Oscar 2012 - WINNERS

The ceremony was wonderful. I haven't slept all night watching it and I was very exited about it.

Billy Crystal was the perfect host. I liked how Emma Stone, Chris Rock, Angelina Jolie, Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis presented the nominees. And Robert Downey Jr. did great, when he said, "I'm filming a documentary called 'The Presenter'..."

It was a triumph of "The Artist". Three main awards now are coming to France. Yay! "Hugo", which had 11 nominations, won 5 Oscars in technical nominations.

I hate that "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" was gracefully ignored. One of the highest rated films of the year, which kids and adults loved, didn't get any Oscar.

Christopher Plummer asked his Oscar, "you are only two years older than me, where have you been all my life?" And he became the oldest person who won the Oscar ever. Octavia Spencer got her statuette and was very emotional accepting it, which made me think about how I would act, if I won one myself. I just faint on the stage and that would be all. I liked Alexander Payne's speech, but why didn't Woody Allen show up? Michel Hazanavicius thanked even the dog Uggie. And  Meryl Streep didn't forget to joke about her being nominated for so many years.

Sacha Baron Cohen said, "I wanted to make something I'd like to watch. Happens that I like watch sick stuff." He disappointed me, when he dispelled 'ashes' over the red carpet. It was sick.

James Earl Jones, Oprah Winfrey and makeup artist Dick Smith got their honorary Oscars for working so hard for us. A tribute to those who passed away was very touching. I broke, when I saw Whitney Houston. So many talented people are gone, but I hope many talented people were born this year.

Many of the winners were predicted by me (and many people around the world), but I think it is a good thing. We knew who was great and the Academy Awards just confirmed it.

Best Picture

"The Artist"

Best Director

Michel Hazanavicius ("The Artist")

Best Actor

Jean Dujardin in "The Artist"

Best Actress

Meryl Streep in "The Iron Lady"

Best Supporting Actor

Christopher Plummer in "Beginners"

Best Supporting Actress

Octavia Spencer in "The Help"

Best Adapted Screenplay

"The Descendants" Screenplay by Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash

Best Original Screenplay

"Midnight in Paris" Written by Woody Allen

Best Animated Film

"Rango" by Gore Verbinski

Best Foreign Language Film

"A Separation" Iran

Art Direction

"Hugo" Production Design: Dante Ferretti; Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo

Cinematography

"Hugo" Robert Richardson

Best Costume Design

"The Artist" Mark Bridges

Best Documentary (Feature)

"Undefeated" TJ Martin, Dan Lindsay and Richard Middlemas

Best Documentary (Short Subject)

"Saving Face" Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy

Best Film Editing

"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall

Best Make-up

"The Iron Lady" Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland

Best Original Score

"The Artist" Ludovic Bource

Best Original Song

"Man or Muppet" from "The Muppets" Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie

Best Short Film (Animated)

"The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore" William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg

Best Short Film (Live Action)

"The Shore" Terry George and Oorlagh George

Best Sound Editing

"Hugo" Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty

Best Sound Mixing

"Hugo" Tom Fleischman and John Midgley

Best Visual Effects

"Hugo" Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossman and Alex Henning

BAFTA Awards 2012 - Winners list

Yesterday's night was very exciting, because it was time for British Academy of Film and Television Arts to name its favourite films, directors and performances of 2011. I didn't write my predictions, but I wasn't surprised when discovered the winners of the main nominations. It was the Golden Globe awards all over again, and I don't mind it.

I'm very glad that "The Artist" won over "The Descendants", because I heart the silent films era. It also won in a few leading categories - Michel Hazanavicius and Jean Dujardin accepted awards for Best Director and Best Leading Actor. In total, this film got 7 awards that night. Not bad, huh?

Losing a shoe for Meryl Streep was a lucky moment, because she won again. Christopher Plummer was amazing in "Beginners" and now he is the oldest actor, who ever got a BAFTA award.

