Will Smith a “hit” at 94th Annual Academy Awards

Will Smith received his first Academy Award nomination for his portrayal of boxer Muhammad Ali in the film “Ali.”  At last nights presentation of the 94th Annual Academy Awards, Smith seemed to channel the boxer when he slapped presenter Chris Rock, who had make a joke about the bald head of Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith.  This incident added a pall to an already uneven show, taking some of the pomp away from the annual celebration of the best films and performances of 2021.

 

“CODA” took home three awards, including the big one, Best Picture.  It also received Oscars for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor for Troy Kotsur, the second deaf actor to win an Oscar, following Marlee Matlin’s win as Best Actress in 1987 for “Children of a Lesser God.”

 

 

After largely ignoring such female film directors as Lina Wertmuller, Penny Marshall, Barbra Streisand and others for 81 years, the Academy awarded the Best Director prize to Jane Campion for “The Power of the Dog.”  Campion becomes the thirds woman to win the Best Director award in the past 13 years.  A female director has taken home the Oscar in this category for two years in a row.

 

An apologetic Will Smith took home the Best Actor award for his role as Richard Williams in “King Richard,” while Jessica Chastain was named Best Actress for her portrayal of Tammy Faye Baker in The Eyes of Tammy Faye.”   These wins make a total of 79 acting awards that have been given for portrayals of real-life characters.

 

Ariana DeBose was named Best Supporting Actress for her role as Anita in Steven Spielberg’s reimagining of “West Side Story.”   She joins Marlon Brando and Robert DeNiro (Vito Corleone) and Heath Ledger and Joaquin Phoenix (the Joker) for winning an Oscar in a role in which another actor also won an Oscar, joining Rita Moreno, who won for portraying Anita in the original “West Side Story.”

“Dune” took home the most awards, winning a total of (6) Oscars, including Best Original Score and Best Visual Effects.

 

Below is a complete list of winners:

 

BEST PICTURE

“CODA”

 

 

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Ariana DeBose, “West Side Story”

 

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Troy Kotsur, “CODA”

 

INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM

“Drive My Car” *WINNER

 

DOCUMENTARY (SHORT)

“The Queen of Basketball”

 

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

“Summer of Soul”

ORIGINAL SONG

“No Time to Die”

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

“Encanto”

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

“CODA”

 

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

“Belfast”

 

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

Will Smith, “King Richard”

 

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

Jessica Chastain, “The Eyes of Tammy Faye”

 

DIRECTOR

Jane Campion, “The Power of the Dog”

 

PRODUCTION DESIGN

“Dune”

 

CINEMATOGRAPHY

“Dune”

 

COSTUME DESIGN

“Cruella”

 

ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND

“Dune”

 

ANIMATED SHORT FILE

“The Windshield Wiper”

 

LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM

“The Long Goodbye”

 

ORIGINAL SCORE

“Dune”

 

VISUAL EFFECTS

“Dune”

 

FILM EDITING

“Dune”

 

MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING

“The Eyes of Tammy Faye”

Read Complete Article
Filed Under: Film Headlines Tagged With: 94th, academy, annual, awards, hit, smith, ...

“Power of the Dog” leads the 94th Academy Awards Pack

 

“Power of the Dog” lead the pack when the nominations for the 94th Annual Academy Awards were announced this morning.

 

Among the films nods:  Best Picture, Director and Adapted Screenplay – both for Jane Campion, and acting nominations for Benedict  Cumberbatch (Actor) and supporting performances for Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons and Kodi Smit-McPhee.

Other films earning multi-nominations include “Dune” with 10 and “Belfast” and “West Side Story”, which each received 7 nominations, including Best Picture.  Other Best Picture nominees:  “CODA,:” “Don’t Look Up,’ “Drive My Car,” “Licorice Pizza” and “Nightmare Alley.” 

Though it received 10 nominations, “Dune” failed to earn a nomination for director Denis Villeneuve.  First time nominee Ryûsuke Hamaguchi (Drive My Car) joins previous directing nominees Kenneth Branagh (Belfast), Paul Thomas Anderson (Licorice Pizza) Jane Campion (Power of the Dog), and Steven Spielberg (West Side Story) in that category.  Of the nominees, only Spielberg has won the award – twice – for “Schindler’s List” and “saving Private Ryan.”

 

Unlike last year, many of this year’s nominees were from more mainstream, studio pictures, including “West Side Story” that, while it didn’t do the box office predicted, was a return to the glory days of the big Hollywood musical.

 

Here is a complete list of this year’s nominees:

 

Best Picture

 

  • “Belfast,” Laura Berwick, Kenneth Branagh, Becca Kovacik and Tamar Thomas, producers 
  • “CODA,” Philippe Rousselet, Fabrice Gianfermi and Patrick Wachsberger, producers
  • “Don’t Look Up,” Adam McKay and Kevin Messick, producers 
  • “Drive My Car,” Teruhisa Yamamoto, producer 
  • “Dune,” Mary Parent, Denis Villeneuve and Cale Boyter, producers
  • “King Richard,” Tim White, Trevor White and Will Smith, producers 
  • “Licorice Pizza,” Sara Murphy, Adam Somner and Paul Thomas Anderson, producers 
  • “Nightmare Alley,” Guillermo del Toro, J. Miles Dale and Bradley Cooper, producers 
  • “The Power of the Dog,” Jane Campion, Tanya Seghatchian, Emile Sherman, Iain Canning and Roger Frappier, producers
  • “West Side Story,” Steven Spielberg and Kristie Macosko Krieger, producers.

 

 

Best Director

 

  • Kenneth Branagh (“Belfast”)
  • Ryûsuke Hamaguchi (“Drive My Car”) 
  • Paul Thomas Anderson (“Licorice Pizza”) 
  • Jane Campion (“The Power of the Dog”)
  • Steven Spielberg (“West Side Story”)

 

Best Lead Actor

 

  • Javier Bardem (“Being the Ricardos”) 
  • Benedict Cumberbatch (“The Power of the Dog”) 
  • Andrew Garfield (“Tick, Tick … Boom!”) 
  • Will Smith (“King Richard”)
  • Denzel Washington (“The Tragedy of Macbeth”)

 

Best Lead Actress

 

  • Jessica Chastain (“The Eyes of Tammy Faye”) 
  • Olivia Colman (“The Lost Daughter”)
  • Penélope Cruz (“Parallel Mothers”)
  • Nicole Kidman (“Being the Ricardos”) 
  • Kristen Stewart (“Spencer”)

 

Best Supporting Actor

 

  • Ciarán Hinds (“Belfast”) 
  • Troy Kotsur (“CODA”) 
  • Jesse Plemons (“The Power of the Dog”) 
  • J.K. Simmons (“Being the Ricardos”)
  • Kodi Smit-McPhee (“The Power of the Dog”)

 

 

 Best Supporting Actress

 

  • Jessie Buckley (“The Lost Daughter”) 
  • Ariana DeBose (“West Side Story”) 
  • Judi Dench (“Belfast” 
  • Kirsten Dunst (“The Power of the Dog”) 
  • Aunjanue Ellis (“King Richard”)

 

 

Best Adapted Screenplay

 

  • “CODA,” screenplay by Siân Heder 
  • “Drive My Car,” screenplay by Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Takamasa Oe 
  • “Dune,” screenplay by Jon Spaihts and Denis Villeneuve and Eric Roth 
  • “The Lost Daughter,” written by Maggie Gyllenhaal 
  • “The Power of the Dog,” written by Jane Campion

 

Best Original Screenplay

 

