Awards Season 2014: The 86th Annual Academy Awards

So, last night saw the 86th Annual Academy Awards, held at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. All in all, this year's Oscars telecast was full of heart, soul and a whole lot of fun.

A large part of that came from Ellen DeGeneres, taking hosting duties for the second time. No ill-advised boob songs this year, just a (seemingly) effortless charm and wit which had the audience engaged. There aren't many award ceremony hosts who would make a crack about ordering pizza for the crowd- and actually follow up on it. I loved her hosting the first time round (back in 2007); this time she seemed more at ease and there were some great one-liners (even if her crack about Liza Minnelli looking like a female impersonator was a little cutting). There's also the small matter of this epic selfie which crashed Twitter:

The theme of this year's ceremony was 'cinematic heroes' and there were several nice montages showing animated heroes, everyday heroes and superheroes. There was also a tribute to honour 75 years of The Wizard Of Oz with an absolutely knockout performance of 'Somewhere Over The Rainbow' by Pink (which was one of the highlights of the night for me). Pharrell Williams brought the place to its feet with his performance of 'Happy' from Despicable Me 2 whilst Idina Menzel (take note, Mr Travolta) absolutely killed it in her solo performance of 'Let It Go'.

Some of the guest presenters were absolutely great- I thought Robert de Niro was fantastic with the spiel about how bad it is to be a writer before the Adapted Screenplay award, Bill Murray was just fabulous when presenting the Best Cinematography award and gave a heartfelt tribute to the late Harold Ramis, and Glenn Close gave a very dignified and heartfelt introduction to the In Memoriam section- but a lot of the hosts seemed to have a bit of an issue with the autocue, and the least said about Jamie Foxx, the better.

So, on to the awards themselves:

I have to be honest, I was surprised to find myself 6 for 6 again this year- but I was absolutely overjoyed when Lupita Nyong'o won. Her acceptance speech was very moving and heartfelt and was just lovely, as was Jared Leto's (who could kick back and chill for the rest of the night as his was the first award announced). I did cringe a little bit during Matthew McConaughey's acceptance speech (it's a purely personal thing but I do find any mention of God to be a little but much) but I liked the sentiment behind a lot of the rest of it. Cate Blanchett's speech was erudite and strong, simultaneously recognising the whole awards season hoopla for the insubstantial nonsense that it actually is but also celebrating the art of cinema. However, I have to say I think my favourite acceptance speech came from Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez after their win for Best Original Song (the epic 'Let It Go' from Frozen). 

Gravity was the big winner of the evening, taking 7 of the 10 awards it was nominated for (including Best Director for Alfonso Cuaron). There were three awards apiece for 12 Years A Slave (including Best Picture) and Dallas Buyers Club and two each for The Great Gatsby and Frozen: interestingly, both films were only nominated for two Oscars (Gatsby for Production Design and Costume Design, and Frozen for Animated Film and Original Song) and won both! 

Despite 10 nominations, American Hustle came away with nothing. Similarly, nothing for Captain Phillips, Philomena, Nebraska or The Wolf Of Wall Street.

Below is the full list of winners at the 86th Annual Academy Awards:

Best Motion Picture of the Year: 12 Years A Slave 

Best Actor: Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club) 

Best Actress: Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine) 

Best Supporting Actor: Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club) 

Best Supporting Actress: Lupita Nyong'o (12 Years A Slave) 

Best Director: Alfonso Cuaron (Gravity) 

Best Original Screenplay: Spike Jonze (Her)

Best Adapted Screenplay: John Ridley (12 Years A Slave) 

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year: Frozen 

Best Foreign Language Film of the Year: The Great Beauty

Best Cinematography: Gravity 

Best Editing: Gravity 

Best Production Design: The Great Gatsby

Best Costume Design: The Great Gatsby

Best Makeup and Hairstyling: Dallas Buyers Club 

Best Original Score: Gravity 

Best Original Song: 'Let It Go' (Frozen) 

Best Sound Mixing: Gravity 

Best Sound Editing: Gravity 

Best Visual Effects: Gravity 

Best Documentary (Feature): 20 Feet From Stardom

Best Documentary (Short Subject): The Lady In Number 6

Best Animated Short Film: Mr Hublot

Best Live Action Short Film: Helium


Congratulations to all winners!

