African-American Film Critics Crown "12 Years a Slave" Best of 2013

by Amos Semien

The African-American Film Critics Association named director Steve McQueen's 12 Years a Slave the "Best Film" of 2013, with McQueen also receiving the "Best Director" prize.  Many other critics organizations have named Chiwetel Ejiofor and Lupita Nyong'o of 12 Years a Slave best actor and best supporting actress, respectively.  However, the AAFCA went with two of the cast members of Lee Daniels: The Butler as "Best Actor" (Forest Whitaker) and "Best Supporting Actor" (Oprah Winfrey).  I've included the text of the press release with which the AAFCA announced its 2013 film awards at the bottom of this post.

The African-American Film Critics Association (AAFCA) is a group of African-American film critics that give various awards for excellence in film at the end of each year.  The association was founded in 2003 by Gil L. Robertson IV and Shawn Edwards.

2013 African-American Film Critics Association Awards winners:

Best Actor                               Forest Whitaker, Lee Daniels: The Butler (TWC)

Best Actress                            Sandra Bullock, Gravity (Warner Bros.)

Best Supporting Actress         Oprah Winfrey, Lee Daniels: The Butler (TWC)

Best Supporting Actor            Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club (Focus Features)

Best World Cinema                Mother of George (Oscilloscope Laboratories)

Breakout Performance            Lupita Nyong’o, 12 Years a Slave (Fox Searchlight)

Best Director                           Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave (Fox Searchlight)

Best Screenplay                      John Ridley, 12 Years a Slave (Fox Searchlight)

Best Music                              Raphael Sadiq, Black Nativity (RCA Inspirational)

Best Independent Film           Fruitvale Station (TWC)

Best Animation                       Frozen (Walt Disney Pictures)

Best Documentary                  American Promise (Rada Film Group)

The African-American Film Critics Association’s Top Ten Films of 2013 are as follows in order of distinction:

1. 12 Years a Slave

2. Lee Daniels: The Butler

3. Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

4. American Hustle

5. Gravity

6. Fruitvale Station

7.  Dallas Buyers Club

8. Saving Mr. Banks

9. Out of the Furnace

10. 42


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Press Release:

AFRICAN-AMERICAN FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION NAMES 12 YEARS A SLAVE AS TOP FILM OF 2013

Forest Whitaker, Sandra Bullock, Oprah Winfrey and Jared Leto Also Receive Wins from the Nation’s Premiere African American Critics Group

Los Angeles, CA (December 13, 2013) – The African-American Film Critics Association (AAFCA) has named 12 Years a Slave as the Best Picture of 2013.  The Fox Searchlight film’s also earned Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Newcomer honors for Steve McQueen, John Ridley and Lupita Nyong’o. The organization, which represents the leading African-American film critics nationwide, will formally present its awards during a private ceremony on Friday, January 31, 2014 hosted by Orlando Jones at the Taglyan Complex in Hollywood, CA.

In the acting categories, Forest Whitaker won Best Actor for his performance in Lee Daniels: The Butler and Sandra Bullock was named Best Actress for Gravity. Oprah Winfrey received Best Supporting Actress 2013 for her role in The Butler and Jared Leto earned Best Supporting Actor 2013 for his performance in Dallas Buyers Club.

Rounding out the 2013 AAFCA Award winners are Fruitvale Station, for Best Independent Film, Frozen Best Animated Feature; Mother of George, for Best World Cinema and American Promise, from Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson.  Producer Raphael Saadiq won in the Best Music category for Black Nativity.

As previously announced, AAFCA’s Special Achievement honors will be awarded to AMPAS President Cheryl Boone Isaacs, TWC’s Bob and Harvey Weinstein, FOX SEARCHLIGHT’s Zola Mashariki and DGA’s President Paris Barclay. AAFCA’s Inaugural Roger Ebert Award will be given to Justin Chang of Variety.  “The film industry reached an incredibly high benchmark in 2013 in terms of the level of performance and diversity on screen,” says AAFCA President and Founder, Gil Robertson. “From the dramatic and heartwarming performances given by Whitaker and Winfrey, to Jared Leto’s incredible transformation as a transgender, the performances this year represented some of the finest examples of the acting craft.”

The organization’s Top Ten list of films includes 12 Years a Slave, Lee Daniels: The Butler, Gravity, American Hustle and Mandela.  “Hollywood did an excellent job in providing filmgoers with excellent examples of cinema that examine the core of the humanity. We hope this trend continues,” says AAFCA’s East Coast V.P. Daryle Lockhart, owner of Black Box Office.com.

About AAFCA
The African-American Film Critics Association (AAFCA) is the premiere organization of African-American film media professionals. Founded in 2003, AAFCA’s members represent a geographically diverse cross-section of media covering the cinematic arts. The organization honors excellence in cinema by creating awareness for films with universal appeal to black communities, while emphasizing film about the black experience and those produced written, directed and starring performers of African descent. The association actively reviews the quality and standard of black talent, content and media coverage. AAFCA also supports the development of future black film critics and filmmakers. AAFCA is based in Los Angeles.

END of release

"Gravity" Leads 2014 BAFTA Nominations - Complete List

by Amos Semien

The British Academy Film Awards (also known as the BAFTAs) are presented in an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA). They are the British counterpart of the Oscars.

Previously known as the Orange British Academy Film Awards, they are now known as the EE British Academy Film Awards.  The British telecommunications company, EE, replaces Orange as the title sponsor of the awards.

Wednesday, January 08, 2014, the nominations for the EE British Academy Film Awards in 2014 were announced.  Gravity received 11 nominations.  12 Years a Slave and American Hustle were each nominated in ten categories.  Captain Phillips received nine nominations.  Behind the Candelabra and Saving Mr. Banks are each nominated five times.

Isn’t Behind the Candelabra a TV movie, you ask?  Yes, it is, debuting on HBO in May 2013, and, as such, it is not eligible for the Oscars.  However, Behind the Candelabra made its United Kingdom debut in theatres, beginning June 7, 2013, which makes it a theatrical release and thus, eligible for the BAFTA film awards.

The nominees for the EE Rising Star Award were announced earlier this week, and the nominees are Dane DeHaan, George MacKay, Lupita Nyong’o, Will Poulter and Léa Seydoux.  This audience award is voted for by the British public and presented to an actor or actress who has demonstrated exceptional talent and promise.

The EE British Academy Film Awards take place on Sunday, February 16, 2014 at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London.  The ceremony will be hosted by Stephen Fry and will be broadcast exclusively on BBC One and BBC One HD, preceded by a red carpet show on BBC Three. The ceremony is also broadcast in all major territories around the world.

[BAFTA Statement:  Nominations are correct at the time of going to print. BAFTA reserves the right to make changes to the names listed at any time up until 16 February 2014.]

The 2014 BAFTA Award nominations:

BEST FILM:
12 YEARS A SLAVE Anthony Katagas, Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Steve McQueen
AMERICAN HUSTLE Charles Roven, Richard Suckle, Megan Ellison, Jonathan Gordon
CAPTAIN PHILLIPS Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti, Michael De Luca
GRAVITY Alfonso Cuarón, David Heyman
PHILOMENA Gabrielle Tana, Steve Coogan, Tracey Seaward

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM:
GRAVITY Alfonso Cuarón, David Heyman, Jonás Cuarón
MANDELA: LONG WALK TO FREEDOM Justin Chadwick, Anant Singh, David M. Thompson, William Nicholson
PHILOMENA Stephen Frears, Gabrielle Tana, Steve Coogan, Tracey Seaward, Jeff Pope
RUSH Ron Howard, Andrew Eaton, Peter Morgan
SAVING MR. BANKS John Lee Hancock, Alison Owen, Ian Collie, Philip Steuer, Kelly Marcel, Sue Smith
THE SELFISH GIANT: Clio Barnard, Tracy O’Riordan

OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER:
COLIN CARBERRY (Writer), GLENN PATTERSON (Writer) Good Vibrations
KELLY MARCEL (Writer) Saving Mr. Banks
KIERAN EVANS (Director/Writer) Kelly + Victor
PAUL WRIGHT (Director/Writer), POLLY STOKES (Producer) For Those in Peril
SCOTT GRAHAM (Director/Writer) Shell

FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE:
THE ACT OF KILLING Joshua Oppenheimer, Signe Byrge Sørensen
BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOUR Abdellatif Kechiche, Brahim Chioua, Vincent Maraval
THE GREAT BEAUTY Paolo Sorrentino, Nicola Giuliano, Francesca Cima
METRO MANILA  Sean Ellis, Mathilde Charpentier
WADJDA Haifaa Al-Mansour, Gerhard Meixner, Roman Paul

DOCUMENTARY:
THE ACT OF KILLING Joshua Oppenheimer
THE ARMSTRONG LIE Alex Gibney
BLACKFISH Gabriela Cowperthwaite
TIM’S VERMEER Teller, Penn Jillette, Farley Ziegler
WE STEAL SECRETS: THE STORY OF WIKILEAKS Alex Gibney

ANIMATED FILM:
DESPICABLE ME 2 Chris Renaud, Pierre Coffin
FROZEN Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee
MONSTERS UNIVERSITY Dan Scanlon

DIRECTOR:
12 YEARS A SLAVE Steve McQueen
AMERICAN HUSTLE David O. Russell
CAPTAIN PHILLIPS Paul Greengrass
GRAVITY Alfonso Cuarón
THE WOLF OF WALL STREET Martin Scorsese

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:
AMERICAN HUSTLE Eric Warren Singer, David O. Russell
BLUE JASMINE Woody Allen
GRAVITY Alfonso Cuarón, Jonás Cuarón
INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
NEBRASKA Bob Nelson

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:
12 YEARS A SLAVE John Ridley
BEHIND THE CANDELABRA Richard LaGravenese
CAPTAIN PHILLIPS Billy Ray
PHILOMENA Steve Coogan, Jeff Pope
THE WOLF OF WALL STREET Terence Winter

LEADING ACTOR:
BRUCE DERN Nebraska
CHIWETEL EJIOFOR 12 Years a Slave
CHRISTIAN BALE American Hustle
LEONARDO DICAPRIO The Wolf of Wall Street
TOM HANKS Captain Phillips

