A recent trend seems to be to show off whole scenes as trailers, like this new one with Ralph Fiennes doing his best with the Coen's unique dialogue. I'm excited for this one, but I do wonder why it's being released so early. Movies that come out in February rarely stick around 'til the end of the year, but I guess Coen Brothers comedies don't qualify as Oscar material to the studios.
Seattle Film Awards Honor 'Mad Max,' 'Phoenix'
Oops, forgot about the film critics in my own state. Sigh. Well, at least they went for some non-conformist choices, like Nina Hoss, Mya Taylor and Ex Machina. And now, we're really done with the critics awards. I think.
SEATTLE FILM AWARDS
BEST PICTURE OF THE YEAR: Mad Max: Fury Road
BEST DIRECTOR: George Miller, Mad Max: Fury Road
BEST ACTOR: Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant
BEST ACTRESS: Nina Hoss, Phoenix
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Benicio del Toro, Sicario
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Mya Taylor, Tangerine
BEST ENSEMBLE CAST: Spotlight
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Ex Machina – Alex Garland
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Carol – Phyllis Nagy
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE: Inside Out – Pete Docter, director
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: Son of Saul – László Nemes, director
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: The Look Of Silence – Joshua Oppenheimer, director
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: Mad Max: Fury Road
BEST COSTUME DESIGN: Mad Max: Fury Road
BEST FILM EDITING: Mad Max: Fury Road
BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING: Mad Max: Fury Road
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE: Mad Max: Fury Road
BEST ORIGINAL SONG: “Grip” – Creed, Ludwig Göransson, Sam Dew, Tessa Thompson, composers
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN: Mad Max: Fury Road
BEST SOUND DESIGN: Mad Max: Fury Road
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS: Mad Max: Fury Road
'Mad Max' Leads Makeup and Hairstyling Guild Nominations
Unsurprisingly, the apocalyptic thriller led the guild nominees for makeup and hairstyling, but I wonder if the movie just looks too weird for the makeup branch of the Academy. You'd think that'd be a plus, but that branch has for years seemed to only be impressed with old age makeup for some reason.
FEATURE MOTION PICTURE – BEST CONTEMPORARY MAKE-UP
“THE BIG SHORT”
Make-Up Artists: Julie Hewett, Pamela Westmore
“FURIOUS 7”
Make-Up Artists: James MacKinnon, Autumn Butler, Roxy D’Alonzo
“PITCH PERFECT 2”
Make-Up Artists: Melanie Hughes-Weaver, Judy Yonemoto
“SICARIO”
Make-Up Artist: Donald Mowat
“YOUTH”
Make-Up Artists: Maurizio Silvi, Matteo Silvi
FEATURE MOTION PICTURE – BEST CONTEMPORARY HAIR STYLING
“EX MACHINA”
Hair Stylists: Sian Grigg, Charlotte Rogers
“FURIOUS 7”
Hair Stylists: Linda Flowers, Jennifer Santiago, Lesa Williams
“PITCH PERFECT 2”
Hair Stylists: Cheryl Marks, Meagan Herrera, Daina Daigle
“SPECTRE”
Hair Stylist: Zoe Tahir
“SPY”
Hair Stylists: Sarah Love, Linda Flowers
FEATURE MOTION PICTURE – BEST PERIOD AND/OR CHARACTER MAKE-UP
“BROOKLYN”
Make-Up Artists: Morna Ferguson, Niamh O’Loan, Marlène Rouleau
“CAROL”
Make-Up Artist: Patricia Regan
“CINDERELLA”
Make-Up Artists: Naomi Donne, Norma Webb
“THE DANISH GIRL”
Make-Up Artists: Jan Sewell, Renata Gilbert
“MAD MAX: FURY ROAD”
Make-Up Artists: Lesley Vanderwalt, Nadine Prigge, Ailie Smith
FEATURE MOTION PICTURE – BEST PERIOD AND/OR CHARACTER HAIR STYLING
“BROOKLYN”
Hair Stylists: Lorraine Glynn, Lorraine Brennan, Michelle Côté
“CAROL”
Hair Stylists: Jerry DeCarlo, Jack Curtain, Kay Georgiou
“CINDERELLA”
Hair Stylists: Carol Hemming, Orla Carroll, Wakana Yoshihara
“THE DANISH GIRL”
Hair Stylists: Jan Sewell, Renata Gilbert
“MAD MAX: FURY ROAD”
Hair Stylists: Anita Morgan, Kerstin Weller, Kylie Clark
And that's it for the guilds, everybody. It's now time for the big moment, as the Academy reveals the 2015 Oscar nominations bright and early tomorrow morning. Tune in to see who made the cut and come back here for the full list of noms and my own reaction to the snubs, surprises and usual outrage that entails. See you then.
