Happy Birthday, Tracy

Concerning age: I won't go there on my sister.  Have a Happy Birthday, Tracy, and many, many, many more.

2013 Women Film Critics Circle Awards - Complete List

The Women Film Critics Circle (WFCC) is an association of women film critics, who are involved in print, radio, online and TV broadcast media.  Founded in 2004, this group is the first women critics’ organization in the United States.

2013 Women Film Critics Circle Awards:

BEST MOVIE ABOUT WOMEN: Philomena
RUNNER UP: Mother Of George

BEST MOVIE BY A WOMAN: Enough Said, Nicole Holofcener
RUNNER UP: Inch' Allah, Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette

BEST WOMAN STORYTELLER [Screenwriting Award]: Julie Delpy: Before Midnight
RUNNER UP: Nicole Holofcener, Enough Said

BEST ACTRESS: Judi Dench: Philomena
RUNNER UP: Barbara Sukowa: Hannah Arendt

BEST ACTOR: Chiwetel Ejiofor: 12 Years A Slave
RUNNER UP: Michael B. Jordan: Fruitvale Station

BEST YOUNG ACTRESS: Onata Aprile: What Maisie Knew
RUNNER UP: Waad Mohammed: Wadjda

BEST COMEDIC ACTRESS: Melissa McCarthy: The Heat
RUNNER UP: Greta Gerwig, Frances Ha

BEST FOREIGN FILM BY OR ABOUT WOMEN: Wadjda
RUNNER UP: Inch' Allah

BEST FEMALE IMAGES IN A MOVIE: Philomena
RUNNER UP: Girls In The Band

WORST FEMALE IMAGES IN A MOVIE: The Bling Ring
RUNNER UP: Machete Kills

BEST MALE IMAGES IN A MOVIE: 12 years A Slave: Chiwetel Ejiofor
RUNNER UP: Enough Said: James Gandolfini

WORST MALE IMAGES IN A MOVIE: Only God Forgives
RUNNER UP: Out Of The Furnace

BEST DOCUMENTARY BY OR ABOUT WOMEN: Stories We Tell
RUNNER UP: Girls In The Band

BEST SCREEN COUPLE: Before Midnight: Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke

BEST THEATRICALLY UNRELEASED MOVIE BY OR ABOUT WOMEN: Hellen Mirren in Phil Spector
RUNNER UP: Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer

BEST EQUALITY OF THE SEXES: Before Midnight
RUNNER UP: Enough Said

BEST ANIMATED FEMALES: Frozen
RUNNER UP: The Croods

BEST FAMILY FILM: The Wind Rises
RUNNER UP: Black Nativity

WOMEN'S WORK/BEST ENSEMBLE: Ginger & Rosa
RUNNER UP TIE: Winnie Mandela and August: Osage County

*SPECIAL MENTION AWARDS*

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
EMMA THOMPSON: For her eclecticism in switching from period films to fantasy genre, to contemporary settings. And embodying all kinds of women with raw and pure interpretations.

ACTING AND ACTIVISM AWARD
CHARLIZE THERON: For her work for The Global Fund, and for starting the Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project. Which educates young people about HIV/AIDS

COURAGE IN FILMMAKING
LAURA POITRAS: For bringing the Edward Snowden NSA revelations to light, driven into exile in Germany for doing so, and currently making a documentary about it.

*ADRIENNE SHELLY AWARD: (A film that most passionately opposes violence against women): Augustine
RUNNER UP: Lovelace

*JOSEPHINE BAKER AWARD: For best expressing the woman of color experience in America: 12 Years A Slave
RUNNER UP: Go For Sisters

*KAREN MORLEY AWARD: For best exemplifying a woman’s place in history or society, and a courageous search for identity: Winnie Mandela
RUNNER UP: Wadjda

COURAGE IN ACTING: [Taking on unconventional roles that radically redefine the images of women on screen]: Soko: Augustine

THE INVISIBLE WOMAN AWARD [Performance by a woman whose exceptional impact on the film dramatically, socially or historically, has been ignored]
Sandra Bullock: Gravity

BEST SONG: “Would You Bleed For Love” Jennifer Hudson, Winnie Mandela

MOMMIE DEAREST WORST SCREEN MOM OF THE YEAR AWARD:
*Kristin Scott Thomas - Only God Forgives

JUST KIDDING AWARD: Best Male Images In A Movie: Last Vegas

*WFCC HALL OF SHAME*

Blue is the Warmest Color: I went in knowing almost nothing except general buzz but I hated the sex scenes which were way too long and midway thru I couldn’t wait to flee the theater. Coming out I read how many takes Kechiche required and I was thoroughly repulsed. Who was this for? Then I read the graphic novel and discovered that critical plot points were deleted. Like the fact that Adele’s parents find her in bed with Emma which is why she has to move out — and I was enraged. A three hour movie, and Kechiche is so busy salivating over his actresses that he can’t bother telling a coherent story. Hype for this film makes me nauseous!

Blue is the Warmest Color: It's so obvious a dude with a fetish directed this, it's not only unappealing, it's creepy. His overcompensating hubris isn't worth the praise this is receiving.

The Canyons: Women depicted as powerless and manipulative. Plus, the acting is horrid.

Captain Phillips: The whole might of the USA coming down on 3 starving Somalis?! Repulsive. When the obscenely beefy SEALS arrived and the audience started to cheer, I felt I was watching a “macho” director brainwash audience members into blindly accepting the worst stereotypes of jingoistic male behavior.

Dallas Buyers Club: Shame on Dallas Buyers Club for completely ignoring the LGBT as a group who drove the fight against AIDS to the forefront. The only time gays were mentioned was to let Matthew McConaughey's homophobic redneck character get a laugh at the expense of Jared Leto's transsexual character. The film made it seem as if the whole AIDS community stood on the shoulders of Ron Woodruff when in fact, groups like Act Up were starting the war for proper testing and more drugs way before Ron entered into the picture. It completely demeaned the backdrop Dallas Buyers Club was utilizing for their own characterizing "hero" agenda. Also the film took an extreme opinion against the AZT drug in favor for a plot line when in fact it was helping some patients. The only saving grace was Jared Leto's fantastic performance but unfortunately it wasn't enough.

Enough Already: Why is it that when actresses and even screen goddesses hit a certain age, they're all cast as nags, loons and shrews. No matter how accomplished any of these films may be, the tally of older actress shrewish nags on board is really high this year, as usual. Including Oprah Winfrey in The Butler, Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts in August: Osage County, Cate Blanchett and Sally Hawkins in Blue Jasmine, June Squibb in Nebraska, Kristin Scott Thomas in Only God Forgives, and Julianne Moore in Carrie. Refreshing exceptions being Judi Dench in Philomena, Yolonda Ross in Go For Sisters, and Mary Steenburgen in Last Vegas.

Gravity: The women in this group make meaningful choices each year so they speak for me in these areas, the lone exception being Sandra Bullock's performance in Gravity. She's a fine actress, but I found the character to be whiny, cowardly, and full of the wrong stuff - a damsel in distress who needed a man (even if it was just her imagination) to pull her out of danger. I can hardly believe they'd send someone so panicky into space. Give me Sigourney Weaver any day.

Les Salauds [Bastards]: All of the women in this film are depicted as complicit in their own oppression and exploitation. Though it’s a patriarchal system that they exist within, they refuse to fight for themselves or each other, even when a minor is involved. The indictment then is not of the men but of the women. I found this problematic and disappointing from Denis.

Spring Breakers: No depth, little plot and a pitiful depiction of today's college kids. Gratuitous in nothing more than flesh and violence. A grossly and dangerously skewed depiction of young women and their values in today's America.

*Please Note: The WFCC Top Ten Hall Of Shame represents the ‘don’t tell me to shut up’ sidebar contribution of individual members, and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the entire Circle. Or may even dissent from an awarded nomination. Also, members may be objecting to particular characters in a film, and not the entire movie. Clarification: If an aspect of the movie is intentionally negative to make a point, rather than offensive, that is not under consideration for this category.

*ADRIENNE SHELLY AWARD: Adrienne Shelly was a promising actress and filmmaker who was brutally strangled in her apartment in 2006 at the age of forty by a construction worker in the building, after she complained about noise. Her killer tried to cover up his crime by hanging her from a shower rack in her bathroom, to make it look like a suicide. He later confessed that he was having a “bad day.” Shelly, who left behind a baby daughter, had just completed her film Waitress, which she also starred in, and which was honored at Sundance after her death.

*JOSEPHINE BAKER AWARD: The daughter of a laundress and a musician, Baker overcame being born black, female and poor, and marriage at age fifteen, to become an internationally acclaimed legendary performer, starring in the films Princess Tam Tam, Moulin Rouge and Zou Zou. She also survived the race riots in East St. Louis, Illinois as a child, and later expatriated to France to escape US racism. After participating heroically in the underground French Resistance during WWII, Baker returned to the US where she was a crusader for racial equality. Her activism led to attacks against her by reporter Walter Winchell who denounced her as a communist, leading her to wage a battle against him. Baker was instrumental in ending segregation in many theaters and clubs, where she refused to perform unless integration was implemented.

*KAREN MORLEY AWARD: Karen Morley was a promising Hollywood star in the 1930s, in such films as Mata Hari and Our Daily Bread. She was driven out of Hollywood for her leftist political convictions by the Blacklist and for refusing to testify against other actors, while Robert Taylor and Sterling Hayden were informants against her. And also for daring to have a child and become a mother, unacceptable for female stars in those days. Morley maintained her militant political activism for the rest of her life, running for Lieutenant Governor on the American Labor Party ticket in 1954. She passed away in 2003, unrepentant to the end, at the age of 93.

http://wfcc.wordpress.com/

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Utah Film Critics Choose "Gravity" as the Best Picture of 2013

The Utah Film Critics Association is an organization of cinema journalists affiliated with publications, broadcasting stations, and online media based in the state of Utah.  The group meets every December to votr on the Utah Film Critics Association Awards.

