19th Annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards Winners

To check winners at official site go here.

Winners are in *BLUE.

12/16/13
A few minutes ago the Broadcast Film Critics Association (BFCA) announced the nominees for the current edition and 12 Years a Slave and American Hustle lead the pack with 13 nominations each followed by Gravity with 10. The winners will be announced live at the awards ceremony on Thursday, January 16, 2014 from the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California and show will be broadcast live on The CW Network at 8:00pm with a two hour pre-show coverage before the awards ceremony.

The BFCA is the largest film critics organization in the United States and Canada, representing more than 280 television, radio and online critics.

Best Picture
American Hustle
Captain Phillips
Dallas Buyers Club
Gravity
Her
Inside Llewyn Davis
Nebraska
Saving Mr. Banks
*12 Years a Slave
The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Director
*Alfonso Cuaron for Gravity
Paul Greengrass for Captain Phillips
Spike Jonze for Her
Steve McQueen for 12 Years a Slave
David O. Russell for American Hustle
Martin Scorsese for The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Actress
*Cate Blanchett in Blue Jasmine
Sandra Bullock in Gravity
Judi Dench in Philomena
Brie Larson in Short Term 12
Meryl Streep in August: Osage County
Emma Thompson in Saving Mr. Banks

Best Supporting Actress
Scarlett Johansson in Her
Jennifer Lawrence in American Hustle
*Lupita Nyong’o in 12 Years a Slave
Julia Roberts in August: Osage County
June Squibb in Nebraska
Oprah Winfrey in Lee Daniels’ The Butler

Best Actor
Christian Bale in American Hustle
Bruce Dern in Nebraska
Chiwetel Ejiofor in 12 Years a Slave
Tom Hanks in Captain Phillips
*Matthew McConaughey in Dallas Buyers Club
Robert Redford in All Is Lost

Best Supporting Actor
Barkhad Abdi in Captain Phillips
Daniel Bruhl in Rush
Bradley Cooper in American Hustle
Michael Fassbender in 12 Years a Slave
James Gandolfini in Enough Said
*Jared Leto in Dallas Buyers Club

Best Young Actress/Actor
Asa Butterfield in Ender’s Game
*Adele Exarchopoulos in Blue Is the Warmest Color
Liam James in The Way Way Back
Sophie Nelisse in The Book Thief
Tye Sheridan in Mud

Best Acting Ensemble
*American Hustle
August: Osage County
Lee Daniels’ The Butler
Nebraska
12 Years a Slave
The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Original Screenplay
Eric Singer and David O. Russell for American Hustle
Woody Allen for Blue Jasmine
*Spike Jonze for Her
Joel Coen & Ethan Coen for Inside Llewyn Davis
Bob Nelson for Nebraska

Best Adapted Screenplay
Tracy Letts for August: Osage County
Richard Linklater & Julie Delpy & Ethan Hawke for Before Midnight
Billy Ray for Captain Phillips
Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope for Philomena
*John Ridley for 12 Years a Slave
Terence Winter for The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Cinematography
*Emmanuel Lubezki for Gravity
Bruno Delbonnel for Inside Llewyn Davis
Phedon Papamichael for Nebraska
Roger Deakins for Prisoners
Sean Bobbitt for 12 Years a Slave

Best Art Direction
Andy Nicholson (Production Designer), Rosie Goodwin (Set Decorator) for Gravity
*Catherine Martin (Production Designer), Beverley Dunn (Set Decorator) for The Great Gatsby
K.K. Barrett (Production Designer), Gene Serdena (Set Decorator) for Her
Dan Hennah (Production Designer), Ra Vincent (Set Decorator) for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Adam Stockhausen (Production Designer), Alice Baker (Set Decorator) for 12 Years a Slave

Best Editing
Alan Baumgarten, Jay Cassidy, Crispin Struthers for American Hustle
Christopher Rouse for Captain Phillips
*Alfonso Cuarón, Mark Sanger for Gravity
Daniel P. Hanley, Mike Hill for Rush
Joe Walker for 12 Years a Slave
Thelma Schoonmaker for The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Costume Design
Michael Wilkinson for American Hustle
*Catherine Martin for The Great Gatsby
Bob Buck, Lesley Burkes-Harding, Ann Maskrey, Richard Taylor for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Daniel Orlandi for Saving Mr. Banks
Patricia Norris for 12 Years a Slave

Best Makeup
*American Hustle
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Lee Daniels’ The Butler
Rush
12 Years a Slave

Best Visual Effects
*Gravity
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Iron Man 3
Pacific Rim
Star Trek into Darkness

Best Song
Atlas – Coldplay in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
Happy – Pharrell Williams in Despicable Me 2
*Let It Go – Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez in Frozen
Ordinary Love – U2 in Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
Please Mr. Kennedy – Justin Timberlake/Oscar Isaac/Adam Driver in Inside Llewyn Davis
Young and Beautiful – Lana Del Rey in The Great Gatsby

