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

Soundtrack 2011

There is some time until the Golden Globe and Oscar awards, so I decided to continue summing up the previous film year. This time it is all about music.

I picked ten songs and compositions, which became my favourite ones.

1. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (feat. Karen O) - "Immigrant Song"
Film: "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" by David Fincher.

This song became even more popular than its original, which Led Zeppelin sang. It channeled the dark atmosphere of the film and made the opening sequence incredibly creepy and beautiful.



2. Kavinsky - "Nightcall"
Film: "Drive" by Nicolas Winding Refn.

"Drive" soundtrack is one of the best I heard this year, and "Nightcall" is a very catchy track, which always reminds me of Ryan Gosling driving away.



3. Alexandre Desplat - "Statues"
Film: "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2" by David Yates.

Alexandre Desplat knows how to create a magic and feisty composition. The scene before the Battle of Hogwarts is very impressive, especially the part when teachers, students and the Order of the Phoenix are trying to protect the school. It was breathtaking to watch and not the less to listen.



4. Rival Sons - "Torture"
Film: "Real Steel" by Shawn Levy.

"Real Steel" has a combined soundtrack of hip-hop and rock songs, but this one matches my taste perfectly.



5. Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes - "I've Had the Time of My Life"
Film: "Crazy, Stupid, Love" by Glenn Ficarra, John Requa, originally from "Dirty Dancing" by Emile Ardolino.

I fell in love with this song a long time ago, since I saw "Dirty Dancing" for the first time, so I was glad to hear it in this romantic comedy. You have to be a really good dancer to lift a girl like that.



6. Hans Zimmer - "I See Everything"
Film: "Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows" by Guy Ritchie.

Less than a minute, but it gives me goose bumps.



7. Hans Zimmer - "Blackbeard"
Film: "Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" by Rob Marshall.

The film was average, but the score is great. Hans Zimmer made the first appearance of Blackbeard very badass.



8. Kerris Dorsey - "The Show"
Film: "Moneyball" by Bennett Miller.

Such a sweet girl with a very good voice sings for his father. I didn't like this film, but two scenes, where this song is featured, are very good and sentimental.



9. Henry Jackman - "Magneto"
Film: "X-Men: First Class" by Matthew Vaughn.

I'd call it "The Rise of the Great Villain". Fassbender's character got the best composition, which is good at describing his inner world.



10. Alexandre Desplat - "Lily's Theme"
Film: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2" by David Yates.

The most tragic melody I've heard in the last Harry Potter films. It prepares the audience for a serious final of this story.



Which are your top-10 songs you heard in films the previous year?

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.

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.

"In the Land of Blood and Honey" (2011) - Trailer and thoughts

Last week was full of interesting news, but my favorite is a trailer release of Angelina Jolie's directorial debut. It has a beautiful and dramatic title "In the Land of Blood and Honey", there are no Hollywood stars and it's the first time, when this talented woman wrote the whole script and then spent many months directing it in Eastern Europe. Interesting fact is that the film was shot in English and the Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian language, also known as BHS.

This story is about the Bosnian War, the loss and the big love. To be honest, this topic is very painful for those people, whose history it is. That is why some people say this film is a disregard of those, who died there.

A Serbian man and a young Bosnian-Muslim woman met each other and fell in love while there is a destruction and death everywhere. So their love is forbidden and fated. Main parts are played by local actors - Zana Marjanovic and Goran Kostic. You can also see there famous Rade Serbedzija, a former Yugoslavian actor, who started his career long time ago. His last part was in "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1" as the wandmaker Gregorovitch.

There is information that Angelina has already been a director of a documentary "A Place in Time", but did anybody see it? I think it was made for television in 2007. "In the Land of Blood and Honey" is more complicated and I hope it will be a great debut for her.

Release date - December 23, 2011 (USA)

Trailer



Do you like this trailer? Is it dramatic? Leave a comment below.

"When Harry Left Hogwarts" - Teaser

British filmmaker Morgan Matthews was lucky to be present on the set of both "Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows" parts. His interesting documentary will be a bonus on DVD and Blu-Ray.

Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Helena Bonham Carter, Emma Thompson, Jason Isaacs, Robbie Coltrane, Gary Oldman, Warwick Davis, many other actors and studio staff members were interviewed for this documentary. It also shows how many impressive scenes were filmed, for example, there was a real fire on the Quidditch field.

DVD and Blu-ray release dates - November 10 (Russia), December 2 (UK). To see the dates for other countries visit Muggle net.

To discover other bonus features click here.

As for me, I'll get the whole 8 films set, which will be available from the same time.

More about "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows"!

"When Harry Left Hogwarts" - Teaser

"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2" (2011) - Rare posters

Yes, this story is over, but I've found some rare character posters and thought I should post them. Probably, some of them are fan-made, still all posters look good.

More about "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2". (news, trailers, clips, interview, premieres, quotes, posters, stills and more)

Bonnie Wright (Ginny Weasley)

Domhnall Gleeson (Bill Weasley)

Jason Isaacs (Lucius Malfoy)

Matthew Lewis (Neville Longbottom)

Emma Watson (Hermione Granger)

Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley)

Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter)

Ralph Fiennes (Lord Voldemort)

Posters - Movie posters DB

Warner Bros. Logo History

I've found a couple of videos about how the Warner Bros. logo has changed through many years of its work. The creators of the logo, which is a face of this studio, never forgot to keep up with time and to use newest special effects. The first two videos you can watch only on youtube, so click on its title.

Warner Bros. Television Logo History



I think one of the greatest logos Warner Bros. studio made for Harry Potter series. The logo became darker with every new movie since "The Prisoner of Azkaban" and always started along magical first theme from the soundtrack.



