Here’s What Won At The Golden Globes!

Posted on January 11, 2015 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Film Awards

Best Film (Drama) — Boyhood

Best Drama Actor — Eddie Redmayne in The Theory of Everything

Best Drama Actress — Julianne Moore in Still Alice

Best Film (Comedy) — The Grand Budapest Hotel

Best Comedy Actor — Michael Keaton in Birdman

Best Comedy Actress — Amy Adams in Big Eyes

Best Supporting Actor — J.K. Simmons in Whiplash

Best Supporting Actress — Patricia Arquette in Boyhood

Best Director — Richard Linklater for Boyhood

Best Screenplay — Birdman

Best Animated Feature — How To Train Your Dragon 2

Best Score — The Theory of Everything

Best Original Song — “Glory” from Selma

TV Awards

Best Drama Series — The Affair

Best Drama Actor — Kevin Spacey in House of Cards

Best Drama Actress — Ruth Wilson in The Affair

Best Comedy Series — Transparent

Best Comedy Actor — Jeffrey Tambor in Transparent

Best Comedy Actress — Gina Rodriguez in Jane the Virgin

Best TV Movie/Limited Series — Fargo

Best TV Movie/Limited Series Actor — Billy Bob Thornton in Fargo

Best TV Movie/Limited Series Actress — Maggie Gyllenhaal in The Honourable Woman

Best TV Supporting Actor — Matt Bomer in The Normal Heart

Best TV Supporting Actress — Joanne Froggatt in Downton Abbey

Here’s The Latest In Precursor News: The USC Scripter and the Makeup and Hairstyling Guild Nominations!

Posted on January 8, 2015 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Awards season continues! The Makeup and Hairstyling Guild announced their nominees for the best of 2014 today!

FEATURE LENGTH MOTION PICTURE (FEATURE FILMS)
BEST CONTEMPORARY MAKE-UP

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Gone Girl

Guardians of the Galaxy

Interstellar

Nightcrawler

FEATURE LENGTH MOTION PICTURE (FEATURE FILMS)
BEST PERIOD AND/OR CHARACTER MAKE-UP

Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1

Into the Woods

The Grand Budapest Hotel

The Theory of Everything

Unbroken

FEATURE LENGTH MOTION PICTURE (FEATURE FILMS)
BEST SPECIAL MAKE-UP EFFECTS

Foxcatcher

Guardians of the Galaxy

Into the Woods

Maleficent

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

FEATURE LENGTH MOTION PICTURE (FEATURE FILMS)
BEST CONTEMPORARY HAIR STYLING

Birdman

Guardians of the Galaxy

Interstellar

St. Vincent

Winter’s Tale

FEATURE LENGTH MOTION PICTURE (FEATURE FILMS)
BEST PERIOD AND/OR CHARACTER HAIR STYLING

Get on Up

Into the Woods

Selma

The Grand Budapest Hotel

The Theory of Everything

And here are the nominees for the 27th Annual USC Scripter Awards! The Scripter Award specifically recognizes screenplays that were adapted from other works.

Gone Girl

The Imitation Game

Inherent Vice

The Theory of Everything

Wild

2014 in Review: Lisa Marie’s 26 Favorite Films of 2014

Posted on January 8, 2015 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Well, here we are! This is my favorite part of the TSL’s look back at the previous year! Below, you’ll find my picks for the 26 best films of 2014!

(Why 26? Because Lisa doesn’t do odd numbers.)

Before looking at the list, there are two things that I would ask you to keep in mind. First off, these are my picks and my picks alone. There are 12 writers here at the TSL and we are all very opinionated individuals. Needless to say, we don’t always agree. Just because I love a film doesn’t mean that Arleigh, Leonard, Ryan, or anybody else here agree or disagrees. (Even my own sister occasionally disagrees with me…) When the other writers get around to posting their picks, I imagine that some of the films below will appear on those lists. And some of them most definitely will not. Vive la difference!

