Oscars 2015: Winners!

It's Oscar Sunday! Lucky recipients of the 87th Oscars will be honored today at the Dolby in Hollywood! Come back often for updates on the winners. Check my predictions in the 8 major categories here: MY OSCARS 2015 PREDICTIONS

And the winners are...
(WINNERS ARE HIGHLIGHTED IN BOLD RED LETTERS)

Performance by an actor in a leading role
Steve Carell in “Foxcatcher”
Bradley Cooper in “American Sniper”
Benedict Cumberbatch in “The Imitation Game”
Michael Keaton in “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)”
Eddie Redmayne in “The Theory of Everything”

Performance by an actor in a supporting role
Robert Duvall in “The Judge”
Ethan Hawke in “Boyhood”
Edward Norton in “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)”
Mark Ruffalo in “Foxcatcher”
J.K. Simmons in “Whiplash”

Performance by an actress in a leading role
Marion Cotillard in “Two Days, One Night”
Felicity Jones in “The Theory of Everything”
Julianne Moore in “Still Alice”
Rosamund Pike in “Gone Girl”
Reese Witherspoon in “Wild”

Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Patricia Arquette in “Boyhood”
Laura Dern in “Wild”
Keira Knightley in “The Imitation Game”
Emma Stone in “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)”
Meryl Streep in “Into the Woods”

Best animated feature film of the year
“Big Hero 6” Don Hall, Chris Williams and Roy Conli
“The Boxtrolls” Anthony Stacchi, Graham Annable and Travis Knight
“How to Train Your Dragon 2” Dean DeBlois and Bonnie Arnold
“Song of the Sea” Tomm Moore and Paul Young
“The Tale of the Princess Kaguya” Isao Takahata and Yoshiaki Nishimura

Achievement in cinematography
“Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” Emmanuel Lubezki
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” Robert Yeoman
“Ida” Lukasz Zal and Ryszard Lenczewski
“Mr. Turner” Dick Pope
“Unbroken” Roger Deakins

Achievement in costume design
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” Milena Canonero
“Inherent Vice” Mark Bridges
“Into the Woods” Colleen Atwood
“Maleficent” Anna B. Sheppard and Jane Clive
“Mr. Turner” Jacqueline Durran

Achievement in directing
“Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” Alejandro G. Iñárritu
“Boyhood” Richard Linklater
“Foxcatcher” Bennett Miller
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” Wes Anderson
“The Imitation Game” Morten Tyldum

Best documentary feature
“CitizenFour” Laura Poitras, Mathilde Bonnefoy and Dirk Wilutzky
“Finding Vivian Maier” John Maloof and Charlie Siskel
“Last Days in Vietnam” Rory Kennedy and Keven McAlester
“The Salt of the Earth” Wim Wenders, Juliano Ribeiro Salgado and David Rosier
“Virunga” Orlando von Einsiedel and Joanna Natasegara

Best documentary short subject
“Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1” Ellen Goosenberg Kent and Dana Perry
“Joanna” Aneta Kopacz
“Our Curse” Tomasz Sliwinski and Maciej Slesicki
“The Reaper (La Parka)” Gabriel Serra Arguello
“White Earth” J. Christian Jensen

Achievement in film editing
“American Sniper” Joel Cox and Gary D. Roach
“Boyhood” Sandra Adair
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” Barney Pilling
“The Imitation Game” William Goldenberg
“Whiplash” Tom Cross

Best foreign language film of the year
“Ida” Poland
“Leviathan” Russia
“Tangerines” Estonia
“Timbuktu” Mauritania
“Wild Tales” Argentina

Achievement in makeup and hairstyling
“Foxcatcher” Bill Corso and Dennis Liddiard
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” Frances Hannon and Mark Coulier
“Guardians of the Galaxy” Elizabeth Yianni-Georgiou and David White

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” Alexandre Desplat
“The Imitation Game” Alexandre Desplat
“Interstellar” Hans Zimmer
“Mr. Turner” Gary Yershon
“The Theory of Everything” Jóhann Jóhannsson

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
“Everything Is Awesome” from “The Lego Movie”, Music and Lyric by Shawn Patterson
“Glory” from “Selma”, Music and Lyric by John Stephens and Lonnie Lynn
“Grateful” from “Beyond the Lights”, Music and Lyric by Diane Warren
“I’m Not Gonna Miss You” from “Glen Campbell…I’ll Be Me”, Music and Lyric by Glen Campbell and Julian Raymond
“Lost Stars” from “Begin Again”, Music and Lyric by Gregg Alexander and Danielle Brisebois

Best motion picture of the year
“American Sniper” Clint Eastwood, Robert Lorenz, Andrew Lazar, Bradley Cooper and Peter Morgan, Producers
“Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” Alejandro G. Iñárritu, John Lesher and James W. Skotchdopole, Producers
“Boyhood” Richard Linklater and Cathleen Sutherland, Producers
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” Wes Anderson, Scott Rudin, Steven Rales and Jeremy Dawson, Producers
“The Imitation Game” Nora Grossman, Ido Ostrowsky and Teddy Schwarzman, Producers
“Selma” Christian Colson, Oprah Winfrey, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner, Producers
“The Theory of Everything” Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Lisa Bruce and Anthony McCarten, Producers
“Whiplash” Jason Blum, Helen Estabrook and David Lancaster, Producers

Achievement in production design
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” Production Design: Adam Stockhausen; Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock
“The Imitation Game” Production Design: Maria Djurkovic; Set Decoration: Tatiana Macdonald
“Interstellar” Production Design: Nathan Crowley; Set Decoration: Gary Fettis
“Into the Woods” Production Design: Dennis Gassner; Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock
“Mr. Turner” Production Design: Suzie Davies; Set Decoration: Charlotte Watts

Best animated short film
“The Bigger Picture” Daisy Jacobs and Christopher Hees
“The Dam Keeper” Robert Kondo and Dice Tsutsumi
“Feast” Patrick Osborne and Kristina Reed
“Me and My Moulton” Torill Kove
“A Single Life” Joris Oprins

Best live action short film
“Aya” Oded Binnun and Mihal Brezis
“Boogaloo and Graham” Michael Lennox and Ronan Blaney
“Butter Lamp (La Lampe Au Beurre De Yak)” Hu Wei and Julien Féret
“Parvaneh” Talkhon Hamzavi and Stefan Eichenberger
“The Phone Call” Mat Kirkby and James Lucas

Achievement in sound editing
“American Sniper” Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman
“Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” Martín Hernández and Aaron Glascock
“The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies” Brent Burge and Jason Canovas
“Interstellar” Richard King
“Unbroken” Becky Sullivan and Andrew DeCristofaro

Achievement in sound mixing
“American Sniper” John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff and Walt Martin
“Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño and Thomas Varga
“Interstellar” Gary A. Rizzo, Gregg Landaker and Mark Weingarten
“Unbroken” Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño and David Lee
“Whiplash” Craig Mann, Ben Wilkins and Thomas Curley

Achievement in visual effects
“Captain America: The Winter Soldier” Dan DeLeeuw, Russell Earl, Bryan Grill and Dan Sudick
“Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, Daniel Barrett and Erik Winquist
“Guardians of the Galaxy” Stephane Ceretti, Nicolas Aithadi, Jonathan Fawkner and Paul Corbould
“Interstellar” Paul Franklin, Andrew Lockley, Ian Hunter and Scott Fisher
“X-Men: Days of Future Past” Richard Stammers, Lou Pecora, Tim Crosbie and Cameron Waldbauer

Adapted screenplay
“American Sniper” Written by Jason Hall
“The Imitation Game” Written by Graham Moore
“Inherent Vice” Written for the screen by Paul Thomas Anderson
“The Theory of Everything” Screenplay by Anthony McCarten
“Whiplash” Written by Damien Chazelle

Original screenplay
“Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” Written by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr. & Armando Bo
“Boyhood” Written by Richard Linklater
“Foxcatcher” Written by E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” Screenplay by Wes Anderson; Story by Wes Anderson & Hugo Guinness
“Nightcrawler” Written by Dan Gilroy

See you at the Oscars!

