Here Are The Oscar Winners!

Posted on March 2, 2014 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Gravity won the most but 12 Years A Slave won the award that everyone will remember. With 7 Oscars, Gravity nearly tied with Cabaret for winning the most Oscars without also winning best picture. Cabaret won 8 Oscars but lost best picture to The Godfather (which won 3 Oscars, the exact same amount as 12 Years A Slave).

BEST PICTURE
“American Hustle”
“Captain Phillips”
“Dallas Buyers Club”
“Gravity”
“Her”
“Nebraska”
“Philomena”
X – “12 Years a Slave”
“The Wolf of Wall Street”

BEST DIRECTOR
X – Alfonso Cuaron, “Gravity”
Steve McQueen, “12 Years a Slave”
David O. Russell, “American Hustle”
Martin Scorsese, “The Wolf of Wall Street”
Alexander Payne, “Nebraska”

BEST ACTOR
Christian Bale, “American Hustle”
Bruce Dern, “Nebraska”
Leonardo DiCaprio, “The Wolf of Wall Street”
Chiwetel Ejiofor, “12 Years a Slave”
X – Matthew McConaughey, “Dallas Buyers Club”

BEST ACTRESS
Amy Adams, “American Hustle”
X – Cate Blanchett, “Blue Jasmine”
Sandra Bullock, “Gravity”
Judi Dench, “Philomena”
Meryl Streep, “August: Osage County”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Barkhad Abdi, “Captain Phillips”
Bradley Cooper, “American Hustle”
Michael Fassbender, “12 Years a Slave”
Jonah Hill, “The Wolf of Wall Street”
X – Jared Leto, “Dallas Buyers Club”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Sally Hawkins, “Blue Jasmine”
Jennifer Lawrence, “American Hustle”
X – Lupita Nyong’o, “12 Years a Slave”
Julia Roberts, “August: Osage County”
June Squibb, “Nebraska”

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
“American Hustle”
“Blue Jasmine”
“Dallas Buyers Club”
X – “Her”
“Nebraska”

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
“Before Midnight”
“Captain Phillips”
“Philomena”
X – “12 Years a Slave”
“The Wolf of Wall Street”

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
“The Broken Circle Breakdown”
X – “The Great Beauty”
“The Hunt”
“The Missing Picture’
“Omar”

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
“The Croods”
“Despicable Me 2”
“Ernest and Celestine”
X – “Frozen”
“The Wind Rises”

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
“The Act of Killing”
“Cutie and the Boxer”
“Dirty Wars”
“The Square”
X – “20 Feet From Stardom”

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
“The Grandmaster”
X – “Gravity”
“Inside Llewyn Davis”
“Nebraska”
“Prisoners”

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
“American Hustle”
“The Grandmaster”
X – “The Great Gatsby”
“The Invisible Woman”
“12 Years a Slave”

BEST EDITING
“American Hustle”
“Captain Phillips”
“Dallas Buyers Club”
X – “Gravity”
“12 Years a Slave”

BEST MAKEUP
X – “Dallas Buyers Club”
“Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa”
“The Lone Ranger”

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
“American Hustle”
“Gravity”
X – “The Great Gatsby”
“Her”
“12 Years a Slave”

BEST SCORE
“The Book Thief”
X – “Gravity”
“Her”
“Philomena”
“Saving Mr. Banks”

BEST SONG
“Alone, Yet Not Alone” from “Alone, Yet Not Alone”
“Happy” from “Despicable Me 2”
X – “Let it Go” from “Frozen”
“The Moon Song” from “Her”
“Ordinary Love” from “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom”

BEST SOUND EDITING
“All is Lost”
“Captain Phillips”
X – “Gravity”
“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug”
“Lone Survivor”

BEST SOUND MIXING
“Captain Phillips”
X – “Gravity”
“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug”
“Inside Llewyn Davis”
“Lone Survivor”

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
X – “Gravity”
“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug”
“Iron Man 3”
“The Lone Ranger”
“Star Trek: Into Darkness”

