OUTSTANDING DOCUMENTARY

The Act of Killing (Directed by Joshua Oppenheimer & Christine Cynn)

Let the Fire Burn (Directed by Jason Osder)

The Square (Directed by Jehane Noujaim)

Stories We Tell (Directed by Sarah Polley)

20 Feet from Stardom (Directed by Morgan Neville)

AND THE WINNER IS:

STORIES WE TELL (DIRECTED BY SARAH POLLEY)

This is the first win and fourth nomination for Sarah Polley. She was previously nominated individually along with the ensemble of The Sweet Hereafter (1997) and for adapting the screenplay for Away from Her (2007).

Sarah Polley proves once again that even when she makes the choice to make a documentary she can make an equally brilliant film. From the genius recreations that feel so real to the compelling story of how we tell stories over and over again. The film is such a personal experience of family and how some secrets need to be kept. For me the mission of the film was to show the importance of family as the film did which made it one of the best film experiences of the film and the best documentary of the year.

OUTSTANDING BREAKTHROUGH/DEBUT

Elizabeth Debicki (The Great Gatsby)

Adèle Exarchopoulos (Blue is the Warmest Colour)

Michael B. Jordan (Fruitvale Station)

Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave)

Annika Wedderkopp (The Hunt)

AND THE WINNER IS:

ADELE EXARCHOPOULOS (BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR)

A performance that is so natural and lived in like Adèle in Blue is the Warmest Color is a rare performance and only seems to come around every couple of years with this debut and performance almost to the level of Emily Watson in 1996’s Breaking the Waves. In the full three hour running time Adèle Exarchopoulos in nearly every scene of the film is breathless as she moves on the screen far to well that the film almost feels like a documentary of the actors life. The sad fact is that when actors make winning debuts like this it is far to bit to best that actors never can do better and I hope that Adèle can find a role again that can show her unique talent but at this very moment it doesn’t seem as if it going to happen.

OUTSTANDING ENSEMBLE

American Hustle (Amy Adams, Christian Bale, Louis C.K., Bradley Cooper, Robert DeNiro, Paul Herman, Jack Huston, Jennifer Lawrence, Alessandro Nivola, Jeremy Renner, Elisabeth Röhm, Shea Whigham)

August: Osage County (Abigail Breslin, Chris Cooper, Benedict Cumberbatch, Juliette Lewis, Margo Martindale, Ewan McGregor, Dermot Mulroney, Julianne Nicholson, Julia Roberts, Meryl Streep)

Frances Ha (Charlotte d’Amboise, Adam Driver, Greta Gerwig, Grace Gummer, Josh Hamilton, Patrick Heusinger, Maya Kazan, Justine Lupe, Mickey Sumner, Britta Phillips, Juliet Rylance, Dean Warenham, Michael Zegen)

Short Term 12 (Stephanie Beatriz, Alex Calloway, Kaitlyn Dever, John Gallagher Jr., Kevin Hernandez, Brie Larson, Rami Malek, Kieth Stanfield)

12 Years a Slave (Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Dano, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Paul Giamatti, Tarran Killam, Scott McNairy, Lupita Nyong’o, Adepero Oduye, Sarah Paulson, Brad Pitt, Alfre Woodard)

AND THE WINNER IS:

AMERICAN HUSTLE (AMY ADAMS, CHRISTIAN BALE, LOUIS C.K., BRADLEY COOPER, ROBERT DENIRO, PAUL HERMAN, JACK HUSTON, JENNIFER LAWRENCE, ALESSANDRO NIVOLA, JEREMY RENNER, ELISABETH ROHM, SHEA WHIGHAM)

David O.Russell once again puts together such a great ensemble which mixes many of the actors he enlisted from his previous two films and just as well as he used them last time he uses them just as well this time around to make the story of the film so great as it mostly focused on these great characters. The cast really owns the film, making it fully watchable at every minute.

