TRAILER: "'71"

Another Feb 27th release date is this British independent film from first time director Yann Demange, starring Jack O'Connell, who's had a bit of a breakthrough year with lead roles in Unbroken and Starred Up as well. Funnily enough, I know him as one of the stars of the UK series Skins that I used to watch- and even back then I noticed he was a pretty good actor. Here he's a British soldier caught behind enemy lines in Northern Ireland after a riot in 1971.

TRAILER: "Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter"

A movie from last year's Sundance Film Festival got a couple of nominations at this year's Independent Spirit Awards, and now it has a trailer and a release date. Babel's Rinko Kikuchi stars as a woman who goes in search of the missing money from Fargo (which she's mistaken for a documentary) and it leads to a strange and mysterious journey. It was nominated for Best Director and Female Lead at the ISA's and has gotten some great reviews so far, so be sure to look for it on February 27th.

Utah and the Phoenix Critics Circle like 'Birdman'

Today the Utah critics and another Phoenix group (apparently the city needs two) chose Birdman over Boyhood for a change of pace. Utah also liked Rosamund Pike, who now seems to be charging through several of these regional critics groups all of a sudden.

UTAH FILM CRITICS

Best Picture: "Birdman"
Runner-up: "The Imitation Game"

Best Achievement in Directing: Alejandro G. Iñárritu, BIRDMAN
Runner-up: Jonathan Glazer, "Under the Skin"

Best Lead Performance, Male: Michael Keaton, BIRDMAN
Runners-up: Benedict Cumberbatch, "The Imitation Game"; Ralph Fiennes, "Grand Budapest Hotel"

Best Lead Performance, Female: Rosamund Pike, GONE GIRL
Runner-up: Marion Cotillard, "Two Days, One Night"

Best Supporting Performance, Male: J.K. Simmons, WHIPLASH
Runner-up: Edward Norton, "Birdman"

Best Supporting Performance, Female: Jessica Chastain, A MOST VIOLENT YEAR
Runner-up: Tilda Swinton, "Snowpiercer"

Best Original Screenplay: BIRDMAN
Runner-up: "Nightcrawler"

Best Adapted Screenplay: INHERENT VICE and SNOWPIERCER (tie)

Best Cinematography: Robert Elswit, NIGHTCRAWLER
Runner-up: Daniel Landin, "Under the Skin"

Best Documentary Feature: CITIZENFOUR
Runner-Up: "The Overnighters"

Best Non-English Language Feature: WE ARE THE BEST!
Runner-up: "Two Days, One Night"

Best Animated Feature: THE LEGO MOVIE
Runner-Up: "The Boxtrolls"

And the Phoenix Critics Circle chimed in with more Birdman love, including a win (the second) for Emma Stone, and one for Reese Witherspoon too.

PHOENIX CRITICS CIRCLE

Picture: Birdman
Comedy Film: The Grand Budapest Hotel
Horror/Sci-Fi: Snowpiercer
Mystery/Thriller (tie): Gone Girl & Nightcrawler
Actor: Michael Keaton, Birdman
Actress: Reese Witherspoon, Wild
S. Actor: JK Simmons, Whiplash
S. Actress: Emma Stone, Birdman
Director: Alejandro Inarritu, Birdman
Screenplay: Birdman
Animated: The Lego Movie
International Film (tie): Force Majeure & Ida

TRAILER #2: "Cinderella"

The U.K. trailer for Disney's Cinderella isn't quite as painful as the first one was, but I still think this thing looks garish, over the top and generally awful. The CG mice in particular are a cringeworthy detail. And why does Cinderella's ball gown look ripped off from the one Disney World employees wear? Ick.

'Selma' and 'Dear White People' Lead the Black Reel Awards Nominations

The Black Reel Awards announced the nominations for its 15th annual ceremony today. The critically praised indies Dear White People and Selma led the noms overall:

Outstanding Motion Picture
"Belle"
"Beyond the Lights"
"Dear White People"
"Selma"
"Top Five"

Outstanding Actor
Chadwick Boseman, "Get on Up"
David Oyelowo, "Selma"
Nate Parker, "Beyond the Lights"
Chris Rock, "Top Five"
Denzel Washington, "The Equalizer"

Outstanding Actress
Rosario Dawson, "Top Five"
Gugu Mbatha-Raw, "Belle"
Gugu Mbatha-Raw, "Beyond the Lights"
Tessa Thompson, "Dear White People"
Quvenzhané Wallis, "Annie"

Outstanding Supporting Actor
Nelsan Ellis, "Get On Up"
David Oyelowo, "A Most Violent Year"
Tyler Perry, "Gone Girl"
Wendell Pierce, "Selma"
Michael K. Williams, "The Gambler"

