My Top 10 Films (Released In 2014)

This post contains the list of the Top 10 films that I saw in 2014. The year before my favorite film was  12 Years A Slave. This year it was very hard to decide between the very best film of the year, with three contenders essentially tied with each other but each had a very powerful impact on me in their own way.

Anyway, here is my Top 10 list of the films released in 2014 that I saw last year. This year I saw roughly 17 films in the movie theaters and then another half dozen or so through other channels (at home on television via premium cable or iTunes) and on planes.

10. Blackbird. This is the latest film by Black gay wunderkind Patrik-Ian Polk (Punks, Noah's Arc). It stars Mo'Nique in her first film role after winning the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for Precious and is a film adaptation of the classic book by the same name about a young Black boy coming of age in the South. Unfortunately, Blackbird still has not found a distributor but I was able to see the film twice in 2014, once at the Pan African Film Festival, and then several weeks later at Outfest Fusion. The main strength of this film is its authentic portrayal of a gay teenager's life and love, and even though the actual twists of the story are melodramatic, it felt good to see representations of Black gay men like myself on screen. If you get a chance to see Blackbird, grab it!

9. Snowpiercer. I had heard of Snowpiercer but it just looked like another bat-sh*t crazy Tilda Swinton movie. My interest was piqued when I discovered that the always fun to watch Chris Evans (Captain America) was also in it. Sadly, Evans has an extensive beard and shows almost no skin in the film but delivers an effective performance that grounds the film, even though, by any measure, Snowpiercer is a pretty wild ride of a film. It is reminiscent of other wild, visually arresting classics like Brazil, The Fifth Element and The Matrix. Just like those movies, the story doesn't make much sense but somehow you can not stop watching it. Definitely a movie I will remember years from now, probably more so than some of the higher ranked films on this list.

8. Big Hero 6. This was the best animated film that I saw in the theaters this year. (The LEGO Movie I saw on AppleTV soon after it left the theaters and despite what the Oscar voters say, it is better than Big Hero 6.) Like Edge of Tomorrow, Big Hero 6 is based on content from another source, this time a popular Marvel comic of the same name. The best thing about Big Hero 6 is the inflatable robot named Baymax, although the main character of Hiro Hamada (voiced by Ryan Potter) is a close second. I guess one of the main reasons why I liked Big Hero 6 is that it reminds me somewhat of one of my favorite movies, The Incredibles.

7. Edge of Tomorrow. If you had told me when I wrote last year's Top 10 list that a Tom Cruise science fiction flick would be one of my favorite movies of the year I would not have believed you. But Edge of Tomorrow also stars Emily Blunt in a big screen adaptation of a Japanese graphic novel with a fiendishly clever script, directed by a well-respected action director (Doug Liman, known for his work on the Bourne series starring Matt Damon). Since the film was so badly marketed I went it to the theater with low expectations, which were happily easily exceeded.

6.  X-Men: Days of Future Past. This latest entry into the X-Men franchise was directed by animating force behind the reboot: Bryan Singer, which is a good thing. The key feature of this movie is that it featured Sir Ian McKellen and Sir Patrick Stewart from the first set of X-Men films as well as Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy playing the same characters (Magneto and Professor Xavier, respectively). It's really fun to have both sets of actors in the film, even though they basically have no scenes together (since they are playing the same characters in different eras). Another strength of this film was the plot which, although it depended on a somewhat cheesy time travel device allowed the film to be mostly set in the early 1970s, which was an inspired choice. 

5. The LEGO Movie / Guardians of the Galaxy. At the beginning of the year I guess I might have been one of the many people who did not know the name of the actor who plays the young, tall, goofy white dude on Parks & Recreation but there are very few people who don't know who Chriss Pratt is now after he appeared in not one but two of the biggest box-office hits of the year. The LEGO Movie sounded like it would be a painfully bad attempt to leverage a well-known nostalgic brand (Battleship, anyone?) but instead was a surprisingly clever romp strengthened by the voice talents of Pratt and Morgan Freeman, the silly but hyper-infectious theme song "Everything is awesome!" and a snarkily satirical script. The Lego Movie was fun and a huge hit but since Pratt does not physically appear in the film it took the summer blockbuster
Guardians of the Galaxy to really send Pratt's profile into the stratosphere. Guardians of the Galaxy  can not be considered a surprise sleeper hit like The Lego Movie since it is one of the Marvel suite of comic-book movies but even in that context, Guardians of the Galaxy is a surprisingly effective entertainment. And Pratt is front and central to the movie's runaway success, in all his attractive goofiness.