Tez

Awards Season 2014: Tez's Official Oscar Predictions 2014

Tonight, the great and good of Hollywood will convene to celebrate the best of filmmaking in 2013 at the 86th Annual Academy Awards, which will be hosted for the second time by Ellen DeGeneres (hooray!). It has become a tradition for me to predict the nominations and the winners in the main six categories (the four acting categories, Best Director and Best Picture).  I've done this since 2003 with varying degrees of success. So, without further ado, here are my predictions for who will win.

Best Supporting Actress: Lupita Nyong'o (12 Years A Slave)

Nyong'o's stunning performance as slave girl Patsey gives added heart to 12 Years A Slave, and it's made even more impressive for the fact that it's her first feature film role. However, there's a chance that the award might go to Jennifer Lawrence (who won the Golden Globe and BAFTA for her performance in American Hustle). Whilst Lawrence's performance is very powerful, I found Nyong'o's performance more emotionally affecting and she would be a very deserving winner.

Best Supporting Actor: Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club)

Leto's been the stand-out winner throughout the awards season for his fierce yet fragile performance as transgender woman Rayon. Leto provides a great foil to McConaughey's boorishness, giving Dallas Buyers Club a real emotional heart, and I will be very surprised if any other name is called out.

Best Actress: Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)

Similarly, I will also be gobsmacked if anyone other than Blanchett gets named Best Actress for her breathtaking turn in Blue Jasmine. Ever since I saw the film back in October, her turn as the neurotic, glacial Jasmine has stayed with me and I even stated when we did the Review Of 2013 that I thought she would win. In a category dominated by acting royalty- Streep, Dench- Blanchett stands head-and-shoulders above them. Like Leto, she's been the runaway winner throughout the awards season and totally deserves to win.

Best Actor: Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club)

Who ever thought I'd be saying this? Matthew McConaughey is pretty much locked in to win the Best Actor Oscar for his sterling turn as Ron Woodroof. Anyone who can portray a racist, homophobic redneck and have you rooting for him to succeed is doing something pretty special. Whilst it would be nice to see Chiwetel Ejiofor to win (as his performance in 12 Years A Slave is just superb), I think it's going to go to  McConaughey.

Best Director: Alfonso Cuaron (Gravity)

Despite my reservations about some of the script decisions in the film, there's no taking away from the fact that Gravity is a technical tour-de-force- the amazing opening sequence done in two single takes, the zero-gravity effects- and for that reason, Cuaron deserves to win.

Best Picture: 12 Years A Slave

Again, this has been the stand-out Best Picture winner throughout awards season, so I'm fully expecting it to win the top prize. 12 Years A Slave is a powerful film, one to be respected rather than enjoyed though due to its unflinching portrayal of the harshness of slavery. It's a film full of strong performances and is shot with a striking visual style. 


Last year, I got a clean sweep of 6 out of 6. With no false modesty, I'm confident on 3 of these, maybe 4. I think Best Supporting Actress may be open for debate, as might Best Picture. The assumption is that it's 12 Years A Slave's to lose, but you can never really tell until the golden envelope is opened.

I'll update the blog on Monday March 3rd with all the results and my thoughts on the ceremony

Tez

Awards Season 2014: Independent Spirit Awards and Razzies Results

Awards season is nearly over for another year (which must come as a relief to most of you). It's been a slightly longer season this year due to the Winter Olympics in Sochi. In other years, this would have been done and dusted last weekend. So you can blame the IOC for the extension.