Also, it should be understood that, unlike some film critics, I only list movies that I’ve actually seen. Unfortunately, since I live in the middle of the country, that means that there are a few 2014 films that have yet to be released in my part of the world. Over the upcoming two weeks, I plan to see Inherent Vice, Selma, American Sniper, A Most Violent Year, and The Imitation Game. Any one of these films could potentially end up in my top 26, in which case I will update this post to reflect that.

(1/10/15 Update — I have updated the list to include Inherent Vice. And, since I don’t do odd numbers, I also added Blue Ruin so that the list is currently an even 28 films.)

As for my list, as I look over it, I have to admit that I’m a little bit surprised by some of the films that made the biggest impression on me this year. Whereas in previous years, my favorite films were far outside of the mainstream, my favorite film of 2014 was the epitome of blockbuster entertainment. The list is an interesting combination of spectacle and existential dread, featuring everything from the latest entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to a few neglected masterpieces of ennui.

(If you’d like to see my picks for 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013, click on the links!)

And without further ado, here’s the list!

Agree? Disagree? Let me know in the comments below!

Previous Entries In TSL’s Look Back At 2014

Here’s The Latest From The Guilds: WGA, CDG, and ASC

Posted on January 7, 2015 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Here’s the latest news from Awards Season! Today, three more guilds announced their nominees for the best of 2014.

First off, the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) nominated the following five films:

Birdman

The Grand Budapest Hotel

The Imitation Game

Mr. Turner

Unbroken

And then, the Costume Designers Guild (CDG) nominated the following fifteen films:

Excellence in Contemporary Film
Birdman – Albert Wolsky
Boyhood – Kari Perkins
Gone Girl – Trish Summerville
Interstellar – Mary Zophres
Wild – Melissa Bruning

Excellence in Period Film
The Grand Budapest Hotel – Milena Canonero
The Imitation Game – Sammy Sheldon Differ
Inherent Vice – Mark Bridges
Selma – Ruth E. Carter
The Theory of Everything – Steven Noble

Excellence in Fantasy Film
Guardians of the Galaxy – Alexandra Byrne
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies – Bob Buck, Lesley Burkes-Harding, Ann Maskrey
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1 – Kurt and Bart
Into the Woods – Colleen Atwood
Maleficent – Anna B. Sheppard, Jane Clive

(Is anybody else surprised to learn that Interstellar is apparently a contemporary film?)

And finally, here are the Writer’s Guild (WGA) nominations! As always, the WGA nominations should be taken with a grain of salt as several Oscar front runners — Birdman, Selma, The Theory of Everything, and Mr. Turner, had been ruled ineligible for a WGA nomination. Over the years, many films that were ineligible for a WGA nomination have gone on to win Oscars for original and adapted screenplay.

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Boyhood, Written by Richard Linklater; IFC Films
Foxcatcher, Written by E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman; Sony Pictures Classics
The Grand Budapest Hotel, Screenplay by Wes Anderson; Story by Wes Anderson & Hugo Guinness; Fox Searchlight
Nightcrawler, Written by Dan Gilroy; Open Road Films
Whiplash, Written by Damien Chazelle; Sony Pictures Classics

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
American Sniper, Written by Jason Hall; Based on the book by Chris Kyle with Scott McEwen and Jim DeFelice; Warner Bros.
Gone Girl, Screenplay by Gillian Flynn; Based on her novel; 20th Century Fox
Guardians of the Galaxy, Written by James Gunn and Nicole Perlman; Based on the Marvel comic by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning; Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
The Imitation Game, Written by Graham Moore; Based on the book Alan Turing: The Enigma by Andrew Hodges; The Weinstein Company
Wild, Screenplay by Nick Hornby; Based on the book by Cheryl Strayed; Fox Searchlight

DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY
Finding Vivian Maier, Written by John Maloof & Charlie Siskel; Sundance Selects
The Internet’s Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz, Written by Brian Knappenberger; FilmBuff
Last Days in Vietnam, Written by Mark Bailey & Kevin McAlester; American Experience Films
Red Army, Written by Gabe Polsky; Sony Pictures Classics

Here Are The Central Ohio Film Critics Nominees!

