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Nominations for the 89th Academy Awards!

Posted by :Susan Kamyab
Susan Kamyab On : January 24, 2017
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Category: Special Events, Special Features

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Performance by an actor in a leading role

  • Casey Affleck in “Manchester by the Sea”
  • Andrew Garfield in “Hacksaw Ridge”
  • Ryan Gosling in “La La Land”
  • Viggo Mortensen in “Captain Fantastic”
  • Denzel Washington in “Fences”

Performance by an actor in a supporting role

  • Mahershala Ali in “Moonlight”
  • Jeff Bridges in “Hell or High Water”
  • Lucas Hedges in “Manchester by the Sea”
  • Dev Patel in “Lion”
  • Michael Shannon in “Nocturnal Animals”

Performance by an actress in a leading role

  • Isabelle Huppert in “Elle”
  • Ruth Negga in “Loving”
  • Natalie Portman in “Jackie”
  • Emma Stone in “La La Land”
  • Meryl Streep in “Florence Foster Jenkins”

Performance by an actress in a supporting role

  • Viola Davis in “Fences”
  • Naomie Harris in “Moonlight”
  • Nicole Kidman in “Lion”
  • Octavia Spencer in “Hidden Figures”
  • Michelle Williams in “Manchester by the Sea”

Best animated feature film of the year

  • “Kubo and the Two Strings” Travis Knight and Arianne Sutner
  • “Moana” John Musker, Ron Clements and Osnat Shurer
  • “My Life as a Zucchini” Claude Barras and Max Karli
  • “The Red Turtle” Michael Dudok de Wit and Toshio Suzuki
  • “Zootopia” Byron Howard, Rich Moore and Clark Spencer

Achievement in cinematography

  • “Arrival” Bradford Young
  • “La La Land” Linus Sandgren
  • “Lion” Greig Fraser
  • “Moonlight” James Laxton
  • “Silence” Rodrigo Prieto

Achievement in costume design

  • “Allied” Joanna Johnston
  • “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” Colleen Atwood
  • “Florence Foster Jenkins” Consolata Boyle
  • “Jackie” Madeline Fontaine
  • “La La Land” Mary Zophres

Achievement in directing

  • “Arrival” Denis Villeneuve
  • “Hacksaw Ridge” Mel Gibson
  • “La La Land” Damien Chazelle
  • “Manchester by the Sea” Kenneth Lonergan
  • “Moonlight” Barry Jenkins

Best documentary feature

  • “Fire at Sea” Gianfranco Rosi and Donatella Palermo
  • “I Am Not Your Negro” Raoul Peck, Rémi Grellety and Hébert Peck
  • “Life, Animated” Roger Ross Williams and Julie Goldman
  • “O.J.: Made in America” Ezra Edelman and Caroline Waterlow
  • “13th” Ava DuVernay, Spencer Averick and Howard Barish

Best documentary short subject

  • “Extremis” Dan Krauss
  • “4.1 Miles” Daphne Matziaraki
  • “Joe’s Violin” Kahane Cooperman and Raphaela Neihausen
  • “Watani: My Homeland” Marcel Mettelsiefen and Stephen Ellis
  • “The White Helmets” Orlando von Einsiedel and Joanna Natasegara

Achievement in film editing

  • “Arrival”Joe Walker
  • “Hacksaw Ridge” John Gilbert
  • “Hell or High Water” Jake Roberts
  • “La La Land” Tom Cross
  • “Moonlight” Nat Sanders and Joi McMillon

Best foreign language film of the year

  • “Land of Mine” Denmark
  • “A Man Called Ove” Sweden
  • “The Salesman” Iran
  • “Tanna” Australia
  • “Toni Erdmann” Germany

Achievement in makeup and hairstyling

  • “A Man Called Ove” Eva von Bahr and Love Larson
  • “Star Trek Beyond” Joel Harlow and Richard Alonzo
  • “Suicide Squad” Alessandro Bertolazzi, Giorgio Gregorini and Christopher Nelson

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)

  • “Jackie” Mica Levi
  • “La La Land” Justin Hurwitz
  • “Lion” Dustin O’Halloran and Hauschka
  • “Moonlight” Nicholas Britell
  • “Passengers” Thomas Newman

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)