Razzie Nominations Reveal Worst of 2015
The Razzie noms are out- the list of the worst of the year included all the big suspects, and I think they did a pretty good job this time of covering all the big budget, horribly reviewed disasters like Fantastic Four, Jupiter Ascending, Pixels and Fifty Shades of Grey, which made money but sucked as a film. I'd say these are about right. Fun fact: last year's Oscar winners Eddie Redmayne and Julianne Moore are both nominated for Razzies this year.
Worst Picture
Fantastic Four
Fifty Shades of Grey
Jupiter Ascending
Paul Blart Mall Cop 2
Pixels
Worst Director
Andy Fickman, Paul Blart Mall Cop 2
Tom Six, Human Centipede 3
Sam Taylor-Johnson, Fifty Shades of Grey
Josh Trank, Fantastic Four
Andy and Lana Wachowski, Jupiter Ascending
Worst Actor
Johnny Depp, Mortdecai
Jamie Dornan, Fifty Shades of Grey
Kevin James, Paul Blart Mall Cop 2
Adam Sandler, The Cobbler and Pixels
Channing Tatum, Jupiter Ascending
Worst Actress
Katherine Heigl, Home Sweet Hell
Dakota Johnson, Fifty Shades of Grey
Mila Kunis, Jupiter Ascending
Jennifer Lopez, The Boy Next Door
Gwyneth Paltrow, Mortdecai
Worst Supporting Actor
Chevy Chase, Hot Tub Time Machine 2 and Vacation
Josh Gad, Pixels and The Wedding Ringer
Kevin James, Pixels
Jason Lee, Alvin and the Chipmunks: Road Chip
Eddie Redmayne, Jupiter Ascending
Worst Supporting Actress
Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting, Alvin and the Chipmunks: Road Chip and The Wedding Ringer
Rooney Mara, Pan
Michelle Monaghan, Pixels
Julianne Moore, Seventh Son
Amanda Seyfried, Love the Coopers and Pan
Worst Screenplay
Simon Kinberg, Jeremy Slater and Josh Trank, Fantastic Four
Kelly Marcel, Fifty Shades of Grey
Andy and Lana Wachowski, Jupiter Ascending
Kevin James and Nick Bakay, Paul Blart Mall Cop 2
Tim Herlihy and Timothy Dowling, Pixels
Worst Remake or Sequel
Alvin and The Chipmunks: The Road Chip
Fantastic Four
Hot Tub Time Machine 2
Human Centipede 3
Paul Blart Mall Cop 2
Worst Screen Combo
Miles Teller, Michael B. Jordan, Kate Mara and Jamie Bell, Fantastic Four
Johnny Depp and his glued-on mustache, Mortdecai
Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson, Fifty Shades of Grey
Kevin James and either his Segway or glued-on mustache, Paul Blart Mall Cop 2
Adam Sandler and any pair of shoes, The Cobbler
Razzies Redeemer Award
Elizabeth Banks
M. Night Shyamalan
Will Smith
Sylvester Stallone
George Clooney and Julia Roberts Star in Jodie Foster's 'Money Monster'
Hmm, this looks interesting. Then again, Jodie Foster hasn't directed a good movie, has she? Still, she manages to pull in some big name talent. The release date of May tells you the studio doesn't think it has THAT much potential though, or they'd save it for fall.
New Trailer for A24's 'The Witch'
I cannot wait to see this movie- I've been waiting for this since last year's Sundance festival, and now A24 is finally releasing it next month. Looks creepy from the trailers alone.
Iowa and Denver Critics Choose 'Spotlight'
I was wrong- THESE are the last critics groups to weigh in now.
IOWA CRITICS
Okay, so one day after the Golden Globes give an award to Kate Winslet, she now wins a critics award for Best Supporting Actress? She hasn't won all season, but critics are such a sheep, aren't they? I'm glad these are the last.
