Marketing Movies - Update

So seems that's America where marketing reflects their society. Please check the trailer that was recently released in UK, surely and clearly sells a gay drama.



--end of update--

Marketing can make or kill a movie and now that we are in Oscar season strange things start to happen like for example what a distributor is doing to the movie A Single Man that recently released a second trailer that totally removes the gayness from the plot. Take a look at both trailers.

Trailer issued by Tom Ford's production company



Trailer issued by the distributor



So, what do you think??? Isn't terrible what marketing can do??? Did you noticed that in the second trailer they removed Colin's character two lovers actors names from the credits?! And if you watch the second trailer in Youtube and read the info you will notice that it does not say a thing about this movie being totally gay.

I don't think that issuing a de-gaying trailer will help the film with the homophobic Academy members, meaning, will not increase or decrease its chances. Colin Firth already has buzz for best actor, so perhaps they are trying to get buzz for Moore like they claim in the trailer. Haven't seen the film but if they are trying to break the Brokeback Mountain Oscar curse, it will not be by pretending that this film is not gay.

Sigh.

14th Annual Satellite Award Winners

Winners are in *RED.

Today the International Press Academy announced the nominations for the 2009 Satellite Awards and here are the nominees for some of the categories.

Motion Picture (Drama)
"Bright Star"
"An Education"
*"The Hurt Locker"
"The Messenger"
"Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire"
"The Stoning of Soraya M."

Motion Picture (Comedy or Musical)
"The Informant!"
"It's Complicated"
"Julie & Julia"
*"Nine"
"A Serious Man"
"Up in the Air"

Foreign Language Film (tie)
*"Broken Embraces"
"I Killed My Mother"
*"The Maid"
"Red Cliff"
"The White Ribbon"
"Winter in Wartime"

Motion Picture (Animated or Mixed Media)
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
*The Fantastic Mr. Fox
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
The Princess and the Frog
Up
Where the Wild Things Are

Director
Jane Campion for Bright Star
Neill Blomkamp for District 9
Lone Scherfig for An Education
*Kathryn Bigelow for Hurt Locker
Rob Marshall for Nine
Lee Daniels forPrecious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire

Actress (Drama)
*Shohreh Aghdashloo in The Stoning of Soraya M.
Emily Blunt in The Young Victoria
Abbie Cornish inBright Star
Penelope Cruz in Broken Embraces
Carey Mulligan in An Education
Catalina Saavedra in The Maid

Actor (Drama)
Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart
Hugh Dancy in Adam
Johnny Depp in Public Enemies
Colin Firth in A Single Man
*Jeremy Renner in The Hurt Locker
Michael Sheen inThe Damned United

Actress (Comedy Or Musical)
Sandra Bullock in The Proposal
Marion Cotillard in Nine
Zooey Deschanel in (500) Days of Summer
Katherine Heigl in The Ugly Truth
*Meryl Streep in Julie & Julia

Actor (Comedy Or Musical)
George Clooney in Up in the Air
Bradley Cooper in The Hangover
Matt Damon in The Informant!
Daniel Day-Lewis in Nine
*Michael Stuhlbarg in A Serious Man

Supporting Actress
Emily Blunt in Sunshine Cleaning
Penelope Cruz in Nine
Anna Kendrick in Up in the Air
Mozhan Marno in The Stoning of Soraya M.
*Mo'Nique in Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire

Supporting Actor
Woody Harrelson in The Messenger
James McAvoy in The Last Station
Alfred Molina in An Education
Timothy Spall in The Damned United
*Christoph Waltz in Inglourious Basterds (He has to get the Oscar!)

Ten Best Films of 2009
Bright Star
An Education
(500) Days of Summer
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Nine
Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire
A Serious Man
The Stoning of Soraya M.
Up in the Air

To check the nominees in all categories including TV go here. The awards presentation will take place on Sunday December 20, 2009. To check winners in all categories please go here.

2010 Golden Globe Awards Nominations

Just a few minutes ago the Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced this year nominees for the major categories. Presenters were Diane Kruger, John Krasinski (funny moment when his wife Emily blunt got nominated for Young Victoria) and (believe it or not) Justin Timberlake. The nominees are not yet posted at the official site, but from what I was able to watch here are the nominees.

