20 Films Vie for 5 "Visual Effects" Nominations for Feb. 2016 Oscars Ceremony

20 CONTENDERS ADVANCE IN VFX OSCAR RACE

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced that 20 films are in the running in the Visual Effects category for the 88th Academy Awards®.

The films are listed below in alphabetical order:

    “Ant-Man”
    “Avengers: Age of Ultron”
    “Bridge of Spies”
    “Chappie”
    “Everest”
    “Ex Machina”
    “Furious Seven”
    “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2”
    “In the Heart of the Sea”
    “Jupiter Ascending”
    “Jurassic World”
    “Mad Max: Fury Road”
    “The Martian”
    “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation”
    “The Revenant”
    “Spectre”
    “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”
    “Terminator Genisys”
    “Tomorrowland”
    “The Walk”

The Academy’s Visual Effects Branch Executive Committee determined the preliminary shortlist.  This year, in the Visual Effects category, the number of eligible films initially shortlisted for further consideration was increased to a maximum of 20 titles.  The number of films that will be shortlisted for nominations voting remains at 10, which will be announced later this month.

The 88th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Thursday, January 14, 2016, at 5:30 a.m. PT at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.

The 88th Oscars® will be held on Sunday, February 28, 2016, at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center® in Hollywood, and will be televised live by the ABC Television Network at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT.  The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.

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Online Film Critics Soceity Announces 2015 OFCS Award Nominations

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 Online Film Critics Society currently consists of 254 members with writers representing 22 countries across the globe.

The Online Film Critics Society recognized the year’s best films with nominations for their 19th annual awards. The winners will be announced on Monday, December 14, 2015.

2015 / 19th OFCS Award nominations:

Best Picture:

Brooklyn

Carol

Ex Machina

Inside Out

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Martian

The Revenant

Room

Sicario

Spotlight

Best Animated Feature:

Anomalisa

The Good Dinosaur

Inside Out

The Peanuts Movie

Shaun the Sheep Movie

Best Film Not in the English Language:

The Assassin (Taiwan)

Goodnight Mommy (Austria)

Mustang (France)

Phoenix (Germany)

Son of Saul (Hungary)

Best Documentary:

Amy

Best of Enemies

Cartel Land

Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief

The Look of Silence

Best Director:

Todd Haynes (Carol)

Tom McCarthy (Spotlight)

George Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Ridley Scott (The Martian)

Denis Villeneuve (Sicario)

Best Actor:

Matt Damon (The Martian)

Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant)

Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs)

Michael B. Jordan (Creed)

Ian McKellen (Mr. Holmes)

Best Actress:

Cate Blanchett (Carol)

Brie Larson (Room)

Charlotte Rampling (45 Years)

Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn)

Charlize Theron (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Best Supporting Actor:

Benicio Del Toro (Sicario)

Oscar Isaac (Ex Machina)

Mark Ruffalo (Spotlight)

Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies)

Sylvester Stallone (Creed)

Best Supporting Actress:

Rooney Mara (Carol)

Cynthia Nixon (James White)

Kristen Stewart (Clouds of Sils Maria)

Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl)

Kate Winslet (Steve Jobs)

Best Original Screenplay:

Ex Machina (Alex Garland)

Inside Out (Pete Docter, Ronnie Del Carmen, Meg LeFauve, Josh Cooley)

Mistress America (Greta Gerwig, Noah Baumbach)

Sicario (Taylor Sheridan)

Spotlight (Josh Singer, Tom McCarthy)

Best Adapted Screenplay:

Brooklyn (Nick Hornby)

Carol (Phyllis Nagy)

The Martian (Drew Goddard)

Room (Emma Donoghue)

Steve Jobs (Aaron Sorkin)

Best Editing:

Mad Max: Fury Road (Margaret Sixel)

The Martian (Pietro Scalia)

The Revenant (Stephen Mirrione)

Sicario (Joe Walker)

Steve Jobs (Elliot Graham)

Best Cinematography:

The Assassin (Ping Bin Lee)

Carol (Edward Lachman)

Mad Max: Fury Road (John Seale)

The Revenant (Emmanuel Lubezki)

Sicario (Roger Deakins)

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Boston Film Critics Name "Spotlight" Best Picture of 2015

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.