BEST ANIMATED SHORT
“Feral”
“Get a Horse!”
X – “Mr. Hublot”
“Possessions”
“Room on the Broom”

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
“CaveDigger”
“Facing Fear”
“Karama Has No Walls”
X – “The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life”
“Prison Terminal: The Last Days of Private Jack Hall”

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT
“A quel No Era Yo (That Wasn’t Me)”
“Avant De Tout Perdre” (Just Before Losing Everything)”
X – “Helium”
“Pitääkö Mun Kaikki Hoitaa? (Do I Have to Take Care of Everything?)”
“The Voorman Problem”

Here Are The Winners of The Independent Spirit Awards!

Posted on March 2, 2014 by Lisa Marie Bowman

12 Years A Slave was the big winner at yesterday’s Independent Spirit Awards. We’ll know if the same is true for the Oscars in just two more hours.

BEST PICTURE
X – “12 Years A Slave”
“All is Lost”
“Frances Ha”
“Inside Llewyn Davis”
“Nebraska”

BEST DIRECTOR
Shane Carruth, “Upstream Color”
J.C. Chandor, “All Is Lost”
X – Steve McQueen, “12 Years A Slave”
Jeff Nichols, “Mud”
Alexander Payne, “Nebraska”

BEST ACTOR
Bruce Dern, “Nebraska”
Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years A Slave”
Oscar Isaac, “Inside Llewyn Davis”
Michael B Jordan, “Fruitvale Station”
X – Matthew McConaughey, “Dallas Buyers Club”
Robert Redford, “All Is Lost”

BEST ACTRESS
X – Cate Blanchett, “Blue Jasmine”
Julie Delpy, “Before Midnight”
Gaby Hoffmann, “Crystal Fairy”
Brie Larson, “Short Term 12”
Shailene Woodley, “The Spectacular Now”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Michael Fassbender, “12 Years a Slave”
Will Forte, “Nebraska”
James Gandolfini, “Enough Said”
X – Jared Leto, “Dallas Buyers Club”
Keith Stanfield, “Short Term 12”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Melonie Diaz, “Fruitvale Station”
Sally Hawkins, “Blue Jasmine”
X – Lupita Nyongo, “12 Years a Slave”
Yolonda Ross, “Go For Sisters”
June Squibb, “Nebraska”

BEST SCREENPLAY
Woody Allen, “Blue Jasmine”
Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke & Richard Linklater, “Before Midnight”
Nicole Holofcener, “Enough Said”
Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber, “The Spectacular Now”
X – John Ridley, “12 Years A Slave”

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
X – Sean Bobbitt, “12 Years A Slave”
Benoit Debie, “Spring Breakers”
Bruno Delbonnel, “Inside Llewyn Davis”
Frank G. Demarco, “All Is Lost”
Matthias Grunsky, “Computer Chess”

BEST EDITING
Shane Carruth & David Lowery, “Upstream Color”
Jem Cohen & Marc Vives, “Museum Hours”
Frank G. Demarco, “All Is Lost”
Matthias Grunsky, “Computer Chess”
X – Nat Sanders, “Short Term 12”

BEST DOCUMENTARY
X – “20 Feet From Stardom”
“After Tiller”
“Gideon’s Army”
“The Act of Killing”
“Cynn”
“The Square”

BEST INTERNATIONAL PICTURE
“A Touch of Sin (China)
X – “Blue is the Warmest Color” (France)
“Gloria” (Chile)
“The Great Beauty” (Italy)
“The Hunt” (Denmark)

BEST FIRST FEATURE
“Blue Caprice”
“Concussion”
X – “Fruitvale Station”
“Una Noche”
“Wadjda”

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
Lake Bell, “In A World”
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Don Jon”
X – Bob Nelson, “Nebraska”
Jill Soloway, “Afternoon Delight”
Mike Starrbury, “The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete”

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD (best feature made for under $500,000)
“Computer Chess”
“Crystal Fairy”
“Museum Hours”
“Pit Stop”
X – “This is Martin Bonner”

Here Are The Razzie Winners!

