'Boyhood' Named Film of the Year by London Film Critics Circle

Whether here or abroad, Richard Linklater's Boyhood appears to be building an incredible, possibly unstoppable, amount of momentum heading into the Academy Awards. Coming off Best Picture wins at the Golden Globes and Critics' Choice, Boyhood has now been named Film of the Year by the London Film Critics Circle. That goes along with a Director of the Year win for Linklater, and Best Supporting Actress for Patricia Arquette. In general everything went according to the established playbook. Michael Keaton still took the top acting prize for his Birdman performance, while Julianne Moore won Best Actress for Still Alice. JK Simmons racked up another Best Supporting Actor victory for throwing drumsticks around in Whiplash, and Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel won for its screenplay.

Looking at the British side it was Jonathan Glazer's Under the Skin which won for Best British Film, while Rosamund Pike saw some love for her performance in Gone Girl. Full list of winners is below:

35th LONDON CRITICS' CIRCLE FILM AWARDS WINNERS
FILM OF THE YEAR
Boyhood

FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM OF THE YEAR
Leviathan

BRITISH FILM OF THE YEAR
Under the Skin

DOCUMENTARY OF THE YEAR
Citizenfour

ACTOR OF THE YEAR
Michael Keaton - Birdman

ACTRESS OF THE YEAR
Julianne Moore - Still Alice

SUPPORTING ACTOR OF THE YEAR
JK Simmons - Whiplash

SUPPORTING ACTRESS OF THE YEAR
Patricia Arquette - Boyhood

BRITISH ACTOR OF THE YEAR
Timothy Spall - Mr Turner

BRITISH ACTRESS OF THE YEAR
Rosamund Pike - Gone Girl (Fox) & What We Did on Our Holiday

YOUNG BRITISH PERFORMER OF THE YEAR
Alex Lawther - The Imitation Game

DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR
Richard Linklater - Boyhood

SCREENWRITER OF THE YEAR
Wes Anderson - The Grand Budapest Hotel

BREAKTHROUGH BRITISH FILMMAKER
Yann Demange - '71

TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Under the Skin - Mica Levi, score

DILYS POWELL AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN FILM
Miranda Richardson

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'The Grand Budapest Hotel' Leads 2014 BAFTA Nominations with 11

While some of the U.S.-based guild awards are becoming less of an indicator in determining the Oscar nominations, the BAFTA Awards have been good at picking out a few dark horses. And if that's the case this year then Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel has suddenly become a real contender. The British Academy of Film and Television Arts have revealed their nominations for the 2014 BAFTA Awards, and The Grand Budapest Hotel leads all with a whopping eleven. Right behind it is Birdman with 10, and unsurprisingly The Theory of Everything also had 10 while The Imitation Game followed with 9.

Much of the other major categories follow the pattern of other awards but there are a couple of key surprises. Damien Chazelle entered the Best Director field for Whiplash, while also earning a Best Adapted Screenplay nomination for his screenplay. Also the Outstanding British Film category gave some love to Under the Skin, '71, and surprisingly, Paddington. What you find anywhere is Ava DuVernay's Selma, which was completely shut out just days after the Producer Guild did the same. It's unclear if the film, which opens in the UK in February, didn't click with voters or if there was some other issue. Also left out were Angelina Jolie's Unbroken and Paul Thomas Anderson's Inherent Vice.

 Full list of nominees below.

Best Film
"Birdman"
"Boyhood"
"Grand Budapest Hotel"
"Imitation Game"
"Theory Of Everything"

Best Director
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu - "Birdman"
Richard Linklater - "Boyhood"
Wes Anderson - "The Grand Budapest Hotel"
James Marsh - "The Theory Of Everything"
Damien Chazelle - "Whiplash"

Best Actor In A Leading Role
Benedict Cumberbatch - "The Imitation Game"
Ralph Fiennes - "The Grand Budapest Hotel"
Jake Gyllenhaal - "Nightcrawler"
Michael Keaton - "Birdman"
Eddie Redmayne - "The Theory Of Everything"

Best Actress In A Leading Role
Amy Adams - "Big Eyes"
Felicity Jones - "The Theory Of Everything"
Julianne Moore - "Still Alice"
Rosamund Pike - "Gone Girl"
Reese Witherspoon - "Wild"

Best Actor In A Supporting Role
Steve Carell - "Foxcatcher"
Ethan Hawke - "Boyhood"
Edward Norton - "Birdman"
Mark Ruffalo - "Foxcatcher"
J.K. Simmons - "Whiplash"

Best Actress In A Supporting Role
Patricia Arquette - "Boyhood"
Keira Knightley - "The Imitation Game"
Rene Russo - "Nightcrawler"
Imelda Staunton - "Pride"
Emma Stone - "Birdman"

