Presented without further unnecessary commentary, the trailer for "K-11" - an apparently sleaze-tastic thriller set in a segregated gay/transgendered California prison ward, written and directed by one Lynne Stewart, mother of Kristen:
Wednesday, 30 January 2013
"Warcraft" Movie Lands Duncan Jones
The Hollywood Reporter - er... reports that director Duncan Jones, late of "Moon" and "Source Code" has landed the hypothetically coveted job of helming Legendary Pictures "Warcraft" movie; which is apparently still happening despite the property's pop-culture ubiquity seeming to have peaked a couple of years ago.
In related news: Nerds? You are now out of excuses to have not already seen "Moon" and "Source Code."
Good news for Jones, in any case, whose worked hard and definitely deserves the cache that'll come from helming a likely-successful blockbuster; but forgive me if I'm not jumping over the moon. I'm just not really seeing what a "Warcraft" movie can realistically offer beyond being a "LOTR" riff with a more D&D-inspired aesthetic. Fodder to make a good movie, certainly (particularly with a great filmmaker onboard) but "Warcraft" is more beloved for its gameplay and depth/granulaity - not its story or even really its visuals.
Honestly? THIS is the franchise I'd like to see jump in front of the "ordinary person zapped into gameworld" bullet that you ONE game-adaptation is going to have to take at some point. Let's get real: The ONLY reason "Warcraft" is worth spending $100 million+ on making a movie is because "WORLD OF Warcraft" blew up into a huge mainstream phenomenon - hence why that one "South Park" episode is probably the best narrative thing ever associated with the franchise - and it did so because of the "take a break from work/life and ADVENTURE!" aspect of the MMO. If your trying to put the "Warcraft Experience" onscreen... that's kinda IT in my estimation.
In related news: Nerds? You are now out of excuses to have not already seen "Moon" and "Source Code."
Good news for Jones, in any case, whose worked hard and definitely deserves the cache that'll come from helming a likely-successful blockbuster; but forgive me if I'm not jumping over the moon. I'm just not really seeing what a "Warcraft" movie can realistically offer beyond being a "LOTR" riff with a more D&D-inspired aesthetic. Fodder to make a good movie, certainly (particularly with a great filmmaker onboard) but "Warcraft" is more beloved for its gameplay and depth/granulaity - not its story or even really its visuals.
Honestly? THIS is the franchise I'd like to see jump in front of the "ordinary person zapped into gameworld" bullet that you ONE game-adaptation is going to have to take at some point. Let's get real: The ONLY reason "Warcraft" is worth spending $100 million+ on making a movie is because "WORLD OF Warcraft" blew up into a huge mainstream phenomenon - hence why that one "South Park" episode is probably the best narrative thing ever associated with the franchise - and it did so because of the "take a break from work/life and ADVENTURE!" aspect of the MMO. If your trying to put the "Warcraft Experience" onscreen... that's kinda IT in my estimation.
A Humble Hope for Help
So... I generally avoid using the Blog(s) for things like this, but wide nets need to be wide.
I'm looking to get in touch with people in the book-publishing business, specifically video-gaming related stuff but really at this level any inroad would be a good inroad; but there's a pretty wide disconnect between the digital press world and the print world, so... don't really have any idea how to do that.
BUT I'm betting I've got at least a few friends/followers/fans/colleagues reading these things who might have some tidbit of advice/direction/access to offer; so if that describes you please feel free to pop said info into the comments here (or, if you prefer, a way in which I could contact you to get it.) Any little bit helps, honestly :)
Thank you.
I'm looking to get in touch with people in the book-publishing business, specifically video-gaming related stuff but really at this level any inroad would be a good inroad; but there's a pretty wide disconnect between the digital press world and the print world, so... don't really have any idea how to do that.
BUT I'm betting I've got at least a few friends/followers/fans/colleagues reading these things who might have some tidbit of advice/direction/access to offer; so if that describes you please feel free to pop said info into the comments here (or, if you prefer, a way in which I could contact you to get it.) Any little bit helps, honestly :)
Thank you.
2nd AACTA Awards Winners

Winners are in *BLUE.
1/27/13
In the second year the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) celebrates Australian cinema -as a substitution of the previous Australian Film Institute (AFI) awards that run since 1958- we find expected nominations and some films that seem to be worth to watch.
Awards ceremony will be on January 30 at The Star Event Centre in Sydney, will be hosted by Russell Crowe and expect to see Geoffrey Rush (AACTA President), Cate Blanchett and many more. Ceremony will be broadcast live on Network Ten.
As expected crowd-pleaser The Sapphires leads with 12 nominations followed by Burning Man, Lore, Wish You Were Here and Mental each with 8 nominations. Here are the nominations for top film categories.
Best Film
Burning Man
Lore
*The Sapphires
Wish You Were Here
Best Direction
Jonathan Teplitzky for Burning Man
Cate Shortland for Lore
*Wayne Blair for The Sapphires
Kieran Darcy-Smith for Wish You Were Here
Best Lead Actress
Toni Collette in Mental
*Deborah Mailman in The Sapphires
Felicity Price in Wish You Were Here
Sarah Snook in Not Suitable For Children
Best Lead Actor
Joel Edgerton in Wish You Were Here
Matthew Goode in Burning Man
*Chirs O'Dowd in The Sapphires
Guy Pearce in 33 Postcards
To check nominees in all film plus television categories go here. International awards already have been announced and Silver Linings Playbook took almost all the awards if you wish to check the nominations as well as the award winners please go here.
Hitman 2012 (Cesar Montano)
Category by FTI Movie House: Pinoy Movie
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Public Appearance Announcement (UPDATE)
Head's up: I'll be introducing an evening (6:30pm EST) screening of "The Avengers" on Saturday (Feb. 2nd) at the Brattle Theater in Cambridge, MA. More details on the screening, part of The Brattle's 2012 Best Of series, can be found on their website.
(UPDATE!) Also: I can also proudly announce that I'll be a guest at SGC 2013, June 21 - 23 at the Hyatt Regency Dallas in Dallas, TX.
(UPDATE!) Also: I can also proudly announce that I'll be a guest at SGC 2013, June 21 - 23 at the Hyatt Regency Dallas in Dallas, TX.
Tuesday, 29 January 2013
Big Picture: "A Disturbance In The Force"
Here's your obligatory "JJ Abrams is doing Star Wars now, too" episode - though I'm rather proud of how it turned out despite it's own obligatory-ness...
Nifty "Evil Dead" Promo
The producers of the "Evil Dead" remake would like you to know you can go to this website and record yourself being freaked-out by the recent trailer. So... yeah, that's a thing.
First
For those of you asking, YES I've seen Adam Quigley's "You Don't Understand 'Sucker Punch'" video on Slashfilm and YES the similarities to my own work from four months ago - starting from the title and down through... everything else, really - are hard to miss. But no, this isn't a Coulton/"Glee" thing; the movie has a pretty specific through-line, so there isn't anything "shady" about two critics coming to the same basic set of conclusions about it. Still, might as well watch them and judge for yourself...
