Here Are The Cinema Audio Society (CAS) Nominations!

The Costume Designers Guild Nominations were announced today and here they are! Ex Machina received a nomination, which would seem to be another indication that it’s popular with Academy voters. (Then again, remember how excited we were last year when Nightcrawler kept getting love from the guilds?)

Excellence in Contemporary Film

“Beasts of No Nation” – Jenny Eagan
“Joy” – Michael Wilkinson
“Kingsman: The Secret Service” – Arianne Phillips
“The Martian” – Janty Yates
“Youth” – Carlo Poggioli

Excellence in Period Film

“Brooklyn” – Odile Dicks-Mireaux
“Carol” – Sandy Powell
“Crimson Peak” – Kate Hawley
“The Danish Girl” – Paco Delgado
“Trumbo” – Daniel Orlandi

Excellence in Fantasy Film

“Cinderella” – Sandy Powell
“Ex Machina” – Sammy Sheldon Differ
“The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2” – Kurt and Bart
“Mad Max: Fury Road” – Jenny Beavan
“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” – Michael Kaplan

Here Are The USC Scripter Nominations!

Posted on January 7, 2016 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The USC Scripter nominations are meant to honor film scripts that were adapted from previously published material. You’ll find their film nominations below and you may immediately notice that Oscar front runner Carol is missing. Make of that what you will.

The Big Short
Screenwriters Adam McKay and Charles Randolph, adapted from Michael Lewis’s nonfiction work “The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine”
Paramount Pictures and W.W. Norton

Brooklyn
Novelist Colm Tóibín and screenwriter Nick Hornby
Fox Searchlight and Viking

The End Of The Tour
Screenwriter Donald Margulies, adapted from David Lipsky’s memoir “Although of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself: A Road Trip with David Foster Wallace”
A24 and Broadway Books

The Martian
Novelist Andy Weir and screenwriter Drew Goddard
Twentieth Century Fox and Crown Publishing Group

Room
Emma Donoghue for the novel and screenplay
A24 and Little, Brown and Company

Here Are The WGA Nominations!

Posted on January 6, 2016 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Writers Guild of America announced their film nominations earlier today! As always, the WGA nominations should be taken with a grain of salt, as several potential Oscar nominees — Brooklyn, Room, The Hateful Eight — were not eligible to be nominated for a WGA award.

With that in mind, here are the nominees!

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Bridge of Spies, Written by Matt Charman and Ethan Coen & Joel Coen; DreamWorks Pictures

Sicario, Written by Taylor Sheridan; Lionsgate

Spotlight, Written by Josh Singer & Tom McCarthy; Open Road Films

Straight Outta Compton, Screenplay by Jonathan Herman and Andrea Berloff; Story by S. Leigh Savidge & Alan Wenkus and Andrea Berloff; Universal Pictures

Trainwreck, Written by Amy Schumer; Universal Pictures

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

The Big Short, Screenplay by Charles Randolph and Adam McKay; Based on the Book by Michael Lewis; Paramount Pictures

Carol, Screenplay by Phyllis Nagy; Based on the Novel The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith; The Weinstein Company

The Martian, Screenplay by Drew Goddard; Based on the Novel by Andy Weir; Twentieth Century Fox

Steve Jobs, Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin; Based on the Book by Walter Isaacson; Universal Pictures

Trumbo, Written by John McNamara; Based on the Biography by Bruce Cook; Bleecker Street Media
DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY

Being Canadian, Written by Robert Cohen; Candy Factory Films

Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief, Written by Alex Gibney; HBO Documentary Films

Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck, Written by Brett Morgen; HBO Documentary Films

Prophet’s Prey, Written by Amy J. Berg; Showtime Documentary Films

The American Society of Cinematographers Has Spoken!

Posted on January 6, 2016 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The American Society of Cinematographers announced their 5 nominees for the best cinematography of 2015 and here they are:

Bridge of Spies – Janusz Kaminski
Carol – Edward Lachman
Mad Max: Fury Road – John Seale
The Revenant – Emmanuel Lubezki
Sicario – Roger Deakins

This is Roger Deakins’s 14th ASC nomiantion! If Sicario scores a best picture nomination, I wouldn’t be surprised if Deakins finally picks up an Oscar as a result.

Though a lot of critics don’t want to admit it (for obvious reasons), the guild awards are actually a far better Oscar precursor than the critic awards. If you want to know what films are popular with the people who actually make movies, look to the guild awards.

And looking at the guild awards so far, it really does appear that there are quite a few films that have wide industry support. Interestingly enough, both Sicario and Straight Outta Compton have been making something of a comeback with the guild awards. (Even though Compton was not nominated by ASC, it has been recognized by the PGA, WGA, and SAG.) As well, Bridge of Spies and Trumbo have both received more guild support than either has gotten from the critics.

For that matter, both Mad Max: Fury Road and The Big Short have received more guild support than Spotlight. I know that Sasha Stone and Jeff Wells have pretty much declared Spotlight to be unbeatable but who knows? Things could still get interesting.

(Correction: Over on Gold Derby, Sasha Stone is now predicting victory for The Big Short.)

The ADG Nominates Crimson Peak … and some other films…

Posted on January 5, 2016 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The PGA wasn’t the only guild to announce nominations today! The Art Director’s Guild announced their nominees for the best of 2015 as well. And here they are! (And yay to the ADG for nominating Crimson Peak!)

