Awards Season 2014

[domino harvey]

The Imitation Game won at Toronto, which as a public-voted award is sometimes accurate at gauging Oscar voting

[movielocke]

it's almost unfair that Imitation Game is apparently so good, because it's so much fun to make fun of it on pure principle.

Rain Man has a Beautiful Mind on Brokeback Mountain. Hah.

[domino harvey]

I will say, having seen none of the films likely to be nommed for Best Picture (yet), none of the films I'm hearing bandied about as possible Oscar noms/winners sound bad, which is something in this day and age. Certainly is shaping up to be the year of the biopics though!

[swo17]

none of the films sound bad...certainly is shaping up to be the year of the biopics

Does not compute...

[knives]

I do feel that The Imitation Game has a high probability of being eye rolling for those who care about Turing as a symbolic figure though even then it sounds better than the norm.

[movielocke]

I will say, having seen none of the films likely to be nommed for Best Picture (yet), none of the films I'm hearing bandied about as possible Oscar noms/winners sound bad, which is something in this day and age. Certainly is shaping up to be the year of the biopics though!

Definitely, without imitation game doing its kings speech esque sweep of the season this year would have an incredibly competitive and interesting awards race between the top 11 films. But i imagine Harvey already has this race won with his British gay rain man trump card film.

I took a gander at box office mojo releade dates and I think these are the 12 contending films this year, fury may make it in, but hard to tell.

Boyhood
Gone Girl
Birdman
Interstellar
Foxcatcher
The Imitation Game
Inherent Vice
American Sniper
Big Eyes
Into the Woods
Selma
Unbroken

The last five are all released on Christmas of course.

I think unbroken will flop big time with the critics because it looks more Americana than authentic, I also figure big eyes and inherent vice fail in the awards race. The top five films fighting it out are probably imitation game, boyhood, foxcatcher, Selma and birdman

[flyonthewall2983]

I'm just curious, but was there ever a time when this whole process was more unpredictable?

[knives]

In September? Every year. Things aren't usually solidified in any serious way until November and even then it is late into it.

[movielocke]

I'm just curious, but was there ever a time when this whole process was more unpredictable?

Hurt locker was pretty unpredictable. Teensy forgotten highly praised film came back by enormous punditry effort (the film's distributer didn't even get a campaign together til the last minute.) But that kind of unanimity amongst critics is extraordinarily rare, and it nicely coincided with a weak slate of competition and a rules change that introduced a lot of curve balls the first year of ten nominees. Those changes are baked into the system now along with so rule tweaks to break the power of the animation bloc, so we won't get aberrations like blind side, district 9, serious man, up, or toy story three nominated.

[FrauBlucher]

A Record Number of Countries Submit Films for Best Foreign-Language Film Oscar
Posted October 10, 2014 04:42 PM by Webmaster

Oscars83 countries have submitted films for Best Language Film Oscar this year. Last year, 76 films were submitted, and Italian director Paolo Sorrentino's The Great Beauty won the award.

The five nominees that will emerge from this year's list will be officially announced on January 15th.

The awards ceremony will be held on February 22, 2015 in the Dolby Theatre, Hollywood.

COMPLETE LIST OF SUBMISSIONS:

