Oscars Class of 2016

(Photo: The Academy)

A bit late posting this up, but it's my favorite thing leading up to the actual ceremony, the nominees luncheon where everyone gathers to have a good time and enjoy their nomination. VFX artists, editors, writers, animators, directors and actors all come together to take the biggest class photo of the year - the Oscars class of 2016! As usual, let's have a look see to how many nominees can you correctly identify? How fast can you spot Lady Gaga or J Law?

They're here, the 2016 Oscar Nominations are announced!

 
Second to Oscar day, the most exciting time of the year is when the nominations are announced. It's my anticipated days of the new year. This new tradition of dividing the nominations into two segments is growing on me. The first sections (mostly the tech noms) are announced by two directors, today it was Ang Lee and Guillermo del Toro. The second section (the real deal, y'all) was announced by a scruffy John Kransinki (Hi, Jim!) and Academy President Cheryl Isaacs Boone. As soon as the nominations were announced, wave of delight and outrage started online. So without further adieu, here are the complete nominations for 2016 below

BEST MOTION PICTURE OF THE YEAR

The Big Short: Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner, Producers

Bridge of Spies: Steven Spielberg, Marc Platt and Kristie Macosko Krieger, Producers

Brooklyn: Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey, Producers

Mad Max: Fury Road: Doug Mitchell and George Miller, Producers

The Martian: Simon Kinberg, Ridley Scott, Michael Schaefer and Mark Huffam, Producers

The Revenant: Arnon Milchan, Steve Golin, Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Mary Parent and Keith Redmon, Producers

Room: Ed Guiney, Producers

Spotlight: Michael Sugar, Steve Golin, Nicole Rocklin and Blye Pagon Faust, Producers

My take: Just like last year, the best picture nominations totals eight.The Revenant leads the pack with 12. I'm already bracing myself for the inevitable, the unpredictability of this year. There's no clear frontrunner and I truly believe it's anyone's year. It all matters on momentum and just how that particular Oscar voter was feeling that day. That said, I'm delighted to see Room, The Big Short and The Revenant land the big nominations. It's good to see The Martian and Mad Max: Fury Road, two films that did extremely well at the box office make it to the top eight. This exclusive club is open to the blockbusters occasionally. I haven't gotten the chance to see Brooklyn or Spotlight yet. Time to rectify that soon.

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

Bryan Cranston in Trumbo

Matt Damon in The Martian

Leonardo DiCaprio in The Revenant

Michael Fassbender in Steve Jobs

Eddie Redmayne in The Danish Girl

My take: The big story in this category remains that will the Academy ever see DiCaprio worthy of winning the gold statue or will Redmayne make like Tom Hanks and score himself a second consecutive Oscar. I say, don't count out the formidable Byran Cranston, whom I'm sure could teach these young 'uns a lesson.

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Christian Bale in The Big Short

Tom Hardy in The Revenant

Mark Ruffalo in Spotlight

Mark Rylance in Bridge of Spies

Sylvester Stallone in Creed

 

My take: Two first-timers, a previous winner and a three-time nominee, they all got nothing on the sentimental favorite Stallone who's back playing Rocky Balboa. The first real lock of 2016.

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

Cate Blanchett in Carol

Brie Larson in Room

Jennifer Lawrence in Joy

Charlotte Rampling in 45 Years

Saoirse Ronan in Brooklyn

 

My take: I'm always chiding the Academy for not recognizing young talent and here, three young actresses have virtually taken over the category. Cate Blanchett is looking to get into the same league  as Meryl Streep with her third win, if only the Academy can resist the charms of Jennifer Lawrence (nominated for all three of her films with David O. Russell). But the real winner is Charlotte Rampling, I'm so pleased her performance was honored. It'd be too much to ask that she would win.

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Jennifer Jason Leigh in The Hateful Eight

Rooney Mara in Carol

Rachel McAdams in Spotlight

Alicia Vikander in The Danish Girl

Kate Winslet in Steve Jobs

My take: Kate Winslet might have just won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress but for the big race, I do think it's between Rooney Mara and Alicia Vikander, even though theirs are not supporting performances. The lead actress category was so crowded this year that it spilled over to the supporting. A sneaky way, but effective nonetheless.

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM OF THE YEAR

Anomalisa: Don Hall, Chris Williams and Roy Conli

Boy and the World: Alê Abreu

Inside Out:  Pete Docter and Jonas Rivera

Shaun the Sheep Movie: Tomm Moore and Paul Young

When Marnie was There: Hiromasa Yonebayashi and Yoshiaki Nishimura

My take: Last year, this category scored a big upset when Big Hero 6 won. Will this year be the same? Pixar's Inside Out was so critically acclaimed this year that I thought it might sneak into Best Picture. It definitely looks to be the frontrunner here but I wouldn't count out Anomalisa or the films from Aardman and Studio Ghibli - Shaun the Sheep Movie and When Marnie was There.


ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY

Carol: Ed Lachman

The Hateful Eight: Robert Richardson

Mad Max: Fury Road: John Seale

The Revenant: Emmanuel Lubezki

Sicario: Roger Deakins

My take: Keeping my fingers crossed that this is year Roger Deakins finally, finally wins. But the rest of the films in this category were gorgeously shot. Still hoping for a Deakins win. 

ACHIEVEMENT IN COSTUME DESIGN

Carol: Sandy Powell

Cinderella: Sandy Powell

The Danish Girl: Paco Delgado

Mad Max: Fury Road: Jenny Beavan

The Revenant:  Jacqueline West

My take: The amazing Sandy Powell made Cate Blanchett look absolutely stunning onscreen in both Carol and Cinderella but the characters in Mad Max were so damn unique (and numbering in hundreds).

ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTING

The Big Short: Adam McKay

Mad Max: Fury Road: George Miller

The Revenant: Alejandro G. Iñárritu

Room: Lenny Abrahamson

Spotlight: Tom McCarthy

My take: Surprising not seeing Ridley Scott here but last year's winner Iñárritu makes a strong presence this year again. Great seeing funnyman McKay in the mix as well.
 
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

Amy: Asif Kapadia and James Gay-Rees

Cartel Land: Matthew Heineman and Tom Yellin

The Look of Silence:Joshua Oppenheimer and Signe Byrge Sørensen

What Happened, Miss Simone?: Liz Garbus, Amy Hobby and Justin Wilkes

Winter's Fire: Ukraine's Fight for Freedom: Orlando von Einsiedel and Joanna Natasegara

My take: I'm relieved that this year I have a head start and have seen two of the nominated documentaries, Amy and Cartel Land. Oppenheimer's The Look of Silence has had the most buzz around it. I personally really enjoyed Amy.

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT

Body Team 12: David Darg and Bryn Mooser

Chau, beyond the Lines: Courtney Marsh and Jerry Franck

Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah: Adam Benzine

A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness: Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy

Last Day of Freedom: Dee Hibbert-Jones and Nomi Talisman

My take: It's homework time on these shorts, though I do recognize a previous nominee, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy.

ACHIEVEMENT IN FILM EDITING

The Big Short: Hank Corwin

Mad Max: Fury Road: Margaret Sixel

The Revenant: Stephen Mirrione

Spotlight: Tom McArdle

Star Wars: The Force Awakens: Maryann Brandon and Mary Jo Markey

My take: Ah, finally a technical category where the number of women matches up to the men.Very, very pleased to see Sixel and JJ Abrams's longtime editors Brandon and Markey being honored here. The icing on the cake would be if they won.
 
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM OF THE YEAR

Embrace of the Serpent:Colombia

Mustang: France

Son of Saul: Hungary

Theeb: Jordan

A War: Denmark

My take: Aaaand just like last year, I haven't seen a single foreign film from the category. Shameful!

ACHIEVEMENT IN MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING

Mad Max: Fury Road” Lesley Vanderwalt, Elka Wardega and Damian Martin

The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed out the Window and Disappeared” Love Larson and Eva von Bahr

The Revenant” Siân Grigg, Duncan Jarman and Robert Pandini

My take: The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed out the Window and Disappeared (of which i know nothing) could make history as the longest title to win an Oscar. But the real question is which Tom Hardy film is winning the makeup Oscar?


ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC WRITTEN FOR MOTION PICTURES (ORIGINAL SCORE)

Bridge of Spies: Thomas Newman

Carol: Carter Burwell

The Hateful Eight: Ennio Morricone

Sicario: Jóhann Jóhannsson

Star Wars: The Force Awakens: John Williams

My take: Musical maestros Morricone and Williams are turning back the clock with their nominations. Williams is already the most nominated music director ever, but I have a feeling this category can bring a shocker come Oscar night.

ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC WRITTEN FOR MOTION PICTURES (ORIGINAL SONG)


Earned It from Fifty Shades of Grey
Music and Lyric by Abel Tesfaye, Ahmad Balshe, Jason Daheala Quenneville and Stephan Moccio 
Manta Ray from Racing Extinction
Music by J. Ralph and Lyric by Antony Hegarty
Simple Song #3 from Youth
Music and Lyric by David Lang 
Til It Happens To You from The Hunting Ground
Music and Lyric by Diane Warren and Lady Gaga
Writing’s On The Wall from Spectre
Music and Lyric by Jimmy Napes and Sam Smith

My take: I'm dismayed with the selection this year. What happened Academy? Also, Fifty Shades of Grey is an Oscar nominee. smh


ACHIEVEMENT IN PRODUCTION DESIGN

Bridge of Spies Production Design: Adam Stockhausen; Set Decoration: Rena DeAngelo and Bernhard Henrich

The Danish Girl Production Design: Eve Stewart; Set Decoration: Michael Standish

Mad Max: Fury Road Production Design: Colin Gibson; Set Decoration: Lisa Thompson

The Martian Production Design: Arthur Max; Set Decoration: Celia Bobak

The Revenant Production Design: Jack Fisk; Set Decoration: Hamish Purdy

My take: From Mars to Amsterdam to colonial America, these film's sets had it all.

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM

Bear Story Gabriel Osorio and Pato Escala

Prologue Richard Williams and Imogen Sutton

Sanjay’s Super Team Sanjay Patel and Nicole Grindle

We Can’t Live without Cosmos Konstantin Bronzit

World of Tomorrow Don Hertzfeldt

My take: Yay for Sanjay's Super Team! For the rest of the nominees, time to start reading up on them.

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM

Ave Maria: Basil Khalil and Eric Dupont

Day One: Henry Hughes

Everything Will Be Okay (Alles Wird Gut): Patrick Vollrath

Shok: Jamie Donoughue

Stutterer: Benjamin Cleary and Serena Armitage

My take: Reading time!

ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND EDITING

Mad Max: Fury Road: Mark Mangini and David White

The Martian: Oliver Tarney

The Revenant: Martin Hernandez and Lon Bender

Sicario: Alan Robert Murray

Star Wars: The Force Awakens: Matthew Wood and David Acord

My take: Yay for Star Wars! *makes lightsaber noises*

ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND MIXING

Bridge of Spies: Andy Nelson, Gary Rydstrom and Drew Kunin

Mad Max: Fury Road: Chris Jenkins, Gregg Rudloff and Ben Osmo

The Martian: Paul Massey, Mark Taylor and Mac Ruth

The Revenant: Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño, Randy Thom and Chris Duesterdiek

Star Wars: The Force Awakens: Andy Nelson, Christopher Scarabosio and Stuart Wilson

My take: See above.

ACHIEVEMENT IN VISUAL EFFECTS

Ex Machina: Andrew Whitehurst, Paul Norris, Mark Ardington and Sara Bennett

Mad Max: Fury Road: Andrew Jackson, Tom Wood, Dan Oliver and Andy Williams

The Martian: Richard Stammers, Anders Langlands, Chris Lawrence and Steven Warner

The Revenant: Rich McBride, Matthew Shumway, Jason Smith and Cameron Waldbauer

Star Wars: The Force Awakens: Roger Guyett, Patrick Tubach, Neal Scanlan and Chris Corbould

My take: The lone female visual effects supervisor in the category belongs to Ex Machina. Rock on sister!

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

The Big Short: Screenplay by Charles Randolph and Adam McKay

Brooklyn: Screenplay by Nick Hornby

Carol: Screenplay by Phyllis Nagy

The Martian: Screenplay by Drew Goddard

Room: Screenplay by Emma Donoghue

My take: One of the toughest categories for me. Hard to pick at this stage but delighted to see The Martian and Room here.
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Bridge of Spies: Written by Matt Charman and Ethan Coen & Joel Coen

Ex Machina: Written by Alex Garland

Inside Out: Screenplay by Pete Docter, Meg LeFauve, Josh Cooley; Original story by Pete Docter, Ronnie del Carmen

Spotlight: Written by Josh Singer & Tom McCarthy

Straight Outta Compton: Screenplay by Jonathan Herman and Andrea Berloff; Story by S. Leigh Savidge & Alan Wenkus and Andrea Berloff

My take: #OscarSoWhite they only saw fit to nominate Straight Outta Compton in the Screenplay category. What happened to Best Picture and Score? smh again
 
The 88th annual Oscar awards, hosted by Chris Rock, will be given out on February 28, 2016.

The 2015 Oscars: Complete Winners

(Photo: AMPAS)

That's it. The 87th Academy Awards are over. The Oscar race is done. Alejandro G. Iñárritu's Birdman is 2014's Best Picture. How did we get here? Back in August, I thought for sure Boyhood had this in the bag. But there's this curse of the frontrunner that is becoming prevalent as years go by. If the critics hail it, the Academy is sure to have its own opinion. Therefore as you look at the best picture winners down the years, you'll notice that what was essentially the best film that year never ended up winning the big prize and sometimes it's better for it.

(Photo: Kevin Winter—Getty Images)

This year's host Neil Patrick Harris, after a solid opening musical number (and ably supported by Anna Kendrick and Jack Black), faltered in the comedy bits throughout the rest of the show. I think they forgot the part about hiring actual comedy writers to write the jokes and presenter introductions.  While part of the problem at the Golden Globes was that we didn't see Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, we kept wanting more. Here Harris was everywhere (not necessary a bad thing) but with jokes that weren't getting any laughs. It was just awkward because Neil's so winsome when he's hosted the Emmys and the Tonys. He should have just gone off script. 

(Photo: AMPAS)

But getting back to the show, it was a weird night for an Oscar show. All the Best Picture nominees won at least one Oscar so no one was shut out. It was the Oprah effect. "You get an Oscar, you get an Oscar and you get an Oscar!". For once, the musical numbers for the best song nominees weren't bad. Though I don't believe the Oscars were prepared or even ready for the stage performance that was 'Everything is Awesome'. That was light years ahead of the Academy, as is evidenced by The LEGO Movie not even being nominated for Best Animated Feature.

The LEGO Movie's exclusion meant that the LEGO Oscar teased by co-director Phil Lord the day of the Oscar nominations became the most coveted statue in the Dolby Theatre. During the performance, the dancers handed them out to the celebs seated   Everyone, and I mean everyone, was happily posing with them.  Excuse me while I go Google 'How to make your own LEGO Oscar'.

My personal picks were woefully miscalculated. I picked the nominees who I thought were going to win and was pleasantly surprised to see that who I wanted to win initially walked away with the Oscar.  Whiplash's win in editing, Interstellar's win for Double Negative's out of this world special effects and Alexandre Desplat's finally, finally winning after seven nominations, these were just a few of my hopeful picks and I'm so glad that they won. 

(Photo: AMPAS)

Last night was also the night that Hollywood brought out its activism in full force. Winners like Patricia Arquette (highlighting wage equality for women), Graham Moore (in the night's most emotional speech on being different) and John Legend and Common spoke up about marching on and fighting for what they believed in. Legend and Common brought the Dolby audience to their feet with their performance of 'Glory' from Selma. David  Oyelowo and Chris Pine were moved to tears.  Both of them spoke so eloquently on what the late Dr. King's march means today and why we must continue to speak up and act on the civil rights around the world. 

