2014 Chicago Film Critics Association Award Nominations - Complete List

The Chicago Film Critics Association (CFCA) is a tax-exempt, not-for-profit organization that hands out the Chicago Film Critics Awards, hold critics roundtables, and takes on industry and artists’ rights issues. The parent association was founded in 1990 by film critic Sue Kiner after the successful launch of the Chicago Film Critics Awards in 1989.

Now in its 25th year, the CFCA will announce its winners during its year-end awards dinner to be held on the evening of Monday, December 15, 2014.

2014 CFAC Award nominations:

BEST PICTURE
Birdman
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Under the Skin
Whiplash

BEST DIRECTOR
Wes Anderson--The Grand Budapest Hotel
David Fincher--Gone Girl
Alejandro G. Inarritu--Birdman
Richard Linklater--Boyhood
Christopher Nolan—Interstellar

BEST ACTOR
Benedict Cumberbatch--The Imitation Game
Jake Gyllenhaal--Nightcrawler
Michael Keaton--Birdman
David Oyelowo--Selma
Eddie Redmayne--The Theory of Everything

BEST ACTRESS
Marion Cotillard--Two Days, One Night
Scarlett Johansson--Under the Skin
Julianne Moore--Still Alice
Rosamund Pike--Gone Girl
Reese Witherspoon—Wild

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Josh Brolin--Inherent Vice
Ethan Hawke--Boyhood
Edward Norton--Birdman
Mark Ruffalo--Foxcatcher
J.K. Simmons—Whiplash

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Patricia Arquette--Boyhood
Jessica Chastain--A Most Violent Year
Laura Dern--Wild
Agata Kulesza--Ida
Emma Stone—Birdman

BEST ORIGNAL SCREENPLAY
Birdman--Alejandro G. Inarritu, Nicolas Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris and Armando Bo
Boyhood--Richard Linklater
Calvary--John Michael McDonagh
The Grand Budapest Hotel--Wes Anderson
Whiplash--Damien Chazelle

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Gone Girl--Gillian Flynn
The Imitation Game--Graham Moore
Inherent Vice--Paul Thomas Anderson
Under the Skin--Walter Campbell & Jonathan Glazer
Wild--Nick Hornby

BEST FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM
Force Majeure
Ida
Mommy
The Raid 2
Two Days, One Night

BEST DOCUMENTARY
Citizenfour
Jodorowsky's Dune
Last Days in Vietnam
Life Itself
The Overnighters

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Big Hero 6
The Boxtrolls
How to Train Your Dragon 2
The Lego Movie
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya

BEST ART DIRECTION/PRODUCTION DESIGN
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Interstellar
Into The Woods
Only Lovers Left Alive
Snowpiercer

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Birdman--Emmanuel Lubezki
The Grand Budapest Hotel--Robert Yeoman
Ida--Ryszard Lenczewski and Lukasz Zal
Inherent Vice--Robert Elswit
Interstellar--Hoyte Van Hoytema

BEST EDITING
Birdman--Douglas Crise and Stephen Mirrion
Boyhood--Sandra Adair
Gone Girl--Kirk Baxter
The Grand Budapest Hotel--Barney Pilling
Whiplash--Tom Cross

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Birdman--Antonio Sanchez
The Grand Budapest Hotel--Alexandre Desplat
The Imitation Game--Alexandre Desplat
Interstellar--Hans Zimmer
Under the Skin--Mica Levi

MOST PROMISING PERFORMER
Ellar Coltrane--Boyhood
Gugu Mbatha-Raw--Belle/Beyond the Lights
Jack O'Connell--Starred Up/Unbroken
Tony Revolori--The Grand Budapest Hotel
Jenny Slate--Obvious Child
Agata Trzebuchowska—Ida

MOST PROMISING FILMMAKER
Damien Chazelle--Whiplash
Dan Gilroy--Nightcrawler
Jennifer Kent--The Babadook
Jeremy Saulnier--Blue Ruin
Justin Simien--Dear White People

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2014 San Diego Film Critics Award Nominations - Complete List

The members of the San Diego Film Critics Society write and/or broadcast for a San Diego County based outlet.  The society’s mission statement is “to provide diverse critical opinion about movies, advance film education and awareness, and recognize excellence in cinema.”

