Monday, January 14, 2013

2013 Golden Globe Award Winners - Complete List

The Golden Globe "Best Picture" awards for the year 2012 went to Argo (drama) and Les Misérables (musical or comedy).  In the television categories, the winners are “Homeland” (drama),"Girls" (musical or comedy), and Game Change (mini-series or made-for-TV movie)..

The Golden Globe Award is a movie accolade bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA). The award recognizes excellence in both film and television. The annual awards ceremony is a major part of the film industry’s award season.

The 70th Annual Golden Globe Awards winners were announced on Sunday, January 13, 2013, broadcast at 8pm ET/5pm PT on NBC.

The 70th Annual Golden Globe Awards winners (for the film and television year of 2012):

Best Motion Picture - Drama
Argo

Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy
Les Misérables

Best Director - Motion Picture
Ben Affleck for Argo

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama
Daniel Day-Lewis for Lincoln

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama
Jessica Chastain for Zero Dark Thirty

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy
Hugh Jackman for Les Misérables

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy
Jennifer Lawrence for Silver Linings Playbook

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Christoph Waltz for Django Unchained

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Anne Hathaway for Les Misérables

Best Screenplay - Motion Picture
Django Unchained: Quentin Tarantino

Best Original Song - Motion Picture
Skyfall: Adele, Paul Epworth ("Skyfall")

Best Original Score - Motion Picture
Life of Pi: Mychael Danna

Best Animated Film
Brave

Best Foreign Language Film
Amour (from Austria)

Best Television Series - Drama
"Homeland"

Best Television Series - Musical or Comedy
"Girls"

Best Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Game Change

Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Drama
Damian Lewis for "Homeland"

Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Drama
Claire Danes for "Homeland"

Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy
Don Cheadle for "House of Lies"

Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy
Lena Dunham for "Girls"

Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television
Kevin Costner for "Hatfields & McCoys"

Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television
Julianne Moore for Game Change

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Ed Harris for Game Change

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Maggie Smith for "Downton Abbey"

“Cecil B. DeMille Award” (for career achievement)
Jodie Foster

Review: "The Good German" Recalls a Certain Kind of 1940s (Happy B'day, Steven Soderbergh)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 86 (of 2007) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Good German (2006) – B&W
Running time: 120 minutes (2 hours)
MPAA – R for language, violence, and some sexual content
DIRECTOR: Steven Soderbergh
WRITER: Paul Attanasio (based upon the novel by Joseph Kanon)
PRODUCERS: Ben Cosgrove, Gregory Jacobs, and Steven Soderbergh
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Peter Andrews (Soderbergh)
EDITOR: Mary Ann Bernard (Soderbergh)
2007 Academy Awards nominee

DRAMA/MYSTERY with elements of a thriller

Starring: George Clooney, Cate Blanchett, Tobey Maguire, Beau Bridges, Leland Orser, Robin Weigert, Tony Curran, Ravil Isyanov, Dave Power, and Christian Oliver

For The Good German, Oscar-winning director Steven Soderbergh shot this film the old Hollywood way. For instance, he used the fixed-focal length lenses available to cinematographers in the 1940’s instead of the modern sophisticated zoom lenses. He also directed the actors to perform in the presentational, stage style (which was the acting style used in most Hollywood films before method acting). And it’s in black and white.

In The Good German, U.S. war correspondent Capt. Jacob “Jake” Geismar (George Clooney) gets caught in a web of intrigue involving his former girlfriend, Lena Brandt (Cate Blanchett) in post-World War II Berlin. Before the war, Jake managed a news bureau in Berlin, and Lena worked for him. Jake is in the city to cover the upcoming Potsdam Peace Conference where the Allied leaders will determine the fate of the defeated Germans and the newly liberated Europe and split whatever is of any value between the U.S. Russia, and Great Britain. That means people as well as nations.