4. Gone Girl. Regardless of what Oscar voters think, in my opinion David Fincher's representation of Gillian Flynn's blockbuster mystery novel was one of the best directed  and most thrilling movies I saw in 2014. Even though I read and quite enjoyed the book, I was very impressed with how much of the book was able to be included in the film. There are very strong performances by a bevy of well-cast actors, starting with Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike as the (un)happily married couple Nick and Amy Dunne at the center of the film, and also including Carrie Coon as the suspicious detective who investigates Amy's disappearance,  Neil Patrick Harris as Amy's obsessive childhood crush and even Tyler Perry as Nick's buffoonish but media savvy defense attorney. Fincher's film also includes a wickedly dark sense of humor that adds oomph to the impression it leaves on the psyche.

3. The Imitation Game.  This film was another one of my most anticipated films of  2014 that also lived up to my expectations. Additionally, it also provided a fair number of surprises by giving information about the story of Alan Turing's life and work that I was unaware of even though I was generally familiar with the broad outlines of his heroic contributions to society and the tragedy of his personal biography. In fact one of the key strengths of The Imitation Game is its ability to present a British period piece in a way that is both compelling and suspenseful, even though we know how the story ends. Another major strength are the performances by Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley as well as the structure of the screenplay adapted from Andrew Hodges classic biography.

2.  The Grand Budapest Hotel.  This is the only film that I saw multiple times throughout the year and was also one of my most unexpected pleasures at the cinema all year long. I have not been a huge fan of Wes Anderson's work in the past (I still have not seen Moonrise Kingdom) but was convinced by friends to see this one and found it absolutely delightful. The screenplay is so clever, and the film is anchored by the hysterical and self-possessed performance of Ralph Fiennes  as M. Gustave, the concierge of the Grand Budapest Hotel as well as an impressive debut by Tony Revolori as the Lobby Boy. Additionally, the huge supporting cast (Willem Dafoe, Tilda Swinton, F. Murray Abraham, Saoirse Ronan, Adrien Brody, Edward Norton) and surprising cameos (Bob Balaban, Jude Law, Tom Wilkinson, Jeff Goldblum, Owen Wilson, Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman, Fisher Stevens) present an inexhaustible supply of smiles and giggles that cement this film as one of the most enjoyable films of the year.

1. Interstellar. When I started thinking about this list I did not place Christopher Nolan's film at the number one spot, although I was pretty sure it would be somewhere in my Top 5. However when I went back and looked at my written reviews I saw that I had basically felt that The Imitation Game, The Grand Budapest Hotel and Interstellar were all essentially tied as my favorite films of the year. Then as I reflected more upon the three I realized that Interstellar was not only my most anticipated film of the year it was also the film that had the strongest emotional impact on me after viewing. It was not a perfect film (some of the dialogue is painfully bad) by any means but there's no question that it was the film which had the most memorable visuals of anything I saw in the theaters all year long. The suspenseful plot and the always rock-solid performances by Sir Michael Caine, Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain and Matthew McConnaughey are other impressive strengths. I still do not think it was as compelling conceptually as Nolan's Inception (2010), which possesses one of my all-time favorite soundtracks and is a film that I have seen and enjoyed multiple times.

 There ya go. There are still some very well-regarded 2014 movies which I have yet to see, such as Boyhood, The Theory of Everything, Selma and Foxcatcher.

Some Honorable Mentions that could be on this list are Divergent (mostly for Theo James' hotness), and Birdman (although overall I think it is somewhat self-indulgent and a bit too-"inside Hollywood" for me).

Looking forward to seeing more movies in 2015!