2015 Boston Society of Film Critics Awards Winners:

Best Picture  -  Spotlight

Best Actor – (tie)
Paul Dano for Love & Mercy
Leonardo DiCaprio for The Revenant

Best Actress -  Charlotte Rampling for 45 Years

Best Supporting Actor - Mark Rylance for Bridge of Spies

Best Supporting Actress - Kristen Stewart for Clouds of Sils Maria

Best Director - Todd Haynes for Carol

Best Screenplay - Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer for Spotlight

Best Cinematography - Edward Lachman for Carol

Best Documentary - Amy

Best Foreign-Language Film  (awarded in memory of Jay Carr) -  The Look of Silence (Denmark)

Best Animated Film -  (tie) Anomalisa and Inside Out

Best Film Editing (awarded in memory of Karen Schmeer) -  Margaret Sixel for Mad Max: Fury Road

Best New Filmmaker (awarded in memory of David Brudnoy) -  Marielle Heller for The Diary of a Teenage Girl

Best Ensemble Cast -  Spotlight

Best Use of Music in a Film -  Love & Mercy

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Review: Gripping "Selma" is History Unfarnished

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 46 (of 2015) by Leroy Douresseaux

[A version of this review originally appeared on Patreon.]

Selma (2014)
Running time: 128 minutes (2 hours, 8 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for disturbing thematic material including violence, a suggestive moment, and brief strong language
DIRECTOR:  Ava DuVernay
WRITER:  Paul Webb
PRODUCERS:  Christian Colson, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, and Oprah Winfrey
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Bradford Young
EDITOR:  Spencer Averick
COMPOSER:  Jason Moran
Academy Award winner

DRAMA/HISTORY

Starring:  David Oyelowo, Carmen Ejogo, Tom Wilkinson, Giovanni Ribisi, Andre Holland, Stephan James, Wendell Pierce, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Colman Domingo, Omar Dorsey, Tessa Thompson, Common, Lorraine Toussaint, Lakeith Stanfield, Henry G. Sanders, Charity Jordan, Trai Beyers, Dylan Baker, Stephen Root, Niecy Nash, E. Roger Mitchell, Tim Roth, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Alessandro Nivola, Michael Shikany, Brandon O'Dell, Nigel Thatch, and Oprah Winfrey

Selma is a 2014 historical drama from director Ava DuVernay.  Written by Paul Webb, the film chronicles the 1965 Selma to Montgomery, Alabama voting rights marches and its leaders:  Martin Luther King, Jr., James Bevel, Hosea Williams, and John Lewis.  Brad Pitt is one of this film's executive producers.

Selma opens in 1964.  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (David Oyelowo) of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) accepts his Nobel Peace Prize.  King believes that after the passage of the “Civil Rights Act of 1964” (which outlawed discrimination), the next big effort for civil rights should be to secure voting rights for Black Americans, especially in the South.  He and the SCLC decide that the campaign to secure equal voting rights will be highlighted with an epic march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama in 1965.

However, several forces gather to stop the march.  President Lyndon B. Johnson (Tom Wilkinson) wants Dr. King to hold off on seeking voting rights until after Johnson can push through his “War of Poverty” program.  Alabama Governor George Wallace (Tim Roth) wants to bring an end to Civil Rights activism in his state, and decides to use force, including state police and local law enforcement, against marchers and protesters.

Meanwhile, Coretta Scott King (Carmen Ejogo), Dr. King's wife, is concerned for her husband's safety and for the disruption to their marriage and danger to his family caused by his work.  Younger Black activists, such as the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), are not happy with Dr. King and the SCLC's methods.  Worst of all, dark forces are gathering to keep the marchers from crossing Edmund Pettus Bridge, which will keep them from leaving Selma.

Like many Civil Rights films, documentaries, and television movies, Selma is an epic, but not by being grand.  Director Ava DuVernay composes the film as an intimate tale that closes in on its subjects.  Selma is not about the struggle of the Civil Rights movement at large, but about the struggle of the key players, especially Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., at a particular moment in time.