"Rango" is the Best Animated Film, and I like it, because two other nominees didn't impress me in a good way. "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2" isn't all about special effects, but it is a bit weird, how every award keeps ignoring it, though it is one of the best films of the past year.

Now I'm hoping that Oscar ceremony will award the same people and the same films, because they truly deserve it. You can't find my Oscar predictions here.

Also John Hurt and Martin Scorsese were honored for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema and Academy Fellowship. British actor Adam Deacon was named the Rising Star of the year.

Best Film

"The Artist"

Best Director

Michel Hazanavicius ("The Artist")

Outstanding British Film

"Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy"

Best Leading Actor

Jean Dujardin ("The Artist")

Best Leading Actress

Meryl Streep ("The Iron Lady")

Best Supporting Actor

Christopher Plummer ("Beginners")

Best Supporting Actress

Octavia Spencer ("The Help")

Outstanding Debut

Paddy Considine, Diarmid Scrimshaw ("Tyrannosaur")

Best Documentary

"Senna"

Best Film Not in the English Language

"The Skin I Live In" by Pedro Almodóvar

Best Animated Film

"Rango"

Best Original Screenplay

Michel Hazanavicius ("The Artist")

Best Adapted Screenplay

"Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy"

Best Original Music

Ludovic Bource ("The Artist")

Best Cinematography

Guillaume Schiffman ("The Artist")

Best Editing

Gregers Sall, Chris King ("Senna")

Best Production Design

"Hugo"

Best Costume Design

Mark Bridges ("The Artist")

Best Sound

"Hugo"

Best Make Up and Hair

Marese Langan ("The Iron Lady")

Best Special Visual Effects

"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2"

Best Short Animation

"A Morning Stroll" by Grant Orchard

Best Short Film

"Pitch Black Heist" by John Maclean

Pictures - Official BAFTA website

Golden Globes 2012 Film Winners

One of the most anticipating award events took place yesterday in Los Angeles. I haven't chance to watch it on-line (don't worry Oscars I won't miss!), but I'm going to do it today. Many actors, actresses, directors, composers were at the 69 Annual Golden Globe Awards and gave some interesting interviews on the red carpet, which I'm very excited to see.

Ricky Gervais was the host. His opening speech was something hilarious (watch it below). He said that the Golden Globes are just like the Oscars, but without all that esteem.



As you know, I made my predictions, and I was very lucky to guess many of the winners, except for Best Actress (Drama), Best Supporting Actor, Best Animated Feature, Best Foreign Film and Best Original Song. It's 9 out 14, so I think it is a good result.

My favourite acceptance speech was said by Michelle Williams, who told us that she considers herself the mother first and the actress second and thanked her daughter. So touching. The most emotional winner was Meryl Streep. I adore this woman.

You can also read some interesting quotes of the night on The Guardian website. And some interesting videos from the big event you can find here.

The Winners (only in film categories):

Best Picture (Drama)

"The Descendants"

Best Picture (Comedy or Musical)

"The Artist"

Best Director

Martin Scorsese ("Hugo")

Best Actor (Drama)

George Clooney ("The Descendants")

Best Actress (Drama)

Meryl Streep ("The Iron Lady")

Best Actor (Comedy or Musical)

Jean Dujardin ("The Artist")

Best Actress (Comedy or Musical)

Michelle Williams ("My Week With Marilyn")

Best Supporting Actor

Christopher Plummer ("Beginners")

Best Supporting Actress

Octavia Spencer ("The Help")

Best Screenplay

Woody Allen ("Midnight in Paris")

Best Animated Feature

"The Adventures of Tintin"

Best Foreign Film

"A Separation" by Asghar Farhadi

Best Original Song

"Masterpiece" ("W.E.")

Best Score

Ludovic Bource ("The Artist")

If you are interested in TV shows, which got awards, you can view the whole list here.