Afghanistan, A Few Cubic Meters Of Love, Jamshid Mahmoudi
Argentina, Wild Tales, Damián Szifrón
Australia, Charlie's Country, Rolf de Heer
Austria, The Dark Valley, Andreas Prochaska
Azerbaijan, Nabat, Elchin Musaoglu
Bangladesh, Glow Of The Firefly, Khalid Mahmood Mithu
Belgium, Two Days, One Night, Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne
Bolivia, Forgotten, Carlos Bolado
Bosnia and Herzegovina, With Mom, Faruk Lončarevič
Brazil, The Way He Looks, Daniel Ribeiro
Bulgaria, Bulgarian Rhapsody, Ivan Nitchev
Canada, Mommy, Xavier Dolan
Chile, To Kill A Man, Alejandro Fernández Almendras
China, The Nightingale, Philippe Muyl
Colombia, Mateo, María Gamboa
Costa Rica, Red Princesses, Laura Astorga Carrera
Croatia, Cowboys, Tomislav Mršić
Cuba, Conducta, Ernesto Daranas Serrano
Czech Republic, Fair Play, Andrea Sedláčková
Denmark, Sorrow And Joy, Nils Malmros
Dominican Republic, Cristo Rey, Leticia Tonos
Ecuador, Silence In Dreamland, Tito Molina
Egypt, Factory Girl, Mohamed Khan
Estonia, Tangerines, Zaza Urushadze
Ethiopia, Difret, Zeresenay Berhane Mehari
Finland, Concrete Night, Pirjo Honkasalo
France, Saint Laurent, Bertrand Bonello
Georgia, Corn Island, George Ovashvili
Germany, Beloved Sisters, Dominik Graf
Greece, Little England, Pantelis Voulgaris
Hong Kong, The Golden Era, Ann Hui
Hungary, White God, Kornél Mundruczó
Iceland, Life In A Fishbowl, Baldvin Zophoníasson
India, Liar's Dice, Geetu Mohandas
Indonesia, Soekarno, Hanung Bramantyo
Iran, Today, Reza Mirkarimi
Iraq, Mardan, Batin Ghobadi
Ireland, The Gift, Tom Collins
Israel, Gett, The Trial Of Viviane Amsalem, Ronit Elkabetz and Shlomi Elkabetz
Italy, Human Capital, Paolo Virzì
Japan, The Light Shines Only There, Mipo O
Kosovo, Three Windows And A Hanging, Isa Qosja
Kyrgyzstan, Kurmanjan Datka Queen Of The Mountains, Sadyk Sher-Niyaz
Latvia, Rocks In My Pockets, Signe Baumane
Lebanon, Ghadi, Amin Dora
Lithuania, The Gambler, Ignas Jonynas
Luxembourg, Never Die Young, Pol Cruchten
Macedonia, To The Hilt, Stole Popov
Malta, Simshar, Rebecca Cremona
Mauritania, Timbuktu, Abderrahmane Sissako
Mexico, Cantinflas, Sebastián del Amo
Moldova, The Unsaved, Igor Cobileanski
Montenegro, The Kids From The Marx And Engels Street, Nikola Vukčević
Morocco, The Red Moon, Hassan Benjelloun
Nepal, Jhola, Yadav Kumar Bhattarai
Netherlands, Accused, Paula van der Oest
New Zealand, The Dead Lands, Toa Fraser
Norway, 1001 Grams, Bent Hamer
Pakistan, Dukhtar, Afia Nathaniel
Palestine, Eyes Of A Thief, Najwa Najjar
Panama, Invasion, Abner Benaim
Peru, The Gospel Of The Flesh, Eduardo Mendoza
Philippines, Norte, The End Of History, Lav Diaz
Poland, Ida, Paweł Pawlikowski
Portugal, What Now? Remind Me, Joaquim Pinto
Romania, The Japanese Dog, Tudor Cristian Jurgiu
Russia, Leviathan, Andrey Zvyagintsev
Serbia, See You In Montevideo, Dragan Bjelogrlić
Singapore, Sayang Disayang, Sanif Olek
Slovakia, A Step Into The Dark, Miloslav Luther
Slovenia, Seduce Me, Marko Šantić
South Africa, Elelwani, Ntshavheni Wa Luruli
South Korea, Haemoo, Shim Sung-bo
Spain, Living Is Easy With Eyes Closed, David Trueba
Sweden, Force Majeure, Ruben Östlund
Switzerland, The Circle, Stefan Haupt
Taiwan, Ice Poison, Midi Z
Thailand, The Teacher's Diary, Nithiwat Tharathorn
Turkey, Winter Sleep, Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Ukraine, The Guide, Oles Sanin
United Kingdom, Little Happiness, Nihat Seven
Uruguay, Mr. Kaplan, Álvaro Brechner
Venezuela, The Liberator, Alberto Arvelo

[movielocke]

I know everyone has historically hated on the foreign language film category because it often doesn't pick the international festival favorites of the moment (which are always the only foreign films american film journalists have heard of, though probably have not bothered to see) and because only one film per country is submitted in a contentious and often problematic selection process in each country, but at least the academy members that vote on the films actually watch a huge chunk of the submitted films, and the voters all have to watch the finalists before selecting the five nominees, more effort goes into selecting these five films than any of the other categories, in terms of watching films before being nominated. And with every year getting more and more countries to participate and nominate films it makes me glad that they're not just nominating two french films, two italian films and a japanese film every year and calling it done.