XXX
Raymond Lo

Oscars 2015: My Prediction!

The OSCARS in 3 Days!

Yesterday, i posted in my Twitter and Instagram accounts my predictions in the 8 major categories. In that, I had "Birdman" winning Best Picture and "Boyhood" director Richard Linklater for Best Director. Today, I am reversing that and calling the race again for "Boyhood" to take Best Picture and "Birdman's" Alejandro Innaritu for Best Director.

Now, if the opposite happens or if "Boyhood" takes both, i will be most happy. But if "Birdman" wins both and Michael Keaton upsets Eddie Redmayne, i will probably be bitching about the results all day Monday. LOL!

My predictions below! Clear your Sunday sked. Watch the Oscars!!

Below article originally appeared on print via The Philippine Star and online at http://www.philstar.com/entertainment/2015/02/20/1425576/guide-87th-oscars

Guide to the 87th Oscars
By Raymond Lo, L.A. Correspondent (The Philippine Star) | Updated February 20, 2015 - 12:00am


MANILA, Philippines - It’s that time of year again! On Sunday, Feb. 22 (Monday, Feb. 23, Manila time), the Oscars will once again bring movie lovers together for three hours of sheer movie fun. The 87th Oscars will be telecast live to over 100 countries and is expected to attract over a billion viewers!

And those billion viewers are probably still as perplexed as this writer is right now on which one movie will be rewarded by the Academy this year. 2014 was not a particularly strong year for Hollywood movies. Only a handful made an impression and that has been reflected by the wildly diverse selections of several Oscar precursors. Traditionally, about this time, we should have had a clear frontrunner leading to the show already but not this year. The Screen Actors Guild, the Directors Guild and the Producers Guild all picked Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) as the year’s Best Film. However, the BAFTAS, the very influential British bloc of the Academy, selected Boyhood as their Best Film. The critics were not of much help either. The BFCA, which for years has been considered as the most accurate predictor of the Oscars, selected Boyhood as their Best Film. The New York and Los Angeles Film Critics also named Boyhood as the year’s best.

So with no clear frontrunner for the all-important Best Picture prize, this writer will pick what he believes is the better movie between the two. Expect Boyhood to win the top Oscar but the Best Director trophy could go to Birdman director Alejandro Gonzales Innaritu. The picture/director awards will be split between the two films again similar to last year. It would be interesting to see two Mexican filmmakers win Hollywood’s top directing prizes two years in a row. Alfonso Cuaron won last year for Gravity.

On a personal note, this writer would love to see Boyhood’s Richard Linklater rewarded with a win for his 12-year labor of love. I hope the Academy shares my sentiments.

The nominees for Best Picture are: American Sniper, Birdman, Boyhood, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Imitation Game, Selma, The Theory of Everything and Whiplash.

The nominated directors are: Innaritu for Birdman, Linklater for Boyhood, Bennet Miller for Foxcatcher, Wes Anderson for The Grand Budapest Hotel and Morten Tyldum for The Imitation Game.

While the Top 2 categories are pretty difficult to call, the acting categories will likely just end up as a coronation night for the four actors who have virtually swept all the awards haul this Oscar season.

Acclaimed actress Julianne Moore will win Best Actress for Still Alice. The beautiful star has been overdue for an Oscar and this year is going to be hers. Her performance as a mother and wife trying to cope with the onset of Alzheimer’s disease has been widely acclaimed since its debut in September. Her main competition in the category are previous Oscar-winners Reese Witherspoon for the very moving film Wild and French superstar Marion Cotillard for the brilliant film Two Days, One Night. Two Brits complete the nominees: Rosamund Pike for Gone Girl and Felicity Jones for The Theory of Everything.

In the Best Actor category, Felicity’s co-star and fellow Brit Eddie Redmayne is tipped to win the category for his excellent portrayal of wheelchair-bound astrophysicist Stephen Hawking. His performance has drawn comparison to Daniel Day-Lewis’ Oscar-winning turn in My Left Foot. Veteran Hollywood player Michael Keaton is the dark horse in this category. The former Batman star whose performance as an over-the-hill actor trying to stage a comeback in Birdman has resonated with Hollywood insiders and he could just earn the trophy and stage his own career comeback. The three other nominated actors are Steve Carell for Foxcatcher, Bradley Cooper in American Sniper and Benedict Cumberbatch in the heartbreaking film The Imitation Game.

In the supporting categories, two veteran actors, who rightfully deserve all the honors and accolades for their compelling performances and for their impressive body of work as well, have staked their respective claims in their categories very early on in the race.

Patricia Arquette, who aged 12 years on screen for her role in Boyhood, has racked up virtually every trophy available this season. Her performance has inspired so many that perhaps the other actresses nominated alongside her end up voting for her, too! The other actresses nominated in the Best Supporting Actress category include Laura Dern for Wild, Keira Knightley for The Imitation Game, Emma Stone for Birdman and the acting goddess Meryl Streep, who is nominated for an unbelievable 19th time this year for her performance as a wicked witch in Disney’s Into the Woods.

For Best Supporting Actor, J.K. Simmons is expected to receive his Oscar on his first nomination as a stern teacher who expects nothing but greatness from his students in Whiplash. Other actors nominated in the category include Robert Duvall for The Judge, Ethan Hawke for Boyhood, Mark Ruffalo for Foxcatcher and Edward Norton whose performance in Birdman poses the biggest competition to Simmons.

This year, the one category that this writer is most excited about is the Best Foreign Language Film category. All the five nominated films are excellent works and each one deserves to win. But my heart was captured by the Argentine film Wild Tales when I saw it last December. It’s one of those rare films that combine all the elements of a commercial film and the quality of an art film. Its biggest competitions are the films from Russia, Leviathan, a tale of Russian corruption based on the parable of Job and the Polish entry Ida, the story of novitiate nun who discovers that she was Jewish on the eve of her dedication. Ida has been the frontrunner since day one and is likely to win. The other nominated films are the harrowing Timbuktu from Mauritania and the powerful anti-war film Tangerines from Estonia.

But Wild Tales will win. Fingers crossed.

With no particular film leading the Oscar race this year, the trophies will most likely be spread among five movies. The Grand Budapest Hotel, which is nominated for nine Oscars will likely end up with the most trophy with four. Birdman and The Theory of Everything will likely net three trophies each. Interstellar, the disappointing sci-fi from Christopher Nolan, will sweep the technical categories and will likely win three Oscars. Boyhood will likely end up with just two Oscars.

Among the announced performers this year are pop superstars Lady Gaga and John Legend. Neil Patrick Harris, known to many Filipinos as the Doogie Howser M.D., will be hosting the Oscars for the first time this year.

See you at the Oscars!

