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Feature, Film, Film Features, Film News

Check Out The Chicago Film Critics Association Nominees!

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"Birdman" seems to have soared to the top of most of the categories.
“Birdman” seems to have soared to the top of most of the categories.

Being based in Chicago, the Chicago Film Critics Association (CFCA) Awards are kind of a big deal to me. Their nominees are as follows (with my personal pick to win being italicized):

BEST PICTURE
Birdman
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Under the Skin
Whiplash

BEST DIRECTOR
Wes Anderson, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
David Fincher, “Gone Girl”
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, “Birdman”
Richard Linklater, “Boyhood”
Christopher Nolan, “Interstellar”

BEST ACTOR
Benedict Cumberbatch, “The Imitation Game”
Jake Gyllenhaal, “Nightcrawler”
Michael Keaton, “Birdman”
David Oyelowo, “Selma”
Eddie Redmayne, “The Theory of Everything”

BEST ACTRESS
Marion Cotillard, “Two Days, One Night”
Scarlett Johannson, “Under the Skin”
Julianne Moore, “Still Alice”
Rosamund Pike, “Gone Girl”
Reese Witherspoon, “Wild”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Josh Brolin, “Inherent Vice”
Ethan Hawke, “Boyhood”
Edward Norton, “Birdman”
Mark Ruffalo, “Foxcatcher”
J.K. Simmons, “Whiplash”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Patricia Arquette, “Boyhood”
Jessica Chastain, “A Most Violent Year”
Laura Dern, “Wild”
Agata Kulesza, “Ida”
Emma Stone, “Birdman”

BEST ORIGNAL SCREENPLAY
“Birdman”, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Nicolas Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris and Armando Bo
“Boyhood”, Richard Linklater
“Calvary”, John Michael McDonagh
“The Grand Budapest Hotel”, Wes Anderson
“Whiplash”, Damien Chazelle

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
“Gone Girl”, Gillian Flynn
“The Imitation Game”, Graham Moore
“Inherent Vice”, Paul Thomas Anderson
“Under the Skin”, Walter Campbell
“Wild”, Nick Hornby

BEST FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM
Force Majeure
Ida
Mommy
The Raid 2
Two Days, One Night

BEST DOCUMENTARY
Citizenfour
Jodorowsky’s Dune
Last Days in Vietnam
Life Itself
The Overnighters

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Big Hero 6
The Boxtrolls
How to Train Your Dragon 2
The Lego Movie
Tales of the Princess Kaguya

BEST ART DIRECTION/PRODUCTION DESIGN
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Interstellar
Into The Woods
Only Lovers Left Alive
Snowpiercer

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
“Birdman”, Emmanuel Lubezki
“The Grand Budapest Hotel”, Robert Yeoman
“Ida”, Ryszard Lenczewski and Lukasz Zal
“Inherent Vice”, Robert Elswit
“Interstellar”, Hoyte Van Hoytema

BEST EDITING
“Birdman”, Douglas Crise and Stephen Mirrion
“Boyhood”, Sandra Adair
“Gone Girl”, Kirk Baxter
“The Grand Budapest Hotel”, Barney Pilling
“Whiplash”, Tom Cross

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
“Birdman”, Antonio Sanchez
“The Grand Budapest Hotel”, Alexandre Desplat
“The Imitation Game”, Alexandre Desplat
“Interstellar”, Hans Zimmer
“Under the Skin”, Mica Levi

MOST PROMISING PERFORMER
Ellar Coltrane, “Boyhood”
Gugu Mbatha-Raw, “Belle”/”Beyond the Lights”
Jack O’Connell, “Starred Up”/”Unbroken”
Tony Revolori, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
Jenny Slate, “Obvious Child”
Agata Trzebuchowska, “Ida”

MOST PROMISING FILMMAKER
Damien Chazelle, “Whiplash”
Dan Gilroy, “Nightcrawler”
Jennifer Kent, “The Babadook”
Jeremy Saulnier, “Blue Ruin”
Justin Simien, “Dear White People”

The winners will be announced December 15th, so keep an eye out for them. You also have a few days to watch every movie on this list you can, so get on that.

Feature, Film, Film Features, Film News

72nd Annual Golden Globe Nominees

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The 72nd annual Golden Globe Awards are just a month away, but here are the nominees. [psssst, my picks will be italicized]

Motion picture, musical or comedy

“Birdman”
“The Grand Budapest Hotel”
“Into the Woods”
“Pride”
“St. Vincent”

Motion picture, drama
“Boyhood”
“Foxcatcher”
“The Imitation Game”
“Selma”
“The Theory of Everything”

Actor in a motion picture, drama
Benedict Cumberbatch, “The Imitation Game”
Eddie Redmayne, “The Theory of Everything”
Jake Gyllenhaal, “Nightcrawler”
Steve Carell, “Foxcatcher”
David Oyelowo, “Selma”

Actress in a motion picture, drama
Jennifer Aniston, “Cake”
Felicity Jones, “The Theory of Everything”
Julianne Moore, “Still Alice”
Rosamund Pike, “Gone Girl”
Reese Witherspoon, “Wild”

