The 89th Annual Academy Awards - WINNERS

I just decided to do a whole new post with the winners at the Oscars last night - mostly because I'm too lazy to deal with the weird formatting. (Although I'm sure it'll still make me angry - it likes to just do things by itself, no matter how many times I fix spacing!)

Needless to say, these Oscars were VERY memorable. I went to the viewing at a local cinema here - love that that's an option and that it's free! (Only costs a canned food donation. princesscinemas.com) That ending - oh, that ending. Live TV is both the best and the worst. I surprisingly didn't hate Jimmy Kimmel as a host - that running feud with Matt Damon shockingly never got old! (Although why everyone hates on We Bought a Zoo so hard is beyond me; I am a Cameron Crowe fangirl, after all.)

This season also brought out a different side of my Twitter feed; I had no idea people I followed absolutely detested La La Land. I thought it was beautifully done but of course, it doesn't compare to films of a different nature, such as Moonlight (yes, I agree that it rightfully won over La La Land). I did unfollow one account because of the absolute hatred they spewed about the film; it was overwhelming. And I don't usually unfollow for that reason, but there was no justification for it that I could find.

Anyway! On we go!

BEST PICTURE

Arrival
Fences
Hacksaw Ridge
Hell or High Water
Hidden Figures
La La Land
Lion
Manchester By the Sea
Moonlight

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

Casey Affleck for Manchester By the Sea
Andrew Garfield for Hacksaw Ridge
Ryan Gosling for La La Land
Viggo Mortenson for Captain Fantastic
Denzel Washington for Fences

Brie Larson's complete lack of emotion, and her smile being wiped off her face when she announced, says it all. To give one of the highest acting honours to someone accused of many, many instances of sexual harassment, abuse and intimidation is disgusting. I don't even want to watch Manchester By the Sea, and I swore out loud when this person's name was announced. It's yet another instance of Hollywood pretending everything is fine and turning a blind eye, much the same as Johnny Depp. Denzel should have won, but Ryan was also incredible. Anyone but that choice.

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

Isabelle Huppert for Elle
Ruth Negga for Loving
Natalie Portman for Jackie
Emma Stone for La La Land
Meryl Streep for Florence Foster Jenkins

MY LADY. I saw this coming ten miles away and as an Emma Stone fan, I was here for it. (Again, wasn't QUITE prepared for the hate on my timelines but there you have it.) And her moment with Brie Larson backstage was just incredible; check out Brie's Instagram to see it.

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Mahershala Ali for Moonlight
Jeff Bridges for Hell or High Water
Lucas Hedges for Manchester By the Sea
Dev Patel for Lion
Michael Shannon for Nocturnal Animals

From all I've heard, insanely well deserved. And the first Muslim actor ever to win an Academy Award.

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Viola Davis for Fences
Naomie Harris for Moonlight
Nicole Kidman for Lion
Octavia Spencer for Hidden Figures
Michelle Williams for Manchester By the Sea

Another titan getting  her well deserved award.

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

Kubo and the Two Strings
Moana
My Life As a Zucchini
The Red Turtle
Zootopia

I did thoroughly enjoy Zootopia, but from what I've heard, it shouldn't have won over Moana, and we have to consider the racial aspects there. Same with Kubo.

CINEMATOGRAPHY

Bradford Young for Arrival
Linus Sandgren for La La Land
Greig Fraser for Lion
James Laxton for Moonlight
Rodrigo Prieto for Silence

COSTUME DESIGN

Johanna Johnston for Allied
Colleen Atwood for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Consolata Boyle for Florence Foster Jenkins
Madeline Fontaine for Jackie
Mary Zaphres for La La Land

Never bet against Colleen Atwood. And it's the Harry Potter franchise's first Oscar!

DIRECTING

Denis Villeneuve for Arrival
Mel Gibson for Hacksaw Ridge
Damien Chazelle for La La Land
Kenneth Lonergan for Manchester By the Sea
Barry Jenkins for Moonlight

Not complaining, again, I liked La La Land. I'm just thoroughly relieved Mel Gibson didn't win; even he said he wouldn't win. I was rooting for Damien or Barry.

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

Fire at Sea
I Am Not Your Negro
Life, Animated
O.J.: Made in America
13th

DOCUMENTARY SHORT

Extremis
4.1 Miles
Joe's Violin
Watani: My Homeland
The White Helmets

FILM EDTING

Joe Walker for Arrival
John Gilbert for Hacksaw Ridge
Jake Roberts for Hell or High Water
Tom Cross for La La Land
Nat Sanders and Joi McMillon for Moonlight

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

Land of Mine - Denmark
A Man Called Ove - Sweden
The Salesman - Iran 
Tanna - Australia
Toni Erdmann - Germany

An inspiring statement from this winner, who stayed home in solidarity with those in the six other countries besides his impacted by Trump's fucking ridiculous ban.

MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING

Eva von Bahr and Love Larson for A Man Called Ove
Joel Harlow and Richard Alonzo for Star Trek Beyond
Alessandro Bertolazzi, Giorgio Gregorini and Christopher Nelson for Suicide Squad

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)

Mica Levi - Jackie
Justin Hurwitz - La La Land
Dustin O'Halloran and Hauschka - Lion
Nicholas Britell - Moonlight
Thomas Newman - Passengers

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)

"Audition (The Fools Who Dream)" from La La Land - Music by Justin Hurwitz; Lyric by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul
"Can't Stop the Feeling" from Trolls - Music and Lyric by Justin Timberlake, Max Martin and Karl Johan Schuster
"City of Stars" from La La Land - Music by Justin Hurwitz; Lyric by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul
"The Empty Chair" from Jim: The James Foley Story - Music and Lyric by J. Ralph and Sting
"How Far I'll Go" from Moana - Music and Lyric by Lin-Manuel Miranda

YOU DIDN'T LET MY MAN EGOT BECAUSE OF THAT SONG? The only other song that would have softened the blow would have been "Audition" - "City of Stars" isn't that good. (Also why they didn't let Emma Stone perform "Audition" at least is beyond me; John Legend completely changed the tone. He's incredible, don't get me wrong, but Emma made me cry singing that song. All those people saying she can't sing are insane, also; she's unconventional, and it isn't exactly a trained Broadway voice, but she killed it.)

PRODUCTION DESIGN

Arrival - Patrice Vermette (Production Design) and Paul Hotte (Set Decoration)
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them - Stuart Craig (Production Design) and Anna Pinnock (Set Decoration)
Hail, Caesar! - Jess Gonchor (Production Design) and Nancy Haigh (Set Decoration)
La La Land - David Wasco (Production Design) and Sandy Reynolds-Wasco (Set Decoration)
Passengers - Guy Hendrix Dyas (Production Design) and Gene Serdena (Set Decoration)

I would have thought/hoped this went to Fantastic Beasts so this was a bit of a surprise to me. I get it upon reflection, though.

SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)

Blind Vaysha
Borrowed Time
Pear Cider and Cigarettes
Pearl
Piper

SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)

Ennemis Interieurs
La Femme et le TGV
Silent Nights
Sing
Timecode

SOUND EDITING

Sylvain Bellemare for Arrival
Wylie Stateman and Renee Tondelli for Deepwater Horizon
Robert Mackenzie and Andy Wright for Hacksaw Ridge
Ai-Ling Lee and Mildred Iatrou Morgan for La La Land
Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman for Sully

SOUND MIXING

Bernard Gariepy Strobl and Claudia La Haye for Arrival
Kevin O'Connell, Andy Wright, Robert Mackenzie and Peter Grace for Hacksaw Ridge
Andy Nelson, Ai-Ling Lee and Steve A. Morrow for La La Land
David Parker, Christopher Scarabosio and Stuart Wilson for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Mac Ruth for 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi

VISUAL EFFECTS

Craig Hammack, Jason Snell, Jason Billington and Burt Dalton for Deepwater Horizon
Stephane Ceretti, Richard Bluff, Vincent Cirelli and Paul Corbould for Doctor Strange
Robert Legato, Adam Valdez, Andrew R. Jones, and Don Lemmon for The Jungle Book
Steve Emerson, Oliver Jones, Brian McLean and Brad Schiff for Kubo and the Two Strings
John Knoll, Mohen Leo, Hal Hickel and Neil Corbould for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)

Arrival  - Eric Heisserer
Fences - August Wilson
Hidden Figures - Allison Schroeder and Theodore Melfi
Lion - Luke Davies
Moonlight - Barry Jenkins (Screenplay) and Tarell Alvin McCraney (Story)

WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY)

Hell or High Water - Taylor Sheridan
La La Land - Damien Chazelle
The Lobster - Yorgos Lanthimos and Efthimis Filippou
Manchester By the Sea - Kenneth Lonergan
20th Century Women - Mike Mills

The 23rd Annual Screen Actors' Guild Awards

I didn't get to watch these, of course, but I loved hearing the news. The SAGs always seem to be a little bit different; sometimes they predict the Oscars, sometimes they carve their own path. As always, winners are bolded.