  • “Belfast,” written by Kenneth Branagh 
  • “Don’t Look Up,” screenplay by Adam McKay; story by Adam McKay and David Sirota“King Richard,” written by Zach Baylin 
  • “Licorice Pizza,” written by Paul Thomas Anderson 
  • “The Worst Person in the World,” written by Eskil Vogt, Joachim Trier

 

Best Cinematography

 

  • “Dune,” Greig Fraser 
  • “Nightmare Alley,” Dan Laustsen 
  • “The Power of the Dog,” Ari Wegner 
  • “The Tragedy of Macbeth,” Bruno Delbonnel 
  • “West Side Story,” Janusz Kaminski

 

Best Animated Feature Film

 

  • “Encanto,” Jared Bush, Byron Howard, Yvett Merino and Clark Spencer 
  • “Flee,” Jonas Poher Rasmussen, Monica Hellström, Signe Byrge Sørensen and Charlotte De La Gournerie 
  • “Luca,” Enrico Casarosa and Andrea Warren
  • “The Mitchells vs. the Machines,” Mike Rianda, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller and Kurt Albrecht 
  • “Raya and the Last Dragon,” Don Hall, Carlos López Estrada, Osnat Shurer and Peter Del Vecho

 

Best Animated Short Film

 

  • “Affairs of the Art,” Joanna Quinn and Les Mills 
  • “Bestia,” Hugo Covarrubias and Tevo Díaz 
  • “Boxballet,” Anton Dyakov 
  • “Robin Robin,” Dan Ojari and Mikey Please 
  • “The Windshield Wiper,” Alberto Mielgo and Leo Sanchez

Best Costume Design

 

  • “Cruella,” Jenny Beavan 
  • “Cyrano,” Massimo Cantini Parrini and Jacqueline Durran 
  • “Dune,” Jacqueline West and Robert Morgan 
  • “Nightmare Alley,” Luis Sequeira 
  • “West Side Story,” Paul Tazewell

 

Best Original Score

 

  • “Don’t Look Up,” Nicholas Britell 
  • “Dune,” Hans Zimmer 
  • “Encanto,” Germaine Franco 
  • “Parallel Mothers,” Alberto Iglesias 
  • “The Power of the Dog,” Jonny Greenwood

 

Best Sound

 

  • “Belfast,” Denise Yarde, Simon Chase, James Mather and Niv Adiri 
  • “Dune,” Mac Ruth, Mark Mangini, Theo Green, Doug Hemphill and Ron Bartlett 
  • “No Time to Die,” Simon Hayes, Oliver Tarney, James Harrison, Paul Massey and Mark Taylor 
  • “The Power of the Dog,” Richard Flynn, Robert Mackenzie and Tara Webb 
  • “West Side Story,” Tod A. Maitland, Gary Rydstrom, Brian Chumney, Andy Nelson and Shawn Murphy

 

Best Original Song

 

  • “Be Alive” from “King Richard,” music and lyric by Dixson and Beyoncé Knowles-Carter 
  • “Dos Oruguitas” from “Encanto,” music and lyric by Lin-Manuel Miranda 
  • “Down To Joy” from “Belfast,” music and lyric by Van Morrison 
  • “No Time To Die” from “No Time to Die,” music and lyric by Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell 
  • “Somehow You Do” from “Four Good Days,” music and lyric by Diane Warren

 

Best Documentary Feature

 

  • “Ascension,” Jessica Kingdon, Kira Simon-Kennedy and Nathan Truesdell 
  • “Attica,” Stanley Nelson and Traci A. Curry 
  • “Flee,” Jonas Poher Rasmussen, Monica Hellström, Signe Byrge Sørensen and Charlotte De La Gournerie 
  • “Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised),” Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, Joseph Patel, Robert Fyvolent and David Dinerstein 
  • “Writing With Fire,” Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh

 

Best Documentary Short Subject

 

  • “Audible,” Matt Ogens and Geoff McLean 
  • “Lead Me Home,” Pedro Kos and Jon Shenk 
  • “The Queen of Basketball,” Ben Proudfoot 
  • “Three Songs for Benazir,” Elizabeth Mirzaei and Gulistan Mirzaei 
  • “When We Were Bullies,” Jay Rosenblatt

Best Film Editing

 

  • “Don’t Look Up,” Hank Corwin 
  • “Dune,” Joe Walker 
  • “King Richard”, Pamela Martin 
  • “The Power of the Dog,” Peter Sciberras 
  • “Tick, Tick…Boom!” Myron Kerstein and Andrew Weisblum

 

Best International Feature Film

 

  • “Drive My Car” (Japan) 
  • “Flee” (Denmark) 
  • “The Hand of God” (Italy) 
  • “Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom” (Bhutan) 
  • “The Worst Person in the World” (Norway)

 

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

 

  • “Coming 2 America,” Mike Marino, Stacey Morris and Carla Farmer 
  • “Cruella,” Nadia Stacey, Naomi Donne and Julia Vernon 
  • “Dune,” Donald Mowat, Love Larson and Eva von Bahr 
  • “The Eyes of Tammy Faye,” Linda Dowds, Stephanie Ingram and Justin Raleigh 
  • “House of Gucci,” Göran Lundström, Anna Carin Lock and Frederic Aspiras

 

Best Production Design

 

  • “Dune,” production design: Patrice Vermette; set decoration: Zsuzsanna Sipos 
  • “Nightmare Alley,” production design: Tamara Deverell; set decoration: Shane Vieau 
  • “The Power of the Dog,” production design: Grant Major; set decoration: Amber Richards
  • “The Tragedy of Macbeth,” production design: Stefan Dechant; set decoration: Nancy Haigh
  • “West Side Story,” production design: Adam Stockhausen; set decoration: Rena DeAngelo

Best Visual Effects

 

  • “Dune,” Paul Lambert, Tristan Myles, Brian Connor and Gerd Nefzer
  • “Free Guy,” Swen Gillberg, Bryan Grill, Nikos Kalaitzidis and Dan Sudick 
  • “No Time to Die,” Charlie Noble, Joel Green, Jonathan Fawkner and Chris Corbould 
  • “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” Christopher Townsend, JoeFarrell, Sean Noel Walker and Dan Oliver 
  • “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” Kelly Port, Chris Waegner, Scott Edelstein and Dan Sudick

 

Best Live Action Short Film

 

  • “Ala Kachuu – Take and Run,” Maria Brendle and Nadine Lüchinger 
  • “The Dress,” Tadeusz Łysiak and Maciej Ślesicki 
  • “The Long Goodbye,” Aneil Karia and Riz Ahmed 
  • “On My Mind,” Martin Strange-Hansen and Kim Magnusson 
  • “Please Hold,” K.D. Dávila and Levin Menekse

 

The 94th Academy Awards will be presented on March 27th.

Read Complete Article
Filed Under: Film Headlines Tagged With: 94th, academy, awards, dog, leads, pack, ...

BEHIND THE SCREEN: 93rd Annual Academy Awards – A Night to (NOT) Remember

Well, thank God that’s over. The final film award ceremony of 2021 is over, and not a minute too soon.

Viewers who tuned in to the 93rd Academy Awards ceremony (guilty, but I have a website. What’s your excuse?) were treated to un-enthusiastic presenters, amazingly long speeches (I’m guessing Questlove wasn’t told he could play people off) and an “In Memoriam” segment that looks like it was thrown together at the last minute. And can someone tell me how a show with no host, opening monologue and zero musical numbers – unless you count the embarrassing “Oscar Music Trivia” game that featured Glenn Close shaking her ass to E.U.’s “Da Butt” – ran almost 3 1/2 hours??

