86th Academy Awards Recap: Complete List of Winners

On a night that brought us some Ellen DeGeneres hosting gold, a hilarious mid-ceremony pizza delivery (which involved Brad Pitt and Kevin Spacey assisting by handing out plates to hungry nominees), one of the great 'selfies' - which actually broke Twitter for a good while and became one of the most re-tweeted images ever - and a most bizarre name mispronunciation (Travolta, what the hell?), it certainly was an entertaining ceremony.

There were few surprises, but even with Gravity winning seven Oscars, 12 Years A Slave took out Best Picture. Other highlights include Jared Leto, Lupita Nyong'o and Cate Blanchett's speeches, Chivo winning Cinematography (finally!) and Pharell bringing 'Happy' to the star-studded crowd.

Here is the full list of winners at the 86th Academy Awards:

Best Picture: 12 Years a Slave
Best Actor: Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club
Best Actress: Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
Best Director: Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity
Best Original Screenplay: Spike Jonze, Her
Best Adapted Screenplay: John Ridley, 12 Years a Slave
Best Original Song: “Let It Go,” Frozen
Best Original Score: Gravity
Best Production Design: The Great Gatsby
Best Editing: Gravity
Best Cinematography: Gravity
Best Supporting Actress: Lupita Nyong’o, 12 Years a Slave
Best Sound Editing: Gravity
Best Sound Mixing: Gravity
Best Foreign Language Film: The Great Beauty
Best Documentary Feature: 20 Feet from Stardom
Best Documentary Short: “The Lady In Number 6: Music Saved My Life”
Best Live Action Short Film: “Helium”
Best Visual Effects: Gravity
Best Animated Feature Film: Frozen
Best Animated Short Film: Mr Hublot
Best Makeup and Hairstyling: Dallas Buyers Club
Best Costume Design: The Great Gatsby
Best Supporting Actor: Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club

Oscar Hopefuls That Likely Won't Happen, But Would Be Awesome

It is Oscar Day! While always a lot of fun, it is very often that the 'best' in cinema for the year aren't even nominated, let alone win. This year's nominees are pretty strong, though. I have published my predictions for this year, but to make the day more fun, I hope some of these long-shot hopes take home a statue.

Bruce Dern OR June Squibb - Best Actor/Supporting Actress

Before Midnight - Best Adapted Screenplay

Dirty Wars - Best Documentary Feature

'Happy' - Best Original Song

Her - Best Production Design

Monthly Round-up: February 2014 Viewing

In February I watched 27 films. I didn't visit the cinema as much as usual, but I did catch some undisputed classics (Lawrence of Arabia, His Girl Friday and Dog Day Afternoon) at home. I wrote only a few reviews (linked below), but kept up with the pretty crazy award season. Here are my Oscar Predictions (Part 1/Part 2) and my contribution to Andrew Kendall's 2013 Motifs in Cinema.

As for television, I continued through the brilliant True Detective (just two episodes left in S1) and watched the entirety of House of Cards S2, which started with a bang and eventually fell apart under the weight of its surprisingly soapy cheesiness, and a lack of enticing subplots. 

New-to-Me Films (In Order of Preference)

-------- Essential Viewing --------

Lawrence of Arabia (David Lean, 1962) - A timeless classic. My first viewing was a restored and 4K remastered 50th Anniversary blu-ray copy on my TV, but it was spectacular, nonetheless. Phenomenal film-making...on every level.

His Girl Friday (Howard Hawks, 1940) - Gee, this script sure does rocket along. Very very funny. I have never seen Rosalind Russell in anything before, but she's terrific.

Stray Dog (Akira Kurosawa, 1949) - I loved this film. A very-likely major influence on the noir procedural and the rookie/vet buddy cop thriller. Right up there with Kurosawa's best - Seven Samurai, Rashomon and Ran. While its phenomenal technical aspects warrant lengthy discussion, I was fascinated by the thematic layers and post-war setting, the analysis of the different paths taken by veterans - an emasculated and still-green homicide detective (Mifune, outstanding) tracks down an embittered and disillusioned thief/murderer through the unforgiving Tokyo underworld.

