REVIEW - THE BFG (STEVEN SPIELBERG)

Real magic happens when you're not looking. Turn your attention to the trick, and that magic is lost - though we think we want to know, we never truly do. You likely weren't looking for, nor expecting, real movie magic when you sat down to your favourite film, the one most likely to evoke a sense of satisfaction and nostalgia in your memory. Steven Spielberg trades in this stuff regularly, and herein lies the issue: he wants to evoke those same senses in his audience, but the production of nostalgia relies upon the reproduction of an experience in the mind, and it's impossible to reproduce an experience in the same moment in which it's occurring. Thus, The BFG, which is so overtly an attempt to actively produce nostalgia, comes across more as a magic trick with all the sleight of hand made manifest in its every movement, rather than the real movie magic to which it aspires. The technique is strong, the execution stronger still, but the purpose is corrupt. The film is better when it lays off the wonder and whimsy, and hones in on character. A most British film in style and tone when dialogue takes over, here is where this most American director finds his feet. The BFG exploits the charm of Roald Dahl's prose and the skill of actor Mark Rylance to create a work that's as affable and heartwarming as it's intended to be. It's a broad comedy adventure in the mould of a dramatic family film, and boldly commits to its wholesome British eccentricity. Spielberg's regular collaborators turn in smart work, from Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg's lovely production design to John Williams' score, one of his best in recent years.

SPOTLIGHT SHINES ON A NIGHT OF SHOCKS: THE 88TH ANNUAL ACADEMY AWARDS

Nobody thought it was possible: win the Best Picture Oscar with only one other win? And at that, the first award of the night? Half way through, it looked like even The Revenant wasn't going to be able to pull off the big win, as its tally was being depleted by an astonishing surge by Mad Max: Fury Road - six wins for George Miller's film! The later awards favoured Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's western, however, and indeed both he and Leonardo DiCaprio won their expected trophies. But the gasps and cheers that greeted Morgan Freeman's announcement of Spotlight as the surprise Best Picture winner - and with only one other award won, Original Screenplay, to The Revenant's three and Mad Max's six - were confirmation: not only was this our Best Picture winner for 2015, it was also our most surprising winner since 2005's Crash, after our most unpredictable race in who knows how long.
     And there were even bigger shocks in other categories: Sylvester Stallone's widely predicted victory in Supporting Actor failed to materialise, as BAFTA champ Mark Rylance won instead. The Visual Effects award went to perhaps the most left-field winner in memory: Ex Machina, only the second time a Best Picture nominee has failed to win that award (when nominated) in history, and a choice utterly no-one had predicted. And Best Original Song went to 'Writing's on the Wall' from Spectre - the night's most reviled decision by a clear distance, and featuring the most mocked (and inaccurate) acceptance speech statement from singer Sam Smith, who claimed to be the first openly gay man to win an Oscar (he's not). Check out the nominations at this link, and grin gleefully over the award winners in full, below:

Best Picture

Spotlight (Blye Pagon Faust, Steve Golin, Nicole Rocklin and Michael Sugar)

Best Directing

Alejandro González Iñárritu (The Revenant)

Best Actor in a Leading Role

Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant)

Best Actress in a Leading Role

Brie Larson (Room)

Best Actor in a Supporting Role

Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies)

Best Actress in a Supporting Role

Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl)

Best Writing – Original Screenplay

Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer (Spotlight)

Best Writing – Adapted Screenplay

Adam McKay and Charles Randolph (The Big Short)

Best Cinematography

Emmanuel Lubezki (The Revenant)

Best Film Editing

Margaret Sixel (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Best Production Design

Colin Gibson and Lisa Thompson (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Best Costume Design

Jenny Beavan (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Best Sound Mixing

Chris Jenkins, Ben Osmo and Gregg Rudloff (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Best Sound Editing

Mark A. Mangini and David White (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Best Visual Effects

Mark Ardington, Sara Bennett, Paul Norris and Andrew Whitehurst (Ex Machina)

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

Damian Martin, Lesley Vanderwalt and Elka Wardega (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Best Music (Original Score)

Ennio Morricone (The Hateful Eight)

Best Music (Original Song)

Jimmy Napes and Sam Smith – ‘Writing’s on the Wall’ (Spectre)

Best Animated Feature Film

Inside Out (Pete Docter and Jonas Rivera)

Best Documentary Feature

Amy (James Gay-Rees and Asif Kapadia)

Best Foreign Language Film

Son of Saul – Hungary (Nemes László)

Best Short Film (Live Action)

Stutterer (Serena Armitage and Benjamin Cleary)

Best Short Film (Animated)

Bear Story (Pato Escala and Gabriel Osorio)

Best Documentary Short

A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness (Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy)

