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37th César Awards Nominations

2012-01-27T15:08:00.000-05:00

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

2012-01-24T09:02:00.001-05:00

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

2012-01-23T14:18:00.000-05:00

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

2012-01-23T13:59:00.000-05:00

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)

2012-01-22T11:19:00.000-05:00

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

2012-01-22T03:56:00.000-05:00

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

2012-01-20T08:40:00.000-05:00

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

2012-01-18T13:24:00.000-05:00

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

2012-01-17T18:11:00.000-05:00

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

2012-01-17T14:09:00.003-05:00

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

2012-01-17T12:41:00.003-05:00

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

2012-01-17T09:45:00.002-05:00

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

2012-01-17T08:52:00.002-05:00

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!

Terraferma

2012-01-16T17:14:00.001-05:00

Seems like Emanuele Crialese has a special touch to tell stories about immigration as in Nouvomondo (Golden Door) tells about Italian immigration to America, while here tells about immigration from Africa to Italy. In a way makes me think about Sicilians that left Italy for a better life and nowadays Sicilians not able to deal with those who are looking for a better life in Italy. Yes, not an easy to tell story that is told remarkably well, without sentimentalism and a high dose of realism.

If story is strong, many visuals are breathtaking sea and island views with high production values that make ride quite interesting as starts slowly being contemplative of sedentary island life until tourists arrive and island plus story become alive to reach an intense climax that will make you feel several contradictory feelings. There are two scenes that will stay a long time in my mind, the full of tourist boat dancing to Maracaibo’s rhythm with the underwater take when they jump into the sea and the distant white shadow in a very dark night that advances and advances. Both are superb.

Film is the winner of the 2011 Venice fest Pasinetti Award, Special Jury Prize, and UNICEF award plus is Italy’s submission to Oscar great honors that are well-deserved as Crialese is one of the now not many Italian directors that successfully tell complicated stories with spectacular visual narrative –magical and realistic- and compelling storytelling that touches viewers deep inside.

It’s a great movie that everyone that loves excellent European cinema should see to visually enjoy, to think about illegal immigration in its many forms that surrounds us almost all over the world, and to question your own boundaries when it comes to save a life or not.

Big Enjoy!!!

Watch trailer @MOC

62nd Annual ACE Eddie Awards Nominations

2012-01-16T11:00:00.003-05:00

A few minutes ago the American Cinema Editors (ACE) announced their nominations for current year and here they are for film categories.

Best Edited Feature Film - Dramatic
The Descendants
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
Moneyball
War Horse

Best Edited Feature Film - Comedy or Musical
The Artist
Bridesmaids
Midnight in Paris
My Week with Marilyn
Young Adult

Best Edited Animated Feature Film
The Adventures of Tintin
Puss in Boots
Rango

To check TV categories and read the official announcement go here. Awards ceremony will be on Saturday, February 18.

69th Annual Golden Globe Awards Winners

2012-01-16T05:24:00.000-05:00

Last night the awards ceremony was (a lot) less funnier and entertaining than last year, I do believe that Ricky Gervais censored himself more, which undoubtedly helped to make ceremony duller. Just for example, the few jokes I laugh (like Jodie Foster Beaver) were so "clean", straight-forward and NOT sarcastic or dark that felt "elegant" in Gervais mouth. Anyway think that last year the shock-effect was what made show so remarkable and that happens only once.

At the end what I enjoyed most was watching the actors, lol!, especially Johnny that was a great positive surprise. What shocked me most was what press people were tweeting about the golden globes, some comments were truly insulting and I follow press people from Variety, Indiewire, NYT, and other minor Internet "famous" sites. What they tweeted is common or accepted knowledge (the HFPA awards don't have a good reputation), but was the "style" the "words" and the "intent" what was out of line especially when was coming from colleagues as all are news people. Disgusting.

So I kept tweeting nonsense, was to only way to keep busy and not fall asleep! LOL! But I made it until the end, so I suppose that my activity to keep-me-awake will be repeated on every awards show this year.

The good news is that this is the last awards show from critics and now is the turn to start learning if the Industry will behave -or not- the same. Here are the winners for some categories and if you wish to learn about all categories the official site is here. Winners are in *BLUE. The big winner of the night with three wins is The Artist.

--//--

12/15/2011

A few minutes ago the nominations were announced and spontaneously I believe there are some surprises for me, but will comment after doing the post.

Best Motion Picture – Drama
*The Descendants
The Help
Hugo
The Ides of March
Moneyball
War Horse

Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical
50/50
*The Artist
Bridesmaids
Midnight in Paris
My Week With Marilyn

Best Animated Feature Film
Arthur Christmas
Cars 2
Rango
Puss in Boots
*The Adventures of Tintin

Best Foreign Language Film
*Jodaeiye Nader az Simin (A Separation), Iran
Jing Ling Shi San Chai (The Flowers of War), China
Le Gamin au Velo (The Kid With The Bike), Belgium
In The Land of Blood and Honey, USA
La Piel Que Habito (The Skin I Live In), Pedro Almodovar, Spain

Best Director
Woody Allen for Midnight in Paris
George Clooney for The Ides of March
Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist
Alexander Payne for The Descendants
*Martin Scorsese for Hugo

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama
Glen Close in Albert Nobbs
Viola Davis in The Help
Rooney Mara in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
*Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady
Tilda Swinton in We Need to Talk About Kevin

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical
Jodie Foster in Carnage
Charlize Theron in Young Adult
Kristin Wiig in Bridesmaids
*Michelle Williams in My Week With Marilyn
Kate Winslet in Carnage

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role Motion Picture
Berenice Bejo in The Artist
Jessica Chastain in The Help
Janet McTeer in Albert Nobbs
*Octavia Spencer in The Help
Shailene Woodley in The Descendants

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama
*George Clooney in The Descendants
Leonardo DiCaprio in J. Edgar
Michael Fassbender in Shame
Ryan Gosling in The Ides of March
Brad Pitt in Moneyball

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical
*Jean Dujardin in The Artist
Brendan Gleeson in The Guard
Joseph Gordon-Levitt in 50/50
Ryan Gosling in Crazy, Stupid, Love
Owen Wilson in Midnight in Paris

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role Motion Picture
Kenneth Branagh in My Week With Marilyn
Albert Brooks in Drive
Jonah Hill in Moneyball
Viggo Mortensen in A Dangerous Method
*Christopher Plummer in Beginners

Best Screenplay
*Woody Allen for Midnight in Paris
George Clooney, Grant Heslov, and Beau Willimon for The Ides of March
Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist
Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, and Jim Rash for The Descendants
Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin for Moneyball

Best Original Score
*Ludovic Bource for The Artist
Abel Korzeniowski for W.E.
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Howard Shore for Hugo
John Williams for War Horse

Best Original Song
Hello Hello from Gnomeo & Juliet, Music by Elton John, Lyrics by Bernie Taupin
The Keeper from Machine Gun Preacher, Music & Lyrics by Chris Cornell
Lay Your Head Down from Albert Nobbs, Music by Brian Byrne, Lyrics by Glenn Close
The Living Proof from The Help, Music by Mary J. Blige, Thomas Newman, Harvey Mason, Jr., Lyrics by Mary J. Blige, Harvey Mason, Jr., Damon Thomas
*Masterpiece from W.E., Music & Lyrics by Madonna, Julie Frost, and Jimmy Harry

To check the official announcement and later on the official list go here or here. The Award ceremony will be on Sunday, January 15, 2012 and will be broadcast by NBC, no matter what happens with the lawsuit (I believe).

So again the red carpet will be full of celebrities and some great actors (lol!) as for sure Brad and Angelina will be there along with Leonardo, George , Tilda, Meryl, Glenn and a few others that just with their first name you know who I’m talking about. As has been happening with other awards/nominations announcements The Weinstein Company is the motion picture distributor that has more nominations, here has 12; so it’s NO surprise that the movie with the most nods is The Artist with 6, followed by The Descendants and The Help with 5 each.

By now the news have reached the world and reactions are coming from all over, I like those from France, Belgium and be sure that will check China reaction to Zhang Yimou’s latest oeuvre nomination. Okay the biggest surprise for me is that Rooney Mara got a nomination, but as there are 10 nominated actresses, she was able to make it; still my five fav are included and can’t deny that I’m pleased with the honors given to Jodie Foster and Kate Winslet for their roles in Carnage which, strangely enough, no male roles made got any honor.

Then perhaps I’m more surprised by the omissions than for the movies that got nominations, most annoying is the absence of nominations for The Tree of Life and Melancholia, not that I liked both movies, but obviously this group always includes movies with high buzz in the festival circuit and imagine the reason why must be related to both directors being no-show at public events. LOL! Also miss Aki’s Le Havre, but in general I’m really pleased with the foreign-language film nominees especially IF Zhang Yimou (and not an actor) comes to the award show. The only exception is “you know who” but have to be fair and will comment only after watching In the Land of Blood and Honey.

Haven’t seen three of the six Best Motion Picture – Drama nominees and not really looking forward to watch them as believe that will be too predictable, so whoever wins will be all right for me as from those that have seen the best for me is The Help (?!).

More excited with the news that thanks to the TV categories great actresses will be in the red carpet like the one from my favorite TV show, Julianna Margulies and Claire Danes, followed by Maggie Smith, Eva Rachel Wood, Diane Lane, Jessica Lange, Elizabeth McGovern, and Romola Garai. By the way have to mention that excellent Downton Abbey and very good Mildred Pierce are the top TV shows with 4 nominations each, followed by Boardwalk Empire, Cinema Verite, Homeland, The Hour, Modern Family, and Too Big to Fail each with 3 nods.

So here is the list with each movie and the number of nominations it got.

THE ARTIST 6
THE DESCENDANTS 5
THE HELP 5
THE IDES OF MARCH 4
MIDNIGHT IN PARIS 4
MONEYBALL 4
ALBERT NOBBS 3
HUGO 3
MY WEEK WITH MARILYN 3
50/50 2
BRIDESMAIDS 2
CARNAGE 2
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO 2
W.E. 2
WAR HORSE 2
THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN 1
ARTHUR CHRISTMAS 1
BEGINNERS 1
CARS 2 1
CRAZY, STUPID, LOVE. 1
A DANGEROUS METHOD 1
DRIVE 1
THE FLOWERS OF WAR 1
GNOMEO & JULIET 1
THE GUARD 1
IN THE LAND OF BLOOD AND HONEY 1
THE IRON LADY 1
J. EDGAR 1
THE KID WITH A BIKE 1
MACHINE GUN PREACHER 1
PUSS IN BOOTS 1
RANGO 1
A SEPARATION 1
SHAME 1
LA PIEL QUE HABITO 1
WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN 1

Here is the video with the announcement of the first nominations that were not broadcasted live on national networks.

The second video is a recording of what was broadcasted live on national TV.

Bir zamanlar Anadolu'da (Once Upon a Time In Anatolia)

2012-01-14T19:24:00.002-05:00

I’m a true admirer of Nuri Bilge Ceylan outstanding films like Distant or Climates, even when I was not too pleased with Three Monkeys; but now I know he went back to what I can call his particular style that allow us to contemplate everything in the screen: the visuals, the dialogues, the situations, the slow pace, the awesome compositions, the use of light, the silences, the amazing long shots, and yes, the story that in this film is about men. Men stories all related to their own woman, but from the very manly restrained point of view. So I contemplated and had one of the best longest moments with great mouth dropping cinema.

For starters just after the opening credits there is a long, very long shot done with a still camera that didn’t move at all during what? Probably 10 to 15 minutes, if not more. Awesome. Story tells about a night where a group of men set out in search of a dead body in the Anatolian steppes, so it’s easy to imagine the absolutely beautiful takes of the steppes we will see but what it’s truly amazing is that we watch them while twilight becomes dusk and dusk becomes night. Just imagine the color palette, that somehow reminds me very much of the color palette used in Distant.

Story will grab your attention and tension will develop not from “fictional” situations but from what looks and feels like reality, very realistic performances that are enhanced with great actors close-ups to deadpan faces that suddenly look directly into the camera and a small expression appears. Fabulous.

As I already mentioned film tells men stories, the story of Doctor Cemal, Prosecutor Nusret, Commissar Naci, one killer and the dead man. Each has a woman behind their tale, except the last two that –according to me- have one and the same woman. Thus even if they are looking for a body, slowly you will start to learn each man story and the weaving of all stories happen so flawlessly that you hardly notice that 150 minutes have passed by as you will want more.

Co-winner of the Grand Prix at 2011 Cannes and winner of Achievement in Directing plus Achievement in Cinematography at 2011 Asia Pacific Screen Awards, Nuri Bilge Ceylan oeuvre highly deserves the honors and as we know is Turkey submission to Oscar, but I doubt that Academy members will appreciate this kind of true art in cinema. Sigh.

Have to admit that film is not for all audiences but since main story is very clear, a murder investigation, perhaps those who dare to watch it could enjoy the film as a very realistic recount of one night and one morning in the life of some men. Obviously I strongly recommend it to many that read this blog that I know will enjoy this very contemplative voyage into great cinema.

BIG ENJOY!!!

Watch trailer @MOC

17th Prix Lumière Award Winners

2012-01-13T15:10:00.000-05:00

I'm currently watching the awards ceremony live, so here are the winners in *BLUE.

Very glad that a female director got the best director award, but not so happy that Aki got no honors at all. To check winners in all categories go here, soon winners will be listed as ceremony is almost over.

--//--

12/19

A few moments ago the International Press Academy announced the nominations for the French equivalent to the Golden Globes and here they are.

Best Film
L’Apollonide, souvenirs de la maison close, Bertrand Bonello
*The Artist, Michel Hazanavicius
L’exercice de l’Etat, Pierre Schoeller
Le Havre, Aki Kaurismäki
Intouchables, Eric Toledano and Olivier Nakache

Best Foreign Film in French
Curling, Denis Cote, Canada
Et maintenant, on va où ?, Nadine Labaki, France, Lebanon, Italy
*Incendies, Denis Villeneuve, Canada
Le gamin au vélo, Jean-Pierre et Luc Dardenne, Belgium, France, Italy
Les géants, Bouli Lanners (Belgium, Luxembourg, France

Best Director
Bertrand Bonello for L’Apollonide, souvenirs de la maison close
Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist
Aki Kaurismäki for Le Havre
*Maïwenn for Polisse
Pierre Schoeller for L’exercice de l’Etat

Best Actress
*Bérénice Bejo in The Artist
Catherine Deneuve et Chiara Mastroianni in Les bien-aimés
Valérie Donzelli in La guerre est déclarée
Marina Fois et Karin Viard in Polisse
Clothilde Hesme in Angèle et Tony

Best Actor
Jean Dujardin in The Artist
Olivier Gourmet in L’exercice de l’Etat
JoeyStarr in Polisse
*Omar Sy in Intouchables
André Wilms in Le Havre

Best Female Newcomer
*Alice Barno in L’ Apollonide, souvenirs de la maison close
*Adèle Haenel in L’Apollonide, souvenirs de la maison close
Zoé Heran in Tomboy
*Céline Sallette in L’Apollonide, souvenirs de la maison close
Anamaria Valtoromei in My Little Princess

Best Male Newcomer
Grégory Gadebois in Angèle et Tony
Guillaume Gouix in Jimmy Rivière
Raphaël Ferret in Présumé coupable
*Denis Menochet in Les adoptés
Mahmoud Shalaby in Les hommes libres

Awards ceremony will be on Friday, January 13, 2012 and hope to watch it live as I did last year. The nominations eventually will be at the official site in the meantime go here available only in French.

Have not seen many of these movies and there are two or three that I’m “dying” to see yet hope to be able to watch them ASAP. It’s kind of true that this year nominations resemble Cannes more than in previous years as there are only 11 of 40 nominees that don’t belong to a film screened at 2011 Cannes. I imagine that Cesar categories will look very similar to these as all the great movies plus the ones with much buzz are included in the list.

17th Critics’ Choice Awards Winners

2012-01-13T07:53:00.000-05:00

Last night watched the awards ceremony that was okay, nothing special well, maybe watching Bob Dylan was my "special moment"; anyway I believe that there were no surprises and somehow show a trend on what film critics liked during 2011. Winners for all categories are not yet posted at the official site but will be here soon; winners are in *BLUE.

--//--

12/13

Today the Broadcast Film Critics Association announced the nominations for the current year with Hugo and The Artist leading the pack each with 11 nominations. These are the nominees for the main categories.

Best Picture
*The Artist
The Descendants
Drive
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
The Help
Hugo
Midnight in Paris
Moneyball
The Tree of Life
War Horse

Best Animated Feature
The Adventures of Tintin
Arthur Christmas
Kung Fu Panda 2
Puss in Boots
*Rango

Best Action Movie
*Drive
Fast Five
Hanna
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Super 8

Best Comedy
*Bridesmaids
Crazy, Stupid, Love
Horrible Bosses
Midnight in Paris
The Muppets

Best Foreign Language Film
In Darkness, Poland
Le Havre, Finland
*A Separation, Iran
The Skin I Live In, Spain
Where Do We Go Now, Lebanon

Best Director
Stephen Daldry for Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
*Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist
Alexander Payne for The Descendants
Nicolas Winding Refn for Drive
Martin Scorsese for Hugo
Steven Spielberg for War Horse

Best Actress
*Viola Davis in The Help
Elizabeth Olsen in Martha Marcy May Marlene
Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady
Tilda Swinton in We Need to Talk About Kevin
Charlize Theron in Young Adult
Michelle Williams in My Week With Marilyn

Best Supporting Actress
Berenice Bejo in The Artist
Jessica Chastain in The Help
Melissa McCarthy in Bridesmaids
Carey Mulligan in Shame
*Octavia Spencer in The Help
Shailene Woodley in The Descendants

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

Best Supporting Actor
Kenneth Branagh in My Week With Marilyn
Albert Brooks in Drive
Nick Nolte in Warrior
Patton Oswalt in Young Adult
*Christopher Plummer in Beginners
Andrew Serkis in Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Best Young Actress/Actor
Asa Butterfield in Hugo
Elle Fanning in Super 8
*Thomas Horn in Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
Ezra Miller in We Need to Talk About Kevin
Saoirse Ronan in Hanna
Shailene Woodley in The Descendants

Best Acting Ensemble
The Artist
Bridesmaids
The Descendants
*The Help
The Ides of March

Best Documentary Feature
Buck
Cave of Forgotten Dreams
*George Harrison: Living in the Material World
Page One: Inside the New York Times
Project Nim
Undefeated

If you wish to check nominees in all categories please go here. Awards ceremony will be on Thursday January 12, 2012 at the Hollywood Palladium, will be broadcast live on VH1 AT 8:00pm ET, and will be hosted by Rob Huebel and Paul Scheer.

Yes, I’m starting to see a trend with East Coast critics liking The Artist and West Coast critics preferring a different movie; but, in general seems that up-to-today The Artist could be the critics favorite. The six nominees in each category is not a bad idea this year, especially in the Best Actress category that not only mimics my true choice but also I’m certain the list has the five that have to be nominated for Oscar. One unforgivable omission in these nominees is Pina, but then maybe not many critics have seen the movie even do this group represents more than 250 television, radio and online critics.

41st International Film Festival Rotterdam Lineup

2012-01-11T13:31:00.003-05:00

The festival will open on January 25 and will run until February 5 and there are several films that seems could be extraordinary. Here are some excerpts from the press release with the films in competition announcement.

Fifteen films have been selected for IFFR's Tiger Awards Competition 2012. The complete lineup, comprising first or second feature films concurring for three equal Hivos Tiger Awards of each 15,000 euro, includes eight world premieres. Five competing films have received support from Rotterdam’s Hubert Bals Fund. The Rotterdam Tiger Awards Competition for Short Films 2012 comprises twenty-one films, ranging in length from five to fifty-six minutes. Nine short films in competition will see their world premieres in Rotterdam.

Jury Tiger Awards Competition 2012
The Jury of the seventeenth Tiger Awards Competition comprises actress and film maker Helena Ignez from Brazil, star of Rogerio Sganzerla’s The Red Light Bandit, and co-founder of legendary production company Belair; Ludmila Cvikova, Head of International Programming of the Doha Film Institute, Qatar and former programmer of the International Film Festival Rotterdam; Tine Fischer, director of CPH:DOX, the international documentary film festival in Copenhagen, Denmark; film maker Eric Khoo from Singapore, who’s animated feature film Tatsumi screens in the festival; film maker Samuel Maoz from Israel, who’s first feature film Lebanon was launched as a project at CineMart and went on to win the Golden Lion in Venice. The winners of the Hivos Tiger Awards will be announced on Friday 3 February.