Clue (Jonathan Lynn, 1985) - So what's the consensus on Clue? It wasn't very well received initially, but I get the sense that could have had something to do with whichever ending was screened. Three different endings were distributed to cinemas, and the cinemas did not know which one they had. On home video, all of the endings play back-to-back, and a cult following has spawned. I found it to be a hilariously entertaining parody of the Agatha Christie-like cosy school mysteries. I love a good whodunit, and Lynn manages to match the immeasurable campness with intelligence and wit.

Dog Day Afternoon (Sidney Lumet, 1975) - With sweltering tension and stellar Pacino, Lumet tackles 70's paranoia, marginalized individuals and crime-fueled media circus.

-------- Essential Viewing --------

2013 Motifs in Cinema: Man Against Society

I was lucky enough to be asked by Andrew Kendall of Encore’s World of Film and TV, as I was last year, to be part of his annual Motifs in Cinema blog-a-thon. Eager to delve into the cinema of 2013 – a year I enjoyed immensely – I agreed to take part. The motif I selected was ‘Man versus Society’.

Here is Andrew’s explanation of the blog-a-thon: Motifs in Cinema is a discourse across film blogs, assessing the way in which various thematic elements have been used in the 2013 cinematic landscape. How does a common theme vary in use from a comedy to a drama? Are filmmakers working from a similar canvas when they assess the issue of death or the dynamics of revenge? Like most things, a film begins with an idea – Motifs in Cinema assesses how various themes emanating from a single idea change when utilized by varying artists.

In a number of films released across the globe in 2013, one of the central conflicts was that of man (and woman) in conflict (repressed, prejudiced or outcast) against society at large. In several of the examples I will offer the society in question is insular and isolated, sent into turmoil following the repercussions of an event, while others are ideologically, culturally and politically tied to the country of setting.

In Danish writer/director Thomas Vinterberg's haunting drama, The Hunt, Mads Mikkelsen (awarded Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival), stars as Lucas, a popular small town Kindergarten teacher. When Klara (Annika Wedderkopp), the young daughter of his best friend Theo (Thomas Bo Larsen), tells a story detailing inappropriate sexual contact from Lucas, it’s severity quickly escalates. The adults, informed of the claims by the school's principal despite there yet being no proof beyond Klara's account, are blinded by rage and disgust, turn against Lucas and begin a campaign to ensure that justice is served, targeting not only his professional career and personal reputation, but also his family. Lucas is wrongfully accused, there’s no doubt about it, but when more stories of abuse surface - the result of insular paranoia and guardian-coerced testimony - the mounting lies spiral out of control to the point where the life of this innocent man faces ruin. He shelters from the tide of hatred, enclosed within his own home. But even that comes under threat. The courage he shows just stepping into the local mall or confronting his accusers in church, is extraordinary. This tense study of an insular community unnervingly embroiled in hysteria and turmoil is maddening to watch as blind social allegiance acting on unreasonable instinct demonizes a once-valued citizen.

In Paul Wright’s brilliant debut feature, For Those In Peril, Aaron (George MacKay), a young misfit living in a remote Scottish fishing community, is the lone survivor of a mysterious fishing accident that claimed the lives of five men including his older brother, Michael. With ocean folklore a powerful (and misguided) influence the village holds Aaron responsible for the tragedy, and he immediately finds himself an outcast. Struggling with his own demons, unable to remember what happened out on the water, he refuses to believe that his brother has died and holds misguided hope in his return. Though he briefly finds comfort in spending time with his brother’s former girlfriend, his worsening anxieties eventually bring him in confrontation with his darkest fears.

Aaron is at the centre of For Those in Peril from the beginning, and while the film is set up to be about a young man dealing with grief and guilt, and coming to the demoralizing realization that by being alive draws malevolence from others, it then becomes something very different. We come to understand just how essential Aaron’s perception is as the story seamlessly shifts into his headspace. Wright utilises various visual formats and discordant audio soundbites, challenging his audience to draw their own conclusions from his unconventional techniques. We are offered fragments of the past from various perspectives and the present from a very unreliable narrator. Aaron’s confusion, frustration, and unwavering sense of hope is certainly understandable considering his ordeal, yet no one in the town seems to accept that he belonged on the boat in the first place nor deserved to return. Why is that? He escaped a meeting with a monster but will never rest until he confronts it and re-earns the respect of the society he once called home.

