Author Archives: Alftuba

Jan 15 2014
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MPSE Golden Reel Awards Nominees

MPSE_Logo

The Motion Picture Picture Sounds Editors (MPSE) Golden Reel Awards are one of my “secret” favorites. I have this fantasy that one day I’d love to learn to be a sound editor for film and video. I have pretty much zero experience in the matter and no way to fund an education, so it’s a complete pipe dream. Still, a man can dream, can’t he? A man can dream…

For a reminder on the difference between Sound Editing and Sound Mixing, check out my explanation on Cinema Audio Society (the sound mixers guild) nominations post.

The MPSE gave Gravity and 12 Years a Slave the lead with 3 nominations apiece. But the biggest news out of this list is the shocking ZERO nods for Rush. That’s unfortunate, and unexpected. I had been predicting it to get an Oscar nod (see my Oscar Predictions post). But after coming up short with both the sound editors AND mixers guilds, now I’m not so sure.

Here are the Golden Reel Awards Nominees…

Best Sound Editing: Sound Effects and Foley in an English Language Feature
“All Is Lost”
“Captain Phillips”
“Fast & Furious 6”
“Gravity”
“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug”
“Iron Man 3”
“Lone Survivor”
“12 Years a Slave”

Best Sound Editing: Dialogue and ADR in an English Language Feature
“American Hustle”
“August: Osage County”
“Captain Phillips”
“Gravity”
“Her”
“Inside Llewyn Davis”
“Lone Survivor”
“12 Years a Slave”

Best Sound Editing in an Animated Feature (English or Foreign Language)
(Includes ADR, Dialogue, Sound Effects and Foley)
“Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2”
“The Croods”
“Despicable Me 2”
“Epic”
“Ernest & Celestine”
“Frozen”
“Monsters University”
“Planes”

Best Sound Editing in a Foreign Language Feature
(Includes ADR, Dialogue, Sound Effects and Foley)
“Blue Is the Warmest Color”
“The Grandmaster”
“The Past”
“Wadjda”

Best Sound Editing: Music in a Musical Feature (English or Foreign Language)
“Frozen”
“Inside Llewyn Davis”
“Justin Bieber’s Believe”
“Metallica Through the Never”

Best Sound Editing: Music in a Feature (English or Foreign Language)
“American Hustle”
“47 Ronin”
“Gravity”
“The Great Gatsby”
“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug”
“Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom”
“12 Years a Slave”
“World War Z”

Best Sound Editing in a Feature Documentary Feature
“CinemAbility”
“Dirty Wars”
“Good Ol’ Freda”
“Muscle Shoals”
“Rising from Ashes”
“Sound City”
“20 Feet from Stardom”

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Jan 15 2014
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Oscar Predictions

Rush-Chris-Hemsworth-e1380551544303

The Oscar nominations will be announced tomorrow morning. Bright and early at 5:38am Pacific (7:38am Central) Chris Hemsworth and AMPAS president Cheryl Boone Isaacs will deliver the news.

Or at least some of it. The live announcement (usually streamed online – I will update this page with a link tomorrow morning when I have it) is actually just the most major 9 categories. The rest are given in the form of a press release, and announced by most news outlets immediately after. Last year broke with tradition a little bit when Seth MacFarlane also announced Best Song live, presumably because he was one of the nominees. I don’t expect anything like that happening with Hemsworth.

Here are my final predictions for the nominations. My choices are based on a mix of the guilds and other precursors and following other awards watchers. (Kris Tapley, et al over at In Contention are some of the best in the field at predicting these things. Check out their predictions here.) There’s simply no way to predict the short categories so I pretty much skipped those, with the exception of one film I feel is guaranteed of a nomination (and probably an eventual win). I also listed one or two alternates for almost every category to help you with your own predictions.

What do you think? Any stupid choices or glaring omissions? Let me know in the comments!