LEADING ACTRESS:
AMY ADAMS American Hustle
CATE BLANCHETT Blue Jasmine
EMMA THOMPSON Saving Mr. Banks
JUDI DENCH Philomena
SANDRA BULLOCK Gravity

SUPPORTING ACTOR:
BARKHAD ABDI Captain Phillips
BRADLEY COOPER American Hustle
DANIEL BRÜHL Rush
MATT DAMON Behind the Candelabra
MICHAEL FASSBENDER 12 Years a Slave

SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
JENNIFER LAWRENCE American Hustle
JULIA ROBERTS August: Osage County
LUPITA NYONG’O 12 Years a Slave
OPRAH WINFREY The Butler
SALLY HAWKINS Blue Jasmine

ORIGINAL MUSIC:
12 YEARS A SLAVE  Hans Zimmer
THE BOOK THIEF John Williams
CAPTAIN PHILLIPS Henry Jackman
GRAVITY Steven Price
SAVING MR. BANKS Thomas Newman

CINEMATOGRAPHY:
12 YEARS A SLAVE Sean Bobbitt
CAPTAIN PHILLIPS Barry Ackroyd
GRAVITY Emmanuel Lubezki
INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS Bruno Delbonnel
NEBRASKA Phedon Papamichael

EDITING:
12 YEARS A SLAVE Joe Walker
CAPTAIN PHILLIPS Christopher Rouse
GRAVITY Alfonso Cuarón, Mark Sanger
RUSH Dan Hanley, Mike Hill
THE WOLF OF WALL STREET Thelma Schoonmaker

PRODUCTION DESIGN:
12 YEARS A SLAVE Adam Stockhausen, Alice Baker
AMERICAN HUSTLE Judy Becker, Heather Loeffler
BEHIND THE CANDELABRA Howard Cummings
GRAVITY Andy Nicholson, Rosie Goodwin, Joanne Woodlard
THE GREAT GATSBY Catherine Martin, Beverley Dunn

COSTUME DESIGN:
AMERICAN HUSTLE Michael Wilkinson
BEHIND THE CANDELABRA Ellen Mirojnick
THE GREAT GATSBY Catherine Martin
THE INVISIBLE WOMAN Michael O’Connor
SAVING MR. BANKS Daniel Orlandi

MAKE UP & HAIR:
AMERICAN HUSTLE Evelyne Noraz, Lori McCoy-Bell
BEHIND THE CANDELABRA Kate Biscoe, Marie Larkin
THE BUTLER Debra Denson, Beverly Jo Pryor, Candace Neal
THE GREAT GATSBY Maurizio Silvi, Kerry Warn
THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG Peter Swords King, Richard Taylor, Rick Findlater

SOUND:
ALL IS LOST Richard Hymns, Steve Boeddeker, Brandon Proctor, Micah Bloomberg, Gillian Arthur
CAPTAIN PHILLIPS Chris Burdon, Mark Taylor, Mike Prestwood Smith, Chris Munro, Oliver Tarney
GRAVITY Glenn Freemantle, Skip Lievsay, Christopher Benstead, Niv Adiri, Chris Munro
INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS Peter F. Kurland, Skip Lievsay, Greg Orloff
RUSH Danny Hambrook, Martin Steyer, Stefan Korte, Markus Stemler, Frank Kruse

SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS:
GRAVITY Tim Webber, Chris Lawrence, David Shirk, Neil Corbould, Nikki Penny
THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton, Eric Reynolds
IRON MAN 3 Bryan Grill, Christopher Townsend, Guy Williams, Dan Sudick
PACIFIC RIM Hal Hickel, John Knoll, Lindy De Quattro, Nigel Sumner
STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS Ben Grossmann, Burt Dalton, Patrick Tubach, Roger Guyett

BRITISH SHORT ANIMATION:
EVERYTHING I CAN SEE FROM HERE Bjorn-Erik Aschim, Friederike Nicolaus, Sam Taylor
I AM TOM MOODY Ainslie Henderson
SLEEPING WITH THE FISHES James Walker, Sarah Woolner, Yousif Al-Khalifa

BRITISH SHORT FILM:
ISLAND QUEEN Ben Mallaby, Nat Luurtsema
KEEPING UP WITH THE JONESES Megan Rubens, Michael Pearce, Selina Lim
ORBIT EVER AFTER Chee-Lan Chan, Jamie Stone, Len Rowles
ROOM 8 James W. Griffiths, Sophie Venner
SEA VIEW Anna Duffield, Jane Linfoot

THE EE RISING STAR AWARD (voted for by the public):
DANE DEHAAN
GEORGE MACKAY
LUPITA NYONG’O      
WILL POULTER
LÉA SEYDOUX

http://www.bafta.org/

END

Cinematographers Announce 2014 ASC Award Nominations with 7 Nominees

by Amos Semien

The American Society of Cinematographers has announced the nominations for the 28th installment of its annual awards honoring outstanding achievement in the field of motion picture cinematography.  I have included the press release from the organization.

The American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) is an educational, cultural, and professional organization, but it is not a labor union or a guild.  On its website, the organization says that it is “a non-profit association dedicated to advancing the art of filmmaking.”  ASC membership is by invitation, based on an individual’s body of work, and invitations are extended only to directors of photography (D.o.P.) and special effects experts with distinguished credits in the film industry.

ASC members can put the letters A.S.C. after their names and membership is a mark of prestige and distinction and has become one of the highest honors that can be bestowed upon a professional cinematographer.  The current membership roster comprises 302 cinematographers from about 20 different countries. The ASC also has more than 150 associate members, who work in ancillary sectors of the industry.  They are invited to join because of their contributions to the art and craft of motion pictures.  ASC also publishes the magazine, American Cinematographer.

Press release:

The American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) has announced nominations in the theatrical motion picture category of the 28th Annual ASC Awards for Outstanding Achievement.  The winner will be revealed at the awards ceremony on Saturday, February 1, 2014, at the Hollywood & Highland Ray Dolby Ballroom.

28th Annual ASC Awards (2014) nominations:

Sean Bobbitt, BSC for 12 Years a Slave
Barry Ackroyd, BSC for Captain Phillips
Philippe Le Sourd for The Grandmaster
Emmanuel Lubezki, ASC, AMC for Gravity
Bruno Delbonnel, ASC, AFC for Inside Llewyn Davis
Phedon Papamichael, ASC for Nebraska
Roger Deakins, ASC, BSC for Prisoners

“Our members believe these cinematographers have set the contemporary standard for artful, theatrical motion picture cinematography,” says ASC President Richard Crudo. “They have mastered a complex craft which contributes vitally to the storytelling process, and augments the intentions of everyone involved with the production.”

Traditionally, the organization selects five nominees, but a three-way tie this year boosts that number to seven.

This year’s nomination brings Deakins’ total to 12. He won last year for Skyfall, and previously for The Shawshank Redemption (1995) and The Man Who Wasn’t There (2002). His other nominations were for Fargo (1997), Kundun (1998), O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2001), No Country for Old Men (2008), The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2008), Revolutionary Road (2009), The Reader (2009) and True Grit (2011). He was also the recipient of the organization’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011.

Lubezki has won ASC Awards for The Tree of Life (2012) and for Children of Men (2007), and was also nominated in 2000 for Sleepy Hollow.

Delbonnel earned top honors for A Very Long Engagement (2005), as well as a nomination for Amélie (2002).

Ackroyd was previously nominated for The Hurt Locker (2010).

Papamichael earned previous nominations in the television movie and miniseries category for White Dwarf (1996) and Wild Palms (1994), respectively.

This is the first ASC nomination for Bobbitt and Le Sourd.

http://www.theasc.com/

END

John Legend to Rock Post-Oscars Party, the Governors Ball

John Legend to Perform at Governors Ball on Oscar® Sunday

BEVERLY HILLS, CA —John Legend, nine-time Grammy® Award-winning singer-songwriter, will take the stage on Oscar Sunday, March 2, at the Academy’s official post-Oscars celebration, the Governors Ball.

“John Legend is one of the industry’s most innovative and talented artists,” said Jeffrey Kurland, Costume Design Branch governor and chair of the Governors Ball.  “We’re thrilled he will be joining us to celebrate this year’s achievements in film, and for what promises to be a most memorable evening.”

Legend’s critically acclaimed 2004 debut album, “Get Lifted,” garnered eight Grammy nominations and earned him a win for best R&B album.  That year he also won best new artist of the year and best male R&B vocal performance for the hit single “Ordinary People.”  His fourth solo album, “Love in the Future,” is nominated for best R&B album at the upcoming Grammy Awards.  Legend’s songs have been included in the soundtracks of such films as “Waiting for Superman,” “Think Like a Man” and “Django Unchained.”

In 2007 Legend launched an education-focused organization, the Show Me Campaign, which works to break the cycle of poverty in both the U.S. and Africa.  He also serves on the boards of several other organizations, including Stand for Children, Teach For America, the Harlem Village Academies and PopTech.

Legend will perform for the Ball’s 1,500 guests, which will include Oscar winners and nominees, show presenters and performers, and other luminaries.  The Ball will be held in the Ray Dolby Ballroom on the top level of the Hollywood & Highland Center®.

Academy Awards® for outstanding film achievements of 2013 will be presented on Oscar Sunday, March 2, 2014, at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center and televised live on the ABC Television Network.  The presentation, produced by Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.

2014 DGA Award Nominations: Cuaron, Greengrass, McQueen, Russell, Scorsese

by Amos Semien

The Directors Guild of America (DGA) is the entertainment labor union that represents film and television directors.  The DGA gives out the Directors Guild of America Award each year to honor outstanding achievement.

The Directors Guild of America President announced the five nominees for the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film for 2013 (also known as the 2014 DGA Awards) on Tuesday, January 07, 2014.

Alfonso Cuarón, Steve McQueen and David O. Russell were the expected nominations.  From what I’ve read, people who follow film awards did not expect Paul Greengrass and Martin Scorsese to receive nominations, or at least not as much as they expected others such as brothers Joel and Ethan Coen (Inside Llewyn Davis), Alexander Payne (Nebraska) and Spike Jonze (Her).

Historically the DGA Awards are a good predictor of five directors who will receive Oscar nominations.  However, last year, only two of DGA Award nominees received Oscar nominations, and the eventual best director Oscar winner, Ben Affleck, was not one of the two.

