85th Annual Academy Awards

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) announced its 85th annual Academy Awards on February 24th, 2013 with giving away the Best Picture award to ARGO, directed by Ben Affleck and produced by Affleck, George Clooney and Grant Heslov whereas the Best Director award went to Ang Lee for LIFE OF PI. Doesn't win anything anywhere else. Wins one of the most important awards at the Oscars. This is Ang Lee. THIS IS EPIC!

Here I must say that this was definitely one of the best ceremonies in recent years and it was a delight to watch it live and enjoy all those thrilling and surprising moments. There weren't any shocking wins BUT there was a huge surprise, that being Lee's win for Life of Pi. I have been wishing for this since the day I watched this film and it happened eventually. It should have won the Best Picture, too, not because Argo wasn't deserving but only because Life of Pi is one of the most magical films ever made, it is an achievement in modern cinema and the film of a lifetime.

Daniel Day-Lewis won his third Best Actor award (he previously won for My Left Foot in 1989 and There Will Be Blood in 2007) thus making him the only male actor who has won 3 awards.

I wanted FRANKENWEENIE to win the Best Animated Feature but all the major awards went to BRAVE, which is as stupid as it gets because it also won a Golden Globe and a BAFTA. I still think that Frankenweenie was the Best Animated Film of 2012.

Majority of the wins were pretty predictable and all of them are reasonable. A  lot of people may not agree with this but it's alright, everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

Here is the complete list of winners along with the nominations:

Best Picture:

• Lincoln


• Silver Linings Playbook


• WINNER: Argo


• Amour


• Django Unchained


• Beasts of the Southern Wild


• Life of Pi


• Zero Dark Thirty


• Les Misérables

Best Director:

• David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook)


• WINNER: Ang Lee (Life of Pi)


• Steven Spielberg (Lincoln)


• Michael Haneke (Amour)


• Behn Zeitlin (Beasts of the Southern Wild)

Best Actor:

• Bradley Cooper (Silver Linings Playbook)


• WINNER: Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln)


• Hugh Jackman (Les Misérables)


• Joaquin Phoenix (The Master)


• Denzel Washington (Flight)

Best Actress:

• Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty)


• WINNER: Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook)


• Emmanuelle Riva (Amour)


• Quvenzhané Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild)


• Naomi Watts (The Impossible)

Best Supporting Actor:

• Alan Arkin (Argo)


• Robert De Niro (Silver Linings Playbook)


• Tommy Lee Jones (Lincoln)


• WINNER: Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained)


• Philip Seymour Hoffman (The Master)

Best Supporting Actress:

• Amy Adams (The Master)


• Sally Field (Lincoln)


• WINNER: Anne Hathaway (Les Misérables)


• Helen Hunt (The Sessions)


• Jacki Weaver (Silver Linings Playbook)

Best Writing - Original Screenplay:

• John Gatins (Flight)


• Mark Boal (Zero Dark Thirty)


• WINNER: Quentin Tarantino (Django Unchained)


• Michael Haneke (Amour)


• Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola (Moonrise Kingdom)

Best Writing - Adapted Screenplay:

• Lucy Alibar and Benh Zeitlin (Beasts of the Southern Wild)


• WINNER: Chris Terrio (Argo)


• Tony Kushner (Lincoln)


• David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook)


• David Magee (Life of Pi)

Best Animated Feature:

• Frankenweenie


• The Pirates! Band of Misfits


• Wreck-It Ralph


• ParaNorman


• WINNER: Brave

Best Foreign Language Film:

• WINNER: Amour


• Kon-Tiki


• A Royal Affair


• War Witch


• No

Best Documentary - Feature:

• 5 Broken Cameras


• The Gatekeepers


• How to Survive a Plague


• The Invisible War


• WINNER: Searching For Sugar Man

Best Documentary - Short Subject:

• WINNER: Inocente


• Kings Point


• Mondays at Racine


• Open Heart


• Redemption

Best Live Action Short Film:

• Asad


• Buzkashi Boys


• WINNER: Curfew


• Death of a Shadow


• Henry

Best Animated Short Film:

• Adam and Dog


• Fresh Guacamole


• Head over Heels


• Maggic Simpson in ‘The Longest Daycare’


