Tag Archives: Oscars

Here Are The 2013 SAG Nominations!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

This morning the SAG Award nominees were announced and, perhaps not surprisingly, the story is less who was nominated and more who was snubbed.  For instance, Oscar front-runner Robert Redford’s performance in All Is Lost was ignored while Forest Whitaker’s rather one-note turn in The Butler was nominated.  Tom Hanks was not nominated for Saving Mr. Banks but the late and missed James Gandolfini picked up a nomination for Enough Said. Myself, I’m more surprised that Octavia Spenser was not nominated for her performance in Fruitvale Station.

As has been pointed out over at Goldderby, the SAG Awards are no longer the fool-proof Oscar prediction tool that they used to be.  Getting a SAG nomination no longer guarantees you an Oscar nomination and, by that same standard, getting snubbed is no longer an automatic cause for concern.

That said, the SAG winners do typically end up receiving an Oscar nomination in January.

The film nominees can be found below:

BEST FILM ENSEMBLE
“12 Years a Slave”
“American Hustle”
“August: Osage County”
“The Butler”
“Dallas Buyers Club”

BEST FILM ACTOR
Bruce Dern, “Nebraska”
Chiwetel Ejiofor, “12 Years a Slave”
Tom Hanks, “Captain Phillips”
Matthew McConaughey, “Dallas Buyers Club”
Forest Whitaker, “The Butler”

BEST FILM ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett, “Blue Jasmine”
Sandra Bullock, “Gravity”
Judi Dench, “Philomena”
Meryl Streep, “August: Osage County”
Emma Thompson, “Saving Mr. Banks”

BEST FILM SUPPORTING ACTOR
Barkhad Abdi, “Captain Phillips”
Daniel Bruhl, “Rush”
Michael Fassbender, “12 Years a Slave”
James Gandolfini, “Enough Said”
Jared Leto, “Dallas Buyers Club”

BEST FILM SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Jennifer Lawrence, “American Hustle”
Lupita Nyong’o, “12 Years a Slave”
Julia Roberts, “August: Osage County”
June Squibb, “Nebraska”
Oprah Winfrey, “The Butler”

BEST FILM STUNT ENSEMBLE*
“All is Lost”
“Fast & Furious 6”
“Lone Survivor”
“Rush”
“The Wolverine”

The full list of nominees can be found here.

—-

* Isn’t it about time that stunt performers get an Oscar category all their own?

The D.C. Critics Embrace 12 Years A Slave

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Oscar season continues!

A lot of observers (like me) were a bit surprised to see neither Los Angeles, New York, nor the National Board of Review name 12 Years A Slave best picture of 2013.

However, 12 Years A Slave has been doing well with the smaller critics groups.  Earlier today, it was named best picture by the Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association.

Here’s the full list of winners from D.C.:

Best Picture: “12 Years a Slave”

Best Director: Alfonso Cuaron, “Gravity”

Best Actor: Chiwetel Ejiofor, “12 Years a Slave”

Best Actress: Cate Blanchett, “Blue Jasmine”

Best Supporting Actor: Jared Leto, “Dallas Buyers Club”

Best Supporting Actress: Lupita Nyongo, “12 Years a Slave”

Best Adapted Screenplay: John Ridley, “12 Years a Slave”

Best Original Screenplay: Spike Jonze, “Her”

Best Art Direction: Catherine Martin, “The Great Gatsby”

Best Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki, “Gravity”

Best Editing: Alfonso Cuarón and Mark Sanger, “Gravity”

Best Score: Hans Zimmer, “12 Years a Slave”

Best Foreign Language Film: “The Broken Circle Breakdown”

Best Animated Feature: “Frozen”

Best Documentary: “Blackfish”

Best Acting Ensemble: “12 Years a Slave”

Best Youth Performance: Tye Sheridan, “Mud”

The New York Film Critics Online Honor 12 Years A Slave

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

12 Years A Slave didn’t just win Boston today.  It was also named best picture of the year by the New York Film Critics Online.

Personally, I’m hoping that next year, sites like AwardsDaily, AwardsWatch, Goldderby, and others will join together to form the Online Oscar Precursors Watchers Association and they’ll give out awards to the various critical groups.  For example, they could hand out awards for the Best Jump On The Bandwagon, Best Out-Of-Nowhere winner, or the Honorary Award For The Award That Was Most Obviously Determined By A Desire To Tick People Off.