Now, having seen the film, I cannot understand the controversy that surrounded Selma regarding its portrayal of President Lyndon B. Johnson.  Some... what can I call them... fans, admirers, protectors of Johnson's legacy, etc. claimed that Selma played the late President as if he were a villain and an obstacle in the Civil Rights movement.  First of all, this film is a dramatization of the events surrounding the Selma to Montgomery voting rights march, and, thus, the President Johnson that appears in the film is a fictional depiction of a real person.  Secondly, the doubts, reservations, objections that the fictional Johnson expressed here are the same expressed by other characters in Selma, including characters involved in the marches.

Paul Webb's screenplay for Selma depicts nearly all of the major characters and main supporting players as having feet of clay, of being fragile and vulnerable.  They are self-interested and self-serving, often to protect what they see as right for the Civil Rights movement, but also to protect themselves and loved ones in a time that was dangerous for many, but especially for people involved in the movement, in particular for Black people, but also for some White people.

Selma is not colorful and whimsical like fellow best picture Oscar nominee, The Grand Budapest Hotel.  It is not arty and guileful like the behind-the-scenes Birdman, with its sense of familiarity for actors.  Selma is meat-and-potatoes.  DuVernay does not compose the Selma to Montgomery march as a grand, historical event, as if it were a history-changing struggle taking place on the kind of wide-open battlefield that is perfect for an epic conflict.

DuVernay closes in on the players in this movement, showing the inner workings of a social movement.  This is not the stuff seen on television, like the march itself.  This is that unseen stuff, the details that are not glamorous, and sometimes seems petty and trivial, except to those making them and living with the consequences.  This intense focus on the interior workings creates a sense of claustrophobia, but also so of dread.  Selma often seems like a thriller, because DuVernay brings the audience in so close that they might feel as if they are there.  Watching this film, I felt endangered.

The one glitch in this film, I think, is that it sometimes feels disconnected from the larger Civil Rights movement.  It is as if nothing came before the marches or would come after it.  Sometimes, Selma simply seems out of context.

As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., David Oyelowo gives Selma its best performance.  Oyelowo's is both an imaginative and a bold presentation of Dr. King.  In the decades since his assassination, many people have made him both a martyr and, sadly, an idol of adoration.  This worship of a false idol is dangerous because it allows people who were or would have been against Dr. King and the Civil Rights movement to appropriate him and the movement.  It is as if he is a religious figure that can be reshaped for whatever cause or ideology that needs King's moral position.  Oyelowo makes Dr. King human, fragile, and self-serving or self-interested, if not quite selfish.  Thus, when Oyelowo brings out the best of Dr. King, it seems genuine and honest, rather than expected.

I think that Selma should have been a more popular film and that it should have received more Oscar nominations than it did (two).  In the end, box office and industry accolades don't matter because Selma will stand out as one of the truer cinematic expressions of the Civil Rights movement, which was a fight for freedom and for the soul of the United States of America.

9 of 10
A+

Friday, September 25, 2015

NOTES:
2015 Academy Awards, USA:  1 win: “Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song” (Common as Lonnie Lynn and John Legend as John Stephens for the song “Glory”); 1 nomination: “Best Motion Picture of the Year” (Christian Colson, Oprah Winfrey, Dede Gardner, and Jeremy Kleiner)

2015 Golden Globes, USA:  1 win: “Best Original Song - Motion Picture” (John Legend and Common for the song, “Glory”);  3 nominations: “Best Motion Picture – Drama,” “Best Director - Motion Picture” (Ava DuVernay), and “Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama” (David Oyelowo)

2015 Black Reel Awards:  8 wins: “Outstanding Motion Picture” (Oprah Winfrey, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, and Christian Colson), “Outstanding Actor, Motion Picture” (David Oyelowo), “Outstanding Supporting Actor, Motion Picture” (Wendell Pierce), “Outstanding Supporting Actress, Motion Picture” (Carmen Ejogo), “Outstanding Director, Motion Picture? (Ava DuVernay), “Outstanding Ensemble” (Aisha Coley), “Outstanding Score” (Jason Moran), and “Outstanding Original Song” (John Legend as performer, writer and Common as performer, writer, and Rhymefest as writer for the song, “Glory”); 2 nominations: “Outstanding Breakthrough Performance, Male” (André Holland) and “Outstanding Breakthrough Performance, Male” (Stephan James)

2015 Image Awards:  4 wins: “Outstanding Motion Picture,” “Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture” (David Oyelowo), “Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture” (Common), “Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture” (Carmen Ejogo); 4 nominations: “Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture” (André Holland), “Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture” (Wendell Pierce), “Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture” (Oprah Winfrey), and “Outstanding Directing in a Motion Picture” (Ava DuVernay)


The text is copyright © 2015 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Los Angeles Film Critics Name "Spotlight" Best Picture of 2015

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.

