terribly familiar with his work, so I'll stick with congrats on this one...

Best Picture: "The Artist"

Thoughts: Again, haven't seen it so my view on this is limited. It looks like the kind of film that has the right fluff to win over audiences and critics, much like how King's Speech did the previous year. However, by only receiving one other win for directing, its not terribly safe to assume that this automatically makes it the frontrunner. Still, congratulations are in order, and I have little to go on to hate the film, so congratulations and best of luck on the circuit.

Overall Thoughts: Surprised "The Descendants" was completely shut out really. Clooney's acting was considered to be the best of the best, though I am not complaining that he was defeated by Pitt. I think that even though "The Artist" won Best Picture, "Moneyball" was the real victor. Few films get released as far back as September and maintain such awards love, so to see it nab both best actor and screenplay is definitely huge. I am rather happy with both supporting picks, particularly Brooks since his hasn't been as touted, but I think we will be seeing him, most certainly Chastain, as well as Pitt and Streep come February.  

Well, thats it for now, Thursday will be the announcement of the National Board of Review awards.These are the tricky ones cause they were 2 for 2 in picking best picture in 07 and 08, but struck out in 09 and 10 (to their credit, they did pick Social Network last year). Will they be able to get back on track? Only time will tell. Check back for more on the awards seasons as well as my commentary and possible predictions, will this award ceremony shape whats to come or are we in store for something completely out of left field (pun not intended.... at first)?

Oscar-nomics: Indie Awards

I decided to begin a new segment for my movie blog. Now, I will be giving you updates on the awards circles as well as some statistics I will discuss throughout the rest of the awards season. I shall start with the Indie Spirit Awards (The pictures were kind of a pain uploading this time around, so sorry for such front-loaded pictures on this blog):

Hey all, its that’s time of year again. We are now delving into the awards season and today come the nominations of the Independent Spirit Awards as well as the Winners of the New York Film Critics Circle awards. Now, I will discuss the NYFCC awards a little later, as they are slowly coming out, I will say I’m rather content with what I am seeing. For now, let us take a look at the nominations for the Spirit Awards:

Best Feature 
(Award given to the Producer)
"50/50"
"Beginners"
"Drive"
"Take Shelter"
"The Artist"
"The Descendants"

Best Director
Michel Hazanavicius, "The Artist"
Mike Mills, "Beginners"

  Jeff Nichols, "Take Shelter"
Alexander Payne, "The Descendants"
Nicolas Winding Refn, "Drive"

Best First Feature 
(Award given to the director and producer)
"Another Earth"
"In The Family"
"Margin Call"
"Martha Marcy May Marlene"
"Natural Selection"

Best Screenplay
"Beginners"
"The Descendants"
"Footnote"
"The Artist"
"Win Win"

Best First Screenplay
"Another Earth"
"Terri"
"Cedar Rapids"
"50/50"
"Margin Call"

Best Female Lead
Elizabeth Olsen, "Martha Marcy May Marlene"
Michelle Williams, "My Week with Marilyn"
Rachael Harris, "Natural Selection"
Adepero Oduye, "Pariah"
Lauren Ambrose, "Think of Me"

Best Male Lead
Michael Shannon, "Take Shelter"
Woody Harrelson, "Rampart"
Ryan Golsing, "Drive"
Jean Dujardin, "The Artist"
Demian Bichir, "A Better Life"

Best Supporting Female
Jessica Chastain, "Take Shelter"
Anjelica Huston, "50/50"
Janet McTeer, "Albert Nobbs"
Harmony Santana, "Gone Hill Road"
Shailene Woodley, "The Descendants"

Best Supporting Male
Albert Brooks, "Drive"
John Hawkes, "Martha Marcy May Marlene"
Christopher Plummer, "Beginners"
Corey Stahl, "Midnight in Paris"
John C. Reilly, "Cedar Rapids"

Best Cinematography
"Bellflower"
"Midnight in Paris"
"The Artist"
"The Off-Hours"
"The Dynamiter"

Best Documentary 
(Award given to the director)
"An African Election"
"Bill Cunningham New York"
"The Interrupters"
"We Were Here"
"The Redemption of General Butt Naked"

Best Foreign Film 
(Award given to the director)
"A Separation"
"Melancholia"
"Shame"
"The Kid With a Bike"
"Tyrannosaur"

Piaget Producers Award
Chad Burris ("Mosquito y Mari")
Sophia Lynn ("Take Shelter")
Josh Bond ("Martha Marcy May Marlene")

Now, there are a couple of other awards worth noting, but I thought I would keep it slightly more narrow so as to not to make this too lengthy. Critical Darling “The Artist” tied with “Take Shelter” with 5 nominations. The big surprises came with the snub of festival favorite “Like Crazy” is all categories and Clooney’s supposed (I haven’t seen it yet) superb performance in “The Descendants.” I am particularly surprised Win Win didn’t get much love (only for its superb screenplay). Also, such little love for Midnight in Paris, at least Christopher Stahl got a nomination in what appears to be a stacked Supporting Actor category (I'm happy with any of them winning).  Drive got 4 nominations, my gut is telling me it will have a big night (look out for Al Brooks in supporting), and even directing (in my opinion). Awards contender Jessica Chastain had only one film she could contend with here (all of her other films were budgeted over 25 mil.), so her chances may not be as hot (I would pick “Tree of Life” for her awards run), her performance in the film has gotten steam, but again I haven’t had the chance to catch it so I can’t place a for sure win in her corner just yet. Beginners is getting a lot of love after the surprise win at the Gotham Awards, so it may continue into this Indie Awards, time will tell. I think as much as “The Artist” and “The Descendants,” are being touted for Oscars, I think “Drive” and “Beginners” will give them a run for there money. Still, its early, and we will just have to wait and see how the awards season plays out. For now, we will just have to keep our fingers crossed. Now, on to the NYFCC!!!