In the next week, nominees in the television, commercials, and documentary categories will be announced.  The winners, including in the feature film category, will be named at the 66th Annual DGA Awards Dinner on Saturday, January 25, 2014 at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Los Angeles.

66th Annual DGA Awards Full list of nominations below (with their teams and historical notes from the DGA):

ALFONSO CUARÓN
Gravity
(Warner Bros. Pictures)

Mr. Cuarón’s Directorial Team:
•         Unit Production Manager: David Siegel (Arizona Unit)
•         First Assistant Directors: Josh Robertson, Stephen Hagen (Arizona Unit)
•         Second Assistant Director: Ben Howard

This is Mr. Cuarón’s first DGA Award nomination.

PAUL GREENGRASS
Captain Phillips
(Columbia Pictures)

Mr. Greengrass’s Directorial Team:
•         Unit Production Managers: Todd Lewis, Gregory Goodman
•         First Assistant Director: Chris Carreras
•         Second Assistant Directors: Nick Shuttleworth, Mark S. Constance

This is Mr. Greengrass’s first DGA Award nomination.

STEVE McQUEEN
12 Years A Slave
(Fox Searchlight Pictures)

Mr. McQueen’s Directorial Team:
•         Unit Production Manager: Anthony Katagas
•         First Assistant Director: Doug Torres
•         Second Assistant Director: James Roque Jr.
•         Second Second Assistant Director: Sherman Shelton Jr.
•         Additional Second Assistant Director: Nathan Parker

This is Mr. McQueen’s first DGA Award nomination.

DAVID O. RUSSELL
American Hustle
(Columbia Pictures)

Mr. Russell’s Directorial Team:
•         Unit Production Managers: Shea Kammer, Mark Kamine
•         First Assistant Director: Michele ‘Shelley’ Ziegler
•         Second Assistant Director: Xanthus Valan
•         Second Second Assistant Director: Jason Fesel
•         Location Managers: David Velasco, Guy Efrat (New York Unit)

This is Mr. Russell’s second DGA Award nomination.  He was previously nominated in this category for The Fighter in 2010.

MARTIN SCORSESE
The Wolf of Wall Street
(Paramount Pictures)

Mr. Scorsese’s Directorial Team:
•         Unit Production Manager: Richard Baratta
•         First Assistant Director: Adam Somner
•         Second Assistant Director: Francisco Oritz
•         Second Second Assistant Director: Jeremy Marks
•         Additional Second Assistant Director: Scott Koche
•         Location Manager: Nils Widboom

This is Mr. Scorsese’s eleventh DGA Award nomination.  He won the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film in 2006 for The Departed, and has also been nominated in that category for Taxi Driver (1976), Raging Bull (1980), Goodfellas (1990), The Age of Innocence (1993), Gangs of New York (2002), The Aviator (2004) and Hugo (2011).

Mr. Scorsese also won the DGA Award in 2010 for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Dramatic Television for Boardwalk Empire and he was nominated for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary for George Harrison: Living in the Material World in 2011.  In 1999, Mr. Scorsese was presented with the Filmmaker Award at the inaugural DGA Honors Gala, and he was honored with the DGA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003.

http://www.dga.org/

END

Review: "The Weight of Water" is a Heavy Drama (Happy B'day, Sarah Polley)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 81 (of 2007) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Weight of Water (2000)
Running time:  114 minutes (1 hour, 54 minutes)
MPAA – R for violence, sexuality/nudity, and brief language
DIRECTOR:  Kathryn Bigelow
WRITERS:  Alice Arlen and Christopher Kyle (based upon the novel by Anita Shreve)
PRODUCERS:  Janet Yang, Sigurjon Sighvatsson, and A. Kitman Ho
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Adrian Biddle
EDITOR:  Howard E. Smith
COMPOSER:  David Hirschfelder

DRAMA/MYSTERY with elements of a thriller

Starring:  Sean Penn, Catherine McCormack, Josh Lucas, Elizabeth Hurley, Sarah Polley, Ciarán Hinds, Ulrich Thomsen, Anders W. Berthelsen, and Katrin Cartlidge

The subject of this movie review is The Weight of Water, a 2000 drama and mystery film from director Kathryn Bigelow.  The film made its debut in 2000, but did not receive a U.S. release until November 2002.  The film is based on the 1997 novel, The Weight of Water, by author Anita Shreve.  The novel, which is historical fiction, is based in part on a real-life 19th century American murder case.  The Weight of Water the movie focuses on a newspaper photographer who is researching the lurid and sensational axe murder of two women in 1873, while dealing with her own marital problems.

Two couples: Thomas and Jean Janes (Sean Penn and Catherine McCormack) and Thomas’ brother, Rich Janes (Josh Lucas), and his girlfriend, Adaline Gunne (Elizabeth Hurley) take a boat trip to the island of Smuttynose, off the New Hampshire coast.  Jean is conducting a personal investigation of the double murder of two women back in 1873.  Having unearthed an eyewitness account of the murders, Jane seeks to prove that the Louis Wagner (Ciarán Hinds), the man executed for the crimes, was innocent, and that his accuser, Maren Hontvedt (Sarah Polley), was instead the murderer.  The film moves back and forth between the present day and the past, dredging up the incidents surrounding the murders and also the troubles in Thomas and Jean’s marriage.

After making films that fit one way or another in the action genre, director Kathryn Bigelow tackled dysfunctional marriages, dark family secrets, and murder in the film, The Weight of Water.  Quite skilled at creating mood and atmosphere (as shown in her earlier works), Bigelow constructs a movie in which disappointment and resignation saturate the story and anger boils mightily beneath the surface.

The jumps in time, between the present and 1973, aren’t really a distraction; rather they build up tension and allow the stronger half of the film, Maren Hontvedt’s story and the murders in 1873, to support the weaker half, the Janes’ boat trip.  Watching the film, one gets the idea that Bigelow was enamored with Maren Hontvedt’s half of the film and not as interested the present day half featuring the tense dynamic between Thomas, Jean, Rich, and Adaline.  Connection with the present day sub-plots isn’t fun; at times, Bigelow handles them a little clumsily.  On the other hand, she uses the riveting and bloody tale of 1873 to carry the past and present to an ending that is both gut wrenching and heavy.  Here, through Sarah Polley as Maren, Bigelow makes her strongest case that the mistakes of the past, like insistent ghosts, never leave.  They will drown the future if they aren’t guarded against – even in a small moment of weakness when the mind, body and soul lapse into rage.

6 of 10
B

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Update:  Wednesday, January 08, 2014

The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

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January 8, 2014 Deadline Looms for Oscar Nominations Voting

Oscars® Nominations Voting Ends Wednesday, January 8

BEVERLY HILLS, CA —Nominations voting for the Oscars will close on Wednesday, January 8, at 5 p.m. PT.

The votes are being tabulated and verified by the international accounting firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers.

The 86th Oscars Nominations Announcement will be held on Thursday, January 16, 2014, at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

Academy Awards® for outstanding film achievements of 2013 will be presented on Oscar Sunday, March 2, 2014, at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center® and televised live on the ABC Television Network.  The presentation, produced by Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.

Review: "The Ant Bully" is Impressive (Happy B'day, Nicolas Cage)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 8 (of 2007) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Ant Bully (2006) – computer animation
Running time:  89 minutes (1 hour, 29 minutes)
MPAA – PG for some mild rude humor and action
DIRECTOR:  John A. Davis
WRITER:  John A. Davis (based upon the John Nickle)
PRODUCERS:  Tom Hanks, Gary Goetzman, and John A. Davis
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Ken Mitchroney (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Jon Price
COMPOSER:  John Debney

ANIMATION/FANTASY/ADVENTURE/COMEDY/FAMILY

Starring:  (voices) Zach Tyler Eisen, Julia Roberts, Nicolas Cage, Meryl Streep, Paul Giamatti, Regina King, Bruce Campbell, Lily Tomlin, Cheri Oteri, Larry Miller, Allison Mack, Ricardo Montalban, and Myles Jeffrey

The subject of this movie review is The Ant Bully, a 2006 computer-animated fantasy film  from director John A Davis.  The movie is a joint venture from Warner Bros. Animation, Legendary Pictures, DNA Productions and Playtone, which is the production company owned by partners, Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman.  The movie is based on The Ant Bully, a 1999 children’s picture book written and drawn by John Nickle.  The Ant Bully the film focuses on a boy who terrifies an ant colony and then finds himself magically shrunken down to insect size and sentenced to hard labor.

Ten-year old Lucas Nickle (Zach Tyler Eisen) doesn’t have any friends, and he’s always the target of the neighborhood bully, Steve (Myles Jeffrey), and his gang.  His sister, Tiffany (Allison Mack) mostly ignores him.  His father, Fred (Larry Miller), is too busy planning his wedding anniversary trip to Puerto Vallarta, and his grandmother, Mommo (Lily Tomlin), is just plain weird.  However, Lucas finds his mother, Doreen (Cheri Oteri), to be a bit overbearing, and he hates that she calls him “Peanut.”

Lucas takes his frustrations out on the anthill in his front yard – tormenting the ants by frequently flooding their territory.  Lucas thinks of them as “just a bunch of stupid ants,” but he doesn’t know that the anthill is a complex society, in which the members of that colony have names, relationships, emotions, and responsibilities.  They decide to fight back against Lucas – the one they know as the “Destroyer,” so Zoc (Nicolas Cage), a wizard ant, concocts a potion to take care of the Destroyer.  After the ants pour the magic elixir down his ear, Lucas shrinks down to their size, and the ants promptly take him to stand trial for “crimes against the colony.”

The wise Ant Queen (Meryl Streep) sentences Lucas to live amongst the ants and learn their ways so that he can become an ant.  Zoc’s girlfriend, Hova (Julia Roberts), a nurse ant, volunteers to mentor the miniaturized Lucas, much to Zoc’s chagrin.  With the help of Kreela (Regina King), a forager ant, and Fugax (Bruce Campbell), a scout ant, Hova helps the reluctant Lucas fit into the colony.  Lucas’ skills and new friendships are tested when he and the ants must have to take on Stan Beals (Paul Giamatti), a local exterminator, in an epic air battle over the Nickles’ front lawn.