Monday, 28 January 2013
Is Paul Giamatti 'The Rhino' for "Amazing Spider-Man 2?"
I maintain that I haven't been unfair to "The Amazing Spider-Man." It was a bad film with an infuriating production history, and I covered both aspects as such - nothing more, nothing less. I've also continuously maintained that if the production of ASM2 made any moves that I thought sounded good, I'd say so.
THIS, then, I will say makes me cautiously optimistic: THR reports that Paul Giamatti is being sought for "The Rhino." That's more like it - maybe.
Understand - I don't know that this signals anything having been corrected in the myriad flaws that are just built into the DNA of this rebooted franchise: Garfield's miscasting, Webb is simply not good at directing action, the "new" backstory (even assuming they just junk the non-starter missing-parents stuff) doesn't work, etc. There's not much to indicate that any of that is going to get ironed out.
BUT! ...I love The Rhino. I love everything about The Rhino, from the simplicity of his name and costume (yes I know it's technically supposed to be some kind of high-tech body-armor skin-graft but it LOOKS like a costume) to the basis of his existance: It's a superhero story, visual dynamism is a premium, so why have just a muscleman when it can be a muscleman dressed as a rhinocerous? And Giamatti is a great actor who's often at his most enjoyable when he goes waaaaay over-the-top in villain roles; so he could be a lot of fun here.
The one caveat to this, of course, is the same as the one attached to Jamie Foxx as the sequel's other heavy, Electro - interesting casting or not, the main thing that makes both of these guys "awesome" in the comics are their look and gimmick - both of which will be very difficult to put onscreen, especially in a series that's thus-far trying very hard to distance itself from the campier aspects of it's source material. It's unlikely that Foxx will show up wearing Electro's iconic star-mask, and likewise one assumes Giamatti will probably not be throwing Andrew Garfield around in horn-hooded gray pajamas (in fact, given that Giamatti is most-definitely not a "bruiser" to begin with, I imagine he'll probably be wearing some kind of vaugely Rhino-esque armor or be a human/rhino mutation of some kind.)
THIS, then, I will say makes me cautiously optimistic: THR reports that Paul Giamatti is being sought for "The Rhino." That's more like it - maybe.
Understand - I don't know that this signals anything having been corrected in the myriad flaws that are just built into the DNA of this rebooted franchise: Garfield's miscasting, Webb is simply not good at directing action, the "new" backstory (even assuming they just junk the non-starter missing-parents stuff) doesn't work, etc. There's not much to indicate that any of that is going to get ironed out.
BUT! ...I love The Rhino. I love everything about The Rhino, from the simplicity of his name and costume (yes I know it's technically supposed to be some kind of high-tech body-armor skin-graft but it LOOKS like a costume) to the basis of his existance: It's a superhero story, visual dynamism is a premium, so why have just a muscleman when it can be a muscleman dressed as a rhinocerous? And Giamatti is a great actor who's often at his most enjoyable when he goes waaaaay over-the-top in villain roles; so he could be a lot of fun here.
The one caveat to this, of course, is the same as the one attached to Jamie Foxx as the sequel's other heavy, Electro - interesting casting or not, the main thing that makes both of these guys "awesome" in the comics are their look and gimmick - both of which will be very difficult to put onscreen, especially in a series that's thus-far trying very hard to distance itself from the campier aspects of it's source material. It's unlikely that Foxx will show up wearing Electro's iconic star-mask, and likewise one assumes Giamatti will probably not be throwing Andrew Garfield around in horn-hooded gray pajamas (in fact, given that Giamatti is most-definitely not a "bruiser" to begin with, I imagine he'll probably be wearing some kind of vaugely Rhino-esque armor or be a human/rhino mutation of some kind.)
63rd Berlin International Film Festival - Official Program Lineup

Films in main competition include 19 movies with a few well-known directors and some of the most extraordinary actresses: Juliette Binoche, Isabelle Huppert, Catherine Deneuve and Nina Hoss. Obviously those films have instantly become must be seen for me.
Also as expected the last installment in the Ulrich Seidl's Paradise trilogy, Paradise: Hope, will premier in competition; but perhaps the film that many of us have been anxiously waiting for -since more than a year- is what makes this fest edition most interesting. I'm talking about the film by this year festival Jury President, master extraordinaire Wong Kar Wai, The Grandmaster starring none other than his regular most admired by me, Tony Leung.
Remarkably after reading about each of the following films became absolutely impressed by the quality of some of them as some of the few images available are really breathtaking.
Official Program
In Competition

Долгая счастливая жизнь Dolgaya schastlivaya zhizn (A Long and Happy Life), Boris Khlebnikov, Russia (photo)
Elle s'en va (On my Way), Emmanuelle Bercot, France
Epizoda u životu berača željeza (An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker), Danis Tanović, Bosnia and Herzegovina, France and Slovenia
Gloria, Sebastián Lelio, Chile and Spain
Gold, Thomas Arslan, Germany
Layla Fourie, Pia Marais, Germany, South Africa, France and Netherlands
The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman, Fredrik Bond, USA
누구의 딸도 아닌 해원 Nugu-ui Ttal-do Anin Haewon (Nobody's Daughter Haewon), Hong Sangsoo, South Korea
Paradies: Hoffnung (Paradise: Hope), Ulrich Seidl, Austria, France and Germany
Pardé (Closed Curtain), Jafar Panahi and Kamboziya Partovi, Iran
Poziţia Copilului (Child's Pose), Călin Peter Netzer, Romania
Prince Avalanche, David Gordon Green, USA

La Religieuse (The Nun), Guillaume Nicloux, France, Germany and Belgium
Side Effects, Steven Soderbergh, USA
Уроки гармонии Uroki Garmonii (Harmony Lessons), Emir Baigazin, Kazakhstan and Germany
Vic+Flo ont vu un ours (Vic+Flo Saw a Bear), Denis Côté, Canada
W imię… (In the Name of), Małgośka Szumowska, Poland
Out of Competition
Opening Film: Yi dai zong shi (The Grandmaster), Wong Kar Wai, Hong Kong and China
Before Midnight, Richard Linklater, USA and Greece
The Croods, Kirk DeMicco and Chris Sanders, USA (Animation)
Dark Blood, George Sluizer, Netherlands
Night Train to Lisbon, Bille August, Germany, Switzerland and Portugal
International Jury
President: Wong Kar Wai, director, China
Susanne Bier, director, Denmark
Athina Rachel Tsangari, director and producer, Greece
Adreas Dresen, director, Germany
Ellen Kuras, director and cinematographer, USA
Shirin Neshat, artist and director, Iran and USA
Tim Robbins, actor, USA
Again I'm impressed with the quality of the international jury, especially for the first three. Besides the actresses already mentioned, there are many more international and American actors/actresses that definitively call my attention. Perhaps I'm a bit award season burnt but find that many of this year films are especially worth watching, hope I'm right.

"When Dark Blood’s leading actor River Phoenix died suddenly ten days before the end of the shoot in 1993, the film’s insurance company became the owner of the unfinished material. Years later, director George Sluizer managed to save his footage from being destroyed. In January 2012 he decided to finish the film by reading aloud off-screen the missing scenes from the screenplay. The resulting work is an existentialist latter-day Western which derives much of its evocative power from the presence of its leading man, who was himself teetering on the brink of death."
