Festivals and Awards Watch

[transformers2]

I'm shocked that Philomena got a best picture nod over Inside Llewyn Davis, Blue Jasmine and to a lesser extent, Rush. Aside from that, not too many surprises, though I was a bit surprised that Fassbender and Hill picked up Best Supporting Actor nods and Hanks didn't pickup a Best Actor nod.

I concur about Prisoners getting robbed, Jackman was better than all of the nominated performances I've seen (Bale,DiCaprio,McConaughey) and Gylenhaal was far better than Leto imo, who is clearly the frontrunner for Best Supporting Actor. Also would've liked to see some love for Rush, Inside Llewyn Davis and Fruitvale Station, but oh well, not every film that deserves recognition from the Academy gets it.

[silversurfer19]

2013 really was the year of the actor. I mean, all five nominees appear to be very worthy, but then at the same time we are excluding the likes of Oscar Issac, Robert Redford, Hugh Jackman, Mads Mikkelson, Tom Hanks, Tony Servillo and probably numerous others I've forgotten. From what I've seen so far, they probably are not my own top 5, but it is so close.

As for surprises, I was shocked by the lack of Llewyn, going by the buzz it has received so far, while no place for Blue Is The Warmest Colour was also surprising (though this has been long know thanks to France's selection committee). Disappointed in the lack of love for Rush, Daniel Bruhl especially in supporting actor, alongside McConaughey's performance in Mud. Best Actress was pretty much as expected, though perhaps Emma Thompson could have snuck in. Was disgusted that Despicable Me 2 got a nomination for what was a horrible movie, especially when the likes of Monsters Uni, which while not Pixar's best, was much better.

Thought Zimmer would have got a nom for 12 Years A Slave, but otherwise the scores were pretty predictable. Disappointed in lack of love for Pacific Rim's visual effects, and the almost absence of Prisoners, while expected, was also sad.

All in all, the Academy favours the movies you'd expect them to, but I wish they were perhaps a little more open minded to movies and pleasantly surprise us once in a while.

[Buscemi]

Philomena's Best Picture nomination isn't that much of a surprise. The film did very well on the festival circuit, it appeals to the typical Oscar crowd and there's almost always at least one Weinstein title that gets a Best Picture nomination (it also helps that the film was very, very good). And if Blanchett wasn't getting all the buzz, Judi Dench would probably be the favorite for Best Actress.

On Pacific Rim's snub: it's not that surprising. The Academy was likely mecha'd-out after the Transformers movies.

Biggest surprise for me: Bale and Cooper's nominations. No one was talking about them until the Academy gave them nominations.

My predicitions:

Best Picture: 12 Years a Slave
Best Actor: Matthew McConaughey
Best Supporting Actor: Jared Leto
Best Actress: Cate Blanchett
Best Supporting Actress: Lupita Nyong'o
Best Animated Feature: The Wind Rises
Best Cinematography: Gravity
Best Costume Design: The Great Gatsby
Best Director: Steve McQueen
Best Documentary: The Act of Killing
Best Documentary Short: The Lady in Number 6
Best Film Editing: Gravity
Best Foreign Language Film: The Great Beauty
Best Makeup: Dallas Buyers Club
Best Original Score: Gravity
Best Original Song: Let It Go (Frozen)
Best Production Design: The Great Gatsby
Best Animated Short Film: Room on the Broom
Best Live-Action Short Film: Helium
Best Sound Editing: Gravity
Best Sound Mixing: Gravity
Best Visual Effects: Gravity
Best Adapted Screenplay: 12 Years a Slave
Best Original Screenplay: American Hustle

If I had a ballot:

Best Picture: Dallas Buyers Club
Best Actor: Matthew McConaughey
Best Supporting Actor: Jared Leto
Best Actress: Judi Dench
Best Supporting Actress: June Squibb
Best Animated Feature: abstain (Monsters University wasn't nominated)
Best Cinematography: Nebraska
Best Costume Design: The Grandmaster
Best Director: abstain (need to see all the nominees)
Best Documentary: abstain (Blackfish wasn't nominated)
Best Documentary Short: abstain (I haven't seen any of them)
Best Film Editing: Captain Phillips
Best Foreign Language Film: The Great Beauty
Best Makeup: The Lone Ranger
Best Original Score: Philomena
Best Original Song: abstain (Amen from All is Lost wasn't nominated)
Best Production Design: The Great Gatsby
Best Animated Short Film: abstain (The Blue Umbrella wasn't nominated)
Best Live-Action Short Film: abstain
Best Sound Editing: All is Lost
Best Sound Mixing: Captain Phillips
Best Visual Effects: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Best Adapted Screenplay: Philomena
Best Original Screenplay: Nebraska

[Buscemi]

In other news, 12 Years a Slave won the Broadcast Film Critics Award for Best Film. Based on the fact that the BFCA and the Academy have agreed so often on Best Picture winners (disagreeing only three times since 1999*), that should be the favorite to win.


* - 2004 (Sideways over Million Dollar Baby), 2005 (Brokeback Mountain over Crash) and 2010 (The Social Network over The King's Speech).

[silversurfer19]

Biggest surprise for me: Bale and Cooper's nominations. No one was talking about them until the Academy gave them nominations.

Really? Other than when they received nominations from BAFTA, BFCA and The Globes? American Hustle and it's entire cast have been getting huge buzz prior to an especially since its release, and it was no surprise to anyone but you that they received nominations.