But, until that happens, here’s are the New York Film Critics Online’s pick for the best of 2013:

BEST PICTURE
“12 Years a Slave”

BEST DIRECTOR
Alfonso Cuaron (“Gravity”)

BEST ACTOR
Chiwetel Ejiofor (“12 Years a Slave”)

BEST ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett (“Blue Jasmine”)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Jared Leto (“Dallas Buyers Club”)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Lupita Nyong’o (“12 Years A Slave”)

BEST SCREENPLAY
Spike Jonze (“Her”)

BEST BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE
Adele Exarchopoulos (“Blue Is the Warmest Color”)

BEST MUSIC
“Inside Llewyn Davis”

BEST DEBUT DIRECTOR
Ryan Coogler (“Fruitvale Station”)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Emmanuel Lubezki (“Gravity”)

BEST DOCUMENTARY
“The Act of Killing”

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
“Blue Is the Warmest Color”

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
“The Wind Rises”

BEST ENSEMBLE
“American Hustle”

12 Years A Slave Wins In Boston

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Boston Society Of Film Critics voted earlier today and 12 Years A Slave — which, so far, has been underperforming with the critics’ groups — swept the awards.  The Wolf of Wall Street came in second for most of the major awards.

BEST PICTURE
“12 Years a Slave”
Runner-up: “The Wolf of Wall Street”

BEST DIRECTOR
Steve McQueen (“12 Years a Slave”)
Runner-up: Martin Scorsese (“The Wolf of Wall Street”)

BEST ACTOR
Chiwetel Ejiofor (“12 Years a Slave”)
Runner-up: Leonardo DiCaprio (“The Wolf of Wall Street”)

BEST ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett (“Blue Jasmine”)
Runner-up: Judi Dench (“Philomena”)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
James Gandolfini (“Enough Said”)
Runner-ups:
Barkhad Abdi (“Capt. Phillips”) and Jared Leto (“Dallas Buyers Club”) tie for second.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
June Squibb (“Nebraska”)
Runner-up:
Lupita Nyong’o (“12 Years a Slave”)

BEST SCREENPLAY
Nicole Holofcener (“Enough Said”)
Runner-up:
“The Wolf of Wall Street”

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
“Wadjda”
Runner-up: “Blue Is the Warmest Color”

BEST DOCUMENTARY
“The Act of Killing,” Josh Oppenheimer
Runner-ups:
“Blackfish,” “Leviathan,” “At Berkeley,” “Crash Reel,” “20 Feet from Stardom ”

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
“The Wind Rises,” Hayao Miyazaki
Runner-up:
“Frozen”

BEST NEW FILMMAKER
Ryan Coogler (“Fruitvale Station”)
Runner-up: Josh Oppenheimer (“Act of Killing”)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Emmanuel Lubezki (“Gravity”)
Runner-up:
Phillippe Le Sourd (“The Grandmaster”)

BEST EDITING
Daniel P. Hanley, Mike Hill (“Rush”)
Runner-up: Thelma Schoonmaker (“The Wolf of Wall Street”)

BEST USE OF MUSIC IN A FILM
“Inside Llewyn Davis”
Runner-up: “Nebraska”

The Los Angeles Film Critics Honor James Franco!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Earlier today, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association announced the picks for the best of 2013.  There are a few things worth noting:

1) Her is coming on surprisingly strong.

2) James Franco won best supporting actor for Spring Breakers!  Well, technically, Franco tied with Jared Leto for Dallas Buyers Club.  But still, it’s good to see Franco’s audacious performance getting some recognition.

3) My favorite film of 2013 — Shane Carruth’s Upstream Color — came in second for best editing.

Here are the winners:

BEST PICTURE (tie)
“Gravity,” “Her”

BEST DIRECTOR
Alfonso Cuaron, “Gravity”
Runner-up: Spike Jonze, “Her”

BEST ACTOR
Bruce Dern, “Nebraska”
Runner-up: Chiwetel Ejiofor, “12 Years a Slave”

BEST ACTRESS (tie)
Cate Blanchett (“Blue Jasmine”); Adele Exarchopoulos (“Blue is the Warmest Color”)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR (tie)
James Franco, “Spring Breakers”; Jared Leto, “Dallas Buyers Club”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Lupita Nyongo, “12 Years a Slave”
Runner-up: June Squibb, “Nebraska”

