Have you Heard of These Films: “I Am Love”, “Fish Tank” or “Biutiful”? ICINE Proudly Announces The Best In 2010 Films!

It’s the time of the year again to wrap-up the year with the best in film; thus, it’s my turn to announce my choices for the best in 2010.  The past year was by a large margin a much better year for movies and performances, just when I was about ready to throw in the towel!  It was the first year in a while that I saw an increase in numbers of films seen, with almost over 100.

This was also a very good year for actors and independent films, so good that most of my choices are either independent and foreign, and both supporting categories have six nominees each–they were that good!  Not to mention Javier Bardem’s formidably hunting performance.  Plus two special categories: Best Musical Score and Rolling Credits nominees and winners.

OK, without further ado, here is the list of nominees and winners for the 2010 Rammy Awards–drum roll please:-):

2010 RAMMYS
Top 10 Films
10.  127 Hours
9.  I Am Love
8.  Fish Tank
7.  Nora’s Will
6.  Another Year
5.  The Town
4.  Black Swan
3.  The Ghost Writer
2.  Mesrine: Public Enemy No 1
1.  Biutiful 

Best Picture
Biutiful *
Black Swan
The Ghost Writer
Mesrine: Public Enemy No 1
The Town

Best Actor
Ben Affleck for The Town
Javier Bardem for Biutiful * (tie)
Vincent Cassel for Mesrine: Killer Instinct and Mesrine: Public Enemy #1 * (tie)
Colin Firth for The King’s Speech
James Franco for 127 Hours

Best Actress
Maricel Alvarez for Biutiful
Annette Bening  for The Kid’s Are All Right *
Katie Jarvis for Fish Tank
Natalie Portman for Black Swan
Tilda Swinton for I Am Love
Michelle Williams for Blue Valentine

Best Supporting Actor
Christian Bale for The Fighter
John Hawkes for Winter’s Bone
Jeremy Renner for The Town *
Geoffrey Rush for The King’s Speech
Dylan Riley Snyder for Life During Wartime

Best Supporting Actress
Melissa Leo for The Figher
Lesley Manville for Another Year *
Ann Morgan Guilbert for Please Give
Hailee Steinfeld for True Grit
Jacky Weaver for Animal Kingdom
Olivia Williams for Ghost Writer

Best Original Score
127 Hours
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
Social Network *

Best Rolling Credits
Blue Valentine

The 2010 Gotham Independent Film Award Nominations Announced: Who Made The Cut?

The Film Award Season has officially began with the nominations announcement of the 20th Annual Gotham Independent Film Awards , ceremony that will take place on Monday, November 29th at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City, where winners will be announced.

Indie film “Winter Bones”, “The Kids Are All Right” and Lena Dunham’s “Tiny Furniture” led the nominations with each garnering two total.  “Bone” took three nominations, including best feature, best ensemble performance (for Jennifer Lawrence, John Hawkes, Dale Dickey, Lauren Sweetser, Garret Dillahunt, and Kevin Breznahan), and best breakthrough performance (Lawrence).  In the best feature category, the film was joined by Darren Aronofsky’s “Black Swan,” Derek Cianfrance’s “Blue Valentine,” Lisa Cholodenko’s “The Kids Are All Right,” and Matt Reeves’ “Let Me In.”

The big snubs were Annette Bening for “Kids” and Portman for “Swan”, both of which are said to be front runners for the Academy Awards.

The 2010 nominees for the 20th Anniversary Gotham Independent Film Awards are:

Best Feature
Black Swan
Darren Aronofsky, director; Mike Medavoy, Arnold W. Messer, Brian Oliver, Scott Franklin, producers (Fox Searchlight Pictures)

Blue Valentine
Derek Cianfrance, director; Jamie Patricof, Lynette Howell, Alex Orlovsky, producers (The Weinstein Company)

The Kids Are All Right
Lisa Cholodenko, director;  Gary Gilbert, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte, Celine Rattray, Jordan Horowitz, Daniela Taplin Lundberg, Philippe Hellmann, producers (Focus Features)