2014 San Diego Film Critics Award winners will be announced Monday, December 15, 2014.

San Diego Film Critics Society Top Films of 2014 nominees:

Best Film
"Boyhood"
"Gone Girl"
"The Grand Budapest Hotel"
"Nightcrawler"
"Selma"
"The Theory of Everything"

Best Director
Alejandro González Iñárritu, "Birdman"
Richard Linklater, "Boyhood"
David Fincher, "Gone Girl"
Wes Anderson, "The Grand Budapest Hotel"
Dan Gilroy, "Nightcrawler"

Best Actor
Ralph Fiennes, "The Grand Budapest Hotel"
Brendan Gleeson, "Calvary"
Jake Gyllenhaal, "Nightcrawler"
Tom Hardy, "Locke"
Michael Keaton, "Birdman"
Eddie Redmayne, "The Theory of Everything"

Best Actress
Marion Cotillard, "Two Days, One Night"
Felicity Jones, "The Theory of Everything"
Rosamund Pike, "Gone Girl"
Hilary Swank, "The Homesman"
Mia Wasikowska, "Tracks"

Best Supporting Actor
Riz Ahmed, "Nightcrawler"
Ethan Hawke, "Boyhood"
Edward Norton, "Birdman"
J.K. Simmons, "Whiplash"
Mark Ruffalo, "Foxcatcher"

Best Supporting Actress
Patricia Arquette, "Boyhood"
Carrie Coon, "Gone Girl"
Keira Knightly, "The Imitation Game"
Rene Russo, "Nightcrawler"
Emma Stone, "Birdman"

Best Original Screenplay
"Birdman"
"Boyhood"
"The Grand Budapest Hotel"
"Locke"
"Nightcrawler"

Best Adapted Screenplay
"The Fault in Our Stars"
"Gone Girl"
"The Theory of Everything"
"Unbroken"
"Wild"

Best Foreign Language Film
"Force Majeure"
"Heli"
"Ida"
"Two Days, One Night"
"Venus in Fur"

Best Documentary
"CITIZENFOUR"
"Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me"
"Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me"
"Last Days in Vietnam"
"Life Itself"

Best Animated Film
"Big Hero 6"
"The Boxtrolls"
"How to Train Your Dragon 2"
"The LEGO Movie"
"The Nut Job"

Best Cinematography
"Force Majeure" (Fredrik Wenzel)
"Interstellar" (Hoyte van Hoytema)
"Gone Girl" (Jeff Cronenweth)
"Nightcrawler" (Robert Elswit)
"Unbroken" (Roger Deakins)

Best Editing
"Boyhood" (Sandra Adair)
"Edge of Tomorrow" (James Herbert, Laura Jennings)
"Gone Girl" (Kirk Baxter)
"The Grand Budapest Hotel" (Barney Pilling)
"Nightcrawler" (John Gilroy)

Best Production Design
"The Grand Budapest Hotel" (Adam Stockhausen, Anna Pincock)
"Into the Woods" (Dennis Gassner & Anna Pinnock)
"The Theory of Everything" (John Paul Kelly)
"The Imitation Game" (Maria Djurkovic)
"Interstellar" (Nathan Crowley)

Best Score
"Birdman" (Antonio Sanchez)
"Gone Girl" (Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross)
"The Grand Budapest Hotel" (Alexandre Desplat)
"The Imitation Game" (Alexandre Desplat)
"Nightcrawler" (James Newton Howard)

Best Ensemble
"Birdman"
"Boyhood"
"The Grand Budapest Hotel"
"The Imitation Game"
"Selma"

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2014 St. Louis Film Critics Award Nominations - Complete List

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.

Winners of the 2014 SLFC Awards will be announced on Monday, December 15, 2014.  The nominations follow.

2014 SLFC Award nominations:

Best Picture
"Birdman"
"Boyhood"
"Gone Girl"
"The Grand Budapest Hotel"
"The Imitation Game"

Best Director
Alejandro Gozalez Inarritu, "Birdman"
Richard Linklater, "Boyhood"
Wes Anderson, "The Grand Budapest Hotel"
David Fincher, "Gone Girl"
Morten Tyldum, "The Imitation Game"

Best Actor
Benedict Cumberbatch, "The Imitation Game"
Jake Gyllenhaal, "Nightcrawler"
Tom Hardy, "Locke"
Michael Keaton, "Birdman"
Eddie Redmayne, "The Theory of Everything"

Best Actress
Marion Cotillard, "Two Days, One Night"
Felicity Jones, "The Theory of Everything"
Julianne Moore, "Still Alice"
Rosamund Pike, "Gone Girl"
Reese Witherspoon, "Wild"