Anyway, my predicitions:

Best Picture: 12 Years a Slave
Best Actor: Matthew McConaughey
Best Supporting Actor: Jared Leto
Best Actress: Cate Blanchett
Best Supporting Actress: Lupita Nyong'o
Best Animated Feature: Frozen
Best Cinematography: Gravity
Best Costume Design: American Hustle
Best Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Best Documentary: The Act of Killing
Best Documentary Short: N/A
Best Film Editing: American Hustle
Best Foreign Language Film: The Great Beauty
Best Makeup: Dallas Buyers Club
Best Original Score: Gravity
Best Original Song: Let It Go (Frozen)
Best Production Design: The Great Gatsby
Best Animated Short Film: N/A
Best Live-Action Short Film: N/A
Best Sound Editing: Gravity
Best Sound Mixing: Gravity
Best Visual Effects: Gravity
Best Adapted Screenplay: 12 Years a Slave
Best Original Screenplay: American Hustle

[Buscemi]

The Globes have ten Best Actor nominations and on the comedy side, DiCaprio (who won that category) and Dern were really the only comedic nominees expected to get Best Actor nominations (also, a lot of people thought Redford or Hanks would get nominated over Bale). On the supporting actor side, Bruhl, Gandolfini and Hanks (again) seemed to have more buzz. The only actor in that film that anyone was talking about was Lawrence while Adams' buzz didn't begin until the Golden Globe win. Though Bale and Cooper were nominated in a few other awards shows, they were never serious contenders and seemed to only get nominated because their movie was popular and not on the strength of their performances.

[Chienfantome]

no place for Blue Is The Warmest Colour was also surprising (though this has been long know thanks to France's selection committee)

Actually this has nothing to do with France's selection comittee, but with the rules of the Oscars, which stipulate that to be considered by a national comittee, a film must have been released at the end of september at the latest, preceding the Oscars, and that films released in the country of origin in October, November or December, even if they were also released during the year in the US, can never be contenders. Blue is the warmest color was released in France last October, so the France's selection comittee was not allowed to select it, despite the fact it was released in the US in October, that it won the Palme d'Or...

[JohnErle]

Actually this has nothing to do with France's selection comittee, but with the rules of the Oscars, which stipulate that to be considered by a national comittee, a film must have been released at the end of september at the latest, preceding the Oscars, and that films released in the country of origin in October, November or December, even if they were also released during the year in the US, can never be contenders. Blue is the warmest color was released in France last October, so the France's selection comittee was not allowed to select it, despite the fact it was released in the US in October, that it won the Palme d'Or...

It's a shame it got passed over because of a technicality. Do French distruibutors ever do the equivalent of an Oscar run in late September to make sure their films are eligible to be considered for the Best Foreign Language Film? It seems like they could have found a screen somewhere in Paris to make sure it qualified. It never really had a chance in the main categories because of the lack of an Oscar campaign from IFC. The more I think about it, Adèle Exarchopoulos being overlooked for Best Actress is a huge oversight on par with completely ignoring Inside Llewyn Davis in the major categories.

[Buscemi]

Either way, it would have been snubbed (due to a variety of factors I've already explained).

[Chienfantome]

Do French distruibutors ever do the equivalent of an Oscar run in late September to make sure their films are eligible to be considered for the Best Foreign Language Film? It seems like they could have found a screen somewhere in Paris to make sure it qualified.

Not really. It happened once I remember, for the film "Joyeux Noël" (Merry Christmas), when the director and distrib really wanted to represent France at the Oscars so gave the film an early release in the East of France so the film could qualify and be selected, but it was probably one of the only times it ocurred. It really all depends on the willing of the producer and director, and Kechiche clearly isn't one that craved to represent France at the Oscars, having already won the Palme d'Or, and probably guessing that his film wasn't your typical Oscar favourite.
Generally speaking French films are never really positioned on the calendar with that famous qualifying date in mind. Distribs prefer to position the film around october of early November because it's a good date box-office wise in France with holidays during which people go a lot to theater.

And even outside of the Oscar thing, unfortunately, French distribs aren't used to the platform pattern like it's done in the US for smaller films. It happens, but rarely. At least never going from very small to big. When a film encounters success they often expand it, but they never plan releases on 2, 5 or 10 screens knowing that they will expand them a couple of weeks later to 250 or 500 screens.
"Sugar Man" last year was released on 2 screens in Paris, and encountered so much success that it slowly expanded, like a platform release in the US, but it happens very rarely.
French cinema is in the middle of a crisis, with lots of debates concerning the fundings, the producing, the actors' checks, the distribution and all. In 2013 the maket share of French films was low, only 33%, and it brings lots of questions.

[silversurfer19]

Perhaps I don't understand, but does that mean Blue Is The Warmest Color will qualify for next years Academy Awards? If the cut off is September 30th, and Blue was released October 9th in France, then surely it goes into next years selection process from October 1st 2013 - September 30th 2014 deadline?

[Chienfantome]

It could indeed Surfer. That's what happened last year, when France selected Intouchables for the 2013 Oscars, while the film had been released in France in November 2011. It doesn't mean that Blue is the warmest color will be the film selected, but it will be eligible next year, yes.

[Buscemi]

But even then, I don't think it would be eligible. I believe that after Limelight won an Oscar in 1972 (in which Columbia managed to make it eligible on a technicality*), the Academy made a rule requiring that a new film had to open or have screenings towards a paying audience in Los Angeles during the calendar year.



* - When it was first released in 1952, Limelight only played in New York and flopped. As a result, plans to open it in Los Angeles were shelved until all of the Chaplin films were reissued during the early 1970's. At the time, a film could not be eligible for Oscar consideration until it opened in Los Angeles.

[Chienfantome]

I think indeed the only reason why it wouldn't be eligible next year is that it has opened in the US in 2013. Besides the momentum will have clearly fade away around the film. Intouchables was released in the US much later compared to the French release, a whole 7 months, while Blue is the Warmest Color was released almost simultaneously in France and in the US, which is a rare thing for a French film.

[Buscemi]

To lighten the mood, this is how I imagine an Oscar party.