On a positive note, there were some great achievements rewarded. A woman of color (Chloe Zhao) was named Best Director, only the second time a woman has won that Award. Think about that. Out of 465 nominees only SEVEN women have been nominated: Lina Wertmuller, Jane Campion, Sophia Coppola, Kathryn Bigelow (who won), Greta Gerwig, Ms. Zhao and Emerald Fennell, who with Ms. Zhao was nominated this year. Which means such female directors, like Penny Marshall and Barbra Streisand, have been totally ignored, even though in the past they had directed films nominated for Best Picture!

Daniel Kaluuya and Youn Yuh-jing took home the Best Supporting Actor and Actress awards, respectively, putting a slight dent into the #OscarSoWhite reputation.

Frances McDormand became the second actress to receive (3) Best Actress awards when her name was announced last night, putting her right behind the immortal Katherine Hepburn, who won (4). Meryl Streep does have (3) Oscars, but one was for Best Supporting Actress. Ms. McDormand picked up a 4th Oscar as one of the producers of the evening’s Best Picture, “Nomadland.” And whose idea was it to give the Best Picture award out early? Normally it’s the last award of the night, but on this night it was awarded before Best Actress and Actor were named. My hunch is that the producers assumed the late Chadwick Boseman, who was nominated for his final performance in the film “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” would win, which would have made for a nice emotional way to end the evening. Instead, Joaquin Phoenix sheepishly announced Anthony Hopkins as the winner of the Best Actor award, and that was a wrap!

My beef with the “In Memoriam” segment was that, for some reason, the Academy figured if you were watching you knew who everyone was and what they did. An introduction that took u 1/3 of the segment, no film clips and, while known talents like Christopher Plummer, George Segal and Wilford Brimley got a few seconds of screen time each, others – among them Marge Champion (a great dancer), Shirley Knight (a fine actress), Kelly Preston (same) and Michael Chapman (an amazing cinematographer whose credits include “Taxi Driver,” “Raging Bull,” “Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid” and “The Fugitive”) whizzed by in a blink.

The fact that only nominees and presenters were allowed to be in the venue also made for dull television. Smatterings of applause signaled that the guests in the theatre were apparently as bored as the ones at my house.

Blame it on COVID. Blame it on the fact that none of the films nominated were “NAME” films – no “Titanic,” “Avatar” or “Lord of the Rings” in the bunch. Blame it on bad television. There’s plenty of blame to go around.

For those of you who went to bed early, here is a list of the winners:

Best Picture – Nomadland 

Best Actor in a Leading Role– Anthony Hopkins (The Father)

Best Actress in a Leading Role – Frances McDormand (Nomadland)

Best Director – Chloé Zhao (Nomadland)

Best Actress in a Supporting Role – Youn Yuh-jung (Minari)

Best Actor in a Supporting Role – Daniel Kaluuya (Judas and the Black Messiah)

Best Adapted Screenplay – The Father, Christopher Hampton, Florian Zeller

Best Original Screenplay – Promising Young Woman, Emerald Fennell

Best Animated Feature Film – Soul 

Best International Feature Film – Another Round (Denmark)

Best Sound – Sound of Metal, Phillip Bladh, Nicolas Becker, Jaime Baksht, Michelle Couttolenc, Carlos Cortés, Carolina Santana

Best Costume Design – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Ann Roth

Best Makeup and Hairstyling – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Matiki Anoff, Mia Neal, Larry M. Cherry

Best Live Action Short Film – Two Distant Strangers

Best Animated Short Film – If Anything Happens I Love You 

Best Documentary Feature – My Octopus Teacher 

Best Documentary Short Subject – Colette 

Best Original Song – ‘Fight for You,’ (Judas and the Black Messiah)

Best Visual Effects – Tenet, Andrew Jackson, Andrew Lockley, Scott R. Fisher, Mike Chambers

Best Cinematography – Mank, Erik Messerschmidt

Best Production Design – Mank, Donald Graham Burt, Jan Pascale

Best Film Editing – Sound of Metal, Mikkel E.G. Nielsen

Best Original Score – Mank, Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross

Read Complete Article
Filed Under: Commentary, Film Headlines, TV Headlines Tagged With: 93rd, academy, annual, awards, night, remember, ...

It’s No Joke – “Joker” nabs 11 Academy Award nominations!

“Joker,” director Todd Phillips’ “origin” tale about Batman’s greatest foe scored a total of 11 Academy Award nominations today, leading all films this year.  The film earned nods in several major categories, including Best Picture, Best Director (for Phillips) and Best Actor for Joaquin Phoenix.  “1917” and “Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood” tied for second place with 10 nominations each.

This year saw an amazing batch of first time nominees, many who have done award-worthy work in the past and have never been recognized.  They include Antonio Bandares (“Pain and Glory”) and Jonathan Pryce (“The Two Popes”) for Best Actor and Florence Pugh (“Little Women”) for Best Supporting Actress.  Scarlett Johansson earned her first two nominations this year, scoring nods for Best Actress (“Marriage Story”) and Best Supporting Actress (“Jo Jo Rabbit”).  But no less than eight of the acting nominees have Oscars already on their mantle while others, like Brad Pitt and Phoenix, have been nominated several times in the past.   The South Korean film “Parasite” also did well, earning six nominations, including Best Picture and Best International Feature Film (formerly Best Foreign Film).

Composer John Williams received his 52nd nomination for his score the “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.”  Here are the nominees in the major categories:

BEST PICTURE

FORD v FERRARI

THE IRISHMAN

JOJO RABBIT

JOKER

LITTLE WOMEN

MARRIAGE STORY

1917

ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD

PARASITE

BEST DIRECTOR

Martin Scorsese – THE IRISHMAN

Todd Phillips – JOKER

Sam Mendes – 1917

Quentin Tarantino – ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD

Bong Joo Ho – PARASITE

BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

Antonio Banderas – PAIN AND GLORY

Leonardo DiCaprio – ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD

Adam Driver – MARRIAGE STORY

Joaquin Phoenix – JOKER

Jonathan Pryce – THE TWO POPES

BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

Cynthia Erivo – HARRIET

Scarlett Johansson – MARRIAGE STORY

Saoirse Ronan – LITTLE WOMEN

Charlize Theron – BOMBSHELL

Renee’ Zellwegger – JUDY

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Tom Hanks – A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD

Anthony Hopkins – THE TWO POPES

Al Pacino – THE IRISHMAN

Joe Pesci – THE IRISHMAN

Brad Pitt – ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Kathy Bates – RICHARD JEWELL

Laura Dern – MARRIAGE STORY

Scarlett Johansson – JOJO RABBIT

Florence Pugh – LITTLE WOMEN

Margot Robbie – BOMBSHELL

This year ushers in a few things that you may be able to use when you play Trivia in a few years.  Should Phoenix win, he would become the second actor, following the late Heath Ledger, to win an Oscar by portraying the Joker.  This achievement has only been done once before, when both Marlon Brando (“The Godfather”) and Robert DeNiro (“The Godfather Part II”) each won Academy Awards for portraying Vito Corleone.  Also, this year marks the first time that a husband and wife were both nominated separately in writing categories.  Noah Baumbach is nominated for his original screenplay for “Marriage Story” while his wife, Greta Gerwig, is nominated for her adaptation of “Little Women.”

For a complete list of nominees, click HERE.

The Academy Awards will be presented on Sunday, February 9th.

Read Complete Article
Filed Under: Film Headlines Tagged With: 11, academy, award, joke, joker, nabs, ...

“The Favourite” and “Roma” lead the nominations for 91st Annual Academy Awards

“Roma,” director Alfonso Cuaron’s black and white reminiscence of his childhood, and the period film “The Favourite” led the way when the nominations for the 91st Annual Academy Awards were announced today. Each film earned a total of ten nominations, including Best Picture.  Cuaron himself received five nominations (Picture, Foreign Film, Director, Original /Screenplay and Cinematography}.  The film also received nods for Best Actress (Yalitza Aparicio), Supporting Actress (Marina de Tavira), Sound Mixing, Sound Editing and Production Design.

