Searchlight Pictures has released the first trailer for EMPIRE OF LIGHT.
Set in an English seaside town in the early 1980s, EMPIRE OF LIGHT is a powerful and poignant story about human connection and the magic of cinema, from Academy Award-winning director Sam Mendes.
Cameron Bailey, CEO of TIFF, announced that Mendes will receive the TIFF Ebert Director Award. The TIFF Tribute Awards presented by BVLGARI will return to an in-person gala fundraiser during the 47th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival on Sunday, September 11 at Fairmont Royal York Hotel.
TIFF will be presenting the Canadian Premiere of Mendes’ most recent work, which he wrote, directed, and produced. Mendes made his feature film debut at the Festival in 1999 with the World Premiere of American Beauty, a TIFF People’s Choice Award winner, for which he was honoured with an Oscar in the Best Director category.
Called “catnip for cinephiles” by Bailey, watch the first trailer.
EMPIRE OF LIGHT features a stellar cast led by Academy Award winner Olivia Colman (The Favourite, The Lost Daughter), BAFTA winner Micheal Ward (Blue Story, Top Boy), with Toby Jones and Academy Award winner Colin Firth (The King’s Speech, A Single Man). It also reunites Mendes with Academy Award winning cinematographer Roger Deakins (1917, Skyfall).
In August it was announced that EMPIRE OF LIGHT would be the American Express Gala Film at the 66th BFI London Film Festival.
The film, produced by Sam Mendes and Pippa Harris’ Neal Street Productions, in partnership with Searchlight Pictures, will release theatrically in the US on December 9 and in the UK on January 13.
Sam Mendes said: “I’m absolutely delighted to be included in this year’s BFI London Film Festival as the AMEX Gala screening. Empire of Light is a very personal movie for me, and I can’t wait to show it in my home town.”
Debuting at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year, here’s a look at the new trailer and posters for SICARIO.
From director Denis Villeneuve (Prisoners, Incendies) comes a searing emotional-thriller that descends into the intrigue, corruption and moral mayhem of the borderland drug wars.
When Arizona FBI agent and kidnap-response-team leader Kate Macer (Golden Globe winner Emily Blunt) uncovers a Mexican cartel’s house of death, her shocking find leads to profound consequences on both a personal and global level.
Kate is recruited to join a covert black-ops mission headed by a mysterious Colombian operative known only as Alejandro (Academy Award winner Benicio Del Toro, Best Supporting Actor, Traffic, 2000) along with special agent Matt Graver (Academy Award nominee Josh Brolin, Best Supporting Actor, Milk, 2008).
Even as Kate tries to convince herself she’s on a hunt for justice, she is thrust into the dark heart of a secret battleground that has swept up ruthless cartels, kill-crazy assassins, clandestine American spies and thousands of innocents.
The jagged line of the U.S. and Mexican border is now awash in some of the most pressing questions of our times – drugs, terror, illegal immigration, corruption and an escalating swath of dark crime that has left people on both sides frightened and vigilant.
Sicario explores the journey of an intelligence operation that pushes the rules to engage with those who don’t play by any.
Written by Taylor Sheridan, the behind-the-scenes team, who bring to life the unseen no-man’s-land that lies on, and below, the U.S.-Mexico border, includes eleven-time Oscar nominated Director of Photography Roger Deakins, ASC, BSC (True Grit, 2010; No Country for Old Men, 2007), Oscar nominated Production Designer Patrice Vermette (The Young Victoria, 2009; Prisoners, C.R.A.Z.Y.), Oscar-nominated Editor Joe Walker, ACE (12 Years a Slave, 2013), Visual Effects Supervisor Louis Morin, Costume Designer Renée April (Prisoners, The Day After Tomorrow), Casting by Francine Maisler, and Music by Oscar nominated composer Jóhann Jóhannsson (The Theory of Everything, 2014; Prisoners).
Varèse Sarabande will release the SICARIO – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack digitally and on CD September 18, 2015, the same day that the Lionsgate film premieres in limited release, before opening wide on September 25.
Lionsgate has announced that their upcoming drama, SICARIO, will open on September 18, 2015 in limited release and September 25, 2015 in wide release.
The cast includes Emily Blunt, Benicio del Toro, Josh Brolin, Jon Bernthal and is from director Denis Villeneuve.