Outstanding Supporting Actress
Viola Davis, "The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby"
Carmen Ejogo, "Selma"
Teyonah Parris, "Dear White People"
Zoe Saldana, "Guardians of the Galaxy"
Octavia Spencer, "Snowpiercer"

Outstanding Director
Amma Asante, "Belle"
Gina Prince-Bythewood, "Beyond the Lights"
Ava DuVernay, "Selma"
Chris Rock, "Top Five"
Justin Simien, "Dear White People"

Outstanding Screenplay (Original or Adapted)
Gina Prince-Bythewood, "Beyond the Lights"
John Ridley, "Jimi: All is by My Side"
Chris Rock, "Top Five"
Misan Sagay, "Belle"
Justin Simien, "Dear White People"

Outstanding Documentary
"Anita: Speaking Truth to the Power"
"I Am Ali"
"Keep on Keepin’ On"
"Time is Illmatic"
"Virunga"

Outstanding Ensemble (Awarded to Casting Directors)
"Belle"
"Dear White People"
"Get On Up"
"Selma"
"Top Five"

Outstanding Foreign Film
"Difret" (Ethiopia)
"The Double!" (U.K.)
"Fishing Without Nets" (Kenya)
"Freedom Road" (South Africa)
"Half of a Yellow Sun" (Nigeria)

Outstanding Breakthrough Performance, Male
Brandon Bell, "Dear White People"
David Gyasi, "Interstellar"
Andre Holland, "Selma"
Stephan James, "Selma"
Tyler James Williams, "Dear White People"

Outstanding Breakthrough Performance, Female
Jillian Estell, "Black or White"
Patina Miller, "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1"
Teyonah Parris, "Dear White People"
Amber Stevens, "22 Jump Street"
Kuoth Wiel, "The Good Lie"

Outstanding Voice Performance
Vin Diesel, "Guardians of the Galaxy"
Morgan Freeman, "The LEGO Movie"
Maya Rudolph, "Big Hero 6"
Zoe Saldana, "The Book of Life"
Damon Wayans Jr., "Big Hero 6"

Outstanding Score
"Black or White"
"Dear White People"
"Jimi: All is by My Side"
"Beyond the Lights"
"Selma"

Outstanding Original Song
"It Ain’t Easy" from "Top Five"
"It’s On Again" from "The Amazing Spider-Man 2"
"Glory" from "Selma"
"Grateful" from "Beyond the Lights,"
"What is Love" from "Rio 2"

Outstanding Independent Feature
"1982"
"Christmas Wedding Baby"
"CRU"
"The Retrieval"
"Una Vida: A Fable of Music and the Mind"

Outstanding Independent Documentary
"25 to Life"
"Evolution of a Criminal"
"Let the Fire Burn"
"Oscar Micheaux: The Czar of Black Hollywood"
"Through a Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People"

Outstanding Independent Short
"#AmeriCan"
"Muted"
"The Voodoo"

Austin and Dublin Critics like 'Boyhood'; Women Film Critics Circle Honors 'Still Alice'

The Austin film critics unsurprisingly went for Boyhood, as it was set in their hometown after all. The rest of their winners confirmed the frontrunners down the line.

AUSTIN FILM CRITICS

Best Film: Boyhood
Best Director: Richard Linklater, Boyhood
Best Actor: Jake Gyllenhaal, Nightcrawler
Best Actress: Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
Best Supporting Actor: J.K. Simmons, Whiplash
Best Supporting Actress: Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
Best Original Screenplay: Dan Gilroy, Nightcrawler
Best Adapted Screenplay: Gillian Flynn, Gone Girl
Best Cinematography: Birdman
Best Score: Birdman
Best Foreign-Language Film: Force Majeure
Best Documentary: Citizenfour
Best Animated Film: The LEGO Movie
Best First Film: Nightcrawler
Breakthrough Artist: Jennifer Kent, The Babadook
Best Austin Film: Boyhood

The Dublin Critics Circle also liked Boyhood, but concurred with Austin on Jake Gyllenhaal for Best Actor. He seems to be coming on really strong in that race now, which tells me Nightcrawler really does have a lot of passion behind it. I also think this is why Michael Keaton's not necessarily a lock for the Oscar there.

DUBLIN CRITICS CIRCLE

Best Film: Boyhood
Best Director: Richard Linklater (Boyhood)
Best Actress: Marion Cotillard (Two Days, One Night)
Best Actor: Jake Gyllenhaal (Nightcrawler)
Best Irish Film: Frank
Best Documentary: Finding Vivian Maier
Best Breakthrough: Jack O’Connell (Starred Up, Unbroken, ‘71)

Finally, the Women Film Critics Circle handed out their annual awards celebrating women in film. They liked Still Alice best apparently (meh), but I think their biggest mistake was in not singling out The Babadook for anything- certainly one of the best movies this year made by and about a woman.