Best Original Screenplay
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu & co - "Birdman"
Richard Linklater - "Boyhood"
Wes Anderson & Hugo Guinness - "The Grand Budapest Hotel"
Dan Gilroy - "Nightcrawler"
Damien Chazelle - "Whiplash"

Best Adapted Screenplay
Jason Hall - "American Sniper"
Gillian Flynn - "Gone Girl"
Graham Moore - "The Imitation Game"
Paul King - "Paddington"
Anthony McCarten - "The Theory Of Everything"

Outstanding British Film
"'71"
"The Imitation Game"
"Paddington"
"Pride"
"Theory Of Everything"
"Under The Skin"

Best Documentary
"20 Feet From Stardom"
"20,000 Days On Earth"
"Citizenfour"
"Finding Vivian Maier"
"Virunga"

EE Rising Star Award
Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Jack O'Connell
Margot Robbie
Miles Teller
Shailene Woodley

Outstanding Debut By A British Writer, Director Or Producer
Elaine Constantine - "Northern Soul"
Gregory Burke, Yann DeMange - "'71"
Hong Khaou - "Lilting"
Paul Katis, Andrew De Lotbiniere - "Kajaki: The True Story"
Stephen Beresford, David Livingstone - "Pride"

Best Film Not In The English Language
"Ida"
"Leviathan"
"The Lunchbox"
"Trash"
"Two Days, One Night"

Best Animated Film
"Big Hero 6"
"The Boxtrolls"
"The Lego Movie"

Best Original Music
Antonio Sanchez - "Birdman"
Alexandre Desplat - "The Grand Budapest Hotel"
Hans Zimmer - "Interstellar"
Johann Johannsson - 'The Theory Of Everything"
Mica Levi - "Under The Skin"

Best Cinematography
Emmanuel Lubezki - "Birdman"
Robert Yeoman - "The Grand Budapest Hotel"
Lukasz Zal, Ryzsard Lenczewski - "Ida"
Hoyte van Hoytema - "Interstellar"
Dick Pope - "Mr. Turner"

Best Editing
Douglas Crise, Stephen Mirrione - "Birdman"
Barney Pilling - "The Grand Budapest Hotel"
William Goldenberg - "The Imitation Game"
John Gilroy - "Nightcrawler"
Jinx Godfrey - "The Theory Of Everything"
Tom Cross - "Whiplash"

Best Production Design
Rick Heinrichs, Shane Vieau - "Big Eyes"
Adam Stockhausen, Anna Pinnock - "The Grand Budapest Hotel"
Maria Djurkovic, Tatiana McDonald - "The Imitation Game"
Nathan Crowley, Gary Fettis - "Interstellar"
Suzie Davies, Charlotte Watts - "Mr. Turner"

Best Costume Design
Milena Canonero - "The Grand Budapest Hotel"
Sammy Sheldon Differ - "The Imitation Game"
Colleen Atwood - "Into The Woods"
Jacqueline Durran - "Mr. Turner"
Steven Noble - "The Theory Of Everything"

Best Makeup and Hair
"The Grand Budapest Hotel"
"Guardians Of The Galaxy"
"Into the Woods"
"Mr. Turner"
"The Theory Of Everything"
Best Sound
"American Sniper"
"Birdman"
"The Grand Budapest Hotel"
"The Imitation Game"
"Whiplash"

Best Special Visual Effects
"Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes"
"Guardians Of The Galaxy"
"The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies"
"Interstellar"
"X-Men: Days Of Future Past"

Best Short Film
"Boogaloo And Graham"
"Emotional Fusebox"
"The Karman Line"
"Slap"
"Three Brothers"

Best Short Animation
"The Bigger Picture"
"Monkey Love Experiments"
"My Dad"

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'Birdman' Soars to Five 2014 WAFCA Award Wins; 'Boyhood' Earns Best Film

The Washington DC Area Film Critics Association, of which most of us are members, has announced the winners of the 2014 WAFCA Awards, and it continues the string of success for Richard Linklater's coming-of-age drama, Boyhood. The indie film took home four awards, including wins in the Best Film and Best Director category. Best Supporting Actress went to Patricia Arquette while the Best Youth Performance (for actors under age 20) went to star Ellar Coltrane.

Taking the most victories with five was Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's meta-comedy, Birdman, with Michael Keaton winning Best Actor. Best Animated Feature went to The Lego Movie, while Julianne Moore won for portraying a woman with Alzheimer's Disease in Still Alice. Keeping up with the beat was JK Simmons who won Best Supporting Actor for his role as a sadistic drum instructor in Whiplash, while in a surprise victory Under the Skin won for Best Original Score.

