Showing posts with label Manchester by the Sea. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Manchester by the Sea. Show all posts

Monday, 27 February 2017

89th Annual Academy Awards

With some incredibly well-deserved wins, the Oscars certainly didn't leave the drama behind - a shock misread led to La La Land having to hand their Oscar over to Moonlight. Alongside all the glitzy dresses and political speeches, there were some triumphant wins; Mahershala Ali became the first Muslim to win an Oscar - his performance in Moonlight was indeed extraordinary, so a round of applause to him. La La Land still came out on top - but not by as much as anticipated.

Image Source

Best Picture
Nominees;
Arrival
Fences
Hacksaw Ridge
Hell or High Water
Hidden Figures
La La Land
Lion
Manchester by the Sea
Moonlight

Best Actress
Nominees;
Emma Stone (La La Land)
Isabelle Huppert (Elle)
Meryl Streep (Florence Foster Jenkins)
Natalie Portman (Jackie)
Ruth Negga (Loving)

Best Director
Nominees;
Barry Jenkins (Moonlight)
Denis Villeneuve (Arrival)
Kenneth Lonergan (Manchester by the Sea)
Mel Gibson (Hacksaw Ridge)

Best Actor
Nominees;
Andrew Garfield (Hacksaw Ridge)
Casey Affleck (Manchester by the Sea)
Denzel Washington (Fences)
Ryan Gosling (La La Land)
Viggo Mortensen (Captain Fantastic)

Best Original Screenplay
Nominees;
Hell or High Water
La La Land
The Lobster
20th Century Women

Best Supporting Actor
Nominees;
Dev Patel (Lion)
Jeff Bridges (Hell or High Water)
Lucas Hedges (Manchester by the Sea)
Mahershala Ali (Moonlight)
Michael Shannon (Nocturnal Animals)

Best Visual Effects
Nominees;
Deepwater Horizon
Doctor Strange
The Jungle Book
Kubo and the Two Strings
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Best Animated Feature
Nominees;
Kubo and the Two Strings
Moana
My Life as a Zucchini
The Red Turtle
Zootopia

Best Supporting Actress
Nominees;
Michelle Williams (Manchester by the Sea)
Naomie Harris (Moonlight)
Nicole Kidman (Lion)
Octavia Spencer (Hidden Figures)
Best Adapted Screenplay
Nominees;
Arrival
Fences
Hidden Figures
Lion

Best Animated Short
Nominees;
Blind Vaysha
Borrowed Time
Pear Cider and Cigarettes
Pearl
Piper

Best Documentary Short
Nominees;
4.1 Miles
Extremis
Joe's Violin
Watani: My Homeland
The White Helmets

Best Cinematography
Nominees;
Arrival
Lion
Moonlight
Silence

Best Costume Design
Nominees;
Allied
Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them
Florence Foster Jenkins
Jackie
La La Land

Best Documentary
Nominees;
13th
Fire at Sea
I Am Not Your Negro
Life, Animated
OJ: Made in America

Best Film Editing
Nominees;
Arrival
Hacksaw Ridge
Hell or High Water
La La Land
Moonlight

Best Foreign Language Film
Nominees;
Land of Mine
A Man Called Ove
The Salesman
Tanna
Toni Erdmann

Best Make Up & Hairstyling
Nominees;
A Man Called Ove
Star Trek Beyond
Suicide Squad

 Best Song
Nominees;
Audition (La La Land)
Can't Stop the Feeling (Trolls)
City of Stars (La La Land)
The Empty Chair (Jim: The James Foley Story)
How Far I'll Go (Moana)

Best Production Design
Nominees;
Arrival
Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them
Hail, Caesar!
La La Land
Passengers

Best Sound Editing
Nominees;
Arrival
Deepwater Horizon
Hacksaw Ridge
La La Land
Sully

