.
For one night a year
politics, war, the economy, poverty and health care are set aside as the nation
joins the jet setters of Tinsel Town in
Hollywood's annual demonstration of self-indulgence and fantasy, the 86th Academy Awards.
Just to put things into
perspective for the many readers of the Coltons Point Times from outside the USA, please don't think there is anything about Hollywood and the Oscars that reflects on the typical
quality of life in the USA.
Here in the colonies we
are masters at embracing fantasy and the film industry is one of the very
privilege classes reflecting it. We
don't have royalty but we do have several classes
of aristocrats like stars in the
motion picture industry, professional baseball,
football and basketball players, the wizards
of Wall Street, the nouveau rich and of course the old, rich bluebloods. All
told they are about 3% of the people.
Accumulating wealth is
their playground and this is the one night they share it with us, I guess to
thank us for spending billions of dollars on box office tickets, buying their
movies on DVD, and watching them on the Telly.
As a group the movie
industry is far to the left in politics, yet the general public long ago
adopted the Mark Twain philosophy that, "everyone is entitled to their
silly ideas." Thus Republicans,
Independents and centrist Democrats can overlook the Hollywood
forays into social issues although the sight of someone stepping out of a
Ferrari to condemn the government for allowing poverty is a little odd.
Like most other
institutions in America that have been around since the 1928 stock market crash and ensuing Great Depression, the Oscars and the movie industry are in the
process of huge changes. Gone are the
days that a handful of major studios and studio moguls hand-picked everything
we saw in movie theatres from the scripts to directors to stars.
Any economic-based
institution in America
is subject to radical change when the economy changes, and then the greed of
industries to squeeze the last buck out of the people will run it's course.
Once upon a time only
major studio productions were nominated for Oscars. This year, only three of the nine nominees for Best
Picture came from major studios. Truly the Independent production has
overwhelmed Hollywood
just as the Independent vote is taking over the political agenda.
When institutions stop taking risks and morph to the formula, standard, vanilla, risk adverse strategy,
well they will cease to exist. In America our music, television, motion picture and book industries are all on life support so Independent films may be the salvation
of the industry.
Following is an
outstanding overview of the penetration
of Independent films written by John
Horn of the Los Angeles Times. It
shows the extent the industry has changed to meet the demands of the public for
creativity and innovation.
After that you will find my picks for the winners in the major
categories and a list of nominees for all the significant categories. I
urge you to make your own selections.
My picks are without seeing a single, nominated movie. Not only is it easier because I have no time
to watch the dozens of movies nominated let alone I cannot afford to see them
all, but it also gives me an excuse should I be wrong.
Los Angeles Times
Oscars 2014: Nominations — and snubs — attest to the strong field
'American Hustle'
and 'Gravity' lead deep field with 10 Oscar nominations each. Tom Hanks and
Emma Thompson are left out, and 'Inside Llewyn Davis' gets scant interest.
By
John Horn
January 17, 2014
Tom Hanks' starring role in "Captain Phillips" was one of
his most acclaimed performances in a distinguished career. But the two-time
Oscar winner, who is also a
governor of the Academy
of Motion Picture Arts
and Sciences, took nothing for granted — working tirelessly to promote
"Captain Phillips" and his other big film, "Saving Mr. Banks," in which he
plays Walt Disney.
But when Academy Award nominations were read out before dawn
Thursday, Hanks' name was never called.
Cold-blooded snub? Probably not. Instead, Hanks' double omission
is more proof that 2013 was indeed a golden year for film, one in which there
were so many strong (and commercially successful) films that academy members
couldn't include all those worthy of recognition.
Emma Thompson wasn't nominated for her starring role
in "Saving Mr. Banks," Robert Redford was cast adrift from his sinking
sailboat tale "All Is Lost," and Paul Greengrass and Spike Jonze missed the cut for directing, respectively,
the hijacking thriller "Captain Phillips" and the dystopian love
story "Her."
"There's incredible work being done by incredible
filmmakers," said Michael De Luca, a producer on "Captain
Phillips." "Not to over-inflate it, but it feels like it could be
another renaissance" in movies.
Tellingly, many of these nominated films were financed
independently. As major studios focus on superheroes and sequels, it's the
independent financiers who bankroll the edgier, director-driven films whose
merits are measured by reviews, not Happy Meals tie-ins.
Two of the best picture nominees — "American Hustle" and
"Her" — were bankrolled by producer Megan Ellison, daughter of
billionaire businessman Larry Ellison. She had more combined nominations with
17 than Paramount Pictures (13) and 20th Century Fox (11).
"I know we couldn't make this movie without Megan," said
David O. Russell, who directed and co-wrote
"American Hustle." "And 'Her' couldn't have gotten made without
Megan."
