87th Oscars Winners
Last night was the 87th Annual Academy Awards (also known as the Oscars). With an exciting, albeit controversial, selection of nominations, this year's Oscars featured a lot of question marks going into last night's telecast. The 72nd Golden Globes set the bar for the two picture fight between Boyhood and Birdman, my personal top two films of 2014. However, while the Golden Globes tend to indicate the Oscars winners, there were a few major differences. Birdman ended up with four wins for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Cinematography; Boyhood, meanwhile, only ended up with one win for Best Supporting Actress. Other highlights include hometown hero Common and John Legend winning the Oscar for Best Song for Selma's "Glory," with Common delivering an impassioned speech, which you can watch below. You can also find the full list of 87th Oscars winners past the video.
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Best Picture:
American Sniper
WINNER: Birdman
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Selma
The Theory of Everything
Whiplash
Best Actress:
Marion Cotillard, Two Days, One Night
Felicity Jones, The Theory of Everything
WINNER: Julianne Moore, Still Alice
Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
Reese Witherspoon, Wild
Best Actor:
Steve Carell, Foxcatcher
Bradley Cooper, American Sniper
Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game
Michael Keaton, Birdman
WINNER: Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything
Best Director:
Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel
WINNER: Alejandro González Iñárritu, Birdman
Richard Linklater, Boyhood
Morten Tyldum, The Imitation Game
Bennett Miller, Foxcatcher
Best Supporting Actress:
WINNER: Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
Laura Dern, Wild
Keira Knightley, The Imitation Game
Emma Stone, Birdman
Meryl Streep, Into The Woods
Best Supporting Actor:
Robert Duvall, The Judge
Ethan Hawke, Boyhood
Edward Norton, Birdman
Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher
WINNER: J.K. Simmons, Whiplash
Best Animated Feature:
WINNER: Big Hero 6
The Boxtrolls
How To Train Your Dragon 2
Song of the Sea
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya
Best Original Screenplay:
Wes Anderson & Hugo Guinness, The Grand Budapest Hotel
E. Max Frye & Dan Futterman, Foxcatcher
Dan Gilroy, Nightcrawler
WINNER: Alejandro González Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris Jr, Armando Bo, Birdman
Richard Linklater, Boyhood
Best Adapted Screenplay:
Damien Chazelle, Whiplash
Jason Hall, American Sniper
WINNER: Graham Moore, The Imitation Game
Anthony McCarten, The Theory of Everything
Paul Thomas Anderson, Inherent Vice
Best Original Score:
WINNER: Alexandre Desplat, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Alexandre Desplat, The Imitation Game
Johann Johannsson, The Theory of Everything
Hans Zimmer, Interstellar
Gary Yershon, Mr. Turner
Best Original Song:
"Everything is Awesome," The Lego Movie
WINNER: “Glory,” Selma
"I’m Not Gonna Miss You," Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me
"Lost Stars," Begin Again
"Grateful," Beyond the Lights
Best Documentary Feature:
WINNER: Citizenfour
Last Days In Vietnam
Virunga
Finding Vivian Maier
The Salt of the Earth
Best Film Editing:
American Sniper
Boyhood
The Imitation Game
WINNER: Whiplash
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Best Cinematography:
WINNER: Emmanuel Lubezki, Birdman
Ryszard Lenczewski and ?ukasz ?al, Ida
Dick Pope, Mr. Turner
Robert D. Yeoman, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Roger Deakins, Unbroken
Best Production Design:
WINNER: The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Interstellar
Into The Woods
Mr. Turner
Best Animated Short:
The Bigger Picture
The Dam Keeper
WINNER: Feast
Me and My Moulton
A Single Life
Best Visual Effects:
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Guardians of the Galaxy
WINNER: Interstellar
X-Men: Days of Future Past
Best Sound Editing:
WINNER: American Sniper
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Interstellar
Birdman
Unbroken
Best Sound Mixing:
American Sniper
Birdman
Interstellar
Unbroken
WINNER: Whiplash
Best Live Action Short:
Aya
Boogaloo and Graham
WINNER: The Phone Call
Butter Lamp
Parvaneh
Best Documentary Short:
WINNER: Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1
Joanna
Our Curse
The Reaper (La Parka)
White Earth
Best Foreign Language Film:
WINNER: Ida (Poland)
Leviathan (Russia)
Tangerines (Estonia)
Timbuktu (Mauritania)
Wild Tales (Argentina)
Best Costume Design:
Colleen Atwood, Into The Woods
WINNER: Milena Canonero, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Jacqueline Durran, Mr. Turner
Anna B. Sheppard, Maleficent
Mark Bridges, Inherent Vice
Best Makeup and Hairstyling:
Foxcatcher
WINNER: The Grand Budapest Hotel
Guardians of the Galaxy
Ghost in the Shell Fans Want Scarlett Johansson Removed
When word came out that Ghost in the Shell would be given the Hollywood adaptation treatment last January, many wondered if it would go the way of the Akira adaptation, e.g. stuck in development hell with little to no faith that it'll ever be made in spite of the intense interest by the project's director. Last month, progress was made in the film's development when DreamWorks announced that Scarlett Johansson would star in the film.
