OSCAR 2013 nominations

the countdown on night that will tell who's the best among the rest has finally began. the Academy has officially announced the contenders for this year's Oscar Awards. well surprisingly, The Hobbit didn't get the nominations for Best Picture. it's unusual for me because The Lord of the Rings trilogy got the Best Picture and Best Direction for a Feature film with Peter Jackson.

but now, as it was lately announced, i am so happy to see many of the movies i've seen were nominated. Argo, Life of Pi, Mirror Mirror, Snow White and the Huntsman, Skyfall are the movies that i saw from the past year. and the other movies like Zero Dark Thirty and Silver Linings Playbook are yet to be seen. hope they can get it her in the Philippines soon so everybody can check.

here are a partial list of nominees:

Best Picture - Amour, Argo, Beasts of Southern Wild, Django Unchained, Les Miserables, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook, Zero Dark Thirty

Best Actor in a Leading Role - Bradley Cooper (Silver Linings Playbook), Daniel Day Lewis (Lincoln), Hugh Jackman (Les Miserables), Joaquin Phoenix (The Master), Denzel Washington (Flight)

Best Actress in a Leading Role - Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty), Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook), Emmanuelle Riva (Amour), Quvenzhané Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild), Naomi Watts (The Impossible)

Actor in a Supporting Role - Alan Arkin (Argo), Robert De Niro (Silver Linings Playbook), Philip Seymour Hoffman (The Master), Tommy Lee Jones (Lincoln), Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained)

Actress in a Supporting Role - Amy Adams (The Master), Sally Field (Lincoln), Anne Hathaway (Les Misérables), Helen Hunt (The Sessions), Jacki Weaver (Silver Linings Playbook)

Best Director - Jacki Weaver (Silver Linings Playbook), Benh Zeitlin (Beasts of the Southern Wild), Ang Lee (Life of Pi), Steven Spielberg (Lincoln), David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook)

i cannot bet on my choices since i haven't seen them all. but it will be great to know if the movies i've seen gets major awards. to get the full list of nominations, you can check the Academy Awards website. the awarding ceremonies will be commenced on February 26 2013.

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THE ARTIST movie review

at last i saw The Artist and i can say that i never regret watching it even though i wasn't very much interested at it first. just as i know is that it was a grand winner from all movie award-giving bodies. and just as it was shown in the opening night of the French Film Festival here in the Philippines, i never let the chance pass to see it. this is a great masterpiece of Michel Hazanavicius letting the experience of silent film in today's generation.
the story is about George Valentin (Jean Dujardin), a silent film actor in the early 20th century. a handsome, famous and thinks he has it all. he cheers everyone with his acting abilities and that he is loved.
until Peppy Miller (Berenice Bejo), a newly discovered actress comes to the scene. her dreams come true one by one starting by getting into George Valentin. they collaborated too in some movies. her star gets brighter in Hollywood until she was offered the first movie with talking.
George Valentin didn't accept this change at first and he laughed about it. later on the new technology in movies was more patronized by the public. his silent films diminish their entertainment value. he didn't see this coming, eventually he loses everything to the point he put his life in danger. on the other hand, Peppy was on his back checking out his whereabouts and conditions. when George is falling down, she supported by buying all his things in order to provide money for him. when he finally accepted his shortcomings, he embraced the changes and he humbled himself to get in the industry again.
what really amazed me is the sound editing. and of course, displaying the production style of silent films before and its further developments throughout the years until what we are witnessing these days. the story is a classic rise and fall of celebrities saying that they can't have it all. life lessons that we have to get out of our comfort zone and embrace changes in our lives.

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OSCARS 2012 complete list of winners

congratulations to the winners of the 84th Academy Awards! here is the complete list of winners:

Best Picture - The Artist
Actor in a Leading Role - Jean Dujardin (The Artist)
Actress in a Leading Role - Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady)
Actor in a Supporting Role - Christopher Plummer (Beginners)
Actress in a Supporting Role - Octavia Spencer (The Help)
Animated Feature Film - Rango
Cinematography - Hugo
Art Direction - Hugo (Dante Ferreti - Production Design / Francesca Lo Schiavo - Set Decoration
Costume Design - Mark Bridges (The Artist)
Directing - Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist)
Documentary Feature - Undefeated
Documentary Short - Saving Face
Film Editing - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Foreign Language Film - A Separation (Iran)
Make Up - Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland (The Iron Lady)
Music (Original Score) - Ludovic Bource (The Artist)
Original Song - "Man or Muppet" by Bren McKenzie (The Muppets)
Animated Short Film - The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore
Live Action Short Film - The Shore
Sound Editing - Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty (Hugo)
Sound Mixing - Tom Fleischman and John Midgley (Hugo)
Visual Effects - Rob Legato, Josh Williams, Ben Grossman and Alex Henning (Hugo)
Writing (Adapted Screenplay) - Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash (The Descendants)
Writing (Original Screenplay) - Woody Allen (Midnight in Paris)

The Artist bagged 5 awards in total tied with Hugo. The Iron Lady with 2 awards. Christopher Plummer received his first Oscar at the age of 82 making him the oldest person to receive the golden statue.