There were so many computer-animated movies that received a wide theatrical release in 2006 that some were bound to get lost in the shuffle.  One of the lost was The Ant Bully, an excellent talking animal fable produced by actor Tom Hanks’ production company (Playtone) and the computer animation studio behind Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, DNA Productions.  Written for the screen and directed by the creator of Jimmy Neutron, John A. Davis, The Ant Bully is several times better than Jimmy Neutron, in terms of story, voice acting, and animation.

Adapting John Nickle’s book, Davis wrote a traditional animal fable that teaches a lesson or makes a moral point, but is not didactic or overbearing.  Davis simply uses comedy, adventure, action, dramatic conflict, and obstacles to make a point that a group of individuals with different skills can work together and make the whole better.  However, to take Davis’ film as saying that the group is good and the individual is bad would be a poor misreading.

The voice performances are quite good.  For all the star power the voice cast has, what stars like Julia Roberts and Nicolas Cage do is bring color and character to the parts the play.  Zach Tyler Eisen simply brings Lucas Nickle to life.  Lucas’ troubles fitting in, his stubbornness, and his struggle to break away from mommy all seem genuine.  Even Regina King, Bruce Campbell, Lily Tomlin manage to add much comic flavor to the film via their supporting roles.

At first, The Ant Bully’s animation seems to make every thing look plastic and fake, but perhaps, the eyes need time to adjust.  The film is imaginative in concept and design – especially in building a world of outsized and giant sets for tiny beings.  Everything has texture and surface quality to it.  The exoskeletons of the ants and wasps actually look solid; it’s as if the eyes are actually touching the surfaces to verify what is genuine.  The character movement is good, and jumps up to wonderful and superb during all the big action set pieces – especially during the air battle at the end.

Fans of computer animation and also families that want to share a movie with a good message absolutely won’t go wrong with The Ant Bully.  We follow Lucas down into the anthill where awaits a world of wonder and magical animal creatures that dazzle the eyes and sometimes blow the mind.  And the movie’s pretty funny, too.

8 of 10
A

Thursday, January 11, 2007

Updated:  Tuesday, January 07, 2014

The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

Disney Claims its Rightful Star Wars Property from Dark Horse Comics

by Leroy Douresseaux

Back in 2012, I was surprised to hear that George Lucas was selling his company, Lucasfilm, Ltd., to The Walt Disney Company.  Through Lucasfilm, Lucas owned such franchises as Star Wars and Indiana Jones.  After hearing about the sale, the first thing I thought was what is going to happen to Dark Horse Comics' license to produce Star Wars comic books.

Everyone knew it was only a matter of time before Dark Horse lost the license, which it had held for over two decades.  After all, Disney had gobbled up Marvel Enterprises (or whatever it calls itself), the owner of Marvel Comics, before they had consumed Lucasfilm.  So why would Disney let Dark Horse produce Star Wars comic books when Disney owned its own comic book company, Marvel Comics?

Dark Horse recently sent out the following message from publisher Mike Richardson to the contacts on its press list:

A MESSAGE FROM MIKE RICHARDSON

The End of an Era

All things come to pass. So too, do all licensed deals. I am sad to report that Disney, the new owner of Lucasfilm, has notified us here at Dark Horse of their intention to move the Star Wars publishing license to another of their recent acquisitions, Marvel Comics, beginning in 2015. This will end a partnership that has lasted more than two decades.

For those who are new to the industry, Dark Horse revolutionized the treatment of comics based on films. After a history of movie properties being poorly handled with little regard for execution and continuity, Dark Horse took a new approach, carefully choosing licenses and approaching them with excitement and creative energy. Our goal was to create sequels and prequels to the films we loved, paying careful attention to quality and detail, essentially treating those films as though they were our own. Star Wars has been the crown jewel of this approach. We began chasing the title as far back as 1989, and with the launch of Tom Veitch and Cam Kennedy’s Dark Empire, a new era in comics was born. I’m not ashamed to admit that we were Star Wars geeks, and we have been determined to spare neither effort nor expense in the pursuit of excellence.

It is ironic that this announcement comes at a time when Dark Horse is experiencing its most successful year ever. For obvious reasons, we have prepared for this eventuality by finding new and exciting projects to place on our schedule for 2015 and beyond. Will they take the place of Star Wars? That’s a tall order, but we will do our best to make that happen. In the meantime, 2014 may be our last year at the helm of the Star Wars comics franchise, but we plan to make it a memorable one. We know that fans of the franchise will expect no less. The Force is with us still.

Mike Richardson

About Dark Horse
Founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson, Dark Horse Comics has proven to be a solid example of how integrity and innovation can help broaden a unique storytelling medium and establish a small, homegrown company as an industry giant. The company is known for the progressive and creator-friendly atmosphere it provides for writers and artists. In addition to publishing comics from top talent such as Frank Miller, Mike Mignola, Neil Gaiman, Brian Wood, Gerard Way, Geof Darrow, Guillermo Del Toro and comics legends such as Will Eisner, Neal Adams, and Jim Steranko, Dark Horse has developed its own successful properties such as The Mask, Ghost, Captain Midnight, and X. Its successful line of comics, books, and products based on popular properties includes Star Wars, Mass Effect, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Aliens, Conan, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Halo, Serenity, The Legend of Zelda, Game of Thrones and Domo. Today Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent comic book publisher in the US and is recognized as one of the world’s leading publishers of both creator-owned content and licensed comics material.

END of message

Over two decades, Dark Horse published an endless stream of Star Wars comic books, but it all began with one of the best works in what is now known as the Star Wars Expanded Universe, Star Wars: Dark Empire.  Well, I'm ready to see what Marvel Comics, which first held the license from the late 1970s to the mid-1980s, does this time around.

L

2014 Writers Guild Award Nominations - Feature Film Categories

by Amos Semien

On Friday, January 3, 2014, the Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) and the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) announced nominations for outstanding achievement in writing during the year 2013 – the 2014 Writers Guild Awards.  The winners will be honored at the 2014 Writers Guild Awards on Saturday, February 1, 2014, during simultaneous ceremonies held in both Los Angeles and New York.

The Writers Guild of America is a labor union representing film, television, radio, video game, and new media writers.  The Writers Guild of America Award acknowledges outstanding achievements in film, television, and radio and has been presented annually by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America, West since 1949.

A complete list of 2014 Writers Guild Award nominations can be found here: http://www.wga.org/wga-awards/nominees-winners.aspx.

SCREEN NOMINEES:

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
American Hustle, Written by Eric Warren Singer and David O. Russell; Columbia Pictures

Blue Jasmine, Written by Woody Allen; Sony Pictures Classics

Dallas Buyers Club, Written by Craig Borten & Melisa Wallack; Focus Features

Her, Written by Spike Jonze; Warner Bros.

Nebraska, Written by Bob Nelson; Paramount Pictures

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
August: Osage County, Screenplay by Tracy Letts; Based on his play; The Weinstein Company

Before Midnight, Written by Richard Linklater & Julie Delpy & Ethan Hawke; Based on characters created by Richard Linklater & Kim Krizan; Sony Classics

Captain Phillips, Screenplay by Billy Ray; Based on the book A Captain’s Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALS, and Dangerous Days at Sea by Richard Phillips with Stephan Talty; Columbia Pictures

Lone Survivor, Written by Peter Berg; Based on the book by Marcus Lutrell with Patrick Robinson; Universal Pictures

The Wolf of Wall Street, Screenplay by Terence Winter; Based on the book by Jordan Belfort; Paramount Pictures

DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY
Dirty Wars, Written by Jeremy Scahill & David Riker; Sundance Selects

Herblock – The Black & The White, Written by Sara Lukinson & Michael Stevens; The Stevens Company

No Place on Earth, Written by Janet Tobias & Paul Laikin; Magnolia Pictures

Stories We Tell, Written by Sarah Polley; Roadside Attractions

We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks; Written by Alex Gibney; Focus Features

END

2014 Writers Guild Award Nominations - Select Television Categories

by Amos Semien

The Writers Guild of America is a labor union representing film, television, radio, and new media writers.  The Writers Guild of America Award acknowledges outstanding achievements in film, television, radio, new media, video games, and has been presented annually by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America, West since 1949.

On Friday, January 3, 2014, the Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) and the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) announced nominations for outstanding achievement in writing during the year 2013 – the 2014 Writers Guild Awards.  The winners will be honored at the 2014 Writers Guild Awards on Saturday, February 1, 2014, during simultaneous ceremonies held in both Los Angeles and New York.

The Writers Guild Awards are given in numerous television categories,  but I only focus on a select group of categories when the nominations are announced.  A complete list of 2014 Writers Guild Award nominations, including nominations in radio, new media, and video games (which have not been announced as I write this) can be found here: http://www.wga.org/wga-awards/nominees-winners.aspx.

TV NOMINEES:

DRAMA SERIES
Breaking Bad, Written by Sam Catlin, Vince Gilligan, Peter Gould, Gennifer Hutchison, George Mastras, Thomas Schnauz, Moira Walley-Beckett; AMC

The Good Wife, Written by Meredith Averill, Leonard Dick, Keith Eisner, Jacqueline Hoyt, Ted Humphrey, Michelle King, Robert King, Erica Shelton Kodish, Matthew Montoya, J.C. Nolan, Luke Schelhaas, Nichelle Tramble Spellman, Craig Turk, Julia Wolfe; CBS

Homeland, Written by Henry Bromell, William E. Bromell, Alexander Cary, Alex Gansa, Howard Gordon, Barbara Hall, Patrick Harbinson, Chip Johannessen, Meredith Stiehm, Charlotte Stoudt, James Yoshimura; Showtime

House of Cards, Written by Kate Barnow, Rick Cleveland, Sam Forman, Gina Gionfriddo, Keith Huff, Sarah Treem, Beau Willimon; Netflix

Mad Men, Written by Lisa Albert, Semi Chellas, Jason Grote, Jonathan Igla, Andre Jacquemetton, Maria Jacquemetton, Janet Leahy, Erin Levy, Michael Saltzman, Tom Smuts, Matthew Weiner, Carly Wray; AMC

COMEDY SERIES
30 Rock, Written by Jack Burditt, Robert Carlock, Tom Ceraulo, Luke Del Tredici, Tina Fey, Lang Fisher, Matt Hubbard, Colleen McGuinness, Sam Means, Dylan Morgan, Nina Pedrad, Josh Siegal, Tracey Wigfield; NBC

