2014 Hollywood Film Awards

The Hollywood Film Awards were televised for the first time Friday, November 14th. A little known precursor to awards season, nominees were not announced, only winners presented. All the winners knew ahead of time. This was the 18th annual ceremony for the Hollywood Film Awards and it has previously been a private Hollywood event.

Awards season's opening ceremony, self proclaimed Official Launch of the Award Season -- trademark -- it is the first stomp on the campaign trail to the Oscars. The number of A List actors in attendance and presenting awards seemed confusing for an event with little prestige. Almost as confusing was when the "winners" would say what an honor it was to receive the award. There does seem to be plenty of easily googled photographic evidence of previous awards seasons' top winners appearing at the Hollywood Film Awards first.

Angelina Jolie was a combination of sincere and stern as she described casting Jack O'Donnell in the film Unbroken, which she directed. Johnny Depp was completely wasted when he presented the best documentary winner to Shep Gordon.

A bright spot was Geena Davis' introduction to Michael Keaton's career achievement award and the accompanying montage. The minimum of three shots of Ben Affleck seeming to worry if he'd be a good enough Batman the whole time was also quite amusing. Keaton's performance in Birdman looks to have strong traction for an Academy nod.

All the films and roles honored have good early buzz for awards season. The event seemed like the epitome of Hollywood's self congratulating and endless award shows that many criticize. Great movie montages though. It looks to be as strong of a season as any.

A list of the winners follows the red carpet looks. Best Dressed goes to Reese Witherspoon in J Mendel.

HOLLYWOOD FILM Gone Girl
HOLLYWOOD ACTOR Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game
HOLLYWOOD BLOCKBUSTER Guardians of the Galaxy
HOLLYWOOD DOCUMENTARY Mike Myers, Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon
HOLLYWOOD ACTRESS Julianne Moore, Still Alice
CAREER ACHIEVEMENT Michael Keaton 
HOLLYWOOD ANIMATION How to Train Your Dragon 2
HOLLYWOOD COMEDY FILM Chris Rock, Top Five
NEW HOLLYWOOD Jack O'Connell, Unbroken
HOLLYWOOD ENSEMBLE Foxcatcher
HOLLYWOOD DIRECTOR Morten Tyldum, The Imitation Game
HOLLYWOOD SONG Janelle Monae, "What is Love?" Rio 2
HOLLYWOOD SCREENWRITER Gillian Flynn, Gone Girl
HOLLYWOOD BREAKOUT PERFORMANCE ACTOR Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything
HOLLYWOOD BREAKTHROUGH DIRECTOR Jean-Marc Vallee, Wild
HOLLYWOOD Supporting Actress: Keira Knightley, The Imitation Game
HOLLYWOOD BREAKOUT PERFORMANCE ACTRESS Shailene Woodley, The Fault in Our Stars
HOLLYWOOD SUPPORTING ACTOR Robert Duvall, The Judge
HOLLYWOOD CINEMATOGRAPHY AWARD Emmanuel Lubezki, Birdman
HOLLYWOOD INTERNATIONAL AWARD Jing Tian
HOLLYWOOD VISUAL EFFECTS AWARD Scott Farrar, Transformers: Age of Extinction
HOLLYWOOD FILM COMPOSER AWARD Alexandre Desplat, The Imitation Game
HOLLYWOOD COSTUME DESIGN AWARD Milena Canonero, The Grand Budapest Hotel
HOLLYWOOD EDITING AWARD Jay Cassidy and Dody Dorn, Fury
HOLLYWOOD PRODUCTION DESIGN AWARD Dylan Cole and Gary Freeman, Maleficent
HOLLYWOOD SOUND AWARD Ren Klyce, Gone Girl
HOLLYWOOD MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING David White (Special Makeup Effects) and Elizabeth Yanni-Georgiou (Hair Designer and Makeup Designer), Guardians of the Galaxy

The 85th Academy Awards

Seth MacFarlane danced the line of biting humor and respect for the institution of the Oscars perfectly as host. One of his best jokes from the opening monologue was "Ben, it's not your fault" in a Robin Williams-esque Good Will Hunting voice about Affleck not being nominated for Best Director. The many jokes about Tina Fey and Amy Poehler hosting were a great homage to how well they hosted the Golden Globes earlier this year. Seth tempting Sally Field with wine and Boniva was delightfully hilarious. Later his joke, "It's Sunday. Everybody is dressed up. This is like church only with more people praying," was priceless.

I was incorrect right out of the gates on the first award, Best Supporting Actor. I had thought that DeNiro had it but I could not have been more pleased that Christoph Waltz took home the statue. His speech was genuine and heartfelt. It has become quite fashionable for actors to thank and name their fellow nominees in their acceptance speeches. Waltz seemed very sincere when he named each of his cohorts. Tommy Lee Jones actually smiled after the clip of his nominated performance in Lincoln.

