A Gente não Vê

"The Artist" nails BAFTAs

2012-02-12T22:18:00.000Z

BEST FILM

The Artist

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM OF THE YEAR

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

DAVID LEAN AWARD FOR ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTION

Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist)

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Bridget O'Connor & Peter Straughan (Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy)

BEST ACTOR

Jean Dujardin (The Artist)

BEST ACTRESS

Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Christopher Plummer (Beginners)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Octavia Spencer (The Help)

OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH SCREENWRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER

Paddy Considine (writer/director, Tyrannosaur) and Diarmid Scrimshaw (producer, Tyrannosaur)

BEST FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

The Skin I Live In (Spain)

BEST DOCUMENTARY

Senna

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

Rango

ANTHONY ASQUITH AWARD FOR FILM MUSIC

Ludovic Bource (The Artist)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Guillaume Schiffman (The Artist)

BEST EDITING

Chris King & Gregers Sall (Senna)

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

Hugo

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

The Artist

BEST MAKE UP/HAIR

The Iron Lady

BEST SOUND

Hugo

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2

BEST SHORT ANIMATION

A Morning Stroll

BEST SHORT FILM

Pitch Black Heist

OUTSTANDING BRITISH TO CINEMA

John Hurt

ORANGE WEDNESDAY RISING STAR AWARD

Adam Deacon

ACADEMY FELLOWSHIP AWARD

Martin Scorsese

Whitney (1963 - 2012)

2012-02-12T14:55:00.002Z

Hugo (2011), what dreams are made of

2012-02-11T12:27:00.000Z

Last year was as much a rocket launcher for future and change, as an inwards and unexpected unfolding of an old endearing photo album. The world throbbed when, from Tunisia, to Egypt, to Libya, the Middle East came into the streets protesting against war, repression and corruption, historical revolutions that may have meant the blossoming of a new era, the Arab Spring. Russia came along and the whole West kept fighting the uncertainty towards a wounded economic system, asking for a rethinking of strategies and values. Back in 1929-33, during the Great Depression, there was this big black box providing people with hope, laughs and cries, amazement. The dreamland, the movies. We can't avoid looking at this year's productions without recalling their eternal escape-providing nature, especially if we consider that three of its major masterpieces refer to the nostalgia of a golden age: Midnight in Paris, The Artist and now Hugo. A romantic comedy in the Parisian artistic circles in the twenties, a melodramatic comedy as Hollywood fostered sound and an adventure coming-of-age, praising the wizardry behind George Mélies' work.

Hugo, adapted by the exquisite craftsman John Logan from the book The Invention of Hugo Cabret, by Brian Selznick, blends the passionate film buff, with the masterful filmmaker behind Taxi Driver, Raging Bull and The Aviator, with the most engaging teacher, as author of documentaries on American and Italian cinema, with the historian and restorer that created The Film Foundation. Those are all Martin Scorsese, in one of the most personal films of his career. The story of a Dickensian boy hero, Hugo, who wrestles to fix an intriguing old toy machine, which he believes may contain the last message his late father left him. When he meets Papa George and his granddaughter Isabelle, we can barely suspect the 12-year old has the key to the heart that pumped some of the most remarkable and crucial advances in film, regarding storytelling, editing and visual effects. Although he lives on a structure designed for a younger target audience, thus the very funny lighthearted reliefs from the Station Inspector, the dogs and the old couple, the story goes tenderly deeper, unveiling child-like genuine and powerful thoughts about our purpose in life. Hugo truly re-opens someone's self, rather than simply wind up a gadget, as George Mélies arcs from a grouchy, bitter man suffering with a past long gone to the glorious figure we still remember today - magician, inventor, one of the greatest filmmakers of all time.

"I'd imagine the whole world was one big machine. Machines never come with any extra parts, you know. They always come with the exact amount they need. So I figured, if the entire world was one big machine, I couldn't be an extra part. I had to be here for some reason."

Grandiloquent crane shots and breathtaking travelings, from the world to a room, from a city to a face. Paris tickles with lights and sounds, motions fast blurring vehicles, and the first shot leaves us astounding at its clockwise cityscape, when it is suddenly replaced by the engines of a large clock in the Gare of Montparnasse. That's merely the initial glimpse of the brilliant force made by Logan's script, Martin's vision and Thelma Shoonmaker's talent. When a train crashes off the rails, it pays off Arrival of a Train to a Station by the Lumiére brothers and Mélies's A Trip to the Moon. The ending, after a third act made of a rainbowish, doc-lyrical, ultimate ode to dozens of the French director's works, translates the meta-themeline to the meta-technicae, when by using one of Georges' great discoveries, Scorsese transforms the character played by Ben Kingsley in the actual Mélies, in a screen inside a screen. An additional note of appraisal to the work of the rest of the cast, chiefly the much promising rookie Asa Butterfield, Chloë Grace Moretz, Sasha Baron Cohen, and Michael Stuhlbarg. Nice cameos by Martin himself and Christopher Lee. Beautiful score by Howard Shore and the usual ravishing photography by Richardson.

"José e Pilar", na versão Director's Cut

2012-02-09T22:05:00.001Z

O filme português na versão muito alargada (cinco horas) de Director's Cut, depois de uma boa, importante e muito relevante campanha de promoção nos Estados Unidos aquando da corrida aos Óscares. Um dos poucos filmes portugueses que deixa de parte o amadorismo que os corrói e se preocupa em dar aos espectadores uma grande experiência de cinema. Em baixo, o comunicado oficial.