  • “Audition (The Fools Who Dream)” from “La La Land”
    Music by Justin Hurwitz; Lyric by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul
  • “Can’t Stop The Feeling” from “Trolls”
    Music and Lyric by Justin Timberlake, Max Martin and Karl Johan Schuster
  • “City Of Stars” from “La La Land”
    Music by Justin Hurwitz; Lyric by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul
  • “The Empty Chair” from “Jim: The James Foley Story”
    Music and Lyric by J. Ralph and Sting
  • “How Far I’ll Go” from “Moana”
    Music and Lyric by Lin-Manuel Miranda

Best motion picture of the year

  • “Arrival” Shawn Levy, Dan Levine, Aaron Ryder and David Linde, Producers
  • “Fences” Scott Rudin, Denzel Washington and Todd Black, Producers
  • “Hacksaw Ridge” Bill Mechanic and David Permut, Producers
  • “Hell or High Water” Carla Hacken and Julie Yorn, Producers
  • “Hidden Figures” Donna Gigliotti, Peter Chernin, Jenno Topping, Pharrell Williams and Theodore Melfi, Producers
  • “La La Land” Fred Berger, Jordan Horowitz and Marc Platt, Producers
  • “Lion” Emile Sherman, Iain Canning and Angie Fielder, Producers
  • “Manchester by the Sea” Matt Damon, Kimberly Steward, Chris Moore, Lauren Beck and Kevin J. Walsh, Producers
  • “Moonlight” Adele Romanski, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner, Producers

Achievement in production design

  • “Arrival” Production Design: Patrice Vermette; Set Decoration: Paul Hotte
  • “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” Production Design: Stuart Craig; Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock
  • “Hail, Caesar!” Production Design: Jess Gonchor; Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh
  • “La La Land” Production Design: David Wasco; Set Decoration: Sandy Reynolds-Wasco
  • “Passengers” Production Design: Guy Hendrix Dyas; Set Decoration: Gene Serdena

Best animated short film

  • “Blind Vaysha” Theodore Ushev
  • “Borrowed Time” Andrew Coats and Lou Hamou-Lhadj
  • “Pear Cider and Cigarettes” Robert Valley and Cara Speller
  • “Pearl” Patrick Osborne
  • “Piper” Alan Barillaro and Marc Sondheimer

Best live action short film

  • “Ennemis Intérieurs” Sélim Azzazi
  • “La Femme et le TGV” Timo von Gunten and Giacun Caduff
  • “Silent Nights” Aske Bang and Kim Magnusson
  • “Sing” Kristof Deák and Anna Udvardy
  • “Timecode” Juanjo Giménez

Achievement in sound editing

  • “Arrival” Sylvain Bellemare
  • “Deepwater Horizon” Wylie Stateman and Renée Tondelli
  • “Hacksaw Ridge” Robert Mackenzie and Andy Wright
  • “La La Land” Ai-Ling Lee and Mildred Iatrou Morgan
  • “Sully” Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman

Achievement in sound mixing

  • “Arrival” Bernard Gariépy Strobl and Claude La Haye
  • “Hacksaw Ridge” Kevin O’Connell, Andy Wright, Robert Mackenzie and Peter Grace
  • “La La Land” Andy Nelson, Ai-Ling Lee and Steve A. Morrow
  • “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” David Parker, Christopher Scarabosio and Stuart Wilson
  • “13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi” Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Mac Ruth

Achievement in visual effects

  • “Deepwater Horizon” Craig Hammack, Jason Snell, Jason Billington and Burt Dalton
  • “Doctor Strange” Stephane Ceretti, Richard Bluff, Vincent Cirelli and Paul Corbould
  • “The Jungle Book” Robert Legato, Adam Valdez, Andrew R. Jones and Dan Lemmon
  • “Kubo and the Two Strings” Steve Emerson, Oliver Jones, Brian McLean and Brad Schiff
  • “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” John Knoll, Mohen Leo, Hal Hickel and Neil Corbould

Adapted screenplay

  • “Arrival” Screenplay by Eric Heisserer
  • “Fences” Screenplay by August Wilson
  • “Hidden Figures” Screenplay by Allison Schroeder and Theodore Melfi
  • “Lion” Screenplay by Luke Davies
  • “Moonlight” Screenplay by Barry Jenkins; Story by Tarell Alvin McCraney

Original screenplay

  • “Hell or High Water” Written by Taylor Sheridan
  • “La La Land” Written by Damien Chazelle
  • “The Lobster” Written by Yorgos Lanthimos, Efthimis Filippou
  • “Manchester by the Sea” Written by Kenneth Lonergan
  • “20th Century Women” Written by Mike Mills

Interview: Jovan Adepo talks “Fences”

Posted by :Susan Kamyab
Susan Kamyab On : December 23, 2016
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Category: Interviews, Movie Reviews

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Jovan Adepo portrays Corey in Denzel Washington’s adaptation of August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize winning drama, “Fences.” I got a chance to talk with Adepo about the new film. We discussed how much someone’s career can affect their personal life, daily movie references and more!