- Best Film: Spotlight
- Best Director: Tom McCarthy, Spotlight
- Best Actor: Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs
- Best Actress: Brie Larson, Room
- Best Supporting Actor: Mark Ruffalo, Spotlight
- Best Supporting Actress: Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs
- Best Score: The Hateful Eight
- Best Song: Furious 7
- Best Animated Film: Inside Out
- Best Documentary: Amy
DENVER CRITICS
There was zero interesting choices from this final group here. And with that, the critics are over and out.
Best Picture: “Spotlight”
Best Director: George Miller, “Mad Max: Fury Road”
Best Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio, “The Revenant”
Best Actress: Brie Larson, “Room”
Best Supporting Actor: Sylvester Stallone, “Creed”
Best Supporting Actress: Alicia Vikander, “Ex Machina”
Best Animated Film: “Inside Out”
Best Science Fiction/Horror Film: “The Martian”
Best Comedy: “What We Do in the Shadows”
Best Original Screenplay: Tom McCarthy, Josh Singer, “Spotlight”
Best Adapted Screenplay: Adam McKay, Charles Randolph, “The Big Short”
Best Documentary: “The Look of Silence”
Best Visual Effects: “Mad Max: Fury Road”
Best Original Song: “See You Again” (Wiz Khalifa, DJ Frank E, Andrew Cedar and Charlie Puth), “Furious 7”
Best Score: Ennio Morricone, “The Hateful Eight”
Best Foreign Language Film: “Son of Saul”
'Star Wars' Gets Nominations From Visual Effects and Sound Guilds
The Visual Effects Society weighed in with nominations today, with Star Wars leading the way as expected. I think the five noms at the Oscars will be Star Wars, Mad Max, The Martian, The Revenant, and possibly The Walk?
VISUAL EFFECTS SOCIETY
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature:
- Furious 7
- San Andreas
- Star Wars: The Force Awakens
- Mad Max: Fury Road
- The Martian
Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature:
- In the Heart of the Sea
- Bridge of Spies
- The Walk
- Everest
- The Revenant
CINEMA AUDIO SOCIETY
And the sound editors came in today too, with the following:
- Bridge of Spies
- The Hateful Eight
- The Revenant
- Mad Max: Fury Road
- Star Wars: The Force Awakens
I always forget the difference between sound mixing and editing, but expect the loud action movies to get in there, as always.
DGA Announces Nominees for 2015
The DGA is a huge deal, the most important guild, because it reveals the five strongest Best Picture nominees, basically. Today there were no big surprises here, as Spotlight, The Big Short, The Revenant, The Martian and Mad Max all made the cut. It's nice to see George Miller after the BAFTA snub, and it means that Mad Max probably is in for Best Picture.
- Alejandro Inarritu, The Revenant
- Ridley Scott, The Martian
- Tom McCarthy, Spotlight
- Adam McKay, The Big Short
- George Miller, Mad Max: Fury Road
The director's branch of the Academy doesn't always match the DGA 5/5- they usually leave off at least one name, sometimes two, occasionally even three...but I think these five are pretty solid and I wouldn't be surprised if this is one of those 5/5 years. Todd Haynes may have a chance to knock someone out for Carol, but it's slim. And the winner at this stage is a total mystery- it depends on the winner of the Producers Guild, most likely. It could be any one of these guys, depending on what movie is strongest for Best Picture, which we have no clue of right now.
David Bowie 1947-2016
The world lost a music legend today, and even though David Bowie was first and foremost a rock icon, he also had a varied film career which included movies like The Man Who Fell to Earth, Labyrinth, The Last Temptation of Christ, and The Prestige, most notably. He also served as the narrator to the classic Christmas short film The Snowman, from 1982, which plays on television in the UK every Christmas season to this day. Bowie will always be known for his music and his groundbreaking image as a gender-bending pop/rock icon and a master of reinvention, as UK Prime Minister David Cameron called him today, but also as an artist with a not insignificant body of appearances in film as well.
Trailer for Labyrinth:
'The Revenant' and 'The Martian' Lead the Golden Globe Winners
Okay, so I don't even want to talk about how bad my predictions turned out last night- I went a pitiful 7 for 14, which I'm pretty sure is my worst Globes showing ever. And what I think happened here is that the HFPA, in the absence of any true Oscar frontrunners, veered away from their recent tendency to stick close to the critics and attempt to predict the winners, and simply reverted back to their worst instincts in picking every single big name they could find on the ballot. I mean look at those winners. Aside from Brie Larson, we have Leo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Sylvester Stallone, Matt Damon, Jennifer Lawrence- you can't get much more starfuckery than this (except they did when they actually voted for Lady Gaga to win on the TV side!). I mean, that god awful song from the Bond movie? Steve Jobs for screenplay because Aaron Sorkin, most famous screenwriter in Hollywood, wrote it (not that that's a bad choice in my opinion, but I know that's the only reason they picked it). What it tells me is that this year was so up in the air that they gave up in trying to be predictive of anything and just went for the glossy stuff. I don't think they're going to match Oscar too well this year. And never again am I going to forget that what these people really are, as it was constantly pointed out last night, are a bunch of whores to the power of celebrity, first and foremost. Above all else.