Best Score
*Steven Price for Gravity
Arcade Fire for Her
Thomas Newman for Saving Mr. Banks
Hans Zimmer for 12 Years a Slave

Best Documentary Feature
The Act of Killing
Blackfish
Stories We Tell
Tim’s Vermeer
*20 Feet from Stardom

Best Foreign Language Film
*Blue Is the Warmest Color
The Great Beauty
The Hunt
The Past
Wadjda

Best Animated Feature
The Croods
Despicable Me 2
*Frozen
Monsters University
The Wind Rises

Best Action Movie
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
Iron Man 3
*Lone Survivor
Rush
Star Trek into Darkness

Best Actress in an Action Movie
*Sandra Bullock in Gravity
Jennifer Lawrence in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
Evangeline Lilly in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Gwyneth Paltrow in Iron Man 3

Best Actor in an Action Movie
Henry Cavill in Man of Steel
Robert Downey Jr. in Iron Man 3
Brad Pitt in World War Z
*Mark Wahlberg in Lone Survivor

Best Comedy
*American Hustle
Enough Said
The Heat
This Is the End
The Way Way Back
The World’s End

Best Actress in a Comedy
*Amy Adams in American Hustle
Sandra Bullock in The Heat
Greta Gerwig in Frances Ha
Julia Louis-Dreyfus in Enough Said
Melissa McCarthy in The Heat

Best Actor in a Comedy
Christian Bale in American Hustle
*Leonardo DiCaprio in The Wolf of Wall Street
James Gandolfini in Enough Said
Simon Pegg in The World’s End
Sam Rockwell in The Way Way Back

Best Sci-Fi/Horror Movie
The Conjuring
*Gravity
Star Trek into Darkness
World War Z

Awards show was not entertaining so stopped watching live, but winners are not that surprising except perhaps Lupita Nyong'o beating Jenniger Lawrence.

86th Academy Awards Nominations

Today actor Chris Hemsworth and Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs announced the 2014 Oscar Nominations and there are more surprises than what I expected or could imagine after the regular process when Academy members from each of the branches vote to determine the nominees in their respective categories – actors nominate actors, film editors nominate film editors, etc. In the Animated Feature Film and Foreign Language Film categories, nominees are selected by a vote of multi-branch screening committees. All voting members are eligible to select the Best Picture nominees.

Now active members of the Academy are eligible to vote for the winners in ALL categories and hopefully maybe this year Academy members will watch movies before voting as official screenings of all motion pictures with one or more nominations will begin on Saturday, January 25; not being sarcastic just sharing with you some public info that crowded the waves a few weeks back when an unnamed Academy member gave an interview to tell the "truth" about Oscar voting.

As we know the awards show was moved to Sunday, March 2 thanks to the Winter Olympics (grr) and -now I am being sarcastic- show will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide. See first paragraph after list to find why I'm sarcastic.

American Hustle and Gravity lead with 10 nominations each followed close by 12 Years a Slave with nine and yes, the HUGE surprise for me was Nebraska having so many nods as got six, the same as Dallas Buyers Club and Captain Phillips.

There are nine (9) films nominated for Best Picture and maybe later we will find why there weren't ten, which is the maximum as there are several critic acclaimed movies that could have made the list like Inside Llewyn Davis, Saving Mr. Banks, All Is Lost -a bit tiresome but very tense movie- and we can forget August: Osage County and/or Blue Jasmine.

Great positive surprise is to have France/Belgium Ernest & Celestine and Japan The Wind Rises in the Animated category and Wong Kar Wai opus The Grandmasters getting two tech categories nominations.

Huge negative surprise is Emma Thompson not being nominated even do I'm glad Amy Adams was, but Adam's performance is NOT as good as Thompson and that slot belonged to her. Also, what is Christian Bale getting a nod for Actor? His performance is inferior to Joaquin Phoenix in Her, Robert Redford in All is Lost and even Oscar Isaac in Inside Llewyn Davis (very unpleasant character but his performance is ok). Then in Actor supporting role can't understand why Jonah Hill got a nomination that slot was for highly superior performance by Daniel Bruhl in Rush or even James Gandolfini in romcom Enough Said. But perhaps the greatest negative surprise is excellent Stories We Tell not having a nomination in documentary category.

Anyway, check at post bottom some fun stat/facts about these nominations.