MacFarlane's jabs at Clooney and Affleck throughout the ceremony were fantastic. The six men of the Avengers amusingly bantered as they presented Cinematography and Visual Effects. The much promoted tribute to 50 years of Bond was disappointing in that it was simply a montage (and they showed T Dalt twice). Having Shirley Bassey sing Goldfinger was pretty cool. The Forrest Gump score popped up multiple times over transitions -- upon rewatching the show I realized this was because of the theme of the awards, music in movies. In this honoring of movie music my only complaint was that the sound team did not disable Russell Crowe's microphone during the Les Miserables performance.

I can not even talk about Anne Hathaway winning Best Supporting Actress or about how awful her dress was. Jennifer Lawrence fell on her way to the stage but she instantly regained her composure. She gave a simple and sweet speech. Daniel Day Lewis was also humbling and sweet in his acceptance speech and then in the next breath hilarious. Michelle Obama presenting Best Picture via satellite was a truly new idea kept a surprise by Jack Nicholson appearing on stage as if to present. I loved it when he asked, "Obama, do you have your envelope" and without missing a beat she replied, "not yet Jack, I'm about to." I was so pleased that Argo won. I loved Ben Affleck's speech. He had the seem frenetic energy that he had when he won for the screenplay for Good Will Hunting.

2013 Oscar Nominee Luncheon

Today was the annual event where all of the year's Oscar nominees gather for lunch and a class photo. The event seems to be one of the coolest parts of being a nominee and everyone is acknowledged.

Press is limited to three questions per nominee. Ben Affleck seemed genuinely modest, mentioning how much he wanted to work with the fellow Best Picture filmmakers as an actor and that years of watching from home in the 80s and 90s has made him impervious to the prognosticating. "I leave those sorts of calculations to the folks in the press and the pundits and the Oscarologists.... I don't get into worrying about who got what or didn't get what. I've had many, many, many, many, many years watching from home." This weekend the Director's Guild presented Affleck with Best Director for Argo. The rest of the awards seem bound to prove that Affleck deserved not only to be nominated for a Best Director Oscar for Argo but that he should also win. I suspect there will be a consolation Oscar in Affleck's future.

The pictures are an extremely fun outcome of the event.

2013 Golden Globes

Tina Fey and Amy Poehler started the 70th Annual Golden Globe Awards with a witty bang. Poehler said that Kathryn Bigelow, director of Zero Dark Thirty, would know about torture because she was married to James Cameron for three years. Then Tina said that when watching Anne Hathaway's nominated performance in Les Miserables, Fey had not seen someone so alone and abandoned since Hathaway was on stage with James Franco at the Oscars. Amy mentioned Julianne Moore's nomination for portraying Sarah Palin in HBO's Game Change. Tina chimed in with, "me too, I used to win prizes for that too" and found that she had lost her ability to impersonate Sarah Palin's voice.

The first award was presented to Christoph Waltz for Best Supporting Actor in Django Unchained. I was thrilled because I loved his performance as an 1850's bounty hunter. It will be interesting to see if this is an Oscar indicator as four of the five nominees are the same for both awards. Julianne Moore won the Globe for Game Change and the movie won Best Mini-Series Or Motion Picture Made for Television.

In an effort to revise the awards show drinking game for 2013, since Martin Scorsese is not nominated, I think the go-to drink will be for when anyone over-pronounces Les Misérables. Tina Fey was the first to and Catherine Zeta Jones was the second.

Damian Lewis won Best Actor in a Drama Series for Homeland and then Homeland won Best Drama. The real life CIA agent Ben Affleck played in Argo presented Argo as a Best Movie Drama nominee with John Goodman. It was delightful to continue to see George Clooney and Ben Affleck seated together throughout the show. Poehler's Boston accent jokes directed towards Affleck were great.

Adele won a Globe for Original Song for "Skyfall." Hope this one is an Oscar indicator as well. Taylor Swift lost and could not seem to put a graceful-loser look on her face when Adele accepted the award. Yeah, that's right Taylor, you are not as talented as Adele, get used to it.

Bill Clinton randomly presented Lincoln's nomination for Best Movie Drama and received a standing ovation. He even did a thumbs up. It was very cool. Immediately after, Amy Poehler appeared to resume her hosting duties in character as Leslie Knope from Parks and Rec and said, "that was Hilary Clinton's husband!"

Kristen Wiig and Will Farrell by far were the funniest presenters. The bit was that they were beyond excited to be there, had watched all the movies the five actresses nominated for Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical were in, yet clearly had not watched. They called Jennifer Lawrence, J La, which is fantastic, and she won. Megan Fox and Jonah Hill were also pretty funny as presenters.

One would anticipate Quentin Tarantino to be full on crazy when he accepted the Best Screenplay Globe. He was just standard Tarantino crazy. He thanked his actors and the people he reads his scripts to as he writes, but did not name them.

Another random presenter was Sacha Baron Cohen (third to over-pronounce Les Mis) in the Best Animated Feature Category. Brave's win and also Amour's win for Best Foreign Language Film may be additional Oscar predictors.

