26th Teddy Award Nominations

As organizers say in their press release “The world’s most prestigious queer film prize the TEDDY AWARD will be presented during the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival on 17 February 2012 for the 26th time. TEDDY AWARD prizes will be presented in the categories: best feature film, best documentary / film essay and best short film.” The following are the films being considered for the awards.

Competition
Les adieux à la Reine (Farewell My Queen) by Benoït Jacquot, France and Spain

Panorama
7 Deadly Kisses (7 Deadly Kisses) by Sammaria Simanjuntak, Indonesia
A Lazy Summer Afternoon with Mario Montez by John Heys, Germany
Anak-Anak Srikandi (Children of Srikandi) by Children of Srikandi Collective, Indonesia
Audre Lorde – The Berlin Years 1984 to 1092 by Dagmar Schultz, Germany (L)
Bugis Street Redux by Yonfan, Hong Kong and China
Call Me Kuchu by Malika Zouhali-Worral and Katherine Fairfax Wright, USA
Cherry by Stephen Elliot, USA (L?)
Dtlef by Stefan Westerwelle, Germany
Glaube, Liebe, Tod (Belief, Love, Death) by Peter Kern, Austria
Green Laser by John Greyson, Canada
Hot Boy Nổi Loạn và Câu Chuyện về Thằng Cười, Cô Gái Điếm và Con Vịt (Lost In Paradise) by Vu Ngoc Dang, Vietnam (G)
Keep The Lights On by Ira Sachs, USA (G)
König des Comics (King Of Comics) by Rosa von Praunheim, Germany (G)
Kuma by Umut Dag, Austria (interesting)
L'âge atomique (Atomic Age) by Héléna Klotz, France (G)
Leave It On The Floor by Sheldon Larry, Canada and USA (G)
Mommy is Coming by Cheryl Dunye, Germany (L)
My Brother The Devil by Sally El Hosaini, UK
Olhe pra mim de novo (Look at me Again) by Kiko Goifman and Claudia Priscilla, Brazil
Parada (The Parade) by Srđjan Dragojevic, Serbia, Croatia, Macedonia and Slovenia
Ulrike Ottinger – die Nomadin vom See (Ulrike Ottinger – Nomad from the Lake) by Brigitte Kramer, Germany
Unter Männern – Schwul in der DDR (Among Men – Gay in East Germany) by Markus Stein, Ringo Rösener, Germany (G)
Vito by Jeffrey Schwarz, USA (G)
Wo men de gu shi (Our Sotry – 10 year “guerrilla warfare” of Beijing Queer Film Festival) by Yang Yang, China
Zucht und Ordnung (Law and Order) by Jan Soldat, Germany (G)

Forum
Francine by Brian M. Cassidy and Melanie Shatzky, USA and Canada
Jaurès by Vincent Dieutre, France
Koi ni itaru yamai (The End of Puberty) by Kimura Shoko, Japan (L –wow! Must be seen for me)
Sekret (Secret) by Przemyslaw Wojcieszek, Poland
Sleeples Knights by Stefan Butzmühlen, Cristina Diz, Germany (G)
Swoon by Tom Kalin, USA (G)

Forum Expanded
A World of our own by Eline McGeorge, Norway and UK
As they say by Hicham Ayouch, Morocco and UAE
Road Movie by Elle Flanders and Tamira Sawatzky, Canada
The Tiny Ventriloquist by Steve Reinke, Canada

Generation
Joven & Alocada (Young & Wild) by Marialy Rivas, Chile (L – just won screenplay award at Sundance)
Kronjuvelerna (The Crown Jewels) by Ella Lemhagen, Sweden
Magi I Luften (Love is in the Air) by Simon Staho, Denmark and Sweden
Nono by Rommel Toletino, Philippines
Una Noche by Lucy Mulloy, USA, Cuba and UK
The Wilding by Grant Scicluna, Australia

Perspektive Deutsches Kino
Man for a Day by Katarina Peters, Germany, UK and Finland
Westerland by Tim Staffel, Germany (G)

Shorts
Erotic Fragments No. 1, 2, 3 by Anucha Boonyawatana, Thailand
La Santa (The Blessed) by Mauricio López Fernández, Chile
Loxoro by Claudia Llosa, Spain, Peru, Argentina and USA
The Man That Got Away by Trevor Anderson, Canada

To check the official press release go to pages 10 up to 13 here.

The Jury
Alessandro Rais, film historian and film critic, Italy
Bilge Taş, co-founder Pink Life QueerFest in Ankara, Turkey
Joako Ezpeleta, organizer of FIRE!! International LGBT Film Mostra of Barcelona, Spain
João Federici, producer of Mix Brasil Film Festival of Sexual Diversity, Brazil
Magali Simard, film programmer at Toronto International Film Festival, Canada
Monika Visniarova, programmer for Filmovy Festival inakosti / Slovak Queer Film Festival, Slovakia
Mhlanhla Ndaba, production manager for the Out in Africa Film Festival, South Africa
Shannon Kelley, Head of Public Programs for the UCLA Film & Television Archive, USA
Yang Yang, co-founder and executive-chairwoman of the Beijing Queer Film Festival, China

To read info about each juror go here.

Last year organizers were so kind as to classify films but this year they haven’t done it yet, so I hope that when they list the films at their official site –info came from press release- they’ll be so kind as to tell us to which letter from LGTB+ each film belongs. Still from what I read about each film most seem to be with gay interest, a few with T interest and very little to L interest, sigh.

I was already following Marialy Rivas Young & Wild, but Kimura Shoko’s film is a great find that I hope to see soon. Cheryl Dunye is no stranger to Berlinale as in 1996 won the Teddy for her film Watermelon Woman and her latest film, Mommy is Coming, not only is a full German production but story could will be interesting. Wasn’t able to tell from synopsis if there are other lesbian interest movies, but no matter what interest has Kuma by Umut Dag seems very interesting.

Award ceremony will be on February 17 and as in previous years Arte TV will broadcast ceremony plus video will be uploaded to official site.

62nd Berlin International Film Festival Lineup – in progress

In today’s press conference the full program was announced and as I did last year, in one post will list all films in the fest different sections, so will be a work in progress until it becomes final.

Films in competition include 18 films that will be vying for the top awards, Golden and Silver Bears; but a total of 23 films will be showing in the Competition program and there will be two special screenings.

Competition

Opening film: Les adieux à la Reine (Farewell My Queen), Benoït Jacquot, France and Spain

A moi seule (Coming Home), Frédéric Videau, France
Aujourd'hui (Tey), Alain Gomis, France and Senegal
Bai lu yuan (White Deer Plain), Wang Quan'an, China
Barbara, Christian Perzold, Germany
Captive (Captured), Brillante Mendoza, France and Philippines
Cesare deve morire (Caesar Must Die), Paolo and Vittorio Taviani, Italy
Csak a szél (Just The Wind), Bence Fliegauf, Hungary, Germany and France
Dictado (Childish Games), Antonio Chavarrías, Spain
En Kongelig Affære (A Royal Affair), Nikolaj Arcel, Denmark, Czech Republic, Sweden, and Germany
Gnade (Mercy), Matthias Glasner, Germany and Norway
Jayne Mansfield's Car, Billy Bob Thornton, USA and Russia
Kebun binatang (Postcards From The Zoo), Edwin, Indonesia, Germany, Hong Kong and China
L’Enfant d’en haut (Sister), Ursula Meier, Switzerland and France
Metéora (Meteora), Spiros Stathoulopoulos, Germany and Greece
Rebelle (War Witch), Kim Nguyen, Canada
Tabu, Miguel Gomes, Portugal, Germany and Brazil
Was bleibt (Home For The Weekend), Hans-Christian Schmid, Germany

Out of Competition
Bel Ami, Declan Donnellan, UK
Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close, Stephen Daldry, USA
Flying Swords Of Dragon Gate, Tsui Hark, Hong Kong and China
Jin líng Shi San Chai (The Flowers of War), Zhang Yimou, China
Shadow Dancer, James Marsh,

Competition Special Screening
Haywire, Steven Sodenberg, USA
Tribute to Meryl Streep: The Iron Lady, Phyllida Lloyd, UK

To read info about each film go here and select competition for all films in the section to appear below.