FIVE BAFTAS FOR THE REVENANT ON THE ROAD TO OSCAR

The Revenant took one step further still to Oscar victory with yesterday's BAFTAs. Five awards for Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's western, though Mad Max: Fury Road put up a show of strength in the tech categories, where it claimed four. Brits Mark Rylance and Kate Winslet won in the supporting acting categories, putting each of them in a strong position to upset Oscar frontrunners Sylvester Stallone and Alicia Vikander two weeks from now. Check out BAFTA's nominations list at this link, and their winners below:

Best Film
The Revenant (Steve Golin, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Arnon Milchan, Mary Parent and Keith Redmon)

Best Director
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (The Revenant)

Best Leading Actor
Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant)

Best Leading Actress
Brie Larson (Room)

Best Supporting Actor
Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies)

Best Supporting Actress
Kate Winslet (Steve Jobs)

Best Original Screenplay
Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer (Spotlight)

Best Adapted Screenplay
Adam McKay and Charles Randolph (The Big Short)

Best Cinematography
Emmanuel Lubezki (The Revenant)

Best Editing
Margaret Sixel (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Best Production Design
Colin Gibson and Lisa Thompson (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Best Costume Design
Jenny Beavan (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Best Sound
Lon Bender, Chris Duesterdiek, Martin Hernandez, Frank A. Montano, Jon Taylor and Randy Thom (The Revenant)

Best Special Visual Effects
Chris Corbould, Roger Guyett, Paul Kavanagh and Neal Scanlan (Star Wars: The Force Awakens)

Best Makeup & Hair
Damian Martin and Lesley Vanderwalt (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Best Original Music
Ennio Morricone (The Hateful Eight)

Best Animated Film
Inside Out (Pete Docter)

Best Documentary
Amy (James Gay-Rees and Asif Kapadia)

Best Film Not in the English Language
Wild Tales (Damian Szifron)

Outstanding British Film
Brooklyn (John Crowley, Finola Dwyer, Nick Hornby and Amanda Posey)

Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer
Rupert Lloyd - producer; and Naji Abu Nowar - writer / director (Theeb)

Best British Short Film
Operator (Caroline Bartleet and Rebecca Morgan)

Best British Short Animation
Edmond (Nina GAntz and Emilie Jouffroy)

The EE Rising Star Award
John Boyega

SPOTLIGHT WINS NATIONAL SOCIETY OF FILM CRITICS AWARD

The National Society of Film Critics shocked Oscar watchers today by announcing Tom McCarthy's Spotlight the best film of 2015. NSFC published its vote counts for its top three in each category, highlighting those unequivocal winners like Charlotte Rampling, Mark Rylance and Kristen Stewart in the acting categories, and the much closer races. Particularly tight was the Best Director race, while low figures in Best Actor go to show just how uncertain that category has been this year. There were welcome citations, like 2nd place for The Assassin's Lee Ping Bin in Cinematography, and less welcome ones, like Amy winning yet another Documentary prize with a no-show for The Look of Silence. Amy's win and Spotlight's were unusually mainstream picks for the normally arthouse-friendly society - last year, it chose Jean-Luc Godard's Goodbye to Language 3D. Have a look at all their picks for 2015 below:

Best Picture

1. Spotlight (Tom McCarthy) - 23
2. Carol (Todd Haynes) - 17
3. Mad Max: Fury Road (George Miller) - 13

Best Director
1. Todd Haynes (Carol) - 21
2. Tom McCarthy (Spotlight) - 21*
3. George Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road) - 20

Best Actor

1. Michael B. Jordan (Creed) - 29
2. Rohrig Geza (Son of Saul) - 18
3. Tom Courtenay (45 Years) - 15

Best Actress

1. Charlotte Rampling (45 Years) - 57
2. Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn) - 30
3. Nina Hoss (Phoenix) - 22

Best Supporting Actor

1. Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies) - 56
2. Michael Shannon (99 Homes) - 16
3. Sylvester Stallone - (Creed) - 14

Best Supporting Actress

1. Kristen Stewart (Clouds of Sils Maria) - 53
2. Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina) - 23
3. Elizabeth Banks (Love & Mercy) - 17
=  Kate Winslet (Steve Jobs) - 17

Best Screenplay

1. Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer (Spotlight) - 21
2. Charlie Kaufman (Anomalisa) - 15
=  Adam McKay and Charles Randolph (The Big Short) - 15

Best Cinematography

1. Edward Lachman (Carol) - 25
2. Lee Ping Bin (The Assassin) - 22
3. John Seale (Mad Max: Fury Road) - 12

Best Non-Fiction Film
1. Amy (Asif Kapadia) - 23
2. In Jackson Heights (Frederick Wiseman) - 18
3. Seymour: An Introduction (Ethan Hawke) - 15

Best Foreign Language Film
1. Timbuktu (Abderrahmane Sissako) - 22
2. Phoenix (Christian Petzold) - 20
3. The Assassin (Hou Hsiao Hsien) - 16

