Golden Globes Winners / Producers and Writers Guilds Nominate /NSFC Weighs In

Hello Friends...2018 marches on.


GOLDEN GLOBE WINNERS

Here are the winners from last night's Golden Globe awards with films from TFF #44 in Bold.

Best Picture-Drama- Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Best Picture-Musical or Comedy-Lady Bird
Best Direction-Guillermo Del Toro/The Shape of Water
Best Actress-Drama-Frances McDormand/Three Billboards
Best Actress-Musical or Comedy-Saoirse Ronan/Lady Bird
Best Actor-Drama-Gary Oldman/Darkest Hour
Best Actor-Musical or Comedy-James Franco/The Disaster Artist
Best Supporting Actress-Allison Janney/I, Tonya
Best Supporting Actor-Sam Rockwell/Three Billboards
Best Screenplay-Three Billboards
Best Animated Feature-Coco
Best Foreign Language Film: In the Fade
Best Original Score-The Shape of Water
Best Song-This Is Me/The Greatest Showman


Takeaways: The HFPA really liked Three Billboards as it led all films with four wins.  The Shape of Water and Lady Bird were the other two films that had multiple wins with two each.  TFF#44 films scored 5 wins on the night.

What's it mean for Oscar?  Three Billboards is maybe a more serious player than I thought.  Otherwise, despite the fact that Oscar voting is going on right now, I'm not sure the results from last night will make a lot of difference.

PRODUCERS AND WRITERS GUILDS NOMINATE

Both the PGA (Producers Guild of America) and the WGA (Writers Guild of America) announced the nominees for their end of the year awards this week adding fuel to some Oscar fires and potentially signaling weakness for others.

The PGA announced 11 films as finalists for their award.  That's the first time that has happened as a tie in voting created an 11th position for the nominations.  PGA finalists are:

The Big Sick
Call Me By Your Name
Dunkirk
Get Out
I, Tonya
Lady Bird
Molly's Game
The Post
The Shape of Water
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Wonder Woman

The announcement was good news for The Big Sick, I Tonya, Molly's Game and Wonder Woman.  Not so much for Darkest Hour or Phantom Thread.

This link is to the official announcement from the PGA.

Here is analysis from Deadline and Indiewire.

Also this week the WGA announced its finalists for Best Original and Adapted Screenplay. 

The nominees for Best Original Screenplay are:

The Big Sick
Get Out
I, Tonya
Lady Bird
The Shape of Water

Adapted Screenplay nominees are:

Call Me By Your Name
The Disaster Artist
Logan
Molly's Game
Mudbound

It's worth remembering that some surefire Oscar contenders like Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri were not eligible for consideration under WGA rules.

WGA analysis is here from Indiewire, Entertainment Weekly and Awards Circuit.


NATIONAL SOCIETY OF FILM CRITICS WEIGHS IN

The last big critics group to announce their choices for the Best of 2017 did so on Saturday.  The National Society of Film Critics (NFSC) named Greta Gerwig's Lady Bird the Best Film of the year in an incredible close vote as it topped Jordan Peele's Get Out by a single ballot.

Lady Bird claimed four wins in all as Gerwig was singled out as Best Director and the writer of the Best Screenplay as well and Laurie Metcalf was named Best Supporting Actress.

Other TFF #44 films also were honored:
Sally Hawkins was named Best Actress for The Shape of Water (and Maudie-TFF #43)
Graduation was named Best Foreign Film and Faces Places was named Best Non-Fiction Film.

TFF #44 films only missed on three awards from the group.

Additionally, Saoirse Ronan was runner-up for Best Actress for Lady Bird.  Michael Sthulbarg was a runner-up for Best Supporting Actor in part for The Shape of Water.  Faces Places was a runner-up for Best Foreign Language Film.

Variety has this report of the NSFC honors including runners-up in each category.


That's your MTFB for this Monday.  Check back for more on Thursday.


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Producers Salute La La Land / Editors Endorse La La Land and Arrival / Hidden Figures Wins SAG Ensemble / Oscar Related

Welcome to Monday as January is on the brink of limping to a conclusion...

Mary Tyler Moore and John Hurt.  Two very different actors and great in different ways but still great nonetheless.  For fun, imagine a two headed coin with MTM's Mary Richards on one side and John Hurt's Winston Smith from 1984 on the other.  Quite a heads and tails, eh?