Besides Best Picture, “The Favourite” scored nods for Best Director (Yorgos Lanthimos), Best Actress (Olivia Colman), Supporting Actress (both Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz), Original Screenplay, Film Editing, Costume Design, Production Design and Cinematography.

Another multiple nominee was Bradley Cooper, who was recognized for Best Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Picture for “A Star Is Born,” which also earned two nods for Lady Gaga (Best Actress and Best Original Song) and netted Sam Elliott his first Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actor.  In total, the film earned eight nominations.

The other nominees for Best Picture are a worthy and diverse group.  “Black Panther” becomes the first comic book film to earn a Best Picture nod.  Joining it, “A Star is Born,” “The Favourite”and “Roma” are “BlacKkKlansman,” Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Green Book” and “Vice.”  A total of ten films can be nominated in this category, though only eight made it this year.

Other director nominations:  Spike Lee (“BlacKkKlansman), Paweł Pawlikowski (“Cold War”) and Adam McKay (“VICE”)

In the Best Actor race,Cooper is joined by Christian Bale (“VICE”), Willem Dafoe (“At Eternity’s Gates), Rami Malek (“Bohemian Rhapsody”) and Viggo Mortensen (“Green Book”).  Along with Misses Aparicio, Colman and Lady Gaga, the Best Actress race includes Glenn Close (“The Wife”) and Melissa McCarthy (“Can You Ever Forgive Me?”).

Best Animated Feature nominations went to “Incredibles 2,” “Isle of Dogs,” “Mirai,” “Ralph Breaks the Internet” and “Spider-man: Into the Spiderverse.”

Below is a complete list of this year’s nominees.  The 91stAnnual Academy Awards will be presented on Sunday, February 24th.

BEST PICTURE

Black Panther

BlacKkKlansman

Bohemian Rhapsody

The Favourite

Green Book

Roma

A Star is Born

VICE

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

Christian Bale- VICE

Bradley Cooper – A Star is Born

Willem Dafoe – At Eternity’s Gate

Rami Malek – Bohemian RhapsodyBohemian Rhapsody

Viggo Mortensen – Green Book

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

Yalitza Aparicio – Roma

Glenn Close – The Wife

Olivia Colman – The Favourite

Lady Gaga – A Star Is Born

Melissa McCarthy – Can You Ever Forgive Me?

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Mahershala Ali – Green Book

Adam Driver – BlacKkKlansman

Sam Elliott – A Star Is Born

Richard E. Grant – Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Sam Rockwell – Vice

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Amy Adams – Vic

Marina de Tavira – Roma

Regina King – If Beale Street Could Talk

Emma Stone- The Favourite

Rachel Weisz – The Favourite

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

Incredibles 2

Isle of Dogs

Mirai

Ralph Breaks the Internet

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

CINEMATOGRAPHY

Cold War

The Favourite

Never Look Away

Roma

A Star Is Born

COSTUME DESIGN

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

Black Panther

The Favourite

Mary Poppins Returns

Mary Queen of Scots

DIRECTING

Paweł Pawlikowski – Cold War

Spike Lee – BlacKkKlansman

Yorgos Lanthimos – The Favourite

Alfonso Cuarón – Roma

Adam McKay – Vice

DOCUMENTARY (FEATURE)

Free Solo

Hale County This Morning This Evening

Minding the Gap

Of Fathers and Sons

RBG

DOCUMENTARY (SHORT SUBJECT)

Black Sheep

End Game

Lifeboat

A Night at the Garden

Period. End of Sentence.

FILM EDITING

BlacKkKlansman

Bohemian Rhapsody

The Favourite

Green Book

Vice

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

Capernaum

Cold War

Never Look Away

Roma

Shoplifters

MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING

Border

Mary Queen of Scots

Vice

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)

Black Panther

BlacKkKlansman

If Beale Street Could Talk

Isle of Dogs

Mary Poppins Returns

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)

“All the Stars” from “Black Panther”

“I’ll Fight” from “RBG”

“The Place Where Lost Things Go” from “Mary Poppins Returns”

“Shallow” from “A Star Is Born”

“When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings” from “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs”

PRODUCTION DESIGN

Black Panther

The Favourite

First Man

Mary Poppins Returns

Roma

SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)

Animal Behaviour

Bao

Late Afternoon

One Small Step

Weekends

SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)

Detainment

Fauve

Marguerite

Mother

Skin

SOUND EDITING

Black Panther

Bohemian Rhapsody

First Man

A Quiet Place

Roma

SOUND MIXING

Black Panther

Bohemian Rhapsody

First Man

Roma

A Star Is Born

VISUAL EFFECTS

Avengers: Infinity War

Christopher Robin

First Man

Ready Player One

Solo: A Star Wars Story

WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

BlacKkKlansman

Can You Ever Forgive Me?

If Beale Street Could Talk

A Star Is Born

WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY)

The Favourite

First Reformed

Green Book

Roma

Vice

 
Related Content

Read Complete Article
Filed Under: Film Headlines Tagged With: 91st, academy, annual, awards, favourite, lead, ...

THE SHAPE OF WATER Dominates 90th Annual Academy Award Nominations

 

The Shape of Water, director Guillermo det Toro’s “fish out of water” love story, led all nominees when the nominations for the 90th Annual Academy Awards were announced this morning, receiving thirteen, including Best Picture and both Best Director and Best Original Screenplay for del Toro.

 

Other films with many nominations include Dunkirk (8),  Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (7), Phantom Thread (6) and Lady Bird (5).  All of those films were nominated in the
Best Picture category.  Other Best Picture nominees:  Call Me by Your Name, Darkest Hour, Get Out and The Post.

 

Director Christopher Nolan finally earned his first nomination in the Best Director category for his work on Dunkirk.  Joining him are del Toro, Jordan Peele (Get Out), Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird)
and Paul Thomas Anderson (Phantom Thread).

 

Best Actor nominees are Timothée Chalamet (Call Me by Your Name), Daniel Day-Lewis (Phantom Thread), Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out), Gary Oldman (Darkest Hour) and Denzel Washington (Roman J. Israel, Esq).  Missing from this list, in my opinion, is James Franco, whose work in The Disaster Artist, was nothing short of brilliant.

 

For Best Supporting Actor, the nominees are Willem Dafoe (The Florida Project), Woody Harrelson (Three Billboards), Richard Jenkins (The Shape of Water), Christopher Plummer (All the Money in the World) and Sam
Rockwell (Three Billboards).  This is Rockwell’s first nomination.  All of the other actors in this category have been nominated before, with Plummer winning the award for Beginners.  If he wins, I’m curious if Plummer will thank Kevin Spacey, who he replaced in the film.

 

Best Actress nods went to Sally Hawkins (The Shape of Water), Frances McDormand (Three Billboards), Margot Robbie (I, Tonya), Saoirse Ronan (Lady Bird) and Meryl Streep (The Post). Amazingly, this is Streep’s 20th Academy Award nomination, giving her eight more than 2nd place legends Katherine Hepburn and Jack Nicholson.

 

Best Supporting Actress nominees are Mary J. Blige (Mudbound), Allison Janney (I, Tonya), Lesley Manville (Phantom Thread), Laurie Metcalf (Lady Bird) and Octavia Spencer (The Shape of Water). Again, in my opinion, this list is missing Holly Hunter, who was so good in The Big Sick.

 

Speaking of multiple nominations, congratulations to composer John Williams, who earned his 51st nomination for his score for Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

 

For a complete list of nominations, click HERE

 

The 90th Annual Academy Awards will be presented on Sunday, March 4th

OSCAR images copyright AMPAAS

Read Complete Article
Filed Under: Film Headlines Tagged With: 90th, academy, annual, award, dominates, nominations, ...