In the lawless border area stretching between the U.S. and Mexico, an idealistic FBI agent (Emily Blunt) is exposed to the brutal world of international drug trafficking by members of a government task force (Josh Brolin, Benicio Del Toro) who have enlisted her in their plan to take out a Mexican cartel boss.
The film, scored by Jóhann Jóhannsson (THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING), is the composer’s second collaboration with Villeneuve (PRISONERS). Read our interview with Jóhannsson HERE. The cinematography is from Roger Deakins.
SICARIO is written by Taylor Sheridan and produced by Basil Iwanyk, Molly Smith, Trent Luckinbill, Thad Luckinbill, Edward McDonnell.
Filming began on June 30, 2014 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The American Society of Cinematographers has nominated Roger Deakins, ASC, BSC; Óscar Faura; Emmanuel Lubezki, ASC, AMC; Dick Pope, BSC; and Robert Yeoman, ASC, for the ASC Award for Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in a Theatrical Release.
Deakins is nominated for UNBROKEN (Universal Pictures) ASC Lifetime Achievement Award (2011). Won the ASC for SKYFALL (2012).
Faura for THE IMITATION GAME (The Weinstein Co.) First ASC nomination.
Lubezki for BIRDMAN (Fox Searchlight Pictures) Won the ASC and Oscar last year for GRAVITY.
Pope for MR. TURNER (Sony Pictures Classics) ASC and Oscar nominations for THE ILLUSIONIST (2007).
Yeoman for THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL (Fox Searchlight Pictures) First ASC nomination.
American Cinematographer covers Unbroken, Mr. Turner and The Imitation Game in this month’s issue. The magazine covered Birdman in December 2014 and The Grand Budapest Hotel in March 2014; the latter article is online.
Next week the ASC will announce nominees in the final competitive category for the 29th Annual ASC Awards: the Spotlight Award, which recognizes excellence in cinematography in a feature or documentary exhibited at film festivals or in limited release.
The ASC Awards will take place February 15 at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza.
The final, and yet-to-be-seen, film of the awards season had its world premiere in Sydney, Australia on Monday. Director Angelina Jolie and husband Brad Pitt walked the red carpet for Best Picture hopeful UNBROKEN, along with stars Jack O’Connell and Miyavi, to greet fans, sign autographs and take photos.
The epic drama follows the incredible life of Olympian and war hero Louis “Louie” Zamperini (Jack O’Connell) who, along with two other crewmen, survived in a raft for 47 days after a near-fatal plane crash in WWII—only to be caught by the Japanese Navy and sent to a prisoner-of-war camp.
Variety writes: “Reaction to the often-intense film was largely positive, with the black-tie audience gasping audibly at one particularly shocking maritime moment and the unrelenting visceral wartime brutality that punctuates Zamperini’s tale of survival. Warm applause at the end of the film drowned out the opening bars of the Coldplay tune penned just for the closing credits.”
Zamperini passed away in July and as you can see in the video below, Jolie breaks down when referring to him as “a great man.”
Academy Award winner Angelina Jolie both directs and produces the film.
Adapted from Laura Hillenbrand’s (“Seabiscuit: An American Legend”) enormously popular book, Unbroken brings to the big screen Zamperini’s unbelievable and inspiring true story about the resilient power of the human spirit.
Starring alongside O’Connell are Domhnall Gleeson and Finn Wittrock as Phil and Mac—the airmen with whom Zamperini endured perilous weeks adrift in the open Pacific—Garrett Hedlund and John Magaro as fellow POWs who find an unexpected camaraderie during their internment, Alex Russell as Zamperini’s brother, Pete, and in his English-language feature debut, Japanese actor Miyavi as the brutal camp guard known only to the men as “The Bird.”
Universal Pictures has launched the #IAmUnbroken project inspired by Louis Zamperini’s indomitable spirit. With his determination and resilience, Zamperini exemplified the strength of the human spirit to overcome any obstacle and remain UNBROKEN. The #IAmUnbroken social movement works to spread inspiring stories of triumph over adversity, reminding us to live every day to the fullest and to never doubt the resilience of the human soul.
Share your own #IAmUnbroken stories, or that of a loved one, at www.IAmUnbroken.com. By uploading videos, photos, and social media posts with hashtag #IAmUnbroken, a few select stories will be chosen to have a professional team create a video segment.
The film is produced by Jolie, as well as Clayton Townsend (This Is 40), Matthew Baer (City by the Sea) and Erwin Stoff (The Day the Earth Stood Still). The director of photography is 11-time Oscar-nominated cinematographer Roger Deakins (Skyfall).