Actress in a motion picture, musical or comedy
Amy Adams, “Big Eyes”
Emily Blunt, “Into the Woods”
Helen Mirren, “The Hundred-Foot Journey”
Julianne Moore, “Maps To The Stars”
Quvenzhané Wallis, “Annie”

Actor in a motion picture, musical or comedy
Ralph Fiennes, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
Michael Keaton, “Birdman”
Bill Murray, “St. Vincent”
Joaquin Phoenix, “Inherent Vice”
Christoph Waltz, “Big Eyes”

Director
Wes Anderson, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
Ava DuVernay, “Selma”
David Fincher, “Gone Girl”
Alejandro G. Iñárritu, “Birdman”
Richard Linklater, “Boyhood”

Animated feature film
“Big Hero 6”
“The Book Of Life”
“The Boxtrolls”
“How To Train Your Dragon 2”
“The Lego Movie”

Foreign language film
“Force Majeure Turist”
“Gett: The Trial Of Viviane Amsalem Gett”
“Ida”
“Leviathan”
“Tangerines (Mandariinid)”

Actress in a supporting role in a motion picture
Patricia Arquette, “Boyhood”
Keira Knightley, “The Imitation Game”
Emma Stone, “Birdman”
Meryl Streep, “Into The Woods”
Jessica Chastain, “A Most Violent Year”

Actor in a supporting role in a motion picture
Robert Duvall, “The Judge”
Ethan Hawke, “Boyhood”
Edward Norton, “Birdman”
Mark Ruffalo, “Foxcatcher”
J.K. Simmons, “Whiplash”

Screenplay
Wes Anderson, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
Gillian Flynn, “Gone Girl”
Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris and Armando Bo, “Birdman”
Richard Linklater, “Boyhood”
Graham Moore, “The Imitation Game”

Original score, motion picture
Alexandre Desplat, “The Imitation Game”
Jóhann Jóhannsson, “The Theory Of Everything”
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, “Gone Girl”
Antonio Sanchez, “Birdman”
Hans Zimmer, “Interstellar”

Original song, motion picture
“Big Eyes” from “Big Eyes”
“Glory” from “Selma”
“Mercy Is” from “Noah”
“Opportunity” from “Annie”
“Yellow Flicker Beat” from “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 1”

TV series, comedy
“Girls”
“Jane the Virgin”
“Orange Is the New Black”
“Silicon Valley”
“Transparent”

TV series, drama
“The Affair”
“Downton Abbey”
“Game of Thrones”
“The Good Wife”
“House Of Cards”

TV movie or miniseries
“The Missing”
“Olive Kitteridge”
“The Normal Heart”
“True Detective”
“Fargo”

Actress in a TV series, drama
Claire Danes, “Homeland”
Viola Davis, “How To Get Away With Murder”
Julianna Margulies, “The Good Wife”
Ruth Wilson, “The Affair”
Robin Wright, “House Of Cards”

Actor in a TV series, comedy
Louis C.K., “Louie”
William H. Macy, “Shameless”
Don Cheadle, “House of Lies”
Jeffrey Tambor, “Transparent”
Ricky Gervais, “Derek”

Actress in a TV series, comedy
Lena Dunham, “Girls”
Edie Falco, “Nurse Jackie”
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, “Veep”
Gina Rodriguez, “Jane the Virgin”
Taylor Schilling, “Orange Is the New Black”

Actor in a TV series, drama
Clive Owen, “The Knick”
Liev Schreiber, “Ray Donovan”
Kevin Spacey, “House Of Cards”
James Spader, “The Blacklist”
Dominic West, “The Affair”

Actress in a TV miniseries or motion picture
Maggie Gyllenhaal, “The Honorable Woman”
Jessica Lange, “American Horror Story: Freak Show”
Frances McDormand, “Olive Kitteridge”
Frances O’Connor, “The Missing”
Allison Tolman, “Fargo”

Actor in a TV miniseries or motion picture
Martin Freeman, “Fargo”
Woody Harrelson, “True Detective”
Matthew McConaughey, “True Detective”
Mark Ruffalo, “The Normal Heart”
Billy Bob Thornton, “Fargo”

Supporting actress in a TV series, miniseries or motion picture
Uzo Aduba, “Orange Is the New Black”
Kathy Bates, “American Horror Story: Freak Show”
Joanne Froggatt, “Downton Abbey”
Allison Janney, “Mom”
Michelle Monaghan, “True Detective”

Supporting actor in a TV series, miniseries or motion picture
Matt Bomer, “The Normal Heart”
Alan Cumming, “The Good Wife”
Colin Hanks, “Fargo”
Bill Murray, “Olive Kitteridge”
Jon Voight, “Ray Donovan”

Don’t forget to watch the Golden Globes on January 11th. It should be as funny as last year with the comedy duo of Tina Fey and Amy Poehler!

http://youtu.be/sRAMgHlTrmo

Feature, Film, Film Reviews

Review: “Still Alice” Doesn’t Let You Forget What’s Important

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Still AliceExcerpt: Still Alice, based on the novel of the same name by Lisa Genova, is more of a question than a statement. When our mind starts to betray us, taking away our memories, our experiences and even our independence, are really still the person we used to be? Are we still Alice? Julianne Moore’s inspired performance may sway you one way or the other on the topic, but ultimately leaves it open-ended. Aside from the great performance, it’s earnest sincerity elevates what could easily come off as a made-for-tv Lifetime film. Instead, it leaves you understanding what going through that type of situation feels like, even if you’ve been fortunate enough not to have witnessed Alzheimer’s effect first hand.