Fans of the anime called the casting foul and have since created a petition to remove Johansson from the role. The petitioners cite Hollywood's long-running practice of "white-washing" films. The most recent controversy surrounding Hollywood's tendency to white-wash films was seen in the Christian Bale-led film, Exodus: Gods and Kings, which starred Bale as the Biblical Moses.
Indeed, Hollywood hasn't been the kindest to minority actors, with the petition citing only 4.4% of speaking roles in high-grossing Hollywood films in 2013 featured Asian characters. There are many talented Asian actors who could take the mantle from Johansson, with Pacific Rim and Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter actress Rinko Kikuchi being the first actress to come to mind.
However, given how big an industry Hollywood is, especially with the budgetary risks that go into adapting very popular source material, there's a bit of an understanding as to why DreamWorks would opt to cast an A-list actress like Johansson into the film. Furthermore, all adaptations aren't necessarily held to keeping 100% true to the source, as the Ghost in the Shell narrative could be altered to befit Johansson's casting. In saying that, film studios are essentially strong-armed into having to cast well-known names to sell films, no matter the risk.
Does this mean Hollywood has to continue to turn its back on underrepresented races in films? Absolutely not, but the financial reasoning behind such decisions makes sense, despite how much we may disagree with it. The odds of Johansson being removed are slim to none, but hopefully enough attention is drawn to the controversy to have the powers that be second-guess their casting decisions when it comes to adapting culturally-dependent properties in the future.
[via IGN]
[Weekly Netflix Fix] Fluffy Returns
Another week, another round-up of Netflix Instant updates. This week's update features family-friendly films, like Earth to Echo. Anime fans will enjoy the Full Metal Alchemist films. Everybody else might want to kick back and laugh with Gabriel Iglesias' The Fluffy Movie. Find out all of the new additions below.
Earth to Echo
The Fluffy Movie
In Secret
Akmal: Life of Akmal
Arj Barker: Joy Harvest
Carl Barron: A One Ended Stick
David Strassman: Careful What You Wish For
The Last House on Cemetery Lane
The Overnighters
Through a Lens Darkly: Black Photographers
Felony
Goddess of Marriage
The Moon Embracing the Sun
Save the Date
The Moon Embracing the Sun: Season 1
Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain
Chandni
Closure
Darr
Ek Tha Tiger
Exile Nation: The Plastic People
I Am Not a Hipster
Ladies vs Ricky Bahl
Land Girls
The Man on Her Mind
My Animal Friends
Plastic Paradise
Prince of Broadway
My Animal Friends: Season 1
Land Girls: Series 1
Land Girls: Series 2
Land Girls: Series 3
Stephanie in the Water
Stop at Nothing: The Lance Armstrong Story
Tabloid Truth
Wounded: The Battle Back Home
Lab Rats
Lab Rats: Season 1
Lab Rats: Season 2
Virunga: Gorillas in Peril
Bad Turn Worse
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
Fullmetal Alchemist: The Star of Milos
Mako Mermaids: An H2O Adventure: Season 2
Honeymoon
The House at the End of Time
Moonphase
Scary Movie 5
Grounded for Life: Season 1
Moonphase: Season 1
Stella and Sam: Season 1
Grounded for Life: Season 2
Grounded for Life: Season 3
Grounded for Life: Season 4
Grounded for Life: Season 5
Summer of Blood
The Two Faces of January
Young Ones
[Trailer] Champs
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Most sports documentaries tend to focus solely on a team or athlete and what helped elevate the subject to a level that would necessitate a documentary in the first place. The average sports documentary tends to cater to the subject, ensuring their brand is kept intact and sound. Furthermore, they have a tendency to not delve deep enough to create a compelling story/narrative. While this may sound negative, docs that can achieve this with the right direction and vision can be well-received, even if they maybe be a bit more subjective.
