AWFJ Nominations: Women Journalists Pick the Best of This Year’s Movies

Posted on December 12, 2013 at 7:57 am

I am very proud to be a member of the Alliance of Women Film Journalists headed by Jennifer Merin.  In addition to the usual assortment of awards, we also honor the contributions of women who make films and films that illuminate the experience of being a woman.  We also point out film-makers whose films insult or demean women.  Here are our nominees.

BEST FILM

12 Years a Slave
American Hustle
Gravity
Her
Inside Llewyn Davis
Nebraska

BEST DIRECTOR (Female or Male)

Joel and Ethan Coen – Inside Llewyn Davis
Alfonso Cuaron – Gravity
Spike Jonze – Her
Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave
Alexander Payne – Nebraska
David O. Russell – American Hustle

enough-saidBEST SCREENPLAY, ORIGINAL

American Hustle – David O. Russell
Enough Said – Nicole Holofcener
Her – Spike Jonze
Inside Llewyn Davis – Joel and Ethan Cohen
Nebraska – Bob Nelson

BEST SCREENPLAY, ADAPTED

Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope – Philomena
Daniel Cretton – Short Term 12
Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber – The Spectacular Now
Billy Ray – Captain Phillips
John Ridley – 12 Years a Slave

BEST DOCUMENTARY

The Act of Killing – Joshua Oppenheimer
After Tiller – Martha Shane and Lana Wilson
20 Feet From Stardom – Morgan Neville
Blackfish – Gabriela Cowperthwaite
Stories We Tell – Sarah Polley

BEST ANIMATED FILM

The Croods – Kirk DeMicco and Chris Sanders
Despicable Me 2 – Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud
Frozen – Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck
The Wind Rises – Hayao Miyazaki

GRAVITYBEST ACTRESS

Cate Blanchett – Blue Jasmine
Sandra Bullock – Gravity
Judi Dench – Philomena
Brie Larson – Short Term 12
Emma Thompson – Saving Mr. Banks

BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

american hustle jennifer lawrenceSally Hawkins – Blue Jasmine
Scarlett Johanson – Her
Jennifer Lawrence – American Hustle
Lupita Nyong’o – 12 Years a Slave
Oprah Winfrey – Lee Daniels’ The Butler

BEST ACTOR

Bruce Dern – Nebraska
Chiwetel Ejiofor – 12 Years a Slave
Oscar Isaac – Inside Llewyn Davis
Matthew McConaughey – Dallas Buyers Club
Joachin Phoenix – Her
Robert Redford – All is Lost

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Barkhad Abdi – Captain Phillips
Bobby Cannavale – Blue Jasmine
Jared Leto – Dallas Buyers Club
Michael Fassbender – 12 Years a Slave
Will Forte – Nebraska

BEST ENSEMBLE CAST

12 Years A Slave
American Hustle
August: Osage County
Lee Daniels’ The Butler
Nebraska

BEST EDITING

12 Years a Slave – Joe Walker
American Hustle – Alan Baumgarten, Jay Cassidy, Crispin Struthers
Captain Phillips – Christopher Rouse
Gravity – Alfonso Cuaron and Mark Sanger
Rush – Anthony Dodd Mantle

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

12 Years A Slave – Sean Bobbit
All is Lost – Frank G. DeMarco and Peter Zuccarini
Gravity – Emmanuel Lubezki
Nebraska – Phedon Papamichael
Prisoners – Roger Deakins

BEST MUSIC OR SCORE

12 Years A Slave – Hans Zimmer
Gravity – Steve Price
Inside Llewyn Davis – T-Bone Burnett
Her – Arcade Fire
Nebraska – Mark Orton

BEST NON-ENGLISH LANGUAGE FILM

Blue Is The Warmest Color – Abdellatif Kechiche – France
The Grandmaster – Wong Kar-Wai – Hong Kong
The Hunt – Thomas Vinterberg – Denmark
The Past – Asghar Farhadi – Iran
Wadjda – Haifaa Al-Mansour – Saudi Arabia

EDA FEMALE FOCUS AWARDS
These awards honor WOMEN only.

