Oscars 2015: SAG Nominees Reactions

Hello, Bloggers, they just announced the nominees for the 21st Screen Actors Guild Awards and here, I will post my immediate reactions to the nominees. I'll go into who I was happy with along with who got snubbed and who the surprises were. But, I will focus more on the film categories, though. Let's take a look:

Best Ensemble:
Birdman
Boyhood
Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Theory of Everything

So far, I did really well with this category, as I saw everyone of these nominees except The Imitation Game because it hasn't played where I live yet. But, out of the picks I have seen so far, my pick would go to Birdman. It was quite a surprise to see Theory of Everything on here though as I thought the film focused more on the two leads than the actual ensemble. It reminds me of when Dallas Buyers Club got in last year even though more of the love was on the two main actors. But, it feels pretty good knowing I don't have a whole lot of homework in this category thus far. But one shocker was seeing Into The Woods omitted from this list. Usually, they nominate the ensemble when a musical is in contention, but surprisingly not here. But, luckily I am a guy who likes these types of surprises.

Best Male Actor In A Leading Role:

Steve Carell, Foxcatcher
Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game
Jake Gyllenhaal, Nightcrawler
Michael Keaton, Birdman
Eddie Redmayne, Theory of Everything

I was very pleased to see Jake Gyllenhaal for his physically and mentally transformative work in Nightcrawler. That was a pleasant surprise for sure. So far, the only two nominees I haven't seen for Carell and Cumberbatch, but I'll get on that once their films play in my area. But the nominees that I have seen are very solid.

Best Female Actor In A Leading Role:

Jennifer Aniston, Cake
Felicity Jones, Theory of Everything
Julianne Moore, Still Alice
Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
Reese Witherspoon, Wild

The surprise of this category is without a doubt Jennifer Aniston in Cake. This surprise has me worrying about Marion Cotillard, though, since Cotillard has won a few key critics awards and a SAG nomination would really give her momentum. She could still have a chance at the Globes, but we'll see. The other nominees weren't huge surprises, though. I was sort of hoping the surprise in this category would be either Marion Cotillard or even Jenny Slate for Obvious Child, but a fella can dream, right? But with Aniston's nomination, I guess I have to see Cake.

Best Male Actor In A Supporting Role:

Robert Duvall, The Judge
Ethan Hawke, Boyhood
Edward Norton, Birdman
Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher
J.K. Simmons, Whiplash

Surprisingly, I got all of these predictions right. I even figured Robert Duvall would get in because the SAGs love veterans and they love Robert Duvall. Thankfully, Ethan Hawke got in and Edward Norton as well. So far, I haven't seen The Judge because I missed it and Foxcatcher because it still isn't playing in my area. But, like with most of the other categories, I don't have a whole lot of homework to do, thankfully.

Best Female Actor In A Supporting Role:

Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
Keira Knightley, The Imitation Game
Emma Stone, Birdman
Meryl Streep, Into The Woods
Naomi Watts, St. Vincent

Now, for this category, I have a bit of homework to do as the only two nominees I have seen so far are Arquette and Stone. But, it was quite a shocker to see Naomi Watts in here for St. Vincent. When they announced her name, for a second, I figured they'd nominate her for Birdman, but she is still a double nominee nevertheless for Best Supporting Actress and Best Ensemble for Birdman. If it didn't go to Watts, though, I had a feeling it would go to either Laura Dern or Jessica Chastain for A Most Violent Year or, and this is me being optimistic, Carrie Coon for Gone Girl. But I like Naomi Watts and I love how we have a surprise like this. Still have to see St. Vincent, though.


Overall, I was very pleased with the list of nominees. There were some surprises I was very happy with and some shocking omissions. But, I am pleased with how the list of nominees turned out. Please feel free to share your thoughts on the nominees and even feel free to write who you felt got snubbed. Tomorrow, the Golden Globe nominations will be announced and I will certainly be covering those. Until then, thanks for reading!