Let Me In
Matt Reeves, director; Simon Oakes, Alex Brunner, Guy East, Tobin Armbrust,  Donna Gigliotti, John Nording, Carl Molinder, producers (Overture Films)

Winter’s Bone
Debra Granik, director; Anne Rosellini, Alix Madigan-Yorkin, producers (Roadside Attractions)

Best Documentary
12th & Delaware
Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, directors/producers (HBO Documentary Films)

Inside Job
Charles Ferguson, director; Charles Ferguson, Audrey Marrs, producers (Sony Pictures Classics)

The Oath
Laura Poitras, director/producer (Zeitgeist Films and American Documentary/POV)

Public Speaking
Martin Scorsese, director; Martin Scorsese, Graydon Carter, Margaret Bodde, Fran Lebowitz, producers (HBO Documentary Films)

Sweetgrass
Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Ilisa Barbash, directors; Ilisa Barbash, producer (Cinema Guild)

Best Ensemble Performance
The Kids Are All Right
Annette Bening, Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Mia Wasikowska, Josh Hutcherson (Focus Features)

Life During Wartime
Shirley Henderson, Ciarán Hinds, Allison Janney, Michael Lerner, Chris Marquette, Rich Pecci, Charlotte Rampling, Paul Reubens, Ally Sheedy, Dylan Riley Snyder, Renée Taylor, Michael Kenneth Williams (IFC Films)

Please Give
Catherine Keener, Amanda Peet, Oliver Platt, Rebecca Hall, Ann Guilbert, Lois Smith, Sarah Steele, Thomas Ian Nicholas (Sony Pictures Classics)

Tiny Furniture
Lena Dunham, Laurie Simmons, Grace Dunham, Rachel Howe, Merritt Wever, Amy Seimetz, Alex Karpovsky, David Call,  Jemima Kirke, Sarah Sophie Flicker, Garland Hunter, Isen Hunter (IFC Films)

Winter’s Bone
Jennifer Lawrence, John Hawkes, Dale Dickey, Lauren Sweetser, Garret Dillahunt, Kevin Breznahan (Roadside Attractions)

Breakthrough Director
John Wells for The Company Men (The Weinstein Company)

Kevin Asch for Holy Rollers (First Independent Pictures)

Glenn Ficarra and John Requa for I Love You Phillip Morris (Roadside Attractions)

Tanya Hamilton for Night Catches Us (Magnolia Pictures)

Lena Dunham for Tiny Furniture (IFC Films)

Breakthrough Actor
Prince Adu in Prince of Broadway (Elephant Eye Films)

Ronald Bronstein in Daddy Longlegs (IFC Films)

Greta Gerwig in Greenberg (Focus Features)

Jennifer Lawrence in Winter’s Bone (Roadside Attractions)

John Ortiz in Jack Goes Boating (Overture Films)

Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You
Kati With An I
Robert Greene, director; Douglas Tirola, Susan Bedusa, producers

Littlerock
Mike Ott, director; Frederick Thornton, Laura Ragsdale, Sierra Leoni, producers

On Coal River
Francine Cavanaugh and Adams Wood, directors; Jillian Elizabeth, Adams Wood, Francine Cavanaugh, producers

Summer Pasture
Lynn True and Nelson Walker, directors/producers; Tsering Perlo, co-director/co-producer

The Wolf Knife
Laurel Nakadate, director/producer

Have you seen any of these films?

Check out “The Kids Are All Right” and my review below, definitely worth seeing!

2009 RAMMYS: ICINE’S BEST in Motion Picture Announced

In what it was the worse year for good films in recent memory, 2009 proved to be a very difficult year to come up with some decent films that stood out from the rest.  Nevertheless, award season is coming to an end with the last two major awards being unveiled this coming weekend: The Independent Spirit Awards and the Academy Awards.  Thus, it’s time to announce the BEST OF 20o9 in Motion Pictures and this time around it’s Icine’s turn to announce its choices with the RAMMY’S.  In it’s 13th edition, the RAMMYS are awarded every year to the excellence of film and acting, and this year marks it’s first year that they will actually be published to the public.

