SAG Awards 2015

Posted on January 26, 2015 at 9:00 am

The Screen Actors Guild awards for television and movies in 2014 are in and it looks like Patricia Arquette, Julianne Moore, and J.K. Simmons are in line to bring home Oscars on February 22. The tough one to call right now is Best Actor, down to the wire between Eddie Redmayne and Michael Keaton.

The winners are:

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role: Eddie Redmayne, “The Theory of Everything”

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role: Julianne Moore, “Still Alice”

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role: J.K. Simmons, “Whiplash”

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role: Patricia Arquette, “Boyhood”

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture: “Birdman”

TELEVISION PROGRAMS

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries: Mark Ruffalo, “The Normal Heart”

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries: Frances McDormand, “Olive Kitteridge”

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series: Kevin Spacey, “House of Cards”

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series: Viola Davis, “How to Get Away with Murder”

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series: William H. Macy, “Shameless”

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series: Uzo Aduba, “Orange Is the New Black”

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series: “Downton Abbey”

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series: “Orange Is the New Black”

STUNT AWARDS

Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture: “Unbroken”

Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Comedy or Drama Series: “Game of Thrones”

Screen Actors Guild 51st Annual Life Achievement Award: Debbie Reynolds

Related Tags:

Actors Awards

Why the Oscar Almost Always Goes to the Wrong Song

Posted on January 17, 2015 at 8:00 am

The rules governing which songs are eligible for the Oscar are out of date and out of whack. Okay, it’s fine with me if “Everything is Awesome” from “The LEGO Movie” wins this year, first because I love the song and second because I will get to laugh every time I hear the words “Oscar-winner Andy Samberg” (he co-wrote the lyrics). Gosh, if he gets a Grammy, too (the song is nominated), he’ll be halfway to an EGOT!

But nominees often include at least one song no one even remembers because it played over the credits after everyone has gone home. Also because it is completely forgettable. Songs that play an important role in the storyline are often overlooked or ineligible. I was glad to see a terrific article on the A.V. Club by Jesse Hassenger spelling out how wrong the rules are and how absurd the results are because of the strange rules.

For example, take the 74th Academy Awards. One of the five Best Picture nominees was a bona fide musical, Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge! Most of the film’s songs were mash-ups, covers, and reimaginings of previously existing pop songs, but one had never appeared in a film before: “Come What May,” a crucial romantic duet between Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman. But the song was deemed ineligible as an original—because technically, it was first written for Luhrmann’s 1996 version of Romeo + Juliet, only to wind up in Luhrmann’s next film instead. Never mind that “Come What May” never actually appears in Romeo + Juliet or on its soundtrack; the mere intention (and, presumably, some manner of accompanying songwriting registration) was enough to invalidate its obvious centrality to the movie in which it made its actual debut.

On its own, this case would be a frustrating technicality. But taken in context, it seems downright arbitrary. One of the more respectable recent Best Song winners, “Falling Slowly” from Once, appeared on not one but two albums released for general sale well before the movie came out. But while the Academy’s music branch did review this case, they eventually concluded that the movie’s gestation period was protracted enough to make the case that the song being written in 2002 and performed on two different albums since then had no bearing on its eligibility as part of a movie released in 2007. (The two albums on which it appeared were “venues,” in the Academy’s words, “deemed inconsequential enough not to change the song’s eligibility”).

Hassenger makes an important point about the difference between a song that is important to the movie and one that will go over well in the Oscar award television show. “We Are the Best” is a terrific movie about three girls who form a punk group. Their song is a critical part of the movie. ““Hate The Sport” is vital to the bond the characters in We Are The Best! form. It’s catchy not as a pop song, but as a piece of these characters’ lives.” But it is not going to provide a “Let it Go” television-friendly moment. Also, since the movie is Swedish, the nominees’ names would be a bigger challenge than Idina Menzel. The song should be nominated just to let John Travolta try to announce it.

The song I was rooting for this year did not get nominated. In my opinion it is by far the best movie song of the year: “For the Dancing and the Dreaming” from “How to Train Your Dragon 2,” with lyrics by Shane MacGowan (of the Pogues) and music by Jon Thor Birgisson and John Powell. It does everything a song in a movie is supposed to do. It gives the characters a chance to express what is going on and it moves the story forward. And it is gorgeously beautiful and so touching.

Critics Choice Awards 2015

Posted on January 16, 2015 at 9:45 am

Sweetest moment of the Critics Choice Awards last night: when Emily Blunt was accepting her award for Best Actress in an Action/Sci-Fi Movie, her husband John Krasinski ran out from backstage, where he was waiting to present an award, to give her a congratulatory kiss. I also loved her comment that it was good to be in an action movie where she was not a damsel in distress. Other highlights included the special awards to “MVP” Jessica Chastain, for her work in four films in 2014, and to Kevin Costner and Ron Howard for their body of work. Chastain spoke movingly of the need for more diversity in filmmaking. Coster’s speech was a touching tribute to the unsung heroes of the film work, the crew who make it possible. And Ron Howard was inspiring in his fearless engagement with changing technologies and distribution systems.

