2012 New York Film Critics Circle Award Winners

The current awards season gains momentum when the first critics group announces their award winners and the so-called "harbingers of the Oscar nominations" have some interesting news for us, especially in the Best Actress category.

While following the awards by Twitter and after seeing how many awards Lincoln was collecting, many predicted that had to get the top awards and sweep this NYFCC edition; in the end was Zero Dark Thirty who got the top two awards plus also one for cinematography, which is absolutely fantastic news and accomplishment by a great female director.

These are the award winners as listed at their official site.

Best Feature Film: Zero Dark Thirty by Kathryn Bigelow

Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow for Zero Dark Thirty

Best Actress: Rachel Weisz in The Deep Blue Sea
Best Supporting Actress: Sally Field in Lincoln

Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln
Best Supporting Actor: Matthew McConaughey in Bernie and Magic Mike

Best Cinematography: Greig Fraser for Zero Dark Thirty
Best Screenplay: Tony Kushner for Lincoln

Best First Feature: How to Survive a Plague by David France
Best Nonfiction Film (documentary): The Central Park Five by Ken Burns, Sarah Burns and David McMahon
Best Animated Film: Frankenweenie by Tim Burton
Best Foreign Language Film: Amour by Michael Haneke

If one actress have been absent in everybody who is anybody in the film business Oscar predictions is Rachel Weisz! But from today she will be in their radars. What I did foreseen for this Oscar category is that is not clear for me and seems that perhaps could be the most interesting and less predictable category of this award season.

I really love Daniel Day-Lewis performances and seems that NYFCC also does as this is the fourth time they honor the actor. But you have no idea how glad I am that Kathryn Bigelow got the Best Director award as clearly places her as a strong contender in this award season; she also won the same award in 2009 for The Hurt Locker. But nothing makes me happier than her film starting to make waves as this first award will do from today on.

Is too early but if LA Critics also give the award to Amour and at least one guild/association/organization considers film in their nominations, then the most predictable win in Oscar 2013 could be the one that is always unpredictable, the foreign language category.

奪命金 Duó Mìng Jīn (Life Without Principle)

Another director that I'm not familiar with, but believe that this film is an interesting way to start to learn about him as is not his usual gangster story, even when the subject matter is touched in one of the three stories told here. Interesting because I haven't been much exposed to stories set in contemporary Hong Kong, now under Chinese rule, and much less when movie deals with the universal theme of greed set in the midst of the global economical crisis.

But as expected by movie title and from an oriental movie, story is not developed as we are used to see in western cinema, which obviously makes film more interesting to watch than, for example, the two Wall Street movies. My brief story interpretation is that deals with human behavior and how different can they behave under "new" circumstances -especially in a society/culture with a long-tradition of honorable life principles. But more universal, when the rules of the life-game change.

Johnnie To's story is told by telling the three-days story of three characters with very different backgrounds, bank employee Teresa (Denise Ho), triad loyal gangster Panther (Lau Ching Wan) and police inspector Cheung (Ritchie Jen). The key element in the three stories is financial investments profit and how far they go to have the "happy-ending" all three stories have. The "how far" element is not explored in a dramatic way, but in a very ordinary-life succession of events. So ordinary that when you think twice (you have to think twice) you realize that everything told here could be based more on reality than in fiction.

But definitively is To's storytelling style what captures your attention as stories are told not sequentially, there are many secondary characters introduced, and intertwined stories flawlessly become one in one fantastic scene, the only scene with the three characters in the screen, the final scene. Big kudos to editing as yes, believe that editing was fantastic here, so good that not only enables viewers to have eyes glued to the screen but also makes story very provoking and excellent source of food-for-thought after watching when you start to digest everything you just saw. Yes, film is complicated, not superficial and surely not many viewers are willing to invest time to decode what they saw after watching.

As we know film premiered in competition at 2011 Biennale, Johnnie To won the Best Director award at 2012 Golden Horse Awards where Lau Ching Wan won best actor and screenplays got Best Original Screenplay award; but most interesting, is Hong Kong submission to 2013, which I really do not understand as honestly believe film is too complex for general audiences and much more for foreign-language committee members.

I do recommend movie to those viewers that are willing to invest time to decode what they will see in the screen as believe that if you see film with "regular" eyes you probably will not enjoy it that much.

