66th Annual British Academy Film Awards

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) announced their awards on February 10th, 2013 with giving away the Best Film award to none other than ARGO, directed and co-produced by Ben Affleck who also won the Best Director award. THIS IS SO AWESOME. So happy for him.

There were two surprises today.

• The first and the biggest surprise was David O. Russell's win in the Best Adapted Screenplay for Silver Linings Playbook, no one saw it coming and it's actually an achievement for him because Playbook has such a beautiful screenplay.


• The second surprise was Emmanuelle Riva's win in the Best Leading Actress category. Apparently, Jennifer Lawrence and Jessica Chastain are the most favorites and strong contenders but Riva's win surprised everyone including me and I'm glad that she won the award, she deserves it.

Rest of the wins were predictable and most of my predictions proved to be right. Here is the complete list of winners along with the nominations:

BEST FILM:

• WINNER: ARGO (Grant Heslov, Ben Affleck, George Clooney)


• LES MISÉRABLES (Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Debra Hayward, Cameron Mackintosh)


• LIFE OF PI (Gil Netter, Ang Lee, David Womark)


• LINCOLN (Steven Spielberg, Kathleen Kennedy)


• ZERO DARK THIRTY (Mark Boal, Kathryn Bigelow, Megan Ellison)

BEST DIRECTOR:

• MICHAEL HANEKE (Amour)


• WINNER: BEN AFFLECK (Argo)


• QUENTIN TARANTINO (Django Unchained)


• ANG LEE (Life of Pi)


• KATHRYN BIGELOW (Zero Dark Thirty)

BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE:

• BEN AFFLECK (Argo)


• BRADLEY COOPER (Silver Linings Playbook)


• WINNER: DANIEL DAY-LEWIS (Lincoln)


• HUGH JACKMAN (Les Misérables)


• JOAQUIN PHOENIX (The Master)

BES ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE:

• WINNER: EMMANUELLE RIVA (Amour)


• HELEN MIRREN (Hitchcock)


• JENNIFER LAWRENCE (Silver Linings Playbook)


• JESSICA CHASTAIN (Zero Dark Thirty)


• MARION COTILLARD (Rust and Bone)

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:

• ALAN ARKIN (Argo)


• WINNER: CHRISTOPH WALTZ (Django Unchained)


• JAVIER BARDEM (Skyfall)


• PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN (The Master)


• TOMMY LEE JONES (Lincoln)

BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:

• AMY ADAMS (The Master)


• WINNER: ANNE HATHAWAY (Les Misérables)


• HELEN HUNT (The Sessions)


• JUDI DENCH (Skyfall)


• SALLY FIELD (Lincoln)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:

• WINNER: QUENTIN TARANTINO (Django Unchained)


• MICHAEL HANEKE (Amour)


• PAUL THOMAS ANDERSON (The Master)


• WES ANDERSON, ROMAN COPPOLA (Moonrise Kingdom)


• MARK BOAL (Zero Dark Thirty)

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:

• CHRIS TERRIO (Argo)


• LUCY ALIBAR, BENH ZEITLIN (Beasts of the Southern Wild)


• DAVID MAGEE (Life of Pi)


• TONY KUSHNER (Lincoln)


• WINNER: DAVID O. RUSSELL (Silver Linings Playbook)

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM:

• ANNA KARENINA (Joe Wright, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Paul Webster, Tom Stoppard)


• THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL (John Madden, Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin, Ol Parker)


• LES MISÉRABLES (Tom Hooper, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Debra Hayward, Cameron Mackintosh, William Nicholson, Alain Boublil, Claude-Michel Schönberg, Herbert Kretzmer)


• SEVEN PSYCHOPATHS (Martin McDonagh, Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin)


• WINNER: SKYFALL (Sam Mendes, Michael G. Wilson, Barbara Broccoli, Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, John Logan)

OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER:

• WINNER: BART LAYTON (Director), DIMITRI DOGANIS (Producer) — THE IMPOSTER


• DAVID MORRIS (Director), JACQUI MORRIS (Director/Producer) — McCULLIN


• DEXTER FLETCHER (Director/Writer), DANNY KING (Writer) — WILD BILL


• JAMES BOBIN (Director) — THE MUPPETS


• TINA GHARAVI (Director/Writer) — I AM NASRINE

BEST FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE:

• WINNER: AMOUR (Michael Haneke, Margaret Ménégoz)


