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Dogtooth

The Oscars: 83rd Academy Award Nominations 2011

Picture 11
25/01/2011 By In Movies, Trash

The 2011 Oscar nominations have been announced and the online universe is buzzing with the news. The Golden Globes are always a good indication of who’ll be nominated for the Oscars thereafter and as you can see below, it’s no surprise that films like Black Swan, The Fighter and The Social Network are leading the way in terms of nominations.

This year’s awards will be hosted by James Franco (127 Hours) and Anne Hathaway (Love And Other Drugs) and will air on the ABC Network on 27th February 2011. non US film fans will no doubt be able to watch live feeds online and catch the commentary on Twitter and Facebook.

Please also leave us some lovely comments and let us know what you think of this year’s nominations!

Follow the team on Twitter below and remember to use the hashtag #oscars on 27th February – we look forward to your tweets!

Panic Dots – @panicdots

Editor – Richard Crothers – @iamnotabeard

Film Editor – Wee Claire – @weeclaire

Deputy Editor – Ed Williams – @Man_Drowning

Writer – Andrew Moore – @theFILMblog

Performance by an actor in a leading role

  • Javier Bardem in “Biutiful” (Roadside Attractions)
  • Jeff Bridges in “True Grit” (Paramount)
  • Jesse Eisenberg in “The Social Network” (Sony Pictures Releasing)
  • Colin Firth in “The King’s Speech” (The Weinstein Company)
  • James Franco in “127 Hours” (Fox Searchlight)

Performance by an actress in a leading role

  • Annette Bening in “The Kids Are All Right” (Focus Features)
  • Nicole Kidman in “Rabbit Hole” (Lionsgate)
  • Jennifer Lawrence in “Winter’s Bone” (Roadside Attractions)
  • Natalie Portman in “Black Swan” (Fox Searchlight)
  • Michelle Williams in “Blue Valentine” (The Weinstein Company)

Performance by an actress in a supporting role

  • Amy Adams in “The Fighter” (Paramount)
  • Helena Bonham Carter in “The King’s Speech” (The Weinstein Company)
  • Melissa Leo in “The Fighter” (Paramount)
  • Hailee Steinfeld in “True Grit”(Paramount)
  • Jacki Weaver in “Animal Kingdom” (Sony Pictures Classics)

Best animated feature film of the year

  • “How to Train Your Dragon” (Paramount), Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois
  • “The Illusionist” (Sony Pictures Classics), Sylvain Chomet
  • “Toy Story 3″ (Walt Disney), Lee Unkrich

Achievement in art direction

  • “Alice in Wonderland” (Walt Disney), Production Design: Robert Stromberg, Set Decoration: Karen O’Hara
  • “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1″ (Warner Bros.), Production Design: Stuart Craig, Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan
  • “Inception” (Warner Bros.), Production Design: Guy Hendrix Dyas, Set Decoration: Larry Dias and Doug Mowat
  • “The King’s Speech” (The Weinstein Company), Production Design: Eve Stewart, Set Decoration: Judy Farr
  • “True Grit” (Paramount), Production Design: Jess Gonchor, Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh

Achievement in cinematography

  • “Black Swan” (Fox Searchlight), Matthew Libatique
  • “Inception” (Warner Bros.), Wally Pfister
  • “The King’s Speech” (The Weinstein Company), Danny Cohen
  • “The Social Network” (Sony Pictures Releasing), Jeff Cronenweth
  • “True Grit” (Paramount), Roger Deakins

Achievement in costume design

  • “Alice in Wonderland” (Walt Disney), Colleen Atwood
  • “I Am Love” (Magnolia Pictures), Antonella Cannarozzi
  • “The King’s Speech” (The Weinstein Company), Jenny Beavan
  • “The Tempest” (Miramax), Sandy Powell
  • “True Grit” (Paramount), Mary Zophres

Achievement in directing

  • “Black Swan” (Fox Searchlight), Darren Aronofsky
  • “The Fighter” (Paramount), David O. Russell
  • “The King’s Speech” (The Weinstein Company), Tom Hooper
  • “The Social Network” (Sony Pictures Releasing), David Fincher
  • “True Grit” (Paramount), Joel Coen and Ethan Coen

Best documentary feature

  • “Exit through the Gift Shop” (Producers Distribution Agency), A Paranoid Pictures Production, Banksy and Jaimie D’Cruz
  • “Gasland”, A Gasland Production, Josh Fox and Trish Adlesic
  • “Inside Job” (Sony Pictures Classics), A Representational Pictures Production, Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs
  • “Restrepo” (National Geographic Entertainment), An Outpost Films Production, Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger
  • “Waste Land” (Arthouse Films), An Almega Projects Production, Lucy Walker and Angus Aynsley