2013 Utah Film Critics Association Award winners:

Best Picture: "Gravity"
(Runner-up: "12 Years a Slave")

Best Director: Alfonso Cuarón, "Gravity"
(Runner-up: Steve McQueen, "12 Years a Slave")

Best Actor: Chiwetel Ejiofor, "12 Years a Slave"
(Runner-up: Oscar Isaac, "Inside Llewyn Davis")

Best Actress: Adèle Exarchopoulos, "Blue is the Warmest Color"
(Runner-up: [tie] Cate Blanchett, "Blue Jasmine" and Sandra Bullock, "Gravity")

Best Supporting Actor: Bill Nighy, "About Time"
(Runner-up: Michael Fassbender, "12 Years a Slave")

Best Supporting Actress: Scarlett Johansson, "Her"
(Runner-up: Jennifer Lawrence, "American Hustle")

Best Adapted Screenplay: "Before Midnight"
(Runner-up: "12 Years a Slave")

Best Original Screenplay: "The World's End"
(Runner-up: "The Way, Way Back")

Best Cinematography: "Gravity"
(Runner-up: "Inside Llewyn Davis")

Best Animated Feature: "Frozen"
(Runner-up: [tie] "From Up on Poppy Hill" and "The Wind Rises")

Best Non-English Language Feature: "Blue is the Warmest Color"
(Runner-up: "The Past")

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Review: "Barton Fink" is Something ... Else (Happy B'day, John Turturro)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 72 (of 2003) by Leroy Douresseaux

Barton Fink (1991)
Running time:  116 minutes (1 hour, 56 minutes)
MPAA – R for language and some scenes of violence
DIRECTOR:  Joel Coen
WRITERS:  Ethan Coen and Joel Coen
PRODUCER:  Ethan Coen
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Roger Deakins (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Roderick Jaynes (The Coen Brothers)
COMPOSER:  Carter Burwell
Academy Award nominee

COMEDY/DRAMA/THRILLER

Starring:  John Turturro, John Goodman, Judy Davis, Michael Lerner, John Mahoney, Tony Shalhoub, Jon Polito, and Steve Buscemi

The subject of this movie review is Barton Fink, a 1991 period drama co-written and directed by Joel Coen and co-written and produced by Ethan Coen, although both brothers likely shared in producing and directing the film.  Barton Fink focuses on a renowned New York playwright who is enticed to Hollywood to write film scripts for a film studio only to discover hellish truths about his new job and home.

In 1991, The Coen Brothers, co-writer/director Joel and co-writer/producer Ethan, took the Cannes Film Festival by storm with their film Barton Fink, winning the Golden Palm as Best Picture and the award for Best Direction (an award that Joel has since won twice more).  John Turturro also won the Best Actor award for his role as the title character.  As much as I like the Coens' work, this is by far my least favorite film of theirs.

In 1941, intellectual New York playwright Barton Fink (John Turturro) moves to California to write a B-movie script for a major studio.  His new boss, Jack Lipnick (Michael Lerner) wants that Barton Fink touch for a new Wallace Beery wrestling movie.  Fink takes up residence in the Hotel Earle, a rundown establishment with a sheen of faux-grandeur.  He eventually meets his neighbor, the blustery, strange, and mysterious Charlie Meadows (John Goodman), who claims to be a traveling insurance salesman.  Although he meets many interesting characters, Fink is busy fighting writer’s block, and his new home becomes a hell for him as his deadline to deliver a script looms.

The first warning to a viewer before he sees Barton Fink is that the film is surrealistic, a situation in which the story contains lots of symbolism.  This is not standard, linear filmmaking, so the viewer has to closely watch the film for visual hints and listen to the soundtrack for audio clues to understand the story in lieu of having literal, obvious story details.  Don’t read this sentence as it may spoil the surprise of unraveling this film’s mysteries:  Hotel Earle is hell, the hell in which Barton suffers writer’s block, and Charlie Meadows is not only a killer, but he may well be “the devil.”  If you try to take this film literally, you will find it atrocious and boring.  Creative people, especially writers, will certainly understand, through Barton, the intense frustration that writer’s block can cause a scribe.

Still, for all its pretensions to art and its portrayal of the intellectual’s strong need to produce “something good,” Barton Fink is a misstep.  I will give a hearty nod to the Coens' ambitious intentions.  The acting is very good.  It’s less technical and more show.  It’s flamboyant and colorful and immediately describes the characters to the audience, none of this serious method stuff, just old-fashioned, grand pretending that fills the screen.  I really liked the film’s element of suspense and mystery.  The hotel is automatically creepy, but it’s nothing compared to the unusual landscape of the relationship between the characters.  One thing that certainly kept my interest was trying to figure out what these people had going on amongst themselves.  I could understand when two people were connected, but the joy was figuring out why they had a relationship.

Overall, the film is slow and occasionally plodding, especially in between moments of drama and intrigue, but the brothers have a way of waking you up just when you think that their film is loosing steam.  I recommend this to fans of the Coens’ films and to people who like that different kind of film that is called “art,” the ones that are about something other than just entertaining you.

No sirree, Bob.  The Coens might entertain you, but never at the cost of giving you cheap candy, not when they can use their talents to make a complicated confection, even if the end result doesn’t quite taste right.

5 of 10
B-

NOTES:
1992 Academy Awards, USA:  3 nominations: “Best Actor in a Supporting Role” (Michael Lerner), “Best Art Direction-Set Decoration” (Dennis Gassner and Nancy Haigh), and “Best Costume Design” (Richard Hornung)

1992 Golden Globes, USA:  1 nomination: “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture” (John Goodman)

1991 Cannes Film Festival:  3 wins: “Best Actor” (John Turturro), “Best Director” (Joel Coen), and “Palme d'Or” (Joel Coen-won unanimously)

Updated:  Friday, February 28, 2014

The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

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"12 Years a Slave" Captures Southeastern Film Critics Awards

The Southeastern Film Critics Association (SEFCA) is a professional organization of more than 40 film journalists working in the print, radio and online media, representing the Southeastern section of the United States: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.  Since 1992, SEFCA seeks to “promote the art of film criticism, the ethics of journalism and the camaraderie of peers among professionals working in the print, radio and online media in the Southeast.”

2013 SEFCA Winners:

Top 10
1. "12 Years a Slave"
2. "Gravity"
3. "American Hustle"
4. "Her"
5. "Inside Llewyn Davis"
6. "Nebraska"
7. "Dallas Buyers Club"
8. "Philomena"
9. "Captain Phillips"
10. "The Wolf of Wall Street"

Best Actor: Chiwetel Ejiofor, "12 Years a Slave" (Runner-up: Matthew McConaughey, "Dallas Buyers Club")

Best Actress: Cate Blanchett, "Blue Jasmine" (Runner-up: Judi Dench, "Philomena")

Best Supporting Actor: Jared Leto, "Dallas Buyers Club" (Runner-up: Michael Fassbender, "12

Best Supporting Actress: Lupita Nyong’o, "12 Years a Slave" (Runner-up: Jennifer Lawrence, "American Hustle")

Best Director: Steve McQueen, "12 Years a Slave" (Runner-up: Alfonso Cuaròn, "Gravity")

Best Ensemble: "American Hustle" (Runner-up: "12 Years a Slave")

Best Adapted Screenplay: "12 Years a Slave" (Runner-up: "Philomena")

Best Original Screenplay: "American Hustle" (Runner-up: "Her")

Best Documentary: "The Act of Killing" (Runners-up: "Blackfish," "Muscle Shoals")

Best Foreign Language Film: "The Hunt" (Runner-up: "Blue is the Warmest Color")

Best Animated Film: "Frozen" (Runner-up: "The Wind Rises")

Best Cinematography: "Gravity" (Runner-up: "12 Years a Slave")

Gene Wyatt Award: Jeff Nichols, "Mud" (Runner-up: Greg "Freddy" Cammalier, "Muscle Shoals")

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"12 Years a Slave" Dominates St. Louis Film Critics Awards

The St. Louis Film Critics is an association of professional film critics operating in metropolitan St. Louis and adjoining areas of Missouri and Illinois.  Founded in late 2004, the group’s goals (according to the website) are to serve the interests of local film critics, and to promote an appreciation for cinema both as an art form and for its societal, cultural and historical context and impact.

The eligibility requirements for a SLFC Award, according to the group’s website:  a film must have been shown in the greater St. Louis area in a theater or at a film festival or series, or made available to SLFC members by screening or screener during the past year. Films opening in limited run elsewhere for Oscar qualification but which will open in the St. Louis area early in the next year are eligible.

