2013 Award Season

[Ti-Amie]

Is it too soon to talk about the 2013 Academy Awards? The Gotham Independent Film Awards are now being talked about as an early indicator of what films have Oscar buzz? I never heard of this event before this year.

Still here are the winners.


Best Feature: Moonrise Kingdom
Best Documentary: How to Survive a Plague
Best Ensemble Performance: Emily Blunt, Rosemarie Dewitt and Mark Duplass, Your Sister's Sister
Breakthrough Actor: Emayatzy Corinealdi, Middle of Nowhere
Breakthrough Director: Behn Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild
Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You: An Oversimplification of Her Beauty
Gotham Independent Film Audience Award: Artifact
Spotlight on Women Filmmakers "Live the Dream" Grant: Stacie Passon, Concussion
Bingham Ray Award: Behn Zeitlin

[Moose]

There are still a few films on my must-see list ( Silver Linings, The Impossible, Les Miz), but so far, Moonrise is my favorite film this year.

[shtexas]

They have given them out for about 5 years now. It makes Moonrise Kingdom a possible best picture nominee, but far from certain. I wouldn't put my money on it. Wes Anderson films are too polarizing.

[Ti-Amie]

The nominations for the 2013 Independent Spirit Awards were announced Tuesday, and Silver Linings Playbook and Moonrise Kingdom are leading all hopefuls with five nods apiece.

In what essentially amounted to a major sweep, Silver Linings nabbed nods in all five major categories: Best Feature, Best Male Lead (Bradley Cooper), Best Female Lead (Jennifer Lawrence), Best Director (David O. Russell) and Best Screenplay.

Best Feature

Beasts of the Southern Wild
Bernie
Keep the Lights On
Moonrise Kingdom
Silver Linings Playbook

Best Director
Wes Anderson, Moonrise Kingdom
Julia Loktev, The Loneliest Planet
David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook
Ira Sachs, Keep the Lights On
Benh Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild

Best Screenplay

Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola, Moonrise Kingdom
Zoe Kazan, Ruby Sparks
Martin McDonagh, Seven Psychopaths
David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook
Ira Sachs and Mauricio Zacharias, Keep the Lights On

Best Female Lead
Linda Cardellini, Return
Emayatzy Corinealdi, Middle of Nowhere
Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
Quvenzhané Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild
Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Smashed

Best Male Lead

Jack Black, Bernie
Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook
John Hawkes, The Sessions
Thure Lindhardt, Keep the Lights On
Matthew McConaughey, Killer Joe
Wendell Pierce, Four

Best Supporting Female

Rosemarie DeWitt, Your Sister's Sister
Ann Dowd, Compliance
Helen Hunt, The Sessions
Brit Marling, Sound of My Voice
Lorraine Toussaint, Middle of Nowhere

Best Supporting Male

Matthew McConaughey, Magic Mike
David Oyelowo, Middle of Nowhere
Michael Péna, End of Watch
Sam Rockwell, Seven Psychopaths
Bruce Willis, Moonrise Kingdom

Best First Feature

Fill the Void
Gimme the Loot
Safety Not Guaranteed
Sound of My Voice
The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Best First Screenplay

Rama Burshtein, Fill the Void
Derek Connolly, Safety Not Guaranteed
Christopher Ford, Robot & Frank
Rashida Jones and Will McCormack, Celeste and Jesse Forever
Jonathan Lisecki, Gayby

John Cassavetes Award (for feature made for under $500,000)

Breakfast with Curtis
Middle of Nowhere
Mosquita y Mari
Starlet
The Color Wheel

Best Cinematography

Yoni Brook, Valley of Saints
Lol Crawley, Here
Ben Richardson, Beasts of the Southern Wild
Roman Vasyanov, End of Watch
Robert Yeoman, Moonrise Kingdom

Best Documentary

How to Survive a Plague
Marina Abramović: The Artist Is Present
The Central Park Five
The Invisible War
The Waiting Room

Best International Film

Amour (France)
Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (Turkey)
Rust and Bone (France/Belgium)
Sister (Switzerland)
War Witch (Democratic Republic of Congo)

16th Annual Piaget Producers Award

Nobody Walks
Prince Avalanche
Stones in the Sun
19th Annual Someone to Watch Award
Pincus
Gimme the Loot
Electrick Children

Stella Artois Truer Than Fiction Award
Leviathan
The Waiting Room
Only the Young

Robert Altman Award

Starlet

[shtexas]

Michael Péna, End of Watch

I heard he stole the film. But, this is the first list I've seen him on.

[Ti-Amie]

Lorraine Toussaint, Middle of Nowhere

I'm glad that Lorraine, who has been around for years, has done more than old L&O episodes.

[Moose]

Best Supporting Male

Bruce Willis, Moonrise Kingdom

Willis was very good, but Edward Norton was flat out fantastic as the Troop Leader. Surprised he didn't get the nod.

[Ti-Amie]

Does Roger Ebert still have cred? Here's his list of best films of 2012.

With the 2013 Oscarcast moved up to Feb. 24, movie fans are already in a lather over the possible nominees, especially since again this year there can be "up to" ten finalists in the Best Picture category. I claim no inside knowledge (I'm still waiting to hear from my friend Deep Oscar), but it's never too early to speculate.

