
Mad Max: Fury Road received top honors at the Critics’ Choice Awards, but it was another Oscars frontrunner that took home Best Picture Continue reading
Mad Max: Fury Road received top honors at the Critics’ Choice Awards, but it was another Oscars frontrunner that took home Best Picture Continue reading
Movie awards season will officially kick off tonight and you’re invited to tune in with us as we live blog the 2016 Golden Globe Award winners as they are announced. Continue reading
After last week’s nominations were revealed for the 22nd Annual SAG Awards and 73rd Golden Globes, it feels like it could be anyone’s game at this point. This morning the Broadcast Film Critics Association (BFCA) and Broadcast Television Journalists Association (BTJA) announced their 21st Critics’ Choice Awards nominees with George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road leading the charge with 13 nods. Hosted by T.J. Miller, the winners will be revealed during a live broadcast from the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica on A&E, Lifetime, and LMN on Sunday, January 17, 2016 at 8:00 p.m. EST/5:00 p.m. PST.
Mad Max: Fury Road has undoubtedly become the underdog favorite of this awards season, as it has become one of the most revered features of the year by critics, myself included – my review. The big topic of conversation, aside from gaining Best Picture recognition, is Charlize Theron’s nods for both Best Actress and Best Actress In An Action Movie. Tom Hardy, of course, is nominated for Best Actor In An Action Movie, but it’s George Miller for Best Director that has really invested my interest into whether he could be a contender come Oscars. The film has also garnered nominations for Best Cinematography, Best Production Design, Best Editing, Best Costume Design, Best Hair and Makeup, Best Visual Effects, Best Action Movie, and Best Sci-Fi/Horror Movie.
Trailing behind the whirlwind, critically acclaimed hit is Carol, The Martian, and The Revenant with nine nominations each. While this year’s big favorite, Spotlight, has earned itself eight nominations from critics, followed by The Big Short and The Hateful Eight with six each. Bridge of Spies, Brooklyn, The Danish Girl, Jurassic World, and Sicario each earned five nominations and Room obtained four. Charlize Theron isn’t the only actress up for multiple Best Actress categories, as Jennifer Lawrence is up for three for her work in Joy and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2, while Rachel McAdams is up for two awards for Spotlight and True Detective.
And while the film categories are all up in the air, the television categories prove that the increasing output of excellent programming continued this year with FX, ABC, and HBO both gaining 14 nominations each; FOX is close on their heels with 12 nods. The big standout series this year, as determined by critics, is FX’s Fargo with eight nominations. The Leftovers (HBO) and Transparent (Amazon) are not far behind with five nominations each; Black-ish (ABC), Mr. Robot (USA), and Penny Dreadful (Showtime) each earned four.
So what can we takeaway from this year’s 21st Critics’ Choice Awards nominees? For starters, no other awards group has seen more movies this year than the critics, assumably. It’s their jobs to assess the year in film. Who better has a sound voice of reasoning than those who sit in dark rooms and watch movies multiple times per week? In the long run, sure, all awards are practically meaningless gold statues, and the varying award categories the BFCA and BTJA have set have little influence when it comes to the Oscars, but if these voices of reason can help sway voters to at least make an earnest decision at the polls we can be safe in knowing we won’t have another year where a Shakespeare in Love wins against a Saving Private Ryan.
BEST PICTURE
BEST ACTOR
BEST ACTRESS
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS
BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE
BEST DIRECTOR
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
BEST EDITING
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
BEST HAIR & MAKEUP
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
BEST ACTION MOVIE
BEST ACTOR IN AN ACTION MOVIE
BEST ACTRESS IN AN ACTION MOVIE
BEST COMEDY
BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY
BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY
BEST SCI-FI/HORROR MOVIE
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
BEST SONG
BEST SCORE
Following the unpredictable 22nd Annual SAG Awards nominees yesterday, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association has now revealed their nominees for the Golden Globes. HFPA president Lorenzo Soria was joined by actors America Ferrera, Angela Bassett, Chloe Grace Moretz, and Dennis Quaid this morning to announce the 73rd Golden Globes nominations for both film and television categories. The Golden Globes will be presented live on NBC with host Ricky Gervais on January 10, 2016.
