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Michael MooreMichael Moore gracefully accepted the Cinema Eye award for co-Directors Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi.

New York, NY - January 10, 2013 - The critically acclaimed Palestinian and Israeli co-production 5 BROKEN CAMERAS, co-directed by Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi and distributed in the United States by Kino Lorber Inc., has been nominated by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences in the Best Documentary category for the 85th Academy Awards®.

5 BROKEN CAMERAS has also won the top prize (Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Filmmaking) at yesterday's Cinema Eye awards, presented at The Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, Queens. Michael Moore gracefully accepted the award for co-Directors Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi.


News
Userpic2013 Oscar Nominations (FEATURE)
Posted by Kam Williams
11.01.2013

2013 Oscar Nominations
by Kam Williams

"Lincoln" and "Life of Pi" Lead Academy Award Sweepstakes
Quvenzhane Wallis, 9, and Emmanuelle Riva, 85, Nominated

Lincoln and Life of Pi emerged as the early favorites in the Academy Award Sweepstakes with 12 and 11 nominations respectively. Buy don't forget that just a year ago this critic warned of irrational exuberance when Hugo landed the most, only to ultimately be beaten by The Artist on Oscar night, thanks in part to an ad campaign carefully orchestrated by Harvey Weinstein.

And the Weinstein Company has a few horses in this year's race, most notably, Silver Linings Playbook, which has netted a nomination in every major category. So, don't be surprised to see that picture's stock rise considerably in the coming weeks. Another dark horse which might blossom into the favorite is Zero Dark Thirty, a film which suffered from political controversy and the fact that it only went into wide release on January 11th.

In terms of the acting categories, most of the buzz surrounds cutie-pie Quvenzhane Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild) and grand dame Emmanuelle Riva (Amour) as the youngest and oldest actresses ever to be nominated, at 9 and 85 years of age, respectively. A lot of attention is being been paid to the contenders in the Best Supporting Actor category, too, since they all are former winners.

But practically overshadowing the nominees is the conspicuous absence of Quentin Tarantino (Django Unchained), Ben Affleck (Argo) and Kathryn Bigelow) in the Best Director category. Joining them in the snub club are actors John Hawkes (The Sessions) and Suraj Sharma (Life of Pi), as well as actresses Rachel Weisz (The Deep Blue Sea) and Ann Dowd (Compliance).
Regardless, the 85th Academy Awards show is set to air live on ABC on Sunday, February 24th at 8 PM ET/5 PM PT, and will be hosted by the ever-irreverent Seth MacFarlane.

 

Best Motion Picture of the Year

Amour

Argo

Beasts of the Southern Wild

Django Unchained

Les Misérables

Life of Pi

Lincoln

Silver Linings Playbook

Zero Dark Thirty

 

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

Bradley Cooper (Silver Linings Playbook)

Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln)

Hugh Jackman (Les Misérables)

Joaquin Phoenix (The Master)

Denzel Washington (Flight)

 

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty)

Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook)

Emmanuelle Riva (Amour)

Quvenzhané Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild)

Naomi Watts (The Impossible)

 

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

Alan Arkin (Argo)

Robert De Niro (Silver Linings Playbook)

Philip Seymour Hoffman (The Master)

Tommy Lee Jones (Lincoln)

Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained)

 

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

Amy Adams (The Master)

Sally Field (Lincoln)

Anne Hathaway (Les Misérables)

Helen Hunt (The Sessions)

Jacki Weaver (Silver Linings Playbook)

 

Best Achievement in Directing

Michael Haneke (Amour)

Ang Lee (Life of Pi)

David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook)

Steven Spielberg (Lincoln)

Benh Zeitlin (Beasts of the Southern Wild)

 

Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen

Amour: Michael Haneke

Django Unchained: Quentin Tarantino

Flight: John Gatins

Moonrise Kingdom: Wes Anderson, Roman Coppola

Zero Dark Thirty: Mark Boal


Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published

Argo: Chris Terrio

Beasts of the Southern Wild: Lucy Alibar, Benh Zeitlin

Life of Pi: David Magee

Lincoln: Tony Kushner

Silver Linings Playbook: David O. Russell

 

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year

Brave

Frankenweenie

ParaNorman

The Pirates! Band of Misfits

Wreck-It Ralph

 

Best Foreign Language Film of the Year

Amour (Austria)

War Witch (Canada)

No (Chile)

A Royal Affair (Denmark)

Kon-Tiki (Norway)


Best Achievement in Cinematography

Anna Karenina

Django Unchained

Life of Pi

Lincoln

Skyfall

 

Best Achievement in Editing

Argo

Life of Pi

Lincoln

Silver Linings Playbook

Zero Dark Thirty

 

