London Film Critics Choose "Amour"

by Leroy Douresseaux

I'm still tying up some loose ends from the 2012 movie award season.  I just remembered that I did not post the result of a critics organization awards ceremony, although I did post its nominations earlier.  So...

The acclaimed Austrian film, Amour, won the "Film of the Year" award for 2012 at the 33rd annual edition of the London Critics' Circle Film Awards.  Amour also earned an "Actress of the Year" award for Emmanuelle Riva and a "Screenwriter of the Year" award for its writer/director, Michael Haneke.  "Director of the Year" went to Ang Lee for Life of Pi.  Lee surprised quite a few people at the Oscars this past Sunday night by winning the best director Oscar for Life of Pi.

The 33rd annual edition London Critics' Circle Film Awards took place on Sunday, January 20, 2013, in a ceremony held at the May Fair Hotel.

33rd London Film Critics’ Circle Awards Winners:

The Sky Movies Award: FILM OF THE YEAR
Amour (Artificial Eye)

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM OF THE YEAR
Rust and Bone (StudioCanal)

DOCUMENTARY OF THE YEAR
The Imposter (Picturehouse/Revolver)

The Attenborough Award: BRITISH FILM OF THE YEAR - presented by The May Fair Hotel
Berberian Sound Studio (Artificial Eye)

Top 10 Films
1. Amour (Artificial Eye)
2. The Master (Entertainment)
3. Life of Pi (Fox)
4. Argo (Warners)
5. Beasts of the Southern Wild (StudioCanal)
6. Zero Dark Thirty (Universal)
7. Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (New Wave)
8. Django Unchained (Sony)
9. Tabu (New Wave)
10. Rust and Bone (StudioCanal)

The American Airlines Award: DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR
Ang Lee – Life of Pi (Fox)

ACTOR OF THE YEAR - Sponsored by Spotlight
Joaquin Phoenix – The Master (Entertainment)

ACTRESS OF THE YEAR - Sponsored by Spotlight
Emmanuelle Riva – Amour (Artificial Eye)

SUPPORTING ACTOR OF THE YEAR
Philip Seymour Hoffman – The Master (Entertainment)

SUPPORTING ACTRESS OF THE YEAR
Anne Hathaway – Les Miserables (Universal)

BRITISH ACTOR OF THE YEAR - In association with Cameo Productions
Toby Jones – Berberian Sound Studio (Artificial Eye)

BRITISH ACTRESS OF THE YEAR
Andrea Riseborough – Shadow Dancer (Paramount)

YOUNG BRITISH PERFORMER OF THE YEAR
Tom Holland – The Impossible (eOne)

SCREENWRITER OF THE YEAR - Sponsored by Distrupol
Michael Haneke – Amour (Artificial Eye)

BREAKTHROUGH BRITISH FILM-MAKER
Alice Lowe and Steve Oram, writers – Sightseers (StudioCanal)

The Sky 3D Award: TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT
Life of Pi – Bill Westenhofer, visual effects (Fox)

DILYS POWELL AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN FILM - sponsored by Premier
Helena Bonham Carter

http://www.criticscircle.org.uk/

85th Academy Award Winners - Complete List

by Leroy Douresseaux

Argo was named the "Best Motion Picture of the Year" of 2012 at the 85th Annual Academy Awards.  Director Ben Affleck gave an emotional speech while receiving his Oscar with fellow Argo producers, Grant Heslov (who also spoke) and George Clooney (who did not speak).  Jack Nicholson and, in a big surprise, First Lady Michelle Obama were the presenters of the best picture Oscar.

Life of Pi won the most awards, four.  That included Ang Lee's surprise win for "Best Director" which seemed destined to Steven Spielberg for Lincoln.  Daniel Day-Lewis set a record for "Best Actor" Oscar wins, 3, by winning for his performance in Lincoln.  Jennifer Lawrence won "Best Actress" for her role in Silver Linings Playbook.

For the first time since 1994 (and only the sixth time overall), there was a tie, as both Skyfall and Zero Dark Thirty won the "Best Sound Editing" Oscar.  Django Unchained won 2 trophies - "Best Original Screenplay" for writer/director Quentin Tarantino and "Best Supporting Actor" for Christoph Waltz, who won the same award three years ago for appearing in another Tarantino film, Inglourious Basterds.