And some logos made specially for sci-fi and fantasy movies.

Emma Watson and Rupert Grint "Live with Regis and Kelly" - July 2011

Promoting their last film called "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2", both actors Rupert Grint and later Emma Watson have been guests on the morning show "Live with Regis and Kelly".

Daniel Radcliffe on "Live with Regis and Kelly" - July 2011
Click here to discover more about "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: part 2" (trailers, clips, interviews, premieres, posters etc.)

Emma told how it was being on the cover of "Vogue", what plans she has for the nearest future and that she loved Daniel Radcliffe's performance in a Broadway musical called "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying". Rupert Grint said that he rapped to get a role in this epic series. Also they both talked with   Regis and Kelly about the film, how it was hard to say goodbye to their past and move on.

Emma Watson on "Live with Regis and Kelly"



Rupert Grint on "Live with Regis and Kelly"

"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2" - 'It All Ends' video

And here we are 10 years later watching the last film about Harry Potter all around the world. The last railer has been released by iTunes movie trailers. It shows us the last days of filming, how actors said goodbye to each other, comments from producers, director, the cast and the very first and the very last scene which was shoot with Dan, Emma and Rupert. Video lasts less than 3 minutes, but it made me cry, because this story is seems to be finally over.

Touching words they've said (quotes from video):

"I don’t know, just everyone, really. The people. This place, Leavesden, and maybe just being Ron as well. It’s been ten years and yeah, I’m going to miss playing Ron." - Rupert Grint about what he will miss the most

"I don’t know, how do I put that into words. What an incredible experience. I just feel so blessed that I was chosen. I was given the chance to experience all of this and have this be part of my life. We were the 'chosen ones'. Yeah, we were... Yeah, very lucky..." - Emma Watson

"I just wanna say I love this place. This has been my life. And so I think it’s going to be very, very odd, I think for all of us. Because I don’t know what my day-to-day life consists of without you. All of you. And it’s wonderful. And I just want to say that I’ve loved every minute. And thank you all very, very much. " - Daniel Radcliffe

More "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2" (all trailers, premieres, posters, pictures, interviews)

 'It All Ends' video (the saddest video I've ever seen about 'Harry Potter')

Daniel Radcliffe on "Live with Regis and Kelly" - July 2011

Daniel Radcliffe visited Regis Philbin and Kelly Ripa on their morning show. He makes this appearance as a part of a promotional tour of  "Deathly Hallows 2". 

Emma Watson on "Late Show with David Letterman" - July 2011
Click here to discover more about "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: part 2" (trailers, clips, interviews, premieres, posters etc.)

They've talked about what he will miss the most about playing the boy who lived. Dan confessed that his favorite movie about Harry Potter is "Deathly Hallows 2", because "it's film is so far ahead of any of the others. It is the most exiting, the most complete... We found the perfect balance between the action and the wit. Yeah, we've finally got it right!" And he kept two pairs of glasses and great memories from the filming of this epic series.

Emma Watson on "Late Show with David Letterman" - July 2011

I love David Letterman's show. And as a part of the promotional tour of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2" talented Emma Watson has been a guest on the last show.

She told how she likes to visit the USA, because American audience is much warmer and tells her 'That [film] was amazing! That was amazing!' unlike the British say 'That was very good' After a break she's going to study English in Oxford. Emma confessed that she doesn't drink in general, but she had an experience with whiskey and was drunk once... David Letterman was charming as always and in the very end he showed us the brand new trailer of the upcoming movie. If you have a sense of humor you should watch it.

"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2" - New York premiere (quotes, photos)

I can say New York premiere was less epic than British, but still I was very happy to see all these talented people, who created an amazing world. Here is my live coverage of what everybody said at this "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2" premiere. 

“- I’m not a huge fan of 3D, but it can be made beautiful.” David Yates, director

“- When Hermione punches Draco is a great scene.” David on one of the favorite scenes

“- I’d love to be Lupin.”  David Yates on who he wanted to play in ‘Harry Potter’

“- I’m gonna miss everyone.” Rupert Grint

“- I really don’t know what I supposed to do.” Rupert on what he will do after this tour

“- You want pop corn?” David Heyman with his son

“- But the sadness hasn’t hit yet. It will come in a few weeks.”

“- We all are really standing on the shoulders of Chris Columbus.”

“- I saw actually a girl with a tattoo of my autograph. I felt bad about.” Tom Felton

“- [Embarrassing moment] I was pointing at the HP poster, showing my friend that I am next to Emma and someone asked me if I am Matthew Lewis. It was a very narcissistic moment.” Matthew Lewis

“- She [JK Rowling] is writing. It would be brilliant. But I know no more about it.” Steve Kloves, screenwriter

“- Here in America you really response to the film.” David Barron on British restraint

Chris Columbus, the director, who is responsible for the beginning of 'Harry Potter' series, also came!

“- That supposed to happened. It has to finish.” Alan Rickman

“- It’s about the things like courage and determination and loyalty and love.” Alan on the last film

“- I had a good time when I shot the first scene.” Alan Rickman about which scene he likes the most

“- Somebody is very clever and it’s very beautifully done. I hope they’ll become rich. Warner Bros should give them credit for that.”  Alan Rickman on HP puppets

“- It’s been intense… It’s definitely sad.” Emma Watson

“- I’ll go and have a really big brunch.” Emma Watson on what she is going to do next

“- You have to have a heart of stone not to find Alan Rickman's performance just heartbreaking.” Daniel Radcliffe

 

 

Source - Zimbio