International Jury
President: Mike Leigh, director, UK
Anton Corbijn, photographer, designer and filmmaker,Netherlands
Asghar Farhadi, director and screenwriter, Iran
Charlotte Gainsbourg, actress, France and UK
Jake Gyllenhaal, actor, USA
François Ozon, director and screenwriter, France
Boualem Sansal, writer, Algeria
Barbara Sukowa, singer and actress, Germany

I’m impressed with this year jury as there are several directors and one actress that I really like and follow by watching all their films. Great. To learn more about each jury member go here.

Haven’t read about all movies but soon will do but I know there are many must be seen for me because of the amazing director or because stars Isabelle Hupert, Mads Mikkelsen, Léa Seydoux, Virginie Ledoyen or Diane Kruger.

Check some trailers and/or synopsis @MOC

Panorama

According to press release this year’s Panorama is presenting 53 feature films: 18 in the main programme, 15 in Panorama Special and 20 in Panorama Dokumente; a few of the topics explored in them will be examined again in four short supporting films. 34 productions from 33 countries are screening as world premieres with six fictional films being directorial debuts and most amazing there are 24 women filmmakers presenting 16 films –still too low but about average.

Panorama Main Program is opening on February 9 with “a new discovery” from Austria, Kuma by Umut Dag that absolutely is must be seen for me.

Main Program
Opening Film: Kuma, Umut Dag, Austria

Bugis Street Redux, Yonfan, Hong Kong
Chocó (Choco), Jhonny Hendrix Hinestroza, Colombia
Death for Sale, Faouzi Bensaïdi, Belgium, France and Morocco
Dollhouse, Kirsten Sheridan, Ireland
Fon Tok Kuen Fah (Headshot), Pen-Ek Ratanaruang, Thailand and France
From Seoul To Varanasi, Kyuhwan Jeon, Korea (Very curious, will watch)
Glaube, Liebe, Tod (Belief, Love, Death), Peter Kern, Austria
Highway, Deepak Rauniyar, Nepal and USA
Hot boy noi loan - cau chuyen ve thang cuoi, co gai diem va con vit (Lost In Paradise), Vu Ngoc Dang, Vietnam
Keep The Lights On, Ira Sachs, USA
L'âge atomique (Atomic Age), Héléna Klotz, France
Leave It On The Floor, Sheldon Larry, USA and Canada
Man On Ground, Akin Omotoso, South Africa
Mommy is Coming, Cheryl Dunye, Germany
Rentaneko (Rent-a-Cat), Naoko Ogigami, Japan
Sharqiya, Ami Livne, Israel, France and Germany
The Convoy, Alexey Mizgirev, Russia
Wilaya, Pedro Pérez Rosado, Spain

Panorama Special
10+10, Hou Hsiao-hsien, Wang Toon, Wu Nien-Jen, Sylvia Chang, Chen Guo-Fu, Wei Te-Sheng, Chung Meng-Hung, Chang Tso-Chi, Arvin Chen, Yang Ya-Che and others, Taiwan
Cherry, Stephen Elliott, USA
Diaz - Don’t Clean Up This Blood, Daniele Vicari, Italy, Romania and France
Die Wand (The Wall), Julian Roman Pölsler, Austria and Germany

Elles, Malgoska Szumowska, France, Poland and Germany (with Juliette Binoche thus must be seen)
Indignados, Tony Gatlif, France
Iron Sky, Timo Vuorensola, Finland, Netherlands, Australia and Germany
La mer à l'aube (Calm At Sea), Volker Schlöndorff, France and Germany
Love, Doze and Niu Chen-zer, China and Taiwan
Mai-wei (My Way), KANG Je-kyu, Korea
My Brother The Devil, Sally El Hosaini, UK
Parada (The Parade), Srdjan Dragojevic, Serbia, Croatia, Macedonia and Slovenia
The Woman Who Brushed Off Her Tears, Teona Strugar Mitevska, Macedonia, Germany, Slovenia and Belgium (wow like this director have to see film, plus lead is Victoria Abril)
Xingu, Cao Hamburger, Brazil (like this director will watch film)

Panorama Dokumente
Anak-Anak Srikandi (Children of Srikandi), the Children of Srikandi Collective, Germany and Indonesia
Angriff auf die Demokratie - Eine Intervention (Democracy Under Attack - An Intervention), Romuald Karmakar, Germany
Audre Lorde - The Berlin Years 1984 to 1992, Dagmar Schultz, Germany
“Blut muss fließen” - Undercover unter Nazis (Blood must flow” – Undercover among Nazis), Peter Ohlendorf, Germany
Brötzmann - Da gehört die Welt mal mir (Brötzmann – That’s When The World Is Mine), Uli M Schueppel, Germany
Call Me Kuchu, Malika Zouhali-Worrall and Katherine Fairfax Wright, USA
Detlef, Stefan Westerwelle, Jan Rothstein, Germany
Herr Wichmann aus der dritten Reihe (Henryk from the back row), Andreas Dresen, Germany
In the Shadow of a Man, Hanan Abdalla, Egypt
König des Comics (King of Comics), Rosa von Praunheim, Germany
La Vierge, les Coptes et Moi (The Virgin, the Copts and Me), Namir Abdel Messeeh, France, Qatar and Egypt
Marina Abramović The Artist is Present, Matthew Akers, USA
Olhe pra mim de novo (Look at me again), Kiko Goifman and Claudia Priscilla, Brazil
The Reluctant Revolutionary, Sean McAllister, UK and Ireland
The Summit, Franco Fracassi, Massimo Lauria, Italy
Ulrike Ottinger - die Nomadin vom See (Ulrike Ottinger - nomad from the lake), Brigitte Kramer, Germany
Unter Männern - Schwul in der DDR (Among Men – Gay in East Germany), Markus Stein and Ringo Rösener, Germany
Vito, Jeffrey Schwarz, USA
Wo men de gu shi (Our Story –10-year ‘Guerrilla Warfare’ of Beijing Queer Film Festival), Yang Yang, China
Words of Witness, Mai Iskander, USA

Panorama Short Supporting films
7 Deadly Kisses, Sammaria Simanjuntak, Indonesia
A Lazy Summer Afternoon with Mario Montez, John Heys, Germany
Green Laser, John Greyson, Canada
ZUCHT und ORDNUNG (LAW and ORDER), Jan Soldat, Germany

Above list was done using the program search and requesting the Panorama films and as you can see doesn’t add to what the press release says; will check later to try to make sure we have all films that belong to each program. To check info about each film go here.

Forum

Main Program
The 42nd Berlinale Forum will be showing 38 films in its main program, including 26 world premieres and 8 international premieres.

Al Juma Al Akheira (The Last Friday), Yahya Alabdallah, Jordan and UAE
Ang Babae sa Septic Tank (The Woman in the Septic Tank), Marlon N. Rivera, Philippines
Avalon, Axel Petersén, Sweden
Bagrut Lochamim (Soldier/Citizen), Silvina Landsmann, Israel
Bestiaire, Denis Côté, Canada and France
Beziehungsweisen (Negotiating Love), Calle Overweg, Germany
Die Lage (Condition), Thomas Heise, Germany
Escuela normal (Normal School), Celina Murga, Argentina
Espoir voyage, Michel K. Zongo, France and Burkina Faso
For Ellen, So Yong Kim, USA
Formentera, Ann-Kristin Reyels, Germany
Francine, Brian M. Cassidy and Melanie Shatzky, USA and Canada
friends after 3.11, Iwai Shunji, Japan
Habiter/Construire (Living/Building), Clémence Ancelin, France
Hemel, Sacha Polak, Netherlands and Spain
Hiver nomade (Winter Nomads), Manuel von Stürler, Switzerland
Jaurès, Vincent Dieutre, France
Kashi (Choked), Kim Joong-hyun, Korea
Kazoku no kuni (Our Homeland), Yang Yonghi, Japan
Kid-Thing, David Zellner, USA
Koi ni itaru yamai (The End of Puberty), Kimura Shoko, Japan (very interesting!)
La demora (The Delay), Rodrigo Plá, Uruguay, Mexico and France (new movie, must be seen)
Lawinen der Erinnerung, Dominik Graf, Germany
Le sommeil d’or (Golden Slumbers), Davy Chou, France and Cambodia
Mujin chitai (No Man’s Zone), Fujiwara Toshi, Japan and France
Nuclear Nation, Funahashi Atsushi, Japan
Parabeton - Pier Luigi Nervi und römischer Beton (Parabeton - Pier Luigi Nervi and Roman Concrete), Heinz Emigholz, Germany
Paziraie Sadeh (Modest Reception), Mani Haghighi, Iran
Příliš mladá noc (A Night Too Young), Olmo Omerzu, Czech Republic and Slovenia
Revision, Philip Scheffner, Germany
Salsipuedes, Mariano Luque, Argentina
Sekret (Secret), Przemysław Wojcieszek, Poland
Sleepless Knights, Stefan Butzmühlen and Cristina Diz, Germany
Spanien (Spain), Anja Salomonowitz, Austria
Tepenin Ardı (Beyond the Hill), Emin Alper, Turkey and Greece
Tiens moi droite (Keep Me Upright), Zoé Chantre, France
Toată lumea din familia noastră (Everybody in Our Family) by Radu Jude, Romania and Netherlands
What Is Love, Ruth Mader, Austria
Zavtra (Tomorrow) Andrey Gryazev, Russia