Best Picture – There can be anywhere from 5-10 nominees, but I think the first 7 are pretty much locked.
12 Years a Slave
American Hustle
Captain Phillips
Dallas Buyers Club
Gravity
Her
Nebraska
If there are 8: The Wolf of Wall Street
If there are 9: Philomena
If there are 10: Saving Mr. Banks
Alternate: Blue Jasmine

Best Director
Alfonso Cuarón, Gravity
Paul Greengrass, Captain Phillips
Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave
Alexander Payne, Nebraska
David O. Russell, American Hustle
Alt: Spike Jonze, Her or Martin Scorsese, The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Actor
Bruce Dern, Nebraska
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Wolf of Wall Street
Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave
Tom Hanks, Captain Phillips
Matthew McConaghey, Dallas Buyers Club
Alt: Robert Redfort, All Is Lost

Best Actress
Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
Sandra Bullock, Gravity
Judi Dench, Philomena
Emma Thompson, Saving Mr Banks
Meryl Streep, August: Osage County
Alt: Amy Adams, American Hustle

Best Supporting Actor
Barkhad Abdi, Captain Phillips
Daniel Brühl, Rush
James Gandolfini, Enough Said
Michael Fassbender, 12 Years a Slave
Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club
Alt: Bradley Cooper, American Hustle

Best Supporting Actress
Jennifer Lawrence, American Hustle
Lupita Nyong’o, 12 Years a Slave
Julia Roberts, August: Osage County
June Squibb, Nebraska
Oprah Winfrey, The Butler
Alt: Octavia Spencer, Fruitvale Station

Best Adapted Screenplay
12 Years a Slave
Before Midnight
Captain Phillips
Philomena
The Wolf of Wall Street
Alt: August: Osage County

Best Original Screenplay
American Hustle
Blue Jasmine
Her
Inside Llewyn Davis
Nebraska
Alt: Gravity; Dallas Buyers Club

Foreign Film
The Broken Circle Breakdown
The Grandmaster
The Great Beauty
The Hunt
Omar
Alt: The Missing Picture

Original Song
Let it Go (Frozen)
Young and Beautiful (The Great Gatsby)
The Moon Song (Her)
Ordinary Love (Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom)
So You Know What It’s Like (Short Term 12)
Alt: Atlas (The Hunger Games: Catching Fire)

Score
12 Years a Slave, Hans Zimmer
All is Lost, Alex Ebert
Gravity, Steven Price
Her, Arcade Fire
The Book Thief, John Williams
Alt: Saving Mr Banks, Thomas Newman

Animated Feature
The Croods
Ernest & Celestine
Frozen
Monsters University
The Wind Rises
Alt: Despicable Me 2

Cinematography
12 Years a Slave
Gravity
Inside Llewyn Davis
Nebraska
Prisoners
Alt: Captain Phillips

Costume Design
12 Years a Slave
American Hustle
The Great Gatsby
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
The Invisible Woman
Alt: Saving Mr. Banks

Editing
12 Years a Slave
American Hustle
Captain Phillips
Gravity
The Wolf of Wall Street
Alt: Rush

Makeup and Hairstyling
American Hustle
Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa
The Lone Ranger
Alt: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Production Design
12 Years a Slave
American Hustle
Gravity
The Great Gatsby
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Alt: Her; Saving Mr. Banks

Sound Editing
All Is Lost
Captain Phillips
Gravity
Lone Survivor
Rush
Alt: Iron Man 3

Sound Mixing
All Is Lost
Captain Phillips
Gravity
Inside Llewyn Davis
Lone Survivor
Alt: 12 Years a Slave; Iron Man 3

Visual Effects
Gravity
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Iron Man 3
Pacific Rim
Oblivion
Alt: Star Trek Into Darkness

Documentary Feature
20 Feet from Stardom
The Act of Killing
Blackfish
The Square
Stories We Tell
Alt: Tim’s Vermeer

Documentary Short
n/a

Live Action Short
n/a

Animated Short
Get A Horse!
n/a

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Jan 14 2014
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Makeup and Hairstylists Guild Awards Nominations

The Lone Ranger johnny-depp

Lots of guild nominations today! These don’t go a long was toward predicting the Oscars, where American Hustle and Bad Grandpa (I know, right!) seem to be the likeliest bets. After that it’s more uncertain, though The Lone Ranger was the only film to manage more than one nod from the guild today.