FILM REVIEW: Gone Girl

Gone Girl is one of the best films of the year. To date it has grossed nearly $150 million domestically (and even more than that internationally). Critically, the film is hovering very near the 90% level on rottentomatoes.com (88% from critics and 90% from the audience). That it is from David Fincher, one of America's most distinctive directors (Fight Club, The Social Network), is another reason to see it.

Gone Girl is based on the blockbuster best-selling mystery novel published in 2012 written by Gillian Flynn with the same title. "What a dark comedy!" one of my friends exclaimed as the credits rolled and scattered applause was heard around the theater (at the Arclight Cinemas in Pasadena) when we saw the film in on its opening weekend.

Gone Girl is multiple movies rolled into one. It is a dark comedy; it is also a whodunnit, a battle of the sexes, a biting critique of the "if it bleeds, it leads" media culture, a meditation on the nature of the modern American marriage and star-centered vehicle for Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike.

Affleck and Pike play Nick and Amy Dunne, a married couple whose version of the American dream has gone bust when both of them get fired from their publishing industry jobs in New York City and end up moving to Nick's hick hometown in Missouri to take care of Nick's ailing mom but end up stuck there permanently.  This upsets his wife, who grew up as the pampered only daughter of two psychiatrists who wrote a series of successful novels about Amazing Amy, the perfect child.

The movie opens on the occasion of Nick and Amy's fifth wedding anniversary, with Amy having apparently disappeared and Nick looking uncomfortable and secretive when questioned by the police about his wife's friends, her activities and their marriage.

When Amy doesn't appear after a few days, the police (and Amy's parents) get more suspicious of Nick's behavior and even the audience, who wants to give Affleck's character the benefit of the doubt starts to turn on him.

The film's effectiveness depends on the numerous twists and turns that Flynn has expertly included in the screenplay she adapted from the excellent source material of her own novel. Fincher's direction is exceptional, because even at well over two hours, the movie is thrillingly paced and very suspenseful.

The only question remaining now is whether (or how) Hollywood's award-industrial complex will be able to embrace and reward Gone Girl despite its genre roots come end-of-year awards.

Title: Gone Girl.
Director: David Fincher.
Running Time: 2 hours, 25 minutes.
MPAA Rating: Rated R for a scene of bloody violence, some strong sexual content/nudity, and language.
Release Date: October 3, 2014.
Viewing Date: October 5, 2014.

Writing: A.
Acting: A.
Visuals: B+.
Impact: B+.

Overall Grade: A- (3.66/4.0).

BOOK REVIEW: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Gillian Flynn's novel Gone Girl is well-known (some would say notorious) as one of the best-selling and celebrated books published in 2012. It was optioned by Oscar-winner Reese Witherspoon soon after its publication and this led to the upcoming film adaptation directed by David Fincher starring Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike with a screenplay adapted by Flynn herself.

The main reason why Gone Girl is soon to be a "major motion picture" is the astonishingly high quality of the source material. Gone Girl is ostensibly about the disappearance of beautiful, blonde Amy Dunne on the occasion of her 5th wedding anniversary, it is really a chilling dissection of a relationship between two very different individuals in the economic context of the collapse of the American middle class. Amy Dunne is married to Nick Dunne, a journalist who lost his job at a prestigious magazine in New York City and moved the couple to his hometown of North Carthage, Missouri where he used the bulk of the remnants of Amy's trust fund to open a bar (cleverly called "The Bar") with Nick's twin sister Margo. As the only child of psychologist parents who wrote a series of successful child novels about a character named "Amazing Amy," Amy is raised to expect perfection in all things. And, of course, life is far from perfect.

The structure of the book is fiendishly clever. It is told in dueling first-person voices, starting with Nick Dunne in present tense starting with the day that Amy disappears. Soon we start to hear from Amy Dunne, telling her side of the story through diary entries which begin even before Nick and Amy are married and document the deterioration of the relationship over the last five-plus years.

The problem of course, is that, Flynn is deploying one of the trickiest devices in the author's toolbox: the unreliable narrator. Both Nick and Amy are consummate liars, they lie to each other, they put on false appearances for public consumption and, we quickly discover, they lie to the reader as well.