Forum Special Screenings
Bakamatsu taiyoden (The Sun in the Las Days of The Shogunate), Kawashima Yuzo, Japan, 1957
Brand X, Wynn Chamberlain, USA, 1970
In Arbeit (In Construction), Minze Tummescheit and Arne Hector, Germany, 2012
Kino to ashita no aida (Between Yeterday and Tomorrow), Kawashima Yuzo, Japan, 1954
Ornette: Made in America, Shirley Clarke, USA, 1985
Peov Chouk Sor, Tea Lim Koun, Cambodia, 1967
Puos Keng Kang (The Snake Man), Tea Lim Kuon, Cambodia, 1970
Puthiesen Neang Kongrey (12 Sisters), Ly Bun Yim, Cambodia, 1968
Suzaki Paradaisu Akashingo (Suzaki Paradise: Red Light), Kawashima Yuzo, Japan, 1956
Swoon, Tom Kalin, USA, 1992
The Connection, Shirley Clarke, USA, 1961

Forum Expanded
To check the films, the exhibitions, shorts, panels and many more activities in this section please go here.

Definitively the stranger section in fest but there are some new films by directors I highly enjoy.

Take Shelter

Not many American films grab me, hold me tight (almost suffocating) and do not release me until well after the movie is over, as a matter of fact can’t recall one that did that to me. But now if you ask me which was the last American movie that kept me captive from beginning to end and beyond, easily will tell you that was Jeff Nichols visually amazing Take Shelter. Yes movie is visually fantastic but is not only a feast to your eyes kind of film as performances by lead actors are so good that make the story told and film as a whole a true intense quite complete cinematic experience.

As movie was in Cannes I knew that was a disaster movie but nothing more and strongly suggest you watch movie without learning much about story as I’m sure you will enjoy it more as Nichols is such an amazing storyteller that converted a very simple story into an intense human drama that many viewers and critics write so many different interpretations that I’ll give mine, so if you haven’t seen movie please skip the next paragraph or continue reading after watching film.

To me film tells a very simple story of a man downturn that takes him from being a very normal man living with a very normal family in a very normal community into the most confusing -for him, his family, his friends, his neighbors, and us his viewers- transformation. Story climax at the very end of movie is key to clarify all confusion, but instead of really clarifying makes confusion wider as opens doors to imagination, interpretation, objectiveness, subjective-ness, and many more qualitative adjectives that allows individuals to see whatever nightmarish vision of their own future fear the most. So read reviews and you will find many that believe story is a parable for what’s going on in USA and well, in many other countries in the world. In the end story could become very complex and layered or –as I saw it- so simple and direct that magnificently confuses. Sigh.

Was reading that Jeff Nichols is Terrence Malick student and surely can be seen in the magnificent visual narrative but none of Malick’s movies I have seen has a story like this one and more impressive, story is developed the way is done here. So if Malick is the teacher, then I’m afraid Nichols surpassed his teacher and with this film he’s starting the hard-to-transit road to become a world master filmmaker. Hope Nichols stays in that road and is not tempted to go back to more traditional American independent cinema.

Michael Shannon and Jessica Chastain are the essence of this film and their performances are beyond impressive as not only each complements the other but one pulls the other to the front at the right moments. Most of their performances excellence comes from well delivered dialogues, but what impresses me the most is that they were allowed to act with expressions in deep silences and gee, they were really good. Chapeau Mr. Nichols.

Movie, director and actors have been collecting honors in this award season but none is as impressive as winning the top award at 2011 Cannes Semaine de la Ciritique; all honors are well-deserved but regret that Shannon is not Oscar nominated and most of all, that Jessica Chastain was not nominated for this movie where I know has a lead role, but then is common that lead roles are conveniently converted into supporting role to increase winning opportunities. Nevertheless Chastain should have been nominated for this movie more than any other she was in this year. Sigh.

Strongly recommend to watch this movie that I know could blow your mind but be aware that is NOT your typical American movie or your typical independent (indie) American movie, so you have to love great world-class cinema to enjoy a film that has slowish pace and runs for 2 hours.

Big Enjoy!!!

Watch trailer @MOC

18th Screen Actors Guild Awards Winners

Last night the largest guild in the American movie industry had their awards ceremony and the big winner was The Help. Maybe was a surprise for some but I still consider the movie to be a serious contender against The Artist and The Descendants. Televised show was not really entertaining so was no surprise that soon enough I fall asleep but I was awake when the top three awards were announced, lol.

What sort-of surprised me is George Clooney not winning and obviously now Jean Dujardin has become the top contender to Oscar, but still Clooney has possibilities when considering the vote of non-actor Academy members. Still believe that Viola Davis, Meryl Streep and Michelle Williams have good chances of winning Oscar; out of the three, Williams is perhaps the one with less chances but she's young and surely will continue doing films where her amazing acting abilities will impress viewers/industry/critics until she gets the honor she deserves.

Winners are in *BLUE. To check winners in all categories including TV go here.

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12/12/2011

This is the first industry group that announces their nominations and gives us our first idea of how close or far away are critics from core industry. These are the nominees that were announced a few minutes ago.

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
The Artist (Bérénice Bejo, James Cromwell, Jean Dujardin, John Goodman, and Penelope Ann Miller)
Bridesmaids (Rose Byrne, Jill Clayburgh, Ellie Kemper, Matt Lucas, Melissa McCarthy, Wendi Mclendon-Covey, Chris O’Dowd, Maya Rudolph, and Kristen Wiig)
The Descendants (Beau Bridges, George Clooney, Robert Forster, Judy Greer, Matthew Lillard, and Shailene Woodley)
*The Help (Jessica Chastain, Viola Davis, Bryce Dallas Howard, Allison Janney, Chris Lowell, Ahna O’Reilly, Sissy Spacek, Octavia Spencer, Mary Steenburgen, Emma Stone, Cicely Tyson, and Mike Vogel)
Midnight in Paris (Kathy Bates, Adrien Brody, Carla Bruni, Marion Cotillard, Rachel McAdams, Michael Sheen, and Owen Wilson).

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
Glenn Close in Albert Nobbs
*Viola Davis in The Help
Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady
Tilda Swinton in We Need to Talk About Kevin
Michelle Williams in My Week With Marilyn

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
Bérénice Bejo in The Artist
Jessica Chastain in The Help
Melissa McCarthy in Bridesmaids
Janet McTeer in Albert Nobbs
*Octavia Spencer in The Help

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
Demián Bichir in A Better Life
George Clooney in The Descendants
Leonardo DiCaprio in J. Edgar
*Jean Dujardin in The Artist
Brad Pitt in Moneyball

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
Kenneth Branagh in My Week With Marilyn
Armie Hammer in J. Edgar
Jonah Hill in Moneyball
Nick Nolte in Warrior
*Christopher Plummer in Beginners

Life Achievement Award: Mary Tyler Moore

To read the official press release and the nominees in Primetime Television please go here.

Very pleased with these nominations! Yes. Best Actress looks to me like what Oscar nods may (or should) look like and the same goes to the supporting role. Can’t deny that I’m surprised with Bichir nomination but what upsets me is no nomination for Michael Fassbender, the others are predictable by now; male supporting role is all right nothing special according to me.

