Review: "The Curse of the Jade Scorpion" a Nice Ode to 1940s Era Films

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 255 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Curse of the Jade Scorpion (2001)
Running time:  103 minutes (1 hour, 43 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for some sexual content
WRITER/DIRECTOR:  Woody Allen
PRODUCER:  Letty Aronson
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Zhao Fei
EDITOR:  Alisa Lepselter

COMEDY/CRIME/MYSTERY/ROMANCE

Starring:  Woody Allen, Helen Hunt, Dan Aykroyd, Brian Markinson, Elizabeth Berkley, Wallace Shawn, Charlize Theron, David Ogden Stiers, and Carol Bayeux

The subject of this movie review is The Curse of the Jade Scorpion, a 2001 romance, crime-comedy and mystery film from writer-director Woody Allen.  The film follows an insurance investigator and an efficiency expert, both hypnotized into stealing jewels by a crooked hypnotist using a jade scorpion.

New York City – 1940:  C.W. Briggs (Woody Allen) is the top insurance investigator for North Coast Casualty and Fidelity of New York, and he is his boss, Chris Magruder’s (Dan Aykroyd) go-to-guy when it comes to solving the thefts of high value items that North Coast is insuring.  C.W. has also been sparring with the company’s latest hire, Betty Ann Fitzgerald (Helen Hunt), an efficiency expert with an eye on putting C.W. in his place.

At a dinner party, a crooked hypnotist named Voltan (David Ogden Stiers) uses a jeweled charm, the Jade Scorpion, to hypnotize C.W. and Betty Ann.  Soon, the combative co-workers are babbling like love struck kids.  Their colleagues think this is some kind of clever hypnosis gag, so no one realizes that Voltan has placed C.W. and Betty Ann under a post-hypnotic suggestion.  Voltan controls C.W. and makes the insurance investigator use his professional skills and inside information to steal a fortune in jewels from two prominent families that have insured their treasure with North Coast.  With the police after him for the robberies, will C.W. ever get a clue that he’s a hypnotized dupe?

The Curse of the Jade Scorpion is Woody Allen’s delightful ode to movies from the 1940’s, like his delightful 1987 movie, Radio Days, was.  Jade is a nod to the light mystery films of the 40’s, but here, this material isn’t particularly strong, although the acting is quite good and gives the movie a sense of earnest fun.  The entire cast seems up to recreating both the style and ambience of 40’s era movies and the characters in them, and that’s a credit to Allen’s direction.

Helen Hunt is spicy as Betty Ann Fitzgerald, and she makes an excellent foil for Allen’s C.W. Briggs, who is the typical wisecracking character Allen plays in his comedies.  Charlize Theron glams it up to create the sexy, bold, and randy Laura Kensington, a character with an unfortunately too small part because she gives this flick a much-needed kick in the rear every time she’s on screen.  Brian Markinson, Elizabeth Berkley, and Wallace Shawn also add the right touches to their parts and add flavor to this film.

The Curse of the Jade Scorpion isn’t great Allen, nor is it anywhere nearly as good as Radio Days.  It’s a minor, but good Allen flick that will entertain Allen fans to one extent or another.

6 of 10
B

Saturday, December 23, 2006

Updated:  Monday, May 19, 2014

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

Review: "Team America: World Police" is Crazy, Smart and True (Happy B'day, Trey Parker)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 209 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux

Team America: World Police (2004)
Running time:  100 minutes (1 hour, 40 minutes)
MPAA – R for graphic, crude & sexual humor, violent images and strong language; all involving puppets
DIRECTOR:  Trey Parker
WRITERS:  Pam Brady, Matt Stone and Trey Parker
PRODUCERS:  Scott Rudin, Matt Stone, and Trey Parker
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Bill Pope, A.S.C. (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Thomas M. Vogt
COMPOSER:  Harry Gregson-Williams

COMEDY/ACTION/ADVENTURE

Starring:  (voices) Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Kristen Miller, Masasa, Daran Norris, Phil Hendrie, Maurice LaMarche, and Paul Louis

The subject of this movie review is Team America: World Police, a 2004 satirical comedy film from the team of Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creators of the long-running animated series, “South Park.”  The film’s cast is composed of marionettes (puppets) instead of live actors.  Team America: World Police follows a popular Broadway actor who is recruited by an elite counter-terrorism organization to help stop a dictator who is plotting global terror attacks.