PRODUCERS SALUTE LA LA LAND

The Producers Guild of America awarded La La Land its top prize for a feature film on Saturday night.  The PGA Award is considered a good barometer of the Best Picture race as it matches up slight better than 2/3 of the time.  The PGA also uses the same preferential balloting process as The Academy which adds another layer of insight.  Other TFF #43 films that were among The PGA nominees: Manchester by the Sea, Moonlight and Arrival.

Here is substantial coverage of the PGA awards presentation including some analysis concerning the Oscar implications of La La Land's win:

Kristopher Tapley/Variety-In Contention

Dave McNary/Variety

Scott Feinberg/The Hollywood Reporter

Anne Thompson/Indiewire

Gregory Ellwood/The Playlist



EDITORS ENDORSE LA LA LAND AND ARRIVAL

The American Cinema of Editors handed their highest honors for film editing to Damien Chazelle's La La Land as a comedy edited by Tom Cross while Denis Villeneuve's Arrival was named the best edited drama edited by Joe Walker.

OJ: Made in America was named best edited documentary and Zootopia was named the best edited animated feature.

Reportage is here:

Kristopher Tapley/Variety-In Contention

Bill Desowitz/Indiewire



HIDDEN FIGURES WINS SCREEN ACTORS ENSEMBLE

A couple of late show surprises will serve to keep two Oscar races interesting.  Denzel Washington won the SAG Award for Best Actor last night for his role in Fences and Hidden Figures was the surprise winner in the Best Ensemble category.  

Washington's win upset Casey Affleck who has been considered the favorite through a good deal of this Oscar season for his performance in Manchester by the Sea.

The Hidden Figures win wasn't a total shocker but both Moonlight and Fences had been considered the more likely winner in that category.

The rest of the film acting categories went as expected with TFF #43 attendees winning in two categories-Best Actress and Supporting Actor.  The list:

Supporting Actress: Viola Davis/Fences

Supporting Actor: Mahershala Ali/Moonlight

Lead Actress: Emma Stone/La La Land

Lead Actor: Denzel Washington/Fences

Best Ensemble: Hidden Figures

The Best Stunt Ensemble for Film: Hacksaw Ridge

Coverage and analysis of last night's Scree Actors Guild Awards:

from Pete Hammond of Deadline.com

From Anne Thompson at Indiewire



OSCAR RELATED

The trailer for the 89th Academy awards is out and our friend Alex Billington's FirstShowing.net has it.  Check the trailer and Alex's story here.

Meanwhile, Variety-In Contention's Kristopher Tapley analyzes the Oscar race now that we know the nominees and assesses whether Damien Chazelle's La La Land has a shot at the all time record for wins after tying the all time record for nominations.  Take a look at his analysis here.

Entertainment Weekly's Devan Coggan takes a deep dive in the numbers of Oscar #89 here.

Key dates remaining:

Feb. 4th- Directors Guild Award
Feb. 12th- BAFTA Awards
Feb. 13th- Oscar final voting begins
Feb. 21st- Oscar voting concludes
Feb. 26th- Oscars Awards ceremony



That will do it for this Monday.  I'll have another post up on Thursday, so come on back for that.

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The FAC Updates the Oscar Acting Races / Producers Guild Nominees Feature TFF #43 / BAFTA Loves La La Land and Arrival

Good Thursday...if the country is still here...

THE FAC UPDATES THE OSCAR ACTING RACES

The FAC last updated the four acting race 3-4 weeks ago and some of the ground has shifted in the lead categories.  The supporting categories have remained largely the same.  The largest influences in the last month have been the Golden Globes and the BAFTA announcement of nominees (see below). Those two events within the past week have moved some people around.  Here's the latest, up-to-date look at the acting races with a mere dozen days left until Oscar announces.

I have used the publicly available Oscar predictions from the following pundits:

Erik Anderson/Awards Watch
Clayton Davis/Awards Circuit
Greg Ellwood/The Playlist-Awards Campaign
Scott Feinberg/The Hollywood Reporter
Joey Magidson/Hollywood News
Nathaniel Rogers/Film Experience
Sasha Stone/Awards Daily
Kristopher Tapley/Variety-InContention
Anne Thompson/Indiewire

TFF #43 films are in Bold.

BEST ACTRESS

1) Emma Stone/La La Land (1)
2) Natalie Portman/Jackie (2)
3) Amy Adams/Arrival (6)
4) Isabelle Huppert/Elle (5)
5) Meryl Streep/Florence Foster Jenkins (7)

6) Anette Bening/20th Century Women (3)
7) Ruth Negga/Loving (4)
8) Taraji P. Henson/Hidden Figures (8)
9) Jessica Chastain/Miss Sloane (9)
10) Emily Blunt/The Girl on the Train (NR)

Hot: Adams, Streep, Blunt
Not: Bening, Negga and Marion Cotillard who dropped off the list.
On the Cusp: Kate Beckinsale/Love and Friendship
Comment: Adams gets a boost from BAFTA.  Streep gets a boost from her GG Lifetime acceptance speech.  The race at the top between Stone and Portman is incredibly close.

