And the Winners of the 2015 MediaMikes.com Awards Are…

Thank you to all of the fans who either posted their choices or emailed them in. Another great response from our great readers. For the first time we had a category with a tie.

The awards were voted on and chosen by both the readers and staff of MediaMikes.com. (10) random entries have been selected to receive a nice selection of 2015 Movie Swag and they will be notified shortly by email. A big “thank you” to our friends at Allied Integrated Marketing in Kansas City for providing prize items.

And now, the envelopes please:

BEST PICTURE: (tie) “The Revenant” and “Star Wars – Episode VII: The Force Awakens”

BEST DIRECTOR: Ron Howard, “In the Heart of the Sea”

BEST ACTOR: Leonardo DiCaprio, “The Revenant”

BEST ACTRESS: Brie Larson, “Room”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Mark Rylance, “Bridge of Spies”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Rooney Mara, “Carol”

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE: “Inside Out”

BEST ORIGINAL MUSICAL SCORE: John Williams, “Star Wars – Episode VII: The Force Awakens

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Alex Garland, “Ex Machina”

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Drew Goddard, “The Martian”

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: “The Wrecking Crew”

Kansas City Film Critics Name “Mad Max: Fury Road” the Best Film of 2015 During Presentation of 50th Annual James Loutzenhiser Awards

Mad Max: Fury Road was chosen as the Best Film of 2015 by The Kansas City Film Critics Circle, the 2nd oldest critics group in the country. The winners were announced this afternoon during a ceremony at the Alamo Drafthouse Theatre in Kansas City. Among the voters were MediaMikes own Michael Smith and Jeremy Werner.

The film, which had been nominated in four categories by the group, also took home the Robert Altman Award for Best Director for George Miller and Best Actress for Charlize Theron. The film was the only multiple winner announced by the group. The directing award is named in honor of seven-time Academy Award nominee and Kansas City native Robert Altman.

Leonardo DiCaprio was named Best Actor for his work in The Revenant. In the supporting categories, Michael Shannon received the Best Supporting Actor prize for 99 Homes while Alicia Vikander was named Best Supporting Actress for Ex Machina. PIXAR’s Inside Out was named the year’s Best Animated Feature.

Below is a complete list of winners:

BEST PICTURE: Mad Max: Fury Road

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD FOR BEST DIRECTOR: George Miller – Mad Max: Fury Road

BEST ACTOR: Leonardo DiCaprio – The Revenant

BEST ACTRESS: Charlize Theron – Mad Max: Fury Road

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Michael Shannon – 99 Homes

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Alicia Vikander – Ex Machina

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Josh Singer and Tom McCarthy – Spotlight

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Charles Randolph and Adam McKay – The Big Short
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE: Inside Out

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: Phoenix (Germany)

BEST DOCUMENTARY: Amy

VINCE KOEHLER AWARD FOR BEST SCIENCE FICTION, FANTASY or HORROR FILM: Ex Machina

 

Related Content

Kansas City Film Critics Announces Nominees for the 50th Annual James Loutzenhiser Awards

Kansas City, Missouri – The Kansas City Film Critics Circle, of which both Moviemike and Jeremy Werner are members, and the second oldest film critic organization in the country, released their nominees for the 50th Annual James Loutzenhiser Awards, recognizing the best in film for 2015.

Sicario, a fall release that addressed the war on drugs in both the United States and Mexico, led all films with five nominations including Best Picture and Best Director for Denis Villenueve. The film also earned nods for Emily Blunt for Best Actress, Benicio Del Toro for Best Supporting and Original Screenplay.

Right behind are the summer action film Mad Max: Fury Road and the upcoming Leonardo DiCaprio film, The Revenant, which each earned four nominations, including Best Picture. Also earning Best Picture nominations: Room and Spotlight. DiCaprio was nominated as one of the year’s Best Actors, along with Steve Carell (The Big Short), Bryan Cranston (Trumbo), Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs) and last year’s Academy Award winner in this category, Eddie Redmayne (The Danish Girl).

Charlize Theron was nominated as Best Actress for her role as Imperator Furiosa in Mad Max: Fury Road. Nominated alongside her and Blunt are Cate Blanchett (Carol), Bel Powley (The Diary of a Teenage Girl) and Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn).

Besides Del Toro, the list of nominees for Best Supporting Actor include Tom Hardy (The Revenant), Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies), Michael Shannon (99 Homes) and Sylvester Stallone, reprising his role of Rocky Balboa in Creed. In 1976 the group named Stallone the year’s Best Actor for playing Balboa in Rocky.

Blanchett’s Carol co-star, Rooney Mara, earned a nod for Best Supporting Actress, alongside Elizabeth Banks (Love and Mercy), Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Hateful Eight), Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina) and Kate Winslet (Steve Jobs).

Directors joining Villenueve in competition for the Robert Altman Award for Best Director are Alex Garland (Ex Machina), Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (The Revenant), Tom McCarthy (Spotlight) and George Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road).

The group also handed out nominations for Best Animated Feature, Original Screenplay, Adapted Screenplay, Foreign Film, Documentary Feature and for the Vince Koehler Award, which is chosen as the year’s best Science Fiction, Horror or Fantasy Film.

Winners will be voted on and the results released this Sunday, December 20th.