(Photo: Just Jared)

(Photo: AMPAS)

The night's biggest upset occurred in the Best Animated Feature category as Disney's Big Hero 6 beat out the competition (including DreamWorks' How To Train Your Dragon 2) to win the Oscar.  It was a good night for Disney Animation Studios which has regained its status as one of the top animation studios under the leadership of John Lasseter, it also won Best Animated Short for Feast. 

(Photo: Cartoon Brew)

The night also featured the battle of the Oscar winners trying to thank everyone they've ever know in 45 seconds versus that ruthless orchestra making sure they finish. Some of it was hilarious (see: Pawel Pawlikowski, the director of Ida) but sometimes orchestra, you need to chill, an Oscar moment only comes along once in a lifetime, let these people have their say.

To those who didn't win tonight, don't fret, this is not the end of the world.  Congratulations to all the winners and the nominees for their outstanding work in 2014 and let's meet back here again in a year to celebrate 2015. Good night!

Here's the complete list of winners below.

BEST MOTION PICTURE OF THE YEAR

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance): Alejandro G. Iñárritu, John Lesher and James W. Skotchdopole, Producers

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

Eddie Redmayne in The Theory of Everything

 

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

J.K. Simmons in Whiplash

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

Julianne Moore in Still Alice

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Patricia Arquette in Boyhood

 

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM OF THE YEAR

Big Hero 6: Don Hall, Chris Williams and Roy Conli

 

ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance): Emmanuel Lubezki

 

ACHIEVEMENT IN COSTUME DESIGN

The Grand Budapest Hotel: Milena Canonero

 

ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTING

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance): Alejandro G. Iñárritu

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

CitizenFour: Laura Poitras, Mathilde Bonnefoy and Dirk Wilutzky

 

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT

Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1: Ellen Goosenberg Kent and Dana Perry

 

ACHIEVEMENT IN FILM EDITING

Whiplash: Tom Cross

 

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM OF THE YEAR

Ida: Poland

 

ACHIEVEMENT IN MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING

The Grand Budapest Hotel: Frances Hannon and Mark Coulier

 

ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC WRITTEN FOR MOTION PICTURES (ORIGINAL SCORE)

The Grand Budapest Hotel: Alexandre Desplat

ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC WRITTEN FOR MOTION PICTURES (ORIGINAL SONG)

“Glory” from Selma

Music and Lyric by John Stephens and Lonnie Lynn

 

ACHIEVEMENT IN PRODUCTION DESIGN

The Grand Budapest Hotel Production Design: Adam Stockhausen; Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM

Feast: Patrick Osborne and Kristina Reed

 

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM

The Phone Call: Mat Kirkby and James Lucas

 

ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND EDITING

American Sniper: Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman

 

ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND MIXING

Whiplash: Craig Mann, Ben Wilkins and Thomas Curley

ACHIEVEMENT IN VISUAL EFFECTS
 
Interstellar: Paul Franklin, Andrew Lockley, Ian Hunter and Scott Fisher

 

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

The Imitation Game: Written by Graham Moore

 

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance): Written by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr. & Armando Bo

And the 2015 DGA Award goes to...!

(Photo: Coming Soon)

The 67th Directors Guild of America Award were held last night and while the competition between Boyhood and Birdman heated up yet again as Birdman netted another guild win. With the PGA, the SAG ensemble award and now the DGA Award for Alejandro G. Inarritu, one has to wonder if Boyhood is saving the best for last, namely the Oscars? 

(Photos: Deadline)

Besides the emergence of an lively Oscar race, another encouraging trend to come out of the DGA Awards was that the rest of the night's winners were all female directors. Laura Poitras won for Edward Snowden documentary Citizenfour and in the television categories, director Lesli Linka Glatter won best dramatic series director for Homeland, while Jill Soloway won the comedy series director for Transparent and Lisa Cholodenko for HBO’s miniseries Olive Kitteridge. After the continued debate this past year on why no female director were nominated in the feature film category, this emphatic seal of approval of female power behind the camera was extremely heartening to see.

Feature Film

ALEJANDRO G. IÑÁRRITU
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
(Fox Searchlight Pictures)
Mr. Iñárritu’s Directorial Team:
Unit Production Managers: James W. Skotchdopole, Robert Graf
First Assistant Director: Peter Kohn
Second Assistant Director: Amy Lauritsen
Second Second Assistant Director: Catherine Feeny
Location Manager: Joaquin Prange

Oscars Class Photo 2015!

(Photos: AMPAS)

Oscars, meet your class of 2015! Can you spot the first-time host Neil Patrick Harris? Or Birdman Michael Keaton? How about an incredibly happy Bradley Cooper? Seriously, he can't stop smiling.  You wouldn't either if you were nominated for the third straight year. Oscar really, really likes him. 

Every year, before The Academy Awards are held, an luncheon is held to celebrate the nominees and guide them on what to expect come Oscar night. Basically, remember that the whole world is watching and don't mess up your speech you've waited your whole life to say. It's a lovely tradition to continue and each nominee is awarded a certificate of their nomination as well and a chance to meet the press. It allows the nominees to get to know each other and size up the competition. Until we see you all on February 22nd, congratulations, The Academy's class of 2015!

2015 SAG Awards announced!

A day after its big win at the PGA Awards, Birdman continued its run forward by winning the ensemble award at the Screen Actor's Guild Awards last night.  Although the lead actor Michael Keaton lost to The Theory of Everything's Eddie Redmayne (who was outstanding as Professor Stephen Hawking), the rest of the awards were predictable enough as Julianne Moore (Still Alice), J.K. Simmons (Whiplash) and Patricia Arquette (Boyhood) all consolidated their positions as the favorites in their categories. The rest of the night held many highlights and the actors fraternity all honored each other's work in the film and television mediums.  This year's 'In Memoriam' reel was hard to watch as one by one, the greats who left us in 2014 (Lauren Bacall, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Robin Williams), had me almost in tears.  Carrie Fisher presented her mother Debbie Reynolds with the SAG Lifetime Achievement Award in a funny and lively tribute that only she could give.  Who knew that Reynolds had such lovely voice? Time to go back and watch some older films, I say.  All in all, the SAG Awards confirmed to those watching the Oscars race that Birdman means business now. Don't count it out come Oscar night February 22nd.  Below is the full list of the film winners: 

(Photo: Voice of America)

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A CAST IN A MOTION PICTURE:

Birdman
OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE:

Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything)

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE:

Julianne Moore (Still Alice)

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:

J.K Simmons (Whiplash)

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:

Patricia Arquette (Boyhood)

2015 Oscar Nominations Announced!

 It's the most wonderful time of the year, it's time for the Oscar nominations! The noms this year were announced by directors JJ Abrams and Alfonso Cuaron and Chris Pine and Academy President Cheryl Isaacs Boone in a slightly different manner.  This time, not everyone got the shaft, every nomination was announced live in two segments. As usual they were surprises, snubs and eventual celebrations as everyone gathered to laud the best of a year gone by. The full list of nominations with my reactions below:

BEST MOTION PICTURE OF THE YEAR

American Sniper: Clint Eastwood, Robert Lorenz, Andrew Lazar, Bradley Cooper and Peter Morgan, Producers

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance): Alejandro G. Iñárritu, John Lesher and James W. Skotchdopole, Producers

Boyhood: Richard Linklater and Cathleen Sutherland, Producers

The Grand Budapest Hotel: Wes Anderson, Scott Rudin, Steven Rales and Jeremy Dawson, Producers

The Imitation Game: Nora Grossman, Ido Ostrowsky and Teddy Schwarzman, Producers

Selma: Christian Colson, Oprah Winfrey, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner, Producers

The Theory of Everything: Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Lisa Bruce and Anthony McCarten, Producers

Whiplash: Jason Blum, Helen Estabrook and David Lancaster, Producers

My take: Well, well, well, now I'd say we have ourselves an Oscar race. Although with only 8 nominees, there are some movies that missing from the race. Most notably, Gone Girl and Wild, both of which featured female leads. Any surprises as why they're missing from the list? Guardians of the Galaxy was another crowd pleaser this past year, a good candidate of why popular films also deserve to be part of the conversation. I'm guessing Christopher Nolan's Interstellar, another big blockbuster, was just too much to process for the Academy voters.  And just because animated features have their own category, it doesn't mean they can't be considered for best picture. Without any competition from Pixar, DreamWorks, Disney and Warner Bros' The LEGO Movie all brought their A-game, but it wasn't enough.  Onto the actual nominees, American Sniper, Birdman and The Grand Budapest Hotel are giving Boyhood tough competition here. Boyhood only has 6 total nominations compared to Birdman and The Grand Budapest Hotel's 9 each. Even The Imitation Game has 8 noms. Eventually, I do think that Boyhood will walk away with the top prize. 