2013 SLFC Awards:

Best Film: "12 Years a Slave"
(Runner-up: "American Hustle")

Best Director: Steve McQueen, "12 Years a Slave"
(Runner-up: Alfonso Cuarón, "Gravity")

Best Actor: Chiwetel Ejiofor, "12 Years a Slave"
(Runner-up: Matthew McConaughey, "Dallas Buyers Club")

Best Actress: Cate Blanchett, "Blue Jasmine"
(Runner-up: Meryl Streep, "August: Osage County")

Best Supporting Actor: Jared Leto, "Dallas Buyers Club"
(Runner-up: Will Forte, "Nebraska")

Best Supporting Actress: Lupita Nyong'o, "12 Years a Slave"
(Runner-up: June Squibb, "Nebraska")

Best Adapted Screenplay: "12 Years a Slave"
(Runner-up: "Philomena")

Best Original Screenplay: "Her"
(Runner-up: "American Hustle")

Best Art Direction: "The Great Gatsby"
(Runner-up: "Her")

Best Cinematography: "12 Years a Slave"
(Runner-up: "Gravity")

Best Musical Score: "Her"
(Runners-up: "Gravity," "Nebraska")

Best Soundtrack: "Inside Llewyn Davis"
(Runner-up: "Frozen")

Best Animated Film: "Frozen"
(Runner-up: "The Wind Rises")

Best Non-English Language Film: "Blue is the Warmest Color"
(Runner-up: "Wadjda")

Best Documentary: "Blackfish"
(Runners-up: "The Act of Killing," "Stories We Tell")

Best Art House or Festival Film: "Short Term 12"
(Runners-up: "Blue is the Warmest Color," "Frances Ha")

Best Comedy: (tie) "Enough Said" and "The World's End"

Best Scene (favorite movie scene or sequence): "12 Years a Slave" — The hanging scene
(Runner-up: "Gravity" — The opening tracking shot)

www.stlfilmcritics.org

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Oklahoma Film Critics Love "Her" as Best of 2013

The Oklahoma Film Critics Circle (OFCC) is the statewide group of professional film critics.  OFCC members are Oklahoma-based movie critics who write for print, broadcast and online outlets that publish or post reviews of current film releases.

The OFCC announced its 8th annual awards list in early January of 2014.

The OFCC 2013 Film Awards:

Best Film: "Her"

Top 10 Films:
“Her”
“American Hustle”
“12 Years a Slave
“Gravity”
“Inside Llewyn Davis”
“Captain Philips”
“The Wolf of Wall Street”
“All Is Lost”
“Dallas Buyers Club”
“Prisoners”

Best Director: Alfonso Cuaron, “Gravity”

Best Actor: Chiwetel Ejiofor, “12 Years a Slave”

Best Actress: Cate Blanchett, “Blue Jasmine”

Best Animated Film: “Frozen”

Best Body of Work: Matthew McConaughey (“Dallas Buyers Club,” “Mud,” “The Wolf of Wall Street”)

Best Documentary: “The Act of Killing”

Best First Feature: “Fruitvale Station," Ryan Coogler

Best Foreign Language Film: “The Hunt”

Best Guilty Pleasure: “Iron Man 3”

Not-So-Obviously Worst Movie: “August: Osage County”

Obviously Worst Movie: “Grown Ups 2”

Best Original Screenplay: Spike Jonze, "Her"

Best Adapted Screenplay: John Ridley, "12 Years a Slave”

Best Supporting Actor: Jared Leto, “Dallas Buyers Club”

Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Lawrence, “American Hustle”

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Houston Film Critics Name "12 Years a Slave" Their Best Picture of 2013

The Houston Film Critics Society was founded in 2007.  It is a not-for-profit organization of print, broadcast and Internet film critics based in the Greater Metropolitan Houston area.

2013 Houston Film Critics Society winners (in bold) nominees:

Best Picture:
"All is Lost"
"American Hustle"
"Before Midnight"
"Dallas Buyers Club"
"Fruitvale Station"
"Gravity"
"Inside Llewyn Davis"
"Nebraska"
"Saving Mr. Banks"
"12 Years a Slave" WINNER

Best Director:
Joel and Ethan Coen, "Inside Llewyn Davis"
Alfonso Cuarón, "Gravity" WINNER
Paul Greengrass, "Captain Phillips"
Steve McQueen, "12 Years a Slave"
Alexander Payne, "Nebraska"

Best Actor:
Christian Bale, "American Hustle"
Bruce Dern, "Nebraska"
Chiwetel Ejiofor, "12 Years a Slave" WINNER
Matthew McConaughey, "Dallas Buyers Club"
Mads Mikkelsen, "The Hunt"
Robert Redford, "All is Lost"

Best Actress:
Sandra Bullock, "Gravity" WINNER
Judi Dench, "Philomena"
Brie Larson, "Short Term 12"
Meryl Streep, "August: Osage County"
Emma Thompson, "Saving Mr. Banks"

Best Supporting Actor:
Barkhad Abdi, "Captain Phillips"
Michael Fassbender, "12 Years A Slave"
James Gandolfini, "Enough Said"
Jared Leto, "Dallas Buyers Club" WINNER
Matthew McConaughey, "Mud"

Best Supporting Actress:
Jennifer Lawrence, "American Hustle"
Lupita Nyong’o, "12 Years A Slave" WINNER
Octavia Spencer, "Fruitvale Station"
June Squibb, "Nebraska"
Oprah Winfrey, "Lee Daniels’ The Butler"

Best Screenplay:
"American Hustle"
"Before Midnight"
"Her"
"Inside Llewyn Davis"
"12 Years A Slave" WINNER

Best Animated Film:
"The Croods"
"Despicable Me 2"
"Frozen" WINNER
"Monsters University"
"The Wind Rises"

Best Cinematography:
"All Is Lost
"Gravity" WINNER
"Inside Llewyn Davis"
"Prisoners"
"12 Years A Slave"

Best Documentary:
"The Act of Killing"
"Blackfish"
"Inequality for All"
"Stories We Tell"
"20 Feet from Stardom" WINNER

Best Foreign Language Film:
"Blue is the Warmest Color"
"The Grandmaster"
"The Hunt" WINNER
"Wadjda"
"The Wind Rises"

Best Original Score:
"Gravity" WINNER
"Her"
"Man of Steel"
"Saving Mr. Banks"
"12 Years a Slave"

Best Original Song:
"I See Fire” from "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug"
"Let It Go” from "Frozen"
"The Moon Song” from "Her"
"Please Mr. Kennedy" from Inside Llewyn Davis" (Written by Ed Rush, George Cromarty, T Bone Burnett, Justin Timberlake, Joel & Ethan Coen; sung by Justin Timberlake, Oscar Isaac, and Adam Driver) WINNER
"Young and Beautiful" from "The Great Gatsby"

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Classic RANMA ½ Anime Arriving on Blu-ray and DVD

VIZ MEDIA ANNOUNCES PRE-ORDERS FOR THE CLASSIC RANMA ½ ANIME SERIES ON RESTORED BLU-RAY FOR THE FIRST TIME AND DVD

Legendary Martial Arts-Action-Adventure-Comedy Debuts In High Definition In New 3-Disc Sets That Feature The First Season Of The Celebrated Series And An Array Of Special Bonus Features

VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), the largest distributor and licensor of manga and anime in North America, delights multiple generations of anime fans as it announces pre-orders for the upcoming March 25th release of RANMA ½, the celebrated martial arts action-adventure based on the smash hit manga (graphic novel) series created by Rumiko Takahashi (2-in-1 omnibus manga editions featuring the original right-to-left reading format also debut the same month).

VIZ Media will release the first of seven seasons of RANMA ½ sets as a special Limited Edition Blu-ray Box Set and also as a Standard Edition DVD Set. Pre-orders will be available soon through most major video/DVD/Blu-ray retailers as well as from leading anime retailers including Amazon, RightStuf, and Robert's Anime Corner Store.

The RANMA ½ Blu-ray Box Set carries an MSRP of $54.97 (U.S. / CAN) and offers hours of fun in the special 3-disc set that features 23 episodes of the acclaimed series, presented in full 1080p High Definition resolution taken straight from the original Japanese Blu-ray masters giving fans the uncropped, original 4:3 aspect ratio.  For the first time, all episodes are presented in the original Japanese episode order. Dialogue options are available for original Japanese with English subtitles or with dubbed English audio tracks, and a secondary subtitle track for signs and songs will also be included. The set comes packaged in a premium chipboard box with gold foil stamping with art that is beautifully illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi and also includes a 64-page booklet with a full color episode guide along with a manga re-master sampler.

An extensive selection of bonus features for the Blu-ray Box Set makes it a must-own for North American fans. In addition to trailers and upcoming episode previews, the Blu-ray set includes footage of the packed-capacity RANMA ½ panel from the 2013 New York Comic Con, a highlight reel of the 2013 New York Comic Con VIZ Media events, and an exclusive “We Love Ranma” Part 1 - Manga Re-Mastering interview with the VIZ Media Editor Hope Donovan that details some of the processes of the latest manga release.

The RANMA ½ Standard Edition DVD Set is also scheduled for release on March 25th and will be available soon for pre-order. Carrying an MSRP of $44.82 U.S. / CAN, the Standard Set features 23 episodes on 3 discs along with bonus features that include trailers, and a 2013 New York Comic Con highlight reel. English and Japanese audio options will be available, as well as the songs-and-signs subtitle track.

From the legendary oeuvre of master creator Rumiko Takahashi, the mixed-up, madcap, martial arts romantic comedy RANMA 1/2 returns! After taking a surprise dip in a cursed spring while on a training journey in China, martial artist Ranma Saotome and his father, Genma, aren’t quite themselves anymore. Now Ranma turns into a girl whenever he’s splashed with cold water, and Genma turns into a panda! Their new forms cause nothing but confusion at the Tendo dojo, where Soun Tendo is waiting to introduce one of his three daughters to Ranma—as his fiancée! Turns out Genma and Soun arranged the match long ago, but the girl, Akane, and the boy, Ranma, aren’t exactly crazy about the idea, or each other! Or are they? Watch the gender switching, jealous rages, and martial arts battles unfold all over again!

“This is the series that introduced many fans to manga and anime, and we’re extremely excited to mark the return of RANMA ½ to North America in its High Definition debut,” says Charlene Ingram, Senior Animation Marketing Manager. “Catch all of the action and hilarious gender- and species-bending hijinks in the first set of this groundbreaking comedy that also comes jam-packed with an array of special bonus features. We’re pleased to invite fans to take advantage of this special pre-order to secure their Blu-ray or DVD copy of this acclaimed series. These gorgeous sets are truly great to collect and treasure!”