Below is a complete list of nominees:

BEST PICTURE: Mad Max: Fury Road, The Revenant, Room, Sicario, Spotlight

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD FOR BEST DIRECTOR: Alex Garland (Ex Machina), George Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road), Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (The Revenant), Denis Villenueve (Sicario), Tom McCarthy (Spotlight)

BEST ACTOR: Steve Carell (The Big Short), Bryan Cranston (Trumbo), Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs), Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant), Eddie Redmayne (The Danish Girl)

BEST ACTRESS: Cate Blanchett (Carol), Emily Blunt (Sicario), Bel Powley (The Diary of a Teenage Girl), Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn), Charlize Theron (Mad Max: Fury Road)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Benicio Del Toro (Sicario), Tom Hardy (The Revenant), Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies), Michael Shannon (99 Homes), Sylvester Stallone (Creed)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Elizabeth Banks (Love and Mercy), Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Hateful Eight), Rooney Mara (Carol), Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina), Kate Winslet (Steve Jobs)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Ex Machina, The Hateful Eight, Inside Out, Sicario, Spotlight, Trainwreck

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: The Big Short, Carol, The Martian, Room, Steve Jobs

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE: Anomalisa, Inside Out, Minions, The Peanuts Movie, Shaun the Sheep

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: The Assassin, Goodnight Mommy, Phoenix, Son of Saul, The Tribe, White God

BEST DOCUMENTARY: Amy, Best of Enemies, The Look of Silence, Where to Invade Next, The Wrecking Crew

VINCE KOEHLER AWARD FOR BEST SCIENCE FICTION, FANTASY or HORROR FILM: Ex Machina, Goodnight Mommy, It Follows, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Martian

Get Your Vote in For The 2015 Media Mikes Awards and Win a 2015 Movie Prize Package

2015 is almost over and once again it’s up to our staff and readers to decide who did it best in the world of film this year. And, once again, (10) lucky readers will win a nice selection of movie swag – T-shirts, DVDs, CDs, whatever we have in closet. This year readers can send in nominations for the following: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress and Best Animated Feature. Other awards will be decided by the staff of MediaMikes.com.

All you have to do is list your choices below. Or, if you prefer, you can send them to [email protected]. One nominee per category, please. Voting ends on Sunday, January 3, with the winners announced on Monday, January 11. Good luck!

Announcing the Second Annual “Journeys Alternative Press Music Awards” Fueled by Monster Energy Drink

 

WITH LIVE PERFORMANCES FROM
WEEZER • PANIC! AT THE DISCO • ALL TIME LOW •

NEW FOUND GLORY with HAYLEY WILLIAMS • TAKING BACK SUNDAY • SIMPLE PLAN • HALESTORM • BLACK VEIL BRIDES • ECHOSMITH • SUM 41 • MOTIONLESS IN WHITE • MADDEN BROTHERS

and many more to be announced!

 TICKETS ON SALE APRIL 3RD VIA ALTPRESS.COM/APMAS

APMAS TO BE BROADCAST LIVE ON AXS TV

The wait is over! Rock music’s newest and most popular awards show, the Journeys Alternative Press Music Awards, fueled by Monster Energy Drink, is pleased to announce this year’s headliners, award categories and nominees, as well as voting information, ticketing, broadcast details, sponsor partnerships and more. The APMAs take place on July 22 at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, hosted by hilarious heartthrobs Alex Gaskarth and Jack Barakat of Billboard-chart topping, five-time AP cover stars All Time Low.

Fifteen awards will be presented, including the brand new Journeys  “Best Music Video” category, as well as the honorary “Vanguard” and “Icon” awards.  Last year’s recipients included Smashing Pumpkins founder Billy Corgan and Joan Jett.

Rock legends and four-time AP cover stars Weezer — whose 2014 album Everything Will Be Alright In The End is nominated for the prestigious “Album Of The Year” award — will serve as the evening’s headlining performance. “We’re incredibly excited to play for all of our fans at the APMAs this year!” said Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo.

Additional live performances include Panic! At The Disco, Taking Back Sunday, Motionless In White, All Time Low, a special performance from New Found Glory featuring Hayley Williams, Echosmith, Halestorm and the Madden Brothers. The world-renowned Contemporary Youth Orchestra will also be returning to the APMAs to accompany many of the evening’s performances and event proceedings.

After a much publicized battle with health issues, Deryck Whibley and Sum 41 will be making their triumphant return to the stage with a much-anticipated comeback performance. Sum 41 frontman Whibley commented,  “Playing live is the heart and soul for us. It’s our chance to connect face to face with our fans, and I’m glad that we get to share our first experience back onstage again at the APMAs. It’s also exciting to be a part of the event to support the first magazine to put our ugly mugs on the cover in America!”

Fellow pop-punk superstars Simple Plan will also be making their much anticipated return to the stage after a three-year hiatus from the American stage. Simple Plan’s lead singer Pierre Bouvier captured the excitement best by saying, “We’re super excited to be part of the APMAs this year.  It’s like the ultimate party with all the bands we care about and the scene that we’re proud to be a part of.  We’re also stoked to finally be playing some new material in the U.S. for our fans that have been waiting for so long. It’s gonna be a hell of a night!”

Last year’s “Most Dedicated Fans” award recipients Black Veil Brides will return to perform a special set. Lead singer and Ohio native Andy Biersack commented “We are so excited to be a part of the 2015 APMAS! Last year, AP granted me not only the opportunity to perform with my heroes, but also to give back to the fans who have given us everything with the Most Dedicated Fan award! We are stoked to perform and would be honored to win. But most importantly, we can’t wait to see everyone there!”

 

The 2015 APMAs CATEGORIES, NOMINEES, and PRESENTERS are:

Artist Of The Year presented by Monster Energy Drink

Against Me!