Films In Competition

Babamin Sesi (Voice of My Father), Orhan Eskiköy and Zeynel Dogan, Turkey and Germany, 2011
Black's Game, Óskar Thor Axelsson, Iceland, 2012
De Jueves a Domingo, Dominga Sotomayor Castillo, Chile and Netherlands, 2012
Gui lái dí rén (Return to Burma), Midi Z, Taiwan, Myanmar, 2011
In April the Following Year, There Was a Fire, Wichanon Somumjarn, Thailand, 2012
Jidan he shitou (Egg and Stone), Huang Ji, China, 2012
Klip (Clip), Maja Milos, Serbia, 2012
L, Babis Makridis, Greece, 2012
Living, Vasily Sigarev, Russia, 2012
Lo-maen-seu Jo (Romance Joe), Lee Kwang-Kuk, South Korea, 2011
Mul-go-gi (A Fish), Park Hong-Min, South Korea, 2011
Neighbouring Sounds, Kleber Mendonça Filho, Brazil, 2012
Sudoeste (Southwest), Eduardo Nunes, Brazil, 2011
Tôkyô Pureibôi Kurabu (Tokyo Playboy Club), Okuda Yosuke, Japan, 2011
Z daleka widok jest piekny (It Looks Pretty From a Distance), Anka Sasnal and Wilhelm Sasnal, Poland and USA, 2011

To read info about each film in the press release go here or here for info and the full list.

Out of Competition
Opening Night: 38 Témoins (38 Witnesses), Lucas Belvaux, France
Closing Night: The Hunter, Daniel Nettheim, Australia

For those interested in watching many complete full and short films, the festival has a youtube channel that is a pleasure to visit the whole year; check the 28 today available feature films (not all films are available to all countries) by going here.

Cheers!

2nd Les Magritte du Cinema Awards Nominations

2012-01-10T12:33:00.001-05:00

A few minutes ago the Académie André Delvaux announced the nominations that this year honors films in French but also in Dutch, so there has to be less controversy. Les géants leads with 12 nominations followed by Le gamin au vélo and Tête de boeuf – Rundskop, each with 8. Here are the nominations for some categories.

Best Film
Beyond the steppes, Vanja D’Alcantara
La fée (The Fairy)
Le gamin au vélo (The Kid With a Bike)
Les géants

Best Director
Dominique Abel and Fiona Gordon for La fée
Jean-Pierre Dardene and Luc Dardene for Le gamin au vélo
Bouli Lanners for Les géants
Sam Garbarski for Quartier Lointain

Best Flemish Co Production
Hasta La Vista (Come as You Are), Geoffrey Enthoven
Pulsar, Alex Stockman,
Smoorverliefd, Hilde Van Mieghem
Rundskop (Bullhead), Michael R. Roskam

Best Foreign Film in Co Production
Les émotifs anonyms, Jean-Pierre Améris
Potiche, François Ozon
Route Irish, Ken Loach
Un homme qui crie, Mahamat-Saleh Haroun

Best Actress
Isabelle De Hertogh in Hasta La Vista
Lubna Azabal in Incendies
Cécile de France in Le gamin au vélo
Yolande Moreau in Où va la nuit (The Long Falling), Martin Provost

Best Supporting Actress
Virginie Efira in Kill Me Please
Marie Kremer in Légitime defense (Final Balance), Pierre Lacan
Gwen Berrou in Les géants
Tania Garbarski in Quartier lointain

Best Actor
Dominique Abel in La fée
Benoît Poelvoorde in Les émotifs anonymes
Jonathan Zaccaï in Quartier Lointain
Matthias Schoenaerts in Rundskop

Best Supporting Actor
Bouli Lanners in Kill Me Please
Didier Toupy in Les géants
Laurent Capelluto in Où va la nuit
Jérémie Renier in Potiche

To check nominees in all categories go here. Award ceremony will be on February 4th, will be broadcast by BeTV plus TV5 Monde and hope to watch it like last year. There are not many films that I have seen but the most relevant movies (from Cannes) are the ones I’m dying to watch, with exception of one that have seen: Dardene Brothers magister opus.

9th Annual Irish Film & Television Awards Nominations

2012-01-10T11:40:00.000-05:00

Today the Irish Academy announced the nominations and here they are for some categories.

Best Film
Albert Nobbs
Stella Days
The Guard

Director Film
Rebecca Daly for The Other Side of Sleep
John Michael McDonagh for The Guard
Terry McMahon for Charlie Casanova
Thaddeus O’Sullivan for Stella Days

Actress in a Lead Role in a Feature Film
Aoife Duffin in Behold The Lamb
Antonia Campbell Hughes in The Other Side of Sleep
Marcella Plunkett in Stella Days
Saorise Ronan in Hanna

Actor in a Lead Role in a Feature Film
Michael Fassbender in Shame
Brendan Gleeson in The Guard
Ciarán Hinds in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Martin Sheen in Stella Days

International Film
Bridesmaids
Drive
Senna
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

International Actress
Glenn Close in Albert Nobbs
Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady
Tilda Swinton in We Need to Talk About Kevin
Kirsten Wiig in Bridesmaids

International Actor
Don Cheadle in The Guard
Leonardo DiCaprio in J Edgar
Ryan Gosling in Drive
Gary Oldman in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

To check nominees in all categories including TV go here. Awards ceremony will be on February 11. Have seen almost all the movies but there's one that have not and definitively will watch ASAP, The Other Side of Sleep.

26th Goya Awards Nominations

2012-01-10T09:53:00.000-05:00

A few minutes ago the Academy announced the nominations and here they are for some categories. Most remarkable is that Almodovar latest film, La Piel Que Habito got 16 nominations, which I think makes film one with most nods in Almodovar’s own country, congrats to Pedro Almodovar!

Best Film
Blackthorn, Mateo Gil (oh! Magaly Solier is here!)
La Piel Que Habito (The Skin I Live In), Pedro Almodóvar
La Voz Dormida (The Sleeping Voice), Benito Zambrano
No habrá paz para los malvados, Enrique Urbizu

Best Director
Mateo Gil for Blackthorn
Pedro Almodóvar for La Piel que Habito
Benito Zambrano for La Voz Dormida
Enrique Urbizu for No habrá paz para los malvados

Best New Director
Paula Ortiz for De tu Ventana la Mía
Kike Maíllo for Eva
Paco Arango for Maktub
Eduardo Chapero-Jackson for Verbo

Best Actress
Verónica Echegui in Katmandú. Un espejo en el cielo, Icíar Bollaín
Salma Hayek in La Chispa de la Vida, Alex de la Iglesia
Elena Anaya in La Piel Que Habito, Pedro Almodóvar
Inma Cuesta in La Voz Dormida, Benito Zambrano

Best Actor
Daniel Brühl in Eva, Kike Maíllo
Antonio Banderas in La Piel que Habito, Pedro Almodóvar
Luis Tosar, Mientras Duermes (Sleep Tight), Jaume Balagueró
Jose Coronado in No habrá paz para los malvados, Enrique Urbizu

Best European Film
Jane Eyre, Cary Fukunaga
Melancholia, Lars von Trier
The Artist, Michel Hazanavicius
Carnage, Roman Polanski

Best Iberoamerican Film
Boleto al Paraíso, Gerardo Chijona, Cuba
Miss Bala, Gerardo Naranjo, Mexico
Un Cuento Chino (Chinese Take-Away), Sebastián Borensztein, Argentina
Violeta se fue a los Cielos (Violeta), Andrés Wood, Chile

To check nominees in all categories go here. Eva Hace will be the award host and let’s hope this year will be entertaining (I know every year I hope for the same, lol); award ceremony will be at 10:00pm Madrid time on February 19 and will be broadcast by TVE.

65th Bodil Awards Nominations

2012-01-09T15:18:00.000-05:00

A few days ago the Danish Film Critics Association announced their nominations and here they are some top categories. Nomination leader is A Family with 16 nominations followed close by Dirch (14) and Melancholia (13).

Best Film
En familie (A Family), Pernille Fischer Christensen
SuperClásico, Ole Christian Madsen
Frit Fald (Rebounce), Heidi Maria Faisst
Melancholia, Lars von Trier
Dirch (A Funny Man), Martin P. Zandvliet

Best Actress
Lena Maria Christensen in En familie (A Family)
Frederikke Dahl Hansen in Frit fald (Rebounce)
Kirsten Dunst in Melancholia
Emma Sehested Høeg in Magi i luften (Love is in the Air)

Best Actor
Nikolaj Lie Kaas in Dirch (A Funny Man)
Jesper Christensen in En familie (A Family)
Anders W. Bertelsen in SuperClásico

To read nominees in other categories go here, available only in Danish and here in English. Award winners will be announced on February 5.

64th Annual Directors Guild of America Awards Nominations

2012-01-09T14:22:00.003-05:00

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.

2011 Critics Awards - Final

2012-01-07T17:33:00.000-05:00

With today's announcement by the National Society of Film Critics we close this post to be final as has almost the winners of all listed groups -except for one.

Critics didn't concentrate their honors into one particular movie like happened last year, nevertheless we know that the film with more wins is The Artist followed by The Tree of Life and The Descendants. Congruently with the best film category Michel Hazanavicius leads the best director tally but then incorporates two new films as is followed by Nicolas Winding Refn and Martin Scorsese.

Michelle Williams is the actress with more wins followed by Tilda Swinton; other winners like Viola Davis and Meryl Streep are far away from the first two. Jessica Chastain leads the Best Supporting Actress wins, followed close by (that's a surprise for me) Shailene Woodley in The Descendats, Octavia Spencer in The Help, and Melissa McCarthy in Bridesmaids.

Best Actor has three close actors, but is George Clooney who got the most wins, followed by Michael Fassbender and Michael Shannon. Best Supporting Actor has Albert Brooks leading the pack with Christopher Plummer following far away.

I know that critics are not Academy members but also know that they do honor some of the movies that later will get Oscar nominations. I imagine that soon my crystal ball will be used to give my best Oscar guesses and surely critics will help me to guess better.

Cheers!

--//--

12/11

As there were several announcements during the weekend and specially today, decided to do the first update to this post that will continue to change until becomes final. Up to this moment, The Artist seems to be popular among critics and no other category seems to have a clear trend, except for Best Supporting Actress that is not listed here but where many are starting to agree.

--//--

12/6

Last year I was able to get a good picture of what critics liked and honored with their awards as did one post will all the info; as worked will do the same this year and today we start this post that will be updated constantly as groups, societies, associations, circles, etc do their announcements. New this year is to publish Best Film, Best Director, Best Actress and Best Actor, not only the film as last year.

Alliance of Women Film Journalist (EDA Awards)
Nominations: Official Site

Austin Film Critics Association
Winners: Official Site
Best Film: Hugo
Best Director: Nicolas Winding Refn for Drive
Best Actress: Tilda Swinton in We Need to Talk About Kevin
Best Actor: Michael Shannon in Take Shelter

Boston Society of Film Critics
Winners: Official Site
Best Film: The Artist
Best Director: Martin Scorsese for Hugo
Best Actress: Michelle Williams in My Week with Marilyn
Best Actor: Brad Pitt in Moneyball

Chicago Film Critics Association
Nominations: Official site.
Winners: Official site
Best Film: The Tree of Life
Best Director: Terrence Malick for The Tree of Life
Best Actress: Michelle Williams in My Week with Marilyn
Best Actor: Michael Shannon in Take Shelter

Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association
Winners: Official site.
Best Film: The Descendants
Best Director: Alexander Payne for The Descendants
Best Actress: Michelle Williams in My Week with Marilyn
Best Actor: George Clooney in The Descendants

Detroit Film Critics Society
Nominations: Official Site
Winners: News here.
Best Film: The Artist
Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist
Best Actress: Michelle Williams in My Week with Marilyn
Best Actor: Michael Fassbender in Shame

Dublin Film Critics Circle
Winners: Not at Official site, news here.
Best Film: Drive
Best Director: Nicolas Winding Refn for Drive
Best Actress: Jessica Chastain in The Tree of Life
Best Actor: Ryan Gosling in Drive

Florida Film Critics Circle
Winners: Official site.
Best Film: The Descendants
Best Director: Martin Scorsese for Hugo
Best Actress: Michelle Williams in My Week with Marilyn
Best Actor: Michael Fassbender in Shame

The Houston Film Critics Society
Nominations: Official site down. News here.
Winners: News here.
Best Film: The Descendants
Best Director: Nicholas Winding Refn for Drive
Best Actress: Tilda Swinton in We Have To Talk About Kevin
Best Actor: Michael Fassbender in Shame

Indiana Film Journalist Association
Winners: Official site is down. News here.
Best Film: The Artist
Best Director: Nicholas Winding Refn for Drive
Best Actress: Michelle Williams in My Week With Marilyn
Best Actor: Jean Dujardin in The Artist

Indiewire Annual Critics Survey
Winners: Official Site
Best Film: The Tree of Life
Best Director: Terrence Malick for The Tree of Life
Best Lead Performance: Michael Fassbender in Shame
Best Supporting Performance: Christopher Plummer in Beginners

Las Vegas Film Critics Society
Winners: Official site.
Best Film: The Artist
Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist
Best Actress: Elizabeth Olsen in Martha Marcy May Marlene
Best Actor: Paul Giamatti in Win win

National Society of Film Critics
Winners: Official Site
Best Film: Melancholia
Best Director: Terrence Malick for The Tree of Life
Best Actress: Kirsten Dunst in Melancholia
Best Actor: Brad Pitt in Moneyball

New York Film Critics Online
Winners: Official Site
Best Film: The Artist
Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist
Best Actress: Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady
Best Actor: Michael Shannon in Take Shelter

Oklahoma Film Critics Circle
Winners: Official site.
Best Film: The Artist
Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist
Best Actress: Elizabeth Olsen in Martha Marcy May Marlene
Best Actor: Jean Dujardin in The Artist

Online Film Critics Society
Nominations: Official site
Winners: Official site
Best Film: The Tree of Life
Best Director: Terrence Malick for The Tree of LIfe
Best Actress: Tilda Swinton in We Need to Talk About Kevin
Best Actor: Michael Fassbender in Shame

Phoenix Film Critics Society
Nominations: Official site.
Winners: Oficial Site
Best Film: The Artist
Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist
Best Actress: Michelle Williams in My Week with Marilyn
Best Actor: George Clooney in The Descendants

St. Louis Film Critics
Nominations: Official site.
Winners: Official site.
Best Film: The Descendants
Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist
Best Actress: Rooney Mara in The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Best Actor: George Clooney in The Descendants

San Diego Film Critics Society
Nominations: Official Site.
Winners: Official site.
Best Film: The Artist
Best Director: Nicholas Winding Refn for Drive
Best Actress: Brit Marling in Another Earth
Best Actor: Michael Shannon in Take Shelter

San Francisco Film Critics Circle
Winners: Official Site
Best Film: The Tree of Life
Best Director: Terrence Malick for The Tree of Life
Best Actress: Tilda Swinton in We Need To Talk About Kevin
Best Actor: Gary Oldman in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Southeastern Film Critics Association
Winners: Official site or news here.
Best Film: The Descendants
Best Director: Martin Scorsese for Hugo
Best Actress: Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady
Best Actor: George Clooney in The Descendants

Toronto Film Critics Association
Winners: Official Site
Best Film: The Tree of Life
Best Director: Terrence Malick for The Tree of Life
Best Actress: Michelle Williams in My Week With Marilyn
Best Actor: Michael Shannon in Take Shelter

Utah Film Critics Association
Winners: news.
Best Film: Drive
Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist
Best Actress: Michelle Williams in My Week With Marilyn
Best Actor: Joseph Gordon-Levitt in 50/50

The Washington DC Area Film Critics
Winners – Official Site
Best Film: The Artist
Best Director: Martin Scorsese for Hugo
Best Actress: Michelle Williams in My Week with Marilyn
Best Actor: George Clooney in The Descendants

As we know there are a few exceptions that will get their own post.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

2012-01-07T13:07:00.000-05:00

Tomas Alfredson is the director of my favorite vampire movie I’ve ever seen, Låt den rätte komma in (Let the Right One In), so I had big expectations for his first English language film. Have to say that film has traces of what I can call Alfredson style, great slowish pace, good framing and some spectacular indoor compositions, and a darkish/blueish tone that made me think about colder scenarios, but then –after all- film is set in the Cold War. Visually I found film very compelling but I had a problem that distract me a lot from truly enjoying the film.

I have not read the novel by John le Carré but, unfortunately I read once, more than the headline reviews and end up learning the character that was the double agent, which surely spoiled the complete story and tension building –still, performances are quite good; so highly enjoyed the almost cruel, freezing-cold bloody characters with some great dialogues.

Probably is only me but nowadays I admit not to be interested in Cold War spies, double agents, missions or anything else related. For me the world tensions have changed so much that the spying world has also changed a lot as players and circumstances have become “less classic” and more “underworld”. So even if I did enjoy the directorial style, the visuals, the slowish pace, the performances, I wasn’t able to get involved with the story. Undoubtedly knowing “who-did-it” was a major spoiler, but also story needs to be told maybe in what, 20-30 years to become relevant again.

Film basically tells the story of a British semi-retired spy that is given the task to uncover a double (British-Russian) agent at the TOP of British echelons.

But if you enjoy classical–very close to reality- spy films with no Hollywood distracting chases/sfx’s, with darkish/blueish great directorial style and great performances by an extraordinary actor’s ensemble that deliver some crisp lines then probably you will enjoy this movie even more than what I did.

Enjoy!!

Watch trailer @MOC

2nd Online World Festival of French Cinema

2012-01-07T12:11:00.004-05:00

A year ago I was highly excited about being part of the very first French Cinema festival online as was one of the (too) many jurors. A year after the second edition promises to be a little bit more interesting, not only because it has become more available (14 languages) but also there are a couple of films that could be very interesting.

Let me share with you excerpts of the press release I got this year.

Unifrance Films and Allociné are launching the 2nd edition of the Online World Festival of French Cinema, MyFrenchFilmFestival.com, from 12 January to 1 February 2012. Three weeks to discover young French film creation throughout the world!

After its first edition, which attracted more than 320,000 Internet users from 170 different countries, the Festival is even bigger in 2012. The selection proposes via paying VOD 10 French feature films and 10 French shorts, as well as 3 films out of competition: "The Trip Across Paris", directed by Claude Autant-Lara, and two Canadian films, one short and one feature. Three prizes will be awarded at the conclusion of the festival: the Audience Prize, International Press Prize and Social Network’s Prize.

This year both the films and website are available in 14 different languages. In addition to the official platform, the Festival is hosted worldwide by partner platforms. The films can be watched free of charge in certain territories: Latin America, Russia, Germany, Italy and China.

The following are the films that will be shown this year.

Feature Films In Competition
Belle épine (Dear Prudence), Rebecca Zlotowski
Case depart (Back to square one), Lionel Steketee
D'amour et d'eau fraîche (Living On Love Alone), Isabelle Czajka
Entre nos mains (Into our own hands), Mariana Otero
Huit fois debout (Eight Times Up), Xabi Molia
J'aime regarder les filles (18 years old and rising), Frédéric Louf
La Reine des pommes (Queen of Hearts), Jérémie Elkaïm
Memory Lane, Mikhaël Hers
Pauline et François (Pauline andFrançois), Renaud Fely
Un poison violent (Love Like Poison) Directed by Katell Quillévéré

Short Films In Competition
Aglaée, Rudi Rosenberg
C’est à Dieu qu’il faut le dire (God's the one to tell), Elsa Diringer
Cul de bouteille (Specky Four-Eyes),Directed by Jean-Claude Rozec
Dripped, Léo Verrier
J'aurais pu être une pute (I could've been a hooker), Baya Kasmi
L'Accordeur (The Piano Tuner), Olivier Treiner
Le Meilleur ami de l'homme (Man's best friend), Vincent Mariette
Monsieur l'abbé (Dear Abbot), Blandine Lenoir
Petit tailleur (The Little Tailor), Louis Garrel
The Silence Beneath the Bark, Joanna Lurie

Out of Competition
La Traversée de Paris (The Trip Across Paris), Claude Autant-Lara
La Vérité, Marc Bisaillon
Trotteur, Arnaud Brisebois

To watch movies, check director’s interviews, watch trailers and more go to the fest official site here. Hope you’ll participate in this incredible festival that STILL is the only one that’s truly open to the world; is with our participation that this and hopefully many more unconventional “distribution channels” could become available in regions where otherwise is impossible to be able to watch GREAT films.

