Awards Season Feature Post

Awards Season 2015-16 Scoreboard

Carol Keeping a tally of the (wins/nominations) for this year's awards season. Scroll down way below to see which Awards are being...

Feb 26, 2013

The Oscars 2013 - A Mixed-bag, Hilarious but Underwhelming winner-fest.


                 So I watched the Oscars last night, which I was unable to watch live. At first, sure i was a bit taken away by everything but now i realize that this ceremony was one of the most mediocre ones they have done recently. First and foremost, Seth MacFarlane did a good job hosting the Oscars. Performance of the host is the first thing that people really talk about so yes he was actually good. I personally am very cool with the crass and inappropriate jokes when they are not targeted towards someone or something but are a representatives of inside jokes, perceptions and are self-deprecating. Seth does this for a living with his TV shows so he knows how to deliver them so easily and casually and once again, he was a good host alright. I don't think the ceremony itself was rightly directed or executed though. During the many jokes, we weren't able to see the audience reactions i mean that is important isn't it? If a joke is directed towards George Clooney or Amy Adams etc, isn't that as equally important to show their reactions because it helps you laugh at even the dullest of jokes during these things. But the worst thing about this year's Oscar was the abundance of musical performances (which were great) but they ended up increasing the running time and were just oddly timed in general. I appreciate that this year they mostly relied on the live acts but still, there should have been a particular limit. Plus in most of the categories, they didn't presented the nominees in the creative fashion that they do most of the times. Just showing a picture won't do, presenting a particular category through scenes from the movie is always good.

So below, I am going to take a look at the many good, fine and bad things that happened overall.

Feb 25, 2013

The 85th Academy Awards (The Oscars) 2013 Winners.


Well the 85th Academy Awards happened last night and as predicted by pretty much everyone, Argo won Best Picture prize. Hollywood made a big joke out of itself for awarding something that felt were suppose to do because poor Ben Affleck was snubbed. Now i personally wasn't able to catch The Oscars live because of the power outage we experienced throughout the country but I will be watching its repeat telecast and maybe I'll talk length about the ceremony later in details. So Ang Lee won Best Director for his wonderful directorial achievement that is Life of Pi. Jennifer Lawrence at last, i personally was rooting for Jessica Chastain and Emmanuelle Riva. Though i am literally pissed about Christoph Waltz taking supporting actor Oscar for the "same" performance twice, not a Tarantino hater but still this is idiotic. Also Brave? It wasn't the best animated film though i admire it for the astounding visuals and technical accomplishment but it was far from Pixar's better movies. What more can i say, i am overall disappointed at the winners but lets see if i like the actual ceremony.

Below is the full list of winners:

Best Picture
Argo (Ben Affleck, George Clooney and Grant Heslov)

Best Directing
Ang Lee (Life of Pi)

Feb 24, 2013

Independent Spirit Awards 2013 Winners.


Well Independent Spirit Awards just ended and the big winner of the night was Silver Linings Playbook which won 4 prizes including Best Picture. I hoped to see Beasts of the Southern Wild win but hey, Spirits have apparently became a popularity contest as well. I means Beasts is the real American indie of the year. Anyway, Silver Linings Playbook also won director, actress for Jennifer Lawrence and screenplay prizes. The Sessions won two awards for its male lead and female supporting performances for both John Hawkes and Helen Hunt. The first feature prizes went to The Perks of Being a Wallflower for feature and Safety Not Guaranteed for screenplay.

Below is the full list of the winners:

Best Feature - Silver Linings Playbook

Best Director - David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook

Feb 21, 2013

Quick Takes: The Oscars Nominated Animated Shorts 2013.