Posted on January 5, 2015 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Yesterday, the Central Ohio Film Critics announced their nominees for the best of 2014 and they really liked Birdman! I wonder if the Central Ohio Film Critics ever have fights with the Southwestern Ohio Film Critics or the Ohio/Kentucky Border Critics…

Here are the nominees!

Best Film

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Boyhood
Gone Girl
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
A Most Violent Year
Nightcrawler
Selma
Snowpiercer
Whiplash

Best Director

Wes Anderson – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Damien Chazelle – Whiplash
Ava DuVernay – Selma
Alejandro González Iñárritu – Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Richard Linklater – Boyhood

Best Actor

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

Best Actress

Essie Davis, The Babadook
Scarlett Johansson, Under the Skin
Felicity Jones, The Theory of Everything
Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
Reese Witherspoon, Wild

Best Supporting Actor

Josh Brolin – Inherent Vice
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)
Tilda Swinton – Snowpiercer

Best Ensemble

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Foxcatcher
Gone Girl
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Guardians of the Galaxy

Actor of the Year (for an exemplary body of work)

Jessica Chastain (The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby, Interstellar, Miss Julie, and A Most Violent Year)
Benedict Cumberbatch (The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies and The Imitation Game)
Jake Gyllenhaal (Enemy and Nightcrawler)
Chris Pratt (Guardians of the Galaxy and The LEGO Movie)
Tilda Swinton (The Grand Budapest Hotel, Only Lovers Left Alive, Snowpiercer, and The Zero Theorem)

Breakthrough Film Artist

Damien Chazelle – Whiplash – (for directing and screenwriting)
Ava DuVernay – Selma – (for directing)
Jennifer Kent – The Babadook – (for directing and screenwriting)
Gugu Mbatha-Raw – Belle and Beyond the Lights – (for acting)
Justin Simien – Dear White People – (for directing and screenwriting)

Best Cinematography

Benoît Delhomme – The Theory of Everything
Hoyte Van Hoytema – Interstellar
Daniel Landin – Under the Skin
Emmanuel Lubezki – Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Robert Yeoman – The Grand Budapest Hotel

Best Film Editing

Sandra Adair – Boyhood
Spencer Averick – Selma
Kirk Baxter – Gone Girl
Douglas Crise and Stephen Mirrione – Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Tom Cross – Whiplash

Best Adapted Screenplay

Paul Thomas Anderson – Inherent Vice
Bong Joon-ho and Kelly Masterson – Snowpiercer
Gillian Flynn – Gone Girl
Nick Hornby – Wild
Graham Moore – The Imitation Game

Best Original Screenplay

Wes Anderson – The Grand Budapest Hotel
J.C. Chandor – A Most Violent Year
Damien Chazelle – Whiplash
Alejandro González Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, and Armando Bo – Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Paul Webb – Selma

Best Score

Alexandre Desplat – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Jóhann Jóhannsson – The Theory of Everything
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross – Gone Girl
Antonio Sanchez – Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Hans Zimmer – Interstellar

Best Documentary

Citizenfour
Dinosaur 13
Finding Vivian Maier
Jodorowsky’s Dune
Life Itself

Best Foreign Language Film

Force Majeure (Turist)
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
Ida
Two Days, One Night (Deux jours, une nuit)
We Are the Best! (Vi är bäst!)

Best Animated Film

Big Hero 6
The Book of Life
The Boxtrolls
How to Train Your Dragon 2
The LEGO Movie

Best Overlooked Film

The Babadook
Blue Ruin
Edge of Tomorrow
Enemy
Locke

Here Are The Producers Guild Nominees!

Posted on January 5, 2015 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Producers Guild of America nominees were announced today.

The PGA is often seen as being a pretty strong precursor as far as the actual Oscar nominations are concerned. Therefore, it’s a bit surprising to see that Selma was snubbed. (A lot of people are speculating that it may be because the Selma screeners were sent out late. We’ll see.) It’s less surprising that Unbroken was snubbed because Unbroken has not exactly lived up to expectations. (I’ll post my review of the film soon.) At this point, it’s hard to be surprised to see Nightcrawler mentioned because — for a supposed long shot — Nightcrawler‘s been doing pretty well as far as the precursors are concerned. Finally, the producers of former front runners Foxcatcher and Gone Girl have to be happy to see that their film has not been as forgotten by the guilds as it has been by many of the critical groups.