“The Revenant” Leads the Nominations Released for the 88th Annual Academy Awards

Just one year after taking home the awards for Best Picture and Best Director for his film, “Birdman,” Alejandro G. Inarittu finds himself back in the race as his new film, “The Revenant,” led all films nominated today for the 88th Annual Academy Awards with (12) nods, including Best Picture and Best Director. The film also scored nominations for Leonardo DiCaprio for Best Actor and Tom Hardy for Best Supporting Actor.

George Miller’s “Mad Max; Fury Road” follows with (9) nominations, also including Best Picture and Best Director. Other Best Picture nominees, with their total nominations, include “The Martian” (7), “Spotlight” (6), “”The Big Short” and “Bridge of Spies” with (5) each, “Room” (4) and “Brooklyn” (3). “The Big Short,” “Room” and “Spotlight” also earned Best Director nominations.

Joining DiCaprio in the Best Actor race are Bryan Cranston (“Trumbo”), Matt Damon (“The Martian”), Michael Fassbender (“Steve Jobs”) and last year’s Best Actor winner, Eddie Redmayne (“The Danish Girl.”

The Best Actress race includes two previous winners of the award and includes Cate Blanchett (“Carol”), Brie Larson (“Room”), Jennifer Lawrence (“Joy”), Charlotte Rampling (“45 Years”) and Saoirse Ronan (“Brooklyn”).

Along with Hardy, nominees for Best Supporting Actor are Christian Bale (“The Big Short”), Mark Ruffalo (“Spotlight), Mark Rylance (“Bridge of Spies”) and Sylvester Stallone (“Creed”). With this nomination Stallone joins Cate Blanchett, Bing Crosby, Paul Newman, Peter O’Toole and Al Pacino as the only actors to be nominated twice for playing the same character. He was previously nominated as Best Actor in 1977 for playing boxer Rocky Balboa in “Rocky.” He also received a nomination that year for writing the script for the Oscar-winning Best Picture.

Best Supporting Actress is a mixture of veteran actresses and newcomers and include Jennifer Jason Leigh (“The Hateful Eight”), Rooney Mara (“Carol”), Rachel McAdams (“Spotlight”), Alicia Vikander (“The Danish Girl”) and Kate Winslet (“Steve Jobs”).

Joining Inarritu and Miller in the Best Director race are Adam McKay (“The Big Short”), Lenny Abrahamson (“Room”) and Tom McCarthy (“Spotlight”)

Nominees for Best Animated Feature are “Anomalisa,” “Boy and the World,’ ‘Inside Out,’ ‘Shaun the Sheep” and “When Marnie Was There.”

“Star Wars – Episode VII: The Force Awakens” earned (5) nominations, primarily in the technical categories.

For a complete list of nominees go to www.oscars.com. The 88th Academy Awards will be handed out on Sunday, February 28th.

Read Complete Article
Filed Under: Film Headlines Tagged With: 88th, academy, annual, awards, leads, nominations, ...

“Birdman”, “The Grand Budapest Hotel” Lead 87th Academy Award Nominations

“Birdman,” the film that triumphantly put Michael Keaton back on the map and “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” Wes Anderson’s fanciful comedy, led all films this morning when the nominations for the 87th Annual Academy Awards were announced, with each film garnering (9) nominations, including Best Picture.  Other films with multiple nominations include “The Imitation Game” (8), “American Sniper” and “Boyhood” (6) each, and “Interstellar,” “The Theory of Everything” and “Whiplash” with (5).  All of these films, with the exception of “Interstellar,” earned Best Picture nods.  The last film in the Best Picture race is “Selma,” which surprised many by only earning (2) nods.  Due to the revised voting system, only (8) films qualified for Best Picture nominations – a maximum of (10) are allowed.

In the race for Best Director, the nominees are Alejandro G. Inarritu (“Birdman”), Richard Linklater (“Boyhood”), Bennet Miller (“Foxcatcher”), Wes Anderson (“The Grand Budapest Hotel” and “Morten Tyldum (“The Imitation Game”).

Bradley Cooper earned his third consecutive Oscar nomination, this one for Best Actor, for his role as real life soldier Chris Kyle in “American Sniper.”  Other nominees for Best Actor include Steve Carell (“Foxcatcher”), Bennedict Cumberbatch (“The Imitation Game”), Michael Keaton (“Birdman”) and Eddie Redmayne (“The Theory of Everything”).  Best Actress nominees are Marion Cotillard (“Two Days, One Night”), Felicity Jones (“The Theory of Everything”), Julianne Moore (“Still Alice”), Rosamund Pike (“Gone Girl”) and Reese Witherspoon (“Wild”)

In the Supporting Actor category, the nominees are Robert Duvall (“The Judge”) Ethan Hawke (“Boyhood”), Edward Norton (“Birdman”), Mark Ruffalo (“Foxcatcher”) and J.K. Simmons (“Whiplash”).  Supporting Actress nods went to Patricia Arquette (“Boyhood”), Laura Dern (“Wild”), Keira Knightley (“The Imitation Game”), Emma Stone (“Birdman”) and Meryl Streep (“Into the Woods”).  This is Meryl Streep’s NINETEENTH acting nomination, an incredible achievement.

Nods for Best Animated Film went to “Big Hero 6,” “The Boxtrolls,” “How to Train Your Dragon 2,” “Song of the Sea” and “The Tale of the Princess Kaguya.”

The winners will be announced on February 22, 2015.  Mark you ballots now!

 

Related Content

Read Complete Article
Filed Under: Film Headlines Tagged With: 87th, academy, award, birdman, budapest, grand, ...

Book Review “Sofia the First: Royal Prep Academy”

Age Range: 3 – 5 years
Grade Level: Preschool – Kindergarten
Series: Sofia the First
Board book: 14 pages
Publisher: Disney Press
Release Date: September 2, 2014

Our Score: 4 out of 5 stars

“Sofia the First” is currently my two year old’s favorite show. This book is also easily one of her favorite new books. “Sofia the First: Royal Prep Academy” is a life the flap book, which has been a lot of fun to play with. The book takes us into Sofia’s school and it really get  and keeps her attention. She likes being able to look under each flap and letting me what is under each one. A must for Sofia fans!

Disney has been doing this a lot recently where they shape the books like their based theme, for example with the recent “Jake and the Never Land Pirates: Winter Never Land”, which is shaped like a Christmas tree. This book is slightly shaped like, if you haven’t guess it, the Royal Prep Academy.  The book is very interactive and seems to be getting a lot of repeat business in our house.

 

Related Content

Read Complete Article
Filed Under: Book Reviews Tagged With: academy, book, prep, review, royal, sofia, ...

“American Hustle” and “Gravity” Lead This Yeas Academy Award Nominations

“Gravity,” Alfonso Cuaron’s space masterpiece and “American Hustle,” David O’ Russell’s look back at the ABSCAM scandal of the 1970s, led all films nominated today for the upcoming 86th Annual Academy Awards. Both films received a total of 10 nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director.

A total of 9 films were nominated for Best Picture this year, and those films nominated earned the lion’s share of other nominations. Right on the trail of “Gravity” and “American Hustle” comes “12 Years a Slave,” which earned 9 nominations. Three other Best Picture nominees earned 6 nominations each: “Captain Phillips,” “Dallas Buyer’s Club” and “Nebraska.” Two very difrerent films, Martin Scorsese’s tale of excess, “The Wolf of Wall Street” and Spike Jonze’s technical romance “Her” each had 5 nominations. Bringing up the rear is surprise nominee “Philomena,” which takes home 4 nods. Surprisingly missing from the list is the box office and critical favorite from earlier last year, “Lee Daniels The Butler,” which was shut out of every category it was eligible for.