Team America: World Police may be 2004’s funniest film.  Some may consider it the most obnoxious and crass movie of the year, especially after viewing the graphic puppet “sex scene.”  It will certainly go down as one of the most outrageous movies not made by John Waters.  It’s a wonderful send up of action movies, especially as those made by super-producer Jerry Bruckheimer, and the hilarious characters that populate them.  Even the musical scores to Bruckheimer films get it up the butt and in the mouth from this movie.  It’s also a wicked satire of American military aggression and the celebrities who protest it.  However, as good as the film is (and it’s quite good), Team America: World Police frequently falls on its own spear.

Team America is an international police force dedicated to maintaining global security.  And they’re also marionettes; you may best remember marionettes as those puppets on the venerable British TV children’s series, “Thunderbirds.”  Team America’s latest mission takes them to Paris, France, where they fight a handful of terrorists with WMD’s, also known as weapons of mass destruction.  Team America also manages to destroy Paris’ most famous landmarks, and also loose a team member to a terrorist’s bullets.

Team America’s leader, Spottswoode, a gray-headed, older, distinguished gentleman, recruits a young Broadway actor named Gary to replace the fallen comrade.  Spottswoode thinks that Gary will make the perfect spy because in college he was a double major in theatre and world languages.  The other Team America members:  Lisa, Sarah, Chris, and Joe, are wary at first, but they back him up on their first mission to Cairo to infiltrate a band of Islamic fundamentalists with WMD’s.

There is however a larger crisis looming.  Power-mad dictator Kim Jong Il of North Korea has planned a series of simultaneous global terror attacks – imagine 9/11 times 2356.  He’s convinced the Hollywood Film Actors Guild, or F.A.G., and their leader, actor Alec Baldwin, to support a conference in North Korea in which all world leaders will attend.  The conference is merely a cover for the launch of the worldwide terror strikes, which will occur while Baldwin gives his peacenik keynote speech.  Can Team America stop Kim Jong Il…and the actors?

Team America: World Police is the second major studio film from Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creators of the uproarious and bawdy animated program, “South Park,” on Comedy Central.  Team America, on one hand, is a delightful and loving send up of “Thunderbirds” and the other puppet marionette shows produced by England’s Century 21.  On the other hand, the film is mostly a vicious and brutal satire of the contemporary American political landscape and American self-righteousness.  The use of marionettes instead of actors greatly takes the sense of people getting made fun of to a level that human actors couldn’t go.

Parker/Stone use clever dialogue, over-the-top violence, and hyper-patriotic songs to skewer heavy-handed U.S. military offenses, strikes, and pre-emptive attacks on international locales.  They also use marionettes that closely resemble well known Hollywood and celebrities that protest U.S. military action.  The marionettes, in some cases, barely look like the stars that they’re supposed to resemble; in some cases the resemblance is just close enough not to get the filmmakers sued.  Still, it works enough so that such stars as Alec Baldwin, Tim Robbins, Michael Moore, Susan Sarandon, Matt Damon, Helen Hunt and others are mercilessly lampooned.

But is the movie good?  The answer is a resounding yes; it’s one of the funniest films I’ve seen in years.  However, it is mean-spirited, graphic, obnoxious, brutal, vicious, vulgar, filthy, foul, nasty, rank, etc.  Sometimes, I had a hard time believing that Parker and Stone were going so far in their satire and humor.  Still, they’re not frat boys out of control; every joke and satirical comment and farcical moment seems well conceived.

Team America: World Police, in the end, takes the side of the “good guys,” but Parker and Stone obviously only trust them a little more than the “bad guys.”  They insist that even the protagonists be viewed with a wary eye, so in the end, it’s as if they question that anyone can be trusted.  Fighting assholes who want to kill everyone is a dirty job, and the heroes and their charges may not be “all that” themselves.  Team America: World Police is not perfect, but it’s the work of frankly honest and only barely inhibited filmmakers.  That’s refreshing when “looking good” is so important these days.

