Monthly Archives: January 2014

Jan 14 2014
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Cinema Audio Society Nominees

cas-50th-slider

At the Oscars there are 2 different sound categories: Sound Mixing (sometimes just “Sound”) and Sound Editing. Don’t know the difference? Here’s a quick primer…

Sound Editing is creating  sounds and sound effects. It might be the slamming of a car door that couldn’t be recorded during filming. Or it could be inventing a completely new sound, like Chewbacca’s growl or the Tardis’ whirr. The latter is also known as Foley. (It is something of a pipe-dream of mine to someday learn to be a Foley artist.)

Sound Mixing is the final mix of all sounds, dialogue, and score, whether recorded during filming or in post-production.

The Cinema Audio Society (CAS) is the sound mixers’ guild. Their awards nominations give us an idea of the direction the Oscars’ Sound Mixing category might take, but there are usually a couple differences. This year likely Oscar contenders All Is Lost and Rush were left off their list, though I’m at a loss for what either of those might replace.

Here’s the full list of CAS Award nominees…

Motion Picture – Live Action
“Captain Phillips”
“Gravity”
“Inside Llewyn Davis”
“Iron Man 3”
“Lone Survivor”

Motion Picture – Animated
“The Croods”
“Despicable Me 2”
“Frozen”
“Monsters University”
“Walking With Dinosaurs”

Television Movie or Mini-Series
“American Horror Story: Coven” — “The Replacements”
“Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome”
“Behind the Candelabra”
“Bonnie and Clyde: (Night Two) Part Two”
“Phil Spector”

Television Series – 1 Hour
“Boardwalk Empire” — “Erlkönig”
“Breaking Bad” — “Felina”
“Game of Thrones” — “The Rains of Castamere”
“Homeland” — “Good Night”
“The Walking Dead” — “Home”

Television Series – 1/2 Hour
“Californication” — “I’ll Lay My Monsters Down”
“Modern Family” — “Goodnight Gracie”
“Nurse Jackie” — “Teachable Moments”
“The Office” — “Finale”
“Parks and Recreation” — “Leslie and Ben”

Television Non-Fiction, Variety or Music Series or Specials
“2013 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony”
“Deadliest Catch” — “The Final Battle”
“History of the Eagles — Part One”
“Killing Lincoln”
“Mike Tyson:  Undisputed Truth”

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Jan 13 2014
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What Does the Split Say?

gravity 12 years hustle split

Last night the Golden Globes decided to go with a 3-way Split, awarding their two Best Picture awards to 12 Years a Slave and American Hustle, while giving Best Director to Alfonso Cuarón for Gravity.

When it comes to the Oscars, Picture/Director splits are very rare and hard to predict (though it did happen last year). In the vast majority of cases Best Picture and Best Director go hand in hand. This makes sense: if you believe a film is really “best,” then you have to know that the director is a huge part of that.

Example: Back in 2011, by the time the Oscars rolled around, those of us reading the tea leaves had all bowed our heads to the stupid-but-inevitable fact that The King’s Speech would beat The Social Network for Best Picture, but many of us, myself included, held out hope for the vastly superior David Fincher to prevail in Director anyway. That was a bad bet – the voters liked TKS better and they rewarded director Tom Hooper for it.

So naturally it would seem to make sense that this tendency would hold true for the Golden Globes as well, right? Well, I decided to go do a little research. The results surprised me…

14 out of the 33 years the Globes have been around, they’ve awarded Best Director to a film that didn’t win Best Pic in either Drama or Comedy/Musical. Almost 50%. In fact is 50% if you just look at the last 10, when the 3-way split happened 5 times. So then the question becomes why. What the difference? What makes the HFPA more willing to “spread the wealth” than the Academy?

The more I think about it, the only answer that makes sense is the dual categories. With two Best Picture options but only one Director, they are guaranteed to have a split EVERY YEAR, in at list one of their favorite films. So if they’re comfortable not awarding one of the directors, maybe that makes it feel more OK to pass over the other one too.

So does the Globes split give us any insight into how we should expect the rest of the season to play out? Well with a 50% track record that doesn’t really seem to match up with Ocsar, the answer would seem to be no. But this year, within in the context of other awards and nominations we’ve seen so far, I do think there’s a take-away to be had.