Black Veil Brides

Crown The Empire

Issues

Motionless In White

New Found Glory

Of Mice & Men

Slipknot

Taking Back Sunday

Weezer

Album Of The Year presented by Journeys

Beartooth •  Disgusting

Black Veil Brides •  Black Veil Brides

Circa Survive •  Descensus

Every Time I Die • From Parts Unknown

frnkiero andthe cellabration • Stomachaches

Gerard Way • Hesitant Alien

Issues • Issues

La Dispute • Rooms Of The House

Linkin Park • The Hunting Party

Real Friends • Maybe This Place Is The Same And We’re Just Changing

Artist Philanthropic presented by Sub City / Take Action

Andrew McMahon In The Wilderness  • Dear Jack Foundation

Bayside  • The Human Rights Campaign

Koji  • Doctors Without Borders

Jake Luhrs of August Burns Red •  HeartSupport

Simple Plan  The Simple Plan Foundation

Taking Back Sunday  American Cancer Society

Best Live Band presented by Macbeth

A Day To Remember

letlive.

Panic! At The Disco

Paramore

twenty one pilots

The Wonder Years

Breakthrough Band presented by Splat!

Beartooth

Echosmith

Modern Baseball

Neck Deep

PVRIS

This Wild Life

Song Of The Year presented by Epitaph Records

Beartooth • “Beaten In Lips”

Motionless In White • “Reincarnate”

Real Friends • “I Don’t Love You Anymore”

Set It Off  • “Why Worry”

Sleeping With Sirens • “Kick Me”

PVRIS • “My House”

Best International Band

The 1975 (UK)

The Amity Affliction (Australia)

Marmozets (UK)

New Politics (Denmark)

Northlane (Australia)

Crossfaith (Japan)

Best Music Video presented by Journeys

Bring Me The Horizon • “Drown”

A Day To Remember • “End Of Me”

Fall Out Boy • “Centuries”

Modern Baseball • “Your Graduation”

PVRIS • “St. Patrick”

Set It Off • “Why Worry”

Most Dedicated Fans presented by Fearless Records

All Time Low (Hustlers)

Crown The Empire (The Runaways)

Fall Out Boy (Overcast Kids)

Motionless In White (Creatures)

Paramore (Parafamily)

twenty one pilots (Skeleton Clique)

Best Underground Band presented by Sumerian Records

Being As An Ocean

The Hotelier

Knuckle Puck

Major League

State Champs

Tigers Jaw

Best Vocalist

Tyler Carter (Issues)

Vic Fuentes (Pierce The Veil)

Lynn Gunn (PVRIS)

Adam Lazzara (Taking Back Sunday)

Jeremy McKinnon (A Day To Remember)

Hayley Williams (Paramore)

Best Guitarist

Arun Bali (Saves The Day)

Jordan Buckley (Every Time I Die)

Tony Perry (Pierce The Veil)

Kevin Skaff (A Day To Remember)

Will Swan (Dance Gavin Dance)

Jacky Vincent (Falling In Reverse)

Best Bassist presented by Razor & Tie Records

Kyle Fasel (Real Friends)

Jeph Howard (The Used)

Ryan Jay Johnson (letlive.)

Zack Merrick (All Time Low)

Devin “Ghost” Sola (Motionless In White)

Dallon Weekes (Panic! At The Disco)

Best Drummer presented by DW Drums

Cyrus Bolooki (New Found Glory)

Rian Dawson (All Time Low)

Jake Garland (Memphis May Fire)

Adam Gray (Texas In July)

Matt Greiner (August Burns Red)

Luke Holland (The Word Alive)

 

Voting on all awards begins today via www.altpress.com/apmas, in addition to the “Best Music Video” award, which can be voted upon exclusively at any Journeys retail location via voter mobile device and store-provided QR codes or via journeys.com/bestmusicvideo. Voting ends on July 6, 2015.

A limited amount of discounted early bird tickets as well as VIP packages, Monster travel packages and pit tickets will go on sale Friday, April 3 at 10:00 am EDT. Both the VIP and Ultimate Monster packages will include exclusive merch limited APMAs merch, premium seating, early entry and more. Head to www.altpress.com/apmas for all the ticket offerings and details.

The APMAs are very pleased to announce brand new partnerships with several of today’s leading companies, including retail, technology, merchandise, music industries and more. This year’s new title sponsor is none other than Journeys, the leader in the teen-specialty retail scene focused on lifestyle-driven branded footwear and accessories with 850 stores across all 50 states, Puerto Rico and Canada. The APMAs are thrilled to include Journeys as their title sponsor and official retail partner for the 2015 APMAs.

Kari Irons, Senior Vice President of Marketing at Journeys says, “Journeys is excited to join the 2015 & 2016 AP Music Awards as the title sponsor. Music has been in our DNA since we opened our first store in 1986. Through our two-year partnership, we’re able to capture exclusive content and customize unique campaigns and contests  — all to support our employees, our core consumers and a talented community of artists. We’ve worked with Alternative Press for several years as an advertiser, and are looking forward to building upon an already stellar relationship.”

In addition, this year’s APMAs is once again joined by lead presenting sponsor Monster Energy Drink, who will be energizing the event by hosting meet & greet experiences for the APMAs fans with top-tier talent from the rock ’n’ roll world.

The 2015 APMAs are proud to team up once again with official broadcast partner AXS TV. Last year’s award show marked the highest social engagement in the channel’s history. The APMAs are looking forward to another successful year.