Best Picture
12 Years a Slave
American Hustle
Captain Phillips
Dallas Buyers Club
Gravity
Her
Nebraska
Philomena
The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Animated Feature Film
The Croods
Despicable Me 2
Ernest & Celestine
Frozen
The Wind Rises

Foreign Language
The Broken Circle Breakdown, Felix van Groeningen, Belgium
Jagten (The Hunt), Thomas Vinterberg, Denmark
La Grande Belleza (The Great Beauty), Paolo Sorrentino, Italy
L'image manquante (The Missing Picture), Rithy Panh, Cambodia
Omar, Hany Abu-Assad Palestine

Directing
David O. Russell for American Hustle
Alfonso Cuarón for Gravity
Alexander Payne for Nebraska
Steve McQueen for 12 Years a Slave
Martin Scorsese for The Wolf of Wall Street

Actress in a Leading Role
Amy Adams in American Hustle
Cate Blanchett in Blue Jasmine
Sandra Bullock in Gravity
Judi Dench in Philomena
Meryl Streep in August: Osage County

Actress in a Supporting Role
Sally Hawkins in Blue Jasmine
Jennifer Lawrence in American Hustle
Lupita Nyong’o in 12 Years a Slave
Julia Roberts in August: Osage County
June Squibb in Nebraska

Actor in a Leading Role
Christian Bale in American Hustle
Bruce Dern in Nebraska
Leonardo DiCaprio in The Wolf of Wall Street
Chiwetel Ejiofor in 12 Years a Slave
Matthew McConaughey in Dallas Buyers Club

Actor in a Supporting Role
Barkhad Abdi in Captain Phillips
Bradley Cooper in American Hustle
Michael Fassbender in 12 Years a Slave
Jonah Hill in The Wolf of Wall Street
Jared Leto in Dallas Buyers Club

Cinematography
Roger A. Deakins for Prisoners
Bruno Delbonnel for Inside Llewyn Davis
Philippe Le Sourd for The Grandmaster
Emmanuel Lubezki for Gravity
Phedon Papamichael for Nebraska

Original Screenplay
Woody Allen for Blue Jasmine
Craig Borten and Melisa Wallack for Dallas Buyers Club
Spike Jonze for Her
Bob Nelson for Nebraska
Eric Warren Singer and David O. Russell for American Hustle

Adapted Screenplay
Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope for Philomena
Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke for Before Midnight
Billy Ray for Captain Phillips
John Ridley for 12 Years a Slave
Terence Winter for The Wolf of Wall Street

Film Editing
Jay Cassidy, Crispin Struthers and Alan Baumgarten for American Hustle
Alfonso Cuarón and Mark Sanger for Gravity
John Mac McMurphy and Martin Pensa for Dallas Buyers Club
Christopher Rouse for Captain Phillips
Joe Walker for 12 Years a Slave

Production Design
K.K. Barrett and Gene Serdena for Her
Judy Becker and Heather Loeffler for American Hustle
Catherine Martin and Beverley Dunn for The Great Gatsby
Andy Nicholson, Rosie Goodwin and Joanne Woollard for Gravity
Adam Stockhausen and Alice Baker for 12 Years a Slave

Visual Effects
Tim Alexander, Gary Brozenich, Edson Williams and John Frazier for The Lone Ranger
Roger Guyett, Patrick Tubach, Ben Grossmann and Burt Dalton for Star Trek Into Darkness
Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton and Eric Reynolds for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Christopher Townsend, Guy Williams, Erik Nash and Dan Sudick for Iron Man 3
Tim Webber, Chris Lawrence, Dave Shirk and Neil Corbould for Gravity

Sound Editing
Steve Boeddeker and Richard Hymns for All Is Lost
Brent Burge for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Glenn Freemantle for Gravity
Wylie Stateman for Lone Survivor
Oliver Tarney for Captain Phillips

Sound Mixing
Chris Burdon, Mark Taylor, Mike Prestwood Smith and Chris Munro for Captain Phillips
Skip Lievsay, Niv Adiri, Christopher Benstead and Chris Munro for Gravity
Christopher Boyes, Michael Hedges, Michael Semanick and Tony Johnson for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Skip Lievsay, Greg Orloff and Peter F. Kurland for Inside Llewyn Davis
Andy Koyama, Beau Borders and David Brownlow for Lone Survivor

Costume Design
William Chang Suk Ping for The Grandmaster
Catherine Martin for The Great Gatsby
Patricia Norris for 12 Years a Slave
Michael O’Connor for The Invisible Woman
Michael Wilkinson for American Hustle

Makeup and Hairstyling
Joel Harlow and Gloria Pasqua-Casny for The Lone Ranger
Adruitha Lee and Robin Mathews for Dallas Buyers Club
Stephen Prouty for Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa

Music - Original Score
John Williams for The Book Thief
Steven Price for Gravity
William Butler and Owen Pallett for Her
Alexandre Desplat for Philomena
Thomas Newman for Saving Mr. Banks

Music - Original Song
Alone Yet Not Alone from Alone Yet Not Alone, Music by Bruce Broughton and Lyric by Dennis Spiegel
Happy from Despicable Me 2, Music and Lyric by Pharrell Williams
Let It Go from Frozen, Music and Lyric by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez
The Moon Song from Her, Music by Karen O and Lyric by Karen O and Spike Jonze
Ordinary Love from Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, Music by Paul Hewson, Dave Evans, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen and Lyric by Paul Hewson

