Birdman
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Led by Birdman and The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Complete 2014 Academy Award Nominations
Here’s the full list of the 2015 Academy Award nominees, led, improbably, by Birdman and The Grand Budapest Hotel with nine apiece. Best Picture American Sniper Birdman Boyhood The Grand Budapest Hotel The Imitation Game Selma The Theory of Everything Whiplash Best Actor Steve Carell, Foxcatcher Bradley Cooper, American Sniper Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game Michael Keaton, Birdman Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything Best Actress Marion Cotillard, Two Days, One Night Felicity Jones, The Theory of Everything Julianne Moore, Still Alice Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl Reese Witherspoon, Wild Best Supporting Actor Robert Duvall, The Judge Ethan Hawke, Boyhood Edward Norton, Birdman Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher J. K. Simmons, Whiplash Best Supporting Actress Patricia Arquette, Boyhood Laura Dern, Wild Keira Knightley, The Imitation […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 15, 2015 -
The 30th Film Independent Spirit Awards Nominations
The nominations are out for the annual Film Independent Spirit Awards bestowed by Film Independent. As the logo above suggests, the Film Independent Spirit Awards will be celebrating their 30th anniversary with this edition. Leading the nominations count is Birdman with six nominations, followed by five apiece for Selma, Boyhood and Nightcrawler. Note the special awards for Inherent Vice and Foxcatcher, both of whose budgets exceed the $20 million cap for regular award eligibility. The awards are announced February 21, and their official site can be found here. BEST FEATURE (Award given to the producer. Executive producers are not awarded.) […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Nov 25, 2014 -
Birdman: Five Points of Contention
Having barely survived Alejandro González Iñárritu’s 21 Grams when it came out, I was inclined to stay away from his filmography for the rest of my life. But people I respect and trust — Iñárritu haters no less — kept saying that Birdman was actually quite good, so I popped in; two hours later, I felt as if my initial disinterest had been validated the hard way. Praise first for Edward Norton’s note-perfect rendition of the actor as a toxically always-“on,” reflexively self-dramatizing narcissist. Swaggering into conversations and pushing them into weird rhythms he can play with without regard for the […]
by Vadim Rizov on Nov 24, 2014 -
Watch: Stitching Birdman Together in Post
If I was at all restless during Birdman, it had little to do with the stakes of the plot, and much more to do with deciphering Emmanuel Lubezki’s visual pyrotechnics. Apologies for the spoiler, but you’ve probably heard by now that Iñárritu’s latest is designed to look like one sweeping take, a nod to its theatrical subject matter and setting. The camera ducks in and out of darkness more than once, but surely the technicians in post found points for incision that are barely visible to the naked eye. In this video interview with Variety, the film’s digital intermediate colorist Steve Scott explains […]
by Sarah Salovaara on Nov 5, 2014 -
A Place for Research and Discovery: The Venice Film Festival
Even the rain knocked down the Lions. When a storm hit the Lido island around the central-weekend turning point, delegates could be seen gleefully snapping pictures of the overturned statues outside the Casinò, a simplistic metaphor for the Venice Film Festival’s shaky status in recent years. You’d think the bronze lions themselves would be tired of hearing stories about Toronto and the shrinking circuit space for awards-season launchpads. However, with the Toronto/Telluride battle over world premieres turning nasty and some bolder picks than usual from the NYFF, Venice director Alberto Barbera was wise to renounce the star-chasing madness and to […]
by Tommaso Tocci on Sep 17, 2014 -
Wanting to Like Everything: The Telluride Film Festival
The 41st annual Telluride Film Festival kicked off with a packed screening of Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now featuring Coppola, screenwriter John Milius (still recovering from his debilitating stroke but in great spirits), cinematographer Vittorio Storaro, producer Fred Roos, and editor and sound designer Walter Murch in attendance for a post-film Q&A. It was the kind of event that represents what Telluride does best as a kind of summer camp for movie lovers: presenting a great film impeccably projected before an appreciative crowd in a casual, conversational atmosphere. There’s something about the environment of Telluride — both the gorgeous Colorado […]
by Jim Hemphill on Sep 5, 2014