Modern Family, Written by Paul Corrigan, Bianca Douglas, Megan Ganz, Abraham Higginbotham, Ben Karlin, Elaine Ko, Steven Levitan, Christopher Lloyd, Becky Mann, Dan O’Shannon, Jeffrey Richman, Audra Sielaff, Emily Spivey, Brad Walsh, Bill Wrubel, Danny Zuker; ABC

Orange Is the New Black, Written by Liz Friedman, Sian Heder, Tara Herrmann, Sara Hess, Nick Jones, Jenji Kohan, Gary Lennon, Lauren Morelli, Marco Ramirez; Netflix

Parks and Recreation, Written by Megan Amram, Donick Cary, Greg Daniels, Nate DiMeo, Emma Fletcher, Rachna Fruchbom, Daniel J. Goor, Norm Hiscock, Matt Hubbard, Dave King, Greg Levine, Joe Mande, Sam Means, Aisha Muharrar, Matt Murray, Amy Poehler, Alexandra Rushfield, Michael Schur, Jen Statsky, Harris Wittels, Alan Yang; NBC

Veep, Written by Simon Blackwell, Roger Drew, Sean Gray, Armando Iannucci, Ian Martin, Georgia Pritchett, David Quantick, Tony Roche, Will Smith; HBO

NEW SERIES
The Americans, Written by Michael Batistick, Joshua Brand, Joel Fields, Melissa James Gibson, Sneha Koorse, Joe Weisberg, Bradford Winters; FX

House of Cards, Written by Kate Barnow, Rick Cleveland, Sam Forman, Gina Gionfriddo, Keith Huff, Sarah Treem, Beau Willimon; Netflix

Masters of Sex, Written by Michelle Ashford, Tyler Bensinger, Michael Cunningham, Lyn Greene, Richard Levine, Amy Lippman, Sam Shaw, Noelle Valdivia; Showtime

Orange Is the New Black, Written by Liz Friedman, Sian Heder, Tara Herrmann, Sara Hess, Nick Jones, Jenji Kohan, Gary Lennon, Lauren Morelli, Marco Ramirez; Netflix

Ray Donovan, Written by Ann Biderman, Sean Conway, David Hollander, Brett Johnson, Ron Nyswaner; Showtime

EPISODIC DRAMA
“Buried” (Breaking Bad), Written by Thomas Schnauz; AMC

“Confessions” (Breaking Bad), Written by Gennifer Hutchison; AMC

“Episode 101” (House of Cards), Teleplay by Beau Willimon; Netflix

“Granite State” (Breaking Bad), Written by Peter Gould; AMC

“Hitting the Fan” (The Good Wife), Written by Robert King & Michelle King; CBS

“Pilot” (Masters of Sex), Written by Michelle Ashford; Showtime

EPISODIC COMEDY
“Career Day” (Modern Family), Written by Paul Corrigan & Brad Walsh; ABC

“Farm Strong” (Modern Family), Written by Elaine Ko; ABC

“Hogcock!” (30 Rock), Written by Jack Burditt & Robert Carlock; NBC

“Lesbian Request Denied” (Orange Is the New Black), Written by Sian Heder; Netflix

“Leslie and Ben” (Parks and Recreation), Written by Michael Schur & Alan Yang; NBC

“Pilot” (Orange Is the New Black), Teleplay by Liz Friedman and Jenji Kohan; Netflix

LONG FORM – ADAPTED
Killing Kennedy, Written by Kelly Masterson, Based on the book by Bill O’Reilly & Martin Dugard; National Geographic

Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Fight, Written by Shawn Slovo, Based on the book by Howard Bingham and Max Wallace; HBO

ANIMATION
“A Test Before Trying” (The Simpsons), Written by Joel H. Cohen; Fox

“Game of Tones” (Futurama), Written by Michael Rowe; Comedy Central

“Hardly Kirk-ing” (The Simpsons), Written by Tom Gammill & Max Pross; Fox

“Murder on the Planet Express” (Futurama), Written by Lew Morton; Comedy Central

“Saturday Morning Fun Pit” (Futurama), Written by Patric M. Verrone; Comedy Central

“Yolo” (The Simpsons), Written by Michael Nobori; Fox


END

National Society of Film Critics Go "Inside Llewyn Davis"

by Amos Semien

The National Society of Film Critics was founded in New York City in 1966 and its membership is currently comprise of 56 of the country’s most prominent movie critics.  Known for their highbrow tastes, these critics form one of the most prestigious film groups on the United States.  Current members include some of my favorite film critics, like David Edelstein and J. Hoberman, among others.  The late Roger Ebert, my favorite critic, was also a member.  The society has produced several anthologies about movies, including the must-have for film fans, Produced and Abandoned: The Best Films You’ve Never Seen (1990).

On Saturday, January 4th, 2014, the National Society of Film Critics announced the winners and runners-up of the 48th edition of its film awards.  The group chose Inside Llewyn Davis as Best Picture of the Year 2013.  The film’s directors, brothers Joel and Ethan Coen, won “Best Director,” and the film’s lead, Oscar Isaac, won “Best Actor.”

The Society held its 48th annual awards voting meeting, using a weighted ballot system, at the Elinor Bunin Munroe Center as guests of the Film Society of Lincoln Center.

In a statement on its website, the society said that 56 members are eligible to vote, though a few disqualify themselves if they haven’t seen every film.  Any film that opened in the United States during the year 2013 was eligible for consideration.  As usual, there is no nomination process.  The members met, voted, and made their announcement on January 4th.  There is no awards party, but scrolls will sent to the winners.

48th National Society of Film Critics Awards:  Here is the list of the winners and runners-up, with vote counts from the final round:

BEST PICTURE
*1. Inside Llewyn Davis – 23
2. American Hustle – 17
3. 12 Years a Slave – 16

BEST DIRECTOR
*1. Joel and Ethan Coen (Inside Llewyn Davis) – 25
2. Alfonso Cuarón (Gravity) – 18
3. Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave) – 15

BEST FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM
*1. Blue Is the Warmest Color – 27
2. A Touch of Sin – 21
3. The Great Beauty – 15

BEST NON-FICTION FILM
*1. The Act of Killing (Joshua Oppenheimer) – 20
*1. At Berkeley (Frederick Wiseman) – 20
3. Leviathan (Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Véréna Paravel) – 18

BEST SCREENPLAY
*1. Before Midnight (Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke) – 29
2. Inside Llewyn Davis (Joel and Ethan Coen) – 26
3. American Hustle (Eric Singer and David O. Russell) – 18

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
*1. Inside Llewyn Davis (Bruno Delbonnel) -28
2.Gravity (Emmanuel Lubezki) – 26
3. Nebraska (Phedon Papamichael) – 19

BEST ACTOR
*1. Oscar Isaac (Inside Llewyn Davis) – 28
2. Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave) – 19
3. Robert Redford (All Is Lost) – 12

BEST ACTRESS
*1. Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine) – 57
2. Adèle Exarchopoulos (Blue Is the Warmest Color) – 36
3. Julie Delpy (Before Midnight) – 26

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
*1. James Franco (Spring Breakers) – 24
2. Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club) – 20
3. Barkhad Abdi (Captain Phillips) – 14

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
*1. Jennifer Lawrence (American Hustle) – 54
2. Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave) – 38
3. Sally Hawkins (Blue Jasmine) – 18
3. Léa Seydoux (Blue Is the Warmest Color) – 18

EXPERIMENTAL FILM
Leviathan (Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Véréna Paravel)

FILM HERITAGE AWARD
• To the Museum of Modern Art, for its wide-ranging retrospective of the films of Allan Dwan.
• “Too Much Johnson”: the surviving reels from Orson Welles’s first professional film. Discovered by Cinemazero (Pordenone) and Cineteca del Friuli; funded by the National Film Preservation Foundation; and restored by the George Eastman House.
• British Film Institute for restorations of Alfred Hitchcock’s nine silent features.
• To the DVD “American Treasures from the New Zealand Film Archive.”

BEST FILM STILL AWAITING AMERICAN DISTRIBUTION
• Stray Dogs (Tsai Ming-liang)
• Hide Your Smiling Faces (Daniel Patrick Carbone)

DEDICATION: The meeting was dedicated to the memory of two distinguished members of the Society who died in 2013: Roger Ebert and Stanley Kauffmann.

http://www.nationalsocietyoffilmcritics.com/

END

Warner Bros. Pictures Dominates 2013 Box Office

Warner Bros. Pictures Wins the 2013 Box Office Triple Crown

The Studio takes the top spot in Domestic market share with $1.895 billion; International market share with $3.140 billion; and Worldwide market share with $5.035 billion.

BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In a record-breaking year, Warner Bros. Pictures emerged as the top-grossing studio for 2013, ranking number one in domestic, international and worldwide market shares. The announcement was made today by Dan Fellman, President of Domestic Distribution; Veronika Kwan Vandenberg, President of International Distribution; and Sue Kroll, President of Worldwide Marketing and International Distribution, Warner Bros. Pictures.

The Studio took in an estimated combined global box office gross of $5.035 billion, setting a new Warner Bros. benchmark and becoming only the second studio ever to cross the $5 billion threshold. It also marked the fifth consecutive year Warner Bros. has surpassed $4 billion worldwide, which is an industry record. Globally, the Studio has now ranked #1 or #2 in nine of the past ten years, also an industry record.

Warner Bros. Pictures has crossed the $1 billion mark, both domestically and internationally, 13 years in a row, another industry record. The Studio took in an estimated $1.895 billion at the domestic box office, with eight films crossing $100 million, including three that went on to gross more than $200 million. At the international box office, Warner Bros. set a new Studio record of $3.14 billion, marking the fourth consecutive year—and the sixth year overall—that it has earned more than $2 billion. Ten Warner Bros. releases earned more than $100 million internationally, of which seven grossed more than $200 million—both unprecedented achievements for the Studio. In addition, two of those films took in more than $300 million, and two more crossed the $400 million mark.

Fellman stated, “We are extremely proud of all the remarkable benchmarks reached in 2013. These terrific numbers speak to the diversity of our slate, which has enabled us to deliver great entertainment to a broad range of audiences throughout the year.”