OUTSTANDING MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING

Evelyne Noraz & Lori McCoy-Bell for American Hustle

Adruitha Lee & Robin Mathews for Dallas Buyers Club

Kris Evansm Selena Evans-Miller, Glenn Hetrick, Ve Neill & Nikoletta Skarlatos for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Fae Hammond, Mark Coulier & Kristen Chalmers for Rush

Ma Kalaadevi Ananda, Jean A. Black, Nikki Brown, Nana Fischer, Nick London & Denise Pugh-Ruiz for 12 Years a Slave

AND THE WINNER IS:

EVELYNE NORAZ & LORI MCCOY-BELL FOR AMERICAN HUSTLE

These are the first wins and nominations for Evelyne Noraz & Lori McCoy-Bell.

While not the flashiest of makeup and a choice for a winner some people might question still I could not get over how the makeup which also includes hairstyling as a component played such an important part to the story of the film. Many of the hairstyles such as the uncontrollable golden locks of Rosalind, the tight perm of Richie, the obvious combover of Irving and the lose long curls of Sydney all made comments perfectly about each character and this worked so well that is no question they would win the makeup award.

OUTSTANDING COSTUME DESIGN

Michael Wilkinson for American Hustle

William Chang Suk Ping for The Grandmaster

Casey Storm for Her

Trish Summerville for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Patricia Norris for 12 Years a Slave

AND THE WINNER IS:

PATRICIA NORRIS FOR 12 YEARS A SLAVE

This is the first win and nomination for Patricia Norris.

The times of pre civil war has been represented so many times and will keep being done. The costuming in this film was never trying to be new but really was great at representing the times it was taking place during. The women’s clothing was great in how the different classes were done so different showing the structure of the times such as the Mistress Epps and Patsey clothes showing the power the two having been so different. Done by Patricia Norris it was done to great excellence.

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS

Pierre Buffin for The Grandmaster

Tim Webber, Chris Lawrence, Dave Shirk & Neil Corbould for Gravity

Roy Cancino, Joseph Pancake & Elia Popov for Her

Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton & Eric Reynolds for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Steve Cremin, Christian Eubank, Pete Kelley, Joe Love, Wes Mattox, Paul Sabourin, Richard Terry Tjelmeland & Sparky Willis for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

AND THE WINNER IS:

TIM WEBBER, CHRIS LAWRENCE, DAVE SHIRK & NEIL CORBOULD FOR GRAVITY

These are the first wins and nominations for Tim Webber, Chris Lawrence & Dave Shirk. This is Neil Corbould’s second win and third nomination, he previously won for Saving Private Ryan (1998) and was nominated for The Fifth Element (1997).

The winner was no question as the whole 90 minutes of Gravity was fully filled from shot to shot with great new visual technology creating the many shots of space such as the open vastness and many explosions that occurred during the running time and also the great overhead shots of the earth and how realistic it looked. The effects in this film done by Alfonso and his team was a great way to introduced new technology and was no question to be the best visual effects of the year.

OUTSTANDING CINEMATOGRAPHY

Philippe Le Sourd for The Grandmaster

Emmanuel Lubezki for Gravity

Bruno Delbonnel for Inside Llewyn Davis

Chung Chung-hoon for Stoker

Sean Bobbitt for 12 Years a Slave

AND THE WINNER IS:

EMMANUEL LUBEZKI FOR GRAVITY

This is the third win and fifth nomination for Emmanuel Lubezki. He previously won for Children of Men (2006) and The Tree of Life (2011). He was also nominated for Y tu mamá también (2002) & The New World (2005).

Space may have been created in the film by the visual effect artists of the film but the look of the out there areas was once again done to great class by Lubezki. While these scenes of total nothingness can look so great also the scenes that take place inside areas look so great as they look so real for those who will never experience these multiple places. Lubezki wins his third award for cinematography from me and once again proving he is one of the best working in the industry even when some of his work may come from visual effects.