Academy Award winners Joel and Ethan Coen (No Country for Old Men) rewrote the screenplay from earlier drafts by William Nicholson (Les Misérables) and Richard LaGravenese (HBO’s Behind the Candelabra).
“Never give up. No matter what.” – Louie Zamperini
From director and Oscar-winner Angelina Jolie, watch the first trailer for her upcoming film UNBROKEN. From this beautifully cut preview, the movie has all the makings of an Oscar champion – expect to see great things for UNBROKEN at next year’s Academy Awards.
Jolie directs and produces the epic drama that follows the incredible life of Olympian and war hero Louis “Louie” Zamperini (Jack O’Connell) who, along with two other crewmen, survived in a raft for 47 days after a near-fatal plane crash in WWII—only to be caught by the Japanese Navy and sent to a prisoner-of-war camp.
Sadly, Zamperini passed away on July 2 at age 97.
Adapted from Laura Hillenbrand’s (“Seabiscuit: An American Legend”) enormously popular book, UNBROKEN brings to the big screen Zamperini’s unbelievable and inspiring true story about the resilient power of the human spirit.
Starring alongside O’Connell are Domhnall Gleeson and Finn Wittrock as Phil and Mac—the airmen with whom Zamperini endured perilous weeks adrift in the open Pacific—Garrett Hedlund and John Magaro as fellow POWs who find an unexpected camaraderie during their internment, Alex Russell as Zamperini’s brother, Pete, and in his English-language feature debut, Japanese actor Miyavi as the brutal camp guard known only to the men as “The Bird.”
The film is produced by Jolie, as well as Clayton Townsend (This Is 40), Matthew Baer (City by the Sea) and Erwin Stoff (The Day the Earth Stood Still). Leading the accomplished behind-the-scenes crew is 11-time Oscar-nominated cinematographer Roger Deakins (Skyfall). The composer is Alexandre Desplat.
Academy Award winners Joel and Ethan Coen (No Country for Old Men) rewrote the screenplay from earlier drafts by William Nicholson (Les Misérables) and Richard LaGravenese (HBO’s Behind the Candelabra).
UNBROKEN arrives in theaters on Christmas Day, 2014.
We’re getting closer to Hollywood’s night to shine – the Oscars. This year’s nominations are a bevy of brilliant films, performances and crafts, the motion picture industry at its best.
The Academy Awards is the gold standard by which every other awards show is measured, because when it comes to the biggest night in film, nobody does it better than Oscar!
In anticipation of the star-studded night at the Dolby Theatre, the gang at WAMG has chosen their favorite nominees – from the Best Picture and Best Acting categories to the technical categories, here’s a close-up look at our Top 10 Favorite nominees.
BEST Picture – AMERICAN HUSTLE
By Jim Batts
The Best Picture Oscar usually goes to the film that shines a light on a social injustice, a historical event, or individuals battling injury or disease. The most wildly entertaining (sorry Marty and Leo, but three hours of arrogant drug abusers wears very thin) of the nine nominees has, at least, one of those areas covered. As it states right before the action begins, “some of this really happened”. AMERICAN HUSTLE looks into the “Abscam” scandal of the late 1970’s, but it’s so much more. It’s about people trying to survive, discovering true love, and being given second chances.
Perhaps even more than of the characters, the biggest second chance story may be the director and co-screenwriter David O Russell. Bouncing back from some box office duds and some humiliating on set secret videos, Russell has delivered the best of his recent comeback trilogy that began with THE FIGHTER and continued with last year’s (last year?!) SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK. HUSTLE owes much of its inspiration to Scorsese (particularly GOODFELLAS) as the camera careens through the hotel rooms and restaurants while a superb pop music soundtrack conveys every mood and atmosphere. But Russell’s not just aping a film-making master. The film explodes with energy and humor as it celebrates these cops and con men (and women).
