AFI's Best of 2013 Includes "12 Years a Slave" and "Breaking Bad"

by Amos Semien

12 Years a Slave, Fruitvale Station, and The Wolf of Wall Street are among the AFI's "10 Best Films of 2013."  "Breaking Bad," "Game of Thrones," and "House of Cards" are among AFI's "10 Best TV Programs of 2013.

The American Film Institute (AFI) describes itself as “America’s promise to preserve the history of the motion picture, to honor the artists and their work and to educate the next generation of storytellers.”  Their awards focus on American feature films and television programs.

AFI MOVIES OF THE YEAR - 2013
12 YEARS A SLAVE
AMERICAN HUSTLE
CAPTAIN PHILLIPS
FRUITVALE STATION
GRAVITY
HER
INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS
NEBRASKA
SAVING MR. BANKS
THE WOLF OF WALL STREET

AFI TV PROGRAMS OF THE YEAR - 2013
THE AMERICANS
BREAKING BAD
GAME OF THRONES
THE GOOD WIFE
HOUSE OF CARDS
MAD MEN
MASTERS OF SEX
ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK
SCANDAL
VEEP

Here is the institute's press release:

AMERICAN FILM INSTITUTE: AFI AWARDS 2013 OFFICIAL SELECTIONS

10 Outstanding Motion Pictures and Television Programs Inducted into the AFI Almanac of the Art Form

December 9, 2013 – The American Film Institute (AFI) today announced the official selections of AFI AWARDS 2013 – 10 outstanding films and 10 outstanding television programs deemed culturally and artistically representative of the year's most significant achievements in the art of the moving image.

An almanac documenting works of excellence that mark a moment in time, AFI AWARDS is also the only national honor for the community's creative ensembles as a whole, acknowledging the collaborative nature of the art form. Honorees are selected based on works which best advance the art of the moving image, enhance the rich cultural heritage of America's art form, inspire audiences and artists alike, and/or make a mark on American society.

"AFI AWARDS is a moment for the most accomplished storytellers of 2013 to pause and be appreciated – not as competitors, but as a community," said Bob Gazzale, AFI President & CEO. "Acknowledging their collective contributions to America's rich cultural legacy is both AFI's national mandate – and our honor."

Marking the 14th chapter in the American Film Institute's ongoing chronicle, AFI AWARDS selections are made through AFI's unique jury process in which AFI members, scholars, film and television artists, critics and AFI Trustees determine the most outstanding achievements of the year, as well as provide a contextual rationale for each selection.

This year's juries – one for film and one for television – were chaired by producers and AFI Board of Trustees Vice Chairs Tom Pollock (former Vice Chairman of MCA, Chairman of Universal Pictures) for the movies and Rich Frank (former Chairman of Walt Disney Television, President of Walt Disney Studios, President of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences) for television, and includes award-winning artists such as Jon Avnet, Anne V. Coates, Roman Coppola, D.C. Fontana, Nancy Meyers and Noah Wyle; film historian Leonard Maltin; scholars from prestigious universities with recognized motion picture arts programs (Princeton, Syracuse, USC, Wesleyan); AFI Board of Trustees; and critics from leading media outlets such as Entertainment Weekly, The Huffington Post, Rolling Stone Magazine, Time Magazine, TV Guide, USA Today and more.

AFI will honor the creative ensembles for each of the selections at an invitation-only luncheon on Friday, January 10, 2014 in Los Angeles, California.

Verizon Digital Media Services is the Digital Sponsor of AFI AWARDS and luncheon. Audi of America has supported AFI for the past 10 years and is proud to return as a major sponsor of the event. Additional sponsors include Stella Artois and American Airlines, the official airline of the American Film Institute, providing travel support throughout the year.

Additional information, including awards criteria, can be found at AFI.com/AFIAWARDS later today. Press coverage of the AFI Awards luncheon is very limited and by invitation only. Photos will be available online through AFI by 5:00 p.m. immediately following the event on January 10, 2014.

About Verizon Digital Media Services
Verizon Digital Media Services offers enterprises a suite of robust and flexible end-to-end video solutions for best-in-class TV Everywhere and superior over-the-top experiences. Built on one of the world’s most advanced networks with a video-optimized platform, Verizon Digital Media Services delivers a vast range of content management and delivery services with carrier-grade quality, reliability, security and scale. For more information about Digital Media Services, visit verizondigitalmedia.com.