BEST ACTOR

1) Casey Affleck/Manchester by the Sea (1)
2) Denzel Washington/Fences (2)
3) Ryan Gosling/La La Land (4)
4) Andrew Garfield/Hacksaw Ridge (6)
5) Viggo Mortensen/Captain Fantastic (8)

6) Tom Hanks/Sully (3)
7) Joel Edgerton/Loving (5)
8) Andrew Garfield/Silence (9)
9) Warren Beatty/Rules Don't Apply (7)
10) Michael Keaton/The Founder (NR)

Hot: Garfield (Hacksaw), Mortensen and Keaton
Not: Hanks, Edgerton and Adam Driver who dropped from the list.
On the Cusp: Jake Gyllenhaal/Nocturnal Animals
Comment: Mortensen continues to march up the list with his SAG, BAFTA and Golden Globe nominations showing that he has serious momentum.  Andrew Garfield also continues to rise.  The race still seems to be between Affleck and Washington for the win.

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

1) Viola Davis/Fences (1)
2) Michelle Williams/Manchester by the Sea (2)
3) Naomie Harris/Moonlight (3)
4) Nicole Kidman/Lion (4)
5) Octavia Spencer/Hidden Figures (5)

6) Greta Gerwig/20th Century Women (6)
7) Janelle Monae/Hidden Figures (7)
8) Molly Shannon/Other People (8)
9) Helen Mirren/Eye in the Sky (9)
10) (TIE) Felicity Jones (10) and Lily Gladstone/Certain Women (NR)

On the Cusp: Haley Squires/I, Daniel Blake
Comment: An incredibly stable category that will be won by Viola Davis.

SUPPORTING ACTOR

1) Mahershala Ali/Moonlight (1)
2) Jeff Bridges/Hell or High Water (2)
3) Dev Patel/Lion (3)
4) Hugh Grant/Florence Foster Jenkins (4)
5) Lucas Hedges/Manchester by the Sea (5)

6) Ben Foster/Hell or High Water (6)
7) Kevin Costner/Hidden Figures (8)
8) Michael Shannon/Nocturnal Animals (7)
9) Aaron Taylor-Johnson/Nocturnal Animals (NR)
10) Issey Ogata/Silence (9)

Hot: Taylor-Johnson has exploded into the conversation just this week with his stunning Golden Globe win and his BAFTA nomination.
Not: Aaron Eckhart
On the Cusp: Stephen Henderson/Fences



PRODUCERS GUILD NOMINEES FEATURE TFF #43

One of the most well regarded precursors of probable Oscar Best Picture nominees is the Producers Guild of America (PGA).  The PGA named their list of ten feature film nominees on Tuesday and it included four films that played at Telluride last September.

Those named were: Arrival, La La Land, Manchester by the Sea and La La Land.  The nomination for Arrival is being perceived as a strong sign that it will likely be among the films nominated for Best Picture when the Oscar nominations are announced on Jan. 24.  La La Land, Manchester and Moonlight have been considered locks for some time and the PGA accolade just added to that view.

Other films named by the PGA were: Deadpool, Fences, Hacksaw Ridge, Hell or High Water, Hidden Figures and Lion.

Deadpool was a real surprise to the otherwise expected list of films.  Left off: Sully, Silence and Loving.

The PGA also named The Eagle Huntress, which also played TFF #43 among the five Best Documentaries.

Coverage and analysis of the PGA nominations is here from:

Indiewire

Awards Daily

The Playlist

The Film Experience


BAFTA LOVES LA LAND AND ARRIVAL

Damien Chazelle's La La Land led all films in the number of nominations it received from the British Academy of Film and Television Artists on Tuesday with 11 nods.  Denis Villenueve's Arrival and Tom Ford's Nocturnal Animals followed in second place with nine nominations apiece.

Kenneth Lonergan's Manchester by the Sea had six nominations while Barry Jenkins Moonlight was only mentioned four times.