Best documentary short subject

  • “Killing in the Name”, A Moxie Firecracker Films Production, Nominees to be determined
  • “Poster Girl”, A Portrayal Films Production, Nominees to be determined
  • “Strangers No More”, A Simon & Goodman Picture Company Production, Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon
  • “Sun Come Up”, A Sun Come Up Production, Jennifer Redfearn and Tim Metzger
  • “The Warriors of Qiugang”, A Thomas Lennon Films Production, Ruby Yang and Thomas Lennon

Achievement in film editing

  • “Black Swan” (Fox Searchlight), Andrew Weisblum
  • “The Fighter” (Paramount), Pamela Martin
  • “The King’s Speech” (The Weinstein Company), Tariq Anwar
  • “127 Hours” (Fox Searchlight), Jon Harris
  • “The Social Network” (Sony Pictures Releasing), Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter

Best foreign language film of the year

  • “Biutiful” (Roadside Attractions), A Menage Atroz, Mod Producciones and Ikiru Films Production, Mexico
  • “Dogtooth” (Kino International), A Boo Production, Greece
  • “In a Better World” (Sony Pictures Classics), A Zentropa Production, Denmark
  • “Incendies” (Sony Pictures Classics), A Micro-Scope Production, Canada
  • “Outside the Law (Hors-la-loi)” (Cohen Media Group), A Tassili Films Production, Algeria

Achievement in makeup

  • “Barney’s Version” (Sony Pictures Classics), Adrien Morot
  • “The Way Back” (Newmarket Films in association with Wrekin Hill Entertainment and Image Entertainment), Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk and Yolanda Toussieng
  • “The Wolfman” (Universal), Rick Baker and Dave Elsey

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)

  • “How to Train Your Dragon” (Paramount), John Powell
  • “Inception” (Warner Bros.), Hans Zimmer
  • “The King’s Speech” (The Weinstein Company), Alexandre Desplat
  • “127 Hours” (Fox Searchlight), A.R. Rahman
  • “The Social Network” (Sony Pictures Releasing), Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)

  • “Coming Home” from “Country Strong” (Sony Pictures Releasing (Screen Gems)), Music and Lyric by Tom Douglas, Troy Verges and Hillary Lindsey
  • “I See the Light” from “Tangled” (Walt Disney), Music by Alan Menken, Lyric by Glenn Slater
  • “If I Rise” from “127 Hours” (Fox Searchlight), Music by A.R. Rahman, Lyric by Dido and Rollo Armstrong
  • “We Belong Together” from “Toy Story 3″ (Walt Disney), Music and Lyric by Randy Newman

Best motion picture of the year

  • “Black Swan” (Fox Searchlight), A Protozoa and Phoenix Pictures Production, Mike Medavoy, Brian Oliver and Scott Franklin, Producers
  • “The Fighter” (Paramount), A Relativity Media Production, David Hoberman, Todd Lieberman and Mark Wahlberg, Producers
  • “Inception” (Warner Bros.), A Warner Bros. UK Services Production, Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan, Producers
  • “The Kids Are All Right” (Focus Features), An Antidote Films, Mandalay Vision and Gilbert Films Production, Gary Gilbert, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte and Celine Rattray, Producers
  • “The King’s Speech” (The Weinstein Company), A See-Saw Films and Bedlam Production, Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Gareth Unwin, Producers
  • “127 Hours” (Fox Searchlight), An Hours Production, Christian Colson, Danny Boyle and John Smithson, Producers
  • “The Social Network” (Sony Pictures Releasing), A Columbia Pictures Production, Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti, Michael De Luca and Ceán Chaffin, Producers
  • “Toy Story 3″ (Walt Disney), A Pixar Production, Darla K. Anderson, Producer
  • “True Grit” (Paramount), A Paramount Pictures Production, Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, Producers
  • “Winter’s Bone” (Roadside Attractions), A Winter’s Bone Production, Anne Rosellini and Alix Madigan-Yorkin, Producers

Best animated short film

  • “Day & Night” (Walt Disney), A Pixar Animation Studios Production, Teddy Newton
  • “The Gruffalo”, A Magic Light Pictures Production, Jakob Schuh and Max Lang
  • “Let’s Pollute”, A Geefwee Boedoe Production, Geefwee Boedoe
  • “The Lost Thing”, (Nick Batzias for Madman Entertainment), A Passion Pictures Australia Production, Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann
  • “Madagascar, carnet de voyage (Madagascar, a Journey Diary)”, A Sacrebleu Production, Bastien Dubois