Among the nominations and awards from various critics’ groups, 12 Years and Gravity appear to be neck and neck, with Hustle not far behind. Among the industry guild nominations so far, Hustle has hit the mark with as many if not more groups than any other. Gravity may seem behind on the guild side, but it was never going to get a SAG Ensemble nomination, and the popular opinion seems to be (however incorrectly) that its Screenplay is just as sparse as its cast and similarly unwarranted of recognition, just based on structure.

All this is to say we have a real 3-way tie on our hands. And the Globes split just confirmed it. In previous years it may not have meant much. In 2008 for example, neither Sweeney Todd nor The Diving Bell and the Butterfly were ever going to with the Oscar, and Atonement was already losing steam to No Country for Old Men. The Globes just wanted to be contradictory that year, for whatever reason. But this year their split seems to reinforce the fact that we have a real race for once. There’s no good way yet to predict which of the 3 will ultimately prevail.

And that’s exciting! This is the kind of thing that makes following the awards races fun. It’s been a long time since there was this kind of uncertainty in the Best Picture race. In various acting and other races? Sure, that happens fairly regularly. But not in Best Picture.

In a week, when the Oscar nominations come out, we may know more. And shortly after that, when the guilds begin announcing their winners, it may be all over but the shouting. But until then, I choose to embrace the uncertainty and enjoy it while it lasts. We don’t get this very often. It’s fun!

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Jan 12 2014
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2014 Golden Globe Awards: LIVE-BLOG EVENT!

golden-globes-logo

Keep your finger on that F5 (refresh) key, as I’ll be updating this page regularly throughout the show.

  • Supporting Actress – Jennifer Lawrence, American Hustle
  • Supporting Actress, TV – Jaqueline Bisset, Dancing On the Edge
  • TV Mini Series/Movie – Behind the Candelabra
  • Actress TV Mini Series/Movie – Elizabeth Moss, Top of the Lake
  • Actor, TV Drama – Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
  • TV Drama – Breaking Bad
  • Score – Alex Ebert, All Is Lost
  • Song – U2, “Ordinary Love,” Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom !!!!!!!!
  • Supporting Actor, TV – Jon Voight, Ray Donovan
  • Actress, Comedy – Amy Adams, American Hustle
  • Actress, TV Drama – Robin Wright, House of Cards
  • Supporting Actor – Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club
  • Screenplay – Spike Jonze, Her
  • Actor, TV Comedy – Andy Samberg, Brooklyn Nine-Nine
  • Foreign Language Film – The Great Beauty
  • Actor, TV Mini Series/Movie – Michael Douglas, Behind the Candelabra
  • Animated Film – Frozen
  • Actress TV Comedy – Amy Poehler, Parks & Recreation
  • Cecil B. DeMille Award: Woody Allen
  • Director – Alfonso Cuarón
  • TV Comedy – Brooklyn Nine-Nine
  • Actor, Comedy – Leonardo DiCaprio, The Wolf of Wall Street
  • Film, Comedy/Musical – American Hustle
  • Actress, Drama – Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
  • Actor, Drama – Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club
  • Film, Drama – 12 Years a Slave

Things will get under way at 7pm Central. The broadcast is on NBC (Channel 5 here in St Louis). As a final reminder, you can check out my predictions HERE, and you can print your own ballots HERE.

And don’t forget, let me know your own thoughts in the comments!!!

6:00 – One hour to go! Pizza is ordered. My station is set up. The cats have encircled me. And the Broncos/Chargers game is nearing the end. (Not looking so good for SD.)

6:37 – Red carpet coverage going on now. I’ll be honest, I don’t pay as much attention to this stuff. I’ll probably spend the next 23 minutes flipping back and forth with the football game.

Mmm… that menu sounds yummy!… Aaand right on cue, the pizza is here. Perfect timing!

7:00 – AND WE’RE OFF…!!!

Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are killing it. I love these two. The Gravity bit was hilarious…. “I’m on a Boat” adapted into Captain Phillips!

Lawrence is good on stage. Her cute stammering is the kind of thing that will keep them getting her on stage… Bisset: Everything is just taking way too long. I usually hate it, when they try to play people off stage and cut speeches short, but they gave her PLENTY chance. You have to be more aware than that.