Here are the respective nominations for each:

La La Land: Picture, Director, Original Screenplay, Actor, Actress, Original Music, Cinematography, Editing. Production Design, Costume, Sound

Arrival: Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay, Actress, Original Music, Cinematography, Editing, Sound, Visual Effects

Manchester: Picture, Director, Original Screenplay, Actor, Supporting Actress, Editing

Moonlight: Picture, Original Screenplay, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress

Other notes: Toni Erdmann was nominated for Best Film not in the English Language, as was TFF #42 film Son of Saul.  The Eagle Huntress was nominated for Best Documentary and Manchester by the Sea's Lucas Hedges was nominated for the Rising Star award.

Complete BAFTA nominations and analysis is here from:

Indiewire

The Playlist

The Hollywood Reporter


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The PGA and The SAG/New Imitation Trailer/Birdwomen/Hateful Eight Filming Begins

Good Monday morning!  The Oscar race took an unexpected jog over the weekend...

THE PGA AND THE SAG

Alejandro G. Inarritu's "Birdman" was named the Best Picture of the year on Saturday night by The Producers Guild of America in a very unexpected turn of events.  "Richard Linklater's "Boyhood" was thought to be a pretty solid favorite going into the ceremony and it was generally expected that it would just be one more jewel in its crown on its way to its ultimate Oscar coronation.  Now, that's all called into question as one of the most competitive and unpredictable Oscar races in recent years continued to unwind.

Then, Sunday evening, The Screen Actors Guild named "Birdman" Best Ensemble.  That result was expected and it does add some fuel to a new fire that could presage a "Birdman" Oscar upset.

After a season that has increasingly looked as if "Boyhood" would snap the string of Best Picture Oscar winners having played at Telluride, it looks as if there is still at least a reasonable chance that the "T-ride" effect might remain in tact. Recall the following Best Picture winners from the last few years:

2008-"Slumdog Millionaire"
2009-"The Hurt Locker"
2010- "The King's Speech"
2011-"The Artist"
2012- "Argo"
2013- "12 Years a Slave"

Five of the last six and the last four BP winners in a row came through Telluride.

And don't discount the still real possibility that Best Picture might still end up being Morten Tyldum's "The Imitation Game".  I still feel like that's a realistic scenario.

One other thing...about an hour before Saturday night's PGA announcement, as I was traveling back home from the Edmond Santa Fe Invitational speech tournament and following the PGA announcements for all the other categories (including a Best Doc win for semi-Telluride presentation "Life Itself"...it played the night before this year's fest started in Elk Park)...I tapped out the following tweet...believe me or not..."Got a feeling some weird voodoo might go down at the PGA tonight...Birdman? Imitation?...just a feeling...but..."

Then I read it again and deleted it.   I thought, no one will believe this and I'll look like a fool.  Now, pretty likely I'll not be believed that I wrote the tweet to begin with...but it's true.  I swear!

Nevertheless, the Oscar Race is back on kiddos...

Take a look at PGA coverage from HitFix/InContention , Awards Daily and The Hollywood Reporter here:

http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/birdman-breaking-bad-fargo-win-2015-pga-awards

http://www.awardsdaily.com/blog/2015/01/birdman-takes-the-producers-guild-in-a-surprise/

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/pga-awards-birdman-upsets-boyhood-766661


Meanwhile, as to the rest of the SAG winners...three categories went according to expectations but Eddie Redmayne/The Theory of Everything surprised for Best actor over favorite Michael Keaton so that category likely has a new frontrunner.  My bet is that Oscar's Best Actor race is actually too close to call right now.  As of this morning, I still believe Keaton could win.

The other individual categories went:

Best Supporting Actress- Patricia Arquette/Boyhood
Best Supporting Actor/JK Simmons/Whiplash
Best Actress: Julianne Moore/Still Alice

Take a look at some post SAG analysis here from The Hollywood Reporter and Gold Derby:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/sag-awards-birdman-weekend-continues-767052

http://www.goldderby.com/news/8327/sag-awards-winners-screen-actors-guild-entertainment-13579086-story.html


NEW IMITATION TRAILER

The Weinstein Company keeps the PR machinery running full tilt for 8 time Oscar nominee Morten Tyldum's "The Imitation Game" with a new trailer that popped this week.  Check it with this link:

https://amp.twimg.com/v/b6755761-f721-449f-b93f-1e3f7b1f2255



BIRDWOMEN

Take a look at this video featurette focusing on the women of "Birdman"  via Anne Thompson at Thompson on Hollywood:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/watch-meet-the-women-of-birdman-exclusive-20150122


HATEFUL EIGHT BEGINS FILMING

We've been telling you for while that Quentin Taratino and the crew for his new film "The Hateful Eight" was on the ground in the Telluride area.  Now, any number of film news outlets report that principal photography has actually begun.  For your entertainment, here is that story from TOH:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/production-begins-on-quentin-tarantinos-the-hateful-eight-20150123

And, a pic from Samuel L. Jackson's Facebook page:

That's Kurt Russell on the left...seriously...