Best live action short film

  • “The Confession” (National Film and Television School), A National Film and Television School Production, Tanel Toom
  • “The Crush” (Network Ireland Television), A Purdy Pictures Production, Michael Creagh
  • “God of Love”, A Luke Matheny Production, Luke Matheny
  • “Na Wewe” (Premium Films), A CUT! Production, Ivan Goldschmidt
  • “Wish 143″, A Swing and Shift Films/Union Pictures Production, Ian Barnes and Samantha Waite

Achievement in sound editing

  • “Inception” (Warner Bros.), Richard King
  • “Toy Story 3″ (Walt Disney), Tom Myers and Michael Silvers
  • “Tron: Legacy” (Walt Disney), Gwendolyn Yates Whittle and Addison Teague
  • “True Grit” (Paramount), Skip Lievsay and Craig Berkey
  • “Unstoppable” (20th Century Fox), Mark P. Stoeckinger

Achievement in sound mixing

  • “Inception” (Warner Bros.), Lora Hirschberg, Gary A. Rizzo and Ed Novick
  • “The King’s Speech” (The Weinstein Company), Paul Hamblin, Martin Jensen and John Midgley
  • “Salt” (Sony Pictures Releasing), Jeffrey J. Haboush, Greg P. Russell, Scott Millan and William Sarokin
  • “The Social Network” (Sony Pictures Releasing), Ren Klyce, David Parker, Michael Semanick and Mark Weingarten
  • “True Grit” (Paramount), Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff and Peter F. Kurland

Achievement in visual effects

  • “Alice in Wonderland” (Walt Disney), Ken Ralston, David Schaub, Carey Villegas and Sean Phillips
  • “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1″ (Warner Bros.), Tim Burke, John Richardson, Christian Manz and Nicolas Aithadi
  • “Hereafter” (Warner Bros.), Michael Owens, Bryan Grill, Stephan Trojanski and Joe Farrell
  • “Inception” (Warner Bros.), Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley and Peter Bebb
  • “Iron Man 2″ (Paramount and Marvel Entertainment, Distributed by Paramount), Janek Sirrs, Ben Snow, Ged Wright and Daniel Sudick

Adapted screenplay

  • “127 Hours” (Fox Searchlight), Screenplay by Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy
  • “The Social Network” (Sony Pictures Releasing), Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin
  • “Toy Story 3″ (Walt Disney), Screenplay by Michael Arndt, Story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich
  • “True Grit” (Paramount), Written for the screen by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
  • “Winter’s Bone” (Roadside Attractions), Adapted for the screen by Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini

Original screenplay

  • “Another Year” (Sony Pictures Classics), Written by Mike Leigh
  • “The Fighter” (Paramount), Screenplay by Scott Silver and Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson, Story by Keith Dorrington & Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson
  • “Inception” (Warner Bros.), Written by Christopher Nolan
  • “The Kids Are All Right” (Focus Features), Written by Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg
  • “The King’s Speech” (The Weinstein Company), Screenplay by David Seidler

Belfast Film Festival Reviews: Adrift & Dogtooth

bff
18/04/2010 By In Movies, Reviews, Trash

By Andrew Moore

Nothing is as far away as one minute ago, said one man. If that’s the case then it must feel like an eternity since last I here writing about the 9th Belfast Film Festival. Last year’s festival brought some of the best films I had the utmost pleasure of watching in 2009, and one can only hope this year’s is no different. To kick off the event (for myself as I am aware the festival was on to its third day by this stage) was a trip to Belfast’s wonderful Queen’s Film Theatre for two films arguably quite similar yet poles apart in their underlying themes. First up the latest film from Brazilian director Heitor Dhalia, simply titled, Adrift (A Deriva)

Adrift

Making its world debut at Cannes last year, Adrift is set against the beautiful backdrop of a seaside coast in Brazil, fourteen year-old Filipa is spending her vacation at Búzios with her father, Mathias (Vincent Cassel), her alcoholic mother, Clarice (Debora Bloch), and her two younger siblings in their beach house. When Filipa feels that the relationship of her parents is deteriorating, she snoops in her father’s office, revealing secrets you dare not wish any child to ever have to find out.

The film is not like any of the Hollywood gaffe I have had to endure of late, giving a moving, provocative dissection on family life. Watching the film’s events unfold mainly from the viewpoint of eldest child, Filipa, was a brilliant decision from the director as it presented the circumstances of the story in such a clear cut, black and white manner. Yet as anyone over the age of 18 would know, life is never quite as simple as a man cheating on his wife and therefore the wife simply packing her bags and leaving him forever. The beauty of Adrift was how it slowly unravelled the events and circumstances as to why Mathias and Clarice’s marriage crumbles apart.