• HEADHUNTERS (Morten Tyldum, Marianne Gray, Asle Vatn)


• THE HUNT (Thomas Vinterberg, Sisse Graum Jørgensen, Morten Kaufmann)


• RUST AND BONE (Jacques Audiard, Pascal Caucheteux)


• UNTOUCHABLE (Eric Toledano, Olivier Nakache, Nicolas Duval Adassovsky, Yann Zenou, Laurent Zeitoun)

BEST DOCUMENTARY:

• THE IMPOSTER (Bart Layton, Dimitri Doganis)


• MARLEY (Kevin Macdonald, Steve Bing, Charles Steel)


• McCULLIN (David Morris, Jacqui Morris)


• WINNER: SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN (Malik Bendjelloul, Simon Chinn)


• WEST OF MEMPHIS (Amy Berg)

BEST ANIMATED FILM:

• WINNER: BRAVE (Mark Andrews, Brenda Chapman)


• FRANKENWEENIE (Tim Burton)


• PARANORMAN (Sam Fell, Chris Butler)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:

• SEAMUS McGARVEY (Anna Karenina)


• DANNY COHEN (Les Misérables)


• WINNER: CLAUDIO MIRANDA (Life of Pi)


• JANUSZ KAMINSKI (Lincoln)


• ROGER DEAKINS (Skyfall)

BEST ORIGINAL MUSIC:

• DARIO MARIANELLI (Anna Karenina)


• ALEXANDRE DESPLAT (Argo)


• MYCHAEL DANNA (Life of Pi)


• JOHN WILLIAMS (Lincoln)


• WINNER: THOMAS NEWMAN (Skyfall)

BEST EDITING:

• WINNER: WILLIAM GOLDENBERG (Argo)


• FRED RASKIN (Django Unchained)


• TIM SQUYRES (Life of Pi)


• STUART BAIRD (Skyfall)


• DYLAN TICHENOR, WILLIAM GOLDENBERG (Zero Dark Thirty)

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN:

• SARAH GREENWOOD, KATIE SPENCER (Anna Karenina)


• WINNER: EVE STEWART, ANNA LYNCH-ROBINSON (Les Misérables)


• DAVID GROPMAN, ANNA PINNOCK (Life of Pi)


• RICK CARTER, JIM ERICKSON (Lincoln)


• DENNIS GASSNER, ANNA PINNOCK (Skyfall)

BEST COSTUME DESIGN:

• WINNER: JACQUELINE DURRAN (Anna Karenina)


• BEATRIX ARUNA PASZTOR (Great Expectations)


• PACA DELGADO (Les Misérables)


• JOANNA JOHNSTON (Lincoln)


• COLLEEN ATWOOD (Snow White and the Huntsman)

BEST MAKE UP & HAIR:

• IVANA PRIMORAC (Anna Karenina)


• JULIE HEWETT, MARTIN SAMUEL, HOWARD BERGER (Hitchcock)


• PETER SWORDS KING, RICHARD TAYLOR, RICK FINDLATER (The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey)


• WINNER: LISA WESTCOTT (Les Misérables)


• LOIS BURWELL, KAY GEORGIOU (Lincoln)

BEST SOUND:

• MARK ULANO, MICHAEL MINKLER, TONY LAMBERTI, WYLIE STATEMAN (Django Unchained)


• TONY JOHNSON, CHRISTOPHER BOYES, MICHAEL HEDGES, MICHAEL SEMANICK, BRENT BURGE, CHRIS WARD (The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey)


• WINNER: SIMON HAYES, ANDY NELSON, MARK PATERSON, JONATHAN ALLEN, LEE WALPOLE, JOHN WARHURST (Les Misérables)


• DREW KUNIN, EUGENE GEARTY, PHILIP STOCKTON, RON BARTLETT, D. M. HEMPHILL (Life of Pi)


• STUART WILSON, SCOTT MILLAN, GREG P. RUSSELL, PER HALLBERG, KAREN BAKER LANDERS (Skyfall)

BEST SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS:

• PAUL FRANKLIN, CHRIS CORBOULD, PETER BEBB, ANDREW LOCKLEY (The Dark Knight Rises)


• JOE LETTERI, ERIC SAINDON, DAVID CLAYTON, R. CHRISTOPHER WHITE (The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey)


• WINNER: BILL WESTENHOFER, GUILLAUME ROCHERON, ERIK-JAN DE BOER (Life of Pi)