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A CAST IN A MOTION PICTURE

Captain Fantastic
Fences
Hidden Figures
Manchester By the Sea
Moonlight

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

Casey Affleck for Manchester By the Sea
Andrew Garfield for Hacksaw Ridge
Ryan Gosling for La La Land
Viggo Mortenson for Captain Fantastic
Denzel Washington for Fences

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

Amy Adams for Arrival
Emily Blunt for The Girl On the Train
Natalie Portman for Jackie
Emma Stone for La La Land
Meryl Streep for Florence Foster Jenkins

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Mahershala Ali for Moonlight
Jeff Bridges for Hell or High WaterHugh Grant for Florence Foster Jenkins
Lucas Hedges for Manchester By the Sea
Dev Patel for Lion

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Viola Davis for Fences
Nicole Kidman for LionNaomie Harris for Moonlight
Octavia Spencer for Hidden Figures
Michelle Williams for Manchester By the Sea

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY AN ENSEMBLE IN A DRAMA SERIES

The Crown
Downton Abbey
Game of Thrones
Stranger Things
Westworld

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES 

Sterling K. Brown for This Is Us
Peter Dinklage for Game of Thrones
John Lithgow for The Crown
Rami Malek for Mr. Robot
Kevin Spacey for House of Cards

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES 

Millie Bobby Brown for Stranger Things
Claire Foy for The Crown
Thandie Newton for Westworld
Winona Ryder for Stranger Things
Robin Wright for House of Cards

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY AN ENSEMBLE IN A COMEDY SERIES 

The Big Bang Theory
Black-ish
Modern Family
Orange Is the New Black
Veep

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES 

Anthony Anderson for Black-ish
Titus Burgess for Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Ty Burrell for Modern Family
William H. Macy for Shameless
Jeffrey Tambor for Transparent

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES 

Uzo Aduba for Orange Is the New Black
Jane Fonda for Grace and Frankie
Ellie Kemper for Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Julia Louis-Dreyfus for Veep
Lily Tomlin for Grace and Frankie

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A TELEVISION MOVIE OR LIMITED SERIES 

Riz Ahmed for The Night Of
Sterling K. Brown for The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story
Bryan Cranston for All the Way
John Turturro for The Night Of
Courtney B. Vance for The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A TELEVISION MOVIE OR LIMITED SERIES 

Bryce Dallas Howard for Black Mirror
Felicity Huffman for American Crime
Audra McDonald for Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill
Sarah Paulson for The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story
Kerry Washington for Confirmation

OUTSTANDING ACTION PERFORMANCE BY A STUNT ENSEMBLE IN A COMEDY OR DRAMA SERIES 

Game of Thrones
Marvel's Daredevil
Marvel's Luke Cage
The Walking Dead
Westworld

OUTSTANDING ACTION PERFORMANCE BY A STUNT ENSEMBLE IN A MOTION PICTURE 

Captain America: Civil War
Doctor Strange
Nocturnal Animals
Hacksaw Ridge
Jason Bourne 

The 89th Annual Academy Awards - Nominations

Here they are!! Nominations for the 2017 Oscars are IN. Not surprised about some of them, but oh so excited. I'm going to be attending another event this year, and will probably be livetweeting, but will do an updated post the next day or so. (Follow @DanaDeMille)

BEST PICTURE

Arrival
Fences
Hacksaw Ridge
Hell or High Water
Hidden Figures
La La Land
Lion
Manchester By the Sea
Moonlight

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

Casey Affleck for Manchester By the Sea
Andrew Garfield for Hacksaw RidgeRyan Gosling for La La Land
Viggo Mortenson for Captain Fantastic
Denzel Washington for Fences

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

Isabelle Huppert for Elle
Ruth Negga for LovingNatalie Portman for JackieEmma Stone for La La Land
Meryl Streep for Florence Foster Jenkins

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Mahershala Ali for MoonlightJeff Bridges for Hell or High Water
Lucas Hedges for Manchester By the Sea
Dev Patel for LionMichael Shannon for Nocturnal Animals

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Viola Davis for Fences
Naomie Harris for Moonlight
Nicole Kidman for Lion
Octavia Spencer for Hidden FiguresMichelle Williams for Manchester By the Sea

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

Kubo and the Two Strings
Moana
My Life As a Zucchini
The Red Turtle
Zootopia

CINEMATOGRAPHY

Bradford Young for Arrival
Linus Sandgren for La La Land
Greig Fraser for LionJames Laxton for MoonlightRodrigo Prieto for Silence

COSTUME DESIGN

Joanna Johnston for Allied
Colleen Atwood for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find ThemConsolata Boyle for Florence Foster Jenkins
Madeline Fontaine for Jackie
Mary Zaphres for La La Land

DIRECTING

Denis Villeneuve for Arrival
Mel Gibson for Hacksaw Ridge
Damien Chazelle for La La Land
Kenneth Lonergan for Manchester By the Sea
Barry Jenkins for Moonlight

DOCUMENTARY (FEATURE)

Fire at Sea
I Am Not Your Negro
Life, Animated
O.J.: Made in America
13th 

DOCUMENTARY (SHORT SUBJECT)

Extremis
4.1 Miles
Joe's Violin
Watani: My Homeland
The White Helmets

FILM EDITING

Joe Walker for Arrival
John Gilbert for Hacksaw Ridge
Jake Roberts for Hell or High Water
Tom Cross for La La Land
Nat Sanders and Joi McMillon for Moonlight

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

Land of Mine - Denmark
A Man Called Ove - Sweden
The Salesman - Iran
Tanna - Australia
Toni Erdmann - Germany

MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING

Eva von Bahr and Love Larson for A Man Called Ove
Joel Harlow and Richard Alonzo for Star Trek Beyond
Alessandro Bertolazzi, Giorgio Gregorini and Christopher Nelson for Suicide Squad

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)

Mica Levi for Jackie
Justin Hurwitz for La La Land
Dustin O'Halloran and Hauschka for Lion
Nicholas Britell for Moonlight
Thomas Newman for Passengers

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)

"Audition (The Fools Who Dream)" - La La Land - Music by Justin Hurtwitz, Lyric by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul
"Can't Stop the Feeling" - Trolls - Music and Lyric by Justin Timberlake, Max Martin and Karl Johan Schuster
"City of Stars" - La La Land - Music by Justin Hurwitz, Lyric by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul
"The Empty Chair" - Jim: The James Foley Story - Music and Lyric by J. Ralph and Sting
"How Far I'll Go" - Moana - Music and Lyric by Lin-Manuel Miranda

I wasn't going to comment much on these but I AM SO EXCITED about "Audition" from La La Land getting nominated - I adore that song and it moved me. But I also really want Lin-Manuel Miranda to EGOT so I'm conflicted.

PRODUCTION DESIGN

Patrice Vermette (Production Design) and Paul Hotte (Set Decoration) for Arrival
Stuart Craig (Production Design) and Anna Pinnock (Set Decoration) for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Jess Gonchor (Production Design) and Nancy Haigh (Set Decoration) for Hail, Caesar!
David Wasco (Production Design) and Sandy Reynolds-Wasco (Set Decoration) for La La Land
Guy Hendrix Dyas (Production Design) and Gene Serdena (Set Decoration) for Passengers

SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)

Blind Vaysha
Borrowed Time
Pear Cider and Cigarettes
Pearl
Piper

SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)

Ennemis Interieurs
La Femme et le TGV
Silent Nights
Sing
Timecode

SOUND EDITING

Sylvain Bellmare for Arrival
Wylie Stateman and Renee Tondelli for Deepwater Horizon
Robert Mackenzie and Andy Wright for Hacksaw Ridge
Ai-Ling Lee and Mildred Iatrou Morgan for La La Land
Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman for Sully

SOUND MIXING

Bernard Gariepy Strobl and Claude La Haye for Arrival
Kevin O'Connell, Andy Wright, Robert Mackenzie and Peter Grace for Hacksaw Ridge
Andy Nelson, Ai-Ling Lee and Steve A. Morrow for La La Land
David Parker, Christopher Scarabosio and Stuart Wilson for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Mac Ruth for 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi

VISUAL EFFECTS

Craig Hammack, Jason Snell, Jason Billington and Burt Dalton for Deepwater Horizon
Stephane Ceretti, Richard Bluff, Vincent Cirelli and Paul Corbould for Doctor Strange
Robert Legato, Adam Valdez, Andrew R. Jones and Don Lemmon for The Jungle Book
Steve Emerson, Oliver Jones, Brian McLean and Brad Schiff for Kubo and the Two Strings
John Knoll, Mohen Leo, Hal Hickel and Neil Corbould for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)

Eric Heisserer for Arrival
August Wilson for Fences
Allison Schroeder and Theodore Melfi for Hidden Figures
Luke Davies for Lion
Barry Jenkins (Screenplay) and Tarell Alvin McCraney (Story) for Moonlight

WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY)

Taylor Sheridan for Hell or High Water
Damien Chazelle for La La Land
Yorgos Lanthimos and Efthimis Filippou for The Lobster
Kenneth Lonergan for Manchester By the Sea
Mike Mills for 20th Century Women

Winners - Critics' Choice Awards 2016

We're getting down to the wire! (The Oscars wire, I guess.)