OUTSTANDING ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

The Croods (Directed by Kirk De Micco & Chris Sanders)

Ernest & Celestine (Directed by Stephane Aubier, Vincent Patar & Benjamin Renner)

Frozen (Directed by Chris Buck & Jennifer Lee)

Turbo (Directed by David Soren)

The Wind Rises (Directed by Hayao Miyazaki)

AND THE WINNER IS:

THE WIND RISES (DIRECTED BY HAYAO MIYAZAKI)

This is the third win and nomination for Hayao Miyazaki. He previously won for animating Spirited Away (2002) and Howl’s Moving Castle (2005).

For being possibly the final film from Miyazaki I’m so happy that he has created a final film to be proud of. This is true animation mastery, the hand drawn animation alone proves how this form of animation should be regularly used as apposed to the most computer generated animation being used in high budget american cinema. There’s not much that can be said other than get out and see this film because it’s incredibly made.

OUTSTANDING PERFORMER OF THE YEAR

Amy Adams (American Hustle, Her, Man of Steel)

Ben Foster (Ain’t Them Bodies Saints, Kill Your Darlings, Lone Survivor)

Brie Larson (Don Jon, Short Term 12, The Spectacular Now)

Rooney Mara (Ain’t Them Bodies Saints, Her, Side Effects)

Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club, Mud, The Wolf of Wall Street)

AND THE WINNER IS:

MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY (DALLAS BUYERS CLUB, MUD, THE WOLF OF WALL STREET)

For the second year in a row McConaughey is the performer of the year with one again varying roles that that are all so completly differen from each other in is hard to remeber it is the same person in each role. In The Wolf of Wall Street with only one scene McConaughey is able to make the one scene such a memorable one in the film as the strange but informative Mark Hanna and McConaughey is able to deliever the wacky dialogue so well is is one of the standouts of the film, in Mud his supporting actor win McConaughey gives a turn on screen that combines both darkness and hear making such a memorable character that is Mud. In Dallas Buyers Club McConaughey gives another transformative performance as the homophobic AIDS filled Ron Woodroof making this deeply offensive man affected by Karma a great center to the film. The transformation alone is quite dark but is is the power and weakness protrayed from scene to scene by McConaughey that shows that he is more then just the pretty person who takes his shirt off.

OUTSTANDING MALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Bradley Cooper as FBI Agent Richard “Richie” DiMaso in “AMERICAN HUSTLE”

Michael Fassbender as Edwin Epps in “12 YEARS A SLAVE”

*James Gandolfini as Albert in “ENOUGH SAID”

Matthew Goode as Charlie Stoker in “STOKER”

Keith Stanfield as Marcus in “SHORT TERM 12”

AND THE WINNER IS…..

JAMES GANDOLFINI AS ALBERT IN “ENOUGH SAID”

This is the first win and second individual nomination for James Gandolini being previously nominated for Where the Wild Things Are (2009) and with the ensemble of The Man Who Wasn’t There (2001). He wins for his performance as Albert in Enough Said.

Sadly this year we lost Gandolfini but that does not mean we have seen the last of his work (2014 includes the final performances by Gandolfini in Animal Rescue), we get such a different turn from Gandolfini in one of his final roles. The performance in Enough Said never feels flashy or over the top but shows how a normal guy can feel when he starts in a new relationship and whenever on screen you cannot help but smile at the great subtle work being done by Gandolfini. The film is about the central relationship and while the narrative focuses more on the Julia Louis-Dreyfus character the performance given by Gandolfini is so heartfelt that he is the one that affects the audience most with how the events of the film affect him. Gandolfini earns his first nomination for his work as Albert in Enough Said.

18th “An Irish Boy” Film Awards ANNOUNCEMENT!!!

 

Film is such an explorative movies and it is such a joy to see films every year and my total of films was 145 this year ranging from big blockbuster ones to small indie films. Above are the winners and nominees from my previous two years. This year I will be starting to announce my winners and nominees and this year instead of just talking about the winners I chose to make brief paragraphs about the nominees in my order of who I liked with the winner being ranked first. Monday 20th is the day I will start with the first category being Outstanding Actor in a Supporting Role.