Guilds, Guilds, Guilds/More Anticipated 2015 Film Lists/Upsizing Downsizing/Oscar Podcast

Good Thursday World!

GUILDS, GUILDS, GUILDS

The run up to the Golden Globes on Sunday and Oscar nominations announcement coming next week on Jan. 15 has included a slew of Guild announcements over the past few days.

Producers, Art Directors, Cinematographers, Costumes and Writers...all of which are included in the links below.

The PGA announcement probably gave a much needed boost to "Foxcatcher" as well as "American Sniper", "Gone Girl" and "Nightcrawler".  Harmed by the lack of Producers' nominations were: "Interstellar", "Unbroken" and possibly "Selma" which, again, seems to have suffered from a lack of screeners.

Here's the list and the "take" from The Hollywood Reporter:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/producers-guilds-film-nominees-go-761108

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/what-pga-nominations-mean-oscar-761122

Art Directors Guild nominations are here from The Hollywood Reporter:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/behind-screen/grand-budapest-hotel-woods-art-760886

American Society of Cinematography nominees from Awards Daily: (Unbroken, Birdman, Imitation Game, Mr. Turner and Grand Budapest)

http://www.awardsdaily.com/blog/2015/01/the-asc-announces-cinematography-nominees/

Costume Designers Guild from HitFix/InContention:

http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/selma-interstellar-into-the-woods-pick-up-costume-designers-guild-nominations


Writers Guild of America from Awards Daily:

http://www.awardsdaily.com/blog/2015/01/writers-guild-announce-nominations/

Only two films seem to have hit all the Guilds at this point (with the Directors Guild still to announce on Jan. 13th) and they are "The Grand Budapest Hotel" and "The Imitation Game".  A number of possible Oscar screen writing contenders were ineligible for WGA consideration: "Birdman", "Selma", "Theory of Everything" for example.


MORE ANTICIPATED 2015 FILM LISTS

More and more outlets are posting their hopes and dreams about films for 2015 and those lists give insight into possible TFF #42 titles.  Today I'm looking at HitFix, Anne Thompson and The Playlist.  HitFix posted an additional list...I had their overall list linked last Monday.  The new HitFix list is what they label 25 "Prestige" titles.  Meanwhile, Anne Thompson posted 45 anticipated 2015 films and The Playlist list is 100 titles long.  I have linked all three sources below.

Telluride possibilities that show up in all three lists are:

Justin Kurzel's "Macbeth" Why a TFF chance?  The Weinsteins and See Saw films as its producers.  See Saw has had "The King's Speech" "Shame" and "Tracks" at past TFFs.

Jeff Nichols' "Midnight Special"...I haven't mentioned this film in a Telluride context until now but HitFix's Kristopher Tapley specifically mentions Telluride as a possibility.

"Carol" from Todd Haynes.  Why TFF?  Haynes was at T-ride in 2007, it's from TWC.  There's a lot of thought that it could play Cannes which is often a precursor to a Telluride play.

Quentin Tarantino's "The Hateful Eight" is on all three lists and on my T-ride watch list despite knowing that the window for QT to have it ready for Labor Day would be tight.  However, as I've written before, I have to believe that if a version of the film is ready and because he's filming 10 miles outside of of the 'Ride...despite the fact that he's never played Telluride...I think it could happen.

And Alejandro G. Ianrritu's "The Revenant".  Just like Tarantino, this is subject to tight timing as it's filming right now but I believe if Inarritu has a workable print, he'll play Telluride as he has for "Babel", "Biutiful" and "Birdman".


Telluride possibles that were named by both HitFix and The Playlist include:
Jean Marc Vallee's "Demolition" (HitFix suggests it's a Telluride possibility),
Gus Van Sant's "The Sea of Trees"...GVS was, at one time, a fairly common fixture at Telluride but hasn't had a film there since 2003's "Elephant",
Cary Fukunaga's "Beasts of No Nation"...HitFix calls it a Cannes possibility,
Derek Cianfrance's "The Light Between Oceans" mostly because Participant Media is one of the production firms behind it (and "Beasts" as well) and their films occasionally play Telluride,
Richard Linklater's "That's What I'm Talking About", his "spiritual sequel" to "Dazed and Confused" which I include here largely because of the HitFix perception that it'll be making the fest circuit,
Scott Cooper's "Black Mass" which HitFix calls a Telluride possibility.