BEST MOVIE
The Big Short
Bridge of Spies
Brooklyn
Carol
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
Room
Sicario
Spotlight
Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens

BEST ACTOR
Bryan Cranston, Trumbo
Matt Damon, The Martian
Johnny Depp, Black Mass
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant
Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs
Eddie Redmayne, The Danish Girl

BEST ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett, Carol
Brie Larson, Room
Jennifer Lawrence, Joy
Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years
Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn
Charlize Theron, Mad Max: Fury Road

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Paul Dano, Love & Mercy
Tom Hardy, The Revenant
Mark Ruffalo, Spotlight
Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies
Michael Shannon, 99 Homes
Sylvester Stallone, Creed

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Jennifer Jason Leigh, The Hateful Eight
Rooney Mara, Carol
Rachel McAdams, Spotlight
Helen Mirren, Trumbo
Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl
Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs

BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS
Abraham Attah, Beasts of No Nation
R.J. Cyler, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
Shameik Moore, Dope
Milo Parker, Mr. Holmes
Jacob Tremblay, Room

BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE
The Big Short
The Hateful Eight
Spotlight
Straight Outta Compton
Trumbo

BEST DIRECTOR
Todd Haynes, Carol
Alejandro G. Inarritu, The Revenant
Tom McCarthy, Spotlight
George Miller, Mad Max: Fury Road
Ridley Scott, The Martian
Steven Spielberg, Bridge of Spies

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Matt Charm and Joel & Ethan Coen, Bridge of Spies
Alex Garland, Ex Machina
Quentin Tarantino, The Hateful Eight
Pete Docter, Meg LeFauve, Josh Cooley, Inside Out
Josh Singer and Tom McCarthy, Spotlight

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Charles Randolph and Adam McKay, The Big Short
Nick Hornby, Brooklyn
Drew Goddard, The Martian
Emma Donoghue, Room
Aaron Sorkin, Steve Jobs

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Ed Lachman, Carol
Robert Richardson, The Hateful Eight
John Seale, Mad Max: Fury Road
Dariusz Wolski, The Martian
Emmanuel Lubezki, The Revenant
Roger Deakins, Sicario

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Adam Stockhausen, Rena DeAngelo, Bridge of Spies
Francois Seguin, Jennifer Oman and Louise Tremblay, Brooklyn
Judy Becker and Heather Loeffler, Carol
Eve Stewart and Michael Standish, The Danish Girl
Colin Gibson, Mad Max: Fury Road
Arthur Max and Celia Bobak, The Martian

BEST EDITING
Hank Corwin, The Big Short
Margaret Sixel, Mad Max: Fury Road
Pietro Scalia, The Martian
Stephen Mirrione, The Revenant
Tom McArdle, Spotlight

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Odile Dicks-Mireaux, Brooklyn
Sandy Powell, Carol
Sandy Powell, Cinderella
Paco Delgado, The Danish Girl
Jenny Beavan, Mad Max: Fury Road

BEST HAIR & MAKEUP
Black Mass
Carol
The Danish Girl
The Hateful Eight
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Revenant

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Ex Machina
Jurassic World
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant
The Walk

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Anomalisa
The Good Dinosaur
Inside Out
The Peanuts Movie
Shaun the Sheep

BEST ACTION MOVIE
Furious 7
Jurassic World
Mad Max: Fury Road
Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation
Sicario

BEST ACTOR IN AN ACTION MOVIE
Daniel Craig, Spectre
Tom Cruise, Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation
Tom Hardy, Mad Max: Fury Road
Chris Pratt, Jurassic World
Paul Rudd, Ant-Man

BEST ACTRESS IN AN ACTION MOVIE
Emily Blunt, Sicario
Rebecca Ferguson, Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation
Bryce Dallas Howard, Jurassic World
Jennifer Lawrence, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2
Charlize Theron, Mad Max: Fury Road

BEST COMEDY
The Big Short
Inside Out
Joy
Sisters
Spy
Trainwreck

BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY
Christian Bale, The Big Short
Steve Carell, The Big Short
Robert De Niro, The Intern
Bill Hader, Trainwreck
Jason Statham, Spy

BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY
Tina Fey, Sisters
Jennifer Lawrence, Joy
Melissa McCarthy, Spy
Amy Schumer, Trainwreck
Lily Tomlin, Grandma

BEST SCI-FI/HORROR MOVIE
Ex Machina
It Follows
Jurassic World
Mad Max: Fury World
The Martian

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
The Assassin
Goodnight Mommy
Mustang
The Second Mother (Que Horas Ela Volta?)
Son of Saul

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Amy
Cartel Land
Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief
He Named Me Malala
The Look of Silence
Where to Invade Next

BEST SONG
"Love Me Like You Do," Fifty Shades of Grey
"See You Again," Furious 7
"Til It Happens to You," The Hunting Ground
"One Kind of Love," Love & Mercy
"Writing's On the Wall," Spectre
"Simple Song #3," Youth

BEST SCORE
Carter Burwell, Carol
Ennio Morricone, The Hateful Eight
Ryuichi Sakamoto and Alva Noto, The Revenant
Johann Johansson, Sicario
Howard Shore, Spotlight

BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Anthony Anderson, black-ish
Aziz Ansari, Master of None
Will Forte, The Last Man on Earth
Randall Park, Fresh Off the Boat
Fred Savage, The Grinder
Jeffrey Tambor, Transparent

BEST ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Hugh Dancy, Hannibal
Rami Malek, Mr. Robot
Clive Owen, The Knick
Liev Schreiber, Ray Donovan
Justin Theroux, The Leftovers
Aden Young, Rectify

BEST ACTOR IN A MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION OR LIMITED SERIES
Wes Bentley, American Horror Story: Hotel
Martin Clunes, Arthur & George
Idris Elba, Luther
Oscar Isaac, Show Me a Hero
Vincent Kartheiser, Saints & Strangers
Patrick Wilson, Fargo

BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Rachel Bloom, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
Aya Cash, You're the Worst
Wendi McLendon-Covey, The Goldbergs
Gina Rodriguez, Jane the Virgin
Tracee Ellis Ross, black-ish
Constance Wu, Fresh Off the Boat

BEST ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Shiri Appleby, UnREAL
Carrie Coon, The Leftovers
Viola Davis, How to Get Away With Murder
Eva Green, Penny Dreadful
Taraji P. Henson, Empire
Krysten Ritter, Jessica Jones

BEST ACTRESS IN A MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION OR LIMITED SERIES
Kathy Bates, American Horror Story: Hotel
Kirsten Dunst, Fargo
Sarah Hay, Flesh and Bone
Alyvia Alyn Lind, Dolly Parton's Coat of Many Colours
Rachel McAdams, True Detective
Shanice Williams, The Wiz Live!

BEST COMEDY SERIES
black-ish
Catastrophe
Jane the Virgin
Master of None
The Last Man on Earth
Transparent
You're the Worst

BEST DRAMA SERIES
Empire
Mr. Robot
Penny Dreadful
Rectify
The Knick
The Leftovers
UnReal

BEST GUEST ACTOR/ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Ellen Burstyn, Mom
Anjelica Huston, Transparent
Cherry Jones, Transparent
Jenifer Lewis, black-ish
Timothy Olyphant, The Grinder
John Slattery, Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp

BEST GUEST ACTOR/ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Richard Armitage, Hannibal
Justin Kirk, Manhattan
Patti LuPone, Penny Dreadful
Margo Martindale, The Good Wife
Marisa Tomei, Empire
B.D. Wong, Mr. Robot

BEST MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION OR LIMITED SERIES
Childhood's End
Fargo
Luther
Saints & Strangers
Show Me a Hero
The Wiz Live!

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Andre Braugher, Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Jaime Camil, Jane the Virgin
Jay Duplass, Transparent
Neil Flynn, The Middle
Keegan Michael Key, Playing House
Mel Rodriguez, Getting On

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Clayne Crawford, Rectify
Christopher Eccleston, The Leftovers
Andre Holland, The Knick
Jonathan Jackson, Nashville
Rufus Sewell, The Man in the High Castle
Christian Slater, Mr. Robot

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION OR LIMITED SERIES
David Alan Grier, The Wiz Live!
Ne-Yo, The Wiz Live!
Nick Offerman, Fargo
Jesse Plemons, Fargo
Raoul Trujillo, Saints & Strangers
Bokeem Woodbine, Fargo

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Mayim Bialik, The Big Bang Theory
Kether Donohue, You're the Worst
Allison Janney, Mom
Judith Light, Transparent
Niecy Nash, Getting On
Eden Sher, The Middle

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Ann Dowd, The Leftovers
Regina King, The Leftovers
Helen McCrory, Penny Dreadful
Hayden Panetierre, Nashville
Maura Tierney, The Affair
Constance Zimmer, UnREAL

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION OR LIMITED SERIES
Mary J. Blige, The Wiz Live!
Laura Haddock, Luther
Cristin Milioti, Fargo
Sarah Paulson, American Horror Story: Hotel
Winona Ryder, Show Me a Hero
Jean Smart, Fargo

BEST ANIMATION SERIES
Bob's Burgers
BoJack Horseman
South Park
Star Wars Rebels
The Simpsons
 
 

Screen Actors Guild Awards - 2016

Seriously - the nominations come fast and furious! The Academy's the only one that holds out longer.