If this trailer is any indication, Champs appears to be something more than the average, run-of-the-mill sports documentary. Directed by Bert Marcus, Champs focuses on three of boxing's biggest heavyweight champions: Bernard Hopkins, Evander Holyfield, and Mike Tyson. Rather than simply focus on each boxers' rise to stardom, Marcus analyzes their individual paths to success through the scope of social issues that plagued them during their ascension, such as poverty, racism, drug and alcohol abuse, and more.
With Manny released in theaters last month, could 2015 be the year for boxing documentaries? Champs will be released in theaters and on iTunes on March 31st.
[Weekly Netflix Fix] Mid-February Update
Another week, another installment of Weekly Netflix Fix. Unfortunately for this week's new Netflix Instant updates, there isn't much of note added. Mr. Peabody & Sherman was the first title that stood out, which says a lot about this week's selection of titles. Nevertheless, you can find this week's latest Netflix Instant updates below.
Tears of Steel
You Laugh But It's True
Avenged
Locked In
Mr. Peabody & Sherman
all this mayhem
Brain Games
Dragonheart: The Shadowed Claw
Dwight Howard: In the Moment
Filthy Riches
Forecast: Disaster
Inside Secret America
Lilting
Filthy Riches: Season 1
Forecast: Disaster: Season 1
Inside Secret America: Season 1
Lords of War: Season 1
Brain Games: Season 1
Brain Games: Season 2
The Truth Behind: Bigfoot
The Truth Behind: Crop Circles
The Truth Behind: The Ark
The Truth Behind: The Bermuda Triangle
The Truth Behind: The Crystal Skulls
The Truth Behind: The Dead Sea Scrolls
The Truth Behind: The Devil's Bible
The Truth Behind: The Druids
The Truth Behind: The Freemasons
The Truth Behind: The Nasca Lines
The Truth Behind: The Nevada Triangle
The Truth Behind: UFOs over Phoenix
The Truth Behind: UFOs
Angel Eyes
Gu Family Book
Blood Ties
Catch Hell
Pete's Christmas
25 to Life
Age of Ice
Dead Snow: Red vs. Dead
Elsa & Fred
Life of a King
Bates Motel: Season 2
Danger 5: Season 1
Ever After High: Season 2
The Little Rascals Save the Day
[Red Band Trailer] Straight Outta Compton
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Considering how police brutality has been at the height of the media's attention throughout 2014, the release timing for the N.W.A. biopic, Straight Outta Compton, couldn't be more perfect. As illustrated in the special introduction by surviving N.W.A. members Ice Cube and Dr. Dre, the group's ability to touch the world through their music helped shape rap's mainstream acceptance, as well as influencing the next 30+ years of music.
Straight Outta Compton, directed by F. Gary Gray (Friday) and starring O'Shea Jackson, Jr., Corey Hawkins, and Jason Mitchell as Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, and Eazy-E, respectively, tracks the group's rise from the late '80s to 1992 with the Rodney King riots serving as a bookend for the film's framing. Paul Giamatti also stars as N.W.A. manager Jerry Heller.
This first Straight Outta Compton trailer is how trailers should be cut. It's energetic, sets the tone extremely well, and offers enough to like for both N.W.A. fans and those unfamiliar with the group. Above all else, it fits into the current political and social climate to feel relevant now more than ever.
Straight Outta Compton will be in theaters on August 14th.
Spider-Man Officially Joining Marvel Cinematic Universe
It finally happened. After the Sony hacks took place a few months ago, it appeared that a lot of the leaked emails and information would be dead in the water. One such negotiation involved Sony and Disney coming to terms so Spider-Man could appear in official Marvel Cinematic Universe films.
Per the press release Marvel released, the "new Spider-Man will first appear in a Marvel film from Marvel's Cinematic Universe (MCU)." Afterwards, a Sony Pictures installment will release on July 28, 2017 co-produced by MCU's main behind-the-scenes man, Kevin Feige, and Amy Pascal, former Sony head who faced a lot of criticism following the aforementioned Sony hacks. More importantly, the two "will collaborate on a new creative direction for the web slinger." In addition, the release also states that "Marvel and Sony Pictures are also exploring opportunities to integrate characters from the MCU into future Spider-Man films."