"A Fundação Lapa do Lobo, a RESUL e a JumpCut em conjunto com Cinemateca Portuguesa-Museu do Cinema, irão apresentar em sessão única, uma versão de trabalho do filme José e Pilar, de cerca de 5h (291') correspondente ao 1º corte do filme, feito do total das 240 horas filmadas.No dia 11 de Fevereiro às 15h30 será exibida esta versão, "director's cut", do filme José e Pilar, na Cinemateca Portuguesa, na sala Félix Ribeiro.A sessão será dividida em 5 partes intercaladas com intervalos de 5 a 10 minutos, onde todos os espectadores poderão provar o vinho "José e Pilar" da Adega Mayor.Sessão esta que marca o f

im de um

longo ciclo com o lançamento oficial da caixa de coleccionador "José e Pilar", que estará à venda em todas as lojas FNAC e que contém o livro de entrevistas inéditas, o DVD duplo, o CD da Banda Sonora Original do filme e ainda um impressão polaroid autografada pelo realizador Miguel Gonçalves Mendes e Pilar del Río.Estão todos convidados a assistir. Os bilhetes podem ser adquiridos na bilheteira da Cinemateca Portuguesa dentro dos horários normais de funcionamento da mesma."

Marvelous Meryl

2012-02-07T10:34:00.000Z

Outstanding.

Producers, Studios, Agents and Managers, no place in heaven

2012-02-06T19:42:00.000Z

Google remembers Truffaut

2012-02-06T11:03:00.001Z

And so do I.

François Truffaut, one of the main architects of the French New Wave, a new way to think film, form and content wise, the revolution that booth reminded the world of classic elders like Alfred Hitchcock, John Ford or Howard Hawks and gave birth to the modern cinema. I save a few spots for some of his work in my pot of favorite films of all time: The 400 Blows (1959), Shoot the Piano Player (1960), The Bride Wore Black (1967) and Day for Night (1973).

From "The 400 Blows" (1959)

Sundance's 2012 launchings

2012-02-04T21:13:00.000Z

One of the most surprising twists of this year's Oscar nominations was granting J.C. Chandor a ticket for Best Original Screenplay for Margin Call, a low budget independent film about the global financial crisis that premiered last year in Sundance. At the time, I reported it as one of the films that successfully picked a distributor, along with the already exhibited Another Earth, Like Crazy, My Idiot Brother and Martha Marcy May Marlene - others still to come. Since 2005, when Michael Arndt's Little Miss Sunshine won the aforementioned award, Sundance spilled into the world a total of eleven films admitted by the Academy in the writing categories: The Squid and the Whale (2005), Savages (2007), In Bruges (2008), Frozen River (2008), The Messenger (2009), In the Loop (2009), An Education (2009), The Kids Are All Right (2010), Winter's Bones (2010), yet grasping another win for Precious (2009).

The place where independent new talent nourishes from digital, low cash, quirky original filmmaking has Rodrigo Cortés' (Buried) new film Red Lights (starring Robert de Niro, Elizabeth Olsen and Sigourney Weaver) has one of the biggest highlights. Let's hope some of this year's major deals listed bellow will stick to the thread. Via The Hollywood Reporter.

The Surrogate | Fox Searchlight: Nearly $6 million, worldwide rights (CAA)

Red Lights | Millennium Entertainment: Nearly $4 million, U.S. rights (UTA)

For a Good Time, Call ... | Focus Features: $3 million, worldwide rights (Cinetic)

Arbitrage | Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions: About $3 million, North American rights (WME)

Robot & Frank | Sony and Samuel Goldwyn Films: $2 million-plus, North American rights and select territories (ICM, CAA)

Lay the Favorite | The Weinstein Co.: $2 million-plus, U.S. rights (CAA)

Celeste and Jesse Forever | Sony Pictures Classics: About $2 million, North America, Latin America, Eastern Europe (UTA)

The Words | CBS Films: $2 million, U.S. rights (CAA, Cassian Elwes, Laura Rister)

Something From Nothing: The Art of Rap | The Indomina Group: $1 million-plus, worldwide rights (UTA)

V/H/S | Magnolia Pictures (Magnet): $1 million-plus, North American rights (WME)

Black Rock | LD Distribution: $1 million-plus, N. American rights (Submarine) Liberal Arts | IFC Films$1 million-plus, North American rights (Gersh)

Safety Not Guaranteed | FilmDistrict: $1 million-plus, U.S. rights (ICM)

Shadow Dancer | ATO Pictures: $1 million, N. American rights (CAA)

Beasts of the Southern Wild | Fox Searchlight: Nearly $1 million, U.S. rights (WME)

How to Survive a Plague | Sundance Selects: High-six figures, North American rights (Submarine)

The Pact | IFC Midnight: High-six figures, North American rights (Preferred Content)

Nobody Walks | Magnolia Pictures: Mid- to high-six figures, North American rights (Submarine)

Middle of Nowhere | Participant Media and the African-American Film Festival Releasing Movement: Mid-six figures, U.S. rights (Paradigm)

The Queen of Versailles | Magnolia Pictures: Mid-six figures, North American rights (Submarine)

Searching for Sugar Man | Sony Pictures Classics: Mid-six figures, N. American rights (Submarine)

Compliance | Magnolia Pictures: N/A, U.S. rights (Cinetic)

2 Days in New York | Magnolia Pictures: N/A, North American rights (CAA)

Wish You Were Here | Entertainment One: N/A, North American rights (LevelK)

Simon Killer | IFC Films: N/A, North American rights (UTA, CAA)

First set photos of Tarantino's "Django Unchained"

2012-02-02T10:13:00.000Z

Via Collider.