Best Picture Drama
Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious
Up in the Air

Best Picture Comedy or Musical
(500) Days of Summer
The Hangover
It’s Complicated
Julie & Julia
Nine

Best Director
Katheryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker
James Cameron for Avatar
Clint Eastwood for Invictus
Jason Reitman for Up in the Air
Quentin Tarantino for Inglorious Basterds

Best Actress Drama
Emily Blunt in The Young Victoria
Sandra Bullock in The Blind Side
Helen Mirren in The Last Station
Carey Mulligan in An Education
Gabourey Sibide in Precious

Best Actor Drama
Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart
George Clooney in Up in the Air
Colin Firth in A Single Man
Morgan Freeman in Invictus
Tobey Maguire in Brothers

Best Actress Comedy or Musical
Sandra Bullock in The Proposal
Marion Cotillard in Nine
Julia Roberts in Duplicity
Meryl Streep in It’s Complicated
Meryl Streep in Julie & Julia

Best Actor Comedy or Musical
Matt Damon in The Informant!
Daniel Day-Lewis in Nine
Robert Downey Jr. In Sherlock Holmes
Joseph Gordon-Levitt in (500) Days of Summer
Michael Stuhlbarg in A Serious Man

Best Supporting Actress
Penelope Cruz in Nine
Vera Farmiga in Up in the Air
Anne Kendrick in Up in the Air
Mo’Nique in Precious
Julianne Moore in A Single Man

Best Supporting Actor
Matt Damon in Invictus
Woody Harrelson in The Messenger
Christopher Plummer in The Last Station
Stanley Tucci in The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz in Inglorious Basters

Best Foreign Language Film
A Prophet
Baaria
Broken Embraces
La Nana (The Maid)
The White Ribbon

Best Animated Feature Film
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Princess and the Frog
UP

By the time I finished writing the announcement is at the official site and to check the nominees in all categories, including TV, please go here. Later I will do the analysis (like I did last year) and will modify the post.

Spontaneously great reaction to Marion Cotillard nomination, well-deserved two nominations for Meryl Streep, so glad that Quentin is nominated (great movie) and there are some nominated films that I will have a hard time watching Precious (sorry, but I didn't like it at all) and The Hurt Locker (I'll try to watch it). Very happy with Chile's The Maid nomination and is already must be seen for me Italy's Baaria; have seen all the others in the foreign language category.

Here is the list will all the nominated films and the nominations each got.

Up in the Air 6
Nine 5
Avatar 4
Inglourious Basterds 4
The Hurt Locker 3
Invictus 3
It's Complicated 3
Precious 3
A Single Man 2
(500) Days of Summer 2
Brothers 2 (Seen the original, this is the American remake)
Crazy Heart 2
The Informant! 2
Julie & Julia 2
The Last Station 2
Up 2
Baaria 1
The Blind Side 1
Broken Embraces 1
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 1
Coraline 1
District 9 1
Duplicity 1
An Education 1
Fantastic Mr. Fox 1
The Hangover 1
The Lovely Bones 1
The Maid 1
The Messenger 1
The Princess and the Frog 1
A Prophet 1
A Serious Man 1
Sherlock Holmes 1
Where the Wild Things Are 1
The White Ribbon 1
The Young Victoria 1

XXIV Goya Awards News – Latin American Films

From November 30th to December 4th Academy members had the opportunity to watch 10 Latin American films that have been submitted for their consideration to be nominated. These are the films.

Dawson Isla, Miguel Litin, Chile
Desierto Adentro, Rodrigo Pla, Mexico
El Secreto de sus Ojos, Juan Jose Campanella, Argentina
Gestacion, Esteban Ramirez, Costa Rica
Gigante, Adrian Biniez, Uruguay
La Sangre y la LLuvia, Jorge Navas, Colombia
La Teta Asustada, Claudia Llosa, Peru
Los Dioses Rotos, Ernesto Daramas, Cuba
Tierra de Hombres Libres, Roman Chalbaud, Venezuela
Zona Sur, Juan Carlos Valdivia, Bolivia

To check the news go to the official site available only in Spanish.