I really want to see Behind the Candelabra. I’ve heard so many wonderful things. In Europe it was released in theaters, and it’s getting a lot of film nominations from European groups.

Breaking news: Matt Damon has just signed for the lead in the newest superhero movie: The Garbageman.

Eeek! Technical difficulties: please stand by. The computer I was using to update this just turned itself off!

…Aaaand we’re back. Whew! That was annoying. Luckily didn’t miss to much. Just the presidents stupid speech that uses the same stupid joke every year, and an intro to Wolf of Wall St.

Ok that’s seriously awesome to see and hear from the real Philomena Lee. If you haven’t seen this movie yet, you should.

For those who don’t know, Alex Ebert is “Edward Sharpe” from Edward Sharp and the Magnetic Zeros. I’ve seen them live here at The Pageant here in St Louis. They put on a great show!

U2 winning Best Song is the first pretty major upset we’ve had tonight. My guess would be that the songs from Frozen and Inside Llewyn Davis, split the vote and this one slipped between. Don’t expect this to happen at the Oscars since “Please, Mr. Kennedy” is ineligible for that award. “Let It Go” is still the surest lock there is at the Oscars this year.

Voight sounds like he’s struggling up there. Maybe it really was just nerves.

Robert Downey, Jr. is great as always. I see Adams is sticking with the plunging neckline that helped her to this award. No, that’s not fair; she was actually really fantastic in that movie, and she’s continually proving herself to be a great actress, cleavage or no. Still, after her and Lawrence, we could be looking at a huge haul by American Hustle before the nigh is over.

Oh man I’m dying from Poehler as “Randy”… “Is it him?” Bwahahahaaa!!!

“I believe it was Shia LeBoef who said that.” HAAAA!!!!! Zing!

Very happy for Leto, and his shout-out to the “Rayons” of the world.

Emma Thompson holding a martini in one hand and her shoes in the other. This is why I love the Globes!

So far I’m 3 for 6 in film categories and 3 for 7 in TV for a whooping 6 out of 13 overall. If you followed my predictions, I’m sorry.

The Great Beauty has been winning a number of awards, so it’s not that much of a surprise.

The bit with Melissa McCarthy thinking she’s Matt Damon, was a great concept, and I think it could’ve been pulled off a lot better if Jimmy Fallon hadn’t hogged the mic and let her play with it more.

Emma Watson and Chris Pine were stupidly underused. I blinked and practically missed them. It’s like why were they even there. That was a lot of money well spent.

Yay Amy Poehler! I love Park & Rec!! Funny how show so confident and great as a host, but tripping all over herself in her acceptance speech.

I like the video retrospective of Woody Allen’s seemingly endless filmography. Nice Speech by Diane Keaton. but did they really cut the sound for so long because she was going to say “goddamn”??? Fucking censors.

If they relly wanted to make these shows shorter, producers could get rid of all these previews for the nominated films. Useless.

Really excited for the great Cuaron. Maybe there really will be a 3-way 4-way split (with Her getting screenplay)!!

So that’s it for the TV awards. I ended up going 5 for 11 in my TV predictions. Really not that surprised. I just don’t follow TV as much as I do films.

Alright, DiCaprio!! This is the best work of his career, so damn right he deserves this! But will he crack the top 5 for the Oscar?, He seems to be in 6th place, but if he beat Bruce Dern here, maybe he can get in. It would be a real shame if Dern missed out on his nomination because of it though. He deserves some serious recognition too.

Oh nice, the real Nikki Lauda is a treat to see. Fun! Rush was a fantastic film. It’s not getting near as much awards recognition as it deserves.

Hustle‘s win is not a surprise, but again I must repeat my own opinion: It’s a finely made, and excellently acted movie, but it’s just not good enough to be considered “Best Film” in ANY category. There were soooo many better movies this year, and several of them were nominated against it.

Blanchett is really getting good practice with giving speeches. I’m sure she’ll need it, come March.

The McConnaissance continues! Great speech. His is the best of the night so far. about time we finally have a really good, funny, memorable speech from a great winner.

And there it is. The split happened after all! It really is something to be amazed about, because it’s so rare that a best director’s film doesn’t win picture in either category. What it really says is that we’re no closer at the end of this night than we were before to knowing who is actually in the lead for the Oscar.

