Critic’s Choice Nominations 2012

Posted on December 12, 2012 at 6:38 pm

I am, as ever, honored to be a part of the Broadcast Film Critics Association, which selects the Critics Choice Awards (be sure to watch the award ceremony live on the CW January 10 — I’ll be there!!) Here are the nominees:

BEST PICTURE
Argo
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Django Unchained
Les Miserables
Life of Pi
Lincoln
The Master
Moonrise Kingdom
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty

BEST ACTOR
Bradley Cooper – Silver Linings Playbook
Daniel Day-Lewis – Lincoln
John Hawkes – The Sessions
Hugh Jackman – Les Miserables
Joaquin Phoenix – The Master
Denzel Washington – Flight

BEST ACTRESS
Jessica Chastain – Zero Dark Thirty
Marion Cotillard – Rust and Bone
Jennifer Lawrence – Silver Linings Playbook
Emmanuelle Riva – Amour
Quvenzhane Wallis – Beasts of the Southern Wild
Naomi Watts – The Impossible

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Alan Arkin – Argo
Javier Bardem – Skyfall
Robert De Niro – Silver Linings Playbook
Philip Seymour Hoffman – The Master
Tommy Lee Jones – Lincoln
Matthew McConaughey – Magic Mike

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams – The Master
Judi Dench – Skyfall
Ann Dowd – Compliance
Sally Field – Lincoln
Anne Hathaway – Les Miserables
Helen Hunt – The Sessions

BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS
Elle Fanning – Ginger & Rosa
Kara Hayward – Moonrise Kingdom
Tom Holland – The Impossible
Logan Lerman – The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Suraj Sharma – Life of Pi
Quvenzhane Wallis – Beasts of the Southern Wild

BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE
Argo
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Les Miserables
Lincoln
Moonrise Kingdom
Silver Linings Playbook

BEST DIRECTOR
Ben Affleck – Argo
Kathryn Bigelow – Zero Dark Thirty
Tom Hooper – Les Miserables
Ang Lee – Life of Pi
David O. Russell – Silver Linings Playbook
Steven Spielberg – Lincoln

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Quentin Tarantino – Django Unchained
John Gatins – Flight
Rian Johnson – Looper
Paul Thomas Anderson – The Master
Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola – Moonrise Kingdom
Mark Boal – Zero Dark Thirty

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Chris Terrio – Argo
Tony Kushner – Lincoln
David O. Russell – Silver Linings Playbook
David Magee – Life of Pi
Stephen Chbosky – The Perks of Being a Wallflower

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Life of Pi – Claudio Miranda
Lincoln – Janusz Kaminski
Les Miserables – Danny Cohen
The Master – Mihai Malaimare Jr.
Skyfall – Roger Deakins

BEST ART DIRECTION
Anna Karenina – Sarah Greenwood/Production Designer, Katie Spencer/Set Decorator
The Hobbit – Dan Hennah/Production Designer, Ra Vincent & Simon Bright/Set Decorators
Les Miserables – Eve Stewart/Production Designer, Anna Lynch-Robinson/Set Decorator
Life of Pi – David Gropman/Production Designer, Anna Pinnock/Set Decorator
Lincoln – Rick Carter/Production Designer, Jim Erickson/Set Decorator

BEST EDITING
Argo – William Goldenberg
Les Miserables – Melanie Ann Oliver, Chris Dickens
Life of Pi – Tim Squyres
Lincoln – Michael Kahn
Zero Dark Thirty – William Goldenberg, Dylan Tichenor

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Anna Karenina – Jacqueline Durran
Cloud Atlas – Kym Barrett, Pierre-Yves Gayraud
The Hobbit – Bob Buck, Ann Maskrey, Richard Taylor
Les Miserables – Paco Delgado
Lincoln – Joanna Johnston

BEST MAKEUP
Cloud Atlas
The Hobbit
Les Miserables
Lincoln

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
The Avengers
Cloud Atlas
The Dark Knight Rises
The Hobbit
Life of Pi

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Brave
Frankenweenie
Madagascar 3
ParaNorman
Rise of the Guardians
Wreck-It Ralph

BEST ACTION MOVIE
The Avengers
The Dark Knight Rises
Looper
Skyfall

BEST ACTOR IN AN ACTION MOVIE
Christian Bale – The Dark Knight Rises
Daniel Craig – Skyfall
Robert Downey Jr. – The Avengers
Joseph Gordon-Levitt – Looper
Jake Gyllenhaal – End of Watch

BEST ACTRESS IN AN ACTION MOVIE
Emily Blunt – Looper
Gina Carano – Haywire
Judi Dench – Skyfall
Anne Hathaway – The Dark Knight Rises
Jennifer Lawrence – The Hunger Games