Documentary
The Act of Killing
Cutie and the Boxer
Dirty Wars
The Square
20 Feet from Stardom

Short Films

Live Action
Aquel No Era Yo (That Wasn’t Me), Esteban Crespo, Spain
Avant Que De Tout Perdre (Just before Losing Everything), Xavier Legrand, France
Helium, Anders Walter, Denmark
Pitääkö Mun Kaikki Hoitaa? (Do I Have to Take Care of Everything?), Selma Vilhunen, Finland
The Voorman Problem, Mark Gill, UK

Animated
Feral, Daniel Sousa, USA
Get a Horse!, Lauren MacMullan, USA
Mr. Hublot, Laurent Witz and Alexandre Espigares, France and Luxembourg
Room on the Broom, Max Lang and Jan Lachauer, UK
Tsukumo (Possessions), Shuhei Morita, Japan

Documentary
Cavedigger, Jeffrey Karoff, USA
Facing Fear, Jason Cohen, USA
Karama Has No Walls, Sara Ishaq, United Arab Emirates, UK and Yemen
The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life, Malcolm Clarke, Canada, USA and UK
Prison Terminal: The Last Days of Private Jack Hall, Edgar Barens, USA

To check info for each film go here but be aware that videos at this site will NOT WORK outside USA, which is a TRUE SHAME as for the first time in a clear way the Academy is NOT sharing with the World. See the problem is that the Academy is referring every video to the US Network, ABC, which obviously DOES NOT allow IP's outside USA to view videos. Hope the Academy and/or ABC consider the money they make selling show rights and OPEN the videos for those world inhabitants that are interested in watching.

Scorecard - Motion Picture Nominations Feature Films With Two or More Nominations
10- American Hustle, Sony Pictures Releasing
10 -Gravity, Warner Bros.
9 -12 Years a Slave, Fox Searchlight
6 - Captain Phillips, Sony Pictures Releasing
6 - Dallas Buyers Club, Focus Features
6 - Nebraska, Paramount
5 - Her, Warner Bros.
5 - The Wolf of Wall Street, Paramount
4 -Philomena, The Weinstein Company
3 - Blue Jasmine, Sony Pictures Classics
3 - The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, Warner Bros.
2 - August: Osage County” The Weinstein Company
2 - Despicable Me 2, Universal
2 - Frozen, Walt Disney
2 - The Grandmaster, The Weinstein Company
2 - The Great Gatsby, Warner Bros.
2 - Inside Llewyn Davis, CBS Films
2 -The Lone Ranger, Walt Disney
2 -Lone Survivor, Universal

Fun Stats and Facts

• Last year, Silver Linings Playbook became the first film to receive nominations for Best Picture, Directing, Writing and all four acting categories since Reds (1981). American Hustle repeats that feat this year.
• Jennifer Lawrence is again the youngest performer nominee and is her first nod for supporting role.
• Jennifer Lawrence, Amy Adams and Bradley Cooper are the only three acting nominees this year who were also nominated last year; all were nominated in different categories to this year.
• Meryl Streep extends her lead as the most nominated performer with her 18th nomination.
• Woody Allen extends his record for most nominations by a screenwriter to 16.
• John Williams scores his 49th nomination and 44th in original score to become category's record holder; he becomes the first living person with more nods and the second after Walt Disney (59).
• Of the 10 films nominated for a PGA Award, two were nominated and got no Oscar nod (Blue Jasmine and Saving Mr. Banks) and one PGA did not nominate and got an Oscar nod (Philomena).

If you wish to read more facts go here and here.

The Nominations video

Oscar Nominations LIVE

Live stream will start in about 11 minutes. Enjoy!!!

71st Golden Globes Winners

Yesterday the press group had their highly enjoyable show thanks to Tina and Amy plus some of the winners that gave great speeches and/or had great reactions. There are a couple of Tina jokes that still are inside my head which make me burst into laugh out-of-the-blue. Hope next year Tina and Amy are back or if they don't then has to be Ricky Gervais! LOL!

Talking about winners there were a few surprises like fantastic Jaqueline Bisset that finally got her award after five nominations, the many unexpected wins in television categories and some in motion picture categories like Original Score, Best Actor and even do I really enjoyed La Grande Bellezza expected that Blue or Jagten will take the award.

Nevertheless we have to remember that Golden Globes are awards given by the press and they are NOT Academy members, so we should compare these results with what other press/critics groups have been honoring more than predicting what could happen with Oscar even do we have to recognize that press members do influence viewers perceptions and Academy members are also viewers that can be influenced.

Winners are in *BLUE and to check winners in television categories go here.