8 of 10
A

Updated:  Saturday, October 19, 2013

The text is copyright © 2013 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

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

Review: "The Sessions" Keeps it Real

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 25 (of 2013) by Leroy Douresseaux


The Sessions (2012)
Running time: 95 minutes (1 hour, 35 minutes)
MPAA – R for strong sexuality including graphic nudity and frank dialogue
DIRECTOR: Ben Lewin
WRITER: Ben Lewin (based on article “On Seeing a Sex Surrogate” by Mark O'Brien)
PRODUCERS: Judi Levine, Ben Lewin, and Stephen Nemeth
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Geoffrey Simpson (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Lisa Bromwell
COMPOSER: Marco Beltrami
Academy Award nominee

DRAMA

Starring: John Hawkes, Helen Hunt, William H. Macy, Moon Bloodgood, Annika Marks, Adam Arkin, Rhea Perlman, W. Earl Brown, Robin Weigert, Blake Lindsley, Ming Lo, Rusty Schwimmer, and Jennifer Kumiyama

The Sessions is a 2012 drama from writer/director Ben Lewin. The independent film is the story of Mark O’Brien, a real-life poet who was paralyzed from the neck down due to polio. The film is based on the article, “On Seeing a Sex Surrogate,” which was written by O’Brien about the sex surrogate who helped him lose his virginity.

The Sessions opens in 1988 in Berkeley, California where we meet Mark O’Brien (John Hawkes). Mark lives in an iron lung due to complications from polio, which he contracted as a child. Due to his condition, Mark has never had sex. Hunting for someone to relieve him of the burden of his virginity, Mark seeks companionship in the women near to him. After consulting with his priest, Father Brendan (William H. Macy), Mark goes to a professional sex surrogate. Mark meets Cheryl Cohen-Greene (Helen Hunt), a sex therapist and surrogate, who agrees to help him through a series of sessions. This arrangement, however, ends up being, depending on the time and the techniques used, both more and less complicated than either one expected.

There is such overwhelming, beautiful humanity in The Sessions. Writer-director Ben Lewin’s script creates characters that have to be intimate and vulnerable with each other, but not in a contrived way. The actors take what Lewin gives them and make characters that are honestly human by being vulnerable. Vulnerability reveals what is both pitiable and pathetic and also durable and strong, and these are the things that open the characters to the audience. When the audience can go into the characters on such a seemingly intimate level, made-up people can seem like honest-to-God real people, the kind that the audience can’t help watching.

And what wonderful performances the cast gives, from top to bottom. At the 2013 Film Independent Spirit Awards, John Hawkes won “Best Male Lead” and Helen Hunt won “Best Supporting Female.” Sadly, only Hunt earned a corresponding Oscar nomination. Individually, these two actors give great performances; together, they make magic.

In The Sessions, Hawkes is on the level of Daniel Day-Lewis (who won the best actor Oscar at the 2013 Oscars ceremony), as he transforms himself into another person, not a character, but an actual person. Hawkes’ Mark O’Brien is as real as a fictional character can be. Helen Hunt offers so many levels of conflicted emotions and deeply romantic longings. In her hands, Cheryl Cohen-Greene could actually be the lead in this movie. Hunt makes her such a beautiful soul, so I’m glad that this artist is still a working actress.

There are other fine performances. William H. Macy brings some much needed levity to this film as the acerbic sounding board, Father Brendan. Moon Bloodgood is radiant in a quiet role, full of subtle motions and colors.

I have to admit that I shed some tears at this movie; it is both heartbreaking and achingly beautiful. The frank sexual discussions and sex talk are not at all erotic or arousing. I found myself mostly wincing when Mark and Cheryl are sexual. The Sessions, however, aroused the movie lover in me. It is one of the best films of 2012 and, as a love story, is exceedingly special and exceptional. Let’s hope Ben Lewin can keep making movies that come close to the excellence of The Sessions.

9 of 10
A+

NOTES:
2013 Academy Awards, USA: 1 nomination: “Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role” (Helen Hunt)

2013 BAFTA Awards: 1 nomination: “Supporting Actress” (Helen Hunt)

2013 Golden Globes, USA: 2 nominations: “Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama” (John Hawkes) and “Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture” (Helen Hunt)

Saturday, April 06, 2013

"Silver Linings Playbook" Dominates 2013 Independent Spirit Awards

by Leroy Douresseaux

Silver Linings Playbook won four awards at the 28th Annual Film Independent Spirit Awards.  This includes "Best Feature," "Best Actress" (Jennifer Lawrence), and "Best Director" and "Best Screenplay" for David O. Russell, the writer/director of Silver Linings Playbook.  The Sessions saw two of its performers win, John Hawkes as "Best Male Lead" and Helen Hunt as "Best Supporting Female."