12 Movies Of Christmas: Elf (2003)

                                               

       
       'Elf': A Small, Simple Holiday Comedy With Heart as Big as The Protagonist's Height

Hello, Bloggers, welcome to the latest edition of 12 Days Of Christmas. I know I didn't fulfill my promise of reviewing 12 films last year due to personal mishaps, but I will do my best to try and make up for that by reviewing 12 films that are either set on Christmas, take place in the winter, or are about Christmas. For my first review, I will discuss a film that leans towards the former. My first film is the 2003 modern classic Elf.

            Story:
            Elf follows the story of a grown-up elf named Buddy (Will Ferrell) who lives in the North Pole and decides to set out and find his father Walter (James Caan) who turns out to be on the naughty list. Once he arrives in New York City and finds his father, a slew of mishaps occur while Buddy falls in love with a woman named Jovie (Zooey Deschanel).

            Ups:
           One thing that I really liked was Will Ferrell's performance as Buddy. I really enjoyed watching Ferrell channel his character's cheerful optimism and how it affects those around him. I especially loved the scenes between him and Zooey Deschanel as they both have wonderful chemistry. Ferrell also has wonderful support from James Caan as his father. Caan is wonderful as Buddy's father who despite his neuroticism, takes Buddy under his wing anyways.

           I also thought that the story was refreshing and original. Not only was the idea of an adult elf becoming accustomed to the real world a nice idea, but it has a good amount of heart and pathos. It not only is about Buddy trying to blend into modern society, but the other characters undergo an arc of some kind. Walter slowly tries to accept Buddy as his son while Jovie slowly comes out of her shell after Buddy hears her beautiful singing voice.

            Downs:
            NIL.

            Consensus:
           Overall, Elf is a fun holiday treat for the whole family with a blend of humor and heart that is as sweet as a plain candy cane with peppermint stripes. The performances by Will Ferrell and his supporting cast are terrific and while the story may be simple, it is refreshingly original and is something that anybody can enjoy for the holidays.

Grade: A

Review: The LEGO Movie (2014)

                                           

 
   'The LEGO Movie': A Gem For The Family That Allows The Viewer To Use Their Creative And Thinking Blocks

       When I was a younger kid, I actually wasn't overly fond of LEGOs, yet when I heard about this film, I was pretty interested because I was unsure of how it would be pulled off. Not only was I amazed by how the filmmakers did it and not only did I find myself laughing hysterically, but I was so fascinated by how it in a subtle manner manages to pack together different themes and plot points and build them into a complex model.

         Story:
     The LEGO Movie follows the story of a Lego construction worker named Emmett (Chris Pratt) who is said to be a prophesied "Special" that can save the Lego universe from an evil tyrant known as Lord Business (Will Ferrell) who looks to glue everybody to the city eternally.

         Ups:
        I'll start off by discussing the film's story. Now, before I watched the film, I didn't really have a clear idea of what exactly it was about. But, I am surely glad that I didn't know a whole lot about it before because I was very surprised by what I watched. I was especially pleased by the thematic material it had to offer. It manages to delve into themes involving imagination, dictatorship to some degree, and *spoiler alert* father-son relationships. The imagination aspect was interesting because there are characters called "Master Builders" that build whatever they can imagine and put their creativity to great use while they are facing Lord Business, who is all about "following the instructions".  Another thing I liked was the different pop culture references to franchises like Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, and Harry Potter. Plus, I liked how the story delves into the different cliches that films about prophecies and such are faced with. For example, in the beginning, a wizard named Vitruvius, played by Morgan Freeman, says that a prophecy will come true and is serious because it rhymes. I thought that was very funny and that Morgan Freeman did a great voice performance. That brings me to my next point.