The spotlight on Rumiko Takahashi's career began in 1978 when she won an honorable mention in Shogakukan's prestigious New Comic Artist Contest for Those Selfish Aliens. Later that same year, her boy-meets-alien comedy series, Urusei Yatsura, was serialized in Weekly Shonen Sunday. This phenomenally successful manga series was adapted into anime format and spawned a TV series and half a dozen theatrical-release movies, all incredibly popular in their own right. Takahashi followed up the success of her debut series with one blockbuster hit after another. Maison Ikkoku ran from 1980 to 1987, Ranma 1/2 from 1987 to 1996, and Inuyasha from 1996 to 2008. Other notable works include Mermaid Saga, Rumic Theater, One-Pound Gospel, and RIN-NE.

Takahashi won the Shogakukan Manga Award twice in her career, once for Urusei Yatsura in 1981 and the second time for Inuyasha in 2002. A majority of the Takahashi canon has been adapted into other media such as anime, live-action TV series, and film. Takahashi's manga, as well as the other formats her work has been adapted into, have continued to delight generations of fans around the world. Distinguished by her wonderfully endearing characters, Takahashi's work adeptly incorporates a wide variety of elements such as comedy, romance, fantasy, and martial arts. While her series are difficult to pin down into one simple genre, the signature style she has created has come to be known as the "Rumic World." Rumiko Takahashi is an artist who truly represents the very best from the world of manga.

For more information on Rumiko Takahashi titles by VIZ Media, please visit www.VIZ.com.

"12 Years a Slave," "Blue Jasmine" Lead Costume Designer Guild Awards

by Amos Semien

The winners of the 16th Costume Designers Guild Awards were announced Saturday, February 22, 2014.  The winners of the seven competitive awards were revealed at the awards gala held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel and hosted by actor Joshua Malina, known for his roles in “The West Wing” and “Scandal.”

The Guild handed out competitive awards for costume design excellence in seven categories for in film, television and commercial work.  Four honorary awards also were presented at the Awards Gala.

This year, the Guild honored five-time Academy Award nominee Amy Adams with the LACOSTE Spotlight Award, which was presented to her by Jeremy Renner, her co-star in the film American Hustle.

The Distinguished Collaborator Award was presented to acclaimed writer, producer and director, Judd Apatow by Bill Hader and Jonah Hill in recognition of his support of Costume Design and creative partnerships with Costume Designers.

Actors Debra Winger and Ciarán Hinds presented Emmy Award-winning Costume Designer April Ferry with this year’s Honorary Career Achievement Award for her outstanding work in film and television.

2014 / 16th Costume Designers Guild Award Winners (for the year 2013) – Complete List:

EXCELLENCE IN CONTEMPORARY FILM
Blue Jasmine – Suzy Benzinger

EXCELLENCE IN PERIOD FILM
12 Years a Slave – Patricia Norris

EXCELLENCE IN FANTASY FILM
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire – Trish Summerville

OUTSTANDING CONTEMPORARY TELEVISION SERIES
"House of Cards" – Tom Broecker

OUTSTANDING PERIOD/FANTASY TELEVISION SERIES
"Downton Abbey" – Caroline McCall

OUTSTANDING MADE FOR TV MOVIE OR MINI SERIES
Behind the Candelabra – Ellen Mirojnick

EXCELLENCE IN COMMERCIAL COSTUME DESIGN
Call of Duty: Ghosts Masked Warriors – Nancy Steiner

http://costumedesignersguild.com/

--------------

"Gravity" and "Frozen" Lead 2014 Cinema Audio Soceity Awards

Founded in 1964, the Cinema Audio Society (CAS) is a philanthropic, non-profit organization formed for the purpose of sharing information with Sound Professionals in the Motion Picture and Television Industry.  The Cinema Audio Society Awards or C.A.S. Awards is an annual awards ceremony honoring “Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing” and began doing so 1994.

The 50th Annual CAS Awards were held Saturday, February 22, 2014 in the Crystal Ballroom of the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles, California and hosted by Doug McIntyre.

The ceremony also celebrated the professional contributions of Re-recording Mixer Andy Nelson by honoring him with the CAS Career Achievement Award.  A two-time CAS and Academy Award® winner for Les Misérables and Saving Private Ryan, Nelson was feted by Academy Award® winning composer John Williams, Twentieth Century Fox President of Feature Post Production Ted Gagliano and CAS President, David Fluhr. “Receiving this award from the CAS is such an honor because it’s from my peers…” said Nelson, “people who love this craft as much as I do, and I am humbled by their generosity and commitment to excellence.”

Among other highlights, Academy Award® winning producer Edward Zwick (Shakespeare in Love), was presented with the CAS Filmmaker Award.  Zwick and CAS Career Achievement Honoree Nelson collaborated on Zwick’s CAS and Oscar® nominated Blood Diamond and The Last Samurai, as well as, Love and Other Drugs, Defiance and Courage Under Fire.  Presenting his award were Anna Behlmer and Jeffrey S. Wexler, CAS

During the evening, there was a poignant tribute to Ray Dolby, inventor and founder of Dolby Laboratories.  Dolby Exec David W. Gray presented the tribute that included archival footage of Ray Dolby accepting the CAS Life Achievement Award at the 1989 CAS Awards.

2014 / The 50th Annual CAS Awards (for the year in film and television 2013) – full list of film winners:

Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for a Motion Picture – Live Action:

Gravity
Production Mixer --Chris Munro, CAS
Re-recording Mixer -- Skip Lievsay, CAS
Re-recording Mixer -- Niv Adiri
Re-recording Mixer -- Christopher Benstead
Scoring Mixer -- Gareth Cousins
ADR Mixer -- Thomas J. O'Connell
Foley Mixer – Adam Mendez

Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for a Motion Picture – Animated:

Frozen
Original Dialogue Mixer -- Gabriel Guy
Re-recording Mixer -- David E. Fluhr, CAS
Re-recording Mixer -- Gabriel Guy
Scoring Mixer -- Casey Stone
Foley Mixer -- Mary Jo Lang

Other winners this evening included:

Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for a Television Movie or Mini-Series:

BEHIND THE CANDLELABRA and the Sound Mixing Team of Production Mixer Dennis Towns, Re-recording Mixer Larry Blake, Scoring Mixer Thomas Vicari and Foley Mixer Scott Curtis.

Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for Television Series – One Hour:

GAME OF THRONES: "The Rains of Castamere" and the Sound Mixing Team of Production Mixers Ronan Hill, CAS and Richard Dyer, Re-recording Mixers Onnalee Blank, CAS and Matthew Waters, CAS and Foley Mixer Brett Voss.

Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for Television Series – Half Hour:

MODERN FAMILY: "Goodnight Gracie" and the Sound Mixing Team of Production Mixer Stephen A. Tibbo, CAS and Re-recording Mixers Dean Okrand and Brian R. Harman, CAS.

Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for Television Non Fiction, Variety or Music – Series or Specials:

HISTORY OF THE EAGLES – Part One and the Sound Mixing Team of Re-recording Mixers Tom Fleischman, CAS and Elliot Scheiner.

The winners of the 10th CAS Technical Achievement Awards:

PRODUCTION:  Sound Devices, LLC - 633 Mixer/Recorder

POST-PRODUCTION:  iZotope - RX 3 Advanced

http://cinemaaudiosociety.org/

------------------

Review: "De Tweeling" (Twin Sisters) a Powerful Sister Act

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 27 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux

De Tweeling (2002)
Twin Sisters – English title
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  Netherlands and Luxembourg; Language:  Dutch, German and English
Running time:  118 minutes (1 hour, 58 minutes)
MPAA – R for a brief sexuality and a scene of violence
DIRECTOR:  Ben Sombogaart
WRITER:  Marieke van der Pol (based upon the novel by Tessa de Loo)
PRODUCERS:  Hanneke Niens and Anton Smit
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Piotr Kukla
EDITOR:  Herman P. Koerts
COMPOSER:  Fons Merkies
Academy Award nominee

DRAMA/ROMANCE/WAR

Starring:  Nadja Uhl, Thekla Reuten, Gudrun Okras, Ellen Vogel, Sina Richardt, Julia Koopmans, Jeroen Spitzenberger Betty Schuurman, Jaap Spijkers, Roman Knizka, Margarita Broich, and Hans Somers

The subject of this movie review is De Tweeling (Twin Sisters), a 2002 Dutch drama, romance, and war movie from director Ben Sombogaart.  The film is based on the 1993 novel, De Tweeling, by Tessa de Loo.  The film received a theatrical release in the United States in May 2005.

De Tweeling or Twin Sisters earned a 2004 Academy Award nomination for “Best Foreign Language Film” (Netherlands).  The film opens in 1925 and introduces us to German twin sisters, Anna (Sina Richardt) and Lotte (Julia Koopmans), who live with their well to do, widower father.  When he dies of consumption in 1926, competing relatives with different agendas separate the girls.  Anna remains in Germany on her uncle’s farm where he basically uses her as cheap labor.  A rich aunt and uncle take Lotte to Holland, where she lives a privileged life of culture, education, and opportunity.

The bulk of the story takes place between 1936 and 1947, when the sisters, now young women find themselves on opposite sides of World War II.  The young adult Anna (Nadja Uhl) marries a young Austrian soldier, Martin (Roman Knizka), who goes on to become an SS officer.  The young adult Lotte (Thekla Reuten) falls in love with a Jewish musician, David (Jeroen Spitzenberger), who ends up in a concentration camp.  The film later finds the sisters estranged from one another as old ladies, with Old Anne (Gudrun Okras) trying to reconcile her differences with Old Lotte (Ellen Vogel).

Twin Sisters is a compelling drama that is at its heart a bittersweet romance about two sisters who dearly love each other, but find that not only are their home countries at odds, but also their choice in lovers.  Indeed, the sisters’ lives during WWII are the center of this tale with the sequences involving Anne and Lotte as old women being nothing more than TV movie-of-the-week melodrama.  The opening segment with the sisters as six-year olds is sentimental and darkly sweet, while being something like a surreal and tragic fairy tale of kidnapped princes.