Posted on March 2, 2014 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Oscars aren’t the only film awards being given out this weekend. The Razzie Awards were announced last night. Movie 43 won Worst Picture. And while Movie 43 is a truly terrible, terrible film, I still say that Man of Steel was worse.

Anyway, here are the “winners.”

WORST PICTURE
“After Earth”
“Grown Ups 2”
“The Lone Ranger”
“A Madea Christmas”
X — “Movie 43”

WORST ACTOR
Johnny Depp, “The Lone Ranger”
Ashton Kutcher, “Jobs”
Adam Sandler, “Grown Ups 2”
X — Jaden Smith, “After Earth”
Sylvester Stallne, “Bullet to the Head”/”Escape Plan”/”Grudge Match”

WORST ACTRESS
Halle Berry, “The Call”/”Movie 43”
Selena Gomez, “Getaway”
Lindsay Lohan, “The Canyons”
X — Tyler Perry, “A Madea Christmas”
Naomi Watts, “Diana”/”Movie 43”

WORST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Chris Brown, “Battle of the Year”
Larry the Cable Guy, “A Madea Christmas”
Taylor Lautner, “Grown Ups 2”
X — Will Smith, “After Earth”
Nick Swardson, “A Haunted House”/”Grown Ups 2”

WORST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Lady Gaga, “Machete Kills”
Salma Hayek, “Grown Ups 2”
Katherine Heigl, “The Big Wedding”
X — Kim Kardashian, “Tyler Perry’s Temptation”
Lindsay Lohan, “InAPPropriate Comedy”/”Scary Movie 5”

WORST DIRECTOR
X — The 13 People Who Directed “Movie 43”
Dennis Dugan, “Grown Ups 2”
Tyler Perry, “A Madea Christmas”/”Temptation”
M. Night Shyamalan, “After Earth”
Gore Verbinski, “The Lone Ranger”

WORST SCREENPLAY
“After Earth” – Gary Whitta, M. Night Shyamalan, Will Smith
“Grown Ups 2” – Fred Wolfe, Adam Sandler, Tim Herlihy
“The Lone Ranger” – Ted Elliott, Justin Haythe, Terry Rosso
“A Madea Christmas” – Tyler Perry
X — “Movie 43” – Written by 19 “Screenwriters”

WORST SCREEN COMBO
The Entire Cast of “Grown Ups 2”
The Entire Cast of “Movie 43”
Lindsay Lohan & Charlie Sheen, “Scary Movie 5”
Tyler Perry & Either Larry the Cable Guy or That Worn-Out Wig & Dress, “A Madea Christmas”
X — Jaden Smith & Will Smith on Planet Nepotism, “After Earth”

WORST REMAKE, RIP-OFF, OR SEQUEL
“Grown Ups 2”
“The Hangover Part III”
X — “The Lone Ranger”
“Scary Movie 5”
“The Smurfs 2”

Lisa Predicts The 86th Annual Academy Awards

Posted on March 1, 2014 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Well, it’s finally that time! The Oscars are tomorrow night and, with so many close races this year, I can’t wait to see who actually wins. Below, you’ll find my predictions for what will win.

Please note that these are not necessarily the films that I personally would pick to honor. You can find that list here. Instead, these are the films and performances that I think will win tomorrow.

A few notes: I’m predicting that Gravity will win the most awards but I still think that 12 Years A Slave will win best picture. However, I also think that either American Hustle or Dallas Buyers Club could pull an upset win in this category.

For best actor, I am picking Matthew McConaughey but I do think that Bruce Dern could possibly win. Dern’s been acting forever and the Academy might feel that this could be his last chance to win an Oscar. Plus, he was really good in Nebraska.

For best actress, I’m predicting that Amy Adams will upset favorite Cate Blanchett. As we saw with the SAG awards, American Hustle is popular with actors and the Academy might be hesitant about honoring a Woody Allen film this year.