Quick Review: "American Sniper"

"American Sniper"
Directed by: Clint Eastwood
Starring: Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller

Finally got time to watch this film. It's been reigning as the top box office champ for two weeks now and it's because it's incredibly well-made and the story well-told. This is Clint Eastwood's best film since "Million Dollar Baby", Bradley Cooper's best performance to date, and the best American film (next to "Boyhood") among the best picture nominees at the Oscars.

Watch it! It's how movies based on heroic lives of real people are supposed to be made. This is Eastwood's crowning glory!

On Facebook, a friend is insisting that "But The Hurt Locker is still better. LOL,", to which i replied, "Both are masterpieces but Hurt Locker had a weightier subject matter although the filmmaking and storytelling in American Sniper is way, way better!

Another friend suggested that "Still can't excuse that fake rubber baby! LOL." I had a ready reply, too. I said, "Haha! Well, that's Economics of Filmmaking 101, i suppose."

Rating: 5 stars

XXX
Raymond Lo

Oscars 2015: #WildTalesforBestForeignLanguageFilmOscar

The Academy poster tells us to "Imagine what's possible."

My reply?

"WILD TALES for Best Foreign Language Film!"

The Oscars will be handed out on February 22nd. The race for the Best Foreign Language film is considered by many as the most competitive in many years! There are three front-runners: "Wild Tales" from Argentina, "Leviathan" from Russia and "Ida" from Poland. The other two nominees: "Tangerines" from Estonia and "Timbuktu" from Mauritania are not too far back in the race. But, if i were voting, "Wild Tales" gets my vote, followed by "Leviathan", "Timbuktu" and "Tangerines". "Ida" is one movie that is well-made but, in my opinion, there are far better films among the submitted films including the shortlisted films "Corn Island" from Georgia and "Accused" from the Netherlands.

#WildTalesforBestForeignLanguageFilmOscar

Oscars 2015: Nominees React!

Now that the Oscar nominations are in, the next step in the dance is usually the series of statements that the elated nominees share with the public on the recognition they received from the highly-coveted film award in the world.

ABC News gathered the following statements:

Ethan Hawke, first-time nominee for Best Actor, "Boyhood"
"There are many reasons why this nomination means so much to me. As I get older, I realize the only thing any artist wants is the respect of others who have dedicated their lives to same goals we have. I am so grateful to the members of the Academy for recognizing such a long labor of love. The uniqueness of "Boyhood" is not lost on any of us involved; I never have and never will be associated with an artistic endeavor that was as unique in its DNA. I am so thankful for this collaboration with Rick, Patricia, Ellar and Lorelai. Truly."

Emma Stone, first time nominee for Best Supporting Actress, "Birdman"
"Well, this is surreal... Thank you to the Academy for this incredible honor," she said in a statement. "I am very proud and lucky to be a part of 'Birdman' and can't believe it came to this. I am so fucking excited. Are you allowed to say fuck when you're making a statement for the Oscars? I'm just really fucking excited."

Keira Knightly, Best Supporting Actress nominee, "The Imitation Game"
"I'm so honoured and grateful for this nomination and to be in the company of such talented and inspiring actresses. Thank you to the Academy for this recognition and also for honoring so many of the film's storytellers. I would like to think the many recognition the Academy has given our movie is a celebration of Alan Turing's legacy."

Benedict Cumberbatch, first time nominee for Best Actor, "The Imitation Game"
"So excited and honored to receive this recognition. It's wonderful to be included by the Academy in this exceptional year of performances. To ring my parents who are both actors and tell them that their only son has been nominated for an Oscar is one of the proudest moments of my life.”

Julianne Moore, leading contender for Best Actress, "Still Alice"
"Thank u everyone for the congratulations! i am so happy i can barely breathe #makingmyselfdizzy #AcademyAwards"

Reese Witherspoon, Best Actress nominee, "Wild"
"So happy to celebrate 2 #Oscarnominations for #WILDmovie with my deeply beautiful & talented costar @lauradern!" 

Eddie Redmayne, first time nominee for Best Actor, "The Theory of Everything" 
"I cannot tell you how surreal this is. I’ve literally gone from an incredibly deep sleep to a 100 mile an hour insane euphoria in about three seconds – so I have no idea what planet I’m on. I wasn’t watching like everyone else. I’m in Los Angeles and I was asleep and there’s suddenly this rap on the door and I was in pitch black and I stumble towards the door and it was my manager Jason who was staying at the same hotel with this wonderful group of people who were all on the phone who I’ve been working with for years and there was just this eclectic company of screaming going on on the phone."

Felicity Jones, first time nominee for Best Actress, "The Theory of Everything"
"We’ve been screaming together. And my brother so it’s just so, I can’t quite believe it’s happened. It’s something you never quite expect. It’s been one of those films that we just have had cared so so deeply about. So it’s just unbelievable. And it’s so great that the film has been nominated. And Eddie and Antoine. So it’s just yeah it’s fantastic, fantastic news."

Mark Ruffalo, Best Supporting Actor nominee, "Foxcatcher"
"Thank You @TheAcademy for the #Foxcatcher nomination! Honored and humbled. Thanks @channingtatum @SteveCarell and Bennett Miller. The best. Thanks to all you folks with so many congratulations tweets. Heart warming support. You are too damn good."

Common, Best Song nominee, "Glory" for the movie "Selma"
"Such an honor for me, @johnlegend @AVAETC and my @selmamovie family. Thanks to @TheAcademy #oscars"

John Legend, Best Song nominee, "Glory" for the movie "Selma"
"So grateful for @TheAcademy Award nomination for GLORY!!! On MLK's birthday!!"

Hans Zimmer, Best Original Score nominee, "Interstellar"
"Without a shadow of doubt, the score for "Interstellar" was Chris and I at our most collaborative. Even in this modern world of texting and emailing, sometimes all you need is a simple, type-written letter from your director to spark what undoubtedly became one of the most personal scores I've ever written."

From Hitfix:

Marion Cotillard, Best Actress nominee for "Two Days, One Night"
"My phone started to ring like constantly and the phone of the hotel where I'm staying started to ring, too. I got a little worried that something had happened and, actually, something happened, but that was a good thing! So, my wonderful publicist called me this morning at five something and that's how I found out. I was totally in shock. These past few days, every time someone would talk to me about a nomination I would make fun of them because I didn't think it was possible. I didn't even think it was impossible. I didn't think about it at all."

See you at the Oscars!

XXX
Raymond Lo

Oscars 2015: Full 87th Oscars® Nominations List

"Boyhood" and "Wild Tales", my top two favorite films of the year were recognized by the Academy!!! 

"Birdman", "The Grand Budapest Hotel" lead noms with 9 each!

Jennifer Aniston, "The Lego Movie", Ebert Documentary, Jake Gyllenhaal all snubbed!

Meryl Streep earns 19th Oscar Nomination!

BOYHOOD

WILD TALES

And the nominees are...