About Audi
Audi of America, Inc. and its U.S. dealers offer a full line of German-engineered luxury vehicles. AUDI AG is among the most successful luxury automotive brands globally. Audi was a top-performing luxury brand in Europe during 2012, and broke all-time company sales records in the U.S. Through 2016; AUDI AG will invest about $17 billion on new products, facilities and technologies. Visit audiusa.com or audiusanews.com for more information regarding Audi vehicles and business topics.

About the American Film Institute
AFI is America's promise to preserve the history of the motion picture, to honor the artists and their work and to educate the next generation of storytellers. AFI programs include the AFI Catalog of Feature Films and AFI Archive, which preserve film heritage for future generations; the AFI Life Achievement Award – the highest honor for a career in film – now in its 42nd year; AFI Awards, honoring the most outstanding motion pictures and television programs of the year; AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies television events and movie reference lists, which have introduced and reintroduced classic American movies to millions of film lovers; year-round and special event exhibition through AFI Fest presented by Audi, AFI Docs presented by Audi and the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center; and educating the next generation of storytellers at the world renowned AFI Conservatory, recognized for the quality of its instructors and speakers and its notable alumni. For more information about AFI, visit AFI.com or connect with AFI at twitter.com/AmericanFilm, facebook.com/AmericanFilmInstitute and youtube.com/AFI.

END

New York Critics Online Name "12 Years a Slave" Best Picture of 2013

by Amos Semien

Over the past weekend, The New York Film Critics Online (NYFCO) was the second film critics organization to award 12 Years a Slave "Best Picture" of 2013.  It was one of three NYFCO awards for the film, including "Best Actor" (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and "Best Supporting Actress" (Lupita Nyong’o).

 The New York Film Critics Online is a group of Internet film critics based in New York City that meets once a year, in December, for voting on its annual NYFCO Awards.

A complete list of 2013 honorees follows:

Best Picture: 12 Years a Slave

Best Director: Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity

Best Debut Director: Ryan Coogler, Fruitvale Station

Best Ensemble Cast: American Hustle

Best Actress: Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine

Best Actor: Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years A Slave

Best Supporting Actress: Lupita Nyong’o, 12 Years A Slave

Best Supporting Actor:  Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club

Best Foreign Language Film: Blue Is The Warmest Color

Best Documentary: The Act Of Killing

Best Animated Feature: The Wind Rises

Best Use Of Music: Inside Llewyn Davis

Best Screenplay: Spike Jonze, Her

Best Cinematography:  Emmanuel Lubezki, Gravity

Best Breakthrough Performance: Adele Exarchopoulos, Blue Is The Warmest Color

nyfco.proboards.com

END

Boston Film Critics Choose "12 Years a Slave" as Best Picture of 2013

by Amos Semien

The Boston Society of Film Critics (BSFC) named 12 Years a Slave the "Best Picture" of 2013, one of two best picture awards the film received from film critics societies over this past weekend.  12 Years a Slave also earned BSFC Awards for "Best Director" (Steve McQueen) and "Best Actor" (Chiwetel Ejiofor)  The society chose Hiyao Miyazaki's final film, The Wind Rises, "Best Animated Film."

The Boston Society of Film Critics (BSFC) was formed in 1981.  The group claims that its mission is to make “Boston's unique critical perspective heard on a national and international level by awarding commendations to the best of the year's films and filmmakers and local film theaters and film societies that offer outstanding film programming.”  One of the society’s members, Wesley Morris, won 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.

2013 Boston Society of Film Critics Awards Winners:

Best Picture  - 12 Years a Slave

Best Actor -  Chiwetel Ejiofor for 12 Years a Slave

Best Actress - Cate Blanchett for Blue Jasmine

Best Supporting Actor -  James Gandolfini for Enough Said

Best Supporting Actress -  June Squibb for Nebraska

Best Director - Steve McQueen for 12 Years a Slave

Best Screenplay -  Nicole Holofcener for Enough Said

Best Cinematography - Emmanuel Lubezki for Gravity

Best Documentary - The Act of Killing

Best Foreign-Language Film -  Wadjda

Best Animated Film -  The Wind Rises

Best Film Editing (awarded in memory of Karen Schmeer) - Daniel P. Hanley and Mike Hill for Rush

Best New Filmmaker (awarded in memory of David Brudnoy) -  Ryan Coogler for Fruitvale Station

Best Ensemble Cast -  Nebraska

Best Use of Music in a Film  - Inside: Llewyn Davis


BSFC 2013 Awards, Commendations and Rediscoveries
Best Film Series:

“The Complete Alfred Hitchcock” at Harvard Film Archive

“A Burt Lancaster Centennial Tribute” at Harvard Film Archive and the Brattle Theatre

“Action, Action, Action: A Raoul Walsh Retrospective” at Harvard Film Archive

“The Films of Pierre Etaix” at the Museum of Fine Arts

“Chris Marker: Guillaume-en-Egypte” at Harvard Film Archive and the List Visual Arts Center at M.I.T.