But what really blew my mind is Midnight in Paris cast ensemble nomination and is well deserved as with most –if not all- Woody Allen’s movies actors’ performance makes the film good or not good and this film is good plus very enjoyable. Not so surprised with Bridesmaids as movie had too much buzz. These leaves 3 predictable spots that I’m sure will get an Oscar nod and knowing that the Actors Guild is one of the largest maybe the other two could make the list of seven or eight or whatever amount of films there will be in the Best Film Oscar category.

My favorite TV show has many honors (yay!) and so glad Kate Winslet is nominated for her excellent performance in Mildred Pierce but she is in a category that is not easy to predict a winner as also nominated is Maggie Smith with her outstanding (and sometimes hilarious) performance as Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham in excellent Downton Abbey.

Can’t say that critics and actors guild members are strictly different as what you assume could happen is happening with both groups; still up-to-this-moment is not easy to be sure how the Oscar nominations will look, which makes this award season more interesting to follow.

Awards ceremony will be on January 29 at 8pm ET with live simulcast on TNT and TBS; red carpet broadcast precedes the ceremony since 6pm and there the stunt categories winners will be announced.

The following 18 minutes video is the recording of this morning announcement.

64th Annual Directors Guild of America Award Winner

Last Saturday night Michel Hazanavicius won top award at the Directors Guild of America; to check winners in all categories go here. Winner is in *BLUE.

Not always the director that wins the DGA wins the Oscar, but the win-win ratio is still very high and there are strong possibilities that Scorsese will not win (yay!) and definitively Hazanavicius has increased its chances to win.

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1/9/2012

A few minutes ago the guild announced the nominees for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film for 2011.

Woody Allen for Midnight in Paris
David Fincher for The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
*Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist
Alexander Payne for The Descendants
Martin Scorsese for Hugo

To check the official announcement go here. On January 12 the guild will announce the documentary nominees and will modify post to include documentaries. Award ceremony will be on Saturday, January 28.

As we know the DGA winner has traditionally been one of the industry’s most accurate barometers for who will win the Best Director Academy Award; only six times since the DGA Awards began in 1948 has the DGA winner not gone on to win the corresponding Academy Award. I'm not yet sure but I think the winner will be Martin Scorsese and probably Oscar nods will be the same except for one that will be substituted for Terrence Malick.

37th César Awards Nominations

Really like these nominations and most pleased with Le Havre being nominated along other good French movies (all –except one- are from Cannes) in a year that seems worldwide different cinema industries have and will continue to honor French cinema. Here are the nominations for main categories.

Best Film
L’Exercice de l’Etat, Pierre Schoeller
La Guerre est Declaree, Valérie Donzelli
Le Havre, Aki Kaurismäki
Intouchables, Eric Toledano and Olivier Nakache
Pater, Alain Cavalier
Polisse, Maïwenn
The Artist, Michel Hazanavicius

Best First Film
17 Filles, Delphine Coulin and Muriel Coulin
Angèle et Tony, Alix Delaporte
Le Cochon de Gaza, Sylvain Estibal
La Delicatesse, David Foenkinos and Stéphane Foenkinos
My Little Princess, Eva Ionesco

Best Animation Film
Le Chat du Rabbin, Joann Sfar and Antoine Delesvaux
Le Cirque, Nicolas Brault
La Queue de la Souris, Benjamin Renner
Le Tableau, Jean-François Laguionie
Un Monstre a Paris, Bibo Bergeron

Best Director
Alain Cavalier for Pater
Valerie Donzelli for La guerre est déclarée
Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist
Aki Kaurismäki for Le Havre
Maïwenn for Polisse
Pierre Schoeller for L’Exercice de l’Etat
Eric Toledano and Olivier Nakache for Intouchables

Best Actress
Ariane Ascaride in Les Neiges du Kilimandjaro
Bérénice Bejo in The Artist
Leïla Bekhti in La Source des femmes
Valérie Donzelli in La guerre est déclarée
Marina Foïs in Polisse
Marie Gillain in Toutes nos envies
Karin Viard in Polisse

Best Supporting Actress
Zabou Breitman in L’Exercise de l’Etat
Anne Le Ny in Intouchables
Noémie Lvovsky in L’Apollonide, souvenirs de la maison close
Carmen Maura in Les femmes du 6e étage
Karole Rocher in Polisse

Best Female Newcomer
Naidra Ayadi in Polisse
Adele Haenel in L’Apollonide, souvenirs de la maison close
Clotilde Hesme in Angèle et Tony
Céline Sallette in L’Apollonide, souvenirs de la maison close
Christa Theret in La brindille

Best Actor
Sami Bouajila in Omar m’a tuer
François Cluzet in Intouchables
Jean Dujardin in The Artist
Olivier Gourmet in L’Exercise de l’Etat
Denis Podalydès in La conquête
Omar Sy in Intouchables
Philippe Torreton in Présumé coupable

Best Supporting Actor
Michel Blanc in L’Exercise de l’Etat
Nicals Duvauchelle in Polisse
Joeystarr in Polisse
Bernard Le Coq in La conquête
Frédéric Pierrot in Polisse

Best Male Newcomer
Nicolas Bridet in Tu seras mon fils
Gregory Gadebois in Angèle et Tony
Guillaume Gouix in Jimmy Rivière
Pierre Niney in J’aime regarder les filles
Dimitri Storoge in Les Lyonnais

Best Foreign Film
Black Swan, Darren Aronofsky
The King’s Speech, Tom Hooper
Drive, Nicolas Winding Refn
Le Gamin au vélo, Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne
Incendies, Denis Villeneuve
Melancholia, Lars Von Trier
A Separation, Asghar Farhadi

Best Documentary
Le Bal des Menteurs, Daniel Leconte
Crazy Horse, Frederick Wiseman
Ici on Noie les Algériens, Michael Radford
Michel Petrucciani, Michael Radford
Tous Au Larzac, Christian Rouaud

Best Short Film
L’Accordeur, Olivier Treiner
La France qui se lève tôt, Hugo Chesnard
J'aurais pu être une pute, Baya Kasmi
Je pourrais être votre grand-mère, Bernard Tanguy
Un Monde Sans Femmes, Guillaume Brac

César d’Honneur: Kate Winslet

To check nominees in all categories go here. Award ceremony will be on Friday, February 24 at 9:00 pm and will be broadcast by Canal+; this year Guillaume Canet is the ceremony president and as in previous years Antoine de Caunes will be the Maître de Cérémonie.

I will have a very hard time deciding my vote in the foreign film category as they managed to nominate many excellent movies. If you wonder how different the French and American academies are just check the animated film nominations where Oscar nominated a French movie Une vie de chat (A Cat in Paris) and César ignored film; have seen film and was superb, so this time definitively agree with the American Academy and regret that the French Academy didn’t nominate it.

84th Academy Awards Nominations - Preliminary

This is a copy of the nominations at the official site, will do proper post with comments later.

Actor in a Leading Role

Demián Bichir in "A Better Life"
George Clooney in "The Descendants"
Jean Dujardin in "The Artist"
Gary Oldman in "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy"
Brad Pitt in "Moneyball"

Actor in a Supporting Role

Kenneth Branagh in "My Week with Marilyn"
Jonah Hill in "Moneyball"
Nick Nolte in "Warrior"
Christopher Plummer in "Beginners"
Max von Sydow in "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close"

Actress in a Leading Role

Glenn Close in "Albert Nobbs"
Viola Davis in "The Help"
Rooney Mara in "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"
Meryl Streep in "The Iron Lady"
Michelle Williams in "My Week with Marilyn"

Actress in a Supporting Role

Bérénice Bejo in "The Artist"
Jessica Chastain in "The Help"
Melissa McCarthy in "Bridesmaids"
Janet McTeer in "Albert Nobbs"
Octavia Spencer in "The Help"

Animated Feature Film

"A Cat in Paris" Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli
"Chico & Rita" Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal
"Kung Fu Panda 2" Jennifer Yuh Nelson
"Puss in Boots" Chris Miller
"Rango" Gore Verbinski

Art Direction

"The Artist"
Production Design: Laurence Bennett; Set Decoration: Robert Gould
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2"
Production Design: Stuart Craig; Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan
"Hugo"
Production Design: Dante Ferretti; Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo
"Midnight in Paris"
Production Design: Anne Seibel; Set Decoration: Hélène Dubreuil
"War Horse"
Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Lee Sandales