Unlike the SAG Awards where Trumbo gained the most nods, the HFPA favored Carol, a top contender among the chatter I’ve been in tune with. Carol has earned itself five nods, including Best Motion Picture – Drama, Best Actress for Cate Blanchett, Best Actress for Rooney Mara, Best Director for Todd Haynes, and Best Score. The Revenant, Steve Jobs, and The Big Short lead behind Carol with four nods each. The Danish Girl, The Hateful Eight, The Martian, Room, and Spotlight each have three.
Regardless, this year’s Golden Globes nominees seem to be more in line with what has been predicted. There are typically a few oddball choices every year with the Golden Globes – The Tourist for Best Picture – Comedy or Musical, anyone? – but I honestly don’t see any I would strongly disagree with. The Martian, The Big Short, and Joy aren’t really comedies or musicals, but they do have some great humor in them.
What really stands out to me, and what fills me with hope for this awards season, is that Mad Max: Fury Road has earned two nods, including Best Picture – Drama and Best Director for George Miller. These nominations alone are a win in my mind and also well deserved – read my review of Mad Max: Fury Road. Also sticking out to me is the fact that Alicia Vikander, who came out of nowhere this year and starred in five big movies, is nominated in two separate categories: Best Actress in a Drama for The Danish Girl and Best Supporting Actress for Ex Machina. Everyone is saying Brie Larson is the new “It’ girl while Vikander seems to be skating by undetected. This woman is an incredible actress and deserves every bit of attention she is earning for her roles.
As far as television categories go, Netflix is the top dog among networks and streaming platforms with eight nominations – the exact same outcome as yesterday’s SAG Awards nominees announcement. American Crime, Fargo, Mr. Robot, Outlander, Transparent, and Wolf Hall all tied with three nominations each. Like Alicia Vikander, Lily Tomlin also scored two nominations herself, but in two separate mediums: one for Best Actress – Musical/Comedy for Grandma and Best Actress – Comedy for Grace and Frankie.
What scares me the most about this year’s Golden Globe Awards is the fact that I agree with a lot of their choices. Even more so in the television comedy categories. Specifically because The Big Bang Theory and Modern Family were not recognized as Best Series – Comedy and Jim Parsons was not nominated for Best Actor. It’s a Christmas miracle!
Without further ado, here are your nominees:
Best Motion Picture – Drama
Best Performance By an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama
Best Performance By an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama
Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
Best Performance By an Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical
Best Performance By an Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical
Best Animated Feature Film
Best Motion Picture – Foreign Language
Best Performance By an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Best Performance By an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Best Director – Motion Picture
Best Screenplay – Motion Picture
Best Original Score – Motion Picture
Best Original Song – Motion Picture
The 22nd Annual SAG Awards nominees were revealed this morning at the Pacific Design Center’s Silver Screen Theater in West Hollywood. Anna Faris (CBS’s Mom; Scary Movie) and Anthony Mackie (Pain & Gain; Captain America: The Winter Soldier) were joined by SAG-AFTRA Executive Vice President Gabrielle Carteris to announce this year’s nominations, which will be awarded Live on TNT, TBS, truTV, sagawards.tntdrama.com, and truTV.com on Saturday, Jan. 30, 2016 at 8:00 p.m. (ET) / 5:00 p.m. (PT).
Actors make up a fairly large chunk of Academy voters, so it’s no surprise that the SAG Awards are a fairly good indicator as to how the Oscars may shape up. I didn’t think my eyebrows could be raised any higher when I saw the list of nominees this morning. Peculiar is one word to put it. Maybe even jarring. If this is how the awards season is going to be, I don’t know if I want any part of it.