The 28th Annual Film Independent Spirit Awards winners were announced at the Spirit Awards on Saturday, February 23, 2013. The awards ceremony was held as a daytime luncheon in a tent on the beach in Santa Monica. Later, the ceremony was aired that evening at 10:00 pm ET/PT on IFC.

The Winners for the 2013 Film Independent Spirit Awards:

BEST FEATURE:
Silver Linings Playbook
PRODUCERS: Bruce Cohen, Donna Gigliotti, Jonathan Gordon

BEST DIRECTOR:
David O. Russell - Silver Linings Playbook

BEST SCREENPLAY
David O. Russell - Silver Linings Playbook

BEST FIRST FEATURE (Award given to the director and producer):
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
DIRECTOR: Stephen Chbosky
PRODUCERS: Lianne Halfon, John Malkovich, Russell Smith

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
Derek Connolly - Safety Not Guaranteed

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD:
Middle of Nowhere
WRITER/DIRECTOR/PRODUCER: Ava DuVernay
PRODUCERS: Howard Barish, Paul Garnes

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

BEST FEMALE LEAD
Jennifer Lawrence - Silver Linings Playbook

BEST MALE LEAD
John Hawkes - The Sessions

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE
Helen Hunt - The Sessions

BEST SUPPORTING MALE
Matthew McConaughey - Magic Mike

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Ben Richardson - Beasts of the Southern Wild

BEST DOCUMENTARY (Award given to the director and producer):
The Invisible War
DIRECTOR: Kirby Dick
PRODUCERS: Tanner King Barklow, Amy Ziering

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM (Award given to the director):
Amour (France)
DIRECTOR: Michael Haneke

16th ANNUAL PIAGET PRODUCERS AWARD:
Stones in the Sun - Producer: Mynette Louie

(The 16th annual Piaget Producers Award 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.)

19th ANNUAL SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD:
Gimme the Loot - Director: Adam Leon

(The 19th annual Someone to Watch Award recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant.)

STELLA ARTOIS TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD:
The Waiting Room - Director: Peter Nicks

(The 18th annual Truer Than Fiction Award 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.)

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD (Given to one film’s director, casting director, and its ensemble cast):
Starlet
Director: Sean Baker
Casting Director: Julia Kim
Ensemble Cast: Dree Hemingway, Besedka Johnson, Karren Karagulian, Stella Maeve, James Ransone

2012 Women Film Critics Circle Awards - Complete List

The Women Film Critics Circle Awards went to many different films in 2012, although Kathryn Bigelow's Zero Dark Thirty received three awards.  The Women Film Critics Circle 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.

2012 Women Film Critics Circle Awards:

BEST MOVIE ABOUT WOMEN
A Royal Affair

BEST MOVIE BY A WOMAN
Zero Dark Thirty

BEST WOMAN STORYTELLER (Screenwriting Award)
Two Days In NY (Julie Delpy)

BEST ACTRESS
Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables

BEST ACTOR
Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln

BEST YOUNG ACTRESS
Quvenzhanee Wallis, Beast Of The Southern Wild

BEST COMEDIC ACTRESS
Maggie Smith, Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

BEST FOREIGN FILM BY OR ABOUT WOMEN
Where Do We Go Now (from Lebanon with Egypt, France, and Italy)

BEST FEMALE IMAGES IN A MOVIE
Zero Dark Thirty

WORST FEMALE IMAGES IN A MOVIE-TIE
Killer Joe
Think Like A Man

BEST MALE IMAGES IN A MOVIE
Lincoln

WORST MALE IMAGES IN A MOVIE
Killer Joe

BEST THEATRICALLY UNRELEASED MOVIE BY OR ABOUT WOMEN
Hemingway And Gellhorn

BEST EQUALITY OF THE SEXES
Zero Dark Thirty

BEST ANIMATED FEMALES
Brave

BEST FAMILY FILM-TIE
Life Of Pi
Rise Of The Guardians

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Barbra Streisand

ACTING AND ACTIVISM.AWARD
Sally Field – Field is a dedicated advocate for women's rights. She has served on the Board of Directors of Vital Voices Global Partnership, an international women's NGO, and has co-hosted the Global Leadership Awards. Field suffers from osteoporosis and has become a vocal advocate for women's health issues, encouraging early diagnosis of such conditions through technology, such as bone density scans.