        I thought the voice performances were very nice. Chris Pratt did an amazing job as Emmett and really had me feeling for his character, hoping that he would become the "Special" that he is expected to be. While everybody else was fantastic, including Will Ferrell as Lord Business, Morgan Freeman as Vitruvius, Elizabeth Banks as Emmett's love interest Wyldstyle, and Will Arnett as Batman, I'd love to acknowledge a few standouts. One is Liam Neeson, who plays Lord Business' henchman Bad Cop/Good Cop, who is a play off of the good cop/bad cop-type deal that you see on cop shows or films and it was refreshing to see Neeson play a serious, brooding character in a hilarious film. Another standout I would say is Charlie Day as Benny, a Master Builder who is a "1980-something space guy" with a penchant for building spaceships. I loved seeing his character's cheery optimism even as they are in the face of danger.

         Downs:
         NIL.

         Consensus:
         Overall, The LEGO Movie is a very rich and hilarious family film with an underlying, multi-faceted storyline that showcases parody while dealing with powerful themes of imagination and dictatorship. It is films like this that really make me want to be a writer and share my own imagination like how children create different Lego models to share their own. The film is very much about the kid in all of us and is simply, as a song from the film says, "Awesome".

Grade: A

     

Oscars 2015: NYFCO, LAFCA, and BSFC Winners

Hello, Bloggers, today, not one, not two, but three critics circles just announced their winners: The New York Film Critics Online, Los Angeles Film Critics Association, and The Boston Society Of Film Critics. Rather than go through each guild individually, I will go through who the big winners were, as well as the surprise picks. Let's take a look:

First off, the love for Boyhood continues. It won Best Picture at all three guilds and even Best International Film at the British Independent Film Awards. Plus, Richard Linklater won Best Director at all three respective guilds for Boyhood as well. There is even still some love for Birdman as Michael Keaton won Best Actor at the BSFC Awards while the LAFCA gave Best Actor to Tom Hardy for Locke and Eddie Redmayne won BA at the NYFCO for Theory of Everything. Patricia Arquette is still on a roll with Boyhood as she won Best Supporting Actress at NYFCO while winning Best Actress at LAFCA, interestingly. But another actress on a pretty good roll as of now is Marion Cotillard who won BA at NYFCO for Two Days, One Night and at the BSFC for both Two Days, One Night and The Immigrant. She also won at NYFCC, which could really help her cause. I still haven't seen either of her films yet, but I am pretty stoked by the acclaim Cotillard is because I would love to see her have a second Oscar bid. But J.K. Simmons managed to go 3-for-3 today for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as a nightmarish music teacher in Whiplash. Seriously, I can't even think about his portrayal without quivering a bit, but that's just how amazing he is. Emmanuel Lubezki also went 3-for-3 for his brilliant cinematographic work in Birdman. 

Another win I was super happy about was seeing Emma Stone being awarded Best Supporting Actress by the BSFC for Birdman. I love this win very much because even if Stone doesn't win or get nominated, by the time awards season finishes, she won't be empty-handed. Also, despite its early release date, The Grand Budapest Hotel continues to get plenty of awards traction as it not only won Best Screenplay at LAFCA, but it was the runner-up for Best Director and Best Picture as well.

If you want to check out the full list of winners, check out these links:

http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/2014-new-york-film-critics-online-winners

http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/2014-los-angeles-film-critics-association-lafca-awards-winners

http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/2014-boston-society-of-film-critics-awards


So, those are my quick thoughts on the winners and if you agree or disagree with any of the choices of the 3 critics circles, please feel free to write your thoughts in the comments section. The SAG Awards will announce their nominees on Wednesday and the Globes will announce theirs on Thursday. When those two come around, I will be sure to announce my thoughts on those. Until then, thanks for reading!

Indie Review: The Babadook (2014)

                         

               
                'The Babadook': A Monster Movie Interestingly Vaguely About The Monster At Hand
             
             Not too long ago, I recently watched a video on YouTube from movie critic Chris Stuckmann on the problem with horror movies today. Not only did I agree with his points, like how audiences are accustomed to jump scares, but that video is where I first heard of the subject of this review, The Babadook. Thankfully, he discovered this film, and I stumbled across his "Problem With Horror Movies" vid, because The Babadook is a true gem.