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

Steve Carell in Foxcatcher

Bradley Cooper in American Sniper

Benedict Cumberbatch in The Imitation Game

Michael Keaton in Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

Eddie Redmayne in The Theory of Everything

My take: The big takeaway in this category is that Bradley Cooper is a three-time nominee against four first time nominees. That's right, Cooper has scored his nominations for three straight years. Impressive indeed! All the first-timers are completely deserving of their nominations (Yay Benedict!), though I wish Miles Teller (Whiplash), Jake Gyllenhaal (Nightcrawler) or David Oyelowo (Selma) would have gotten some recognition as well

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Robert Duvall in The Judge

Ethan Hawke in Boyhood

Edward Norton in Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

Mark Ruffalo in Foxcatcher

J.K. Simmons in Whiplash

My take: How did Robert Duvall manage to sneak in? I had seen some critics correctly predicting his nomination but didn't take it seriously. Never assume in an Oscar race. J.K. Simmons has this locked down tight, but I expect Edward Norton to give him a run for his money. Ethan Hawke in Boyhood was guaranteed and I loved that Mark Ruffalo got a nom for Foxcatcher, his Dave Schulz is understated and sincere. Ruffalo's had a good 2014. 


PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

Marion Cotillard in Two Days, One Night

Felicity Jones in The Theory of Everything

Julianne Moore in Still Alice

Rosamund Pike in Gone Girl

Reese Witherspoon in Wild

My take: Is this year that Julianne Moore is finally rewarded for her long career and outstanding work in almost every film she's in?  I certainly hope so. Gone Girl's Rosemund Pike received the film's lone nomination for her role. She's amazing in it (pun intended), one of my favorite performances of the past year.  I haven't see most of these performances yet except Felicity Jones in The Theory of Everything, a statement I hope to rectify soon. There was a lot of talk about Jennifer Aniston breaking through with her work in Cake but she was snubbed this year. 

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Patricia Arquette in Boyhood

Laura Dern in Wild

Keira Knightley in The Imitation Game

Emma Stone in Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

Meryl Streep in Into the Woods

My take: The incomparable Meryl Streep makes history once again with her 19th nomination (the most of any actor) and before I begrudge her nomination, she really was great in Into the Woods. Keira Knightley returns with her second nomination this time in the supporting category.  Laura Dern, too, earns her second nomination after 23 years! She was last nominated for Rambling Rose in 1991. Emma Stone and Patricia Arquette are both first-timers here but I don't think anyone can beat Arqueette this year. 

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM OF THE YEAR

Big Hero 6: Don Hall, Chris Williams and Roy Conli

The Boxtrolls: Anthony Stacchi, Graham Annable and Travis Knight

How to Train Your Dragon 2: Dean DeBlois and Bonnie Arnold

Song of the Sea: Tomm Moore and Paul Young

The Tale of the Princess Kaguya: Isao Takahata and Yoshiaki Nishimura

My take: Holy Snub, Batman! The biggest shock from the nominations is the exclusion of The LEGO Movie from this category. It was a slam dunk to many. Now, it looks like How to Train Your Dragon 2 is leading favorite. And after the sad news from Studio Ghibli that there would be no more feature films, it's wonderful to see Isao Takahata's The Tale of the Princess Kaguya here. Been hear nothing but praise since it released.  This coming on the heels of Hayao Miyazaki's honorary Oscar at the Governor's Awards is bittersweet.


ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance): Emmanuel Lubezki

The Grand Budapest Hotel: Robert Yeoman

Ida: Lukasz Zal and Ryszard Lenczewski

Mr. Turner: Dick Pope

Unbroken: Roger Deakins

My take: I've only seen two films in this category and already I can tell that Roger Deakins isn't going to be the favorite here. This makes me sad. I need to finish watching the rest of the nominees, especially looking forward to seeing Ida. 

ACHIEVEMENT IN COSTUME DESIGN

The Grand Budapest Hotel: Milena Canonero

Inherent Vice: Mark Bridges

Into the Woods: Colleen Atwood

Maleficent: Anna B. Sheppard and Jane Clive

Mr. Turner: Jacqueline Durran

My take: All period films nominated here no big surprise.  Really hope The Grand Budapest Hotel wins. Every one in the cast of the film had such an eclectic look. 


ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTING

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance): Alejandro G. Iñárritu

Boyhood: Richard Linklater

Foxcatcher: Bennett Miller

The Grand Budapest Hotel: Wes Anderson

The Imitation Game: Morten Tyldum

My take: The biggest surprise here is director Benett Miller's nomination.  He was previously nominated for his first film Capote (2005). Wes Anderson receives his fourth nomination but his first as best director. Morten Tyldum also gets his first best director nomination for his first English film for The Imitation Game. The real competition is between Alejandro G. Iñárritu and Richard Linklater and we all know which way the majority is leaning. Big snubs here were David Fincher for Gone Girl and Ava DuVernay for Selma. Real missed opportunities here.

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

CitizenFour: Laura Poitras, Mathilde Bonnefoy and Dirk Wilutzky

Finding Vivian Maier: John Maloof and Charlie Siskel

Last Days in Vietnam: Rory Kennedy and Keven McAlester

The Salt of the Earth: Wim Wenders, Juliano Ribeiro Salgado and David Rosier

Virunga: Orlando von Einsiedel and Joanna Natasegara

My take: I was surprised to see the acclaimed documentry, Life Itself, on Roger Ebert not make the cut.  But the buzz in the documentary world has been mostly about CitizenFour and Virunga. I have go back and do some research on the rest of the nominees. 

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT

Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1: Ellen Goosenberg Kent and Dana Perry

Joanna: Aneta Kopacz

Our Curse: Tomasz Sliwinski and Maciej Slesicki

The Reaper (La Parka): Gabriel Serra Arguello

White Earth: J. Christian Jensen

My take: It's homework time on these shorts!

ACHIEVEMENT IN FILM EDITING

American Sniper: Joel Cox and Gary D. Roach

Boyhood: Sandra Adair

The Grand Budapest Hotel: Barney Pilling

The Imitation Game: William Goldenberg

Whiplash: Tom Cross

My take: Believe it or not, this is my favorite category at the Oscars.  What ties a movie together is the editing and sets it apart from being just a film and takes it to the great film.  That said, I'm disappointed that Gone Girl isn't here. I'd love to see The Grand Budapest Hotel or Whiplash win here but something tells me Boyhood will win.

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM OF THE YEAR

Ida: Poland

Leviathan: Russia

Tangerines: Estonia

Timbuktu: Mauritania

Wild Tales: Argentina

My take: This is embarrassing, I haven't even one of the films here. Time to rectify that!


ACHIEVEMENT IN MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING

Foxcatcher: Bill Corso and Dennis Liddiard

The Grand Budapest Hotel: Frances Hannon and Mark Coulier

Guardians of the Galaxy: Elizabeth Yianni-Georgiou and David White

My take: This is actually a tough category.  Steve Carell's look in Foxcatcher is the most striking but the aliens of Guardians of the Galaxy vs the cast of characters in The Grand Budapest Hotel (for Tilda Swinton alone!) is the real competition.


ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC WRITTEN FOR MOTION PICTURES (ORIGINAL SCORE)

The Grand Budapest Hotel: Alexandre Desplat

The Imitation Game: Alexandre Desplat

Interstellar: Hans Zimmer

Mr. Turner: Gary Yershon

The Theory of Everything: Jóhann Jóhannsson

My take: My second favorite category at the Oscars.  Pereninal favorites Hans Zimmer and this year a double nominee Alexander Desplat were expected but I have a feeling that the front runner is Jóhann Jóhannsson with his score for The Theory of Everything. It truly felt incandescent.  

ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC WRITTEN FOR MOTION PICTURES (ORIGINAL SONG)

“Everything Is Awesome” from The Lego Movie

Music and Lyric by Shawn Patterson

“Glory” from Selma

Music and Lyric by John Stephens and Lonnie Lynn

“Grateful” from Beyond the Lights

Music and Lyric by Diane Warren

“I’m Not Gonna Miss You” from Glen Campbell…I’ll Be Me

Music and Lyric by Glen Campbell and Julian Raymond

“Lost Stars” from Begin Again

Music and Lyric by Gregg Alexander and Danielle Brisebois

My take: How do you take a catchy song like 'Everything is Awesome' and turn into a downer? You don't nominate the film for best animated feature. *facepalm*  On the other end of the spectrum, there's Glory from Selma with the film's only other nomination.  I loved 'Lost Stars' from Begin Again and I'm kinda rooting for it, secretly hoping that Adam Levine will sing it at Oscar night.


ACHIEVEMENT IN PRODUCTION DESIGN

The Grand Budapest Hotel Production Design: Adam Stockhausen; Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock

The Imitation Game Production Design: Maria Djurkovic; Set Decoration: Tatiana Macdonald

Interstellar Production Design: Nathan Crowley; Set Decoration: Gary Fettis

Into the Woods Production Design: Dennis Gassner; Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock

Mr. Turner Production Design: Suzie Davies; Set Decoration: Charlotte Watts

My take:  Interstellar makes an appearance here with one of its few nominations (a small win for the contemporary films) but for me, it's The Grand Budapest Hotel all the way.  That powder pink hotel is forever etched in my brain (in a good way!).


BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM

The Bigger Picture: Daisy Jacobs and Christopher Hees

The Dam Keeper: Robert Kondo and Dice Tsutsumi

Feast: Patrick Osborne and Kristina Reed

Me and My Moulton: Torill Kove

A Single Life: Joris Oprins

My take: I have woefully neglected the animated shorts this past year. I definitely should mend that soon.

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM

Aya: Oded Binnun and Mihal Brezis

Boogaloo and Graham: Michael Lennox and Ronan Blaney

Butter Lamp (La Lampe Au Beurre De Yak): Hu Wei and Julien Féret

Parvaneh: Talkhon Hamzavi and Stefan Eichenberger

The Phone Call: Mat Kirkby and James Lucas

My take: Time to do some major homework. I don't recognize any of the shorts here.

ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND EDITING

American Sniper: Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance): Martín Hernández and Aaron Glascock

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies: Brent Burge and Jason Canovas

Interstellar: Richard King

Unbroken: Becky Sullivan and Andrew DeCristofaro

My take: Great to see Interstellar here with its deliberate choice of silence mixed into the film's soundtrack.  Something tells me that American Sniper and Birdman are the favorites in the sound categories here.

ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND MIXING

American Sniper: John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff and Walt Martin

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance): Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño and Thomas Varga

Interstellar: Gary A. Rizzo, Gregg Landaker and Mark Weingarten

Unbroken: Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño and David Lee

Whiplash: Craig Mann, Ben Wilkins and Thomas Curley

My take: Love that Whiplash got nominated here. Watch the film to see how cleverly it weaved the music into the narrative. Really hoping that it will eventually win.

ACHIEVEMENT IN VISUAL EFFECTS

Captain America: The Winter Soldier: Dan DeLeeuw, Russell Earl, Bryan Grill and Dan Sudick

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes: Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, Daniel Barrett and Erik Winquist

Guardians of the Galaxy: Stephane Ceretti, Nicolas Aithadi, Jonathan Fawkner and Paul Corbould

Interstellar: Paul Franklin, Andrew Lockley, Ian Hunter and Scott Fisher

X-Men: Days of Future Past: Richard Stammers, Lou Pecora, Tim Crosbie and Cameron Waldbauer

My take: The only time Hollywood blockbusters (all of them have grossed over $100 million) get any love is this category.  One of these films has an ace up its sleeve called Andy Serkis. Who do you think will win now?


ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

American Sniper: Written by Jason Hall

The Imitation Game: Written by Graham Moore

Inherent Vice: Written for the screen by Paul Thomas Anderson

The Theory of Everything: Screenplay by Anthony McCarten

Whiplash: Written by Damien Chazelle

My take: Not seeing Gillian Flynn's name here for Gone Girl really hurts. The film was textbook adaption done right, maybe because Flynn adapted her own book. I tell myself that even Citizen Kane didn't win any Oscars and move on.  For me, the clear cut winner now is Damien Chazelle's screenplay for Whiplash.


ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance): Written by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr. & Armando Bo

Boyhood: Written by Richard Linklater

Foxcatcher: Written by E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman

The Grand Budapest Hotel: Screenplay by Wes Anderson; Story by Wes Anderson & Hugo Guinness

Nightcrawler: Written by Dan Gilroy

My take: Once again, this one's between The Grand Budapest Hotel and Birdman. I wonder if having so many screenwriters will hurt the film's chances. Most of the previous winners have been solo writers. 

The 87th annual Oscar awards, hosted by Neil Patrick Harris, will be given out on February 22, 2015. 

2015 BAFTA nominations announced!

The British are coming! The British are coming! Well, not really, but the nominations for the 68th Annual BAFTAs are in and they're a doozy. I already see lots of snubs and omissions: Unbroken, Selma, Mr. Turner all have been denied a nomination. Smaller movies and movies that didn't just release only last month have also been rewarded quite nicely as The Grand Budapest Hotel, Boyhood and Nightcrawler all earned nods today.

I was delighted to see Ritesh Batra's The Lunchbox score a nomination in Film Not in English Language category. Hindi films have had some success landing nominations in this category before. And I'm equally pleased to see The Grand Budapest Hotel getting so much love (leading the pack with 11 nominations!). Now that I think about it, it was one of my favorite films last year. But I was definitely surprised to see that How To Train Your Dragon 2 was left out in Best Animated film category, it sure seems like The LEGO Movie is going to have a clear path to the podium, unless Laika's utterly charming The Boxtrolls has something to say about that.

In a year that hasn't had much clear consensus except for the praise that Boyhood has been receiving, the Best Picture category does seem like it could be anyone's guess.  We'll see how it all works out next week when the Oscar noms are announced.  Get ready everyone, awards season is full swing!

Here are the full list of nominations for the BAFTAs:

Best film

Birdman Alejandro González Iñárritu, John Lesher, James W Skotchdopole

Boyhood Richard Linklater, Cathleen Sutherland

The Grand Budapest Hotel Wes Anderson, Scott Rudin, Steven Rales, Jeremy Dawson

The Imitation Game Nora Grossman, Ido Ostrowsky, Teddy Schwarzman

The Theory of Everything Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Lisa Bruce, Anthony McCarten

Outstanding British film

’71 Yann Demange, Angus Lamont, Robin Gutch, Gregory Burke

The Imitation Game Morten Tyldum, Nora Grossman, Ido Ostrowsky, Teddy Schwarzman, Graham Moore

Paddington Paul King, David Heyman

Pride Matthew Warchus, David Livingstone, Stephen Beresford

The Theory of Everything James Marsh, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Lisa Bruce, Anthony McCarten

Under the Skin Jonathan Glazer, James Wilson, Nick Wechsler, Walter Campbell

Outstanding debut by a British writer, director or producer

Elaine Constantine (writer/director) Northern Soul

Gregory Burke (writer), Yann Demange (director) ’71

Hong Khaou (writer/director) Lilting

Paul Katis (director/producer), Andrew Lotbinière (producer) Kajaki: The True Story

