Yes, The Cinema Audio Society Does Exist and So Do Their Nominations

Posted on January 13, 2015 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Is anybody going to be happy when the Oscar nominations are revealed on Thursday and all of us self-declared award divas will no longer have to pay attention to any of the precursors? Seriously, I never thought I could get sick of awards seasons but oh my God!

Listen, I love foreplay but sometimes, you just need have to get to the point.

ANYWAY, here are the Cinema Audio Society nominees for the best achievements in sound mixing in 2014. Before anyone dismiss the importance of these nominees, consider that correctly guessing the nominees for the Academy Award for Best Sound Mixing could make the difference in your Oscar pool.

Or, it might not.

(By the way, Arleigh, when I’m tempted to fanatically follow next year’s awards season, remind me of this post. It might make all the difference!)

Anyway, here are the film nominees!

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND MIXING — LIVE ACTION:

American Sniper

Birdman

Guardians of the Galaxy

Interstellar

Unbroken

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND MIXING — ANIMATED:

Big Hero 6

The Boxtrolls

How To Train Your Dragon 2

The LEGO Movie

Penguins of Madagascar

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 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 Eddie Nominations!

Posted on January 2, 2015 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Eddies! Isn’t that a perfectly adorable name for an award?

Anyway, the Eddies are given out by the American Cinema Editors and they honor the best editing in film and television. The Eddies make for an interesting precursor because (much like the SAG awards), they’re a guild award and the nominees and winners are being determined by many of the same people who will be voting on the Oscars.

Add to that, films that get a nomination for best editing often also get nominated for best picture. (One huge exception to that rule would be David Fincher’s rehash The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, which actually won best editing despite not being nominated for best picture.)

The big news from the Eddie nominations is that potential Oscar front-runner Selma was snubbed. However, American Sniper was not. While I doubt that the makers of Selma have anything to worry about, this does seem to indicate that — despite not making a huge showing as far as the critics awards are concerned — American Sniper might still be a factor in the best picture race.

(Then again, Oscar watchers like me are notorious for overanalyzing stuff like this…)

The film nominees can be found below.

Best Edited Feature Film (Dramatic)
“American Sniper” (Joel Cox, ACE & Gary Roach, ACE)
“Boyhood” (Sandra Adair, ACE)
“Gone Girl” (Kirk Baxter, ACE)
“The Imitation Game” (William Goldenberg, ACE)
“Nightcrawler” (John Gilroy, ACE)
“Whiplash” (Tom Cross, ACE)

Best Editing Feature Film (Comedy or Musical)
“Birdman” (Douglas Crise & Stephen Mirrione, ACE)
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” (Barney Pilling)
“Guardians of the Galaxy” (Fred Rasking, Hughes Winborn, ACE & Craig Wood, ACE)
“Into the Woods” (Wyatt Smith)
“Inherent Vice” (Leslie Jones, ACE)

Best Edited Animated Feature Film
“Big Hero 6” (Tim Mertens)
“The Boxtrolls” (Edie Ichioka, ACE)
“The LEGO Movie” (David Burrow & Chris McKay)

Best Edited Documentary (Feature)
“CITIZENFOUR” (Mathilde Bonnefoy)
“Finding Vivian Maier” (Aaron Wickenden)
“Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me” (Elisa Bonora)

Birdman Soars Over Utah

Posted on December 23, 2014 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Somehow, I missed this one in my previous awards roundup. Way back on December 18th, the Utah Film Critics announced their picks for the best of 2014. Here’s what won!

Best Picture
“Birdman”
(Runner-up: “The Imitation Game”)

Best Director
Alejandro González Iñárritu, “Birdman”
(Runner-up: Jonathan Glazer, “Under the Skin”)

Best Actor
Michael Keaton, “Birdman”
(Runner-up: TIE – Benedict Cumberbatch, “The Imitation Game” and Ralph Fiennes, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”

Best Actress
Rosamund Pike, “Gone Girl”
(Runner-up: Marion Cotillard, “Two Days, One Night”)

Best Supporting Actor
J.K. Simmons, “Whiplash”
(Runner-up: Edward Norton, “Birdman”)

Best Supporting Actress
Jessica Chastain, “A Most Violent Year”
(Runner-up: Tilda Swinton, “Snowpiercer”)

Best Adapted Screenplay
(TIE) “Inherent Vice” and “Snowpiercer”

Best Original Screenplay
“Birdman”
(Runner-up: “Nightcrawler”)

Best Cinematography
“Nightcrawler”
(Runner-up: “Under the Skin”)

Best Animated Feature
“The LEGO Movie”
(Runner-up: “The Boxtrolls”)

Best Non-English Feature
“We Are the Best!”
(Runner-up: “Two Days, One Night”)

Best Documentary Feature
“CITIZENFOUR”
(Runner-up: “The Overnighters”)

Birdman Lands In Florida

Posted on December 23, 2014 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Florida Film Critics have voted and they’ve named Birdman the best film of 2014! You can find all of the Florida winners below and check out the Florida nominees by clicking here!