“This incredible achievement is a testament to not only the consistent quality of filmmaking at our studio, but also the creativity and hard work of our teams here and around the world,” Kwan Vandenberg said. “They continue to reach for greater possibilities in a growing and changing international marketplace.”

Kroll added, “We share these remarkable results with our partners at New Line, Village Roadshow, Legendary and MGM. We also thank and congratulate the extraordinary talents behind our films, whose commitment has been an important part of our efforts on each release.”

Two current hits, still in theatres, are among the Studio’s highest-grossing films for the year: “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” in partnership with New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures (MGM), at $659 million worldwide and counting; and “Gravity,” at $663 million to date. The Summer blockbuster “Man of Steel,” from Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures, was the Studio’s top-grossing release for the year, at $668 million globally. Among the other worldwide box office highlights for 2013 are: “Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures Pacific Rim,” with $411 million; “The Hangover Part III,” also in partnership with Legendary, at $362 million; “The Great Gatsby,” in partnership with Village Roadshow Pictures, at $351 million; New Line Cinema’s “The Conjuring,” with $318 million; and “We’re the Millers,” also from New Line, at $270 million.

Moving into 2014, the Studio’s First Quarter titles include “Her,” presently in limited release and due out wide on January 10; “The LEGO Movie,” in partnership with Village Roadshow Pictures, slated for February 7; “Winter’s Tale,” also with Village Roadshow Pictures, on February 14; and Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Legendary Pictures’ “300: Rise of an Empire,” due out March 7.

"Naruto Shippuden" Sailing for Adult Swim and Toonami

VIZ MEDIA ANNOUNCES THE LAUNCH OF NARUTO SHIPPUDEN ANIME SERIES ON ADULT SWIM’S TOONAMI IN 2014

VIZ Media has announced the debut of the NARUTO SHIPPUDEN anime series on Adult Swim’s Toonami programming block beginning in January 2014. North American fans can catch dubbed and uncut adventures featuring the world’s most popular ninja from the beginning with a new episode airing each week. Check local listings for specific airtimes and channel availability.

Adult Swim (AdultSwim.com), launched in 2001, is Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.’s network offering original and acquired animated and live-action series for young adults.  Airing nightly from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. (ET/PT), Adult Swim is basic cable’s #1 network with persons 18-34 and 18-49, and is seen in 99 million U.S. homes.

Created by Masashi Kishimoto, NARUTO was first introduced in Weekly Shonen Jump magazine in Japan in 1999 and quickly became that country’s most popular ninja manga properties. The manga series (rated ‘T’ for Teens, in print and digital editions) and animated counterpart (NARUTO and NARUTO SHIPPUDEN rated ‘TV-14’) are some of VIZ Media’s most successful titles and have captivated millions of fans across North America, Europe and South America.

In the NARUTO manga and animated series, Naruto Uzumaki wants to be the best ninja in the land. He's done well so far, but Naruto knows he must train harder than ever and leaves his village for intense exercises that will push him to his limits. NARUTO SHIPPUDEN begins two and a half years later, when Naruto returns to find that everyone has been promoted up the ninja ranks – except him. Sakura’s a medic ninja, Gaara’s advanced to Kazekage, and Kakashi…well he remains the same. But pride isn’t necessarily becoming of a ninja, especially when Naruto realizes that Sasuke never returned from his search for Orochimaru. Plus, the mysterious Akatsuki organization is still an ever-present danger. As Naruto finds out more about the Akatsuki’s goals, he realizes that nothing in his universe is as it seems. Naruto is finding that he’s older, but will he also prove wiser and stronger?

More information on NARUTO and NARUTO SHIPPUDEN is available at www.Naruto.com.

Additional information on titles available from VIZ Media is available at www.VIZ.com.

About VIZ Media, LLC
Headquartered in San Francisco, California, VIZ Media distributes, markets and licenses the best anime and manga titles direct from Japan.  Owned by three of Japan's largest manga and animation companies, Shueisha Inc., Shogakukan Inc., and Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions, Co., Ltd., VIZ Media has the most extensive library of anime and manga for English speaking audiences in North America, the United Kingdom, Ireland and South Africa. With its popular digital manga anthology WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP and blockbuster properties like NARUTO, BLEACH and INUYASHA, VIZ Media offers cutting-edge action, romance and family friendly properties for anime, manga, science fiction and fantasy fans of all ages.  VIZ Media properties are available as graphic novels, DVDs, animated television series, feature films, downloadable and streaming video and a variety of consumer products.  Learn more about VIZ Media, anime and manga at www.VIZ.com.

Review: "We're the Millers" the Funniest Movie of 2013

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 1 (of 2014) by Leroy Douresseaux

We’re the Millers (2013)
Running time:  110 minutes (1 hour, 50 minutes)
MPAA – R for crude sexual content, pervasive language, drug material and brief graphic nudity
DIRECTOR:  Rawson Marshall Thurber
WRITERS:  Bob Fisher & Steve Faber and Sean Anders & John Morris; from a story by Bob Fisher and Steve Faber
PRODUCERS:  Chris Bender, Vincent Newman, Tucker Tooley, and Happy Walters
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Barry Peterson
EDITOR:  Michael L. Sale
COMPOSERS:  Ludwig Göransson and Theodore Shapiro

COMEDY/CRIME

Starring:  Jennifer Aniston, Jason Sudeikis, Emma Roberts, Will Poulter, Ed Helms, Nick Offerman, Kathryn Hahn, Molly Quinn, Tomer Sisley, and Matthew Willig

We’re the Millers is a 2013 crime comedy from director Rawson Marshall Thurber (DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story).  We’re the Millers focuses on a veteran pot dealer and the fake family he creates as part of a plan to transport a shipment of marijuana into the United States from Mexico.  In a year when not too many comedies really thrilled me, I think We’re the Millers is not only the year’s best comedy, but it is also one of my all-time favorites, and I want to see it again.

We’re the Millers introduces low level pot dealer, David Clark (Jason Sudeikis).  An unfortunate occurrence leaves him $43,000 in debt to his supplier, drug lord Brad Gurdlinger (Ed Helms).  Brad makes David a deal:  go to Mexico and big up a small stash of weed and bring it back to him.  Realizing that one man attempting to get through customs at the Mexican border would be a bit suspicious, David comes up with the idea of creating a fake family.

David first recruits his neighbor, 18-year-old Kenny Rossmore (Will Poulter), to be his son.  Kenny recommends Casey Matthis (Emma Roberts), a 15-year-old runaway and thief, to pose as a daughter.  David’s toughest recruitment is another neighbor, Rose O’Reilly (Jennifer Aniston), a stripper, to be his wife.  Still, David manages to create a fake family, the Millers.  At first, the mission to Mexico goes well, but things turn complicated when the family runs afoul of another drug dealer and also encounters an overly-friendly family, the Fitzgeralds.

We’re the Millers’ director Rawson Marshall Thurber does his best work in allowing his cast to make gold of a screenplay filled with silliness, vulgarity, and silly vulgarity.  Jennifer Aniston and Jason Sudeikis are veteran comic actors, and they easily take this material to heights, beyond what anyone should have reasonably expected of it.  Emma Roberts and Will Poulter (who is unfamiliar to me) steal many scenes, all the better for the audience.  Nick Offerman and Kathryn Hahn are not only fun, but they also deliver some excellent character acting, which helps them do quite a bit of scene stealing.

We’re the Millers apparently got mixed reviews from critics, but there are no mixed feelings here.  I love it!  In the future, when We’re the Millers is a staple of cable television, I’ll think of each showing as “Miller time!”  Forgive me for going there.

9 of 10
A+

Thursday, January 02, 2014

The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

2014 Producers Guild Award Nominations - Theatrical Film Categories

by Amos Semien

The Producers Guild of America (PGA) describes itself as “the non-profit trade group that represents, protects and promotes the interests of all members of the producing team in film, television and new media.”  Film fans know the organization because of its annual PGA Awards.

The nominations for the 25th Annual Producers Guild Awards (also known as the 2014 Producers Guild Awards) were announced Thursday, January 02, 2014.  All 2014 Producers Guild Award winners will be announced on Sunday, January 19, 2014 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

This year, the Producers Guild will also present special honors to Barbara Broccoli & Michael G. Wilson (David O. Selznick Achievement Award in Theatrical Motion Pictures), Robert Iger (Milestone Award), Peter Jackson & Joe Letteri (Vanguard Award), Chuck Lorre (Norman Lear Achievement Award in Television), Chris Meledandri (Visionary Award) and FRUITVALE STATION (Stanley Kramer Award).

The 2014 Producers Guild nominated films and television programs are listed below in alphabetical order by category, along with producers. The producers’ names listed for each nominated production are listed in alphabetical order and are not necessarily the proper order of credits.  The programs in some categories were not vetted for producer eligibility this year (2013), but winners in these categories will be announced at the official ceremony on January 19th.