I loved Amy Poehler drinking champagne with George Clooney for her nomination shot. After the hosts lost to Lena Dunham for Best Actress in a Comedy Series, they pretended to be drunk and Tina told Taylor Swift, "you stay away from Michael J Fox's son!" 

Robert Downey Jr presented Jodie Foster with the Cecil B DeMille Award. Foster gave a big build-up so as if to come out, then she said she was single. Then she pretty much came out but never said it outright. She was strong and unique in her acceptance of the award and received a standing ovation from her peers.

Ben Affleck seemed genuinely shocked that he won Best Director for Argo. The audience was floored and he received a standing ovation. It would seem that all were pleased that he received the recognition the Academy withheld from him this week. Jennifer Gardner presented Best Actor in a Comedy and thanked two people he forgot, including Argo producer George Clooney. Then Clooney congratulated Affleck on his win when he presented Best Actress in a Drama to Jessica Chastain.

After Daniel Day Lewis won for Best Actor in a Drama for Lincoln, out of the blue Julia Roberts presented Best Picture Drama to Argo. The last line of the show was Poehler saying that she and Fey were going home with Jodie Foster.

A complete list of the winners follows my fashion coverage.
All in all there were a lot of misses on the red carpet at the Globes. Too many high neck lines, too many white or baby blue blah dresses. Kerry Washington who is gorgeous, looked terrible. On another actress the dress Jennifer Lopez wore may have been daring but for her it was run-of-the-mill. Jennifer Lawrence, Claire Danes and Jennifer Gardner looked great in reds and the hosts' red carpet looks and on stage ensembles were wins.

MOVIES
Best Motion Picture, Drama: "Argo"
Best Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical: "Les Misérables"
Best Actress, Drama: Jessica Chastain, "Zero Dark Thirty"
Best Actor, Daniel Day-Lewis, "Lincoln"
Best Actress, Comedy or Musical: Jennifer Lawrence, "Silver Linings Playbook"
Best Actor, Comedy or Musical: Hugh Jackman, "Les Misérables"
Best Director: Ben Affleck, "Argo"
Best Supporting Actress: Anne Hathaway, "Les Misérables"
Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz, "Django Unchained"
Best Foreign Language Film: "Amour"
Best Animated Film: "Brave"
Best Screenplay: Quentin Tarantino, "Django Unchained"
Best Original Score: Mychael Danna, "Life of Pi"
Best Original Song: "Skyfall" (music and lyrics by Adele and Paul Epworth), "Skyfall"

TELEVISION
Best Series, Drama: "Homeland," Showtime
Best Series, Musical or Comedy: "Girls," HBO
Best Actress, Drama: Claire Danes, "Homeland"
Best Actor, Drama: Damian Lewis, "Homeland"
Best Actress, Comedy or Musical: Lena Dunham, "Girls"
Best Actor, Comedy or Musical: Don Cheadle, "House of Lies"
Best Miniseries or Movie: "Game Change"
Best Actress, Miniseries or Movie: Julianne Moore, "Game Change"
Best Actor, Miniseries or Movie: Kevin Costner, "Hatfields and McCoys"
Best Supporting Actress: Maggie Smith, "Downton Abbey"
Best Supporting Actor: Ed Harris, "Game Change"

Fall catch-up

I have not written a straight up movie review since July. This summer and fall have been very busy and I may not have been seeing movies at the rate that I usually do, but I certainly have been seeing movies. It's time to catch up because Oscar season is just around the corner.

Wreck it Ralph
This Disney animated movie takes place in the world of videos games and has an adorable concept. An arcade game bad guy, voiced by John C Reilly, is fed up with his existence and decides to venture into other games in the hopes of earning some respect in his home game. His adventure takes him to a modern Call of Duty type game, featuring an awesomely kick-ass Jane Lynch, and to the candy covered land of a go-cart racing little girl voiced by Sarah Silverman. The animation captures various genres and eras of video games in excellent detail. I predict that Wreck-It Ralph will join Brave in the Best Animated Feature race this year. The animated short "Paperman" that preceded the full length movie was sweet and is also a strong contender for Best Animated Short.

Argo
To be fair, I was predisposed to like this movie because of Ben Affleck and a historical topic. The era of the Iran hostage crisis is well captured and Bryan Cranston, Alan Arkin, John Goodman and Victor Garber make up the strong supporting cast. Fun trivia, Victor Garber married Jennifer Gardner and Ben Affleck after playing her father on Alias for five seasons. George Clooney co-produced the film and Jimmy Carter speaks about the real life events over the end credits. This one is likely to have award season buzz.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower 
I did not expect this film to be as dark as it was but it certainly captured the high school experience. There were many moments of humor and the three young leads, Logan Lerman, Emma Watson (Hermione Granger in Harry Potter) and Ezra Miller are fantastic. Paul Rudd is also excellent in a small role as a freshman English teacher. As a kid of the 80s and 90s I had to love the references to mixed tapes and early 90s time frame. Though I have not read the book and can not comment on the strength of the adaptation, interestingly enough the movie's director is the novel's author Stephen Ghbosky.