BEST SCREENPLAY
“Before Midnight,” Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke & Richard Linklater
Runner-up: “Her,” Spike Jonze

BEST EDITING
“Gravity,” Alfonso Cuaron & Mark Sanger
Runner-up: “Upstream Color,” Shane Carruth & David Lowery

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
“Gravity,” Emmanuel Lubezki
Runner-up: “Inside Llewyn Davis,” Bruno Delbonnel

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
“Her,” K.K. Barrett
Runner-up: “Inside Llewyn Davis,” Jess Gonchor

BEST MUSIC/SCORE
“Inside Llewyn Davis,” T Bone Burnett
Runner-up: “Her,” Arcade Fire & Owen Pallett

BEST FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM
“Blue is the Warmest Color”
Runner-up: “The Great Beauty”

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
“Ernest and Celestine”
Runner-up: “The Wind Rises”

BEST DOCUMENTARY/NONFICTION FILM
“Stories We Tell”
Runner-up: “The Act of Killing”

Here Are The Ten Semi-Finalists For The Best Visual Effects Oscar

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Yesterday, the Academy’s Visual Effects Branch Executive Committee  announced the ten semi-finalists for the Best Visual Effects Oscar.

And here they are:

Elysium

Gravity

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Iron Man 3

The Lone Ranger

Oblivion

Pacific Rim

Star Trek: Into Darkness

Thor: The Dark World

World War Z

Five of the films listed above will receive actual Oscar nominations and then one will win the Oscar.  And that one will probably be Gravity.

It’s interesting to note that Man Of Steel, a film that basically was just 143 minutes of visual effects, failed to make the cut.

The National Board of Review Falls For Her

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The National Board of Review announced their picks for the best films and performance of 2013 earlier today and the results are a bit … unexpected.

For best picture, they picked Spike Jonze’s Her, a film that has not exactly been seen as being an Oscar front-runner.  Meanwhile, the two presumptive frontrunners — 12 Years A Slave and Gravity — had to make due with just being mentioned in the NBR’s Top Ten list.  Also, it’s interesting to note that the NBR totally snubbed American Hustle which, just yesterday, was named best film of the year by the NYCC.

Despite the impression that one might get from a lot of breathless film bloggers (like me, to cite just one example), winning a critic’s prize does not automatically translate into Academy recognition.  It’ll be interesting to see if the acclaimed but reportedly offbeat Her manages to turn the NBR prize into Oscar momentum.

BEST PICTURE
“Her”

BEST DIRECTOR
Spike Jonze, “Her”

BEST ACTOR
Bruce Dern, “Nebraska”

BEST ACTRESS
Emma Thompson, “Saving Mr. Banks”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Will Forte, “Nebraska”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Octavia Spencer, “Fruitvale Station”

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Joel and Ethan Coen, “Inside Llewyn Davis”

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Terence Winter, “The Wolf of Wall Street”

BEST ENSEMBLE
“Prisoners”

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
“The Wind Rises”

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM 
“The Past”

BEST DOCUMENTARY
“Stories We Tell”

SPOTLIGHT AWARD
Career collaboration of Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio

BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCES
Adele Exarchopoulos, “#Blue is the Warmest Colo#r”
Michael B. Jordan, “Fruitvale Station”

DEBUT DIRECTOR
Ryan Coogler, “Fruitvale Station”

CREATIVE INNOVATION IN FILMMAKING 
“Gravity”

FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
“Wadjda”

BEST PICTURE NOMINEES (alphabetical)
“12 Years a Slave”
“Fruitvale Station”
“Gravity”
“Inside Llewyn Davis”
“Lone Survivor”
“Nebraska”
“Prisoners”
“Saving Mr. Banks”
“The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”
“The Wolf of Wall Street”

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE NOMINEES (alphabetical)
“Beyond the Hills”
“Gloria”
“The Grandmaster”
“A Hijacking”
“The Hunt”

BEST DOCUMENTARY NOMINEES (alphabetical)
“20 Feet from Stardom”
“The Act of Killing”
“After Tiller”
“Casting By”
“The Square”

BEST INDEPENDENT FILMS (alphabetical)
“Ain’t Them Bodies Saints”
“Dallas Buyers Club”
“In a World…”
“Mother of George”
“Much Ado About Nothing”
“Mud”
“The Place Beyond the Pines”
“Short Term 12”
“Sightseers”
“The Spectacular Now”

The 15 Semi-Finalists For Best Documentary Feature

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Academy has announced the 15 semi-finalists for the Best Documentary Feature Oscar.  5 nominees will be picked from this list and then the winner will be announced on March 2nd.