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A CAST IN A MOTION PICTURE
Beasts of No Nation
The Big Short
Spotlight
Straight Outta Compton
Trumbo

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Bryan Cranston - Trumbo
Johnny Depp - Black Mass
Leonardo DiCaprio - The Revenant
Michael Fassbender - Steve Jobs
Eddie Redmayne - The Danish Girl

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Cate Blanchett - Carol
Brie Larson - Room
Helen Mirren - Woman in Gold
Saoirse Ronan - Brooklyn
Sarah Silverman - I Smile Back

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Christian Bale - The Big Short
Idris Elba - Beasts of No Nation
Mark Rylance - Bridge of Spies
Michael Shannon - 99 Homes
Jacob Tremblay - Room

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Rooney Mara - Carol
Rachel McAdams - Spotlight
Helen Mirren - Trumbo
Alicia Vikander - The Danish Girl
Kate Winslet - Steve Jobs

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY AN ENSEMBLE IN A DRAMA SERIES
Downton Abbey
Game of Thrones
Homeland
House of Cards
Mad Men

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY AN ENSEMBLE IN A COMEDY SERIES
The Big Bang Theory
Key & Peele
Modern Family
Orange Is the New Black
Transparent
Veep

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Peter Dinklage - Game of Thrones
Jon Hamm - Mad Men
Rami Malek - Mr Robot
Bob Odenkirk - Better Call Saul
Kevin Spacey - House of Cards

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Claire Danes - Homeland
Viola Davis - How to Get Away With Murder
Julianna Margulies - The Good Wife
Maggie Smith - Downton Abbey
Robin Wright - House of Cards

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Ty Burrell - Modern Family
Louis CK - Louie
William H. Macy - Shameless
Jim Parsons - The Big Bang Theory
Jeffrey Tambor - Transparent

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Uzo Aduba - Orange Is the New Black
Edie Falco - Nurse Jackie
Ellie Kemper - The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Julia Louis-Dreyfus - Veep
Amy Poehler - Parks and Recreation

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A TELEVISION MOVIE OR MINISERIES
Idris Elba - Luther
Ben Kingsley - Tut
Ray Liotta - Texas Rising
Bill Murray - A Very Murray Christmas
Mark Rylance - Wolf Hall

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A TELEVISION MOVIE OR MINISERIES
Nicole Kidman - Grace of Monaco
Queen Latifah - Bessie
Christina Ricci - The Lizzie Borden Chronicles
Susan Sarandon - The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe
Kristen Wiig - The Spoils Before Dying

OUTSTANDING ACTION PERFORMANCE BY A STUNT ENSEMBLE IN A MOTION PICTURE
Everest
Furious 7
Jurassic World
Mad Max: Fury Road
Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation

OUTSTANDING ACTION PERFORMANCE BY A STUNT ENSEMBLE IN A COMEDY OR DRAMA SERIES
The Blacklist
Game of Thrones
Homeland
Marvel's Daredevil
The Walking Dead

Independent Spirit Awards - UPDATED: WINNERS - 2016

It's about that time - time for my rather dead blog to get active again! I seem to have an issue keeping it going unless it's awards season. At least I don't have angry readers clamoring for more - maybe next year I can try to get into a better pattern.

This is the first announcement for awards season! I've recently moved to Kitchener, so I'm going to have to figure out a way to watch my shows without cable. Meanwhile, Independent Spirit Awards nominations!

BEST FEATURE
Anomalisa
Beasts of No Nation
Carol
Spotlight
Tangerine

BEST FIRST FEATURE
The Diary of a Teenage Girl
James White
Manos Sucias
Mediterranea
Songs My Brothers Taught Me

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
Jesse Andrews - Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
Joseph Carpignano - Mediterranea
Emma Donoghue - Room
Marielle Heller - The Diary of a Teenage Girl
John Magary, Russell Harbaugh, Myna Joseph - The Mend

BEST DIRECTOR
Charlie Kaufman, Duke Johnson - Anomalisa
Cary Joji Fukunaga - Beasts of No Nation
Todd Haynes - Carol
David Robert Mitchell - It Follows
Tom McCarthy - Spotlight
Sean Baker - Tangerine

BEST SCREENPLAY
Charlie Kaufman - Anamalisa
Donald Margulies - The End of the Tour
Phyllis Nagy - Carol
Tom McCarthy, Josh Singer - Spotlight
S. Craig Zahler - Bone Tomahawk

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD (BEST FEATURE UNDER $500,000)
Advantageous
Christmas, Again
Heaven Knows What
Krisha
Out Of My Hand

BEST MALE LEAD
Christopher Abbott - James White
Abraham Attah - Beasts of No Nation
Ben Mendelsohn - Mississippi Grind
Jason Segel - The End of the Tour
Koudous Seihon - Mediterranea

BEST FEMALE LEAD
Cate Blanchett - Carol
Brie Larson - Room
Rooney Mara - Carol
Bel Powley - The Diary of a Teenage Girl
Kitana Kiki Rodriguez - Tangerine

BEST SUPPORTING MALE
Kevin Corrigan - Results
Paul Dano - Love & Mercy
Idris Elba - Beasts of No Nation
Richard Jenkins - Bone Tomahawk
Michael Shannon - 99 Homes

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE
Robin Bartlett - H.
Marin Ireland - Glass Chin
Jennifer Jason Leigh - Anomalisa
Cynthia Nixon - James White
Mya Taylor - Tangerine

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Cary Joji Fukunaga - Beasts of No Nation
Ed Lachman - Carol
Michael Gioulakis - It Follows
Reed Morano - Meadowland
Joshua James Richards - Songs My Brothers Taught Me

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM
Embrace of the Serpent (El Abrazo De La Serpiente)
Girlhood
Mustang
A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence
Son of Saul

BEST DOCUMENTARY
Best of Enemies
Heart of a Dog
The Look of Silence
Meru
The Russian Woodpecker
(T)ERROR

BEST EDITING
Ronald Bronstein, Benny Safdie - Heaven Knows What
Tom McArdle - Spotlight
Nathan Nugent - Room
Julio C. Perez IV - It Follows
Kristan Sprague - Manos Sucias

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD (BEST ENSEMBLE)
Spotlight

KIEHL'S SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD
Chloe Zhoa
Felix Thompson
Robert Machoian & Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck

PIAGET PRODUCERS AWARD
Darren Dean
Mel Eslyn
Rebecca Green & Laura D. Smith

TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD
Alex Sichel & Elizabeth Giamatti
Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi
Hemal Trivedi & Mohammed Ali Naqvi

I'm loving the relative unknowns in the leading role and big nominations. It's one of the reasons I adore the Independent Spirit Awards.

Also, It Follows is an excellent film. Really creepy, but really well put together, and not B class at all.

UPDATED: Still loving the fact that the big names aren't the only ones winning! (Better than the Oscars with the diversity for sure.) And Spotlight is winning big; I still haven't seen it (I'm always later with the awards films) but I've heard it certainly deserves it! Tonight will be an interesting race. I'll be live-tweeting on Twitter from an event  here in Kitchener!

Review, I Guess: Cameron Crowe's ALOHA

(Let's just pretend I blog way more than I actually do; I always have ideas and then proceed to not write blog posts!)

Yesterday, I saw Cameron Crowe's new film, Aloha. Yes, the one getting a ton of flak, with the awful Rotten Tomatoes rating. Luckily, reviews aren't something I really pay attention to. (As I write a review...) It's more that I don't let them dictate what I actually get out and see. My friend and I are huge Cameron Crowe fans, and we knew we'd be continuing the tradition to see Aloha.

I'm not going to pretend the film didn't have issues. It had a lot of issues. Really, every film has issues, and Cameron Crowe's are no exception. (Except maybe Almost Famous. I just really love that one.) Overall, however, I enjoyed the film. But hey, I enjoyed Elizabethtown, so I bet my opinion will be ignored!

...But come on! Elizabethtown was intense, quirky dark comedy at its best. No, dear Orlando Bloom isn't the best actor, and neither is Kirsten Dunst, but they made it interesting! COME ON! No? Moving on.

Aloha features Bradley Cooper as ex-military (he's getting really good at that), now turned contractor Brian Gilcrest for eccentric billionaire Bill Murray. (His name's Carson Welch, but I had a tough time separating Bill Murray. But in a good way.) He heads back to Hawaii to work on...something (I kind of lost some of it) for Welch, something about a satellite (more about that later), and has to reconnect with everyone he knew on the base (and apparently left on bad terms). This includes an ex-girlfriend, Tracy, played by Rachel McAdams (a goddess), who's now married to a pilot, Woody (played by the incomparable John Krasinski.) He's also introduced to his watchdog, Allison Ng, played by Emma Stone. She's a 1/4 Hawaiian, and doesn't shut up about it; she's very intense, but has a really fun side that comes out slowly but surely. She's also a FIGHTER PILOT, which is really cool. Special mention for the actors playing Rachel McAdams' kids - especially Danielle Rose Russell, playing Grace. There's a part at the end where she sees Bradley Cooper, and they have a wordless exchange, and I cried. A lot. There are special, hilarious appearances by Danny McBride and Alec Baldwin.