                Story:
          The Babadook follows the story of a working mother named Amelia (Essie Davis) who is haunted by the death of her husband. But things begin to take an even greater effect on her psyche with the arrival of a sinister entity known as The Babadook, who also haunts her son Samuel (Noah Wiseman) as well,

                Ups:
          One thing that I really liked, which really surprised me, was how even though it is about a monster, it isn't technically a monster movie. I'm going to do my best not to give it away, but I'll say that the Babadook is somehow weaved into the film's deep themes of grief and depression. Very rarely do we see horror films have some kind of meaning behind them or thematic material, but this was a very nice change of pace.

          Next, I'll get into the lead performance by Essie Davis. Essie Davis was absolutely incredible as Amelia and gives very double-sided performance as at first, I found myself carrying for her, then as the film progresses, wondering whether I should fear her. It is not a typical female lead performance from a horror film, but a very rich and complex character. At first, and I hope I don't come off as mean since he is a young child actor, but I honestly thought Noah Wiseman was a bit annoying but that is only because of his character's constant hysterical fits. Plus, I eventually got to care for his character once the 'coins have been flipped' so to speak. I'll just leave it at that so I don't give anything away because I think you guys should really see this. I'll only say that you hardly see the Babadook's face. Once you watch the film, you'll probably find out why.

          I also thought the way the film was shot, by director Jennifer Kent and cinematographer Radek Ladczuk, was nice and helped aid the film's rather unsettling atmosphere. This is Kent's first feature film and I could already see her being one of the horror greats. The genre could certainly use one of those.

                Downs:
               NIL.

                Consensus:
               Overall, The Babadook is a highly creative monster movie that is interestingly hardly about the titular monster at all. It is beautifully directed by Jennifer Kent, has a knockout lead performance by Essie Davis, and features a dreadful yet chilling atmosphere.

                Would I Recommend It?:
                If you like horror movies, yes. But this isn't really for every horror fan since it requires a good amount of thinking and there aren't many audiences that gravitate towards those types these days. Although, if you are a fan of much older horror films, from the 70's and even the 80's, you will probably enjoy this.

Grade: A-
               

2015 Oscars: Gotham/NBR Awards Winners

Hello, Bloggers, I have decided to continue my Oscar coverage today by discussing my thoughts on the winners of the Gotham Independent Film Awards and the National Board Of Review Awards, which were just announced this morning. I'll start off with the Gotham Awards:

Now, there aren't as many categories in the Gotham Awards as there are in other awards shows, but there are a few major ones, including Best Film, Best Actor, and Best Actress. The other ones are Best Documentary and a few Breakthrough Awards designed to help more undiscovered talent. But, I'll get into the major categories. Here we go:

So, Birdman ended up taking the top prize for Best Film and Best Actor (Michael Keaton), which I was very happy about. Even though Boyhood, which I also loved, was nominated in the same categories, as well as Best Actress for Patricia Arquette, I was still glad that Birdman was the big winner because Boyhood had already won big at the NYFCC Awards and it isn't the only great film taking all of the acclaim this year. Plus, Boyhood did win a special Audience Award for Best Film, so it didn't go home empty-handed. That is a very neat award, in my opinion, because it might be telling as to what film the audience might root for. Since Grand Budapest Hotel was in that category, I figured that would win because Wes Anderson has a huge following and that made over $100 million worldwide against a $30 million budget. Hopefully, that film will also have a successful run to the Oscars as well. Also, Julianne Moore ended up winning Best Actress, which I was pleased with since I loved her performance a lot. Since she won Best Actress at the Gotham Awards, Hollywood Awards, and the National Board of Review, she thankfully has a good amount of momentum in her Oscar campaign.