1. Adam and Dog

Directed By:

                          Minkyu Lee

Review:

                 As you might have guessed from the title of this animated short, it tells the story of Adam and Eve (yes from the first three chapters of Genesis) but its main focus is the dog whose point of view is shown here. The movie begins in the garden of Eden and the dog is shown exploring the beauty of the environment and he encounters many different animals on its way. He once meets Adam who is exploring the garden himself. He gives the dog something to eat and pets him, thus an unlikely friendship is formed between a man and an animal which is something that will go on forever. This short is beautifully done, the hand-drawn animation is just amazing to watch with lots of colors and textures that gives a vivid beauty to a land that is sort of a fantasy to us. There are many landscapes that you will see and in them the correct use of light and dark as well as shades so perfectly done that it indeed looks like the garden of Eden. Adam and Dog is also the longest short of all the nominated ones but that is not the reason why i was underwhelmed by this movie. While i get what its trying to show but the familiar elements followed by a bit too stagnant plot where the story never actually breaks through, those 15 minutes tries to feel like an hour. Its fascinating the tale of why dogs to this day is a man's best friend considering the affection that Adam showed to him and he being the only creature that would do so with a dog. There are some little moments that comes across as nice, when you see both of them playing around the beautiful land or in a scene where Adam speaks in all the different animals voices. We also see Eve after a while, who interrupts this lovely union and friendship that the dog was having with Adam because he is distracted now and wants to be with Eve, this wonderful looking red-haired creature. Adam and Dog isn't a bad short at all but its highly unlikely that you will feel anything for it except for the visuals that will leave you dazzled for sure.

Feb 18, 2013

Writers Guild of America Awards Winners 2013.


A very deserving win for Zero Dark Thirty in the original screenplay category. I am very happy that WGA recognized Mark Boal's brilliantly written screenplay in a movie that should have been a big contender but then we care more about the politics in everything so yeah. Boal will definitely have to battle it out at the Oscars i suppose where both Haneke and specially Tarantino are predicted to win. I just hope Academy will award Zero Dark Thirty in this one category where it deserves the most and maybe in others too. As for adapted screenplay, Chris Terrio won as predicted for Argo. A movie that is winning everything based solely on its "frontrunner" status and its lovable factor. I might not be a great Lincoln fan but its screenplay is far better than Argo's. Terrio will face some competition from Kushner and Russell at the Oscars.

Best Original Screenplay
Mark Boal (Zero Dark Thirty)

Best Adapted Screenplay
Chris Terrio (Argo)

Best Documentary Screenplay
Malik Bendjelloul (Searching for Sugar Man)

Feb 17, 2013

Awards Update: ACE Eddies & CAS.


Argo won the best edited feature film dramatic prize at the ACE Eddies while Silver Linings Playbook won the comedy or musical prize. As much as i was expecting that, i personally think Zero Dark Thirty was the most deserving one. But Argo has been winning everything and its a guilds favorite and its that movie which is suppose to win. I am not trashing its win here as much as i would anywhere else because Argo is a brilliantly edited film, but not the best one. Brave won the animation prize for editing as well as sound mixing from CAS. A movie that is technically great but far from being a great movie, it just doesn't comes off as the ultimate Pixar movie. Les Miserables which is suppose to win the same prize at the Oscars too, won the sound mixing for live action at the CAS.


Below is the full list of the winners from both awards ceremonies:

Feb 15, 2013

85th Academy Awards - My Final Predictions.


                   So would it be Argo that will eventually win the best picture award with the possible screenplay and editing prizes? Is the director prize really going to Spielberg or we are going to see a surprise winner? Will Zero Dark Thirty win anything at all? Is Life of Pi this year's Hugo? There are thousands of questions in our minds right now as this year's award season turned out to be quite unpredictable in the start, its still is in many categories but best picture looks like it belongs to Argo after the many accolades it got mainly from the guilds. Its honestly the talk of the town, a movie, its stars and makers as well as its content, the story and the "Argo fuck yourself" kind of dialogues that people are just going crazy for. Its simply ridiculous that Zero Dark Thirty caught up in the stupid controversy or else it was suppose to win damn it! I am not sure if the Ben Affleck snub in the director category at the Oscars gave his movie the edge because it was already there, the award bodies always supports the least offensive films which is something i really hate specially when it comes to critics. Critics speaks and thinks and writes for themselves, why on earth did they decided to suddenly join the crowd and start hating the amazing movie that is Zero Dark Thirty? It was winning best film and director prizes one after the other but then Argo which was the exact opposite entertaining politics based movie that started getting the limelight. And whatever happened to the Spielberg/lovable president biography/serious film love that everyone was suppose to give it? And don't even get me started on the Silver Linings Playbook bashing that is going on just because its a romantic comedy.