Vanity Fair and the top most promising actresses of Hollywood

2012-02-01T12:52:00.001Z

End to end: Rooney Mara ("The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"), Mia Wasikowska ("The Kids Are All Right"), Jennifer Lawrence ("Winter's Bone"), Jessica Chastain ("The Help"), Elizabeth Olsen ("Martha Marcy May Marlene"), Adepero Oduye ("Pariah"), Shailene Woodley ("The Descendants"), Paula Patton ("Deja Vu"), Felicity Jones ("Like Crazy"), Lily Collins ("Mirror, Mirror") e Brit Marling ("Another Earth").

Charlie Kaufman is cooking a new great film

2012-01-27T22:21:00.006Z

Charlie Kaufman broke through in the industry by spec selling his eerie psycho-philosophical comedy Being John Malkovich (1999) about what's it like living inside real life actor John Malkovich. The weirdo genre tackle stands for no pseudo-intelectual crap but for a very funny story covering really complex debates of the human mind. After Human Nature (2001) and Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002), he faced Fellini-like artistic block and thus following the Italian master put his creative conflicts in paper and wrote the semi-autobiographical psychological drama with a wing for thriller Adaptation (2002), one of the most engaging, puzzling and relevant pieces of work I've read. By the third time he finally accepted the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, for the romantic recollection psychological drama Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2006).

Kaufmanesque went to be coined throughout the years, a term of an assumed despise for Hollywood traditional storytelling, meaning the ability of turning philosophical concepts/theories and the functioning of the brain against the heart from an external viewpoint into deeply enveloping stories and characters, yielding some of the most impressive emotional results alternative and even cemented screenwriting has ever accomplished.

I am drawn to believe his most recent film, Synecdoche NY is much as far as someone can get of saying his/her movie is about life (don't get me wrong, I hate Gilles Deleuze). A man recreates his daily routine in a local theater only to realize at the end of his days he ended up rehearsing his entire life nonstop, loosing track of time, his peers and himself - don't take this deleuzian-like, not even as a metaphor, for all of this becomes strangely materialized and visual. This is Kaufman's directorial debut, extraordinary job, and I am sure I'd list it as one of the top 5 most underrated movies of all time.

I'm not done here. A great actor can't do without a great part. Charlie creates some of the most original and amazing characters of contemporary storytelling and is somehow responsible for taking Sam Rockwell to win Best Actor in Berlin'03, Catherine Keener, Nicholas Cage, Meryl Streep and Kate Winslet to be Oscar nominated and Chris Cooper to actually winning the Oscar in 2003. He also allowed Jim Carrey to act the performance of a lifetime (so far), proving himself as an accountable actor playing huge dramatic roles, something only matched by Adam Sandler and Paul Thomas Anderson's teaming up in Punch-Drunk Love.

He sure did take the film screenplay to a whole new level, respect and marketing-wise. People usually refer to his films as a Charlie Kaufman film, more than a Spike Jonzee or a Michel Gondry film (not disregard).

Now, dear reader, as I had previously noticed, the new K. after Franz is preparing what seems to be another astounding storytelling achievement. The synopsis I reported is still the same: the conflict between a 29-time Oscar nominee and a bitter frustrated film blogger. Now take a look at the awesome cast: Steve Carell (starring), Jack Black (antagonist), Nicholas Cage (washed-up actor), Kevin Kline, Catherine Keener and Kate Winslet. Once again, only talented funny and emotion triggering personnel.

After Oswaltt, Ryan Gosling too has something to say about the Oscars

2012-01-26T22:07:00.006Z

Sounds ridiculously legit. Ryan Gosling starred to great powerhousing in three of my favorite films of the year, any of them worth an Oscar nomination - a bloodshedding, revengeful night-drifter neo-samurai in Drive, a young political campaign manager on a cynical corrupted coming-of-age journey in The Ides of March and an archetypal handsome womanizer in Crazy, Stupid, Love.

Young Adult's Patton Oswalt takes a word on Best Actors and Actresses at the Oscars

2012-01-25T13:16:00.004Z

Incredibly funny, indeed. Charlize, Tilda, Gosling, DiCaprio, Brooks, Olsen, Serkis, one can tell. By the way, Oswalt actually twitted this.

Theo Angelopoulos (1935 - 2012)

2012-01-24T22:45:00.006Z

The Greek filmmaker was declared dead at 76 years old, at the end of boring normal day, after a motorcycle accidentally overrun him while crossing a road to the set of his former new film The Other See. Such stark introduction is as lame as tragic. A shameful prick by fate or mere bad luck. Theo Angelopoulos was considered one of the great European auteurs, Palme D'Or winner for Eternity and a Day (1998), Golden Bear nominee for Trilogy: The Weeping Meadow (2004), Silver Lion winner for Landscape and the Mist (1988). Many other accolades had he won within this triple crown of festivals (Cannes, Berlin, Venice), as six FIPRESCI awards overall or Best Screenplay for The Voyage to Cythera and the Grand Jury Prize for Ulysse's Gaze (starring Harvey Keitel) in the French Riviera.