Here is the short list of best films, best actors, and all the winners–in bold–in each category :

2009 RAMMYS

Best Actor

Jeff Bridges  for Crazy Heart

Colin Firth for A Single Man

Tahar Rahim for A Prophet

Jeremy Renner for The Hurt Locker

Michael Stuhlbarg for A Serious Man

Best Actress

Penelope Cruz for Broken Embraces

Charlotte Gainsbourg for Antichrist

Helen Mirren for The Last Station

Gabourey Sidibe for Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire

Tilda Swinton for Julia

Best Supporting Actor

Niels Arestrup for A Prophet

Brian Geraghty for The Hurt Locker

Woody Harrelson for The Messenger

Christopher Plummer for The Last Station

Christoph Waltz for Inglorious Basterds

Best Supporting Actress

Grace Coddington for The September Issue

Vera Farmiga for Up the Air

Mo’Nique for Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire

Samantha Morton for The Messenger

Blanca Portillo for Broken Embraces

Best Director

Jacques Audiard for A Prophet

Katrhyn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker

James Cameron for Avatar

Quentin Tarantino for Inglorious Basterds

Lars Von Trier for Antichrist

Best Motion Picture

Antichrist

Avatar

Broken Embraces

The Hurt Locker

Inglorious Basterds

Top Ten Films

10.  The Cove

9.  A Serious Man

8.  Mancora

7.  Tokyo Sonata

6.  A Prophet

5.  Open Embraces

4.  Antichrist

3.  Hurt Locker

2.  Avatar

1.  Inglorious Basterds

Stay tuned for the release of the RAMMYS Awards Retrospective coming soon…

2009 Golden Globes Winners Revealed [Monday Report]

This year’s NBC’s Golden Globes broadcast ratings got a nice boost according to Nielsen numbers released today.

“The 67th Annual Golden Globe Awards” had 14 percent more viewers than last year’s show.  The three-hour shindig won its time slot and drew 16.9 million viewers, beating an audience of 14.9 million viewers in 2009.

Having British actor-comedian Ricky Gervais as the host must have helped!

If you missed the show, here is a recap of who won in each category:

2009 GOLDEN GLOBE WINNERS

Best film drama:

“Avatar”

Actor in a drama:

Jeff Bridges, “Crazy Heart”

Actress in a drama:

Sandra Bullock, “The Blind Side”

Best comedy or musical:

“The Hangover”

Actor in a comedy or musical:

Robert Downey, Jr. “Sherlock Holmes”

Actress in a comedy or musical:

Meryl Streep, “Julie & Julia”

Supporting Actor:

Christoph Waltz, “Inglourious Basterds”

Supporting Actress:

Mo’Nique, “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”

Animated film:

“Up”

Foreign Language film:

“The White Ribbon,” Germany

Director:

James Cameron, “Avatar”

Screenwriter:

Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner, “Up In the Air”

Original Score:

Michael Giacchino, “Up”

Original Song:

T Bone Burnett and Ryan Bingham, “The Weary Kind,” from “Crazy Heart”

TELEVISION

Best TV drama:

“Mad Men”

Actor in a drama:

Michael C. Hall, “Dexter

Actress in a drama:

Julianna Marguiles, “The Good Wife”

Best comedy or musical:

“Glee”

Actor in a comedy or musical:

Alec Baldwin, “30 Rock”

Actress in a comedy or musical:

Toni Collette, “United States of Tara”

Best movie or mini-series:

“Grey Gardens”

Actor in a movie or mini-series:

Kevin Bacon, “Taking Chance”

Actress in a movie or mini-series:

Drew Barrymore, “Grey Gardens”

Supporting actor, series, movie or mini-series:

John Lithgow, “Dexter”

Supporting actress, series, movie or mini-series:

Chloe Sevigny, “Big Love”

CECILE B. DEMILLE AWARD (career achievement):

Martin Scorsese

For complete coverage on the awards visit: http://www.goldenglobes.org/

And the Nominees Are…?

2009 will be marked as the year of BAD to WORSE releases and one that would alter the way I look at films and made me adjust my approach to the appreciation of this art form.