Can't help to comment that from the American films there is one that is the remake of an Icelandic comedy, Á annan veg (Either Way) by Hafsteinn Gunnar; what pop-up is one of the stars, Paul Rudd, that usually does the kind of comedy I really dislike. Festival praises movie to have "visual poetry" of early David Gordon Green movies so perhaps movie can be different to regular Paul Rudd's fare. But have to admit that I highly enjoy Emile Hirch performances, so probably will end up watching film for sure. The name of the movie: Prince Avalanche.
I'm looking forward to see many of these films hopefully in the very near future.
Cheers!!!
Watch some trailers, all synopsis/images @MOC
36th Göteborg International Film Festival Line-up

Dragon Award for Best Nordic Film
8-Pallo (8-Ball), Aku Louhimies, Finland
Djúpið (The Deep), Baltasar Kormákur, Iceland
Faro, Fredrik Edfeldt, Sweden
Før snøen faller (Before Snowfall), Hisham Zaman, Norway
Kapringen (A Hijacking), Tobias Lindholm, Denmark
Nordvest (Northwest), Michael Noer, Denmark
Som du ser meg (I Belong), Dag Johan Haugerud, Norway
Uskyld (All that matters is past), Sara Johnsen, Norway
The Ingmar Bergman International Debut Award
36, Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit, Thailand
Carne de Perro (Dog Flesh), Fernando Guzzoni, Chile, Germany and France
Crawl, Hervé Lasgouttes, France
Gözetleme Kulesi (Watchtower), Pelin Esmer, Turkey
It Felt Like Love, Eliza Hittman, USA
Lemale et ha'halal (Fill the Void), Rama Burshtein, Israel
Wadjda, Haifaa al-Mansour, Saudi Arabia and Germany
Zwei Leben (Two Lives), Georg Maas, Germany and Norway
To watch trailers for the above and more movies go here. This year the fest is larger than ever as the program includes almost 500 films from 84 countries and to check films in the many sections please go here.
This Guy's in Love with U Mare!
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19th Screen Actors Guild Awards Winners

The show opened with film supporting roles with the first award going to Tommy Lee Jones in Lincoln which was very unexpected and now opens Oscar supporting actor race even more plus makes guessing winner harder. Many were already speculating that Lincoln was the top contender to win Oscar Best Picture but with tonight's results is obvious that Argo is still a top contender; for me race is still between Argo and Lincoln.
Believe that with this win Daniel Day-Lewis secured his third Oscar which probably will be a record for the stats book. It is a safe bet to say that Anne Hathaway will win an Oscar in the supporting actress category and still believe that Best Actress race is open with Jennifer Lawrence and Jessica Chastain competing for the award.
Can't help but to comment that in the television categories there were some surprises, like great Downton Abbey beating Homeland and Bryan Cranston beating Damian Lewis, so if you wish to check winners go here.
Winners are in *BLUE.
12/12/12
The first industry group to announce their nominations will give us an idea of how close or far away critics' are from those that actually vote for the Academy Awards and represent the largest group in all guilds, so their vote matters.
Award ceremony will be on Sunday, January 27, 2013 and will be simulcast live from Los Angeles Shrine Exposition Centre on TNT and TBS starting at 8pm EST.
These are the nominees announced by Busy Philipps and Taye Diggs a few minutes ago.
Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
*Argo (Ben Affleck, Alan Arkin, Kerry Biche, Kyle Chandler, Rory Cochrane, Bryan Cranston, Christopher Denham, Tate Donovan, Clea Duvall, Victor Garber, John Goodman, Scoot McNairy, Chris Messina)
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (Judi dench, Celia Imrie, Bill Nighy, Dev Patel, Ronald Pickup, Maggie Smith, Tom Wilkinson, Penelope Wilton)
Les Misérables (Isabelle Allen, Samantha Barks, Sacha Baron Cohen, Helena Bonham Carter, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Daniel Huttlestone, Hugh Jackman, Eddie Redmayne, Amanda Seyfried, Aaron Tveit, Colm Wilkinson)
Lincoln (Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Hal Holbrook, Tommy Lee Jones, James Spader, David Strathairn)
Silver Linings Playbook (Bradley Cooper, Robert De Niro, Anupam Kher, Jennifer Lawrence, Chris Tucker, Jacki Weaver)
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
Jessica Chastain in Zero Dark Thirty
Marion Cotillard in Rust and Bone
*Jennifer Lawrence in Silver Linings Playbook
Helen Mirren in Hitchcock
Naomi Watts in The Impossible
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
Sally Field in Lincoln
*Anne Hathaway in Les Misérables
Helen Hunt in The Sessions
Nicole Kidman in The Paperboy
Maggie Smith in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
Bradley Cooper in Silver Linings Playbook
*Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln
John Hawkes in The Sessions
Hugh Jackman in Les Misérables
Denzel Washington in Flight
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
Alan Arkin in Argo
Javier Bardem in Skyfall
Robert De Niro in Silver Linnings Playbook
Philip Seymour Hoffman in The Master
*Tommy Lee Jones in Lincoln
Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture
The Amazing Spider-Man
The Bourne Legacy
The Dark Knight Rises
Les Misérables
*Skyfall
Have to comment that TV nominations were extremely predictable and repetitive from last year, can even predict some winners this moment; but check them anyway right now in the press release as later all nominations will be in the Awards tab.
Now I'm almost certain that Marion Cotillard will get an Oscar nomination again and in my opinion she truly deserves the honor as she was outstanding in Rust and Bone. Do not know if Emmanuelle Riva was eligible (meaning if she's a SAG member) but definitively she is a strong contender for Oscar Best Actress.
Most surprising are Nicole Kidman's two nominations (Paperboy and TV Hemingway & Gellhorn) and definitively this year belongs to Maggie Smith with a whooping four (4) nominations (2 for The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and 2 for Downton Abbey).
Cast category has movies that already have strong Oscar buzz with the exception of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel; most surprising is Zero Dark Thirty cast not being in this category but will find out the reason why.
There are no surprises in both Male actors categories (was expecting Bardem to get a nod), even if they snubbed Joaquin Phoenix and Robert De Niro got a slot. For those questioning why Beasts of the Southern Wild has no nominations I remind you that film had non-actors and was not eligible.
In general critics and this guild are not that far from each other as films plus actors with more buzz and critics' honors are alike, almost the same.
Sunday, 27 January 2013
Your Daily Angry
hat-tip: RWWBlog
Just in case you were expecting to feel good things about the state of humanity today, here are some delightful Christian radio-hosts with their thoughts on 21st century feminism:
Two kinds of people in the world: Thinkers and Believers. You know where these guys line up. And please bear in mind - there are millions of people who line up right next to them... and they're all allowed to vote. Pleasant nightmares.
