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)

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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

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Awards Season Heats Up

Posted on January 11, 2015 at 8:00 am

This is the week when we start seeing things come together as we get ready for the biggest awards night in the world of movies, the Oscars, coming up on February 22, 2015. Tonight is the Golden Globes. Amy Poehler and Tina Fey are hosting, no one takes it too seriously, and the tables are well-supplied with liquor, which means it will be the most fun. They also give out a lot of awards — television and movies, with separate categories for drama and comedy/musical.Presenters include: Jack Black, Don Cheadle, Benedict Cumberbatch, David Duchovny, Colin Farrell, Katie Holmes, Jared Leto, Julianna Margulies, Melissa McCarthy, Sienna Miller, Clive Owen, Paul Rudd, Naomi Watts, Oprah Winfrey Amy Adams, Jennifer Aniston, Kate Beckinsale, Adrien Brody, Bryan Cranston, Jamie Dornan, Robert Downey Jr., Anna Faris, Colin Firth, Jane Fonda, Harrison Ford, Ricky Gervais, Bill Hader, Kevin Hart, Salma Hayek, Katherine Heigl, Kate Hudson, Dakota Johnson, Adam Levine, Jennifer Lopez, Matthew McConaughey, Seth Meyers, Lupita Nyong’o, Gwyneth Paltrow, Chris Pratt, Jeremy Renner, Meryl Streep, Channing Tatum, Lily Tomlin, Vince Vaughn, Kerry Washington, Kristen Wiig, Owen Wilson and Catherine Zeta-Jones. I’ll be posting my thoughts on the high and low points and any surprises tomorrow.

Thursday morning, we get the Oscar nominations. There will be a few hours to pore over the nods and snubs, and then Thursday night is my favorite awards show, the Critics Choice Awards, and I’ll be attending in person. Our host is Michael Strahan and all the stars will be there. I like the the Critics Choice Awards because the critics see all the films that come out each year, not just the ones the studios are supporting by sending out screener DVDs, so we have the best sense of the range of candidates and the most objectivity, too, as we are not a part of the industry. Plus it is our 20th anniversary broadcast and the show will be a lot of fun. So be sure to tune in Thursday, January 15, 2015 at 9 Eastern to see us at the Hollywood Palladium, to see us pay tribute to the films and performances that moved, inspired, entertained, and thrilled us in 2014.

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