The acting certainly lent to the elegance of the feature, with Vincent Cassel in possibly his most intimate and personal role since L’Appartement, portraying the woes and joys of a married man beautifully. From the in-house domestics with his wife to the undying love and devotion he displays for his children he was simply brilliant. Debora Bloch was equally brilliant in the role of his wife Clarice, initially displayed to the audience as a broken, alcoholic, housewife her story becomes clearer as the film progresses.

Arguably the stand-out performance must go to young Laura Neiva in the role as Filipa, for essentially being the audience’s eyes and ears to the entire events, and it was fascinating seeing how the actions involving her parents rubbed off on her in a social context with her friends and would-be boyfriend who pops up from time to time. Her coming-of-age journey, shedding of her innocence was another real vocal point of the narrative which was as enriching to experience as the story between her two parents.

Perhaps one of the more unusual features of the film was the director’s attempt to tease the audience with the possibility a family tragedy bigger than the destruction of a marriage was set to unfold, whether this was needed or took away from the beautiful drama unfolding before my eyes is another matter for when I watch the film on DVD down the line.

I have obviously already mentioned how sincerely beautiful the film looked, as well as the amazing cinematography but I think these striking, uplifting images were enhanced by the moving piano score from Antonio Pinto. Now if I could just find it on CD somewhere then I’d be really in business…

Final Thoughts
A simple yet elegant drama displaying the complexities of family life. Though it – perhaps unjustly – teases that something more profoundly tragic may unfold, maybe there is nothing more tragic in a child’s eyes than watching his/her parents simply grow apart and lose their love for one another. A refreshing experience in the light of all the mainstream tosh I’ve suffered through lately.

[rating:4/5]

After a quick break, and once again indulging my love for wine gums, the dark clouds start to gather as I sit myself down to watch Dogtooth.

Dogtooth

As briefly mentioned in the introduction, Dogtooth is slightly similar to the previous movie in that its a story about family. However that’s essentially where the comparisons end, as this feature was a different beast altogether. The second film from Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos and winner of the Prix Un Certain Regard at Cannes last year.

Dogtooth tells the story of a married couple and their three kids living at the outskirts of a city. There is a tall fence surrounding the house. The kids have never been outside that fence. They are being educated, entertained, bored and exercised in the manner that their parents deem appropriate, without any influence from the outside world. They believe that the airplanes flying over are toys and that zombies are small yellow flowers. Sounds a bit mental surely, but could easily be considered quite quirky. As expected though all is not quite as it seems.

From the opening scene, Dogtooth is quite a harsh film, the house the family occupy is quite barren inside, completely void of any real emotion, which is certainly amplified by the rather odd sex scene between the son – none of the children are ever named – and the family’s only outside visitor, a security guard named Christina.

Its a strange film in many ways, because it features some truly sinister moments, including brutal violence (ever fancied seeing someone be bludgeoned to death with a VCR? No? This is the movie for you) and unspeakable acts of incest, seriously grim. However that isn’t to say the film doesn’t have these peculiar scenes of dark comedy, because it does, but due to the absolutely horrid nature of the darker scenes you almost feel bad to laugh or even crack a smile. Such scenes as one of the daughters reacting to viewing a video of the film Rocky for the first time – never doubt the power of cinema my friends – or the same daughter wanting to name herself Bruce, as she never had a name to begin with.

The performances of the three children (well I say children, they’re all easily in their mid/late 20s) were truly absorbing, and shows how easily a parent’s influence can mould a child’s mind if you cut them off from the outside world. It was a fascinating insight, what may seem completely obscene to any right minded individual seems perfectly normal to these people, because they have no other influence like television, litrature or a free press to say otherwise.

That however doesn’t quite justify the actions of the father in the family whose characteristics bared an uncanny similarity to Josef Fritzl (and will no doubt suffice til the inevitable bio-pic). He was quite an interesting person to analyse, you could argue (I don’t for the record) he wasn’t intentionally evil, just a man who was so terrified at the thought of his children having minds of their own, he would tear them away from the outside world and create this completely warped reality. He thrived on having that control and went to great lengths to attain it.

Final Thoughts
Dogtooth is one of these films similar to Gasper Noe’s and Lar Von Trier’s best work that challenges film audiences with scenes that are designed to shock and disgust, and the director performs his duties beautifully. The characters, the home, the outside environments are almost as ambiguous as the infuriating ending, which will no doubt leave audiences speculating for long after. I would urge everyone who yearns boundary breaking, extreme cinema to see this as soon as possible! Absolutely masterful.