The Nominees Motion Pictures

Best Motion Picture - Drama
*12 Years A Slave
Captain Phillips
Gravity
Philomena
Rush

Best Motion Picture - Comedy Or Musical
*American Hustle
Her
Inside Llewyn Davis
Nebraska
The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Animated Feature Film
The Croods
Despicable Me 2
*Frozen

Best Foreign Language Film
Blue is the Warmest Color, France
*The Great Beauty, Italy
The Hunt, Denmark
The Past, Iran
The Wind Rises, Japan

Best Director - Motion Picture
*Alfonso Cuarón for Gravity
Paul Greengrass for Captain Phillips
Steve McQueen for 12 Years A Slave
Alexander Payne for Nebraska
David O. Russell for American Hustle

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama
*Cate Blanchett in Blue Jasmine
Sandra Bullock in Gravity
Judi Dench in Philomena
Emma Thompson in Saving Mr. Banks
Kate Winslet in Labor Day

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy Or Musical
*Amy Adams in American Hustle
Julie Delpy in Before Midnight
Greta Gerwig in Francis Ha
Julia Louis-Dreyfus in Enough Said
Meryl Streep in August: Osage County

Best Performance by an Actress In A Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Sally Hawkins in Blue Jasmine
*Jennifer Lawrence in American Hustle
Lupita Nyong'o in 12 Years A Slave
Julia Roberts in August: Osage County
June Squibb in Nebraska

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama
Chiwetel Ejifor in 12 Years A Slave
Idris Elba in Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
Tom Hanks in Captain Phillips
*Matthew McConaughey in Dallas Buyers Club
Robert Redford in All is Lost

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy Or Musical
Christian Bale in Amerian Hustle
Bruce Dern in Nebraska
*Leonoardo DiCaprio in The Wolf of Wall Street
Oscar Isaac in Inside Llewyn Davis
Joaquin Phoenix in Her

Best Performance by an Actor In A Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Barkhad Abdi in Captain Phillips
Daniel Brühl in Rush
Bradley Cooper in American Hustle
Michael Fassbender in 12 Years A Slave
*Jared Leto in Dallas Buyers Club

Best Screenplay - Motion Picture
*Spike Jonze for Her
Bob Nelson for Nebraska
Jeff Pope and Steve Coogan for Philomena
John Ridley for 12 Years a Slave
Eric Warren Singer and David O. Russel for American Hustle

Best Original Score
*Alex Ebert for All is Lost
Alex Heffes and Freedom for Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
Steven Price for Gravity
John Williams for The Book Thief
Hans Zimmer for 12 Years A Slave

Best Original Song - Motion Picture
Atlas in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire - Music and Lyrics by Chris Martin, Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland, Will Champion
Let It go in Frozen - Music and Lyrics by Kristen Anderson Lopez, Robert Lopez
*Ordinary Love in Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom - Music by Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton, Larry Mullen, Jr., Brian Burton and Lyrics by Bono
Please Mr. Kennedy in Inside Llewyn Davis - Music and Lyrics by Ed Rush, George Cromarty, T Bone Burnett, Justin Timberlake, Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Sweeter than Fiction in Once Chance - Music and Lyrics by Taylor Swift, Jack Antonoff

To learn TV categories nominations go Official site. Have to say that I'm very pleased with the two nominations for incredibly good Masters of Sex.

Tally by Movie
7 - 12 Years a Slave
7 - American Hustle
5 - Nebraska
4 - Captain Phillips
4 - Gravity
3 - Inside Llewyn Davis
3 - Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
3 - Philomena
3 - Her
3 - August: Osage County
2 - All is Lost
2 - Blue Jasmine
2 - Dallas Buyers Club
2 - Frozen
2 - Rush
2 - The Wolf of Wall Street
1 - Before Midnight
1 - Blue is the Warmest Color
1 - Despicable Me 2
1 - Enough Said
1 - Frances Ha
1 - Labor Day
1 - One Chance
1 - Saving Mr. Banks
1 - The Book Thief
1 - The Croods
1 - The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
1 - The Hunt
1 - The Past
1 - The Wind Rises

12/12/13
Today the Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced their nominations and as usually happens every year there are a lot of surprises, especially in what they define as "comedy" which this year I find particularly hilarious as made me laugh loud for a few minutes! and amazingly NONE of the films nominated in the "Comedy or Musical" category is a Comedy!!! Perhaps Inside Llewyn Davis could be considered "sort of" a Musical but the rest definitively not.

Biggest surprises for me are Paul Greengrass, Sally Hawkins and Idris Elba nominations; the total absence of The Butler. With SAG and Golden Globes nods out our guessing game seems a bit cloudy -with a few category exceptions- so I'm looking forward to learn the Guilds nominations to gain a clearer vision.

12 Years A Slave and American Hustle lead the pack with seven nominations each and if you like stats check distributor tally: Sony Pictures Releasing leads the pack with 11 nods followed by The Weinstein Co with 9 nods.

As we know Tina Fey and Amy Poehler will host the awards ceremony and Sosie Bacon, daughter of Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedwick, is this year Miss Golden Globe. Awards ceremony will be on January 12, 2014 and will air live on NBC.