                   Its either Argo, Silver Linings Playbook or Lincoln that is winning the main prize. The director prize can go to anyone apparently. No one else is winning the best actor award except Daniel Day-Lewis as well as supporting actress prize that belongs to Anne Hathaway only. Lead actress is pretty much between Jennifer Lawrence and Emmanuelle Riva now. Supporting actor has all the awarded actors in it. Except for Alan Arkin, every one of them have won some prizes for their performance this year. The critical edge goes to Hoffman while the general consensus screams of Jones. Waltz in his typical performance as the Tarantino movie star (which have already earned him a prize just a few years ago) he did won the Globe and BAFTA but i don't see him winning the Oscar. And then there is DeNiro in his best performance since God knows when so it can be anyone here. The technical categories belongs to Life of Pi. I will hope that Zero Dark Thirty at least gets the original Screenplay prize.

Well below are my final predictions for the upcoming Academy Awards that will honor the best in cinema for the year 2012:

Note: The numbering indicates their chances of winning. The ones on number 1 are my predicted winners while the nominees with star in front of them are my preferred winners.

Best Picture

1) Argo
2) Silver Linings Playbook
3) Lincoln
4) Life of Pi
5) Zero Dark Thirty*
6) Beasts of the Southern Wild
7) Django Unchained
8) Amour
9) Les Miserables

Feb 11, 2013

BAFTA 2013 Winners.


In a not so surprising new, Argo won the main prize at the 2013 BAFTAs just a while ago. It won not just best film but also best director for Ben Affleck and best editing. But Les Miserables won the most awards with 4 which includes supporting actress, sound, production design and makeup & hair. The biggest surprise of the night was Silver Linings Playbook winning adapted screenplay over much loved Lincoln and Argo. Skyfall ended up winning best British film as well as best score. Emmanuelle Riva's predicted win over the Oscars favorite Jennifer Lawrence and Jessica Chastain could hint something iffy for the big night. BAFTA also seemed to love Django Unchained, awarding it supporting actor and original screenplay.

Below is the full list of the winners:

Best Film
Argo

Best Director
Ben Affleck (Argo)

Feb 10, 2013

Hollywood And Me Awards: 2012 (Year in Review)


Best Film:

-The Master
-Zero Dark Thirty
-Amour
-Holy Motors
-Beasts of the Southern Wild
-Moonrise Kingdom
-Once Upon a Time in Anatolia
-Tabu
-Silver Linings Playbook
-The Turin Horse

Best Director:

-Paul Thomas Anderson, The Master
-Michael Haneke, Amour
-Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty
-Benh Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild
-Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Once Upon a Time in Anatolia
-Leos Carax, Holy Motors

Feb 7, 2013

My Top 20 Favorite Movies of 2012.


                    Finally, here is my list of the Top 20 Favorite Movies of 2012. I would definitely say that its been a great year for movies, one of the best ones recently. I specially watched many of the foreign releases as well which furthermore proved quite great for me. The Awards Season mania is what makes most of the earlier months a bit bland because of too many low-profile or big blockbuster releases while the last few months are always filled with the gems that i always anticipate. In a year filled with many adaptations of the books that were deemed "Unfilmable" or filmmakers taking risks and doing daring things, i must say it was an amazing experience. Though due to the many incidents that happened in real life, the way people responded to a certain movies was at large understandable but then quite unnecessary. The controversy of Zero Dark Thirty has to be the most ridiculous thing about the previous year. 2012 was also the year when the big summer flicks that i was anticipating (The Dark Knight Rises, The Avengers etc) disappointed me in a sense but then movies that i least expected to like (Chronicle, The Amazing Spider-Man) surprised me. Below is the list of my 20 favorite movies of the year as well as some honorable mentions. The changes in my list wont be updated here, you can check my list on IMDB which i would regularly update.