Best Achievement in Production Design

Anna Karenina

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Les Misérables

Life of Pi

Lincoln


Best Achievement in Costume Design

Anna Karenina

Les Misérables

Lincoln

Mirror Mirror

Snow White and the Huntsman


Best Achievement in Makeup

Hitchcock

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Les Misérables


Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score

Anna Karenina

Argo

Life of Pi

Lincoln

Skyfall


Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song

Chasing Ice: J. Ralph("Before My Time")

Les Misérables: Alain Boublil, Claude-Michel Schönberg, Herbert Kretzmer("Suddenly")

Life of Pi: Mychael Danna, Bombay Jayshree("Pi's Lullaby")

Skyfall: Adele, Paul Epworth("Skyfall")

Ted: Walter Murphy, Seth MacFarlane("Everybody Needs a Best Friend")

 

Best Achievement in Sound Mixing

Argo

Les Misérables

Life of Pi

Lincoln

Skyfall

 

Best Achievement in Sound Editing

Argo

Django Unchained

Life of Pi

Skyfall

Zero Dark Thirty

 

Best Achievement in Visual Effects

The Avengers

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Life of Pi

Prometheus

Snow White and the Huntsman

 

Best Documentary, Features

5 Broken Cameras

The Gatekeepers

How to Survive a Plague

The Invisible War

Searching for Sugar Man

 

Best Documentary, Short Subjects

Inocente

Kings Point

Mondays at Racine

Open Heart

Redemption


Best Short Film, Animated

Adam and Dog

Fresh Guacamole

Head Over Heels

Paperman

The Simpsons: The Longest Daycare


Best Short Film, Live Action

Asad

Buzkashi Boys

Curfew

Death of a Shadow

Henry


Reviews
Userpic Sean Penn Shines in Crime Saga about Legendary Mobster
Posted by Kam Williams
10.01.2013

Gangster Squad
Film Review by Kam Williams

Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn) was born and raised in Brooklyn where he started out as a prizefighter before moving to Chicago during Prohibition to become an enforcer for Al Capone. In the Forties, he was sent by Meyer Lansky to Los Angeles to establish extortion, gambling, prostitution and loan shark operations on behalf of the Jewish Mafia.

Mickey gradually began to make inroads, which didn't sit well with LA Police Chief Bill Parker (Nick Nolte) who was determined to prevent any crime syndicate from gaining a foothold in his city. But that would prove easier said than done since the vicious mobster had already succeeded in bribing and/or intimidating many cops, judges and powerful politicians.

Given the frightening degree of corruption, Parker decided that the only way to bring down Mickey was to behave just as ruthlessly. So, he asked one of his most fearless officers, Sergeant John O'Mara (Josh Brolin), to form a top secret team whose mission would be to enforce the law by breaking it.

For, the so-called Gangster Squad's mission was simply to enter each of Cohen's establishments anonymously in order to break kneecaps and generally trash the place. Of course, if any of O'Mara's goons were killed or captured, the Commissioner would have to disavow any knowledge of their actions.

Thus unfolds Gangster Squad, a stylized costume drama with far more charm than one would ordinarily expect to find in an old-fashioned shoot ‘em up. Directed by Ruben Fleisher (Zombieland), the film is based on the clever Paul Lieberman best-seller of the same name.

The production was blessed with an A-list cast which includes Sean Penn, Ryan Gosling, Josh Brolin, Emma Stone, Nick Nolte, Anthony Mackie, Giovanni Ribisi, Michael Pena, Robert Patrick and Mireille Enos. Therefiore, there are no throwaway roles here, with even lesser characters benefitting from development as a consequence of veteran thespians putting their all into their performances.

As a result, you come to care not only about whether or not Mickey will ever be brought to justice, but about surprisingly-engaging subplots involving a lawman (Gosling) going gaga over the gangsta's moll (Stone), and about a pregnant wife's (Enos) worry about whether her gung-ho hubby's (Brolin) will live long enough to witness his baby's birth. Nevertheless, the front story does feature all the staples of the genre, from flashy Zoot suits to Tommy guns to street smart dialogue mixing slang and savoir faire in a manner reminiscent of Damon Runyon.

A high body-count showdown between rogue cops and the Kosher Nostra for the future of Los Angeles!

Excellent (4 stars)

Rated R for profanity and graphic violence

Running time: 113 minutes

Distributor: Warner Brothers

To see a trailer for Gangster Squad, visit


Reviews
Userpic Tsunami Drama Revisits Family’s Harrowing Ordeal
Posted by Kam Williams
07.01.2013

Naomi Watts in Impossible Publicity Photo

The Impossible
Film Review by Kam Williams

On the day after Christmas in 2004, a magnitude 9.3 earthquake, the third largest ever measured on the Richter scale, triggered a mammoth tsunami in the Indian Ocean which cost a quarter million people their lives. Thanks to the ubiquity of surveillance and cell phone cameras, the world was able to witness much of the tragedy, including tidal waves crashing ashore and creeping deep inland before sweeping humans, cars and everything else in its path back out to sea.