As any aficionado of murder mysteries will tell you, the mantra the police have when a wife disappears is "the husband did it, the husband did it, the husband did it." But Flynn is too clever to go along with that common trope as we find out more and more damaging information about Nick's behavior prior to his wife disappearance (he was having an affair with another woman, he increased the value of her life insurance policy, they were barely speaking to each other). These spoilers are nothing compared to what twists and turns the actual plot of the book puts you through. It literally took my breath away. Yes, it's that good. Let's hope it becomes a heckuva movie!

Title: Gone Girl.
Author: Gillian Flynn.
Paperback: 432 pages.
Publisher: Crown.
Date: June 5, 2012.
Read: December 31, 2013.

OVERALL GRADE: A (4.0/4.0).
PLOT: A.
IMAGERY: A-.
IMPACT: A+.
WRITING: A.

Celebrity Friday: Ben Affleck Cast As Batman In Next Superman Film

From Argo to Superman! Ben Affleck has been cast to play Batman opposite Henry Cavill's Superman in the sequel to this summer's Man of Steel.  The release date for the sequel has been set for July 17, 2015 and will be directed by Zack Snyder.

Man Of Steel director Zack Snyder is expected to reimagine the Batman character, whose pairing with Superman he announced at Comic-Con last month. Snyder said he won’t be drawing from the Dark Knight series. “I’ve pored through the DC universe for a way to tell this thing,” he said. Affleck will star opposite Henry Cavill, who will reprise the role of Superman/Clark Kent. The film will also reunite Man Of Steel stars Amy Adams, Laurence Fishburne and Diane Lane. David S. Goyer, who scripted the first film and worked on the Dark Knight trilogy, will pen the sequel. Warner Bros has set the film to open worldwide on July 17, 2015.“Ben provides an interesting counter-balance to Henry’s Superman,” Snyder said in a statement. “He has the acting chops to create a layered portrayal of a man who is older and wiser than Clark Kent and bears the scars of a seasoned crime fighter but retain the charm that the world sees in billionaire Bruce Wayne. I can’t wait to work with him.”

This is interesting news. Apparently there is a whole story arc in the Batman comics where he interacts with Superman. The movie will be an adaptation of that scenario. Wonder Man has posted 10 reasons why he thinks Affleck's casting is a good idea.

My Top 10 Favorite Films Seen in 2012

Below is a list of my Top 10 films that I saw in 2012. As it turns out, my favorite was actually released in 2011 and was honored with the 2012 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. I had thought about changing my list to include only films that were released in 2012, but that also seems artificial, since one can consume films in many different ways and often I may not have seen a film released in one year until much later (look at all the films I saw from the 1970s in 2012).