BEST WOMAN DIRECTOR

Lake Bell – In A World
Gabriele Cowperthwaite – Blackfish
Nicole Holofcener – Enough Said
Jennifer Lee – Frozen
Sarah Polley – Stories We Tell

BEST WOMAN SCREENWRITER

Lake Bell – In A World
Julie Delpy – Before Midnight
Nicole Holofcener – Enough Said
Jennifer Lee – Frozen
Sarah Polley – Stories We Tell

KICK ASS AWARD FOR BEST FEMALE ACTION STAR

Sandra Bullock – Gravity
Jennifer Lawrence – The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
Chloe Grace Moretz – Kick Ass 2

BEST ANIMATED FEMALE

Anna (Kristen Bell) in Frozen
Eep (Emma Stone) in The Croods
Elsa (Idina Menzel) in Frozen

BEST BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCEshort term 12 poster

Brie Larson, Short Term 12
Lupita Nyong’o 12 Years A Slave
Shailene Woodley, The Spectacular Now

ACTRESS DEFYIG AGE AND AGISM

Sandra Bullock – Gravity
Judi Dench – Philomena
Meryl Streep – August: Osage County

AWFJ FEMALE ICON AWARD

(Presented to an actress for the portrayal of the most positive female role model, or for a role in which she takes personal and/or career risks to plumb the female psyche and therefore gives us courage to plumb our own, and/or for putting forth the image of a woman who is heroic, accomplished, persistent, demands her rights and/or the rights of others.)

Sandra Bullock for the strong, capable and very positive female image presented in ‘Gravity’

Angelina Jolie for continued commitments to humanitarian causes, and for promoting awareness about breast cancer.

Jennifer Lawrence for ‘American Hustle’ and ‘Hunger Games: Catching Fire,’ and for handling her high degree of celebrity extremely well.

THIS YEAR’S OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT By A Woman In The Film Industry

(Presented only when warranted to a female who has had a banner-making, record-breaking, industry-changing achievement during any given year — such as Kathryn Bigelow’s Best Director Oscar win, or for an actress having multiple outstanding films released during one year.)

Haaifa Al-Mansour for challenging the limitations placed on women within her culture.

Cheryl Boone Isaac for becoming President of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Jahane Noujaim for risking life and limb to document the Egyptian revolution in ‘The Square’

EDA SPECIAL MENTION AWARDS

AWFJ HALL OF SHAME AWARD

The Counselor – Ridley Scott
Grown Ups 2 – Dennis Dugan
Movie 43 – Elizabeth Banks, Steven Brill, Steve Carr, Rusty Dundieff, James Duffy, Griffin Dunne, Peter Farrelly, Patrik Forsberg, Will Graham, James Gun, Brett Ratner, Jonathan van Tulleken, Bob Odenkirk

ACTRESS MOST IN NEED OF A NEW AGENT

Cameron Diaz, The Counselor
Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgins, Ashley Benson, Rachel Korine – Spring Breakers
Melissa McCarthy – Identity Thief, The Heat

MOVE YOU WANTED TO LOVE but Just Couldn’t Award

All is Lost
Blue Is The Warmest Color
The Counselor

UNFORGETTABLE MOMENT AWARD

Gravity – George Clooney reappears
12 Years A Slave – Patsy pleads for soap
Her – Phone sex sequences
Nebraska – “That’s not my air compressor”
12 Years A Slave – Solomon hanging

BEST DEPICTION OF NUDITY, SEXUALITY, OR SEDUCTION AWARD

Blue Is The Warmest Color Lea Seydoux and Adele Exarchopoulos
Her Scarlett Johansson and Joaquin Phoenix
The Spectacular Now – Shailene Woodley and Miles Teller

SEQUEL OR REMAKE THAT SHOULDN’T HAVE BEEN MADE AWARD

Carrie
Grown Ups 2
The Hangover
Kick Ass
Oz, Great and Powerful

MOST EGREGIOUS AGE DIFFERENCE Between The Leading Man and The Love Interest Award

August: Osage County – Dermot Mulroney and Abigail Breslin
The Invisible Women – Ralph Feinnes and Felicity Jones
Last Vegas – Michael Douglas and Bree Blair
The Lifeguard – Kristen Bell and David Lambert
Oblivion – Tom Cruise and Andrea Reisborough/Olga Kurylenko

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Awards

More Awards: LA Film Critics

Posted on December 9, 2013 at 12:00 pm

A very tight contest, with ties for best picture, best actress, and best supporting actor.  The biggest surprise was the award for James Franco’s “Alien” in “Spring Breakers,” an over-the-top performance in a film that divided critics between those who thought it was a commentary on vile, exploitive culture and those who thought it perpetuated and exemplified it.