41st Annual (2015) Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards:

Picture: Spotlight
Runner-up: Mad Max: Fury Road.

Director: George Miller, Mad Max: Fury Road
Runner-up: Todd Haynes, Carol.

Actor: Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs
Runner-up: Géza Röhrig, Son of Saul.

Actress: Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years
Runner-up: Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn.

Supporting actor: Michael Shannon, 99 Homes
Runner-up: Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies.

Supporting actress: Alicia Vikander, Ex Machina
Runner-up: Kristen Stewart, Clouds of Sils Maria.

Screenplay: Josh Singer and Tom McCarthy, Spotlight
Runner-up: Charlie Kaufman, Anomalisa.

Animation: Anomalisa
Runner-up: Inside Out.

Foreign-language film: Son of Saul (Hungary)
Runner-up: The Tribe (Ukraine)

Documentary/nonfiction film: Amy
Runner-up: The Look of Silence.

New Generation: Ryan Coogler, Creed.

Film editing: Hank Corwin, The Big Short
Runner-up: Margaret Sixel, Mad Max: Fury Road.

Cinematography: John Seale, Mad Max: Fury Road
Runner-up: Edward Lachman, Carol.

Production design: Colin Gibson, Mad Max: Fury Road
Runner-up: Judy Becker, Carol.

Music score: Carter Burwell, Anomalisa and Carol
Runner-up: Ennio Morricone, The Hateful Eight.

Special citation: David Shepard, for his invaluable work in film preservation, particularly of films from the silent era.

Lifetime achievement: Anne V. Coates (British film editor who edited “Lawrence of Arabia” and is a recipient of five Oscar nominations.)

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"Ex Machina" Dominates 2015 British Independent Film Awards

In 1998, Raindance created the British Independent Film Awards to celebrate merit and achievement in independently funded British filmmaking.  The awards also honor new talent and promote British films and filmmaking to a wider public.

The 2015/18th Moët British Independent Film Awards were announced in London.  The winners were announced in a ceremony on Sunday, December 6, 2015 at Old Billingsgate. The event was live streamed on www.bifa.film.

The 2015 Moët British Independent Film Awards winners:

Best British Independent Film sponsored by Moët & Chandon
EX MACHINA - Andrew Macdonald, Allon Reich, Alex Garland

Best Director
EX MACHINA - Alex Garland

Best Screenplay sponsored by BBC Films
EX MACHINA - Alex Garland

Best Actress sponsored by MAC
SAOIRSE RONAN - Brooklyn

Best Actor sponsored by Movado
TOM HARDY - Legend

Best Supporting Actress
OLIVIA COLMAN - The Lobster

Best Supporting Actor
BRENDAN GLEESON - Suffragette

Most Promising Newcomer sponsored by The London Edition
MIA GOTH - The Survivalist

The Douglas Hickox Award (Best Debut Director) sponsored by 3 Mills Studios
THE SURVIVALIST - Stephen Fingleton

The Discovery Award sponsored by Raindance
ORION: THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING - Jeanie Finlay

Best Documentary
DARK HORSE: THE INCREDIBLE TRUE STORY OF DREAM ALLIANCE - Judith Dawson, Louise Osmond

Producer of the Year
PAUL KATIS, ANDREW DE LOTBINIERE - Kajaki: The True Story

Outstanding Achievement in Craft
ANDREW WHITEHURST - Visual Effects, Ex Machina

Best British Short Film:
EDMOND - Emilie Jouffroy, Nina Gantz

Best International Independent Film:
ROOM (Canada, Ireland) - Ed Guiney, David Gross, Emma Donoghue, Lenny Abrahamson

The Variety Award:
Kate Winslet
(The Variety Award recognises a director, actor, writer or producer who has made a global impact and helped to focus the international spotlight on the UK.)

The Richard Harris Award:
Chiwetel Ejiofor
(The Richard Harris Award was introduced in 2002 in honour of Richard Harris and recognizes outstanding contribution to British film by an actor.)