After Lena’s boyfriend, Patrick Tully (Tobey Maguire), is found dead, Jake learns that Tully, a motor pool driver, was planning on selling information on the whereabouts of Lena’s supposedly deceased husband, Emil Brandt (Christian Oliver), an SS officer who worked in the Nazi’s V2 rocket program. As both the U.S. and Russian militaries hunt for Emil, Jake, still in love with Lena, tries to help her get the papers necessary to get both her and Emil out of Berlin. Tensions arise between Jake and Lena when he learns that she’s been keeping lots of dark secrets of her own.

The acting is pitch perfect for this film. Cate Blanchett, who made 2006 a career year with this film, as well as Babel and Notes on a Scandal, does period pieces so well. She can make a character seem as if she certainly fits in that time period. Clooney keeps his charm and usual film persona intact, but gives a nice turn that has the flavor of a Humphrey Bogart character.

Paul Attanasio’s screenplay (based upon Joseph Kanon’s novel) has the specter of the Holocaust hanging over the story, but Attanasio acknowledges the Cold War looming over the horizon. While Soderbergh visually references Casablanca (1942) for this movie, Attanasio’s script both in mood and plot are similar to Roman Polanski’s 1974 film Chinatown, which was screenwriter Robert Towne’s recreation of 1930’s detective films.

Soderbergh successfully reproduces the kind of story Hollywood told in the 1940’s, and he does it using the technical production methods of that time. The Good German, however, is more than just a smooth slab of meta fiction. It’s a period romance and political thriller like Casablanca. It reminds movie viewers that fine cinema comes first from a great storyteller who makes great storytelling. Sometimes, a director has to make do with what he has – even if it’s not the cutting edge of movie science and technology.

8 of 10
A

NOTES:
2007 Academy Awards: 1 nomination for “Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score” (Thomas Newman)

Tuesday, June 05, 2007


Sunday, January 13, 2013

Richard LaGravenese's "Beautiful Creatures" Set for Valentine's Day

“Beautiful Creatures” is a Perfect Valentine

Release Date for the Supernatural Love Story Moved to February 14th

BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Warner Bros. Pictures has moved the release date of Alcon Entertainment’s “Beautiful Creatures” back one day to Valentine’s Day, in keeping with the film’s intriguing blend of magic and romance. The announcement was made today by Dan Fellman, President of Domestic Distribution, Warner Bros. Pictures.

Directed by Richard LaGravenese from his own screenplay, “Beautiful Creatures” is adapted from the hugely successful novel by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. Sales of the book, which was already a runaway bestseller, have been exploding in anticipation of the film’s release. Fans of the novel have been eagerly awaiting the screen adaptation, which is also generating interest from those who have not yet even read the book.

“Beautiful Creatures” tells the tale of two star-crossed lovers: Ethan, a young man longing to escape his small town, and Lena, a mysterious new arrival. Together, they uncover dark secrets about their respective families, their history and their town. But as the tie between Ethan and Lena strengthens, they become tangled in a dangerous web of spells and secrets from which there may be no escape.

The film stars Alden Ehrenreich, Alice Englert, Academy Award® winner Jeremy Irons (“Reversal of Fortune”), Oscar® nominee Viola Davis (“The Help,” “Doubt”), Emmy Rossum, Thomas Mann, and Academy Award® winner Emma Thompson (“Howard’s End,” “Sense and Sensibility”). Rounding out the cast are Eileen Atkins, Margo Martindale, Zoey Deutch, Tiffany Boone, Rachel Brosnahan, Kyle Gallner, Pruitt Taylor Vince and Sam Gilroy.

The film was produced by Erwin Stoff (“Water for Elephants”), Academy Award® nominees Andrew A. Kosove and Broderick Johnson (“The Blind Side”), Molly Mickler Smith, and Oscar® nominee David Valdes (“The Green Mile”). Yolanda T. Cochran served as executive producer, with Steven P. Wegner co-producing.