WOMEN FILM CRITICS CIRCLE

Best Movie About Women: Still Alice
Best Movie By a Woman: Selma
Best Woman Storyteller: Rebecca Lenkewicz, Ida
Best Actress: Julianne Moore, Still Alice
Best Actor: Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything
Best Young Actress: Mira Grosin, We are the Best
Best Comedic Actress: Jenny Slate, Obvious Child
Best Foreign Film By or About Women: Two Days, One Night
Best Female Images in a Movie: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1
Worst Female Images in a Movie: Horrible Bosses 2
Best Male Images in a Movie: Love is Strange
Worst Male Images in a Movie: Dumb and Dumber To
Best Documentary By or About Women: Citizenfour
Best Screen Couple: The Skeleton Twins
Best Theatrically Unreleased Movie By or About Women: Girlhood
Best Equality of the Sexes (tie): Life Itself, The Skeleton Twins
Best Animated Female: Winnie, The Boxtrolls
Best Family Film: Big Hero 6
Women's Work/Best Ensemble: The Homesman

REVIEW: "Nightcrawler" (2014) Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo. Dir. Dan Gilroy

Nightcrawler is a delightful surprise- a deliciously dark satire on the desperate vileness of the news media and the chase for ratings glory above all else. It conveys the way sensationalism trumps ethics in journalism, moral consideration and empathy at nearly every turn, but it does this in the guise of a B-movie thriller, carried by a terrifically creepy Jake Gyllenhaal in one of his best performances and one of the year's most memorable movie characters- a kind of societal companion to loner psychos like Taxi Driver's Travis Bickle.

Gyllenhaal plays Lou Bloom, a twisted sociopath whose background we know nothing about, who doesn't appear to ever sleep and roams Los Angeles neighborhoods at night acting as a petty thief, even mugging a cop in the very first scene so we can see that he later sells the guy's watch at a pawn shop. But Lou isn't just an average thief- no, he's professionally motivated and extremely ambitious. He wants a career where he can get ahead and speaks in clipped, business seminar anecdotes about the power of knowing your worth and retaining your bargaining power. We don't know what he's looking for exactly, and maybe he doesn't either until he stumbles across a crime scene and a TV news crew and suddenly decides he wants to be a freelance cameraman who records news footage for sale.

They're called "nightcrawlers," they show up at the scene of a "valuable" crime (white, wealthy victims usually) and they get all the footage they can in order to sell it to the highest bidder. Lou comes to realize he has a knack for this kind of work (presumably because he has virtually no feelings about people at all) and finds a local news station hungry for the ratings power he can bring to them. The news director at this station is Nina (Rene Russo), who's nearly as cold and calculating as Lou, and perfectly willing to pay him whatever he wants for the most despicable and graphic footage he's able to provide. The two make a dastardly duo, and Lou goes about perfecting his trade by taking on a reluctant but financially desperate sidekick as his "employee" and attempting to put together his own production company as they plunge further and further into some very disturbing waters.

There are elements of this story that are a bit murky, such as the unexplored relationship between Lou and Nina- he uses his power to force her into a sexual relationship with him, but we're never shown any of what's supposedly happening behind closed doors there. And the motivations of Lou are a complete mystery- he's not just a guy off his rocker, ala Travis Bickle, but a well organized, highly motivated, intelligent sociopath drawn to a specific profession- this hardly seems like a person who could ever exist in real life, and as such he's a "movie" character through and through, which keeps the film from realistically relaying the very real points it's trying to make about the news industry and leeches like Bloom, who do exist in real life. But the general point is there, and the ride is so entertaining (it goes into some dark and completely unpredictable twists in the climax) that the movie is a thrilling ride through this morally grey underworld that chills you in its impact. And one more word for Gyllenhaal, who plays this guy in a freakish, creepy and unforgettable performance- I've never been totally sold on him as an actor before, but he's the real deal, and so is Nightcrawler.

* * * 1/2

Blu-Ray Pick of the Week: "The Skeleton Twins" (2014)

I'm recommending a movie this week that I think has been severely overlooked this awards season, and that's The Skeleton Twins, which came out just a few months ago. SNL almuni Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig have superb chemistry here as two long estranged siblings who reunite after Hader's attempted suicide. The movie's a comedy drama that alternates back and forth between those tones, but reveals Wiig and Hader as really, surprisingly good actors who can handle both notes equally. You should seek it out, it hasn't gotten enough attention in the last part of this year (I thought for sure the Golden Globes would recognize it somehow).