What's interesting to note is that Andrew Garfield is probably out per the release's specific notation of a "new Spider-Man" appearing. Marvel has also adjusted their upcoming release schedule, fitting the upcoming Spider-Man film for July 2017, pushing Thor: Ragnarok to November 2017, Black Panther to July 2018, Captain Marvel to November 2018, and Inhumans to July 2019.
It's an exciting time for superhero film fans, especially those of us who are avid Spider-Man fans that have waited for exactly this moment. With Feige helping oversee the direction of the Spider-Man films, we can finally have the proper Spider-Man film we haven't seen on the big screen yet. Furthermore, the collaboration between Sony and Marvel could open up doors for FOX to negotiate some type of dual deal with Disney and Sony to have their characters (X-Men and Fantastic Four) appear altogether.
Make mine Marvel!
[via Marvel]
[Weekly Netflix Fix] February Update
With Sundance behind us, we can finally return to our regularly-scheduled Weekly Netflix Fix posts. I guess over the past month or so, it became the Bi-Weekly Netflix Fix, but we'll be back on solid ground with weekly updates. With February starting earlier this week, there is a plethora of new additions to Netflix Instant. Some of the highlights include Rian Johnson's underrated second film, The Brothers Bloom, the Vanessa Hudgens-led Gimme Shelter, the return of Ryan Gosling's understated Lars and the Real Girl and Starship Troopers, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II, the first Naruto Shippuden film, and the sorely underrated Daniel Radcliffe vehicle, Horns.
Check out the rest of the new Netflix Instant additions below.
Breaking at the Edge
Ghost Pain
Ghost Tears
Ghost Whispers
Stray Dogs
Along Came Polly
An American Haunting
And the Oscar Goes To...
August. Eighth
Bleach the Movie: Hell Verse
Blood and Sand
Bodyguard
Borderland
The Brothers Bloom
Bulletproof
Cecil B. Demented
Coach Carter
Crazy Eights
Danny Deckchair
Dark Ride
The Deaths of Ian Stone
Departures
Departures: Season 1
Departures: Season 2
Disneynature: Wings of Life
Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood
Enquiring Minds
Expelled
Field of Lost Shoes
Fools Rush In
The Forgotten Kingdom
Four Seasons
Generation Iron
Ghost Graduation
The Ghosts in Our Machine
Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story
Gimme Shelter
Girls Just Want to Have Fun
Gods of the Arena
Gucci: The Director
Hitch
Home
Hot Pursuit
Houseboat
Into the Blue 2: The Reef
Isolated
Joe
Killer Mermaid
King Arthur
Lake Dead
Lars and the Real Girl
Leaving Las Vegas
Life Stories
Magic City: Season 1
Magic City: Season 2
Mulberry Street
My First Mister
Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult
Naruto Shippuden: The Movie
The New Public
Next Stop Wonderland
Nightmare Man
Now: In the Wings on a World Stage
The Object of Beauty
The Other End of the Line
Paul Williams: Still Alive
Poklosie
Proof
Quest for Fire
Re-Animator
Relationship Status: It's Complicated
Roaring with Pride
RWBY
The Search for Michael Rockefeller
MASH: Season 1
Wildest Africa: Season 1
RWBY: Season 1
Street Food: Season 1
Life Stories: Season 1
Roaring with Pride: Season 1
Wildest Middle East: Season 1
World's Wildest City: Season 1
The Travel Bug: Season 1
Shaun Ryder on UFOs: Season 1
MASH: Season 2
The Travel Bug: Season 2
Wildest Africa: Season 2
MASH: Season 3
MASH: Season 4
MASH: Season 5
Showgirls
Spartacus
Starship Troopers
Steel Magnolias
Street Food
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II
This May Be the Last Time
To Be or Not to Be
The Travel Bug
Ulee's Gold
Unearthed
Vengeance
The Verdict
War of the Damned
We Could Be King
We're No Angels
Wicked Little Things
Zapped
Bob The Builder: Teamwork Time!
Cam Girl
Cunning Single Lady
Das finstere Tal
Fifi Howls from Happiness
Fleabag Monkeyface
Horns
It's Okay, That's Love
Last Hijack
Nights with Théodore
Not Another Happy Ending
Plankton Invasion
Salvo
It's Okay, That's Love: Season 1
Fleabag Monkeyface: Season 1