Next, I'll get into the National Board of Review. There were a good amount of surprises, I'll admit. For starters, A Most Violent Year emerged as the big winner for Best Picture, Best Actor (Oscar Isaac), and Best Supporting Actress (Jessica Chastain). I have yet to see it, so until then, I can't really formulate my opinion. I'm sure it is good, given the talent involved, but I'll have to wait and see. Not only did Oscar Isaac win Best Actor, but he also tied with Michael Keaton, which was nice. Along with Kearon, Edward Norton managed to score some love for Birdman with his win for Best Supporting Actor. A few other wins I was happy with are, even though they weren't really major categories per se, were Obvious Child winning Best Breakthrough Director for Gillian Robespierre and being selected as one of the Top 10 Independent Films of the year. Obvious Child is one of the films that I am the most passionate about this awards season and with its recognition from the NBR and Spirit nominations, I am thrilled that it isn't forgotten. Life Itself won Best Documentary, which certainly surprised me because Citizenfour is cleaning up pretty good as it won Best Documentary at the Gotham Awards and NYFCC. But one win that honestly didn't surprise me was Clint Eastwood winning Best Director for American Sniper. Even though a lot of us haven't seen that film, thus making it one of the biggest question marks this awards season, Eastwood has a good track record with the NBR, so it seems, regardless of the quality of the film, they might just be playing favorites. A few other wins were Paul Thomas Anderson winning Best Adapted Screenplay for Inherent Vice, which might be another question mark this awards season, and The Lego Movie winning Best Original Screenplay. That film is now on HBO and I'll have to check it out very soon.

So, those were my thoughts on the winners of the Gotham Awards and the National Board of Review Awards. I will continue my Oscar coverage once the LAFCA Awards take place and when the Golden Globe nominees, then the SAGs are announced. Until then, thanks for reading!

2014 NYFCC Awards Winners

Hello, Bloggers, they just announced the winners for the New York Film Critics Circle Awards and those are usually good indicators as to who will be a strong contender or a dark horse in the Oscar race. Let's take a look at my thoughts:

Best Picture:
Boyhood

To me, this was a semi-surprise. I had quite a feeling that Birdman was going to take it because that film is very New York. But, because Boyhood won, I fortunately have no problem being wrong. I thought Boyhood was a flawless masterpiece.

Best Director:
Richard Linklater, Boyhood

Now, this one didn't surprise me. Just like his film, Linklater winning this solidifies the fact that he is a frontrunner for Best Director. I figured that if Birdman won Best Picture, Linklater would at least win BD, but it turns out he could have his cake and eat it too.

Best Actor:
Timothy Spall, Mr. Turner

Since Mr. Turner is a Mike Leigh film and it is usually his girls that garner critical acclaim (Sally Hawkins, Lesley Manville, Imelda Staunton, etc.) it is nice that one of his actors is getting a fair share of praise. Plus, Spall is one of those steadily working character actors that never really got the recognition he deserved up until now.

Best Actress:
Marion Cotillard, The Immigrant & Two Days, One Night

Interestingly, I haven't seen those two films yet, but this win thrills me. I am a fan of Cotillard's work and the fuel that those two performances have could give her an edge in the Best Actress category. That I would love to see happen after she came so close to a second nomination after her win for La Vie En Rose.

Best Screenplay:
The Grand Budapest Hotel

This is another win I am content with. It isn't just because the film is great, but it came out back in March, so it is nice to know it is not forgotten.

Best Cinematography:
The Immigrant

Guess I really have to see The Immigrant.

Best First Feature:
The Babadook

This one, I really want to see.

Best Foreign Language Film:
Ida

Best Animated Feature:
The Lego Movie

Best Documentary:
Citizenfour


So, those were my quick thoughts on the winners of the NYFCC Awards this year. The Gotham Awards are taking place tonight and potentially, I'll post my reactions to those tomorrow. If not, I'll continue my Oscar coverage when the LAFCA Awards are announced along with the Golden Globe nominees. Thanks for reading!