Best Supporting Actor
Josh Brolin, "Inherent Vice"
Ethan Hawke, "Boyhood"
Edward Norton, "Birdman"
Tony Revolori, "The Grand Budapest Hotel"
Mark Ruffalo, "Foxcatcher"
J.K. Simmons, "Whiplash"

Best Supporting Actress
Patricia Arquette, "Boyhood"
Jessica Chastain, "A Most Violent Year"
Carrie Coon, "Gone Girl"
Mackenzie Foy, "Interstellar"
Kiera Knightley, "The Imitation Game"
Emma Stone, "Birdman"

Best Adapted Screenplay
"Gone Girl"
"Guardians of the Galaxy"
"The Imitation Game"
"The Theory of Everything"
"Unbroken"

Best Original Screenplay
"Birdman"
"Boyhood"
"Locke"
"The Grand Budapest Hotel"
"Nightcrawler"
"Whiplash"

Best Art Direction
"Gone Girl"
"The Grand Budapest Hotel"
"Mr. Turner"
"Nightcrawler"
"Snowpiercer"
"Under the Skin"

Best Cinematography
"Birdman"
"Gone Girl"
"The Grand Budapest Hotel"
"Interstellar"
"Nightcrawler"
"Unbroken"

Best Music Score
"Birdman"
"Gone Girl"
"The Grand Budapest Hotel"
"Inherent Vice"
"Interstellar"
"Under the Skin"

Best Music Soundtrack
"Begin Again"
"Boyhood"
"Get On Up"
"Guardians of the Galaxy"
"Into the Woods"
"Whiplash"

Best Visual Effects
"Birdman"
"Dawn of the Planet of the Apes"
"The Grand Budapest Hotel"
"Guardians of the Galaxy"
"Interstellar"
"Noah"

Best Animated Film
"Big Hero 6"
"The Book of Life"
"The Boxtrolls"
"How to Train Your Dragon 2"
"The LEGO Movie"
"The Penguins of Madagascar"

Best Documentary
"CITIZENFOUR"
"Finding Vivian Maier"
"Jodorowsky’s Dune"
"Life Itself"
"Red Army"
"Rich Hill"

Best Foreign Film
"Force Majeure"
"Gloria"
"Human Capital"
"Ida"
"Two Days, One Night"

Best Comedy
"The Grand Budapest Hotel"
"Guardians of the Galaxy"
"Obvious Child"
"St. Vincent"
"22 Jump Street"

Best Arthouse
"Boyhood"
"Calvary"
"Frank"
"The Grand Budapest Hotel"
"Locke"
"Whiplash"

Best Scene
"Birdman" (Times Square)
"Guardians of the Galaxy" (Prison Break)
"Selma" (Church Bombing)
"Whiplash" (Finale drum solo)
"22 Jump Street" (End Credits)
"X-Men: Days of Future Past" (Quicksilver Pentagon Escape)

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Zoe Saladana Talks "Franchises," Nina Simone and Guardians of the Galaxy

Walt Disney Home Entertainment provided the following question-and-answer interview with actor Zoe Saldana as a promotion for its Blu-ray and DVD release of Marvel Studios' Guardians of the Galaxy.  "Q" is the anonymous questioner and "A" is Ms. Saldana:

AN INTERVIEW WITH ZOE SALDANA (GAMORA) FOR THE IN HOME RELEASE OF GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY

Q: So did all cast members get their make-up done together?

A: No, we didn’t; we had separate bungalows. It was only when we were all on set, all grey or green or blue and we couldn’t touch anything because we would just smear paint and stuff all over everything. We’d all sit together and Dave would be eating a super-healthy meal, I’d be having some fish and chips and Chris would be asking me: ‘So how’s the texture? Do you like the fish?’ He couldn’t eat it himself because he was on a strict diet so he was always asking me what my food tasted like.

Q: How did you while away the long hours in the make-up chair?

A: Listening to music, talking… Sometimes I’d ask about Dave and was told, ‘This dude is meditating – he sits there and doesn’t move for hours’ whereas sometimes they couldn’t even get me to sit down in the chair. My make-up artist, who I brought over from the States, would go ‘You need to sit down, get your dog and take a nap, otherwise we’ll be in trouble because I have to work on you’. My dog and I would wake up and we’d both be green!

Q: What’s worse, putting the make-up on or taking it off?

A: Putting it on, trust me. When it comes to taking it off I think it’s easier because you know you’re just 30 minutes away from being in a hot tub and then bed. You’re literally ripping it off your face. The skin is flexible and it perspires and it’s ready to have that layer removed so it’s much more cooperative. They also have all these awesome solutions. It took four and a half hours to put it on and maybe an hour and 15 minutes to take off.