“American Hustle” becomes the 15th film in Oscar history to receive nominations in all four acting categories. Ironically, director Russell’s previous film, “Silver Lining Playbook,” also duplicated that feat. “Silver Lining Playbook” was the first film to achieve this record since Warren Beatty’s “Reds” did it in 1981. Two of the “American Hustle” actors – Best Supporting Actor nominee Bradley Cooper and Best Supporting Actress nominee Jennifer Lawrence – were nominated in the Best Actor and Best Actress categories last year, with Lawrence taking home the Oscar. They are joined this year by Best Actor and Best Actress nominees Christian Bale and Amy Adams.

“Gravity”‘s only other major nomination was for Sandra Bullock as Best Actress. The majority of the film’s nomination are for technical achievements, including film editing and production design.

Bullock is among four previous Oscar winners in the Best Actress category which includes Cate Blanchett (“Blue Jasmine”, Judi Dench (“Philomena) and three time winner Meryl Streep (“August: Osage County”). Only Amy Adams of “American Hustle” is currently Oscar-less.

Best Actor is a contest between both Hollywood veterans and newcomers. Former Best Supporting Actor winner Christian Bale is nominated for “American Hustle,” while Bruce Dern earns his first Academy Award nomination since 1979’s “Coming Home” for “Nebraska.” Leonardo DiCaprio earns his fourth nomination for his work in “The Wolf of Wall Street.” These three are joined by Oscar newcomers Matthew McConaughey (“Dallas Buyers Club” and Chiwetel Ejiofor (“12 Years a Slave”).

Best Supporting Actor nominees include newcomer Barkhad Abdi (“Captain Phillips”), Cooper, Michael Fassbender (“12 Years a Slave’), Jonah Hill (“The Wolf of Wall Street”) and Jared Leto (“Dallas Buyers Club”). Best Supporting Actress noms went to Sally Hawkins (“Blue Jasmine”), Lawrence, Lupita Nyong’o (“12 Years a Slave”), previous Best Actress winner Julia Roberts (“August: Osage County”) and June Squibb (“Nebraska’).

Joining Cuaron and Russell in the Best Director category are Alexander Payne (“Nebraska”), Steve McQueen (“12 Years a Slave”) and previous winner Martin Scorsese (“The Wolf of Wall Street”).

“Frozen” leads the nominees for Best Animated Feature, which also includes “The Croods,” “Despicable Me 2,” “Ernest and Celestine” and “The Wind Rises.”

The 86th Annual Academy Awards will be presented live on March 2, 2014 on ABC Television.

Read Complete Article
Filed Under: Commentary, Film Headlines Tagged With: academy, american, award, gravity, hustle, lead, ...

Book Review “Star Wars: Jedi Academy”

Author: Jeffrey Brown
Age Range: 8 and up
Grade Level: 3 – 7
Hardcover: 160 pages
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Release Date: August 27, 2013

Our Score: 5 out of 5 stars

I first heard about author/illustrator Jeffrey Brown when he released his bestselling book “Darth Vader and Son”. At the time, my wife was a few months away from having our daughter and I wondered where the female version of that book was. Well a few months later, “Vader’s Little Princess” was released. Read our interview with Jeffrey, here. When I spoke with him, he gave us a sneak peak at “Star Wars: Jedi Academy” and I know I just had to have it. Sure the age range is 8 and up but key word being up. I finished this book in literally one sitting and loved every minute of it. If you are a “Star Wars” fan young or old, this is a must have in your collection!.

The story is really cute and fun. It follows a young boy Roan and his journeys through middle school as he attempt to complete his dream of leaving home and becoming a Pilot Academy like his older brother, father, and grandfather. When he is denied entry into Pilot School, he fears that he will end up having to go to farming school instead.  But instead he receives an invitation out of the blue to attend Jedi Academy from Master Yoda and decides to give it a try. He find that he possesses more strength and potential than he could have ever dreamed and that his destiny leads him to a new path.

The illustrations in the book are extremely fun and each page is a new journey into this world. They are black and white and have a real fun comic book feel. There is tons of great humor all mixed within the common issues and stresses of attending middle school. Since we either you are going through it or have been through it, the story and its situations are very relatable no matter what age you are. It is told through various formats including Ronan’s comics, journal entries, letters, doodles, and newspaper clippings. So at first you will be reading his report card and then a letter from his brother.  It moves the story along so well and makes it very entertaining and fresh. I do not think that I have ever sat down just to check out a book and ended up reading the entire book within a few hours.

Read Complete Article
Filed Under: Book Reviews Tagged With: academy, book, jedi, review, star, wars, ...

Coach Bill Courtney talks about football and Academy Award Winning Documentary "Undefeated"

You may not know the name Bill Courtney but if you’re lucky you know, or knew, someone like him. Courtney was the volunteer head coach for the Manassas (Tennessee) High School football team for seven years. Even though he has his own business and a large family of his own, Courtney takes time out every day to make sure that the boys at Manassas that want to play football can. “Football doesn’t build character,” the coach believes, “it reveals it.” During what would be his final season at Manassas, the coach and his team were followed around by a camera crew highlighting O.C. Brown, a player who, reminiscent of the story of Michael Oher which was told in “The Blind Side,” was being helped along by a local family to ensure he studied hard so that he could go to college. But the camera captured much more. The resulting film, “Undefeated,” went on to win last year’s Academy Award as the year’s Best Documentary. While preparing for the film’s release this week on DVD, Coach Courtney took time out to talk with Media Mikes about football, his players and why people in Tennessee are so giving.

Mike Smith: I have to ask – The Touhy family took in Michael Oher. The Finley family took in Patrick Willis. (NOTE: Willis, from Bruceton, Tennessee, was taken in by his high school basketball coach and his family. What’s incredible about these stories is that earlier this year Oher and Willis squared off against each other in the Super Bowl). Yourself and your coaches at Manassas. Is there something in the water in Tennessee that gives people such great hearts?
Bill Courtney: (laughs) I’ve done about 100,000 interviews and that’s the first time that question has been asked. I don’t know! In the South we still teach civility and humility…love for your common man. Maybe that translates to this. I haven’t really thought about it. There are people all over this country that do wonderful things for kids in all kinds of communities. The truth is I think we just happened to have our stories told. I think we’re just representatives of a whole community of people from all over the country that do lots of things to help the neediest. We were just the lucky ones to have our stories told.

MS: What was the initial idea pitched to you from the filmmakers when they approached you about filming you and the team?
BC: The local Memphis newspaper, “The Commercial Appeal,” and their sportswriter, Jason Smith, wrote a story about one of our players, O.C. Brown, living with Mike Ray, one of our offensive line coaches, and his family and me driving him back and forth from school in order for him to get tutoring so that he could get qualified to go to college. The producer of the film read the story on line while he was surfing through some recruiting websites. He’s a big University of Tennessee fan and Tennessee was recruiting O.C.. When he saw the story he thought it might make an interesting, small documentary. He called me and we met so he could hear more about that story. When they got here they found out the greater story of Manassas…of the coaches and all the kids…and decided that there was a bigger story to tell. He told me he was going back to L.A. to get funding to make a movie. Of course, when he left we all thought that was the last time we’d see him but four weeks later, after closing up their apartments and selling off their belongings the filmmakers moved to Memphis on a shoe-string budget and started making a movie that nobody thought anybody would ever see. And lo and behold…here we are!