The Best Pic Oscar really does seem like a 3-way tie now, between 12 Years, Gravity, and Hustle. When the SAG, PGA, and DGA announce their winners, we may have a clearer idea, but for now it’s totally up in the air.

And that’s exciting! We haven’t had a race this good in years. Maybe even since I started paying attention 15 years ago. Gladiator v. Traffic v. Crouching Tiger is the first, closest, one that comes to mind. Last year was pretty up in the air early on, but the Globes pretty much sealed the deal for Argo, and then it was all boring after that. This year we still dont know and that’s what makes this whole awards-watching thing fun.

Thanks for staying up and reading and watching with me. This is the first time I’ve ever “live-blogged” anything. It was fun! Thanks again for reading. Good night!!!!

-Aaron

P.S. My predictions got 10/14 for film and 5/11 for TV. Overall 15/25. Not my best. But not my worst either.

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Jan 12 2014
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Golden Globes Predictions

dallas-buyers-club-matthew-mcconaughey-jared-leto

The Golden Globe Awards are tonight, 7pm Central on NBC. And guess what! I will be live-blogging the show right here on The Screen Life! Come visit throughout the night, and keep your finger on that F5 (refresh) key.

To get you in the mood, here are my predictions for the winners. Predicted winners are in bold, and in some cases I labeled an (alternate) where there are tight races. Please keep in mind, these are predictions of who and what I think WILL win, not what SHOULD win. For instance, I was not as big a fan of American Hustle as others, but it’s been gobbling up awards and nominations left and right. It now appears to be in a dead heat 3-way tie for the Best Picture Oscar win (with Gravity and 12 Years a Slave). I expect it to be rewarded handsomely tonight, despite my own misgivings.

Two final notes:

It’s is always a gamble, and usually a bad idea, to predict a split between Best Picture (either drama or comedy) and Director, but in this case it’s such a tight race between the 3 films, I decided to do just that to increase my chances. And as for the TV awards, all my predictions are a complete shot in the dark. I haven’t seen most of those shows, and have paid attention to their awards-buzz even less.

Remember, you can print out your own ballot here, and be sure to join me back here at 7pm Central for the live-blogging event!!!

FILM

Best Picture, Drama

  • 12 Years a Slave
  • Captain Phillips
  • Gravity (alternate)
  • Philomena
  • Rush

Best Picture, Comedy

  • American Hustle
  • Her
  • Inside Llewyn Davis
  • Nebraska
  • The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Director

  • Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity
  • Paul Greengrass, Captain Phillips
  • Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave (alternate)
  • Alexander Payne, Nebraska
  • David O. Russell, American Hustle

Best Actor, Drama

  • Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave (alternate)
  • Idris Elba, Mandela
  • Tom Hanks, Captain Phillips
  • Matthew McConaghey, Dallas Buyers Club
  • Robert Redford, All Is Lost

Best Actress, Drama

  • Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
  • Sandra Bullock, Gravity
  • Judi Dench, Philomena
  • Emma Thompson, Saving Mr Banks
  • Kate Winslet, Labor Day

Best Actor, Comedy

  • Christian Bale, American Hustle
  • Bruce Dern, Nebraska (alternate)
  • Leonardo DiCaprio, The Wolf of Wall Street
  • Oscar Isaac, Inside Llewyn Davis
  • Joaquin Phoenix, Her

Best Actress, Comedy

  • Amy Adams, American Hustle
  • Julie Delpy, Before Midnight
  • Greta Gerwig, Frances Ha
  • Julia Louis Dreyfuss, Enough Said
  • Meryl Streep, August: Osage County (alternate)

Best Supporting Actor

  • Barkhad Abdi, Captain Phillips
  • Daniel Bruhl, Rush
  • Bradley Cooper, American Hustle
  • Michael Fassbender, 12 Years a Slave
  • Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club

Best Supporting Actress

  • Sally Hawkins, Blue Jasmine
  • Jennifer Lawrence, American Hustle
  • Lupita Nyong’o, 12 Years a Slave (alternate)
  • Julia Roberts, August: Osage County
  • June Squibb, Nebraska

Best Screenplay

  • Her, Spike Jonze
  • Nebraska, Bob Nelson
  • Philomena, Jeff Pope and Steve Coogan
  • 12 Years a Slave, John Ridley
  • American Hustle, Eric Warren Singer and David O. Russell (alternate)