The award season has officially kicked-off with the recent Spirit Award Nominations and the National Board of Review, and between them, only a handful of films are worth mentioning, while many others wouldn’t even have a chance in any other year.  Granted there are many films to choose from–as in the case of the upcoming Golden Globe nominations this coming Tuesday–but many of them unfortunately lack substance and aim at mainstream audiences who were simply looking for escapist entertainment.

On December 15th, the Hollywood Foreign Press will narrow down this year’s nominations from over 170 films in contention, and with so many categories they may have trouble filling in the slots due to lack of worthy films, performances and such.  But then again, it’s the Golden Globes and they have been known for having a much broader appeal to films of all kinds than it’s older brother; OSCAR!

Come Oscar nomination time, academy members may find themselves in a pickle as well, as they will have to broaden their spectrum; since beginning this year there will be no 5 Best Picture nominees, but rather 10.  This will certainly prove to be very difficult for those more intellectual members who seek good quality films.  It’s the second week in December and I can only come up with a quite small number of films worth considering and time is running out for Academy Award consideration–December 31st.  The truth of the matter is that there are only less than half a dozen films that I am interested in viewing before the year’s end, and that I think will perhaps be worth my while.  The quality of films have deteriorated immensely over the years and it’s a disappointing truth that I have been reluctant to accept.  Since I was 15, I have been a avid film fan and have always looked forward to going to the movies, but 2009 unfortunately marks the year that my outlook has finally met reality.

As a result, I have decided to broaden my spectrum by focusing on various forms of filmmaking independently, as opposed to a sum of it’s parts masterpiece, as has been tradition.  Some of these forms are: acting, cinematography, art direction, story, etc.  And by doing that I have managed to come up with a preliminary list of films that are good, but by no means brilliant or masterpieces.

Here are some of my favorite films this year to exemplify how few these are–in random order and please note that 3 of them are foreign:

Inglourious Basterds

Tokyo Sonata

Hurt Locker

Antichrist

Mancora

Looking forward to see:

Nine

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

The Lovely Bones

A Single Man

STAY TUNED FOR A COMPLETE LIST OF FILMS AND ARTISTS THAT MADE THE CUT IN MY YEARLY MOTION PICTURE AWARDS…

In the meantime, I make a plea to HOLLYWOOD to get out of this bad road it’s taken over the last few years and become more CREATIVE AND COME OUT WITH MORE QUALITY FILMS, AS IT WAS ONCE THE NORM!!!

And the Award Goes To…?

Here is the List of Films that made a mark at this year’s Festival de Cannes!

And, if any of these films play in your city, please go see them…It looks like Lars von Trier film: Antichrist, received at least one award for Best Actress!

The official Jury of this 62nd Festival de Cannes, presided by Isabelle Huppert, revealed the Prize winners during the Closing Ceremonies on the evening of May 24th.

WINNING FILMS & PERFORMANCES

Palme d’Or
DAS WEISSE BAND (The White Ribbon) directed by Michael HANEKE

Grand Prix
UN PROPHÈTE (A Prophet) directed by Jacques AUDIARD

Lifetime achievement award for his work and his exceptional contribution to the history of cinema

Alain RESNAIS

Best Director
Brillante MENDOZA for KINATAY

Jury Prize
FISH TANK directed by Andrea ARNOLD

BAK-JWI (Thirst) directed by PARK Chan-Wook

Best Performance for an Actor
Christoph WALTZ in INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS directed by Quentin TARANTINO

Best Performance by an Actress
Charlotte GAINSBOURG in ANTICHRIST directed by Lars von TRIER

Best Screenplay

MEI Feng for CHUN FENG CHEN ZUI DE YE WAN (Spring Fever) directed by LOU Ye

CAMERA D’OR
SAMSON AND DELILAH directed by Warwick THORNTON (presented at Un Certain Regard)

Caméra d’Or – Special Distinction
AJAMI directed by Scandar COPTI, Yaron SHANI (presented at Quinzaine des Réalisateurs)

UN CERTAIN REGARD

Prix Un Certain Regard – Fondation Groupama Gan pour le Cinéma

KYNODONTAS (Dogtooth) by Yorgos LANTHIMOS

Jury Prize

POLITIST, ADJECTIV (Police, Adjective) by Corneliu PORUMBOIU.