Best Picture:

Birdman

Runner-up: Boyhood

Best Director:

Richard Linklater – Boyhood

Runner-up: Alejandro González Iñárritu – Birdman

Best Actress:

Rosamund Pike – Gone Girl

Runner-up: Julianne Moore – Still Alice

Best Actor:

Michael Keaton – Birdman

Runner-up: Jake Gyllenhaal – Nightcrawler

Best Supporting Actor:

J.K. Simmons – Whiplash

Runner-up: Edward Norton – Birdman

Best Supporting Actress:

Patricia Arquette – Boyhood

Runner-up: Emma Stone – Birdman

Best Ensemble:

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Runner-up: Boyhood

Best Original Screenplay:

The Grand Budapest Hotel (Wes Anderson)

Runner-up: Birdman (Alejandro González Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Armando Bo)

Best Adapted Screenplay:

Gone Girl (Gillian Flynn)

Runner-up: Inherent Vice (Paul Thomas Anderson)

Best Cinematography:

Interstellar (Hoyte Van Hoytema)

Runner-up: The Grand Budapest Hotel (Robert D. Yeoman)

Best Visual Effects:

Interstellar

Runner-up: Guardians of the Galaxy

Best Art Direction/Production Design:

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Runner-up: Interstellar

Best Score:

Under the Skin (Micah Levi, aka Micachu)

Runner-up: Gone Girl (Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross)

Best Documentary:

Life Itself

Runner-up: Citizenfour

Best Foreign-Language Film:

The Raid 2

Runner-up: Force Majeure

Best Animated Film:

The Lego Movie

Runner-up: How to Train Your Dragon 2

Pauline Kael Breakout Award:

Damien Chazelle (writer/director: Whiplash)

Runner-up: Gugu Mbatha-Raw (actress: Belle, Beyond the Lights)

Here’s What The Southeastern Film Critics Honored!

Posted on December 23, 2014 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Oscar precursor race — which started out with Boyhood and Birdman basically winning everything — has gotten a little bit more interesting over the past week or so. Other movies have been picking up awards. For instance, Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel!

On December 22nd, the Southeastern Film Critics named their picks for the best of 2014. And here are the winners!

Top Ten
1. The Grand Budapest Hotel
2. Boyhood
3. Birdman or (the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
4. Whiplash
5. The Imitation Game
6. Gone Girl
7. Snowpiercer
8. Nightcrawler
9. Foxcatcher
10. The Theory of Everything

Best Actor
1. Michael Keaton, Birdman or (the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
2. Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything

Best Actress
1. Julianne Moore, Still Alice
2. Reese Witherspoon, Wild

Best Supporting Actor
1. J.K. Simmons, Whiplash
2. Edward Norton, Birdman or (the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

Best Supporting Actress
1. Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
2. Tilda Swinton, Snowpiercer

Best Ensemble
1. The Grand Budapest Hotel
2. Birdman or (the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

Best Director
1. Richard Linklater, Boyhood
2. Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel

Best Original Screenplay
1. The Grand Budapest Hotel: Wes Anderson and Hugo Guinness
2. Birdman or (the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance): Alejandro González Iñárritu, Nicolas Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Armando Bo

Best Adapted Screenplay
1. Gone Girl: Gillian Flynn
2. Wild: Nick Hornby

Best Documentary
1. Life Itself
2. CitizenFour

Best Foreign Language Film
1. Force Majeure
2. Ida

Best Animated Film
1. The Lego Movie
2. Big Hero 6

Best Cinematography
1. Birdman or (the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance): Emmanuel Lubezki
2. The Grand Budapest Hotel: Robert Yeoman

The Gene Wyatt Award for the Film that Best Evokes the Spirit of the South
1. Selma

Here Are The 79 Songs That Could Win An Oscar!

Posted on December 17, 2014 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Okay, this new is really late but, as always, better late than never!

Last Friday, the Academy announced that 79 songs had been judged to be eligible to be nominated for Best Original Song!