Thompson and The Playlist both list Werner Herzog's "Queen of the Desert" on their respective lists. (frankly, I'd be more stunned if it DOESN'T play at Telluride) and Tom Tykwer's "A Hologram for the King" originally written by Telluride regular and past guest director Dave Eggers.

Single mentions from The Playlists' much longer list that I think have some T-ride potential:

"Suffragette", "The Last Face", "Forsaken", "Truth", "Tale of Tales", "Icon", "Spotlight", "Our Brand is Crisis" and "Sicario".

Here are the links to all three of these lists:

http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/25-most-anticipated-prestige-films-of-2015-hateful-eight-knight-of-cups-carol

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/45-films-were-looking-forward-to-in-2015-20150105

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/the-100-most-anticipated-films-of-2015-20150105



UPSIZING DOWNSIZING

A few weeks back I wrote about Alexander Payne's likely next directing gig.  The film is called "Downsizing" and is set to star Matt Damon and begin shooting this fall.  News broke yesterday that past Payne collaborator Reese Witherspoon (who I was this close to ...holds hands a foot apart...at this year's fest).  Witherspoon starred in Payne's "Election".  I've linked a number of posts about the casting announcement from yesterday:

http://variety.com/2015/film/news/reese-witherspoon-downsizing-casting-matt-damon-1201395244/

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/reese-witherspoon-reunites-alexander-payne-761716

http://www.thewrap.com/reese-witherspoon-joins-matt-damon-in-alexander-paynes-downsizing/

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/reese-witherspoon-is-back-on-for-alexander-paynes-sci-fi-social-satire-downsizing-20150107

Put this one down for TFF #43.

OSCAR PODCAST

As we round the turn toward Oscar nominations check out Sasha Stone's Awards Daily podcast for this week here:

http://www.awardsdaily.com/oscarpodcast/?p=6906

The PGA, SAG and The Critic's Choice/Nebraska, Tim's Vermeer and All is Lost Music

Good morning on this Monday...


THE PGA, SAG AND CRITIC'S CHOICE

Since Oscar nomination morning last Thursday, three groups have weighed in on their choices for the Best in film.



***PRODUCERS GUILD AWARD

Well, it just keeps getting weirder and weirder.  The Producers Guild named "12 Years a Slave" AND "Gravity" Best Films late last night in an unprecedented tie.  A topsy-turvy race for the Oscar is now even topsier and turvier.  Many pundits thought that The PGA would point us toward the Best Picture winner...and maybe it has...sort of.  A lot of the those same pundits thought "American Hustle" was going to continue its winning streak last night and that didn't happen.  So, the takeaway here seems to be the most wide open Best Picture race in a long, long time.

For some analysis, take a look at this post filed last nigh from Kristopher Tapley of HitFix/InContention:

http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/gravity-and-12-years-a-slave-tie-at-2014-pga-awards-breaking-bad-and-modern-family-win-tv-prizes
 
And Pete Hammond of Deadline.com

http://www.deadline.com/2014/01/producers-guilds-stunner-of-a-split-decision-how-does-it-alter-the-oscar-race/

And Scott Feinberg of The Hollywood Reporter:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/pga-awards-12-years-gravity-672440

***SCREEN ACTORS GUILD AWARDS

20th ANNUAL SCREEN ACTORS GUILD AWARDS® RECIPIENTS

THEATRICAL MOTION PICTURES 

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role

MATTHEW McCONAUGHEY / Ron Woodroof – “DALLAS BUYERS CLUB” (Focus Features)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role

CATE BLANCHETT / Jasmine – “BLUE JASMINE” (Sony Pictures Classics)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role

JARED LETO / Rayon – “DALLAS BUYERS CLUB” (Focus Features)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role

LUPITA NYONG’O / Patsey – “12 YEARS A SLAVE” (Fox Searchlight Pictures)

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture

AMERICAN HUSTLE (Columbia Pictures)

AMY ADAMS / Sydney Prosser

CHRISTIAN BALE / Irving Rosenfeld

LOUIS C.K. / Stoddard Thorsen

BRADLEY COOPER / Richie DiMaso

PAUL HERMAN / Alfonse Simone

JACK HUSTON / Pete Musane

JENNIFER LAWRENCE / Rosalyn Rosenfeld

ALESSANDRO NIVOLA / Federal Prosecutor

MICHAEL PEÑA / Sheik (Agent Hernandez)

