The Los Angeles Film Critics Association Embrace Tom Hardy and Boyhood!

Posted on December 7, 2014 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Los Angeles Film Critics Association also announced their picks for the best of 2014 earlier today and, as typically seems to happen with the LAFCA, it’s an interesting list. (Let’s not forget that last year, the LAFCA shocked everyone by naming both Her and Gravity as being the best film of 2013, along with giving James Franco a much-deserved award for Best Supporting Actor.)

This year, the LAFCA named Boyhood best picture, which wasn’t much of a shock. Far more surprising was their pick for best actor (Tom Hardy for Locke, which I am now kicking myself for not seeing when I had the chance) and best actress (Patricia Arquette for Boyhood, a role that many of us believe will get Arquette a nomination for supporting actress as opposed to lead actress).

Here are the LAFCA winners!

(h/t to awardswatch)

Best Film
Winner: Boyhood
Runner-up: The Grand Budapest Hotel

Best Director
Winner: Richard Linklater, BOYHOOD
Runner-up: Wes Anderson, THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL

Best Actor
Winner: Tom Hardy, LOCKE
Runner-up: Michael Keaton, BIRDMAN

Best Actress
Winner: Patricia Arquette, BOYHOOD
Runner-up: Julianne Moore, STILL ALICE

Best Supporting Actor
Winner: J.K. Simmons, WHIPLASH
Runner-up: Edward Norton, BIRDMAN

Best Supporting Actress
Winner: Agata Kulesza, IDA
Runner-up: Rene Russo, NIGHTCRAWLER

Best Screenplay
Winner: Wes Anderson, THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL
Runner-up: BIRDMAN

Best Cinematography
Winner: Emmanuel Lubezki, BIRDMAN
Runner-up: Dick Pope, MR. TURNER

Best Production Design
Winner: Adam Stockhausen, THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL
Runner-up: Ondrej Nekvasil, SNOWPIERCER

Best Editing
Winner: Sandra Adair, BOYHOOD
Runner-up: Barney Pilling, THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL

Best Music Score
Winner: Jonny Greenwood, INHERENT VICE and Mica Levi, UNDER THE SKIN (tie)

Best Foreign-Language Film
Winner: IDA
Runner-up: WINTER SLEEP

Best Documentary/Non-Fiction Film
Winner: CITIZENFOUR
Runner-up: LIFE ITSELF

Best Animation
Winner: THE TALE OF PRINCESS KAGUYA
Runner-up: THE LEGO MOVIE

A Most Violent Year Is A Most Unexpected National Board Of Review Winner!

Posted on December 2, 2014 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The National Board of Review has spoken! They named their picks for the best of 2014 earlier today and — to the shock of many (especially me) — they picked JC Chandor’s crime drama A Most Violent Year as the best film of the year!

I love surprises!

Now, a lot of us were expecting A Most Violent Year to be an Oscar contender, with practically everyone expecting Jessica Chastain to either be nominated for best actress or supporting actress. (The NBR named her best supporting actress.) But I think a lot of us were expecting to see the NBR select Boyhood, Birdman, or maybe Selma.

Also of note is that Clint Eastwood won best director for American Sniper, which appears to be coming on strong as a potential Oscar nominee as well.

(Also of note: Foxcatcher was totally ignored by the NBR.)

Here are the NBR winners!

BEST PICTURE
“A Most Violent Year”

BEST DIRECTOR
Clint Eastwood, “American Sniper”

BEST ACTOR (TIE)
Oscar Isaac, “A Most Violent Year”
Michael Keaton, “Birdman”

BEST ACTRESS
Julianne Moore, “Still Alice”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Edward Norton, “Birdman”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Jessica Chastain, “A Most Violent Year”

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, “The Lego Movie”

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Paul Thomas Anderson, “Inherent Vice”

BEST ENSEMBLE
“Fury”

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
“How to Train Your Dragon 2”

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
“Wild Tales”

BEST DOCUMENTARY
“Life Itself”

SPOTLIGHT AWARD
Chris Rock for writing, directing, and starring in “Top Five”

BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCES
Jack O’Connell, “Starred Up” and “Unbroken”

DEBUT DIRECTOR
Gillian Robespierre, “Obvious Child”

WILLIAM K. EVERSON FILM HISTORY AWARD
Scott Eyman

FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
“Rosewater”
“Selma”

BEST PICTURE NOMINEES (alphabetical)
“American Sniper”
“Birdman”
“Boyhood”
“Fury”
“Gone Girl”
“The Imitation Game”
“Inherent Vice”
“The Lego Movie”
“Nightcrawler”
“Unbroken”

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE NOMINEES (alphabetical)
“Force Majeure”
“Gett: The Trial of Vivian Amsalem”
“Leviathan”
“Two Days One Night”
“We Are the Best!”

BEST DOCUMENTARY NOMINEES (alphabetical)
“Art and Craft”
“Jodorowsky’s Dune”
“Keep On Keepin’ On”
“The Kill Team”
“Last Days in Vietnam”

BEST INDEPENDENT FILMS (alphabetical)
“Blue Ruin”
“Locke”
“A Most Wanted Man”
“Mr. Turner”
“Obvious Child”
“The Skeleton Twins”,
“Snowpiercer”,
“Stand Clear of the Closing Doors”
“Starred Up”
“Still Alice”

Arleigh’s Top 9 Films of 2014 (Front End)

Posted on July 7, 2014 by Arleigh

We’re now past the halfway point for the film season of 2014. The year has seen it’s share of hits, bombs and surprises. Many look at the box-office numbers some that these films generate as a sign of their success. Others look at how the critics-at-large have graded these films as a way to determine whether they’ve been successful.

I know some people would list nothing but independent arthouse films as their best. They look at genre and big-budget films as not being worthy of being the best of the year, so far. It’s that sort of thinking that limits one’s appreciation of film, in general.

Does having a 150 million dollar budget mean that a film cannot be one of the best of the year. Past history will suggest that’s not the case. Yet, there are cinephiles out there who will dismiss such films because they consider it as being too Hollywood. The same goes for people who look down upon genre films like horror, scifi, westerns and many others that do not fit their slice-of-life drama study. They’re not existential enough for some.

I’ve come to look at all the films I’ve been fortunate enough to see through the first six months of 2014 and picked 9 of the best (I picked a random odd number since Lisa Marie already does the even numbers thing) no matter their genre, type of film and budget. I’ve picked a couple of scifi films, a documentary, an action-packed blockbuster sequel, a wonderfully made 3-D animated film (itself a sequel), a neo-noir Western, a brutal crime-thriller, an indie horror-thriller and one of the best comedies of the last couple years.

In no special order….

Noah (dir. by Darren Aronofsky)

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (dir. by Anthony and Joe Russo)

Cold in July (dir. by Jim Mickle)

How To Train Your Dragon 2 (dir. by Dean DuBois)

Jodorowsky’s Dune (dir. by Frank Pavich)

The Raid 2: Berandal (dir. by Gareth Evans)

Snowpiercer (dir. by Bong Joon-ho)

Grand Piano (dir. by Eugenio Mira)

22 Jump Street (dir. Phil Lord and Christopher Miller)

My honorable mentions: All Cheerleaders Die, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Joe, Edge of Tomorrow, Lego: The Movie, Blue Ruin, Locke, Under the Skin, Only Lovers Left Alive, The Sacrament