The film seems to jump around too much, but director Ben Sombogaart and writer Marieke van der Pol do their best work chronicling the sisters’ painfully desperate attempt to hold onto their lovers.  That’s the film right there, and although this adapts a novel, the movie should have focused exclusively, except for maybe a framing sequence, on the sisters as young women.  Here is the best acting both on the part of the actresses playing the sisters and the supporting cast portraying their family, friends, and acquaintances.  The horror the Holocaust creeps around the edges of the film here giving it a solid dramatic impact.  The tenuous relationship of the sisters at this point makes compelling drama – almost compelling enough to make you forget there aren’t enough of the best parts of Twin Sisters.

7 of 10
B+

Friday, February 03, 2006

NOTES:
2004 Academy Awards, USA:  1 nomination: “Best Foreign Language Film” (Netherlands)

Updated:  Wednesday, February 19, 2014


The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

"12 Years a Slave" Wins 2014 Satellite Award as "Best Motion Picture"

by Amos Semien

The International Press Academy (IPA) is an entertainment media association with voting members worldwide who represent domestic and foreign markets via print, television, radio, blogs, and other content platforms for virtually every notable outlet.

Each year the IPA honors artistic excellence in the areas of Motion Pictures, Television, Radio, and New Media via the Satellite® Awards.

The 18th Satellite Awards ceremony was held Sunday, February 23, 2014.  Nominations were announced Monday, December 2, 2013.

12 Years a Slave won the "Best Motion Picture" award.  On the television side of the awards, AMC's Breaking Bad won "Television Series, Drama," and Netflix's "Orange is the New Black" won "Television Series, Comedy."

2014 / 18th Satellite Awards winners (for the year 2013) – Complete List:

MOTION PICTURE CATEGORIES:

Best Motion Picture:
12 Years a Slave - Fox Searchlight

Director:
Steve McQueen for 12 Years a Slave - Fox Searchlight

Actress in a Motion Picture:
Cate Blanchett for Blue Jasmine - Sony Pictures Classics

Actor in a Motion Picture:
Matthew McConaughey for Dallas Buyers Club - Focus Features

Actress in a Supporting Role:
June Squibb for Nebraska - Paramount

Actor in a Supporting Role:
Jared Leto for Dallas Buyers Club - Focus Features

Motion Picture, International Film
Belgium - The Broken Circle Breakdown

Motion Picture, Animated or Mixed Media:
The Wind Rises - Studio Ghibli

Motion Picture, Documentary:
Blackfish - Magnolia Pictures

Screenplay, Original:
David O. Russell, Eric Singer for American Hustle - Sony

Screenplay, Adapted:
Jeff Pope, Steve Coogan for Philomena - The Weinstein Co.

Original Score:
Steven Price for Gravity - Warner Bros.

Original Song:
“Young and Beautiful” (performed by Lana Del Rey; written by Lana Del Rey and Rick Nowels) from The Great Gatsby - Warner Bros.

Cinematography:
Bruno Delbonnel for Inside Llewyn Davis  CBS Films

Visual Effects:
Charles Howell, Chris Lawrence, Tim Webber for Gravity  Warner Bros.

Film Editing:
Crispin Struthers, Jay Cassidy for American Hustle - Sony

Sound (Editing and Mixing):
Glenn Freemantle, Niv Adiri, Skip Lievsay for Gravity - Warner Bros.

Art Direction & Production Design:
Beverly Dunn, Catherine Martin for The Great Gatsby - Warner Bros.

Costume Design:
Michael O’Connor for The Invisible Woman - Sony Pictures Classics

Best Ensemble, Motion Picture:
Nebraska

TELEVISION CATEGORIES:

Television.Miniseries / Motion Picture Made for Television:
Dancing on the Edge - Starz

Actress in a Miniseries or a Motion Picture Made for Television:
Elisabeth Moss  Top of the Lake - Sundance Channel

Actor in a Miniseries or a Motion Picture Made for Television:
Michael Douglas  Behind the Candelabra  HBO

Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television:
Laura Prepon  Orange is the New Black  Netflix

Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television:
Aaron Paul  Breaking Bad  AMC

Television Series, Drama:
Breaking Bad  AMC

Television Series or Miniseries, Genre:
Game Of Thrones - HBO

Actress in a Series, Drama:
Robin Wright  House of Cards  Netflix

Actor in a Series, Drama
Bryan Cranston  Breaking Bad  AMC

Television Series, Comedy or Musical
Orange is the New Black - Netflix

Actress in a Series, Comedy or Musical
Taylor Schilling  Orange is the New Black  Netflix

Actor in a Series, Comedy or Musical
John Goodman  Alpha House  Amazon Studios

Original Short-Format Program
#JustSaying, #SamoKažem  Tuna Fish Studio

New Media

Best Overall Blu-Ray
Star Trek: Into Darkness  Paramount Home Entertainment

Youth Blu-Ray
Rise Of The Guardians  DreamWorks Video

Outstanding Action / Adventure Video Game
Battlefield 4 - EA Digital Illusions CE

Outstanding Mobile Game
Badland - Frogmind

Outstanding Role Playing Game
Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch  Level 5, Studio Ghibli

Outstanding Sports / Racing Game
Need for Speed Rivals - Electronic Arts, Ghost Games

Best Ensemble, Television:
Orange is the New Black

Special Achievement Awards:

Mary Pickford Award:  Mike Medavoy

Tesla Award:  Garrett Brown

Auteur Award:  Guillermo del Toro

Independent Producer Award:  Gabrielle Tana

Honorary Satellite Award:  Ryan Coogler

Breakthrough Performance Award:
Michael B. Jordan - Fruitvale Station
Sophie Nelisse - The Book Thief

-----------------------------

Review: Andreas Wilson Makes Star Turn in "Ondskan" (Evil)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 205 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux

Ondskan (2003)
Evil – 2006 U.S. theatrical release
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  Sweden; Languages:  Swedish and Finnish
Running time:  113 minutes (1 hour, 53 minutes)
Not rated by the MPAA
DIRECTOR:  Mikael Håfström
WRITERS:  Hans Gunnarsson and Mikael Håfström (from the novel by Jan Guillon)
PRODUCERS:  Ingemar Leijonborg and Hans Lönnerheden
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Peter Mokrosinski
EDITOR:  Darek Hodor
COMPOSER:  Francis Shaw
Academy Award nominee

DRAMA

Starring:  Andreas Wilson, Henrik Lundström, Gustaf Skarsgård, Linda Zilliacus, Jesper Salén, Filip Berg, Johan Rabaeus, and Marie Richardson

The subject of this movie review Ondskan (Evil), a 2003 private school drama from director, Mikael Hafstrom.  The film is based on the 1981 Swedish autobiographical novel, Ondskan (The Evil) by Jan Guillon.  The film received a limited theatrical release in the United States in 2006.

After numerous fights in which he brutalized his victims, a rebellious teenager, Erik Ponti (Andreas Wilson), is expelled from high school after the headmaster declares him “Evil,” while also noting what a good student Erik is.  Erik also has a pitiful home life, in which his bullying Stepfather (Johan Rabaeus) beats him while his Mother (Marie Richardson) suffers in silence.  Erik’s mother sells off some of her family heirlooms to send Erik to the prestigious boarding school, Stjärnsberg.  This is Erik’s last chance to finish high school, which will allow him to move to the next class (called “forms”), the “Sixth Form.”  However, if Stjärnsberg expels him, his chance at law school is finished.

Erik is determined to live in peace at his new school, but after having endured so many beatings from his stepfather, Erik is shocked to learn Stjärnsberg has a similar attitude of abuse.  He faces a constant barrage of verbal and physical threats from the school’s senior class, in particularly a group of students (whose families are nobility) – led by a pompous bully named Otto Silverhielm (Gustaf Skarsgård).  They torment the younger students mercilessly, but Erik refuses to accept a low place on the totem pole and just wants to be left alone.  Although he takes some of their punishment, they want to crack him, but he won’t crack or lash out in violence.  When Otto turns his anger towards Erik’s best friend and roommate, Pierre Tanguy (Henrik Lundström), Erik must face the evil within him and the evil of Otto and his gang of bullies.  Erik also has a romantic entanglement with Marja (Linda Zilliacus), a member of the school’s kitchen staff, which, if discovered, will get him expelled and her fired.

Mikael Håfström’s film Ondskan – English title Evil – received a 2004 Academy Award nomination for “Best Foreign Language Film” as a representative of Sweden.  Although the film may remind some U.S. viewers of Dead Poets’ Society because both share an elite boarding school the setting, Ondskan is probably closer to the 1992 prep school drama, School Ties.  Based on Jan Guillon’s novel (which in turn was based upon some of his experiences as a boarding school student), Ondskan is a rumination on both the evil in people (as manifested by their actions) and the evil they accept (the actions of others that they tolerate out of habit or because of social conventions).  Mikael Håfström manages to delve into the script’s, which he co-wrote, more thoughtful pursuits, while extracting the tense drama the setting – a boarding school full of conflicting ideologies, social classes, cliques, motivations, etc. – allows him.

He has a star in Andreas Wilson, the kind of young actor with the fierce charisma needed to play a screen tough like Erik.  Wilson’s ability to portray quite determination and also hate, rage, and evil boiling under the surface with such subtlety both drives and carries this film.  Hollywood taking notice of him would be a good thing.

