Month: January 2014

2013 BAM Award Nominations

Posted on by bernardovillela

Process

This year the BAMs took on a different approach to deciding the nominees than in years past.

The considerations were assembled on a monthly basis and posted on the site. At the end of each month master lists were updated offline.

Upon the creation of the shortlists the total number of eligible titles in each category was reduced by 50-66%.

Since that point I have slowly reduced the fields to come up with the nominees. All “film” categories have 10 nominees, except for Best Documentary. All other categories have 5 nominees, save for the individual youth acting categories which occasionally have six.

Introduction

Ender's Game (2013, LionsGate)

It was a pretty great, and quirky year of viewings for me, as the nominations will bear witness to. The nominations will merely list honorees. Further commentary and explication will be offered with the winners post in a week’s time.

Nominees complete, a link to a list of eligible titles will follow.

Best Picture

Blue Jasmine
Broken 

Class Enemy
Disconnect
Ender’s Game
Frozen
The Giants
It’s All So Quiet
Time of My Life


Stoker

Best Foreign Film

The Broken Circle Breakdown
Class Enemy
The Giants
The Hunt
It’s All So Quiet
Museum Hours
The Old Man
Three Worlds
Time of My Life

V8- Start Your Engines

Most Overlooked Film


Allez, Eddy!
Blind Spot
Broken
Class Enemy
The Color of the Chameleon
Deep Dark Canyon
It’s All So Quiet
Mother, I Love You
The Old Man
V8 – Start Your Engines!

Best Documentary

Brooklyn Castle
The Diplomat
Évocateur: The Morton Downey Jr. Movie
A Place at the Table
The Short Game

Best Director

Woody Allen Blue Jasmine
Gavin Hood Ender’s Game

Rufus Norris Broken
Chan-wook Park Stoker
Henry Alex Rubin 
Disconnect

Best Actress

Veerle Baetens The Broken Circle Breakdown
Cate Blanchett Blue Jasmine
Judi Dench Philomena
Mary Margaret O’Hara Museum Hours
Barbara Sukowa Hannah Arendt

Best Actor

Spencer Treat Clark Deep Dark Canyon

Nick Eversman Deep Dark Canyon
Koen De Graeve Time of My Life
Johan Heldenbergh The Broken Circle Breakdown
Igor Samobor Class Enemy

Best Supporting Actress

Doroteja Nadrah Class Enemy

Sally Hawkins Blue Jasmine

Isabelle Huppert Amour
Imelda Staunton The Awakening
Liv Ullmann Two Lives

Best Supporting Actor

Voranc Boh Class Enemy
Harrison Ford Ender’s Game

Ben Kingsley Iron Man 3
Matthew McConaughey Mud
Sam Rockwell The Way, Way Back

Best Cast

Igor Samobor, Natasa Barbara Gracner, Tjasa Zeleznik, Masa Derganc, Robert Prebil, Voranc Boh, Jan Zupancic, Dasa Cupevski, Doroeja Nadrah, Spela Novak, Pia Korbar, Dan David Mrevlje Natlacen, Jan Vrhonik, Kangjing Qiu, Estera Dvornik, Peter Techmeister, etc. in Class Enemy
Jason Bateman, Hope Davis, Frank Grillo, Michael Nyqvist, Paula Patton, Andrea Riseborough, Alexander Skarsgård, Colin Ford, Jonah Bobo, Haley Ramm, Aviad Bernstein, etc. in Disconnect
Asa Butterfield, Harrison Ford, Hailee Steinfeld, Ben Kingsley, Abigail Breslin, Viola Davis, Aramis Knight, Suraj Partha, Khylin Rhambo, Jimmy ‘Jax’ Pinchak, Nonso Anozie, Conor Carroll, Caleb J, Thaggard, Brandon Soo Hoo, etc. in Ender’s Game
Johan Heldenbergh, Veerle Baertens, Nell Cattrysse, Geert Van Rampelberg, Nils De Caster, Robbie Cleiren, Bert Huysentruyt, Jan Bijvoet, etc. The Broken Circle Breakdown
Koen De Graeve, Geert Van Rampelberg, Lotte Pinoy, Michel van Dousselaere, Viviane de Muynck, Iwein Segers, Felix Maesschalck, Eva van der Gucht, An Miller, Ben Segers, Lucas Vandervost, Leo Achten, Sam Bogaerts, Vincenzo De Jonghe, Kevin Van Doorslaer and Senn Van Eeckelen in Time of My Life