RATING: ★★★★★★★★(8/10 stars)

To read my full review, go to TheYoungFolks

 

Feature, Film, Film Reviews

Review: Into the Storm

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Disaster movies, even those so far from the stretch of reality, serve only one purpose: Entertainment. We can take flying cows, fiery, cyclonic forces and even caricatured characters, but what really is insurmountable is when the film about a natural disaster becomes an equally disastrous force all its own. Into the Storm is a destructive force that very nearly destroys our love of disaster films.

The story in these types of films are usually the least important aspect of these kinds of films, and Into the Storm is not the exception. A family and new friends are forced to survive a relentless natural disaster that has been thrust on them with little or no warning. With every film about a disaster, there is always a group of people that decide to chase it. I mean, it’s only unpredictable force so what possibly could go wrong? Those are always their famous last words in these movies. The entire concept of the idiocy behind amateurs chasing storms is parodied in this film with a redneck group who call themselves “Twista Hunterz”. This is one of the few things this film does right, and even then, the comedic relief they are intended to provide only has us rolling our eyes throughout the film.

The weak story in this film is only a byproduct of every other element failing to make it interesting. The writing is a minor step above a Syfy channel B-movie, with the dialogue seeming almost completely unnecessary to any character development let alone plot advancement. Like a twister set aflame, the writing is full of nothing but hot air. The writing is unable to give any character any sort of dimension so they just fall flat.

Nothing they do ever seems like it matters and every character is forgettable. They are nothing but very flat leaves in the wind, just being thrown around until they are propelled into their next situation. In this case, the only truly developed character is the storm because it is the only one of them that actually furthers the story in an way.  Screenwriter John Swetnam shows us that he is more comfortable writing stories where the actual story isn’t as important as all the external action, much like he did in Step Up: All In.

Now this catastrophe of a film wasn’t all bad. Director Steven Quale does what he does best in this film, and that is kill people. One of the few saving graces in this film was the great graphics. The savage love child of mother nature and climate change is what kept this film engaging, and made it a step above a TV movie. Take away the benign dialogue and the completely convoluted attempt at a story, and Into the Storm would have fared much better as an amusement park ride than a real film.

RATING: ★★★ (3/10 stars)

Feature, Film, Film Reviews

Review: Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones

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The found footage genre has come a long way since The Blair Witch Project pioneered its use for horror films all those years ago. Since then it has been used in a wide range of film genres with varying success. One of the longest running franchises to use it is Paranormal Activity. Their latest film, The Marked Ones, proves that the franchise has continued out of pure stubbornness, even though they offer something slightly new this time around.

Jesse (Andrew Jacobs) is fresh out of high school and is ready to take on the world, armed with the camera he bought at a pawn shop. After investigating one of his friend’s death, he finds out that he has been marked for possession by a witch who lives in his apartment complex. We all struggle with our daily demons, but Jesse is battling a powerful one that wants to take over his body and soul. He chronicles his transition into beasthood, fighting the transformation every step of the way.

Writer of every Paranormal Activity sequel Christopher Landon steps out from behind the pages and takes the helm for the film. As director, he shows us he is competent enough to continue the style of found footage filmmaking that has been used in the films. Through some convoluted or vaguely explained reasoning, the main character is always carrying around a recording device of some sort. Even with the increased presence of social media and people photographing everything, the constant recording seems completely forced.

As a horror film, they carry a distinct responsibility to to be scary or incredibly thrilling. At the very least, it should be engaging or compelling. The Marked Ones doesn’t offer much in the scares department. Being the most recent film in a series of sequels have given us a sort of immunity to the scares they do have. We know them and we see them coming. The predictability is the real villain in this sequel because when you anticipate something it has already let you down. Since the original film, the art of misdirection is one that hasn’t been lost up until this point, making everything much more straightforward than it should be.

The film franchise succeeds by relying on unknown talent to give the films a sense of authenticity. It makes it feel much more grounded in reality, even if the story itself comes across as absurd. The most exciting aspect of this film is the clear deviation from the original story line. We are shown the side effects of the original, developing  storyline, but enough of a change to offer a short reprieve. This time, we are given some much needed cultural scope, focusing on Mexican culture and folklore in an attempt to contextual what exactly is happening to the main character. Even with this refreshing change-up, Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones remains a reminder of a once great filming becoming a greatly disappointing franchise.

RATING: ★★★★ (4/10 stars)