8 of 10
A

Saturday, September 30, 2006

NOTES:
2004 Academy Awards, USA:  1 nomination:  “Best Foreign Language Film” (Sweden)

Updated: Wednesday, February 19, 2014


The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

Full List of Stars Appearing at 2014 Oscar Ceremony Released

Stars Come Out to Celebrate On Oscar® Sunday

BEVERLY HILLS, CA – Oscar producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron today announced the complete slate of stars who will present Oscars at the ceremony. The Oscars®, hosted by Ellen DeGeneres, will air on Oscar Sunday, March 2, live on ABC.

The presenters, including several past Oscar winners and nominees, will be:

Amy Adams
Kristen Bell
Jessica Biel
Jim Carrey
Glenn Close
Bradley Cooper
Penélope Cruz
Benedict Cumberbatch
Viola Davis
Daniel Day-Lewis
Robert De Niro
Zac Efron
Sally Field
Harrison Ford
Jamie Foxx
Andrew Garfield
Jennifer Garner
Whoopi Goldberg
Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Anne Hathaway
Goldie Hawn
Chris Hemsworth
Kate Hudson
Samuel L. Jackson
Angelina Jolie
Michael B. Jordan
Anna Kendrick
Jennifer Lawrence
Matthew McConaughey
Ewan McGregor
Bill Murray
Kim Novak
Tyler Perry
Brad Pitt
Sidney Poitier
Gabourey Sidibe
Will Smith
Kevin Spacey
Jason Sudeikis
Channing Tatum
Charlize Theron
John Travolta
Christoph Waltz
Kerry Washington
Emma Watson
Naomi Watts

“We are very excited that the Hollywood community will be turning out in force for Sunday’s Oscar ceremony,” said Zadan and Meron.  “We sought to include a tremendous diversity of stars to represent not only this year’s nominees, but the legacy of the motion picture business as well.”

For a full gallery of Oscar presenters, visit www.oscar.com.

Happy Birthday, Laura

I'll be discreet and not mention age.  But have a Happy Birthday and many, many, many more.

Review: "A Mighty Wind" Sounds Good

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 173 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux

A Mighty Wind (2003)
Running time:  91 minutes (1 hour, 31 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for sex-related humor
DIRECTOR:  Christopher Guest
WRITERS:  Eugene Levy and Christopher Guest
PRODUCER:  Karen Murphy
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Arlene-Donnelly Nelson (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Robert Leighton
Academy Award nominee

COMEDY/MUSIC

Starring:  Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, Christopher Guest, Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara, Bob Balaban, Jane Lynch, John Michael Higgins, Fred Willard, Ed Begley, Jr., Don Lake, Deborah Theaker, Larry Miller, Jennifer Coolidge, Bill Cobbs, Parker Posey, Rachael Harris, and LeShay Tomlinson

The subject of this movie review is A Mighty Wind, a 2003 comedy-drama from director Christopher Guest.  This mock documentary captures the reunion of a 1960s folk trio, as they prepare for a show to memorialize a recently deceased concert promoter.

Christopher Guest’s film A Mighty Wind is the third in his popular series of mock documentary films, or mockumentaries, as fans know them, which also include Waiting for Guffman and Best in Show.  Guest and co-stars Michael McKean and Harry Shearer were also the band in the Rob Reiner’s famous mockumentary, This is Spinal Tap.  This time the comedic trio comprises another movie group, the folk trio The Folksmen.

The neurotic and fussbudget son (the sublime Bob Balaban) of a folk music record company mogul, with some help from his siblings, organizes a reunion of three of his father’s biggest acts:  the aforementioned The Folksmen, The New Main Street Singers, and the very popular duo Mitch and Mickey.  As the groups prepare for a nationally televised show (on public TV) staged at Town Hall in New York City, old tensions and conflicts that caused breakups or hard feelings start to arise.  Will everyone have his or her act together in time to show the nation that folk music is alive and well?

Some consider this to be the least among the Guest-Levy comedies, and A Mighty Wind is often too polished and too smooth.  The documentary aspect of the film is also just window dressing; the film is better when it’s more about personal relationships and less about characters being observed by a camera.  The documentary makes the characters appear to be shallow when they’re obviously more interesting than just the surface appearance.  In the end, the players are more interesting than the film’s conceit.

However, there are times when Guest and Levy deal their wit using only the sharpest instruments of satire and farce, but the brilliance in the writing of this film is that Guest and Levy, for all the fun they poke, actually make folk music quite appealing.  The screwy, peculiar, neurotic, and sometimes wacky characters are all quite loveable.  I found myself laughing good-naturedly more than in derision at the cast.  Would that more movies were so endearing even when they skewering.

The film earned an Oscar® nomination for “Best Music, Original Song” for the fabulous and poignant “A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow,” song by Mitch and Mickey.  Guest, McKean, and Levy, however, did win a Grammy® Award in the category of “Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media” for the movie’s title track, “A Mighty Wind.”  These two songs and many others in combination with a musically talented and funny cast make A Mighty Wind a must see for viewers who want their comedy a notch above profanity and gross out.

6 of 10
B

NOTES:
2004 Academy Awards, USA:  1 nomination: “Best Music, Original Song” (Michael McKean and Annette O'Toole for the song "A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow")

Updated:  Wednesday, February 19, 2014


The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

2014 NAACP Image Award Winners - Complete List

by Leroy Douresseaux

The NAACP Image Award an award bestowed by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).  The award honors outstanding achievements by people of color in film, television, music, and literature.  The awards are voted on by members of the NAACP.

The 45th NAACP Image Awards categories are divided into seven groups:  Television, Recording (Music), Literary (Books), Motion Picture, Documentary (film and television), Writing (for film and television), and Directing (for film and television).

The 2014 / 45th NAACP Image Awards were presented Saturday, February 22, 2014.  Anthony Anderson hosted the ceremony, and Dennis Haysbert was the in-show announcer.

The “Entertainer of the Year” award, which was voted on by members of the NAACP and non-members, was announced during the ceremony and the winner is Kevin Hart.  The other nominees were Beyonce, Dwayne Johnson, Idris Elba, Nicole Beharie, Oprah Winfrey, Pharrell Williams, Steve Harvey, and Tyler Perry

The 2014 / 45th NAACP Image Awards winners (for the year 2013):

TELEVISION

Outstanding Comedy Series
•         "Real Husbands of Hollywood" (BET)

Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series
•         Kevin Hart - "Real Husbands of Hollywood" (BET)

Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series
•         Wendy Raquel Robinson - "The Game" (BET)

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
•         Morris Chestnut - "Nurse Jackie" (Showtime)

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
•         Brandy Norwood - "The Game" (BET)

Outstanding Drama Series
•         "Scandal" (ABC)

Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series
•         LL Cool J - "NCIS: Los Angeles" (CBS)

Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series
•         Kerry Washington - "Scandal" (ABC)

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
•         Joe Morton - "Scandal" (ABC)

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
•         Taraji P. Henson - "Person of Interest" (CBS)

Outstanding Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special
•         "Being Mary Jane" (BET)

Outstanding Actor in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special
•         Idris Elba - "Luther" (BBC America)

Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special
•         Gabrielle Union - "Being Mary Jane" (BET)

Outstanding Actor in a Daytime Drama Series
•         Kristoff St. John - "The Young and the Restless" (CBS)

Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama Series
•         Tatyana Ali - "The Young and the Restless" (CBS)

Outstanding News/ Information - (Series or Special)
•         "The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross with Henry Louis Gates, Jr." (PBS)

Outstanding Talk Series
•         "Steve Harvey" (Syndicated)

Outstanding Reality Series
•         "Iyanla: Fix My Life" (OWN)

Outstanding Variety Series or Special
•         "Black Girls Rock!" (BET)

Outstanding Children’s Program
•         "Wynton Marsalis: A YoungArts MasterClass" (HBO)

Outstanding Performance in a Youth/ Children’s Program - (Series or Special)
•         China Anne McClain - "A.N.T. Farm" (Disney Channel)


RECORDING (Music)

Outstanding New Artist
•         K. Michelle (Atlantic Records)

Outstanding Male Artist
•         John Legend (Columbia Records)

Outstanding Female Artist
•         Beyoncé (Columbia Records)

Outstanding Duo, Group or Collaboration
•         "Blurred Lines" - Robin Thicke feat. T.I. & Pharrell (Star Trak/Interscope)

Outstanding Jazz Album
•         "The Songs of Stevie Wonder" - SFJAZZ Collective (SFJAZZ Records)

Outstanding Gospel Album - (Traditional or Contemporary)
•         "Best Days Deluxe Edition" - Tamela Mann (Tillymann Music)

Outstanding World Music Album
•         "Natalie Cole en Español" - Natalie Cole (Verve Records)

Outstanding Music Video
•         "Q.U.E.E.N." - Janelle Monáe feat. Erykah Badu (Bad Boy/Atlantic)

Outstanding Song
•         "All Of Me" - John Legend (Columbia Records)

Outstanding Album
•         "Love, Charlie" - Charlie Wilson (RCA Records)


LITERATURE

Outstanding Literary Work - Fiction
•         "Anybody's Daughter" - Pamela Samuels Young (Goldman House Publishing)

Outstanding Literary Work - Non-Fiction
•         "Envisioning Emancipation: Black Americans and the End of Slavery" - Deborah Willis, Barbara Krauthamer (Temple University Press)

Outstanding Literary Work - Debut Author
•         "Nine Years Under" - Sheri Booker (Gotham Books)

Outstanding Literary Work - Biography/ Auto-Biography
•         "The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks" - Jeanne Theoharis (Beacon Press)

Outstanding Literary Work - Instructional
•         "The Vegucation of Robin: How Real Food Saved My Life" - Robin Quivers (Avery)

Outstanding Literary Work - Poetry
•         "Turn Me Loose: The Unghosting of Medgar Evers" - Frank X Walker (University of Georgia Press)

Outstanding Literary Work - Children
•         "Nelson Mandela" - Kadir Nelson (HarperCollins Children's Books/Katherine Tegen Books)

