The Washington Area Film Critics Honor Spotlight!

Posted on December 7, 2015 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Washington D.C. Area Film Critics announced their picks for the best of 2015 today. In a move that many are predicting may be imitated by the Academy, they named Spotlight best film while giving director to Mad Max Fury Road‘s George Miller.

Best Film:
Spotlight

Best Director:
George Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Best Actor:
Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant)

Best Actress:
Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn)

Best Supporting Actor:
Idris Elba (Beasts of No Nation)

Best Supporting Actress:
Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina)

Best Acting Ensemble:
Spotlight

Best Youth Performance:
Jacob Tremblay (Room)

Best Adapted Screenplay:
Emma Donoghue (Room)

Best Original Screenplay:
Pete Docter, Meg LeFauve and Josh Cooley (Original Story by Pete Docter and Ronnie Del Carmen) (Inside Out)

Best Animated Feature:
Inside Out

Best Documentary:
Amy

Best Foreign Language Film:
Son of Saul

Best Production Design:
Production Designer: Colin Gibson, Set Decorator: Lisa Thompson (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Best Cinematography:
Emmanuel Lubezki, ASC, AMC (The Revenant)

Best Editing:
Margaret Sixel (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Best Original Score:
Jóhann Jóhannsson (Sicario)

Here Are The Online Film Critics Society Nominations and They’re Great!

Posted on December 7, 2015 by Lisa Marie Bowman

I love the Online Film Critics Society, I really do. Every year, when they announce the nominees for their end-of-the-year awards, they always seem to honor the films that truly deserve to be honored. For instance, this year, they found room to not only nominate the Academy front runners — like Spotlight, The Martian, Carol, Brooklyn, and Mad Max — but they also gave nominations to Ex Machina, Sicario, and Inside Out. Ex Machina, Sicario, and Inside Out all deserve to be in the Oscar conversation and hopefully, these nominations will help them stay there.

Here are the nominations from the Online Film Critics Society!

Best Picture:
Brooklyn
Carol
Ex Machina
Inside Out
Mad Max: Fury Road
The Martian
The Revenant

Room
Sicario
Spotlight

Best Animated Feature:
Anomalisa
The Good Dinosaur
Inside Out
The Peanuts Movie
Shaun the Sheep Movie

Best Film Not in the English Language:
The Assassin (Taiwan)
Goodnight Mommy (Austria)
Mustang (France)
Phoenix (Germany)
Son of Saul (Hungary)

Best Documentary:
Amy
Best of Enemies
Cartel Land
Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief
The Look of Silence

Best Director:
Todd Haynes (Carol)
Tom McCarthy (Spotlight)
George Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road)
Ridley Scott (The Martian)
Denis Villeneuve (Sicario)

Best Actor:
Matt Damon (The Martian)
Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant)
Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs)
Michael B. Jordan (Creed)
Ian McKellen (Mr. Holmes)

Best Actress:
Cate Blanchett (Carol)
Brie Larson (Room)
Charlotte Rampling (45 Years)
Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn)
Charlize Theron (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Best Supporting Actor:
Benicio Del Toro (Sicario)
Oscar Isaac (Ex Machina)
Mark Ruffalo (Spotlight)
Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies)
Sylvester Stallone (Creed)

Best Supporting Actress:
Rooney Mara (Carol)
Cynthia Nixon (James White)
Kristen Stewart (Clouds of Sils Maria)
Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl)
Kate Winslet (Steve Jobs)

Best Original Screenplay:
Ex Machina (Alex Garland)
Inside Out (Pete Docter, Ronnie Del Carmen, Meg LeFauve, Josh Cooley)
Mistress America (Greta Gerwig, Noah Baumbach)
Sicario (Taylor Sheridan)
Spotlight (Josh Singer, Tom McCarthy)

Best Adapted Screenplay:
Brooklyn (Nick Hornby)
Carol (Phyllis Nagy)
The Martian (Drew Goddard)
Room (Emma Donoghue)
Steve Jobs (Aaron Sorkin)

Best Editing:
Mad Max: Fury Road (Margaret Sixel)
The Martian (Pietro Scalia)
The Revenant (Stephen Mirrione)
Sicario (Joe Walker)
Steve Jobs (Elliot Graham)

Best Cinematography:
The Assassin (Ping Bin Lee)
Carol (Edward Lachman)
Mad Max: Fury Road (John Seale)
The Revenant (Emmanuel Lubezki)
Sicario (Roger Deakins)

The Los Angeles Film Critics Association Goes Mad For Max But Even Madder For Spotlight!