The APMAs are made possible by many other great sponsors and partnerships including Affliction Clothing, Another Century Records, CreativeLive, Disc Makers, DW Drums, EarthQuaker Devices, Epitaph Records, Equal Vision Records, Full Sail University, Fearless Records, Hopeless Records, idobi radio, Lace Pickups, Macbeth, MerchNow, Razor & Tie Records, Rise Records, Splat! Hair Care, Sumerian Records and the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame And Museum.

Don’t miss the 2015 AP Music Awards! Check back to www.altpress.com/apmas over the coming weeks for more announcements and information.

The APMAs are produced by Josh Bernstein, Mike Shea, Kevin Lyman, Dawn Marshman, Joe Scarpelli and Marc Grant.

About Alternative Press:

Now in its 30th year, Alternative Press continues to be on the forefront of discovering new artists, breaking news and reporting on the latest trends in music and youth culture. Since its early days as a pasted-up fanzine in the mid-’80s, Alternative Press is one of the largest music magazines in the world. AP provides in-depth interviews and exclusive photos, making it an essential collectors piece for a passionate fan base, as well as digitally through various mobile and tablet formats. AP has expanded its digital reach via an enhanced mobile app and Altpress.com, one of the world’s fastest-growing websites. The site has become a necessary destination for up-to-the-minute breaking news, coverage from our national APtv correspondents, exclusive multimedia premieres and much more. Additionally, the brand has been successfully extended through live events, beginning with the launch of the AP Tour and the company’s inaugural AP Music Award Show, which trended No. 1 worldwide on Twitter and Facebook. Independently owned and operated, AP continues to reach millions of fans, offering them insight to the hottest artists and cultural trends first.

About Journeys:

Journeys is a leader in the teen specialty retail scene, with more than 850 stores in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and Canada. Journeys uses fashion savvy and merchandising science to keep in step with the fast-paced footwear and accessories market for 13- to 22-year-old guys and girls. Journeys offers a wide variety of trendy, relevant brands that cater to teens who seek the hottest, new styles. The Journeys store is more than a retail environment; it’s an extension of the teen lifestyle. From the plasma TVs playing exclusive content and the latest music videos, to the visual merchandising strategy and promotions, to the employees whose image and style reflect the customers’ lifestyle and attitude. In addition, Journeys reaches its customers through www.journeys.coma mobile website, catalog, national advertising, strategic cross-promotions, social media and grass-roots events like The Journeys Noise Tour. Journeys is, in every way, an attitude you can wear!

About Monster Energy Drink:

Most companies spend their money on ad agencies, TV commercials, radio spots and billboards to tell you how good their products are. At Monster Energy, we chose none of the above. Instead we support the scene, our bands, our athletes and our fans. We back athletes so they can make a career out of their passion. We promote concert tours, so our favorite bands can visit your hometown. We celebrate with our fans and riders by throwing parties and making the coolest events we can think of a reality. www.monsterenergy.com | www.facebook.com/monsterenergy

About the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum:

The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame And Museum’s mission is to engage, teach and inspire through the power of rock and roll. The institution carries out its mission by giving voice to the stories of the people, artifacts and events that shaped rock and roll — through Museum exhibits, materials in the Museum’s Library and Archives, traveling exhibitions, and a wide array of innovative educational programs and activities. The 150,000 square-foot Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, located in Cleveland’s rapidly developing North Coast Harbor, is home to major artifact collections, four state-of-the-art theaters, and year-round educational and concert programming.

The Museum is open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. On Wednesdays (and Saturdays through Labor Day), the Museum is open until 9 p.m. Museum admission is $22 for adults, $18 for adult residents of Greater Cleveland, $17 for seniors (65+), $13 for youth (9-12), children under 8 are free. A 6% Admission Tax that goes to support Cleveland Metropolitan Schools is added to each ticket at purchase. Museum Members are always admitted free, for information or to join the membership program call 216.515.8425. For general inquiries, please call 216.781.ROCK (7625) or visit http://www.rockhall.com.  The Ohio Arts Council supports the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans. The Museum is also generously funded by Cuyahoga County residents through Cuyahoga Arts and Culture.

“Birdman” Dominates 2014 Media Mikes Awards

After two weeks of email and on-line submissions by the staff and readers of Media Mikes.com the winners of the 3rd Annual Media Mikes Awards have been announced.

“Birdman” led all films with four awards, including (2) for director and co-writer Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu. “The Grand Budapest Hotel” was chosen as the Best Film of the Year. Michael Keaton edged out Jake Gyllenhaal to win the Best Actor Award for his work in “Birdman” while Reese Witherspoon out-dueled Julianne Moore to take the Best Actress prize for “Wild.” Another tight battle saw “Big Hero 6” narrowly out-point “The Lego Movie” for the year’s Best Animated Feature.

In the supporting categories, the races were not even close, with Mark Ruffalo running away with the Best Supporting Actor prize for his work in “Foxcatcher” and Emma Stone doing the same in the Best Supporting Actress category for her role in “Birdman.”

In awards voted on by the staff, “Birdman” took home the Best Original Screenplay Award while “The Imitation Game” was honored as the year’s Best Adapted Screenplay. “Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me” was chosen the year’s Best Documentary Feature. Composer Alexandre Desplat won the Best Original Score Award for his work on “The Imitation Game.”