Enjoy!

2012 BAFTA Long List

2012-01-06T15:18:00.001-05:00

Today the British Academy released the long list that’s the result of round one voting by Academy members. 285 films entered this year and round one reduces the list of eligible films to 15 in each category. As we know round two will reduce these 15 contenders down to 5 nominations in each category. Leading the pack are My Week With Marilyn and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy with 16 mentions each, followed by The Iron Lady with 14, and The Artist, Midnight In Paris, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and War Horse with 13 each.

Best Film
The Artist
The Descendants
Drive
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
The Help
Hugo
The Ides of March
The Iron Lady
Midnight in Paris
Moneyball
My Week with Marilyn
Senna
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
War Horse
We Need to Talk About Kevin

Outstanding British Film
Arthur Christmas
Attack the Block
Coriolanus
The Guard
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2
The Iron Lady
Jane Eyre
My Week with Marilyn
Senna
Shame
Submarine
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Tyrannosaur
War Horse
We Need to Talk About Kevin

Film Not in the English Language
Abel
As If I Am Not There
The Boy Mir – Ten Years in Afghanistan
Calvet
Dhobi Ghat (Mumbai Diaries)
Incendies
Little White Lies
Pina
Post Mortem
Potiche
Le Quattro Volte
A Separation
The Skin I Live In
Tomboy
The Troll Hunter

Animated Film
The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn*
Arthur Christmas*
Gnomeo and Juliet
Puss in Boots
Rango*

Director
The Artist*
The Descendants
Drive*
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
The Help
Hugo*
The Ides of March
The Iron Lady
J. Edgar
Midnight in Paris
Moneyball
My Week with Marilyn
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy*
War Horse
We Need to Talk About Kevin*

Leading Actress
Bérénice Bejo (Peppy Miller) – The Artist*
Carey Mulligan (Sissy) – Shame
Charlize Theron (Mavis Gary) – Young Adult
Emma Stone (Skeeter Phelan) – The Help
Helen Mirren (Rachel Singer) – The Debt
Jodie Foster (Penelope Longstreet) – Carnage
Kate Winslet (Nancy Cowan) – Carnage
Kristen Wiig (Annie) – Bridesmaids
Meryl Streep (Margaret Thatcher) – The Iron Lady*
Mia Wasikowska (Jane Eyre) – Jane Eyre
Michelle Williams (Marilyn Monroe) – My Week with Marilyn*
Olivia Colman (Hannah) – Tyrannosaur
Rooney Mara (Lisbeth Salander) – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Tilda Swinton (Eva) – We Need to Talk About Kevin*
Viola Davis (Aibileen Clark) – The Help*

Supporting Actress †
Alexandra Roach (Young Margaret Thatcher) – The Iron Lady
Bryce Dallas Howard (Hilly Holbrook) – The Help*
Carey Mulligan (Irene) – Drive
Emily Watson (Rosie Narracott) – War Horse
Evan Rachel Wood (Molly Steams) – The Ides of March
Jessica Chastain (Celia Foote) – The Help*
Judi Dench (Dame Sybil Thorndike) – My Week with Marilyn*
Kathy Bates (Gertrude Stein) – Midnight in Paris
Kathy Burke (Connie Sachs) – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Marion Cotillard (Adriana) – Midnight in Paris
Melissa McCarthy (Megan) – Bridesmaids*
Octavia Spencer (Minny Jackson) – The Help*
Olivia Colman (Carol Thatcher) – The Iron Lady
Shailene Woodley (Alexandra King) – The Descendants
Zoe Wanamaker (Paula Strasberg) – My Week with Marilyn*

Leading Actor
Antonio Banderas (Robert Ledgard) – The Skin I Live In
Brad Pitt (Billy Beane) – Moneyball*
Brendan Gleeson (Gerry Boyle) – The Guard
Daniel Craig (Mikael Blomkvist) – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Eddie Redmayne (Colin Clark) – My Week with Marilyn
Gary Oldman (George Smiley) - Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy*
George Clooney (Matt King) – The Descendants*
Jean Dujardin (George Valentin) – The Artist*
Leonardo DiCaprio (J. Edgar Hoover) – J. Edgar
Michael Fassbender (Brandon) – Shame*
Owen Wilson (Gil) - Midnight in Paris
Peter Mullan (Joseph) – Tyrannosaur
Ralph Fiennes (Caius Martius Coriolanus) - Coriolanus
Ryan Gosling (Driver) – Drive
Ryan Gosling (Stephen Meyers) – The Ides of March

Supporting Actor
Alan Rickman (Prof. Severus Snape) - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2
Albert Brooks (Bernie Rose) – Drive
Ben Kingsley (George Méliès) – Hugo
Benedict Cumberbatch (Peter Guillam) – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Christopher Plummer (Hal) – Beginners*
Colin Firth (Bill Haydon) - Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Eddie Marsan (James) – Tyrannosaur*
Ezra Miller (Kevin - Teenager) – We Need to Talk About Kevin
George Clooney (Mike Morris) – The Ides of March
Jim Broadbent (Denis Thatcher) – The Iron Lady
John Hurt (Control) – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Jonah Hill (Peter Brand) – Moneyball*
Kenneth Branagh (Sir Laurence Olivier) – My Week with Marilyn*
Paul Giamatti (Tom Duffy) – The Ides of March
Philip Seymour Hoffman (Paul Zara) – The Ides of March*

Documentary
George Harrison: Living in the Material World
Life in a Day
Pina
Project Nim
Senna

To check all categories go here. Nominations announcement is on Tuesday, January 17 and will be streamed live on BAFTA site. Awards ceremony will be on Sunday February 12.

2012 Writers Guild Awards Nominations

2012-01-05T15:14:00.000-05:00

A few minutes ago the Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) and the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) have announced the nominations for outstanding achievement in writing for the screen during 2011 and here they are for the film categories.

Original Screenplay
50/50, Will Reiser
Bridesmaids, Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig
Midnight in Paris, Woody Allen
Win Win, Tom Mcarthy
Young Adult, Diablo Cody

Adapted Screenplay
The Descendants, Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, and Jim Rash
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Steven Zaillian
The Help, Tate Taylor
Hugo, John Logan
Moneyball, Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin

Documentary Screenplay
Better This World, Katie Galloway & Kelly Duane de la Vega
If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front, Marshall Curry and Matthew Hamachek
Nostalgia for the Light, Patricio Guzmán
Pina, Wim Wenders
Position Among the Stars, Hetty Naaijkens-Retel Helmrich, Leonard Retel Helmrich
Senna, Manish Pandey

One screenplay I truly wish to win this award, the one written by Patricio Guzmán; no other favorites but I really enjoy the amazing scripts by Diablo Cody so hope this one is good (haven’t seen film yet) and she gets the award. Not sure how these nominees could reflect the possible Oscar nominations, but I’m almost sure that Steven Zaillian has to get a nod and probably will be the one he share credits with Aaron Sorkin.

To check the official announcement that includes TV categories go here. Award ceremony will be Sunday, February 19, 2012.

16th Annual Art Directors Guild Awards Nominations

2012-01-05T14:34:00.002-05:00

Yesterday the ADG announced the nominations for Excellence in Production Design and as every year I say –this film classification is the one that makes more sense from any other award. Here are the feature film nominations.

Period Film
Anonymous, Sebastian Krawinkel
The Artist, Laurence Bennett
The Help, Mark Ricker
Hugo, Dante Ferretti
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Maria Djurkovic

Fantasy Film
The Adventures of Tin Tin: The Secret of the Unicorn, TBD
Captain America: The First Avenger, Rick Heinrichs
Cowboys & Aliens, Scott Chambliss
Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 2, Stuart Craig
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, John Myhre

Contemporary Film
Bridesmaids, Jefferson Sage
The Descendants, Jane Ann Stewart
Drive, Beth Mickle
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, K.K. Barrett
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Donald Graham Burt

To check nominees in all categories go here. There is one movie that I'm looking forward to watch and hasn't got that much honors in the current award season, Anonymous. Awards ceremony will be on Saturday, February 4, 2012.

84th Academy Awards Achievement in Visual Effects Shortlist

2012-01-05T13:12:00.000-05:00

Yesterday the Academy announced the 10 films that remain in the running for the VFX category. Film in the shortlist are in *BLUE. To check the official announcement go here.

--//--

12/11

Last Friday the Academy announced that 15 films have been selected to be considered in the VFX category and here they are.

*Captain America: The First Avenger
Cowboys & Aliens
*Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
*Hugo
*Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol
*Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
*Real Steel
*Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
Sucker Punch
Super 8
Thor
*Transformers: Dark of the Moon
*The Tree of Life
*X-Men: First Class

According to the recent rules in early January the list will be narrow to 10 films and on January 19 all members of the Visual Effects Branch will vote to define the 5 that will be nominated. To read the official announcement go here.

Nostalgia de la Luz (Nostalgia for the Light)

2011-12-31T13:37:00.001-05:00

Had to close 2011 with my take on a film. Most particular is that I’m closing the year with comments about a documentary and not a fiction film. 2011 had some outstanding films but my top films are definitively documentaries and yes, it’s a first! Really loved Pina it is truly outstanding but my top film for 2011 absolutely is a documentary about a Chilean desert and everything that once happened there, is currently happening there and will continue to happen there. Is about the Atacama Desert.

In life there are many things that make us deeply wonder, like the infamous question “where do we come from”, we being the human race or better, life in planet Earth. The Atacama Desert is “the” driest place in planet Earth, there is no humidity –so, there are no clouds making it the best place to have the largest telescopes on Earth. From there astronomers are learning about the beginnings or the big bang -if you wish-; but actually are learning about the past, a very-very-very far away past that could explain us, life, and the very ephemeral present. Documentary starts telling us about all this with the most mind blowing images of the universe, which are so good that honestly made me feel tiny, very tiny and humble.

I already felt small and deeply humbled by what I saw, but nothing prepared me to what followed.

The first fateful September 11th came with brutal repression that killed many and yes, I have seen several movies about that date and what followed after; BUT, never like what I saw here. The Atacama Desert during Pinochet had several concentration camps and one is quite close to where the marvelous and huge telescopes are. Was an old mine from the times when mining was like slavery, so easily became a prison for political prisoners. Prisoners from those camps and elsewhere were killed and dumped into massive graves that were “moved” to erase their existence. In the “moving” process bodies, cadavers were split with broken feet and heads parts flying out and bodies placed on trucks to be thrown elsewhere (mostly in the sea). Many, many Chileans mothers walk the Atacama Desert searching for their sons and daughters, brothers and sisters; and some found something that allow them to finally realize that they are dead. These mothers, as the close-by astronomers, are searching the past for clues.

I know I’m telling a lot about what this film is about, but I’m doing it so when you watch this film you’ll be prepared, you will have an idea of what you will see and after watching you will be able to “digest” everything a lot faster. See, the situation with this film is that is not horror, NO, on the contrary is so beautiful, then so real, then so crude-real (and beautiful), so painful to watch (everything hurts), so beautiful, so beautiful, so horrific, so beautiful and finally an ending that strongly blends both stories into one. Ah!!

Patricio Guzman’s oeuvre is so well-done that will impress you beyond your imagination as flawlessly and most delicately will tell you his story (he narrates), a slice of the story of his country, the story where most likely Scientists will find more and new answers about our past, and where Chilean people found, are finding and will find knowledge about their recent past. Chapeau Master Guzman.

Strongly recommend this marvelous film that was screened in 2010 Cannes, won the 2010 European Film Award for documentary plus many more well-deserved honors in the festival circuit. Film has impressed general audiences but most interesting for me was to find that also impressed scientists, still after watching you’ll understand why so many have succumbed to Patricio Guzman incredible narrative and narrative style.

BIG ENJOY!!!

Watch trailer @MOC

84th Academy Awards Poster

2011-12-28T12:53:00.000-05:00

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has unveiled the poster for the 84th Academy Awards®. The art features the iconic Oscar statuette alongside memorable images from eight films spanning eight decades: "Gone with the Wind" (1939), "Casablanca" (1943), "Giant" (1956), "The Sound of Music" (1965), "The Godfather" (1972), "Driving Miss Daisy" (1989), "Forrest Gump" (1994) and "Gladiator" (2000). All the films featured on the poster won the Academy Award® for Best Picture, except "Giant," for which George Stevens won the Oscar for Directing.

Supported by the tagline "Celebrate the movies in all of us," the design is meant to evoke the emotional connections we all have with the movies. "Whether it's a first date or a holiday gathering with friends or family, movies are a big part of our memory," said Academy President Tom Sherak. "The Academy Awards not only honor the excellence of these movies, but also celebrate what they mean to us as a culture and to each of us individually."

The artwork was created by award-winning graphic designer Anthony Goldschmidt, and Mark and Karen Crawford of the design firm Blood&Chocolate.

The 84th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Tuesday, January 24, 2012, at 5:30 a.m. PST in the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater. Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2011 will be presented on Sunday, February 26, 2012, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live at 7 p.m. EST/4 p.m. PST by the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries worldwide.

To read the official announcement go here.

16th Annual Satellite Awards Winners

2011-12-19T13:30:00.000-05:00

Last night they had the award ceremony and winners are in *BOLD. To check winners in all categories including TV go here.

--//--

12/2

Last night the International Press Academy announced the nominations and here they are from the official site that’s here. Have to mention that have read in other sites a different list, so I’ll be checking to confirm if they made a mistake in the official site or to identify what’s going on.

Best Picture
The Artist
*The Descendants
Drive
Hugo
Moneyball
Shame
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
War Horse

Best Animated or Mixed Media Film
Kung Fu Panda 2
The Muppets
Puss In Boots
Rio
*The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn

Best Foreign Film
Miss Bala, Mexico
A Separation, Iran
The Kid With The Bike, Belgium
The Turin Horse, Hungary
Las Acadias, Argentina
13 Assassins, Japan
Mozart's Sister, France
*Mysteries of Lisbon, Portugal
Le Havre, Finland
Faust, Russia

Best Director
Tate Taylor for The Help
Alexander Payne for The Descendants
*Nicolas Winding Refn for Drive
Steven Spielberg for War Horse
Martin Scorsese for Hugo
John Michael McDonagh for The Guard
Tomas Alfredson for Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
Woody Allen for Midnight in Paris
Steve McQueen for Shame

Best Actress
Vera Farmiga in Higher Ground
Michelle Williams in My Week With Marilyn
Emily Watson in Oranges and Sunshine
Charlize Theron in Young Adult
Glenn Close in Albert Nobbs
*Viola Davis in The Help
Olivia Colman in Tyrannosaur
Michelle Yeoh in The Lady
Elizabeth Olsen in Martha Marcy May Marlene
Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady

Best Supporting Actress
Janet McTeer in Albert Nobbs
Octavia Spencer in The Help
*Jessica Chastain in The Tree of Life
Vanessa Redgrave in Coriolanus
Rachel McAdams in Midnight in Paris
Lisa Feret in Mozart's Sister
Judy Greer in The Descendants
Kate Winslet in Carnage
Elle Fanning in Super 8

Best Actor
Leonardo DiCaprio in J. Edgar
*Ryan Gosling in Drive
Michael Fassbender in Shame
George Clooney in The Descendants
Brendan Gleeson in The Guard
Michael Shannon in Take Shelter
Tom Hardy in Warrior
Woody Harrelson in Rampart
Gary Oldman in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
Brad Pitt in Moneyball

Best Supporting Actor
*Albert Brooks in Drive
Viggo Mortensen in A Dangerous Method
Hugo Weaving in Oranges and Sunshine
Kenneth Branagh in My Week With Marilyn
Colin Farrell in Horrible Bosses
Andy Serkis in Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Nick Nolte in Warrior
Jonah Hill in Moneyball
Christopher Plummer in Beginners
Christoph Waltz in Carnage

To check nominees in all film categories as well as check TV categories go here. Awards ceremony will be on December 18.

The International Press Academy changed the categories this year as before categories were more similar to Golden Globes than to Oscar, as had separate categories for Comedy or Musical, including nominations for Actors. Still having so many nominees in each category is a bit confusing yet there are not really any surprises at least in the main categories listed here.

2011 Prix Louis-Delluc Award Winners

2011-12-16T09:30:00.000-05:00

Today the most prestigious award in French cinema was announced by Gilles Jacob, jury president and pleases me to share with all that the winner is Le Havre by Aki Kaurismäki and Donoma by Djinn Carrenard, both films are extremely worth-watching. Winners are in *BLUE.

To check the news in French go here and in English go here.

--//--

11/22

Yesterday the nominees were announced for this most prestigious French award and these are the nominated films.

Best Film
L'Apollonide (Souvenirs de maison close) (House of Tolerance) by Bertrand Bonello
L'Exercice de l'Etat (The Minister) by Pierre Schoeller
La Guerre est déclarée (Declaration of War) by Valérie Donzelli
*Le Havre by Aki Kaurismäki
Hors Satan (Outside Satan) by Bruno Dumont
Les Neiges by Kilimandjaro by Robert Guédiguian
Pater by Alain Cavalier
The Artist by Michel Hazanavicius
Tomboy by Céline Sciamma

Best First Film
17 filles (17 Girls) by Muriel Coulin and Delphine Coulin
*Donoma by Djinn Carrenard (WOW! Movie budget: Euros 150 … have to see this! Very curious about film check this)
Jimmy Rivière by Teddy Lussi-Modeste
Mafrouza (5 films) by Emmanuelle Demoris
Nous, Princesse de Clèves by Régis Sauder

I’m so happy as have seen many, not all but many of the films; still there are some, like Aki’s film that I’m really “dying” to see and hopefully will be the great winner this year but I know that Pater, Les Neiges du Kilimandjaro and The Artist are also great contenders. As we realize in the best film category all –except one- films come from Cannes; the exception is Céline Sciamma’s Tomboy that is a very interesting film but in my opinion not as good as her extraordinary Naissance des pieuvres that won the Prix Louis Delluc for first film in 2007.

Awards ceremony will be in Paris on December 16. To check the news at allocine go here; for English go here.

Best Actress Tally for Current Award Season

2011-12-15T13:43:00.000-05:00

As there are good surprises let me share the tally that up-to-today has Michelle Williams leading in wins and nominations, unexpected but quite pleased as she’s a very good actress that in my opinion needs/deserves more recognition from peers, industry, journalists, and yes, audiences too.

Michelle Williams in My Week With Marilyn
Wins: 4 (Boston, Toronto, Las Vegas, DC)
Nominations: 10 (Globes, BFCA, SAG, Phoenix, Houston, Detroit, Spirits, St. Louis, San Diego, Satellites)

Close by is Tilda Swinton that’s another actress that in my opinion needs more honors as every single role that she does is award worthy.

Tilda Swinton in We Need To Talk About Kevin
Wins: 4 (SF, NBR, EFA, Houston)
Nominations: 7 (Globes, BFCA, SAG, Indiana, DC, BIFA, San Diego)

Next surely the most honored actress in the planet and all well-deserved, Meryl Streep; followed closely by Viola Davis and not so far away newcomer Elizabeth Olsen.

Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady
Wins: 2 (NYFCC and NYFCO)
Nominations: 10 (Globes, SAG, Phoenix, BFCA, Houston, Detroit, Boston, DC, St. Louis, Satellites)

Viola Davis in The Help
Wins: 1 (African-American critics)
Nominations: 10 (Globes, SAG, Phoenix, BFCA, Houston St. Louis, Detroit, DC, Satellites, San Diego)

Elizabeth Olsen in Martha Marcy May Marlene
Wins: 1 (Indiana)
Nominations: 8 (BFCA, Phoenix, Houston, DC, Spirits, San Diego, St. Louis, Satellites)

These are the ladies that lead the race to Oscar and surely nominations probably will be among them and maybe, just maybe Charlize Theron will make it even do up to day her tally reads with only 4 nominations (Globes, BFCA, Detroit, Satellites). Also hoping for a spot is Glenn Close that has 3 nominations but from “big/relevant” groups as Globes, SAG, and Satellites.

Is still too early to find a clear trend, but I will not be surprised if Oscar nods look like the tally. I know that this category could be less predictable than last year which of course makes it more interesting to follow.

Cheers!

