12th Annual New York Film Critics Online Awards

The New York Film Critics Online (NYFCO) announced their awards on December, 9th, 2012 with giving away the Best Picture award to obviously, ZERO DARK THIRTY, directed and co-produced by Kathryn Bigelow, who has also won the Best Director award.

This is Emmanuelle Riva’s second win today, the other one being in 33rd Boston Society of Film Critics Awards. In addition, this is Daniel Day-Lewis’ second win today as well. Another most important win is the Best Cinematography to Claudio Miranda for his great camera work in Life of Pi.

Best Animated Feature goes to Chico and Rita, instead of ParaNorman or Frankenweenie. Best Ensemble Cast goes to Argo which is quite unexpected with so many great ensembles in town.

Here is the complete list of winners:

Best Picture: ZERO DARK THIRTY

Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow (ZERO DARK THIRTY)

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

Best Actress: Emmanuelle Riva (AMOUR)

Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis (LINCOLN)

Best Ensemble Cast: ARGO

Best Supporting Actor: Tommy Lee Jones (LINCOLN)

Best Supporting Actress: Anne Hathaway (LES MISÉRABLES)

Best Cinematography: Claudio Miranda (LIFE OF PI)

Best Screenplay: Mark Boal (ZERO DARK THIRTY)

Best Use of Music: Mary Ramos (DJANGO UNCHAINED)

Breakthrough Performance: Quvenzhane Wallis (BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD)

Best Animated Feature: CHICO AND RITA

Best Documentary: THE CENTRAL PARK FIVE

Best Foreign Language Film: AMOUR

33rd Annual Boston Society of Film Critics Awards

The Boston Society of Film Critics (BSFC) announced their awards on December 9th, 2012 with giving away the Best Picture award to none other than ZERO DARK THIRTY, directed and co-produced by Kathryn Bigelow who has also won the Best Director award.

Best Animated Film goes to Frankenweenie, making it one of the strongest contenders which it deserves because it is an outstanding piece of animation. Best Cinematography goes to Mihai Malaimare, Jr. for The Master who is also a runner-up in 38th Los Angeles Film Critics Awards whereas the winner is Roger Deakins for Skyfall.

The most surprising win is Emmanuelle Riva for Best Actress, this is really great to see some competition building up in this season. Ezra Miller won the Best Supporting Actor award for his role as Patrick in The Perks of Being a Wallflower and quite frankly, this is such a great initiative as well as motivating for younger actors.

Best Ensemble Cast award goes to Seven Psychopaths which is quite shocking because I was thinking that it would go to Les Misérables.

Here is the complete list of winners:

Best Picture:

• Winner: ZERO DARK THIRTY


• 2nd place (tied): MOONRISE KINGDOM; AMOUR

Best Director:

• Winner: Kathryn Bigelow (ZERO DARK THIRTY)


• 2nd place: Paul Thomas Anderson (THE MASTER)

Best Actor:

• Winner: Daniel Day-Lewis (LINCOLN)


• 2nd place: Denis Lavant (HOLY MOTORS)

Best Actress:

• Winner: Emmanuelle Riva (AMOUR)


• 2nd place: Deanie Yip (A SIMPLE LIFE)

Best Supporting Actor:

• Winner: Ezra Miller (THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER)


• 2nd place: Christoph Waltz (DJANGO UNCHAINED)

Best Supporting Actress:

• Winner: Sally Field (LINCOLN)


• 2nd place: Emma Watson (THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER)

Best Screenplay:

• Winner: Tony Kushner (LINCOLN)


• 2nd place: Wes Anderson (MOONRISE KINGDOM)

Best Cinematography:

• Winner: Mihai Malaimare, Jr. (THE MASTER)


• 2nd place (tied): Robert Yeoman (MOONRISE KINGDOM); Claudio Miranda (LIFE OF PI)

Best Documentary:

• Winner: HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE


• 2nd place: QUEEN OF VERSAILLES

Best Foreign-Language Film: 

• Winner: AMOUR


• 2nd place: HOLY MOTORS

Best Animated Film:

• Winner: FRANKENWEENIE


• 2nd place: PARANORMAN

Best Film Editing (awarded in memory of Karen Schmeer):

• Winner: William Goldenberg and Dylan Tichenor (ZERO DARK THIRTY)


• 2nd place: William Goldenberg (ARGO)

Best New Filmmaker (awarded in memory of David Brudnoy): 

• Winner: David France (HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE)


• 2nd place: Benh Zeitlin (BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD)

Best Ensemble Cast:

• Winner: SEVEN PSYCHOPATHS


• 2nd place: MOONRISE KINGDOM

Best Use of Music in a Film:

• Winner: MOONRISE KINGDOM


• 2nd place: DJANGO UNCHAINED

LIFE OF PI still haven’t won anything, I don’t know why are the critics not appreciating this great movie yet. I hope for the best films to get the awards.