Very Early Predictions - 2014 Oscar Nominations

As we know the Academy Awards nominations will be announced on Thursday, January 16, 2014 but as the majority of critics groups have already announced their 2013 winners plus we have at least one guild nominations and because some of you have been asking for how I see the possible Oscar nominations, will dare to play the guessing game this early.

Please recall that -with exception of the guilds- NONE of the critics are Academy members consequently do not vote in the nomination process, but definitively they are viewer's influencer and after all, like it or not, Academy members are also viewers.

My crystal ball says that for the following categories probable Oscar nominations are ...

Best Picture
Very Sure
12 Years a Slave
Gravity

Maybe
Her
American Hustle
August: Osage County
Dallas Buyers Club
Inside Llewyn Davis
Saving Mr. Banks
Philomena

Wouldn't mind if are NOT nominated
Captain Phillips
Nebraska
The Wolf of Wall Street
Lee Daniels' The Butler

Dare the Academy to nominate
Blue is the Warmest Color
Jagten (The Hunt)

Best Foreign Language Film
Very Sure
Jagten (The Hunt)
La Grande Belleza (The Great Beauty)

Maybe
The Broken Circle Breakdown
L'image manquante (The Missing Picture)
Omar
The Notebook
Two Lives

My Winner: The Hunt

Best Director
Very Sure
Alfonso Cuarón for Gravity
Steve McQueen for 12 Years a Slave

Maybe
Spike Jonze for Her
David O. Russel for American Hustle
Joel and Ethan Coen for Inside Llewyn Davis

Wouldn't mind if are NOT nominated
Paul Greengrass for Captain Phillips
Alexander Payne for Nebraska
Martin Scorsese for The Wolf of Wall Street

Dare the Academy to nominate
Woody Allen for Blue Jasmine
Abdellatif Kechiche for Blue is the Warmest Color

Best Actress
Very Sure
Cate Blanchett in Blue Jasmine
Sandra Bullock in Gravity

Hope the next three (to make the 5 nominees) are:
Emma Thompson in Saving Mr. Banks
Judi Dench in Philomena
Meryl Streep in August: Osage County

Maybe
Brie Larson in Short Term 12
Kate Winslet in Labor Day
Greta Gerwing in Frances Ha

Dare the Academy to nominate
Adèle Exarchopoulos in Blue is the Warmest Color

Best Supporting Actress
Very Sure
Jennifer Lawrence in American Hustle
Lupita Nyong'o in 12 Years a Slave

Maybe
Amy Adams in American Hustle (should be nominated in this category to have better chances)
Sally Hawkins in Blue Jasmine
June Squibb in Nebraska
Octavia Spencer in Frutivale Station

Wouldn't mind if are NOT nominated
Julia Roberts in August: Osage County
Oprah Winfrey in Lee Daniels' The Butler

Dare the Academy to nominate
Scarlett Johansson in Her (already read that will not qualify BUT absolutely disagree, voice only require great performances; if not agree, have you seen dubbed movies with awful voices that have absolutely nothing to do with what you see in the screen?)

Best Actor
Very Sure
Chiwetel Ejiofor in 12 Years a Slave

Maybe
Matthew McConaughey in Dallas Buyers Club
Tom Hanks in Captain Phillips
Bruce Dern in Nebraska
Forest Whitaker in Lee Daniels' The Butler
Joaquin Phoenix in Her
Michael B. Jordan in Frutivale Station

Wouldn't mind if are NOT nominated
Leonardo DiCaprio in The Wolf of Wall Street
Oscar Isaac in Inside Llewyn Davis
Robert Redford in All is Lost

Dare the Academy to nominate
Mads Mikkelsen in The Hunt

Best Supporting Actor
Very Sure
Jared Leto in Dallas Buyers Club

Maybe
Michael Fassbender in 12 Years a Slave
Daniel Bruhl in Rush
Barkhad Abdi in Captain Phillips
James Gandolfini in Enough Said

Wouldn't mind if are NOT nominated
James Franco in Spring Breakers

Best Documentary
Very Sure
The Act of Killing
Stories We Tell

Maybe
20 Feet From Stardom
Blackfish
The Square
The Crash Reel (because director is Lucy Walker)

Movie that will win most tech awards, similar to what Life of Pi did last year, Gravity.

Up-to-date most critics predictions for all categories rotate around the SAME movies, let's hope that when the nominations are announced they include a larger number of films and not only the 5+ that many predict will be nominated so will not be too easy to guess who will win in what category. Sigh.

That's it. Wont guess more as is too early. But if you ask me which movie(s) I believe is the best that have seen during 2013 have to say that there are three choices that make very difficult to select only one: The Hunt, Blue is the Warmest Color and The Act of Killing.