Alcon Entertainment presents a 3 Arts Entertainment/Belle Pictures Production, “Beautiful Creatures,” to be distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment company. “Beautiful Creatures” has been rated PG-13 for violence, scary images and some sexual material.

beautifulcreaturesmovie.com

"Argo" Wins Critics' Choice "Best Picture" Award

The Broadcast Film Critics Association (BFCA) honored Argo with its "Best Picture" and "Best Director" awards.  In fact, Ben Affleck picked up his best director trophy for Argo the same day he did not receive an expected best director Oscar nomination for Argo.  Silver Linings Playbook received four awards and Skyfall received three.

The BFCA announced the winners of the 18th annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards. The winners were announced at the Critics' Choice Movie Awards ceremony on Thursday, January 10, 2013, which was broadcast live on the CW Network.

18th Annual Critics' Choice Awards: Complete List of Winners for the Year in Film – 2012:

BEST PICTURE
Winner: Argo

BEST DIRECTOR
Winner: Ben Affleck – Argo

BEST ACTOR
Winner: Daniel Day-Lewis – Lincoln

BEST ACTRESS
Winner: Jessica Chastain – Zero Dark Thirty

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Winner: Philip Seymour Hoffman – The Master

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Winner: Anne Hathaway – Les Miserables

BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS
Winner: Quvenzhane Wallis – Beasts of the Southern Wild

BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE
Winner: Silver Linings Playbook

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Winner: Quentin Tarantino – Django Unchained

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Winner: Tony Kushner – Lincoln

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Winner: Life of Pi – Claudio Miranda

BEST ART DIRECTION
Winner: Anna Karenina – Sarah Greenwood/Production Designer, Katie Spencer/Set Decorator

BEST EDITING
Winner: Zero Dark Thirty – William Goldenberg, Dylan Tichenor

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Winner: Anna Karenina – Jacqueline Durran

BEST MAKEUP
Winner: Cloud Atlas

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Winner: Life of Pi

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Winner: Wreck-It Ralph

BEST ACTION MOVIE
Winner: Skyfall

BEST ACTOR IN AN ACTION MOVIE
Winner: Daniel Craig – Skyfall

BEST ACTRESS IN AN ACTION MOVIE
Winner: Jennifer Lawrence – The Hunger Games

BEST COMEDY
Winner: Silver Linings Playbook

BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY
Winner: Bradley Cooper – Silver Linings Playbook

BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY
Winner: Jennifer Lawrence – Silver Linings Playbook

BEST SCI-FI/HORROR MOVIE
Winner: Looper

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Winner: Amour (Austria)

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Winner: Searching for Sugar Man

BEST SONG
Winner: “Skyfall” – performed by Adele/written by Adele Adkins & Paul Epworth – Skyfall

BEST SCORE
Winner: Lincoln – John Williams

Saturday, January 12, 2013

2013 Oscar Nominations: "Best Motion Picture of the Year"

Best Motion Picture of the Year:

Nominated film: producer(s)

Amour: To Be Determined

Argo: Grant Heslov, Ben Affleck, George Clooney

Beasts of the Southern Wild: Dan Janvey, Josh Penn, Michael Gottwald

Django Unchained: Stacey Sher, Reginald Hudlin, Pilar Savone

Les Misérables: Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Debra Hayward, Cameron Mackintosh

Life of Pi: Gil Netter, Ang Lee, David Womark

Lincoln: Steven Spielberg, Kathleen Kennedy

Silver Linings Playbook: Donna Gigliotti, Bruce Cohen, Jonathan Gordon

Zero Dark Thirty: Mark Boal, Kathryn Bigelow, Megan Ellison  

2013 Oscar Nominations: "Best Achievement in Directing"

Best Achievement in Directing:

Michael Haneke for Amour

Ang Lee for Life of Pi

David O. Russell for Silver Linings Playbook

Steven Spielberg for Lincoln

Benh Zeitlin for Beasts of the Southern Wild  

2013 Oscar Nominations: "Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role"

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role:

Bradley Cooper for Silver Linings Playbook

Daniel Day-Lewis for Lincoln

Hugh Jackman for Les Misérables

Joaquin Phoenix for The Master

Denzel Washington for Flight