2009 AFI Awards

AFI Movies of The Year – Official Selections

Coraline
The Hangover
The Hurt Locker
The Messenger
Precous
A Serious Man
A Single Man
Sugar
UP
Up In The Air

AFI TV Programas of the Year – Official Selections

The Big Bang Theory
Big Love
Friday Night Lights
Glee
Mad Men
Modern Family
The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency
Nurse Jackie
Party Down
True Blood

To check what the awards means go here and to visit the AFI site go here.

2009 Washington DC Film Critics Award Winners

The group announced the winners and here are some categories.

Picture: Up In The Air
Director: Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker
Actress: Carey Mulligan in An Education
Actor: George Clooney in Up In The Air
Animation: Up

Foreign Language Film: Sin Nombre (good film but better than A Prophet or The White Ribbon? No.)

To check winners in other categories go here.

35th Los Angeles Film Critics Award Winners

The group announced the winners and here are some categories.

Picture: The Hurt Locker
Runner-up: Up In The Air

Director: Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker
Runner-up: Michael Haneke for The White Ribbon

Actress: Yolande Moreau in Seraphine
Runner-up: Carey Mulligan in An Education

Actor: Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart
Runner-up: Colin Firth in A Single Man

Animation: Fantastic Mr. Fox
Runner-up: Up

Foreign Language Film: L'heure d'été (Summer Hours), Olivier Assayas (What???)
Runner-up: The White Ribbon

To check winners in other categories go here.

2009 New York Film Critics Online Award Winners

Here are the winners from this online group.

Best Picture: Avatar
Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker
Best Actress: Meryl Streep in Julie & Julia
Best Actor: Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart
Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz in Inglorious Basterds
Best Supporting Actress: Mo’Nique in Precious

Best Foreign Language Picture: The White Ribbon
Best Animated Feature: Up

To check the winners in all categories go here.

22nd European Films Award Winners

A few hours ago the Academy had the awards ceremony and here are the winners.

Best Film: Das Weisse Band (The White Ribbon), Michael Haneke, Germany, Austria, France and Italy (Bravo!)

Best Director: Michael Haneke for Das Weisse Band (The White Ribbon)
Best Actress: Kate Winslet in The Reader
Best Actor: Tahar Rahim in Un Prophete (A Prophet)
Best Screenwriter: Michael Haneke for Das Weisse Band (The White Ribbon)
Carlo Di Palma European Cinematographer: Anthony Dod Mantle for Antichrist and Slumdog Millionaire
EFA Prix D’Excellence: Brigitte Taillandier, Francis Wargnier, Jean-Paul Hurier & Marc Doisne for the Sound Design, Un Prophet (A Prophet)
European Discovery: Katalin Varga, Peter Strickland, Romania, UK and Hungary

FIPRESCI Prix: Tatarak (Sweet Rush), Andrzej Wajda, Poland
People’s Choice Award for Best European Film: Slumdog Millionaire

To check the winners in all categories please go here. Great films were honored today and for me both are excellent movies, Cheers! for Haneke and Audiard.

51st AFI Awards Award Winners

Tonight the ceremony will be broadcast live on Channel Nine in Australia and it will be a huge surprise if Samson & Delilah does not win the top award. If you feel like checking the nominees in all the categories please go here.

Tomorrow I’ll post the winners.

And the winners are...

As expected Warrick Thorton Samson & Delilah won several awards including Best Film, Best Direction, and Best Original Screenplay.

In the Adapted Screenplay Balibo won and Anthony LaPaglia won Best Lead Actor for the same movie. Best Actress went to Frances O'Connor in Blessed, Best Supporting Actress to Rachel Griffiths in Beatiful Kate and Best Supporting Actor to Oscar Isaac in Balibo.

To check all the awards including the TV categories go here.

2010 BAFTA’s News – Foreign-language Films

Can’t find the news at the official site but Variety is saying that only four (4) films from this year’s 65 Oscar entries have qualified for the BAFTA’s. That’s too little but take a look at the films: A Prophet from France, The White Ribbon from Germany, Harishchandrachi Factory from India and UK’s own Afghan Star. Great films even if I haven’t seen two.

Those films are among 40 eligible contenders that include movies like Almodovar’s Broken Embrances, Coco Before Chanel, Sweden’s Let the Right One In, Mesrine, The Class and Departures. Remember that to qualify the film has to have a UK release during 2009, so that’s why there are some “older” movies and just having a UK release qualifies them.