As with PLAYBOOK, Russell has placed an actor in each of the Oscar categories this year. Many have worked with him before and now join forces in a very impressive repertory company. Christian Bale proves to be a new cinematic chameleon as he transforms into the schlubby (maybe the screen’s greatest comb-over!) Irving (this guy was Batman?). Amy Adams stuns as the slinky, sexy Sydney (and the “hoighty-toighty” Lady Edith), full of street smarts as she uses her wardrobe (those blouses opened doooown to there!) to distract. Particularly distracted (and smitten) is Bradley Cooper, freed from the paycheck drudgery of THE HANGOVER III, as the ambitious FBI man, Richie. The film’s biggest revelation may be Jennifer Lawrence as the manipulative Rosalyn who’s pathetic, seductive, and repellant, often at the same time. Also terrific is Jeremy Renner as the back-slapping politco who may just be the film’s center of morality along with comic Louis CK as Richie’s put-upon, frustrated superior. Oh, and there’s a fantastic cameo by an iconic actor in a highlight I won’t spoil. This is an unmatched movie dream team.
This year’s Oscars will more likely be a repeat of the 1990 awards when the more high-minded DANCES WITH WOLVES won out over GOODFELLAS. But as the years have gone by, which has been more celebrated, referenced, and studied? Sure, it’s nice that the Academy likes to send a nice moral message with the big prize, but I’m still hoping that Russell and his merry band of tricksters can pull off a truly big “golden” sting.
Best Documentary Feature – THE ACT OF KILLING
By Travis Keune
Rarely does a documentary film present itself with such an original approach as THE ACT OF KILLING. Director Joshua Oppenheimer takes an absolutely terrible part of Indonesian history and devises a method to explore the dark subject matter of the film with the actual people responsible for the atrocities that exposes the truth with full transparency, but with a touch of surreality.
Oppenheimer asked the individuals responsible for the executions of alleged communists in Indonesia to reenact what occurred on film in whatever way they felt most comfortable.The result of which is honest, but oddly just as entertaining as it is heartbreaking, especially as the emotional toll begins to build and erupt and the killers humanity shows through and the regret and guilt emerges. As an audience, we bare witness to this experiment in psychology unfolding in a way never before seen on film.
The film is sometimes awkward, or even difficult to watch, but the end result is a masterpiece in documentary filmmaking that won the support of Werner Herzog and will leave a lasting impression.
Best Cinematography – Roger Deakins PRISONERS
By Michelle McCue
The terrifying events that unfold in PRISONERS cause each character to react in a manner he or she likely never would have thought possible.
Screenwriter Aaron Guzikowski’s story and Director Denis Villeneuve’s film, along with a top-flight roster of actors, including Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Viola Davis, Maria Bello, Terrence Howard, Melissa Leo and Paul Dano, are captured by legendary cinematographer Roger Deakins.
Deakins utilized color, along with light and shadow, to amplify the atmosphere around the story while most of the time, giving this heavy drama a monochromatic feel. Creating a claustrophobic, dark element, the cinematographer shot the film digitally. The days in PRISONERS are gloomy and overcast, and the nights, largely because of Deakins’ work, are very poetic.
Roger Deakins is a ten-time Academy Award nominee for Best Cinematography, for his work on Joel and Ethan Coen’s FARGO, THE MAN WHO WASN’T THERE, O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU?, NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN and TRUE GRIT; Frank Darabont’s THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION; Martin Scorsese’s KUNDUN; Andrew Dominik’s THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD; Stephen Daldry’s THE READER, which he shared with Chris Menges; and, most recently, Sam Mendes’ SKYFALL.
Yet, the Oscar has always eluded him.
However, nominated seven times for the BAFTA Award, Deakins has won three for THE MAN WHO WASN’T THERE, NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN and TRUE GRIT.
His work has also garnered him eight nominations for the British Society of Cinematographers (BSC) Best Cinematography Award, with five wins, and two Independent Spirit Awards, with an additional nomination. In 2008, he received the National Board of Review’s Career Achievement Award, and in 2013, Deakins was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the UK, the only cinematographer to have been given this high honor.
Deakins has been nominated eleven times for the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) Award and won three, for SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, THE MAN WHO WASN’T THERE and SKYFALL. Cited was his work on the ten features listed above, as well as on Sam Mendes’ REVOLUTIONARY ROAD. He received the ASC’s Lifetime Achievement award in 2011.
He has also served as visual consultant for several animated features, including WALL•E, HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON, RANGO, RISE OF THE GUARDIANS and THE CROODS. He is currently consulting on HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2 and the cinematographer on Angelina Jolie’s UNBROKEN.
Academy Voters! Don’t you think now would be a good time to finally acknowledge Deakins with an Oscar?