THE NOMINEES FOR EXCELLENCE IN PRODUCTION DESIGN FOR A FEATURE FILM IN 2015 ARE:

1. PERIOD FILM

BRIDGE OF SPIES
Production Designer: ADAM STOCKHAUSEN

CRIMSON PEAK
Production Designer: THOMAS E. SANDERS

THE DANISH GIRL
Production Designer: EVE STEWART

THE REVENANT
Production Designer: JACK FISK

TRUMBO
Production Designer: MARK RICKER

2. FANTASY FILM

CINDERELLA
Production Designer: DANTE FERRETTI

JURASSIC WORLD
Production Designer: EDWARD VERREAUX

MAD MAX: FURY ROAD
Production Designer: COLIN GIBSON

STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS
Production Designers: RICK CARTER, DARREN GILFORD

TOMORROWLAND
Production Designer: SCOTT CHAMBLISS

3. CONTEMPORARY FILM

EX MACHINA
Production Designer: MARK DIGBY

JOY
Production Designer: JUDY BECKER

THE MARTIAN
Production Designer: ARTHUR MAX

SICARIO
Production Designer: PATRICE VERMETTE

SPECTRE
Production Designer: DENNIS GASSNER

The PGA Gives New Life To Sicario and Straight Outta Compton!

Posted on January 5, 2016 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Producers Guild of America announced their nominees today and guess what? Ex Machina, Sicario and Straight Outta Compton made the cut! In general, the PGA is a good precursor for the actual Oscar nominations so that’s good news for both of those films. (Among the films snubbed: Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Carol!)

Here are the nominees:

The Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures:

Ø The Big Short

Producers: Brad Pitt & Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner

Ø Bridge of Spies

Producers: Steven Spielberg, Marc Platt, Kristie Macosko Krieger

Ø Brooklyn

Producers: Finola Dwyer & Amanda Posey

Ø Ex Machina

This film is in the process of being vetted for producer eligibility

Ø Mad Max: Fury Road

Producers: Doug Mitchell & George Miller

Ø The Martian

Producers: Simon Kinberg, Ridley Scott, Michael Schaefer, Mark Huffam

Ø The Revenant

Producers: Arnon Milchan, Steve Golin, Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Mary Parent, Keith Redmon

Ø Sicario

Producers: Basil Iwanyk, Edward L. McDonnell, Molly Smith

Ø Spotlight

Producers: Michael Sugar & Steve Golin,

Straight Outta Compton

The Award for Outstanding Producer of Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures:

Ø Anomalisa

Producers: Rosa Tran, Duke Johnson, Charlie Kaufman

Ø The Good Dinosaur

Producer: Denise Ream

Ø Inside Out

Producer: Jonas Rivera

Ø Minions

Producers: Chris Meledandri, Janet Healy

Ø The Peanuts Movie

Producers: Craig Schulz, Michael J. Travers

Here Are The CSA Nominations!

Posted on January 4, 2016 by Lisa Marie Bowman

They really should give an Oscar for Best Casting. But until they do, we’ll just have to be happy with the nominations of the Casting Society of America!

BIG BUDGET – COMEDY

“The Big Short” Francine Maisler, Meagan Lewis (Location Casting)

“The Intern” Bernard Telsey, Laray Mayfield, Tiffany Little Canfield, David Vaccari (Associate)

“Joy” Mary Vernieu, Lindsay Graham, Angela Peri (Location Casting)

“Sisters” Kerry Barden, Paul Schnee, Joey Montenarello (Associate), Adam Richards (Associate)

“Tomorrowland” April Webster, Alyssa Weisberg, Corinne Clark (Location Casting), Jennifer Page (Location Casting)

BIG BUDGET – DRAMA

“Bridge of Spies” Ellen Lewis, Kate Sprance (Associate)

“Mad Max: Fury Road” Ronna Kress, Nikki Barrett

“Spotlight” Kerry Barden, Paul Schnee, John Buchan (Location Casting), Jason Knight (Location Casting), Carolyn Pickman (Location Casting), Joey Montenarello (Associate), Adam Richards (Associate)

“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” Nina Gold, April Webster, Alyssa Weisberg,?Jessica Sherman (Associate)

“Straight Outta Compton” Cindy Tolan, Victoria Thomas, Meagan Lewis(Location Casting), Beth Sepko (Location Casting), Carolyn Pickman (Location Casting), Lucinda Syson (Location Casting), Pat Moran (Location Casting), Judith Sunga (Associate)

STUDIO OR INDEPENDENT – COMEDY

“Infinitely Polar Bear” Douglas Aibel, Carolyn Pickman (Location Casting), Henry Russell Bergstein (Associate)

“Me & Earl and the Dying Girl” Angela Demo, Nancy Mosser (Location Casting), Katie Shenot (Location Casting)

“Ricki and the Flash” Bernard Telsey, Tiffany Little Canfield, Conrad Woolfe (Associate)

“Sleeping With Other People” Jennifer Euston, Emer O’Callaghan

“While We’re Young” Douglas Aibel, Francine Maisler, Henry Russell Bergstein (Associate)

STUDIO OR INDEPENDENT – DRAMA

“Brooklyn” Fiona Weir, Lucie Robitaille (Location Casting), Jim Carnahan (Location Casting),

“Carol” Laura Rosenthal, Maribeth Fox (Associate), Jodi Angstreich (Associate)

“The Danish Girl” Nina Gold

“Room” Fiona Weir, Robin D. Cook, Jonathan Oliveira (Associate)

“Trumbo” David Rubin, Meagan Lewis (Location Casting), Melissa Pryor (Associate)