84th Academy Awards Live Shorts Shortlist

2011-12-14T14:47:00.002-05:00

A few minutes ago the Academy announced that 10 live action short films –out of 107 that qualified-will advance in the voting process; these are the films.

Je Pourrais Être Votre Grand-Mère (I Could Be Your Grandmother) by Bernard Tanguy, France
Love at First Sight by Michael Davies, UK
Pentecost by Peter McDonald, Ireland
Raju by Max Zähle, Germany and India
The Road Home by Rahul Gandotra, UK and India
Das Rauschen des Meeres (The Roar of the Sea) by Ana Rocha Fernandes and Torsten Truscheit, Germany
Sailcloth by Elfar Adalsteins, UK
The Shore by Terry George,
Time Freak by Andrew Bowler, USA
Tuba Atlantic by Hallvar Witzø, Norway

I’m impress the shorts shortlist is very European! Quite unusual. To read the official announcements go here.

18th Screen Actors Guild Awards Nominations

2011-12-14T12:10:00.001-05:00

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.

2011 AFI Awards

2011-12-11T19:14:00.001-05:00

Today the American Film Institute announced their annual honors and here are the ten AFI Movies of the Year.

Bridesmaids
The Descendants
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
The Help
Hugo
J. Edgar
Midnight in Paris
Moneyball
The Tree of Life
War Horse

To read the official announcement that includes the AFI’s Ten TV Programs of the Year go here.

The following is AFI's video with their top 10.

14th British Independent Film Awards Winners

2011-12-11T19:10:00.001-05:00

I was not pleased with the results, so much that I forgot to publish the winners, LOL! But here they are in *BLUE. Obviously there are exceptions and definitively I was really glad that Lynne Ramsay was honored with the award.

10/31

Today were announced the nominations for current year BIFA’s and statistics tell us that three films have the most nominations, Shame, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Tyrannosaur with seven each. Here are the nominations for some categories and to check the full list go here.

Best British Independent Film
Senna, Asif Kapadia
Shame, Steve McQueen
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Tomas Alfredson
*Tyrannosaur, Paddy Considine
We Need to Talk About Kevin, Lynne Ramsay

Best Director
Ben Wheatley for Kill List
Steve McQueen for Shame
Tomas Alfredson for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Paddy Considine for Tyrannosaur
*Lynne Ramsay for We Need to Talk About Kevin

Best Debut Director
Joe Cornish for Attack the Block
Ralph Fiennes for Coriolanus
John Michael McDonagh for The Guard
Richard Ayoade for Submarine
*Paddy Considine for Tyrannosaur

Best Actress
Rebeca Hall in The Awakening, Nick Murphy
Mia Wasikowska in Jane Eyre, Cary Fukunaga
MyAnna Buring in Kill List, Ben Wheatley
*Olivia Colman in Tyrannosaur, Paddy Considine
Tilda Swinton in We Need to Talk About Kevin, Lynne Ramsay

Best Supporting Actress
Felicity Jones in Albatross, Niall MacCormick
*Vanessa Redgrave in Coriolanus, Ralph Fiennes
Carey Mulligan in Shame, Steve McQueen
Sally Hawkins in Submarine, Richard Ayoade
Kathy Burke in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Tomas Alfredson

Best Actor
Brendan Gleeson in The Guard, John Michael McDonagh
Neil Maskell in Kill List, Ben Wheatley
*Michael Fassbender in Shame, Steve McQueen
Gary Oldman in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Tomas Alfredson
Peter Mullan in Tyrannosaur, Paddy Considine

Best Supporting Actor
*Michael Smiley in Kill List, Ben Wheatley
Tom Hardy in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Tomas Alfredson
Benedict Cumberbatch in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Tomas Alfredson
Eddie Marsan in Tyrannosaur, Paddy Considine
Ezra Miller in We Need to Talk about Kevin, Lynne Ramsay

Most Promising Newcomer
Jessica Brown Findlay in Albatross, Niall MacCormick
John Boyega in Attack The Block, Joe Cornish
Craig Roberts in Submarine, Richard Ayoade
Yasmin Paige in Submarine, Richard Ayoade
*Tom Cullen in Weekend, Andrew Haigh (gay interest)

Best Foreign Film
Animal Kingdom, David Michôd, Australia
Drive, Nicolas Winding Refn, USA
Pina, Wim Wenders, Germany
*Jodaeiye Nader az Simin (A Separation), Asghar Farhadi, Iran
La Piel Que Habito (The Skin I live), Pedro Almodóvar, Spain

The awards ceremony will take place on Sunday December 4th, 2011. There are many that haven’t seen but from buzz Shame will get some top awards (for sure Fassbender as Best Actor) plus yes, I vote for Mia Wasikowska for Best Actress –but I know that is Tilda time and she has to get accolades for her role in Ramsay’s film.

37th Annual Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards

2011-12-11T19:01:00.001-05:00

A few hours ago the perhaps most powerful group of critics voted and here are some of the winners.

Best Picture: The Descendants
Runner-Up: The Tree of Life

Best Director: Terrence Malick for The Tree of Life
Runner-Up: Martin Scorsese for Hugo

Best Actress: Yun Jung-hee in Poetry
Runner-Up: Kirsten Dunst in Melancholia

Best Supporting Actress: Jessica Chastain in Coriolanus, The Debt, The Help, Take Shelter, Texas Killing Fields, and The Tree of Life
Runner-Up: Janet McTeer in Albert Nobbs

Best Actor: Michael Fassbender in A Dangerous Method, Jane Eyre, Shame, and X-Men: First Class
Runner-Up: Michael Shannon in Take Shelter

Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer in Beginners
Runner-Up: Patto Oswalt in Young Adult

Best Screenplay: Asghar Farhadi for A Separation
Best Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki for The Tree of Life
Best Production Design: Dante Farretti for Hugo

Best Foreign-Language Film: Nanjin! Nanjin! (City of Life and Death), Chuan Lu
Best Documentary/Non –Fiction Film: Cave of Forgotten Dreams, Werner Herzog
Best Animation: Rango

To check winners and runner-ups in all categories go here. Some selection really puzzle me as find them rather odd, for example last year Best Actress went to a Korean actress and this year again; Best foreign-language film to magnificent –yet very hard-to-watch- Najing! Nanjing! a 2009 production and not to A Separation; but seems that with the few announcements up-to-date one category seems will have a lock: Best Supporting Actress. Most glad that Fassbinder is collecting honors and hope he will get an Oscar nod.

Seems this year critics will not agree as they did last year when The Social Network became the predictable Oscar nominee; this year could be a little bit more interesting. Let’s hope.

24th European Film Awards Winners

2011-12-03T16:10:00.000-05:00

Today awards ceremony live streaming was not flawless like last year as honestly, was truly awful probably due to a bad server that wasn't enough for the demand; still had to watch live and so I did. Winners are in *BLUE. To check the award winners at official site go here.

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05/11

Today at the Seville European Film Festival the European Film Academy announced the nominations and in my opinion is one very good films selection that surely will make the more than 2,500 EFA members work not easy as how can you chose one movie from the six nominated for best film? Here are the nominations.

Best European Film
The Artist, Michel Hazanavicius, France
Le Gamin au Velo (The Kid with a Bike), Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne, Belgium, France and Italy
Haeven (In a Better World), Susanne Bier, Denmark
The King’s Speech, Tom Hooper, UK
Le Havre, Aki Kaurismäki, Finland, France and Germany
*Melancholia, Denmark, Sweden, France and Germany

European Director
*Susanne Bier for Haeven (In a Better World), Denmark
Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne for Le Gamin au Velo (the Kid with a Bike), Belgium, France and Italy
Aki Kaurismäki for Le Havre, Finland, France and Germany
Béla Tarr for A Torino Lo (The Turin Horse),
Lars von Trier for Melancholia, Denmark, Sweden, France and Germany

European Actress
Kirsten Dunst in Melancholia
Cécile de France in Le Gamin au Velo (The Kid with a Bike)
Charlotte Gainsbourg in Melancholia
Nadezhda Markina in Elena
*Tilda Swinton in We Need to Talk About Kevin

European Actor
Jean Dujardin in The Artist
*Colin Firth in The King’s Speech
Mikael Persbrandt in Haeven (In a Better World)
Michel Piccoli in Habemus Papam
André Wilms in Le Havre

European Cinematographer
*Manuel Alberto Claro for Melancholia
Fred Kelemen for A Torino Lo (The Turin Horse)
Guillaume Schiffman for The Artist
Adam Sikora for Essential Killing

European Screenwriter
*Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne for Le Gamin au Velo(the Kid with a Bike)
Anders Thomas Jensen for Haeven (In a Better World)
Aki Kaurismäki for Le Havre
Lars von Trier for Melancholia

European Composer
*Ludovic Bource for The Artist
Alexandre Desplat for The King’s Speech
Alberto Iglesias for La Piel Que Habito (The Skin I Live In)
Mihály Vig for A Torino Lo (The Turin Horse)

European Editor
*Tariq Anwar for The King’s Speech
Mathilde Bonnefoy for Drei (Three)
Molly Malene Stensgaard for Melancholia

European Production Designer
Paola Bizzarri for Habemus Papam
Antxón Gómez for La Piel Que Habito (The Skin I Live In)
*Jette Lehmann for Melancholia

European Documentary
*Pina, Wim Wenders, Germany
Stand van de Sterren (Position Among the Stars), Leonard Retel Helmrich, Netherlands
¡Vivan las Antipodas!, Victor Kossakovsky, Germany, Netherlands, Argentina and Chile

European Animated Feature Film
Le Chat du Rabbin (The Rabbi’s Cat), Antoine Delesvaux and Joann Sfar, France
*Chico and Rita, Tono Errando, Javier Mariscal and Fernando Trueba, Spain and Isle of Man
Une Vie de Chat (A Cat in Paris), Jean-Loup Felicioli and Alain Gagnol, France and Belgium

European Discovery – Prix FIPRESCI
*Adem (Oxygen), Hans Van Nuffel, Belgium and Netherlands
Atmen (Breathing), Karl Markovics, Austria
Michael, Markus Schleinzer, Austria
Smukke Menesker (Nothing’s All Bad), Mikkel Munch-Fals, Denmark
Tilva Ros, Nikola Ležaić, Serbia

To check the nominated shorts go here or here. Awards ceremony will be on December 3 in Berlin. As in previous years ceremony will be streamed live in the awards site that you can find here.

I do like the selection a lot more than last year but still believe that Academy members like “American-style” films more than what I imagined as Melancholia is the most mainstream (American) movie that Lars von Trier has ever done –according to what he said and me, I absolutely agree with him. Is not a bad movie but definitively Melancholia is far-away from The Antichrist for example. Since I’m talking about this movie have to say that I don’t agree with Cannes as I believe Charlotte Gainsbourg performance –and movie segment/story- is superior to Kirsten Dunst, so hopefully the record could be straighten by the European Academy. But won’t be an easy task as the Best Actress category has very good performance by Cécile de France and even if haven’t seen it yet I know that Tilda Swinton has a very good performance in We Need to Talk About Kevin, so good that has strong Oscar buzz; of course I’m “dying” to watch Elena but sometimes is so hard to be able to finally watch Russian films.

But going back to the best film category, the selection is fabulous (sans Melancholia) as you have the film that won the Best Film Oscar last year as well as the film that won the Oscar in the Foreign Language category, then the film that won the Cannes Jury Prize, the film that everyone is talking about because is black and white plus silent, and the film that I’m “dying” to see by one of my favorite directors that always mesmerize me with outstanding and out-of-the-ordinary films, yep Aki. My award goes to Aki even when haven’t seen his film, that’s how loyal and enthusiast fan I am.

But when we review the director category I’m not that sure about Aki as I know that Béla Tarr is a more than amazing director and no, haven’t seen his latest oeuvre but I’m sure will be mesmerizing; the Dardenne Brothers particular realism style has always puzzled/marveled me. Hope the award stays within these three directors.

Best Actor first impulse is –of course- Colin Firth! But have to admit that I was absolutely taken by Michel Piccoli in Habemus Papam, fantastic performance that should get more accolades than the ones I’ve been hearing.

Almodovar’s film didn’t made it to the top awards but got two nominations for music and production designer, hmm he won’t be pleased! (Lol!) I have been delaying watching Essential Killing as imagine that will be the kind of film that I don’t enjoy but always wondered about the beautiful images I saw in clips plus trailer, so now that got the cinematography nomination maybe I’ll watch.

I have no doubt which film will win this year in documentary HAS TO BE the outstanding, mesmerizing and visually impressive Pina by Wim Wenders, I could give this film the BEST FILM award as to my eyes this film is a lot more than a document about dancing and Pina’s life/oeuvre … is SO well done that becomes a very complete cinematic experience that stimulate ALL your senses.

Last but not least, I’m going to watch some (if not all) of the animated films as I know that French animation is really evolving too fast –still is the best in the world- and have to see the state of their development but who could not enjoy two films about cats? Lol!

As you can see have seen many movies and there are only a few that haven’t seen but are absolutely must be seen for me and for a trio I’m really counting the days until I finally will watch them. Sigh. So we will see what happens on December when we watch the awards live as always.

Cheers!

2011 National Board of Review Awards

2011-12-02T14:00:00.001-05:00

Yesterday the NBR announced their awards recipients for this year and here they are.

Best Film: Hugo
Best Animated Feature: Rango
Best Foreign Language Film: A Separation

Best Director: Martin Scorsese for Hugo
Debut Director: J. C, Chandor for Margin Call

Best Ensemble: The Help
Best Actress: Tilda Swinton in We Need to Talk About Kevin
Best Supporting Actress: Shailene Woodley in The Descendants
Best Actor: George Clooney in The Descendants
Best Supporting Actor: Chirstopher Plummer in Beginners
Breakthrough Performance: Felicity Jones in Like Crazy and Rooney Mara in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Best Documentary: Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory

NBR Freedom of Expression: Crime After Crime and Pariah
Spotlight Award: Michael Fassbender in A Dangerous Method, Jane Eyre, Shame, and X-Men: First Class

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

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

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

To check winners in all categories go here. I’m really glad that Tilda is starting to collect honors for a role that I imagine has to be spectacular, like almost everything she does. So major groups from the east coast have announced their honors, let’s see what happens with the east coast organizations, which somehow imagine could be different as seems this year there will be no clear front runner.

84th Academy Awards Animated Shorts Shortlist

2011-12-02T12:41:00.001-05:00

Yesterday the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that 10 animated short films –from the forty-four (44) that qualified- will advance in the voting process and here they are.

Dimanche (Sunday), Patrick Doyon, Canada
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore, William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg, USA
I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat, Matthew O'Callaghan, USA
La Luna, Enrico Casarosa, USA
Luminaris, Juan Pablo Zaramella, Argentina
Magic Piano, Martin Clapp, China, Norway and Poland
A Morning Stroll,Grant Orchard, UK
Paths of Hate, Damian Nenow, Poland
Cul de Bouteille (Specky Four-Eyes), Jean-Claude Rozec, France
Wild Life, Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby, Canada

The Short Films and Feature Animation Branch members will now select three to five nominees from above list. We know but let’s remember everyone, nominations will be announced live on Tuesday, January 24, 2012 and awards ceremony will be on February 26. To check official press release go here.

Autumn Movie Bites #2

2011-11-30T18:05:00.001-05:00

Some bites to remind us that I have seen the movies and what I think about them.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes by Rupert Wyatt. USA. I start by saying that have seen the old movies, thus I know story; so my big surprise was to find that I liked the prequel, is a lot better than what I could ever imagined or expected. Loved the new apes, especially the protagonist with an amazingly expressive face that really transmitted feelings, truly fabulous how cinema technology has advanced and how good can be when is well-used. If you haven’t seen it, go ahead and watch if only just to pay attention to the great expression by the protagonist ape. Enjoy!!

What Women Want by Daming Chen. China. I’m crazy about Gong Li and will watch everything with her, but I have no idea why did she accepted to do this remake of the Hollywood movie with the same name. Much less because I did enjoyed original and gee, this remake was really awful and got me feeling embarrassed for Gong Li performance. If you love Gong Li please do not watch this movie. Sigh.

Margin Call by J. C. Chandor. USA. Nice entertaining drama about the financial crisis that seems will be explored from many points of view; this time telling about an investment bank that rushes to dump their positions before everything explodes and pushing fast-forward the crisis. Great cast with the likes of Jeremy Irons, Kevin Spacey, Stanley Tucci, Paul Bettany, and well, Demi Moore. Movie is starting to collect honors in this award season and yes, is well-deserved as film is a good representative of current American cinema that doesn’t target teenagers and doesn’t use special effects to fill movie duration. Enjoy!

The Help by Tate Taylor. USA, India, UAE. No, haven’t read the book and was expecting a not-easy-to-watch American period drama before civil rights were a possibility. To my surprise the story engage me to the point of making me very uncomfortable at moments as many things that are depicted in the movie are still true today between maids and their mistresses from many Latin American countries. Film is well done, so well that does generate emotions in viewers and I’m no exception, but great performances enhance story and movie in general, especially Viola Davis that I’m sure will get an Oscar nomination. Watch movie is entertaining and surely will make you laugh, shred a few tears, make you think a lot, and for some, wonder why no one has written a successful book about Latin America’s maid/mistress relationship. Enjoy!!!

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Wayne Wang. China and USA. Film tells parallel stories between 19th century China and present day Shanghai with tales of two women joined by laotong, a biding vow and contract to be eternal friends and share each other lives communicating with a secret women’s language called nushu beautiful written on the folds between the spines of silken fans. Nice story isn’t? Unfortunately film does not match the greatness of the story and what could have become interesting, thrilling and engaging becomes banal, not interesting and focus less. If you skip movie won’t miss much, but I do suggest you read book by Lisa See. Enjoy.

Melancholia by Lars von Trier. Denmark, Sweden, France and Germany. Lars von Trier has said publicly that this is his most American-like (ie mainstream or commercial) movie ever and you have no idea how right he is as this film definitively is not the regular greatness von Trier imprints in his works. Maybe the cast helps too much to his Americanization, as the first part with Kirsten Dunst character story is really not-engaging and for me, dull. Thing change a bit in the second part when Charlotte Gainsbourg commands the story and the screen but by then you know the end is coming and effectively comes with a bang done more with light than with impact. I suppose that most honors will come because film is not as crude as for example The Antichrist, is a lot more easy to watch and one-dimensionally understandable. Sigh. All right because I really liked second part, let say is Enjoy! (I hope he goes back to do his remarkable movies that so goodly shock us).

The Tree of Life by Terrence Malick. USA. Let me get this out of the way I have seen Malick’s movies and yes there are some I don’t like (The New World) and some nobody liked but I did (Days of Heaven); so many like his latest and surprise, surprise I did not. Just let me share that can’t understand why to reproduce the big-bang for about 20 minutes (more or less) with images that look more belonging to Natgeo, Discovery or any of those cable TV channels than to a “serious” film. I literally forced myself to watch the complete movie, but boy that was really a very hard thing to do and do not suggest anyone to do it. Too hard-to-watch (ie boring) but got the Palm d’Or and praises from everyone, except me. Sigh.

Beginners by Mike Mills. USA. Could you believe I watched this movie because Mélanie Laurent? Lol! It’s an entertaining movie thanks to very good performances by Christopher Plummer and Ewan McGregor as father and son. Film is a drama that tells about a man inability to keep a relationship surely due to what he saw his parents live, especially after her mother dies and his father recuperates the ‘joie de vivre’ when he tells everyone that he’s gay. It’s a complex story with many layers that I got them but somehow didn’t engaged me and watched from a comfortable distance, I was just an spectator of whatever was going on in the screen. Enjoy!!

Attenberg by Athina Rachel Tsangari. Greece. Very crazy movie, so crazy that I love it! But know that is not for everyone not for the story, not for the performances, not for the style and not for the whole that to me feels not hot like Greece but very cold like Finland –somehow film made me think of Aki K. films-. There is nothing lesbian interest in this film as I thought, so watch film only if you like cold-expression-less performances in very complex layered stories. If you dare to watch film I bet you will enjoy it a lot more than you expect, obviously you have to like art/arthouse films too. Enjoy!!!

Le Gamin au Vélo (The Girl with a Bike) by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne. Belgium, France and Italy. Typical and particular Dardenne brothers visual style, amazing storytelling technique/style, and excellent directorial style that makes something very simple into a true masterpiece that’s a pleasure to watch. Period. Both Cécile De France and Thomas Doret give impeccable performances. A must be seen film for all of us that love the work of great Dardenne brothers. Enjoy!!!