Hugo and The Artist lead the Oscars'12 poles

2012-01-24T17:30:00.009Z

There's always something to tell when it comes to the Academy's nominees, although most may not support me on this. There's this bulk of films you obviously know are going to be there, for most of which you might actually be happy, there are the alternatives you build upon faith only and there are truly gratifying surprises - for your own taste or for the industry's. 2011 was one of the greatest movie years I can remember (I wasn't here to witness the disputes of the 40's or the 50's) and thus felt particularly competitive. I had set The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo for 10 nominations alongside The Artist, with the first becoming my most shameless missed horse and the second my safest bet. I'm thrilled to have Tree of Life for Best Film (one of those faithful options) and stunned to have Terrence Malick for Best Director. Listing side by side such improbable films as the Sunday-afternoon Bridesmaids and the foreign low-budget drama A Separation in a major category like Best Original Screenplay fuels my joy, as I may also add the two are some of my favorites of the year.

Despite I never saw Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close coming, the title that made my jaw fall lower was Margin Call for the aforementioned prize, a very fine story about the last hours of an American bank before the spawning of the current global financial crisis. I don't recall any of the major analysts (or any others) considering it and I never admitted it myself. This makes it the third Sundance pearl in two consecutive years to be nominated for Best Screenplay (Winter's Bone and The Kids Are All Right made it last year). Tinker, Taylor, Soldier, Spy was another surprise in the writings and threw away the too soon guaranteed The Help. I mourn over the absence of Tilda Swinton, Drive (not even Albert Brooks) and Young Adult (big Charlize and Diablo fan here).

BLUE: Got it wrong.
WHITE: Got it right.
ORANGE: Didn't pick it.

Without alternatives: 67 out of 104 (64,5%)
With alternatives: 84 out of 104 (80,8%)

Most nominated:

1. Hugo (11)
2. The Artist (10)
3. Moneyball (6) and War Horse (6)
5. The Descendants (5) and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (5)
7. Midnight in Paris (4) and The Help (4)
9. Tree of Life (3), Tinker, Taylor, Soldier, Spy (3), Albert Nobbs (3) and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows II (3)

BEST FILM

The Artist
Bridesmaids
The Descendants
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
The Help
Hugo
Midnight in Paris
Moneyball

[Alternatives: War Horse, Tree of Life]

BEST DIRECTOR

Alexander Payne ("The Descendants")
David Fincher ("The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo")
Terrence Malick ("Tree of Life")
Martin Scorsese ("Hugo")
Michel Hazanavicius ("The Artist")
Woody Allen ("Midnight in Paris")

[Alternatives: Steven Spielberg ("War Horse"), Bennet Miller ("Moneyball")]

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Asghar Farhadi ("A Separation")
Diablo Cody ("Young Adult")
J.C. Chandor ("Margin Call")
Kristen Wig and Anna Mumolo ("Bridesmaids")
Michel Hazanavicius ("The Artist")
Woody Allen ("Midnight in Paris")

[Alternatives: Will Reiser ("50/50") and Tom McCarthy "Win Win")]

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon & Jim Rash ("The Descendants")
John Logan ("Hugo")
Steven Zaillian & Aaron Sorkin ("Moneyball")
Steve Zaillian ("The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo")
Tate Taylor ("The Help")

[Alternatives: George Clooney, Grant Heslov & Beau Willemont ("The Ides of March"), Lynne Ramsay ("We Need to Talk About Kevin")]

BEST ACTOR

Brad Pitt ("Moneyball")
George Clooney ("The Descendants")
Jean Dujardin ("The Artist")
Leonardo DiCaprio ("J. Edgar") Michael Fassbender ("Shame")
Demián Bichir ("A Better Life")
[Alternatives: Gary Oldman ("Tinker, Taylor, Soldier, Spy"), Ryan Gosling ("Drive")]

BEST ACTRESS

Charlize Theron ("Young Adult")
Meryl Streep ("The Iron Lady")
Michelle Williams ("My Week with Marilyn")
Tilda Swinton ("We Need to Talk About Kevin")
Glenn Close ("Albert Nobs")
Viola Davis ("The Help")

[Alternatives: Rooney Mara ("The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"), Keira Knightley ("A Dangerous Method")]

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Albert Brooks ("Drive")
Max von Sydow ("Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close")
Christopher Plummer ("Beginners")
Jonah Hill ("Moneyball")
Kenneth Branagh ("My Week with Marilyn")
Nick Nolte ("Warrior")

[Alternatives: Patton Oswalt ("Young Adult"), Philip Seymor Hoffman ("The Ides of March")]

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Bérénice Bejo ("The Artist")
Jessica Chastain ("The Help")
Melissa McCarthy ("Bridesmaids")
Octavia Spencer ("The Help")
Shailene Woodley ("The Descendants")

[Alternatives: Janet McTeer ("Albert Nobbs"), Kate Winslet ("Carnage")]

BEST ANIMATED FILM

The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn Cars 2
Chico & Rita A Cat in Paris
Puss in Boots
Rango
Rio

[Alternatives: Arthur Christmas, Kung Fu Panda 2)

BEST FOREIGN FILM

A Separation (Iran)
Footnote (Israel)
In Darkness (Poland)
Monsieur Lazhar (Canada)
Pina (Germany)

[Alternatives: "Omar Killed Me" (Morroco), "Bullhead" (Belgium)]