Stephen Beresford (writer), David Livingstone (producer) Pride

Film not in the English language

Ida Paweł Pawlikowski, Eric Abraham, Piotr Dzięcioł, Ewa Puszczynska

Leviathan Andrey Zvyagintsev, Alexander Rodnyansky, Sergey Melkumov

The Lunchbox Ritesh Batra, Arun Rangachari, Anurag Kashyap, Guneet Monga

Trash Stephen Daldry, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Kris Thykier

Two Days, One Night Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne, Denis Freyd

Documentary

20 Feet from Stardom Morgan Neville, Caitrin Rogers, Gil Friesen

20,000 Days on Earth Iain Forsyth, Jane Pollard

Citizenfour Laura Poitras

Finding Vivian Maier John Maloof, Charlie Siskel

Virunga Orlando von Einsiedel, Joanna Natasegara

Animated film

Big Hero 6 Don Hall, Chris Williams

The Boxtrolls Anthony Stacchi, Graham Annable

The Lego Movie Phil Lord, Christopher Miller

Director

Alejandro González Iñárritu Birdman

Richard Linklater Boyhood

Wes Anderson The Grand Budapest Hotel
James Marsh The Theory of Everything

Damien Chazelle Whiplash

Original screenplay

Birdman Alejandro González Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris Jr, Armando Bó

Boyhood Richard Linklater

The Grand Budapest Hotel Wes Anderson

Nightcrawler Dan Gilroy

Whiplash Damien Chazelle

Adapted screenplay

American Sniper Jason Hall

Gone Girl Gillian Flynn

The Imitation Game Graham Moore

Paddington Paul King

The Theory of Everything Anthony McCarten

Leading actor

Benedict Cumberbatch The Imitation Game

Eddie Redmayne The Theory of Everything

Jake Gyllenhaal Nightcrawler

Michael Keaton Birdman

Ralph Fiennes The Grand Budapest Hotel

Leading actress
Amy Adams Big Eyes

Felicity Jones The Theory of Everything

Julianne Moore Still Alice

Reese Witherspoon Wild

Rosamund Pike Gone Girl

Supporting actor

Edward Norton Birdman

Ethan Hawke Boyhood

JK Simmons Whiplash

Mark Ruffalo Foxcatcher

Steve Carell Foxcatcher

Supporting actress

Emma Stone Birdman

Imelda Staunton Pride

Keira Knightley The Imitation Game

Patricia Arquette Boyhood

Rene Russo Nightcrawler

Original music

Birdman Antonio Sánchez

The Grand Budapest Hotel Alexandre Desplat

Interstellar Hans Zimmer

The Theory of Everything Jóhann Jóhannsson

Under the Skin Mica Levi

Cinematography

Birdman Emmanuel Lubezki

The Grand Budapest Hotel Robert Yeoman

Ida Lukasz Zal, Ryzsard Lenczewski

Interstellar Hoyte van Hoytema

Mr Turner Dick Pope

Editing

Thanks to a tie in voting in this category, there are six nominations.

Birdman Douglas Crise, Stephen Mirrione

The Grand Budapest Hotel Barney Pilling

The Imitation Game William Goldenberg

Nightcrawler John Gilroy

The Theory of Everything Jinx Godfrey

Whiplash Tom Cross

Production design

Big Eyes Rick Heinrichs, Shane Vieau

The Grand Budapest Hotel Adam Stockhausen, Anna Pinnock

The Imitation Game Maria Djurkovic, Tatiana MacDonald

Interstellar Nathan Crowley, Gary Fettis

Mr Turner Suzie Davies, Charlotte Watts

Costume design

The Grand Budapest Hotel Milena Canonero

The Imitation Game Sammy Sheldon Differ

Into the Woods Colleen Atwood

Mr Turner Jacqueline Durran

The Theory of Everything Steven Noble

Make-up and hair

The Grand Budapest Hotel Frances Hannon

Guardians of the Galaxy Elizabeth Yianni-Georgiou, David White

Into the Woods Peter Swords King, J Roy Helland

Mr Turner Christine Blundell, Lesa Warrener

The Theory of Everything Jan Sewell

Sound
Birdman Thomas Varga, Martin Hernández, Aaron Glascock, Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño

American Sniper Walt Martin, John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff, Alan Robert Murray, Bub Asman

The Grand Budapest Hotel Wayne Lemmer, Christopher Scarabosio, Pawel Wdowczak

The Imitation Game John Midgley, Lee Walpole, Stuart Hilliker, Martin Jensen

Whiplash Thomas Curley, Ben Wilkins, Craig Mann

Special visual effects

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, Erik Winquist, Daniel Barrett

Guardians of the Galaxy Stephane Ceretti, Paul Corbould, Jonathan Fawkner, Nicolas Aithadi

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton, R Christopher White

Interstellar Paul Franklin, Scott Fisher, Andrew Lockley

X-Men: Days of Future Past Richard Stammers, Anders Langlands, Tim Crosbie, Cameron Waldbauer

British short animation

The Bigger Picture Chris Hees, Daisy Jacobs, Jennifer Majka

Monkey Love Experiments Ainslie Henderson, Cam Fraser, Will Anderson

My Dad Marcus Armitage

British short film

Boogaloo and Graham Brian J Falconer, Michael Lennox, Ronan Blaney

Emotional Fusebox Michael Berliner, Rachel Tunnard

The Kármán Line Campbell Beaton, Dawn King, Tiernan Hanby, Oscar Sharp

Slap Islay Bell-Webb, Michelangelo Fano, Nick Rowland

Three Brothers Aleem Khan, Matthieu de Braconier, Stephanie Paeplow

The EE rising star award (voted for by the public)
Gugu Mbatha-Raw

Jack O’Connell

Margot Robbie

Miles Teller

Shailene Woodley

My Oscar Picks 2014

Another year, another wonderful year for films! It has been touted as one of the competitive years where there is no clear frontrunner.  The acting categories are pretty much a lock but the rest of categories could go any way.  Read on for my picks for the 86th Academy Awards below.

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Christian Bale in “American Hustle” (Sony Pictures Releasing)
Bruce Dern in “Nebraska” (Paramount)
Leonardo DiCaprio in “The Wolf of Wall Street” (Paramount)
Chiwetel Ejiofor in “12 Years a Slave” (Fox Searchlight)
Matthew McConaughey in “Dallas Buyers Club” (Focus Features)

Should win: Leonardo DiCaprio
Will win: Matthew McConaughey. As much as I want Leo to finally, finally one of these sometime in his career. McConaughey has an amazing past couple of years and his performance in Dallas Buyers Club is the culmination of his recent career choices. It would be pretty unbelievable if he wins her on his first try.

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Barkhad Abdi in “Captain Phillips” (Sony Pictures Releasing)
Bradley Cooper in “American Hustle” (Sony Pictures Releasing)
Michael Fassbender in “12 Years a Slave” (Fox Searchlight)
Jonah Hill in “The Wolf of Wall Street” (Paramount)
Jared Leto in “Dallas Buyers Club” (Focus Features)

Should win: Jared Leto
Will win: Jared Leto. He looks rock solid in this category. I'd be really surprised if he loses.
PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Amy Adams in “American Hustle” (Sony Pictures Releasing)
Cate Blanchett in “Blue Jasmine” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Sandra Bullock in “Gravity” (Warner Bros.)
Judi Dench in “Philomena” (The Weinstein Company)
Meryl Streep in “August: Osage County” (The Weinstein Company)

Should win: Cate Blanchett

Will win: Cate Blanchett. If anyone can upset Blanchett here is Amy Adams who, on her fifth nomination, might breakthrough.

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Sally Hawkins in “Blue Jasmine” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Jennifer Lawrence in “American Hustle” (Sony Pictures Releasing)
Lupita Nyong’o in “12 Years a Slave” (Fox Searchlight)
Julia Roberts in “August: Osage County” (The Weinstein Company)
June Squibb in “Nebraska” (Paramount)

Should win: Lupita Nyong'o

Will win: Lupita Nyong'o.  The category has had many surprise winners in the past and possibly some one other than Lupita Nyong'o or Jennifer Lawrence might win. But really it is between the two of them and Lawrence stands to become the youngest actress with two Oscars before she turns 24 and also win consecutive Oscars.  Can she do it?