Cinematography

"The Artist" Guillaume Schiffman
"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" Jeff Cronenweth
"Hugo" Robert Richardson
"The Tree of Life" Emmanuel Lubezki
"War Horse" Janusz Kaminski

Costume Design

"Anonymous" Lisy Christl
"The Artist" Mark Bridges
"Hugo" Sandy Powell
"Jane Eyre" Michael O'Connor
"W.E." Arianne Phillips

Directing

"The Artist" Michel Hazanavicius
"The Descendants" Alexander Payne
"Hugo" Martin Scorsese
"Midnight in Paris" Woody Allen
"The Tree of Life" Terrence Malick

Documentary (Feature)

"Hell and Back Again"
Danfung Dennis and Mike Lerner
"If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front"
Marshall Curry and Sam Cullman
"Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory"
Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs
"Pina"
Wim Wenders and Gian-Piero Ringel
"Undefeated"
TJ Martin, Dan Lindsay and Richard Middlemas

Documentary (Short Subject)

"The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement"
Robin Fryday and Gail Dolgin
"God Is the Bigger Elvis"
Rebecca Cammisa and Julie Anderson
"Incident in New Baghdad"
James Spione
"Saving Face"
Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy
"The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom"
Lucy Walker and Kira Carstensen

Film Editing

"The Artist" Anne-Sophie Bion and Michel Hazanavicius
"The Descendants" Kevin Tent
"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall
"Hugo" Thelma Schoonmaker
"Moneyball" Christopher Tellefsen

Foreign Language Film

"Bullhead" Belgium
"Footnote" Israel
"In Darkness" Poland
"Monsieur Lazhar" Canada
"A Separation" Iran

Makeup

"Albert Nobbs"
Martial Corneville, Lynn Johnston and Matthew W. Mungle
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2"
Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk and Yolanda Toussieng
"The Iron Lady"
Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland

Music (Original Score)

"The Adventures of Tintin" John Williams
"The Artist" Ludovic Bource
"Hugo" Howard Shore
"Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" Alberto Iglesias
"War Horse" John Williams

Music (Original Song)

"Man or Muppet" from "The Muppets" Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie
"Real in Rio" from "Rio" Music by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown Lyric by Siedah Garrett

Best Picture

"The Artist" Thomas Langmann, Producer
"The Descendants" Jim Burke, Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor, Producers
"Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close" Scott Rudin, Producer
"The Help" Brunson Green, Chris Columbus and Michael Barnathan, Producers
"Hugo" Graham King and Martin Scorsese, Producers
"Midnight in Paris" Letty Aronson and Stephen Tenenbaum, Producers
"Moneyball" Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz and Brad Pitt, Producers
"The Tree of Life" Nominees to be determined
"War Horse" Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, Producers

Short Film (Animated)

"Dimanche/Sunday" Patrick Doyon
"The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore" William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg
"La Luna" Enrico Casarosa
"A Morning Stroll" Grant Orchard and Sue Goffe
"Wild Life" Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby

Short Film (Live Action)

"Pentecost" Peter McDonald and Eimear O'Kane
"Raju" Max Zähle and Stefan Gieren
"The Shore" Terry George and Oorlagh George
"Time Freak" Andrew Bowler and Gigi Causey
"Tuba Atlantic" Hallvar Witzø

Sound Editing

"Drive" Lon Bender and Victor Ray Ennis
"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" Ren Klyce
"Hugo" Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty
"Transformers: Dark of the Moon" Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl
"War Horse" Richard Hymns and Gary Rydstrom

Sound Mixing

"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"
David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Bo Persson
"Hugo"
Tom Fleischman and John Midgley
"Moneyball"
Deb Adair, Ron Bochar, Dave Giammarco and Ed Novick
"Transformers: Dark of the Moon"
Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Peter J. Devlin
"War Horse"
Gary Rydstrom, Andy Nelson, Tom Johnson and Stuart Wilson

Visual Effects

"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2"
Tim Burke, David Vickery, Greg Butler and John Richardson
"Hugo"
Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossman and Alex Henning
"Real Steel"
Erik Nash, John Rosengrant, Dan Taylor and Swen Gillberg
"Rise of the Planet of the Apes"
Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White and Daniel Barrett
"Transformers: Dark of the Moon"
Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Matthew Butler and John Frazier

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

"The Descendants" Screenplay by Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
"Hugo" Screenplay by John Logan
"The Ides of March" Screenplay by George Clooney & Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon
"Moneyball" Screenplay by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin Story by Stan Chervin
"Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" Screenplay by Bridget O'Connor & Peter Straughan

Writing (Original Screenplay)

"The Artist" Written by Michel Hazanavicius
"Bridesmaids" Written by Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig
"Margin Call" Written by J.C. Chandor
"Midnight in Paris" Written by Woody Allen
"A Separation" Written by Asghar Farhadi

2011 Guldbagge Awards Winners

Watching Awards ceremony live and it's quite entertaining, especially when my Swedish is very basic (lol!) but it takes no genius to understand category and winner. Winners in all categories will be at the official site here. Winners are in *BLUE.

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1/5/2012

Yesterday the Swedish Film Institute announced the nominees for this prestigious award and here they are for the main categories. Simon och ekarna leads with 13 nominations followed by Play with 7 and The Crown Jewels with 5.

Best Film
*Apflickorna (She Monkeys), Lisa Aschan
Play, Ruben Östlund
Simon och ekarna (Simon and the Oaks), Lisa Ohlin

Best Director
Lisa Aschan for Apflickorna (She Monkeys),
*Ruben Östlund for Play
Lisa Ohlin for Simon och ekarna (Simon and the Oaks)

Best Actress in a Leading Role
*Ann Petrén in Happy End
Magdalena Poplawska in Between 2 Fires
Helen Sjöholm in Simon och ekarna (Simon and the Oaks)

Best Actor in a Leading Role
Mikael Persbrandt in Stockholm Östra (Stockholm East)
*Sven-Bertil Taube in En enkel till Antibes (A One-way to Antibes)
Kevin Vaz in Play

To check nominees in all categories go here. Awards ceremony will be on January 23, 2012 at Cirkus, Stockholm and Swedish TV (STV) will broadcast the event live.

Only in Sweden could happen that two out of the three films nominated for Best Film and Best Director are by female directors; know it has to be a milestone and should be celebrated as great achievement. Then somehow I really miss Noomi Rapace in these awards as unfortunately she’s doing very strange films (for her profile and career) so I hope she goes back soon to make outstanding Swedish productions –sigh.

Very Late –almost last minute- 2012 Oscar Nominations Predictions

Been so busy doing nothing that almost forgot to publish my predictions, as nominations announcement is tomorrow around 8:30am EST. The future can be unpredictable, but Oscar is more predictable at least in the basic categories so let’s grab my crystal ball and start guessing.

Best Film
1. The Artist
2. The Descendants
3. The Help
4. Bridesmaids
5. Midnight in Paris
6. Hugo
7. Moneyball
8. Drive
9. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
10. The Tree of Life

Movies are in order, so if there are 5, 6, 7, 8 or more up to 10 (maximum possible) ranking becomes my prediction.

Best Director
Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist
Alexander Payne for Descendants
Martin Scorsese for Hugo
Woody Allen for Midnight in Paris
Nicolas Winding Refn for Drive

Have possibilities: David Fincher and Terrence Malick

Best Actress
Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady
Viola Davis in The Help
Michelle Williams in My Week With Marilyn
Tilda Swinton in We Need to Talk About Kevin
Glenn Close in Albert Nobbs

Last position could be Glenn Close, Charlize Theron or Elizabeth Olsen. Berenice Bejo is another possibility but for some strange reason is considered more to be in a supporting role, which after watching movie I absolutely said she has a lead role.

Best Supporting Actress
Octavia Spencer in The Help
Jessica Chastain in (which movie?... hmm) The Help
Melissa McCarthy in Bridesmaids
Shailene Woodley in The Descendants
Janet McTeer in Albert Nobbs

IF the Academy members consider Berenice Bejo as having a supporting role (which she does not) then she is going to be nominated in this category and probably one of the last two actresses will be replaced by her.

Best Actor
George Clooney in The Descendants
Brad Pitt in Moneyball
Jean Dujardin in The Artist
Michael Fassbender in Shame
Leonardo DiCaprio in J. Edgar

Have possibilities Ryan Goslin, Gary Oldman and Michael Shannon; I really wish Fassbender is nominated, but his role is so outrageous that wonder if Academy members will nominate him and know he could easily be replaced by any of those with possibilities.