Just in case you were expecting to feel good things about the state of humanity today, here are some delightful Christian radio-hosts with their thoughts on 21st century feminism:
Two kinds of people in the world: Thinkers and Believers. You know where these guys line up. And please bear in mind - there are millions of people who line up right next to them... and they're all allowed to vote. Pleasant nightmares.
2013 Sundance Film Festival Award Winners

"The films at our Festival this year truly reflect the unbridled passion, immense talent and diverse stories coming from the independent filmmaking community. I am confident that the awards presented this evening will fuel those films with special promise and that audiences will continue to champion the films they have discovered here.”
These are the winners.
U.S. Competition
Dramatic
Grand Jury Award: Frutivale, Tom Rothman
Directing Award: Jill Soloway for Afternoon Delight
Screenwriting Award: Lake Bell for In a World..., Lake Bell
Cinematography Award: Bradford Young for Ain't Them Bodies Saints and Mother of George
Special Jury Award for Acting: Miles Teller and Shailene Woodley in The Spectacular Now, James Ponsoldt
Special Jury Award for Sound Design: Shane Carruth and Johnny Marshall for Upstream Color, Shane Carruth
Documentary
Grand Jury Award: Blood Brother, Steve Hoover
Directing Award: Zachary Heinzerling for Cutie and the Boxer
Editing Award: Matthew Hamacheck for Gideon's Army, Dawn Porter
Cinematography Award: Richard Rowley for Dirty Wars, Richard Rowley
Special Jury Award for Achievement in Filmmaking: Inequality for All, Jacob Kronbluth
Special Jury Award for Achievement in Filmmaking: American Promise, Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson
World Cinema Competition
Dramatic
Grand Jury Award: 지슬 Jiseul, Muel O, South Korea
Directing Award: Sebastián Silva for Crystal Fairy, Chile and USA
Screenwriting Award: Barmak Akram for Wajma (An Afghan Love Story), Barmak Akram, Afghanistan
Cinematography Award: Nieulotne (Lasting), Jacek Borcuch, Poland and Spain
Special Jury Award: Krugovi (Circles), Srdan Golubović, Serbia, Germany, France, Croatia and Slovenia
Documentary
Grand Jury Award: ក្បង់ទឹកទន្លេ A River Changes Course, Kayanee Mam, Cambodia and USA
Directing Award: Tinatin Gurchiani for Manqana, romelic kvelafers gaaqrobs (The Machine Which Makes Everything Disappear), Georgia and Germany
Editing Award: The Summit, Nick Ryan, Ireland and UK
Cinematography Award: Who is Dayani Cristal?, Marc Silver, UK
Special Jury Award for Punk Spirit: Pussy Riot - A Punk Prayer, Mike Lerner and Maxim Pozdorovkin, Russia and UK
Short Film Competition
Grand Jury Prize: The Whistle, Grzegorz Zariczny, Poland
U.S. Fiction Jury Award: Whiplash, Damien Chazelle, USA
U.S. Non-Fiction Jury Award: Skinningrove, Michael Almereyda
International Fiction Award: The Date, Jenni Toivoniemi, Finland
Animation Jury Award: Irish Folk Furniture, Tony Donoghue, Ireland
Special Jury Award for Acting: Joel Nagle in Palimpsest, Michael Tyburski, USA
Special Jury Award: Until the Quiet Comes, Kahlil Joseph, USA
Audience Awards
US Dramatic: Frutivale, Tom Rothman
US Documentary: Blood Brother, Steve Hoover
World Cinema Dramatic: Metro Manila, Sean Ellis, UK and Philippines
World Cinema Documentary: Al Midan (The Square), Jehane Noujaim, Egypt and USA
Best of NEXT <=>: This is Martin Booner, Chad Hartigan, USA
Short Film: Catnip: Egress to Oblivion?, Jason Willis, USA
Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize: Computer Chess, Andrew Bujalski, USA
To learn other special awards check press release. What somehow surprises me is the many female filmmakers present in different competitions and the very low percentage of them that got an award. In the US Dramatic competition only 2 female directors won awards, one for directing and another for screenwriting. Do not know what this fact really means but just hope that these female directors were not chosen because their gender or to fulfill a festival "quota" as IF their work was NOT award-quality then should not be in competition. Sigh.
2012 Film Critics' Awards - Final

Nevertheless, in theory based on the tally, we can assume that Oscar Best Picture race could be between Argo and Zero Dark Thirty, but know our assumption will be wrong as ZD30 got so much negative buzz that there is no race between them and Argo will prevail above Kathryn Bigelow's movie. After seeing all nominated movies my best guess is that the race will be between Argo and Lincoln.
Perhaps the category were critics' and Academy members will agree is Best Actor as Daniel Day-Lewis is the big favorite to win Oscar by far. Still wonder how ZD30 negative buzz will influence Academy members but critics' tally suggests that Best Actress race will be between Jessica Chastain and Jennifer Lawrence.
As commented every year critics' are NOT Academy members and main difference could be the average age which makes them differ often. This year seems that again what critics praise will not be similar to what AMPAS could/will honor. Sigh.
Still, I am one that this year agree more with critics than with AMPAS nominations, as believe that Affleck and Bigelow should have gotten a nod as their work deserves recognition.
12/8
As every year this post will begin today when we have the first non-major film critics' group announcing their winners; remember that will be a work in progress until the last group of critics do their announcement around the second week of next January. Most groups are American but also you will find in one post info from some groups in Canada, Ireland and UK.
As last year, will publish the link to read all winners and will list winners in the following categories: Best Film, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Actor and new this year, Best Documentary.
But, before the list and to have ALL in one post, first is the summary for the major film critics' groups.