Outstanding Literary Work - Youth/Teens
•         "Courage Has No Color, The True Story of the Triple Nickles: America's First Black Paratroopers" - Tanya Lee Stone (Candlewick Press)


MOTION PICTURE

Outstanding Motion Picture
•         "12 Years A Slave" (River Road/Plan B/New Regency/Fox Searchlight Pictures)

Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture
•         Forest Whitaker - "Lee Daniels' The Butler" (The Weinstein Company/Lee Daniels Entertainment, Laura Ziskin Productions, Windy Hill Pictures, Follow Through Productions, Salamander Pictures, Pam Williams Productions)

Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture
•         Angela Bassett - "Black Nativity" (Fox Searchlight Pictures/Mavin Pictures/Wonderful Films)

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture
•         David Oyelowo - "Lee Daniels' The Butler" (The Weinstein Company/Lee Daniels Entertainment, Laura Ziskin Productions, Windy Hill Pictures, Follow Through Productions, Salamander Pictures, Pam Williams Productions)

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture
•         Lupita Nyong'o - "12 Years A Slave " (River Road/Plan B/New Regency/Fox Searchlight Pictures)

Outstanding Independent Motion Picture
•         "Fruitvale Station" (The Weinstein Company/Forest Whitaker's Significant Productions, OG Project)

Outstanding International Motion Picture
•         "War Witch" (Item 7)


DOCUMENTARY

Outstanding Documentary - (Theatrical)
•         "Free Angela and All Political Prisoners" (Codeblack Films/Lionsgate)

Outstanding Documentary - (Television)
•         "Richard Pryor: Omit the Logic " (Showtime)

WRITING

Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series
•         Vincent Brown - "A.N.T. Farm" - influANTces (Disney Channel)

Outstanding Writing in a Dramatic Series
•         Janine Sherman Barrois - "Criminal Minds" - Strange Fruit (CBS)

Outstanding Writing in a Motion Picture - (Theatrical or Television)
•         John Ridley - "12 Years A Slave" (River Road/Plan B/New Regency/Fox Searchlight Pictures)

DIRECTING

Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series
•         Millicent Shelton - "The Hustle" - Rule 4080 (FUSE)

Outstanding Directing in a Dramatic Series
•         Regina King - "SouthLAnd" - Off Duty (TNT)

Outstanding Directing in a Motion Picture - (Theatrical or Television)
•         Steve McQueen - "12 Years A Slave" (River Road/Plan B/New Regency/Fox Searchlight Pictures)

---------------------

Review: "Trainspotting" is Still Cool (Happy B'day, Kelly Macdonald)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 69 (of 2003) by Leroy Douresseaux

Trainspotting (1996)
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  United Kingdom
Running time:  94 minutes (1 hour, 34 minutes)
MPAA – R for graphic heroin use and resulting depravity, strong language, sex, nudity and some violence
DIRECTOR:  Danny Boyle
WRITER:  John Hodge (from the novel by Irvine Welsh)
PRODUCER:  Andrew Macdonald
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Brian Tufano (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Masahiro Hirakubo
Academy Award nominee

DRAMA with elements of comedy

Starring:  Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner, Jonny Lee Miller, Kevin McKidd, Robert Carlyle, Peter Mullan, and Kelly Macdonald

The subject of this movie review is Trainspotting, a 1996 British drama and black comedy from the team of director Danny Boyle, producer Andrew Macdonald, and writer John Hodge.  The film is based on the 1993 novel, Trainspotting, by author Irvine Welsh.  Set in Edinburgh, Scotland, Trainspotting the film focuses on a heroin addict who tries to clean up despite the allure of the drugs and the influence of his friends.

Director Danny Boyle captured movie audiences’ attentions with his film Shallow Grave, but it was Trainspotting that blew him up big time.  It’s the story of five young Scotsmen and their decrepit lives – rarely has nasty and slovenliness seemed so appealing.

Mark “Rent-boy” Renton (Ewan McGregor) is a serious heroine addict, deeply involved in the Edinburgh drug scene, who tries to kick his habit and change his life.  Three of his friends are also hooked on smack:  Daniel “Spud” Murphy (Ewen Bremner), Simon David “Sick Boy” Williamson (Jonny Lee Miller), and Tommy MacKenzie (Kevin McKidd).  His other homey is a wacked-out, violent, thief, and ex-con named Francis Begbie (Robert Carlyle), whom everyone calls Begbie.  Renton enjoys the dope, the violent friends, and the wild sex, but despite the allure, he wants to go clean.  If only his friends would let him be and that includes Diane (Kelly Macdonald), the hot young thing whose jailbait body can’t get enough of Renton.

The first half of Trainspotting seems to drag, but the death of a minor, but important character, really kicks off the festivities.  It seems that it took a horrible and gruesome discovery in the narrative flow to wake up screenwriter John Hodge’s storytelling beast.  Suddenly, the vibrant soundtrack, clever editing, dead-on acting, and drug fugue merge to make something splendid.  Boyle’s directing style for this film earned comparisons to films like Pulp Fiction and A Clockwork Orange, and the narrative spool of this film does mirror the latter film in style and execution, but Trainspotting is about sad people.  In Pulp Fiction and Clockwork, the characters are dangerous and dangerously sexy; in Trainspotting, they’re pretty pathetic, more sexual stank than sexually attractive.  Even McGregor’s Renton is a bore.

However, there is a neat trick Boyle and Hodge pull on us.  The closer Renton comes to the surface to free himself from his morass, the more attractive and sympathetic he becomes.  He goes from being the lead loser, the least repellent of the lowlife, to a hero for whom we can root.  As he cleans himself up, the film becomes all the more beautiful.

Trainspotting is something different, but something good, and it requires patience on the part of a viewer.  There’s a reward at the end of the rainbow.  Boyle and Hodge make this Renton’s story, about a kind of resurrection.  They wed him to the viewer, and as he rises, so does the viewer.  It’s an electric experience that has to be experienced; for the adventurous film fan, it’s a reward watching Renton finally win and leave the filth behind, not unlike kicking a bad habit.

7 of 10
A-

NOTES:
1997 Academy Awards, USA:  1 nomination: “Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published” (John Hodge)

1996 BAFTA Awards:  1 win: “Best Screenplay – Adapted” (John Hodge); 1 nomination: “Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film” (Andrew Macdonald and Danny Boyle)

1997 BAFTA Awards, Scotland:  2 wins: “Best Feature Film” (Andrew Macdonald-producer, Danny Boyle-director, and John Hodge-writer), “Best Actor – Film” (Ewan McGregor); 3 nominations: “Best Actor – Film” (Robert Carlyle), “Best Actress – Film” (Kelly Macdonald), and “Best Writer” (John Hodge)

Updated:  Sunday, February 23, 2014


The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

2014 Cesar Award Nominations - Complete List

by Leroy Douresseaux

First given out in 1975, the César Award is the national film award of France.  Some even think of the César Award as the French equivalent of the American Academy Awards (Oscars). The nominations are selected by the members of the Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma, and the award ceremony is held in Paris each February.  The name of the award comes from the late sculptor César Baldaccini, and the trophies are actual sculptures of the artist.

The nominations for the 39th Cesar Awards were announced Friday, January 31, 2014.

The 39th Cesar Awards will be presented on Friday, February 28, 2014 in Paris, just two days before the Oscars at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles.  Cesar-winning actor, Francois Cluzet (The Intouchables), will host the ceremony at the Chatelet Theater, with fellow Cesar-winner, Cecile de France (Hereafter), serving as mistress of ceremonies.

An honorary Cesar is traditionally handed out to a foreign actor for their body of work. Kevin Costner received the prize in 2013.  This year’s honoree is Scarlett Johansson.

The 2014 / 39th Cesar Award nominees (for the year in 2013) – complete list:

Best Film:
9 Month Stretch
Me, Myself and Mum
Stranger by the Lake
Jimmy P.
The Past
Venus in Fur
Blue Is the Warmest Color

Best Director
Albert Dupontel for 9 Month Stretch
Guillaume Gallienne for Me, Myself and Mum
Alain Guiraudie for Stranger by the Lake
Arnaud Desplechin for Jimmy P.
Asghar Farhadi for The Past
Roman Polanski for Venus in Fur
Abdellatif Kechiche for Blue Is the Warmest Color

Best Foreign Film
The Broken Circle Breakdown, director Felix van Groeningen
Blancanieves, director Pablo Berger
Blue Jasmine, director Woody Allen
Dead Man Talking, director Patrick Ridremont
Django Unchained, director Quentin Tarantino
La Grande Bellezza, director Paolo Sorrentino
Gravity, director Alfonso Cuaron

Best Actress:
Fanny Ardant for Les Beaux Jours
Berenice Bejo for The Past
Catherine Deneuve for Elle S'En Va
Sara Forestier for Suzanne
Sandrine Kiberlain for 9 Month Stretch
Emmanuelle Seigner for Venus in Fur
Lea Seydoux for Blue Is the Warmest Color

Best Actor:
Mathieu Amalric for Venus in Fur
Michel Bouquet for Renoir
Albert Dupontel for 9 Month Stretch
Gergory Gadebois for Mon Ame Par Toi Guerie
Guillaume Gallienne for Me, Myself and Mum
Fabrice Luchini for Alceste a Bicyclette
Mads Mikkelsen for Michael Kohlhaas

Best Supporting Actress:
Marisa Borini for A Castle in Italy
Francoise Fabian for Me, Myself and Mum
Julie Gayet for Quai d'Orsay
Adele Haenel for Suzanne
Geraldine Pailhas for Young & Beautiful

Best Supporting Actor:
Neils Arestrup for Quai d'Orsay
Patrick Chesnais for Les Beaux Jours
Patrick d'Assumcao for Stranger by the Lake
Olivier Gourmet for Grand Central
Francois Damiens for Suzanne