BEST DOCUMENTARY

Bill Cunningham New York Buck
Hell and Back Again
Paradise Lost 3
Pina
Project Nim

[Alternatives: If a Tree Falls, Undefeated]

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Emmanuel Lubetzki ("Tree of Life")
Guillaume Schiffman ("The Artist")
Janusz Kaminski ("War Horse")
Jeff Cronenweth ("The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo")
Robert Richardson ("Hugo")

[Alternatives: Hoyte van Hoytema ("Tinker, Taylor, Soldier, Spy"), Wally Pfister ("Moneyball")]

BEST EDITING

Alisa Lepselter ("Midnight in Paris")
Anne-Sophie Bion & Michel Hazanavicius ("The Artist")
Christopher Tellefsen ("Moneyball")
Dino Jonsäter ("Tinker, Taylor, Soldier, Spy")
Kirk Baxter & Angus Wall ("The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo")

[Alternatives: Kevin Tent ("The Descendants"), Thelma Schoonmaker ("Hugo")]

BEST ART DIRECTION

The Artist
The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo The Help
War Horse
Hugo
Midnight in Paris

[Alternatives: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows II, Bridesmaids]

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

The Artist
Bridesmaids
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
The Help
My Week with Marilyn
Hugo Anonymous
[Alternatives: W.E., Jane Eyre]

BEST MAKE-UP

Albert Nobbs
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows II
The Iron Lady

[Alternatives: The Artist, My Week with Marilyn]

BEST SOUND MIXING

Drive
Fast Five
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Hugo Moneyball
War Horse

[Alternatives: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows II, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol]

BEST SOUND EDITING

Drive
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Moneyball Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Transformers: Dark of the Moon Hugo
War Horse

[Alternatives: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows II, Hanna]

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows II
Hugo
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
Tree of Life
Hugo

[Alternatives: Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Captain America: The First Avenger]

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

Alexandre Desplat ("Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close")
Alberto Iglesias ("Tinker, Taylor, Soldier, Spy)
Howard Shore ("Hugo")
John Williams (War Horse")
John Williams ("The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn")
Ludovic Bource ("The Artist")
Trent Raznor & Atticus Ross ("The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo")

[Alternatives: Cliff Martinez ("Drive"), Mychael Danna ("Moneyball")]

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

"Masterpiece" ("W.E.") "The Living Proof" ("The Help") "Life's a Happy Song" (The Muppets")
"Man on Muppet" ("The Muppets") "Real in Rio" ("Rio")

[Alternative: "Pictures in My Head" ("The Muppets"), "Think You Can Wait" ("Win Win")

My Oscar'12 predictions: nominees

2012-01-22T21:15:00.008Z

As soon as next Tuesday, January 24th, the Academy will announce the 2012 Oscar nominees. The height of the cinematic year promises to be one of the most competitive in recent years and I'm therefore hoping to be surprised in every single category.

Bellow, my predictions. I allow myself the right to two alternatives by branch. I am going for the leaders The Artist and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with 10 nominations, The Help with 8, Hugo with 7, Moneyball with 6, The Descendants and Midnight in Paris with 5, Bridesmaids and War Horse with 4, Drive, My Week with Marilyn and Rise of the Planet of the Apes with 3. Besides the absence of Refn's film in the major categories, I must sadly highlight the probably dim presence of Tree of Life, the total absence of Carnage and also my happy belief in surprises from Young Adult and We Need to Talk About Kevin.

BEST FILM

The Artist
Bridesmaids
The Descendants
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
The Help
Hugo
Midnight in Paris
Moneyball

[Alternatives: War Horse, Tree of Life]

BEST DIRECTOR

Alexander Payne ("The Descendants")
David Fincher ("The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo")
Martin Scorsese ("Hugo")
Michel Hazanavicius ("The Artist")
Woody Allen ("Midnight in Paris")

[Alternatives: Steven Spielberg ("War Horse"), Bennet Miller ("Moneyball")]

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Asghar Farhadi ("A Separation")
Diablo Cody ("Young Adult")
Kristen Wig and Anna Mumolo ("Bridesmaids")
Michel Hazanavicius ("The Artist")
Woody Allen ("Midnight in Paris")

[Alternatives: Will Reiser ("50/50") and Tom McCarthy "Win Win")]

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon & Jim Rash ("The Descendants")
John Logan ("Hugo")
Steven Zaillian & Aaron Sorkin ("Moneyball")
Steve Zaillian ("The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo")
Tate Taylor ("The Help")

[Alternatives: George Clooney, Grant Heslov & Beau Willemont ("The Ides of March"), Lynne Ramsay ("We Need to Talk About Kevin")]

BEST ACTOR

Brad Pitt ("Moneyball")
George Clooney ("The Descendants")
Jean Dujardin ("The Artist")
Leonardo DiCaprio ("J. Edgar")
Michael Fassbender ("Shame")

[Alternatives: Gary Oldman ("Tinker, Taylor, Soldier, Spy"), Ryan Gosling ("Drive")]

BEST ACTRESS

Charlize Theron ("Young Adult")
Meryl Streep ("The Iron Lady")
Michelle Williams ("My Week with Marilyn")
Tilda Swinton ("We Need to Talk About Kevin")
Viola Davis ("The Help")

[Alternatives: Rooney Mara ("The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"), Keira Knightley ("A Dangerous Method")]