JEREMY RENNER / Mayor Carmine Polito

ELISABETH RÖHM / Dolly Polito

SHEA WHIGHAM / Carl Elway

***CRITIC'S CHOICE WINNERS:

WINNERS OF THE 19th ANNUAL CRITICS’ CHOICE MOVIE AWARDS

Best Picture – “12 Years a Slave”

Best Actor – Matthew McConaughey, “Dallas Buyers Club”

Best Actress – Cate Blanchett, “Blue Jasmine”

Best Supporting Actor – Jared Leto, “Dallas Buyers Club”

Best Supporting Actress – Lupita Nyong’o, “12 Years a Slave”

Best Young Actor/Actress – Adele Exarchopoulos, “Blue Is The Warmest Color”

Best Acting Ensemble – “American Hustle”

Best Director – Alfonso Cuarón, “Gravity”

Best Original Screenplay – Spike Jonze, “Her”

Best Adapted Screenplay – John Ridley, “12 Years a Slave”

Best Cinematography – Emmanuel Lubezki, “Gravity”

Best Art Direction – Catherine Martin (Production Designer), Beverley Dunn (Set Decorator), “The Great Gatsby”

Best Editing – Alfonso Cuarón and Mark Sanger, “Gravity”

Best Costume Design – Catherine Martin, “The Great Gatsby”

Best Hair & Makeup – “American Hustle”

Best Visual Effects – “Gravity”

Best Animated Feature – “Frozen”

Best Action Movie – “Lone Survivor”

Best Actor in an Action Movie – Mark Wahlberg, “Lone Survivor”

Best Actress in an Action Movie – Sandra Bullock, “Gravity”

Best Comedy – “American Hustle”

Best Actor in a Comedy – Leonardo DiCaprio, “Wolf of Wall Street”

Best Actress in a Comedy – Amy Adams, “American Hustle”

Best Sci-Fi/Horror Movie – “Gravity”

Best Foreign Language Film – “Blue Is the Warmest Color”

Best Documentary Feature – “20 Feet From Stardom”

Best Song – “Let It Go” Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez, “Frozen”

Best Score – Steven Price, “Gravity”

A number of the Oscar pundits believe the PGA win points the way.

NEBRASKA, TIM'S VERMEER AND ALL IS LOST MUSIC

Here are a few stories that were making news the last week about TFF #40 films:

Will Forte (Nebraska) recently spoke at the Variety Breakthrough of the Year Wards.  Here's the link to that video:

http://variety.com/video/video-will-forte-talks-nebraska-at-varietys-breakthrough-of-the-year-awards/

The Carpetbagger from The New York Times recently talked to Teller about his "Tim's Vermeer":

http://carpetbagger.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/01/10/teller-on-penns-idea-tims-hypothesis-and-vermeers-painting/

The Playlist talks to Golden Globe score winner Alex Ebert about his music for "All is Lost" and other items:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/alexander-ebert-talks-scoring-all-is-lost-getting-robert-redford-to-surrender-almost-making-a-musical-with-heath-ledger-20131212

BREAKING: Producers and Writers Guilds Nominate: Llewyn Davis in Trouble?

Producers Guild nominations for Best Feature announced yesterday:

"American Hustle"
"Blue Jasmine"
"Captain Phillips"
"Dallas Buyers Club"
"Gravity"
"Her'
"Nebraska"
"Saving Mr. Banks"
"12 Years a Slave"
"Wolf of Wall Street"

Left out: "Inside Llewyn Davis", "Philomena", "August: Osage County", "Lee Daniels The Butler".

Writers Guild Nominations announced today:

Adapted Screenplay nominees:

"August: Osage County"
"Before Midnight"
"Captain Phillips"
"Lone Survivor"
"Wolf of Wall Street"

Original Screenplay nominees:

"American Hustle"
"Blue Jasmine"
"Dallas Buyers Club"
"Her"
"Nebraska"

Again, no "Llewyn Davis".

Boosts probably for "Dallas Buyers Club", "Blue Jasmine", "Nebraska" and "Her" in as far as the Best Picture race is concerned.  Some very real concerns about the prospects now for the Coen Brothers' "Inside Llewyn Davis" which is finishing in the top 5 in about every critics poll.  Oscar nomination balloting is a week old and the nominations will be announced on Jan. 16.

Also, a reminder that some film scripts were ineligible under WGA guidelines...like "12 Years a Slave".

Producers Guild/Art Directors Guild/The Descendants and Shame/Latest Oscar Predictions and Critics/New Feature

Good Morning Mr. & Ms. America and all the ships at sea...