First, this caveat: I've still not seen three films said to be strong contenders, so it's too early to list these here: "Les Mis," directed by Tom Hooper, who made "The King's Speech;" Kathryn Bigelow's "Zero Dark Thirty," about the killing of Bin Laden, and Quentin Tarantino's "Django Unchained," with Jamie Foxx as an escaped slave and Leonardo Di Caprio as a plantation owner.

Among the contenders I have seen, the most warmly-loved by moviegoers seems to be Ang Lee's "Life of Pi." In many seasons as a critic, I can't remember a film more universally applauded. I wrote a blog entry about it, and my often dubious readers embraced it all but unanimously. Will public affection influence the Academy? Maybe.

Another sure thing is Ben Affleck's "Argo, which is not only a terrific thriller but tells a true-life story sure to be enjoyed by Hollywood voters, about how the escape of a group of Americans during the Iranian hostage crisis was pulled off by a bold scheme involving the production of a fake sci-fi movie.

Stephen Spielberg's "Lincoln" is this year's most prestigious candidate, and its title performance by Daniel Day-Lewis is sure to win a Best Actor nod. It is, first of all, a great film. Also important is that at Oscar time the Academy likes to nominate the kinds of films that reflect well upon the industry.

David O. Russell's "Silver Linings Playbook, is an offbeat comedy with Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro as son and father who are both manic Philadelphia Eagles fans, although only the son has actually been hospitalized with bipolar disorder. The family is held together by Jacki Weaver as a resilient mom and wife who has long experience with such men.

Jake Gyllenhaal's image-transforming work as a very tough cop in David Ayer's "End of Watch" may help the film win a Best Picture slot, and Michael Peña is no less effective as his partner in a dangerous Los Angeles police district. They forge a relationship during a series of brilliantly-staged action sequences.

Richard Gere should win a long-delayed Best Actor nomination for his focused, intense work in Nicholas Jarecki's "Arbitrage, a taut thriller about a financial wheeler-dealer who tries to escape his responsibility after a fatal car crash. This fine actor has produced high-caliber performances for year after year, and the Academy doesn't give him the praise he deserves.

"Cloud Atlas," by the Wachowski siblings and Tom Tykwer, is considered a strong contender, although many audience members (including me) found it difficult to follow. Its story strands spanned centuries and traded genders, and I eventually realized it was the wholeness of the experience, not the plot details, that was important. It's an awesomely ambitious film.

The performances in Paul Thomas Anderson's "The Master" are likely to win nominations for Philip Seymour Hoffman and Joaquin Phoenix (welcome back!) but I'm not sure the purpose of the story (said to be based on the life of L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology) was very clear. The Academy rarely singles out enigmatic films.

Few of the year's films had the emotional impact and courage of Ben Lewin's "The Sessions," with John Hawkes as a polio victim in an iron lung for years, who dreams of having sex with a woman, and Helen Hunt as the sex therapist who helps him. A supporting nod could go to William H. Macy, as his parish priest.

If I had my way, and I don't, a Best Picture nomination would certainly go to Benh Zeitlin's "Beasts of the Southern Wild," with its extraordinary lead performance by Quvenzhané Wallis as a young Louisiana girl named Hushpuppy. She lives in an isolated community in the New Orleans bayou called the Bathtub, which is threatened by Global Warming.

This film, which will make many Best Ten Lists and year-end awards, is said to be handicapped in the Oscar race because it was filmed outside the jurisdiction of the Screen Actors' Guild. If true, how sad.

http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2012...inees_are.html

[Moose]

Robert Altman Award
Starlet

I've heard very positive buzz about this.

[Charlie02123]

Is it too soon to talk about the 2013 Academy Awards? The Gotham Independent Film Awards are now being talked about as an early indicator of what films have Oscar buzz? I never heard of this event before this year.

Still here are the winners.
Best Ensemble Performance: Emily Blunt, Rosemarie Dewitt and Mark Duplass, Your Sister's Sister

Mark Duplass is an actor and filmmaker who partners with his older brother to make low budget movies often called "mumblecore." They're heavily improvised and aim for a documentary feel.

I listened to a long interview with him on Marc Maron's podcast WTF. He's extremely smart and I love his ideas about movies.

I haven't seen "Your Sister's Sister" yet but "Safety Not Guaranteed," which he produced and starred in with Aubrey Plaza, was fantastic. It's nice to see him getting awards.

[mmmm8]

Bernie. Interesting. It was quirky and fun but not great.

Was Magic Mike and indie??

[mwoods]

Was Magic Mike and indie??

No, it was an undie.

(BA-DUM TISCH.)

[shtexas]

[munchin]

Mark Duplass is an actor and filmmaker who partners with his older brother to make low budget movies often called "mumblecore." They're heavily improvised and aim for a documentary feel.

I listened to a long interview with him on Marc Maron's podcast WTF. He's extremely smart and I love his ideas about movies.

I haven't seen "Your Sister's Sister" yet but "Safety Not Guaranteed," which he produced and starred in with Aubrey Plaza, was fantastic. It's nice to see him getting awards.

I run hot and cold on mumblecore films but the ones involving Duplass I've seen are really great. Baghead and Humpday are certainly two of the least boring films you'll ever see and I enjoyed Jeff, Who Lives at Home from this year, too. I just got Safety Not Guaranteed from Netflix and can't wait to see it.

[munchin]

My goodness I have a lot of movies to catch up with. My list is now about as long as there are days left in the year.