Anyway, here is my list of my favorite films seen in 2012

1. A Separation. This was the best film I saw all year. Even though it was technically a 2011 release and elegible for the 2012 Oscars, I still think it should be on the list. What's so amazing about the film is that it is about such a simple subject: the problems of how to take care of an elderly family by a working couple. The twist is that the movie is set in Tehran, Iran so we see what seems like a typical domestic situation played out in a completely foreign (to American eyes) landscape. The differences in religion, social mores, legal system do not detract from the universal themes that A Separation depicts.
2. Argo. Bizarrely, both of the top 2 films of 2012 that I saw are set in Iran. The 2013 Oscar for Best Picture deservedly went to Ben Affleck's third feature film, about the little-known true story set around the time of a foreign affairs crisis for the United States. It is an exceedingly well-directed and well-written movie. What comes to mind (and I have seen the film twice so far) is how suspenseful the film is despite the audience knowing how the story ends. I was on the edge of my seat both times I saw the film, which is a testament to the virtuouso level of film-making. And it is also quite funny, by the far the most enjoyable filmI watched all year long.
3. Bully. Bully is decidedly not an enjoyable film, but it is an important one. I saw it on a plane, not in a movie theater, which is why it is the one movie on the list which does not have an official blog review. However, it still left quite an impression. Bully is about the epidemic of violence, both emotional and physical which kids face in schools every day and tells the story of how the adults and institutions which surround them fail to protect them, often leading to heartbreaking results. The most prominent reasons for bullying are usually around gender expression/sexual orientation but the film makes it clear that the seeds of bullying are really about punishing any deviations from what is perceived as "normal" by the majority and the marginalization of the Other. It is a powerful, emotionally draining experience to watch.
4. Prometheus. This is a pre-quel to Aliens, one of the classic science fiction movies of all times, directed by the great Ridley Scott. It stars an incredible cast of Charlize Theron, Michael Fassbender, Idris Elba, and Noomi Rapace and looks incredible (it was nominated for Best Visual Effects). Sadly, the emotional impact of the film is not as high as the other films in the Alien franchise, primarily due to a somewhat muddled and non-sensical script. Regardless, it is very watchable and the best sci-fi related visual entertainment of the year.
5. Django Unchained. The second movie in Tarantino's "Unspeakable" series of films (following on the heels of Inglourious Basterds about the Holocaust) has the audacity to deal with not only slavery, a difficult subject for a white artist to address, but does so using Tarntino's signature humor and over-the-top violence. Django Unchained had a somewhat mixed critical reaction, but audiences loved it (94% on rottentomatoes.com), especially black audiences. Even the Academy recognized the film with two Oscars in very important categories, Best Supporting Actor and Best Original Screenplay. And, hey, it features full-frontal nudity of Jamie Foxx, so what's not to like?
6. Cloud Atlas. This is another film in which the critics and myself had very different reactions to a film. Cloud Atlas is the latest film from the controversial Wachowski Siblings, the creative team behind The Matrix, and based on an award-winning novel. It is definitely not without flaws, but there are visual sequences in this film that will stick with me for years and again it features a celebrated cast, helmed by Oscar-winners Tom Hanks and Halle Berry in multiple, gender-bending roles.
7. Looper. It's always a delight when one goes to see a movie with low (or no) expectations and has them overwhelmingly exceeded. Looper is primarily the vision of one person, Rian Johnson, and is another one of those time-travelling brain twister. Most well-known for the curious make-up job inflicted upon Joseph Gordon-Levitt to make him believable look like Bruce Willis earlier self, Looper will definitely make you think and marvel how a creative and frugal director can tell a big story on a small budget.
8. Lincoln. Now Steve Spielberg is known for the Oscar history it made as the biggest Oscar loser of the year, one of the biggest of all time (10 losses out of 12 nominations) and for the historic third Best Actor statuette picked up by it's star Daniel Day-Lewis. It is a good movie, and a memorable one, but it is not an overly enjoyable one. There's something oddly off-putting about the film, which is something one does not usually say about a film directed by Spielberg, whose ability to manipulate his audience's emotions is legendary.
9. The Dark Knight Rises. My favorite filmmaker is Christopher Nolan, and I was very happy that he was able to follow one of the largest box-office successes of the last decade (The Dark Knight) with a sequel that completed the Batman trilogy on a high note. The main word that comes to mind with this film is "quality" or "top-notch." The cast is extraordinary: Marion Cotillard, Christin Bale, Morgan Freeman, Anne Hathaway, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Tom Hardy and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. The opening sequence alone is worth the price of admission.
10. Life of Pi. Ang Lee's masterful film adaptation of an impossible-to-adapt Booker prize-winning novel was the most celebrated film at the 2013 Oscars, winning 4 out of 11 nominations. It is one of the most visually stunning films of the year, and the only reason it is so low on my list is that the overall message of the film, which is a somewhat convoluted argument for the existence of God is disappointing, but I can still appreciate the film as a beautiful and impressive work of art.

2012 was a pretty good for movies. I hope that 2013 turns out to be just as good!

2013 OSCARS: Analysis of the Winners and Losers

Wel, well, well! This year's Oscars were quite a revelation, although they went well over time, locking in well over 3-and-a-half hours, ending after midnight on the East Coast.