Maria (Naomi Watts) and Henry Belon (Ewan McGregor), a married couple from Spain, had the misfortune to be vacationing in Thailand with their three sons (Tom Holland, Samuel Joslin and Oaklee Pendergast) that fateful day. Because they had rented a ground level cottage at a luxurious beachfront resort, they were engulfed by water and separated from each other the moment disaster struck.

The family's ensuing ordeal is the subject of The Impossible, a harrowing tale of survival directed by Juan Antonia Bayona (The Orphanage). The Belons' nationality has admittedly been changed from Spanish to British for the sake of the film, but one can only assume that the rest of their terrifying experience has been accurately recreated here.

The film opens with a relatively serene tableau covering their uneventful, Christmas Eve flight to Khao Lak as well as their subsequent celebration of the holiday opening presents and snorkeling. Of course, that deceptively idyllic setup is just the quiet before the storm.

When the tsunami hits the following morning, their hotel is engulfed, and from that point forward the picture is presented primarily from Maria's point of view. We first witness her clinging to a palm tree, and then saving eldest son Lucas (Holland).

The kid eventually escorts his profusely bleeding mother through the chaos to a makeshift hospital for some urgently-needed medical attention. While she teeters between life and death, Lucas perambulates the devastated region for any sign, living or dead, of his missing father and siblings.

Did they make it? Sorry, far be it from this critic to spoil the resolution of any edge-of-your-seat thriller, even if based on actual events.

Forget National Lampoon, this flick chronicles the real vacation from Hell!

Very Good (3 stars)

Rated PG-13 for brief nudity, disturbing images and intense disaster sequences

In English and Thai with subtitles

Running time: 114 minutes

Distributor: Summit Entertainment

To see a trailer for The Impossible, visit


Zero Dark Thirty
Film Review by Kam Williams

After 9/11, the United States intensified its efforts in the international manhunt for Osama bin Laden (Ricky Sekhon). Nevertheless, the elusive mastermind of the terrorist attack continued to orchestrate mass murders in Bali, Istanbul, London, Saudi Arabia and elsewhere around the world.

Dismayed by the ever-mounting death toll, the authorities rationalized the use of rough interrogation tactics bordering on torture in the hope of expediting the capture, dead or alive, of the slippery al-Qaida leader. He was ultimately tracked down to a walled compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan where he died on May 2, 2011 during a daring, helicopter raid conducted by Navy SEAL Team Six,

Directed by two-time, Academy Award-winner Kathryn Bigelow (for The Hurt Locker), Zero Dark Thirty (military speak for 12:30 AM) is a riveting, super-realistic account of the decade-long search for bin Laden. Bigelow has again collaborated with Oscar-winning scriptwriter Mark Boal (also for The Hurt Locker), with the pair apparently gaining access to classified materials in preparing the project.

The film is structured as a tale of female empowerment revolving around Maya (Jessica Chastain), a cool, calm and collected CIA agent who manages to keep her head even when so many around her seem to be losing theirs, literally and/or figuratively. She also has an uncanny knack for deciphering which clues might be worth following, cutting a sharp contrast in this regard to bumbling colleagues who fritter away most of their time on wild goose chases.

At the point of departure, we find Maya finally getting her first taste of fieldwork after starting her career boning-up on bin Laden behind a desk in Washington, D.C. She's been reassigned to participate in the questioning of al-Qaida members and sympathizers being detained at secret sites located outside the U.S. where the Geneva Conventions provisions relating to torture presumably don't apply.

Soon, Maya's chasing clues from Pakistan to Kuwait to Afghanistan and back, alongside tone-deaf bosses (Jason Clarke and Kyle Chandler) who could crack the case quickly if they weren't such male chauvinists suffering from Persistent Disbelief Syndrome. That's the shopworn plot device which pits a frustrated, unappreciated protagonist against an army of stubbornly skeptical naysayers.

Whether a convenient, cinematic contrivance or an accurate portrayal of what transpired, Zero Dark Thirty's version of history certainly makes for a very convincing piece of patriotic storytelling. Credit Jessica Chastain for imbuing her character, Maya, with a compelling combination of vulnerability, sagacity and steely resolve in a memorable, Oscar-quality performance.

CIA Agent Strangelove, or how I learned to stop worrying and love waterboarding!

 

Excellent (4 stars)

Rated R for profanity, disturbing images and graphic violence.

Running time: 157 minutes

Distributor: Columbia Pictures


To see a trailer for Zero Dark Thirty, visit