BEST Actress – Cate Blanchett as Jasmine, BLUE JASMINE
By Tom Stockman
Were it a weaker year for the Best Actress category, Judi Dench would be a shoo-on for her swan song PHILOMENA or Sandra Bullock might take home the big prize for her desperate and resourceful turn in GRAVITY. But it’s not a weak year. It’s an extraordinarily strong one, but neither of these gals (nor Ms Streep or Ms Adams) stands a chance against Cate Blanchett and her ferocious performance in BLUE JASMINE.
The range of emotions Woody Allen’s script demanded of Blanchett was immense and she responded with a performance people will be talking about for a long time. Blanchett was a riveting image in BLUE JASMINE, not just for the things Jasmine said but for the ravaged beauty and sadness she allowed the camera to find in her face and clothes-horse figure. Blanchett fully embodied the agony of Jasmine as the character went from vodka-soaked delusional to haughty dismissal of those she considered inferior and from gloomy introspection to babbling madness.
Constantly throwing back Xanax and martinis to cope, Blanchett performed emotional highs and lows, often within the same scene and her performance was really something to see. The Oscar will join the many other awards she’s deservedly received for this role.
Best Picture – CAPTAIN PHILLIPS
By Melissa Thompson
Going in to see CAPTAIN PHILLIPS, I was pretty much prepared to see another “docudrama” that was going to depict a real-life event. I didn’t know too much about the story of Captain Richard Phillips and the Maersk Alabama, other than the nightly blurbs we would see on the news during the time the events occurred. Somali Pirates, merchant marines, hostages, Navy Seals – all the buzz words were there, so like many others I was enticed into seeing the movie. Turns out it was a REALLY good movie. It had everything. Good guys, bad guys, a hero, numerous gunfights, a ton of suspense, and best of all, a happy ending of sorts. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, but couldn’t help but think it was almost “too good”.
So many “true stories” these days take so much dramatic license, you don’t really know how much is true and how much is embellished just to create a more powerful narrative. But I wasn’t 100% convinced. So I did some research, and what I found was pretty amazing. Turns out, the way the events are portrayed in the film is EXACTLY how it happened. Details and timelines are precise, as well as much of the dialogue that took place between the crew, the pirates, and Phillips himself. I was most fascinated by this clip – CNN news footage that could be easily confused with the movie if you didn’t know what you were watching:
With so many films these days relying on CGI and special effects, it was refreshing to see a true story be, well, true! There was no cliffhanger, or plot twists, or ridiculous global destruction. Just the harrowing sequence of events told from the perspective of those who were actually there. If that is not a Best Picture nominee, I don’t know what is.
BEST Original Screenplay – HER
By Gary Salem
The original screenplay nomination for HER is my favorite because Spike Jonze had so many ideas that work together on different levels. He created a compelling sci-fi romance in a world that looks strange and familiar at the same time.
The operating system gets inside Theodore’s head both literally and figuratively. Her gets inside the viewer’s head and stays there to give them something to think about, like being in love…with technology.
Best Animated Short Film – GET A HORSE!
By Melissa Howland
Directed by Lauren MacMullan and produced by Dorothy McKim, GET A HORSE! is the perfect blend of black and white hand drawn animation and 3D computer imaging.
The short is a contemporary homage to the first animated shorts featuring Mickey Mouse, with all-new, black-and-white, hand-drawn animation that’s paired with full-color, 3D, CG filmmaking—in the same frame. Mickey (voice of Walt Disney), his favorite gal pal Minnie Mouse and their friends Horace Horsecollar and Clarabelle Cow delight in a musical haywagon ride—until Peg-Leg Pete shows up and tries to run them off the road. This groundbreaking short takes a sharp turn when Mickey finds himself separated from Minnie and must use every trick up his sleeve to find his way back to her.
GET A HORSE! is packed with laughs, and features archived recordings of Walt Disney for the voice of Mickey Mouse. As a short, it stands apart from anything we’ve seen in animation, and is sure to put a smile on your face!
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR – Jonah Hill as Donnie Azoff, THE WOLF OF WALL STREET
By Tom Stockman
I wasn’t sure of Jonah Hill’s performance as Jordan Belcourt’s bucktoothed loose-cannon first lieutenant Donnie Azoff in WOLF OF WALL STREET would be received as brilliantly comic or an undisciplined train wreck.
It was a strange role, one that straddled drama and dark comedy but it was perfect for the actor. Whether masturbating in public or swallowing goldfish, Hill was so much fun to watch in WOLF OF WALL STREET and clearly made an impression on the Academy.