86th Academy Awards Foreign-Language Film - Shortlist of 9

To my surprise late yesterday the Academy released the names of the nine (9) films that will advance to the next round of voting in the category and to must Oscar season followers the selected films meant surprises and huge snubs. We know that every year this is one of the most controversial Oscar categories and this year is NO exception.

There is an article written by Scott Feinberg that if you wish to read in full go here, that could help us understand more about the selection process. The following is a cut and paste paragraph from the article.

The Academy's best foreign-language film Oscar short-list is determined in two phases. During the first, all of the eligible submissions -- which this year numbered 76 and included three documentaries, two animated films and 16 films directed by women -- are divided into groups, as are the members of a foreign-language committee which consists of several hundred Los Angeles-based Academy members, all volunteers from a wide cross-section of the Academy's branches whose names are never released. Each group of members is then assigned to a different group of films. In order to retain the right to weigh in on the short-list at the end of the process, members must attend screenings of a certain percentage of the films in their assigned group. This year, screenings of all of the submissions took place between mid-Oct. and Dec. 16, and members had to attend no fewer than 17. Those who maintained their eligibility then got to vote, and their six highest-scoring films were passed along to an executive committee.

So we know that watching 76 films is almost humanly impossible in a couple of months (unless you really enjoy films like me) so the shortlist is generated by selecting films from each of the groups with eligible voters. From this exercise six (6) films are selected giving to the executive committee the task to add 3 more films that they considered HAVE to be in the shortlist. If you don't remember this decision came after excellent non-commercial films were left out of the race. Even if the process has improved a lot than in the past, still is not infallible and excellent movies are left out of the race in the first phase.

From the films I have seen major snubs for me come from countries like Argentina, Chile, Iran, Mexico and Romania. These five films are absolutely must be seen and strongly recommend you do not skip them. But then let's be honest, if you enjoy great cinema there are about 50+ movies that were submitted to Oscar that are must be seen for me and most of you that read the blog regularly, so I assume that all the fuzz and buzz about snubbing is that some USA distributors already had commitments with movies that they hoped will made the list of nine at least.

From the list of 9 films, haven't seen more than half BUT can share with you that definitively The Hunt and The Great Beauty HAVE to be nominated plus if one of them wins the Oscar I would not be upset at all. Still my Oscar goes to The Hunt even when Sorrentino's La Grande Bellezza was a true cinephile pleasure like the ones that Fellini used to give us back then.

These are the nine (9) films that advance to the second phase that ends with generating five nominees to be announced on Thursday, January 16, 2014 at 5:30 am PT.

Belgium: The Broken Circle Breakdown, Felix van Groeningen (Berlinale)
Bosnia and Herzegovina: Epizoda u životu berača željeza (An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker), Danisa Tanovića (Berlinale Jury Grand Prix winner)
Cambodia: L'image manquante (The Missing Picture), Rithy Panh (documentary) (Cannes Un Certain Regard winner)
Denmark: Jagten (The Hunt), Thomas Vinterberg (Cannes 2012)
Germany: Zwei Leben (Two Lives), Judith Kaufmann and Georg Maas
Hong Kong: 一代宗师 Yi dai zong shi (The Grandmaster), Kar Wai Wong (Berlinale)
Hungary: A nagy füzet (The Notebook), János Szász, (Crystal Globe for Best Film at 2013 Karlovy Vary)
Italy: La Grande Belleza (The Great Beauty), Paolo Sorrentino (Cannes)
Palestine: Omar, Hany Abu-Assad (Cannes Un Certain Regard Special Jury Prize winner)

Basically we have 4 Cannes films, 3 Berlinale films, 1 from Karlovy Vary and 1 film from Göteborg (Germany), so ALL are festival films, which only assures an above average film quality. Let's go more in-depth.

Belgium: The Broken Circle Breakdown by Felix van Groeningen
From all the films in shortlist perhaps this is the one that pleased audiences the most as many of the film accolades are Audience Awards in festivals like Berlinale, Karlovy Vary, Tallinn Black Nights, etc.

I believe that film has excellent performances, great screenplay, and good director which makes a very unusual non-commercial crowd pleaser film.


Bosnia and Herzegovina: Epizoda u životu berača željeza (An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker), Danisa Tanovića
To be honest I was going to skip this film but now I know will watch it as not only won the Jury Grand Prix at 2013 Berlinale but now is being honored by the Academy.

From trailer and images imagine that will be not easy to watch; still story reminds me of a great Romanian movie about how hard life can be when you deal with state institutions.

Cambodia: L'image manquante (The Missing Picture) by Rithy Panh
The most interesting facts about this film is that is a documentary, is animated plus tells a story that IF told not this way surely could be unwatchable. Film has collected major honors like the Un Certain Regard Award at 2013 Cannes, Best Documentary Award at 2013 European Film Awards and 2013 Jerusalem Film Festival's In Spirit for Freedom Award.