Anyway, the 86th Annual Academy Awards ceremony is tonight (March 2nd). It can be viewed on a dedicated Sky Movies channel in the UK and on ABC in the US. But before I turn my eyes to the Oscars, here's a round-up of the other awards ceremonies that have taken place in this weekend. 

INDEPENDENT SPIRITS AWARDS

Yesterday- Saturday 1st March- saw the handing out of the Independent Spirit Awards, in a ceremony hosted by comedian Patton Oswalt (Ratatouille, Young Adult). These honour films made (partly or wholly) outside the major film studio system. Some of the winners are below.

Best Feature: 12 Years A Slave

Best Female Lead: Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)

Best Male Lead: Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club)

Best Supporting Female: Lupita Nyong'o (12 Years A Slave)

Best Supporting Male: Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club)

Best Director: Steve McQueen (12 Years A Slave)

Best Screenplay: 12 Years A Slave

Best First Screenplay: Nebraska

Best Cinematography: 12 Years A Slave

Best First Feature: Fruitvale Station

Best International Film: Blue Is The Warmest Colour

Best Documentary: 20 Feet From Stardom

John Cassavetes Award: This Is Martin Bonner

The John Cassavetes Award is given to the creative team of a film budgeted at less than $500,000. The full list of winners can be found here.

12 Years A Slave was the runaway winner with five awards (all deserved). I'm sure I said this last year when I shared the results, but there were several nominated films and performances that had quite a widespread cinema release- I think Dallas Buyers Club and 12 Years A Slave are still at my local cinemas- so it's good to see that independent film is going strong. I think it's also good to show that films not produced (or not wholly produced) within Hollywood's studio system can get to a wide audience. Long may it continue. 

RAZZIES

As is traditional, last night (the night before the Oscars ceremony) also saw the 34th Annual Golden Raspberry Awards. No runaway winner this year (unlike Twilight's almost clean sweep) which probably goes to show that there have been a lot more bad movies made in the last year. 

Here's the full 'winners' list:

Worst Picture: Movie 43

Worst Actor: Jaden Smith (After Earth)

Worst Actress: Tyler Perry (in drag) (A Madea Christmas)

Worst Supporting Actor: Will Smith (After Earth)

Worst Supporting Actress: Kim Kardashian (Tyler Perry's Temptation)

Worst Screen Ensemble: Jaden Smith & Will Smith (After Earth)

Worst Director: Movie 43's 13 directors

Worst Remake, Rip-Off or Sequel: The Lone Ranger

Worst Screenplay: Movie 43 (written by 19 screenwriters)

It does seem a damning indictment that- even with over 30 people working on writing and directing Movie 43 (let alone production staff and the actors)- it turned out to be such a turgid mess. One surprise though: no Golden Raspberry for Adam Sandler this year; perhaps the nominations were enough?

So now we're up to date. But what about the Oscars? My predictions for who will win the major prizes will be posted next.

Tez

Review: Dallas Buyers Club (UK Cert 15)

There was once a time when there'd have been a better chance of hell freezing over than seeing the words 'Matthew McConaughey' and 'Oscar nominee' in the same sentence. Performances in films like How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days, Failure To Launch, Ghosts Of Girlfriends Past and Sahara certainly didn't trouble the Academy. However, over the past three years, McConaughey has gone from dimwatt romantic lead to Serious Actor, giving strong performances in The Lincoln Lawyer, Killer Joe, Magic Mike, and Mud, culminating with a Golden Globe win and Oscar nomination for Dallas Buyers Club.

Set in the 1980s, Dallas Buyers Club is based on the true story of Ron Woodroof, a Texas man diagnosed with HIV and given thirty days to live by his doctors. Declaring that there's nothing that could kill him in that time, Woodroof looks for a way to prolong his life and finds drugs and treatments in Mexico which could help - the only problem is, they're not approved by the FDA and therefore cannot be sold legally in the US. But by using a loophole that allows personal use only, Woodroof starts to import the drugs and sets up the titular buyers club- where people pay a fee to join a club but then receive the drugs 'for free'. However, it's not long before the FDA come knocking... It's an intense and powerful drama with a refreshing lack of schmaltzy, saccharine sentiment underpinned by three bravura performances.