[domino harvey]

Neil Patrick Harris is hosting the Oscars

[lacritfan]

Neil Patrick Harris is hosting the Oscars

Good for him, he deserves a shot, think he'll do well.

[mfunk9786]

Neil Patrick Harris is hosting the Oscars

Ellen DeGeneres, Chris Rock (probably the best host in my lifetime, in terms of how much I actually laughed during an Oscar broadcast), and Julia Louis-Dreyfus all turned down the gig before the Academy went to NPH

[domino harvey]

Gotham Awards

Best Feature

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

Alejandro G. Iñárritu, director; Alejandro G. Iñárritu, John Lesher, Arnon Milchan, James W. Skotchdopole, producers (Fox Searchlight Pictures)

Boyhood

Richard Linklater, director; Richard Linklater, Cathleen Sutherland, Jonathan Sehring, John Sloss, producers (IFC Films)

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Wes Anderson, director; Wes Anderson, Scott Rudin, Steven Rales, Jeremy Dawson, producers (Fox Searchlight Pictures)

Love Is Strange

Ira Sachs, director; Lucas Joaquin, Jay Van Hoy, Lars Knudsen, Ira Sachs, Jayne Baron Sherman, producers (Sony Pictures Classics)

Under the Skin

Jonathan Glazer, director; Nick Wechsler, James Wilson, producers (A24 Films)

Best Documentary

Actress

Robert Greene, director; Douglas Tirola, Susan Bedusa, Robert Greene, producers (The Cinema Guild)

CITIZENFOUR

Laura Poitras, director; Laura Poitras, Mathilde Bonnefoy, Dirk Wilutzky, producers (RADiUS, Participant Media, and HBO Documentary Films)

Life Itself

Steve James, director; Zak Piper, Steve James, Garrett Basch, producers (Magnolia Pictures and CNN Films)

Manakamana

Stephanie Spray & Pacho Velez, directors; Lucien Castaing-Taylor, Véréna Paravel, producers (The Cinema Guild)

Point and Shoot

Marshall Curry, director; Marshall Curry, Elizabeth Martin, Matthew Van Dyke, producers (The Orchard and American Documentary / POV)

Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award

Ana Lily Amirpour for A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (Kino Lorber)

James Ward Byrkit for Coherence (Oscilloscope Laboratories)

Dan Gilroy for Nightcrawler (Open Road Films)

Eliza Hittman for It Felt Like Love (Variance Films)

Justin Simien for Dear White People (Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions)

Best Actor*

Bill Hader in The Skeleton Twins (Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions)

Ethan Hawke in Boyhood (IFC Films)

Oscar Isaac in A Most Violent Year (A24 Films)

Michael Keaton in Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (Fox Searchlight Pictures)

Miles Teller in Whiplash (Sony Pictures Classics)

* The 2014 Best Actor nominating panel also voted to award a special Gotham Jury Award jointly to Steve Carell, Mark Ruffalo, and Channing Tatum for their ensemble performance in Foxcatcher (Sony Pictures Classics).

Best Actress

Patricia Arquette in Boyhood (IFC Films)

Gugu Mbatha-Raw in Beyond the Lights (Relativity Media)

Julianne Moore in Still Alice (Sony Pictures Classics)

Scarlett Johansson in Under the Skin (A24 Films)

Mia Wasikowska in Tracks (The Weinstein Company)

Breakthrough Actor

Riz Ahmed in Nightcrawler (Open Road Films)

Macon Blair in Blue Ruin (RADiUS)

Ellar Coltrane in Boyhood (IFC Films)

Joey King in Wish I Was Here (Focus Features)

Jenny Slate in Obvious Child (A24 Films)

Tessa Thompson in Dear White People (Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions)

[flyonthewall2983]

Gone Girl wins big at the Hollywood Film Awards.

[flyonthewall2983]

Top Ten things overheard at the Hollywood Film Awards.

[lacritfan]

'Leviathan,' 'Winter Sleep,' 'Nymphomaniac' Among European Film Awards Nominees

[domino harvey]

2015 FILM INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARD NOMINATIONS

BEST FEATURE
(Award given to the Producer. Executive Producers are not awarded.)