I’m very interested in finding the complete list of 40 films, so if any of you can help please feel free to leave the link as a comment. If you want to check the article at Variety go here.

2009 Oscar News – VFX Short List

Yesterday the Academy announced that 15 films have been selected as semifinalists for Achievement in Visual Effects and here they are.

“Angels & Demons”
“Avatar”
“Coraline”
“Disney’s A Christmas Carol”
“District 9”
“G-Force”
“G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra”
“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”
“Sherlock Holmes”
“Star Trek”
“Terminator Salvation”
“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”
“2012”
“Watchmen”
“Where the Wild Things Are”

Have seen some of the films and in my opinion the most awesome effects belong to 2012; but there is one that after getting terrible buzz now is getting excellent reviews: Avatar. Some claim that Cameron reinvented sfx (but the story is lousy), so have to watch it to find if is true or not. To read the Academy official announcement go here.

67th Golden Globes Awards News

On Tuesday, December 15th at 5:00am PT the Hollywood Foreign Press Association will announce the nominations for the Golden Globes and while we wait here are some relevant news.

A record of 69 foreign language films are eligible for a Golden Globe nomination. As some of you recall this award does not limit one film per country, so you have several countries with more than one film. If you feel like checking the list please go here. From the list only 5 films will be nominated and honestly, it’s a hard choice from many excellent movies but I’m almost sure that A Prophet and The White Ribbon will be nominated and hope that films like Chile’s The Maid and Sweden’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo will be honored too.

According to a press release 173 live-action feature films (105 dramas and 68 comedies or musicals), 15 animated feature films, 133 television series (79 drama and 54 comedies), 33 mini-series or telefilms and a record 103 songs have been qualified for the awards.

This year Mavis Spences was selected as 2010 Miss Golden Globe, she’s Alfre Woodard daughter and as I already shared, great Ricky Gervais will host the show.

So we have just a few days to learn the nominees and about a month to be able to watch the movies I haven’t seen as the award ceremony will be on January 17.

2009 Prix Louis Delluc Award Winners

A while ago the shortlist was announced for the most prestigious French Cinema award, but in two days we will know the winner. These are the films. Winners are in *RED.

"A l'origine" de Xavier Giannoli
"Hadewijch" de Bruno Dumont
"Les herbes folles" d'Alain Resnais
"Irène" d'Alain Cavalier
"Je suis heureux que ma mère soit vivante" de Claude et Nathan Miller
"Non ma fille, tu n'iras pas danser" de Christophe Honoré
*"Un prophète" de Jacques Audiard
"Welcome" de Philippe Lioret

My vote goes to A Prophet, of course!

The Prix Delluc du premier film went to "Qu'un seul tienne et les autres suivront" by Léa Fehner.

12th British Independent Film Award Winners

Award Winners are in *RED.
Yesterday BIFA directors' announced the nominations and here they are.

Best British Independent Film
An Education, Lone Scherfig
Fish Tank, Andrea Arnold
In The Loop, Armando Iannucci
*Moon, Duncan Jones
Nowhere Boy, Sam Taylor Wood

Best Director
*Andrea Arnold for Fish Tank
Armando Iannucci for In The Loop
Duncan Jones for Moon
Jane Campion for Bright Star
Lone Scherfig for An Education

Best Debut Director
Armando Iannucci for In The Loop
*Duncan Jones for Moon
Peter Strickland for Katalin Varga
Sam Taylor Wood for Nowhere Boy
Samantha Morton for The Unloved

Best Actress
Abbie Cornish in Bright Star
*Carey Mulligan in An Education
Emily Blunt in The Young Victoria
Katie Jarvis in Fish Tank
Sophie Okonedo in Skin

Best Actor
Aaron Johnson in Nowhere Boy
Andy Serkis in Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll
Peter Capaldi in In The Loop
Sam Rockwell in Moon
*Tom Hardy in Bronson

Best Supporting Actress
*Anne-Marie Duff in Nowhere Boy
Kerry Fox in Bright Star
Kierston Wareing in Fish Tank
Kristin Scott Thomas in Nowhere Boy
Rosamund Pike in An Education