[rating:4.5/5]

Belfast Film Festival Programme Launch

BFF
09/03/2010 By In Movies, Trailers

Andrew Moore reports from the Belfast Film Festival press launch as the critically acclaimed festival returns to the city…

As the home grown stars and press descend upon Belfast’s Black Box to witness the launch of the city’s 10th Film Festival, running from 15th – 30th April, as a genuine lover of all things cinema, you can’t help but be elated how the event has transformed over the past decade.

Starting originally as a small element within the west of the city the has now become a main cultural fixture in the Northern Ireland calendar. Belfast might be an ever changing city, but what has not changed is its everlasting love affair with the cinema.

Lord Mayor of Belfast, Naomi Long, commented: “The Belfast Film Festival has grown to become a flagship annual event in the city’s calendar. It promotes our city and its people on both an international and national stage, and its reputation for innovation and creativity is widely regarded. The city of Belfast is extremely proud of these achievements and we look forward to the 20th, 30th and 40th birthday celebrations and beyond.”

The BFF once again continues to showcase the filmmaking talent coming out of Northern Ireland, with world premieres of locally made productions such as Empire – a film set in Belfast, shot over three years on a zero budget and loosely based on the Greek myth of Orpheus.

Other premieres include Five Day Shelter, starring BAFTA nominated John Lynch, a highly visual drama interweaving the lives of several characters in a contemporary urban setting over five days.

While indie cinema fans, of the weird and wonderful, are bound to be excited by Colin McIvor’s directorial debut, Cupcake, which tells the tale of a man who inherits his parent’s bakery which promises to be a visual feast for all the senses.

Serving as a reminder to the past is the imaginative Mickey B, a feature film adaptation of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, made with serving prisoners as cast, in Northern Ireland’s infamous maximum security prison HMP Maghaberry.

An eccentric range of innovative filmic events once again dominate the programme, including a screening of Stephen Sommers’ modern B-Movie hit, Deep Rising, while the audience sail down the River Lagan. The John Hughes 80s masterpiece, Pretty in Pink, shown in Belfast nightclub Slide. A workshop presented by BBC presenter, William Crawley, dissecting the ‘anatomy’ of the legendary 1957 courtroom epic, 12 Angry Men directed by Sidney Lumet, as well as, screening an episode from the cult 60s TV show, The Prisoner, inside the First Church of Christ which will be followed by a discussion on the importance of architectural heritage in Belfast.

Opening the BFF will be the UK/Irish premiere of Triage, starring Colin Farrell as war photographer Mark Walsh while closing this year’s festivities is the UK premiere of Tetro, the latest film from the institutional Francis Ford Coppola – also his first original screenplay since The Conversation.

In partnership with the Shruti Foundation and Lady Rana, the BFF will also have in attendance, Shyam Benegal – one of India’s most highly regarded filmmakers – who will give a public lecture at the Great Hall in Queen’s University on 22nd April. Two of his films Zubeidaa and The Making of the Mahatma are set to be screened.

Greenberg starring Ben Stiller will also be shown at the festival…

One of the most appealing prospects of the festival, for most of the public, is the vast range of high profile productions set to screen over the 16 day programme including Noah Baumbach’s – screenwriter of The Life Aquatic, Fantastic Mr Fox and The Squid and the Whale - Greenberg, starring Ben Stiller, the Russian made Tsar – a film about the 16th Century Ivan the Terrible – as well a showing of Paul Schrader’s – screenwriter of Taxi Driver – Adam Resurrected, the quirky black comedy Dogtooth, the powerful Vincere – based on the life of Bentio Mussolini’s first wife, Ida Dalsar – the visually spectacular Japanese feature Symbol amongst many others.

The BFF also hopes to break the boundaries of offering audiences some visual treats mixing the sights of modern and classic cinema with contemporary sounds of performers such as Denmark’s Efterklang and the USA’s Wooden Shjips.

As a way to support the increasing numbers of aspiring filmmakers, writers and producers in Northern Ireland and their thirst to know more about ‘the business’. Organisers have set up a two day seminar called Northern Exposure = Deal Closure. The event will bring in key London sales agents, distributors, producers and literary talent agents for a series of four industry-focused panel sessions and discussion groups. Confirmed panellists include BAFTA nominee Tony Grisoni (Red Riding Trilogy), Robin Gutch (producer Warp X), Hilary Davis (Banksdale Films), Stephen Murphy (Optimum Releasing) and Nick Marston (Curtis Brown Agency) plus more.

Full information on tickets and the programme in its entirety is now available on the official Belfast Film Festival website at http://www.belfastfilmfestival.org.