Best Foreign Language Film

  • Blue is the Warmest Color (alternate)
  • The Great Beauty
  • The Hunt
  • The Past
  • The Wind Rises

Best Original Song

  • Atlas (Hunger Games)
  • Let it Go (Frozen)
  • Ordinary Love (Mandela)
  • Please Mr. Kennedy (Inside Llewyn Davis) (alternate)
  • Sweeter Fiction (One Chance)

Best Score

  • All is Lost, Alex Ebert
  • Mandela, Alex Heffes
  • Gravity, Steven Price
  • Book Thief, John Williams
  • 12 Years a Slave, Hans Zimmer (alternate)

Best Animated Feature

  • The Croods
  • Despicable Me 2
  • Frozen

===

TELEVISION

Best TV Movie or Miniseries

  • American Horror Story
  • Behind the Candelabra
  • Dancing on the Edge
  • Top of the Lake
  • The White Queen

Best TV Series, Drama

  • Breaking Bad
  • Downton Abbey
  • The Good Wife
  • House of Cards
  • Masters of Sex

Best TV Series, Comedy

  • Brooklyn Nine-Nine
  • The Big Bang Theory
  • Girls
  • Modern Family
  • Parks & Recreation

Best Actress, Miniseries or TV Movie

  • Helena Bonham Carter, Taylor & Burton
  • Rebecca Ferguson, The White Queen
  • Jessica Lange, American Horror Story
  • Helen Mirren, Phil Spector
  • Elisabeth Moss, Top of the Lake

Best Actor, Miniseries or TV Movie

  • Matt Damon, Behind the Candelabra (alternate)
  • Michael Douglas, Behind the Candelabra
  • Chiwetel Ejiofor, Dancing on the Edge
  • Idris Elba, Luther
  • Al Pacino, Phil Spector

Best Actress, Drama

  • Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
  • Tatiana Maslany, Orphan Black
  • Taylor Schilling, Orange is the New Black
  • Kerry Washington, Scandal
  • Robin Wright, House of Cards

Best Actor, Drama

  • Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
  • Liev Schreiber, Ray Donovan
  • Michael Sheen, Masters of Sex
  • Kevin Spacey, House of Cards
  • James Spader, Black List

Best Actress, Comedy

  • Zooey Deschanel, New Girl
  • Lena Dunham, Girls
  • Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
  • Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
  • Amy Poehler, Parks & Recreation

Best Actor, Comedy

  • Jason Bateman, Arrested Development
  • Don Cheadle, House of Lies
  • Michael J. Fox, The Michael J. Fox Show
  • Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory
  • Andy Samberg, Brooklyn Nine-Nine

Best Supporting Actor, TV Movie, Series or Miniseries

  • Josh Charles, The Good Wife
  • Rob Lowe, Behind the Candelabra
  • Aaron Paul, Breaking Bad
  • Corey Stoll, House of Cards
  • Jon Voight, Ray Donovan

Best Supporting Actress, TV Movie, Series or Miniseries

  • Jacqueline Bisset, Dancing on the Edge
  • Janet McTeer, The White Queen
  • Hayden Panettiere, Nashville
  • Monica Potter, Parenthood
  • Sofia Vergara, Modern Family
Jan 10 2014
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Chastain is Brave… Plus: Globes are Coming!

Photo by Annie Leibovitz

Photo by Annie Leibovitz

Jessica Chastain poses as Merida from Pixar’s Brave. This is part of an ongoing series by Disney Parks. You can read all about it and see some behind the scenes shots here. Something about the digital editing seems off, but the concept is glorious.

In other news, The Golden Globe Awards are this Sunday (7pm Central on NBC). In case you need a refresher, you can see the nominees here. Or you can download a printable ballot here.

Sometime the Globes can be even more fun than the Oscars. They may mean less (not that the Oscars mean all that much to begin with), but the celebs in the audience sit at round tables and get to drink. It leads to a looser, more fresh and relaxed night overall. And last time they were on Tina Fey and Amy Poehler were the perfect hosts, just as good if not better than any Oscar host has ever been.

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Jan 10 2014
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Nominavaganza!