Trailer:

Toronto and Phoenix Split Between 'Boyhood' and 'Birdman'

Toronto went with the consensus in Best Film, but liked Tom Hardy and Marion Cotillard in the top acting categories, as well as Studio Ghibli's The Tale of Princess Kaguya in Animated Feature, a nice little break from The Lego Movie's domination there.

TORONTO FILM CRITICS

Film: Boyhood
Director: Richard Linklater, Boyhood
Actor: Tom Hardy, Locke
Actress: Marion Cotillard, The Immigrant
S. Actor: J.K. Simmons, Whiplash
S. Actress: Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
Screenplay: The Grand Budapest Hotel
Animated: The Tale of Princess Kaguya
First Feature: The Lunchbox
Foreign-Language Film: Force Majeure
Documentary: The Overnighters

Meanwhile, Phoenix gave out a lot of awards (most of them don't bother to do all the technical stuff), and split Boyhood and Birdman in Picture/Director, while handing Keira Knightley her first critics win for supporting actress.

PHOENIX FILM CRITICS

Film: Birdman
Director: Richard Linklater, Boyhood
Actor: Michael Keaton, Birdman
Actress: Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
S. Actor: J.K. Simmons, Whiplash
S. Actress: Keira Knightley, The Imitation Game
Ensemble: Birdman
O. Screenplay: The Grand Budapest Hotel
A. Screenplay: Gone Girl
Live Action Family Film: Into the Woods
Overlooked Film of the Year: Edge of Tomorrow
Animated: The Lego Movie
Foreign Language Film: Ida
Documentary: Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me
Song: "Everything is Awesome," The Lego Movie
Score: Birdman
Cinematography: Birdman
Editing: Birdman
Production Design: The Grand Budapest Hotel
Visual Effects: Interstellar
Stunts: Edge of Tomorrow
Breakthrough Performance On Camera: Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
Breakthrough Performance Behind the Camera: Dan Gilroy, Nightcrawler
Youth Performance Male: Jaeden Lieberer, St. Vincent
Youth Performance Female: Lilla Crawford, Into the Woods

Chicago Critics Choose 'Boyhood'

Oof. The Chicago critics just produced a list of very boring frontrunners down the line, so I'm going to check in on what's happening with the Foreign Language Film category. Critics awards seem to be splitting between three contenders, with each of them winning several prizes so far- Two Days, One Night, Force Majeure (below) and Ida. I think we should expect all three to make the Foreign Film cut at the Oscars, and that might be a tough one to call on Oscar night, with none of them particularly audience friendly (Sweden's Force Majeure comes closest).

CHICAGO CRITICS WINNERS

• Picture: "Boyhood"
  
• Director: Richard Linklater, "Boyhood"
• Actor: Michael Keaton, "Birdman"
  
• Actress: Julianne Moore, "Still Alice"
• Supporting Actor: J.K. Simmons, "Whiplash"
  
• Supporting Actress: Patricia Arquette, "Boyhood"
  
• Original Screenplay: Wes Anderson, "The Grand Budapest Hotel"
  
• Adapted Screenplay: Gillian Flynn, "Gone Girl"
  
• Animated Feature: "The Lego Movie"
• Documentary: "Life Itself"
• Foreign: "Force Majeure"
• Editing: Tom Cross, "Whiplash"
• Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki, "Birdman," and Robert D. Yeoman, "The Grand Budapest Hotel"
• Original Score: Mica Levi, "Under the Skin"
• Art Direction: "The Grand Budapest Hotel"
• Promising Filmmaker: Damien Chazelle, "Whiplash"
• Promising Performer: Jack O'Connell, "Starred Up," "Unbroken"

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Academy Announces Makeup & Hairstyling Shortlist

Another shortlist from AMPAS, this time laying out the list of seven candidates that the three Makeup & Hairstyling nominations will be pulled from:

The Amazing Spider-Man 2
Foxcatcher
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Guardians of the Galaxy
Maleficent
Noah
The Theory of Everything

The makeup branch is kind of its own thing and they don't always just pick from Best Picture contenders, so we could see something weird here. My guess right now would be Guardians, Grand Budapest and maybe Theory of Everything? That last one involved old person makeup, which they love, but which was not all that impressive in the movie. Foxcatcher's a possibility for Carell's false nose. I really hope Maleficent doesn't get nominated for a damn thing.

TRAILER: "Knight of Cups"

It was announced this morning that the next film from the illusive Terence Malick will be playing in competition at the Berlin Film Festival next March. All I can say is that it looks like a Malick movie, alright. I'm actually a big fan of the director's films, but after To the Wonder I'm worried that he's only repeating himself at this point and everything he does is on the verge of parody now. This one looks set in a different kind of environment at least, but I'd prefer it if he were to try to change up that style a bit and tell an actual story again.