Q: You’ve spoken about Dave being very shy. Is it safe to assume from your outgoing personality that you’re far from shy yourself?

A: I’m not shy at all. My mum has asked me to be a little more shy! She’s sometimes like ‘Can you just shut up?’

Q: Since you both have athletic backgrounds, did you and Dave do a lot of your own stunts?

A: We’re every stunt coordinator’s nightmare and every director’s dream. Directors wish their actors could do more of the physical stuff, more of the stunts, just so they don’t have to cut from a wide master shot into a tight close-up. With us, James was able to use many of our medium, master and close-up shots particularly with me, Dave and Chris. The stunt people don’t really like it because we come in and we learn everything within two tries. They get kind of p****d off because they don’t get to work as much. On the other hand, the stunt people who are playing your doubles are super-excited because they get to act [when they’re doubling for an actor]. They don’t have to spend the whole time just falling and getting hurt.

Q: I can’t think of any other actor who has three franchises going at the same time…

A: Wasn’t there someone who had two, like Sylvester Stallone? For many years Sly had First Blood and Rocky, right? [Laughs] And now it’s me? Believe me, this was never planned. In between these big films, I do films like Nina, Out of the Furnace and Blood Ties and Infinitely Polar Bear is coming out next year. It’s just that the big movies happen to get seen more than the small-budget ones I do, but I’m happy with it. I like playing roles where women have more significance – they just happen to be set in space and they just so happen to be made by filmmakers like James Gunn, James Cameron and J.J. Abrams. That’s not a bad list of filmmakers to work with so I say, ‘You know what, I’ll be green here, I’ll be blue there, I don’t care!’

Q: Speaking of Nina, how was it playing Nina Simone in the biopic?

A: It was a very tumultuous affair and I loved making it. We did it with so much love and I think her story is definitely worth telling.

Q: What have you learned from doing so many green screen movies?

A: It’s helped me appreciate the technicalities of filmmaking. It’s also taught me that the best thing is to always remain open and that there’s no such thing as a stupid question. Ask every single question that you can and try to work with filmmakers who will never lose patience with their actors. It’s important for a director to provide as much information, especially when we’re working with things that we have to conceive out of thin air. You can’t just expect an actor to understand: ‘Oh, there’s a dinosaur coming at you”. OK, so I’m going to automatically know how big it is and what it sounds like? I need details. How close does he get to me? How tall is he? What will the impact be of his cry when he’s screaming at me or when he’s blowing smoke or air in my face? James Cameron will bring you speakers that are twice your height and he’ll search the internet to find any sound that resembles as closely as possible the sound he’s looking for. He’ll play it to you seconds before he starts the scene and that is so helpful. I learned to always ask a lot of questions. It’s super-important.

Q: And how was Guardians director James Gunn to work with?

A: He was very generous with all the information we needed to have. He’d show us the animatics, he’d play the music, he’d explain the moment to us and how he envisioned it if we were not capturing the emotional beat as he wanted. He was very much invested even though he was taking care of ten thousand million things at the same time. You don’t want to feel afraid to ask a director something and if you do then that’s not a director you should work with after that.

Q: Do you think James learned anything from you?

A: [Laughs] How to be cool! No, I’m joking. I hope he did learn something. I really feel the wise directors are the ones who learn from their actors in terms of: ‘How can I be a better director? How can I be a better captain? I feel James is not an egotistical person. He’s very passionate and he’s also a little stubborn but in all the right places. He’s like good cholesterol. That’s James Gunn. We had moments where people thought it was tense because I was asking questions or trying to do something one way because I believed in it and James wanted me to do it another way, but we never argued; it was never a hostile environment. Sometimes Chris would go through the same thing -- it was just a passionate moment between all these artists who really care. James never abused his power by saying, ‘Just do it like I said’. He was like, ‘Please trust me, do it this way and we’ll see’. If we did it his way and it didn’t work he’d say really quietly ‘Alright, do it your way’.

Q: Was there a defining moment when you decided you wanted to be an actor?