*ADRIENNE SHELLY AWARD: For a film that most passionately opposes violence against women -TIE
Compliance
The Invisible War

*JOSEPHINE BAKER AWARD: For best expressing the woman of color experience in America
Middle Of Nowhere

*KAREN MORLEY AWARD: For best exemplifying a woman’s place in history or society, and a courageous search for identity
A Royal Affair (from Denmark)

COURAGE IN ACTING: Taking on unconventional roles that radically redefine the images of women on screen
Helen Hunt, The Sessions

THE INVISIBLE WOMAN AWARD: Performance by a woman whose exceptional impact on the film dramatically, socially or historically, has been ignored
Helen Mirren, Hitchcock

BEST DOCUMENTARY BY OR ABOUT A WOMAN
Queen Of Versailles

WOMEN’S WORK: BEST ENSEMBLE
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

BEST SCREEN COUPLE
Moonrise Kingdom: Bill Murray and Frances McDormand

*WFCC HALL OF SHAME*

Bachelorette with Kirsten Dunst, had all sorts of ditzy former high school classmates getting together for the wedding of a girl they used to make fun of. Just stupid on so many levels: male strippers, drinking, general girly silliness.

Ici-Bas (Down Below). Rape romance: A raped nun (Celine Sallette) falls in love with her rapist. The male fantasy horror of 'rape romance' on screen. A WFCC Hall Of Shame pick in tribute to the unnamed Indian student and rape murder victim, in the kind of traditional culture where women and girls are pressured to marry their rapists.

Skyfall: 'Bond Girl' is only on screen long enough to sell trailers and products like OPI's 'Skyfall Collection' of nail polishes, and gets bumped off at the end of Act II; M turns into a cowering incompetent and gets bumped off at the end of Act III; and the female sharp-shooter in Act I loses her nerve and leaves 'Field Operations' to become an office assistant in Act III. I loved the Sean Connery/James Bond films as a kid. Women got to be part of the action; the Bond Girl was always there to celebrate success at the end. But as a 50th anniversary tribute to the Bond series made in 2012, Skyfall truly broke my heart!

MOMMIE DEAREST WORST SCREEN MOM OF THE YEAR AWARD
Helena Bonham Carter, Les Miserables

BEST LINE IN A MOVIE 2012
"...You can't kill the animals in a movie, only the women." - Christopher Walken/Seven Psychopaths

JUST KIDDING AWARD:
Best Male Images In A Movie: Magic Mike

*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. 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 shower20rack 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.

2013 Oscar Nominations: "Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role"

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role:

Amy Adams for The Master

Sally Field for Lincoln

Anne Hathaway for Les Misérables

Helen Hunt for The Sessions

Jacki Weaver for Silver Linings Playbook  

Alliance of Women Film Journalists Choose "Zero Dark Thirty" as 2012's Best

2012 EDA Award Winners (from the Alliance of Women Film Journalists):

EDA ANNUAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS

Best Film
Zero Dark Thirty

Best Director
Kathryn Bigelow - Zero Dark Thirty

Best Screenplay, Original
Zero Dark Thirty - Mark Boal

Best Screenplay, Adapted
Argo - Chris Terrio

Best Documentary
Searching For Sugar Man - Malik Bendjelloul

Best Animated Film
ParaNorman

Best Actress
Jessica Chastain - Zero Dark Thirty

Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Anne Hathaway - Les Miserables

Best Actor
Daniel Day Lewis - Lincoln

Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Phillip Seymour Hoffman - The Master

Best Ensemble Cast
Silver Linings Playbook

Best Editing
Zero Dark Thirty - William Goldenberg, Dylan Tichenor

Best Cinematography
Life of Pi - Claudio Miranda

Best Film Music Or Score
Beasts of the Southern Wild - Dan Romer, Benh Zeitlin

Best Non-English-Language Film
Amour (from Austria)

EDA FEMALE FOCUS AWARDS – These awards honor WOMEN only.

Best Woman Director
Kathryn Bigelow - Zero Dark Thirty

Best Woman Screenwriter
Lucy Alibar (and Benh Zeitlin) - Beasts of the Southern Wild

Kick Ass Award For Best Female Action Star
Jennifer Lawrence - The Hunger Games

Best Animated Female
Brave - Merida - Kelly Macdonald

Best Breakthrough Performance
Quvenzhané Wallis - Beasts of the Southern Wild

Actress Defying Age and Ageism
Judi Dench - Skyfall

AWFJ Award For Humanitarian Activism - Female Icon Award —
(Presented to an actress for the portrayal of the most positive female role model, or for a role in which she takes personal and/or career risks to plumb the female psyche and therefore gives us courage to plumb our own, and/or for putting forth the image of a woman who is heroic, accomplished, persistent, demands her rights and/or the rights of others.)