“Fences” opens in theaters December 24.

Click Here to Watch Jovan Adepo Interview

jovan

Movie Review: “Get On Up”- Chadwick Boseman Fires Up the Screen as James Brown

Posted by :Susan Kamyab
Susan Kamyab On : August 1, 2014
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Category: Movie Reviews

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Get On Up may confuse with it’s non-linear timeline, but there is no misunderstanding the brilliance of Chadwick Boseman.

In last year’s 42, Boseman played baseball legend Jackie Robinson as a man suppressing his pride and bottling up his anger.  It was a strong breakout performance by an actor we knew we’d be seeing again very soon.  He then made a small appearance in the underrated Draft Day, as hopeful pick for the NFL draft.  In Get On Up, Boseman gets the chance to let loose in a firehouse of passion, funk, and intense ferocity.

The story itself may not have audiences captivated, as the constant back and forth jump from one year to the next tends to scramble the brain.  I understand not wanting to follow they typical bio-pic formula but in an attempt to be different, they might have lost track of what is more effective to moviegoers.  Getting emotionally wrapped up in one scene only to be abruptly pulled away to a moment that occurs 5 years later is not only frustrating, but it is distracting.  You don’t want to to forget what you just saw because you know they will be coming back at some point to finish the scenes they just started (confusing, I know).   So instead of concentrating on the current sequence, you are bookmarking everything you watch.  Luckily, this film isn’t about the story, it’s about the performances.

Chadwick Boseman’s phenomenal portrayal as James Brown and his A-list supporting cast is all you need to remember about this movie.   The Help alums: Octavia Spencer, who plays Brown’s brothel-owning aunt, and Viola Davis, who plays Brown’s neglectful mother, slides in for the film’s most emotional scene.  But it is Nelsan Ellis, who plays Bobby Bryd-Brown’s loyal best friend, that proves once again, he is more than the flamboyant comic relief as seen on True Blood every week.  Boseman and Ellis share great chemistry on screen and complement each other extremely well.

In comparison to the recent bio-pic/musical, Jersey Boys, Get On Up wins by a landslide.  The acting, the story, and most importantly the ability to have us care for the characters.  Had the story just been slightly more chronological I would have given the film a much higher rating, but none of the faults in Get On Up deteriorates from the sensation that is Chadwick Boseman.

Rating: 3.5/5

“Get On Up” Official Trailer HD

Movie Review: Prisoners

Posted by :Susan Kamyab
Susan Kamyab On : September 20, 2013
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Category: Movie Reviews

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When your child goes missing, how far would you go to find her?

After his six-year-old daughter and her best friend are kidnapped on Thanksgiving, Keller Dover (Hugh Jackman) butts heads with detective Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal) who is in charge of the investigation.   Keller feels Loki and his department are not doing enough to find the girls.  Keller’s son mentions an old RV, owned by Alex Jones (Paul Dano) and believes he is the culprit that has taken his daughter.  When there is a lack of evidence to show any signs that Alex may have taken the girls, he is set free.   Losing faith in the law, he captures Alex and holds him captive in a desperate attempt to find out what happened to the girls.  But the further he goes to get the man to confess, the closer he comes to losing his soul.

If you have already seen the trailer for this film, then you should know that it screams Best Picture potential.  But after watching the movie, it’s the performances that prove to be Oscar worthy.  With an all star cast like this one, it’s not shocking that the acting would be exceptional.  At this point for most of these Academy Award nominated actors,  it is about competing with their own past performances.  Hugh Jackman is fresh off his Best Actor nod for Les Miserable.  Though I thought he did an incredible job as Jean Valjean, it’s his performance in Prisoners that has left me more satisfied than ever with the actor.  Jackman takes the audience on a nail biting, dark journey to see how a desperate father handles every parent’s worst nightmare.  It’s the little things that stand out in his performance, from every scowl to every deep breath he makes.  I could go on for a while discussing him, but I think you see my point.

