"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

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

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”

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

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"

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

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.