The full list of winners is below:

THE 2014 WAFCA AWARD WINNERS:

Best Film:
Boyhood

Best Director:
Richard Linklater (Boyhood)

Best Actor:
Michael Keaton (Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance))

Best Actress:
Julianne Moore (Still Alice)

Best Supporting Actor:
J.K. Simmons (Whiplash)

Best Supporting Actress:
Patricia Arquette (Boyhood)

Best Acting Ensemble:
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

Best Youth Performance:
Ellar Coltrane (Boyhood)

Best Adapted Screenplay:
Gillian Flynn (Gone Girl)

Best Original Screenplay:
Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr., Armando Bo (Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance))

Best Animated Feature:
The LEGO Movie

Best Documentary:
Life Itself

Best Foreign Language Film:
Force Majeure

Best Art Direction:
Production Designer: Adam Stockhausen, Set Decorator: Anna Pinnock (The Grand Budapest Hotel)

Best Cinematography:
Emmanuel Lubezki, ASC, AMC (Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance))

Best Editing:
Douglas Crise, Stephen Mirrione, ACE (Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance))

Best Original Score:
Mica Levi (Under the Skin)

The Joe Barber Award for Best Portrayal of Washington, DC:
Captain America: The Winter Soldier

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Review: Jonathan Glazer's 'Under the Skin' Starring Scarlett Johansson

As the director of Sexy Beast and Birth, Jonathan Glazer is responsible for some of the most illuminating, stimulating images in recent memory. It's just a shame he waits so long between movies, this time going nearly a decade before unleashing the intoxicating and deeply unsettling Under the Skin, a contemplative and deeply unsettling sci-fi film that continues his string of gorgeously-crafted, barely comprehensible mood pieces. The challenge of not-knowing; Glazer's unwillingness to spell out everything about this strange and mesmerizing film; is part of what makes it so compelling and at times infuriating.

The debate over Scarlett Johansson as an actress should be over by now, she's proven to be more than just some hot chick. And yet there's also no denying he exotic allure. It's not something she's always been comfortable with on the silver screen, and early on in her career she seemed totally unaware of it. Maybe it's slipping into skintight spandex for superhero movies but now her sexuality is a potent thing, and Under the Skin has her wielding it like a deadly weapon.

There aren't a lot of guys who would turn down an offer of...well, pretty much anything from Johansson, even if the offer seems too good to be true. She plays an alien of unknown origin, arrived to Earth in a manic flash of brilliant light and piercing sounds, coalescing into form without us quite knowing exactly how it happened. When our eyes adjust from the madness, it's Johansson's physical form we see, the model of pure perfection. An irrefutable, undeniable cipher, she dons the sexy clothing of a dead girl and makes her way into the streets of Scotland to experience the world. A cold and clinical twist on the innocence and hunger for life Johansson exhibited in Spike Jonze's Her, the alien starts off slow with easy conversations she doesn't quite understand. Nor does she quite have a grasp on human emotions. One man she encounters she beats with a rock after he attempts to save a drowning a woman; all the while ignoring the crying and stranded baby nearby.

But soon she begins to pick up on little things, using her seductive powers to lure lucky (or extremely unlucky) men into her van. They can't resist her flirty charms and faux helplessness, thinking they've just stumbled into the easiest lay of their lives. Many of these scenes were filmed in secret by Glazer, using non-actors who apparently had no idea they were macking on Johansson, and so these conversations have an authentic, natural rhythm. These guys really think they're getting somewhere, and in a way, they are. Unfortunately it's to the alien's lair, a dark abyss where she slowly disrobes while leading her prey deeper into the room. As they go further, they slowly sink into a murky depth, a nightmarish, soul-destroying end too terrible to imagine. The image of what actually happens to these men under that watery veil is so awful it's been seared into my memory.

As for what any of this means, those answers aren't exactly forthcoming, and Glazer leaves us plenty of room to draw conclusions. Sometimes that narrative indifference becomes a pain to deal with, and when combined with the deliberate pace it nearly drives the film into the realm of art house chore. There's very little dialogue, and half of it in Scottish brogue so thick only an extraterrestrial could understand it. Johansson’s depictions of the creature’s evolving curiosity and emerging lust for life consistently drag the film back from the brink. It's a difficult role, one that demands childlike innocence with deadly sexuality, and there aren't many actresses more uniquely suited to pull it off than her.

The conclusion is an unsatisfying burst of fear and violence, leaving too many stones unturned, too much left to be said. But it's also kind of appropriate. Glazer's Under the Skin gets under our skin, leaving us bewildered yet wanting more.