GUILDS....
PRODUCERS...

Ten films named by the Producers Guild of America this past week as the Best of the year.  Here's the list (via The New York Times Carpetbagger):


–“The Artist” (Thomas Langmann, producer)
–“Bridesmaids” (Judd Apatow, Barry Mendel, Clayton Townsend)
–“The Descendants” (Jim Burke, Alexander Payne, Jim Taylor)
–“The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” (Ceán Chaffin, Scott Rudin)
–“The Help” (Michael Barnathan, Chris Columbus, Brunson Green)
–“Hugo” (Graham King, Martin Scorsese)
–“The Ides of March” (George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Brian Oliver)
–“Midnight in Paris” (Letty Aronson, Stephen Tenenbaum)
–“Moneyball” (Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz, Brad Pitt)
–“War Horse” (Kathleen Kennedy, Steven Spielberg)


As expected only two TFF #38 films make the grade, "The Artist" and "The Descendants".  I was a little surprised to see "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo", "Bridesmaids" and "Ides of March" make it and also a little surprised that "Extremely Loud" "Drive" and "Tree of Life" did not.  Many pundits are saying that kills their chances at Best Picture.  I'm saying "Let's hold on til we see the DGA nominations next Monday.


PGA stories and analysis from The Hollywood Reporter:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/pga-awards-nominations-war-horse-the-artist-descendants-moneyball-277532

The New York Times/Carpetbagger:

http://carpetbagger.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/03/producers-guild-releases-its-nominations/

http://carpetbagger.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/03/where-the-producers-guild-and-the-academy-part-ways/

Movie City News:

http://moviecitynews.com/2012/01/pga-tees-off-shoots-for-par/

ART DIRECTORS

The ADG announced its nominees in 3 separate categories yesterday.  Keep in mind that the Academy doesn't segment their Art Direction Oscar into three different categories.  Here's the list of nominees from Awards Daily:

http://www.awardsdaily.com/2012/01/2012-art-directors-guild-nominees/

Writers" Guild and USC Scripter nominations are to be announced later today and the Directors' Guild nominations are due out on Monday.

THE DESCENDANTS AND SHAME

Fox Searchlight keeps plugging away with Awards season links.  Here's the latest Descendants featurette from them:
http://content.foxsearchlight.com/inside/node/5068

And David Poland's interview with Judy Greer for The Movie City News:
http://moviecitynews.com/2012/01/dp30-2011-the-descendants-actor-judy-greer/

And a new Michael Fassbender/Shame featurette via The Hollywood Reporter:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/michael-fassbender-shame-video-oscars-278014

OSCARS AND CRITICS

The latest Oscar predictions from Scott Feinberg at The Hollywood Reporter:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/oscar-race-predictions-war-horse-drive-ballots-277274

Also from Dave Karger at Entertainment Weekly:
http://insidemovies.ew.com/2012/01/03/oscar-predictions-after-producers-guild/

And finally another compilation (and it IS massive) of critics from The Movie City News:
http://moviecitynews.com/2012/01/analyzing-the-top-10-list-of-lists-2011/

NEW FEATURE

Starting tomorrow, the Film Awards Clearinghouse will begin a more frequent category by category analysis of the looming Oscar race.  Nominations are due to be announced on Jan. 24th.  Tomorrow we'll look at this year's Best Actor race.

Until next time America, which means Monday...

Follow me on Twitter @Gort2

Telluride Film and The PGA/The Oscar Clearinghouse

PRODUCER'S GUILD PRODUCES A STUNNER!!!

Last night the Producers Guild of America awarded its awards for motion picture achievement and threw a big monkey wrench into the stately march of "The Social Network" to Oscar glory as the producers named producers Emile Sherman and Gareth Unwin of "THE KING'S SPEECH" the winner of its "Producer of the Year" award.

This morning all of the Oscar handicappers are abuzz with whether or to what extent this changes the race. Personally, I don't know if this portends the downfall of "The Social Network" (hope so, because I've been saying for months that it has been hugely over-rated), but I do know that it just made the next month a whole lot more interesting and that a race that many Oscar prognosticator's had asserted was done...isn't.

Also winning last night were "Toy Story 3" as animated film and "Waiting for Superman" as documentary.

Tomorrow The Oscar Clearinghouse will be up with its last evaluation of the Oscar race before the nominations are announced on Tuesday morning. Tuesday we'll post the breakdown of nominees and assess Telluride #37's impact on this year's Oscar race.

Stay tuned. This just got a whole lot more fun.