Elena by Andrei Zvyagintsev. Russia. This movie has been killing me since the moment I finished watching and as days went by it has gotten worst. See, my spontaneous reaction when I saw the movie was: it’s an okay movie, Russia now looks/behaves like the rest of us… hmm, not good. Liked the visuals but believed they’re not as good as in Izgnanie or The Return. But since I like this director way beyond what I saw, I replayed movie in my mind and from that moment on movie is killing me. I know there are a lot of symbols and film explores the capitalist dichotomy of poor-rich, have-have not’s, plus the roles nouveaux riches play in their societies and I suppose that in Russia those that have money have not old money, but new money. Then started to read about movie and gee, almost each review, no matter the language, has slightly different story interpretations. I even read what Zvyaginstsev says about story and yes is slightly different. So my conclusion, is that movie story could have as many interpretations as people who see the movie, there is a very easy to understand story essence that deals with what I said above plus the morals of committing murder, but when you see story essence you know there is more and indeed people find more. One thing I’m sure if you enjoy great Russian films, this is must be seen for you. Big Enjoy!!!

جدایی نادر از سیمین Jodaeiye Nader az Simin (Nader and Simin, A Separation) by Asghar Farhadi. Iran. Excellent movie, for me as good as Farhadi previous two films, Fireworks Wednesday and About Elly; but this film has something new as story flawlessly travels several genres and engages us viewers not like spectators but like we are inside the movie and sometimes we side with Simin, then with Nader, the with Razieh, then with the judge, then with no one, then we are completely immersed inside the story and film. Fabulous! Until you see this brilliantly crafted very simple story you have no idea how seeing something so banal and common can become a masterpiece in the hands of a master filmmaker. Chapeau Mr. Farhadi. I don’t doubt that has huge possibilities of winning the Oscar and if so, will be well deserved, especially now that I know Pina is also competing in the documentary category. I strongly recommend this film as must be seen for all everyone that loves great world cinema. BIG ENJOY!!!

There are many more movies, but this is it for today. Cheers!

Autumn Movie Bites #1

2011-11-30T15:18:00.001-05:00

Here are some bites about lesbian interest movies. Enjoy.

Circumstance by Maryam Keshavarz. France, USA, and Iran. Bit confused about film as found stays like in the middle not going in depth with something. As a genre film tells a known story –set in the Middle East too- with love scenes that are more sex scenes filmed from a male-point-of-view than with female eyes. Not the best lesbian interest film with similar theme that I have seen. Then as a political statement is not strong as there are other female centered stories that have more successfully shown how Middle Eastern cultures/traditions/religion converts women to almost non-existence within their society. Maybe if film had no lesbian interest content political message could have been developed more; likewise if had no political message then the lesbian interest story could have been developed more and more appropriately. Still, film is watchable. Enjoy.

You and I by Roland Joffé. Russia and USA. Not pleasant to watch thanks to a terrible script with absurd dialogues and lack of clear focus in a story that pretends to show youth decadence in contemporary Russia by telling the “falling in love” story of Janie (Shantel VanSanten) and Lana (Mischa Barton). If you skip movie you will be missing absolutely nothing. Sigh.

Sour Sorriso (Sister Smile) by Roger Deutsch. Italy. This 2001 film is more a fictitious account of what infamous Belgian nun surely didn’t live; but not like the more recent version, clearly presents a woman that loved women. The problem is that the director to tell a 60’s set story used a 60’s cinema style that today makes story and film not easy-to-watch plus hard to be related to. Sigh.

80 Egunean (For 80 Days) by Jon Garaño and José María Goenaga. Spain. Film tells about “Axun and Maite meeting at secondary school during a repressive that never allowed their relationship to go beyond friendship” and when they meet 50 years after they can’t really become a couple as seems is too late. Not particularly liked message as I do believe that NEVER is too late, but how writers decided to end story makes message “more politically correct” but less human as we have to end up doing what others want and not what we really want. Film has very good production values and performances that will entertain you. Enjoy!!

Die Konkurrentin by Dagmar Hirtz. Germany. This 1997 German TV movie has a very nice love story between two women as only –I believe- German television can do SO good, which makes it absolutely must be seen for those that enjoy the genre and have seen before (great) German lesbian interest TV movies. The last is because whatever else happens in story (here is Business Corporation drama) is secondary to their typical seductive way of making their protagonists fall in love and have a happy ending. Still surprises me that German audiences were able to watch lesbian interest movies in that decade, when still today -40 years after- many countries TV will never show them. Enjoy!!

Break My Fall by Kanchi Wichmann. UK. Can’t deny that film has an interesting style that makes it look and feel quite realistic. For a 40,000 UK pounds production, have to say that film is really great. Story is raw and like in all stories about a relationship last days we will not see romantic moments; if performances are good then story will be felt a lot more and this is the case with this film. It’s a lesbian story about something that hasn’t been explored too much in the genre and suggest to many to watch it with no romance expectations and maybe you will enjoy it as much as I did. Enjoy!!

Como Esquecer (So Hard to Forget) by Malu de Martino. Brazil. Nope is not about how the relationship ends, but how the one that didn’t want to break up abandons herself into depression, how she starts to overcome not being with Antonia anymore and finally meets someone that allows her to give herself another chance to care for someone. Gee, sounds kind of sad BUT honestly is NOT as this Brazilian movie has all over the Brazilian “joie de vivre” more in style than in story, plus acceptable to good performances by good-looking cast makes the ride really easier. Can be entertaining if you have no expectations and just enjoy the ride. Enjoy!!

Leading Ladies by Daniel Beahm and Erika Randal Beahm. USA. My big mistake was that I had expectations about this movie, “dancing expectations” lol! Honestly is not a good movie and there is not much dancing; but if you enjoy typical American comedy style (which I don’t) maybe you will enjoy this “zany” comedy a lot more than me. Sigh.

Tomboy by Céline Sciamma. France. An entertaining film that surely is more mainstream than Sciamma’s previous Naissance des pieuvres, which I simply loved. As you can imagine was expecting a film more in the style of Naissance des pieuvres and definitively Tomboy is different; still is an engaging story about a girl that sees her moving into a new neighborhood as the opportunity to be more what she really feels like: a boy. Okay I should explain myself so I will not confuse anyone, this film is NOT mainstream, is arty; but if you compare both Sciamma’s films then you will see that her second is more commercial than her first thanks to the story mainly. Not your regular genre film, but worth watching. Enjoy!!

Kyss Mig (With Every Heartbeat) by Alexandra-Therese Keining. Sweden. Has this film a predictable story? Yes. Indeed is true, very predictable BUT film is highly enjoyable, so it’s not about the destination is about the trip. You have no idea how good your trip into the lives of Mia and Frida will be as performances by complete cast is quite good, cinematography is super, production values are high and director is so good that I’ll watch her future films for sure. I loved this movie and if you have the patience to enjoy a great ride to a predictable destination, then this film is definitively for you. Enjoy!!!

Mein Freund Aus Faro (To Faro) by Nana Neul. Germany. This 2008 film has been labeled as the German version of Boys Don’t Cry and indeed has a similar story but fortunately fictional To Faro does not have the violence of the real story. Tells about Melanie that meets Jenny and falls in love; but Jenny think she’s met Miguel from Faro, Portugal. Film is nothing special, entertaining but not much more. If you been delaying watching because of violence (as I did) be assure that there is none here, so go ahead and watch. Enjoy.

Luan qing chun (Beatiful Crazy) by Chi Y. Lee. Taiwan. Couldn’t enjoy film even when I tried harder (lol!), yes is arty but unfortunately not really interesting. Not much lesbian interest, just what seems like a few seconds. If you skip it, won’t be missing much. Sigh.

Albert Nobbs by Rodrigo García. UK and Ireland. Honestly I had no lesbian interest expectations for this movie as I’m familiar with main character story, so finding that perhaps the most digestible/funny character the movie has is the one played by Janet McTeer (Page) who happens to be lesbian and lives with her wife was most refreshing. Glenn Close really gets lost into her male character and does a great performance but character is truly lame -and definitively not lesbian at all- as Albert Nobbs is a woman trapped in a man cover that resigned herself to live a life of loneliness, that’s it until she meets Page as sees an opportunity to change her destiny. Unfortunately she does not look for love, she looks for convenience and pursues Helen (Mia Wasikowska) that definitively doesn’t need “convenience” at that moment. Maybe if Nobbs had seduced Helen then things would have been different, but obviously that will happen later when Page starts to seduce Helen. I believe that Close does really good her character but character is so unappealing and is so well-done that some are saying that her performance made the character one-dimensional, flat, pan faced, etc; but I do believe that’s the way it was supposed to be. Anyway this is a movie to watch not because has lesbian interest moments but because is a story of women that had to dress like men to be able to earn a living when for whatever reason, there was no man to take care of them. Enjoy!!!

2011 New York Film Critics Circle Awards Winners

2011-11-29T14:05:00.001-05:00

Film critics all over the world give awards to what they consider the best of the best in many film categories; in America we know that there are many groups that will name their best and today we start with the New York Film Critics Circle –the so-called harbingers of the Oscar nominations- winners that were voted, counted and published via twitter today.

At their official site news are not up yet, but soon will be here. My source of information is the NYFCC twitter official account where all morning they have been tweeting winners and these are the results.

Best Feature Film: The Artist
Best First Feature: Margin Call

Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist

Best Actress: Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady
Best Supporting Actress: Jessica Chastain in Tree of Life, The Help, and Take Shelter

Best Actor: Brad Pitt in Moneyball and Tree of Life
Best Supporting Actor: Albert Brooks in Drive

Best Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki for Tree of Life
Best Screenplay: Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorking for Moneyball

Best Nonfiction Film: Cave of Forgotten Dreams
Best Foreign Language Film: A Separation

Special Award to be given posthumously to filmmaker Raoul Ruiz.

Not much to say as for a change I agree with the above winners as even if haven’t seen The Artist absolutely is must be seen for me; Margin Call is a highly entertaining movie with great performances by a great cast and a not-too-new story told in a way that makes it exciting to watch; I’m speculating that Jessica Chastain will get an Oscar nod in the supporting category; last haven’t seen Moneyball but because story I imagine will be a highly “emotional” American entertaining movie and well, I know that this year Oscar could be between George, Leonardo or Brad (lol!) so I suppose is okay the Circle honors Pitt, still hope that great non-American actors get Oscar nods.

Can’t help but remind you all that last year Critics, Audiences, and Industry Peers didn’t matched in their selections as best of the best, so this year let’s see what happens. But I hope that critics are able to “close” the gap between them and audiences plus Industry members.

27th Film Independent Spirit Awards Nominations

2011-11-29T13:13:00.003-05:00

A few minutes ago organizers announced the nominees selected from 277 submissions; this annual celebration honors artist-driven films made with an economy of means by filmmakers who embody independence and originality. Here are the nominees.

Best Feature
50/50
Beginners
Drive
Take Shelter
The Artist
The Descendants

Best Director
Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist
Mike Mills for Beginners
Jeff Nichols for Take Shelter
Alexander Payne for The Descendants
Nicolas Winding Refn for Drive

Best First Feature
Another Earth, Mike Cahill
In the Family, Patrick Wang
Margin Call, J. C. Chandor
Martha Marcy May Marlene, Sean Durkin
Natural Selection, Robbie Pickering

John Cassavetes Award (given to best feature for under US$500,000)
Bellflower, Evan Glodell
Circumstance, Maryam Keshavarz
Hello Lonesome, Adam Reid
Pariah, Dee Rees
The Dynamiter, Brad Inglesby

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

Best Male Lead
Demián Bichir in A Better Life
Jean Dujardin in The Artist
Ryan Gosling in Drive
Woody Harrelson in Rampart
Michael Shannon in Take Shelter

Best Supporting Female
Jessica Chastain in Take Shelter
Anjelica Huston in 50/50
Janet McTeer Albert Nobbs
Harmony Santana in Gun Hill Road
Shailene Woodley in The Descendats

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

Best Screenplay
Joseph Cedar for Footnote
Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist
Tom McCarthy for Win Win
Mike Millsfor Beginners
Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash for The Descendants

Best First Screenplay
Mike Cahill, Brit Marling for Another Earth
J.C. Chandor for Margin Call
Patrick deWitt for Terri
Phil Johnston for Cedar Rapids
Will Reiser for 50/50

Best Cinematography
Joel Hodge for Bellflower
Benjamin Kasulke for The Off Hours
Darius Khondji for Midnight in Paris
Guillaume Schiffman for The Artist
Jeffrey Waldron for The Dynamiter

Best Documentary
An African Election, Jarreth Merz
Bill Cunningham New York, Richard Press
The Interrupters, Steve James
The Redemption of General Butt Naked, Eric Strauss and Danielle Anastation
We Were Here, David Weissman

Best International Film
A Separation, Asghar Farhadi, Iran
Melancholia, Lars von Trier, Denmark, Sweden, France and Germany
Shame, Steve McQueen, UK
The Kid With a Bike, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, Belgium, France and Italy
Tyrannosaur, Paddy Considine, UK

To check the official announcement go here and to check nominees in all categories download file at the bottom of announcement. As a summary, leading the pack Take Shelter and The Artist with 5 nominations each; Fox Searchlight takes 14 nods followed by Sony Pictures Classics with 9.

My biggest surprise is Glenn Close NOT being nominated for Best Actress, which makes me wonder IF she’ll make it to an Oscar nod; still Janet McTeer got a nomination for a supporting role. A lot less surprising as Hollywood does not really “like” Woody Allen is the absence of top nominations for Midnight in Paris as film gets nods for cinematography and best supporting male. Last, I’m VERY surprised that Malick’s latest got no nominations at all, but as I’ve been saying, I didn’t enjoyed much his latest movie; still is very surprising that NY did nominate film while LA did not. Okay also not nominated, George Clooney but somehow I’m glad as gives opportunity to more interesting actors to be nominated.

There are several –if we compare nominees to previous years- Cannes films in this year Spirit nominations starting with a French movie (ok, has some USA producers) The Artist, followed by Drive, Hearat Shulayim (Footnote) and Take Shelter; plus four more in the Best International Film category. As we know Cannes credentials mean a lot in the cinema world, with the exception of the American industry, so believe that this credential doesn’t assure much in American Indies awards.

Most interesting for me are the nominees in the John Cassavetes Award as there are two lesbian interest films that have become notorious not only because story/performances but also for "unexpected" quality that seldom populates the genre. Circumstance is must be seen for me as story, performances, situation, cinematography, and more seem to be quite out-of-the-ordinary and let's hope gets this honor.

Awards ceremony will be on February 25, 2012 as a daytime luncheon in a tent on the beach in Santa Monica and the premiere broadcast will air later that evening at 10:00pm ET/PT on IFC.

21st Annual Gotham Independent Film Awards Winners

2011-11-29T03:45:00.000-05:00

Last night was the awards ceremony that was not entertaining at all, so much that I completely fall asleep before learning live the main winners (lol!); but here are the winners in *BLUE.

Have seen both top winners movies and honestly, both did not impressed me; at least Beginners is more entertaining than Malick's latest. Surely the positive note -for me- is Dee Rees winning big as Breakthrough Director.

--//--

10/20

The award season officially starts with the Gotham nominations that were announced today; this year the list probably will have one or two movies that will do well at Oscar thus not as last year when four of the five nominated for Best Feature made it to Best Film and/or other top Oscar award nominations.

To read the press release please go here.

Best Feature
*Beginners, Mike Mills
The Descendants, Alexander Payne
Meek’s Cutoff, Kelly Reichardt
Take Shelter, Jeff Nichols
*The Tree of Life, Terrence Malick

Breakthrough Director
Mike Cahill for Another Earth
Sean Durkin for Martha Marcy May Marlene
Vera Farmiga for Higher Ground
Evan Glodell for Bellflower
*Dee Rees for Pariah(lesbian interest)

Breakthrough Actor
*Felicity Jones in Like Crazy
Elizabeth Olsen in Marta Marcy May Marlene
Harmony Santana in Gun Hill Road (Gay/Trans interest)
Shailene Woodley in The Descendants
Jacob Wysocki in Terri

Best Ensemble Performance
*Beginners
The Descendants
Margin Call
Martha Marcy May Marlene
Take Shelter

Best Documentary
*Better This World, Katie Galloway and Kelly Duane de la Vega
Bill Cunningham New York, Richard Press
Hell and Back Again, Danfung Dennis
The Interrupters, Steve James
The Woodmans, C. Scott Willis

Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You
Codependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same, Madeleine Olnek (lesbian interest)
Green, Sophia Takal
The Redemption of General Butt Naked, Eric Strauss
*Scenes of a Crime, Blue Hadaegh and Grover Babcock
Without, Mark Jackson (lesbian interest)

Nominees for the Spotlight on Women Filmmakers ‘Live the Dream’ grant
Jenny Deller for Future Weather
*Lucy Mulloy for Una Noche
Rola Nashef for Detroit Unleaded

Voting for the Audience award begins today, to vote -in round one to select the nominees- go here. The nominees will be announced on November 7th and voting second round will start then.

The awards ceremony will be held on Monday, November 28 where Charlize Theron, Gary Oldman, David Cronenberg and Tom Rothman will be presented with a career tribute.

It’s only the first nominations but I hope that this award season follow Gotham nominees trend that show nominees from diverse films as only four films have more than one nomination. Have seen a few of these movies and I’m not excited about them, let’s hope that one or two of the ones I’m missing could excite me as much as last year’s Winter’s Bone and Black Swan or like Frozen River and The Hurt Locker from previous years.

48th Golden Horse Awards Winners

2011-11-26T13:46:00.000-05:00

Today the Academy had the awards ceremony and winners are in *RED.

--//--

10/4

Today the Academy, chaired by none other than Hou Hsiao-Hsien, announced the nominations for the yearly awards and here are for some categories.

Best Feature Film
Let the Bullets Fly, Wen Jiang, China and Hong Kong
Gang de qin (The Piano in A Factory), Zhang Meng and Jae-young Kwak, China
Return Ticket, Yung-Shing Teng, China and Taiwan
桃姐 Tao jie (A Simple Life), Ann Hui, Hong Kong
* 賽德克．巴萊 Saideke Balai (Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale), Wei Te-Sheng, Taiwan

Best Director
Wei Te-sheg for Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale
Jiang Wen for Let The Bullets Fly
*Ann Hui for A Simple Life
Zhang Meng for The Piano in a Factory

Best New Director
*Wuershan for The Butcher, The Chef and The Swordsman
Giddens for You Are the Apple of My Eye
Xu Haofeng for The Sword Identiy
Du Jia-yi for KORA

Best Leading Actress
Michelle Chen in You Are the Apple of My Eye
Shu Qi in A Beautiful Life
*Deanie IP in A Simple Life
Qin Hailu in The Piano in a Factory

Best Leading Actor
Eddie Peng in Jump!Ashin
Ge You in Let The Bullets Fly
*Andy Lau in A Simple Life
Wang Qian-yuan in The Piano in a Factory

The Outstanding Taiwanese Filmmaker of the Year
Hsiao-Tung Chen
Yang Li-chou
*Wong Wei-liu

To check nominees and winners in other categories go here. Awards ceremony will be held on November 26.

5th Annual Asia Pacific Screen Award Winners

2011-11-24T10:07:00.001-05:00

Last night (i.e. very early morning for me) the Academy had their award ceremony that you can watch here. The following are the winners.

Best Feature Film: جدایی نادر از سیمین Jodaeiye Nader az Simin (Nader and Simin, A Separation), Asghar Farhadi, Iran

Jury Grand Prize: Bir Zamanlar Anadolu’da (Once Upon a Time in Anatolia), Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Turkey

Achievement in Directing: Nuri Bilge Ceylan for Bir Zamanlar Anadolu’da (Once Upon a Time in Anatolia), Turkey
Best Performance by Actress: Nadezha Markina in Elena by Andrei Zvyagintsev, Russia
Best Peformance by Actor: Wang Baoqiang for Hello! Shu Xian Sheng (Mr. Tree) by Jie Han, China

Best Children’s Feature Film: Buta by Ilgar Najaf, Azerbaijan
Best Animated Feature Film: Madangeul naon amtak (Leafie) by Oh Seonyun, Korea
Best Documentary Feature Film: Jag Var Värd 50 Lamm (I Was Worth 50 Sheep) by Nima Sarvestani, Sweden, Japan and USA

Best Screeplay: Denis Osokin for Ovsyanki (Silent Souls) by Aleksei Fedorchenko, Russia
Achievement in Cinematography Award: Gökhan Tiryaki for Bir Zamanlar Anadolu’da (Once Upon a Time in Anatolia) by Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Turkey

UNESCO Award: Ivan Sen for Toomelah, Australia
FIAPF Award: Zhang Yimou

To check the announcement go here and to check nominees plus winners in all categories go here.