Best Supporting Actor
Christopher Plummer in Beginners
Albert Brooks in Drive
Jonah Hill in Moneyball
Kenneth Branagh in My Week with Marilyn
Nick Nolte in Warrior

Have possibilities Arnie Hammer and Patton Oswalt

Best Original Screenplay
Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist
Woody Allen for Midnight in Paris
Diablo Cody for Young Adult
Annie Mumolo and Kristen Wiig for Bridesmaids

IF Asghar Farhadi is nominated in Original Screenplay, I’ll be VERY HAPPY!!! as honor is well-deserved plus this is his year for great honors after making (directing, writing, and more) several outstanding films.

Best Adapted Screenplay
Aaron Sorkin amd Steven Zaillian for Moneyball
Nat Faxon, Alexander Payne and Jim Rash for The Descendants
Tate Taylor for The Help
George Clooney and Grant Heslov for The Ides of March
Hossein Amini for Drive

Let’s stop here with the main categories. In less than 24 hours we will learn the nominees and I’m still hoping for some unexpectedness even when award season started to be too predictable; let’s be positive and let see if I improved my previous years record or not, after all this year have seen almost all movies that most likely will have two or more Oscar nominations.

OOPS! Very absent minded, forgot one important category: foreign language film!

Iran, "A Separation," Asghar Farhadi, director
Germany, "Pina," Wim Wenders, director
Poland, "In Darkness," Agnieszka Holland, director
Canada, "Monsieur Lazhar," Philippe Falardeau, director
Belgium, "Bullhead," Michael R. Roskam, director

Cheers!!!

Les Bien-aimés (Beloved)

The 2011 Cannes out-of-competition closing film absolutely is a very-very French film by Christophe Honoré that plays again with older French film styles but also integrates more contemporary Honoré style making end result quite interesting, at least for me as been reading around and seems that film is not for all audiences, which made me think that Honoré is an acquired taste for audiences that not particularly care for or like good French Cinema.

But if you like Christophe Honoré then this film will be one of the most enjoyable for the old movies indirect references, an outstanding cast with superb performances and great singing of “paroles chantées”, plus a story about women and the men they love. Actually story is about two women, Madeleine and Véra, mother and daughter, with the one man each loved their whole life; so, story spans from 1964 to 2007.

Young Madeleine (Ludivine Sagnier) escapes from becoming a thief by incidentally discovering street prostitution, only to fall-in-love with Jaromil Passer, a Czech doctor doing a specialization in Paris and her client. Madeleine gets pregnant, marries Passer and goes with him back to Czechoslovakia, but his infidelities plus the Russian invasion, makes her return to Paris with her daughter Véra where he divorces Passer, marries a policeman and lives happily ever after until Passer comes back to Paris and reignites a flame that was never over. I know told a lot about movie, but it’s not much as Madeleine gets older (now performed by Catherine Deneuve), Véra is older (now performed by Chiara Mastroianni), Passer gets older (now performed by outstanding Milos Forman) and story continues with the love between Madeleine and Passer, plus Véra falling in love with Henderson (Paul Schneider) while being with Clément (Louis Garrel), but Henderson is gay; story evolves with relevant vignettes in the life all characters around Madeleine and Véra. All right is not a simple story, yes is complex but will grab you, take you all over the place, squeeze you, touch you, etc. until releases you at the very end.

Film has very high production values and a caring directorial hand that was able to squeeze 40 years in a bit more than 2 hours and extract from very impressive cast extraordinary performances with special mention to great Czech director Milos Forman –he should do more acting-, Ludivine Sagnier in role that feels and looks like a perfectly fit glove to a magnificent hand, and Chiara Mastrioianni performing like I have never seen her before -with many scenes where she looked so much as her real-life father- and somehow stealing scenes when she was on screen. Then Deneuve and Garrel are superb as always.

An extraordinary movie that of course I do recommend to those that love (classical) French cinema (at least as much as I do) and enjoy Honoré’s particular style that recalls Jacques Demy films (especially Les Parapluies de Cherbourg with Deneuve) but also here evolves with older Véra story into his own particular style.

Last, but not least, Christophe Honoré dedicated film to great Marie-France Pisier, RIP.

Enjoy!!!

Watch trailer @MOC

23rd Annual Producers Guild Awards Winners

Last night the first guild had their award ceremony and top award went to The Artist; also this is the first group of Academy voters, so we can say that The Artist has increased its chances to win big in this award season. To check all winners including TV (fabulous Downton Abbey won!) go here. Winners are in *BLUE.

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01/05

A few days back the Producers Guild of America announced the complete list of nominees for this year awards and here are the nominations for feature films.

The Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures
*The Artist
Bridesmaids
The Descendants
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
The Help
Hugo
The Ides of March
Midnight in Paris
Moneyball
War Horse

The Award for Outstanding Producer of Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures
*The Adventures of Tin Tin
Cars 2
Kung Fu Panda 2
Puss in Boots
Rango

The Award for Outstanding Producer of Documentary Theatrical Motion Pictures
*Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribel Called Quest
Bill Cunningham New York
Project Nim
Senna
The Union

To check nominees in all categories including TV go here. Awards ceremony will be on January 21, 2012. With this guild nominations we get our first idea of what maybe Oscar Best Film category could look like and you probably noticed that the SAG five nominated movies for Cast are included In the first list, so I dare to say that The Artist, Bridesmaids, The Descendants, The Help and Midnight in Paris are starting to have good possibilities to get an Oscar nod, as if we add SAG and PGA members they do represent a good portion of Academy voters. Yet I have to wait until the Directors Guild announcement to start to guess the 7 films that could get an Oscar nod.

32nd London Critics’ Circle Film Awards Winners

Was waiting for the official site to have the awards but they have not posted yet, but eventually winners will be here. If you wish to check winners in all categories before official site uploads info, please go here. Winners are in *BLUE.

Most interesting is to find that films with most nominations did not win an award in the top categories, but yes according to what UK press is commenting, with UK nominations and awards, The Artist has somehow increased its chances to get Oscar top award, still I imagine that The Descendants is still a strong contender and SAG awards will give us a better idea.

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12/20

A few moments ago the British group announced their nominations that are lead by Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Drive, both with 6 nominations. These are the nominees.

Film of the Year
*The Artist
Drive
A Separation
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
The Tree of Life

The Attenborough Award: British Film of the Year
The Guard
Kill List
Shame
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
*We Need to Talk About Kevin

Foreign Language Film of the Year
Mysteries of Lisbon
Poetry
Le Quattro Volte
*A Separation
The Skin I Live In

Director of the Year
Asghar Farhadi for A Separation
*Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist
Terrence Malick for The Tree of Life
Lynne Ramsayfor We Need to Talk About Kevin
Nicolas Winding Refn for Drive

Breakthrough British Filmmaker
Richard Ayoade for Submarine
Paddy Considine for Tyrannosaur
Joe Cornish for Attack the Block
*Andrew Haigh for Weekend
John Michael McDonagh for The Guard

Actress of the Year (tie)
Kirsten Dunst in Melancholia
*Anna Paquin in Margaret
*Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady
Tilda Swinton in We Need to Talk About Kevin
Michelle Williams in My Week With Marilyn

Supporting Actress of the Year
*Sareh Bayat in A Separation
Jessica Chastain in The Help
Vanessa Redgrave in Coriolanus
Octavia Spencer in The Help
Jacki Weaver in Animal Kingdom

Actor of the Year
George Clooney in The Descendants
*Jean Dujardin in The Artist
Michael Fassbender in Shame
Ryan Goslingi n Drive
Gary Oldman in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Supporting Actor of the Year
Simon Russell Beale in The Deep Blue Sea
*Kenneth Branagh in My Week With Marilyn
Albert Brooks in Drive
Christopher Plummer in Beginners
Michael Smiley in Kill List

British Actress of the Year
*Olivia Colman in The Iron Lady and Tyrannosaur
Carey Mulligan in Drive and Shame
Vanessa Redgrave in Anonymous and Coriolanus
Tilda Swinton in We Need to Talk About Kevin
Rachel Weisz in The Deep Blue Sea

British Actor of the Year
Tom Cullen in Weekend
*Michael Fassbender in A Dangerous Method and Shame
Brendan Gleeson in The Guard
Peter Mullan in Tyrannosaur and War Horse
Gary Oldman in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Young British Performer of the Year
John Boyega in Attack the Block
Jeremy Irvine in War Horse
Yasmin Paige in Submarine
*Craig Roberts in Submarine
Saoirse Ronan in Hanna

To check nominees in all categories go here. Award winners will be revealed on Thursday January 19 at BFI Southbank.