Best Rediscoveries:

Journey to Italy at the Brattle Theatre

Yo-yo at the Museum of Fine Arts

Cattle Annie and Little Britchesat the Brattle Theatre

Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains at Coolidge Corner Theatre

Daughters of the Dust at Harvard Film Archive

Commendations:
Coolidge @fter Midnight – The midnight movies series at the Coolidge Corner Theatre

http://www.bostonfilmcritics.org/

END

2013 Online Film Critics Society Awards Nominations - Complete List

Founded in 1997, the Online Film Critics Society (OFCS) describes itself as “the largest, most respected organization for critics whose work appears primarily on the Internet.”  The OFCS says that it has been the key force in establishing and raising the standards for Internet-based film journalism.  Its membership consists of film reviewers, journalists and scholars based in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Latin America and the Asia/Pacific Rim region.

The nominations for the 17th Annual Online Film Critics Society Awards were recently announced.  The winners will be announced Monday, December 16, 2013.

17th Annual Online Film Critics Society Awards (2013) nominations:

Best Picture:
12 Years a Slave
American Hustle
Before Midnight
Blue Is the Warmest Color
Drug War
Gravity
Her
Inside Llewyn Davis
Short Term 12
The Wind Rises

Best Director:
Joel Coen, Ethan Coen – Inside Llewyn Davis
Alfonso Cuaron – Gravity
Spike Jonze – Her
Steve McQueen – 12 Years a Slave
Hayao Miyazaki – The Wind Rises

Best Actor:
Chiwetel Ejiofor – 12 Years a Slave
Tom Hanks – Captain Phillips
Oscar Isaac – Inside Llewyn Davis
Mads Mikkelsen – The Hunt
Joaquin Phoenix – Her

Best Actress:
Amy Adams – American Hustle
Cate Blanchett – Blue Jasmine
Julie Delpy – Before Midnight
Adèle Exarchopoulos – Blue Is the Warmest Color
Brie Larsen – Short Term 12

Best Supporting Actor:
Barkhad Abdi – Captain Phillips
Michael Fassbender – 12 Years a Slave
Jared Leto – Dallas Buyers Club
Matthew McConaughey – Mud
Sam Rockwell – The Way, Way Back

Best Supporting Actress:
Sally Hawkins – Blue Jasmine
Scarlett Johansson – Her
Jennifer Lawrence – American Hustle
Lupita Nyong’o – 12 Years a Slave
Léa Seydoux – Blue Is the Warmest Color

Best Animated Feature:
Despicable Me 2
From Up on Poppy Hill
Frozen
Monsters University
The Wind Rises

Best Film Not in the English Language:
Blue Is the Warmest Color
Drug War
Museum Hours
Wadjda
The Wind Rises

Best Documentary:
56 Up
The Act of Killing
At Berkeley
Blackfish
Stories We Tell

Best Original Screenplay:
American Hustle
Blue Jasmine
Her
Inside Llewyn Davis
Museum Hours

Best Adapted Screenplay:
12 Years a Slave
Before Midnight
In the House
Short Term 12
The Wind Rises

Best Editing:
12 Years a Slave
Drug War
Gravity
Her
Inside Llewyn Davis

Best Cinematography:
12 Years a Slave
The Grandmaster
Gravity
The Great Beauty
Inside Llewyn Davis

http://www.ofcs.org/

END

L.A. Film Critics Tie on "Gravity" and "Her" as 2013's Best Picture

by Amos Semien

In a year of ties, The Los Angeles Film Critics Association named the films, Gravity and Her, as "Best Picture" of 2013.  However, when it came to "Best Director," Gravity's Alfonso Curon did not have to share with runner-up Spike Jonze of Her.  Other ties include "Best Actress," Cate Blanchett and Adèle Exarchopoulos; and "Best Supporting Actor," James Franco and Jared Leto.

The Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA) is a professional organization of Los Angeles-based, professional film critics working in the Los Angeles print and electronic media.  Since 1975, LAFCA members vote on the year's Achievement Awards each December, honoring screen excellence on both sides of the camera.

39th Annual (2013) Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards:

BEST PICTURE: "Gravity" and "Her" (TIE)

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

BEST ACTOR: Bruce Dern "Nebraska"
Runner-up: Chiwetel Ejiofor ("12 Years a Slave")

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

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

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Lupita Nyong'o, "12 Years a Slave"
Runner-up: June Squibb ("Nebraska")

BEST SCREENPLAY: Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy, and Ethan Hawke, “Before Midnight"
Runner-up: Spike Jonze ("Her")

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

BEST PRODCUTION DESIGN: K.K. Barrett, "Her"
Runner-up: Jess Gonchor ("Inside Llewyn Davis")

BEST EDITING: Alfonso Cuarón and Mark Sanger, "Gravity"
Runner-up: Shane Carruth and David Lowery ("upstream color")

BEST MUSIC SCORE: T Bone Burnett, "Inside Llewyn Davis"
Runner-up: Arcade Fire and Owen Pallett ("HER")

BEST FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM: "Blue Is the Warmest Color" - Directed by Abdellatif Kechiche
Runner-up: "The Great Beauty" directed by Paolo Sorrentino

BEST DOCUMENTARY/NON-FICTION FILM: "Stories We Tell" - Directed by Sarah Polley
Runner-up: "The Act of Killing" by Joshua Oppenheimer, Anonymous, and Christine Cynn

BEST ANIMATION: "Ernest & Celestine" – Directed by Stéphane Aubier, Vincent Patar, and Benjamin Renner
Runner-up: "The Wind Rises" directed by Hayao Miyazaki

New Generation: Megan Ellison

Legacy of Cinema: Criterion Collection

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

Special Citation: The creative team of "12 Years a Slave"

http://www.lafca.net/

END

"Metro Manila" Tops 2013 British Independent Film Awards

by Amos Semien

The British-Filipino film, Metro Manila, was named "Best British Independent Film" by the British Independent Film Awards.  The crime drama won three awards, including "Best Director" for Sean Ellis.  Metro Manila follows a man who moves his family from the rural Philippines to Manila and finds peril in his new life and job.

The British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) were created in 1998.  This film award celebrates merit and achievement in independently funded British filmmaking, honors new film talent, and promotes British films and filmmaking to a wider public.  The awards are currently sponsored by Moët & Chandon Champagne.

The winners of the 2013 edition of the BIFA were announced at the 16th Moët British Independent Film Awards ceremony on Sunday, December 8, 2013 held at the Old Billingsgate in London and hosted by BIFA-winning actor, James Nesbitt.

The 16th Annual Moët British Independent Film Awards winners:

BEST BRITISH INDEPENDENT FILM (Sponsored by Moët & Chandon):
Metro Manila

BEST DIRECTOR (Sponsored by AllCity & Intermission):
Sean Ellis – Metro Manila

THE DOUGLAS HICKOX AWARD [BEST DEBUT DIRECTOR] - Sponsored by 3 Mills Studios:
Paul Wright – For Those in Peril

BEST SCREENPLAY:
Steven Knight – Locke

BEST ACTRESS (Sponsored by M.A.C Cosmetics):
Lindsay Duncan – Le Week-end

BEST ACTOR (Sponsored by BBC Films):
James McAvoy – Filth

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
Imogen Poots – The Look Of Love

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR (Sponsored by Sanderson & St Martins Lane):
Ben Mendelsohn – Starred Up

MOST PROMISING NEWCOMER (Sponsored by Studiocanal):
Chloe Pirrie – Shell

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN PRODUCTION (Sponsored by Company3):
Metro Manila

BEST TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT (Sponsored by LightBrigade Media):
Amy Hubbard – Casting – The Selfish Giant

BEST DOCUMENTARY:
Pussy Riot - A Punk Prayer

BEST BRITISH SHORT (Supported by BFI NET.WORK):
Z1

BEST INTERNATIONAL INDEPENDENT FILM:
Blue is the Warmest Colour

THE RAINDANCE AWARD (Sponsored by Wentworth Media and Arts):
The Machine

THE RICHARD HARRIS AWARD (for outstanding contribution by an actor to British Film):
Julie Walters