Finally, for Best Makeup, I am predicting that Bad Grandpa will win. Why? Every year, there’s at least one totally fucked up win that nobody predicted. And what win could be more fucked up than Bad Grandpa? (Also, if Bad Grandpa wins, I’ll be able to say that I was the only person who predicted it.)

Best Picture — 12 Years A Slave

Best Director — Alfonso Cuaron for Gravity

Best Actor — Matthew McConaughey in Dallas Buyers Club

Best Actress — Amy Adams in American Hustle

Best Supporting Actor — Jared Leto in Dallas Buyers Club

Best Supporting Actress — Jennifer Lawrence in American Hustle

Best Original Screenplay — Her

Best Adapted Screenplay — 12 Years A Slave

Best Animated Film — Frozen

Best Foreign Language Film — The Great Beauty (Italy)

Best Documentary Feature — The Act of Killing

Best Documentary (Short Subject) — The Lady In Number 6: Music Saved My Life

Best Live Action Short Film — The Voorman Problem

Best Animated Short Film — Mr. Hublot

Best Original Score — Gravity

Best Original Song — “Ordinary Love” from Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom

Best Sound Editing — Gravity

Best Sound Mixing — Gravity

Best Production Design — The Great Gatsby

Best Cinematography — Gravity

Best Makeup and Hairstyling — Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa

Best Costume Design — The Great Gatsby

Best Film Editing — 12 Years A Slave

Best Visual Effects — Gravity

6 Trailers to Carry Us To March

Posted on February 26, 2014 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Hi, everyone. It’s time for another edition of Lisa Marie’s Favorite Grindhouse and Exploitation Film Trailers!

1) Youth Aflame (1944)

I love out-of-control youth films. It’s one of the oldest genres of exploitation, as can be seen by watching this trailer from 1944.

2) Gambling With Souls (1936)

However, even before youth was aflame, youth was gambling with souls.

3) The Strip-Tease Murder Case (1950)

This trailer has to be included for the title alone.

4) Dark Star (1974)

This was the feature film debut of director John Carpenter.

5) Tentacles (1977)

Nature goes wild!

6) Escape From New York (1981)

Finally, I had to feature this trailer at least once. You’re welcome, Arleigh.

What do you think, Trailer Kitty?

6 Trailers for A Week in February

Posted on February 19, 2014 by Lisa Marie Bowman

It’s time for another edition of Lisa Marie’s Favorite Grindhouse and Exploitation Film Trailers!

1) All The Colors of the Dark (1972)

2) Evils of the Night (1985)

3) Frankenstein’s Bloody Terror (1973)

4) Invasion of the Blood Farmers (1972)

5) Trapped (1982)

6) The Bullet Machine (1969)

What do you think, Trailer Kitty?

6 Trailers For Valentine’s Day

Posted on February 12, 2014 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Happy Early Valentine’s Day! For this week’s edition of Lisa Marie’s Grindhouse and Exploitation Film Trailers, I sent the trailer kitties out with specific orders to find six trailers about love, sex, and romance!

Let’s see if they succeeded.

1) In Love (1983)

2) Maid In Sweden (1971)

3) The Fountain of Love (1966)

4) The Teacher (1974)

5) The Erotic Adventures of Pinocchio (1971)

6) Teenage Mother (1967)

What do you think, Trailer Kitties?

Awwwwwwwwww!

Here Are The WGA Winners!

Posted on February 1, 2014 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Hey, Oscar watchers! The WGA Awards were handed out earlier tonight and the Oscar race has gotten even murkier! The fact that Her won for best original screenplay isn’t all the unexpected, though a lot of observers had predicted American Hustle would win. However, the victory of Captain Phillips over The Wolf of Wall Street and Before Midnight was definitely an upset.

(Take note that the acclaimed and Oscar-nominated screenplay for 12 Years A Slave was not eligible for a WGA nomination.)

Below are the winners in the film category. If you want to see the TV winners, click here.