THE COMPLETE LIST OF WINNERS:

BEST FILM – “The Grand Budapest Hotel”

BEST DIRECTOR – Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu – “Birdman”

BEST ACTOR – Michael Keaton – “Birdman”

BEST ACTRESS – Reese Witherspoon – “Wild”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR – Mark Ruffalo – “Foxcatcher”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS – Emma Stone – “Birdman”

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE – “Big Hero 6”

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY – Armando Bo, Alexander Dinelaris, Nicolas Giocabone and Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu – “Birdman”

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY – Graham Moore – “The Imitation Game”

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE – “Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me”

BEST ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SCORE- Alexandre Desplat – “The Imitation Game”

The Nominees for the 2014 Media Mikes Awards are in!

After hundreds of on-line and email nominations from readers, the finalists
for the 3rd Annual Media Mikes Awards are in. The nominees are:

BEST PICTURE
“Birdman”
“Gone Girl”
“The Grand Budapest Hotel”
“Guardians of the Galaxy”
“The Imitation Game”

BEST DIRECTOR
Wes Anderson – “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu – “Birdman”
“Angelina Jolie – “Unbroken”
Richard Linklater – “Boyhood”
Rob Marshall – “Into theWoods”

BEST ACTOR
Bradley Cooper – “American Sniper”
Benedict Cumberbatch – “The Imitation Game”
Ralph Fiennes – “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
Jake Gyllenhaal – “Nightcrawler”
Michael Keaton – “Birdman”

BEST ACTRESS
Felicity Jones – “Theory of Everything”
Julianne Moore – “Still Alice”
Chloe Grace-Moritz – “If I Stay”
Rosamund Pike – “Gone Girl”
Reese Witherspoon – “Wild”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Robert Duvall – “The Judge”
Ethan Hawke – “Boyhood”
Edward Norton – “Birdman”
Mark Ruffalo – “Foxcatcher”
J.K. Simmons – “Whiplash”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Patricia Arquette – “Boyhood”
Keira Knightley – “The Imitation Game”
Emma Stone – “Birdman”
Tilda Swinton – “Snowpiercer”
Meryl Streep – “Into the Woods”

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
“Big Hero 6”
“Book of Life”
“Boxtrolls”
“How to Train Your Dragon 2”
“The Lego Movie”

The winners will be announced during this coming week’s episode of our “Behind the Mikes” Podcast – available this Monday, January 26 – and will be posted here the next day. Thank you for everyone that sent in their nominations!

86th Academy Awards Recap

“Gravity,” director Alfonso Cuaron’s technical achievement, took home the lion’s share of awards Sunday night at the 86th Annual Academy Awards.  The film, nominated in 10 categories, took home 7 Oscars, including two for Cuaron: Best Director and Best Film Editing.  The film also took home awards for Visual Effects, Sound, Sound Editing, Cinematography and Best Original Score.

The award for Best Picture went to Steve McQueen’s “12 Years a Slave,” which also took home awards for Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress for Lupita Nyong’o.  Cate Blanchett won her second Oscar, this time as Best Actress, for her role in “Blue Jasmine.”  On the actor side, the boys from “Dallas Buyers Club” took home the gold with Jared Leto winning Best Supporting Actor and Matthew McConaughey winning Best Actor.

“Frozen,” Disney’s latest animated blockbuster, took the award for Best Animated Feature as well as for Best Song, “Let It Go.”  Another multiple award winning film was Baz Luhrmann’s “The Great Gatsby,” which won for Best Costume Design and Best Production Design.”  Spike Jonze took home the Original Screenplay award for “Her.”

The telecast, hosted by Ellen Degeneres, was tame when compared to recent shows.  In fact, except for a couple of “Jonah Hill penis” jokes and a bit delivering pizza to those in the audience, Degeneres was pretty non-existent, only showing up to introduce the next presenters.  All four Best Song presentations were well received, as was Pink’s version of “Over the Rainbow,” performed to help celebrate the 75th Anniversary of “The Wizard of Oz.”  There also appeared to be a problem with the teleprompter as several presenters stumbled through their lines.  When introducing Idina Menzel to sing the song from “Frozen,” John Travolta appeared to introduce her as “Adele Nuzim.”

A bit of old Hollywood was represented with presenting appearances by Kim Novak and Sidney Poitier.  In her first performing appearance on the show Bette Midler earned a much deserved standing ovation for her rendition of “The Wind Beneath My Wings” after the annual “In Memoriam” sequence.

Here is a list of this year’s winners:

Best Picture: 12 Years a Slave

Best Actor: Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club

Best Actress: Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine

Best Supporting Actor: Jared Leto, Dallas Buyer’s Club

Best Supporting Actress: Lupita Nyong’o, 12 Years a Slave

Achievement in Directing: Alfonso Cuarón, Gravity

Best Adapted Screenplay: John Ridley, 12 Years a Slave

Best Original Screenplay: Spike Jonze, Her

Best Original Score: Gravity, Steven Price

Best Original Song: “Let It Go,” Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez; Frozen

Achievement in Costume Design:  The Great Gatsby

Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling:  Dallas Buyers Club

Animated Short Film: Mr. Hublot

Animated Feature Film: Frozen

Achievement in Visual Effects: Gravity

Live Action Short Film: Helium

Best Documentary Short Subject: The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life

Documentary Feature: 20 Feet from Stardom

Best Foreign Language Film of the Year: The Great Beauty, Italy

Achievement in Sound Mixing: Gravity

Achievement in Sound Editing: Gravity

Achievement in Cinematography: Gravity, Emmanuel Lubezki

Achievement in Film Editing: Gravity

Achievement in Production Design: The Great Gatsby

Patton Oswalt talks about hosting the 29th Annual Independent Spirit Awards

Back in 2006, the Independent Spirit Awards changed up their trophy system. Before 2006, winners at the awards show would receive an acrylic glass pyramid containing suspended shoestrings that symbolized the thin budget that independent movies would typically have to work with. They then changed it up to show a bird sitting atop of a pole with that the pole wrapped in shoestrings. So obviously the next logical step would be giving the winners a living, breathing bird. Right? Well that’s the plan at this year’s 29th annual awards. The host, Patton Oswald, was able to talk with me and other reporters at a press conference, to go over his avian stunt, comedic or not, as well as talk about what an honor it is to host this prestigious event.