Here are some of my thoughts on the biggest surprises and most interesting results of the night:

1. They Really Don't Like Steven Very Much, Do They? Steven Spielberg's Lincoln was the big loser of the night, coming in with 12 nominations and only winning 2, for Best Actor (Daniel Day-Lewis) and Best Production Design, which really must be considered something of a fluke. It was clear that there was no groundswell for Lincoln from the very first award of the night when a very shocked Christoph Walz won  his second Best Supporting Actor Oscar for Django Unchained, surprising almost everyone, denying Lincoln's Tommy Lee Jones. When Life of Pi (which came in with 11 nominations and went home with 4 Oscars) continued to pick up wins in the important technical categories like Best Cinematography and Best Score where it was competing against both Argo and Lincoln one really started to wonder about the message the Academy was sending to America's most talented filmmaker. Once Ang Lee won his 2nd Best Director Oscar instead of Spielberg, the message became clear: We Like Your Movies And The Profit You Generate, But Not You So Much! Spielberg's first nomination came in 1978 for Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind (he wasn't even nominated for Jaws, despite the fact that movie invented the notion of a summer blockbuster film). He has since been nominated for Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T., The Color Purple, Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan, Munich and Lincoln. A total of 8 times with only two wins. And he has been snubbed (not nominated) for such classic films as Jaws, Empire of the Sun and Minority Report. Now Ang Lee, Clint Eastwood and Oliver Stone have as many Best Director Oscars as Spielberg! It should be noted that only one other person has been nominated more times for Best Director: William Wyler. And only Wyler (3), Frank Capra (3) and John Ford (4) have more wins. I think he is developing a Meryl Streep problem where in order for him to win, it is going to have to be something outstanding compared to his already excellent body of work.

2. Michelle Obama Announces Best Picture Oscar for Argo from the White House. This was a truly surreal moment when just a handful of minutes before midnight 3-time Oscar winner Jack Nicholson introduced First Lady Michelle  Obama who gave a (somewhat trite but inclusive) speech about the importance of the arts to all Americans and then cut back for the announcement of the nine Best Picture nominees. They then amazingly cut back to Obama holding an envelope who then opened it and announced Argo had won. Nicholson was also holding an envelope which he gave to the producers of the winning film: Affleck, George Clooney and Grant Heslov.

3. The Tarantino Effect. For the second time in as many films Quentin Tarantino wrote an amazing part for Christoph Walz and the multi-lingual actor won an Oscar for animating Tarantino's words. The surprising strength of Django Unchained in the big categories was one of the highlights of the night for me with wins in Best Original Screenplay for Tarantino (only his second after his 1995 win for Pulp Fiction) and the 2nd win for Walz. This was another example of the out-of-control Directors' branch snubs (of Kathryn Bigelow for Zero Dark Thirty, Ben Affleck for Argo and Tarantino for Django) resulted in surprising wins as the rest of the Academy tried to ameliorate the damage.

4. It's All About Editing) In the end with 3 wins Argo joins the dubious club of Rocky and Crash of winning Best Picture without a director's nomination and only three wins overall. Interestingly, the unbroken string that every Best Picture winner has always had a Best Editing nomination and that almost every film that has won Best Picture has won Best Editing (including Argo, Rocky and Crash) continues. (Quiz: Which Best Picture winner(s) did not win Best Film Editing?)

5. (Almost) Everybody Gets A Prize! The really big story of the night was the even distribution of the wins throughout the 24 categories. The totals were

4 Wins: Life of Pi (Director, Score, Cinematography and Visual Effects);
3 Wins: Argo (Picture, Editing, Adapted Screenplay), Les Miserables (Supporting Actress, Makeup, Sound Mixing)
2 Wins: Skyfall (Song, Sound Editing), Lincoln (Actor, Production Design), Django Unchained (Supporting Actor, Original Screenplay)
1 Win: Zero Drak Thirty (Sound Editing), Anna Karenina (Costume Design), Amour (Foreign Language), Silver Linings Playbook (Actress)

Films with multiple nominations that went home empty-handed (0 Wins) were Beasts of the Southern Wild (4), The Hobbit (3), The Master (3), Flight (2), Snow White and the Huntsman (2).

It will be interesting to see how the Academy reacts to the fact that it changed it's nomination deadline to before many of the Guilds had weighed in so that this led to surprising (some would say, uninformed) nominations that in turn led to surprising wins.