Best Supporting Actor
Alfred Molina in An Education
Jim Broadbent in The Damned United
*John Henshaw in Looking for Eric
Michael Fassbender in Fish Tank
Tom Hollander in In The Loop

Most Promising Newcomer
Christian McKay in Me & Orson Welles
Edward Hogg in White Lightnin’
George MacKay in The Boys Are Back
Hilda Péter in Katalin Varga
*Katie Jarvis in Fish Tank

Best Foreign Film
Il Divo
The Hurt Locker
*Let The Right One In
Sin Nombre
The Wrestler

The Richard Harris Award for outstanding contribution to British Film: Daniel Day Lewis

To check nominees in all the categories go here. The awards ceremony will be held December 6th at The Brewery, Chiswell Street, in London and will be hosted by James Nesbitt.

Calls my attention that Bright Star didn't make it to best film, still Jane Campion has a nod for Best Director... hmm, seems the movie will not be as I imagined. Fish Tank has the most nominations and definitively now I'm very curious about An Education.

J'ai tué ma mere (I Killed My Mother)

Very exhausting and emotional film that I believe will touch hard many whiled others will not stand it. No idea what will happen to you, but me touched me deep like if I was watching my own life even when nothing shown is similar to my experiences, except the dysfunctional love/hate relationship with mother and the wide differences between each generation and education. The film is full with angst, loud screaming fights, strong words, sweetness, mother/child love expressions, and great humor. Xavier Dolan’s oeuvre (wrote the script when he was 16-years-old, directed, plays the lead role, and produced) is quite impressive for his young age (20 years-old) but the story inspired in his own life is one that only a young person could write with so much realism and accuracy that transcends age and nationality frontiers to become universal, if you’re a single child living with a single parent.

The story tells about the love/hate relationship between 17’ish-years-old Hubert Minel (Xavier Dolan), and his mother Chantale (Anne Dorval) with Hubert keeping silent about his personal life, disliking everything his mother does or says which represents the opposite of what he has become. He tries to remember when they were best friends and does his best to make amends. But it’s impossible, they have become incompatible.

Hubert is gay, but to me that’s secondary in the story and is not the reason for them being not compatible. Still, there are enough scenes to make this film of gay interest. But this film is and should be totally mainstream as his homosexuality is inconsequential to how the story evolves and I even believe that is the source to facilitate humor in the film.

As a film is impressive for a first timer. It’s not perfect and you can see the imperfections, but you can also see how attention to details is paid, very nice framing in many scenes, great use of black/white close-ups, writing in the screen and performances tempo are worth mentioning. Sometimes visuals are so great that totally distracts you from the intense narrative but also recreation of lower-middle class Quebec lifestyle is so realistic that visuals blew my mind.

As most of us recall the film is Canada’s submission to the Oscar’s, won three awards at 2009 Cannes plus has been collecting many more honors . I believe that this film is too strong for Academy members, but I would not be surprised if it makes it to the short list.

I really liked this movie but have to admit that is a hard to watch movie because is an intense drama. Still I do believe that is so mainstream that many will enjoy it and here we have another 2009 Cannes winner that is more mainstream than what they usually showcase.

I do recommend this movie as a must be seen film with a budget under US$1 million and a first time filmmaker that suggests will be around to continue making great films after being a child actor.

Enjoy!!!

Watch Trailer @ Movie On Companion

Harry Brown

If you enjoy Michael Caine performances then this film is definitively for you. With an extraordinary performance like he has not really given lately, Caine does not only save the film but he becomes the film as even when the story is full of violence and is depicted with crude realism you will not be able to take your eyes from the screen until the very end. Not often I’m able to stand watching violent and realistic films, but I watched the film in one very long sigh from the moment the action starts until ends. Amazing! But it was only because Michael Caine.

The film is set on a South London Council estate where tenants are being disturbed and harassed by a young men gang that brutally destroy, hit, shot, etc everything that comes in their way. Two friends Harry (Caine) and Leonard are elderly, living alone in their own flats and share a chess game at the local pub often. Leonard has been harassed and is fed up; Harry tells him to keep calm. But Leonard decides to carry a knife and in the last harassment he reacts. From this moment on you will see how Harry transforms from the disciplined, pacific and law-obeying person into the man that takes the law into his hands. What follows is not Hollywood (thanks!) but a quite realistic portrait of a man than in his youth used to be a marine.