Patton Oswalt is very familiar with the awards process. His first hosting duties were at the 39th annual Annie Awards where he was quick on his feet, especially when something went wrong, “I’m gonna be very, very aware if somebody reads the wrong cards. He read the wrong winner and I’ll try once again try to make a screw-up like that be delightful.” Even though he’s well known as a stand-up comedian, Patton has received recognition for his acting abilities throughout the years. Many people will remember him as the voice of Remy in “Ratatouille”, but his most recent portrayal as Matt Freehauf in “Young Adult,” landed him the New York Film Critics award for best supporting actor. So it’s understandable that Patton Oswalt would be ready to host the Independent Spirit Awards, but not a lot of hosts spend their time leading up to the awards preparing themselves for birds. but that’s what he’s been doing.

“I feel pretty ready. I’ve been down to the park a lot, chasing them around, yelling at them, so we’ll see,” Patton said jokingly. There should be no worries among animal activists or organizations. Patton says the birds will be well taken care of. The real challenge for him however, may actually be having to be around a bird, “I probably shouldn’t say this, but I have a paralyzing fears of birds…I don’t think it’ll affect my performance.” Patton says he wasn’t sure what kind of birds they would have though. Or even if they would be different for each nomination. He was sure that the winners would actually be able to keep their feathered prize, “They can keep them, they can set them free. Trust me, I know actors, I know directors, there’s all kinds of things they could do with birds, some I would rather not go into.” Patton said the birds will be cage free and actually be handled by the presenters and winners. With fears extinguished, Patton returned to the jokes by reassuring everyone that if anyone’s award…I mean bird…died days, months, or years later, the contingency plan would be to give the winner a baby cougar as a replacement.

It’s not odd for a comedian to host the Independent Spirit Awards. Previous hosts have included, Sarah Silverman, Steve Coogan and Eddie Izzard. When putting the jokes aside and getting to the meat of the night, anyone would gladly tell you they really look at the Independent Spirit Awards as a venue to see some great future filmmakers and actors as well as those who are deserving of some praise. Patton was no different. He really divulged a deep passion and appreciation for the awards, “For me, being the kind of film buff I am, this award show digs pretty deep into trying to find movies that took risks and rolled the dice. It rewards people that are clearly emerging that are going to be doing great stuff with their careers. What I also love is that they keep an eye open for veterans like Robert Redford and Bruce Dern who continue to take risks and seek out challenging, different material.”

Patton further proved his love for movies by rattling off some of his favorites at this year’s awards and he was not short of praise, “The crop of films they sent me was pretty stunning. ‘The Spectacular Now’ I thought was fantastic. I hope ‘Enough Said’ wins everything it gets nominated for. The documentary ‘The Act of Killing,’ I thought it was crucial. Hard to watch, but crucial. I really hope that Bruce Dern wins for ‘Nebraska’ because I thought he was just amazing. That guy’s had awards coming for a long time in my opinion, so that would be great.” Patton says he’s spent plenty of time catching up on movies and says that he was able to catch other award nominees like “Dallas Buyer’s Club,” “Short Term 12,” and the documentary “Computer Chess.”

With millions of viewers still choosing to watch the Oscars this year, it only seemed fitting that the last question for Patton Oswalt would be if the Independent Spirit Awards is a good predictor for the Academy. He didn’t shy away from the question, “I think it goes beyond that. I think that the Independent Spirit Awards are an important predictor of who you’re going to be rooting for in the Oscars, like ten years down the road. That’s what makes it so exciting for me, that this is like giving an award to Martin Scorsese in 1971 for ‘Who’s Knocking On My Door.’ You’re seeing people at the beginning of their, I’m going to use the word journey, but it really is. These are the future masters that you’re watching when they’re young and it makes it that much more crucial and stressful for me. I really want to do well by these guys because these are the people that are going to be making movies down the road that we’re going to be fighting over at the Oscars.”

For those interested (and how can you not be?), you can catch the 29th Annual Independent Spirit Awards on IFC, Sunday, March 1st. The fun begins at 10 p.m. EST/PST.

MediaMikes.com Announce Winners of 2013 Movie Awards

Entertainment web site Media Mikes.com announced the winners of their annual movie awards for 2013 today.

“Gravity,” director Alfonso Cuaron’s space epic earned four awards, including Best Picture of 2013, after tabulating nominations submitted by the staff and readers of Media Mikes.com, one of the fastest growing entertainment web sites on the Internet. Readers were asked to send in their choices in the following categories: Picture, Director, Animated Feature, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress. Votes could be submitted either on the site or via email. Awards were also given in the categories of Original Score, Original Screenplay, Adapted Screenplay and Documentary Feature. These were chosen by a vote among staff members of the web site. Starting next year, these categories will also be open to the readers.