Review: The Wind Rises (Hayao Miyazaki, 2013)

Legendary Japanese animation director Hayao Miyazaki announced that The Wind Rises would be his final film prior to a timely retirement from filmmaking. Miyazaki adapted The Wind Rises from his own manga of the same name, which was loosely based on the short story ‘The Wind Has Risen’ by Tatsuo Hori. The Wind Rises is a fictionalized biography of aerial engineer Jiro Horikoshi, designer of the Mitsubishi A6M Zero, used by the Japanese during World War II.

The creator of animated classics like My Neighbor Totoro (1988) and Princess Mononoke (1997), Miayazaki has also been a controversial voice in Japanese media with his strong anti-war/establishment views. The changing political and cultural landscape in Japan, post-Great Kanto Earthquake and pre-World War II provides a rich foundation for Miyazaki to explore Hiro’s aeronautical dreams and engineering feats. I adore Miyazaki’s love for invention and his obsession with how machines function, the details of which have always been carefully included in his films. The motion of flight (Castle in the Sky, Porco Rosso) and the image of machines in action (Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle) has always been an incredibly beautiful element of his animation and are at the heart of this tale. The Wind Rises is a distinctly personal film, a strikingly animated tale of love, inspiration and artistic commitment.

Continue reading ay Graffiti With Punctuation.

Academy Award Winner Predictions (Part 2)

I look at the rest of the nominees at this year’s Academy Awards – Best Picture and Best Director, and the Acting and Screenplay categories – and credit who I think will win (and who should!).

BEST PICTURE

American Hustle
Captain Phillips
Dallas Buyers Club
Gravity
Her
Nebraska
Philomena
12 Years a Slave
The Wolf of Wall Street

Will Win: Gravity

Could Win: 12 Years A Slave, American Hustle

Should Win: Gravity

American Hustle, for many prognosticators, became the Best Picture favourite after it won Best Ensemble Cast at the SAG Awards. I genuinely feel like Hustle deserved this award, but the snub for 12 Years A Slave at that point was a telling one. At the Golden Globes 12 Years A Slave came from nowhere (literally winning nothing else) to nab Best Picture (Drama). It also won the BAFTA for Best Film (curiously winning just one other award – Best Actor). Gravity is going to win more Oscars than 12 Years A Slave, and I’m convinced that Gravity has a lot of support. The tie at the Producer’s Guild of America (between 12 Years and Gravity) is proof of this. I have been backing Gravity from the beginning – none of this Best Pic/Director split business – and have stuck with it ever since I first watched (and was disappointed by) 12 Years A Slave.

From the rest of the group Hustle (with ten nominations) has a genuine chance. AMPAS have loved Russell’s previous three films (but he should have won last year with the vastly superior Silver Linings Playbook). Nebraska (six, including Best Director/Actor/Original Screenplay), The Wolf of Wall Street (five, including Best Director/Actor/Adapted Screenplay) and Captain Phillips (a genuine chance for Best Supporting Actor, Adapted Screenplay and Editing) are not without a show. Personally, I rank all three ahead of both 12 Years A Slave and American Hustle.

But this has come down to 12 Years A Slave and Gravity. Whether the AMPAS honours a film that tackles the harrowing truths about America’s past, or a film that has expertly utilized the best of present technology, and laid a platform for future achievements, remains to be seen. 90% of Oscar prognosticators are going with 12 Years A Slave. No cinematic experience came close to Gravity in 2013. I hope voters saw the film in the theatre and not their televisions (or heaven forbid, their laptops). 

Continue reading at Graffiti With Punctuation.

Review: JAY Z: Made in America

Directed by Ron Howard this engrossing multi-faceted documentary chronicles the 2012 debut of the Philadelphia-set “Made in America” music festival, organized and headlined by Grammy-winning hip-hop artist JAY Z (Shawn Carter). Given very little prep time before immersing himself in the energy of the musically and cultural diverse event, Howard proves his chops as a documentarian. He gives us an enlightening and entertaining backstage pass, interviewing not only the assembled roster of talented musicians but also the everyday Americans employed to cater and run the event. Through JAY Z’s personal connection to the city, we are taken around Philadelphia, and shown the sites of importance in the establishment of his towering career. Jay Z: Made in America premiered at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival, before screening on Showtime. It is coming to Australia for a Special Event Season through Transmission Films from March 20. 