25th Annual Producers Guild Awards nominations:

The theatrical motion picture nominees are:

The Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures:

American Hustle (Columbia Pictures)
Producers: Megan Ellison, Jon Gordon, Charles Roven, Richard Suckle

Blue Jasmine (Sony Pictures Classics)
Producers: Letty Aronson, Stephen Tenenbaum

Captain Phillips (Columbia Pictures)
Producers: Dana Brunetti, Michael De Luca, Scott Rudin

Dallas Buyers Club (Focus Features)
Producers: Robbie Brenner, Rachel Winter

Gravity (Warner Bros. Pictures)
Producers: Alfonso Cuarón, David Heyman

Her (Warner Bros. Pictures)
Producers: Megan Ellison, Spike Jonze, Vincent Landay

Nebraska (Paramount Pictures)
Producers: Albert Berger, Ron Yerxa

Saving Mr. Banks (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
Producers: Ian Collie, Alison Owen, Philip Steuer

12 Years a Slave (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
Producers: Anthony Katagas, Jeremy Kleiner, Steve McQueen, Brad Pitt & Dede Gardner

Wolf of Wall Street (Paramount Pictures)
Producers: Riza Aziz, Emma Koskoff, Joey McFarland

The Award for Outstanding Producer of Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures:

The Croods (DreamWorks Animation)
Producers: Kristine Belson, Jane Hartwell

Despicable Me 2 (Universal Pictures)
Producers: Janet Healy, Chris Meledandri

Epic (Twentieth Century Fox)
Producers: Jerry Davis, Lori Forte

Frozen (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
Producer: Peter Del Vecho

Monsters University (Pixar Animation)
Producer: Kori Rae

The Award for Outstanding Producer of Documentary Theatrical Motion Pictures:

A PLACE AT THE TABLE (Magnolia Pictures)
Producers: Julie Goldman, Ryan Harrington, Kristi Jacobson, Lori Silverbush

FAR OUT ISN’T FAR ENOUGH: THE TOMI UNGERER STORY (First Run Features)
Producers: Brad Bernstein, Rick Cikowski

LIFE ACCORDING TO SAM (HBO Documentary Films)
Producers: Andrea Nix Fine, Sean Fine, Miriam Weintraub

WE STEAL SECRETS: THE STORY OF WIKILEAKS (Focus Features)
Producers: Alexis Bloom, Alex Gibney, Marc Shmuger

WHICH WAY IS THE FRONT LINE FROM HERE? THE LIFE AND TIME OF TIM HETHERINGTON (HBO Documentary Films)
Producers: James Brabazon, Nick Quested

In 1990, the Producers Guild held the first-ever Golden Laurel Awards, which were renamed the Producers Guild Awards in 2002. Richard Zanuck and Lili Fini Zanuck took home the award for Best Produced Motion Picture for DRIVING MISS DAISY, establishing the Guild’s awards as a bellwether for the Oscars. Last year, the PGA awarded ARGO with its Darryl F. Zanuck Outstanding Producer Award in Theatrical Motion Pictures, marking the sixth consecutive year the Producers Guild has presaged the Motion Picture Academy’s choice. 

Sponsors of the 2014 Producers Guild Awards includeCadillac, an official automotive partnerof the PGA;Delta Air Lines, the sponsor of this year's Producers Guild Visionary Award;Panavision, the sponsor of the cocktail reception;PRG, Production Resource Group, an annual sponsor of the PGA;and Tiffany & Co. 

About the Producers Guild of America (PGA)

The Producers Guild of America is the non-profit trade group that represents, protects and promotes the interests of all members of the producing team in film, television and new media. The Producers Guild has more than 5,900 members who work together to protect and improve their careers, the industry and community by providing members with employment opportunities, seeking to expand health benefits,promoting fair and impartial standards for the awarding of producing credits, as well as other education and advocacy efforts such as encouraging sustainable production practices. Visitwww.producersguild.org,www.pgagreen.org,www.pgadiversity.orgfor more information.

END

2014 Producers Guild Award Nominations - Television Categories

by Amos Semien

The nominations for the 25th Annual Producers Guild Awards (also known as the 2014 Producers Guild Awards) were announced Thursday, January 02, 2014.  All 2014 Producers Guild Award winners will be announced on Sunday, January 19, 2014 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

25th Annual Producers Guild Awards nominations:

The television nominees are:

The David L. Wolper Award for Outstanding Producer of Long-Form Television:

American Horror Story: Asylum (FX)
Producers: Brad Buecker, Dante Di Loreto, Brad Falchuk, Alexis Martin Woodall, Ryan Murphy, Chip Vucelich

Behind the Candelabra (HBO)
Producers: Susan Ekins, Gregory Jacobs, Michael Polaire, Jerry Weintraub

Killing Kennedy (National Geographic Channel)
Producers: Mary Lisio, Larry Rapaport, Ridley Scott, Teri Weinberg, David W. Zucker

Phil Spector (HBO)
Producers: Michael Hausman, Barry Levinson

Top of the Lake (Sundance Channel)
Producers: Philippa Campbell, Jane Campion, Iain Canning, Emile Sherman

The Long-Form Television category encompasses both movies of the week and mini-series.

The Norman Felton Award for Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television, Drama:

Breaking Bad (AMC)
Producers: Melissa Bernstein, Sam Catlin, Bryan Cranston, Vince Gilligan, Peter Gould, Mark Johnson, Stewart Lyons, Michelle MacLaren, George Mastras, Diane Mercer, Thomas Schnauz, Moira Walley-Beckett

Downton Abbey (ITV - United Kingdom; PBS - United States)
Producers: Julian Fellowes, Nigel Marchant, Gareth Neame, Liz Trubridge

Game of Thrones (HBO)
Producers: David Benioff, Bernadette Caulfield, Frank Doelger, D.B. Weiss, Christopher Newman, Greg Spence, Carolyn Strauss

Homeland (Showtime)
Producers: Henry Bromell, Alexander Cary, Michael Cuesta, Alex Gansa, Howard Gordon, Chip Johannessen, Michael Klick, Meredith Stiehm

House of Cards (Netflix)
Producers: Joshua Donen, David Fincher, Karyn McCarthy, John Melfi, Eric Roth, Kevin Spacey, Beau Willimon

The Danny Thomas Award for Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television, Comedy:

30 Rock (NBC)
Producers: Jack Burditt, Robert Carlock, Luke Del Tredici , Tina Fey, Matt Hubbard , Marci Klein, Jerry Kupfer , Colleen McGuinness, Lorne Michaels, David Miner, Dylan Morgan , Jeff Richmond , Josh Siegal, Tracey Wigfield

Arrested Development (Netflix)
Producers: John Foy, Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Mitchell Hurwitz, Dean Lorey, Troy Miller, Richard Rosenstock, Jim Vallely

Big Bang Theory, The (CBS)
Producers: Bill Prady, Chucke Lorre, Steve Molaro, Faye Oshima Belyeu

Modern Family (ABC)
Producers: Paul Corrigan, Abraham Higginbotham, Ben Karlin, Elaine Ko, Steven Levitan, Christopher Lloyd, Jeffrey Morton, Dan O’Shannon, Jeffrey Richman, Chris Smirnoff, Brad Walsh, Bill Wrubel, Danny Zuker

VEEP (HBO)
Producers: Simon Blackwell, Christopher Godsick, Armando Iannucci, Stephanie Laing, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Frank Rich, Tony Roche

The Award for Outstanding Producer of Non-Fiction Television:

30 for 30 (ESPN)
Producers: Bill Simmons, John Dahl, Erin Leyden, Connor Schell

Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown (CNN)
Producers: Anthony Bourdain, Christopher Collins, Lydia Tenaglia, Sandra Zweig

Duck Dynasty (A&E Networks)
Producers: Deirdre Gurney, Scott Gurney, Mike Odair, Hugh Peterson, Adam Saltzberg, Charlie Van Vleet

Inside The Actors Studio (Bravo)
Producers: James Lipton, Shawn Tesser, Jeff Wurtz

Shark Tank (ABC)
Producers: Mark Burnett, Becky Blitz, Bill Gaudsmith, Yun Lingner, Clay Newbill, Jim Roush, Laura Skowlund, Max Swedlow

The Award for Outstanding Producer of Live Entertainment & Talk Television:

Colbert Report, The (Comedy Central)
Producers: Meredith Bennett, Stephen T. Colbert, Richard Dahm, Paul Dinello, Barry Julien, Matt Lappin, Emily Lazar, Tanya Michnevich Bracco, Tom Purcell, Jon Stewart

Jimmy Kimmel Live (ABC)
Producers: David Craig, Ken Crosby, Doug DeLuca, Gary Greenberg, Erin Irwin, Jimmy Kimmel, Jill Leiderman, Molly McNearney, Tony Romero, Jason Shrift, Jennifer Sharron, Josh Weintraub

Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (NBC)
Producers: Hillary Hunn, Lorne Michaels, Gavin Purcell, Michael Shoemaker

Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO)
Producers: Scott Carter, Sheila Griffiths, Marc Gurvitz, Dean Johnsen, Bill Maher, Billy Martin, Matt Wood

Saturday Night Live (NBC)
Producers: Ken Aymong, Erin Doyle, Steve Higgins, Erik Kenward, Lorne Michaels, Lindsay Shookus

The Award for Outstanding Producer of Competition Television:

Amazing Race, The (CBS)
Producers: Jerry Bruckheimer, Elise Doganieri, Jonathan Littman, Bertram van Munster, Mark Vertullo

Dancing With The Stars (ABC)
Producers: Ashley Edens-Shaffer, Conrad Green, Joe Sungkur

Project Runway (Lifetime)
Producers: Jane Cha Cutler, Desiree Gruber, Tim Gunn, Heidi Klum, Jonathan Murray, Sara Rea, Colleen Sands

Top Chef (Bravo)
Producers: Tom Colicchio, Daniel Cutforth, Casey Kriley, Jane Lipsitz, Erica Ross, Nan Strait, Andrew Wallace

Voice, The (NBC)
Producers: Stijn Bakkers, Mark Burnett, John de Mol, Chad Hines, Lee Metzger, Audrey Morrissey, Jim Roush, Kyra Thompson, Nicolle Yaron, Mike Yurchuk, Amanda Zucker

The following programs were not vetted for producer eligibility this year, but winners in these categories will be announced at the official ceremony on January 19:

The Award for Outstanding Sports Program:
24/7 (HBO)
Hard Knocks (HBO)
Monday Night Football (ESPN)
Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel (HBO)
SportsCenter (ESPN)

The Award for Outstanding Children’s Program:
Dora the Explorer (Nickelodeon)
iCarly (Nickelodeon)
Phineas and Ferb (Disney Channel)
Sesame Street (Sprout)
SpongeBob Squarepants (Nickelodeon)

The Award for Outstanding Digital Series: 
Burning Love (http://screen.yahoo.com/burning-love/)
Epic Rap Battles of History (www.epicrapbattlesofhistory.com)
Lizzie Bennet Diaries, The (www.youtube.com/lizziebennet)
Video Game High School (http://www.rocketjump.com/category/vghs)
Wired: What’s Inside (http://video.wired.com/series/what-s-inside)

END

Fifth "Paranormal Activity" Flick Opens Thurs., Jan 2nd

Don't go in the basement....

Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones opens Thursday, January 2, 2014

Watch an all new clip from PARANORMAL ACTIVITY: THE MARKED ONES:
http://movies.yahoo.com/blogs/movie-news/paranormal-activity-marked-ones-clip-pays-homage-horror-174436647.html

Review: "Murder My Sweet" is Flawed But Compelling (Rembering Dick Powell)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 79 (of 2005) by Leroy Douresseaux

Murder, My Sweet (1944) – Black & White
Running time:  95 minutes (1 hour, 35 minutes)
DIRECTOR:  Edward Dmytryk
WRITER:  John Paxton (from the novel Farewell, My Lovely by Raymond Chandler)
PRODUCER:  Adrian Scott
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Harry J. Wild
EDITOR:  Joseph Noriega
COMPOSER:  Roy Webb

FILM-NOIR/MYSTERY/CRIME

Starring:  Dick Powell, Claire Trevor, Anne Shirley, Otto Kruger, Mike Mazurki, Miles Mander, Douglas Walton, Donald Douglas, Ralf Harolde, and Esther Howard

The subject of this movie review is Murder, My Sweet, a 1944 film noir detective movie from director Edward Dmytryk.  This film stars Dick Powell (one of my favorite actors) as a private detective drawn into a complex web of mystery and deceit after being hired to find an ex-con’s former girlfriend.

Murder, My Sweet is the film adaptation of the Raymond Chandler 1940 novel, Farewell, My Lovely, which was also the film’s original title.  For the U.S. release, the film’s name was changed to Murder, My Sweet so that people wouldn’t mistake it for a musical, as the film’s star, Dick Powell, was, up to that point, known as a singer.  The role revitalized Powell’s career, and he went on to play many tough guys.

The plot is convoluted and takes some effort to follow.  It begins when a big bruiser named Moose Malloy (Mike Mazurki) shows up at the office of private detective, Philip Marlowe (Dick Powell).  Malloy has been in prison for eight years; recently released, he wants Marlowe to find his girl Velma, with whom he hasn’t spoken in six years.  However, another person hunting for something or someone walks into Marlowe’s office – Lindsay Marriott (Douglas Walton), a foppish fellow who claims to be acting as a middleman to retrieve a rather expensive jade necklace from the thieves who took it and who are willing to make a deal.

After Marriott is killed, the police consider Marlowe to be the lead murder suspect, but Marlowe has his eyes on a dysfunctional family trio:  a beautiful young woman named Ann Grayle (Anne Shirley), her wealthy father, Mr. Grayle (Miles Mander), and her stepmother, Helen Grayle (Claire Trevor).  Each one wants the jade necklace, for various reasons and is trying to manipulate Marlowe to get what he or she wants.  He, however, just isn’t having it, and he begins to connect his first case with his second.

Convoluted plot aside, some consider Murder, My Sweet to be the definitive film-noir movie in spite of its shaky script and throwaway and/or underdeveloped characters.  The characters don’t really stick and their connections to one another are flimsy and contrived, which drove me crazy because they had such potential.

The film is likely beloved because of its seductive vision of nighttime Los Angeles, here, shrouded in rich, lush shadows suggesting the quintessential film-noir setting for a hardboiled roughneck dick like Philip Marlowe.  There is hardly a daytime scene in this picture; it’s a dreamy nocturnal setting for night owls, and this is just the environment to make you forget a weak script and vastly undercooked characters.  Director Edward Dmytryk and cinematographer Harry Wild combine the former’s tendency towards flashy effects and the latter’s brilliant sense of noir into an atmosphere that is pure detective film from beginning to end.

The performances are mixed, although Claire Trevor as Helen Grayle creates a great femme fatale out of a very small part.  When she comes onto Marlowe, we know that she’d use her sexuality on him without hesitation in order to get her way, and this lady is just plain dangerous; you realize that from the moment you see her.  All that aside, the main attraction is Dick Powell as Philip Marlowe.  He interprets Marlowe as a no-nonsense kind of kind guy, but a glib fellow with a droll sense of humor.  He doesn’t pretend to play along with other’s bull, and he’s the proverbial straight shooter who calls bullshit when he sees it.  He’s not the strong, silent type because he talks a lot, but his verbalizing is merely the quick and tricky moves of a savvy fighter.  Powell adds life, a blazing presence, and practicality to the film-noir art of this movie.  Powell or artful noir – either one is more than enough reason to see this sadly flawed, but compelling film.

6 of 10
B

Monday, May 23, 2005

Updated:  Thursday, January 02, 2014

The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

-------------------

Phoenix Film Critics Name "12 Years a Slave" Best Picture of 2013

by Amos Semien

The Phoenix Film Critics Society announced the winners for it 2013 Annual Awards on Tuesday, December 17, 2013.  Director Steve McQueen's 12 Years a Slave was named "Best Picture" of 2013, continuing its domination of the 2014-14 movie awards season.  Alfonso Cuaron continues his dominance winning "Best Director" awards for the film, Gravity.  Gravity also dominated the Phoenix Film Critics Society 2013 Awards with five wins; Walt Disney Picture's smash animated film, Frozen, won three awards.

Phoenix Film Critics Society 2013 Awards:

BEST PICTURE:
"12 Years a Slave"

TOP TEN FILMS OF 2013 (in alphabetical order):
"12 Years a Slave"

"American Hustle"

"Captain Phillips"

"Dallas Buyers Club"

"Gravity"

"Mud"

"Nebraska"

"Philomena"

"Saving Mr. Banks"

"Short Term 12"

BEST DIRECTOR:
Alfonso Cuaron, "Gravity"

BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE:
Matthew McConaughey, "Dallas Buyers Club"

BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE:
Cate Blanchett, "Blue Jasmine"

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:
Jared Leto, "Dallas Buyers Club"

BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:
Lupita Nyong'o, "12 Years a Slave"

BEST ENSEMBLE ACTING:
"American Hustle"

BEST SCREENPLAY – ORIGINAL:
"Nebraska"

BEST SCREENPLAY – ADAPTATION:
"12 Years a Slave"

BEST LIVE ACTION FAMILY FILM (Rated G or PG):
"Oz, The Great and Powerful"

THE OVERLOOKED FILM OF THE YEAR
(TIE) "The Kings of Summer" and "The Spectacular Now"

BEST ANIMATED FILM:
"Frozen"

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM:
"Blue is the Warmest Color"

BEST DOCUMENTARY:
"20 Feet from Stardom"

BEST ORIGINAL SONG:
Let It Go, "Frozen"

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE:
"Frozen"

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:
"Gravity"

BEST FILM EDITING:
"Gravity"

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN:
"Gravity"

BEST COSTUME DESIGN:
"The Great Gatsby"

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS:
"Gravity"

BEST STUNTS:
"Fast & Furious 6"

BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE ON CAMERA:
Oscar Isaac, "Inside Llewyn Davis"

BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE BEHIND THE CAMERA:
Lake Bell, "In a World..."

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A YOUTH IN A LEAD OR SUPPORTING ROLE – MALE:
Tye Sheridan, "Mud"

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A YOUTH IN A LEAD OR SUPPORTING ROLE – FEMALE:
Sophie Nelisse, "The Book Thief"

END

Review: "Stealth" Has Plenty of Cool Moments (Happy B'day, Richard Roxburgh)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 123 (of 2005) by Leroy Douresseaux

Stealth (2005)
Running time:  121 minutes (2 hours, 1 minute)
MPAA – PG-13 for intense action, some violence, brief strong language, and innuendo
DIRECTOR:  Rob Cohen
WRITER:  W.D. Richter
PRODUCERS:  Mike Medavoy, Laura Ziskin, and Neal H. Moritz
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Dean Semler
EDITOR:  Stephen Rivkin
COMPOSER:  BT

SCI-FI/ACTION/THRILLER with elements of war

Starring:  Josh Lucas, Jessica Biel, Jamie Foxx, and Sam Shepard, Joe Morton, Richard Roxburgh, David Miller, and Wentworth Miller (voice)

The subject of this movie review is Stealth, a 2005 science fiction and action thriller from director Rob Cohen (The Fast and the Furious, xXx).  The film follows three pilots, who are part of a top-secret military program, and their struggle to control an artificial intelligence used to operate a robotic stealth aircraft.

Lt. Ben Gannon (Josh Lucas), Kara Wade (Jessica Biel), and Henry Purcell (Jamie Foxx) are three Navy pilots deeply ensconced in a top-secret military program that tests the next generation in fighter jets, the Talon.  The trio tests their Talons in preparation for strategic air strikes against terrorists and their leaders, and the strikes have to be dead perfect in order to absolutely minimize collateral damage, i.e. civilian deaths.  However, the pilots are saddled with a fourth jet; called EDI (voice of Wentworth Miller), the jet is unmanned, and is instead run by an artificially intelligent computer.  After being struck by lightning, EDI really develops a mind of its own and begins choosing its own targets.  Gannon, Wade, and Purcell must stop EDI before he/it starts a world war.

Rob Cohen, the man who directed The Fast and the Furious and xXx, brings us Stealth, and if The Fast and The Furious and Top Gun had a sci-fi baby, Stealth would be it.  Although the script by W.D. Richter borrows heavily from films such as the aforementioned Top Gun and also 2001: A Space Odyssey, Stealth is pure fun, packing all the eye-popping, adrenaline-rush, video game style action movie thrills of Cohen’s earlier films.  The dialogue is lame, and the acting is suspect, very much so at the beginning (don’t look for Jamie Foxx to come anywhere near the magic of his Oscar-winning performance in Ray); however, by the time we reach the middle of the film the cast is deep into action movie mode, spouting lines of intense dialogue and emoting just the way they should for a military thriller.

Stealth may be a throwaway summer action blockbuster, but like films such as Con Air, Face/Off, and Cohen’s other hit action flicks, this movie delivers, and it looks great on the big screen.  The jet flight sequences and battle scenes are thrilling; if you really dig such movies, this is a must see on the big screen.  Some may say that Stealth plays lightly with the consequences of dropping bombs on civilian populations and jets shooting missiles down from the sky, but this vicarious thrill is some of the best fun one can have at war games with nothing more than your eyes and neck strained or hurt.  Think of this as The Fast and the Furious of near future air combat, and sit back and enjoy the ride because Stealth can cure most any need for speed.

7 of 10
B+

Updated: Wednesday, January 01, 2014

The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

Happy New Year - Negromancer 2014 is Open for Business

Happy New Year!  Welcome to Negromancer.  This is the rebirth of the former movie review website as a new movie review and movie news website.  Let's make 2014 big for all of us and for Grumble, which wants to be big.

Thanks for visiting and hope you're back throughout 2014, which we can apparently call the year without a new Pixar movie.

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