Jessica Chastain - Zero Dark Thirty

This Year’s Outstanding Achievement By A Woman In The Film Industry
(Presented only when warranted to a female who has had a banner-making, record-breaking, industry-changing achievement during any given year — such as Kathryn Bigelow’s Best Director Oscar win, or for an actress having multiple outstanding films released during one year.)

Women Documentary Filmmakers, including Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady (Detropia), Lauren Greenfield (Queen of Versailles), Alison Klayman (Ai Weiwei Never Sorry) and Sarah Burns (The Central Park Five).

EDA SPECIAL MENTION AWARDS

AWFJ Hall Of Shame Award
Sean Anders for That’s My Boy

Actress Most in Need Of A New Agent (Tie)
Katherine Heigl - One For The Money
Reese Witherspoon - This Means War

Movie You Wanted To Love But Just Couldn’t
Anna Karenina

Unforgettable Moment Award (Tie)
Les Miserables - Anne Hathaway as Fantine singing I Dreamed A Dream
Zero Dark Thirty - Jessica Chastain as Maya says, “I’m the mother…”

Best Depiction Of Nudity, Sexuality, or Seduction
The Sessions - Helen Hunt and John Hawkes

Sequel or Remake That Shouldn’t Have Been Made Award (Tie)
Red Dawn
Total Recall

Most Egregious Age Difference Between The Leading Man and The Love Interest Award
Flight - Denzel Washington and Kelly Reilly,..and Nadine Velazquez

Nevada Film Critics Choose "Argo" as 2012's Best Film

The Nevada Film Critics Society (NFCS) is apparently a society of film critics who reside in Nevada and produce film reviews for print, broadcast, radio, and online.

The Nevada Film Critics Society's 2012 Awards for Achievement in Film:

Best Film - Argo

Best Actor - John Hawkes (The Sessions)

Best Actress - TIE - Helen Hunt (The Sessions) and Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook)

Best Supporting Actor - Tommy Lee Jones (Lincoln)

Best Supporting Actress - Sally Field (Lincoln)

Best Youth Performance - Tom Holland (The Impossible)

Best Director - TIE - Ben Affleck (Argo) and Kathryn Bigelow (Zero Dark Thirty)

Best Ensemble Cast - Lincoln

Best Animated Movie - Frankenweenie

Best Production Design - Les Miserables

Best Cinematography - Life Of Pi

Best Visual Effects - Life Of Pi

http://nevadafilmcriticssociety.org/

"Argo" Best Pic of 2012 Says St. Louis Film Critics

2012 St. Louis Film Critics’ Awards:

Best Film: “Argo “
(runners-up: “Life of Pi” and "Lincoln")

Best Director: Ben Affleck ("Argo")
(runner-up): Quentin Tarantino ("Django Unchained") and Benh Zeitlin ("Beasts of the Southern Wild")

Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis ("Lincoln")
(runner-up): John Hawkes ("The Sessions")

Best Actress: Jessica Chastain ("Zero Dark Thirty")
(runner-up): Jennifer Lawrence ("Silver Linings Playbook")

Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz ("Django Unchained")
(runner-up): Tommy Lee Jones ("Lincoln")

Best Supporting Actress: (Tie): Ann Dowd ("Compliance") and Helen Hunt ("The Sessions")

Best Original Screenplay: "Zero Dark Thirty" (Mark Boal)
(runner-up): "Django Unchained" (Quentin Tarantino)

Best Adapted Screenplay: (Tie): "Lincoln" (Tony Kushner) and "Silver Linings Playbook" (David O. Russell)

Best Cinematography: "Skyfall" (Roger Deakins)
(runner-up): "Life of Pi" (Claudio Miranda)

Best Visual Effects: "Life of Pi"
(runner-up): “The Avengers”

Best Music: (Tie): "Django Unchained" and "Moonrise Kingdom

Best Foreign-Language Film: “The Intouchables” (France)
(runners-up): “The Fairy" and "Headhunters”

Best Documentary: “Searching for Sugar Man”
(runner-up): “Ai Wei Wei: Never Sorry," "Bully" and "How To Survive A Plague"