There is an extraordinary range of artists admirably assembled by JAY Z for this concert – from veteran acts like Run-DMC and Pearl Jam, to alt-rock groups Passion Pit and Dirty Projectors, to hip-hop sensations Janelle Monae, Santigold and Rita Ora, to acquired tastes like Odd Future to Skrillex – who each attracted their unique audiences, but no doubt gathered some new fans.

JAY Z expresses the belief that “every human being has genius-level talent” and it is up to the individual to tap into that potential and find out what they are best at. He believes that there are many avenues to success, it just takes dedication and commitment and the courage to bounce back from failure and rejection even stronger than ever. He is living proof of having fulfilled the ‘American Dream’, as are many of the other artists we meet. Carter has become a role model - a one-time street thug who turned it all around and dedicated all of his time and energy to making music. A lot of young people in Philadelphia (as an example) look up to him. He was one of the pioneers of his generation; and he has witnessed a new generation (guys like Skrillex) change the music landscape again. Janelle Monae humbly talks about her parents, hardworking blue-collar workers. She talks about her performance uniform of black and white, and where that idea stemmed from. Swedish group The Hives discuss what influenced their music in Sweden, and Andrew Wyatt of Miike Snow is very open about the psychological problems that plagued his early career, and how he remained driven to make music.

Joseph Simmons and Daryl McDaniels of Run-DMC and Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam offered more veteran insight, a generation older than most of the other artists interviewed. McCaniels was especially vocal about the artists that inspired him, and the lyrics that taught youngsters about the very streets they lived on. They hilariously recap the process of making one of their music videos, which involved Steven Tyler of Aerosmith. Howard visits Simmons in more personal surroundings, eliminating the musician persona and capturing him simply as a man living his life. Having not performed together for over a decade it is a special moment when Simmons and McDaniels take the stage together.

Howard doesn't just interview the talent, but a stagehand, a group of security guards working the show, and one of the venue caterers. These personable, hardworking regular people discuss their professions and their contentedness with their lives, thankful for the job they have and its challenges and opportunities. It adds a terrific dynamic to the film.

My only negative comment about the film was that I craved more concert footage. It could have been a great concert film on it’s own - the photographed footage was exceptional - but admirably JAY Z and Howard made the effort to make it more than just a concert film, but an investigation into how these artists made their dreams come true, and how others have worked hard to make it in America in their own way. But still, some of the performances were too entertaining to leave. Gary Clark Jr. was crushing 'When the Train Pulls In' , but Howard disappointingly took us backstage mid-show. More of Clark, Pearl Jam and the great Janelle Monae and less of, say, Odd Future, would have resulted in a slam-dunk.

JAY Z is evidently a man of charisma, imposing stage presence and strong business sense, with an inspiringly optimistic view of the people of America. His journey to success is woven into Made In America, and it is a story worth learning about. It is an emotional moment to see him met with rousing applause as he makes his closing address on the second night. Pal Kanye West joins him on stage and seeing these two monsters of hip-hop performing together is an awe-inspiring sight to leave on.

My Rating: ★★★★

New Releases (27/02/14)

In cinemas this week: The Wind Rises, Non-Stop, 3 Days to Kill, Out of the Furnace, Gloria, Utopia and Mysteries of the Unseen World. 

In The Wind Rises (Review by Sam McCosh, An Online Universe) Jiro dreams of flying and designing beautiful airplanes, inspired by the famous Italian aeronautical designer Caproni. Nearsighted from a young age and unable to be a pilot, Jiro joins a major Japanese engineering company in 1927 and becomes one of the world's most innovative and accomplished airplane designers. The creator of animated classics like My Neighbor Totoro (1988) and Princess Mononoke (1997), Miayazaki has also been a controversial voice in Japanese media with his strong anti-war/establishment views. The changing political and cultural landscape in Japan, post-Great Kanto Earthquake and pre-World War II provides a rich foundation for Miyazaki to explore Hiro’s aeronautical dreams and engineering feats. I adore Miyazaki’s love for invention and his obsession with how machines function, the details of which have always been carefully included in his films. The motion of flight (Castle in the Sky, Porco Rosso) and the image of machines in action (Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle) has always been an incredibly beautiful element of his animation and are at the heart of this tale. The Wind Rises is a distinctly personal film, a strikingly animated tale of love, inspiration and artistic commitment. ★★★1/2