 Best Score
Nominees;
Jackie
La La Land
Lion
Moonlight
Passengers

 Best Sound Mixing
Nominees;
Arrival
Hacksaw Ridge
La La Land
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
13 Hours

 Best Live-Action Short
Nominees;
Ennemis Intérieurs
La Femme et le TGV
Silent Nights
Sing
Timecode


Posted by at No comments :
Labels: , , , , , , , , ,

Sunday, 12 February 2017

69th Annual British Academy Film Awards

Here are the 69th Annual British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA) nominees listed, with the winners highlighted. While La La Land and Manchester by the Sea went home with the most awards, Dev Patel and Viola Davis shone brightly for their supporting roles; incredibly well-deserved wins.


BAFTA Fellowship
Mel Brooks

Best Film
Nominees;
Arrival
I, Daniel Blake
Manchester by the Sea
Moonlight

Best Actress
Nominees;
Amy Adams (Arrival)
Emily Blunt (The Girl on the Train)
Meryl Streep (Florence Foster Jenkins)
Natalie Portman (Jackie)

Best Director
Nominees;
Denis Villeneuve (Arrival)
Ken Loach (I, Daniel Blake)
Kenneth Lonergan (Manchester by the Sea)
Tom Ford (Nocturnal Animals)

Best Actor
Nominees;
Andrew Garfield (Hacksaw Ridge)
Jake Gyllenhaal (Nocturnal Animals)
Ryan Gosling (La La Land)
Viggo Mortensen (Captain Fantastic)

 Best Original Screenplay
Nominees;
Hell or High Water
I, Daniel Blake
La La Land
Moonlight

Best Supporting Actor
Nominees;
Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Nocturnal Animals)
Hugh Grant (Florence Foster Jenkins)
Jeff Bridges (Hell or High Water)
Mahershala Ali (Moonlight)

Best Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer
Nominees;
The Girl With All the Gifts - Mike Carey (writer), Camille Gatin (producer)
The Hard Shop - George Amponsah (writer/director/producer), Dionne Walker (writer/producer)
Notes on Blindness - Peter Middleton (writer/director/producer), James Spinney (writer/director), Jo-Jo Ellison (producer)
The Pass - John Donnelly (writer), Ben A Williams (director)
Under the Shadow - Babak Anvari (writer/director), Emily Leo, Oliver Roskill, Lucan Too (producers)

 Best Special Visual Effects
Nominees;
Arrival
Doctor Strange
Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them
The Jungle Book
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Best Animated Film
Nominees;
Finding Dory
Kubo and the Two Strings
Moana
Zootropolis

Best Supporting Actress
Nominees;
Hayley Squires (I, Daniel Blake)
Michelle Williams (Manchester by the Sea)
Naomie Harris (Moonlight)
Nicole Kidman (Lion)

Best Adapted Screenplay
Nominees;
Arrival
Hacksaw Ridge
Hidden Figures
Nocturnal Animals

EE Rising Star Award
Nominees;
Anya Taylor-Joy
Laia Costa
Lucas Hedges
Ruth Negga
Tom Holland

Best British Film
Nominees;
American Honey
Denial
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
I, Daniel Blake
Notes on Blindness
Under the Shadow

Best British Short Animation
Nominees;
The Alan Dimension
A Love Story
Tough

Best British Short Film
Nominees;
Confused
Home
Mouth of Hell
The Party
Standby

Best Cinematography
Nominees;
Arrival
Hell or High Water
Lion
Nocturnal Animals

Best Costume Design
Nominees;
Allied
Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them
Florence Foster Jenkins
La La Land

 Best Documentary
Nominees;
13th
The Beatles: Eight Days a Week - The Touring Years
The Eagle Huntress
Notes on Blindness
Weiner

 Best Editing
Nominees;
Arrival
Hacksaw Ridge
La La Land
Manchester by the Sea
Nocturnal Animals

Best Film Not in the English Language
Nominees;
Dheepan
Julieta
Mustang
Son of Saul
Toni Erdmann