Most Promising Actress (Newcomer):
Lou de Laage for Jappeloup
Pauline Etienne for La Religieuse
Adele Exarchopoulos for Blue Is the Warmest Color
Goshifteh Farahni for Syngue Sabour - Pierre de Patience
Marine Vacth for Young & Beautiful

Most Promising Actor (Newcomer):
Paul Bartel for Les Petits Princes
Pierre Deladonchamps for Stranger by the Lake
Paul Hamy for Suzanne
Vincent Macaigne for La Fille du 14 Juillet
Nemo Schiffman for Elle S'En Va

Best Original Screenplay:
Albert Dupontel for 9 Month Stretch
Philippe Le Guay for Alceste a Bicyclette
Alain Guiraudie for Stranger by the Lake
Asghar Farhadi for The Past
Katelle Quillevere and Mariette Desert for Suzanne

Best Adapted Screenplay:
Guillaume Gallienne for Me, Myself and Mum
Arnaud Desplechin for Jimmy P.
Antonin Baudry, Christophe Blain and Bertrand Tavernier for Quai d'Orsay
David Ives and Roman Polanski for Venus in Fur
Abdellatif Kechiche and Ghalya Lacroix for Blue Is the Warmest Color

Best Original Music:
Jorge Arriagada for Alceste a Bicyclette
Loik Dury and Christophe "Disco" Minck for Chinese Puzzle
Etienne Charry for L'Ecume des Jours
Martin Wheeler for Michael Kohlhaas
Alexandre Desplat for Venus in Fur

Best Sound:
Marc-Antoine Beldent, Loic Prian and Olivier Do Huu for Me, Myself and Mum
Philippe Grivel and Nathalie Vidal for Stranger by the Lake
Jean-Pierre Duret, Jean Mallet and Melissa Petitjean for Michael Kohlhaas
Lucien Balibar, Nadine Muse and Cyril Holtz for Venus in Fur
Jerome Chenevoy, Fabien Pochet and Jean-Paul Hurier for Blue Is the Warmest Color

Best Cinematography:
Thomas Hardmeier for The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet
Claire Mathon for Stranger by the Lake
Jeanne Lapoirie for Michael Kohlhaas
Mark Ping Bing Lee for Renoir
Sofian el Fani for Blue Is the Warmest Color

Best Editing:
Christophe Pinel for9 Month Stretch
Valerie Deseine for Me, Myself and Mum
Jean-Christophe Hym for Stranger by the Lake
Juliette Welfling for The Past
Camille Toubkis, Albertine Lastera and Jean-Marie Langelle for Blue Is the Warmest Color

Best Costume:
Florence Fontaine for L'Ecume des Jours
Madeline Fontaine for The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet
Olivier Beriot for Me, Myself and Mum
Anina Diener for Michael Kohlhaas
Pascaline Chavanne for Renoir

Best Production Design (Décor):
Stephane Rozenbaum for L'Ecume des Jours
Aline Bonetto for The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet
Sylive Olive for Me, Myself and Mum
Yan Arlaud for Michael Kohlhaas
Benoit Barouh for Renoir

Best Documentary:
Comment J'ai Deteste les Maths, director Olivier Peyon
Le Dernier des Injustes, director Claude Lanzmann
Il Etait une Foret, director Luc Jacquet
La Maison de la Raido, director Nicolas Philibert
Sur le Chemin de l'Ecole, director Pascal Plisson

Best First Film:
La Bataille de Solferino, director Justine Triet
La Cage Doree, director Ruben Alves
En Solitaire, director Christophe Offenstein
La Fille du 14 Julliet, director Antonin Peretjatko
Me, Myself and Mum, director Guillaume Gallienne

Best Short Film:
Avant Que de Tout Perdre, director Xavier Legrand
Bambi, director Sebastien Lifshitz
La Fugue, director Jean-Bernard Marlin
Les Lezards, director Vincent Mariette
Marseille la Nuit, director Marie Monge

Best Animated Feature Film:
Ayay de Yopougon, directors Marguerite Aboute and Clement Oubrerie
Loulou l'Incroyable Secret, director Eric Omond
My Mommy is in America and She Met Buffalo Bill, directors Marc Boreal and Thibaut Chatel

Best Animated Short Film:
Lettres de Femmes, director Augusto Zanovello
Mademoiselle Kiki et les Montparnos, director Amelie Harrault

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"Anchorman 2" Re-Released with 763 All-New Jokes

“ANCHORMAN 2: THE LEGEND CONTINUES: SUPER SIZED R RATED VERSION” in Theaters February 28 for One-Week Exclusive Run

For the First Time Ever: Hit Comedy Gets Re-Released with 763 All-New Jokes

HOLLYWOOD, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Paramount Pictures and Gary Sanchez Productions today announced an unprecedented theatrical release of an all new cut of the hit film “ANCHORMAN 2: THE LEGEND CONTINUES,” starring Will Ferrell, in theaters in the U.S. and U.K. beginning February 28th for one-week only.

The new version of the film, titled “ANCHORMAN 2: THE LEGEND CONTINUES: SUPER SIZED R RATED VERSION,” will feature 763 entirely new jokes from legendary anchorman Ron Burgundy and America’s favorite 24-hour global news team. The film is now rated R.

“When my editor told me we had a whole different version of the movie that was more than two hours long with nearly 800 new jokes, I was shocked. But when Paramount said they were actually going to put it in theaters, I did an 1950’s spit take. If you’re a hardcore Anchorman fan go see this. If you’re not, stay very far away," said writer / director Adam McKay.

“ANCHORMAN 2: THE LEGEND CONTINUES,” a sequel to 2004’s cult film “ANCHORMAN: THE LEGEND OF RON BURGUNDY,” was released in theaters on December 18, 2013 and has earned more than $170 million at the worldwide box office to date.

For ticketing info, go to www.AnchormanMovie.com

With the 70’s behind him, San Diego’s top rated newsman, Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell), returns to the news desk in "ANCHORMAN 2: THE LEGEND CONTINUES," which opened in theaters everywhere December 18. Also back for more are Ron’s co-anchor and wife, Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate), weather man Brick Tamland (Steve Carell), man on the street reporter Brian Fantana (Paul Rudd) and sports guy Champ Kind (David Koechner) - All of whom won’t make it easy to stay classy… while taking New York and the nation’s first 24-hour news channel by storm. Produced by Judd Apatow, Will Ferrell and Adam McKay. Written by Will Ferrell & Adam McKay. Directed by Adam McKay.

About Paramount Pictures Corporation
Paramount Pictures Corporation (PPC), a global producer and distributor of filmed entertainment, is a unit of Viacom (NASDAQ: VIAB) (NASDAQ: VIA), a leading content company with prominent and respected film, television and digital entertainment brands. Paramount controls a collection of some of the most powerful brands in filmed entertainment, including Paramount Pictures, Paramount Animation, Paramount Vantage, Paramount Classics, Insurge Pictures, MTV Films, and Nickelodeon Movies. PPC operations also include Paramount Home Media Distribution, Paramount Pictures International, Paramount Licensing Inc., and Paramount Studio Group.

"Super-Sized" Return for "Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues"

ANCHORMAN 2: THE LEGEND CONTINUES: SUPER-SIZED R RATED VERSION in theaters February 28 for a one-week exclusive run

For the first time ever: hit comedy gets re-released with 763 all-new jokes!

Watch the new trailer: http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/paramount/anchorman2/

Jonesing for more? Watch an all-new exclusive clip: http://www.break.com/video/ron-burgundy-crack-pipe-anchorman-2-clip-2579635

With the 70's behind him, San Diego's top rated newsman, Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell), returns to the newsdesk in ANCHORMAN 2: THE LEGEND CONTINUES," which opened in theaters everywhere December 18.  Also back for more are Ron’s  co-anchor and wife, Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate), weather man Brick Tamland (Steve Carell), man on the street reporter Brian Fantana (Paul Rudd) and sports guy Champ Kind (David Koechner) - All of whom won’t make it easy to stay classy… while taking New York and the nation’s first 24-hour news channel by storm.  Produced by Judd Apatow, Will Ferrell and Adam McKay. Written by Will Ferrell & Adam McKay.  Directed by Adam McKay.

For ticketing info, go to www.AnchormanMovie.com

Official website: http://www.anchormanmovie.com

Official Twitter: https://twitter.com/ronburgundy
Official Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/anchormanmovie

Musical Clown Act, Pink, to Appear at 2014 Oscar Ceremony

Pink To Appear On The Oscars®

BEVERLY HILLS, CA – Grammy Award®-winning singer and actress Pink will make a special appearance on the Oscars, show producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron announced today. The Oscars, hosted by Ellen DeGeneres, will air on Sunday, March 2, live on ABC.

"We are very excited to welcome Pink to the Oscar® stage for the very first time," said Zadan and Meron. "She is regarded as one of the greatest voices in pop music and one of the best performers of her generation, and we are thrilled to have her join us for a highly anticipated moment on the broadcast.”

Pink has won three Grammy Awards and six MTV Video Music Awards, including Best Collaboration for the single “Just Give Me A Reason” from her 2012 album “The Truth About Love.” The song was her eighth to reach No. 1 on Billboard’s Adult Top 40 chart, setting an industry record. Named Billboard Woman of the Year in 2013, Pink has sold over 40 million albums and 65 million singles.

Acting under her given name, Alecia Moore, she received critical acclaim for her role in the 2013 ensemble drama “Thanks for Sharing,” which starred Mark Ruffalo, Tim Robbins and Gwyneth Paltrow.

Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2013 will be presented on Oscar Sunday, March 2, at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center® and televised live on the ABC Television Network. The Oscars, produced by Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.