Here are the nominees!

American Sniper

Birdman

Boyhood

Foxcatcher

Gone Girl

The Grand Budapest Hotel

The Imitation Game

Nightcrawler

The Theory of Everything

Whiplash

Here Are The Art Directors Guild Nominees!

Posted on January 5, 2015 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Art Directors Guild announced their nominees today!

And here they are:

Period Film
Inherent Vice
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
The Theory of Everything
Unbroken

Fantasy Film
Interstellar
Into the Woods
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Guardians of the Galaxy
Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Contemporary Film
American Sniper
Birdman
Foxcatcher
Gone Girl
Nightcrawler

Award Season Continues! Here Are The Winners From Georgia!

Posted on January 5, 2015 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Yes, awards season is still going on and critics and guilds from across the country and the industry are still announcing their picks for the best of 2014!

The latest group to make their picks known? The Georgia Film Critics Association! Here are their nominees for the best of 2014!

Best Picture
BIRDMAN
BOYHOOD
GONE GIRL
THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL
IDA
A MOST VIOLENT YEAR
NIGHTCRAWLER
SELMA
SNOWPIERCER
WHIPLASH

Best Director
Richard Linklater BOYHOOD
David Fincher GONE GIRL
Wes Anderson THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL
Ava DuVernay SELMA
Damien Chazelle WHIPLASH

Best Actor
Ralph Fiennes THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL
Jake Gyllenhaal NIGHTCRAWLER
Michael Keaton BIRDMAN
David Oyelowo SELMA
Eddie Redmayne THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING.

Best Actress
Marion Cotillard TWO DAYS ONE NIGHT
Scarlett Johansson UNDER THE SKIN
Felicity Jones THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING
Lisa Loven Kongsli FORCE MAJEURE
Julianne Moore STILL ALICE
Rosamund Pike GONE GIRL

Best Supporting Actor
Riz Ahmed NIGHTCRAWLER
Ethan Hawke BOYHOOD
Edward Norton BIRDMAN
Mark Ruffalo FOXCATCHER
JK Simmons WHIPLASH

Best Supporting Actress
Patricia Arquette BOYHOOD
Jessica Chastain A MOST VIOLENT YEAR
Rene Russo NIGHTCRAWLER
Emma Stone BIRDMAN
Tilda Swinton SNOWPIERCER

Best Original Screenplay
BOYHOOD
CALVARY
THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL
NIGHTCRAWLER
SELMA

Best Adapted Screenplay
GONE GIRL
THE IMITATION GAME
INHERENT VICE
SNOWPIERCER
THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING
WILD

Best Cinematography
BIRDMAN
THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL
IDA
INHERENT VICE
INTERSTELLAR

Best Production Design
THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL
INHERENT VICE
INTERSTELLAR
INTO THE WOODS
SNOWPIERCER
UNDER THE SKIN

Best Original Score
BIRDMAN (Antonio Sánchez)
GONE GIRL (Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross)
INTERSTELLAR (Hans Zimmer)
LIFE ITSELF (Joshua Abrams)
UNDER THE SKIN (Mica Levi)

Best Original Song
“Everything is Awesome” from THE LEGO MOVIE
“Glory” from SELMA
“We Will Not Go” from VIRUNGA
“I’m Not Gonna Miss You” from GLEN CAMPBELL: I’LL BE ME
“Something So Right” from MUPPETS MOST WANTED

Best Ensemble Cast
BIRDMAN
BOYHOOD
THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL
GONE GIRL
SELMA

Best Foreign Language Film
FORCE MAJEURE
IDA
SEPIDEH
TWO DAYS ONE NIGHT
WE ARE THE BEST!