Gosh, I really liked the movie but I know is not for everyone as is really disturbing, violent and with some graphic scenes of very low-lives. So please be advised that only if you really enjoy Great Performances by Michael Caine dare to watch this very realistic UK production that by-the-way has a good/happy end.

Watch it at your own risk and surely you will not be disappointed with Caine’s excellent performance.

Enjoy!!

Watch trailer @ Movie On Companion

Four Women from Nine - Update 1

You can tell that waiting for this movie is driving me crazy... lol! Here is another update with the latest trailer and this time I'll save you all the trip to the other blog as is here.



--end Update 1--



Recently released poster for the film that I'm sharing as I find it quite interesting. Dying to see the movie!

--end of update--

I had to share here this video so you can tell me if I'm right or wrong. Isn't Marion Cotillard character interested in women??? Or is just me daydreaming... lol! "Dying" to see this movie with the most spectacular women cast and one spectacular actor Daniel Day-Lewis.

Ghosted

I know that Monika Treut films are not for everyone but I have enjoyed watching her docs like Gendernauts and early strange films like Virgin Machine, still I had no real expectations about her latest film and I just reminded me to watch it with an open mind. I had not to worry as this film does not look or feel like the two I mention above, this feels and looks mainstream which is not really a good thing to say about a Treut film. Besides having average cinematography and a crazy ghost story that you guess too early -if you pay attention to a couple of characters that constantly appear- the film for me lost all the good-shocking elements and became quite ordinary.

But if I think only about the lesbian interest genre the story is normal, meaning that tells how Sophie Schmitt meets Ai-ling Chen, fall for each other, share their lives until the inevitable happens (one feels left aside) and tragedy follows. The narrative is non-linear which makes the film a little more interesting, plus Asian actresses are quite attractive. Also on the plus side the film shows the couple cultural contrasts and how no one is willing to acknowledge them in the name of love, which surely ends in a bad way.

So if you haven’t seen any Treut film I imagine that you will easily get involved in the storytelling; but if you have seen her previous work, I suggest you forget about it and go with a clean state of mind as will help you to watch the film and maybe enjoy it. I really wish someone had told me this before watching this movie.

I know that many that read this blog have to watch the movie and I say, go ahead as maybe you will enjoy many of the romance moments. Me, I watched the entire film and can’t say I like it, if I had skipped I would have not missed much.

Enjoy.

Watch trailer @ Movie On Companion

2009 National Board of Review Award Winners

A few minutes ago the NBR announced this year winners and here is a more complete list of the winners from press sources as they are updating the site.

Best Film: Up In The Air
Best Director: Clint Eastwood, Invictus
Best Actor: Morgan Freeman, Invictus and George Clooney, Up In The Air (tie)
Best Actress: Carey Mulligan, An Education
Best Supporting Actor: Woody Harrelson, The Messenger
Best Supporting Actress: Anna Kendrick, Up In The Air
Best Foreign Film: A Prophet
Best Documentary: The Cove
Best Animated Feature: Up
Best Ensemble Cast: It’s Complicated
Breakthrough Performance by an Actor: Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker
Breakthrough Performance by an Actress: Gabourey Sidibe, Precious

Spotlight Award for Best Directorial Debut: Duncan Jones, Moon, Oren Moverman, The Messenger and Marc Webb, 500 Days of Summer (tie)
Best Original Screenplay: Joel & Ethan Coen, A Serious Man
Best Adapted Screenplay: Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner, Up In The Air
Special Filmmaking Achievement Award: Wes Anderson, The Fantastic Mr. Fox
William K. Everson Film History Award: Jean Picker Firstenberg
NBR Freedom of Expression: Burma Vj: Reporting From A Closed Country, Invictus, The Most Dangerous Man In America: Daniel Ellseberg And The Pentagon Papers

Top Eleven Films (In alphabetical order):
An Education
(500) Days Of Summer
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Invictus
The Messenger
A Serious Man
Star Trek
Up
Up In The Air
Where The Wild Things Are

Top Ten Independent Films (In alphabetical order):
Amreeka
District 9
Goodbye Solo
Humpday
In The Loop
Julia
Me And Orson Welles
Moon
Sugar
Two Lovers

Top Six Foreign Films (In alphabetical order):
The Maid
A Prophet
Revanche
Song Of Sparrows
Three Monkeys
The White Ribbon

Top Six Documentary Films (In alphabetical order):
Burma Vj: Reporting From A Closed Country
The Cove
Crude
Food, Inc.
Good Hair
The Most Dangerous Man In America: Daniel Ellsberg And The Pentagon Papers

I'll be checking the official site to complete the list. I can confirm that the list is right and if you want to read the winners at their site use the previous link.