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Albert Brooks ("Drive")
Christopher Plummer ("Beginners")
Jonah Hill ("Moneyball")
Kenneth Branagh ("My Week with Marilyn")
Nick Nolte ("Warrior")

[Alternatives: Patton Oswalt ("Young Adult"), Philip Seymor Hoffman ("The Ides of March")]

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Bérénice Bejo ("The Artist")
Jessica Chastain ("The Help")
Melissa McCarthy ("Bridesmaids")
Octavia Spencer ("The Help")
Shailene Woodley ("The Descendants")

[Alternatives: Janet McTeer ("Albert Nobbs"), Kate Winslet ("Carnage")]

BEST ANIMATED FILM

The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn
Cars 2
Puss in Boots
Rango
Rio

[Alternatives: Arthur Christmas, Kung Fu Panda 2)

BEST FOREIGN FILM

A Separation (Iran)
Footnote (Israel)
In Darkness (Poland)
Monsieur Lazhar (Canada)
Pina (Germany)

[Alternatives: "Omar Killed Me" (Morroco), "Bullhead" (Belgium)]

BEST DOCUMENTARY

Bill Cunningham New York
Buck
Paradise Lost 3
Pina
Project Nim

[Alternatives: If a Tree Falls, Undefeated]

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Emmanuel Lubetzki ("Tree of Life")
Guillaume Schiffman ("The Artist")
Janusz Kaminski ("War Horse")
Jeff Cronenweth ("The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo")
Robert Richardson ("Hugo")

[Alternatives: Hoyte van Hoytema ("Tinker, Taylor, Soldier, Spy"), Wally Pfister ("Moneyball")]

BEST EDITING

Alisa Lepselter ("Midnight in Paris")
Anne-Sophie Bion & Michel Hazanavicius ("The Artist")
Christopher Tellefsen ("Moneyball")
Dino Jonsäter ("Tinker, Taylor, Soldier, Spy")
Kirk Baxter & Angus Wall ("The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo")

[Alternatives: Kevin Tent ("The Descendants"), Thelma Schoonmaker ("Hugo")]

BEST ART DIRECTION

The Artist
The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo
The Help
Hugo
Midnight in Paris

[Alternatives: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows II, Bridesmaids]

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

The Artist
Bridesmaids
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
The Help
My Week with Marilyn

[Alternatives: W.E., Jane Eyre]

BEST MAKE-UP

Albert Nobbs
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows II
The Iron Lady

[Alternatives: The Artist, My Week with Marilyn]

BEST SOUND MIXING

Drive
Fast Five
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
War Horse

[Alternatives: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows II, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol]

BEST SOUND EDITING

Drive
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Moneyball
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
War Horse

[Alternatives: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows II, Hanna]

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows II
Hugo
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
Tree of Life

[Alternatives: Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Captain America: The First Avenger]

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

Alexandre Desplat ("Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close")
Howard Shore ("Hugo")
John Williams (War Horse")
Ludovic Bource ("The Artist")
Trent Raznor & Atticus Ross ("The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo")

[Alternatives: Cliff Martinez ("Drive"), Mychael Danna ("Moneyball")]

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

"Masterpiece" ("W.E.")
"The Living Proof" ("The Help")
"Life's a Happy Song" (The Muppets")

[Alternative: "Pictures in My Head" ("The Muppets"), "Think You Can Wait" ("Win Win")

Brad Pitt tells you how to have fun making a great movie

2012-01-21T23:39:00.003Z

Brad Pitt acts with Jonah Hill in Moneyball (2011). Can't get that take done. A great film that must have been a pleasure to do.

Cannes'12: Mr. President of the Jury

2012-01-20T13:37:00.002Z

Nanni Moretti

BAFTA'12 Nominees

2012-01-18T15:12:00.003Z

BEST FILM

The Artist
The Descendants
Drive
The Help
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

FILM NOT IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Incendies
Pina
Potiche
A Separation
The Skin I Live In

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM

My Week with Marilyn
Senna
Shame
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
We Need to Talk About Kevin

BEST DIRECTOR

The Artist - Michel Hazanavicius
Drive - Nicolas Winding Refn
Hugo - Martin Scorsese
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - Tomas Alfredson
We Need to Talk About Kevin - Lynne Ramsay

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

The Artist
Bridesmaids
The Guard
The Iron Lady
Midnight in Paris

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

The Descendants
The Help
The Ides of March
Moneyball
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

CINEMATOGRAPHY

The Artist
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
War Horse

EDITING

The Artist
Drive
Hugo
Senna
Tinker Tailor Solider Spy

PRODUCTION DESIGN

The Artist
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2
Hugo
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
War Horse

MAKE UP & HAIR

The Artist
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2
Hugo
The Iron Lady
My Week with Marilyn

COSTUME DESIGN

The Artist
Hugo
Jane Eyre
My Week with Marilyn
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS

The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2
Hugo
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
X-Men: First Class

DOCUMENTARY

George Harrison: Living in the Material World
Project Nim
Senna

SOUND

The Artist
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2
Hugo
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
War Horse

ORIGINAL MUSIC

The Artist
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

ANIMATED FILM

The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn
Arthur Christmas
Rango

LEADING ACTOR

Brad Pitt (Billy Beane) – Moneyball
Gary Oldman (George Smiley) - Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
George Clooney (Matt King) – The Descendants
Jean Dujardin (George Valentin) – The Artist
Michael Fassbender (Brandon) – Shame