Los Angeles Film Critics Association
Winners: Post
Best Film: Amour, Michael Haneke
Best Director: Paul Thomas Anderson for The Master
Best Actress: (tie) Jennifer Lawrence in Silver Linings Playbook and Emmanuelle Riva in Amour
Best Actor: Joaquin Phoenix in The Master
Best Documentary: The Gate Keepers
Critics' Choice Movie Awards
Winners: Post
Best Film: Argo
Best Director: Ben Affleck for Argo
Best Actress: Jessica Chastain in Zero Dark Thirty
Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln
Best Documentary: Searching for Sugar Man
International Press Academy
Winners: Post
Best Film: Silver Linings Playbook
Best Director: David O. Russell for Silver Linings Playbook
Best Actress: Jennifer Lawrence in Silver Linings Playbook
Best Actor: Bradley Cooper in Silver Linings Playbook
Best Documentary: Chasing Ice
National Board of Review
Winners: Post
Best Film: Zero Dark Thirty, Kathryn Bigelow
Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow for Zero Dark Thirty
Best Actress: Jessica Chastain in Zero Dark Thirty
Best Actor: Bradley Cooper in Silver Linings Playbook
Best Documentary: Searching for Sugarman
New York Film Critics Circle
Winners: Post
Best Film: Zero Dark Thirty, Kathryn Bigelow
Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow for Zero Dark Thirty
Best Actress: Rachel Weisz in The Deep Blue Sea
Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln
Best Documentary: The Central Park Five
The List
African-American Film Critics Association
Winners: Official Site
Best Film: Zero Dark Thirty
Best Director: Ben Affleck for Argo
Best Actress: Emayatzy Corinealdi in Middle of Nowhere
Best Actor: Denzel Washington in Flight
Best Documentary: (tie) The House I Live In and Versailles '73
Alliance of Women Film Journalists (EDA Awards)
Nominees: Official Site
Winners: Official Site
Best Film: Zero Dark Thirty
Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow for Zero Dark Thirty
Best Actress: Jessica Chastain in Zero Dark Thirty
Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln
Best Documentary: Searching for Sugar Man
Austin Film Critics Association
Winners: Official Site
Best Film: Zero Dark Thirty
Best Director: Paul Thomas Anderson for The Master
Best Actress: Jennifer Lawrence in Silver Linings Playbook
Best Actor: Joaquin Phoenix in The Master
Best Documentary: The Imposter
Black Film Critics Circle
Winners: News Official Site
Best Film: Zero Dark Thirty
Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow for Zero Dark Thirty
Best Actress: Jessica Chastain in Zero Dark Thirty
Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln
Best Documentary: The Central Park Five
Boston Society of Film Critics
Winners: Official Site
Best Film: Zero Dark Thirty
Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow for Zero Dark Thirty
Best Actress: Emmanuelle Riva in Amour
Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln
Best Documentary: How To Survive a Plague
Boston Online Film Critics Association
Winners: Official Site
Best Film: Zero Dark Thirty
Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow for Zero Dark Thirty
Best Actress: Jessica Chastain in Zero Dark Thirty
Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln
Best Documentary: How To Survive a Plague
Central Ohio Film Critics Association
Winners: Official Site
Best Film: Moonrise Kingdom
Best Director: Wes Anderson for Moonrise Kingdom
Best Actress: Jennifer Lawrence in Silver Linings Playbook
Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln
Best Documentary: How to Survive a Plague
Chicago Film Critics Association
Winners: Official Site
Best Film: Zero Dark Thirty
Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow for Zero Dark Thirty
Best Actress: Jessica Chastain in Zero Dark Thirty
Best Actor:Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln
Best Documentary: The Invisible War
Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association
Winners: News Official Site
Best Film: Lincoln
Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow for Zero Dark Thirty
Best Actress: Jessica Chastain in Zero Dark Thirty
Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis In Lincoln
Best Documentary: Seaching for Sugarman
Denver Film Critics Society
Winners: Official Site
Best Film: Argo
Best Director: Ben Affleck for Argo
Best Actress: Jennifer Lawrence in Silver Linings Playbook
Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln
Best Documentary: Jiro Dreams of Sushi
Detroit Film Critics Society
Nominations: News
Winners: Official Site
Best Film: Silver Linings Playbook
Best Director: David O. Russell for Silver Linings Playbook
Best Actress: Jennifer Lawrence in Silver Linings Playbook
Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln
Best Documentary: Jiro Dreams of Sushi
Dublin Film Critics Circle (*NOT added to tally)
Winners: News
Best Film: The Artist
Best Director: Michael Haneke for Amour
Best Actress: Emmanuelle Riva in Amour
Best Actor: Joaquin Phoenix in The Master
Best Documentary: Marina Abramovic: The Artist is Present
Florida Film Critics Circle
Winners: Official Site
Best Film: Argo
Best Director: Ben Affleck in Argo
Best Actress: Jessica Chastain in Zero Dark Thirty
Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln
Best Documentary: The Queen of Versailles
Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association (Dorian Awards)
Winners: Official Site
Best Film: Argo
Best Director: Not Awarded
Best Actress: Anne Hathaway in Les Miserables
Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln
Best Documentary: How to Survive a Plague
The Guardian UK Top 10 films
Article with opportunity for audience vote: Official Site
Number 1 Film: The Master
The Houston Film Critics Society
Winners: News Official Site
Best Film: Argo
Best Director: Ben Affleck for Argo
Best Actress: Jennifer Lawrence in Silver Linings Playbook
Best Actor:Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln
Best Documentary: The Imposter
Indiana Film Journalist Association
Winners: Official Site
Best Film: Safety Not Guaranteed
Best Director: Quentin Tarantino for Django Unchained
Best Actress: Jessica Chastain in Zero Dark Thirty
Best Actor: (tie) Bradley Cooper in Silver Linings Playbook and Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln
Best Documentary: Searching for Sugar Man
Indiewire Annual Critics Survey (204 Critics)
Winners: Official Site
Best Film: Holy Motors
Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty
Best Performance: Denis Lavant in Holy Motors
Best Documentary: In film nist (This is Not a Film)
Iowa Film Critics Association
Winners: News
Best Film: Lincoln
Best Director: Steven Spielberg for Lincoln
Best Actress: Jessica Chastain in Zero Dark Thirty
Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln
Kansas City Film Critics Circle
Winners: Official Site
Best Film: The Master
Best Director: Ang Lee for Life of Pi
Best Actress: Jennifer Lawrence in Silver Linings Playbook
Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln
Best Documentary: The Imposter
Las Vegas Film Critics Society
Winners: News
Best Film: Life of Pi
Best Director: Ang Lee for Life of Pi
Best Actress: Jennifer Lawrence in Silver Linings Playbook
Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln
Best Documentary: Bully
National Society of Film Critics
Winners: Official Site
Best Film: Amour
Best Director: Michael Haneke for Amour
Best Actress: Emmanuelle Riva in Amour
Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln
Best Documentary: The Gatekeepers
Nevada Film Critics Society
Winners: Offficial Site
Best Film: Argo
Best Director: (tie) Kathryn Bigelow for Zero Dark Thirty and Ben Affleck for Argo
Best Actress: (tie) Jennifer Lawrence in Silver Linings Playbook and Helen Hunt in The Sessions
Best Actor: John Hawkes in The Sessions
Best Documentary: Not awarded.
New York Film Critics Online
Winners: Official Site or Board
Best Film: Zero Dark Thirty
Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow for Zero Dark Thirty
Best Actress: Emmanuelle Riva in Amour
Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln
Best Documentary: Central Park Five
North Texas Film Critics Association
Winners: Official Site
Best Film: Lincoln
Best Director: Steven Spielberg for Lincoln
Best Actress: Jennifer Lawrence in Silver Linings Playbook
Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln
Best Documentary: Bully
Oklahoma Film Critics Circle
Winners: News
Best Film: Argo
Best Director: Ben Affleck for Argo
Best Actress: Jessica Chastain in Zero Dark Thirty.
Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln
Best Documentary: Searching for Sugar Man
Online Film Critics Society
Winners: Official Site
Best Film: Argo
Best Director: Paul Thomas Anderson for The Master
Best Actress: Jessica Chastain in Zero Dark Thirty
Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln
Best Documentary: In film nist (This is Not a Film)
Phoenix Film Critics Society
Winners: Official Site
Best Film: Argo
Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow for Zero Dark Thirty
Best Actress: Jessica Chastain in Zero Dark Thirty
Best Actor:Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln
Best Documentary: Searching for Sugar Man
St. Louis Film Critics
Winners: Official Site
Best Film: Argo
Best Director: Ben Affleck for Argo
Best Actress: Jessica Chastain in Zero Dark Thirty
Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln
Best Documentary: Searching for Sugar Man
San Diego Film Critics Society
Nominations: Official Site
Winners: Official Site
Best Film: Argo
Best Director: Ben Affleck for Argo
Best Actress: Michelle Williams in Take This Waltz
Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln
Best Documentary: The Invisible War
San Francisco Film Critics Circle
Winners: Official Site
Best Film: The Master
Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow for Zero Dark Thirty
Best Actress:Emmanuelle Riva in Amour
Best Actor: Joaquin Phoenix in The Master
Best Documentary: The Waiting Room
Sight&Sound Film Magazine (90 international critics poll)
Article with Top 11 Films of 2012: Official Site
Number 1 Film: The Master
Southeastern Film Critics Association
Winners: News Official Site
Best Film: Argo
Best Director: Ben Affleck for Argo
Best Actress: Jennifer Lawrence in Silver Linings Playbook
Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln
Best Documentary: The Queen of Versailles
Toronto Film Critics Association
Winners: Official Site
Best Film: The Master
Best Director: Paul Thomas Anderson for The Master
Best Actress: Rachel Weisz in The Deep Blue Sea
Best Actor:Denis Lavant in Holy Motors
Best Documentary: Stories We Tell
Utah Film Critics Association
Winners: News
Best Film: Zero Dark Thirty
Best Director: Wes Anderson for Moonrise Kingdom
Best Actress: Jennifer Lawrence in Silver Linings Playbook
Best Actor: Joaquin Phoenix in The Master
Best Documentary: Indie Game: The Movie
Vancouver Film Critics Circle
Nominations: Official Site
Winners: Official Site
Best Film: Zero Dark Thirty
Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow for Zero Dark Thirty
Best Actress: Jessica Chastain in Zero Dark Thirty
Best Actor: Joaquin Phoenix in The Master
Best Documentary: Searching for Sugar Man
The Washington DC Area Film Critics
Nominations: Official Site
Winners: Official Site
Best Film: Zero Dark Thirty
Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow for Zero Dark Thirty
Best Actress: Jessica Chastain in Zero Dark Thirty
Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln
Best Documentary: Bully
Women Film Critics Circle (*NOT added to Tally)
Winners: News Official Site
Best Film by a Woman: Zero Dark Thirty by Kathryn Bigelow
Best Actress: Anne Hathaway in Les Miserables
Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln
As we know there are a few exceptions that will get their own post. For reference this is the link to what critics honored last year, which the Best Film winner among them was none other than The Artist that went to win an Oscar.
Please remember that links usually work for a limited time, meaning that if you wish to look for nominations/winners from last year you probably will have to browse site to find them and some sites simply delete previous years.
*Some groups are added for information but due to specialization or including last year movies, will NOT be added to tally.
Tally
The following is a summary with the winners in the five main categories. Tally will be updated from now on when a new group makes their announcement.
Best Film
13 - Zero Dark Thirty (NBR, NYFCC, AAFC, BSFC, BOFCA, NYFCO, WDCAFC, CFCA, AFCA, UFCA, BFCC, EDA, VFCC)
12 - Argo (SDFCS, SLFCA, SEFCA, PFCS, FFCC, OFCC, NFCS, HFCS, OFCS, DFCS, CCMA)
5 - The Master (TGUK, KCFCC, SFCC, S&SFM, TFCA, GALECA)
3 - Lincoln (DFWFCA, NTFCA, IFCA)
2 - Amour (LAFCA, NSFC)
2 - Silver Linings Playbook (IPA, DFCS)
1 - Holy Motors (IW)
1 - Life of Pi (LVFCS)
1 - Moonrise Kingdom (COFCA
1 - Safety Not Guaranteed (IFJA)
Best Director
15 - Kathryn Bigelow for Zero Dark Thirty (NBR, NYFCC, BSFC, BOFCA, NYFCO, SFFCC, WDCAFC, CFCA, DFWFCA, PFCS, IW, BFCC, NFCS, EDA, VFCC)
10 - Ben Affleck for Argo (AAFCA, SDFCS, SLFCA, SEFCA, FFCC, OFCC, NFCS, HFCS, DFCS, CCMA)
4 - Paul Thomas Anderson for The Master (LAFCA, TFCA, AFCA, OFCS)
2 - Wes Anderson for Moonrise Kingdom (UFCA, COFCA)
2 - Ang Lee for Life of Pi (KCFCC, LVFCS)
2 - David O. Russell for Silver Linings Playbook (IPA, DFCS)
2 - Steven Spielberg for Lincoln (NFTCA, IFCA)
1 - Michael Haneke for Amour (NSFC)
1 - Quentin Tarantino for Django Unchained (IFJA)
Best Actress
16 - Jessica Chastain in Zero Dark Thirty (NBR, BOFCA, WDCAFC, IFJA, CFCA, SLFCA, DFWFCA, PFCS, FFCC, BFCC, OFCC, OFCS, EDA, VFCC, IFCA, CCMA)
13 - Jennifer Lawrence in Silver Linings Playbook (LAFCA, IPA, DFCS, KCFCC, LVFCS, SEFCA, AFCA, UFCA, NFCS, HFCS, NTFCA, COFCA, DFCS)
5 - Emmanuel Riva in Amour (LAFCA, BSFC, NYFCO, SFFCC, NSFC)
2 - Rachel Weisz in The Deep Blue Sea (NYFCC, TFCA)
1 - Emayatzy Corinealdi in Middle of Nowhere (AAFCA)
1 - Michelle Williams in Take This Waltz (SDFCS)
1 - Helen Hunt in The Sessions (NFCS)
1 - Anne Hathaway in Les Miserables (GALECA)
Best Actor
28 - Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln (NYFCC, BSFC, BOFCA, DFCS, KCFCC, LVFCS, NYFCO, SDFCS, WDCAFC, IFJA, CFCA, SLFCA, SEFCA, DFWFCA, PFCS, FFCC, BFCC, OFCC, NSFC, HFCS, OFCS, NTFCA, EDA, COFCA, IFCA, DFCS, CCMA, GALECA)
5 - Joaquin Phoenix in The Master (LAFCA, SFFCC, AFCA, UFCA, VFCC)
3 - Bradley Cooper in Silver Linings Playbook (IPA, NBR, IFJA)
2 - Denis Lavant in Holy Motors (TFCA, IW)
1 - Denzel Washington in Flight (AAFCA)
1 - John Hawkes in The Sessions (NFCS)
Best Documentary
9 - Searching for Sugarman (NBR, IFJA, SLFCA, DFWFCA, PFCS, OFCC, EDA, VFCC, CCMA)
4 - How to Survive a Plague (BSFC, BOFCA, COFCA, GALECA)
3 - Bully (LVFCS, WDCAFC, NTFCA)
3 - The Central Park Five (NYFCC, NYFCO, BFCC)
3 - The Imposter (KCFCC, AFCA, HFCS)
2 - The Gatekeepers (LAFCA, NSFC)
2 - In film nist (This is Not a Film) (IW, OFCS)
2 - The Invisible War (SDFCS, CFCA)
2 - Jiro Dreams of Sushi (DFCS, DFCS-Denver)
2 - The Queen of Versailles (SEFCA, FFCC)
1 - Chasing Ice (IPA)
1 - The House I Live In (AAFCA)
1 - Indie Game: The Movie (UFCA)
1 - Stories We Tell (TFCA)
1 - Versailles '73 (AAFCA)
1 - The Waiting Room (SFFCC)
As we can see Best Actor category is the less dispersed while Best Documentary is the most dispersed; as of today (12/17) Best Director is the category that lists the most probable five Oscar nominees; oops! Indiana ruined the category but Quentin is always welcome.