Now, about that satellite. I'm going to be frank here - I had NO IDEA what was happening with that for the majority of the film. There's a part where Brian is looking at some sort of schematic Carson's people gave him, and I had literally no idea what I was looking at. The whole part about this felt really rushed and thrown in at the last moment, and there were a lot of parts that were squished together. The editing was very off for the first part of the film, and had a lot of quick cuts that maybe didn't need to be there. The satellite thing was also not ever really explained that well, and I'm of the firm belief that this whole subplot did not need to be there. Maybe I got distracted by something and that's why I didn't really get it, but I just felt like it didn't work, and that's been the overwhelming opinion.

The other thing that didn't come across in the greatest way was the whole portrayal of the Hawaiian attitude towards Americans. While I'm glad that in the film, it is communicated at all that this is a feeling in Hawaii, that they are "American by force" (as the king of Hawaii, played by Dennis Bump Kanahele, expresses through the shirt he wears in every scene in which he appears), I felt it wasn't communicated well. That's an entirely different film, and probably a documentary - though I believe there is already a documentary covering this. Again, it felt rushed and a lot of it was lost in the focus on the burgeoning intimacy between Gilcrest and Allison.

A lot of the reviews have focused on the severe lack of diversity in this film. I don't feel overly comfortable addressing this in a big way. It's definitely, definitely a problem; there were Hawaiians in the film, and I did feel that the entire piece tried very hard to communicate the feel of the nation through imagery and some mention of the issues that are present even now. (I had no idea that the people felt so infringed upon, and I regret that I had no idea.) I can see the research and work that was done, but to the general population (and watching people learn how to do the hula changed my perception of the dance completely), it doesn't look like it because all the main players of the film are white. It does take place on a military base, so perhaps that was the reasoning, but I'm not sure what the intention there was.

As for Emma Stone's character - yes, I can understand why people are angry. Her character was based on someone Crowe met, who is a redhead (and presumably has a skin tone close to Emma's, but maybe not, he just mentioned that she is a redhead) who is also 1/4 Hawaiian, but no one ever believes her because she doesn't look like it. (And that's probably the reason Allison Ng never stops talking about it, because she's trying to communicate how at home she is and how she's trying to be part of the nation.) However, because diversity is such an intense issue in Hollywood, there's no way to turn this around; I feel that people are probably viewing it as "white people complaining" and it won't ever be accepted. I still enjoyed the film, but I recognise the diversity issues.

Okay, now I want to talk about the good stuff! And there is a lot of good stuff. It's the stuff Crowe does best - relationships. (Also the shots of the island are stunning.)

I have never seen wordless exchanges done so well as they were in this film. Each one of them made me laugh and cry. This has a lot to do with the brilliance of the actors, but also a lot to do with Crowe just creating the moments. John Krasinski has very little in the way of spoken lines, but he is a commanding presence and he communicates everything he needs to with his eyes and body language. He has two wordless exchanges with Bradley Cooper's character, and both are so amazing. The first, you know EXACTLY what he's thinking, and your belief is just confirmed by Brian Gilcrest telling Tracy what he said without words. It's actually perfect. In the second moment, even though it's subtitled for comic relief, it will still make you tear up. (I flat out cried because Cameron Crowe movies usually ruin my emotions.) It was absolutely beautiful and so well done, by both Bradley Cooper and John Krasinski, and I believe they could only have pulled that performance off in a Crowe film.

There's another exchange, between Bradley Cooper and Danielle Rose Russell, that I'm actually tearing up thinking about right now. (And I might even buy the film in order to have it forever.) It's near the end, and Cooper is looking through a window at Russell, and this is where this young actress shows why Cameron Crowe knows when he's found amazing young actors and actresses. You can see every thought cross her face, and when she begins to cry, you begin to cry. It was absolutely incredible, and I was absolutely floored and thankful to be seeing it.

Special mention for Rachel McAdams, because this is one of her first films in a couple of years, and she's come back swinging. McAdams is one of my favourite actresses ever; she's just so real and she never feels forced. She almost becomes unlikable in this role, but she turns it around. The most important part is, she DEVELOPS and she feels. That's Crowe's work too, but it's also hers.

In the end, Aloha is a combination of hits and misses. The relationships are a hit; the subplot is a miss and unnecessary. There are countless amazing performances, and the inclusion of the Hawaiian people is important, although it isn't all it should have been. There's a huge diversity issue, both in this film and in the film industry at large, and we all have to work toward eradicating that issue.

The 87th Annual Academy Award - Nominees

It's here, it's here! One of the biggest nights in the award show season - and I'm still excited, despite one of the most severe instances of lack of diversity that I've seen since I started watching the show. HOWEVER, not having seen all the films in question, I can't put forward concrete opinions. All I can do is offer my opinion based on the trends I'm seeing from the other shows. I will be liveblogging, this post will be updated with winners!

The show airs February 22nd, 2015. (Tomorrow!) (Yes, I had to redo the blog post; the formatting got really weird and my other one also got buried.)

BEST PICTURE
American Sniper - Clint Eastwood, Robert Lorenz, Andrew Lazar, Bradley Cooper, Peter Morgan
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) - Alejandro G. Inarritu, John Lesher, James W. Skotchdopole
Boyhood - Richard Linklater, Cathleen Sutherland
The Grand Budapest Hotel - Wes Anderson, Scott Rudin, Steven Rales, Jeremy Dawson
The Imitation Game - Nora Grossman, Ido Ostrowsky, Teddy Schwarzman
Selma - Christian Colson, Oprah Winfrey, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner
The Theory of Everything - Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Lisa Bruce, Anthony McCarten
Whiplash - Jason Blum, Helen Estabrook, David Lancaster

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Steve Carell - Foxcatcher
Bradley Cooper - American Sniper
Benedict Cumberbatch - The Imitation Game
Michael Keaton - Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Eddie Redmayne - The Theory of Everything

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Marion Cotillard - Two Days, One Night
Felicity Jones - The Theory of Everything
Julianne Moore - Still Alice
Rosamund Pike - Gone Girl
Reese Witherspoon - Wild

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Robert Duvall - The Judge
Ethan Hawke - BoyhoodEdward Norton - Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Mark Ruffalo - Foxcatcher
J.K. Simmons - Whiplash

Another lock, but so deserved. I've loved this man's work for years, and it's so important he be recognised finally.

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Patricia Arquette - Boyhood
Laura Dern - Wild
Keira Knightley - The Imitation Game
Emma Stone - Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Meryl Streep - Into the Woods

This was one of my locks - I KNEW it. But it is so deserved. AND THAT SPEECH! INCREDIBLE. Meryl Streep jumped out of her seat and I did too. Equality!

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Big Hero 6 - Don Hall, Chris Williams, Roy Conli
The Boxtrolls - Anthony Stacchi, Graham Annable, Travis Knight
How to Train Your Dragon 2 - Dean DeBlois, Bonnie Arnold
Song of the Sea - Tomm Moore, Paul Young
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya - Isao Takahata, Yoshiaki Nishimura

CINEMATOGRAPHY
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) - Emmanuel Lubezki
The Grand Budapest Hotel - Robert Yeoman
Ida - Lukasz Zal, Ryszard Lenczewski
Mr Turner - Dick Pope
Unbroken - Richard Deakins

I thought I saw this coming!

COSTUME DESIGN
The Grand Budapest Hotel - Milena Canonero
Inherent Vice - Mark Bridges
Into the Woods - Colleen Atwood
Maleficent - Anna B. Sheppard
Mr Turner - Jacqueline Durran

I have to say this was a surprise! I always figure Colleen Atwood, but I also really adore Colleen Atwood. I also find it interesting that we have a token male in this category, rather than a token female. I love women, and they run the world, but more men should feel like they can get into costume design too. 

DIRECTING
Alejandro G. Inarritu - Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Richard Linklater - Boyhood
Bennett Miller - Foxcatcher
Wes Anderson - The Grand Budapest Hotel
Morten Tyldum - The Imitation Game

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
CitizenFour - Laura Poitras, Mathilde Bonnefoy, Dirk Wilutzky
Finding Vivian Maier - John Maloof, Charlie Siskel
Last Days in Vietnam - Rory Kennedy, Keven McAlester
The Salt of the Earth - Wim Wenders, Juliano Ribeiro Salgado, David Rosier
Virunga - Orlando von Einsiedel, Joanna Natasegara

DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1 - Ellen Goosenberg Kent, Dana Perry
Joanna - Aneta Kopacz
Our Curse - Tomasz Sliwinski, Maciej Slesicki
The Reaper (La Parka) - Gabriel Serra Arguello
White Earth - J. Christian Jensen

FILM EDITING
American Sniper - Joel Cox, Gary D. Roach
Boyhood - Sandra Adair
The Grand Budapest Hotel - Barney Pilling
The Imitation Game - William Goldenberg
Whiplash - Tom Cross

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Ida (Poland) - Directed by Pawel Pawlikowski
Leviathan (Russia) - Directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev
Tangerines (Estonia) - Directed by Zaza Urushadze
Timbuktu (Mauritania) - Directed by Abderrahmane Sissako
Wild Tales (Argentina) - Directed by Damian Szifron

MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
Foxcatcher - Bill Corso, Dennis Liddiard
The Grand Budapest Hotel - Frances Hannon, Mark Coulier
Guardians of the Galaxy - Elizabeth Yianni-Georgiou, David White