McConaughey's central performance as Woodroof is exceptional and he is truly deserving of all the plaudits that have come his way. Gaunt and hollow-eyed, McConaughey lost nearly three stone to show the character's physical deterioration (and that physical change was still evident when he filmed The Wolf Of Wall Street). Woodroof is an unlikely hero- a racist, homophobic redneck- but such is the intensity of McConaughey's performance, you can't help but root for the bloke (even if you don't like him all that much). The scene which reveals how he contracted HIV is nicely underplayed and quite elliptical, like much in the film. It's a truly remarkable and committed performance.

No less committed in his role is Jared Leto as Rayon, a transgender woman who Woodroof meets at the hospital and who helps out when Woodroof begins the buyers club. Their relationship is initially spiky but then falls into a kind of respect. This is his first film role in nearly five years, and Leto is just brilliant, a fragile yet ferocious performance, equally deserving of his awards plaudits. The other strong performance is from Jennifer Garner who plays Dr. Eve Saks, who helps to treat Woodroof in his initial diagnosis. There's a great spark between Garner and McConaughey but the film neatly eschews a romantic storyline for something less cliched and much more emotionally affecting. Other great performances come from Griffin Dunne as Dr. Vass, Woodroof's contact in Mexico, Denis O'Hare as Eve's boss Dr. Sevard and Michael O'Neill as FDA officer Richard Barkley.

The film was shot in 25 days for around $5 million and was repeatedly turned down by Hollywood studios because of the subject matter. This is an important story and deserves to be told (although, like most films, there has been some dramatic license used). Much like other heavyweight dramas out at the moment, this is a film to admire if not exactly enjoy but is worth seeing for the tremendous central performances.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Tez

Awards Season 2014: Critics Choice Awards, SAG Awards and Producers Guild Awards

Over the past week, there have been three major sets of awards handed out

CRITICS CHOICE AWARDS

The Critcs Choice Awards were given out on Thursday January 16th. Below are a list of selected film 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 Buyers Club)

Best Supporting Actress: Lupita Nyong'o (12 Years A Slave)

Best Acting Ensemble: American Hustle

Best Director: Alfonso Cuaron (Gravity)

A full list of winners can be found here. The Critics Choice Awards also have separate categories for Action movies, Sci-Fi/Horror movies and comedies as well, so it's a much broader base.

SCREEN ACTORS GUILD (SAG) AWARDS

The SAG Awards were handed out in a ceremony on Saturday January 18th. The film winners were:

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture: 

American Hustle

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role: 

Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role:

Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role:

Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role:

Lupita Nyong'o (12 Years A Slave)

I think it's safe to say there's a bit of a pattern emerging here.

PRODUCERS GUILD AWARDS (PGA)

The PGAs were handed out yesterday (Sunday January 19th). The film winners were:

Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures: Gravity and 12 Years A Slave

Outstanding Producer of Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures: Frozen

Documentary Film: We Steal Secrets: The Story Of WikiLeaks

Now this is where things get interesting. For the first time in its 25 year history, there was a tie for the Theatrical Motion Pictures category. The winner of the PGA is generally a lock for the Best Picture Oscar, but the fact that the PGA has gone to two films may mean that things are a bit more open than people expect. I think the result of the Directors Guild Awards (DGA) which will be handed out this coming Saturday (25th January) could also raise an interesting point or two.

Things slacken off with Awards Season after this past weekend - there'll be a brief round-up at the start of February once the Directors Guild and Writers Guild Awards will be handed out, and the next big one will be the BAFTAs in mid-February.

Normal blogging service will now resume

Tez