Enjoy!!!

Watch trailer @MOC

一命 Ichimei (Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai)

Not really familiar with Takashi Miike's films mainly because he likes to travel the horror genre but recently 13 Assassins departed the genre so decided to see it and liked the visuals but the story was not exactly one I could enjoy. However had to see his next film that screened in competition at 2011 Cannes.

To my surprise Takashi Miike brings us a drama that truly borders a Greek tragedy not only because the story it tells but also because the filmmaking style he uses which in my opinion again departs from what he previously has done. What he gives us again is a fantastic succession of visually outstanding compositions and images that with a darkish palette will marvel your eyes.

This time I enjoyed the story that is told mainly with flashbacks, a storytelling style that allows viewers to keep interest as film pace tend to be on the very-slow side, even for me that love slow-pace movies, when story moves to the past. While evidently story is about revenge, honor and disgrace we can also clearly see many reasons-why the Samurai, the warrior class, disappeared in Japan and most interesting, could give us a vision on why (the hypocrisy) warriors and wars prevail in our contemporary society.

Yes this is a remake of 1962 Seppuku (Harakiri) by Masaki Kobayashi, which I haven't seen and maybe will give it a try mainly because film is in black and white; but according to what I read Miike did an interpretation that makes film his own thanks to radically different attitudes toward the subject matter and diametrically-opposed conceptions of space and movement. But most viewers express disdain for Miike's version when they compare this film to Kobayashi's version.

You have to see both films to know what to believe/think, but what I know is that Miike's movie independently of the story it tells, definitively has a fascinating and mesmerizing filmmaking style thanks to how he conceptualized, visualized and shaped space and movement in this movie.

Saw the 2D version, but film has the honor of being the first 3D movie ever to be screened in competition at Cannes; however, can't imagine how 3D could make this film look better than what I saw in the richness of technically very advanced two dimensions.

I'm in the mood for my own Oriental films little festival where I set my mind to watch only great films from that side of the world; I believe that western minds need to mentally prepare to see these films so maybe that is a key reason why I was able to enjoy this movie as much as I did. So, do I recommend movie? Yes, I do. But if you are a westerner, suggest to prepare yourself for a very oriental cinema experience.

Enjoy!!!

Watch trailer @MOC

"Justice League" Playing It Safe Already?

Uh-oh.

Warner Bros. cannot catch a break in their awkward dash to get "Justice League" onto the big screen for 2015. They already faced having to open the pic in the same relative space as "Avengers 2," and then found out that they'll also be contending with "Star Wars: Episode VII." All of this, of course, comes on top of the fact that the whole project is hinging on "The Man of Steel" doing the kind of business (and audience word-of-mouth) that no DC superhero not named Batman has done in the 30+ years between "Superman II" and right now.

Now, their working choice of nemesis for the "Justice League" screenplay (currently being hammered out by Will Beale) may have been discovered by Latino Review - who are very rarely wrong on these things. If they're right... honestly, I'm a lot less enthusiastic for this project already.

READ ON if you want the details...

 
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According to Latino Review, The Justice League will face off against DARKSEID, alien dictator from Planet Apokolips.

Meh.

He's not a BAD choice, certainly. He makes sense from a plot standpoint, he has lots of foot soldiers and flunkies to make trouble, he's passably-familiar to non-devotees because he's been in a bunch of the cartoons and he's "powerful" in the sense that he can get into fistfights with Superman. I get the sense that that last one is the main reason he'll be onhand: WB's approach to their DC properties is easily shallow/disengaged enough for me to believe they take the "Superman is too unstopable to be compelling!" thing seriously.

Problem is... even though Darkseid came first by many years, he's really similar to prospective "Avengers 2" antagonist Thanos; and even if "League" were to open first Thanos is likely going to be hovering around in the various Marvel movies over the next two years - no matter how you slice it, this is the exact wrong way to go if your trying to not look like your playing catch-up to another movie. Honestly, even Lex Luthor (who I still wouldn't count out in some fashion) again would be automatically more interesting because of the kind of scheme a mere human would have to be working to challenge a team of near-demigods.