Posted on December 6, 2015 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Boston and New York were not the only critics to vote today! The Los Angeles Film Critics Association announced their picks for the best of 2015 as well! Mad Max: Fury Road won best director but Spotlight won best picture with Fury Road as the runner-up. In other words, the LAFCA liked Fury Road but decided to play it safe. Let’s not forget that this is the same group of people who once named The Descendants best picture with The Tree of Life as the runner-up.

(Dear award-giving groups: Just so you know, playing it safe is really freaking boring.)

Here’s all that what won:

Best Picture
Winner: Spotlight
Runner-up: Mad Max: Fury Road

Best Director
Winner: George Miller, Mad Max: Fury Roard
Runner-up: Todd Haynes, Carol

Best Actor
Winner: Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs
Runner-up: Geza Rohrig, Son of Saul

Best Actress
Winner: Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years
Runner-up: Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn

Best Supporting Actor
Winner: Michael Shannon, 99 Homes
Runner-up: Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies

Best Supporting Actress
Winner: Alicia Vikander, Ex Machina
Runner-up: Kristen Stewart, Clouds of Sils Maria

Best Screenplay
Winner: Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer, Spotlight
Runner-up: Charlie Kaufman, Anomalisa

Best Cinematography
Winner: John Seale, Mad Max: Fury Road
Runner-up: Ed Lachmann, Carol

Best Production Design
Winner: Colin Gibson, Mad Max: Fury Road
Runner-up: Judy Becker, Carol

Best Editing
Winner: Hank Corwin, The Big Short
Runner-up: Margaret Sixel, Mad Max: Fury Road

Best Music Score
Winner: Carter Burwell, Anomalisa and Carol
Runner-up: Ennio Morricone, The Hateful Eight

Best Foreign-Language Film
Winner: Son of Saul
Runner-up: The Tribe

Best Documentary/Non-Fiction Film
Winner: Amy
Runner-up: The Look of Silence

Best Animation
Winner: Anomalisa
Runner-up: Inside Out

New Generation Award: Ryan Coogler for Creed

The New York Film Critics Online Grab The Spotlight

Posted on December 6, 2015 by Lisa Marie Bowman

I really don’t know much about the New York Film Critics Online but, for whatever reason, the people at Awards Daily seem to hate them. And that’s more than enough reason for me to like them! Anyway, the NYFCO met today and announced their picks for the best of 2015.

And the big winner was Mad Ma…oh wait. No, sorry. The big winner was Spotlight. Check out the rest of the winners below:

Best Picture: Spotlight
Best Director: Tom McCarthy – Spotlight
Best Actress: Brie Larson – Room
Best Actor: Paul Dano – Love & Mercy
Best Supporting Actress: Rooney Mara – Carol
Best Supporting Actor: Mark Rylance – Bridge of Spies
Breakthrough Performance: Alicia Vikander – The Danish Girl

Best Screenplay: Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer – Spotlight
Best Use of Music: Love & Mercy
Best Debut Director: Alex Garland – Ex Machina
Best Ensemble Cast: Spotlight
Best Foreign Language Film: Son of Saul
Best Documentary Feature: Amy
Best Animated Feature: Inside Out

Top 10 Films (in alphabetical order):

45 Years
The Big Short
Bridge of Spies
Brooklyn
Carol
Mad Max: Fury Road
Sicario

Spotlight
Steve Jobs
Trumbo

The Boston Online Film Critics Are Mad for Max!!!!