The winners are:
BEST PICTURE 
Gravity
BEST DIRECTOR    
Alfonso Cuaron – Gravity

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

Frozen
       BEST ACTOR           
Tom Hanks – Captain Phillips
 BEST ACTRESS    
Sandra Bullock – Gravity
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Jared Leto – Dallas Buyers Club
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Jennifer Lawrence – American Hustle
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
20 Feet From Stardom
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright – The World’s End
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Terence Winter – The Wolf of Wall Street
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
 Steven Price – Gravity

MediaMikes.com Awards Set To Be Announced


After three weeks of voting, with hundreds of submissions sent in by Media Mikes.com readers, the winners of the 2013 Media Mikes.com Awards for the years best films and performances have been finalized. The reader-voted winners will be announced later this week on the weekly “Behind the Mikes” Podcast and will be posted on the site on Friday, January 10.

Media Mikes.com readers had the opportunity to submit their choices in seven different categories – BEST PICTURE, DIRECTOR, ANIMATED FEATURE, ACTOR, ACTRESS, SUPPORTING ACTOR and SUPPORTING ACTRESS. Media Mikes.com staff voted on four additional categories – BEST ORIGINAL SCORE, BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE, BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY and BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY. These categories will be open to readers beginning in 2014.

The top-5 vote getters in each reader chosen category are listed below in alphabetical order. Thanks to everyone that voted!

BEST PICTURE
12 Years a Slave
Act of Killing
American Hustle
Gravity
Nebraska

BEST DIRECTOR
Alfonso Cuaron – Gravity
Paul Greengrass – Captain Phillips
Spike Jonze – Her
Alexander Payne – Nebraska
Martin Scorsese – The Wolf of Wall Street

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
The Croods
Despicable Me 2
Frozen
Monsters University
The Wind Rises

BEST ACTOR (due to the closeness of the vote, there are seven nominees)
Christian Bale – American Hustle
Bruce Dern – Nebraska
Leonardo DiCaprio – The Wolf of Wall Street
Chiwetel Ejiofor – 12 Years a Slave
Tom Hanks – Captain Phillips
Hugh Jackman – Prisoners
Matthew McConaughey – Dallas Buyers Club

BEST ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett – Blue Jasmine
Sandra Bullock – Gravity
Judi Dench – Philomena
Julie Delpy – Before Midnight
Emma Thompson – Saving Mr. Banks

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Daniel Bruhl – Rush
Bradley Cooper – American Hustle
Michael Fassbender – 12 Years a Slave
Jared Leto – Dallas Buyers Club
Sam Rockwell – The Way, Way Back

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Scarlett Johansson – Her
Jennifer Lawrence – American Hustle
Jena Malone – The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
Lupita Nyong’o – 12 Years a Slave
Julia Roberts – August: Osage County

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”

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!

“Hugo,” “The Artist” lead list of 84th Annual Academy Awards

“Hugo,” director Martin Scorsese’s loving look at the early history of film, leads all nominees in the race for Oscar gold.  The film received 11 total nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director.
Close behind is “The Artist,” a silent, black and white film that includes Best Picture among its 10 nods.  “War Horse” and “Moneyball” followed with 6 nominations each, including Best Picture.
A total of nine films were nominated for Best Picture.  Last year, in an attempt to quell the outrage that “The Dark Knight” did not grab a Best Picture nod, the Academy increased the number of picture nominees from 5 to 10.  This year the rule was changed to nominate up to 10 films, based on membership voting.  To be eligible for a Best Picture nomination a film must be listed as first on at least 250 membership ballots.  Other nominees for Best Picture:  “The Descendants,” “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close,” “The Help,” “Midnight in Paris” and “The Tree of Life.”
Besides Scorsese, director nominations went to Michel Hazanavicius for “The Artist,” Alexander Payne for “The Descendants,” “Woody Allen for “Midnight in Paris” and Terrence Malick for “The Tree of Life.”
Best Actor nominees:  Demian Bechir – “A Better Life,” George Clooney – “The Descendants,” Jean Dujardin – “The Artist,” Gary Oldman – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” and Brad Pitt – “Moneyball.”
Best Actress nods went to Glenn Close – “Albert Nobbs,” Viola Davis – “The Help,” Rooney Mara – “The Girl in the Dragon Tattoo,” Meryl Streep – “The Iron Lady” and Michelle Williams – “My Weekend With Marilyn.”
Best Supporting Actor nominees include Kenneth Branagh – “My Weekend With Marilyn,” Jonah Hill – “Moneyball,” Nick Nolte – “Warrior,” Christopher Plummer – “Beginners” and Max von Sydow – “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.”
Best Supporting Actress choices include Berenice Bejo – “The Artist,” Jessica Chastain – “The Help,” Melissa McCarthy – “Brodesmaids,” Janet McTeer – “Albert Nobbs” and Octavia Spencer – “The Help.”
Look for a special “Behind the Screen” later this week when I give my thoughts on this years nomines.
Here is a complete list of nominees:

Best Picture

“The Artist” Thomas Langmann, Producer

“The Descendants” Jim Burke, Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor, Producers

“Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” Scott Rudin, Producer

“The Help” Brunson Green, Chris Columbus and Michael Barnathan, Producers

“Hugo” Graham King and Martin Scorsese, Producers

“Midnight in Paris” Letty Aronson and Stephen Tenenbaum, Producers

“Moneyball” Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz and Brad Pitt, Producers

“The Tree of Life” Nominees to be determined

“War Horse” Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, Producers

Actor in a Leading Role

Demián Bichir in “A Better Life”

George Clooney in “The Descendants”

Jean Dujardin in “The Artist”

Gary Oldman in “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”

Brad Pitt in “Moneyball”