• Marvel’s Avengers Assemble


• RICHARD STAMMERS, CHARLEY HENLEY, TREVOR WOOD, PAUL BUTTERWORTH (Prometheus)

BEST SHORT ANIMATION:

• HERE TO FALL (Kris Kelly, Evelyn McGrath)


• I’M FINE THANKS (Eamonn O’Neill)


• WINNER: THE MAKING OF LONGBIRD (Will Anderson, Ainslie Henderson)

BEST SHORT FILM:

• THE CURSE (Fyzal Boulifa, Gavin Humphries)


• GOOD NIGHT (Muriel d’Ansembourg, Eva Sigurdardottir)


• WINNER: SWIMMER (Lynne Ramsay, Peter Carlton, Diarmid Scrimshaw)


• TUMULT (Johnny Barrington, Rhianna Andrews)


• THE VOORMAN PROBLEM (Mark Gill, Baldwin Li)

THE EE RISING STAR AWARD (voted for by the public):

• ELIZABETH OLSEN


• ANDREA RISEBOROUGH


• SURAJ SHARMA


• WINNER: JUNO TEMPLE


• ALICIA VIKANDER

OUTSTANDING BRITISH CONTRIBUTION TO CINEMA: TESSA ROSS

Film Review: Amour (2012)

My rating: ★★★★★

EXCEPTIONAL.

Everything has to come to an end but what does not end is your inevitable love; this is the lesson that I learned today. Winner of the Golden Palm at 2012 Cannes Film Festival, written and directed by Michael Haneke, Amour is a meticulous, demanding and a delicate psychological drama with a story and narrative beyond your imagination. The beginning is a mere proof that something is going to happen in the end, but how it would, and more importantly, WHY it would, reveals in the film through old memories, poetry and heart-warming conversations. A lot of people may not like this movie and think of it as garbage, which I know would happen but let me put it this way: Not everyone can understand the true meaning of this film. You have to understand what is going on, you have to think of the story from everyone’s perspective which requires your attention, demands your concentration because the real meaning is hidden in those delicate and usual conversations between the old couple, Georges and Anne whom are played by Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva respectively. Emmanuelle Riva’s performance is out of this world, and I’m quite disappointed in myself that I had never heard of her before. The way she has carried out her role throughout the film seems ridiculously natural and it makes you feel so bad to see her like that.

The film’s plot is based on an identical situation that happened in Haneke’s family and I think that fact makes this film so close to him and that’s why he was able to turn it into a wonderful piece of love as the title explains itself. This film has a slow-pace and it keeps going at the same pace until the end and is still able to offer so much which is both magical and thought-provoking. Why is it thought-provoking? Because it made me think that God forbid it happens to me, anyone I know (i.e. my family member or a friend) or even anyone I don’t know at all, it would be so hard for them to go through all of this. I felt terrible for the couple at times, as Eva (the couple’s daughter who is married and is also going through a rough phase so she doesn’t get much time to visit her parents) asks Georges about Anne’s worsening condition to which he replies that, “Things will go on as they have done up until now. They’ll go from bad to worse. Things will go on, and then one day it will all be over.” This line moved me especially what Georges did which requires more than courage to do to someone you love more than your own life. How hard it is to lose someone you have loved your whole life but one day, all of a sudden, it all ends and you have no idea what to do with your life anymore because you’re old, you’re tired of everything and you want nothing but your loved one for the rest of your life and that is the only thing you can’t get. How hard it could be to endure this, which I cannot even think of imagining because it is one of the hardest things to do, to be able learn to live without someone you have loved your entire life because you give up eventually and you are not able find any purpose to live any more.

Michael Haneke has done a wonderful job on this film, it really deserves to be appreciated by every film lover and even if you don’t watch films, you still need to watch this, because it has a strong message for everybody including me: A message of love, affection and commitment, which has been delivered properly. Amour has also taught me to love my parents even more, to be there for them at all times because they are an essential part of our lives, they sacrifice their own happiness for us because they want to see us happy but we don’t give them anything in return when the tables are turned which is dreadful. What could be better than this compliment that after watching this film I went downstairs and hugged my parents and told them how much I love them. I thank Michael Haneke for teaching me the true meaning of love. This is an extremely tough film to watch at some points, and it gave me chills on more than one occasions. Amour is easily one of the best and greatest films of the year 2012.