Now, if you know anything about me, you know that I love long lists and playing “what if.” Quite a few Oscar commentators have said that Patty Smith is so obviously going to win the Oscar for her song from Noah that it’s pointless to even speculate about anyone else. Well, that may indeed be the case but hey, it’s still fun to look at all of these possibilities and wonder “What if…” Speculation is never pointless, as long as it’s fun.

“It’s On Again” from “The Amazing Spider-Man 2″
“Opportunity” from “Annie”
“Lost Stars” from “Begin Again”
“Grateful” from “Beyond the Lights”
“Big Eyes” from “Big Eyes”
“Immortals” from “Big Hero 6″
“The Apology Song” from “The Book of Life”
“I Love You Too Much” from “The Book of Life”
“The Boxtrolls Song” from “The Boxtrolls”
“Quattro Sabatino” from “The Boxtrolls”
“Ryan’s Song” from “Boyhood”
“Split The Difference” from “Boyhood”
“No Fate Awaits Me” from “The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them”
“Brave Souls” from “Dolphin Tale 2″
“You Got Me” from “Dolphin Tale 2″
“All Our Endless Love” from “Endless Love”
“Let Me In” from “The Fault in Our Stars”
“Not About Angels” from “The Fault in Our Stars”
“Until The End” from “Garnet’s Gold”
“It Just Takes A Moment” from “Girl on a Bicycle”
“Last Stop Paris” from “Girl on a Bicycle”
“Ordinary Human” from “The Giver”
“I’m Not Gonna Miss You” from “Glen Campbell…I’ll Be Me”
“Find A Way” from “The Good Lie”
“Color The World” from “The Hero of Color City”
“The Last Goodbye” from “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies”
“Chariots” from “The Hornet’s Nest”
“Follow Me” from “The Hornet’s Nest”
“Something To Shoot For” from “Hot Guys with Guns”

“For The Dancing And The Dreaming” from “How to Train Your Dragon 2″
“Afreen” from “The Hundred-Foot Journey”
“Yellow Flicker Beat” from “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1″
“Heart Like Yours” from “If I Stay”
“I Never Wanted To Go” from “If I Stay”
“Mind” from “If I Stay”
“Everything Is Awesome” from “The Lego Movie”
“Call Me When You Find Yourself” from “Life Inside Out”
“Coming Back To You” from “Life of an Actress The Musical”
“The Life Of An Actress” from “Life of an Actress The Musical”
“Sister Rust” from “Lucy”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_en0rZ_hrU
“You Fooled Me” from “Merchants of Doubt”
“Million Dollar Dream” from “Million Dollar Arm”
“Spreading The Word/Makhna” from “Million Dollar Arm”
“We Could Be Kings” from “Million Dollar Arm”
“A Million Ways To Die” from “A Million Ways to Die in the West”
“Way Back When” from “Mr. Peabody & Sherman”
“America For Me” from “A Most Violent Year”
“I’ll Get You What You Want (Cockatoo In Malibu)” from “Muppets Most Wanted”
“Something So Right” from “Muppets Most Wanted”
“We’re Doing A Sequel” from “Muppets Most Wanted”
“Mercy Is” from “Noah”
“Seeds” from “Occupy the Farm”
“Grant My Freedom” from “The One I Wrote for You”
“The One I Wrote For You” from “The One I Wrote for You”

“Hal” from “Only Lovers Left Alive”
“Shine” from “Paddington”
“Still I Fly” from “Planes: Fire & Rescue”
“Batucada Familia” from “Rio 2″
“Beautiful Creatures” from “Rio 2″
“Poisonous Love” from “Rio 2″
“What Is Love” from “Rio 2″
“Over Your Shoulder” from “Rudderless”
“Sing Along” from “Rudderless”
“Stay With You” from “Rudderless”
“Everyone Hides” from “St. Vincent”
“Why Why Why” from “St. Vincent”
“Glory” from “Selma”
“The Morning” from “A Small Section of the World”
“Special” from “Special”
“Gimme Some” from “#Stuck”
“The Only Thing” from “Third Person”
“Battle Cry” from “Transformers: Age of Extinction”
“Miracles” from “Unbroken”

“Summer Nights” from “Under the Electric Sky”
“We Will Not Go” from “Virunga”
“Heavenly Father” from “Wish I Was Here”
“So Now What” from “Wish I Was Here”
“Long Braid” from “Work Weather Wife”
“Moon” from “Work Weather Wife”