Posted on December 5, 2015 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Boston Online Film Critics announced their picks for the best of 2015 earlier today and once again, my expectations have been defied! I figured that since Spotlight is a Boston-story, it would be an easy pick for the Boston critics.

But no! The Boston Online Critics went for … MAD MAX: FURY ROAD! According to Awards Circuit, Creed was the runner-up. (Though, to be clear, the Boston Online Critics definitely did like Spotlight, naming it the 5th best film of 2015 and giving it awards for screenplay and ensemble.) Now again, that doesn’t mean that either Fury Road or Creed is going to be Oscar-nominated. But, every bit helps. With each victory, the idea of a Fury Road best picture nomination becomes just a little more plausible.

Here’s my question — one month ago, would you have believed that the early critics awards would be dominated by Mad Max, Sylvester Stallone, and Kristen Stewart?

Here are the winners!

BEST PICTURE:
MAD MAX: FURY ROAD

BEST DIRECTOR:
George Miller, MAD MAX: FURY ROAD

BEST ACTOR:
Michael B. Jordan, CREED

BEST ACTRESS:
Saoirse Ronan, BROOKLYN

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:
Sylvester Stallone, CREED

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
Kristen Stewart, CLOUDS OF SILS MARIA

BEST ENSEMBLE:
SPOTLIGHT

BEST SCREENPLAY:
Tom McCarthy & Josh Singer, SPOTLIGHT

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM:
SON OF SAUL

BEST DOCUMENTARY:
AMY

BEST ANIMATED FILM:

INSIDE OUT

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:
John Seale, MAD MAX: FURY ROAD

BEST EDITING:
Margaret Sixel, MAD MAX: FURY ROAD

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE:
Junkie XL, MAD MAX: FURY ROAD

THE TEN BEST FILMS OF THE YEAR:

Carol Wins In New York!

Posted on December 2, 2015 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Earlier today, the New York Film Critics Circle announced their picks for the best films and performer of the year! And the big winner was … Carol!

Best Picture
Carol

Best Director
Todd Haynes, Carol

Best Screenplay
Carol

Best Actor
Michael Keaton, Spotlight

Best Actress
Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn

Best Supporting Actor
Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies

Best Supporting Actress
Kristen Stewart, Clouds of Sils Maria

Best Animated Film
Inside Out

Best Foreign Film
Timbuktu

Best Non-Fiction Film
In Jackson Heights

Best Cinematographer
Ed Lachman, Carol

Best First Film
Son of Saul

SPECIAL AWARD #1: Posthumous Award honoring the legacy of William Becker and Janus Films

SPECIAL AWARD #2: Ennio Morricone, Composer

For Whatever They’re Worth, Here are The Satellite Awards Nominees!

Posted on December 2, 2015 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The International Press Academy has announced the nominees for the Satellite Awards! Who are the International Press Academy? They’re kind of like an even less credible version of the Golden Globes. They’re also the same people who, last year, nominated The Wolf of Wall Street for five awards, despite having not seen the film. I would suggest viewing these nominations more as a guide to conventional wisdom than anything else.

Motion Picture
Spotlight, Open Road
Sicario, Lionsgate
Room, A24
The Revenant, 20th Century Fox
The Martian, 20th Century Fox
Carol, The Weinstein Co.
Brooklyn, Fox Searchlight
Bridge of Spies, DreamWorks
Black Mass, Warner Bros.
The Big Short, Paramount

Director
Tom Hooper, The Danish Girl
Thomas McCarthy, Spotlight
Steven Spielberg, Bridge of Spies
Ridley Scott, The Martian
Lenny Abrahamson, Room
Alejandro González Iñárritu, The Revenant

Actress in a Motion Picture
Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn
Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years
Cate Blanchett, Carol
Carey Mulligan, Suffragette
Brie Larson, Room
Blythe Danner, I’ll See You in My Dreams

Actor in a Motion Picture
Will Smith, Concussion
Tom Hardy, Legend
Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs
Matt Damon, The Martian
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant
Johnny Depp, Black Mass
Eddie Redmayne, The Danish Girl