Film Heritage Award
Association Chaplin (for supervising the digital restoration of Charlie Chaplin's Essanay Films)
The Criterion Collection and L'Immagine Ritrovata (for the restoration and packaging of the reconstructed version of The Apu Trilogy by Satyajit Ray)
Film Society of Lincoln Center, Michelle Materre and Jake Perlin (for the series Tell It Like It Is: Black Independents in New York, 1968-1986)

Special Citation
One Floor Below (Radu Muntean)

*Lower placement due to featuring on fewer ballots

VFCC VOTES SPOTLIGHT BEST FILM OF 2015

The Vancouver Film Critics Circle has spoken, and chimed in with their counterparts across North America by declaring Spotlight the Best Film of 2015. Their uncontroversial choices include a Best Actor win for Steve Jobs' Michael Fassbender and a Best Actress win for Brie Larson in Room; Lenny Abrahamson's film is nominated in six categories with the VFCC's Canadian awards, the winners of which are due to be revealed at a ceremony on the 6th of January. For the group's nominations, click here, and for their international award winners, see below:

Best Film

Spotlight

Best Director

George Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Best Actor

Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs)

Best Actress

Brie Larson (Room)

Best Supporting Actor

Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies)

Best Supporting Actress

Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina)

Best Screenplay

Charlie Kaufman (Anomalisa)

Best Documentary

Amy

Best Foreign Language Film

The Assassin

INDIEWIRE'S 2015 CRITICS POLL RESULTS - MAD MAX: FURY ROAD IS FILM OF THE YEAR

Who'd have guessed that Mad Max: Fury Road would top another critics poll? Everybody. The many, many journalists on the IndieWire network have named George Miller's new film the best of 2015, and Miller the best director of the year too. Have a look at their picks below, with Best Film above the cut and other categories after:

Best Film

1. Mad Max: Fury Road

2. Carol

3. Spotlight

4. Inside Out

5. Phoenix

6. Brooklyn

7. Anomalisa

8. The Assassin

9. The Look of Silence

10. Son of Saul

11. Ex Machina

12. Clouds of Sils Maria

13. Tangerine

14. 45 Years

15. Room

16. The Duke of Burgundy

17. Timbuktu

18. Arabian Nights: Volume 1 - The Restless One / Arabian Nights: Volume 2 - The Desolate One / Arabian Nights: Volume 3 - The Enchanted One

19. Creed

20. Hard to Be a God

21. Taxi

22. Heaven Knows What

23. It Follows

24. The Tribe

25. Sicario

26. The Forbidden Room

27. In Jackson Heights

28. The Martian

29. Mistress America

30. Steve Jobs

31. The Mend

32. Jauja

33. The Diary of a Teenage Girl

34. Chi-Raq

35. Heart of a Dog

36. Horse Money

37. Magic Mike XXL

38. Amy

39. A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence

40. The Big Short

41. Eden

42. Experimenter

43. About Elly

44. The Revenant

45. The End of the Tour

46. Bridge of Spies

47. Queen of Earth

48. Li'l Quinquin

49. Mustang

50. Love & Mercy

TORONTO CRITICS RIGHT SOME WRONGS, HONOUR CAROL

The Toronto Film Critics Association pulled its usual shtick, tapping into the genuine best of 2015, rather than what's being dictated as 'best' by other critics, with its year-end awards. Carol took top honours and was cited as a runner-up in several categories. The Best Actress award went to Nina Hoss for Phoenix, a very pleasant surprise, and there were wins for Ex Machina and Tom Hardy in Legend too. Take a look at all the details below:

Best Picture

Carol

Mad Max: Fury Road

Spotlight

Best Director

Todd Haynes (Carol)

Tom McCarthy (Spotlight)

George Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Denis Villeneuve (Sicario)

Best Actor

Tom Hardy (Legend)

Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant)

Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs)

Best Actress

Nina Hoss (Phoenix)

Cate Blanchett (Carol)

Brie Larson (Room)

Best Supporting Actor

Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies)

Benicio del Toro (Sicario)

Michael Shannon (99 Homes)

Best Supporting Actress

Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina)

Rooney Mara (Carol)

Kristen Stewart (Clouds of Sils Maria)

Best Screenplay, Adapted or Original

Adam McKay and Charles Randolph (The Big Short)

Charlie Kaufman (Anomalisa)

Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer (Spotlight)

Phyllis Nagy (Carol)

Best Animated Feature

Shaun the Sheep Movie

Anomalisa

Inside Out

Allan King Documentary Award

The Look of Silence

Amy

Listen to Me Marlon

Best Foreign-Language Film

Phoenix

The Assassin

Son of Saul

Best First Feature

Ex Machina (Alex Garland)

Sleeping Giant (Andrew Cividino)

Son of Saul (Nemes Laszlo)

Rogers Best Canadian Film

The Forbidden Room (Evan Johnson and Guy Maddin)

My Internship in Canada (Philippe Falardeau)

Sleeping Giant (Andrew Cividino)