Special Prize Un Certain Regard 2009

KASI AZ GORBEHAYE IRANI KHABAR NADAREH (No One Knows About Persian Cats) by Bahman GHOBADI

LE PÈRE DE MES ENFANTS (Father of My Children) by Mia HANSEN-LØVE

For a complete list visit: http://www.festival-cannes.fr/

THE RETURN OF THE AUTEURS AT THIS YEAR’S FESTIVAL DE CANNES!

Lars von Trier Film “Antichrist” makes some BIG waves at Cannes!

As the Reuters reports: “Danish director Lars von Trier elicited derisive laughter, gasps of disbelief, a smattering of applause and loud boos on Sunday as the credits rolled on his drama “Antichrist” at the Cannes film festival.”

The film, starring Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg as a couple seeking to overcome the grief of losing their only child, has quickly become the most talked-about at this year’s festival, which ends on May 24.

Lars von Trier is no newbie to Cannes spotlight, controversy and final imprint, as he has won the top prize, the Palme d’Or in 2000 for “Dancer in the Dark”, the Grand Prix Award for “Breaking the Waves” in 1996, a Technical Award for his 1984 film “Element of a Crime” and “Antichrist” could certainly trail behind with some accolades this year!

“Antichrist” brief synopsis:

A grieving couple retreat to ’Eden’, their isolated cabin in the woods, where they hope to repair their broken hearts and troubled marriage. But nature takes its course and things go from bad to worse…Check out the surreal trailer below:

Lars von Trier is not the only GREAT filmmaker appearing this year with some new work generating a lot of buzz, others include: Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds, Ang Lee’s Taking Woodstock, Jane Campion’s Bright Star, Ken Loach’s Looking for Eric, Pedro Almodovar’s Los Abrazos Rotos, Michel Gondry’s The Thorn in the Heart, Terry Gelliam’s follow-up to the Brother’s Grim, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, and legendary French director Alan Resnais’ Wild Grass to name a few!

IT’S AN IMPRESSIVE YEAR and here is the impressive line-up of films showcasing at the Festival de Cannes:

2009 FESTIVAL DE CANNES FILMS

• À L’ORIGINE (IN THE BEGINNING) directed by Xavier GIANNOLI
• ANTICHRIST directed by Lars VON TRIER
• BAK-JWI (THIRST) directed by PARK Chan-Wook
• BRIGHT STAR directed by Jane CAMPION
• CHUN FENG CHEN ZUI DE YE WAN (Spring Fever) directed by LOU Ye
• DAS WEISSE BAND (THE WHITE RIBBON) directed by Michael HANEKE
• ENTER THE VOID directed by Gaspar NOÉ
• FISH TANK directed by Andrea ARNOLD
• INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS directed by Quentin TARANTINO
• KINATAY directed by Brillante MENDOZA
• LES HERBES FOLLES (WILD GRASS) directed by Alain RESNAIS
• LOOKING FOR ERIC directed by Ken LOACH
• LOS ABRAZOS ROTOS (BROKEN EMBRACES) directed by Pedro ALMODÓVAR
• MAP OF THE SOUNDS OF TOKYO directed by Isabel COIXET
• TAKING WOODSTOCK directed by Ang LEE
• THE TIME THAT REMAINS directed by Elia SULEIMAN
• UN PROPHÈTE (A PROPHET) directed by Jacques AUDIARD
• VENGEANCE directed by Johnnie TO
• VINCERE directed by Marco BELLOCCHIO
• VISAGE (FACE) directed by TSAI Ming-Liang

• L’ÉPINE DANS LE COEUR (The thorn in the heart) directed by Michel GONDRY

• THE IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS directed by Terry GILLIAM

Stay tuned for final announcement on award winning films this Sunday, May 24th, and for upcoming release dates for any of these films in the your city!