Actress in a Supporting Role
Rachel McAdams, Spotlight
Rooney Mara, Carol
Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs
Jane Fonda, Youth
Elizabeth Banks, Love & Mercy
Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl

Actor in a Supporting Role
Sylvester Stallone, Creed
Paul Dano, Love & Mercy
Michael Keaton, Spotlight
Mark Ruffalo, Spotlight
Christian Bale, The Big Short
Benicio Del Toro, Sicario

Motion Picture, International Film
South Korea, The Throne
Brazil, The Second Mother
Croatia, The High Sun
Belgium, The Brand New Testament
Taiwan, The Assassin
Hungary, Son of Saul
France, Mustang
Germany, Labyrinth of Lies
Austria, Goodnight Mommy
Sweden, A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence

Motion Picture, Animated or Mixed Media
The Prophet
The Peanuts Movie
The Good Dinosaur
Shaun The Sheep Movie
Inside Out
Anomalisa

Motion Picture, Documentary
Where to Invade Next
The Look of Silence
The Hunting Ground
He Named Me Malala
Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief
Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead:The Story of the National Lampoon
Cartel Land
Best of Enemies
Becoming Bulletproof
Amy

Screenplay, Original
Josh Singer, Thomas McCarthy, Spotlight
Michael A. Lerner, Oren Moverman, Love & Mercy
Josh Cooley, Meg LeFauve, Pete Docter, Inside Out
Andrea Berloff, Jonathan Herman, Straight Outta Compton
Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, Matt Charman, Bridge of Spies
Abi Morgan, Suffragette

Screenplay, Adapted
Jez Butterworth, Mark Mallouk, Black Mass
Lucinda Coxon, The Danish Girl
Emma Donoghue, Room
Drew Goddard, The Martian
Alejandro González Iñárritu, Mark L. Smith, The Revenant
Aaron Sorkin, Steve Jobs

Original Score
Thomas Newman, Spectre
Michael Giacchino, Inside Out
Howard Shore, Spotlight
Harry Gregson-Williams, The Martian
Carter Burwell, Carol
Alexander Desplat, The Danish Girl

Original Song
“Writing’s On The Wall”, Spectre
“Till It Happens To You”, The Hunting Ground
“See You Again”, Furious 7
“One Kind Of Love”, Love & Mercy
“Love Me Like You Do”, Fifty Shades of Grey
“Cold One”, Ricki and the Flash

Cinematography
Roger Deakins, Sicario
John Seale, Mad Max: Fury Road
Hoyte Van Hoytema, Spectre
Dariuz Wolski, The Martian
Emmanuel Lubezki, The Revenant

Visual Effects
Spectre
The Walk
The Martian
Mad Max: Fury Road
Jurassic World
Everest

Film Editing
Pietro Scalia, The Martian
Joe Walker, Sicario
Michael Kahn, Bridge of Spies
Lee Smith, Spectre
Elliot Graham, Steve Jobs
Affonso Goncalves, Carol

Sound (Editing and Mixing)
The Martian
Spectre
Sicario
Inside Out
Mad Max: Fury Road
Jurassic World

Art Direction and Production Design
Fiona Crombie, Macbeth
Eve Stewart, The Danish Girl
Dennis Gassner, Spectre
Dante Ferretti, Cinderella
Colin Gibson, Mad Max: Fury Road,
Adam Stockhausen, Bridge of Spies

Costume Design
Wen-Ying Huang, The Assassin
Shim Hyun-seob, The Throne
Sandy Powell, Cinderella
Paco Delgado, The Danish Girl
Janet Patterson, Far From the Madding Crowd
Jacqueline Durran, Macbeth

Ensemble: Motion Picture
Spotlight

At least these nominations gave me an excuse to drag out some Sicaro-related media.

What a Lovely Day! The National Board of Review Honors Mad Max: Fury Road!

Posted on December 1, 2015 by Lisa Marie Bowman

OH MY GOD!