The 85th Annual Academy Awards’ ceremony was held on Sunday, February 24, 2013.

2013 Academy Award Winners:

Best Motion Picture of the Year:
Argo: Grant Heslov, Ben Affleck, George Clooney

Best Achievement in Directing:
Ang Lee for Life of Pi

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role:
Daniel Day-Lewis for Lincoln

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role:
Jennifer Lawrence for Silver Linings Playbook

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
Christoph Waltz for Django Unchained

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role:
Anne Hathaway for Les Misérables

Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen:
Django Unchained: Quentin Tarantino

Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published:
Argo: Chris Terrio

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year:
Brave: Mark Andrews, Brenda Chapman

Best Foreign Language Film of the Year
Amour (Austria)

Best Achievement in Cinematography
Life of Pi: Claudio Miranda

Best Achievement in Editing:
Argo: William Goldenberg

Best Achievement in Production Design
Lincoln: Rick Carter, Jim Erickson

Best Achievement in Costume Design
Anna Karenina: Jacqueline Durran

Best Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling
Les Misérables: Lisa Westcott, Julie Dartnell

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score:
Life of Pi: Mychael Danna

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song:
Skyfall: Adele, Paul Epworth ("Skyfall")

Best Achievement in Sound Mixing
Les Misérables: Andy Nelson, Mark Paterson, Simon Hayes

Best Achievement in Sound Editing: TIE
Skyfall: Per Hallberg, Karen M. Baker
Zero Dark Thirty: Paul N.J. Ottosson

Best Achievement in Visual Effects:
Life of Pi: Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik De Boer, Donald Elliott

Best Documentary, Features
Searching for Sugar Man: Malik Bendjelloul, Simon Chinn

Best Documentary, Short Subjects
Inocente: Sean Fine, Andrea Nix

Best Short Film, Animated
Paperman: John Kahrs

Best Short Film, Live Action
Curfew): Shawn Christensen

"Argo" Wins Best Picture Oscar

Best Motion Picture of the Year:

Argo: Grant Heslov, Ben Affleck, George Clooney WINNER

Amour: Margaret Ménégoz
Beasts of the Southern Wild: Dan Janvey, Josh Penn, Michael Gottwald
Django Unchained: Stacey Sher, Reginald Hudlin, Pilar Savone
Les Misérables: Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Debra Hayward, Cameron Mackintosh
Life of Pi: Gil Netter, Ang Lee, David Womark
Lincoln: Steven Spielberg, Kathleen Kennedy
Silver Linings Playbook: Donna Gigliotti, Bruce Cohen, Jonathan Gordon
Zero Dark Thirty: Mark Boal, Kathryn Bigelow, Megan Ellison

Note:  Winner announced by First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama.

Daniel Day-Lewis Wins "Best Actor Oscar" for "Lincoln"

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role:

Daniel Day-Lewis for Lincoln WINNER

Bradley Cooper for Silver Linings Playbook
Hugh Jackman for Les Misérables
Joaquin Phoenix for The Master
Denzel Washington for Flight

Note:  Daniel Day-Lewis becomes the first actor to win three times in this category.

Jennifer Lawrence Wins Best Actress Oscar for "Silver Linings Playbook"

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role:

Jennifer Lawrence for Silver Linings Playbook WINNER

Jessica Chastain for Zero Dark Thirty
Emmanuelle Riva for Amour
Quvenzhané Wallis for Beasts of the Southern Wild
Naomi Watts for The Impossible

Ang Lee Wins "Best Director Oscar" for "Life of Pi"

Best Achievement in Directing:

Ang Lee for Life of Pi WINNER

Michael Haneke for Amour
David O. Russell for Silver Linings Playbook
Steven Spielberg for Lincoln
Benh Zeitlin for Beasts of the Southern Wild

"Django Unchained" Wins Best Original Screenplay Oscar

Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen:

Django Unchained: Quentin Tarantino WINNER

Amour: Michael Haneke
Flight: John Gatins
Moonrise Kingdom: Wes Anderson, Roman Coppola
Zero Dark Thirty: Mark Boal