MUSIC - ORIGINAL SCORE
The Grand Budapest Hotel - Alexandre Desplat
The Imitation Game - Alexandre Desplat
Interstellar - Hans Zimmer
Mr Turner - Gary Yershon
The Theory of Everything - Johann Johannsson

MUSIC - ORIGINAL SONG
"Everything Is Awesome" from The LEGO Movie - Music and Lyric by Shawn Patterson
"Glory" from Selma - Music and Lyric by John Stephens, Lonnie Lynn
"Grateful" from Beyond the Lights - Music and Lyric by Diane Warren
"I'm Not Gonna Miss You" from Glen Campbell...I'll Be Me - Music and Lyric by Glen Campbell, Julian Raymond
"Lost Stars" from Begin Again - Music and Lyric by Gregg Alexander, Danielle Brisebois

PRODUCTION DESIGN
The Grand Budapest Hotel - Adam Stockhausen (Production Design); Anna Pinnock (Set Decoration)
The Imitation Game - Maria Djurkovic (Production Design); Tatiana Macdonald (Set Decoration)
Interstellar - Nathan Crowley (Production Design); Gary Fettis (Set Decoration)
Into the Woods - Dennis Gassner (Production Design); Anna Pinnock (Set Decoration)
Mr Turner - Suzie Davies (Production Design); Charlotte Watts (Set Decoration)

I kind of called this. It was a very Wes Anderson, fantastical set, and was a beautiful design. Though I haven't seen the other ones, besides Into the Woods.

I've also started a hashtag - it's probably too long to catch on, but I like to add it to the lesser known, lesser recognised categories like this. #thesecategoriesmattertoo

SHORT FILM - ANIMATED
The Bigger Picture - Daisy Jacobs, Christopher Hees
The Dam Keeper - Robert Kondo, Dice Tsutsumi
Feast - Patrick Osborne, Kristina Reed
Me and My Moulton - Torill Kove
A Single Life - Joris Oprins

SHORT FILM - LIVE ACTION
Aya - Oded Binnun, Mihal Brezis
Boogaloo and Graham - Michael Lennox, Ronan Blaney
Butter Lamp (La Lampe au Beurre de Yak) - Hu Wei, Julien Feret
Parvaneh - Talkhon Hamzavi, Stefan Eichenberger
The Phone Call - Mat Kirkby, James Lucas

SOUND EDITING
American Sniper - Alan Robert Murray, Bub Asman
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) - Martin Hernandez, Aaron Glascock
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies - Brent Burge, Jason Canovas
Interstellar - Richard King
Unbroken - Becky Sullivan, Andrew DeCristofaro

SOUND MIXING
American Sniper - John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff, Walt Martin
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) - Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montano, Thomas Varga
Interstellar - Gary A. Rizzo, Gregg Landaker, Mark Weingarten
Unbroken - Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montano, David Lee
Whiplash - Craig Mann, Ben Wilkins, Thomas Curley

VISUAL EFFECTS
Captain America: The Winter Soldier - Dan DeLeeuw, Russell Earl, Bryan Grill, Dan Sudick
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes - Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, Daniel Barrett, Erik Winquist
Guardians of the Galaxy - Stephanie Ceretti, Nicolas Aithadi, Jonathan Fawkner, Paul Corbould
Interstellar - Paul Franklin, Andrew Lockley, Ian Hunter, Scott Fisher
X-Men: Days of Future Past - Richard Stammers, Lou Pecora, Tim Crosbie, Cameron Waldbauer

WRITING - ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
American Sniper - Written by Jason Hall
The Imitation Game - Written by Graham Moore
Inherent Vice - Written for the screen by Paul Thomas Anderson
The Theory of Everything - Screenplay by Anthony McCarten
Whiplash - Written by Damien Chazelle

Gotta say, wasn't expecting that one either!

WRITING - ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) - Written by Alejandro G. Inarritu, Nicolas Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris Jr., Armando Bo
Boyhood - Written by Richard Linklater
Foxcatcher - Written by E. Max Frye, Dan Futterman
The Grand Budapest Hotel - Screenplay by Wes Anderson; Story by Wes Anderson & Hugo Guinness
Nightcrawler - Written by Dan Gilroy

Well. I'm sad to see Gillian Flynn snubbed for Gone Girl, as well as David Fincher (though I seem to be somewhat alone in enjoying that film, from the amount of people I've talked to who HATED it). And apparently snubbing Ava DuVernay for Selma was a travesty, though I haven't yet had a chance to see Selma. And my timeline blew up when the nominations were announced with outrage over the lack of nominations for The LEGO Movie. 

In the end, the nominations were generally what I expected, and I have some awards I'm expecting. (Julianne Moore and J.K. Simmons, for instance.)

I'm mostly really excited to see what Neil Patrick Harris has up his sleeve. Apparently he's got the writers of Frozen writing one of his musical numbers! (Thank goodness for his musical numbers.) Tomorrow's the big night, and I'm still excited!

The 20th Annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards - Updated Winners

I always manage to forget about the Critics' Choice Awards, but I noticed they were airing tonight, January 15, so I figured, let's jump on board! I think I'll watch them, so I may be liveblogging - keep an eye on this post for updated winners!

UPDATED WITH WINNERS

BEST PICTURE
Birdman, or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance
Boyhood
Gone Girl
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Nightcrawler
Selma
The Theory of Everything
Unbroken
Whiplash

BEST ACTOR
Benedict Cumberbatch - The Imitation Game
Ralph Fiennes - The Grand Budapest Hotel
Jake Gyllenhaal - Nightcrawler
Michael Keaton - Birdman, or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance
David Oyelowo - Selma
Eddie Redmayne - The Theory of Everything

That's the second win for Michael Keaton tonight! I'm thinking an Oscar is likely. But Benedict and Eddie are still in the running, to me, especially considering the different voters that the Oscars have. This is going to be interesting.

BEST ACTRESS
Jennifer Aniston - Cake
Marion Cotillard - Two Days, One Night
Felicity Jones - The Theory of Everything
Julianne Moore - Still Alice
Rosamund Pike - Gone Girl
Reese Witherspoon - Wild

Oh, Julianne's speech was beautiful - my favourite part was definitely when she thanked the other ladies nominated with her, and when she spoke about Alzheimer's. I think we've got a race between her and Felicity Jones, maybe? All these women are just so talented!

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR 
Josh Brolin - Inherent Vice
Robert Duvall - The Judge
Ethan Hawke - Boyhood
Edward Norton - Birdman, or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance
Mark Ruffalo - Foxcatcher
J.K. Simmons - Whiplash

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Patricia Arquette - Boyhood
Jessica Chastain - A Most Violent Year
Keira Knightley - The Imitation Game
Emma Stone - Birdman, or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance
Meryl Streep - Into the Woods
Tilda Swinton - Snowpiercer

BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS
Ellar Coltrane - Boyhood
Ansel Elgort - The Fault In Our Stars
Mackenzie Foy - Interstellar
Jaeden Lieberher - St Vincent
Quvenzhane Wallis - Annie
Noah Wiseman - The Babadook

BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE
Birdman, or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Into the Woods
Selma

BEST DIRECTOR
Wes Anderson - The Grand Budapest Hotel
Ava DuVernay - Selma
David Fincher - Gone Girl
Alejandro G. Inarritu - Birdman, or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance
Angelina Jolie - Unbroken
Richard Linklater - Boyhood

I called this about two seconds before it was announced. I think Richard Linklater's going to take home a ton of awards this season, as is Boyhood.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Birdman, or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance - Alejandro G. Inarritu, Nicholas Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris Jr., Armando Bo
Boyhood - Richard Linklater
The Grand Budapest Hotel - Wes Anderson, Hugo Guinness 
Nightcrawler - Dan Gilroy
Whiplash - Damien Chazelle

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn
The Imitation Game - Graham Moore
Inherent Vice - Paul Thomas Anderson
The Theory of Everything - Anthony McCarten
Unbroken - Joel & Ethan Coen, Richard LaGravenese, William Nicholson
Wild - Nick Hornby

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Birdman, or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance - Emmanuel Lubezki
The Grand Budapest Hotel - Robert Yeoman
Interstellar - Hoyte Van Hoytema
Mr Turner - Dick Pope
Unbroken - Roger Deakins

BEST ART DIRECTION
Birdman, or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance - Kevin Thompson (Production Designer); George DeTitta Jr. (Set Decorator)
The Grand Budapest Hotel - Adam Stockhausen (Production Designer); Anna Pinnock (Set Decorator)
Inherent Vice - David Crank (Production Designer); Amy Wells (Set Decorator)
Interstellar - Nathan Crowley (Production Designer); Gary Fettis (Set Decorator)
Into the Woods - Dennis Gassner (Production Designer); Anna Pinnock (Set Decorator)
Snowpiercer - Ondrej Nekvasil (Production Designer); Beatrice Brentnerova (Set Decorator)

BEST EDITING
Birdman, or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance - Douglas Crise, Stephen Mirrione
Boyhood - Sandra Adair
Gone Girl - Kirk Baxter
Interstellar - Lee Smith
Whiplash - Tom Cross

This was definitely one of the favourites; the film looks like it was filmed in one long, continuous take, which is an incredible feat of editing. I can't wait to see it for myself.