LEADING ACTRESS

Bérénice Bejo (Peppy Miller) – The Artist
Meryl Streep (Margaret Thatcher) – The Iron Lady
Michelle Williams (Marilyn Monroe) – My Week with Marilyn
Tilda Swinton (Eva) – We Need to Talk About Kevin
Viola Davis (Aibileen Clark) – The Help

SUPPORTING ACTOR

Christopher Plummer (Hal) – Beginners
Jim Broadbent (Denis Thatcher) – The Iron Lady
Jonah Hill (Peter Brand) – Moneyball
Kenneth Branagh (Sir Laurence Olivier) – My Week with Marilyn
Philip Seymour Hoffman (Paul Zara) – The Ides of March

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Carey Mulligan (Irene) – Drive
Jessica Chastain (Celia Foote) – The Help
Judi Dench (Dame Sybil Thorndike) – My Week with Marilyn
Melissa McCarthy (Megan) – Bridesmaids
Octavia Spencer (Minny Jackson) – The Help

Quentin Tarantino Awards 2011

2012-01-17T21:12:00.004Z

We know he not only has the unusual habit of ranking his "collegues" works but he also does it in a weird funny hotchpotch fashion. Some of them, I already have a spot on my lists for; others, never in a thousand years. From foreign auteur films like The Skin I Live In to senseless blockbusters like Three Musketeers 3D, here are Quentin Tarantino's lists of 2011 at the movies.

FAVORITE FILMS

1. Midnight In Paris
2. Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes
3. Moneyball
4. The Skin I Live In
5. X-Men: First Class
6. Young Adult
7. Attack The Block
8. Red State
9. Warrior
10. The Artist / Our Idiot Brother (tie)
11. The Three Musketeers

OTHERS CONSIDERED IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER

50/50
Beginners
Hugo
The Iron Lady
Carnage
Green Hornet
Green Lantern
Captain America
The Descendants
My Week With Marilyn
Fast Five
Tree Of Life
The Hangover Part II
Mission Impossible 4
The Beaver
Contagion
The Sitter
War Horse

NICE TRY AWARD

Drive
Hannah
Drive Angry
Real Steel

BEST DIRECTOR

Pedro Almodovar
Bennett Miller
Woody Allen
Jason Reitman
Michel Hazanavicius

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Midnight In Paris
Young Adult
Red State
Attack The Block
Our Idiot Brother
Beginners

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Moneyball
The Skin I live In
Carnage
Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes
Hugo
X-Men: First Class

WORST FILMS

Sucker Punch
Potiche (Trophy Wife)
Miral
Insidious
Rampart
Straw Dogs
Paranormal Activity 3
Meek’s Cutoff

Golden Globes'12: Results

2012-01-16T20:29:00.003Z

White: Winner.
Orange: My bet.

Score: 71,4% (10 out of 14).

Best Motion Picture - Drama

The Descendants (2011)

Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy
The Artist (2011)
Bridesmaids (2011)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama
George Clooney for The Descendants (2011)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama
Meryl Streep for The Iron Lady (2011)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy
Jean Dujardin for The Artist (2011)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy
Michelle Williams for My Week with Marilyn (2011)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Christopher Plummer for Beginners (2010)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Octavia Spencer for the Help (2011)
Jessica Chastain for The Help (2011)

Best Director - Motion Picture
Martin Scorsese for Hugo (2011)
Alexander Payne for The Descendants (2011)

Best Screenplay - Motion Picture
Midnight in Paris (2011): Woody Allen

Best Original Song - Motion Picture
W.E. (2011): "Masterpiece"
The Help (2011): Mary J. Blige, Thomas Newman, Harvey Mason Jr.("The Living Proof")

Best Original Score - Motion Picture
The Artist (2011): Ludovic Bource

Best Animated Film
The Adventures of Tintin (2011)

Best Foreign Language Film
A Separation (2011)

My bets for the Golden Globes

2012-01-15T20:13:00.004Z

Tonight.

Best Motion Picture - Drama

The Descendants (2011)

Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy
Bridesmaids (2011)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama
George Clooney for The Descendants (2011)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama
Meryl Streep for The Iron Lady (2011)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy
Jean Dujardin for The Artist (2011)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy
Michelle Williams for My Week with Marilyn (2011)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Christopher Plummer for Beginners (2010)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Jessica Chastain for The Help (2011)

Best Director - Motion Picture
Alexander Payne for The Descendants (2011)

Best Screenplay - Motion Picture
Midnight in Paris (2011): Woody Allen

Best Original Song - Motion Picture
The Help (2011): Mary J. Blige, Thomas Newman, Harvey Mason Jr.("The Living Proof")

Best Original Score - Motion Picture
The Artist (2011): Ludovic Bource

Best Animated Film
The Adventures of Tintin (2011)

Best Foreign Language Film
A Separation (2011)

Horror keeps pouring through the frontier | Terror continua a escorrer pela fronteira

2012-01-14T19:41:00.003Z

A few weeks ago I wrote about how a new way to make films is anchoring in Portugal by the hands of horror movies productions of Bad Behaviour - click here. While we still wait for further news on their Mannequins project, the Spanish magazine SciFi World crossed the boarders and is establishing itself in Portugal. In our neighbors' land it started as a digital magazine and three years later is getting printed every month, offering books and DVDs and helping to unveil a lost Spanish horror film tradition. For now, the Portuguese version follows its older sister's steps and will be addressed at www.thescifiworld.com/PT . The coordinator is Nuno Reis, blog colleague from Antestreia and programmer of the film festival Fantasporto.