The best picture finalists "The Dallas Buyers Club," the stock swindle
film "The Wolf of Wall Street,"
lost-child drama "Philomena" and "12 Years a
Slave" also were financed outside the studio system. Only three of the
best-picture selections, "Gravity," "Nebraska" and "Captain
Phillips," were made and distributed by major studios.
"The independent financiers are critical," said Rachel
Winter, a producer of "The Dallas
Buyers Club." "They are bucking the cycle that we are in — and we are
in such a crazily specific one right now."
Her movie was underwritten by executives from a Texas
fertilizer company after Hollywood studios
turned the project down more than 120 times over the last 20 years.
The Academy Award nominations will help encourage others to take
similar risks, noted Tracey Seaward, a producer of "Philomena" whose
financing was pieced together from three European backers. "It's really a
great boost and shows there's an audience for serious storytelling," she
said.
Many film critics have called 2013 one of the best years for
movies in memory. Happily for Hollywood,
several of this year's top contenders also are box-office hits — unlike past
years, in which major contenders never escaped the art house.
"Gravity" has grossed more than $256 million in domestic
theaters, "American Hustle" has surpassed $104 million, "Captain
Phillips" stands at $105 million and "The Wolf of Wall Street"
just climbed past $81 million.
(end of article)
And the nominees are...
BEST MOTION PICTURE OF THE YEAR
“American Hustle” (Sony
Pictures Releasing)
Columbia Pictures and Annapurna
Pictures Production
“Captain Phillips” (Sony
Pictures Releasing)
Columbia
Pictures Production
“Dallas Buyers Club” (Focus Features)
Voltage Pictures, R2 Films, Evolution Independent Production
“Gravity” (Warner Bros.)
A
Warner Bros. UK Services Limited Production
“Her” (Warner Bros.)
An
Annapurna Production
“Nebraska”
(Paramount)
A
Paramount Vantage Production
“Philomena” (The Weinstein
Company)
A
Pathé, BBC Films, BFI, Canal+, Cine+ and Baby Cow/Magnolia Mae Production
“12 Years a Slave” (Fox
Searchlight)
A River Road, Plan B, New Regency Production
“The Wolf of Wall Street”
(Paramount)
A
Red Granite Production
[Putnam's Pick - American
Hustle because it has been a while since Hollywood
gave an award to anything with "America" in the title.]
PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Christian Bale in
“American Hustle” (Sony Pictures Releasing)
Bruce Dern in “Nebraska” (Paramount)
Leonardo DiCaprio in “The
Wolf of Wall Street” (Paramount)
Chiwetel Ejiofor in “12
Years a Slave” (Fox Searchlight)
Matthew McConaughey in “Dallas Buyers Club” (Focus
Features)
[Putnam's Pick - Christian
Bale an upset maybe but part of a sweep by American Hustle. Otherwise Matthew McConaughey.]
PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Barkhad Abdi in “Captain
Phillips” (Sony Pictures Releasing)
Bradley Cooper in
“American Hustle” (Sony Pictures Releasing)
Michael Fassbender in “12
Years a Slave” (Fox Searchlight)
Jonah Hill in “The Wolf of
Wall Street” (Paramount)
Jared Leto in “Dallas Buyers Club”
(Focus Features)
[Putnam's Pick - Bradley
Cooper again because of the American Hustle sweep.]
PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Amy Adams in “American
Hustle” (Sony Pictures Releasing)
Cate Blanchett in “Blue
Jasmine” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Sandra Bullock in
“Gravity” (Warner Bros.)
Judi Dench in “Philomena”
(The Weinstein Company)
Meryl Streep in “August: Osage County”
(The Weinstein Company)
[Putnam's Pick - Amy
Adams because she is very good, has never won and is in American
Hustle. If not her then Cate
Blanchett whom I love.]
PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Sally Hawkins in “Blue
Jasmine” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Jennifer Lawrence in
“American Hustle” (Sony Pictures Releasing)
Lupita Nyong’o in “12
Years a Slave” (Fox Searchlight)
Julia Roberts in “August: Osage County”
(The Weinstein Company)
June Squibb in “Nebraska” (Paramount)
[Putnam's Pick - Jennifer
Lawrence because she is a rising star, Oscar winner, has not got caught
up in the Hollywood rat packs and is from Kentucky.]
ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTING
“American Hustle” (Sony
Pictures Releasing) David O. Russell
“Gravity” (Warner Bros.)
Alfonso Cuarón
“Nebraska”
(Paramount)
Alexander Payne
“12 Years a Slave” (Fox
Searchlight) Steve McQueen
“The Wolf of Wall Street”
(Paramount) Martin Scorsese
[Putnam's Pick - Martin
Scorsese because he paid his dues but never won and they can't give
everything to American Hustle.]