MS: How did the team react with the cameras constantly following them around? Was it an intrusion or did they get used to it?
BC: It would be pretty disingenuous to say that at first the kids and the coaches weren’t aware. But also, you just had two guys with two small cameras. There were no boom mikes…no lighting…no sound. It was two guys with what looked like camcorders. That’s what the entire movie was shot on. So it really wasn’t this big production, which made it less intrusive. I don’t know if I’d believe this if I hadn’t gone through the experience but, honestly, after three or four days…after a week…you kind of get used to it. They worked so hard to know the players and the coaches and the teachers that, when they weren’t around, people were more cognoscente of it. “Hey coach, where’s the film guys?” “I don’t know.” The days they didn’t show were stranger then the days they did because they were there almost every day for a year. You honestly eventually just get used to it.

MS: I see that O.C. transferred this year to Austin Peay. How is he doing, both as a student and as an athlete? (NOTE: At the end of “Undefeated” O.C. is admitted to Southern Mississippi University).
BC: I just saw him at Christmas break and talked to him last week. I still talk to all the guys regularly. O. C. had some struggles with his grades and Southern Miss had a coaching change. The coaches that were there were really fond of O.C. and worked with him really hard to keep him where he needed to be academically. But I think after the coaching change O.C. was uncomfortable. He transferred to Austin Peay and started nine games this season. He hurt his knee and missed the last two games and now he’ll be starting next year. I’ll have three former players starting on the offensive side of the ball at Austin Peay next year. I suspect I’ll be making some travels up to Clarksville to watch those guys play.

MS: When we announced we were going to interview you the question we were asked most to ask you was if you still keep in touch with Money and Chavis? And if so, how are they doing? (NOTE: Chavis Daniels and Montrail “Money” Brown are two of the young men whose stories feature prominently in the film)
BC: Absolutely! You have to remember I was a coach at Manassas for seven years. I’ve known most of these boys since they were in sixth or seventh grade. I’m still very, very fond of them and am probably still their biggest supporters. Chavis is doing well. He goes to Lane College in Jackson, Tennessee. He’s playing football – outside linebacker – and is still In school. He’s doing very well. Money…when O.C. left Southern Miss he left Southern Miss as well and is enrolled in community college here in Memphis. Most importantly he just got back from North Carolina where he was trained as a Young Life educator and is now setting up Young Life chapters in the inner-city schools all over Memphis to do devotionals and mentorships with inner city kids. I actually spoke to Money yesterday and he’s got as many as fifteen kids in different chapters in the Memphis city schools and he goes in the mornings and talks with them and helps mentor them. Money has found a calling to give back in the way he was helped and he’s still in school. The guys are doing really well. I couldn’t be more proud of them.

MS: When the film ends, you’ve left Manassas to coach your son’s team. Your first game was against Manassas. What did it feel like to be on the opposite sideline? BC: It was terrible. There was enormous trepidation leading up to that game personally, obviously. I mean those are like my sons over there, you know? I love them. And to have to go coach against them was really a very difficult thing for me. It was difficult for them as well. I was so glad when it was over with. It was tough. Very tough!

MS: Can I ask who won?
BC: We did.

MS: Thank you so much for your time, coach. I have to tell you, when I watched the film, it made me think back to my high school days. I owe a lot to my coaches for keeping me on the straight and narrow.
BC: I appreciate that. I honestly think that’s why so many people across all kinds of cultures and racial divides identify with this movie because they either remember a coach that did something for them that impacted their life in a positive way or are coaches doing that very thing. I think this film brings out the humanity in that. I appreciate you saying that…thanks for the kind words.

Read Complete Article
Filed Under: Film Interviews, Interviews Tagged With: academy, award, bill, coach, courtney, documentary, ...

DVD Review “Police Academy: The Animated Series- Volume One”

Starring: Ron Rubin, Dan Hennessey, Howard Morris, Greg Morton
Studio: Warner Archive
Number of Discs: 3
DVD Release Date: December 11, 2012
Run Time: 658 minutes

Our Score: 4 out of 5 stars

If you were a kids in the late 80’s like myself, then you would have looked forward to coming home from school for shows like this.  I have always been a fan of the “Police Academy” series, obviously shows like this don’t really warrant a animated series but it still is fun and reminds me of the time when afternoon cartoons were the bees knees.  This series fits in between the fourth and fifth movie in the franchise but this does not include any of the original cast voicing their characters.  I am not sure what it is about 80’s animated series but they just have this certain charm. I am glad to finally have these episodes on DVD and I look forward to the next volume to complete this animated series.

There were 64 episodes in this series produced over two seasons.  The first season consisted of 26 episodes, so the 30 episodes presented here cover the first season and a bit of the season. This is the first time that this episodes have ever been released on DVD, thanks to Warner Archive. The episodes have not really been restored for this release but they still look good. They have been manufactured from the best-quality video master currently available.  They are presented in a 4×3 full frame with the original aspect ratio of  1.37:1. The audio track included is a basis mono track but it works, especially with the catchy theme song “They Wear the Blue” performed by The Fat Boys.

Official Synopsis: The wacky rookies are back – and this time their antics are animated! After a bust goes awry in the opening episode, the heinous Capt. Harris gets busted back to the academy. With a serious hate-on for academy alums, Harris drags Mahoney, Jones, Hightower, Hooks, Tackleberry, Callahan, Sweetchuck and Zed back to the academy! In this 30-Episode, 3-Disc collection, the hit cartoon spin-off of the legendary law-and-disorder comedy franchise, Mahoney and Co. are joined by the stalwart members of the K-9 Corps, dog cops who are a few bones short of being top dogs, while battling super-villains like the Kingpin, Lockjaw, Amazona, Numbskull, Mr. Sleaze and the Claw. The noble-but-not-all-there Commandant is on hand as well, aided by new character The Professor and his crazy gadgets. Tip-top hip-hop act The Fat Boys sings the toe-tapping theme.

Read Complete Article
Filed Under: DVD/Blu-Ray Reviews Tagged With: academy, animated, dvd, police, review, series, ...

Behind the Screen – 84th Annual Academy Awards Wrap Up

Despite an early showing by top nominee “Hugo,” “The Artist” surged ahead and took home it’s anticipated Best Picture award at the 84th Annual Academy Awards tonight. Both films ended up with the lion’s share of awards, each of them taking home five trophies. “Hugo” took most of the technical categories it was nominated in, including Cinematography, Art Direction, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing and Visual Effects. “The Artist” scored for Costume Design, Original Score, Director for Michel Hazanavicius, Actor for Jean Dujardin and, of course, Best Picture. Meryl Streep won her third Oscar for her portrayal of British Prime Minister Maggie Thatcher in “The Iron Lady.” Supporting awards went to Christopher Plummer for “Beginners” and Octavia Spencer for “The Help.” Plummer’s win made him, at age 82, the oldest winner of an acting award in Oscar history.

Best Animated Feature went to “Rango” while Iran’s “A Seperation” was named Best Foreign Language Film. Ludovic Bource’s score for “The Artist” faced some controversy earlier this month when it was revealed that director Hazanavicius had used a short snippet from Bernard Herrmann’s score for “Vertigo” in the finished film. Hazanavicius defended the sampling, pointing out that his film was a homage to the Hollywood of the past.