Best Performance by a Young Actress in a Leading Role

Lika Babulani In Bloom
Elle Fanning Ginger & Rosa

Eloise Laurence Broken
Maya Lauterbach V8- Start Your Engines
Sophie Nélisse The Book Thief
Ryan Simpkins Arcadia

Best Performance by a Young Actor in a Leading Role

Asa Butterfield Ender’s Game
Zacherie Chasseriaud The Giants
Gage Munroe I Declare War
Tye Sheridan Mud
Ty Simpkins Arcadia
Georg Sulzer V8- Start Your Engines

Best Performance by a Young Actress in a Supporting Role

Mariam Bokeria In Bloom
Annie Rose Buckley Saving Mr. Banks
Nell Cattrysse The Broken Circle Breakdown
Coline Leempoel Allez, Eddy!

Klara Merkel V8- Start Your Engines

Best Performance by a Young Actor in a Supporting Role


Isaac Hempstead Wright The Awakening
Samuel Jakob V8- Start Your Engines
Nico Liersch The Book Thief
Kodi Smit-McPhee Romeo and Juliet
Ty Simpkins Iron Man 3
Nick Romeo Reimann V8 – Start Your Engines

Best Youth Ensemble

Eloise Laurence, Faye Daveney, Martha Bryant, Bill Milner, Rosalie Kosky, and George Sargeant in Broken
Jelte Blommaert, Mathias Vergels, Coline Leempoel, Jelle Cleymans, Julian Borsani, Jelle Florizoone, Ben Van den Heuvel, etc. in Allez, Eddy!
Georg Sulzer, Maya Lauterbach, Samuek Jakob, Klara Merkel, Emilio Moutaoakkil, Tom Hoßbach, Nick Romeo Reimann, Heiner Lauterbach, Janina Fautz, etc. in V8- Start Your Engines
Asa Butterfield, Hailee Steinfeld, Abigail Breslin, Aramis Knight, Suraj Partha, Khylin Rhambo, Jimmy ‘Jax’ Pinchak, Conor Carroll, Caleb J, Thaggard, Brandon Soo Hoo, etc. in Ender’s Game
Siam Yu, Colton Stewart, Gage Munroe, Michael Friend, Aidan Gouveia, Mackenzie Munro, Alex Cardillo, Dyson Fyke, Spencer Howes, Andy Reid, Richard Nguyen, Eric Hanson, and Alex Wall in I Declare War

Best Original Screenplay


Woody Allen Blue Jasmine
Elise Ancion, Bouli Lanners, and Matthieu Reynaert The Giants
Nejc Gazvoda, Rok Bicek and Janez Lapajne Class Enemy
Wentworth Miller Stoker
Andrew Stern Disconnect

Best Adapted Screenplay

Gavin Hood based on a novel by Orson Scott Card Ender’s Game
Jennifer Lee, Story Jennifer Lee, Chris Buck and Shane Morris, based on “The Snow Queen” by Hans Christian Andersen; Frozen
Nanouk Leopold based on the novel The Twin by Gerbrand Bakker; It’s All So Quiet

Mark O’Rowe based on a novel by Daniel Clay Broken

Ermek Tursunov based on The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway; The Old Man

Best Cinematography


Murat Aliyev The Old Man
Hans Bruch Jr. The Fifth Season

Chun-hoon Chung Stoker
Larry Smith Only God Forgives
Alexis Zabe Post Tenebras Lux

Best Makeup

The Depraved
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Two Lives
Warm Bodies
V8- Start Your Engines

Best Editing


Victoria Boydell Broken
Shane Carruth and David Lowery Upstream Color
Nicholas De Toth Stoker
Nico Leunen The Broken Circle Breakdown

Lee Percy and Kevin Tent Disconnect



Best Visual Effects

Iron Man 3

Pacific Rim

Elysium
Gravity
Ender’s Game

Best Sound Editing/Mixing

Berberian Sound Studio
Ender’s Game
Imaginaerum
Leviathan
V8- Start Your Engines

Best Costume Design

Byzantium
Ender’s Game
The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones
Romeo and Juliet
V8- Start Your Engines

Best Art Direction

Ender’s Game
Imaginaerum

The Magic Flute
Only God Forgives

V8- Start Your Engines

Best Score

Petri Alanko and Nightwish Imaginaerum
Steve Jablonski Ender’s Game
Clint Mansell Stoker
Daniel Pemberton The Awakening
Fernando Velázquez Mama

Best (Original) Song


“For the First Time in Forever” Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel Frozen
“Do You Want to Build a Snowman?” Kristen Bell, Agatha Lee Monn, Katie Lopez Frozen
“If I Needed You” The Broken Circle Breakdown Bluegrass Band The Broken Circle Breakdown
“Shine Supernova” Cody Simpson Escape from Planet Earth
“Let it Go” Idina Menzel Frozen

The Robert Downey, Jr., Award for Entertainer of the Year Award

Winner to be announced on January 9th, 2013.