The most satisfying part was that on the same day that the Oscars snubbed some of my most-loved films, performers, and directors of 2014, the Broadcast Film Critics came through. “The LEGO Movie” won best animated film and “Life Itself” won best documentary. It was wonderful to be back in the historic Hollywood Palladium and we were thrilled to be on the wonderful A and E Channel for the first time. They took great care of us.

But the best part was enjoying the dazzling event, surrounded by glamorous stars, with my daughter, Rachel, a costume designer who works in Hollywood. Here we are in our vintage gowns and furs.

BEST PICTURE
Boyhood

BEST ACTOR
Michael Keaton, Birdman

BEST ACTRESS
Julianne Moore, Still Alice

BEST DIRECTOR
Richard Linklater, Boyhood

BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE
Birdman

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Gone Girl

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Birdman

BEST COMEDY
The Grand Budapest Hotel

BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY
Jenny Slate, Obvious Child

BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY
Michael Keaton, Birdman

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Patricia Arquette, Boyhood

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
J.K. Simmons, Whiplash

BEST SONG
“Glory,” Common/John Legend, Selma

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
The Lego Movie

BEST ACTION MOVIE
Guardians of the Galaxy

BEST ACTRESS IN AN ACTION MOVIE
Emily Blunt, Edge of Tomorrow

BEST ACTOR IN AN ACTION MOVIE
Bradley Cooper, American Sniper

BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS
Ellar Coltrane, Boyhood

BEST SCI FI/HORROR MOVIE
Interstellar

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Life Itself

BEST CINEMATOGRAPY
Birdman, Emmanuel Lubezki

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

BEST EDITING
Birdman, Douglas Crise, Stephen Mirrione

BEST ART DIRECTION
The Grand Budapest Hotel, Adam Stockhausen/Production Designer, Anna Pinnock/Set Decorator

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
The Grand Budapest Hotel, Milena Canonero

BEST HAIR & MAKEUP
Guardians of the Galaxy

BEST SCORE
Antonio Sanchez, Birdman

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Force Majeure (Sweden)

Related Tags:

Awards

Oscar Nominations 2015: Surprises, Disappointments, Predictions

Posted on January 15, 2015 at 10:17 am

This year’s Oscar nominations are out! Most of the expected nominees made it, but there were some surprises and disappointments, especially the omission of the Roger Ebert documentary “Life Itself” and the animated mega-hit “The LEGO Movie,” both of which I expected not just to be nominated but to take home the award. It was good to see a Best Picture nomination for “Selma,” but very disappointing not to see nominations for director Ava Duvernay, star David Oyelowo. I hoped to have seen Angelina Jolie and Jack O’Connell nominated for “Unbroken” and it would have been nice to see Jennifer Aniston nominated for her brave and vulnerable performance in “Cake” and Oscar Isaac nominated for a complex, deeply felt performance in “A Most Violent Year.” I liked “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” especially (of course) the music and production design and the performance by Ralph Fiennes, but would not have given it a Best Picture nomination.

It is a big disappointment to see yet another year with no acting nominations for performers of color, and no women in the director or screenwriter categories.

I was thrilled to see Laura Dern nominated for her effervescent performance in “Wild.” Marion Cotillard is deservedly an Academy favorite, and, like Dern, gave two superb performances this year. So did also-perennial favorite Jessica Chastain, and it was a disappointment not to see her nominated for “A Most Violent Year.” And so did Gugu Mbatha-Raw, who was incandescent in two films, “Beyond the Lights” and “Belle” and deserved nominations for both.

My predictions for the top awards are: “Boyhood” for Best Picture and Richard Linklater for Best Director, Eddie Redmayne for “The Theory of Everything” for Best Actor, Julianne Moore for “Still Alice” for Best Actress, J.K. Simmons for “Whiplash” for Best Supporting Actor, and Patricia Arquette for “Boyhood” for Best Supporting Actress

Here are the nominees:

BEST PICTURE

American Sniper

Birdman

Boyhood

The Grand Budapest Hotel

The Imitation Game

Selma

The Theory of Everything

Whiplash

BEST ACTOR

Steve Carell, Foxcatcher

Bradley Cooper, American Sniper

Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game

Michael Keaton, Birdman

Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything

BEST ACTRESS

Marion Cotillard, Two Days, One Night

Felicity Jones The Theory of Everything

Julianne Moore, Still Alice

Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl

Reese Witherspoon, Wild

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Robert Duvall, The Judge

Ethan Hawke, Boyhood

Edward Norton, Birdman

Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher

J.K. Simmons, Whiplash

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Patricia Arquette, Boyhood

Laura Dern, Wild

Keira Knightley, The Imitation Game

Emma Stone, Birdman

Meryl Streep, Into the Woods

BEST DIRECTOR

Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Birdman

Richard Linklater, Boyhood

Bennett Miller, Foxcatcher

Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel

Morten Tyldum, The Imitation Game

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

Big Hero 6

The Boxtrolls

How to Train Your Dragon 2

Song of the Sea

The Tale of the Princess Kaguya

BEST FOREIGN FILM

Ida, Poland

Leviathan, Russia

Tangerines, Estonia

Timbuktu, Mauritania

Wild Tales, Argentina

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Birdman, Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr., Armando Bo