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM OF THE YEAR
“The Broken Circle
Breakdown” (Tribeca Film)
A
Menuet Production
“The Great Beauty” (Janus
Films)
An
Indigo Film Production
“The Hunt” (Magnolia
Pictures)
A
Zentropa Entertainments 19 Production
“The Missing Picture” (Strand Releasing)
A
Bophana Production
An
Omar Production Company Production
[Putnam's Pick - The
Great Beauty though I have no idea why.]
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM OF THE YEAR
“The Croods” (20th Century
Fox)
Chris
Sanders, Kirk DeMicco and Kristine Belson
“Despicable Me 2”
(Universal)
Chris
Renaud, Pierre Coffin and Chris Meledandri
“Ernest & Celestine”
(GKIDS)
Benjamin Renner and Didier Brunner
“Frozen” (Walt Disney)
Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee and Peter Del Vecho
“The Wind Rises” (Walt
Disney)
Hayao
Miyazaki and Toshio Suzuki
[Putnam's Picks - The
Wind Rises because Disney combined with the Japanese is too good to
pass up.]
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
“The Act of Killing”
(Drafthouse Films)
A
Final Cut for Real Production
“Cutie and the Boxer” (RADiUS-TWC)
An
Ex Lion Tamer and Cine Mosaic Production
“Dirty Wars” (IFC Films)
“The
Square” (Netflix in association with Worldview
Entertainment
and Participant Media)
A
Noujaim Films and Maktube Production
“20 Feet from Stardom” (RADiUS-TWC)
A
Gil Friesen Productions and Tremolo Production
[Putnam's Pick - 20
Feet from Stardom since it sounds like a Hollywood
storyline.]
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
“Before Midnight” (Sony Pictures Classics) Written
by Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy,
“Captain Phillips” (Sony
Pictures Releasing) Screenplay by Billy Ray
“Philomena” (The Weinstein Company) Screenplay by
Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope
“12 Years a Slave” (Fox
Searchlight) Screenplay by John Ridley
“The Wolf of Wall Street”
(Paramount) Screenplay by Terence Winter
[Putnam's Pick - 12
Years a Slave since it meets the liberal standard of the leftist
elite.]
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
“American Hustle” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Written
by Eric Warren Singer and David
O . Russell
“Blue Jasmine” (Sony
Pictures Classics) Written by Woody Allen
“Dallas Buyers Club” (Focus Features) Written
by Craig Borten & Melisa Wallack
“Her” (Warner Bros.)
Written by Spike Jonze
“Nebraska”
(Paramount)
Written by Bob Nelson
[Putnam's Pick - Her
because Spike Jonze has done some interesting stories and I like the
way he spells his last name.]
ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY
“The Grandmaster” (The
Weinstein Company) Philippe Le Sourd
“Gravity” (Warner Bros.)
Emmanuel Lubezki
“Inside Llewyn Davis” (CBS
Films) Bruno Delbonnel
“Nebraska”
(Paramount)
Phedon Papamichael
“Prisoners” (Warner Bros.)
Roger A. Deakins
[Putnam's Pick - Gravity
because Sandra Bullock looked great in a space suit.]
ACHIEVEMENT IN COSTUME DESIGN
“American Hustle” (Sony
Pictures Releasing) Michael Wilkinson
“The Grandmaster” (The Weinstein
Company) William Chang Suk Ping
“The Great Gatsby” (Warner
Bros.) Catherine Martin
“The Invisible Woman”
(Sony Pictures Classics) Michael O’Connor
“12 Years a Slave” (Fox
Searchlight) Patricia Norris
[Putnam's Pick - The
Invisible Woman as I cannot imagine the difficulty of dressing an
Invisible Woman.]
ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC WRITTEN FOR MOTION PICTURES
(ORIGINAL SONG)
“Alone Yet Not Alone” from
“Alone Yet Not Alone” (Enthuse Entertainment)
“Happy” from “Despicable
Me 2” (Universal)
“Let It Go” from “Frozen”
(Walt Disney)
“The Moon Song” from “Her”
(Warner Bros.)
“Ordinary Love” from “Mandela: Long Walk to
Freedom” (The Weinstein Company)
[Putnam's Pick - tie
between The Moon Song and Let It Go as they are more creative
titles than the others.]
ACHIEVEMENT IN VISUAL EFFECTS
“Gravity” (Warner Bros.)
Tim Webber, Chris Lawrence, Dave Shirk and
“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” (Warner
Bros.) Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David
Clayton
“Iron Man 3” (Walt Disney)
“The Lone Ranger” (Walt Disney) Tim Alexander, Gary
Brozenich, Edson Williams and John
Frazer
“Star Trek Into Darkness” (Paramount)
Roger Guyett, Patrick Tubach, Ben Grossmann and
Burt Dalton
[Putnam's Picks - Gravity because after
Lord of the Rings we are tired of wizards and
hobnobs.]