Best Animated Feature Film
BIG HERO 6
THE BOOK OF LIFE
THE BOXTROLLS
HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2
THE LEGO MOVIE

Best Documentary Feature Film
CITIZENFOUR
FINDING VIVIAN MAIER
KEEP ON KEEPIN’ ON
LIFE ITSELF
SEPIDEH

Breakthough of the Year
Ellan Coltrane
Ava DuVernay
Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Jenny Slate
Tessa Thompson

The National Society Of Film Critics Honors Goodbye to Language!

Posted on January 3, 2015 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Earlier today, the National Society of Film Critics announced their picks for the best films of 2014! By one vote, they named Jean-Luc Godard’s Goodbye To Language as best picture of the year.

Thank you, National Society of Film Critics, for reminding us that, occasionally, unexpected things do happen!

Check out the winners and the runner-ups below!

BEST PICTURE

*1. Goodbye to Language 25 (Jean-Luc Godard)

2. Boyhood 24 (Richard Linklater)

3. Birdman 10 (Alejandro G. Iñárritu)

3. Mr. Turner 10 (Mike Leigh)

BEST DIRECTOR

*1. Richard Linklater 36 (Boyhood)

2. Jean-Luc Godard 17 (Goodbye to Language)

3. Mike Leigh 12 (Mr. Turner)

BEST NON-FICTION FILM

*1. Citizenfour 56 (Laura Poitras)

2. National Gallery 19 (Frederick Wiseman)

3. The Overnighters 17 (Jesse Moss)

BEST SCREENPLAY

*1. The Grand Budapest Hotel 24 (Wes Anderson)

2. Inherent Vice 15 (Paul Thomas Anderson)

2. Birdman 15 (four co-writers)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

*1. Mr. Turner 33 (Dick Pope)

2. The Immigrant 27 (Darius Khondji)

3. Goodbye to Language 9 (Fabrice Aragno)

BEST ACTOR

*1.Timothy Spall 31 (Mr. Turner)

2. Tom Hardy 10 (Locke)

3. Joaquin Phoenix 9 (Inherent Vice)

3. Ralph Fiennes 9 (The Grand Budapest Hotel)

BEST ACTRESS

*1. Marion Cotillard 80 (Two Days, One Night)

2. Julianne Moore 35 (Still Alice)

3. Scarlett Johansson 21 (Lucy; Under the Skin)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

*1. J.K. Simmons 24 (Whiplash)

2. Mark Ruffalo 21 (Foxcatcher)

3. Edward Norton 16 (Birdman)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

*1. Patricia Arquette 26 (Boyhood)

2. Agata Kulesza 18 (Ida)

3. Rene Russo 9 (Nightcrawler)

2014 In Review: Lisa’s Picks For The 16 Worst Films Of 2014

Posted on January 3, 2015 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Continuing our look back at the previous year, today I present you with my choices for the 16 worst films of 2014!

I have to admit that 2014 was a strange year for me. While I saw a lot of films that I didn’t think were very good, none of them quite inspired the amount of loathing that I felt while watching previous TSL worst film “winners” like Love and Other Drugs and Man of Steel. Looking at the 16 films below, I’m struck by how many of them were simply films that failed to live up to my expectations. (The Judge and Endless Love are obvious examples.) Some of the other entries are films that we all knew ahead of time would never be good but they made the list because they represent everything that annoys me about mainstream film making. (Case in point: Transformers: Let’s Deafen The Audience or whatever the Hell that thing was called.)

Of course, some of the films listed below are on the list because they just plain sucked. In fact, one made-for-Lifetime movie was so mind-numbingly awful that it made the list despite having never actually been released in theaters! That’s pretty bad!

(Be sure to click on the links in this sentence if you want to see what I considered to be the worst of 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013!)

Without further ado, here’s the list!

16) Captivated: The Trials of Pamela Smart
15) Ride Along
14) The Judge
13) Into the Storm
12) Endless Love
11) Nuse 3D
10) Barefoot
9) The Best Of Me
8) I, Frankenstein
7) Left Behind
6) Paranormal Activity — The Marked Ones
5) The Legend of Hercules
4) Transformers: The Age of Extinction
3) A Million Ways To Die In The West
2) The Unauthorized Saved By The Bell Story