Performance by an actor in a leading role
Steve Carell in “Foxcatcher”
Bradley Cooper in “American Sniper”
Benedict Cumberbatch in “The Imitation Game”
Michael Keaton in “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)”
Eddie Redmayne in “The Theory of Everything”

Performance by an actor in a supporting role
Robert Duvall in “The Judge”
Ethan Hawke in “Boyhood”
Edward Norton in “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)”
Mark Ruffalo in “Foxcatcher”
J.K. Simmons in “Whiplash”

Performance by an actress in a leading role
Marion Cotillard in “Two Days, One Night”
Felicity Jones in “The Theory of Everything”
Julianne Moore in “Still Alice”
Rosamund Pike in “Gone Girl”
Reese Witherspoon in “Wild”

Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Patricia Arquette in “Boyhood”
Laura Dern in “Wild”
Keira Knightley in “The Imitation Game”
Emma Stone in “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)”
Meryl Streep in “Into the Woods”

Best animated feature film of the year
“Big Hero 6” Don Hall, Chris Williams and Roy Conli
“The Boxtrolls” Anthony Stacchi, Graham Annable and Travis Knight
“How to Train Your Dragon 2” Dean DeBlois and Bonnie Arnold
“Song of the Sea” Tomm Moore and Paul Young
“The Tale of the Princess Kaguya” Isao Takahata and Yoshiaki Nishimura

Achievement in cinematography
“Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” Emmanuel Lubezki
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” Robert Yeoman
“Ida” Lukasz Zal and Ryszard Lenczewski
“Mr. Turner” Dick Pope
“Unbroken” Roger Deakins

Achievement in costume design
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” Milena Canonero
“Inherent Vice” Mark Bridges
“Into the Woods” Colleen Atwood
“Maleficent” Anna B. Sheppard and Jane Clive
“Mr. Turner” Jacqueline Durran

Achievement in directing
“Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” Alejandro G. Iñárritu
“Boyhood” Richard Linklater
“Foxcatcher” Bennett Miller
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” Wes Anderson
“The Imitation Game” Morten Tyldum

Best documentary feature
“CitizenFour” Laura Poitras, Mathilde Bonnefoy and Dirk Wilutzky
“Finding Vivian Maier” John Maloof and Charlie Siskel
“Last Days in Vietnam” Rory Kennedy and Keven McAlester
“The Salt of the Earth” Wim Wenders, Juliano Ribeiro Salgado and David Rosier
“Virunga” Orlando von Einsiedel and Joanna Natasegara

Best documentary short subject
“Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1” Ellen Goosenberg Kent and Dana Perry
“Joanna” Aneta Kopacz
“Our Curse” Tomasz Sliwinski and Maciej Slesicki
“The Reaper (La Parka)” Gabriel Serra Arguello
“White Earth” J. Christian Jensen

Achievement in film editing
“American Sniper” Joel Cox and Gary D. Roach
“Boyhood” Sandra Adair
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” Barney Pilling
“The Imitation Game” William Goldenberg
“Whiplash” Tom Cross

LEVIATHAN

Best foreign language film of the year
“Ida” Poland
“Leviathan” Russia
“Tangerines” Estonia
“Timbuktu” Mauritania
“Wild Tales” Argentina

Achievement in makeup and hairstyling
“Foxcatcher” Bill Corso and Dennis Liddiard
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” Frances Hannon and Mark Coulier
“Guardians of the Galaxy” Elizabeth Yianni-Georgiou and David White

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)

“The Grand Budapest Hotel” Alexandre Desplat
“The Imitation Game” Alexandre Desplat
“Interstellar” Hans Zimmer
“Mr. Turner” Gary Yershon
“The Theory of Everything” Jóhann Jóhannsson

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
“Everything Is Awesome” from “The Lego Movie”, Music and Lyric by Shawn Patterson
“Glory” from “Selma”, Music and Lyric by John Stephens and Lonnie Lynn
“Grateful” from “Beyond the Lights”, Music and Lyric by Diane Warren
“I’m Not Gonna Miss You” from “Glen Campbell…I’ll Be Me”, Music and Lyric by Glen Campbell and Julian Raymond
“Lost Stars” from “Begin Again”, Music and Lyric by Gregg Alexander and Danielle Brisebois

Best motion picture of the year
“American Sniper” Clint Eastwood, Robert Lorenz, Andrew Lazar, Bradley Cooper and Peter Morgan, Producers
“Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” Alejandro G. Iñárritu, John Lesher and James W. Skotchdopole, Producers
“Boyhood” Richard Linklater and Cathleen Sutherland, Producers
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” Wes Anderson, Scott Rudin, Steven Rales and Jeremy Dawson, Producers
“The Imitation Game” Nora Grossman, Ido Ostrowsky and Teddy Schwarzman, Producers
“Selma” Christian Colson, Oprah Winfrey, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner, Producers
“The Theory of Everything” Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Lisa Bruce and Anthony McCarten, Producers
“Whiplash” Jason Blum, Helen Estabrook and David Lancaster, Producers

Achievement in production design
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” Production Design: Adam Stockhausen; Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock
“The Imitation Game” Production Design: Maria Djurkovic; Set Decoration: Tatiana Macdonald
“Interstellar” Production Design: Nathan Crowley; Set Decoration: Gary Fettis
“Into the Woods” Production Design: Dennis Gassner; Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock
“Mr. Turner” Production Design: Suzie Davies; Set Decoration: Charlotte Watts

Best animated short film
“The Bigger Picture” Daisy Jacobs and Christopher Hees
“The Dam Keeper” Robert Kondo and Dice Tsutsumi
“Feast” Patrick Osborne and Kristina Reed
“Me and My Moulton” Torill Kove
“A Single Life” Joris Oprins

Best live action short film
“Aya” Oded Binnun and Mihal Brezis
“Boogaloo and Graham” Michael Lennox and Ronan Blaney
“Butter Lamp (La Lampe Au Beurre De Yak)” Hu Wei and Julien Féret
“Parvaneh” Talkhon Hamzavi and Stefan Eichenberger
“The Phone Call” Mat Kirkby and James Lucas

Achievement in sound editing
“American Sniper” Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman
“Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” Martín Hernández and Aaron Glascock
“The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies” Brent Burge and Jason Canovas
“Interstellar” Richard King
“Unbroken” Becky Sullivan and Andrew DeCristofaro

Achievement in sound mixing
“American Sniper” John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff and Walt Martin
“Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño and Thomas Varga
“Interstellar” Gary A. Rizzo, Gregg Landaker and Mark Weingarten
“Unbroken” Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño and David Lee
“Whiplash” Craig Mann, Ben Wilkins and Thomas Curley

Achievement in visual effects
“Captain America: The Winter Soldier” Dan DeLeeuw, Russell Earl, Bryan Grill and Dan Sudick
“Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, Daniel Barrett and Erik Winquist
“Guardians of the Galaxy” Stephane Ceretti, Nicolas Aithadi, Jonathan Fawkner and Paul Corbould
“Interstellar” Paul Franklin, Andrew Lockley, Ian Hunter and Scott Fisher
“X-Men: Days of Future Past” Richard Stammers, Lou Pecora, Tim Crosbie and Cameron Waldbauer

Adapted screenplay
“American Sniper” Written by Jason Hall
“The Imitation Game” Written by Graham Moore
“Inherent Vice” Written for the screen by Paul Thomas Anderson
“The Theory of Everything” Screenplay by Anthony McCarten
“Whiplash” Written by Damien Chazelle

Original screenplay
“Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” Written by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr. & Armando Bo
“Boyhood” Written by Richard Linklater
“Foxcatcher” Written by E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman
“The Grand Budapest Hotel” Screenplay by Wes Anderson; Story by Wes Anderson & Hugo Guinness
“Nightcrawler” Written by Dan Gilroy

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2014 will be presented on Oscar® Sunday, February 22, 2015, at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center® and televised live on the ABC Television Network.  The Oscars, produced by Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.