From the main categories last year winners Best Film (Slumdog Millionaire, Best Animated Film (WAll-E, and Best Supporting Actress (Penelope Cruz) won an Oscar, so let's see what happens this year.

30th Blue Dragon Awards Winners

A few hours ago the award winners were announced and here they are in *RED.

Considered as a blockbuster movies award, this year among the nominations there are two films that definitively are worth watching, Mother and Thirst. So here are the nominations for the main categories.

Best Film
Take Off, Yong-hwa Kim
Good Morning President, Jang Jin
*Mother, Joon-ho Bong
Thirst, Chan-wook Park
Haeundae, Je-gyun Yun

Best Director
*Yong-hwa Kim for Take Off
Jang Jin for Good Morning President
Joon-ho Bong for Mother
Chan-wook Park for Thirst
Je-gyun Yun for Haeundae

Best Actress
Ok-bin Kim in Thirst
Ha-Neul Kim in My Girlfriend is an Agent
Hye-ja Kim in Mother
Kang-hee Choi in Aeja
*Ji-won Ha in Closer to Heaven

Best Actor
*Myeong-min Kim in Closer to Heaven
Yun-seok Kim in Running Turtle
Kan-ho Song in Thirst
Dong-kun Jang in Good Morning President
Jung-woo Ha in Take Off

To check the nominees and award winners in all categories go here for English and here for Korean. The award ceremony will be on December 2nd.

19th Gotham Independent Film Awards Winners

Last night they presented the awards and here they are in *RED.

--end of update--

Today at 1pm EST the nominations will be released and with this announcement the official award season opens!

I know that I opened the award season with the compilation of countries submissions to the foreign language and I’m happy to have done it as the best films in the WORLD are submitted. But it is not until today that the awards seasons opens and will last until next spring.

According to the press release these are the nominations. To read the official announcement go here.

Best Feature
Amreeka, Cherien Dabis
Big Fan, Robert Siegel
*The Hurt Locker, Kathryn Bigelow
La Nana (The Maid), Sebastian Silva (Congrats to Chile for the honor)
A Serious Man, Joel and Ethan Coen

Breakthrough Director
Cruz Angeles for Don’t Let Me Drown
Frazer Bradshaw for Everything Strange and New
Noah Buschel for The Missing Person
Derick Martini for Lymelife
*Robert Siegel for Big Fan

Best Ensemble Performance
Adventureland, Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Martin Starr, Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader, Ryan Reynolds
Cold Souls, Paul Giamatti, Dina Korzun, Emily Watson, Katheryn Winnick, David Strathairn
*The Hurt Locker, Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty, Ralph Fiennes, Guy Pearce, David Morse, Evangeline Lilly
A Serious Man, Michael Stuhlbarg, Richard Kind, Fred Melamed
Sugar, Algenis Perez Soto, Rayniel Rufino, Michael Gaston, Andre Holland, Ann Whitney, Richard Bull, Ellary Porterfield, Jaime Tirelli

Breakthrough Actor
Ben Foster in The Messenger
Patton Oswalt in Big Fan
Jeremy Renner in The Hurt Locker
*Catalina Saavedra in La Nana (The Maid)
Soulémane Sy Savané in Goodbye Solo

And the BEST CATEGORY of all

Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You
Everything Strange and New, Frazer Bradshaw
Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench, Damien Chazelle
October Country, Michael Palmieri and Donal Mosher
*You Won’t Miss Me, Ry Russo-Young
Zero Bridge, Tariq Tapa

Best Documentary
*Food, Inc., Robert Kenner
Good Hair, Jeff Stilson,
My Neighbor My Killer, Anne Aghion
Paradise, Michael Almereyda
Tyson, James Toback

The Awards ceremony will take place on November 30th in New York City at Cipriani Wall Street.