BEST FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM: Blue Is the Warmest Color
Runner-up: The Great Beauty

BEST PICTURE (tie): Gravity and Her

BEST ACTRESS (tie): Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine and Adèle Exarchopoulos, Blue Is the Warmest Color

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

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

BEST DIRECTOR: Alfonso Cuarón, Gravity
Runner-up: Spike Jonze, Her

BEST DOCUMENTARY, Stories We Tell
Runner-up: The Act of Killing

Douglas Edwards Independent/Experimental Film/Video Award: Cabinets Of Wonder: Films and a Performance by Charlotte Pryce

BEST MUSIC SCORE, T Bone Burnett, Inside Llewyn Davis
Arcade Fire and Owen Pallett, Her

BEST ANIMATION, Ernest & Celestine
Runner-up: The Wind Rises

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR, Winner (tie): James Franco, Spring Breakers, and Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club

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

BEST EDITING: Alfonso Cuarón and Mark Sanger, Gravity
Runner-up: Shane Carruth and David Lowery, Upstream Color

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Lupita Nyong’o, 12 Years a Slave
Runner-up: June Squibb, Nebraska

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

NEW GENERATION Prize: Megan Ellison

LEGACY OF CINEMA: The Criterion Collection

SPECIAL CITATION: 12 Years a Slave

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Awards

Washington Area Film Critics Association: 2013 Awards

Posted on December 9, 2013 at 8:15 am

And the winners are….

Best Film:
12 Years a Slave

Best Director:
Alfonso Cuarón (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 Acting Ensemble:
12 Years a Slave

Best Youth Performance:
Tye Sheridan (Mud)

Best Adapted Screenplay:
John Ridley (12 Years a Slave)

Best Original Screenplay:
Spike Jonze (Her)

Best Animated Feature:
Frozen

Best Documentary:
Blackfish

Best Foreign Language Film:
The Broken Circle Breakdown

Best Art Direction:
Production Designer: Catherine Martin, Set Decorator: Beverley Dunn (The Great Gatsby)

Best Cinematography:
Emmanuel Lubezki, ASC, A.M.C. (Gravity)

Best Editing:
Alfonso Cuarón, Mark Sanger (Gravity)

Best Original Score:
Hans Zimmer (12 Years a Slave)

The Joe Barber Award for Best Portrayal of Washington, DC:
Lee Daniels’ The Butler

Members of WAFCA discuss the awards on this special edition of Keeping it Reel:

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Awards

Washington Area Film Critic Awards: The Nominees are Out!

Posted on December 8, 2013 at 12:00 pm

It’s awards season! I’m voting in at least four different critics awards groups and will keep posting updates. Despite the manipulation of the awards process and questions about the relevance of critic awards, I think they are meaningful. First, critics are the only people who spend the whole year seeing the widest possible range of films, mostly in theaters, as they were intended to be seen. We don’t watch only those films supported by their studios for awards, so we have context and experience to guide our choices, and no relationships with filmmakers to affect our judgement as the industry awards do. Because of that, we can pay tribute to some films that might otherwise be overlooked. I’m proud of the Washington Area Film Critics Association nominees:

Best Film:
American Hustle
Gravity
Her
Inside Llewyn Davis
12 Years a Slave

Best Director:
Alfonso Cuarón (Gravity)
Spike Jonze (Her)
Baz Luhrmann (The Great Gatsby)
Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave)
Martin Scorsese (The Wolf of Wall Street)

Best Actor:
Leonardo DiCaprio (The Wolf of Wall Street)
Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave)
Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club)
Joaquin Phoenix (Her)
Robert Redford (All is Lost)

Best Actress:
Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)
Sandra Bullock (Gravity)
Judi Dench (Philomena)
Meryl Streep (August: Osage County)
Emma Thompson (Saving Mr. Banks)

Best Supporting Actor:
Daniel Brühl (Rush)
Michael Fassbender (12 Years a Slave)
James Franco (Spring Breakers)
James Gandolfini (Enough Said)
Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club)

Best Supporting Actress:
Scarlett Johansson (Her)
Jennifer Lawrence (American Hustle)
Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave)
Octavia Spencer (Fruitvale Station)
June Squibb (Nebraska)

Best Acting Ensemble:
American Hustle
August: Osage County
Prisoners
12 Years a Slave
The Way, Way Back