Special Jury Prize:
Chris Collins
(A BFI executive who died late last year.)

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Beck's "Morning Phase" is "Album of the Year" at 57th Grammys

[The nominations for the 58th Grammys were announced this morning, Monday, December 7, 2015.  It made me remember that I forgot to post the winners from the 57th Grammys.  What follows is a list of winners from select categories.]

The 57th Annual GRAMMY Awards were held on "GRAMMY Sunday," February 8, 2015, at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles and broadcast live in high-definition TV and 5.1 surround sound on CBS from 8 – 11:30 p.m. (ET/PT).

2015 / 57th Grammy Award winners:

GENERAL FIELD

Album Of The Year:
Morning Phase — Beck

Record Of The Year:
"Stay With Me" (Darkchild Version) — Sam Smith

Song Of The Year:
"Stay With Me" (Darkchild Version) — James Napier, William Phillips & Sam Smith, songwriters (Sam Smith)

Best New Artist:
Sam Smith

POP FIELD

Best Pop Duo/Group Performance:
"Say Something" — A Great Big World With Christina Aguilera

DANCE/ELECTRONIC MUSIC FIELD

Best Dance Recording:
"Rather Be" — Clean Bandit Featuring Jess Glynne

ROCK FIELD

Best Rock Performance:
"Lazaretto"— Jack White

ALTERNATIVE FIELD

Best Alternative Music Album:
St. Vincent — St. Vincent

R&B FIELD

Best Urban Contemporary Album:
Girl — Pharrell Williams

RAP FIELD

Best Rap Performance:
"I" — Kendrick Lamar

Best Rap Album:
The Marshall Mathers LP2 — Eminem

COUNTRY FIELD

Best Country Duo/Group Performance:
"Gentle On My Mind" — The Band Perry

Best Country Album:
Platinum — Miranda Lambert

JAZZ FIELD

Best Improvised Jazz Solo:
"Fingerprints" — Chick Corea, soloist

GOSPEL/CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIAN MUSIC FIELD

Best Gospel Album:
Help — Erica Campbell

Best Contemporary Christian Music Album:
Run Wild. Live Free. Love Strong. — For King & Country

LATIN FIELD

Best Latin Pop Album:
Tangos — Rubén Blades

AMERICAN ROOTS FIELD

Best American Roots Performance:
"A Feather's Not A Bird" — Rosanne Cash

SPOKEN WORD FIELD

Best Spoken Word Album (Includes Poetry, Audio Books & Storytelling):
Diary Of A Mad Diva — Joan Rivers

COMEDY FIELD

Best Comedy Album:
Mandatory Fun — "Weird Al" Yankovic

Music for Visual Media

Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media
Frozen – various artists

Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media
The Grand Budapest Hotel: Original Soundtrack – Alexandre Desplat, composer

Best Song Written for Visual Media
"Let It Go" (from Frozen) – Kristen Anderson-Lopez & Robert Lopez, songwriters (Idina Menzel)

Producer Of The Year, Non-Classical: Max Martin.

This year's GRAMMY Awards process registered more than 20,000 submissions over a 12-month eligibility period (Oct. 1, 2013 – Sept. 30, 2014). GRAMMY ballots for the final round of voting were mailed on December 17, 2014 to The Recording Academy's voting members. Ballots were due back to the accounting firm of Deloitte by January 16, 2015, when they were tabulated and the results kept secret until the 57th GRAMMY Awards telecast.

Established in 1957, The Recording Academy is an organization of musicians, songwriters, producers, engineers and recording professionals that is dedicated to improving the cultural condition and quality of life for music and its makers. Internationally known for the GRAMMY Awards — the preeminent peer-recognized award for musical excellence and the most credible brand in music — The Recording Academy is responsible for groundbreaking professional development, cultural enrichment, advocacy, education and human services programs. The Academy continues to focus on its mission of recognizing musical excellence, advocating for the well-being of music makers and ensuring music remains an indelible part of our culture. For more information about The Academy, please visit www.grammy.com. For breaking news and exclusive content, follow @TheGRAMMYs on Twitter, like "The GRAMMYs" on Facebook, and join The GRAMMYs' social communities on Google+, Instagram, Tumblr and YouTube.

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