Have to admit that these nominations seems a lot more interesting than BIFA’s nods and winners; let’s hope that BAFTA’s look more like these –well, surely the will. Following the top 2 films that lead the nominees with 6 nods each are A Separation and We Need to Talk About Kevin with 5 each, and with 4 apiece The Artist and Shame.

2012 Academy Awards Foreign Language Film Shortlist

Nine films will advance to the next round of voting in the Foreign Language Film category for the 84th Academy Awards. Sixty-three films had originally qualified in the category.

The films, listed in alphabetical order by country, are:

Belgium, "Bullhead," Michael R. Roskam, director
Canada, "Monsieur Lazhar," Philippe Falardeau, director
Denmark, "Superclásico," Ole Christian Madsen, director
Germany, "Pina," Wim Wenders, director
Iran, "A Separation," Asghar Farhadi, director
Israel, "Footnote," Joseph Cedar, director
Morocco, "Omar Killed Me," Roschdy Zem, director
Poland, "In Darkness," Agnieszka Holland, director
Taiwan, "Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale," Wei Te-sheng, director

To read the official press release go here. Now we know and yes, there are some surprises (Taiwan and Denmark) but now I believe will be easier to guess the five that will get a nomination this year.

Out of the nine films was able to guess four (Iran, Germany, Israel, and Poland) in my Academy predictions and concur with only two (Iran and Germany) from my selection. That shows us how far I am of what foreign language films Academy members like in a non-English movie. Sigh.

The Descendants

American movies like this one come nowadays so seldom that many of us have forgotten that American filmmakers can craft excellent movies that with well-told human stories move viewers to feel all kind of emotions, travel from laughter to tears, and intensively enjoy the trip with great cinematography, many scenes with great framing, good outdoor and indoor compositions plus extraordinary actors performances with a director that masterful puts everything together.

Most surprising is that everything is flawlessly presented that you will be able to forget who is acting and will see the character; yes talking about George Clooney that to me today he is more a celebrity than anything else related to movies, but in this movie absolutely forgot that was watching Clooney and definitively was watching Matt King in all his magnificent contradictory feelings and confusion. Superb performance Mr. Clooney, all the honors you’ll get for this performance are well-deserved.

Have seen a few of Alexander Payne movies but I do believe that this is his best as the most complete and very careful crafted with much care to details in every sense that successfully and quite slowly –for an American film- grabs your attention, holds it and won’t let it go until the very end. Ah! yes I do appreciate the ending that is not sad, not happy and it’s open to personal interpretation, which of course is not typical of American cinema.

Tells the story of a family, father and two daughters, saying goodbye to the mother that went into comma after an accident. That’s the essence of the story but please don’t think that film is sad or a downer as there are situations that surely will make laugh and smile even do, yes there is a moment that tears started to pour from my eyes and no, they were not related to death at all. The story twist is that the mother was cheating and the father was not aware until the older daughter tells him after he pushes her to tell him why she fought with her mother.

Talking about the older daughter is impressive how Shailene Woodley performance as Alexandra King is so compelling especially as all her previous work was mainly done on TV, but this is an actress that I’m sure we will start to watch more often in the big screen and only hope she doesn’t go too much for the commercial movies route. Sigh.

If you ask me I think film could win Oscar and if does, will be extremely well-deserved as is a very complete cinematic experience and a rarity –nowadays- in American Cinema; yes, I do recommend film as must be seen for many that read the blog and for adults that enjoy well-crafted cinema.

Big Enjoy!!!

Watch trailer @MOC

2012 Oscar Foreign Films Predictions

Is almost sure that today Tuesday, January 17 the Academy will announce the 9-film shortlist as will give nominees 48hrs to comply with the following requirement:

III. SUBMISSION G. - Countries whose motion pictures are shortlisted will be required to provide a second English-language subtitled print or DCP of the film to facilitate voting screenings. This second print or DCP is due at the Academy by 5 p.m. PT on Thursday, January 19, 2012.

Still if is not today then has to be tomorrow.

As many I’m really curious about what films the Academy will select this year and to entertain myself and hopefully you readers, here are my predictions.

Will be nominated FOR SURE
Iran: جدایی نادر از سیمین Jodaeiye Nader az Simin (Nader and Simin, A Separation), Asghar Farhadi

So, I just need to guess 8 more… hmm…
Germany: Pina, Wim Wenders (not really sure as will be nominated as Best Documentary)
Poland: W ciemności (In Darkness), Agnieszka Holland
China: 金陵十三釵 (The Flowers of War), Zhang Yimou
France: La guerre est déclarée (Declaration of War), Valérie Donzelli
Finland: Le Havre, Aki Kaurismäki
Mexico: Miss Bala, Gerado Naranjo
Brazil: Tropa de Elite 2 (Elite Squad: The Enemy Within), José Padilha
Israel: הערת שוליים (Footnote), Joseph Cedar

Above are the ones I’m guessing Academy will short list, but if selection depended from one person, me, then the list should look like this:

Turkey: Bir Zamanlar Anadolu’da (Once Upon a Time in Anatolia), Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Germany: Pina, Wim Wender
Sweden: Svinalängorna (Beyond), Pernilla August
Lebanon: وهلّأ لوين؟ Wo Hallah La Wen? (Where Do We Go Now?), Nadine Labaki
Iran: جدایی نادر از سیمین Jodaeiye Nader az Simin (Nader and Simin, A Separation), Asghar Farhadi
Finland: Le Havre, Aki Kaurismäki
France: La guerre est déclarée (Declaration of War), Valérie Donzelli
Italy: Terraferma, Emanuele Crialese
United Kingdom: Patagonia, Marc Evans

… and my Award goes to… well, not yet but believe that we all know who will win and if does it will be extremely well –deserved.

Cheers!

32nd Genie Awards Nominations

A few minutes ago the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television announced their nominations for the Genie Award and was streamed live here from Montreal. Jean-Marc Vallée’s Café de Flore leads the nods with 13 followed by David Cronenberg’s A Dangerous Method with 11.

Best Motion Picture
A Dangerous Method, David Cronenberg
Café de Flore, Jean-Marc Vallée
Mosieur Lazhar, Philippe Falardeau
Starbuck, Ken Scott
The Whistleblower, Larysa Kondracki

Achievement in Direction
David Cronenberg for A Dangerous Method
Steven Silver for The Bang Bang Club
Jean-Marc Vallée for Café de Flore
Philippe Falardeau for Mosieur Lazhar
Larysa Kondracki for The Whistleblower

Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Catherine de Léan in Nuit #1
Pascale Montpetit in The Girl in the White Coat
Vanessa Paradis in Café de Flore
Rachel Weisz in The Whistleblower
Michelle Williams in Take This Waltz

Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
Fellag in Monsieur Lazhar
Garret Dillahunt in Oliver Sherman
Michael Fassbender in A Dangerous Method
Patrick Huard in Starbuck
Scott Speedman in Edwin Boyd: Citizen Gangster

To check nominees in all categories go here. The Awards ceremony will be in Toronto on March 8 at 8:00pm and will be broadcast on CBC Television.

6th Asian Film Awards Nominations

Today Hong Kong International Film Festival Society announced the nominations and right now official site has crashed due to “capacity problems”! Nevertheless here are the nominees from different sources and will confirm nods as well as post link to official site when site is up again.

Update
Finally I’m in the official site and here is an excerpt from the official press release.

Hong Kong, 17 January 2012 – The Hong Kong International Film Festival Society (HKIFFS) announced today the nominees in the 14 categories and the jury for the 6th Asian Film Awards (AFA). Eric KHOO, Singapore-based director and producer, will take up the mantle of Jury President, heading the panel of international film community notables who will select the winners of these prestigious awards. The Asian Film Awards Presentation Ceremony will be held at Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre Grand Hall on 19 March 2012.

To continue reading press release go here.