So, like a lot of people, I was expecting the National Board of Review to name Spotlight as best picture of the year. I haven’t seen Spotlight yet but I have to admit that I’m already kind of bored of hearing about how it’s the Oscar front-runner. I mean, for all I know, Spotlight could be the best film ever made but I like it when my awards season is interesting. It’s boring when one film — like The Social Network a few years ago — keeps winning every single award.

So, with all that in mind, I was really happy to hear that the National Board of Review picked Mad Max: Fury Road for best picture. I was happy because not only is Fury Road a really great movie that deserves the love but also because it was just so unexpected! Way to go, NBR!

(The only thing that would have made things better would have been if the Guitar Guy had won Best Supporting Actor.)

Now, I’d caution anyone about getting too excited. Just because a film wins one of the precursor awards, that does not mean that it’s going to be nominated come Oscar time. Last year, for instance, the NBR picked A Most Violent Year for best picture. However, at the same time, it can be argued that the momentum that led to Her being nominated in 2014 began with its victory at the NBR.

So, who knows?

Anyway, here are the NBR winners!

Best Film: Mad Max: Fury Road

Best Director: Ridley Scott – The Martian

Best Actor: Matt Damon – The Martian

Best Actress: Brie Larson – Room

Best Supporting Actor: Sylvester Stallone – Creed

Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Jason Leigh – The Hateful Eight

Best Original Screenplay: Quentin Tarantino – The Hateful Eight

Best Adapted Screenplay: Drew Goddard – The Martian

Best Animated Feature: Inside Out
Breakthrough Performance: Abraham Attah – Beasts of No Nation & Jacob Tremblay – Room

Best Directorial Debut: Jonas Carpignano – Mediterranea

Best Foreign Language Film: Son of Saul

Best Documentary: Amy

William K. Everson Film History Award: Cecilia De Mille Presley

Best Ensemble: The Big Short

Spotlight Award: Sicario for Outstanding Collaborative Vision

NBR Freedom of Expression Award: Beasts of No Nation & Mustang

Top Films

Top 5 Foreign Language Films

Goodnight Mommy
Mediterranea
Phoenix
The Second Mother
The Tribe

Top 5 Documentaries

Best of Enemies
The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution
The Diplomat
Listen to Me Marlon
The Look of Silence

Top 10 Independent Films

‘71
45 Years
Cop Car
Ex Machina
Grandma
It Follows
James White
Mississippi Grind
Welcome to Me
While We’re Young

Here Are The 2015 Independent Spirit Nominations!

Posted on November 24, 2015 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Here are the 2015 Independent Spirit Nominations! That’s right — Oscar season is officially here! Soon, we will reach the point where every day, another group will be announcing their picks for the best of 2015 and the Oscar race will start to become a lot less cloudy. Until then, we can look at the Independent Spirit Nominations and try to figure out what they all mean in the big scheme of things.

The two big indie best picture contenders — Carol and Spotlight — were nominated for multiple awards. That’s to be expected. If any film is going to benefit from the Spirit nominations, it will probably be Anomalisa, which is starting to look more and more like it might be a dark horse to score a best picture nominations. As well, the Spirit nominations may serve to remind Academy members that Beasts of No Nation is one of the best films of the year.

Anyway, without further ado, here are the Spirit nominations!

Best Feature

Anomalisa
Beasts of No Nation
Carol
Spotlight
Tangerine

Best Director

Sean Baker, Tangerine
Cary Joji Fukunaga, Beasts of No Nation
Todd Haynes, Carol
Charlie Kaufman & Duke Johnson, Anomalisa
Tom McCarthy, Spotlight
David Robert Mitchell, It Follows

Best Screenplay

Charlie Kaufman, Anomalisa
Donald Margulies, The End of the Tour
Phyllis Nagy, Carol
Tom McCarthy & Josh Singer, Spotlight
S. Craig Zahler, Bone Tomahawk

Best First Feature

The Diary of a Teenage Girl
James White
Manos Sucias
Mediterranea
Songs My Brothers Taught Me