Pictures - Daily Mail, HFPA, The Guardian, MTV

Make-up Pre-Nominees for Oscar 2012

The Academy announced 7 films, only three of which will get a chance to fight for a golden statuette for Best Make-up. I'm glad to see in this list my favourite film of the previous year, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2". Its creators did a wonderful job with fantastic realistic make-up. They turned Warwick Davis into a goblin Griphook and later into Professor Flitwick; drew thousands of wounds while the battle of Hogwarts was taking place; and in the end those artists made 20-year-old actors look twice older.

"Anonymous" and "The Artist" deserved to be in this list either, because the appearance of the characters perfectly matched the time, when the events happened. And "Albert Nobbs" is a remarkable film to be nominated for the make-up, because Glenn Close really looked like a man there. Amazing work.

More about OSCAR 2012!

The only thing is a bit weird that they included "Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life", which was out in 2010, not in 2011. It must impress the academics very much.

"Albert Nobbs"
"Anonymous"
"The Artist"
"Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life"
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2"
"Hugo"
"The Iron Lady"

You will know all 84th Academy Awards nominations on Tuesday, January 24, 2012. And winners will be announced on February 26, 2012.

Oscar 2012 Original Song Playlist

39 original songs are included in the Oscar 2012 long list. The best chances to be nominated have songs from "DAM999", "The Muppets" and "Rio", with 3 songs each; "Gnomeo & Juliet", "Happy Feet Two" and "Winnie the Pooh" with 2 songs.

This list features famous musicians, like Robbie Williams, Elton John, Lady Gaga, Mary J. Blige; actors who starred in musicals, like Jason Segel, Amy Adams, Anne Hathaway; and young artists.

Before the every song I wrote who performed it, so don't confuse it with its composers and lyrics writers.

You will know the 84th Academy Awards nominations on Tuesday, January 24, 2012. And winners will be announced on February 26, 2012. I'm so exited to watch this ceremony!

More about Oscar 2012!



1. Jordin Sparks - "The World I Knew" (from "African Cats")
2. Sinead O'Connor - "Lay Your Head Down" (from "Albert Nobbs")
3. The Star Spangled Singers - "Star Spangled Man" (from "Captain America: The First Avenger")
4. Robbie Williams - "Collision of Worlds" (from "Cars 2")
5. Shakti Shree, Suchith Suresan, Ouseppachan - "Dakkanaga Dugu Dugu" (from "DAM999")
6. Suchith Suresan, Suvi Suresh, Ouseppachan - "DAM999 Theme Song" (from "DAM999")
7. Hariharan, Shreya Goshal - "Mujhe Chod Ke" (from "DAM999")
8. Melissa Manchester - "Rainbird" (from "Dirty Girl")
9. Alex Heffes - "Keep On Walking" (from "The First Grader")
10. Zac Brown - "Where the River Goes" (from "Footloose")
11. Elton John and Lady Gaga - "Hello Hello" (from "Gnomeo & Juliet")
12. Elton John - "Love Builds a Garden" (from "Gnomeo & Juliet")
13. P!nk & the Happy Feet Two Chorus - "Bridge of Light" (from "Happy Feet Two")
14. Hank Azaria & the Happy Feet Two Chorus, featuring Robin Williams - "The Mighty Sven" (from "Happy Feet Two")
15. Jaymay - "Never Be Daunted" (from "happythankyoumoreplease")
16. J. Ralph, featuring Willie Nelson - "Hell and Back" (from "Hell and Back Again")
17. Mary J. Blige - "The Living Proof" (from "The Help")
18. Zaz - "Coeur Volant" (from "Hugo")
19. Holly Palmer - "It's How We Play" (from "I Don't Know How She Does It")
20. Natasa Mirkovic-De Ro - "When the Heart Dies" (from "In the Land of Blood and Honey")
21. Camané - "Já Não Estar" (from "José and Pilar")
22. Chris Cornell - "The Keeper" (from "Machine Gun Preacher")
23. Jason Segel, Amy Adams and Walter - "Life's a Happy Song" (from "The Muppets")
24. Jason Segel and Walter - "Man or Muppet" (from "The Muppets")
25. Kermit and the Muppets - "Pictures in My Head" (from "The Muppets")
26. Tulips - "Summer Song" (from "The Music Never Stopped")
27. Ben Lear - "Imaginary Friends" (from "Olive")
28. Elvis Costello - "Sparkling Day" (from "One Day")
29. Daniel Tashian - "Taking You with Me" (from "Our Idiot Brother")
30. OK Go - "The Greatest Song I Ever Heard" (from "POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie
Ever Sold")
31. Will.i.am, Jamie Foxx, Anne Hathaway - "Hot Wings" (from "Rio")
32. Ester Dean, Carlinhos Brown - "Let Me Take You to Rio" (from "Rio")
33. Jesse Eisenberg, Jamie Foxx, Anne Hathaway, George Lopez, Will.i.am, and The Rio Singers with Hollywood - "Real in Rio" (from "Rio")
34. Ben Nichols - "Shelter" (from "Take Shelter")
35. Jónsi - "Gathering Stories" (from "We Bought a Zoo")
36. Shillaly Brothers - "Pop" (from "White Irish Drinkers")
37. The National - "Think You Can Wait" (from "Win Win")
38. Jim Cummings, Bud Luckey, Craig Ferguson, Travis Oates, Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Wyatt Dean Hall, and Tom Kenny - "The Backson Song" (from "Winnie the Pooh")
39. Zooey Deschanel & M. Ward - "So Long" (from "Winnie the Pooh")