BEST COMEDY
Bernie
Silver Linings Playbook
Ted
This Is 40
21 Jump Street

BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY
Jack Black – Bernie
Bradley Cooper – Silver Linings Playbook
Paul Rudd – This Is 40
Channing Tatum – 21 Jump Street
Mark Wahlberg – Ted

BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY
Mila Kunis – Ted
Jennifer Lawrence – Silver Linings Playbook
Shirley MacLaine – Bernie
Leslie Mann – This Is 40
Rebel Wilson – Pitch Perfect

BEST SCI-FI/HORROR MOVIE
Cabin in the Woods
Looper
Prometheus

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Amour
The Intouchables
A Royal Affair
Rust and Bone

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Bully
The Imposter
Queen of Versailles
Searching for Sugar Man
The Central Park Five
West of Memphis

BEST SONG
“For You” – performed by Keith Urban/written by Monty Powell & Keith Urban – Actor of Valor
“Skyfall” – performed by Adele/written by Adele Adkins & Paul Epworth – Skyfall
“Still Alive” – performed by Paul Williams/written by Paul Williams – Paul Williams Still Alive
“Suddenly” – performed by Hugh Jackman/written by Claude-Michel Schonberg & Alain Boublil & Herbert Kretzmer – Les Miserables
“Learn Me Right” – performed by Birdy with Mumford & Sons/written by Mumford & Sons – Brave

BEST SCORE
Argo – Alexandre Desplat
Life of Pi – Mychael Danna
Lincoln – John Williams
The Master – Jonny Greenwood
Moonrise Kingdom – Alexandre Desplat

“Lincoln” received a record-setting 13 nominations for the 18th annual Critics’ Choice Movie Awards, beating out previous record holder “Black Swan,” which had 12 nominations in 2011. Steven Spielberg’s “Lincoln” garnered nods for Best Picture, Best Actor for Daniel Day-Lewis, Best Supporting Actor for Tommy Lee Jones, Best Supporting Actress for Sally Field, Best Acting Ensemble, Best Director for Steven Spielberg, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, Best Editing, Best Costume Design, Best Makeup and Best Score.

Following closely behind is “Les Misérables,” which received 11 nominations for Best Picture, Best Actor for Hugh Jackman, Best Supporting Actress for Anne Hathaway, Best Acting Ensemble, Best Director for Tom Hooper, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, Best Editing, Best Costume Design, Best Makeup and Best Song for “Suddenly.”

David O. Russell’s “Silver Linings Playbook” also impressed with 10 nominations for Best Picture, Best Actor for Bradley Cooper, Best Actress for Jennifer Lawrence, Best Supporting Actor for Robert De Niro, Best Acting Ensemble, Best Director for David O. Russell, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Comedy, Best Actor in a Comedy for Bradley Cooper and Best Actress in a Comedy Jennifer Lawrence.

“Life of Pi” earned 9 nominations, and “Argo,” “The Master” and “Skyfall” each garnered 7 nominations. Jennifer Lawrence leads the female nominees with nods for Best Actress, Best Actress in a Comedy and Best Acting Ensemble for “Silver Linings Playbook” as well as Best Actress in an Action Movie for “The Hunger Games.” Bradley Cooper leads the male nominees with nods for Best Actor, Best Actor in a Comedy and Best Acting Ensemble for “Silver Livings Playbook.” Judi Dench was nominated for both Best Supporting Actress and Best Actress in an Action Movie for “Skyfall” and nine-year-old Quvenzhané Wallis was nominated for Best Actress and Best Young Actress for “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” contributing to the film’s 3 nominations, including Best Picture.

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The Washington Area Film Critics Awards 2012

Posted on December 10, 2012 at 8:29 am

This morning, the Washington, D.C. Area Film Critics Association (WAFCA) announced their winners for 2012, honoring a wide sweep of films, from musicals to science fiction. And while only three films garnered more than one award, it was clear that historical/political dramas resonated most with the critics from the nation’s capital.

“Zero Dark Thirty,” the account of U.S. intelligence specialists’ and Army special forces’ pursuit and elimination of terrorist Osama bin Laden, won Best Film. In 2009, Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman to ever win the WAFCA prize for Best Director for her Iraq War film, “The Hurt Locker.” Just three years later, Bigelow has won the same award again for “Zero Dark Thirty.”