A: I was a ballet dancer for so long, but when I realized I had reached my limit and that I couldn’t go any further I knew I wanted to pursue acting. That’s one thing you don’t use as a dancer – your voice. [Laughs] And the one thing I use most in my life is my voice so it’s wonderful to get to express myself artistically through the biggest instrument I use. I auditioned for the Scarecrow in The Wiz and my mum went with me because she wouldn’t let me go anywhere alone. She did not think I was good, and I remember we had that conversation of ‘Baby, if you’re going to do this, we need to figure out a plan, like taking a class’. I did and I started reading a lot. There was this book that Judi Dench wrote that said there was a moment where, before an actor can be this or be that, the actor must simply be. I thought that to have absolute presence was to absorb everything that’s thrown at you. I’ve been getting paid for it ever since and [laughs] I haven’t needed an excuse to quit or to do something else.

Q: Do you collect all the action figures based on the characters you’ve played?

A: Here’s the thing. I have nieces and nephews and when they find them in the house, they take them and they end up broken. So there’s no point in me collecting them. One day I walked in to find my niece playing with all the Star Trek figures and eating chocolate at the same time. I was like, ‘It’s OK, take them, I don’t need them, I don’t have to sell them later for $100.’

Guardians of the Galaxy is available on Blu-ray, Digital HD and  Disney Movies Anywhere December 9, 2014


- ENDS -

72nd Golden Globe Award Nominations Announced - Complete List

The Golden Globe Award is a movie accolade bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA). The award recognizes excellence in both film and television. The annual awards ceremony is a major part of the film industry’s award season.

The 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards nominations were announced on Thursday, December 11, 2014. The 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards will be hosted by Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. The ceremony will air on Sunday, January 11, 2015, LIVE coast-to-coast on NBC from 8:00-11:00 p.m. (EST) and 5:00-8:00 p.m. (PST).

2015 / 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards nominations:

FILM CATEGORIES:

Best Motion Picture – Drama

Boyhood

Foxcatcher

The Imitation Game

Selma

The Theory of Everything

Lead Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama

Steve Carell – Foxcatcher

Benedict Cumberbatch – The Imitation Game

Jake Gyllenhaal – Nightcrawler

David Oyelowo – Selma

Eddie Redmayne – The Theory of Everything

Lead Actress in a Motion Picture- Drama

Jennifer Aniston – Cake

Felicity Jones – The Theory of Everything

Julianne Moore – Still Alice

Rosamund Pike – Gone Girl

Reese Witherspoon – Wild

Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical

Birdman

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Into the Woods

Pride

St. Vincent

Lead Actor in a Motion Picture- Comedy or Musical

Ralph Fiennes – Grand Budapest Hotel

Michael Keaton – Birdman

Bill Murray – St. Vincent

Joaquin Phoenix – Inherent Vice

Christoph Waltz – Big Eyes

Lead Actress in a Motion Picture- Comedy or Musical

Amy Adams – Big Eyes

Emily Blunt – Into the Woods

Helen Mirren – The Hundred-Foot Journey

Julianne Moore – Maps to the Stars

Quvenzhané Wallis – Annie

Director

Wes Anderson – Grand Budapest Hotel

David Fincher – Gone Girl

Ava DuVernay – Selma

Alejandro G. Inarritu – Birdman

Richard Linklater – Boyhood

Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture

Robert Duvall – The Judge

Ethan Hawke – Boyhood

Edward Norton – Birdman

Mark Ruffalo – Foxcatcher

J.K. Simmons – Whiplash

Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture

Patricia Arquette – Boyhood

Jessica Chastain – A Most Violent Year

Keira Knightley – The Imitation Game

Emma Stone – Birdman

Meryl Streep – Into the Woods

Screenplay

Wes Anderson – The Grand Budapest Hotel

Gillian Flynn – Gone Girl

Alejandro G. Inarritu, Nicolas Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Armando Bo – Birdman

Richard Linklater – Boyhood

Graham Moore – The Imitation Game

Animated Feature

Big Hero 6

The Book of Life

Boxtrolls

How to Train Your Dragon 2

The Lego Movie

Foreign Film

Force Majeure (Turist), Sweden

Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem Gett, Israel

Ida, Poland/Denmark

Leviathan, Russia

Tangerines (Mandariinid), Estonia

Original Song – Motion Picture

Big Eyes – Big Eyes (Lana Del Rey)

Glory – Selma (John Legend, Common)

Mercy Is – Noah (Patti Smith, Lenny Kaye)

Opportunity – Annie (Greg Kurstin, Sia Furler, Will Gluck)

Yellow Flicker Beat – The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 1 (Lorde)

Original Score – Motion Picture

Alexandre Desplat – The Imitation Game

Johann Johannsson – The Theory of Everything

Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross – Gone Girl

Antonio Sanchez – Birdman

Hans Zimmer – Interstellar

TELEVISION CATEGORIES:

Best TV Drama

The Affair

Downton Abbey

Game of Thrones

The Good Wife

House of Cards

Lead Actor – TV Drama

Clive Owen – The Knick

Liev Schreiber – Ray Donovan

Kevin Spacey – House of Cards

James Spader – The Blacklist

Dominic West – The Affair

Lead Actress – TV Drama

Claire Danes – Homeland

Viola Davis – How to Get Away With Murder

Julianna Margulies – The Good Wife

Ruth Wilson – The Affair

Robin Wright – House of Cards

TV Miniseries or Movie

Fargo

The Missing

True Detective

The Normal Heart

Olive Kitteridge

Actor – TV Miniseries or Movie

Martin Freeman – Fargo

Woody Harrelson – True Detective

Matthew McConaughey – True Detective

Mark Ruffalo – The Normal Heart

Billy Bob Thornton – Fargo

Actress – TV Miniseries or Movie

Maggie Gyllenhaal – The Honorable Woman

Jessica Lange – American Horror Story: Freak Show

Frances McDormand – Olive Kitteridge

Frances O’Connor – The Missing

Alison Tolman – Fargo

Best TV Comedy

Girls

Jane the Virgin

Orange Is the New Black

Silicon Valley

Transparent

Lead Actor – TV Comedy

Don Cheadle – House of Lies

Ricky Gervais – Derek

Jeffrey Tambor – Transparent

Louis C.K. – Louie

William H. Macy – Shameless

Lead Actress – TV Comedy

Lena Dunham – Girls

Edie Falco – Nurse Jackie

Gina Rodriguez – Jane the Virgin

Julia Louis-Dreyfus – Veep

Taylor Schilling – Orange Is the New Black

Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries, or TV movie

Matt Bomer – The Normal Heart

Alan Cumming – The Good Wife

Colin Hanks – Fargo

Bill Murray – Olive Kitteridge

Jon Voight – Ray Donovan

Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries, or TV movie

Uzo Aduba – Orange Is the New Black

Kathy Bates – American Horror Story: Freak Show

Joanne Froggatt – Downton Abbey

Allison Janney – Mom

Michelle Monaghan – True Detective

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

Vin Diesel Talks "Groot" and "Guardians of the Galaxy"

Walt Disney Home Entertainment provided the following question-and-answer interview with actor Vin Diesel as a promotion for its Blu-ray and DVD release of Marvel Studios' Guardians of the Galaxy.  "Q" is the anonymous questioner and "A" is Diesel:

AN INTERVIEW WITH VIN DIESEL (GROOT) FOR THE BLU-RAY AND DVD RELEASE OF GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY

Q: How was it working with a script where your only line is “I am Groot”?

A: I was lucky that I had a director [James Gunn] who was willing to indulge me. I told him: ‘We know that Groot is really saying any number of things when he says that line and most people are oblivious to the nuances of his speech because of his hardened larynx’. All you hear is the growl but he could be saying any number of things and we know that Rocket Raccoon understands him. He doesn’t always tell everybody he understands Groot and he plays on that, but he does understand him. So I asked James: ‘Can you give me a basic idea of what he’s trying to say when he’s saying “I am Groot”?’ James had a 50-page document waiting for me when I came in to do the voice. On the left-hand side of the page it said ‘I am Groot’ and on the right-hand side it had whatever the line really was if you could understand this floral colossus. That was the beginning of trying to go deep into a character like this. In many ways it was the most challenging thing to ask an actor to do. The thespian in me responded to the challenge of not being able to use facial expressions, physicality or a Golum-like vocabulary.

Q: Were there other actors in the recording booth with you?

A: No, there weren’t, but I did have the luxury of being able to watch the film. Both Bradley [Cooper, who plays Rocket] and I had the advantage of being able to play off the other actors by watching them in a rough cut of the film.

Q: Did you do any of the motion-capture for the character?

A: A lot of times in animation, what they’ll do is they’ll film you in the recording booth. So I went in there with stilts so I could actually be seven and a half feet tall. Don’t ask me why, but there was something about it that really helped with the character. In New York acting circles in the 1970s there was this legend that Robert De Niro didn’t know his character until he found that character’s shoes. Who knows how that works? But in its own way it did. For me, being seven and a half feet tall did something. I found myself dropping my shoulders, I was sometimes self-conscious about my height and sometimes I felt very powerful about my height, and it affected the character that way. Groot’s the most innocent character I’ve ever played. I don’t usually play characters who are that innocent.