Best Comedy: (Tie): “Moonrise Kingdom" and "Ted"

Best Animated Film: “Wreck-It Ralph”
(runner-up): “ParaNorman”

Best Art-House or Festival Film: (Tie): “Compliance" and "Safety Not Guaranteed"

Special Merit (for best scene, cinematic technique or other memorable aspect or moment) (Four-way Tie):
1. "Django Unchained" – The "bag head" bag/mask problems scene

2. "Hitchcock" – Anthony Hopkins in lobby conducting to music/audience’s reaction during "Psycho" screening

3. "The Impossible" - Opening tsunami scene

4. "The Master" – The first "processing" questioning scene between Philip Seymour Hoffman and Joaquin Phoenix

Robert Zemeckis to Be Honored at Palm Springs Film Fest

ROBERT ZEMECKIS TO RECEIVE DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR AWARD AT 24th ANNUAL PALM SPRINGS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL AWARDS GALA

The 24th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) will present Academy Award® winning director Robert Zemeckis with the Director of the Year Award for Flight. Presented by Cartier, the Awards Gala will be held Saturday, January 5, at the Palm Springs Convention Center. Hosted by Mary Hart, the Awards Gala will also present awards to previously announced honorees Helen Hunt and Naomi Watts. The Festival runs January 3-14.

“For 35 years, Robert Zemeckis has been creating some of the most iconic and indelible images in cinema, garnering international acclaim as a filmmaker of extraordinary vision,” said Film Festival Chairman Harold Matzner. “In his latest work, Flight, Zemeckis continues to tell fascinating stories by combining strong characters with groundbreaking visual effects, which includes one of the most memorable plane crashes in cinematic history, while following the compelling emotional journey of Denzel Washington’s character of an emotionally damaged man dealing with addiction. For these achievements the Palm Springs International Film Festival is honored to present the 2013 Director of the Year Award to Robert Zemeckis.”

Past Director of the Year honorees include Stephen Daldry, Ang Lee, Anthony Minghella, Alexander Payne, Sean Penn, Jason Reitman and David O. Russell.

Currently in theatres, Paramount Pictures’ dramatic thriller Flight, stars Denzel Washington as Captain Whip Whitaker, a seasoned airline pilot who miraculously crash lands his plane after a mid-air catastrophe, saving nearly every soul on board. Afterwards, Whip is hailed as a hero, but as more is learned, more questions than answers arise as to who or what was really at fault and what really happened on that plane. Directed by Robert Zemeckis and written by John Gatins, the film also stars Don Cheadle, Kelly Reilly, John Goodman, Bruce Greenwood, Brian Geraghty, Tamara Tunie, Nadine Velazquez, James Badge Dale and Melissa Leo.

Robert Zemeckis won an Academy Award®, a Golden Globe and a Director’s Guild of America Award for Best Director for the hugely successful Forrest Gump. The film’s numerous honors also included Academy Awards® for Best Actor (Tom Hanks) and Best Picture. Zemeckis has also directed Cast Away, What Lies Beneath, Back to the Future, Back to the Future, Part II and Part III, Contact, Used Cars, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, The Polar Express, Beowulf and A Christmas Carol. Presently, Zemeckis is at work on Yellow Submarine, for Image Movers Digital and The Disney Studios.


About The Palm Springs International Film Festival
The Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) is one of the largest film festivals in North America, welcoming 135,000 attendees each year for its lineup of new and celebrated international features and documentaries. The Festival is also known for its annual Black Tie Awards Gala, honoring the best achievements of the filmic year by a celebrated list of talents who, in recent years, have included Ben Affleck, Javier Bardem, Cate Blanchett, Danny Boyle, George Clooney, Daniel Day-Lewis, Leonardo DiCaprio, Clint Eastwood, Ron Howard, Sean Penn, Brad Pitt, Natalie Portman, Charlize Theron and Kate Winslet.

The 24th annual Palm Springs International FilmFestival is presented by Title Sponsor, the City of Palm Springs, which is celebrating its 75 year anniversary in 2013. Presenting Sponsors are Spencer’s, The Desert Sun, Entertainment Tonight, Wells Fargo, Regal Entertainment Group, Bank of America and Wintec. Major sponsors are Panavision, Ocean Properties Development, Raymond Lawrence, Chihuly, Telefilm Canada. The Festival’s Awards Gala is presented by Cartier and sponsored by Mercedes-Benz.