No doubt that 2013 is the year when documentaries told unthinkable stories in the most unthinkable way (bordering beauty) that definitively touches viewers deep. Also think Oppenheimer's The Act of Killing.

Denmark: Jagten (The Hunt), Thomas Vinterberg
Thomas Vinterberg masterful opus won the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury in 2012 Cannes as well as Best Actor for the incredible performance by Mads Mikkelsen; also won Best Screenwriter award at 2012 European Film Awards, 2013 Nordic Council's Film Prize Award and was not 2012 Denmark submission to Oscar because was released after the Academy deadline. So one year after was sent and made the shortlist of 9. Not a fan of ranking movies I see BUT this year will be the exception as The Hunt is my number 1 movie of the year, the one that has my Oscar and the one I hope wins.

Strongly suggest you watch movie as film is fantastic but watching Mads is truly, truly an awesome experience I highly recommend to many people that call their profession "actor".

Germany: Zwei Leben (Two Lives) by Judith Kaufmann and Georg Maas
Have not seen movie and yes, I am "dying" to see it especially because lead performances by Liv Ullman and none other than Juliane Köhler that many of you will remember from great Aimée & Jaguar. Film was not screened in major festivals but was a selection in 2013 Göteborg Film Festival running for the International Debut Award.

It is the second film by Maas (documentary filmmaker) and the first by Kaufman (cinematographer) and know their work as have seen Maas Liv Ullmann documentary and many movies were Judith Kaufmann was the cinematographer like 4 minutes, When We Leave, Unveiled and more.

Update: film has extraordinary cinematography, good performances more Scandinavian than German style, an interesting story told in slowish pace but believe is not Oscar worthy material as is entertaining but not much else.

Hong Kong: 一代宗师 Yi dai zong shi (The Grandmaster) by Kar Wai Wong
Some of you know my blind love for Wong Kar Wai and his master filmmaker style so masterful developed in films like In the Mood for Love, 2046, Chungking Express and more; add that I still believe that the greatest actor in the world is Tony Leung (thanks to his extraordinary performances in Wong Kar Wai's films and other directors) and you have an idea of the expectations I had for this film. Perhaps my expectations were too high but film doesn't look/feel much like great Wong Kar Wai (perhaps the close film style is Ashes of Time) so in a way I was disappointed but not much as film is absolutely outstanding when you think cinematography, truly awesome visual pleasure.

Still film has already won 14 awards plus more nominations, including Ziyi Zhang winning Best Performance by an Actress at 2013 Asia Pacific Screen Awards, Best Cinematography in 2013 Golden Horse Awards where also won the Audience Award. Worth watching but try to minimize the effect the director may have in your expectations.

Hungary: A nagy füzet (The Notebook) by János Szász
Not really interested in watching as many will remember that do not enjoy war movies and need someone/something to force me to perhaps consider watching.

Still seems that film has impressive cinematography and already collected accolades at 2013 Karlovy Vary where won the Crystal Globe and Label Europa Cinema awards.


Italy: La Grande Belleza (The Great Beauty), Paolo Sorrentino
My second favorite actor in the world is Toni Servillo and see everything with him, not really a fan of the director (but loved Il Divo with Servillo) and had no expectations. This film gave me the greatest surprise this year as never, never imagined Sorrentino could make a movie so decadent that gave me the chills as almost felt I was watching early Fellini. One of the best five movies this year and one that already won great accolades from being in competition at 2013 Cannes to win several awards in 2013 European Film Awards including best film and best actor. If you ever loved (and miss) great Italian cinema then this film is must be seen for you.

Palestine: Omar by Hany Abu-Assad
Not in my film watching queue (even when won 2013 Cannes Un Certain Regard Special Jury Prize) but called my attention when won Best Film at 2013 Asia Pacific Screen Awards. Surely will not be easy to see but accolades suggest that maybe story has something different, especially when story has been told too many times in many different ways/points-of-view. Will watch.

2013 Prix Louis-Delluc Winners

Today the jury members of the most prestigious award in France had their annual meeting at Fouquet in Paris with Gilles Jacob, Cannes Festival president, announcing that this year winner is extremely well deserved and is the second Delluc that Kechiche wins in only five years, as his first was for excellent La Graine et le mulet in 2007 and now for La Vie d'Adèle.

Prix Louis Delluc for Best Film: La Vie d'Adèle (Blue is the Warmest Color), Abdellatif Kechiche

For reference these were the films considered for the award.

Elle s'en va by Emmanuelle Bercot
Jimmy P. by Arnaud Desplechin
Camille Claudel 1915 by Bruno Dumont
Mon âme par toi guérie by François Dupeyron
9 mois ferme by Albert Dupontel
Le Passé by Asghar Farhadi
L'inconnu du lac by Alain Guiraudie
La vie d'Adèle by Abdellatif Kechiche

Prix Louis Delluc for Best First Film: Vandal, Hélier Cisterne

To read the news in French go here.