Roundup of Recent Award Winners

The last few days before the Oscars are awarded has seen the last of the guild and technical awards being handed out.  Let's see who the winners were.

The Writer's Guild of America Winners

Original Screenplay
Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris

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

Documentary Screenplay
Katie Galloway, Kelly Duane de la Vega, Better This World

Paul Selvin Award
Tate Taylor, The Help

Costume Designers Guild Winners


Period Film
W.E., Ariane Phillips

Contemporary Film
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Trish Summerville

Fantasy Film
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2, Jany Temime

USC Libraries Scripter Awards
Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon & Jim Rash, The Descendants

Cinema Audio Society (CAS) Award Winners

Outstanding Sound in a Motion Picture
Hugo

American Cinema Editors (Eddies) Winners

Best Edited Feature Film (Dramatic)

Kevin Tent, The Descendants

Best Edited Feature Film (Comedy or Musical)

Anne-Sophie Bion and Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist

Best Edited Animated Feature Film

Craig Wood, Rango

Motion Picture Sound Editors (MPSE) Winners - Golden Reel Awards

Best Sound Effects and Foley in a Feature Film
War Horse

Best Music in a Feature Film
Hugo

Best Sound Editing in an Animation Feature Film
The Adventures of Tintin

Best Music in a Musical Feature Film
The Muppets

Best Sound Editing in a Feature Foreign Language Film
The Flowers of War

Best Sound Editing in a Feature Documentary
George Harrison: Living in the Material World

Best Dialogue and ADR in a Feature Film
Super 8

Updated to add:

International Film Music Critics Association (IFMCA) Award Winners


Film Score of the Year
John Williams, War Horse

Film Composer of the Year
John Williams

Breakout Composer of the Year
Ludovic Bource

Best Original Score for a Drama Film
John Williams, War Horse

Best Original Score for a Comedy Film
Christopher Young, The Rum Diary

Best Original Score for an Action/Adventure/Thriller Film
Cliff Martinez, Drive

Best Original Score for a Fantasy/Science Fiction/Horror Film
Michael Giacchino, Super 8

Best Original Score for an Animated Feature
John Williams, The Adventure of Tintin

Best Original Score for a Documentary Feature
Pinar Toprak, The Wind Gods

Film Music Composition of the Year
War Horse - "The Homecoming" (John Williams)

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Movie Review: War Horse

War Horse tells the story Joey the horse and Albert (Jeremy Irvine), a young lad who is his fiercest champion.  The movie is also about their strong friendship, one which withstands even the most direst of situations, war.

If you think about it, the movie is mostly presented from the point of view of Joey, who becomes a silent spectator as various men in power decide his fate.  At a young age, he is taken away from his mother, but thankfully he is bought by Albert's father.  He is not the kind of horse needed for hard labor at a farm but Albert sees more in him.  He sees the real potential in him.  As Albert and Joey learn about each other's ways, they become firm friends.  But the world is fast changing and war forces England to send its young men to fight to protect its freedom. 

In these tough times, Joey becomes a solution to the Narracott family's financial woes.  Here it is that Joey and Albert must separate as Joey is sold towards the war effort to a captain but it is not without a promise from Albert that they will find each other again one day.  From there onwards, Joey goes over to the frontline passing along from master to master and even a little French girl who renames him Francois for a young boy she liked.  Cruelly, he is separated from the ones who see how special he is, who are in awe that a horse has survived this long when all other horses have given up or been killed.  But he is a miracle horse and I am pleased to say that he gets and deserves his happy ending without revealing much of the actual plot.

This film is typical Spielberg at his best, through and through.  It has the gritty battle scenes showing us the harsh realities and grimness of war.  And it contains the emotional bond forged between a young boy and his horse which sustains us throughout the whole film.  It's their journey to make but we are swept alongside them.  World War I changed the continent of Europe and Spielberg shows the effect it had on the soldiers from both sides, for a captain in the English army, to a young German medic soldier, to brave Privates (on both sides of the trenches) who risked their lives for a horse.  All these types of people were part of Joey's journey as he just tried to survive in a war environment, a real war horse.

But this is not all Spielberg.  Yes, this film is his vision but all the departments have done such a wonderful job of making the film look like a masterpiece.  John Williams' soaring score, the costumes, the sets, the sound, the editing and mainly Janusz Kaminski's (Spielberg's long-time DP) gorgeous cinematography all came together for some outstanding work.  Some of the scenes especially of the Devon countryside and the sunset look like spectacular paintings.  A special mention, too, of the vast cast involved in film.  The young lead, Jeremy Irvine, is very earnest and appealing and the large British cast of Peter Mullan, Emily Watson, David Thewlis, Tom Hiddleston, Benedict Cumberbatch all play their parts well and leave an impact.  Also extremely touching are Niels Arestup and Celine Buckens as the Grandfather and Granddaughter who briefly become Joey's owners.  But the real star of the film is Joey who is the real reason we watch the film.

This coming Sunday, War Horse is nominated for Best Picture alongside a few other categories too.  And while it may not win the big prize, it is certainly deserving of the nomination.  

Directed by Steven Spielberg; Screenplay by Lee Hall and Richard Curtis; Based on the novel by Michael Morpurgo; Cinematography by Janusz Kaminski; Editing by Michael Kahn and Music by John Williams.  

Additional cast: Toby Kebbell, David Kross, Matt Milne, Robert Emms, Eddie Marsan, Liam Cunningham.

Rating: 

First Look: Steven Spielberg's War Horse

Empire Magazine has the first look and photographs to Steven Spielberg year-end war film, War Horse.  And from the looks of it, this is what I gather, Steven Spielberg + war saga = It's going to make me cry.  It's been awhile since his last film, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, all the way back in 2008 and so let the anticipation begin.

A boy and his horse, Albert (Jeremy Levine) and Joey

Albert with his mother (Emily Watson) while Joey peeks through the window

Joey with Emilie (Celine Buckens)

Albert and Joey

(Pics: Empire Online)

The film is due for release this Christmas.