Source - Oscars.org

AFI Awards 2011

The American film institute announced the list of best films and TV series of this year.

Have you seen them all? I haven't. Some of them are very overrated (I wasn't impressed by Bennett Miller's "Moneyball" at all). But I hope that some are going to be great (Spielberg's "War Horse" and Fincher's "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo").

Top-10 films of 2011:

"BRIDESMAIDS" ("Девичник в Вегасе")
"THE DESCENDANTS" ("Потомки")
"THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO" ("Девушка с татуировкой дракона")
"THE HELP" ("Прислуга")
"HUGO" ("Хранитель времени")
"J. EDGAR" ("Дж. Эдгар")
"MIDNIGHT IN PARIS" ("Полночь в Париже")
"MONEYBALL" ("Человек, который изменил всё")
"THE TREE OF LIFE" ("Древо жизни")
"WAR HORSE" ("Боевой конь")

"THE ARTIST" and the entire "HARRY POTTER" film series (!) got special awards.

Now we can think about which of these films are going to get a golden statuette in a few months.

If you are curious about which TV programs are called the best, you can view the list here.

What are we waiting for? Fall 2011

Top-10 movies, which you should watch in the movie theaters this fall.

1. "CONTAGION"

Tagline - "Don't talk to anyone. Don't touch anyone."

There is a virus, but no zombies? That's something new. With good cast and Steven Soderbergh's talent it is a new drama that shows how people act in such critical worldwide situation. And it looks like there is going to be no second, third or forth part. I hope.

Release date - September 9, 2011

2."DRIVE"

Tagline - "Get in. Get out. Get away."

I bet you heard about it many times. But haven't you seen it? Even 'big and scary' critic from The Rolling Stone magazine, Peter Travers, loved it! It looks like the story about a stunt driver by day and a getaway driver by night, who is played by handsome and talented Ryan Gosling, is worth of every bit of your attention.
Everything you need to know about it is here.

Release date - September 16, 2011

3."MONEYBALL"

Tagline - "What are you really worth?"

Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill are teamed up to make a basketball dream team. Based on a true story it is going to be an interesting drama about how to achieve your dream despite financial problems.

Release date - September 23, 2011

4. "THE IDES OF MARCH"

Tagline - "Is this man our next president?"

Another drama with Ryan Gosling, this time not about drivers, but about politicians. Directed and co-stared by George Clooney, this movie got many positive reviews. With those two it couldn't be another way.