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Producers: Alejandro G. Iñárritu, John Lesher, Arnon Milchan, James W. Skotchdopole

Boyhood
Producers: Richard Linklater, Jonathan Sehring, John Sloss, Cathleen Sutherland

Love is Strange
Producers: Lucas Joaquin, Lars Knudsen, Ira Sachs, Jayne Baron Sherman, Jay Van Hoy

Selma
Producers: Christian Colson, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Oprah Winfrey

Whiplash
Producers: Jason Blum, Helen Estabrook, David Lancaster, Michael Litvak

BEST DIRECTOR

Damien Chazelle
Whiplash

Ava DuVernay
Selma

Alejandro G. Iñárritu
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

Richard Linklater
Boyhood

David Zellner
Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter

BEST SCREENPLAY

Scott Alexander & Larry Karaszewski
Big Eyes

J.C. Chandor
A Most Violent Year

Dan Gilroy
Nightcrawler

Jim Jarmusch
Only Lovers Left Alive

Ira Sachs & Mauricio Zacharias
Love is Strange

BEST FIRST FEATURE (Award given to the director and producer)

A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
Director: Ana Lily Amirpour
Producers: Justin Begnaud, Sina Sayyah

Dear White People
Director/Producer: Justin Simien
Producers: Effie T. Brown, Ann Le, Julia Lebedev, Angel Lopez, Lena Waithe

Nightcrawler
Director: Dan Gilroy
Producers: Jennifer Fox, Tony Gilroy, Jake Gyllenhaal, David Lancaster, Michel Litvak

Obvious Child
Director: Gillian Robespierre
Producer: Elisabeth Holm

She's Lost Control
Director/Producer: Anja Marquardt
Producers: Mollye Asher, Kiara C. Jones

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY

Desiree Akhavan
Appropriate Behavior

Sara Colangelo
Little Accidents

Justin Lader
The One I Love

Anja Marquardt
She's Lost Control

Justin Simien
Dear White People

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD - Given to the best feature made for under $500,000. Award given to the writer, director and producer. Executive Producers are not awarded.

Blue Ruin
Writer/Director: Jeremy Saulnier
Producers: Richard Peete, Vincent Savino, Anish Savjani

It Felt Like Love
Writer/Director/Producer: Eliza Hittman
Producers: Shrihari Sathe, Laura Wagner

Land Ho!
Writers/Directors: Aaron Katz & Martha Stephens
Producers: Christina Jennings, Mynette Louie, Sara Murphy

Man From Reno
Writer/Director: Dave Boyle
Writers: Joel Clark, Michael Lerman
Producer: Ko Mori

Test
Writer/Director/Producer: Chris Mason Johnson
Producer: Chris Martin

BEST FEMALE LEAD

Marion Cotillard
The Immigrant

Rinko Kikuchi
Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter

Julianne Moore
Still Alice

Jenny Slate
Obvious Child

Tilda Swinton
Only Lovers Left Alive

BEST MALE LEAD

André Benjamin
Jimi: All Is By My Side

Jake Gyllenhaal
Nightcrawler

Michael Keaton
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

John Lithgow
Love is Strange

David Oyelowo
Selma

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE

Patricia Arquette
Boyhood

Jessica Chastain
A Most Violent Year

Carmen Ejogo
Selma

Andrea Suarez Paz
Stand Clear of the Closing Doors

Emma Stone
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

BEST SUPPORTING MALE

Riz Ahmed
Nightcrawler

Ethan Hawke
Boyhood

Alfred Molina
Love is Strange

Edward Norton
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

J.K. Simmons
Whiplash

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Darius Khondji
The Immigrant

Emmanuel Lubezki
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

Sean Porter
It Felt Like Love

Lyle Vincent
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night

Bradford Young
Selma

BEST EDITING

Sandra Adair
Boyhood

Tom Cross
Whiplash

John Gilroy
Nightcrawler

Ron Patane
A Most Violent Year

Adam Wingard
The Guest

BEST DOCUMENTARY (Award given to the director and producer)

20,000 Days on Earth
Directors: Iain Forsyth & Jane Pollard
Producers: Dan Bowen, James Wilson

CITIZENFOUR
Director/Producer: Laura Poitras
Producers: Mathilde Bonnefoy, Dirk Wilutzky

Stray Dog
Director: Debra Granik
Producer: Anne Rosellini

The Salt of the Earth
Directors: Juliano Ribeiro Salgado and Wim Wenders
Producer: David Rosier