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM OF THE YEAR
“The Croods” (20th Century Fox)
Chris Sanders, Kirk DeMicco and Kristine Belson
“Despicable Me 2” (Universal)
Chris Renaud, Pierre Coffin and Chris Meledandri
“Ernest & Celestine” (GKIDS)
Benjamin Renner and Didier Brunner
“Frozen” (Walt Disney)
Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee and Peter Del Vecho
“The Wind Rises” (Walt Disney)
Hayao Miyazaki and Toshio Suzuki

Should win: Frozen.

Will win: Frozen. The only real competition for Disney's buzzworthy and acclaimed winter hit is Hayao Miyazaki final masterpiece, The Wind Rises.

ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY
“The Grandmaster” (The Weinstein Company) Philippe Le Sourd
“Gravity” (Warner Bros.) Emmanuel Lubezki
“Inside Llewyn Davis” (CBS Films) Bruno Delbonnel
“Nebraska” (Paramount) Phedon Papamichael
“Prisoners” (Warner Bros.) Roger A. Deakins

Should win: Roger A. Deakins.  His cinematography in Prisoners added so much texture to the mood and tone of the film.  

Will win: Emmanuel Lubezki.  His innovativeness in his work on Gravity is astounding.  

ACHIEVEMENT IN COSTUME DESIGN
“American Hustle” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Michael Wilkinson
“The Grandmaster” (The Weinstein Company) William Chang Suk Ping
“The Great Gatsby” (Warner Bros.) Catherine Martin
“The Invisible Woman” (Sony Pictures Classics) Michael O’Connor
“12 Years a Slave” (Fox Searchlight) Patricia Norris 

Should win: The Great Gatsby

Will win: The Great Gatsby.  If The Great Gatsby wins any Oscar, it's this one.

ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTING
“American Hustle” (Sony Pictures Releasing) David O. Russell
“Gravity” (Warner Bros.) Alfonso Cuarón
“Nebraska” (Paramount) Alexander Payne
“12 Years a Slave” (Fox Searchlight) Steve McQueen
“The Wolf of Wall Street” (Paramount) Martin Scorsese 

Should win: Alfonso Cuarón

Will win: Alfonso Cuarón.  I've read people predicting a possible upset by Steve McQueen in this category but I don't know, Gravity was completely his vision (he also wrote and edited the movie) so I really believe like Ang Lee last year, the most technically complicated film will be honored.

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
“The Act of Killing” (Drafthouse Films)
Joshua Oppenheimer and Signe Byrge Sørensen
“Cutie and the Boxer” (RADiUS-TWC)
Zachary Heinzerling and Lydia Dean Pilcher
“Dirty Wars” (IFC Films)
Richard Rowley and Jeremy Scahill
“The Square” (Netflix in association with Worldview
Entertainment and Participant Media)
Jehane Noujaim and Karim Amer
“20 Feet from Stardom” (RADiUS-TWC)
Nominees to be determined 

Should win: The Act of Killing.

Will win: The Act of Killing.

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
“CaveDigger”
Jeffrey Karoff
“Facing Fear”
Jason Cohen
“Karama Has No Walls” (Mudhouse Films)
Sara Ishaq
“The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life”
Malcolm Clarke and Nicholas Reed
“Prison Terminal: The Last Days of Private Jack Hall”
Edgar Barens

Should win: The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life
Will win: The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life.  

ACHIEVEMENT IN FILM EDITING
“American Hustle” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Jay Cassidy, Crispin Struthers and Alan Baumgarten
“Captain Phillips” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Christopher Rouse
“Dallas Buyers Club” (Focus Features) John Mac McMurphy and Martin Pensa
“Gravity” (Warner Bros.) Alfonso Cuarón and Mark Sanger
“12 Years a Slave” (Fox Searchlight) Joe Walker

Should win: Gravity.  It was the perfect film, all wrapped in 90 minutes.

Will win: American Hustle. Something tells me, it's either going to be this or Captain Phillips that will win here.

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM OF THE YEAR
“The Broken Circle Breakdown” (Tribeca Film) – Belgium
“The Great Beauty” (Janus Films) – Italy
“The Hunt” (Magnolia Pictures) – Denmark
“The Missing Picture” (Strand Releasing) – Cambodia
“Omar” (Adopt Films) – Palestine

Should win: Italy's The Great Beauty 

Will win: Italy's The Great Beauty 

ACHIEVEMENT IN MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
“Dallas Buyers Club” (Focus Features) Adruitha Lee and Robin Mathews
“Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa” (Paramount) Stephen Prouty
“The Lone Ranger” (Walt Disney) Joel Harlow and Gloria Pasqua-Casny

Should win: Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa. I dissed its nomination earlier but the makeup is pretty impressive in the film.
Will win: Dallas Buyers Club. Simply because I keep reading everywhere about this $250 budget for makeup everywhere.  I want to see receipts, people!

ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC WRITTEN FOR MOTION PICTURES (ORIGINAL SCORE)
“The Book Thief” (20th Century Fox) John Williams
“Gravity” (Warner Bros.) Steven Price
“Her” (Warner Bros.) William Butler and Owen Pallett
“Philomena” (The Weinstein Company) Alexandre Desplat
“Saving Mr. Banks” (Walt Disney) Thomas Newman

Should win: Thomas Newman for Saving Mr. Banks.  I really loved the score in the film.  

Will win: Gravity.  The music in Gravity was the third unseen character in the film.  The music evokes very strong emotions in it.

ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC WRITTEN FOR MOTION PICTURES (ORIGINAL SONG)
“Happy” from “Despicable Me 2” (Universal)
Music and Lyric by Pharrell Williams
“Let It Go” from “Frozen” (Walt Disney)
Music and Lyric by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez
“The Moon Song” from “Her” (Warner Bros.)
Music by Karen O Lyric by Karen O and Spike Jonze
“Ordinary Love” from “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom” (The Weinstein Company)
Music by Paul Hewson, Dave Evans, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Lyric by Paul Hewson

Should win: Let It Go

Will win: Let It Go. This is the category I'm most emotionally invested in simply I want to watch an EGOT being crowned live.  I will be most upset if anyone else wins.

ACHIEVEMENT IN PRODUCTION DESIGN
“American Hustle” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Production Design: Judy Becker; Set Decoration: Heather Loeffler
“Gravity” (Warner Bros.) Production Design: Andy Nicholson; Set Decoration: Rosie Goodwin and Joanne Woollard
“The Great Gatsby” (Warner Bros.) Production Design: Catherine Martin; Costume Design: Beverley Dunn
“Her” (Warner Bros.) Production Design: K.K. Barrett; Set Decoration: Gene Serdena
“12 Years a Slave” (Fox Searchlight) Production Design: Adam Stockhausen; Set Decoration: Alice Baker

Should win: Her.  I want to live in the world created by Her and its retro meets the future world. 

Will Win: The Great Gatsby. Okay, The Great Gatsby could also win its second Oscar here.  

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM
“Feral”
Daniel Sousa and Dan Golden
“Get a Horse!” (Walt Disney)
Lauren MacMullan and Dorothy McKim
“Mr. Hublot”
Laurent Witz and Alexandre Espigares
“Possessions”
Shuhei Morita
“Room on the Broom”
Max Lang and Jan Lachauer

Should win: Get a Horse!

Will win: Get a Horse! Can Disney make it a clean sweep with best animated feature and short film? I really think it has a great chance.

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
“Aquel No Era Yo (That Wasn’t Me)” (FREAK Independent Film Agency)
Esteban Crespo
“Avant Que De Tout Perdre (Just before Losing Everything)”
Xavier Legrand and Alexandre Gavras
“Helium”
Anders Walter and Kim Magnusson
“Pitääkö Mun Kaikki Hoitaa? (Do I Have to Take Care of Everything?)”
Selma Vilhunen and Kirsikka Saari
“The Voorman Problem”
Mark Gill and Baldwin Li

Should win: Helium.