First of all, Trumbo leads the film categories with three nods – ensemble, Bryan Cranston for Best Male Actor, and Helen Mirren for Best Supporting Female Actor. The other nominees are spread thin, with two nods each, including Beasts of No Nation, The Big Short, Carol, The Danish Girl, Room, Spotlight, and Steve Jobs. Second, there were a handful of names that have completely come out of left field, including Sarah Silverman (I Smile Back) and Helen Mirren (Woman in Gold) for Best Actress; and Christian Bale (The Big Short) for Best Supporting Actor. And third, I’m surprised Beasts of No Nation and bested the likes of The Martian and The Hateful Eight for Best Ensemble.
There were also a good handful of snubs that include Jennifer Lawrence for Joy, anyone from Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight, Matt Damon for The Martian, and Will Smith for Concussion. Of course they all can’t be chosen, and today’s nominees have certainly made the playing field rather interesting.
As for the television categories, they’ve all wound up pretty much how you would expect. The only kicker here is that Netflix leads the pack with eight nominations, which also has two in film categories as well. Game of Thrones, Homeland, and House of Cards are all tied at the top with three nods each. My biggest concern about the TV categories is that the industry continues to recognize Jim Parsons and The Big Bang Theory. It needs to stop.
Despite this year’s SAG Awards nominees not turning out exactly how some may have predicted, many fresh faces were recognized, which is always a good thing. Brie Larson, Rami Malek, Rooney Mara, Christina Ricci, Mark Rylance, Sarah Silverman, Jacob Tremblay, and Alicia Vikander have each earned their first individual Actor nomination with this upcoming SAG Awards.
Everything seems to be quite up in the air after the SAG Awards have shown that it could be anyone’s game. We will be keeping a close eye on the road to the Oscars with the Golden Globes nominations being announced tomorrow. Until then, your nominees are:
Outstanding Performance By A Male Actor In A Leading Role
Outstanding Performance By A Female Actor In A Leading Role
Outstanding Performance By A Male Actor In A Supporting Role
Outstanding Performance By A Female Actor In A Supporting Role
Outstanding Performance By A Cast In A Motion Picture
Outstanding Performance By A Male Actor In A Television Movie Or Miniseries
Outstanding Performance By A Female Actor In A Television Movie Or Miniseries
Outstanding Performance By A Male Actor In A Drama Series
Outstanding Performance By A Female Actor In A Drama Series
Outstanding Performance By A Male Actor In A Comedy Series
Outstanding Performance By A Female Actor In A Comedy Series
Outstanding Performance By An Ensemble In A Drama Series
Outstanding Performance By An Ensemble In A Comedy Series
Outstanding Action Performance By A Stunt Ensemble In A Motion Picture
Outstanding Action Performance By A Stunt Ensemble In A Comedy Or Drama Series
52nd Annual Sag Life Achievement Award
Source: Screen Actors Guild
Brace your bank accounts, it’s time to see what’s Now Available to Own for the week of August 25, 2015. Every Tuesday we run down new movie and television releases that you can enjoy in the comfort of your own home, as well as some slick deals that can save you some coin. New on shelves this week are The Walking Dead Season 5, Aloha, Citizenfour, and more.
Aloha (Cameron Crowe) Rated PG-13 [104 min] – A celebrated military contractor returns to the site of his greatest career triumphs and re-connects with a long-ago love while unexpectedly falling for the hard-charging Air Force watchdog assigned to him. Starring Bradley Cooper, Rachel McAdams, Emma Stone, and Alec Baldwin [Watch the Trailer]
This movie is pretty much a waste of effort for everyone involved. Aloha’s message is so muddled in bland storytelling that it ultimately makes vanilla sound more appealing.