As for the show itself, I thought Seth McFarlane did a very good job, although there was too much singing for my taste, but it was part of the show's theme of a tribute to musicals. For the most part Seth's humor was on point, with some notable exceptions. (Making a joke about the assassination of a President is not edgy or funny, it's just dumb.) Openly gay producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron did an amazing job with the Obama surprise and Dame Shirley Bassey belting out Goldfinger at age 76 was breathtaking.

Other highlights of the show for me: Meryl Streep announcing the Best Actor winner instantly by opening the envelope off camera while the nominations video was playing; Jennifer Hudson and Adele (Adkins) singing; the Best Documentary Short Subject winners for Inocente and Channing Tatum and Charlize Theron (two of the most beautiful people in Hollywood) dancing with McFarlane to open the broadcast; for the first time since the Best Actress tie of 1968 (between Barbra Streisand and Kathleen Hepburn) there was another tie, this time in Sound Editing between Zero Dark Thirty and Skyfall--Mark Wahlberg was the announcer and he handled the moment well.

Let the race for the 2014 Oscars begin! (August, Osage County anyone?)

2013 OSCARS: The Winners

Here are the winners of the 2013 Oscars...

I only correctly predicted 5 of the Top 8 and 14 of 24, one of my lowest totals in years.

Best motion picture

• Argo, Grant Heslov, Ben Affleck and George Clooney, Producers

Achievement in directing

• Life of Pi, Ang Lee

Performance by an actor in a leading role

• Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln

Performance by an actress in a leading role

• Jennifer Lawrence in Silver Linings Playbook

Performance by an actor in a supporting role

• Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained

Performance by an actress in a supporting role

• Anne Hathaway, in Les Misérables

Best animated feature film of the year

• Brave, Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman

Best foreign language film of the year

• Amour, Austria

Adapted screenplay

• Argo, Screenplay by Chris Terrio

Original screenplay

• Django Unchained, Written by Quentin Tarantino

Achievement in cinematography

• Life of Pi, Claudio Miranda

Achievement in film editing

• Argo, William Goldenberg

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)

• Life of Pi, Mychael Danna

Achievement in costume design

• Anna Karenina, Jacqueline Durran

Best documentary feature

• Searching for Sugar Man, Malik Benjelloul, Simon Chinn

Best documentary short subject

• Inocente, Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine

Achievement in makeup and hairstyling

• Les Misérables, Lisa Westcott and Julie Dartnell

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)

• Skyfall from Skyfall, Music and Lyric by Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth

Achievement in production design

• Lincoln, Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Jim Erickson

Best animated short film

• Paperman, John Kahrs

Best live action short film

• Curfew, Shawn Christensen

Achievement in sound editing (tie!)

• Skyfall, Per Hallberg and Karen Baker Landers
• Zero Dark Thirty, Paul N.J. Ottosson

Achievement in sound mixing

• Les Misérables, Andy Nelson, Mark Paterson and Simon Hayes

Achievement in visual effects

• Life of Pi, Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik-Jan De Boer and Donald R. Elliott

2013 Oscars: My Predictions

Here are my current predictions for the 2013 Oscars, which will be given out exactly two weeks from today. I think that in the end the Academy will vote for Best Picture the movie they enjoyed the most sitting through, which is Argo and not the movie they have been bludgeoned into thinking should be the best picture, i.e. Lincoln. The real question is since they can not vote for Affleck for Director, will they give it to a previous winner (like Steven Spielberg or Ang Lee), or will they try to anoint someone new who has been creating deserving work for years, like David O. Russell or Michael Haneke?

The toughest categories in the big 8 are Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay. And they are all basically related.