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ANG BABAE SA SEPTIC TANK for OSCARS

from the whopping 5 awards in the Cinemalaya 2011 -- including Best Actress, Best Screenplay and Best Director -- Ang Babae sa Septic Tank (The Woman in the Septic Tank) now vies for the biggest award for a foreign movie, the Academy Awards. increase its potential to be included in the nominees and take pride in the Filipino talent of film making.

any genre almost fit in a 90-minute clip. comedy, drama, documentary, musical themes that might just receive an Oscar. educational too, learn Acting 101 with the Best Actress Eugene Domingo. joining her taking lessons in experience are JM De Guzman, Kean Cipriano and Cai Cortez.

this movie, not just as played by Eugene Domingo, has a lot of factors to consider. let her tell you why in this full trailer:

vote for Ang Babae sa Septic Tank at the Oscars. let the world know how it can cross the barriers of independent film making to the mainstream. we know that audiences are getting more and more intelligent in choosing a very good movie. when i saw it, i was very amused in the script and the acting abilities of her co-stars. giggled how Cai managed to be in the movie without saying anything. PETA for the musical number, and with special participation of Cherry Pie Picache and Mercedes Cabral.

this also opens the view of the audience on how to create an independent film. ups and lows but all for the fun and love it. if you have missed it, watch out for another release.

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BLACK SWAN movie review

BLACK SWAN reflects the story of ballerinas who dream about getting the big role in the famous rendition of The Swan Lake. here, Natalie Portman is Nina Sayers, a girl wishing for the role but apparently didn't get it. instead she tried so hard to the extent of losing herself, particularly her mind.

getting in to the title role brings the "Diva Complex" in the ballerina. aside from being the star of the show, they want to be everything. they want all the attention and don't want to lose it. that's why they go beyond the partnership between the big people in the industry. a little discreet prostitution in there.

at first, Nina is a sweet woman and will do everything straight and she wants it to be the result of hard work. but then, she discovers the reality in the industry and tries to give in. but she enjoyed the prize of fame.

BLACK SWAN gave me a psychological terror. it really freaked me out but it was a very good movie. i just can't seem to look at blood and how it drips from the body. there are also very scary scenes that grossed me out but very well executed for the effectiveness of the story. especially when Natalie Portman twists her joints and cracks her bones.

Natalie Portman is worthy of an award in this movie. with the training that she underwent to give her best in the movie, she deserves more than a standing ovation. in cinematography, it has an old feeling like some other art films and makes you really follow the story of the lead. then you will be drawn by the emotions of the mood of every scene. even the make up of the black swan is very fierce!


the BLACK SWAN will be in theaters starting Feb 9, 2011 by Fox Searchlight.

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follow JESSE EISENBERG in Facebook

Jesse Eisenberg has de-friended his inner Mr. Nice Guy.

After years playing sweet, earnest and awkward in movies such as “Adventureland” and “Zombieland,” the actor has shown a more sinister side with his ruthless portrayal of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg in the critically acclaimed “The Social Network” from Columbia Pictures.

Critical hosannas for the role may lead to an Oscar nomination, and the high-profile part is helping the boyish 27-year-old transition from "Hey, it's that guy" to a household name. But some signature halting nervousness comes into Eisenberg's voice when he talks about reactions he has gotten after screenings of the film.

"We do these question-and-answer sessions, and some people say, 'Why ... wha ... I was so turned off by your character. He was such a jerk. Why — why would you want to play this character?' " he says, repeating the stammering indignation. "There are these almost aggressive condemnations."

"The real other extreme is, 'I just wanted to give him a hug through the whole movie. I just felt so bad for him' — this is my mother talking," Eisenberg jokes. "But other people, too. 'The kid was so desperate to connect and just doesn't know how to. He's so lonely.' "

Even the visuals in the film try to underline that. Director "David Fincher practically composed the movie that way, with him behind panes of glass, in corners of rooms, framing him in a way that makes him look more isolated," Eisenberg says.

One personal reaction the actor hasn't received is from Zuckerberg himself, who did not cooperate with the filmmakers or meet Eisenberg prior to the shooting.

The script, by “West Wing” creator Aaron Sorkin, explores the fractured friendships and allegiances between Zuckerberg and a handful of fellow Harvard students who in 2004 helped create Facebook, now estimated to be worth $33 billion.

On “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” Zuckerberg dismissed the film with a smile: "The last six years have been a lot of coding and focus and hard work, but you know, maybe it would be fun to remember it as partying and all this crazy drama." Zuckerberg was on the show to discuss a $100 million donation to Newark's troubled school system, which took place on the day of the movie's premiere — something widely regarded as an effort to burnish the back-stabbing image depicted in the film.

Eisenberg is inclined to go easier on Zuckerberg. "What he did was so incredibly generous," the actor says. "To attribute it to anything else seems mean-spirited and cynical."