Q: There’s something of Chewbacca from Star Wars in Groot. Was that deliberate?

A: The similarities are obvious and fun, but it wasn’t what I was thinking, going into it. It’s probably down to James Gunn.

Q: Was that you doing the dance moves for Baby Groot at the end of the film?

A: [Laughs] Yeah, it was.

Q: And what would be the first track on your own Awesome Mix tape?

A: It’d be When the Saints Go Marching In; The Beatles version, by the way, not Elvis Presley’s. I’d also have Rocky Raccoon on there, also by The Beatles. People don’t know that the Rocket Raccoon came from a Beatles song. Who’d ever think that a Marvel character would be inspired by a Beatles song? They just changed him from Rocky to Rocket.

Q: You have millions and millions of Facebook followers. Why do you think that is?

A: I think it’s because I share my thoughts. Remember that movie The Social Network where they showed the beginnings of Facebook? They didn’t even know what they had started because they thought their brilliant idea was to check people’s marital status. [Laughs] But that wasn’t so brilliant. What was so brilliant was the idea of interaction. If I could have interacted with Marlon Brando as a kid, wow! If I could have spoken to him, or written to him, or read from him, or followed him – that is what has made social media what it is, that interaction. When I started on Facebook there was only Obama who had a million fans and he got elected, in part, because of his social media presence. When I started talking on Facebook I was being real. It was almost more therapeutic for me because I’d always been reserved. I’m not out there that much and I’ve always protected and maintained my privacy. I felt detached from my audience in some way, unlike my younger years on stage where you get that immediate gratification and you’re able to see how you’re affecting the fans and the audience. With Facebook, suddenly I was able to interact with people all over the world and essentially create this community. It was a very powerful moment. It was something very special and very therapeutic to me, and it’s something that’s affected the last five years of my career. So much that’s happened and so many of the accomplishments have come from that. In fact, the reason I’m here now talking about this movie is because Facebook fans started creating fan art that put me in the Marvel universe or fantasizing about me as a Marvel character. Then when I met with Marvel we were talking about doing something in the Phase Three, 2017/2018 slot. But social media demanded we do something now and that’s when [Marvel Studios president] Kevin Feige called me two weeks after I’d been to Comic-Con last year, and he said he’d come from the Captain America press junket and the big question was ‘What are you doing with Vin?’ Then he told me ‘You’re a tree’ and all my childhood phobias came back to me. I had to face that fear of walking onto the stage as a seven-year-old and having the director say, ‘Vin, you’re playing the tree’. [Laughs] Now we face our fears!

Q: How do you see the character developing in the next film?

A: I think there’s something very fun in imagining how that might be. I expect we’ll learn more about him. He’s such a complex and fascinating character. He’s a scion of a noble family and probably one of the most intelligent Marvel characters of all. He loses his intelligence every time he dies but he never truly dies and it’s a small price to pay for immortality.

Q: Besides other actors like Marlon Brando, who are your real-life heroes?

A: Well, our mothers are our first heroes. Mine is MY superhero because when I was an infant she was a single mother to me and my twin brother in New York, traveling from the Bronx to Brooklyn with two seven-month-old babies. And now look where I am! She’s a hero in that respect. She’s a special woman. My father is a hero, too.

Q: What drew you to acting in the first place?

A: I started acting at a young age. I remember being five years old and watching my father do roadshow theatre. We went up to Maine and I watched him. He’d dyed his hair white – I remember that. Later I grew up in a government subsidized building for artists in New York and if you made more than $10,000 a year you’d be kicked out of the building. It was kind of a bohemian artists’ community that made art for the sake of art, but for me there was something very therapeutic about acting. I was a kid like everybody else, maybe with a heightened quest for identity. Whenever I would play a role, the parameters of my identity were clear. There was something comforting or therapeutic about that.


Guardians of the Galaxy is available on Blu-ray, Digital HD and Disney Movies Anywhere December 9, 2014

- ENDS -

21st Screen Actors Guild Award Nominations - Film Categories

The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) is an American labor union that represents film and television performers worldwide.  Most people probably know SAG for the various actors’ strikes or for the Screen Actors Guild Award, which SAG uses to honor outstanding performances by its members.  The first SAG Awards ceremony was held in February 1995 (for films released in 1994).

Nominations for the 21st Screen Actors Guild Awards were announced on Wednesday, December 10, 2014.  Winners will be revealed during the Sunday, January 25, 2015 awards ceremony that will be simultaneously telecast on TBS and TNT.