Film Review: Life of Pi (2012)

My rating: ★★★★★

ONE OF THE EPIC AND MOST WONDERFUL EXPERIENCES OF 2012.

A spell-binding, mind-blowing and a wonderful experience with the strong and compelling storytelling and slight innovation of 3D technology, based on the novel of the same name written by Yann Martel and directed by Ang Lee (best known for Sense and Sensibility, universally acclaimed Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon which won the Best Foreign Language film Oscar, Hulk, and Academy Award nominated Brokeback Mountain for which he won an Academy Award for Best Director), Life of Pi is easily one of the best films of this year. I am quite surprised by the fact that a supposedly “unfilmable” novel turned into an epic film and an astounding experience. Hats off to Ang Lee and his team, first of all. As we all know that this film is about a boy named Pi, who survives a disaster at sea where all of his family members get killed and he gets stuck on a life-boat with a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker and other animals consisting of a zebra, an orangutan and a hyena, and is set on a unusual adventure and learns so much along the way that his way of thinking changes.

Pi is a very unusual character, who spends all his childhood in finding a right belief and for that, he is introduced to several religions including Islam, Christianity and Judaism. Played by Suraj Sharma (young Pi) and Irrfan Khan (Adult Pi), both of them give strong performances especially Khan, who also narrates throughout the film. His character seems so believable and his younger self is also quite strong. The best things about this film are the direction, incorporation of 3D technology which is way more than brilliant and the way of storytelling. The screenplay is written by David Magee (he previously received an Academy Award nomination for his screenplay of Marc Foster’s Finding Neverland). It may have a simple storyline but it is still so strong and thought-provoking and teaches you a lot about finding your true self and believing in yourself. When you finish watching the film, it all depends upon you that what do you really want to believe. What is your opinion about Pi’s story. What were you beliefs before watching the movie and what are your beliefs now. I believe in God with all my heart and soul, and I know what I want to believe and my faith is strong. It may not touch you spiritually but it really makes you want to believe in inspiring film-making and the real power of cinema and storytelling.

Ang Lee’s vision is so powerful, I have no idea why he picked this novel but I am really glad that he did and he made it so beautiful that every frame of the movie seems worth appreciating and with that, Yann Martel’s imagination, which is really strong and quite fascinating how it is penned into the novel. A few of the scenes in the film are shot so beautifully that you want to feel everything that’s happening in the movie, you feel like touching the water, you want to get on that boat with Pi and continue the epic adventure. It all would have not been possible without the brilliant cinematography by Claudio Miranda (known for his work in Zodiac, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button for which he got an Academy Award nomination and Tron: Legacy) and the beautiful visual effects done by Rhythm and Hues Studios (who have previously won 2 Academy Awards and 1 BAFTA award and their most recent work also includes Snow White and the Huntsman, The Hunger Games and Big Miracle).

Honestly, I’m not a fan of 3D technology but I can proudly say that this is the first film that made me actually believe in the entire 3D experience and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It has actually set a bar for upcoming 3D films. Sadly, I wasn’t able to watch James Cameron’s Avatar in 3D and I’m still upset about that but Life of Pi has impressed me enough that I can stop being sad about not watching Avatar in 3D and quite frankly, the whole 3D technology has finally got a new fan.

Clever cinematography, beautiful background score, freaking brilliant visual effects and 3D experience, compelling, inspiring and spiritual storyline and screenplay, great performances, and outstanding direction. These are all the factors that make this film so wonderful that it turns into an epic experience.

I easily tag Life of Pi as one of the epic and most wonderful experiences of 2012.

1st Annual Boston Online Film Critics Association Awards

The Boston Online Film Critics Association (BOFCA) announced their awards today, on December 8th, 2012, with giving away the Best Picture award to rather obvious Kathryn Bigelow’s direction and co-production, ZERO DARK THIRTY.

Interesting thing to notice here is that the Best Foreign Language Film award went to Norwegian drama film Oslo, August 31st instead of French drama film and winner of 84th National Board of Review Awards and 78th New York Film Critics Circle Awards, Amour. Amour has found itself in competition with other movies now. Another interesting thing and quite great one is that Roger Deakins won the award for Best Cinematography for his amazing camera work in 23rd James Bond film Skyfall. Deakins really deserves a nomination as well as a real win in the Academy Awards. Jonny Greenwood won the award for Best Original Score for the film The Master. Let’s see how far he goes in this season.