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Go on the Hunt with Scarlett Johansson in Trailer for 'Under the Skin'

As promised after yesterday's starry poster release, a new trailer for Jonathan Glazer's Under the Skin has been released. Scarlett Johansson stars in a role we've never quite seen her in before as a sultry alien using her sexual powers to lure in male victims for an unknown purpose. Glazer, who also directed Birth and Sexy Beast, has a gift for vivid imagery and that's reflected in this footage. The comparisons to Kubrick seem obvious but we'll have to wait until April 4th to see if they truly hold up.

Check out the trailer and synopsis below.



PLOT: From visionary director Jonathan Glazer (SEXY BEAST, BIRTH) comes a stunning career transformation, a masterpiece of existential science fiction that journeys to the heart of what it means to be human, extraterrestrial — or something in between. A voluptuous woman of unknown origin (Scarlett Johansson) combs the highways in search of isolated or forsaken men, luring this succession of lost souls into an otherworldly lair. They are seduced, stripped of their humanity, and never heard from again. Based on the novel by Michel Faber (The Crimson Petal and the White), UNDER THE SKIN examines human experience from the perspective of an unforgettable heroine who grows too comfortable in her borrowed skin, until she is abducted into humanity with devastating results.

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New Posters for Anticipated Sci-Fi Flicks 'Transcendence' and 'Under the Skin'

It's been a great few years for sci-fi fans, with Rian Johnson, Duncan Jones, Joseph Kosinski, Christopher Nolan and more lending their considerable talent to the genre. That trend should continue in 2014, and today we've got new posters for two anticipated sci-fi films, Wally Pfister's Transcendence, and Jonathan Glazer's Under the Skin.

First up is Transcendence, which we know stars Johnny Depp, Rebecca Hall, Morgan Freeman, Kate Mara, and Paul Bettany. Pfister's directorial debut opens April 18th and here's the official synopsis:

Dr. Will Caster (Johnny Depp) is the foremost researcher in the field of Artificial Intelligence, working to create a sentient machine that combines the collective intelligence of everything ever known with the full range of human emotions. His highly controversial experiments have made him famous, but they have also made him the prime target of anti-technology extremists who will do whatever it takes to stop him. However, in their attempt to destroy Will, they inadvertently become the catalyst for him to succeed—to be a participant in his own transcendence. For his wife Evelyn (Rebecca Hall) and best friend Max Waters (Paul Bettany), both fellow researchers, the question is not if they can…but if they should. Their worst fears are realized as Will’s thirst for knowledge evolves into a seemingly omnipresent quest for power, to what end is unknown. The only thing that is becoming terrifyingly clear is there may be no way to stop him. 

And then there's Jonathan Glazer's Under the Skin, which has been receiving some incredible reviews for the director and star Scarlett Johansson since it played in Venice last year. Opening on April 4th, a new trailer debuts tomorrow for the Species-esque film about a beautiful, man-eating alien who grows closer to her human prey over time.

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Scarlett Johansson Is A Sexy Alien In Full 'Under the Skin' Trailer

Four years was the length of time it took for Jonathan Glazer to deliver his first two powerful films, Sexy Beast and Birth, but he decided to make us wait more than twice that for his third. Nine years later he's back with a bang wowing audiences at Telluride, Venice, and Toronto with the sexy sci-fi film Under the Skin. A few weeks ago we got a cryptic and somewhat perplexing teaser, but now a longer and more complete look has arrived.

While many have been quick to proclaim it as an indie version of Species, Glazer's typically haunting cinematography and weird atmosphere promise that isn't at all the case. Scarlett Johansson plays an alien who takes the form of an irresistible woman and uses her powers of seduction to lure men into her trap. Johansson has played a number of extremely sensual characters but nothing quite like this, and Glazer really seems to have a handle on how best to use her. To better capture the idea of an alien experiencing the world for the first time, Glazer basically shot the film guerrilla-style, leaving Johansson to fend for herself and interact with the public. You can see bits of those scenes in the trailer, and it should make for a fascinating when seen in full.

Under the Skin will arrive some time in 2014.


Under the Skin trailer by FilmBoy-gr

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Sexy, Cryptic Teaser Trailer for 'Under the Skin' Starring Scarlett Johansson

After making a splash in 2000 with his powerful debut Sexy Beast, Jonathan Glazer returned four years later with the reincarnation drama, Birth, with Nicole Kidman. Now nearly a decade later, Glazer is back with the long-developing sci-fi film Under the Skin, which sounded a lot like Species but one look at the teaser proves it will be something completely different.

Sexy, perplexing, and haunting, the trailer has Scarlett Johansson as Laura, an alien in human form who uses her powers of seduction to lure in her male prey, kill them, or send them back to her home planet. Obviously, with a body like Johansson's she has no problem accomplishing the mission, until her human emotions take over and she begins to grow a conscience. The film recently debuted at Venice, and while the reviews have been a little mixed, this trailer suggests it will be one to keep an eye on. Hopefully we get a firm release date soon.

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