I’m rooting for Stories We Tell.  I’m also hoping that Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer will, at the very least, get a nomination.

“The Act of Killing,” Final Cut for Real
“The Armstrong Lie,” The Kennedy/Marshall Company
“Blackfish,” Our Turn Productions
“The Crash Reel,” KP Rides Again
“Cutie and the Boxer,” Ex Lion Tamer and Cine Mosaic
“Dirty Wars,” Civic Bakery
“First Cousin Once Removed,” Experiments in Time, Light & Motion
“God Loves Uganda,” Full Credit Productions
“Life According to Sam,” Fine Films
“Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer,” Roast Beef Productions
“The Square,” Noujaim Films and Maktube Productions
“Stories We Tell,” National Film Board of Canada
“Tim’s Vermeer,” High Delft Pictures
“20 Feet from Stardom,” Gil Friesen Productions and Tremolo Productions
“Which Way Is the Front Line from Here? The Life and Time of Tim Hetherington,” Tripoli Street

The NYFCC Honors American Hustle

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Oscar season has begun!  This afternoon, The New York Films Critics Circle announced their picks for the best of 2013.  Fortunately, I had the office to myself so I was able to follow along online.  Here are the winners and a few random thoughts:

BEST PICTURE
“American Hustle”

(This is something of a surprise, no?  Most award watchers were expecting 12 Years a Slave to pretty much sweep all of the critics’ awards.  It will be interesting to see if American Hustle does with the other critic groups but, for now, it seems like American Hustle has taken a major step forward to scoring a best picture nomination.)

BEST DIRECTOR
Steve McQueen, “12 Years a Slave”

(This was much more expected.)

BEST ACTOR
Robert Redford, “All Is Lost”

(Ditto.  I recently saw All Is Lost.  It’s interesting to note that Redford has only a few more lines than Jean Dujardin in The Artist.)

BEST ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett, “Blue Jasmine”

(Deserved and expected.)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Jared Leto, “Dallas Buyers’ Club”

(I haven’t seen this one yet but I hope to soon.)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Jennifer Lawrence, “American Hustle”

(I was kind of surprised how angry some people on twitter got over Lawrence’s victory.  However, from my own personal experience, being intelligent, talented, and pretty really brings out the haters..)

BEST SCREENPLAY
“American Hustle”

(A lot of people on twitter were upset over this.  I haven’t seen American Hustle yet so I can’t judge.)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Bruno Delbonnel, “Inside Llewyn Davis”

(This was the award that managed to tick off thousands of Gravity fans.  Don’t get me wrong — I liked Gravity.  But some of the pro-Gravity people actually make the pro-Avatar people look calm and collected.)

BEST ANIMATED FILM
“The Wind Rises”

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
“Blue is the Warmest Color”

(I agree.)

BEST NON-FICTION FEATURE
“Stories We Tell”

(I agree.)

BEST FIRST FEATURE
“Fruitvale Station”

(And, for a third time, I agree.)

One final note — unlike the Academy, in which a simple majority determines the winner, the NYFCC awards were determined by consensus and, as a result, several of the categories apparently required multiple ballots before a winner was agreed upon.  As such, some of the winners listed above are definitely compromise picks.

Myself, I still have to see a lot of the potential Oscar nominees — including 12 Years A Slave, American Hustle, and Dallas Buyers Club.  However, for now, my favorite film of 2013 remains Upstream Color.

And finally — here are the Satellite Nominations

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

2goldensatellite

Along with the Annie Nominations and the Gotham Awards, the Satellite Nominations were announced earlier today.  What are the Satellites?  The Satellites are given out by the International Press Academy.  They apparently used to be a part of the Hollywood Foreign Press (i.e., the people who give out the Golden Globes) but then they broke off to form their own organization and give out their own awards.  The Satellites, themselves, are often viewed as being just as unsavory as the Golden Globes while also being far less influential when it comes to determining what films will end up Oscar-nominated and which films will be snubbed.

That said, I still like the Satellites, just because they nominate such a large number of nominees for each category and you know how I am about long lists.