84th Academy Awards Documentary Features Shortlist

2011-11-21T14:36:00.001-05:00

Recently the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that 15 films in the Documentary Feature category will advance in the voting process to select the five nominees. One hundred twenty-four films had originally qualified in the category.

These are the fifteen films that include extraordinary Pina by Wim Wenders that I hope will be chosen as a nominee in this category as well as in the foreign language category, which will increase its probabilities to win an extremely well-deserved Oscar.

Battle for Brooklyn, Michael Galinsky and Suki Hawley, USA
Bill Cunningham New York, Richard Press, USA (Yes, I’m very curious about this doc)
Buck, Cindy Meehl, USA
Hell and Back Again, Danfung Dennis, USA, UK, and Afghanistan
If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front, Marshall Curry and Sam Cullman, USA and UK
Jane’s Journey, Lorenz Knauer, Germany and Tanzania
The Loving Story, Nancy Buirski, USA
Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory, Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky, USA
Pina, Wim Wenders, Germany, France and UK
Projected Nim, James Marsh, USA and UK (interesting, will watch)
Semper Fi: Always Faithful, Tony Hardmon and Rachel Libert, USA
Sing Your Song, Susanne Rostock, USA
Undefeated, Daniel Lindsay and T.J. Martin, USA
Under Fire: Journalists in Combat, Martyn Burke, Canada
We Were Here, David Weissman and Bill Weber, USA

As we know nominations will be announced live on Tuesday, January 24, 2012 and the awards ceremony will be on Sunday, February 26. To check the press release go here.

XXVI Goya Awards News – Latin American Films

2011-11-20T06:56:00.001-05:00

A total of eight (8) Latin American films will be screened from December 16 to 23 to define the five that will be nominated for a Goya Award. These are the films.

Artigas-La Redota (aka La Redota-Una Historia de Artigas), César Charlone, Uruguay
Boleto al Paraíso, Gerardo Chijona, Cuba
El Páramo, Jaime Osorio Márquez, Colombia
Las Malas Intenciones (The Bad Intentions), Rosario García-Montero, Peru
Miss Bala, Gerardo Naranjo, Mexico
Reverón, Diego Rísquez, Venezuela
Un Cuento Chino (Chinese Take-Away), Sebastián Borensztein
Violeta se fue a los Cielos (Violeta Went to Heaven), Andrés Wood

To check the official announcement go here.

2011 Lux Cinema Prize

2011-11-20T06:17:00.001-05:00

The European Parliament’s annual film prize LUX was awarded in Strasbourg to the film Les neiges du Kilimandjaro (The Snows of Kilimanjaro) by Robert Guédiguian.

At the ceremony, the film's producer said on behalf of Robert Guédiguian: "The values of Europe are, for me, linked to the idea of the Republic - this Republic which Jean Jaurès, under whose auspices my film is placed, called a 'social Republic': liberty, equality and fraternity are qualities that Europe also owes it to itself to defend [....] Please do not abandon the poor people of Victor Hugo, a symbolic figurehead of both film and Europe, in the 'icy waters of egotistical calculation'."

To read announcement at prize site go here and to read press release go here.

2011 Premio Sur Winners

2011-11-20T05:58:00.002-05:00

Winners are in *BLUE.Not long ago the Argentinean Academy announced the nominees for this year Premio Sur and here they are.

Best Film
Aballay, el Hombre Sin Miedo (Aballay, the Man without Fear), Fernando Spiner
El Estudiante (The Student), Santiago Mitre
Juan y Eva (Juan and Eva), Paula De Luque
*Un Cuento Chino (Chinese Take-Away), Sebastián Borensztein

Best First film
*El Estudiante (The Student), Santiago Mitre
El túnel de los huesos (Tunnel of Bones), Nacho Garassino
Fase 7 (Phase 7), Nicolás Goldbart
Vaquero (Cowboy), Juan Minujín

Best Director
Sebastián Borensztein for Un Cuento Chino (Chinese Take-Away)
Santiago Mitre for El Estudiante (The Student)
Carlos Sorín for El Gato Desaparece (The Cat Vanishes)
*Fernando Spiner for Aballay, el Hombre Sin Miedo (Aballay, the Man without Fear)

Best Actress
*Moro Anghileri in Aballay, el Hombre Sin Miedo (Aballay, the Man without Fear)
Valeria Bertuccelli in Viudas (Widows), Marcos Carnevale
Graciela Borges in Viudas (Widows), Marcos Carnevale
Julieta Díaz in Juan y Eva (Juan and Eva)

Best Actor
Pablo Cedrón in Aballay, el Hombre Sin Miedo (Aballay, the Man without Fear)
*Ricardo Darín in Un Cuento Chino (Chinese Take-Away),
Rodrigo De La Serna in Revolución, el cruce de los Andes (aka San Martín: El cruce de Los Andes)
Estaban Lamothe in El Estudiante (The Student)
Osmar Nuñez in Juan Y Eva (Juan and Eva)

Not really curious about the Argentina submission to Oscar or many of this year nominations, but yes I looking forward to watch Ricardo Darin performance in Un Cuento Chino. To check nominees in all categories go here. Award ceremony will be in the middle of December.

2011 Outstanding Female Roles

2011-11-17T15:36:00.001-05:00

About a year ago I listed 23 possible great female roles that had enough buzz to obtain an Oscar nomination and dared to make my very-early prediction (I had 4 right and 1 wrong!) so it’s time for me to review how kind or not 2011 was with female roles and play the guessing game for the Best Actress category.

Haven’t seen many of the movies that could have great performances by female actors but from the ones I have seen, I’m sure that Viola Davis is going to get a nod thanks to her outstanding performance in The Help. Even when European film industry is honoring Melancholia, I honestly doubt that American film industry will honor anything related to the film so doubt that Kirsten Dunst or Charlotte Gainsbourg could get a nod; I didn’t like Dunst performance or segment but I did enjoy a lot more Gainsbourg performance and segment but doubt that her great performance will be recognized as such in America.

From movies that haven’t seen, again this year Tilda Swinton pops-up with her role in We Need to Talk About Kevin –hope she gets it this year but 2011 is a year where there are other roles that now are being labeled “sure Oscar nod” like Michelle Williams in My Week With Marilyn, Glenn Close in Albert Nobbs, and Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady.

With performances that have gathered industry buzz we have Jodie Foster and Kate Winslet in Carnage but American film industry is not an easy to forgive industry and doubt will honor anything related to Roman Polanski. Charlize Theron looks absolutely FANTASTIC in the upcoming Snow White movie but is her role in Young Adult (directed by Jason Reitman and with a Diablo Cody script) what could bring her an Oscar nomination in a role that has been described as “Theron finally gets to kill it and be beautiful”, which obviously refers to her Oscar winning performance in Monster.

In the lesser known movies that could get nods for their lead actress we have Felicity Jones in Like Crazy (saw movie is okay, she has a very good performance), Rachel Weisz in The Whistleblower (great performance in a so-so movie that could have been better with a different script), Elizabeth Olsen in Martha Marcy May Marlene –which I believe she could be the “surprise” nod (have to watch movie first), Abbie Cornish in W.E. (yep, Madonna’s film), one of my favorite young actress Carey Mulligan in Shame, that not sure if qualifies for lead or supporting and the same goes to Keira Knightley in A Dangerous Method.

Another young actress that is gathering too-much buzz is Rooney Mara in THAT film (yes, the film/character that BELONGS TO Noomi Rapace!!!) oh gosh, I’m really torn with this as I know will watch Hollywood remake but I’m hoping is awful!!! (lol!) Anyway the industry keeps mentioning Mara as a possible contender, even when they haven’t seen but trailers from film, odd isn’t?

Maybe I should include Ellen Barkin in Another Happy Day and wonder if Michelle Yeoh in The Lady plus Olivia Colman in Tyrannosaur can also be consider as contenders.

Nevertheless I have the feeling that there were less outstanding performances in 2011 than in 2010 and if we count the mentions we notice that this year there are 20 versus 23 last year so is about the same, but still have the perception that 2011 was not that good for female roles. Sigh.

If I have to guess the five nominees considering what I have seen plus the buzz index, they will look as follows.

Viola Davis in The Help
Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady
Glenn Close in Albert Nobbs
Michelle Williams in My Week With Marilyn
Elizabeth Olsen in Martha Marcy May Marlene

I’m almost certain that Davis will be nominated and won’t be surprised at all if she’s the second African-American women to win an Oscar; she truly deserves it as she did an excellent performance in a complex, layered film. Won’t be surprised IF Streep is not nominated as critics are “destroying” film but claim that Streep saves movie.

Close has five nominations and no wins, this could be her sixth but not sure that could be translated into a win, still Academy members LOVE when good looking actresses do “not-good-looking” characters (remember Theron and Kidman?) so maybe there is a chance. Williams has two nominations and I’m almost certain that this will be her third (but have to see movie, which of course I’m “dying” to watch), this brilliant young actress will get her Oscar soon if she continues to choose her roles SO goodly as she has been doing. The last spot is the one that I’m always unsure and could go to Olsen, as well as Theron, any of the other women mentioned or a new “surprise” role that could appear before the award deadline.

If you ask about the Best Actor I believe that Brad, Leonardo, and George could make the list, BUT I hope that the winner will NOT be an American actor, has to be a European as last year, the two contenders are British Michael Fassbender in Shame and French Jean Dujardin in The Artist.

Cheers!!!

Thinking Notes of Today

2011-11-04T12:18:00.000-04:00

I'm going public by admitting that I'm no fan of Martin Scorsese but do recognize him as one of the American contemporary master-filmmakers. But as everything in life -absolutes hardly exist- there are exceptions and the following letter absolutely is the exception that makes me "admire" Scorsese for being willing to make public what so many think about those countries where films with subtitles are not easily accepted.

The letter dated November 25, 1993 was published as a comment to an article in the New York Times on November 19, 1993. The letter date is important as was one week after Federico Fellini's dead.

Here is a copy and paste of the letter; if you wish to read it at the source I used please go here.

To the Editor:

“Excuse Me; I Must Have Missed Part of the Movie” (The Week in Review, 7 November) cites Federico Fellini as an example of a filmmaker whose style gets in the way of his storytelling and whose films, as a result, are not easily accessible to audiences. Broadening that argument, it includes other artists: Ingmar Bergman, James Joyce, Thomas Pynchon, Bernardo Bertolucci, John Cage, Alain Resnais and Andy Warhol.

It’s not the opinion I find distressing, but the underlying attitude toward artistic expression that is different, difficult or demanding. Was it necessary to publish this article only a few days after Fellini’s death? I feel it’s a dangerous attitude, limiting, intolerant. If this is the attitude toward Fellini, one of the old masters, and the most accessible at that, imagine what chance new foreign films and filmmakers have in this country.

It reminds me of a beer commercial that ran a while back. The commercial opened with a black and white parody of a foreign film—obviously a combination of Fellini and Bergman. Two young men are watching it, puzzled, in a video store, while a female companion seems more interested. A title comes up: “Why do foreign films have to be so foreign?” The solution is to ignore the foreign film and rent an action-adventure tape, filled with explosions, much to the chagrin of the woman.

It seems the commercial equates “negative” associations between women and foreign films: weakness, complexity, tedium. I like action-adventure films too. I also like movies that tell a story, but is the American way the only way of telling stories?

The issue here is not “film theory,” but cultural diversity and openness. Diversity guarantees our cultural survival. When the world is fragmenting into groups of intolerance, ignorance and hatred, film is a powerful tool to knowledge and understanding. To our shame, your article was cited at length by the European press.

The attitude that I’ve been describing celebrates ignorance. It also unfortunately confirms the worst fears of European filmmakers. Is this closedmindedness something we want to pass along to future generations?

If you accept the answer in the commercial, why not take it to its natural progression:
Why don’t they make movies like ours?
Why don’t they tell stories as we do?
Why don’t they dress as we do?
Why don’t they eat as we do?
Why don’t they talk as we do?
Why don’t they think as we do?
Why don’t they worship as we do?
Why don’t they look like us?
Ultimately, who will decide who “we” are?

—Martin Scorsese
[New York, 19 Nov 1993]

Also suggest to read the recent NYTimes article from April 29, 2011 "Eating Your Cultural Vegetables" that you will find here.

More than 15 years after the letter was written is impressive how the largest movie market in the world -when you count only money- has not opened to world movies. Won't elaborate but have to comment that one of the consequences I dislike the most is the doing of "remakes" that never are as good as the original ones. Sigh.

By the way the conversation about "Cultural Vegetables" has been going on since April 2011 and I'm just joining today.

84th Academy Awards Documentary Short Subject Shortlist

2011-10-13T19:38:00.000-04:00

Today the Academy announced the eight (8) short docs that were selected from 35 eligible entries. These are the films.

The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement, Gail Dolgin and Robin Fryday, USA
God is the Bigger Elvis (Produced by Documentress Films)
In Tahrir Square: 18 Days of Egypt’s Unfinished Revolution, Jon Alpert and Matthew O'Neill, USA and Egypt
Incident in New Baghdad, James Spione, USA
Pipe Dreams, Leslie Iwerks, USA
Saving Face, Peter James Iengo, USA
The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom, Lucy Walker (check trailer here), UK and USA
Witness (produced by Buche)

As we all know by now the Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Tuesday, January 24, 2012 and the Award Ceremony will be on Sunday, February 26, 2012. To read the press release go here.

The subject of Lucy Walker's short doc (remember great Waste Land) is not one to enjoy but from trailer short has become must be seen for me, hope makes the five nominated.

2012 Oscar Foreign Language Film Submissions - Final

2011-10-13T16:55:00.008-04:00

These are the sixty-three (63) films that will compete for the Best Foreign Language film in the 84th Academy Awards.

Albania: Amnistia (Amnesty), Bujar Alimani
Argentina: Aballay, el hombre sin miedo (Aballay), Fernando Spiner
Austria: Atmen (Breathing), Karl Markovics
Belgium: Rundskop (Bullhead), Michaël R. Roskam
Bosnia and Herzegovina: Belvedere, Ahmed Imamović
Brazil: Tropa de Elite 2 (Elite Squad: The Enemy Within), José Padilha
Bulgaria: Тилт Tilt, Viktor Chuchkov Jr.
Canada: Monsieur Lazhar, Philippe Falardeau
Chile: Violeta Se Fue a los Cielos (Violeta Went to Heaven), Andrés Wood
China: 金陵十三釵 (The Flowers of War), Zhang Yimou
Colombia: Los Colores de la Montaña (The Colors of the Mountain), Carlos César Arbeláez
Croatia: Sedamdeset i dva dana (72 days), Danilo Serbedzija
Cuba: Habanastation, Ian Padrón
Czech Republic: Alois Nebel, Tomás Lunák (animated film)
Denmark: SuperClásico, Ole Christian Madsen
Dominican Republic: La Hija Natural (Love Child), Leticia Tonos
Egypt: الشوق El-Shouq (Lust), Khaled El-Hagar
Estonia: Kirjad Inglile (Letters to Angel), Sulev Keedus
Finland: Le Havre, Aki Kaurismäki
France: La guerre est déclarée (Declaration of War), Valérie Donzelli (Good movie, a lot better than what I imagined; a little bit uneven, last half not as good as first)
Georgia: Chantrapras, Otar Iosseliani
Germany: Pina, Wim Wenders (is a documentary - NO, this is no doc even when documents dance, it's really BEAUTIFUL to watch plus you'll feel lots of emotions! Fantastic film.)
Greece: Attenberg, Athina Rachel Tsangari (A strange movie/story yet was fascinating for me.)
Hong Kong: 桃姐 Tao jie (A Simple Life), Ann Hui
Hungary: A Torinói ló (The Turin House), Béla Tarr
Iceland: Eldfjall (Volcano), Rúnar Rúnarsson
India: ആദാമിന്റെ മകൻ അബു Adaminte Makan Abu (Abu, Son of Adam), Salim Ahamed
Indonesia: Di Bawah Lindungan Ka'bah (Under the Protection of Ka'Bah), Hanny R Saputra
Iran: جدایی نادر از سیمین Jodaeiye Nader az Simin (Nader and Simin, A Separation), Asghar Farhadi (Very Good movie, excellent essay on normal life, bravo Master Farhadi!)
Ireland: As If I Am Not There, Juanita Wilson (Very HARD-to-watch story in a good movie with good performances which makes film harder to watch.)
Israel: הערת שוליים (Footnote), Joseph Cedar
Italy: Terraferma, Emanuele Crialese
Japan: 一枚のハガキ Ich-mai no Hagaki (Postcard), Kaneto Shindō
Kazakhstan: Возвращение в "А" (Return to "A"), Egor Konchalovsky
Lebanon: وهلّأ لوين؟ Wo Hallah La Wen? (Where Do We Go Now?), Nadine Labaki
Lithuania: Kai Apkabinsiu Tave (Back in Your Arms), Kristijonas Vildžiūnas
Macedonia: Панкот не е мртов Pankot ne e mrtov (Punk's Not Dead), Vladimir Blazevski
Mexico: Miss Bala, Gerado Naranjo (It's an okay movie less violent than I imagined whilst easier to watch)
Morocco: Omar m'a tuer (Omar Killed Me), Roschdy Zem
Netherlands: Sonny Boy, Maria Peters
New Zealand: O Le Tulafale (The Orator), Tusi Tamasese
Norway: Sykt lykkelig (Happy, Happy), Anne Sewitsky (Interesting human behavior essay, dark funny)
Peru: Octubre (October), Diego and Daniel Vega
Philippines: Ang Babae Sa Septic Tank (The Woman in the Septic Tank), Marlon Rivera
Poland: W ciemności (In Darkness), Agnieszka Holland
Portugal: José e Pilar (Jose and Pilar), Miguel Goncalves Mendes (documentary)
Romania: Morgen, Marian Crisan
Russia: Утомлённые солнцем 2: Цитадель Utomlyonnye Solntsem 2 (Burnt by the Sun 2: The Citadel), Nikita Mikhalkov
Serbia: Montevideo, bog te video (Montevideo: Taste of a Dream), Dragan Bjelogrlić
Singapore: Tatsumi, Erick Khoo
Slovakia: Cigán (Gypsy), Martin Šulík
South Africa: Shookheid (Beauty), Oliver Hermanus
South Korea: 고지전 Go-ji-jeon (The Front Line), Jang Hun
Spain: Pa Negre (Black Bread), Agustí Villaronga (An okay movie with an okay story, nothing special)
Sweden: Svinalängorna (Beyond), Pernilla August
Switzerland: Giochi d'estate (Summer Games), Rolando Colla
Taiwan: 賽德克．巴萊 Saideke Balai (Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale), Wei Te-Sheng
Thailand: คนโขน Kon Khon, Sarunyu Wongkrachang
Turkey: Bir Zamanlar Anadolu’da (Once Upon a Time in Anatolia), Nuri Bilge Ceylan
United Kingdom: Patagonia, Marc Evans
Uruguay: La Casa Muda (The Silent House), Gustavo Hernández
Venezuela: El Rumor de las Piedras (The Rumble of the Stones), Alejandro Bellame
Vietnam: Khát vọng Thăng Long (The Prince and the Pagoda Boy), Lưu Trọng Ninh

Watch 62 trailers @MOC Poland doesn't have trailer yet.

Updates Comments

An unexpected update but suddenly the AMPAS Best Foreign Language Film Award Screening Schedule became available and with some unexpected surprises as seems Slovenia's silent Circus Fantasticus is NOT in the list that has 63 films (two less than in previous years).

As expected Albania changed their submission, Georgia has the expected submission, and new to the list are Estonia, Indonesia and UK. Not expected but predictable Russia kept their original submission and in a positive turn of events, the Academy allowed the Dominican Republic submission.

Between today and tomorrow the Academy has to publish their official list and ONLY then this post will become final.