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
The Grand Budapest Hotel - Milena Canonero
Inherent Vice - Mark Bridges
Into the Woods - Colleen Atwood
Maleficent - Anna B. Sheppard
Mr Turner - Jacqueline Durran

I'm a little disappointed - I have a soft spot for Colleen Atwood, though. The costumes in Grand Budapest were pretty great, though.

BEST HAIR & MAKEUP
Foxcatcher
Guardians of the Galaxy
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Into the Woods
Maleficent

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Edge of Tomorrow
Guardians of the Galaxy
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Interstellar 

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Big Hero 6
The Book of Life
The Boxtrolls
How to Train Your Dragon 2
The Lego Movie

I can't say I'm surprised - apparently, the Academy is the only one who missed the memo on this one. (I haven't seen it, but I'm basing it on what friends and people on Twitter have said, mostly.)


BEST ACTION MOVIE
American Sniper
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Edge of Tomorrow
Fury
Guardians of the Galaxy

BEST ACTOR IN AN ACTION MOVIE
Bradley Cooper - American Sniper
Tom Cruise - Edge of Tomorrow
Chris Evans - Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Brad Pitt - Fury
Chris Pratt - Guardians of the Galaxy

BEST ACTRESS IN AN ACTION MOVIE
Emily Blunt - Edge of Tomorrow
Scarlett Johansson - Lucy
Jennifer Lawrence - The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1
Zoe Saldana - Guardians of the Galaxy
Shailene Woodley - Divergent

This was a pleasant surprise! I wouldn't have expected this. Also, John Krasinski popping out to give her a kiss was adorable! And THANK YOU to Ms Blunt for mentioning that she finally wasn't a damsel in distress in an action film - it doesn't happen enough, and I hope she starts a trend.


BEST COMEDY
Birdman, or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance
The Grand Budapest Hotel
St Vincent
Top Five
22 Jump Street

BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY
Jon Favreau - Chef
Ralph Fiennes - The Grand Budapest Hotel
Michael Keaton - Birdman, or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance
Bill Murray - St Vincent
Chris Rock - Top Five
Channing Tatum - 22 Jump Street

BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY
Rose Byrne - Neighbors
Rosario Dawson - Top Five
Melissa McCarthy - St Vincent
Jenny Slate - Obvious Child
Kristen Wiig - The Skeleton Twins

I LITERALLY SQUEALED. I'm SO glad to see recognition for this film! Jenny Slate is hilariously amazing in Obvious Child, and has gotten absolutely no large scale recognition. The film is also so, so important, and such an excellent discussion and realistic portrayal of abortion. It's amazing.


BEST SCI-FI/HORROR MOVIE
The Babadook
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Interstellar
Snowpiercer
Under the Skin

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Force Majeure
Ida
Leviathan
Two Days, One Night
Wild Tales

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
CitizenFour
Glen Campbell...I'll Be Me
Jodorowsky's Dune
Last Days in Vietnam
Life Itself
The Overnighters

BEST SONG
"Big Eyes" from Big Eyes
"Everything Is Awesome" from The Lego Movie
"Glory" from Selma
"Lost Stars" from Begin Again
"Yellow Flicker Beat" from The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1

BEST SCORE 
The Imitation Game - Alexandre Desplat
The Theory of Everything - Johann Johansson
Gone Girl - Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross
Birdman, or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance - Antonio Sanchez
Interstellar - Hans Zimmer

I really loved Gone Girl's score, so I'm a bit disappointed, but at least they were nominated. They haven't been up for any other awards. But maybe I just don't know anything about music! (Oh, well.)

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER (MVP) - New Award 2015 
Jessica Chastain

MY QUEEN! I was very excited to hear this, and that SPEECH. Her speech, completely calling out the lack of diversity in Hollywood, was so important, and so eloquently said. What a woman.

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Kevin Costner

LOUIS XIII GENIUS AWARD
Ron Howard 

BAFTA Nominations - 2015 - UPDATED WITH WINNERS

As always at this time of year - more nominations! Now for the BAFTAs - British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards! Again, if I actually get to watch these, I might liveblog, but I also might just update the post after the airing of the awards. (The show will air on February 8, 2015.)

FILM - ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
The Theory of Everything - Anthony McCarten
The Imitation Game - Graham Moore
American Sniper - Jason Hall
Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn
Paddington - Paul King

FILM - LEADING ACTOR
Eddie Redmayne - The Theory of Everything
Ralph Fiennes - The Grand Budapest Hotel
Benedict Cumberbatch - The ImitationJake Gyllenhaal - NightcrawlerMichael Keaton - Birdman

FILM - ANIMATED FILM
The Boxtrolls - Anthony Stacchi, Graham Annable
The Lego Movie - Phil Lord, Christopher Miller
Big Hero 6 - Don Hall, Chris Williams

FILM - LEADING ACTRESS
Felicity Jones - The Theory of EverythingJulianne Moore - Still Alice
Reese Witherspoon - Wild
Amy Adams - Big Eyes
Rosamund Pike - Gone Girl

FILM - BRITISH SHORT ANIMATION
Monkey Love Experiments - Ainslie Henderson, Cam Fraser, Will Anderson
The Bigger Picture - Chris Hees, Daisy Jacobs, Jennifer Majka
My Dad - Marcus Armitage

FILM - MAKE-UP AND HAIR
Guardians of the Galaxy - Elizabeth Yianni-Georgiou, David White
Into the Woods - Peter Swords King, J. Roy Helland
Mr Turner - Christine Blundell, Lesa Warrener
The Grand Budapest Hotel - Frances Hannon
The Theory of Everything - Jan Sewell

FILM - BRITISH SHORT FILM
The Kármán Line - Campbell Beaton, Dawn King, Tiernan Hanby, Oscar Sharp
Boogaloo and Graham - Brian J. Falconer, Michael Lennox, Ronan Blaney
Slap - Islay Bell-Webb, Michelangelo Fano, Nick Rowland
Emotional Fusebox - Michael Berliner, Rachel Tunnard
Three Brothers - Aleem Khan, Matthieu De Braconier, Stephanie Papelow


FILM - ORIGINAL MUSIC
The Grand Budapest Hotel - Alexandre Desplat
Interstellar - Hans Zimmer
Birdman - Antonio Sanchez
The Theory of Everything - Johann Johansson
Under the Skin - Mica Levi


FILM - CINEMATOGRAPHY
The Grand Budapest Hotel - Robert Yeoman
Ida - Lukasz Zal, Ryzsard Lenczewski
Interstellar - Hoyte Van Hoytema
Mr Turner - Dick Pope
Birdman - Emmanuel Lubezki


FILM - ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Birdman - Alejandro G. Inaritu, Nicolas Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris Jr, Armando Bo
The Grand Budapest Hotel - Wes Anderson
Boyhood - Richard Linklater
Whiplash - Damien Chazelle
Nightcrawler - Dan Gilroy


FILM - COSTUME DESIGN
The Grand Budapest Hotel - Milena Canonero
The Imitation Game - Sammy Sheldon Differ
The Theory of Everything - Steven Noble
Mr Turner - Jacqueline Durran
Into the Woods - Colleen Atwood


FILM - OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM
'71 - Yann Demange, Angus Lamont, Robin Gutch, Gregory Burke
The Theory of Everything - James Marsh, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Lisa Bruce, Anthony McCarten
Under the Skin - Jonathan Glazer, James Wilson, Nick Wechsler, Walter Campbell
Pride - Matthew Warchus, David Livingstone, Stephen Beresford
The Imitation Game - Morten Tyldum, Nora Grossman, Ido Ostrowsky, Teddy Schwarzman, Graham Moore
Paddington - Paul King, David Heyman


FILM - DIRECTOR
Alejandro G. Inarritu - BirdmanWes Anderson - The Grand Budapest Hotel
James Marsh - The Theory of Everything
Richard Linklater - Boyhood
Damien Chazelle - Whiplash

FILM - OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER
Stephen Beresford, David Livingstone - Pride
Gregory Burke, Yann Demange - '71
Elaine Constantine - Northern Soul
Hong Khaou - Lilting
Paul Katis, Andrew De Lotbiniere - Kajaki: The True Story

FILM - DOCUMENTARY
20 Feet From Stardom - Morgan Neville, Caitrin Rodgers, Gil Friesen
20,000 Days on Earth - Iain Forsyth, Jane Pollard
Finding Vivian Maier - John Maloof, Charlie Siskel
Virunga - Orlando Von Einsiedel, Joanna Natasegara
Citizenfour - Laura Poitras


FILM - PRODUCTION DESIGN
The Grand Budapest Hotel - Adam Stockhausen, Anna Pinnock
The Imitation Game - Maria Djurkovic, Tatiana Macdonald
Mr Turner - Suzie Davies, Charlotte Watts
Interstellar - Nathan Crowley, Gary Fettis
Big Eyes - Rick Heinrichs, Shane Vieau


FILM - EE RISING STAR
Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Jack O'Connell
Shailene Woodley
Margot Robbie
Miles Teller