See you at the Oscars!

XXX
Raymond Lo

Oscars 2015: Nominations are in!

The nominations for the 87th Annual Oscar Awards will be announced in just over 10 hours. The announcement will be made live on TV at 5:00 AM Pacific Time / 8:00 AM Eastern Time. You can watch it live on TV or come back here through the special LIVE! internet feed courtesy of AMPAS below.

You can also check out my fearless predictions below on which actors, directors and movies are going to wake up really, really happy tomorrow morning!



BEST PICTURE
For Best Picture, I expect "Boyhood", "Birdman", "The Imitation Game" and "The Theory of Everything" to get in right away. The Academy can opt to nominate up to as many as ten films in this category. I believe, with the dearth of really strong movies this year, we will likely see a full category with "The Grand Budapest Hotel" leading the next set of probable nominees. The 6th to 10th slots could probably go to "Wild", "Selma", "American Sniper", "Whiplash" and "Gone Girl".

BEST DIRECTOR
This category is Richard Linklater's Oscar to lose for his groundbreaking and deeply moving masterpiece “Boyhood”. Joining him in a ceremonial dance in this category are Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu, the acclaimed Mexican master behind “Birdman”, Morten Tyldum for “The Imitation Game”, Wes Anderson for “The Grand Budapest Hotel” and Academy favorite Clint Eastwood  for “American Sniper”. I wish the Academy would nominate the Dardenne Brothers from Belgium for their masterful "Two Days, One Night."

BEST ACTOR 
This category features one of the great Oscar contests this year. Relative newcomer Eddie Redmayne and veteran Michael Keaton are going to duke it out for their highly acclaimed performances in "The Theory of Everything" and "Birdman", respectively. Possible nominees include Benedict Cumberbatch, who was simply magnificent in "The Imitation Game", Jake Gyllenhaal, whose creepy turn in "Nightcrawler" is one the year's best. Bradley Cooper ("American Sniper") and David Oyelowo ("Selma") would contest the last spot.

BEST ACTRESS
Two years ago, in one of the junkets I attended, I told Julianne Moore that I wanted her to win an Oscar. At the time, the beautiful actress just won an Emmy. She responded with a winded answer that basically avoided addressing the subject. Today, i am very excited to predict that she will finally get an Oscar, which she truly deserves. Julianne's turn in "Still Alice" will be likely joined by previous Oscar winner Reese Witherspoon for "Wild" and hot Brits Felicity Jones "The Theory of Everything" and Rosamund Pike ("Gone Girl"). The 5th slot is a toss-up between Jennifer Aniston for "Cake" and Oscar winning French superstar Marion Cotillard for her marvelous turn in "Two Days, One Night."

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
J.K. Simmon's commanding performance in "Whiplash" carried the movie to greatness and this is one category that could either go his way or to Edward Norton, a highly respected actor who is overdue for a recognition. Edward is up for his richly textured supporting performance in "Birdman." The duo will be likely joined by Ethan Hawke ("Boyhood") and two stars from "Foxcatcher", Steve Carrell and Mark Ruffalo.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
This category is also exciting. The contest is between Patricia Arquette for her indelible performance as a single mom raising two kids in "Boyhood" and perennial nominee Jessica Chastain who could finally snag her first Oscar for her turn in "A Most Violent Year." Possible nominees are Emma Stone ("Boyhood"), Imelda Staunton ("Pride") and Rene Russo for her brilliant turn in "Nightcrawler."

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
This is one category that I am looking forward to this year. I have seen all the 9 shortlisted films and my favorites are: Wild Tales, Leviathan, Tangerines, Timbuktu and Corn Island but the final nominees could vary with "Ida" from Poland likely bumping off "Corn Island" from the final list. Perhaps "Force Majeure" from Sweden and "Accused" from the Netherlands could also make the list and I also will not be surprised if "The Liberator" from Venezuela makes the list, too! This category is so hard to predict but i will be very disappointed if "Wild Tales" from Argentina ends up being cut.

See you at the Oscars!

XXX
Raymond Lo

Film Review: Conducta (Behavior)

Film Review: BEHAVIOR (Conducta)
26th Palm Springs International Film Festival
(Official submission of Cuba to the Academy Awards)

Saw "Behavior" from director Ernesto Daranas in Palm Springs and it's an instant favorite!

It's a moving portrait of a life-long public school teacher, Carmela, who has dedicated all her life pursuing only the best for her marginalized students. It also tells the story of a young kid, Chala, one of Carmela's impoverished students, who had to train dogs for fighting and trade pigeons so he can make money for himself and for his irresponsible mother.

The movie tells us their story but it also gives us a glimpse of Cuba and the children that the country is raising. It's bleak and quite depressing but the movie pays tribute to the importance of proper education and the selflessness of teachers in third world countries. In a communist country like Cuba, a teacher holds one of the most powerful positions in society and the movie could have used this theme and go overtly political but it did not. Applause, applause!

What we get instead is a subtle indictment of the structure that plagues every poor country and makes the system unfair to the poor and the marginalized through the story of a teacher who has spent all of her life lightly treading these unjust rules and working hard each day to give her students a reason to hope, an opportunity to dream and the freedom to express themselves -- and when the same rigid rules are used to try to stop her, you know she'll never have it. Nope!

I love movies about teachers.Teaching is a vocation. Our teachers are our second parents and we should celebrate them always.

The young kid who plays Chala (Armando Valdes Freire) and the magnificent Alina Rodríguez who plays Carmela are both marvelous. This movie will most likely be compared to other movies in the past bearing the same theme but this one, though a work of fiction, is a story of hope. And the final scene was just the perfect ending to the chapter we saw but an invitation to hope that in those exhange of simple greetings, a change has occured and a brighter future has now been made possible. Oh, in the movies, we can always dream!

Rating: 5 Stars

Oscars 2015: Watch the Oscar Nominations Announcement Live Here!

Thursday! 5:30AM Pacific/8:30AM Eastern



Chris Pine and Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs to present nominations in 13 categories including Best Picture! 

Oscar-winner Alfonso Cuaron and J.J. Abrams to present special early announcement of 11 categories! 

Nominations will be announced on January 15, Thursday, starting at 5:30AM PT. Announcement will be streamed live via OSCARS.ORG/LIVE



LOS ANGELES, CA – Oscar producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron announced today that actor Chris Pine, Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs, and directors Alfonso Cuarón and J.J. Abrams, on Thursday, January 15, will announce the nominations in all 24 Oscar categories at a special two-part live news conference at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.

“Each of the three years we’ve produced the show, we have attempted to refresh elements of the process and the telecast,” said Zadan and Meron. “This year, we’re honored to start a new tradition that celebrates the contributions of all the nominees by announcing all 24 categories. We’re thrilled that a distinguished actor and two world-class film directors are part of the initial launch.”

At 5:30 a.m. PT, Cuarón and Abrams will announce the nominees in the following categories: Animated Feature Film, Documentary Feature, Documentary Short Subject, Film Editing, Original Song, Production Design, Animated Short Film, Live Action Short Film, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing and Visual Effects.

At 5:38 a.m. PT, Pine and Boone Isaacs will take the stage to unveil the nominations for Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Cinematography, Costume Design, Directing, Foreign Language Film, Makeup and Hairstyling, Original Score, Adapted Screenplay, Original Screenplay and Best Picture.