Special features included:
LEGO Justice League: Attack of the Legion of Doom! (Rick Morales) Unrated [77 min] – Crime is on the run as the newly formed Justice League keeps Metropolis safe and this makes evil genius Lex Luthor very unhappy. Together with Black Manta, Sinestro and a gang of ruthless recruits, Lex builds his own league and declares them the Legion of Doom. With this super powered team of terror and a plan to attack the top-secret government site, Area 52, can Lex finally be on the verge of victory? Starring Troy Baker, Nolan North, Josh Keaton, Khary Payton, James Arnold Taylor, Grey Griffin, Mark Hamill, and John DiMaggio
For a fun little LEGO movie, Justice League: Attack of the Legion of Doom! is great for the kids and highly tolerable for parents. The voice acting is solid and the action is pretty entertaining. Its only faults is that the story is pretty predictable and the level of animation is straight to home video quality. Otherwise, it’s a decent sit for the short run time.
Special features include:
Where Hope Grows (Chris Dowling) Rated PG-13 [95 min] – A baseball player whose professional career was cut short due to his personal problems is suddenly awakened and invigorated by a young-man with Down syndrome who works at the local grocery store. Starring Kristoffer Polaha, David DeSanctis, and Danica McKellar
I’m not big on spiritual films, but Where Hope Grows is a lot better than some of the other faith-based, spoon fed dribble that’s been out in theaters lately. There is some potential for a good story here, however the third act completely derails the whole movie leaving little hope for redemption.
Special features include:
Two Days, One Night (Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne) Rated PG-13 [95 min] – Sandra, a young Belgian mother, discovers that her workmates have opted for a significant pay bonus, in exchange for her dismissal. She has only one weekend to convince her colleagues to give up their bonuses so that she can keep her job. Starring Marion Cotillard, Fabrizio Rongione, Catherine Salée, and Batiste Sornin
I have yet to see this critically lauded film, but if you want to check Two Days, One Night before you buy it, the movie is now available on Netflix streaming.
Special features include:
CitizenFour (Laura Poitras) Rated R [114 min] – A documentarian and a reporter travel to Hong Kong for the first of many meetings with Edward Snowden.Starring Edward Snowden, Glenn Greenwald, and William Binney
I have not had the chance to check this film out yet. It did win the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature, so there’s that.
Special features include:
The Walking Dead: The Complete Fifth Season (Scott M. Gimple) Police officer Rick Grimes leads a group of survivors in a world overrun by zombies. Starring Andrew Lincoln, Steven Yuen, Norman Reedus, Chandler Riggs, Melissa McBride, Lauren Cohan, Emily Kinney, and Danai Gurira
The fifth season of The Walking Dead is definitely a transitional one. It starts off on a high-note, but takes a sharp turn that can really make or break fans. When the survivors arrive at their destination in the second half of the season, it’s a real testament to the writers to build such great tension with little action. It’s a great calm before the storm because, as a reader of the comic, Season 6 will be insane.
Special features include:
Criminal Minds: The Complete Tenth Season (Jeff Davis) Rated TV-14 [42 min] – The cases of the BAU, an elite group of profilers who analyze the nation’s most dangerous criminal minds in an effort to anticipate their next moves before they strike again. Starring Shemar Moore, Matthew Gray Gubler, and Thomas Gibson
With the inclusion of Jennifer Love Hewitt to spice up the tenth season, Criminal Minds shows signs of wear. I’ve never been a fan of crime procedurals, but I thought I would check this series out to see why the series has been on television for so long. It’s pretty formulaic as most procedurals go and the main stars are holding on by a thread to muster up the energy to continue on with the same old routine.
Special features include:
Elementary: The Complete Third Season (Robert Doherty) Rated TV-14 [60 min] | Crime, Drama, MysterySeason 4 PremiereSep 20157.9Your rating:-/10Ratings: 7.9/10 from 61,287 usersReviews: 174 user | 35 criticA modern take on the cases of Sherlock Holmes, with the detective now living in New York City. Starring Jonny Lee Miller, Lucy Liu, and Aidan Quinn
Another series I have not had the pleasure of watching, but only this time I jumped at the chance to check it out. I am a big proponent of the other modern take of Sherlock Holmes on the BBC, so I figured I’d see how Elementary took on the subject matter. Jonny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu may not be on the same level of Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman, however they do have good chemistry, and that’s important for a Holmes-Watson relationship. The gender change is quite an interesting dynamic as well, that brings a different perspective to the dynamic duo. It’s a decent show, and from what I watched of this season it was mostly good.