Review: The Muppets

It’s time to play the music, its time to light the lights, its time to meet the muppets, only this time on the big screen. Kermit, Miss Piggy, Gonzo and the others are back thanks to the collaborative minds of Jason Segal, Nicholas Stoller, and “Flight of the Conchords” co-creator James Bobin. Now after having both read my facebook newsfeed and seen my family this past weekend, I can tell most of you have already seen the Muppets. But I’m getting back into the swing of things in terms of movie watching so here are my thoughts on the Muppets Movie.

            Now, the plot is run of the mill, but its suppose to be. Life long fan Walter, himself a muppet but treated like a human, and his brother Gary (Segal) go with George’s girlfriend (the always welcome Amy Adams) to L.A. to go see the Muppets studio. When they get there, however, its not what it once was. In fact, a man, hilariously named Tex Richman (Chris Cooper, also always welcome and perfectly cast), plans to take over the Muppet studio for the oil, I guess the Muppets neglected to notice that oh so many years ago, but lets not worry too much about this story shall we. For we then get the Muppets reuniting in a way only Hollywood would, through montages, songs, and flashback tales of old. After they are all reunited, they start a telethon to try and save the theater. Will they succeed? Will Tex see the error in his ways? Will we just stop caring about the story and just love the fact that Jim Henson’s beloved creations are back on the big screen?

            Yes, its true that the story is cookie cutter, run of the mill, but that is the writers (Segal and Stoller) intention, with a wink at the camera every now and again (such as traveling by map or the whole opening sequence really, which by the way was flawless and had a cameo appearance that almost had me on the floor, you can probably guess who it is if you’ve seen it). The songs are what really make most of the story so endearing, if you aren’t singing the theme song when you leave (like all of my family was) then check your pulse. The muppets are the true stars of the film, and with some rather clever cameo work from everyone involved, this is truly a great film. Again, its not something that would be considered “greatest movie ever” by Hollywood standards. However, through the genuine nature of the script, the songs that deserve some Oscar attention (Bret Mckenzie and Christopher Beck do some rather fine work), the cast and cameos are pitch-perfect, and the loving serenity that is the Muppets, I am sure that Jim Henson would be proud of this film, even Segal himself puts a tiny nod to the man in the Muppet studio, one I think perfectly thanks a man who gave us characters every generation aught to know, and through films like this, will for many more generations to come, Ladies and Gentlemen, It’s the Muppet Show!!!
Rating: ****/****

Review: Contagion

When was the last time that you can remember, when you sneezed? When was the last time you washed your hands? When was the last time you touched your face with your hands? These might be trivial questions at first, but it’s the major element to Contagion, the new film by master craftsman Steven Soderbergh. When a new virus befalls us, what will be the effects beyond simply the symptoms of the virus?

            We start the film with a woman (Gwenyth Paltrow), coming home to Minneapolis after a work trip to Hong Kong and isn’t feeling well. As soon as she gets home, she succumbs to a virus (I would’ve taken this as a spoiler, but its in the trailer). The husband (Matt Damon) learns that he is, in fact, immune to the disease. While this is a blessing in that his fear is lessened by his immunity, he has a greater fear of the fall of society to the disease and fear, especially when his daughter isn’t guaranteed immune.

            Throughout the film, we also see the many sides of the research of the disease. We have the CDC working around the clock, its leader (Laurence Fishburne), doing what he can to help those around him, including a researcher (Kate Winslet), who goes into the disease ground zero in an attempt to quicken the research. This also includes a researcher (Marion Cotillard), who goes to Hong Kong who studies the path of the virus from patient 1 as well as becoming a captive under those who fear the disease as society further collapses in fear. All around the CDC, we have a blogger (Jude Law), who stops at nothing to tell the world everything going on behind closed doors, further adding fuel the “fear fire.”  Will this virus halt? Is there anyway to calm those who fear the mystery of the virus? Can survive events like these?

            Steven Soderbergh is a genius behind the camera; I have enjoyed all of his work I have seen so far. Where is masterpiece Traffic was a strong film exploring drug trafficking, Contagion shows us the problems of the unknown virus, but this is beyond what Traffic even dared try to show about drugs. We get a look at the virus close up, seeing its effects on society, and not just to those who are infected. Soderbergh crafts a strong film about illnesses as well as fear, and does fine work here.

            A great thing about Soderbergh is his ability to find strong cast and technical workers. Everyone in the film is fantastic, we truly feel the emotions they are going through in this film, Jude Law in particular was rather effective as that annoying man who does whatever he can to make himself famous, whether or not it causes society itself to collapse. The script by Scott Z. Burns, who worked on Soderbergh's The Informant and the amazing Bourne Ultimatum, doesn't play it safe and balances the stories rather well and efeectively at that, with Soderbergh's direction as strong as it ever was. The music fits the film like a glove; it really helps add to the severity of each scene and helps the flow of the film stay intact. The film editing done by Stephen Mirrione, who also worked on Traffic (go figure), in my opinion, deserves some serious Oscar attention. I can get rather critical about a film’s editing, but this film is top notch, it kept the film moving along nicely and made sure that we got everything we needed in each scene, it was really spectacular.

            Indeed, I would relate this film to Soderbergh’s masterpiece Traffic (one of my favorite films), but Contagion takes it’s subject matter beyond simply giving us a glimpse of the horror. You feel as though we have gone through the entire epidemic first hand, which can disturb some. There were moments where I was cringing a bit, but that isn’t enough to not recommend this strong film. Now, to go wash my hands, who knows what’s been on my computer.

My Rating: ****/****

If you want to look for more information about the film, follow the link here for trailers, information about all those involved and much more, enjoy...