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10/4

The last update before final has 58 countries submitting a film that had some kind of promotion in local media or industry media; then add one more (Georgia) that haven't been able to find info to make the total to 59, odd number, isn't? Should be 60, but up-to-this moment there are no new announcements. I still expect the number to reach 65 and soon we will learn the final list that the Academy will release within the following two weeks.

This year I have the impression that there are TOO many good films, some I have seen so know they're good (a few exceptions that I don't understand how they made it to this list) and other haven't seen them yet but are from directors I highly appreciate as great filmmakers.

I know is kind of crazy (so early) to speculate about the films that will make it to the shortlist of nine, but here is my nine film wishlist and I really hope they make it.

Germany with Pina, Finland with Le Havre, Iran with A Separation, China with The Flowers of War, Lebanon with Where do we go now?, Mexico with Miss Bala, Turkey with Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, Sweden with Beyond, and Iceland with Volcano. As a matter of fact today my Oscar goes to Pina!!! Yes, what a marvelous film truly deserves the award.

For a change there is one film that I'm not really looking forward to see, France's submission as story, style and the I-can't-forget reference of being in La Semaine de la Critique, make film not attractive to me.

Soon this post will become final and we will know if Russia changed the submission, Albania retains its submission, and Georgia submitted a French production -which is most likely as Morroco did it too.

Cheers!!!

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9/23

A new update as today we reached the 40th mark with up-to-this-moment forty (40)films. Past years there has been 65 submissions, so we can estimate that we still get around 25 more.

But what really calls my attention is the many festival movies that are being submitted; from Cannes 2010 there are 2, Cannes 2011 - 7, Venice 2010 - 2, Venice 2011 - 1, and Berlin 2011 - 3; for a total of 15 films out of 40. Also there are many (yes, many WHEN we compare it to previous years) that have gay or lesbian interest and not often in this list we have the Queer Palm winner, so I'm glad for this -small- milestone in LGTB cinema.

In about a week is the submission deadline, so this coming week should be also with many announcements.

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9/14

As list will grow larger soon had to do the first update to have the post above all the others (lol!) as not everyone knows that in the second column there is ALWAYS a link to this post for the easiest access.

I'm very puzzled with Iran's announcement a few days back, seems was not official -that's why they deleted all the news-; then Variety confirmed the news, but today in Iranian press the news that there are three films shortlisted. I do believe the Golden Bear winner deserves the honor, but let's see what Iranian authorities finally decide.

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9/1

The American Award Season is “around the corner” so it’s no surprise to find my first movie submitted to Oscar 2012. I say my first as imagine that surely now that I’ll start to look for information I’ll find more, but for today this is the first confirmed movie submitted to Oscar.

So my favorite yearly post begins today with many more submissions and one film with lesbian interest... fantastic!

5th Annual Asia Pacific Screen Awards Nominations

2011-10-10T14:53:00.000-04:00

Today APSA announced the nominations for this year awards, with a total of 37 films from 19 countries and areas. Here are the nominations for some categories. It’s noted that the films with most nominations –four each- are A Separation and Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, as we know both are Iran and Turkey submissions to Oscar plus both are by two of my most favorite directors.

Best Feature Film
Band Baaja Baaraat (Wedding Planners), Maneesh Sharma, India
Bé Omid É Didar (Goodbye), Mohammad Rasoulof, Iran
Bir Zamanlar Anadolu’da (Once Upon a Time in Anatolia), Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Turkey
Jodaeiye Nader az Simin (A Separation), Asghar Farhadi, Iran
Rang zidan fei (Let the Bullets Fly), Jiang Wen, China and Hong Kong

Achievement in Directing
Asghar Farhadi for Jodaeiye Nader az Simin (A Separation), Iran
Nuri Bilge Ceylan for Bir Zamanlar Anadolu’da (Once Upon a Time in Anatolia), Turkey
Mohammad Rasoulof for Bé Omid É Didar (Goodbye), Iran
Jiang Wen for Rang zidan fei (Let the Bullets Fly), China and Hong Kong
Na Hong-jin for Hwanghae (The Yellow Sea), South Korea

Best Performance by an Actress
Judy Davis in The Eye of the Storm, Fred Schepisi, Australia
Nahed El Sebai in Cairo 678, Mohamed Diab, Egypt
Nadezhda Markina in Elena, Andrei Zvyagintsev, Russia
Shayesteh Irani in Ayenhaye Rooberoo (Facing Mirrors), Negar Azarbayjani, Iran
Leyla Zareh in Bé Omid É Didar (Goodbye), Mohammad Rasoulof, Iran

Best Performance by an Actor
Peyman Moadi in Jodaeiye Nader az Simin (A Separation), Asghar Farhadi, Iran
Wang Baoqiang in Hello! Shu Xian Sheng (Mr Tree), Jie Han, China
Sasson Gabay in Boker Tov Adon Fidelman (Restoration), Yossi Madmoni, Israel
Fa’afiaula Sagote in O le Tulafale (The Orator), Tusi Tamasese,New Zealand and Samoa
Daniel Connors for Toomelah, Ivan Sen, Australia

To check nominees in all categories go press release or here. Award ceremony will be on November 24 at the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia and will be streamed live at the official site here.

2011 European Film Awards – Animated Film Nominations

2011-09-20T14:00:00.000-04:00

Three (3) films are nominated for the EFA's award and here they are. Included trailers to check how different European animation can feel and look.

Le Chat du Rabbin (The Rabbi's Cat), Antoine Delesvaux and Joann Sfar, France

Chico & Rita, Tono Errando, Javier Mariscal and Fernando Trueba, Spain and Isle of Man

Une Vie de Chat (A Cat in Paris), Jean-Loup Felicioli and Alain Gagnol, France and Belgium

To read official announcement go here.

2011 European Film Awards – People’s Choice Award

2011-09-12T13:57:00.001-04:00

Since September 1st up to October last day, my European friends are able to vote for their favorite film and yes, win a trip to the European Film Awards that this year will be in Berlin (I also LOVE Berlin!). The following are the nominated films and you can VOTE HERE.

Benvenuti al Sud (Welcome to the South), Luca Miniero, Italy (the hilarious Italian remake of Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis)

Hævnen (In a Better World), Susanne Bier, Denmark

The King’s Speech, Tom Hooper, UK

Konferenz der Tiere (Animals United), Reinhard Kloss and Holger Tappe, Germany

Les petits mouchoirs (Little White Lies), Guillaume Canet, France

Potiche, François Ozon, France

También la lluvia (Even the Rain), Icíar Bollaín, Spain

Unknown, Jaume Collet-Serra, Germany

If I could vote I’ll have a hard time deciding between Potiche, Hævnen or the hilarious Italian comedy (yeah for a change!). Have no idea what the animated movie plus Unknown are doing here, but after all is the People’s Choice so there had to be options for all kind of movie tastes.

Hope many of my friends and loyal blog readers VOTE so we can have a better winner that the 2010 winner.

24th European Film Awards – Long List

2011-09-12T13:29:00.000-04:00

A few minutes ago the European Film Academy (EFA) announced the titles of the forty-five (45) films on this year’s selection list with films that will be considered for a nomination in current year European Film Awards.

This year the EFA’s will return to Berlin with the award ceremony scheduled on December 3rd; as always nominations will be announced at 2011 Seville European Film Festival – fest will run from November 6 to 14, 2011- on November 5th.

Here is the long list that includes many Cannes, Berlin and festival films in general.

ALMANYA – WILLKOMMEN IN DEUTSCHLAND (ALMANYA), Yasemin Samdereli, Germany and Turkey
AMÉRICA (AMERICA), João Nuno Pinto, Portugal, Spain, Brazil and Russia
THE ARTIST, Michel Hazanavicius, France
AS IF I AM NOT THERE, Juanita Wilson, Ireland, Macedonia and Sweden
ATTENBERG, Athina Rachel Tsangari, Greece
AVE, Konstantin Bojanov, Bulgaria
BALADA TRISTE DE TROMPETA (THE LAST CIRCUS), Alex de la Iglesia, Spain
BELI BELI SVET (WHITE WHITE WORLD), Oleg Novkovic, Serbia, Germany and Sweden
CIRKUS COLUMBIA, Danis Tanović, Bosnia & Herzegovina, France, UK, Germany, Slovenia and Belgium
CIRKUS FANTASTICUS (SILENT SONATA), Janez Burger, Slovenia and Ireland
DREI (THREE), Tom Tykwer, Germany
ELDFJALL (VOLCANO), Rúnar Rúnarsson, Iceland and Denmark
ЕЛЕНА (ELENA), Andrey Zvyagintsev, Russia
ESSENTIAL KILLING, Jerzy Skolimowski, Poland, Norway, Ireland and Hungary
LE GAMIN AU VÉLO (THE KID WITH A BIKE), Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne, Belgium, France and Italy
HABEMUS PAPAM, Nanni Moretti, Italy and France
HÆVNEN (IN A BETTER WORLD), Susanne Bier, Denmark
HALT AUF FREIER STRECKE (STOPPED ON TRACK), Andreas Dresen, Germany
HITGANVUT YEHIDIM (INFILTRATION), Dover Kosashvili, Israel and France
THE KING’S SPEECH, Tom Hooper, UK
LE HAVRE, Aki Kaurismäki, Finland, France and Germany
LIDICE, Petr Nikolaev, Czech Republic
LOVERBOY, Cătălin Mitulescu, Romania
MAJKI (MOTHERS), Milcho Manchevski, Macedonia
MELANCHOLIA, Lars von Trier, Denmark, Sweden, France and Germany
NEDS, Peter Mullan, UK
NOI CREDEVAMO (WE BELIEVED), Mario Martone, Italy and France
OSLO 31. AUGUST (OSLO, AUGUST 31st), Joachim Trier, Norway
ОВCЯНКИ – OVSYANKI (SILENT SOULS), Alexey Fedorchenco, Russia
PA NEGRE (BLACK BREAD), Agustí Villaronga, Spain
LA PETITE CHAMBRE (THE LITTLE ROOM), Stéphanie Chuat & Véronique Reymond, Switzerland and Luxembourg
LES PETITS MOUCHOIRS (LITTLE WHITE LIES), Guillaume Canet, France
LA PIEL QUE HABITO (THE SKIN I LIVE IN), Pedro Almodóvar, Spain
PLAY, Ruben Östlund, Sweden
PŘEŽÍT SVŮJ ŽIVOT (SURVIVING LIFE), Jan Švankmajer, Czech Republic and Slovakia
RUNDSKOP (BULLHEAD), Michaël R. Roskam, Belgium and Netherlands
SALA SAMOBÓJCÓW (SUICIDE ROOM), Jan Komasa, Poland
SVINALÄNGORNA (BEYOND), Pernilla August, Sweden, Denmark and Finland
TAMBIEN LA LLUVIA (EVEN THE RAIN), Icíar Bollaín, Spain
TILVA ROŠ, Nikola Ležaić, Serbia
TIRZA, Rudolf van den Berg, Netherlands
TOMBOY, Céline Sciamma, France
A TORINÓI LÓ (THE TURIN HORSE), Béla Tarr, Hungary, France, Switzerland and Germany
DIE UNABSICHTLICHE ENTFÜHRUNG DER FRAU ELFRIEDE OTT (THE UNINTENTIONAL KIDNAPPING OF ELFRIEDE OTT), Andreas Prochaska, Austria
WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN, Lynne Ramsay, UK

To my surprise have seen more than a few and the ones I haven’t seen of course I’m “dying” to see them. Quite unusual but in this long list there are two lesbian interest films and as usual there are more gay interest films in the list, sigh. Most of the new to me films come from Eastern Europe and there are some that definitively am interested in watching, so let’s hope I’m able before November 5th, just in case they’re nominated.

To check the list at the EFA official site go here or here at the European Film Awards official site.

Not an easy task for the Academy members as in the above list there are TOO MANY extraordinary movies that already collected the Oscar last year and/or are being submitted to Oscar this year. But let’s wait until the nominations are near to play the guessing game for the main categories.

Cheers!!!

68th Venice Film Festival Award Winners

2011-09-10T19:44:00.003-04:00

Not sure that this festival is as exciting as the other one from Cannes that not only really gets my attention but undoubtedly gets the attention of most of the world. During the fest there was a seminar about the “future of festivals” and I was talking about the same subject -but referring exclusively to La Mostra- with a friend, in our discussion we tend to agree that fest hast to go back to be less American and more non-American (you know what we mean), should be an Italian stage that showcases the world cinema -yes should go face-to-face with the one from France as one is early in the year and the other is later in the year and each year has enough months and days to have two world worthy cinema festivals.

Anyway there are not many films that I’m “dying” to see from this year fest, but obviously there are some that are absolutely must be seen for me. So, here are the Award winners.

VENEZIA 68 (The Competition)

Golden Lion for Best Film: Faust, Alexander Sokurov, Russia
Special Jury Prize: Terraferma, Emanuele Crialese, Italy

Silver Lion for Best Director: Shangjun Cai for People Mountain People Sea, China and Hong Kong
Volpi Cup for Best Actor: Michael Fassbender in Shame, Steve McQueen, UK
Volpi Cup for Best Actress: Deanie Ip in Tao Jie (A Simple Life), Ann Hui, China and Hong Kong)

Osella for Best Screenplay: Yorgos Lanthimos for Alpis (Alps), Greece
Osella for Best Cinematography: Wuthering Heights, Andrea Arnold, UK

Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best New Young Actor or Actress: Shôta Sometani and Fumi Nikaidô in Himizu, Sion Sono, Japan

Lion of the Future – Luigi de Laurentiis Award for Best Debut Film: Là-bas (A Criminal Education), Guido Lombardi, Italy

To check all the winners go here.

ORIZZONTI AWARDS

Best Film: Kotoko, Shinya Tsukamoto, Japan
Special Jury Prize: Whores’ Glory, Michael Glawogger, Austria and Germany

Best Medium-Length Film: Accidentes Gloriosos (Glorious Accidents), Mauro Andrizzi and Marcus Lindeen, Sweden, Denmark and Argentina
Best Short Film: In Attesa Dell'Avvento, Felice D'Agostino and Arturo Lavorato, Italy

Special Mentions
O le Tulafale (The Orator), Tusi Tamasese, New Zealand and Samoa
All The Lines Flow Out, Charles Lim Yi, Singapore

Short Film Nominee for the European Film Awards: Hypercrisis, Josef Dabernig, Austria

To read Jury statements please go here.

CONTROCAMPO ITALIANO

Best Film: Scialla!, Francesco Bruni
Best Documentary: Pugni Chiusi , Fiorenza Infascelli
Best Short Film: A Chjána, Jonas Carpignano
Special Mentions
Black Block, Carlo Augusto Bachschmidt
Francesco Di Giacomo for the cinematography of Pugni Chiusi

To check winners official announcement go here.

COLLATERAL AWARDS

FIPRESCI Prize
Best Film from Venezia 68: Shame by Steven McQueen, UK
Best Film from Orizzonti and International Critics’ Week: Two Years at Sea, Ben Rivers

SIGNIS Award: Faust, Aleksandr Sokurov, Russia
Special Mention: Tao jie (A Simple Life), Ann Hui, China

CICAE Award: O le tulafale (The Orator), Tusi Tamasese

International Critics’ Week Award: Là-Bas, Guido Lombardi, Italy
Label Europa Cinemas Award for Best European Film: Présumé Coupable (Guilty), Vincent Garenq, France

Queer Lion Award: Wilde Salomé by Al Pacino, USA (To check the 12 films that were considered go here, almost all are gay interest)

La Navicella – Venezia Cinema Award: Tao jie (A Simple Life), Ann Hui

Leoncino d'Oro Agiscuola Award: Carnage, Roman Polanski
Cinema for UNICEF Commedation: Terraferma, Emanuele Crialese
Frasceso Pasinetti (SNGCI) Award: Terraferma, Emanuele Crialese
SNGCI Commendation: L’ultimo terrestre, Gian Alfonso Pacinotti
Brian Award: The Ides of March, George Clooney
C.I.C.T. UNESCO Enrico Fulchignoni Award: Tahrir 2011, Tamer Ezzat, Ayten Amin, Amr Salama

Arca CinemaGiovani Award
Best Film Venezia68: Shame, Steve McQueen, UK
Best Italian Film: L’ultimo terrestre, Gian Alfonso Pacinotti

To check all the collateral awards winners go here.

Other Awards

Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement: Marco Bellocchio
Jaeger-LeCoultre Glory to the Filmmaker Award 2011: Al Pacino
Persol 3D Award for Most Creative Stereoscopic Film of the Year: Zapruder Filmmkaers Group
L’Oreal Paris Award for Cinema: Nicole Grimaudo

Award Ceremony Highlights

อยากรักก็รักเลย Yak Rak Kor Rak Loei (Yes or No)

2011-09-09T15:53:00.000-04:00

Not often I have the opportunity to watch a Thai movie, much less a movie that could easily have the mainstream label as this film by Saratswadee Wongsomphet looks/feels very much for general audiences; as a matter of fact film style recalls many Japanese contemporary/entertainment cinema films that I have seen. You have to recall that the last Thai movie I saw was the Cannes Palm d’Or and gee these two Thai films are absolutely opposites in the cinema range. Sigh.

But this film is not mainstream cinema, is not art cinema and is not your regular entertainment movie because it has a lovely story about how confusing first-time love can be especially if you’re unsure about your sexuality no matter how you look in the outside. Yes, the story is about Kim and Pie, two girls that eventually –against society plus their own fears- will fall in love and even when some English reviews label film as the “so-called Thai lesbian film” well, I can assure you that film and story are with 100% lesbian interest (there is nothing “so-called”) and yes, is a very nice-to-watch film that will leave you with an uplifting feeling as has a happy ending –for a change.

Performances are not the best but somehow fit the characters they’re playing, so made me wonder if is not done on purpose but have no reference to really know; yet I know that movie first half made me laugh (which is not easy) and second half made me feel whatever the characters were feeling. So surely is not a bad movie as can absorb you into living/feeling whatever is happening.

As the West tends now to produce sophisticated lesbian themed films, the East can surprise us with very simple and refreshing lesbian themed movies; Yes or No absolutely was a surprise as everything about it is so simple that became very, very refreshing. If you enjoy lesbian interest films plus the dvd comes to your rental store do not hesitate to rent and watch it as I know that you’ll not be disappointed.

Enjoy!!!

Watch trailer @MOC

Day 10 – 68th Venice International film Festival

2011-09-09T12:41:00.000-04:00

The last festival day as tomorrow is the closing ceremony where the main awards will be given and yes, I hope can watch it live as is more exciting to learn winners as it happens.

Today the most important event is the Golden Lion to Marco Bellocchio for his career/lifetime achievement; the award will be presented by Bernardo Bertolucci. The ceremony will be followed by the screening of the new version of Nel Nome del padre (In the Name of the Father) by Marco Bellochio, who re-edited and remixed to create a new original work.

The last day of competition has the screening of Texas Killing Fields by Ami Canaan Mann, and Duo Migjin (Life Without Principle) by Johnnie To.

This morning the Bianchi Award was presented to one actress that I have seen almost all her movies, I’m talking about beautiful Virna Lisi that today looks as good as when she was young; the award will join many other honors like her seven Nasti d’Argento, four David di Donatello, one Cannes Palm d’Or and one Cesar.

Later today we will start to learn winners in the collateral sections but wish to remind you all that last year the winner of the 25th International Film Critics Week was none other than Svinalängorna (Beyond) by Pernilla August that now we know is Sweden’s submission to 2012 Oscar. So I’ll be checking to create the winners post.

Day 9 – 68th Venice International Film Festival

2011-09-08T16:59:00.000-04:00

Today the first award winners from the fest in the Controcampo Italiano section that showcases the new trends in Italian cinema. Here are the winners.

Best Film: Scialla! By Francesco Bruni
Documentary: Pugni Chiusi by Fiorella Infasscelli
Short Film: A Chjàna by Jonas Carpignano

The Jury also awarded a special mention to the documentary Black Block by Carlo Augusto Bachschmidt and to Francesco Di Giacomo for the photography in Pugni Chiusi.

The informal ceremony

The festival is almost over but today we have three films competing for the Golden Lion. I do like –a lot- the style and movies from Aleksander Sokurov so it’s no surprise that Faust is a must be seen for me, no matter if is another adaptation of a tale that’s been told too many times, I’m sure that Sokurov will do something “fresh” with his own style all over. Another American movie in competition Killer Joe by William Friedkin starring Matthew McConaughey (?), Emile Hirsch and Gina Gershon among others. Last, an Italian production L’Ultimo Terrestre by Gian Alfonso Pacinotti.