Best Film
Jodaeiye Nader az Simin (Nader and Simin, A Separation), Asghar Farhadi, Iran
Ichimai no hagaki (Postcard), Kaneto Shindô, Japan
金陵十三釵 Jin líng shí san chai (The Flowers of War), Zhang Yimou, China
龍門飛甲 Long Men Fei Jia (Flying Swords of Dragon Gate), Tsui Hark, Hong Kong and China
賽德克•巴萊 Seediq Bale (Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale), Wei Te-sheng, Taiwan
ज़िन्दगी ना मिलेगी दोबारा Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (You Don’t Get Life a Second Time), Zoya Akhtar, India

Best Director
Asghar Farhadi for Nader and Simin, A Separation, Iran
Teddy Soeriaatmadja for Lovely Man, Indonesia (okay I'm curious about film)
Sono Sion for 恋の罪 Koi no Tsumi (Guilty of Romance), Japan
Tsui Hark for Flying Swords of Dragon Gate, Hong Kong and China
Wei Te-sheng for Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale, Taiwan
Zhang Yimou for The Flowers of War, China

Best Actress
Vidya Balan in The Dirty Picture, India
Michelle Chen in 那些年，我们一起追的女孩 Na Xie Nian, Wo Men Yi Qi Zhui De Nu Hai (You Are the Apple of My Eye), Taiwan
Eugene Domingo in Ang Babae sa Septic Tank (The Woman in the Septic Tank), Philippines
Leila Hatami in A Separation, Iran
Deanie Ip in Tao Jie (A Simple Life), Hong Kong

Best Actor
Chen Kun in Flying Swords of Dragon Gate, Hong Kong and China
Donny Damara in Lovely Man, Indonesia
Andy Lau in Tao Jie (A Simple Life), Hong Kong
Park Hae Il in Choi-jong-byeong-gi Hwal (War of the Arrows), South Korea
Yakusho Koji in Waga haha no ki (Chronicle of My Mother), Japan

Best Newcomer
Ko Chen-tung in You Are the Apple of My Eye, Taiwan
Eric Lin Hui-min in 星空 Starry Starry Night, Taiwan
Maeda Ohshiro in 奇跡 Kiseki (I Wish), Japan
Ni Ni in The Flowers of War, China
Gita Novalista in Laut Bercermin (The Mirror Never Lies), Indonesia

To check nominations in all categories go here.Can’t help but to comment that infamous Christian Bale is NOT nominated (lol!); I’m so glad as he was really bad on role even when you consider that his character was another century person that used to live in China like “conquerors” do. Got really interested in watching Lovely Man that has LGBT interest, specially in the T, but is the story of a child that finds that her father is a she-prostitute that sells herself in the streets.

As it says in the press release award ceremony will be on March 19.

2012 BAFTA Nominations

A few hours ago the British Academy of Film and Television Arts announced the nominations and if you feel like watching the less than five minutes video please go here.

Announcement was made by Holliday Grainger and Daniel Radcliffe and to be honest BAFTA’s nods look very similar to what has been happening in America, both with critics as well as the few industry groups that have made nominations announcements. As we know 2012 awards celebrate films that were released in 2011 and nominees are the result of Round Two voting.

The Artist leads nominations with 12 followed by Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy with 11, Hugo with 9 and My Week With Marilyn with 6.

Best Film
The Artist
The Descendants
Drive
The Help
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Outstanding British Film
My Week with Marilyn
Senna
Shame
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
We Need to Talk About Kevin

Film Not In the English Language
Incendies, Denis Villeneuve
Pina, Wim Wenders
Potiche, François Ozon
A Separation, Asghar Farhadi
La Piel Que Habito (The Skin I Live In), Pedro Almodóvar

Animated Film
The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, Steven Speielberg
Arthur Christmas, Sarah Smith
Rango, gore Verbinski

Director
Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist
Nicolas Winding Refn for Drive
Martin Scorsese for Hugo
Tomas Alfredson for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Lynne Ramsay for We Need to Talk About Kevin

Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer
Joe Cornish for Attack The Block
Will Sharpe, Tom Kingsley and Sarah Brocklehurst for Black Pond
Ralph Fiennes for Coriolanus
Richard Ayoade for Submarine
Addy Consdine and Diarmid Scrimshaw for Tyrannosaur

Leading Actress
Bérénice Bejo in The Artist
Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady
Michelle Williams in My Week with Marilyn
Tilda Swinton in We Need to Talk About Kevin
Viola Davis in The Help

Supporting Actress
Carey Mulligan in Drive
Jessica Chastain in The Help
Judi Dench in My Week with Marilyn
Melissa McCarthy in Bridesmaids
Octavia Spencer in The Help

Leading Actor
Brad Pitt in Moneyball
Gary Oldman in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
George Clooney in The Descendants
Jean Dujardin in The Artist
Michael Fassbender in Shame

Supporting Actor
Christopher Plummer in Beginners
Jim Broadbent in The Iron Lady
Jonah Hill in Moneyball
Kenneth Branagh in My Week with Marilyn
Philip Seymour Hoffman in The Ides of March

Cinematography
Guillaume Schiffman for The Artist
Jeff Cronenweth for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Robert Richrdson for Hugo
Hoyte van Hoytema for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Janusz Kaminski for War Horse

Original Screenplay
Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist
Annie Mumolo and Kristen Wiig for Bridesmaids
John Michael McDonagh for The Guard
Abi Morgan for The Iron Lady
Woody Allen for Midnight in Paris

Adapted Screenplay
Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, and Jim Rash for The Descendants
Tate Taylor for The Help
George Clooney, Grant Heslov, and Beau Willimon for The Ides of March
Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin for Moneyball
Bridget O’Connor and Peter Straughan for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Editing
Anne-Sophie Bion and Michel Hazanvicius for The Artist
Mat Newman for Drive
Thelma Schoonmaker for Hugo
Gregers Sall and Chris King for Senna
Dino Jonsater for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Production Design
Laurence Bennet and Robert Gould for The Artist
Stuart Craig and Stephenie McMillan for Harry Potter and the Deadthly Hallows – Part 2
Dante Ferretti and Francesca Lo Schiavo for Hugo
Maria Djukovic and Tatiana MacDonald for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Rick Carter and Le Sandales for War Horse

Costume Design
Mark Bridges for The Artist
Sandy Powell for Hugo
Michael O’Connor for Jane Eyre
Jill Taylor for My Week with Marilyn
Jacqueline Durran for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Original Music
Ludovic Bource for The Artist
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Howard Shore for Hugo
Alberto Iglesias for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
John Williams for War Horse

Sound
The Artist
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2
Hugo
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
War Horse

Special Visual Effects
The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2
Hugo
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
War Horse

Make Up & Hair
The Artist
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2
Hugo
The Iron Lady
My Week with Marilyn

Documentary
George Harrison: Living in the Material World, Martin Scorsese
Project Nim, James Marsch and Simon Chinn
Senna, Asif Kapadia

Short Animation
Abuelas, Afarin Eghbal, Kasia Malipan, and Francesca Gardiner
Bobby Yeah, Robert Morgan
A Morning Stroll, Grant Orchard and Sue Goffe

Short Film
Chalk, Martina Amati, Gavin Emerson, James Bolton, and Ilaria Bernardini
Mwansa The Great, Rungano Nyoni and Gabriel Gauchet
Only Sound Remains, Arash Ashtiani and Anshu Poddar
Pitch Black Heist, John Maclean and Gerardine O'Flynn
Two and Two, Babak Anvari and Kit Fraser, Gavin Cullen

To check official announcement go here.  Awards ceremony will be on Sunday, February 12 and surely will be broadcast by local TV as well as stream live at the Academy site. As soon as I have specific info will post here or in calendar.

Definitively most categories look like what Oscar could look and most interesting is the Best Actress category as not only does not include British Actresses that were expected to be nominated but from the five I’ve been closely following, Glenn Close is out and Berenice Bejo is in; now more than ever I’m sure about the four out of five actresses that have to be nominated for Oscar.

Best actor has two actors that probably will not be in Oscar, but this category is not easy for me and BAFTA’s doesn’t give me real clues. Well, have less than a week to do my Oscar nominations predictions, so my crystal ball has to come out of the closet, be cleaned and hopefully will work again (lol). Yes I do believe that BAFTA's nominations help to predict Oscar with a lot of interpretation.

Can’t complain as have seen most films in the nods, there are a couple that I’m dying to watch, and a few that I’m delaying until I find the right mood.

Cheers!