Also problematic: Unless their hiding a massive (and, frankly, rather unwelcome) "It's actually ALL about Darkseid!" angle from "Man of Steel;" he doesn't really have much of a connection to the other characters or their worlds - he's not anbody's father, brother, mortal enemy, etc; and there won't be any movies in-between the retcon him into being involved in some new way.

That's actually the most potentially interesting thing about Darkseid being in a movie: that he's part of a much larger pantheon of cosmic figures in Jack Kirby's cult-classic "Fourth World" books. The prospect of all that business turning up would be spectacular... but probably not going to happen. Kirby's "New Gods" have a silly-name problem (a sample: "Granny Goodness & Her Female Furies"), and like Darkseid they were designed to live mostly seperate from the rest of the DCU until the line faded (Kirby was a great artist, prolific-but-batshit-insane "idea man, yes... not-so-hot as a writer) to mostly being background noise for "Darkseid: Catch-All Big-Bad For Any Scenario."

So... yeah, it'll come as no surprise if you read my column over the weekend that this doesn't exactly fill me with hope. Definitely doesn't mean the movie will be "bad," and it's totally possible that they've got an interesting story to tell with him or a bigger picture yet to be revealed ("Darkseid... aaaaand also a ginormous army of enemies from across the entire DCU!!!"); but this just isn't as immediately 'cool' to find out as Loki was ("a magic user whose more about fucking with The Avengers' mind-game style than brute force? Interesting!") and it just feels like an incredibly safe, calculated, risk-averse move in a movie (and genre) that needs to be anything but.

I could, of course, be completely off-base on this one.

Normality

This is of interest to me, it may be of interest to you.

In what are easily two of the most socially and historically significant changes to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (aka "DSM" - the leading though not exclusive manual by which professional psychiatry diagnoses and classifies patients) since the publication removed Homosexuality from the list of mental-disorders two decades ago; a major change has been made to the guidelines for diagnosing the Autism Spectrum that effectively removes Asperger's Syndrome as a seperate diagnosis... and Gender Identity Disorder has been rendered a "disorder" no longer.

While Autism itself will continue to be classified as a disorder (though one with a broader spectrum than previous,) Aspergers and other High-Functioning forms of such will now be incorporated into the broader Autism Spectrum diagnosis. The change, the subject of debate for awhile now, has been praised by some advocacy groups but disdained by others. One imagines that "Aspergers" will still be used as a colloquial shorthand for a long time, given how visible and mainstream the term has become.

While likely effecting fewer individual patients/persons overall, the Gender Identity change is perhaps more long-term significant: The condition previously classified as "Gender Identity Disorder," i.e. persons who feel that they have been born the wrong gender, will now no longer be classified as a "disorder" - instead, it's official medical/psychiatric title will be "Gender Dysphoria."

The second change that has been hard fought for by many in the Transgendered community, but will now likely raise a new set of legal issues to be fought over since the "disorder" diagnosis has allowed for some trans people to file anti-discrimination lawsuits in certain cases (wrongful termination, for example); and the legal wrangling over insurance companies' obligations in regards to gender-reassignment surgery - already certain to be a heated issue in the age of Obamacare - will likely intensify.

25th European Film Awards Winners

The big winner of the 2012 EFA's is none other than Michael Haneke's Amour that collected four (4) awards for Best Film, Best Director, Best Actress and Best Actor.

For once, absolutely agree with the European Film Academy members that once again honored Haneke as Best Director (has won 4 times) and for the first time gave him the honor for a film he directs.

These are all the winners.

European Film: Amour (Love), Michael Haneke, Austria, France and Germany

European Director: Michael Haneke for Amour (Love)

European Actress: Emmanuelle Riva in Amour (Love)
European Actor: Jean-Louis Trintignant in Amour (Love)



European Screenwriter: Tobias Lindholm & Thomas Vinterberg for Jagten (The Hunt)
European Editor: Joe Walker for Shame
Carlo di Palma European Cinematographer Award: Sean Bobbitt for Shame
European Production Designer: Maria Djurkovic for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
European Composer: Alberto Iglesias for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

European Documentary: Hiver Nomade (Winter Nomads), Manuel von Stürler, Switzerland

European Animated Film: Alois Nebel, Tomáš Luňák, Czech Republic, Germany and Slovakia