Há umas semanas, escrevi sobre a chegada a Portugal de uma nova forma de fazer filmes, pela mão das produções de terror da Bad Behaviour - aqui. Enquanto ainda esperamos por mais notícias sobre o seu projecto Mannequins, a revista espanhola SciFi World atravessou a fronteira e está a estabelecer-se em Portugal. Na terra dos nossos vizinhos, começou como uma revista digital e três anos depois é imprimida todos os meses, oferecendo livros, DVDs e ajudando a desvendar uma tradição perdida de filmes de terror espanhóis. Para já, a versão portuguesa segue os passos da sua irmã mais velha e estará endereçada em www.thescifiworld.com/PT . O coordenador é Nuno Reis, colega do blog Antestreia e programador do festival de cinema Fantasporto.

Moneyball (2011), just a taste

2012-01-13T12:51:00.009Z

Just a taste because I'm planning to be back with Moneyball for a specific analysis to what I believe to be the brilliant work of powerhouse screenwriters Steve Zaillian & Aaron Sorkin. For now, let me stay with a general appreciation.

I seldom like sports movies. I find them particularly difficult to connect with, for sport breeds out of the immediacy of its single moments. The last hurdle, the last stroke, the last jump, the goal. The looming energy that powers collision between men and nature and between men themselves cannot be rehearsed and recorded sports events cannot fulfill us with the mystical satisfaction of physical conquering, if only a nostalgic flavor of it. Moneyball never tries to sell such moments as the ultimate arching goals of the story. Instead, it is driven by the backstage story of Billy Beaner while reforming baseball's management style as part of an unconscious life-examining quest. The main bases are the promising player he never became and the will and opportunity of never letting go an adorable twelve year old daughter. He is a logic cold-hearted business man as much of a temperamental intuitive heart-melted fan. He is the paradoxical faithful pragmatist and grabs Peter Brand to travel along into a journey much more about triumphing for their beliefs than storing loads of billions of dollars. We can connect with that. We take sports from the backstage all the time and during this film we're there with them. Actual footage transports us to an intermittent game precisely as Beaner deals with it. Exquisite sound editing bounces between his isolation and the cheering stadiums, as the green-yellow stripes and outfits wrap the space into a communion of a true team. I would be pleased to see Brad Pitt stepping to an Oscar and would consider the nomination for Jonah Hill and Seymour Hoffman. It is incredible the amount of masterfully held exposition we're thrown at without us even realizing it due to the sorkinesque snappy intelligent dialog, the depth of Beaner's character, the funny vein of some scenes and the wise camera and editing.

Angelina: actress, wife, mother, diplomat, and now, filmmaker

2012-01-08T12:11:00.006Z

It was unexpected for her, unexpected for Brad and unexpected for us, but when Angelina Jolie rolled the last page out of the typewriter she had a script in her hands. It was about the Bosnian War and had come right out of her stomach, putting in fiction an already publicly acknowledged activist conscience. She stepped into the director's chair months later, after a hard financing dwelling and after shooting with local cast, both in English and Bosnian, released her first film as an author: In the Land of Blood and Honey. During battle, a soldier reunites with a woman he once was in love with and when captive in a camp they'll both have to deal with sweet memories and a painful desolate new reality that changes their connection. And then we've got two women firmly wheeling independent provocative war dramas (with Kathryn Bigelow).

I've always been an admirer of Angie. Out of the movies, celebrity considered only, she flew from media badass, tattooed brother french kisser, slutty rebel without a cause, to ground as one of the most beautiful, finest women in the world, happily married and caring mother. She affirmed her political and social concerns and used her name as a diplomatic weapon and along with Pitt doesn't need her donations to be dependent upon any kind of broadcasting. Inside the movies, I regard her as one of the most underrated actresses of our times, as her fame and looks continuously drag her into high-concept empty summer blockbusters, specially after she started carrying the stamp of Lara Croft like. In the last ten years, there's Salt (2010), The Tourist (2010), Wanted (2008), Bewulf (2007). And then there's the forgotten A Mighty Heart (2007) and the extraordinary performance in Changeling (2008), for which she got Oscar nominated. She's now aiming for Robert Stromberg's dark version of The Sleeping Beauty, as the main character Malificent, and I'm predicting great things. There have also been some talks on David Fincher and its Cleopatra but it's still too far-foggy-away. But there's this huge dramatic and sincere charisma she can imprint like very few which I feel is flattened by the press and the industry over and over again.

Recently she gave an interview to Collider about the first film she helmed. It is one of the best interviews I've read in 2011 and only served to augment my admiration for this incredible woman, who reveals a sheer passion for films and filmmaking, a truthful wish to tell important and relevant stories and a personal and genuine plight on the side of love and peace against war and death. I strongly encourage you to read the conversation here and formulate your own thoughts.

"I didn’t intentionally make people feel guilty, but I have had that response from a lot of people – that they feel guilty that they didn’t do enough. I feel guilty. I didn’t know enough. So, I think we all should feel that way about this particular war, and we should wonder what it is that we’re going to look back on, in 15 years, and feel that we also didn’t do, that’s happening today. It’s extraordinary. It’s so strange. What were we doing?"