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Over the past couple days if missed the chance to post the newly announced nominees from a number of organizations. Well I doubt you’re flocking to me for the latest breaking news, so I guess a couple days late is OK. To make up for lost time, however, I’m going to post them all here at once.

There’s not a lot of analysis to be had. BAFTA is the British version of AMPAS (The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, for those that don’t know, is the group behind the Oscars), and while they might skew a little bit more “Queen and Country”, they tend to like to follow a similar path to their American cousins. The Guilds are always the best predictors of the Oscars, but even then there are usually one or two differences in every category. I made a couple other short notes within the appropriate nominee pages.

Click on the following group names to see their 2014 Nominations…

BAFTA – British Academy of Film and Television Arts
NAACP Image Awards
ACE – American Cinema Editors
Art Directors Guild
ASC – American Society of Cinematographers
Costume Designers Guild
SOC – Society of Camera Operators

Finally, to save time citing everything (it’s public knowledge at this point anyway), I’ll just mention that I got all of this information from my two favorite awards news blogs In Contention and Awards Daily, and from the websites of the individual groups listed.

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Jan 09 2014
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Plans and Goals

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Yesterday The Screen Life turned 1 Week Old!!!* …aaaand I missed it. Yesterday was also the first day I didn’t get a chance to post anything.

My plan for TSL is to, as much as possible, post something once a day. It could be anything: original reviews, essays, or other commentary, or just something amusing I found online. I want to get into a habit of regular posting. If I miss a day here or there, it’s no big deal. But if I start to miss several in a row, it will quickly grow more and more urgent for me to pick up the pace. I’m hoping this method of self-motivation will help TSL from quickly going the way of the Coelacanth.

I’ve seen so many blogs follow the same track: A regular two-posts-per-week schedule gives way to one every two weeks. That becomes once a month, and then every two or three or six months. It gradually slips into hibernation, occasionally hiccuping to brief life once a year or so before going dormant again. Eventually it fades into just another relic in the flotsam of the internet.

I’m certainly not knocking those writers – many of you reading this have likely had similar experiences with your own blogs. In my own experience, among close friends and family, the cause of atrophy is not a lack of dedication. It’s a simple case of “I’ve got more important things to do with my time.” And it’s true: in the grand scheme of careers and families and lives to live, a personal blog has a hard time competing for importance.

But I do have a very broad goal for TSL and its place in my life. I want to use it to practice and improve my speed and skills as a writer. I want to think of myself as a journalist. I want to grow readership outside my extended friends and family. I want to grow a brand. I want to use TSL as a professional calling card. Perhaps even one day I could develop a following large and loyal enough to be able to sell ad space. In the most ideal scenario – and surely the most unrealistic – I will have self-started my very own career as a professional critic and journalist.

I’m probably setting my sights way too high. Perhaps I’m even setting myself up for failure. If I can’t keep up with my one-a-day plan, will I get dejected and give up entirely? Maybe. I have had that tendency in the past. But I’ve been developing the idea of this blog in my head for years. I’ve noted some of the common pitfalls. If I can keep up this pace, if I can take a different track, if it can give me a possible chance of success, I want to give myself that opportunity.

Despite what I said before, several of my friends have had success and longevity in their blogs.  I look to them as role models.  If that’s you, and you’re reading this, please please please impart all the secrets of success you have learned. The comments section is right down there. Let me pick your brain!

I made 14 posts in the first 7 days. Either way you look, I think that’s a good start.

And there’s more coming! In the next few days you can expect to see posts on lots more more nominations (from BAFTA, Costume Designers Guild, Cinematographers Guild, Art Directors Guild and more), plus a push for my favorite blog reader.

To all of you who have stuck with me for the first week, and the more to come, thank you for reading The Screen Life!!!

-Aaron

 

*My brother also turned ** years old, yesterday. Happy birthday, Jay Fram!!!

**In the interest of privacy I won’t reveal the exact age. But it’s a nice big round number. Totally the new [**-10].

Jan 07 2014
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DGA Nominations

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The Directors Guild Awards have traditionally been one of the best predictors of the Oscars. Missing out on a nomination or win from the DGA significantly lowers a film’s chances of getting the same from the Academy. Until last year, that is.

Last year all hell broke loose. No less than three of the DGA nominees were not nominated for the Best Director Oscar, including the eventual DGA winner, Ben Affleck. As you may recall, Affleck’s Argo also went on to win Best Picture at the Oscars – a feat which is rare enough without a corresponding Best Director win, but almost unheard of without even a nomination!