Global action star Liam Neeson stars in Non-Stop, a suspense thriller played out at 40,000 feet in the air. During a transatlantic flight from New York City to London, U.S. Air Marshal Bill Marks (Neeson) receives a series of cryptic text messages demanding that he instruct the government to transfer $150 million into an off-shore account. Until he secures the money, a passenger on his flight will be killed every 20 minutes. 

3 Days to Kill - In this action-thriller, Kevin Costner is a dangerous international spy, who is determined to give up his high stakes life to finally build a closer relationship with his estranged wife and daughter, whom he's previously kept at arm's length to keep out of danger. But first, he must complete one last mission- even if it means juggling the two toughest assignments yet: hunting down the world's most ruthless terrorist and looking after his teenage daughter for the first time in ten years, while his wife is out of town.

Out of the Furnace - From Scott Cooper, the critically-acclaimed writer and director of Crazy Heart, comes a gripping and gritty drama about family, fate, circumstance, and justice. Russell Baze (Christian Bale) has a rough life: he works a dead-end blue collar job at the local steel mill by day, and cares for his terminally ill father by night. When Russell's brother Rodney (Casey Affleck) returns home from serving time in Iraq, he gets lured into one of the most ruthless crime rings in the Northeast and mysteriously disappears. The police fail to crack the case, so - with nothing left to lose - Russell takes matters into his own hands, putting his life on the line to seek justice for his brother. The impressive cast of Christian Bale and Woody Harrelson are rounded out by Casey Affleck, Forest Whitaker, Willem Dafoe, Zoe Saldana and Sam Shepard.

Gloria - Gloria is a "woman of a certain age" but still feels young. Though lonely, she makes the best of her situation and fills her nights seeking love at social dance clubs for single adults. Her fragile happiness changes the day she meets Rodolfo. Their intense passion, to which Gloria gives her all, leaves her vacillating between hope and despair -- until she uncovers a new strength and realizes that, in her golden years, she can shine brighter than ever. Gloria was Chile's official entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the 86th Academy Awards, and stars Paulina García in a fantastic performance that captured the Silver Bear Best Actress Award at last year's Berlin Film Festival. Mildly enjoyable, well-acted slice-of-life drama about late middle-age fresh starts, sexual rejuvenation and filling the loneliness void. As a small-scale character study, far too long, but I am certainly appreciative of the efforts of all involved and Garcia is great. I remember there being a big stink about it being overlooked for the Foreign Language shortlist. Admirable, but it wouldn't have made my ballot. ★★★

Utopia - Utopia is John Pilger's new feature documentary. The BAFTA and Emmy winning film-maker and journalist draws on his long association with the first people of his homeland, Australia. Utopia is both an epic portrayal of the oldest continuous human culture and an investigation into a suppressed colonial past and rapacious present. One of the world's best kept secrets is revealed against a background of the greatest boom in mineral wealth. Has the 'lucky country' inherited South African apartheid? Utopia is both a personal journey and a universal story of power and resistance in the media age driven by old imperatives and presented as liberalism. 

Mysteries of the Unseen World - In the National Geographic tradition of powerful natural-history images and storytelling, this film reveals once-invisible dimensions of nature that are filled with beauty and wonder-and hold secrets crucial to our survival. It shines a fascinating spotlight on objects and events that escape the naked eye every minute of every day. Visually stunning and rooted in cutting-edge research, the film blends high-speed and time-lapse photography, electron microscopy and nanotechnology. ★★★1/2

Weekly Recommendation: Mightily behind this week. I haven't seen either of the action films, nor the largely-ignored Out of the Furnace. I have seen no promotional material at all. The Wind Rises comes with the top recommendation, though it is certainly not as accessible as Miyazaki's previous films. Mysteries of the Unseen World is fascinating, and is a top IMAX experience. I had high hopes for Gloria, but as much as I admired it, I didn't really connect.