• WINNER: Paperman

Best Original Score:

• Dario Marianelli (Anna Karenina)


• Alexandre Desplat (Argo)


• WINNER: Mychael Danna (Life of Pi)


• John Williams (Lincoln)


• Thomas Newman (Skyfall)

Best Original Song:

• “Before My Time” from Chasing Ice


• “Pi’s Lullaby” from Life of Pi


• “Suddenly” from Les Misérables


• “Everybody Needs a Best Friend” from Ted


• WINNER: “Skyfall” from Skyfall

Best Sound Editing (TIE):

• Argo


• Django Unchained


• Life of Pi


• WINNER: Skyfall


• WINNER: Zero Dark Thirty

Best Sound Mixing:

• Argo


• WINNER: Les Misérables


• Life of Pi


• Lincoln


• Skyfall

Best Production Design:

• Anna Karenina


• The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey


• Les Misérables


• Life of Pi


• WINNER: Lincoln

Best Cinematography:

• Seamus McGarvey (Anna Karenina)


• Robert Richardson (Django Unchained)


• WINNER: Claudio Miranda (Life of Pi)


• Janusz Kaminski (Lincoln)


• Roger Deakins (Skyfall)

Best Makeup and Hairstyling:

• Hitchcock


• The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey


• WINNER: Les Misérables

Best Costume Design:

• WINNER: Anna Karenina


• Les Misérables


• Lincoln


• Mirror Mirror


• Snow White and the Huntsman

Best Film Editing:

• WINNER: William Goldenberg (Argo)


• Tim Squyres (Life of Pi)


• Michael Kahn (Lincoln)


• Jay Cassidy and Crispin Struthers (Silver Linings Playbook)


• Dylen Tichenor and William Goldenberg (Zero Dark Thirty)

Best Visual Effects:

• The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey


• WINNER: Life of Pi


• The Avengers


• Prometheus


• Snow White and the Huntsman

4th Annual Indiana Film Journalists Association Awards

The Indiana Film Journalists Association (IFJA) announced their awards on December 17th, 2012 with giving away the Best Film award to SAFETY NOT GUARANTEED, directed by Colin Trevorrow. This is a surprising news, as it is a first critic win for this film. I WAS NOT EXPECTING IT AT ALL!

Here is the complete list of winners:

Best Film:

• Winner: SAFETY NOT GUARANTEED


• Runner-up: BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD

Best Director:

• Winner: Quentin Tarantino (DJANGO UNCHAINED)


• Runner-up: Kathryn Bigelow (ZERO DARK THIRTY)

Best Actor:

• Winner (tie): Bradley Cooper (SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK); Daniel Day-Lewis (LINCOLN)

Best Actress:

• Winner: Jessica Chastain (ZERO DARK THIRTY)


• Runner-up: Jennifer Lawrence (SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK)

Best Supporting Actor:

• Winner: Tommy Lee Jones (LINCOLN)


• Runner-up: Christoph Waltz (DJANGO UNCHAINED)

Best Supporting Actress:

• Winner: Anne Hathaway (LES MISÉRABLES)


• Runner-up: Helen Hunt (THE SESSIONS)

Best Adapted Screenplay:

• Winner: Stephen Chbosky (THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER)


• Runner-up: David O. Russell (SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK)

Best Original Screenplay:

• Winner: Derek Connolly (SAFETY NOT GUARANTEED)


• Runner-up: Quentin Tarantino (DJANGO UNCHAINED)

Best Musical Score:

• Winner: Thomas Newman (SKYFALL)


• Runner-up: Mychael Danna (LIFE OF PI)

Best Animated Feature:

• Winner: RISE OF THE GUARDIANS


• Runner-up: PARANORMAN

Best Foreign Language Film:

• Winner: THE RAID: REDEMPTION


• Runner-up: AMOUR

Best Documentary:

• Winner: SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN


• Runner-up: ROOM 237

Original Vision Award: 

• Winner: BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD


• Runner-up: DJANGO UNCHAINED

The Hoosier Award: Jon Vickers (FOUNDING DIRECTOR OF INDIANA UNIVERSITY CINEMA)

84th Annual National Board of Review Awards

84th National Board of Review (NBR) Awards took place yesterday, December 5th, 2012 with giving away the BEST FILM prize to Kathryn Bigelow’s ZERO DARK THIRTY, obviously. My predictions were that either Ben Affleck’s ARGO, Tom Hooper’s LES MISÉRABLES or Steven Spielberg’s LINCOLN would win the BEST FILM award but NBR gave it away to Zero Dark Thirty. I’m still not disappointed by their decision because I’m pretty sure Kathryn Bigelow has done a wonderful job just like she did with THE HURT LOCKER.