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

“American Hustle,” Eric Warren Singer and David O. Russell

“Blue Jasmine,” Woody Allen

“Dallas Buyers Club,” Craig Borten & Melisa Wallack

X – “Her,” Spike Jonze

“Nebraska,” Bob Nelson

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

“August: Osage County,” screenplay by Tracy Letts based on his play
“Before Midnight,” by Richard Linklater & Julie Delpy & Ethan Hawke; based on characters created by Richard Linklater & Kim Krizan
X – “Captain Phillips,” by Billy Ray; based on the book “A Captain’s Duty” by Richard Phillips with Stephan Talty
“Lone Survivor,” by Peter Berg; based on the book by Marcus Luttrell with Patrick Robinson
“The Wolf of Wall Street,” by Terence Winter; based on the book by Jordan Belfort

DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY

“Dirty Wars,” Jeremy Scahill & David Riker
“Herblock – The Black & The White,” Sara Lukinson & Michael Stevens
“No Place on Earth,” Janet Tobias & Paul Laikin
X – “Stories We Tell,” Sarah Polley
“We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks,” Alex Gibney

Lisa Marie Reviews The Oscar Nominees: Battleground (dir by William Wellman)

Posted on February 1, 2014 by Lisa Marie Bowman

I love February.

Why? Well, first off, we all know that February is the most romantic month of the year. February is Valentine’s Day, romantic movies, flowers, lingerie, and chocolate. February is also the month when, in a lead up to the Oscars, TCM devotes a good deal of its programming to showing Oscar nominees of the past.

As I’ve mentioned in the past, one of my dreams is to watch and review every single film that has ever been nominated for best picture. Now, realistically, I’ll never be able to accomplish this goal because the 1929 Best Picture nominee The Patriot is currently a lost film. But, even if it does mean that I’ll only be able to see 510 out of the 511 nominated films, it’s still a dream that I’m pursuing and, with the help of TCM and the month of February, it’s a dream that’ll come true.

Take, for instance, Battleground. This 1949 Best Picture nominee (it lost All The King’s Men) recently aired on TCM. I’m not exactly a fan of war films but, since it was a best picture nominee, I still made sure to DVR and watch it.

Set during the final days of World War II, Battleground follows one platoon of soldiers as they fight and attempt to survive the Battle of the Bulge. The platoon is made up of the type of characters that we usually expect to find in a WWII film but, fortunately, they’re played by an ensemble of likable actors who all bring their familiar characters to life. There’s Jim Layton (Marshall Thompson), the newest member of the platoon who nobody wants to run the risk of getting close to. There’s Holley (Van Johnson), the cheerful soldier who is unexpectedly thrust into a position of leadership that he might not be right for. Roderiques (Ricardo Montalban) is from Los Angeles and is amazed by the sight of snow. “Pops” Stazak (George Murphy) is the type of older soldier who you would totally expect to be nicknamed “Pops.” Bettis (Richard Jaeckel) is scared of combat. Kippton (Douglas Fowley) spends nearly the entire film looking for his lost teeth. And finally, of course, there’s the hard-boiled but warm-hearted Sgt. Kinnie (James Whitmore).

In some ways, Battleground is a very conventional film and it’s easy to wonder how it ended up getting nominated for best film of the year. (Among the eligible films that were not nominated: The Bicycle Thief, Champion, The Fountainhead, On The Town, Sands of Iwo Jima, She Wore A Yellow Ribbon, They Live By Night, and White Heat.) However, the film’s nomination makes a bit more sense when you consider that it was released just four years after the end of World War II. It was a film that appealed both to the veterans who were able to relate to the film’s story and to the patriotic spirit of a country that had just defeated the greatest evil of the 20th Century.

Battleground did not exactly make me a fan of war movies but it’s still a well-made and effective film. As opposed to a lot of other war films, Battleground never makes war look like fun. For the most part, the emphasis is less on strategy and combat and more on the soldiers who are simply trying to survive from day-to-day. The end result is a film that serves as a moving tribute to the soldiers who fought in World War II.