“In a year full of strong films,” said WAFCA President, Tim Gordon, “director Kathryn Bigelow’s bold and audacious vision, represented in our Best Picture winner, is the perfect political story for our members in the District of Columbia. This story, told with steely, cold effectiveness, is a worthy entry into WAFCA’s Best Picture canon and a cinematic achievement that we are proud to honor.”

“Zero Dark Thirty” also netted Jessica Chastain her first Best Actress award. Daniel Day-Lewis won Best Actor for his riveting portrayal of President Abraham Lincoln in the year’s other outstanding historical drama, “Lincoln.” Best Supporting Actor went to Philip Seymour Hoffman for “The Master” and Best Supporting Actress went to Anne Hathaway for “Les Misérables,” which also scooped the Best Acting Ensemble.

The screenplay awards covered two very different films: Best Adapted Screenplay went to David O. Russell for his story of love and shared neuroses in “Silver Linings Playbook,” and Rian Johnson won Best Original Screenplay for his time travel mind-bender, “Looper.”

Best Animated Feature was won by “ParaNorman,” Best Documentary by “Bully,” and Best Foreign Language Film by Michael Haneke’s “Amour.” Best Art Direction went to “Cloud Atlas,” while Claudio Miranda won Best Cinematography for “Life of Pi,” and Jonny Greenwood took Best Score for “The Master.”

New this year, WAFCA proudly instituted The Joe Barber Award for Best Youth Performance, named in honor of beloved D.C. film critic and WTOP’s longtime arts editor, Joe Barber, who passed away just over a year ago. The award, which highlights the best performance from an actor or actress under 20, went to Quvenzhané Wallis for “Beasts of the Southern Wild.”

“It’s a shame Joe was not able to see Quvenzhané’s fierce and compassionate performance in this gem of a film,” said Gordon. “It’s exactly the sort of role Joe would have loved, and we are so thankful to be able to remember him going forward with this very special award.”

The Washington, D.C. Area Film Critics Association is comprised of nearly 50 DC-VA-MD-based film critics from television, radio, print and the Internet. Voting was conducted from December 7-9, 2012.

Best Film:
Zero Dark Thirty

Best Director:
Kathryn Bigelow (Zero Dark Thirty)

Best Actor:
Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln)

Best Actress:
Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty)

Best Supporting Actor:
Philip Seymour Hoffman (The Master)

Best Supporting Actress:
Anne Hathaway (Les Misérables)

Best Acting Ensemble:
Les Misérables

Best Adapted Screenplay:
David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook)

Best Original Screenplay:
Rian Johnson (Looper)

Best Animated Feature:
ParaNorman

Best Documentary:
Bully

Best Foreign Language Film:
Amour

Best Art Direction:
Uli Hanisch, Hugh Bateup – Production Designers; Peter Walpole, Rebecca Alleway – Set Decorators (Cloud Atlas)

Best Cinematography:
Claudio Miranda (Life of Pi)

Best Score:
Jonny Greenwood (The Master)

The Joe Barber Award for Best Youth Performance:
Quvenzhané Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild)

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National Board of Review Kicks Off the 2012 Awards With “Zero Dark Thirty”

Posted on December 5, 2012 at 7:18 pm

The first big movie awards announcement each year comes from the National Board of Review, a group of film academics, students, and professionals. The Osama Bin Laden manhunt drama “Zero Dark Thirty” from “The Hurt Locker’s” Kathryn Bigelow, tops the list and Bigelow was awarded Best Director, and star Jessica Chastain, who plays the CIA official who spent 12 years tracking Bin Laden, was selected as Best Actress. People’s recently-announced Sexiest Man Alive Bradley Cooper continued his winning streak with the Best Actor award for his performance as a bi-polar man in “Silver Linings Playbook,” which also won best adapted screenplay. Best Original Screenplay went to the twisty time-travel “Looper,” and Disney won Best Animated Feature with “Wreck-It Ralph.” The complete list:

Best Film: ZERO DARK THIRTY
Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow, ZERO DARK THIRTY
Best Actor: Bradley Cooper, SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK
Best Actress: Jessica Chastain, ZERO DARK THIRTY
Best Supporting Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio, DJANGO UNCHAINED
Best Supporting Actress: Ann Dowd, COMPLIANCE
Best Adapted Screenplay: SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK
Best Original Screenplay: LOOPER
Best Animated Feature: WRECK-IT RALPH
Breakthrough Actor: Tom Holland, THE IMPOSSIBLE
Breakthrough Actress: Quvenzhane Wallis, BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD
Best Directorial Debut: Benh Zeitlin, BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD
Best Foreign Language Film: AMOUR
Best Documentary: SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN
Best Ensemble: LES MISERABLES
Spotlight Award: John Goodman, ARGO, FLIGHT and TROUBLE WITH THE CURVE
NBR Freedom of Expression: THE CENTRAL PARK FIVE and PROMISED LAND
William K. Everson Film History Award: 50 Years of Bond Films