 Best Make Up & Hair
Nominees;
Doctor Strange
Florence Foster Jenkins
Hacksaw Ridge
Nocturnal Animals
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

 Best Original Music
Nominees;
Arrival
Jackie
La La Land
Lion
Nocturnal Animals

 Best Production Design
Nominees;
Doctor Strange
Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them
Hail, Caesar!
La La Land
Nocturnal Animals

 Best Sound
Nominees;
Arrival
Deepwater Horizon
Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them
Hacksaw Ridge
La La Land

Posted by at No comments :
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Sunday, 29 January 2017

Review: Manchester by the Sea

Runtime: 2hr 17min
Director: Kenneth Lonergan
Release Date: 13th January 2017
Rating: 15 (UK), R (US)

Melancholy-inducing Manchester by the Sea's attempts to tell a passionate story of tragedy, loss, and the importance of family in times of struggle, fall short; all that felt received was a mediocre presentation with a lack of convincing portrayals.

Image Source

It is clear to see what Manchester by the Sea tried to achieve here; the plot follows the death of main character Lee Chandler's (Casey Affleck) brother, and his new-found guardianship of nephew, Patrick (Lucas Hedges) - Lonergan envisioned a hard-hitting movie  encapsulating real-life reactions to trauma, gripping the viewer until the bitter end.

The main storyline carries the predominant issue Lee faces - being left custody of his nephew after his brother, Joe (Kyle Chandler) dies from a heart condition. Lee is incredibly reluctant about this and spends plenty of screentime trying to palm off said nephew on others, and the ending is inconclusive as to how this issue can really be resolved.

The faults in Manchester by the Sea include an unjustified runtime, near-emotionless acting (particularly Affleck) and some rather odd pacing; flashbacks occur frequently - detailing Lee's past and why he moved away from Manchester - but these flashbacks have no indication of timing so it is often unclear whether each scene is a flashback or part of present day events. Affleck's performance is wooden on the most part; the majority of intended powerful moments fall short with Lee - a brooding loner - just being portrayed disinterested and expressionless; mundane to watch, to say the least.

Casting decisions were not entirely on form either - both Lee's ex wife Randi (Michelle Williams) and Joe's ex wife Elise (Gretchen Mol) looked very similar (and had uncanny styling) so, particularly in one certain scene where only the back of her head was visible, it was unclear which character we were seeing.

The film did have its merits however; the location the film is set in was an excellent directing choice; the scenery was beautifully shot at times, and the writing of the story was touching to an extent, were it not for poor execution. Manchester by the Sea did have some comical moments as well - especially during the first half an hour of the film. It was a let down that this dissipated throughout the film because it appeared as though the movie couldn't decide if it was entirely sombre or if it had light-hearted aspects despite a dark plot-line.

Image Source

The film succeeded in the sense that I did leave the cinema feeling melancholy - Affleck did display an on-screen presence of depression and angst; and there were times during the film that this did absolutely fit the tone, but not when there were attempts to show his compassionate side towards his nephew: which were key to the plot. 

Manchester by the Sea's greatest fault is that it is mostly uneventful and uninspiring, I never found myself enthralled or anticipating what was to come - only waiting on the movie end. How Casey Affleck won a Golden Globe for his performance I remain uncertain - but one can appreciate he made some semblance of effort with respect of the material given.

Lucas Hedges' depiction was of note; it is disappointing that the character of Patrick Chandler was written merely as a bratty teenager (with an injection of lothario and absence of empathy) waiting on Lee to ferry him around above all else; reduced to an irritating on-screen presence.

The film is at times a bore to watch, as some plotlines don't go anywhere (perhaps in an attempt to simulate lifelike events), but the premise of the movie is commendable and despite an inconclusive ending, Manchester by the Sea was not completely awful. 

5/10

Posted by at No comments :
Labels: , , , , , , , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts ( Atom )