Here are the major Satellite film nominations.  A full list of nominations (including television nominations) can be found here.

BEST PICTURE
“12 Years a Slave”(Fox Searchlight)
“All Is Lost” (Lionsgate/Roadside Attractions)
“American Hustle” (Sony)
“Blue Jasmine” (Sony Pictures Classics)
“Captain Phillips” (Sony)
“Gravity” (Warner Bros.)
“Inside Llewyn Davis” (CBS Films)
“Philomena” (The Weinstein Company)
“Saving Mr. Banks” (Disney)
“The Wolf of Wall Street” (Paramount)

BEST DIRECTOR
Woody Allen, “Blue Jasmine” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, “Inside Llewyn Davis” (CBS Films)
Alfonso Cuaron, “Gravity” (Warner Bros.)
Paul Greengrass, “Captain Phillips” (Sony)
Ron Howard, “Rush” (Universal)
Steve McQueen, “12 Years a Slave”(Fox Searchlight)
David O. Russell, “American Hustle” (Sony)
Martin Scorsese, “The Wolf of Wall Street” (Paramount)

BEST ACTRESS
Amy Adams, “American Hustle” (Sony)
Cate Blanchett, “Blue Jasmine” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Sandra Bullock, “Gravity” (Warner Bros.)
Judi Dench, “Philomena” (The Weinstein Company)
Adèle Exarchopoulos, Blue Is the Warmest Color (Sundance)
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, “Enough Said” (Fox Searchlight)
Meryl Streep, “August: Osage County” (The Weinstein Company)
Emma Thompson, “Saving Mr. Banks” (Disney)

BEAT ACTOR
Christian Bale, “American Hustle” (Sony)
Bruce Dern, “Nebraska” (Paramount)
Leonardo DiCaprio, “The Wolf of Wall Street” (Paramount)
Chiwetel Ejiofor, “12 Years a Slave”(Fox Searchlight)
Tom Hanks, “Captain Phillips” (Sony)
Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club (Focus Features)
Robert Redford, “All Is Lost” (Lionsgate/Roadside Attractions)
Forest Whitaker, “The Butler” (The Weinstein Company)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Sally Hawkins, “Blue Jasmine” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Jennifer Lawrence, “American Hustle” (Sony)
Lupita Nyong’o, “12 Years a Slave”(Fox Searchlight)
Julia Roberts, “August: Osage County” (The Weinstein Company)
Léa Seydoux, Blue Is the Warmest Color (Sundance)
June Squibb, “Nebraska” (Paramount)
Emily Watson, “The Book Thief” (20th Century Fox)
Oprah Winfrey, “The Butler” (The Weinstein Company)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Bradley Cooper, “American Hustle” (Sony)
Michael Fassbender, “12 Years a Slave”(Fox Searchlight)
Harrison Ford, “42” (Warner Bros.)
Ryan Gosling, “The Place Beyond the Pines” (Focus Features)
Jake Gyllenhaal, “Prisoners” (Warner Bros.)
Tom Hanks, “Saving Mr. Banks” (Disney)
Casey Affleck, “Out of the Furnace” (Relativity Media)
Jared Leto, “Dallas Buyers Club” (Focus Features)

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM
“Bethlehem,” Israel
“Blue Is the Warmest Color,” France
“The Broken Circle Breakdown,” Belgium
“Circles,” Serbia
“Four Corners,” South Africa
“The Great Beauty,” Italy
“The Hunt,” Denmark
“Metro Manila,” United Kingdom
“The Past,” Iran
“Wadjda,” Saudia Arabia

BEST ANIMATED PICTURE
“Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2” (Sony)
“The Croods” (DreamWorks)
“Epic” (20th Century Fox)
“Ernest & Celestine” (GKIDS)
“Frozen” (Disney)
“Monsters University” (Disney-Pixar)
“Turbo” (DreamWorks)
“The Wind Rises” (Studio Ghibli)

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
“20 Feet from Stardom” (Radius-TWC)
“The Act of Killing” (Drafthouse Films)
“After Tiller (Oscilloscope)
“American Promise (Rada Film Group)
“Blackfish (Magnolia Pictures)
“Evocateur: The Morton Downey Jr. Movie (Ironbound Films)
“Sound City (Roswell Films)
“The Square (City Drive Entertainment Group)
“Stories We Tell (Roadside Attractions)
“Tim’s Vermeer (Sony Pictures Classics)