“We’re delighted to have Chris, Alfonso and J.J. participate in the excitement of Nominations morning, which, for the first time, will highlight nominees in all categories,” said Boone Isaacs.  “This new approach enables the Academy to further recognize excellence across our entire industry and underscore the full spectrum of the arts and sciences of motion pictures.”

“We’re thrilled to have such exceptional talents present the nominations in a completely new format that furthers our mission and honors all of the artists who make movies,” said Dawn Hudson, Academy CEO.

The Nominations Announcement is a live news conference where more than 400 media representatives from around the world will be gathered.  The event will be broadcasted and streamed live on www.oscars.org/live.

Nominations information for all categories will be distributed simultaneously to news media in attendance and via the official Oscars website, www.oscar.com.

Pine’s starring role as Kirk in the 2009 feature “Star Trek” propelled him to worldwide prominence.  He reprised the character in the sequel “Star Trek Into Darkness.”  Pine’s other feature credits include “Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit,” “Horrible Bosses 2” and “Into the Woods.”  Pine will next be seen in “Z for Zachariah,” due out later this year, and “The Finest Hours,” due out in 2016.

Cuarón is an Academy Award®-winning filmmaker best known for his features “A Little Princess,” “Y Tu Mamá También,” “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban,” “Children of Men” and “Gravity.”  He most recently won Oscars® for directing and editing “Gravity” and received a Best Picture nomination as a producer on the film.  Cuarón also has earned an Original Screenplay nomination for “Y Tu Mamá También,” and Film Editing and Adapted Screenplay nominations for “Children of Men.”

Abrams is a director, screenwriter and producer whose credits include such feature films as “Mission: Impossible III,” “Star Trek,” “Super 8” and “Star Trek Into Darkness,” as well as such television series as “Lost,” “Fringe” and “Person of Interest.”  He won two Emmy® Awards in 2005 for directing and executive producing “Lost.”  Abrams is currently directing “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” producing “Mission: Impossible 5,” and executive producing the series “Roadies” for Showtime and “Westworld” for HBO.

Oscars for outstanding film achievements of 2014 will be presented on Oscar Sunday, February 22, 2015, at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center® and televised live on the ABC Television Network at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT.  The Oscars, produced by Zadan and Meron, also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.

Oscars 2015: Ranking of Foreign Language Oscar Submissions

I want "Wild Tales" to win!!!

RANKING OF OSCAR 2015 SUBMISSIONS I HAVE SEEN SO FAR

1) WILD TALES (Argentina)
2) CONCRETE NIGHT (Finland)
3) TWO DAYS, ONE NIGHT (Belgium)
4) LEVIATHAN (Russia)
5) TANGERINES (Estonia)
6) TIMBUKTU (Mauritania)
7) CORN ISLAND (Georgia)
8) THE GAMBLER (Lithuania)
9) ACCUSED (Netherlands)
10) FORCE MAJEURE (Sweden)
11) MOMMY (Canada)
12) GHADI (Lebanon)
13) 1001 GRAMS (Norway)
14) BEHAVIOR (Cuba)
15) THE LIBERATOR (Venezuela)
16) COWBOYS (Croatia)
17) DIFRET (Ethiopia)
18) BULGARIAN RHAPSODY (Bulgaria)
19) TO KILL A MAN (Chile)
20) THREE WINDOWS AND A HANGING (Kosovo)
21) THE JAPANESE DOG(Romania)
22) THE WAY HE LOOKS (Brazil)
23) IDA (Poland)
24) SORROW & JOY (Denmark)
25) THE GOLDEN ERA (Hong Kong)
26) SAYANG DISAYANG (Singapore)
27) HUMAN CAPITAL (Italy)
28) TODAY (Iran)
29) SEE YOU IN MONTEVIDEO (Serbia)
30) LIFE IN A FISHBOWL (Iceland)
31) WHITE GOD (Hungary)
32) NORTE (Philippines)
33) A STEP INTO THE DARK (Slovakia)

Will update ranking after I have watched my screeners for the following:

LITTLE ENGLAND (Greece)
FAIR PLAY (Czech Republic)

Oscars will be presented February 22nd!

XXX

Raymond Lo

Film Review: "Wild"

There is one scene early on in "Wild" that convinced me the movie is going to be something i'll love. It was how the music was used organically to establish the two main characters in the story and how this brilliant idea instantly revealed to us the soul and the spirit that will propel Cheryl Strayed to do the crazy idea of hiking 900 miles across three states along the Pacific Crest Trail.

There are thematic similarities between Jean Marc-Vallee's "Wild" and Sean Penn's "Into The Wild" but whereas the latter ended quite tragically, the former carries a happier and more hopeful conclusion.

"Wild" is based on the incredible journals of Cheryl Strayed when she spent over three months hiking over deserts, mountains and forests in searing heat and snow in search of her proverbial self and her worth as a person -- and in atonement for the many transgressions she has committed against herself and people who loved and cared for her.

The hike also served as the final stage of her grieving process. It's an emotional and deeply moving film that validates the capacity of the human spirit to triumph over extreme adversity when equipped with determination, inspiration and, to some degree, desperation.

The movie features a masterful screen adaptation and an excellent performance from Oscar-winner Reese Witherspoon. Marc-Vallee's direction is divine and the editing utterly flawless.

The parade of supporting casts are also impressive but I remember most the boy Cheryl encountered on the trail who sings to her and in the process helps usher in a cathartic, well-earned cry --- which rubbed off on me, too!

And, above all, Cheryl's journey has inspired me to consider doing a similar hike as well. Just an idea for now. A crazy one.

Rating: 5 Stars

Film Review: "The Imitation Game"

There's not a single memorable scene in "The Imitation Game" and no scene stands out over the others because every scene in the movie is as memorable as the other. Each scene is beautifully composed and filled with wonderful performances from a uniformly marvelous cast and a stupendous, career-defining turn by Benedict Cumberbatch who may just, quite possibly, snag the Best Actor Oscar for his quiet and tortured performance as Alan Turing, a closeted homosexual who, with the help of a team he assembled, successfully cracked Enigma, the NAZI communication device that proved to be impenetrable and allowed Hitler to conquer much of Europe until Alan Turing defeated him, that is.

The movie is an imposing document of one man's undeclared greatness and enormous sacrifice to save millions of lives in exchange of his own. What an incredible film! What a triumphant performance by Mr. Cumberbatch. I always say that a good movie is one that moves me to tears. This one did. I wrote a quick review for my Facebook friends immediately after the movie ended. I stood up in a corner of the cinema, typed my rave review until i noticed that tears were still flowing through my cheeks, washing the sense of loss i felt for Mr. Turning. Those were tears for his brilliant but short and uncelebrated life; for the pain he carried in his heart because society wouldn't allow him to express who he was, because society decided that he was only good for what he can provide; and for his role in the rise of computer technology and for not benefiting from it.

I am raving about the movie not solely because the story is exceptional. I am raving because the quality of the movie-making is just as exceptional. The narrative jumps between three important periods in Mr. Turing's remarkable life: his years in school, his years in the service and his terribly sad final years --- when the world was celebrating the rewards of peace brought on by the end of World War 2 and Mr. Turing was quietly suffering inside, devoid of peace because the world didn't know who he was and those who knew and had power to grant him some piece of happiness wouldn't give it to him.