Top Films (in alphabetical order): ARGO, BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD, DJANGO UNCHAINED, LES MISERABLES, LINCOLN, LOOPER, THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER, PROMISED LAND, SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK

Top 5 Foreign Language Films (in alphabetical order): BARBARA, THE INTOUCHABLES, THE KID WITH A BIKE, NO, WAR WITCH

Top 5 Documentaries (in alphabetical order): AI WEIWEI: NEVER SORRY, DETROPIA, THE GATEKEEPERS, THE INVISIBLE WAR, ONLY THE YOUNG

Top 10 Independent Films (in alphabetical order): ARBITRAGE, BERNIE, COMPLIANCE, END OF WATCH, HELLO I MUST BE GOING, LITTLE BIRDS, MOONRISE KINGDOM, ON THE ROAD, QUARTET, SLEEPWALK WITH ME

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MTV’s Movie Awards

Posted on June 4, 2012 at 9:13 am

They are brash, rude, silly, immature, and disrespectful, but the MTV Movie Awards are a lot of fun.

Over at the NPR blog Monkey See, Linda Holmes writes:

At the same time, there’s something to be said for these loose, largely fan-voted awards that dispense with awards like Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay (fans are not great at knowing what elements of a movie come from the director versus the screenwriter anyway) in favor of awards like … Best Kiss. Best Fight. And in some years, Best Scared-As-S—t Performance. (I kind of love the fact that last year, they nominated Ryan Reynolds in Buried in that category, because no, that movie isn’t great, but it’s creepy, and yes, he is scared.) And this year, they’re giving out Best Dirtbag. Well — it’s actually Best On-Screen Dirtbag. It’s probably easier to get somebody on stage to accept an award if the chyron doesn’t just say “Best Dirtbag: .”

While the Oscars are great at recognizing movies that have certain admirable qualities – distinctive and energetic acting, say, or beautifully stylized dialogue – they have never been nearly as good at recognizing the value of the entertainment side of moviegoing. They have been reticent to acknowledge on an institutional level that people go to the movies, much of the time, to experience something exhilarating. They go to laugh, to weep and swoon, to look at beautiful places, to be scared and excited and surprised. They don’t always go in order to see the most skilled artists at work. Sometimes they just want to be made to react.

It was a big year for “The Hunger Games.” Emma Stone was a highlight with her exceptionally thoughtful and gracious acceptance of the Trailblazer award and its message about blazing your own trails, and Fun. was a great choice for the kick-off song. This year’s winners are:

Movie of the Year
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1

Best Male Performance
Josh Hutcherson, The Hunger Games

Best Female Performance
Jennifer Lawrence, The Hunger Games

Breakthrough Performance
Shailene Woodley, The Descendants

Best Cast
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2

Best On-Screen Transformation
Elizabeth Banks, The Hunger Games

Best Fight
Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson vs. Alexander Ludwig, The Hunger Games

Best Kiss
Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1

Best On-Screen Dirtbag
Jennifer Aniston, Horrible Bosses

Best Music
“Party Rock Anthem,” LMFAO (21 Jump Street)

Best Comedic Performance
Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids

Most Gut-Wrenching Performance
The cast of Bridesmaids

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And the Oscars Go To…..

Posted on February 27, 2012 at 10:37 am

There were no big surprises but there were many touching and inspiring moments in the midst of the glamour at the Oscar ceremony. Billy Crystal returned for the ninth time as the modern era’s most adept host, making gentle fun of the stars and of the theater’s losing its name in the midst of a bankruptcy proceeding. Stay tuned for my Gallery on the best and the worst of the Oscar broadcast. In the meantime, here’s a look at the winners:

Best Picture: The Artist

Best Actor: Jean Dujardin, The Artist

Best Actress: Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady

Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer, Beginners

Best Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer, The Help

Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist

Short Film (Animated): The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore

Short Film (Documentary): Saving Face

Short Film (Live Action): The Shore

Writing (Original Screenplay): Midnight In Paris

Writing (Adapted Screenplay): The Descendants

Music (Original Song): “Man Or Muppet,” The Muppets

Music (Original Score): The Artist

Visual Effects: Hugo

Animated Feature: Rango

Documentary Feature: Undefeated

Sound Mixing: Hugo

Sound Editing: Hugo

Film Editing: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Makeup: The Iron Lady

Costume Design: The Artist, Mark Bridges

Art Direction: Hugo

Cinematography: Hugo

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