Here is the complete list of winners:

BEST PICTURE: ZERO DARK THIRTY

BEST DIRECTOR: Kathryn Bigelow (ZERO DARK THIRTY)

BEST ACTOR: Daniel Day-Lewis (LINCOLN)

BEST ACTRESS: Jessica Chastain (ZERO DARK THIRTY)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Tommy Lee Jones (LINCOLN)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Anne Hathaway (LES MISÉRABLES)

BEST SCREENPLAY: Tony Kushner (LINCOLN)

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: OSLO, AUGUST 31ST

BEST DOCUMENTARY: HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE

BEST ANIMATED FILM: PARANORMAN

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: Roger Deakins (SKYFALL)

BEST EDITING: William Goldenberg & Dylan Tichenor (ZERO DARK THIRTY)

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE: Jonny Greenwood (THE MASTER)

BEST ENSEMBLE CAST: MOONRISE KINGDOM

THE TEN BEST FILMS OF THE YEAR:

1. ZERO DARK THIRTY


2. BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD


3. LINCOLN


4. MOONRISE KINGDOM


5. DJANGO UNCHAINED


6. OSLO, AUGUST 31ST


7. HOLY MOTORS


8. THE MASTER


9. ARGO


10. CLOUD ATLAS

CLOUD ATLAS was announced as the TOP WORST MOVIE of 2012 by TIME Magazine, considering that it is a pretty bold move by BOFCA to include it in their top 10 films of the year.

LIFE OF PI still haven’t won anything but as we know that the best is yet to come, so let’s hope for the best!

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.

78th Annual New York Film Critics Circle Awards

78th New York Film Critics Circle (NYFCC) took a good start on December 3rd, 2012 with giving away the BEST FILM award to much anticipated film, co-produced and directed by Kathryn Bigelow, ZERO DARK THIRTY. It was a little obvious to me that Zero Dark Thirty would win the Best Film title because of the topic of the film and for the reason that Kathryn Bigelow’s THE HURT LOCKER also won the Best Film award in NYFCC in 2009. Bigelow won almost everything that year, she is going to repeat the history this year as well.

Here is the complete list of 78th New York Film Critics Circle (NYFCC) Awards winners:

Best Film: ZERO DARK THIRTY

Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow (ZERO DARK THIRTY)

Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis (LINCOLN)

Best Actress: Rachel Weisz (THE DEEP BLUE SEA)

Best Supporting Actor: Matthew McConaughey (BERNIE, MAGIC MIKE)

Best Supporting Actress: Sally Field (LINCOLN)

Best Animated Feature: FRANKENWEENIE

Best First Film: HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE

Best Non-Fiction Film (Documentary): THE CENTRAL PARK FIVE

Best Foreign Language Film: AMOUR (This film is going to do really well in awards season)

Best Cinematography: Greig Fraser (ZERO DARK THIRTY)

Best Screenplay: Tony Kushner (LINCOLN)

Special Award: Milestone Films

Film Review: Premium Rush (2012)

My rating: ★★★★

RIDE LIKE HELL.

Seems like majority of people didn’t like this movie that much. Written and directed by David Koepp, Premium Rush is a fast-paced and a thrilling movie which incorporates the busy streets of New York City as the bicycle messengers ride around all day to make the deliveries on time. What’s good about this movie is that it is made out of a simple concept and a typical storyline but it still feels so different and a bit fresh. I don’t remember watching a bicycle movie and liking it as much as I like Premium Rush. Maybe because the techniques employed in this movie are way better and they work the exactly way they should be working.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Wilee, a bicycle messenger) seems to shine in his role and is supported by other cast members such as Michael Shannon (Bobby Monday, a corrupt cop), Dania Ramirez (Vanessa, Wilee’s ex-girlfriend), Wolé Parks (Manny, Wilee’s rival). Michael Shannon’s character, Bobby Monday is a corrupt and a negative person but his performance is funny, keeps making you laugh because he keeps getting pissed at everything around him and he acts hilariously. This film may not offer much depth into the characterization but you got to look even deeper to get to the bottom like Wilee doesn’t want to do the office jobs wearing suits and sitting in one place but instead he rides around all day and feel free and independent.

Crazy cinematography, more than a dozen stuntmen, efficient CGIs and the slight humor make a huge contribution towards this film. I must say that Koepp is a intelligent guy, he knows how to make a good movie out of a typical plot and a simple concept that revolves around the movie just like the movie begins with an accident and the narration explains everything gradually and it becomes clear that the main plot is more like a mission to make things happen. The execution and direction are superb, which can be justified by the fact that I didn’t get bored, not even for a bit, mainly because of the fast pace and the thrilling bicycle action whcih works perfectly with much imagination, complications and energy. This movie totally worked for me just like I was hoping for.