24th Annual Producers Guild Awards Winners

These awards usually predict possible Oscar winners, so in theory Argo has good chances to win Best Picture but since nominations brought us so many unpleasant surprises, I do not dare to guess if Academy members will replicate what happened here. Still, I am hoping that the best documentary that I have seen "ever", Searching for Sugar Man, gets the Oscar as truly deserves it.
1/13/13
The Producers Guild of America (PGA) announced late yesterday the motion picture and long-form television nominations which complement the documentary film and other television categories previously announced. Now the over 5,000 members will have to vote to define winners in each category.
All 2013 Producers Guild Award winners will be announced on January 26th at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. This year, the Producers Guild will also present special honors to Bob and Harvey Weinstein (Milestone Award), Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner (David O. Selznick Achievement Award in Theatrical Motion Pictures), J.J. Abrams (Norman Lear Achievement Award in Television), Russell Simmons (Visionary Award) and Bully (Stanley Kramer Award).
These are the nominations for Theatrical Motion Pictures, including documentary.
The Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures
*Ben Affleck, George Clooney and Grant Heslov for Argo (Warner Bros.)
Michael Gottwald, Dan Janvey and Josh Penn for Beasts of the Southern Wild (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
Reginald Hudlin, Pilar Savone and Stacey Sher for Django Unchained (The Weinstein Company)
Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Debra Hayward and Cameron Mackintosh for Les Misérables (Universal Pictures)
Ang Lee, Gil Netter and David Womark for Life of Pi (Fox 2000 Pictures)
Kathleen Kennedy and Steven Spielberg for Lincoln (Touchstone Pictures)
Wes Anderson, Scott Rudin, Jeremy Dawson and Steven Rales for Moonrise Kingdom (Focus Features)
Bruce Cohen, Donna Gigliotti and Jonathan Gordon for Silver Linings Playbook (The Weinstein Company)
Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson Skyfall (MGM/Columbia Pictures)
Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal and Megan Ellison for Zero Dark Thirty (Columbia Pictures)
The Award for Outstanding Producer of Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures
Katherine Sarafian for Brave (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
Allison Abbate and Tim Burton for Frankenweenie (Walt Disney Pictures)
*Travis Knight and Arianne Sutner for ParaNorman (Focus Features)
Nancy Bernstein and Christina Steinberg for Rise of the Guardians (Paramount Pictures)
Clark Spencer for Wreck-It Ralph (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
The Award for Outstanding Producer of Documentary Theatrical Motion Pictures
Marc Swenker and Aaron Yeger for A People Uncounted (Urbinder Films)
Estelle Fialon, Philippa Kowarsky and Dror Moreh for The Gatekeepers (Sony Pictures Classics)
Richard Berge and Bonni Cohen for The Island President (Samuel Goldwyn Films)
Marius Markevicius and Jon Weinbach for The Other Dream Team (The Film Arcade)
*Malik Bendjelloul and Simon Chinn for Searching For Sugar Man (Sony Pictures Classics)
To check nominations in television categories go here. As we know these awards gives us an idea of the possible Oscar nominations for the Best Film category; most films have already buzz and maybe the huge surprise is the absence of The Master, however we know that film got great critics reviews but after started to lag in current award season. Now we have the best guess for the Best Film Oscar category IF 10 films get nominated, but if you check last year nods you will notice that NOT all PGA's honored films went to get an Oscar nod.
Saturday, 26 January 2013
2013 Guldbaggen Awards Winners

1/13/13
The Swedish Film Institute announced today the nominations for the 18 categories that will be honored this year (7 are new) and Mikael Marcimain's Call Girl leads with 11 nominations followed by Jan Troell's Dom över död man (The Last Sentence) with 6 nods and Malik Bendjelloul's Searching for Sugar Man with 5 nominations.
Awarded annually since 1964, the Guldbagge, or Golden Beetle, is the Swedish Film Institute's award for achievements in film from the previous year. The beetle-shaped award was designed by Swedish sculptor Karl Axel Pehrson. Award ceremony will include the Gullspira (for extraordinary contribution in films for children plus the Audience Award and will be on January 21, 8pm, at Cirkus in Stockholm; hope that will be streamed live as they did last year but for those living in Sweden Swedish Television (SVT) will be broadcasting the event live.
The nominations.
Best Film
*Äta sova dö (Eat Sleep Die) by Gabriela Pichler
Call Girl by Mikael Marcimain
Searching for Sugar Man by Malik Bendjelloul
Best Director
Mikael Marcimain for Call Girl
*Gabriela Pichler for Äta sova dö (Eat Sleep Die)
Jan Troell for Dom över död man (The Last Sentence)
Best Actress
Pernilla August in Call Girl
*Nermina Lukač in Äta sova dö (Eat Sleep Die)
Linda Molin in Bitchkram (Bitch Hug)
Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Léonore Ekstrand in Avalon
Yohanna Idha in Katinkas Kalas (Certain People)
*Ulla Skoog in Dom över död man (The Last Sentence)
Best Actor
*Johannes Brost in Avalon
Bengt C.W. Carlsson in Lycka till och ta hand om varandra (Good Luck. And Take Care of Each Other)
Matias Varela in Snabba cash II (Easy Money II)
Best Actor in a Supporting Role
*Peter Carlberg in Avalon
Milan Dragišić in Äta sova dö (Eat Sleep Die)
Fares Fares in Snabba cash II (Easy Money II)
Best Screenplay
*Malik Bendjelloul for Searching for Sugar Man
Marietta von Hausswolff von Baumgarten for Call Girl
Gabriela Pichler for Äta sova dö (Eat Sleep Die)
Best Cinematography
*Hoyte van Hoytema for Call Girl
Måns Månsson for Avalon
Jan Troell and Mischa Gavjusjov for Dom över död man (The Last Sentence)
Best Editing
*Andreas Jonsson, Hanna Lejonqvist and Niels Pagh Andersen for Palme
Kristofer Nordin for Call Girl
Malik Bendjelloul for editing Searching for Sugar Man
Best Costume Design
*Cilla Rörby for Call Girl
Katja Watkins for Dom över död man (The Last Sentence)
Jaana Fomin for Mammas pojkar (Metal Brothers)
Best Sound
Jonas Jansson for Snabba cash II (Easy Money II)
*Petter Fladeby and Per Nyström for Call Girl
Malik Bendjelloul and Per Nyström for Searching for Sugar Man
Best Make-up/Hair
Eros Codinas for Call Girl
*Jenny Fred for Snabba cash II (Easy Money II)
Maria Strid Zackrisson for Dom över död man (The Last Sentence)
Best Music
*Benny Andersson for Palme
Malik Bendjelloul and Sixto Rodriguez for Searching for Sugar Man
Johan Söderqvist and Andreas Unge for El Médico: The Cubaton Story
Best Production Design
*Lina Nordqvist for Call Girl
Sandra Lindgren for Bitchkram (Bitch Hug)
Pernilla Olsson for Dom över död man (The Last Sentence)
Best Visual Effects
Tim Morris for Call Girl
Torbjörn Olsson for Hamilton – I nationens intresse (Agent Hamilton - In the Interest of the Nation)
*Andreas Hylander for Isdraken (The Ice Dragon)
Best Foreign Language Film
*Amour, Michael Haneke
Laurence Anyways, Xavier Dolan
Moonrise Kingdom, Wes Anderson
Best Documentary
Palme, Kristina Lindström and Maud Nycander
Pojktanten (She Male Snails), Ester Martin Bergsmark
*Searching for Sugar Man, Malik Bendjelloul
Best Short Film
*Dance Music Now, Johan Jonason
Fotografen (The Photographer), Vanja Sandell Billström
Gläntan (The Clearing), Peter Grönlund
I'm so glad that Searching for Sugar Man is being honored as is the best EVER documentary I have seen up to date and definitively is better than many feature films (non-documentary) I have seen in recent years. The honors include a nomination in Best Documentary but also as Best Film, both are highly well-deserved as well as the other four nominations it got (editing, music, script and sound).