ACHIEVEMENT IN FILM EDITING
“American Hustle” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Jay
Cassidy, Crispin Struthers and Alan Baumgarten
“Captain Phillips” (Sony
Pictures Releasing) Christopher Rouse
“Dallas Buyers Club” (Focus Features) John Mac
McMurphy and Martin Pensa
“Gravity” (Warner Bros.)
Alfonso Cuarón and Mark Sanger
“12 Years a Slave” (Fox
Searchlight) Joe Walker
[Putnam's Pick - Captain
Phillips as an apology for not nominating Tom Hanks for Best Actor.]
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
“CaveDigger”
A
Karoffilms Production
“Facing Fear”
A
Jason Cohen Production
“Karama Has No Walls”
(Mudhouse Films)
A
Hot Spot Films Production
“The Lady in Number 6:
Music Saved My Life”
A
Reed Entertainment Production
“Prison Terminal: The Last
Days of Private Jack Hall”
A
Prison Terminal LLC Production
[Putnam's Pick - The
Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life as it must have a happy ending
and the others sound rather morbid or exploitive.]
ACHIEVEMENT
IN MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
“Dallas Buyers Club” (Focus Features) Adruitha
Lee and Robin Mathews
“Jackass Presents: Bad
Grandpa” (Paramount) Stephen Prouty
“The Lone Ranger” (Walt
Disney) Joel Harlow and Gloria Pasqua-Casny
[Putnam's Pick - Dallas
Buyers Club because I can't image how they took a hunk like Matthew
McConaughey and made him look so weak.]
ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC WRITTEN FOR MOTION PICTURES
(ORIGINAL SCORE)
“The Book Thief” (20th
Century Fox) John Williams
“Gravity” (Warner Bros.)
Steven Price
“Her” (Warner Bros.)
William Butler and Owen Pallett
“Philomena” (The Weinstein
Company) Alexandre Desplat
“Saving Mr. Banks” (Walt
Disney) Thomas Newman
[Putnam's Pick - it is
hard to bet against the genius John Williams but I pick Gravity
because it is such a sweeping story.]
ACHIEVEMENT IN PRODUCTION DESIGN
“American Hustle” (Sony
Pictures Releasing) Production Design:
“Gravity” (Warner Bros.)
Production Design:
“The Great Gatsby” (Warner
Bros.) Production Design:
“Her” (Warner Bros.)
Production Design:
“12 Years a Slave” (Fox
Searchlight) Production Design:
[Putnam's Pick - Gravity
because anything with Sandra Bullock and George
Clooney has to win a few awards.]
BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM
“Feral”
A
Daniel Sousa Production
“Get a Horse!” (Walt
Disney)
A
Walt Disney Animation Production
“Mr. Hublot”
A
Zeilt Production
“Possessions”
A Sunrise
Production
“Room on the Broom”
A
Magic Light Pictures Production
[Putnam's Pick - this time
I really have no idea why but I pick Feral.]
BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
“Aquel No Era Yo (That
Wasn’t Me)” (FREAK Independent Film Agency)
A
Producciones Africanauan Production
“Avant Que De Tout Perdre
(Just before Losing Everything)”
A
KG Production
“Helium”
An M & M Production
“Pitääkö Mun Kaikki
Hoitaa? (Do I Have to Take Care of Everything?)”
A
Tuffi Films Production
“The Voorman Problem”
A
Honlodge Production
[Putnam's Pick - Helium
since it is the only one I can pronounce.]
ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND EDITING
“All Is Lost” (Lionsgate
& Roadside Attractions) Steve Boeddeker and Richard Hymns
“Captain Phillips” (Sony
Pictures Releasing) Oliver Tarney
“Gravity” (Warner Bros.)
Glenn Freemantle
“The Hobbit: The
Desolation of Smaug” (Warner Bros.) Brent Burge
“Lone Survivor” (Universal)
Wylie Stateman
[Putnam's Pick - All
is Lost because one of the sound editors is named Hymns so it must be a
sign from God.]
ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND MIXING
"Captain Phillips” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Chris
Burdon, Mark Taylor, Mike Prestwood
Smith and Chris Munro
“Gravity” (Warner Bros.) Skip Lievsay, Niv Adiri,
Christopher Benstead and Chris Munro
“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” (Warner
Bros.) Christopher Boyes, Michael
Hedges, Michael Semanick and Tony Johnson
“Inside Llewyn Davis” (CBS Films) Skip Lievsay,
Greg Orloff and Peter F. Kurland
“Lone Survivor”
(Universal) Andy Koyama, Beau Borders and David Brownlow
[Putnam's Pick - The
Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug because I don't want Smaug's desolation
to go unnoticed nor the Little People to be mad at me.]
That's All Folks! See you March 2...
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