Will win: Helium.  I heard the most about this film online so this becomes my default choice.

ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND EDITING
“All Is Lost” (Lionsgate & Roadside Attractions) Steve Boeddeker and Richard Hymns
“Captain Phillips” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Oliver Tarney
“Gravity” (Warner Bros.) Glenn Freemantle
“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” (Warner Bros.) Brent Burge
“Lone Survivor” (Universal) Wylie Stateman

Should win: Gravity.

Will win: Gravity. I'm putting all my chips in the Gravity bag this time around with my fingers crossed. I hope this goes well.

ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND MIXING
“Captain Phillips” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Chris Burdon, Mark Taylor, Mike Prestwood Smith
“Gravity” (Warner Bros.) Skip Lievsay, Niv Adiri, Christopher Benstead and
“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” (Warner Bros.) Christopher Boyes, Michael Hedges,
“Inside Llewyn Davis” (CBS Films) Skip Lievsay, Greg Orloff and Peter F. Kurland
“Lone Survivor” (Universal) Andy Koyama, Beau Borders and David Brownlow

Should win: See above.

Will win: See above

ACHIEVEMENT IN VISUAL EFFECTS
“Gravity” (Warner Bros.) Tim Webber, Chris Lawrence, Dave Shirk and Neil Corbould
“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” (Warner Bros.) Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton and Eric Reynolds
“Iron Man 3” (Walt Disney) Christopher Townsend, Guy Williams, Erik Nash and Dan Sudick
“The Lone Ranger” (Walt Disney) Tim Alexander, Gary Brozenich, Edson Williams and John Frazier
“Star Trek Into Darkness” (Paramount) Roger Guyett, Patrick Tubach, Ben Grossmann and Burt Dalton

Should and will win: Gravity is a definite lock here.

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
“Before Midnight” (Sony Pictures Classics) Written by Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke
“Captain Phillips” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Screenplay by Billy Ray
“Philomena” (The Weinstein Company) Screenplay by Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope
“12 Years a Slave” (Fox Searchlight) Screenplay by John Ridley
“The Wolf of Wall Street” (Paramount) Screenplay by Terence Winter

Should win: Before Midnight.

Will win: 12 Years a Slave.  Out of all the books in the categories, I feel 12 Years a Slave was the hardest to adapt, John Ridley has done an impressive job.

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
“American Hustle” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Written by Eric Warren Singer and David O. Russell
“Blue Jasmine” (Sony Pictures Classics) Written by Woody Allen
“Dallas Buyers Club” (Focus Features) Written by Craig Borten & Melisa Wallack
“Her” (Warner Bros.) Written by Spike Jonze
“Nebraska” (Paramount) Written by Bob Nelson

Should win: Her.  My favourite screenplay from 2013.

Will win: American Hustle. I'm going to be devastated if Her and Spike Jonze doesn't win but something tells me that David O. Russell is not going empty handed at the 86th Oscars.  This seems the most obvious category.

BEST MOTION PICTURE OF THE YEAR
“American Hustle” (Sony Pictures Releasing)
Charles Roven, Richard Suckle, Megan Ellison and Jonathan Gordon, Producers
“Captain Phillips” (Sony Pictures Releasing)
Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti and Michael De Luca, Producers
“Dallas Buyers Club” (Focus Features)
Robbie Brenner and Rachel Winter, Producers
“Gravity” (Warner Bros.)
Alfonso Cuarón and David Heyman, Producers
“Her” (Warner Bros.)
Megan Ellison, Spike Jonze and Vincent Landay, Producers
“Nebraska” (Paramount)
Albert Berger and Ron Yerxa, Producers
“Philomena” (The Weinstein Company)
Gabrielle Tana, Steve Coogan and Tracey Seaward, Producers
“12 Years a Slave” (Fox Searchlight)
Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Steve McQueen and Anthony Katagas, Producers
“The Wolf of Wall Street” (Paramount)
Nominees to be determined

Should win: Gravity.  It's time that a intelligent and innovative film set in space should finally win and Gravity should be that film. I don't see The Avengers: Age of Ultron ending up in the Best Picture race, do you?

Will win: 12 Years a Slave. If not Gravity, then the only other best film of 2013 has to be 12 Years a Slave.

Awards Roundup: WGA Awards, Annie Awards & ASC Awards

A lot of awards got handed out this weekend, screenwriters, cinematographers and technicians working in the field of animation all had their moment in the spotlight as the Writers Guild of America, the American Society of Cinematographers and the Annie Awards were all held on February 1st.  Have a look below at all winners!

The Writers Guild of America handed out their best screenplays of the past year to Her and Captain Phillips as screenwriters Spike Jonze and Billy Ray were honoured for their work on the films.  While Her is now considered the frontrunner of sorts in the original screenplay as it's been winning awards left and right, Captain Phillips isn't facing 12 Years a Slave here as it will at the Oscars.  Sarah Polley's excellent and moving documentary on her family, Stories We Tell, won Best Documentary Screenplay for its unusual storytelling.  

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

"Her," written by Spike Jonze (Warner Bros.)

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

"Captain Phillips," screenplay by Billy Ray; based on the book "A Captain's Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALS, and Dangerous Days at Sea" by Richard Phillips with Stephan Talty (Columbia Pictures)

DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY

"Stories We Tell," written by Sarah Polley (Roadside Attractions)

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The 28th annual American Society of Cinematographers honoured cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki for his absolutely stunning work on Gravity.  He beat out other nominated works of Roger Deakins in Prisoners, Bruno Delbonnel in Inside Llewyn Davis and Phedon Papamichael for Nebraska. Lubezki now becomes the overwhelming favourite to win at the Oscars on March 3rd.

FEATURE FILM
Emmanuel Lubezki, ASC, AMC
Gravity

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It was a big night for Walt Disney Animation's Frozen at the 41st Annie Awards winning 6 awards including Best Animated Feature, Best Direction, Best Music and Best Voice Acting for Josh Gad as the voice of the loveable snowman, Olaf. Disney Animation's short featuring Mickey Mouse, Get a Horse!, also nabbed the Best Animated Short Subject. Both of these films are also nominated for an Oscar in their respective categories. Director Hayao Miyazaki's The Wind Rises picked up the award for the Best Writing for his last feature film before retirement. In the feature film categories, DreamWorks' The Croods and Pixar's Monsters University took home awards in the technical categories as well.


Here's a list of the full feature film winners:

Best Animated Feature
Frozen – Walt Disney Animation Studios

Best Animated Short Subject
Get A Horse!
- Walt Disney Animation Studios

INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT CATEGORIES

Animated Effects in an Animated Production
Jeff Budsberg, Andre Le Blanc, Louis Flores, Jason Mayer – The Croods – DreamWorks Animation

Character Animation in an Animated Feature Production
Jakob Jensen – The Croods – DreamWorks Animation

Character Design in an Animated Feature Production
Carter Goodrich, Takao Noguchi, Shane Prigmore – The Croods
- DreamWorks Animation

Directing in an Animated Feature Production
Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee – Frozen
- Walt Disney Animation Studios

Music in an Animated Feature Production
Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Robert Lopez, Christophe Beck – Frozen
- Walt Disney Animation Studios

Production Design in an Animated Feature Production
Michael Giaimo, Lisa Keene, David Womersley – Frozen
- Walt Disney Animation Studios

Storyboarding in an Animated Feature Production
Dean Kelly – Monsters University
- Pixar Animation Studios

Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production
Josh Gad as the voice of Olaf – Frozen
 – Walt Disney Animation Studios

Writing in an Animated Feature Production
Hayao Miyazaki – The Wind Rises
- Studio Ghibli/Touchstone Pictures/The Walt Disney Studios

Editorial in an Animated Feature ProductionGreg Snyder, Gregory Amundson, Steve Bloom – Monsters University
 – Pixar Animation Studios

JURIED AWARDS

Winsor McCay Award - Katsuhiro Otomo, Steven Spielberg & Phil Tippett

June Foray - Alice Davis

Ub Iwerks - Dragonframe