Here is the complete list of winners:

Best Film:  ZERO DARK THIRTY

Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow (ZERO DARK THIRTY)

Best Actor: Bradley Cooper (SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK)

Now, this is a bit surprising. I wasn’t hoping to see that Cooper would win this award with so many strong contenders with their strong and powerful performances. But I’m quite happy that Cooper won the award, he is a talent actor and can perform really well, either it is comedy or drama.

Best Actress: Jessica Chastain (ZERO DARK THIRTY)

Best Supporting Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio (DJANGO UNCHAINED)

If it means something then it means that DiCaprio is getting a nomination in the 85th Academy Awards, for sure. And maybe, he’d win it as well.

Best Supporting Actress: Ann Dowd (COMPLIANCE)

Best Original Screenplay: Rian Johnson (LOOPER)

I cannot explain how happy I am to see Looper winning an award for Original Screenplay. Would it be too much if I hope to see Looper in Academy Awards and Golden Globes nomination for the Original Screenplay? I don’t think so.

Best Adapted Screenplay: David O. Russell (SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK)

Best Animated Feature: WRECK-IT RALPH

Special Achievement in Filmmaking: Ben Affleck (ARGO)

My wish has come true, I wanted Affleck to win a Special Achievement award in NBR and he finally won!

Breakthrough Actor: Tom Holland (THE IMPOSSIBLE)

Breakthrough Actress: Quvenzhané Wallis (BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD)

Best Directorial Debut: Benh Zeitlin (BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD)

Mr. Zeitlin deserves all the appreciation for directing such a beautiful film.

Best Foreign Language Film: AMOUR

Best Documentary: SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN

William K. Everson Film History Award: 50 YEARS OF BOND FILMS

Best Ensemble: LES MISÉRABLES (very obvious)

Spotlight Award: John Goodman (ARGO, FLIGHT, PARANORMAN, TROUBLE WITH THE CURVE)

NBR Freedom of Expression Award: THE CENTRAL PARK FIVE

NBR Freedom of Expression Award: PROMISED LAND

These two Freedom of Expression awards are given to the deserving films. Promised Land discusses the topic of fracking while The Central Park Five is an outstanding documentary about a girl who was raped by five black and Latino teenagers in 1989.

Following are the lists of TOP films selected by the National Board of Review:

Top Films (In Alphabetical Order):
ARGO
BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD
DJANGO UNCHAINED
LES MISÉRABLES
LINCOLN
LOOPER
THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER
PROMISED LAND
SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK

(TOTALLY SATISFIED WITH THEIR TOP FILMS SELECTION FOR 2012)

Top 5 Foreign Language Films (In Alphabetical Order):
BARBARA
THE INTOUCHABLES
THE KID WITH A BIKE
NO
WAR WITCH

Top 5 Documentaries (In Alphabetical Order):
AI WEIWEI: NEVER SORRY
DETROPIA
THE GATEKEEPERS
THE INVISIBLE WAR
ONLY THE YOUNG

Top 10 Independent Films (In Alphabetical Order):
ARBITRAGE
BERNIE
COMPLIANCE
END OF WATCH
HELLO I MUST BE GOING
LITTLE BIRDS
MOONRISE KINGDOM
ON THE ROAD
QUARTET
SLEEPWALK WITH ME

(REALLY HAPPY TO SEE ARBITRAGE, END OF WATCH, BERNIE AND MOONRISE KINGDOM IN TOP 10 INDEPENDENT FILMS)

As it is now clear that Zero Dark Thirty is the strongest contender this year, followed by Lincoln and maybe Les Misérables. Another interesting point is that LIFE OF PI haven’t won anything yet, either they are saving the film for the BIG win or they’re just not impressed with the work of Ang Lee. Well, let’s see what happens in upcoming awards.