Best First Screenplay

Jesse Andrews, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
Jonas Carpignano, Mediterranea
Emma Donoghue, Room
Marielle Heller, The Diary of a Teenage Girl
John Magary, Russell Harbaugh, Myna Joseph, The Mend

Best Male Lead

Christopher Abbott, James White
Abraham Attah, Beasts of No Nation
Ben Mendelsohn, Mississippi Grind
Jason Segel, The End of the Tour
Koudous Seihon, Mediterranea

Best Female Lead

Cate Blanchett, Carol
Brie Larson, Room
Rooney Mara, Carol
Bel Powley, The Diary of A Teenage Girl
Kitana Kiki Rodriguez, Tangerine

Best Supporting Male

Kevin Corrigan, Results
Paul Dano, Love & Mercy
Idris Elba, Beasts of No Nation
Richard Jenkins, Bone Tomahawk
Michael Shannon, 99 Homes

Best Supporting Female

Robin Bartlett, H.
Marin Ireland, Glass Chin
Jennifer Jason Leigh, Anomalisa
Cynthia Nixon, James White
Mya Taylor, Tangerine

Best Documentary

(T)error
Best of Enemies
Heart of a Dog
The Look of Silence
Meru
The Russian Woodpecker

Best International Film

A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence

Embrace of the Serpent
Girlhood
Mustang
Son of Saul

Best Cinematography

Beasts of No Nation
Carol
It Follows
Meadlowland
Songs My Brothers Taught Me

Best Editing

Heaven Knows What
It Follows
Manos Sucias

Room

Spotlight

John Cassavetes Award (Best Feature Under $500,000)

Advantageous
Christmas, Again
Heaven Knows What
Krisha
Out of My Hand

Robert Altman Award (Best Ensemble)

Spotlight

Kiehl’s Someone to Watch Award

Chloe Zhao
Felix Thompson
Robert Machoian & Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck

Piaget Producers Award

Darren Dean
Mel Eslyn
Rebecca Green and Laura D. Smith

Lisa’s Oscar Predictions for October!

Posted on October 8, 2015 by Lisa Marie Bowman

It’s that time of the month again!

No, not that time! I mean that it’s time for me to, once again, attempt to guess which films and performers will receive Oscar nominations next January!

This year’s Oscar race is shaping up to be an interesting one. Even though some favorites have finally started to emerge, there doesn’t yet seem to be any true consensus choices. For instance, last year, from the moment the film premiered at Sundance, we all knew that J.K. Simmons was going to win an Oscar for Whiplash. There was never any doubt. This year, however, has yet to see any such certainty.

Up until a few days ago, I thought a best picture nomination for Carol was about as close to a sure thing as we could hope for. But now, word is coming in that American audiences are not reacting quite as enthusiastically to the film as the audiences at Cannes. Much like last year’s Foxcatcher, it’s starting to sound as if Carol might be a film that people respect more than they like.

Meanwhile, Steven Spielberg’s Bridge of Spies has been getting positive but not exactly rapturous reviews, which is pretty much what I was expecting. Spotlight seems to be becoming more and more of a certainty. A lot of self-appointed award divas are going crazy over Cate Blanchett in Truth, a film that looks incredibly tedious. Myself, I’m hoping that Suffragette turns out to be great and gets all sorts of nominations. Unfortunately, this means that I’m now in the rare position of actually agreeing with Sasha “I am the game” Stone of AwardsDaily.

And who would have thought that The Room would suddenly emerge as an Oscar front runner!? Way to go, Tommy Wiseau! Oh, wait. It’s a different Room?

Well, never mind then.

Anyway, below you can find my predictions for October and no, I’m still not hopping on the Revenant bangwagon, I don’t care how great the damn trailer is! (Actually, the trailer is really good…but I made my choices for this month and I’ll live with them.)

Be sure to check out my previous predictions for January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, and September. (Daaaaaaaaaaamn…that’s a lot of predictions!)