1. The Master:
                             The response that this new Paul Thomas Anderson movie got mainly from people was disappointing but critics sure loved it. The Master is both a provocative and a meditative experience and its take on the two main routes people take in life and its study is extraordinary. It is packed with some amazing performances by Joaquin Phoenix as Freddie, the drifter with no clue about his life, who cares only about women, sex and booze. On the other hand, Philip Seymour Hoffman plays Lancaster Dodd, a charismatic and intoxicating leader of a religious organization called "The Cause" that attracts Freddie. Paul Thomas Anderson created something that lets us observe these characters and then makes us decide who we think is right. Mind that there is no wrong here, no one is the bad guy because life is what you make it. On one hand there is a man who doesn't care about the shit he lets himself into and the other one puts on this big show for people to love him. Also it is one of the most technically amazing films ever. The cinematography with those sweeping moves and uncertainty as well as the powerful score by Johnny Greenwood is excellent. This hypnotic, mesmerizing and gorgeous mini-epic is something that i consider a flawless masterpiece and my favorite movie of the year.

2. Zero Dark Thirty:
                                         One of the best thrillers, crime procedural, journalism based docudrama in the recent years. Zero Dark Thirty is fictional/fact-based dramatization of the decade long events that led to the capture and killing of the al-Qaeeda leader Osama Bin Laden at the hands of the U.S. Navy Seals. Kathryn Bigelow created a wonderful piece of work, her career best and her abilities are seen clearly this time. Bigelow decided to include a character, Maya that is played by the wonderful Jessica Chastain. Whose steadfast and truly stubborn confidence is what drives the narrative and she is the reason that CIA finds the man they are looking for. The movie unfolds in a very thrilling way, the slow build-up of events that you know about and the events that mostly took place within the offices makes up for an amazing experience. Cut to the final few minutes when the operation is happening and you'll see some of the best filmmaking. Nothing beats those final thrilling moments when even you know how it all ends, but the suspense that is created through pin-drop silence, night camera visions and the gorilla filmmaking is mindblowing. A wonderfully written and edited drama with amazing direction and the best female performance of the year with Jessica Chastain who deserves all the praise she is getting. For a much grittier, realistic depiction of the serious political event, Zero Dark Thirty is much better and much thrilling than many believe and the "pro-torture stance" controversy is nothing but a stunt to bring down the credibility and its just downright stupid.

Feb 3, 2013

Annie Awards 2013.


Wreck-It Ralph was the winner of no less than 5 Annies, beating ParaNorman, Frankenweenie and Brave to name a few. This also makes it the frontrunner for the Oscars, but i would love to see Frankenweenie win the prize since its my favorite animated movie of the year. Its a very closer race, ParaNorman's win would be fine as well.

Animated Feature
Wreck-It Ralph

Directing in a Feature Production
Rich Moore (Wreck-It Ralph)

Art Directors Guild Awards 2013.


Anna Karenina beat the fellow rivals in the period film category (Les Miserables and Lincoln which are competing for the Oscars as well) to win the Art Directors Guild Award. Life of Pi won in the fantasy film category beating The Hobbit and Prometheus while Skyfall won in the contemporary film category beating Zero Dark Thirty and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.

Best Production Design - Period Film
Sarah Greenwood (Anna Karenina)

Best Production Design - Fantasy Film
David Gropman (Life of Pi)

Best Production Design - Contemporary Film
Dennis Gassner (Skyfall)

Directors Guild of America Awards 2013.


No surprises here, Ben Affleck won the DGA award for Argo which is what everyone was predicting. Argo as you all know has been winning every major award so far and was snubbed at the Oscars in directing category thus making it a bit tougher choice for the main prize, still its a frontrunner thanks to the major guild love its been getting. Now this win for Affleck means that he is the 3rd director in the history to have won the DGA without a director nomination at the Oscars after Steven Spielberg himself for The Color Purple and Ron Howard for Apollo 13. Neither of these won the best picture Oscar though and The Color Purple went home empty handed in a shocker. Now just two big guild awards left, the WGA and the ACE but its safe to say that Argo just might win it after all.

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film
Ben Affleck (Argo)

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary
Malik Bendjelloul (Searching for Sugar Man)