Best Youth Performance:
Asa Butterfield (Ender’s Game)
Adéle Exarchopoulos (Blue Is the Warmest Color)
Liam James (The Way, Way Back)
Waad Mohammed (Wadjda)
Tye Sheridan (Mud)

Best Adapted Screenplay:
Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke & Richard Linklater (Before Midnight)
Billy Ray (Captain Phillips)
Michael H. Weber & Scott Neustadter (The Spectacular Now)
John Ridley (12 Years a Slave)
Terence Winter (The Wolf of Wall Street)

Best Original Screenplay:
Eric Warren Singer & David O. Russell (American Hustle)
Woody Allen (Blue Jasmine)
Nicole Holofcener (Enough Said)
Spike Jonze (Her)
Joel Coen & Ethan Coen (Inside Llewyn Davis)

Best Animated Feature:
The Croods
Despicable Me 2
Frozen
Monsters University
The Wind Rises

Best Documentary:
The Act of Killing
Blackfish
Leviathan
Stories We Tell
20 Feet from Stardom

Best Foreign Language Film:
Blue Is the Warmest Color
The Broken Circle Breakdown
The Hunt
The Past
Wadjda

Best Art Direction:
Production Designer: Andy Nicholson, Set Decorator: Rosie Goodwin (Gravity)
Production Designer: Catherine Martin, Set Decorator: Beverley Dunn (The Great Gatsby)
Production Designer: K.K. Barrett, Set Decorator: Gene Serdena (Her)
Production Designer: Jess Gonchor, Set Decorator: Susan Bode Tyson (Inside Llewyn Davis)
Production Designer: Adam Stockhausen, Set Decorator: Alice Baker (12 Years a Slave)

Best Cinematography:
Emmanuel Lubezki, ASC, A.M.C. (Gravity)
Simon Duggan, ACS (The Great Gatsby)
Hoyte Van Hoytema, F.S.F., N.S.C. (Her)
Bruno Delbonnel, AFC, ASC (Inside Llewyn Davis)
Sean Bobbitt, BSC (12 Years a Slave)

Best Editing:
Alfonso Cuarón, Mark Sanger (Gravity)
Eric Zumbrunnen, A.C.E., Jeff Buchanan (Her)
Dan Hanley, A.C.E., Mike Hill, A.C.E. (Rush)
Joe Walker (12 Years a Slave)
Thelma Schoonmaker, A.C.E. (The Wolf of Wall Street)

Best Original Score:
Christophe Beck (Frozen)
Arcade Fire (Her)
Steven Price (Gravity)
Thomas Newman (Saving Mr. Banks)
Hans Zimmer (12 Years a Slave)

The Joe Barber Award for Best Portrayal of Washington, DC:
Lee Daniels’ The Butler
The East
Olympus Has Fallen
Philomena
White House Down

 

We will announce our winners Monday morning at 8 am.

And I was honored to be invited on two podcasts to discuss our awards, Cinema Royale with Travis Hopson and Cinema Con Queso with John Nolan.

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Awards

Awards 2013: Gotham, National Board of Review, NY Film Critics

Posted on December 5, 2013 at 8:29 pm

The first movie awards of 2013 are in.  I’ve already cast my first round of votes for three more upcoming awards and will vote on the Washington Area Film Critics Awards over the weekend.

National Board of Review

Best Film:  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 Animated Feature: THE WIND RISES

Breakthrough Performance: Michael B. Jordan, FRUITVALE STATION
Breakthrough Performance: Adele Exarchopoulos, BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR

Best Directorial Debut: Ryan Coogler, FRUITVALE STATION

Best Foreign Language Film:  THE PAST

Best Documentary: STORIES WE TELL

William K. Everson Film History Award: George Stevens, Jr.

Best Ensemble:  PRISONERS

Spotlight Award: Career Collaboration of Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio

NBR Freedom of Expression Award: WADJDA

Creative Innovation in Filmmaking Award: GRAVITY

 

Top Films
(in alphabetical order)

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

Top 5 Foreign Language Films

(In Alphabetical Order)

BEYOND THE HILLS

GLORIA

THE GRANDMASTER

A HIJACKING

THE HUNT

 

Top 5 Documentaries

(In Alphabetical Order)

 

20 FEET FROM STARDOM

THE ACT OF KILLING

AFTER TILLER

CASTING BY

THE SQUARE

 

Top 10 Independent Films

(In Alphabetical Order)

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

  (more…)

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Awards
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