Actor in a Supporting Role

Kenneth Branagh in “My Week with Marilyn”

Jonah Hill in “Moneyball”

Nick Nolte in “Warrior”

Christopher Plummer in “Beginners”

Max von Sydow in “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”

Actress in a Leading Role

Glenn Close in “Albert Nobbs”

Viola Davis in “The Help”

Rooney Mara in “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”

Meryl Streep in “The Iron Lady”

Michelle Williams in “My Week with Marilyn”

Actress in a Supporting Role

Bérénice Bejo in “The Artist”

Jessica Chastain in “The Help”

Melissa McCarthy in “Bridesmaids”

Janet McTeer in “Albert Nobbs”

Octavia Spencer in “The Help”

Animated Feature Film

“A Cat in Paris” Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli

“Chico & Rita” Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal

“Kung Fu Panda 2” Jennifer Yuh Nelson

“Puss in Boots” Chris Miller

“Rango” Gore Verbinski

Art Direction

“The Artist” Production Design: Laurence Bennett; Set Decoration: Robert Gould

“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2” Production Design: Stuart Craig; Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan

“Hugo” Production Design: Dante Ferretti; Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo

“Midnight in Paris” Production Design: Anne Seibel; Set Decoration: Hélène Dubreuil

“War Horse” Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Lee Sandales

Cinematography

“The Artist” Guillaume Schiffman

“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” Jeff Cronenweth

“Hugo” Robert Richardson

“The Tree of Life” Emmanuel Lubezki

“War Horse” Janusz Kaminski

Costume Design

“Anonymous” Lisy Christl

“The Artist” Mark Bridges

“Hugo” Sandy Powell

“Jane Eyre” Michael O’Connor

“W.E.” Arianne Phillips

Directing

“The Artist” Michel Hazanavicius

“The Descendants” Alexander Payne

“Hugo” Martin Scorsese

“Midnight in Paris” Woody Allen

“The Tree of Life” Terrence Malick

Documentary (Feature)

“Hell and Back Again” Danfung Dennis and Mike Lerner

“If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front” Marshall Curry and Sam Cullman

“Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory” Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs

“Pina” Wim Wenders and Gian-Piero Ringel

“Undefeated” TJ Martin, Dan Lindsay and Richard Middlemas

Documentary (Short Subject)

“The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement” Robin Fryday and Gail Dolgin

“God Is the Bigger Elvis” Rebecca Cammisa and Julie Anderson

“Incident in New Baghdad”James Spione

“Saving Face” Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy

“The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom” Lucy Walker and Kira Carstensen

Film Editing

“The Artist” Anne-Sophie Bion and Michel Hazanavicius

“The Descendants” Kevin Tent

“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall

“Hugo” Thelma Schoonmaker

“Moneyball” Christopher Tellefsen

Foreign Language Film

“Bullhead” Belgium

“Footnote”

“In Darkness” Poland

“Monsieur Lazhar” Canada

“A Separation” Iran

Makeup

“Albert Nobbs” Martial Corneville, Lynn Johnston and Matthew W. Mungle

“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2” Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk and Yolanda Toussieng

“The Iron Lady” Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland

Music (Original Score)

“The Adventures of Tintin” John Williams

“The Artist” Ludovic Bource

“Hugo” Howard Shore

“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” Alberto Iglesias

“War Horse” John Williams

Music (Original Song)

“Man or Muppet” from “The Muppets” Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie

“Real in Rio” from “Rio” Music by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown Lyric by Siedah Garrett

Short Film (Animated)

“Dimanche/Sunday” Patrick Doyon

“The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore” William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg

“La Luna” Enrico Casarosa

“A Morning Stroll” Grant Orchard and Sue Goffe

“Wild Life” Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby

Short Film (Live Action)

“Pentecost” Peter McDonald and Eimear O’Kane

“Raju” Max Zähle and Stefan Gieren

“The Shore” Terry George and Oorlagh George

“Time Freak” Andrew Bowler and Gigi Causey

“Tuba Atlantic” Hallvar Witzø

Sound Editing

“Drive” Lon Bender and Victor Ray Ennis

“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” Ren Klyce

“Hugo” Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty

“Transformers: Dark of the Moon” Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl

“War Horse” Richard Hymns and Gary Rydstrom

Sound Mixing

“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Bo Persson

“Hugo” Tom Fleischman and John Midgley

“Moneyball” Deb Adair, Ron Bochar, Dave Giammarco and Ed Novick

“Transformers: Dark of the Moon” Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Peter J. Devlin

“War Horse” Gary Rydstrom, Andy Nelson, Tom Johnson and Stuart Wilson

Visual Effects

“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2” Tim Burke, David Vickery, Greg Butler and John Richardson

“Hugo” Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossman and Alex Henning

“Real Steel” Erik Nash, John Rosengrant, Dan Taylor and Swen Gillberg

“Rise of the Planet of the Apes” Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White and Daniel Barrett

“Transformers: Dark of the Moon” Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Matthew Butler and John Frazier

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

“The Descendants” Screenplay by Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash

“Hugo” Screenplay by John Logan

“The Ides of March” Screenplay by George Clooney & Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon

“Moneyball” Screenplay by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin. Story by Stan Chervin

“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” Screenplay by Bridget O’Connor & Peter Straughan

Writing (Original Screenplay)

“The Artist” Written by Michel Hazanavicius

“Bridesmaids” Written by Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig

“Margin Call” Written by J.C. Chandor

“Midnight in Paris” Written by Woody Allen

“A Separation” Written by Asghar Farhadi