The Ingmar Bergman Lifetime Achievement Award

Winner to be announced on January 9th, 2013.

Neutron Star Award

Winner to be announced on January 9th, 2013.

Special Jury Awards

To be determined

BAM Best Picture Profile: Inception (2010)

Posted on by bernardovillela

Introduction

After my series of posts on Django Unchained which began with a translation and then spawned my own posts I wanted to have posts for all my Best Picture winners. Therefore, I decided to revisit those I’ve not written about here.

NOTE: 2009’s Best Picture Where the Wild Things Are was reviewed here, therefore skipped in this retrospective.

Inception (2010)

One theme that I can’t help but notice in my Best Picture winners is that in quite a few of them there’s been a sense of anticipation. Now, on the flip side there will be just as many, I wager, that took me completely by surprise, but quite a few I saw coming ahead of time.

On the Site That Must Not Be Named, in part because there was an impetus there to write about breaking news, I wrote a piece about Inception prior to its release.

Christopher Nolan’s upcoming movie Inception seems like it might be another mind-bender in very much the same vein, perhaps, of Memento and The Prestige but to the nth degree. It is described by its logline as: ““a contemporary sci-fi actioner set within the architecture of the mind.” The plot is still rumored at this point and is under a cloud of quasi-Spielbergian secrecy. There are clues to it complexity though, as Nolan has been quoted as saying that it is “the biggest challenge” he has faced.

The cast is not only studded with stars but with talent featuring the likes of: Marion Cotillard, Ellen Page, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ken Watanabe, Cillian Murphy, Michael Caine and stars Leonardo DiCaprio who has the most telling quote about the film’s complexity saying in the Inquirer:

“The material and its complexity are what I’m attracted to…I’ve been lucky to work with people who want to tell stories that hit on different cylinders simultaneously. ‘Shutter Island’ is definitely that. ‘Inception’ is the same. It is Chris delving into dream psychoanalysis and, at the same time, making a high-octane, surreal film that came from his mind. He wrote the entire thing and it all made sense to him. It didn’t make sense to many of us when we were doing it. We had to do a lot of detective work (laughing) to figure out what the movie was about.”

Sounds like it should be one of the more intriguing summer releases and perhaps even more apropos for the fall.

One thing that that piece doesn’t mention is something that could only be realized when the film was released, and something that was only hammered home when I read the published version of the screenplay: in the introduction Christopher Nolan discussed how he wanted to do a film about dreams but what he needed was a recognizable mechanism to convey the story and make it accessible. So what he ended up finding was a heist film model. And the heist scene is one of my favorite parts no doubt, even though some of the parts fall into that new-age that’s-not-a-plothole style dialogue.

One thing that really impressed me was how small a film, how much less impressive this film was on blu-ray when I revisited it. It surely is a meant-to-be viewed on the big screen experience. In the end my thoughts from 2010 have not changed much in hindsight.

You will rarely if ever see such an audacious combination of high concept and highbrow. Typically, a film dealing in dreams is too busy being aloof to tell a coherent much less have an intelligent storyline. Nolan’s film is not, in my mind, overly-concerned with trying to confound quite on the contrary one of the few negatives you could say about it is that it is very concerned with making sure the audience is still holding on tight almost as if the subtext of certain lines of dialogue is “Are you still with me here?”

Yet it manages to impart its information in a way that is not overly-expository, we never learn what’s eating at Cobb all at once. In fact, we don’t know there is anything for some time. An important point is danced around in one scene and cleverly revealed later. A character unaccustomed to the world of dream espionage is the vessel through which we learn.

Inception takes a wild vision of the future and makes it seem mundane and doesn’t make a spectacle of itself but slowly builds a world and a narrative. It’s a blur slowly coming into focus and with each ratchet towards clarity more and more meaning can be inferred. It is a grandiose tale told in the intimacy of the psyche of its characters. It’s a tale that reduces large concepts into characters that dresses as a heist film only to shed that skin and reveal something even more appealing.

Yet through all its brashness, pomp and circumstance there is a deft hand at the controls of this tale too. It is a film that does hint at larger meanings that travels through the catacombs of the mind and makes you consider if you are reminded of someone… a man you met in a half-remembered dream.