He won’t win, in part because of the political incorrectness of the character, and because it’s a strong field, but he deserved the nom and I’m glad he got it.
Best Actress – Sandra Bullock as Dr. Ryan Stone, GRAVITY
By Sam Moffitt
I have not seen very many of the movies up for awards this year. But I cannot imagine that any actor or actress could possibly do better work than Sandra Bullock does in GRAVITY.
Set in outer space this remarkable film is really about inner space. Stranded through a series of calamities in Earth orbit Sandra Bullock’s character Ryan Stone goes through serious changes trying to get back to solid ground. I’m not sure if everything she does is possible with the current technology of space travel but the tension and suspense are unbearable.
GRAVITY is an epic look at the human will to survive, that incredible drive that can bring people through to safety in the most grueling of ordeals. Gravity is a love song to every person who ever struggled to overcome cancer, who was ever ship wrecked, buried under rubble, lost in the desert, wounded in a war, maimed in an accident and struggled against over whelming odds to not only survive but to prevail and get on with their lives.
Think of all the people in just the last ten years affected by hurricanes, civil wars, drought, famine, volcanoes, tornados, tsunamis and their struggles to survive.
The sorrows of the whole human race are laid on Sandra Bullock’s frail shoulders and she comes through, my Lord how she comes through!
How heartbreaking to see tears in zero gravity, and in 3-D! How awesome to see the performance of a lifetime that relies so much on body language, facial expressions and gestures. And her performance is almost entirely alone. The only recent film comparable would have to be 127 Hours and James Franco’s brilliant performance in another story of survival against all the odds.
The sight of Ms Bullock curled in a fetal position and turning slowly, slowly in zero gravity is awesome, heartbreaking, primal, (on a gut level) and so poetic and beautiful, all at once. This is genius film making by Alfonso Cuaron and Sandra Bullock is the only passenger on a roller coaster ride back to the pull of Earth’s Gravity.
Sandra Bullock has already won an Oscar, for The Blind Side, but if ever an actor deserves another win it is her incredible work in GRAVITY. She is one of the best actors of her generation; GRAVITY is one for the ages.
BEST ACTOR – Leonardo DiCaprio as Jordan Belfort, THE WOLF OF WALL STREET
By Michael Haffner
I hope Mr. DiCaprio doesn’t take offense when I say that I truly believe he was born to play Jordan Belfort. Or is Jordan Belfort now really only a “person” thanks to DiCaprio? Either way, the character that emerges on the screen is Scorsese’s dizzying, frantic, and hilarious THE WOLF OF WALL STREET is equal parts unbelievable and frighteningly real thanks in no small part due to Leonardo Dicaprio’s fearless performance. In their fifth on-screen collaboration, Scorsese seems to unleash the shackles on his cinematic muse. Drugs are consumed in excess. Sex is as regular as brushing your teeth multiple-times-a-day.
Most importantly, money can buy you happiness. Well. . . at least a form of happiness. And just as the high from drugs begins to fade away, and the sex eventually reaches its climax, and the money eventually runs out, so too does one’s happiness if you invest your entire life in material belongings. This is all the more ironic considering the film is centered around a power driven financial investor whose job requires him to invest other’s money. The idea of a film chronicling the lavish lifestyle of greedy corporate investors is far from original. However, in the hands of veteran director Scorsese, the escapades conducted by this wild WOLF is consistently entertaining and leaves the audience hungry for more – which says a lot considering the film is almost 3 hours long. Some audience members might not be able to look past the hedonistic activities portrayed on screen by Leonardo DiCaprio.
I know for a fact there have been several screenings where moviegoers walked out of the film. I’m not here to convince those people that I’m right and they’re wrong for walking out, but I will say that they’re choosing to ignore the best performance to date from Mr. DiCaprio. Several times throughout the film we see him take the stage and deliver rousing speeches to his merry band of heathens. He takes to the mic like a Southern Baptist preacher, delivering rags to riches stories and exciting his “congregation” into a fury of shouting, reveling, and fanatical responses that wouldn’t seem out of place among some places of worship. It is in moments like these where I also found myself converted.