Special features include:
The Good Wife: The Complete Sixth Season (Michelle King and Robert King) Rated TV-14 [60 min] – Alicia has been a good wife to her husband, a former state’s attorney. After a very humiliating sex and corruption scandal, he is behind bars. She must now provide for her family and returns to work as a litigator in a law firm. Starring Julianna Margulies, Chris Noth, Matthew Goode, and Josh Charles
Anytime I hear about The Good Wife people won’t shut up about it. So here I am, another series I haven’t gotten on the bandwagon for, and had the opportunity to check out. From what I’ve seen, The Good Wife has some solid tension, but begins to falter halfway through. I have not finished it yet, and hope that it turns itself around. All of the performances are top notch, and I can see why this show continues to earn nominations at the Emmys. I will go back and check out the rest of the episodes starting from Season 1 as soon as I have the time.
Special features include:
Revenge: The Complete Fourth and Final Season (Mike Kelley) Rated TV-PG [44 min] – An emotionally troubled young woman makes it her mission to exact revenge against the people who wronged her father. Starring Madeleine Stowe, Emily VanCamp, and Gabriel Mann
Not a series I have seen nor had the chance to review, but from what I’ve heard it’s OK.
Special features include:
The Mindy Project: The Complete Third Season (Mindy Kaling) Rated TV-14 [30 min] – A young Ob/Gyn doctor balances her personal and professional life, surrounded by quirky co-workers in a small office. Starring Mindy Kaling, Chris Messina, and Ike Barinholtz
Sadly, I have not see this show or had the opportunity to review it. I’ve heard that this season kind of meanders and is beginning to show a lack of creativity and wit. Not good when you have a hit comedy on your hands.
Special features include:
All prices from Amazon.com. Best Buy, Frys, and Target all price match online prices.
What will you be taking home this week? Tell us in the comments section below!
All plot synopses come courtesy of IMDb.com
Tonight the Broadcast Television Journalists Association held its 5th Annual Critics’ Choice Television Awards. Just like its sister organization (Broadcast Film Critics Association) has its own award show now going on its 21st year, the BTJA honors the greatest in television, as its name implies. The ceremony honored programs and performances that aired between June 1, 2014 and May 31, 2015. HBO walked away tonight the big winner with seven awards while the rest of the board was pretty scattered due to the recently excellent year on the small screen. See the full winners list and some brief commentary after the jump. Continue reading
The 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards kick off the actual awards part of awards season today on NBC. The big event will be once again hosted by Tina Fey and Amy Poehler and promptly aired live from 5:00-8:00 p.m. (PST)/8:00-11:00 p.m. (EST). We’ll be covering the Golden Globes live as well so in case you stepped out or have to miss them due to a previously planned engagement – because let’s be honest, they’re just the Globes – we’ve got you covered. After the jump you’ll find the complete winners list as they are announced tonight. Continue reading
Awards is continuing to get underway with the announcement of the 72nd Golden Globe Awards nominations this morning at the Beverly Hilton hotel. Kate Beckinsale, Peter Krause, Paula Patton, and Jeremy Piven did the honors as they were welcomed by Hollywood Foreign Press Association president, Theo Kingma and Miss Golden Globe, Greer Grammer. Fox Searchlight dominated the Golden Globes with 12 nods with its top contender Birdman contributing to seven of them. Check out the full list of nominees after the break. Continue reading
In the immortal words of Shang Tsung from the hit video game series Mortal Kombat, “It has begun.” With the announcement of the 21st Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards Nominations, the awards season has officially kicked off. Ansel Elgort and Eva Longoria announced the nominees this morning with Birdman leading the pack with four nods. Find out who is in the running at this year’s SAG Awards after the break. Continue reading