The “Ensemble” categories are SAG's equivalent of a “Best Picture” or “Best Television Series” award.

2015/21st Screen Actors Guild Awards nominations:

THEATRICAL MOTION PICTURES

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
STEVE CARELL / John du Pont – "FOXCATCHER" (Sony Pictures Classics)
BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH / Alan Turing – "THE IMITATION GAME" (The Weinstein Company)
JAKE GYLLENHAAL / Louis Bloom – "NIGHTCRAWLER" (Open Road Films)
MICHAEL KEATON / Riggan – "BIRDMAN" (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
EDDIE REDMAYNE / Stephen Hawking – "THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING" (Focus Features)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
JENNIFER ANISTON / Claire Bennett – "CAKE" (Cinelou Films)
FELICITY JONES / Jane Hawking – "THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING" (Focus Features)
JULIANNE MOORE / Alice Howland – "STILL ALICE" (Sony Pictures Classics)
ROSAMUND PIKE / Amy Dunne – "GONE GIRL" (20th Century Fox)
REESE WITHERSPOON / Cheryl Strayed – "WILD" (Fox Searchlight Pictures)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
ROBERT DUVALL / Joseph Palmer – "THE JUDGE" (Warner Bros. Pictures)
ETHAN HAWKE / Mason, Sr. – "BOYHOOD" (IFC Films)
EDWARD NORTON / Mike – "BIRDMAN" (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
MARK RUFFALO / Dave Schultz – "FOXCATCHER" (Sony Pictures Classics)
J.K. SIMMONS / Fletcher – "WHIPLASH" (Sony Pictures Classics)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
PATRICIA ARQUETTE / Olivia – "BOYHOOD" (IFC Films)
KEIRA KNIGHTLEY / Joan Clarke – "THE IMITATION GAME" (The Weinstein Company)
EMMA STONE / Sam – "BIRDMAN" (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
MERYL STREEP / The Witch – "INTO THE WOODS" (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
NAOMI WATTS / Daka – "ST. VINCENT" (The Weinstein Company)

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture:

BIRDMAN (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
ZACH GALIFIANAKIS / Jake
MICHAEL KEATON / Riggan
EDWARD NORTON / Mike
ANDREA RISEBOROUGH / Laura
AMY RYAN / Sylvia
EMMA STONE / Sam
NAOMI WATTS / Lesley

BOYHOOD (IFC Films)
PATRICIA ARQUETTE / Olivia
ELLAR COLTRANE / Mason
ETHAN HAWKE / Mason, Sr.
LORELEI LINKLATER / Samantha

THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL (FOX SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES)
F. MURRAY ABRAHAM / Mr. Moustafa
MATHIEU AMALRIC / Serge X.
ADRIEN BRODY / Dmitri
WILLEM DAFOE / Jopling
RALPH FIENNES / M. Gustave
JEFF GOLDBLUM / Dep. Kovacs
HARVEY KEITEL / Ludwig
JUDE LAW / Young Writer
BILL MURRAY / M. Ivan
EDWARD NORTON / Henckels
TONY REVOLORI / Zero
SAOIRSE RONAN / Agatha
JASON SCHWARTZMAN / M. Jean
LÉA SEYDOUX / Clotilde
TILDA SWINTON / Madame D
TOM WILKINSON / Author
OWEN WILSON / M. Chuck

THE IMITATION GAME (The Weinstein Company)
MATTHEW BEARD / Peter Hilton
BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH / Alan Turing
CHARLES DANCE / Commander Denniston
MATTHEW GOODE / Hugh Alexander
RORY KINNEAR / Nock
KEIRA KNIGHTLEY / Joan Clarke
ALLEN LEECH / John Cairncross
MARK STRONG / Stewart Menzies

THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING (Focus Features)
CHARLIE COX / Jonathan Hellyer Jones
FELICITY JONES / Jane Hawking
SIMON McBURNEY / Frank Hawking
EDDIE REDMAYNE / Stephen Hawking
DAVID THEWLIS / Dennis Sciama
EMILY WATSON / Beryl Wilde

SAG AWARDS® HONORS FOR STUNT ENSEMBLES

Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture
“FURY” (Columbia Pictures)
“GET ON UP” (Universal Pictures)
“THE HOBBIT: THE BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIES” (Warner Bros. Pictures)
“UNBROKEN” (Universal Pictures)
“X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST” (20th Century Fox)

LIFE ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Screen Actors Guild 51st Annual Life Achievement Award
DEBBIE REYNOLDS