I truly adore THE WOLF OF WALL STREET and I know that my love for Scorsese’s film wouldn’t be the same if it not for DiCaprio’s portrayal of Jordan Belfort. You hear stories of DiCaprio jet-setting across Europe with a harem of Victoria Secrets’ models and you can’t help but compare his real life a bit to the film’s main character – which was inspired by real events. Although I know I should separate an actor’s personal life from his career, I can’t help but feel that in this case of “life imitating art” or “art imitating life,” that the result is worthy of Oscar gold.
So that’s our favorites. Let us know yours in our comments section below.
Brother, if there’s one cinematographer who really should have an Oscar sitting on his mantle by now, its this guy –Roger Deakins. To an awards obsessiva like myself, its a crime that this artist has been nominated 8 times and yet no wins. Deakins has just had the rotten luck of going up against films like TITANIC and LORD OF THE RINGS…there was no way, no how he’d win up against those juggernauts. In 1997, it was his FARGO going head to head with John Seale’s THE ENGLISH PATIENT. Even as good as SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION was, Deakins didn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell to beat John Toll’s LEGEND OF THE FALL.
Of all the years he was nominated, THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD is the one he should have won the Academy Award for. He had 2 spots ( THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD & NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN) in the category in 2008 and he still couldn’t pull it off. The nomination for THE READER in 2009 was pretty much a throwaway – SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE was a runaway train.
So after watching the trailer for TRUE GRIT, you tell me, is this Roger Deakins’ year?
LOS ANGELES, October 11, 2010- Roger Deakins, ASC, BSC will receive the 2011 American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) Lifetime Achievement Award. The presentation will be made during the 25th Annual ASC Outstanding Achievement Awards celebration here at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel on February 13, 2011.
“The Lifetime Achievement Award is a reflection of the impact that a cinematographer has made on the art of filmmaking rather than the capping of a career,” says ASC President Michael Goi. “It is our way of acknowledging a true artist in his prime. Roger Deakins raises the artistic profile of our profession with every movie and he will continue to do so for many years.”
Deakins has earned Oscar® nominations for The Shawshank Redemption (1994), Fargo (1996), Kundun (1997), O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), The Man Who Wasn’t There (2001), The Assassination of Jesse James and the Coward Robert Ford (2007), No Country for Old Men (2007) and The Reader (shared with Chris Menges, ASC, BSC, 2008).
His peers nominated all eight of those films and Revolutionary Road (2008) for ASC Outstanding Achievement Awards for feature film cinematography. Deakins claimed top ASC honors for The Shawshank Redemption and The Man Who Wasn’t There.
“I had mixed emotions when I was told about this recognition,” Deakins says. “To be honest, I am flattered, but I also feel like I am only just getting started. I’m enjoying what I do more than I ever have and there seems to be so much more I want to do. I feel like I’m getting this award about halfway through my career. It is great to realize that my colleagues watch my work and get something out of it.”
ASC Awards Committee Chairman Richard Crudo observes, “Roger Deakins overcame formidable obstacles during the dawn of his career and went on to help create some of the most memorable films of our times. Roger has inspired young and older filmmakers to pursue what sometimes seems like impossible dreams.”
Deakins blazed a non-traditional career path. He was born and raised in the seaside town of Torquay in Devon, England. As a boy, Deakin’s passion was for painting but when he enrolled in the Bath Academy of Art his interest shifted to photography. When Deakins wasn’t taking pictures, he was in the darkroom processing film and making prints.
After a brief stint as a professional photographer Deakins continued his education at the National Film School in London. Deakins estimates that over three years he shot more than 15 films for student directors, both dramatic films and documentaries ranging from 30 to 90 minutes each.
After graduation, he primarily spent the first seven years of his career shooting documentaries, the first of which required him to play the role of crew member as well as director/cameraman during a nine-month yacht race around the world.
Deakins went on to work on many documentaries for British television, which included films on the liberation wars in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and Eritrea, a study of mental patients within the UK National Health Service, and the life of the Nuba people of Southern Sudan. His first of some 50 narrative film credits was in 1983 for Another Time, Another Place, which aired on Channel 4 in England.
“I’ve always chosen to work on films that are more than entertainment,” he says. “I believe film can also be provocative and send audiences home thinking.”
Deakins has collaborated with an impressive array of directors, including Sam Mendes, Martin Scorsese, Ron Howard, Norman Jewison, Ed Zwick, Andrew Dominik and Michael Apted. True Grit, which is slated for release in December, is his 11th co-venture with brothers Ethan and Joel Coen at the helm.