Jake Gyllenhaal raised the bar for himself as an actor.  He plays detective Loki, a cop that has never lost a case.  Loki has his own troubled past which is seen through all his subtle, twitching tendencies.  It been since his 2005 nomination for Brokeback Mountain that we have seen him be in such a strong in a role.  The movie is really seen through both the eyes of Jackman and Gyllenhaal’s characters.  

On one hand we have Loki, who follows the law and chooses to stick with his moral compass when trying to solve this case.  On the other hand, we have Keller who has lost all morality and has taken the law into his own hands.  As the story unfolds, it’s interesting to see which method proves to be most effective.  Come Oscar time, I see a nomination for both of these actors.

Director, Denis Villeneuve (Incendies, Enemy), explained how this film is really about the characters; and showing how each of them  handle this disheartening situation differently.  Well Denis, mission accomplished!  Each person affected by this kidnapping portray relatable ways of grieving.  We are shown a non-stop crying mother who can’t get out of bed.  The other mother has gone into shock and hasn’t touched a thing in the kitchen since that Thanksgiving Day.  A father who has no idea what to do, and another father who continues to take any action he can.  Every last detail, whether it’s a clue for the case or a specific characteristic, serves a purpose in this film.

It’s the details in Prisoners that make this film so exciting to watch.  Besides being on the edge of your seat and dying to find out what happened to the little girls, you’re filled with important facts that will eventually all tie together in the end.   Prisoners falls right there with films like Gone Baby Gone and Mystic River, a gloomy, exciting mystery with an original, satisfying ending.  I will say that I’m still partial to Gone Baby Gone, but all three films do a great job of leaving you with the thought of “what would I do if I was in that position?”

The film is two hours and twenty minutes, but it never felt like that for me.  You are too engaged in the case and characters to think about time.  This is a very dark film.  But given the topic, I wouldn’t see this movie played out any other way.  These days with movies being predicable from just a trailer, I enjoyed the fact that two hours into this movie I was still thinking “How is this going to end!?”

Terrence Howard, Viola Davis, Maria Bello, Paul Dano, and Melissa Leo also star in the film.

Rated R for disturbing, violent content including torture, and language.

Prisoners opens everywhere today!

Prisoners Trailer HD

Coming Soon: Prisoners

Posted by :Susan Kamyab
Susan Kamyab On : August 2, 2013
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Category: Coming Soon

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How far would you go to save your child?

Film Synopsis: After his six-year-old daughter and her best friend are kidnapped on Thanksgiving, Keller Dover (Hugh Jackman) butts heads with detective Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal) in charge of the investigation. After searching, Dover’s son mentions an old RV, owned by Alex Jones (Paul Dano). Feeling failed by the law, Dover captures Jones, the man he believes responsible, holding him captive in a desperate attempt to find out what he did with the girls, whom he is convinced are still alive. But the further he goes to get the man to confess, the closer he comes to losing his soul.

Directed by Denis Villeneuve and Written by Aaron Guzikowski

Stars: Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Terrence Howard, Maria Bello, Viola Davis, and Paul Dano

First Impressions:  You had me at Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal, but when you throw in the rest of this strong, all star cast you have my full attention. Although, the storyline alone has enough of a hook to pull me in.  With so many remakes and every possible superhero movie, it’s rare to watch a trailer and think, “Whoa! I have to know how this movie ends!”  But that was the exact reaction I felt after seeing the trailer for Prisoners.

Kidnappings in films are always intriguing.  It brings mystery and the classic “who dun it” feel for audiences, allowing us to solve the case alongside the characters.  And when kids are involved, we tend to empathize, usually wanting the parents to go to the extreme and take the law into their own hands. Films like Gone Baby Gone and Ransom, are great examples.  And even though there wasn’t a kidnapping in Mystic River,  Sean Penn going insane trying to find out who killed his daughter is what came straight to mind when I first saw this trailer.  All three are great films and hopefully Prisoners  will follow in their footsteps by giving us a thrilling, original ending.  Besides being excited to see this movie, I’ll be very interested to see the response it gets during this upcoming awards season.  For now, I’d love to hear what you guys think after watching the trailer below!

Prisoners makes its release in theaters on September 20, 2013.

Prisoners Official Trailer HD