FILM - EDITING
Birdman - Douglas Crise, Stephen Mirrione
The Grand Budapest Hotel - Barney Pilling
The Theory of Everything - Jinx Godfrey
The Imitation Game - William Goldenberg
Nightcrawler - John Gilroy
Whiplash - Tom Cross


FILM - SOUND
Birdman - Thomas Varga, Martin Hernandez, Aaron Glascock, Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montano
American Sniper - Walt Martin, John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff, Alan Robert Murray, Bub Asman
The Imitation Game - John Midgley, Lee Walpole, Stuart Hilliker, Martin Jensen
The Grand Budapest Hotel - Wayne Lemmer, Christopher Scarabosio, Pawel Wdowczak
Whiplash - Thomas Curley, Ben Wilkins, Craig Mann


FILM - FILM
The Grand Budapest Hotel - Wes Anderson, Scott Rudin, Steven Rales, Jeremy Dawson
The Theory of Everything - Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Lisa Bruce, Anthony McCarten
Birdman - Alejandro G. Inarritu, John Lesher, James W. Skotchdopole
The Imitation Game - Nora Grossman, Ido Ostrowsky, Teddy Schwarzman
Boyhood - Richard Linklater, Cathleen Sutherland


FILM - SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies - Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton, R. Christopher White
Guardians of the Galaxy - Stephane Ceretti, Paul Corbould, Jonathan Fawkner, Nicolas Aithadi
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes - Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, Erik Winquist, Daniel Barrett
X-Men: Days of Future Past - Richard Stammers, Anders Langlands, Tim Crosbie, Cameron Waldbauer
Interstellar - Paul Franklin, Scott Fisher, Andrew Lockley


FILM - FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
Ida - Pawel Pawlikowski, Eric Abraham, Piotr Dzieciol, Ewa Puszczynska
The Lunchbox - Ritesh Batra, Arun Rangachari, Anurag Kashyap, Guneet Monga
Two Days, One Night - Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne, Denis Freyd
Leviathan - Andrey Zvyagintsev, Alexander Rodnyansky, Sergey Melkumov
Trash - Stephen Daldry, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Kris Thykier


FILM - SUPPORTING ACTOR
J.K. Simmons - Whiplash
Mark Ruffalo - Foxcatcher
Steve Carell - Foxcatcher
Edward Norton - Birdman
Ethan Hawke - Boyhood

FILM - SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Keira Knightley - The Imitation Game
Imelda Staunton - Pride
Emma Stone - Birdman
Patricia Arquette - Boyhood
Rene Russo - Nightcrawler

FILM - OUTSTANDING BRITISH CONTRIBUTION TO CINEMA IN 2015
BBC Films

Surprised to see David Fincher snubbed, but glad to see Rosamund Pike getting more recognition. This will be an interesting race, especially as it's one of the shows that airs closest to the Oscars.

UPDATE: Look at all the Boyhood wins! I loved that film, and sincerely wasn't expecting it to get that much recognition. Julianne Moore and J.K. Simmons are probably locks, as is Patricia Arquette, and Eddie Redmayne is definitely likely for the Oscar race. This is getting interesting!

GONE GIRL - The Film

Gone Girl is one of my favourite books. It's dark, it's creepy, it's completely messed up - in other words, it is right up my alley. (I gravitate toward weird things, what can I say?) Gillian Flynn's unflinching portrayal of a ridiculously terrifying, manipulative person is incredible. I'm just sad I don't own a copy, but I definitely plan to rectify that as soon as possible.

WARNING: SPOILERS! Lots and lots of spoilers.

Today, I saw the film adaptation. As soon as I heard it was to be directed by David Fincher, I knew they'd definitely get the feel of the film right. And Gillian Flynn penned the screenplay - to be honest, this gave me some pause. Sometimes, when authors write the screenplays based on their books, it doesn't work out so well.

But in this case? It worked out EXTREMELY well. Gillian Flynn was not afraid to cull certain parts of her large novel for the good of the film. (And though the extended examination of the "Cool Girl" piece didn't make it into the movie, it did get mentioned, and that was something. It was addressed, but I can see why people were a little upset that it wasn't in the film to the extent that it could have been, since it is a real issue.) Everything still made sense and worked. It flowed really well. I was concerned about how they were going to make the divisions in the book clear without hitting people over the head with it. (There are distinct separations, and there are a lot of flashbacks and going back to present. It's one of the things that will also be interesting to see in a Looking for Alaska movie, but that's a whole different thing.) But the simple text in the lower corner of the screen worked really well to me. The change in Amy was also done extremely well. The clean, simple shooting style was something I really enjoyed and found was very effective, as the content is so convoluted. I loved the small titles, and the way they flashed on very quickly, just long enough to be read, and then disappeared, was really interesting. I would probably be surprised if this film didn't get some kind of editing and cinematography nominations in the coming awards season.

And let me fangirl for a second over the score. I always love Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross working together. Put them back with David Fincher, and you have got an unbeatable thematic combination. Check out this amazing article where Trent Reznor talks about making the score "Rot From the Inside". (A perfect representation of the film and the novel too!) It was haunting and disturbing, and was a big part of the reason that the film felt as dark and scary as it did.

I am sensing definite Oscar buzz for this film. I'm seeing editing and cinematography, as well as something for the score. But let's talk about the acting too.

Rosamund Pike was a beautiful, terrifying powerhouse. I will honestly be shocked if she doesn't get a Best Actress nod. I definitely think she deserves it, for performing Amy to the max - just as Amy performs Amy. All the different Amys were done brilliantly. She scared me like no other. I was very, very concerned for Ben Affleck the ENTIRE time. Anytime she was near him, especially at the end, I was on edge. (Really, the whole movie, I was on edge.) I really loved her in this role. I haven't seen Rosamund Pike in very much, and I think she's finally broken through in a bigger way.

Carrie Coon was another breakthrough for me. Again, I've seen - well, pretty much nothing in which she appears. (She does some Broadway work, which is exciting.) I'm hoping for a nod for her as well for Best Supporting Actress. She was incredible as Nick Dunne's twin sister, being just the right amount of broken and scared as she is in the novel. Nick has obviously taken on more of the familial issues than she has, but she's still a little messed up. (Yes, I also love messed up characters, is anyone surprised at this point?) I would be disappointed if she isn't announced at least once this awards season. She was incredible.

Missi Pyle was actually amazing - I love her, and she is NOT in enough films lately!  She was perfect as Ellen Abbott in the few glimpses we had of her. Tyler Perry was also great as Tanner Bolt - exactly how I pictured him being, and the one liners he managed to throw out were perfectly placed. (And I don't usually like Tyler Perry, so that was surprising.)

Ben Affleck wasn't as high a point for me. Don't get me wrong, he was great - he was very smarmy and made me uncomfortable, even knowing his entire background as Nick Dunne. He was great, but parts of his performance fell a bit flat, particularly in his moments with Andie. That one's hard to explain, but he did a good job overall. In the end, especially, he was fantastic.

Neil Patrick Harris was just ALMOST creepy enough for me. ALMOST. I think this was mainly due to the fact that we didn't get as much time with Desi as we do in the novel - again, an understandable cut - but the story behind his relationship with Amy was never really told. (We never found out that he was another of her victims, and thus we didn't get to see how close she was to the mark even when making false allegations about him, as we do in the novel.) I just think with more time, we would have been able to see more of his controlling, lovesick tendencies. But in the time he had, I think he did a fantastic job; he WAS still creepy. And he dies very well! I mostly just wanted more time for him, as his utter adoration of Amy didn't really come through, and he has no chance to actually scare you. He seemed more annoyed with her. And his death was a LOT more gruesome than it is in the novel; I think that really added to the psychopath tendencies of Amy's character - in the novel, she drugs him and kills him, and doesn't bathe in his blood. (Also, she was just soaked in it for way too long! As if they wouldn't clean her up at the hospital.)

Finally, I want to discuss the nudity. There wasn't a lot - which I was fine with; the novel really doesn't involve that much - but it still irked me, as it has irked some other people, that we got extended shots of Andie's breasts, but extremely quick, almost non-existent pans over the penises of Nick and Desi. Come ON, Fincher. What's so wrong with showing them if we're going to focus on Andie in a sex scene? There wasn't even anything sexual about the scenes with Desi and Nick - well, Desi to an extent, but we got a longer shot of that. Nick was showing us he was completely clean to Amy, no wire - wouldn't we see what she sees? Hollywood has this hang up and I do wish it wasn't a thing that mattered. Just have some equal representation! (Although it was interesting that we didn't see much of Rosamund Pike either - is Amy above that? Was she so careful not to reveal herself? Just interesting - she usually had some kind of top on even during sex scenes. It's an interesting way to look at her character.)

In the end, I thoroughly enjoyed the film, and I did really feel it captured the novel in an amazing way.  Amy is terrifying, and Nick going back to her despite this is also terrifying in its way. I don't think she gets away with it. Not really. There's no sequel, and Gillian Flynn has said she didn't write it to set up a sequel, but to me, she doesn't get away with it. It's an ominous ending, and she's an extreme kind of person, and that doesn't end with the ending of the book, or the movie. It's lethal and it's part of what makes the novel so intense. I thought the movie really stayed true to that feeling of intensity.