Virunga
Director/Producer: Orlando von Einsiedel
Producer: Joanna Natasegara

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM (Award given to the director)

Force Majeure
(Sweden)
Director: Ruben Östlund

Ida
(Poland)
Director: Pawel Pawlikowski

Leviathan
(Russia)
Director: Andrey Zvyagintsev

Mommy
(Canada)
Director: Xavier Dolan

Norte, the End of History
(Philippines)
Director: Lav Diaz

Under the Skin
(United Kingdom)
Director: Jonathan Glazer

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD - (Given to one film's director, casting director and ensemble cast)

Inherent Vice
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Casting Director: Cassandra Kulukundis
Ensemble Cast: Josh Brolin, Martin Donovan, Jena Malone, Joanna Newsom,Joaquin Phoenix, Eric Roberts, Maya Rudolph, Martin Short Serena Scott Thomas,Benicio Del Toro, Katherine Waterston, Michael Kenneth Williams, Owen Wilson,Reese Witherspoon

SPECIAL DISTINCTION AWARD

Foxcatcher
Director/Producer: Bennett Miller
Producers: Anthony Bregman, Megan Ellison, Jon Kilik
Writers: E. Max Frye, Dan Futterman
Actors: Steve Carell, Mark Ruffalo, Channing Tatum

18th ANNUAL PIAGET PRODUCERS AWARD – The 18th annual Producers Award, sponsored by Piaget, honors emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources, demonstrate the creativity, tenacity and vision required to produce quality, independent films. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by Piaget.

Chad Burris
Elisabeth Holm
Chris Ohlson

21st ANNUAL KIEHL'S SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD – The 21st annual Someone to Watch Award, sponsored by Kiehl's Since 1851, recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by Kiehl's Since 1851.

A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
Director: Ana Lily Amirpour

H.
Directors: Rania Attieh & Daniel Garcia

The Retrieval
Director: Chris Eska

20th ANNUAL LENSCRAFTERS TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD – The 20th annual Truer Than Fiction Award, sponsored by LensCrafters, is presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by LensCrafters.

Approaching the Elephant
Director: Amanda Rose Wilder

Evolution of a Criminal
Director: Darius Clark Monroe

The Kill Team
Director: Dan Krauss

The Last Season
Director: Sara Dosa

[domino harvey]

Biggest snubs: Reese Witherspoon for Wild (she'll still get the Oscar nom) and the Imitation Game was apparently eligible but came away with nothing. The shutout pretty much kills those who were counting on the Homesman to get Swank another Oscar nom too. Poor Miles Teller couldn't even get the Independent Spirit Awards to notice him, though this show of support cements that Whiplash will probably make it to Best Picture for the Oscars (same for Selma, but everyone apparently already figured that out after the first screening a few days ago)

[mfunk9786]

The Grand Budapest Hotel wasn't eligible - it'll be interesting how it does in the Globes nominations, becuase apparently Fox Searchlight is screening it for Academy members, sending out screeners, and having stars do Q&As etc. They're still trying to get a Best Pic nomination for it to go with its likely set design/screenplay stuff.

[domino harvey]

Gold Derby does think this will be the first time an Anderson film gets some non-screenplay nods for its sets and costumes &c, for what it's worth

[mfunk9786]

Fox gave it its own cushion of release time - which resulted in it making a ton of money - but I think they really sort of screwed up by not releasing it during awards season and underestimating how well it'd be received. Other than Birdman and maybe Foxcatcher, there's not that much prestige stuff that's blowing a lot of people away in November this year (or that stands out above the pack as must-see fare). This would've been perfect timing and would've almost assured a Best Pic nomination.

[Lemmy Caution]

Gong Li doesn't win Best Actress award at the Taiwan Film Festival, vows never to return.

"I'd like to thank the Golden Horse Awards for giving me this opportunity to understand what it's like to come to an unprofessional film festival. An unfair awards will not gain the respect of artists."

Gong Li added that she enjoyed her stay in Taiwan and would come back again to the island in the future, "but I will not be coming back to the festival in the future, because there would be no point to that at all.”

"This will be my first time at the Golden Horse Awards, and my last," she added through her manager.

[domino harvey]

Great Grantland essay on Oscar-race narratives