This branch, possibly more than any other (except maybe the costumers) seem to delight in going their own way, picking films that may excel in their crafts even if they were not exactly very good films. In case you don’t remember, they’re the reason we can say “Academy Award Nominee, Norbit.”

Here’s the guild’s nominees…

FEATURE LENGTH MOTION PICTURE (FEATURE FILMS)

Best Contemporary Hairstyling
“Lee Daniels’ The Butler”
“One Chance”
“Unfinished Song”

Best Contemporary Makeup
“August: Osage County”
“One Chance”
“Prisoners”

Best Period and/or Character Hairstyling
“American Hustle”
“Jobs”
“The Lone Ranger”

Best Period and/or Character Makeup
“Dallas Buyers Club”
“The Great Gatsby”
“The Lone Ranger”

Best Special Makeup Effects
“Bad Grandpa”
“Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters”
“The Hunger Games: Catching Fire”

TELEVISION and NEW MEDIA SERIES (Episodic Television)

Best Contemporary Hairstyling
“Bates Motel”
“Breaking Bad”
“The Voice”

Best Contemporary Makeup
“Breaking Bad”
“Glee”
“Super Fun Night”

Best Period and/or Character Hairstyling
“Hell on Wheels”
“Key and Peele”
“Vikings”

Best Period and/or Character Makeup
“Boardwalk Empire”
“Hell on Wheels”
“Key and Peele”

Best Special Makeup Effects
“Longmire”
“Vikings”
“The Walking Dead”

TELEVISION MINI-SERIES or MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION (M.O.W) – CABLE NETWORK/M.O.W.s

Best Period and/or Character Hairstyling
“American Horror Story: Coven”
“Behind the Candelabra”
“Killing Lincoln”

Best Period and/or Character Makeup
“American Horror Story: Coven”
“Behind the Candelabra”
“Game of Thrones”

THEATRICAL PRODUCTIONS (LIVE STAGE – LIVE THEATER)

“Falstaff”
“Magic Flute”
“Frank Zappa’s 200 Motels”

COMMERCIALS

Best Contemporary Makeup
“Wash the Day Away (Kohler)”

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Jan 14 2014
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Visual Effects Society Nominations

VES-logo-post

Gravity vs. Not-Gravity. The story of FX this year is dominated by one movie. Gravity essentially won the Oscar in this category (and probably several others) within the first 5 minutes of its first screening.

That’s not to say there wasn’t a lot of impressive work on display from other films. Any other year I’d say Pacific Rim had this in the bag. But like The Lord of the Rings, Avatar, and The Life of Pi, there’s just no competition with the groundbreaking, industry-changing behemoth in the room.

That said, the fun of the Visual Effects Society (VES) Awards, is all the OTHER categories. Seriously, they have a category for EVERYTHING – “Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Feature Motion Picture”??? Check out the guild’s nominations below…

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects-Driven Feature Motion Picture
“Gravity”
“Iron Man 3”
“Pacific Rim”
“Star Trek: Into Darkness”
“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug”

Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Feature Motion Picture
“Rush”
“The Great Gatsby”
“The Lone Ranger”
“The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”
“The Wolf of Wall Street”
“White House Down”

Outstanding Animation in an Animated Feature Motion Picture
“Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2”
“Despicable Me 2”
“Frozen”
“Monsters University”
“The Croods”

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Broadcast Program
“Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” – Pilot
“Almost Human”
“Battlestar Galactica” – “Blood & Chrome”
“Game of Thrones” – “Valar Dohaeris”
“Inseparable” – “Chernobyl”

Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Broadcast Program
“Banshee” – Pilot
“Da Vinci’s Demons” – “The Lovers”
“Hawaii 5-0” – “Ho’onani Makuakane“
“Mob City” – “A Guy Walks in to A Bar”
“Moonfleet” – “Episode 2”
“The Borgias” – “Relics”