But Malik Bendejelloul debut film has strong competition in the Best Film category from great Jan Troell with his period drama and most of all from also first timer Mikael Marcimain (have done mainly TV movies/series/miniseries) with his fictional recount of a real-life Swedish political scandal known as Bordellhärvan which linked underage prostitution with powerful customers believed to come from the highest levels of society.
If you wish to check info plus watch trailers check the new Guldbaggen website here and to read the official press release go here.
33rd London Film Critics' Circle Winners

Winners are in *BLUE.
12/18/12
A few minutes ago the British group announced their nominations that seem somehow to follow the trend of what we have seen from across the pond. But it's official, this is the best list of films, filmmakers and actors I have seen up to this moment; there may be a few exceptions, but in general this is a fantastic list with many extraordinary films and master directors. Absolutely agree with the following excerpt from the official announcement.
In all categories, the films are of outstanding quality this year, indicating how the London critics view all films from around the world on a level footing - brilliance is the only benchmark. Choosing winners will be harder than ever, but never will they have been more deserving.
Michael Haneke's Amour and Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master lead the nominations with seven (7) nods each. And just take a look at the honored directors, especially the their category -all right miss Jacques Audiard- nevertheless is a great list of five. Most interesting is to see the actresses that are honored with a nomination as list can't be better as includes Isabelle Huppert, Marion Cotillard, Helen Mirren, Judi Dench, Helen Hunt, Jessica Chastain, Jennifer Lawrence, Amy Adams, Emmanuelle Riva, Anne Hathaway, and more. Also remarkable is that they didn't forgot to honor Mads Mikkelsen.
This edition their highest honor, the Dilys Powell Award for Excellence in Film goes to Helena Bonham Carter. Award ceremony will take place on January 20, 2013 at May Fair Hotel; worth mention is that this group characterizes for tying their annual event to charity and this year their charity partner is Missing People, a 24/7 lifeline when someone disappears.
The nominations in full.
Film of the Year
*Amour
Argo
Beasts Of The Southern Wild
Life Of Pi
The Master
British Film of the Year
*Berberian Sound Studio
The Imposter
Les Miserables
Sightseers
Skyfall
Foreign Language Film of the Year
Amour
Holy Motors
Once Upon A Time in Anatolia
*Rust and Bone
Tabu
Director of the Year
Paul Thomas Anderson for The Master
Kathryn Bigelow for Zero Dark Thirty
Nuri Bilge Ceylan for Once Upon A Time In Anatolia
Michael Haneke for Amour
*Ang Lee for Life Of Pi
Actress of the Year
Jessica Chastain in Zero Dark Thirty
Marion Cotillard in Rust and Bone
Helen Hunt in The Sessions
Jennifer Lawrence in Silver Linings Playbook
*Emmanuelle Riva in Amour
Supporting Actress of the Year
Amy Adams in The Master
Judi Dench in Skyfall
Sally Field in Lincoln
*Anne Hathaway in Les Misérables
Isabelle Huppert in Amour
Actor of the Year
Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln
Hugh Jackman in Les Misérables
Mads Mikkelsen in The Hunt
*Joaquin Phoenix in The Master
Jean-Louis Trintignant in Amour
Supporting Actor of the Year
Alan Arkin in Argo
Javier Bardem in Skyfall
Michael Fassbender in Prometheus
*Philip Seymour Hoffman in The Master
Tommy Lee Jones in Lincoln
Screenwriter of the Year
Paul Thomas Anderson for The Master
Mark Boal for Zero Dark Thirty
*Michael Haneke for Amour
Quentin Tarantino for Django Unchained
Chris Terrio for Argo
British Actress of the Year
Emily Blunt in Looper and Your Sister's Sister
Judi Dench in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Alice Lowe in Sightseers
Helen Mirren in Hitchcock
*Andrea Riseborough in Shadow Dancer
British Actor of the Year
Daniel Craig in Skyfall
Charlie Creed-Miles in Wild Bill
Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln
*Toby Jones in Berberian Sound Studio
Steve Oram in Sightseers
Young British Performer of the Year
Samantha Barks in Les Misérables
Fady Elsayed in My Brother The Devil
*Tom Holland in The Impossible
Will Poulter in Wild Bill
Jack Reynor in What Richard Did
Breakthrough British Film-Maker
Ben Drew, writer/director of Ill Manors
Sally El Hosaini, writer/director of My Brother The Devil
Dexter Fletcher, co-writer/director of Wild Bill
Bart Layton, writer/director of The Imposter
*Alice Lowe and Steve Oram, writers of Sightseers
Documentary of the Year
*The Imposter
London: The Modern Babylon
Nostalgia For The Light
Queen of Versailles
Searching for Sugar Man
Technical Achievement Award
Jaqueline Duran for costumes in Anna Karerina
William Goldenberg for film editing in Argo
Ben Richardson for cinematography in Beasts of the Southern Wild
Joakim Sundstrom and Stevie Haywood for sound design in Berberian Sound Studio
Bernard Floch for makeup in Holy Motors
Claudio Miranda for cinematography in Life of Pi
*Bill Westenhofer for visual effects in Life of Pi
Jack Fisk and David Crank for production design in The Master
David Raedeker for cinematography in My Brother the Devil
Alexandre Desplat for music in Rust and Bone
Have to close by commenting that even the technical nominees are especially remarkable for the movies they are honoring but most important the tech areas they point-out in each movie. Great.
List is suggesting me that, in current award season, maybe BAFTA could be a lot more interesting than Oscar.
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