Boyhood, Richard Linklater

Foxcatcher, E. Max Frye, Dan Futterman

The Grand Budapest Hotel, Wes Anderson, Hugo Guinness

Nightcrawler, Dan Gilroy

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

American Sniper, Jason Hall

The Imitation Game, Graham Moore

Inherent Vice, Paul Thomas Anderson

The Theory of Everything, Anthony McCarten

Whiplash, Damien Chazelle

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

The Grand Budapest Hotel

The imitation Game

Interstellar

Mr. Turner

The Theory of Everything

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

Everything is Awesome, from The Lego Movie

Glory, from Selma

Grateful, from Beyond the Lights

I’m Not Gonna Miss You, from Glen Campbell…I’ll Be Me

Lost Stars, from Begin Again

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Birdman

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Ida

Mr. Turner

Unbroken

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Inherent Vice

Into the Woods

Maleficent

Mr. Turner

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

CitizenFour

Finding Vivian Maier

Last Days in Vietnam

The Salt of the Earth

Virunga

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT

Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1

Joanna

Our Curse

The Reaper (La Parka)

White Earth

BEST FILM EDITING

American Sniper

Boyhood

The Grand Budapest Hotel

The Imitation Game

Whiplash

BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING

Foxcatcher

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Guardians of the Galaxy

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

The Grand Budapest Hotel

The Imitation Game

Interstellar

Into the Woods

Mr. Turner

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM

The Bigger Picture

The Dam Keeper

Feast

Me and My Moulton

A Single Life

BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT FILM

Aya

Boogaloo and Graham

Butter Lamp (La Lampe au Beurre de Yak)

Parvaneh

The Phone Call

BEST SOUND EDITING

American Sniper

Birdman

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

Interstellar

Unbroken

BEST SOUND MIXING

American Sniper

Birdman

Interstellar

Unbroken

Whiplash

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Guardians of the Galaxy

Interstellar

X-Men: Days of Future Past

Related Tags:

Awards

2015 Awards from the Alliance of Women Film Journalists

Posted on January 12, 2015 at 8:12 am

I am so proud to be a member of the Alliance of Women Film Journalists, and of our 2015 awards.

AWFJ EDA ‘BEST OF’ AWARDS
These awards are presented to females and/or males.
Best Film
BOYHOOD
Best Director (Female or Male)
Richard Linklater for BOYHOOD
Best Screenplay, Original

BIRDMAN – Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu, Nicholas Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Armando Bo
Best Screenplay, Adapted
GONE GIRL – Gillian Flynn
Best Documentary
CITIZENFOUR – Laura Poitras
Best Animated Film
The LEGO Movie – Phil Lord, Christopher Miller
Best Actress
Julianne Moore for STILL ALICE
Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Tilda Swinton for SNOWPIERCER
Best Actor
Michael Keaton for BIRDMAN
Best Actor in a Supporting Role
J.K. Simmons for WHIPLASH
Best Ensemble Cast (tie)
BIRDMAN – Francine Maisler, Casting Director
and
GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL – Douglas Aibel (US), Antoinette Boulat (France), Simone Bar, Alexandra Montag (Germany), Debra Maxwell Dion (LA), Jina Jay (UK)
Best Editing
BIRDMAN – Douglas Crise, Stephen Mirrione
Best Cinematography
BIRDMAN – Emmanuel Lubezki
Best Film Music Or Score
BIRDMAN – Antonio Sanchez
Best Non-English-Language Film
IDA – Pavel Pawlikowski (Poland)

EDA FEMALE FOCUS AWARDS
These awards honor WOMEN only.

Best Woman Director
Ava DuVernay for SELMA
Best Woman Screenwriter
Gillian Flynn for GONE GIRL
Best Female Action Star
Emily Blunt for EDGE OF TOMORROW
Best Breakthrough Performance
Gugu Mbatha-Raw for BELLE
Female Icon of the Year (tie)
(a woman whose work in film and/or in life made a difference)
Ava DuVernay
and
Laura Poitras

EDA SPECIAL MENTION AWARDS
Best Depiction Of Nudity, Sexuality, or Seduction
UNDER THE SKIN – Scarlett Johansson
Actress Defying Age and Ageism
Tilda Swinton
Most Egregious Age Difference Between The Leading Man and The Love Interest
MAGIC IN THE MOONLIGHT – Colin Firth (b. 1960) and Emma Stone (b. 1988)
Actress Most in Need Of A New Agent
Cameron Diaz for SEX TAPE
Movie You Wanted To Love, But Just Couldn’t
INHERENT VICE

Related Tags:

Awards Gender and Diversity