Best Picture
Amour
Argo
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Django Unchained
Les Misérables
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty

Best Director

• Michael Haneke, Amour
• Ang Lee, Life of Pi
• David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook
• Steven Spielberg, Lincoln
• Benh Zeitlin,  Beasts of the Southern Wild

SHOULD WIN: David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook
WILL WIN: Steven Spielberg, Lincoln

Best Actress

• Emmanuelle Riva, Amour
• Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
• Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
• Naomi Watts, The Impossible
• Quvenzhané Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild

SHOULD WIN: Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
WILL WIN: Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook

Best Actor

• Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook
• Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
• Denzel Washington, Flight
• Hugh Jackman, Les Misérables
• Joaquin Phoenix, The Master

SHOULD WIN: Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
WILL WIN: Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln

Best Supporting Actress

• Amy Adams, The Master
• Sally Field, Lincoln
• Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables
• Helen Hunt, The Sessions
• Jacki Weaver, Silver Linings Playbook

SHOULD WIN: Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables
WILL WIN: Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables

Best Supporting Actor

• Alan Arkin, Argo
• Robert De Niro, Silver Linings Playbook
• Phillip Seymour Hoffman, The Master
• Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln
• Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained

SHOULD WIN: Robert De Niro, Silver Linings Playbook
WILL WIN:  Robert De Niro, Silver Linings Playbook

Best Original Screenplay

• Amour, Michael Haneke
• Django Unchained, Quentin Tarantino
• Flight, John Gatins
• Moonrise Kingdom, Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola
• Zero Dark Thirty, Mark Boal

SHOULD WIN: Django Unchained, Quentin Tarantino
WILL WIN:  Moonrise Kingdom, Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola

Best Adapted Screenplay

• Argo, Chris Terrio
• Beasts of the Southern Wild, Lucy Alibar and Benh Zeitlin
• Life of Pi, David Magee
• Lincoln, Tony Kushner
• Silver Linings Playbook, David O. Russell

SHOULD WIN: Life of Pi, David Magee
WILL WIN: Lincoln, Tony Kushner or Argo, Chris Terrio

Oscar Totals: 
Lincoln (6) followed by Argo (4) and  Life of Pi (4)

Celebrity Friday: Victor Garber Thinks Everyone Knows He's Gay

Victor Garber has been one of my favorite actors since he played the father of the main character Sydney Bristow (played by Ben Affleck's wife Jennifer Garner) on Alias,  J.J. Abrams' first foray into television.

You may also remember him as the architect in James Cameron's Titanic (he is the one who tell Kate Winslet's character that the lifeboats only have the capacity to carry half the people who are on board the doomed ship). recently he is getting noticed as the pivotal role of the Canadian ambassador in Affleck's Argo (which last Sunday won the Golden Globe for Best Director and Best Film--Drama).

One of my blog friends, Greg in Hollywood did an interview with Garber which got interesting:

I just decided to ask him: “Wikipedia lists Rainer Andreesen as your partner. I wondered if that’s something that’s public, that you’ve confirmed.”

He seemed surprised by the question but said: ‘I don’t really talk about it but everybody knows.”

Garber then added: “He’s going to be out here with me for the SAG Awards.”

So in the end, our chat ended up being a bit more interesting than I thought it would be!

Interesting contrast between Garber's coming out and Jodie Foster. Then again it is probably not too fair to compare the two since Jodie is a 2-time Oscar-winning actress and has generally been in more and higher-profile films than Garber.

2013 OSCARS: Golden Globe Winners

The Golden Globe awards, often an important (although not very predictive) precursor to the Academy Awards, were presented in Los Angeles on Sunday evening. The winners are:

Best Picture: Argo
Best Director: Ben Affleck, Argo
Best Actress: Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
Best Picture, Musical/Comedy: Les Miserables
Best Foreign Language Film: Amour
Best Actress Comedy: Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
Best Actor Musical: Hugh Jackman, Les Miserables
Best Supporting Actress: Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables
Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained
Best Screenplay: Quentin Tarantino, Django Unchained
Best Original Score: Mychael Danna, Life of Pi
Best Song: Adele, Skyfall
Best Animated Feature: Brave

There were also television awards given out and Homeland continued its domination of the awards for its stellar first season by winning Best Actor, Actress and Best Drama (the same awards it won at the Emmys 4 months ago).

Jodie Foster, 50, was given a prestigious career award and revealed an important secret: she's single! (She also very explicitly came out as a lesbian, acknowledging the existence of her ex-life partner Sidney (who, oddly was not shown on television although the two boys they raised together were).