Mr. Turing was recognized for his greatness decades after he died. It may have been late, but as this movie shows, it is never too late to celebrate his life. His story is sad but it is ultimately inspiring. "The Imitation Game" is one of the very best films of the year. You should watch it!

Rating: 5 Stars

Film Review: "Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)"

Let's start this review by pointing out that the movie was filmed in one single continuous shot. Actually not but it was shot and edited in such a way that as if we were all watching one seamless, fluid take. It's a ravishing display of visual flourish. It deserves to win Best Editing Oscar!

The opening sequence is a dizzying tour inside a Broadway theater as we observe a group of actors and crewmen mount a stage play based on a Raymond Carver short story. The characters are introduced one by one until we get a sense of what the core story is all about.

It is a story about a has-been actor on the edge of insanity and his relationship with his daughter, his ex-wife, his girlfriend, his manager/producer, his insecure leading lady and an obnoxious actor tapped to replace another who was hit by a spotlight.

The movie follows Michael Keaton's character as he tries to compose himself amid a spiraling chaos of directing and acting in his first Broadway play in a desperate attempt to rekindle the fire that made him a huge Hollywood star twenty years before. He is a walking time bomb that could just explode any moment. The tense final minutes of the film is going to test your patience and will make you wonder how the director plans to end the story. Fortunately, Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu, the director, devised three separate endings that complement the other with a final sequence that gives us a sense that there was really no other way --- that Birdman had to fly.

Another interesting topic touched on rather extensively by the movie is the role of critics in the success or failure of every Broadway show. No artist would easily acknowledge their affection for a particular critic but they would always look out for their compliments first minute they open the morning paper. It's a delicate act but it's the nature of the business. Critics don't create art, so to speak, but we set the bad art from the good and the great ones.

Michael Keaton is in fine form here and may just finally nab an Oscar without ever having to go through what his character did in this fictional tale.

Rating: 5 Stars

Oscars 2015: 9 Films Advance in Foreign Language Race

Nine features advanced to the next round of voting in the Foreign Language Film category for the 87th Academy Awards®.  Eighty-three films had originally been considered in the category.

The lucky films are:

Poland, "Ida," Paweł Pawlikowski, director

Sweden, "Force Majeure," Ruben Östlund, director

Mauritania, "Timbuktu," Abderrahmane Sissako, director

 Argentina, "Wild Tales," Damián Szifrón, director

Venezuela, "The Liberator," Alberto Arvelo, director

Russia, "Leviathan," Andrey Zvyagintsev, director

Estonia, "Tangerines," Zaza Urushadze, director

Georgia, "Corn Island," George Ovashvili, director

Netherlands, "Accused," Paula van der Oest, director

Foreign Language Film nominations for 2014 are being determined in two phases.

The Phase I committee, consisting of several hundred Los Angeles-based Academy members, screened the original submissions in the category between mid-October and December 15.  The group’s top six choices, augmented by three additional selections voted by the Academy’s Foreign Language Film Award Executive Committee, constitute the shortlist.

The shortlist will be winnowed down to the category’s five nominees by specially invited committees in New York, Los Angeles and, for the first time, London.  They will spend Friday, January 9, through Sunday, January 11, viewing three films each day and then casting their ballots.

The 87th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Thursday, January 15, 2015, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

The Oscars® will be held on Sunday, February 22, 2015, at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center® in Hollywood, and will be televised live by the ABC Television Network.  The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.

XXX
Raymond Lo

Oscars 2015: "Human Capital"

“Human Capital” starts with a beautiful tracking shot of a confetti-strewn ballroom and rests on a waiter as he bus a cart of elegant dessert plates. The camera follows him as he gets on his bike and starts to head home. It’s a dark evening. The audience can feel that something terrible is about to happen and soon enough it does. In one treacherous bend, the bike is hit by an unknown SUV that does not stop and only careens past the accident site. The waiter is left blooded and presumably injured or even dead. This accident is the jumping point of an otherwise interesting film told in an engaging storytelling style that attempts to dissect a simple interaction, a seemingly harmless conversation or an apparent uncompromising act from three different perspectives, offering a different layer of truth depending on what one imagines it to be.

The story is divided into four chapters. The first chapter is about Dino, an ambitious real estate broker who invests his life’s worth into a hedge fund. The second chapter is about Carla, an unappreciated trophy wife who plans to renovate an abandoned theater. The third chapter is about Serena, Dino’s daughter and the girlfriend of Carla’s son. The fourth chapter is when all their lives coalesce in one united narrative again, when an event unifies the truth and their lives are threatened to be disrupted by a nuisance death of an innocent man.

This film from Paolo Virzi is an adaptation from the American novel of the same title by Stephen Amidon. I am not familiar with the source material but if the narrative structure is similar to the movie, I am guessing the book is one of those riveting novels that is hard to put down. The movie is pretty engaging but I can’t say if I would have liked the movie better without reading the book. As it is, the movie feels like an important film flashing with sheer brilliance on the surface but starts to lose its luster on closer look. When you start to revisit the plot, you start to question some of the motivations of the characters and when you do, you discover more flaws that only raises more questions. I did not particularly like the ending when the director decided to go the way of the printed epilogue to explain what happened to most of the characters leading to the explanation of the meaning of the title.

Apparently, 'Human capital' is a legal term to denote a person's projected earnings and is used in calculating insurance claims if their working life is cut short. It is what human life is worth according to the insurance calculators.

The movie would have worked better if it had ended with the lavish party after yet another tragedy and I would have been confronted with a powerful human drama about society's hypocrisy, greed and lust for money. Unfortunately, it decided to go further thus ruining almost everything for me. I wish I could really like the movie more because I loved the impeccable production design. The costumes are just plain gorgeous. And the performances amazing!

“Human Capital” is Italy’s entry to the Oscars.

Rating: 3 ½ Stars

Oscars 2015: "Difret"

“Difret” means courage in the Amharic language and the movie is literally about it. It’s the story of Hirut Assefa (played with quiet intensity and surprising maturity by Tizita Hagere), a 14-year-old schoolgirl who was abducted and raped by an older man as part of their village’s mating tradition. It’s also the story of Meaza Ashenafi (played with dogged determination and fierceness by the very beautiful Meron Getnet), a women’s rights lawyer who takes up the cause of Hirut. Together, they were able to bring an end to the abhorrent age-old tradition of men abducting women and forcing them into marriage.

This fact-inspired drama by USC-educated filmmaker Zeresenay Berhane Mehari will keep you engaged from the opening scene establishing Meaza’s character as a tough, independent and free woman in Addis Ababa to the final, triumphant scene of Hirut walking into the unknown armed with newfound freedom and independence every woman is entitled with. The final scene, whether it happened in real life or not, is the summation of Mehari’s treatise: That no one has control over one’s life except the person who is living it.

The performances by the two leads are extraordinary. I have no idea if they are seasoned actors prior to their work here but they inhabit their characters with such ease and naturalness that you can’t help but be moved by the bravery of their characters and be nudged to reflect on our own personal crusades to correct the wrong around us.

If one is to live a full and complete life, one has to have courage to take a personal crusade in life. It was not easy for Meaza and Hirut, but they were able to do it. The movie may have sometimes made it look easy for them (for narrative expediency, I assume) but we know in our hearts that it must have taken them more than a barrage of bullets to bring about this massive cultural change in Ethiopia. The film indirectly challenges us to take up our own little crusades in life – it doesn’t have to be as great as what Hirut and Meaza achieved, a small act of kindness or generosity would likely do it but we must able to follow through and continue to attempt to help those who needs help most.