Outstanding Real-Time Visuals in a Video Game
“Call of Duty” – “Ghosts”
“Crysis 3”
“Killzone Shadow Fall”
“NBA 2K14”
“Ryse: Son of Rome”

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Commercial
“Call of Duty: Epic Night Out”
“Galaxy Chauffeur”
“Liberty Group Limited: Answer”
“PETA: 98% Human”
“Sony PlayStation: Perfect Day”

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Special Venue Project
“Hayden Planetarium’s Dark Universe”
“Mysteries of the Unseen World”
“Mystic Manor”
“Space Shuttle Atlantis”
“SpongeBob SquarePants 4D: The Great Jelly Rescue!”

Outstanding Animated Character in a Live Action Feature Motion Picture
“Gravity” – Ryan
“Oz the Great and Powerful” – China Girl
“Pacific Rim” – Kaiju – Leatherback
“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” – Smaug

Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Feature Motion Picture
“Epic” – Bomba
“Epic” – Mary Katherine
“Frozen” – Bringing the Snow Queen to Life
“The Croods” – Eep

Outstanding Animated Character in a Commercial or Broadcast Program
“Game of Thrones” – Raising the Dragons
“PETA — 98% Human”
“Smithwick’s” – Squirrel
“Three, The Pony”
“Toy Story of Terror”

Outstanding Created Environment in a Live Action Feature Motion Picture
“Elysium” – Torus
“Gravity” – Interior
“Gravity” – Exterior
“Iron Man 3” – Shipyard
“Pacific Rim” – Virtual Hong Kong

Outstanding Created Environment in an Animated Feature Motion Picture
“Epic” – Pod Patch
“Frozen” – Elsa’s Ice Palace
“Monsters University” – Campus
“The Croods” – The Maze

Outstanding Created Environment in a Commercial or Broadcast Program
“Game of Thrones” – The Climb
“Hell On Wheels” – “Big Bad Wolf”
“Inseparable” – “Chernobyl”
Liberty Group Limited — “Answer”

Outstanding Virtual Cinematography in a Live Action Feature Motion Picture
“Gravity”
“Iron Man 3”
“Man of Steel”
“Pacific Rim” – Hong Kong Ocean Brawl
“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug”

Outstanding Virtual Cinematography in a Live Action Commercial or Broadcast Program
“Mad Max” – “Ethos”
“Murdered” – “Soul Suspect”
Qualcomm Snapdragon – “A Dragon is Coming”
“The Crew”

Outstanding Models in a Feature Motion Picture
“Gravity” – ISS Exterior
“Pacific Rim”
“Star Trek: Into Darkness”
“The Lone Ranger” – Colby Locomotive

Outstanding FX and Simulation Animation in a Live Action Feature Motion Picture
“Gravity” – Parachute and ISS Destruction
“Man of Steel”
“Pacific Rim” – Fluid Simulation & Destruction
“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug”

Outstanding FX and Simulation Animation in an Animated Feature Motion Picture
“Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2”
“Epic” – Boggan Crowds
“Frozen” – Elsa’s Blizzard
“The Croods”

Outstanding FX and Simulation Animation in a Commercial or Broadcast Program
“PETA: 98% Human”
Sony PlayStation – “Perfect Day”
Toyota Avalon – “Formula”
“Toy Story of Terror”

Outstanding Compositing in a Feature Motion Picture
“Elysium”
“Gravity”
“Iron Man 3” – Barrel of Monkeys
“Iron Man 3” – House Attack
“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug”

Outstanding Compositing in a Broadcast Program
“Banshee” – Pilot
“Game of Thrones” – The Climb
“The Conquering of Yunkai”
“Vikings” – “Dispossessed”

Outstanding Compositing in a Commercial
“Call of Duty”— “Epic Night Out”
Jean-Paul Gaultier – “The Sailor”
“Mercedes Sensations”
“Sony PlayStation — Greatness Awaits”
“Sony PlayStation — Perfect Day

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Student Project
“Initium”
“Morphium”
“Rugbybugs”
“Runaway”
“Where the Dream Begins”

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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

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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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