THE VARIETY AWARD:
Paul Greengrass

THE SPECIAL JURY PRIZE:
Sixteen Films & Friends (AKA Team Loach)

http://www.bifa.org.uk/

END

Review: "Out of the Past" is an Entertaining Film-Noir (Happy B'day, Kirk Douglas)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 44 (of 2005) by Leroy Douresseaux

Out of the Past (1947) – Black & White
Running time: 97 minutes (1 hour, 37 minutes)
NR – not rated by the MPAA
DIRECTOR:  Jacques Tourneur
WRITERS:  Geoffrey Homes (based upon the novel Build My Gallows High by Geoffrey Homes)
PRODUCER:  Warren Duff
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Nicholas Musuraca
EDITOR:  Samuel E. Beetley
COMPOSER: Roy Webb

FILM-NOIR/DRAMA/THRILLER

Starring:  Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, Kirk Douglas, Rhonda Fleming, Richard Webb, Steve Brodie, Virginia Houston, Paul Valentine, Dickie Moore, and Ken Niles with (no screen credit) Theresa Harris, Caleb Peterson, and Wallace Scott

The subject of this movie review is Out of the Past, a 1947 film noir drama and thriller from director Jacques Tourneur.  The film is based on the 1946 novel, Build My Gallows High, by Geoffrey Homes (the penname of author Daniel Mainwaring), who also wrote the screenplay adapting his novel for this film.  Frank Fenton and James M. Cain also contributed to the writing of the screenplay, but did not receive screen credit.

Out of the Past stars Robert Mitchum as a private eye who escapes his past and runs a gas station in a small town.  Kirk Douglas and Jane Greer star as the hood and his dame (respectively), and they are the past that catches up to the former private eye.

Out of the Past is a definitive classic of film noir; some even consider it the best noir film ever.  It is certainly a film that stands the test of time because it is not only fondly remembered and on the National Film Registry, it was also remade as the 1984 film, Against All Odds.  Who can forget Phil Collins’ powerful theme song for the film?

Jeff Bailey (Robert Mitchum) is a gas station owner with a troubled past.  It catches up with him when a tough looking, film heavy named Joe Stephanos (Paul Valentine) comes looking for Jeff and tells him he needs to take a trip.  Stephanos and his employer are “acquaintances” of Jeff’s.  So Jeff’s trip is to pay a visit to that old friend, gambler and mobster, Whit Sterling (Kirk Douglas).  It turns out Jeff was once a private eye named Jeff Markham (told in a flashback) whom Sterling hired to find his mistress, Kathie Moffat (Jane Greer), a drop-dead gorgeous woman who’d shot Sterling several times and disappeared with 40,000 of Sterling’s dollars.  Bailey did find her, but the unexpected (or expected) occurs.  Now, Sterling wants payback, so he coerces Bailey into taking another job for him, one that might cost Jeff his neck or a trip to the gas chamber.

Out of the Past has all the things that marks a movie as film noir, especially the lighting, the dangerous dames, menacing thugs, snappy dialogue, and hard-living hero.  The film actually seems longer than its running time, and that’s good.  The director and screenwriters pack a lot of twists and turns into this film.  It’s beautifully shot, and the dialogue is not only snappy (which might take some getting used to for people not familiar with noir or movies from the 1930’s and 40’s), but it’s also quite witty, sharp, and biting.  The film is engaging and almost compels the viewer to keep watching.

They really don’t make movies like this anymore or movie stars like this.  Robert Mitchum is an electric and magnetic presence, so much so that he almost steals the film from his co-stars.  It’s obvious why every female character in the film wants to disrobe for his Jeff Bailey.  In fact, if it weren’t for Kirk Douglas’ own super-powered film presence, his Whit Sterling couldn’t register as a dangerous adversary for Mitchum’s Bailey.

With nearly ever scene revealing another twist or surprise, Out of the Past is an absolute delight and a must-see for fans of the cast and film noir.  It’s only shortcoming is that the script brushes aside too many characters, and while those characters’ motivations aren’t contrived, they’re turned into a kind of short hand or footnote, although if developed only a little more, they’d enhance the story.  In places, the film lacks meat on its bones and lacks the emotional resonance to fully sell the various relationship triangles.  That said, this is still very entertaining film-noir.

8 of 10
A

NOTES:
1991 National Film Preservation Board, USA:  National Film Registry

Updated:  Monday, December 09, 2013

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