European Discovery - FIPRESCI Prix: Kauwboy, Boudewijn Koole, Netherlands

People's Choice Award: Hasta La Vista (Come As You Are), Geoffrey Enthoven, Belgium
Young Audience Award: Kauwboy, Boudewijn Koole, Netherlands

European Short Film: Superman, Spiderman Sau Batman (Superman, Spiderman or Batman), by Tudor Giurgiu, Romania, 11 min, fiction

European Film Academy Lifetime Achievement Award: Bernardo Bertolucci, Italy
European Achievement in World Cinema: Helen Mirren, UK
European Co-Production Award - Prix Euroimages: Helena Danielsson, Sweden

The ceremony felt short and even if I didn't laugh with all jokes, I did laugh with many that were dry and very dark; the best speech of the night belongs to Helen Mirren and the most emotional moment to master filmmaker Bernardo Bertolucci. But the most unexpected moment was the live marriage proposal moment that made me laugh loud. I can say that I highly enjoyed the two hours ceremony for being so light and most of all, for the excellent movies that won.

I know that the outcome of these awards doesn't influence the Oscars -the joke told in the beginning of the ceremony about EFA and Americans was really good- but hope that at least influences the foreign-language committee members to honor Amour and let's hope both French actor's improve in the ranking of the many Oscar predictors.

Cheers!!!!

2013 Sundance Film Festival Lineup

Usually don't post anything about this festival but this year fantastic lineup in the US Dramatic competition has to be celebrated and my little contribution to thank Trevor Groth and Shari Frilot, fest programmers, is this posts that lists all the films in all the sections.

The festival takes place January 17-27 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah.

U.S. Dramatic Competition

Opening film: May in the Summer, Cherien Dabis, USA, Qatar and Jordan
Afternoon Delight, Jill Soloway, USA
Ain't Them Bodies Saints, David Lowery, USA
Austenland, Jerusha Hess, USA and UK
C.O.G., Kyle Patrick Alvarez, USA
Concussion, Stacie Passon, USA
Emanuel and the Truth About Fishes, Francesca Gregorini, USA
Frutivale, Ryan Coogler, USA
In a World..., Lake Bell, USA
Kill Your Darlings, John Krokidas, USA
The Lifeguard, Liz W. Garcia, USA
Mother of George, Andrew Dosunmu, USA
The Spectacular Now, James Ponsoldt, USA
Touchy Feely, Lynn Shelton, USA
Toy's House, Jordan Vogt-Roberts, USA
Upstream Color, Shane Carruth, USA

To read US Dramatic Competition Preview go here.

U.S. Documentary Competition

Opening Film: Twenty Feet From Stardom, Morgan Neville, USA
99% - The Occupy Wall Street Collaborative Film, Audrey Ewell, Aaron Aites, Lucian Read, and Nina Kristic, USA
After Tiller, Martha Shane, Lana Wilson, USA
American Promise, Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson, USA
Blackfish, Gabriela Cowpethwaite, USA
Blood Brother, Steve Hoover, USA
Citizen Koch, Carl Deal and Tia Lessin, USA
Cutie and the Boxer, Zachary Heinzerling, USA
Dirty Wars, Richard Rowley, USA
Gideon's Army, Dawn Porter, USA
God Loves Uganda, Roger Ross Williams, USA
Inequality for All, Jacob Kornbluth, USA
Manhunt, Greg Barker, USA and UK
Narco Cultura, Shaul Schwartz, USA
Untitled Progeria Film, Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine, USA
Valentine Road, Marta Cunningham, USA

World Cinema Dramatic Competition

Opening Film: Crystal Fairy, Sebastián Silva, Chile and USA
El Futuro (The Future), Alicia Scherson, Chile, Germany, Italy and Spain
Houston, Bastian Günther, Germany
지슬 Jiseul, Muel O, South Korea
Krugovi (Circles), Srdan Golubović, Serbia, Germany, France, Croatia and Slovenia
Metro Manila, Sean Ellis, UK and Philippines
Nieulotne (Lasting), Jacek Borcuch, Poland and Spain
Shopping, Mark Albiston and Louis Sutherland, New Zealand
Soldate Jeannette (Soldier Jane), Daniel Hoesl, Austria
Un Giorno devi Andare (There Will Come a Day), Giorgio Diritti, Italy and France
Wajma (An Afghan Love Story), Barmak Akram, Afghanistan
Yang Tidak Dibicarakan Ketika Membicarakan Cinta (What They Don't Talk When They Talk About Love), Mouly Surya, Indonesia