Hosted by Billy Crystal, the show flowed over an amazingly fast three hours and ten minutes. Below is a complete list of winners in order of presentation:

Best Cinematography: Robert Richardson, “Hugo”
Best Art Direction: Dante Ferretti and Francesca Lo Schavo, “Hugo”
Best Costume Design: Mark Bridges, “The Artist”
Best Makeup: Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland, “The Iron Lady”
Best Foreign Language Film: “A Separation”
Best Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer, “The Help”
Best Editing: Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall, “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”
Best Sound Editing: Phillip Stockton and Eugene Gearty, “Hugo”
Best Sound Mixing: Tom Fleischman and John Midgley, “Hugo”
Best Documentary: “Undefeated”
Best Animated Feature: “Rango”
Best Visual Effects: “Hugo”
Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer, “Beginners”
Best Original Score: Ludovic Bource, “The Artist”
Best Original Song: Bret McKenzie, “Man or Muppet”
Best Adapted Screenplay: Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, “The Descendants”
Best Original Screenplay: Woody Allen, “Midnight in Paris”
Best Live Action Short: “The Shore”
Best Documentary Short: “Saving Face”
Best Animated Short: “The Fantastic Flying Books Of Mr. Morris Lessmore”
Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius, “The Artist”
Best Actor: Jean Dujardin, “The Artist”
Best Actress: Meryl Streep, “The Iron Lady”
Best Picture: “The Artist”

Read Complete Article
Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: 84th, academy, annual, awards, screen, wrap, ...

Behind the Scenes: The 84th Annual Academy Awards

As Oscar time rolls around it’s time to take a look at this years nominees and pick the winners. If you agree or disagree, please feel free to post your comments. Here we go:

BEST PICTURE

The Nominees are:
The Artist, The Descendants, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, The Help, Hugo, Midnight in Paris, Moneyball, The Tree of Life, War Horse.

Missing: The Way

After going from five nominees to ten a couple of years ago the Academy once again changed their rules. When ballots go out, each voter is allowed to name five films in order of one through five. The new rules state that if a film is named in the first position on at least 10% of the votes, it is a Best Picture nominee. Which means next year we could have eleven nominees….or three!

Should win: The Artist

Will win: The Artist

One of the most original films of the 21st Century, this love letter to the days of early Hollywood should become the first silent film (o.k., there are two words spoken but why quibble) to be named Best Picture since “Wings” won the very first Best Picture Oscar.

BEST ACTOR

The nominees are: Demian Bichir (“A Better Life”), George Clooney (“The Descendants”), Jean Dujardin (“The Artist”), Gary Oldman (“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”), Brad Pitt (“Moneyball”)

Missing: Michael Fassbinder (“Shame”)

Should win: George Clooney

Will win: George Clooney

It’s really a two man race between Clooney and Dujardin, who won the Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival. But Clooney gets the nod here because his performance here as a man who learns his critically ill wife has cheated on him is unlike anything he’s done before. Plus Hollywood loves him.

BEST ACTRESS

The nominees are: Glenn Close (“Albert Nobbs”), Viola Davis (“The Help”), “Rooney Mara (“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”), Meryl Streep (“The Iron Lady”), Michelle Williams (“My Week with Marilyn”)

Missing: Tilda Swinton (“We Need to Talk About Kevin”)

Should win: Meryl Streep

Will win: Viola Davis

Here we have a two women race. This is Streeps’ SEVENTEENTH acting nomination and most people assume she has 5 or 6 Oscars on the shelf. However, she’s only won twice (Best Supporting Actress for “Kramer vs Kramer” and Best Actress for “Sophie’s Choice”) with her last award coming almost three decades ago. She is due for Oscar number three and with her performance as Margaret Thatcher she should win it. However Davis (a past MediaMikes interview subject), in a role that could have easily slipped into stereotype, put so much dignity and soul into her performance that you truly rooted for her.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

The nominees are: Kenneth Branagh (“My Week with Marilyn”), Jonah Hill (“Moneyball”), Nick Nolte (“Warrior”), Christopher Plummer (“Beginners”), Max von Sydow (“Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close”).

Missing: Ben Kingsley (“Hugo”)

Should win: Nick Nolte

Will win: Christopher Plummer

Probably the closest race of the bunch, this category features three actors who are often regarded as the greatest in their countries history: Sweden’s von Sydow, Canada’s Plummer and England’s Branagh. There is a great irony in Branagh’s performance. He is often regarded as the successor to the great Laurence Olivier due to his Shakespearean background and his nomination comes from his portrayal of Olivier. In my opinion this award should go to Nolte, who gives one of his best performances ever in “Warrior.” But I think the Oscar will go to Plummer for his rare comedic performance as a man who comes out of the closet to his son after his wife dies in “Beginners.” Both Plummer and von Sydow are 82 and should either win they would become the oldest person to win an acting Academy Award. Currently the title is held by George Burns (Best Supporting Actor for “The Sunshine Boys”) and Jessica Tandy (Best Actress for “Driving Miss Daisy”), who were 80 when they won (though to be fair, Tandy was 200 days older then Burns).

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

The nominees are: Berenice Bejo (“The Artist”), Jessica Chastain (“The Help”), Melissa McCarthy (“Bridesmaids”), Janet McTeer (“Albert Nobbs”), Octavia Spencer (“The Help”).

Missing: Shailene Woodley (“The Descendants”)

Should win: Octavia Spencer

Will win: Octavia Spencer

This appears to be the runaway category, with Spencer nabbing pretty much every award she’s been nominated for. Like Viola Davis she took a role that could have easily spun into stereotype and put a humorous yet dignified spin on it. I will say that I am so glad to see Melissa McCarthy nominated. Comedy is so rarely recognized at awards time and she is truly deserving of her nomination.

BEST DIRECTOR

The nominees are: Michel Hazanavicius (“The Artist”), Alexander Payne (“The Descendants”), Martin Scorsese (“Hugo”), Woody Allen (“Midnight in Paris”), Terrence Malick (“The Tree of Life”)

Missing: David Fincher (“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”)

Should win: Michel Hazanavicius

Will win: Michel Hazanavicius

Even though he made arguably one of the greatest films of the 1980s (“Raging Bull”) and the 1990s (“Goodfellas”), Martin Scorsese did not win a directing Oscar until “The Departed” five years ago. Had he still been Oscar-less “Hugo” would have surely brought him the prize. That being said, the award should go to Hazanavicius for his brilliant recreation of young Hollywood.

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

The nominees are: A Cat in Paris, Chico and Rita, Kung Fu Panda 2, Puss in Boots, Rango.

Missing: The Adventures of TinTin

Should win: Puss in Boots

Will win: Rango

Despite winning the Golden Globe and Producer’s Guild awards for Best Animated Feature, Steven Spielberg’s “The Adventures of TinTin” was not nominated as apparently the animation branch of the Academy does not consider the motion capture process animation. Phooey! This is the first year that Pixar had a film eligible for a nomination (“Cars 2”) and didn’t receive one. Guess members aren’t big Mater fans. Dreamworks, the studio behind both “Kung Fu Panda 2” and “Puss in Boots” has won a couple awards in this category (for “Shrek” and a shared award for “Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit”) so the Academy should want to spread the wealth around and give it to “Rango.”

THE REST OF THE WINNERS

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: “Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory”

DOCUMENTARY SHORT: “God is the Bigger Elvis”

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: “A Seperation:

CINEMATOGRAPHY: “The Tree of Life” (yes, you read that right)

MAKEUP: “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2”

ART DIRECTION: Hugo

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: “Midnight in Paris” – Woody Allen

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: “Moneyball” – Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin

ANIMATED SHORT FILM: “La Luna”

LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM: “Time Freak”

VISUAL EFFECTS: “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2”

COSTUME DESIGN: “The Artist”

FILM EDITING: “Hugo”

SOUND MIXING: “War Horse”

SOUND EFFECTS: “War Horse”

ORIGINAL SCORE: “War Horse” – John Williams (including this year, Williams has been nominated for an Oscar 47 times! He’s actually competing against himself this year with “War Horse” and “The Adventures of TinTin”).

ORIGINAL SONG: “Man or Muppet” from “The Muppets

Check back on Monday for my thoughts on the winners and losers!

Read Complete Article
Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: 84th, academy, annual, awards, scenes
Page 1 of 2
Next
Next Page »