It may be the only time he goes easy on Zuckerberg. Though Eisenberg didn't set out to attack, he plays the young CEO-to-be as brilliant but revoltingly condescending and lacking even a modicum of tact.

That's before the story even gets rolling.

Opening across the Philippines on Oct. 27, “The Social Network” is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International. Visit http://www.columbiapictures.com.ph for trailers, exclusive content and free downloads and at www.Facebook.com/ColumbiaPicturesPH to join fan contests.

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THE SOCIAL NETWORK holds sneak previews next week

Considered as the film to beat in next year's Academy Awards, Columbia Pictures' “The Social Network,” the controversial movie detailing the origins of social media megasite Facebook, will have whole-day sneak previews on Monday and Tuesday, Oct. 18 & 19 in selected theaters in Metro Manila. Tickets will be available at regular admission prices.

This affords film buffs and Facebookers a chance to watch the much-talked-about and critically acclaimed movie ahead of its grand opening here on Oct. 27. “The Social Network” has been the No. 1 movie in the US for two consecutive weeks now, earning a cumulative gross of $47-million.

Manohla Dargis of The New York Times praises “The Social Network” as “fleet...funny, exhilarating...supremely confident...a creation story for the digital age,” while Richard Corliss of Time Magazine raves, “The film is like a video game at warp speed. The rewards for paying attention are mammoth and exhilarating.”

“It’s the movie of the year that also brilliantly defines the decade,” applauds Peter Travers of Rolling Stone.

In the film, on a fall night in 2003, Harvard undergrad and computer programming genius Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) sits down at his computer and heatedly begins working on a new idea. In a fury of blogging and programming, what begins in his dorm room soon becomes a global social network and a revolution in communication. A mere six years and 500 million friends later, Zuckerberg is the youngest billionaire in history, but for this entrepreneur, success leads to both personal and legal complications.

Also starring are Justin Timberlake (“Shrek The Third”) as Sean Parker, the Napster co-founder who became Facebook's founding president; and Andrew Garfield (“Lions for Lambs,” “Spider-Man” 2012) as Eduardo Saverin, the Facebook co-founder who fell out with Zuckerberg over money.

Directed by David Fincher and written by Aaron Sorkin, “The Social Network” is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International. Visit http://www.columbiapictures.com.ph for trailers, exclusive content and free downloads. Like ColumbiaPicturesPH on Facebook.

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OSCAR bids for INCEPTION

though it messed up your mind, (LOL) admit that it's a very nice movie.

Let the Academy Awards buzz for INCEPTION begin!

Days before the genre-defying film opened in the US, internet giant Yahoo already proclaimed Inception as the best film of the year to-date. Yahoo wrote in its citation – “From its mind-bending dream-within-a-dream-within-a-dream plot to its way cool special effects, the movie stands head-and-shoulders above an otherwise lackluster movie summer.”

Then the glowing reviews started pouring in – from the high-and-mighty Time Magazine and New York Times and Variety to the pop-centric USA Today and Chicago Times to the heady Rolling Stone. All are ecstatic over director Christopher Nolan’s originality, genius, even…balls…to realize such a high-concept film. Inevitably, the word “Oscar” kept coming up.

Which prompting news bureau Reuters to ask in a syndicated article, “Can Inception safely dream of Oscar glory? That's one conundrum that will linger long after average moviegoers have stopped debating the ambiguities of Christopher Nolan's twisty new thrill ride into the subconscious,” continues the story.

In the old days, like 2007, the middle of July would definitely be too early to start thinking about the Oscars. Back then, Hollywood loaded up its prestige fare in the fall so that it would stay fresh in the minds of Academy voters. Yet last year, four of the ten Best Picture nominees -- including winner The Hurt Locker -- were released in the summer. So Inception’s chances for a best picture nomination may not be a farfetched idea.

The Warner Bros. release cleared the first hurdle last weekend when it opened to a solid $60.4 million in North America. Oscar nominees don't have to be box office blockbusters, but if Nolan's fan base hadn't shown up en masse, that would have damaged the movie's chances.

Still according to Reuters, “Such other visionary movies as 2001: A Space Odyssey, Blade Runner and The Matrix all failed to earn best picture nominations, though they picked up nominations in other categories. On the other hand, it might be a good omen that Alfred Hitchcock's Spellbound, his 1945 plunge into Freudian dream analysis and surrealism, earned best picture and director nominations. Inception should also prove competitive in a wide range of categories, and, with 10 slots to fill, that would help push it into best picture contention.

“Now, it's all a question of how the industry responds over the coming weeks and months. First reactions, which trickled in over the weekend, were for the most part upbeat. `I saw Inception last night & had a good time, but must admit it's a bit trite & stilted. Still though, leagues above most drivel,’ producer Ted Hope wrote to his Twitter followers.

In another tweet, Lost executive producer Damon Lindelof, no stranger to mind-bending puzzlers, exclaimed, `I wish that someone would break into my dreams and give me an idea HALF as good as INCEPTION.’”

(Now playing across the Philippines in IMAX, Digital 2D and regular format, Inception is distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.)

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