World Cinema Documentary Competition

Opening Film: Who is Dayani Cristal?, Marc Silver, UK
破碎城市 Fallen City, Qi Zhao, China
Fire in the Blood, Mohan Gray, India
Google and the World Brain, Ben Lewis, Spain and UK
Manqana, romelic kvelafers gaaqrobs (The Machine Which Makes Everything Disappear), Tinatin Gurchiani, Georgia and Germany
The Moo Man, Andy Heathcote and Heike Bachelier, UK
Pussy Riot - A Punk Prayer, Mike Lerner and Maxim Poxdorovkin, Russia and UK
ក្បង់ទឹកទន្លេ A River Changes Course, Kayanee Mam, Cambodia and USA
Salma, Kim Longinotto, UK and India
The Square (El Midan), Jehane Noujaim, Egypt and USA
The Stuart Hall Project, John Akomfrah, UK
The Summit, Nick Ryan, Ireland and UK

NEXT <=>
Pure, bold works distinguished by an innovative, forward-thinking approach to storytelling. Digital technology paired with unfettered creativity proves the films selected in this section will inform a “greater” next wave in American cinema.

Blue Caprice, Alexandre Moors, USA
Computer Chess, Andrew Bujalski, USA
Escape from Tomorrow, Randy Moore, USA
I Used to Be Darker, Matthew Porterfield, USA
It Felt Like Love, Eliza Hittman, USA
Milkshake, David Andalman, USA
Newlyweeds, Shaka King, USA
Pit Stoop, Yen Tan, USA
A Teacher, Hannah Fidell, USA
This is Martin Booner, Chad Hartigan, USA

If you wish to read brief info about each of the above films please go here.

Spotlight
Regardless of where these films have played throughout the world, the Spotlight program is a tribute to the cinema we love.

Fill the Void, Rama Burshtein, Israel
Gangs of Wasseypur, Anurag Kashyap, India
The Gatekeepers, Dror Moreh, Israel, Germany, Belgium and France (documentary)
Mud, Jeff Nichols, USA
NO, Pablo Larraín, Chile and USA
Sightseers, Ben Wheatley, UK
Stories We Tell, Sarah Polley, Canada (documentary)

Park City At Midnight
From horror flicks to comedies to works that defy any genre, these unruly films will keep you edge-seated and wide awake. Each is a world premiere.

Ass Backwards, Chris Nelson, USA
Hell Baby, Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon, USA
In Fear, Jeremy Lovering, UK
kink, Christina Voros, USA (documentary)
The Rambler, Calvin Lee Reeder, USA
S-VHS, Simon Barrett, Adam Wingard, Edúardo Sanchez, Gregg Hale, Timo Tjahjanto, Gareth Huw Evans, Jason Eisener, Screenwriters: Simon Barrett, Jamie Nash, Timo Tjahjanto & Gareth Huw Evans, John Davies, USA and Canada
Virtually Heros, GJ Echternkamp, USA
We Are What We Are, Jim Mickle, USA

New Frontier
With media installations, multimedia performances, transmedia experiences, panels, films and more, New Frontier highlights work that celebrates experimentation and the expansion of cinema culture through the convergence of film, art, and new media technology. I'm listing ONLY the films.

Charlie Victor Romeo, Robert Berger and Karlyn Michelson, USA
Fat Shaker, M Shirvani, Iran
Halley, Sebastian Hofmann, Mexico
Interior. Leather Bar, Travis Mathews and James Franco, USA
The Meteor, François Delisle, Canada

To read brief info about each of the above films, plus check the Installations in the New Frontier section, please go here.

In case you wonder why I don't usually cover this fest, the main reason is in the above complete lineup. Did you notice the absence of French films? There are only French co-productions. Still, even I have to admit that this festival has films not only from America but also from other countries in the world; most interesting is that woman filmmakers are significantly represented in each of the fest sections.

Watch trailers @MOC (not many trailers yet, but will continue to update)