The cause for all that chaos and confusion was easily traceable to a simple schedule change. It used to be that the DGA nominees were announced well before the Oscar ballots were due, which meant voters were more influenced by the announcement. But last year they were announced shortly after the ballots were turned in. With a high number of viable contenders, it makes sense that the two groups had differing lists.

This year, the Oscar ballots are due tomorrow (Jan 8), one day after today’s DGA announcement. There could be some slight influence, but with only 24hrs in between, that effect will probably be negligible. That said, I wouldn’t be surprised if the two lists ended up looking very similar again, just like old times.

This year’s DGA nominees are all very strong contenders. Three of them – Cuarón, McQueen, and Russell – are pretty much locks for Oscar nominations, and the other two are really good bets. That said, there are still a number of very strong contenders that didn’t make today’s cut, including the Coen Bros. for Inside Llewyn Davis, Spike Jonze for Her, and Alexander Payne for Nebraska.

The DGA Nominees for Best Director of a Feature Film are…

David O. Russell, American Hustle
Paul Greengrass, Captain Phillips
Alfonso Cuarón, Gravity
Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave
Martin Scorsese, The Wolf of Wall Street

The DGA also awards directors for Television and Documentary Film. As of this this posting, those nominees have not been announced. I will update this page with that information when it becomes available.

EDIT 1/13/14 – Here are the documentary nominees…

Cutie and the Boxer
The Square
The Act of Killing
Stories We Tell
The Crash Reel

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Jan 06 2014
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Snow Day Screen Survival

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This is what my front patio actually looks like right now.

I’ve been stuck at home for 4 days in a row – at first by a nasty head cold and now by the biggest snowstorm I’ve ever seen in St Louis. High temps are in the negatives, my car is blocked by 2ft drifts, and my nose is still running like the Mighty Mississip. All of which leaves me to turn to – where else? My screens.

The oft-used metaphor of a screen as a window is an apt one. Trapped as I am, my computer is my window to the outside world, the TV to worlds beyond. I can still be socially present, keep up with everything that’s happening, create original work (this blog), and keep myself entertained. (I know my poor fiancé is getting cabin fever, but I’m actually kind of enjoying this.)

My daily screen schedule has consisted of, in various order:

  • Phone:
    • Texts
    • Notifications
  • Computer:
  • TV:
    • NFL playoffs
    • Game of Thrones on HBO Go
    • Netflix
      • Sherlock
      • Dr. Who
      • Futurama
      • Star Trek Voyager
      • Various movies
    • MarioKart on the Wii
    • Assorted DVD’s

That’s a lot of screen time. Thank goodness for Google Chromecast, by the way. For those of you unfamiliar, it’s a $35 thumb-drive-looking thing that goes into your HDMI port and lets you stream from Chrome and a handful of other apps directly to the TV. It’s still got a ways to go – needs more apps to support it – but already this little dongle has revolutionized our TV habits.

The arguments for screens separating us from the real world have their validity, but on days like today, they serve just the opposite. I mean, what else would I do with myself? Read a book? Oh wait, yeah, I could do that.

Jan 04 2014
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Six Documentaries from Oscar’s Shortlist Available Online

Stories We Tell

The Academy has shortlisted 15 titles for the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature. Thanks to Indiewire for finding six of them that are currently available for streaming online – even more if you have an HBO account. Check out the full list here.

This is a great find; it’s usually very hard for the average person to get a chance to see these films. Most of them opened in very limited release and didn’t stay in theaters long when they did. The only one I’ve seen so far is Blackfish – I highly recommend it to everyone – but I’ve also heard some really excellent things about The Act of Killing and Stories We Tell. The latter was directed by the extremely talented Sarah Polley. The former seems to be in the lead for the eventual Oscar win.

The six available titles are:
“The Act of Killing” (iTunes)
“Blackfish” (Netflix)
“Cutie and the Boxer” (Netflix)
“Dirty Wars” (Netflix)
“20 Feet from Stardom” (iTunes)
“Stories We Tell” (Amazon Instant Video)

All of them have a pretty good chance of making the final nominations, but especially The Act of Killing and Stories We Tell.

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