Mehari’s filmmaking is raw but powerful. The abduction was staged without much fanfare. It came out of nowhere and it took the audience by surprise, thrusting us to  this horrid situation and allowing us to feel what’s it like to suddenly lose your freedom, be abused and threatened to a life of suffering and virtual enslavement – and what is shocking to learn is that this was part of an elaborate custom that’s been accepted by everyone in parts of Ethiopia for generations.

This film is a must see!

Rating: 4 ½ Stars

Awards: New York Film Critics 2014 Winners

NYFCC honors movie magic of Linklater's grand American masterpiece "Boyhood"!

Marion Cotillard scores well-deserved nods for two films. Brit Timothy Spall wins best actor!

2014 Awards

Best Picture: BOYHOOD
Best Director: Richard Linklater, BOYHOOD
Best Screenplay: THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL
Best Actress: Marion Cotillard, THE IMMIGRANT and TWO DAYS, ONE NIGHT
Best Actor: Timothy Spall, MR. TURNER
Best Supporting Actress: Patricia Arquette, BOYHOOD
Best Supporting Actor: J.K. Simmons, WHIPLASH
Best Cinematographer: Darius Khondji, THE IMMIGRANT
Best Animated Film: THE LEGO MOVIE
Best Non-Fiction Film (Documentary): CITIZENFOUR
Best Foreign Film: IDA (Poland)
Best First Film: Jennifer Kent, THE BABADOOK

The group gave a special career award to Adrienne Mancia, film curator for such institutions as the Museum of Modern Art and the Brooklyn Academy of Music to: Adrienne Mancia

XXX
Raymond Lo

Oscars 2015: My very early prediction

Jack O'Connell (UNBROKEN)

Buzz from the industry screening of Angelina Jolie's UNBROKEN has been less enthusiastic than everyone predicted and some even lukewarm -- that counts it out as a leading Oscar contender. Civil Rights drama SELMA has also received mixed reviews. INTO THE WOODS has also received mostly negative reviews (with someone calling it the worst film of the year, is that right Georges Aintablian? wink!)... Eastwood's AMERICAN SNIPER received tepid reception at its AFIFest premiere. American movies have mostly disappointed this year. Films from other countries are some of the best this year with Finland's CONCRETE NIGHT my runaway favorite!

In the next couple of days, the NY and LA Film Critics will announce their year-end selections. The National Board of Review will release their top ten films and the Golden Globes will announce their nominations in a few days. All will try to second-guess the eventual Academy nominations...

I have not seen most of the Oscar contenders yet so I offer this prediction based on buzz, insider comments and just my wild December 1 thoughts on the Oscar season... Caveat: This list will definitely change come January.

"Boyhood"

Best Picture: BOYHOOD
Best Actor: Eddie Redmayne, THEORY OF EVERYTHING
Best Actress: Julianne Moore, STILL ALICE
Best Director: Richard Linklater, BOYHOOD
Best Supporting Actor: Edward Norton, BIRDMAN
Best Supporting Actress: Jessica Chastain, A MOST VIOLENT YEAR





XXX
Raymond Lo

Oscars 2015: "1001 Grams"

How do you measure grief? Or guilt? Or love? These are some of the profound questions that you will find yourself thinking about while watching the gentle and heartwarming film “1001 Grams”, the new film from acclaimed filmmaker Bent Hamer and Norway’s entry to the Oscars this year.

It’s kind of a weighty proposition but the movie is actually a very entertaining and crowd-pleasing drama with a little romance and bursts of comedy mixed into the well-told story of a daughter trying to cope with her father’s untimely death while representing Norway in the international conference on the kilo. Yes, do not be put off by the title. It’s about weight, about the weight of the kilo to be exact, now that last sentence was a paradox, sort of.

At the beginning of the story, we are introduced to Marie and Ernst. They are father and daughter scientists whose connections are limited to cigarette breaks in a cramped alleyway and an occasional weekend visits to Ernst’s farmhouse by Marie. Marie is dealing with personal issues on her own and as the story progresses we get to see that she is slowly losing her personal belongings yet we could feel that physically she seems to be burdened with some heavy stuff that she’s carrying in her heart. What could it be? Guilt? Frustrations?

There are layers to the title and the subject matter that, I fear, putting it down all here, would ruin the experience for the audience. I could easily rattle off the charming relationship between the title and narrative references and the connections it makes with real life but it has to be experienced by the audience first hand to be able to feel the gentle power of this movie.

“1001 Grams” is actually very subtle in layering out the various subtexts to the story and for an introspective moviegoer who likes to have a little laugh and a little entertainment while at the same time being challenged by the story, it is definitely a gift that deserves to be rewarded with vigorous applause.

The performances by the cast are amazing and the photography, splendid. I so love the parade with the blue umbrellas in the middle of the movie because it somewhat reminds the audience that there is life, there is color, there is order, there is beauty, in even the most boring stuff in the world.

Can i also tease you on why the title is 1001 Grams and not 1000 Grams if it is about the kilo? Hmm...

Rating: 5 stars

News: Swiss film "The Circle" starts US theatrical run this November

"The Circle", Switzerland's official entry to the Oscars this year started its US theatrical November 14 in Palm Springs and will have a steady roll-out through 2015.

Screening schedules:

Nov 14-20: Palm Springs (Camelot Theatres)
Nov 21-27: New York City (The Quad)
Dec 5-7: Wilmington, DE (Theatre N)
Dec 5-7: New Orleans (Zeitgeist)
Dec 12-18: Fort Lauderdale (Cinema Paradiso)
Dec 12-18: Miami (Tower Theater)
Dec 14: Philadelphia (Philamoca)
Dec 18-24: Los Angeles (Laemmle Music Hall 3)

Jan 2015
Santa Fe (CCA Santa Fe)
Hudson, NY (Time & Space Limited)

The movie is set in 1958 Zurich and based on the true story of a bashful teacher Ernst Ostertag and a German cabaret artist Robi Rapp who met and fell in love after meeting and knowing one another in the Swiss underground organization called “Der Kreis.” (The Circle). As the two dissimilar men defend their love, they witness the heyday and decline of this Europe-wide pioneering organization for gay emancipation.

Founded in the early 1940s, the network around the magazine ‘Der Kreis’ (’The Circle’) was the only gay organisation to survive the Nazi regime. It blossomed during the post-war years into an internationally renowned underground club. Legendary masked balls at the Theater am Neumarkt in Zurich provided 800 visitors from all over Europe with a secret and safe space to act out their ‘otherness’ in a self-determined way. It is there that timid teacher Ernst Ostertag falls in love with drag star Röbi Rapp. Ernst searches for a way to fight for his gayness to be accepted as normal outside the boundaries of ‘The Circle’ network without losing his employment as a teacher. Röbi champions the joint fruition of their love. Following a murder in the gay community, violent repression against gay people also endangers ‘The Circle’ network.

Stefan Haupt’s new film uncovers the fascinating universe of one of the first gay liberation communities. Enriched by impressive conversational records with Ernst Ostertag and Röbi Rapp, the film depicts a decades-long love story—made taboo by society—and reveals the couple’s inspiring self-knowledge and courage.

Watch the trailer below:



See you at the movies!

XXX
Raymond Lo