- BEST PICTURE DRAMA: The Revenant
- BEST ACTOR DRAMA: Leonardo Dicaprio, The Revenant
- BEST ACTRESS DRAMA: Brie Larson, Room
- BEST PICTURE COMEDY/MUSICAL: The Martian
- BEST ACTOR COMEDY: Matt Damon, The Martian
- BEST ATRESS COMEDY: Jennifer Lawrence, Joy
- BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Sylvester Stallone, Creed
- BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs
- BEST DIRECTOR: Alejandro Inarritu, The Revenant
- BEST SCREENPLAY: Steve Jobs
- BEST SCORE: The Hateful Eight
- BEST SONG: "The Writing's On the Wall," Spectre
- BEST FOREIGN FILM: Son of Saul
- BEST ANIMATED FILM: Inside Out
As for the show, well, Ricky Gervais was his usual snarky self, and he got in some awkward and uncomfortable jabs at Mel Gibson at least, but I don't think he could ever be as entertaining as that first year when he roasted everyone completely unexpectedly, and the shock was palpable. That just can't be repeated. It was nice to see a big standing ovation for Stallone, who I hope at least gets the nomination on Thursday (these awards have no bearing on the long past turned in Oscar ballots). And as for the race, well...it's all down to the PGA now. It's not too often that the Oscar Best Picture winner goes home with nothing from the Golden Globes, which doesn't bode well for Spotlight or The Big Short. Maybe The Revenant really is the movie everyone was sleeping on, and it's possible that Leo's impending win will carry the movie right along with him, and its director, who would win an unprecedented back to back Oscars if that happens. I guess it's possible. But the Producers Guild will tell us the real story- whether it's Spotlight, Big Short, Revenant or The Martian. The Oscar seems entirely up for grabs right now.
BOX OFFICE 1/08-1/10: 'Star Wars' Leads Again; 'Revenant' Strong in 2nd
Star Wars held onto its box office crown for the fourth week in a row, but just barely, as Leonardo Dicaprio's The Revenant expanded wide and came in an unexpectedly strong second place, with 38 million to TFA's 41 million over the three days. This proves Dicaprio's box office might, as the movie was expected to be a hard sell, an artsy, violent revenge film directed by last year's Oscar winner Alejandro Inarritu, hardly known for crowdpleasers. In fact, The Revenant is now close to surpassing Birdman's entire domestic haul of 42 million- and all of that is credited to Dicaprio, who drew a near parity crowd of male and female viewers. Old school star power isn't dead after all.
Meanwhile, the only other new release this week was the dreadfully reviewed horror movie The Forest, which came in with 13 million and a "C" Cinemascore, so don't expect much from that. The Force Awakens has now made 812 million, the first movie in history to cross 800 million at the domestic box office, while opening in China to 53 million, the country's biggest weekend opening ever. The worldwide total is now at 1.73 billion, but probably won't reach Avatar's 2.7 billion record for biggest global gross ever. The holdovers were filled by Daddy's Home, which is on track to become Will Ferrell's third biggest hit after Elf and Talladega Nights, and Sisters, which is holding well to cross 73 million.
Top 5:
- Star Wars: The Force Awakens- 41.6 million
- The Revenant- 38 million
- Daddy's Home- 15 million
- The Forest- 13.1 million
- Sisters- 7.2 million
The Hateful Eight fell a steep 60 percent this week, despite adding over 400 more theaters. The movie has now made 41 million domestically, and looks like it won't be one of Tarantino's bigger hits. Next week Ride Along 2 is opening, which probably means Star Wars will go down, as Kevin Hart's new comedy will likely top the box office, and Michael Bay's Benghazi movie 13 Hours is set to fill the January war movie slot that seems to happen every year at this time. That's it for today and enjoy the Golden Globes tonight, everyone.