Release date - October 7, 2011

5. "THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN"

Tagline - "This year, discover how far adventure will take you."

Have you heard about Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson? Do you know that they're very talented men and they've filmed a bunch of great movies? Now they're going to present an animated story about a boy, treasures, lost ships etc.
You can watch trailer and read the whole synopsis here.

Release date - October 26, 2011 (UK)

6. "THE RUM DIARY"

Tagline - "One part outrage. One part justice. Three parts rum. Mix well."

Johnny Depp isn't playing a Captain Jack Sparrow, but he still drinks lots of rum. He is a journalist now and he goes to Puerto Rico, falls in love with married girl, drinks again, sometimes writes for a local newspaper and has to choose between money and truth.
Read everything about this upcoming drama here.

Release date - October 28, 2011

7. "PUSS IN BOOTS"

Tagline - "Nine lives. One destiny."

The voices of Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek will be heard in this new Dreamworks' animation. It is a deserved spin-off from "Shrek" story about a very self-confident and brave cat.
Trailer is here.

Release date - November 4, 2011

8. "MY WEEK WITH MARILYN"

Tagline - "An incredible true story, which happened with a legend of 20th century."

Michelle Williams is the Marilyn. Simon Curtis is the director and Kenneth Branagh is the Sir Laurence Olivier, who is rumored to have some tense relationship with miss Monroe. My bonus is Emma Watson in an episodic role of a wardrobe girl Lucy.

Release date - November 4, 2011

9. "HUGO"

Tagline - "One of the most legendary directors of our time takes you on an extraordinary adventure."

Young actor Asa Butterfield scares me a bit, but there is Chloe Moretz, Jude Law, Christopher Lee, Helen McCrory and Sacha Baron Cohen to make me more comfortable to watch it. This is new Martin Scorsese's fantastic story, which tell us how living in a Paris train station looks like.

Release date - November 23, 2011

10. "A DANGEROUS METHOD"

Tagline - "Freud vs Jung."

Viggo Mortensen, Michael Fassbender and between them a patient played by Keira Knightley. Unusual and not surely romantic. With such cast it couldn't be bad, so I will definitely see it in the nearest future.

Release date - November 23, 2011

"Hugo" (2011) - Trailer #1

"Hugo" tells the story of an orphan boy (Asa Butterfield) living a secret life in the walls of a Paris train station. With the help of an eccentric girl Isabelle (Chloe Moretz), he searches for the answer to a mystery linking the father (Jude Law) he recently lost, the ill-tempered toy shop owner living below him and a heart shaped lock, seemingly without a key. Based on Brian Selznick's award winning and imaginative New York Times bestseller called "The Invention of Hugo Cabret", this magical tale is Academy Award-winner Martin Scorsese's first film shot in 3D. (iTunes trailers) The other parts are played by such talented British actors, as Helen McCrory, Christopher Lee, Sacha Baron Cohen, Ben Kingsley, Richard Griffiths and Emily Mortimer.

"Хранитель времени" рассказывает нам историю мальчика-сироты (Аса Баттерфилд), который вынужден тайно жить на парижском вокзале. С помощью эксцентричной девушки Изабель (Хлоя Морец) он отправляет в поиски ответа на загадку, что связывает его недавно погибшего отца (Джуд Лоу), вспыльчивого владельца магазина игрушек и замок в форме сердца, к которому нет ключа. Основана на бестселлере Брайана Селзника "Изобретение Хьюго Кабре", эта сказка от оскаровского лауреата Мартина Скорсезе является его первым фильм в формате 3D. Также в фильме играют такие талантливые британские актеры, как Хелен МакКрори, Кристофер Ли, Саша Барон Коэн, Бен Кингсли, Ричард Гриффитс и Эмили Мортимер.

Release dates - November 23, 2011 (USA), December 2, 2011 (UK), December 14, 2011 (France)

Trailer #1