Emile Hirch at the photocall

Day 8 – 68th Venice International Film Festival

2011-09-07T15:06:00.000-04:00

Today three (3) films vie for the Golden Lion Hahithalfut (The Exchange) by Eran Kolirin, Quando La Notte by Cristina Comencini and Abel Ferrara’s 4:44 Last Day on Earth. Three very different movies, with different audience profiles but if I believe everything I have read in English –and La Mostra likes English speaking films- the race is on with two already screened films… hmm BUT since Aronofsky is the jury president and if I think about his movies as reference or inspiration, maybe the winner will be a not-very-conventional film like… (don’t know yet! Lol!).

In the Orizzonti section today there is a movie that many are talking (and joking) about, yes is the Yolande Zauberman’s Would you have sex with an Arab? So maybe you’ll like to check excerpts from the press conference that also includes comments about The Tracks of my Tears 2 by Axel Petersen.

Willem Defoe in 4:44 photocall

Day 6 and 7 – 68th Venice International Film Festival

2011-09-06T14:59:00.005-04:00

Venezia 68 In Competition. Today two films that definitively are looking forward to watch, Andrea Arnold’s Wunthering Heights and Sono Sion’s Himizu; while yesterday was the day of Tao Jie (A Simple Life) by Ann Hui and as I read a while back the most expensive German coproduction up-to-date Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by none other than Tomas Alfredson in his first English language movie, that even if is a remake the cast plus the director give me high hopes to a good not-so-usual entertainment moment.

Wunthering Heights

Himizu

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

Also today the “surprise film” in competition, which brings the total number to 23 titles, Ren Shan Ren Hai by Cai Shangjun from China.

Also in competition, Dark Horse by Todd Solondz calls my attention

Day 5 - 68th Venice International Film Festival

2011-09-04T17:30:00.004-04:00

Sunday usually is a quiet day but today there are some great things happening at Venice, let’s take a look

Venezia 68 – In Competition

Most English reviewers are extremely excited with Shame by Steve McQueen; honestly I need no endorsement, I liked McQueen’s Hunger and obviously his next movie had to be must be seen for me no matter the story or the cast, but he was gracious and included two of my nowadays favorite actors, Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan, so can’t complain. Suggest you watch this movie as soon as comes near you.

Emanuele Crialese has done some interesting movies like Respiro or Nuovomondo so his latest Terraferma obviously is must be seen for me and well, story could be interesting if you care to explore how a stranger can be “something” in an “new” environment, as no one must be denied the right to be elsewhere… very interesting, isn’t?

Out of Competition

Early afternoon started with Nicholas Ray’s We Can’t Go Home Again which is a restored version of Ray’s experimental masterpiece with “journalistic” approach to footage from 1911 to 2011; then we have Susan Ray’s Don’t Expect Too Much (Nicholas Ray 1911-2011) what I call a companion piece that explains the first with Nicholas own words; late night, i.e. midnight brings the screening of Alois Nebel by Tomáš Lunák an animated film that could be interesting for the story as you know, animation can go beyond what reality can do.

Early night, the screening of Wilde Salome by Al Pacino, yes Al Pacino is the director and the film star of this experimental work that mixes fiction, documentary and I should say: imagination. This film is the winner of the Glory to the Filmaker Award.

Orizzonti

Today five short films plus I’m Carolyn Parker: The Good, The Mad and The Beautiful, by none other than Johathan Demmme that yes calls my attention. Also today, The Invader by Nicholas Provost from Belgium.

Controcampo Italiano

Sunday morning started with the screening of L’Arrivo di Wang by Manetti bros preceded by Roberto de Paolis’ short film Alice; later Pivano Blues – Sulla Strada di Nanda by Teresa Marche, with Patti Smith performing at the red carpet! (wow!).

Retrospective

Today Ana by Alberto Grifi and Massimo Sarchielli; also, the 1942 film Il Betturale del San Gottardo by Ivo Illuminati and Hans Hinrich

Giornate Degli Autori – Venice Days

Today the screening of Portret V Sumerkakh (Twightlight Portrait) by Angelina Mikonova that could be interesting for the bare production values and Habibi Rasak Kharban (Habibi) by Susan Youssef with another exploration about the forbidden love between Jews and Palestinian.

International Critics’ Week

Today La Terre Outragee by Michale Boganim, a puzzling French, German Polish and Ukrainian production that I have been reading about for a while and yes, calls my attention.

Collateral Events

Today the screening of the first of three films that are competing for the European Premio Lux, from Greece a film that yes I’m absolutely curious about, Rachel Tsangari’s Attenberg. Film is also Greece’s submission to 2012 Oscar. By the way in case you didn’t know it by now, Yorgos Lathimos is an actor in this film.

So that’s for today and since the only “stars” come from UK I know coverage will be less intense than other days, even when Pacino is around. Let’s hope I find some good/interesting photos and videos.

Not So Serious News

You might or might not recognize her, but this is Patti Smith at the red carpet. Sorry (Thank YOU!!) Getty Images but had to share this one.

Day 4 – 68th Venice International Film Festival

2011-09-03T18:06:00.002-04:00

Venezia 68 – In Competition

One movie that absolutely calls my attention as is their first experience with non-animation after the fantastic Persepolis, Poulet Aux Prunes by Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud has an incredible cast with the likes of Mathieu Amalric, Maria de Medeiros, Isabella Rossellini, Chiara Mastroianni and others plus a story that according to directors’ statement sort of precedes the story of the same family in Persepolis as covers the years between 1930 and 1990. Nevertheless with preceding credentials plus great actors, film is absolutely must be seen for me.

Yorgos Lanthimos is very young and does very strange movies but yes will try to see Alpis (Alps) that has a story that really appeals to me about people stand-in for dead people. LOL! Has to be a very crazy movie.

Out of Competition

Another American movie that could have had great stars in the red carpet but it didn’t as there was no Marion Cotillard, no Kate Winslet, no Jude Law, only Matt Damon, Laurence Fishburne and Gwyneth Paltrow… lol! I’m talking about Contagion by Steven Soderbergh that no it doesn’t call much my attention but have to see everything with Marion Cotillard, so I know will watch it. The best news from today is that Soderbergh is quitting doing movies to become a full time painter, hope his painting is better than his later movies.

More interesting is La Folie Almayer by Chantal Akerman but then I’ll watch anything and everything by Chantal Akerman.

Late night was the screening of Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has To Travel by Lisa Immordino Vreeland, Frédéric Tcheng, and Bent Jorgen Perlmutt with a portrait of perhaps the 20th century greatest arbiter of style.

Orizzonti

Today the feature film Sal by James Franco that honestly I’m not interesting at all in watching, can’t stand the actor and truly believe he was overexposed –this even when I am interested in Sal Mineo. More interesting are Lung Neaw Vitits his Neighbourts by Rirkrit Tiravanija, Shock Head Soul by Simon Pummell, O le Tulafale (The Orator) by Tusi Tamasese and Palacios de Pena (Palaces of Pity) by Gabriel Abrantes and Daniel Schmidt.

Controcampo Italiano

Today a few shorts plus the screening of Cose dell’Altro Mondo by Francesco Patierno and Quiproquo by Ellisabetta Sgarbi.

Retrospective

Today two short films from 1967 and 1970 plus the 1971 In Punto di Morte by Mario Garriba.

Giornate Degli Autori – Venice Days

Early today Philippe Lioret’s Toutes Nos Envies (All Our Desires) that surprise, surprise NO I’m not interested in watching. Also today the special event with the screening of Inni by Vincent Morisset a doc with very interesting images and suggestive use of black and white, and a documentary about death by Julia Murat, Historias que so existem quando lembradas.

International Critics’ Week

Today Marecages (Wetlands) by Guy Édoin from Canada with a family story that doesn’t appeal to me.

The not so serious news

Some photos with Gwyneth Paltrow

Day 3 – 68th Venice International Film Festival

2011-09-02T13:24:00.008-04:00

So last night there was no Jodie Foster at Venice, strange quite strange… but Kate Winslet wore such a special dress that put her in the spotlight above Madonna and everyone else… check the video at yesterday’s post to get a glimpse of the amazing dress.

Venezia 68 -In Competition

Today’s centerpiece is a movie that absolutely calls my attention because story –a period drama- , the amazing cast –love Michael Fassbender plus Viggo Mortensen, Vincent Cassel and Keira Knightley- and most of all a very special/puzzling director: David Cronenberg. I’m talking about A Dangerous Method the dark tale of sexual and intellectual discovery that plays with Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud, wow! Do I need to say more about story? No.

Late night the premiere of a film that’s must be seen for me Un été brûlant by Philippe Garrel starring his son Louis Garrel and none other than Monica Bellucci. No need to comment more as you all know that I simply LOVE (good) French Cinema.

I imagine that tonight both red carpets will have the awesome real life husband and wife couple of Vincent and Monica, so hope tomorrow to find great photos.

Out of Competition

La Sala Grande will have the screening of Mildred Pierce (episodes 1 and 2) which I absolute loved and highly recommend to watch the first four episodes that are magnificent; unfortunately the quality of the story and some performances in the last two episodes is not as good as in the first four. So we will have Kate Winslet and surely Rachel Evan Wood again today.

Midnight will bring to la Sala Grande China’s Tony Siu-tung’s Baishe Chuanshuo (The Sorcerer and the White Snake) that I’m sure will have amazing visuals but wonder if I ever will see it as the genre disappoints me too much thanks to lame stories that extraordinary visual cannot cover enough for me to enjoy the film.

Orizzonti

The section will screen several short and medium-length films, but also feature films like Birmingham Ornament by Andrey Silvestrov and Yuri Leiderman from Russia; Whores’ Glory by Michael Glawogger from Austria and Germany; Hail by Amiel Courtin-Wilson from Australia; Le Petit Poucet by Marina de Van from France; and Photographic Memory by Ross McElwee from USA.

Controcampo Italiano

The section opens today with the screening of the short by none other than Maria Grazia Cucinotta, Il Maestro; followed by the feature film Scialla! By Francesco Bruni. Later in the afternoon, the screening of Out of Tehran – Four Stories by Monica Maggioni and Rudolf Jacobs and L’Uomo che nacque morendo by Luigi M. Faccini.

Giornate Degli Autori -Venice Days

Today the Canada/France production by Jean-Marc Vallée, Café de Flore, a love story about people separated by time and place but connected in profound and mysterious ways. Not particularly fond of Vanessa Paradis but I like the director previous work The Young Victoria, so probably will give film a try.

International Critics’ Week

From Argentina El Campo (In the Open) by Hernán Belón that maybe could be interesting.

The not so serious news

Another day with spectacular photos with Kate Winslet and Rachel Evan Wood, yes will include some from today and the previous days. It’s official Kate is absolutely showing off her fantastic body with great dresses that outline it.

Today photos are fantastic and if you wish to check them the best place is Getty Images where you just enter 68th Venice and enjoy seeing all the great photos that are for sale, that’s why cannot put them here.

Let's start with Kate and Rachel with night and day photos.

Daytime Monica and Vincent

Second Day – 68th Venice International Film Festival

2011-09-01T15:26:00.008-04:00

Today’s centerpiece is the premiere of Carnage –in competition- with the most amazing cast in what I hope is a better movie –than his previous- by Roman Polanski. Described as “grotesque comedy of manners” seems was received with rounds of applause and riotous laughter which makes me wonder a bit if I’ll be able to enjoy the humor but hopefully I will as film was shot in real time which probably positively will help the humor. From photocall shots I see Kate Winslet, John C. Reilly and Christopher Waltz but no Jodie Foster so let’s hope she will be tonight at the red carpet.

Also today in competition the Taiwanese epic film that tells a real life story about the aboriginal tribes that lived in the island when was a Japanese colony. Saideke Balai (Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale) by Te-Sheng Wei reviews the 1930 so-called Wushe Incident where the Japanese ban indigenous cultural practices. Could be interesting plus a while back read that is the most expensive film produced up-to date in Taiwan and from trailer can say that production values are high.

From the films out of competition surely the one everyone will be talking about is W.E. by Madonna a film that tells a “modern version” of the Wallis and Edward tale told by a fictional Wally that lives in current time and mirrors their life. Always like UK period dramas and what makes me wonder if I’ll like it is that this film is by Madonna, but from photos film looks fine. All right early reviews are not positive, lol! Follows a video with Madonna and her cast arrival.

Today fest also will screen the following out of competition films: Giochi d’Estate (Summer Games) by Rolando Colla, India, Matri Bhumi by Roberto Rossellini, La Désintégration by Philippe Faucon, and Scosa by Francesco Maselli, Carlo Lizzani, Ugo gregoretti, and Nino Russo.

Venice Days continues today with the screening of Rugine (Rust) by Daniele Gaglianone an Italian drama that does not call my attention at all.

La Settimana della Critica opens with an event, the screening of Stocholm Ostra (Stockholm East) by Simon Kaijser da Silva which is out of competition and is a family drama that wonder if will appeal to me.

Orizzonti opens today with Cut by Amir Naderi a film described as a “visual poem” for the cinema set in the world of the yakuza that obviously calls my attention for the visuals but wonder if I will stand the story. Worth to remind you all that none other than Jia Zhang-ke is the Orizzonti jury President who will chair a very eclectic group of jurors. Orizzonti will also today screen five (5) short films.

Today is the presentation of the collateral award Città di Venezia 2011 to Colombian Carlos Gaviria for his movie Retratos en un Mar de Mentiras, the film will be screened after the award ceremony as well as The Neighbor by Nahgmeh Shirkan from Iran and the 2006 film Si le vent soulève les sables by Marion Hansel from Belgium. The program closes with three short films from Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco that includes Garagouz by Abdenour Zahzah, winner in the short film category.. For more information go here.

Here is a photo with the W.E. male cast and the director plus another video with Madonna joking...

Most interesting video with some clips from press conference and the movie... audio can be switched to French or German... English only in the background...

At the Carnage red carpet/premiere Kate wore a truly amazing dress that fitted her like a glove... you have to check the following video or browse the net for the spectacular photos

Primo Giorno - 68th Venice International Film Festival

2011-08-31T15:43:00.007-04:00

With a forgettable not entertaining and truly protocol opening ceremony La Mostra 2011 opened with too much Clooney for my taste and not even a single movie clip from any of the movies in or out of competition. But have to admit that enjoyed the first part of Vittoria Puccini speech and nothing else in particular.

Anyway today was the premiere of George Clooney’s The Ides of March so there was a press conference, a photo call and a red carpet walk with him dominating and stealing the limelight for the day. Nevertheless was able to watch on TV and photos from Evan Rachel Wood, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti and Marisa Tomei who star in Clooney’s film.

Before the screening of the Festival and Competition opening film there was a four minute short film called Lido ’28 by Anonymous produced in 1928 that was able to watch as they showed it as part of the opening ceremony on TV. Short made me recall Visconti’s Morte a Venezia (Deatch in Venice) but short shows the real beach and 20’s beauties doing all sort of odd things, including riding horses in the sea.

After the Competition opening film, the Out of Competition opening film follows: ¡VIVAN LAS ANTIPODAS! by Victor Kossakovsky, a documentary that is in Spanish, Russian, Setswana, and English; is a Germany, Argentina, Netherlands, and Chile production plus tells about the few land-to-land antipodal places in mother Earth… which makes doc very interesting for me.

Early this afternoon the Giornate degli Autori opened with a special event: the screening of Crazy Horse by Frederick Wiseman an absolute Must-Be-Seen for me since I learned about it a few months back; followed by Di La Dal Vetro (Beyond the Glass) a short by Andrea Di Bari plus Love and Bruises by Lou Ye a French production staring a mesmerizing actor Tahar Rahim (remember A Prophet?) with an interesting story that will made me watch it.

Later in the afternoon the Retrospective section opened with three 1967 Italian medium-length films Hemitage by Carmelo Bene, Il Canto d’Amore di Alfred Prufrock by Nico D’Alessandria, and Bis by Paolo Brunatto; last a longer film with 55 minutes from 1967-68 by Paolo Brunatto Vieni Dolce Morte (Dell ‘Ego) that is a silent film.

As the first day fades away I hope to see tomorrow a lot less of Clooney and a lot more of the Jury President Darren Aronofsky, in the meantime here are some photos from today’s events.

Ci vediamo a Domani!!

The Main Competition Jury

The Ides of March cast and crew

Nice Rachel and George photo.

Watch Biennale 2011 trailers @MOC

Highlights from the First Day

Midnight in Paris

2011-08-07T18:19:00.000-04:00

The 2011 Cannes opening movie is a pleasant surprise as looks and feels like the great movies by Woody Allen especially because Allen is in the film. Well, actually he is not in the screen at all! Let me explain. I don’t particularly care about Owen Wilson and I do dislike most of his performances but I believe that his best role up-to-date is in this movie and he’s playing Woody Allen! Oh yes, I could see (a younger) Woody all over Owen’s performance and maybe now I finally gasped what I miss in Allen’s movies, I miss him, the (younger) actor.

A beautiful love-letter to Paris with breath-taking day/night/rainy views of the gorgeous city (yes, I do LOVE Paris) film tells the impossible dream of many “intellectuals” that wish to alternate, converse and rub elbows with la crème de la crème of the many artists that lived in 20’s Paris, but Gil (Owens) is a “normal” American tourist struggling with writing a novel after being a very successful Hollywood screenplay writer and indeed he could be the opposite to a intellectual prototype. There is a lot of irony in story and dialogues, which absolutely makes it very appealing to me and yes is an enjoyable glimpse into the Parisian lives of the likes of Hemingway, Buñuel, Picasso, Matisse, Dalí, Gertrude Stein, Cole Porter, Fitzgerald, and many others. The only predictable moment for me was going to Maxim where I knew Toulouse-Lautrec was going to appear, but I forgive you Mr. Allen, as most of it was really unexpected.

Best performance in movie belongs to Marion Cotillard that truly steals all scenes she’s in; but I also enjoyed the brief appearance by Léa Seydoux and to be honest, did not recognized Carla Bruni (lol!) and wonder –like someone else also wonders- if her sister Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi played the character instead of her surely character would have been more noticeable and interesting.

It’s a fun to watch film, well, a Woody Allen type of fun to watch film and definitively enjoyed my entertaining moment and I do recommend film to those that like Allen’s oldies and somehow wish to see (the younger version of) him in the screen.

Enjoy!!!

Watch trailer @MOC

Jane Eyre

2011-08-04T07:36:00.001-04:00

You read the book. You have seen one or more movie adaptations. You know the story. So how a new adaptation can absolutely take your breath away as well as stimulate all your senses and emotions at the right moments?

Cary Jôji Fukunaga first voyage into a period drama -after his spectacular Sin Nombre- is an amazing visual experience that since the very beginning up to the end marvels your eyes with outstanding visual compositions, amazing framing, great camera takes, and moving sequential –one after another- photographs that you wish to stop the film to admire them more. It’s not a perfect visual experience as Fukunaga chose in some key moments to relegate the visual to the back only to allow drama to build up front with outstanding performances by a perfect cast, which detonates your emotions to the fullest. And the ride continues until the very last scene with breathtaking visuals, emotions explosions and even tension building. Incredible, especially because I really know the story but this movie made me live and feel the story as if was new to me.

Have to give credit to a fresh screenplay by Moira Buffini that in my opinion highlighted the drama by more in-depth developing lead and secondary story characters which allowed Mia Wasikowska (Jane Eyre), Michael Fassbender (Rochester), Judi Dench (Mrs. Fairfax), Jamie Bell (St John Rivers), and Sally Hawkins (Mrs. Reed) to shine on the screen. But no doubt that is Fukunaga masterful storytelling which allowed all the pieces to come together to make this movie an excellent cinematic experience.

This is not a fast paced movie but neither is slow; somehow made wish it was slower paced to admire more time the many classical framing photos that populate the film. Definitively will watch again to enjoy more the visuals hoping that I won’t be taken again by the emotions, but guess that won’t be an easy task as this is an almost perfect combination of everything I love in a movie. Bravo Master Fukunaga and I’ll be most anxiously waiting for your next film that I do imagine will masterly explore new -for you- cinema territories.

I do praise this movie as truly deserves it but I know that for many will be just another adaptation or if you’re not familiar with story, like another period drama; still if you love very visual movies maybe you will experience as much as I did this great film.

Big Enjoy!!!

Watch trailer @MOC