Talking Films on Amazing Radio for Movie Month

Over at Amazing Radio, where I talk new releases with Dani Charlton every week, they are having a Movie Month to celebrate that it's awards season. You can head over and vote for who you think will win the big categories at the Oscars: Oscars Poll « Amazing Radio

You can check out some of the DJ's and my own contribution on the soundtracks that we love here: Amazing Scores & Soundtracks: Part One

You can also just check out Dani and I talking about last week's film releases here: Films: Selma, Jupiter Ascending, The Interview, Shaun the Sheep

Selma Review

Starting as civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. is being awarded the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize, and ending with a small victory on the way to attempting to secure African American equality, Selma examines only a very short period in the life of a legend. King’s non-violent activism has already been established before the film begins and his assassination at the age of 39 is merely a footnote. Selma, as its title suggests, is the story of just one of many struggles in King’s life. When it becomes clear that African Americans are not being allowed to vote in many Southern states (despite this being against the law), King and his colleagues head to Selma, Alabama, a place where ‘whites only’ signs are still visible, and organises a march from Selma to Montgomery to ensure every black person is allowed to vote without being refused or intimidated. 

Hounded by J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI, hindered by President Johnson, and attacked by outraged white people and Southern law enforcement, King must overcome divisions within his own movement, and outright racism from many locals in order to succeed. 

Selma is not a traditional biopic, in that most of King’s life is left out of the film. Don’t expect to learn much about why King developed his strict code of non-violent protest or what achievements led him to winning the Nobel Peace Prize. Selma focuses in on one moment in his life and is all the better for it. There are hints and mentions of what came before and what will come after, but this is the story of Selma and the people who put their lives at risk to gain the right to vote. Most notably, Selma enacts the night of the death of one activist on the streets of Selma in tragically true detail, where Jimmie Lee Jackson was unarmed and shot by police.

The timing of Selma, and its snub in the Academy Awards  acting categories, couldn’t be more pertinent. This is a film that many might want to ignore. The police brutality, the fear of African Americans (particularly from those in power and law enforcement) and the desire to protest their own treatment all feels ripped from recent headlines. For all King’s sacrifices, victories and righteousness, America still has a lot of work to do in terms of race relations and Selma shines a light on this by looking into its recent past.

The decision to concentrate on this pivotal moment is smart; with King’s life having too much to fit into a single film. It touches on the troubled relationship with his wife and Malcolm X briefly pops up for a single scene, but mostly it deals with King, his colleagues and the ordinary people of Selma. The fantastic Brits in the cast - David Oyelowo, Carmen Ejogo, Tom Wilkinson and Tim Roth - stand out in this none more American tale but as with so many true life stories, it is the moments where we see real footage that really hit the hardest.

Despite King's speeches having to be rewritten for the film due to rights issues, Oyelowo captures the essence of the man beautifully. With so much left of King’s life to cover, we can only hope that director Ava DuVernay, writer Paul Webb and star David Oyelowo are given another opportunity to shine a spotlight on this great leader in the future.

 Watch the trailer:

Reviews for other Best Picture Nominees 2015:

American Sniper

Birdman

The Imitation Game

The Theory of Everything

Whiplash

Oscar Nominees (Almost) Full List

The Oscar nominees for 2015 are in and here is almost the complete list. I'm sorry I missed some as Chris Pine particularly speaks far too quickly for me to make a note of all of these. I'll also have to update with some names at a later date. For now, please feel free to click any of the titles for my reviews (except those I have either not seen or reviewed yet).

BEST PICTURE

American Sniper

Birdman

Boyhood

The Grand Budapest Hotel

The Imitation Game

Selma

The Theory of Everything
Whiplash

BEST DIRECTOR

Birdman Alejandro Inarritu

Boyhood Richard Linklater

Foxcatcher Bennett Miller

The Grand Budapest Hotel Wes Anderson

The Imitation Game Morten Tyldum

BEST ACTOR

Steve Carrell Foxcatcher

Bradley Cooper American Sniper

Benedict Cumberbatch The Imitation Game

Michael Keaton  Birdman

Eddie Redmayne The Theory of Everything

BEST ACTRESS

Marion Cotillard Two Days, One Night

Felicity Jones The Theory of Everything

Julianne Moore Still Alice

Rosamund Pike Gone Girl

Reese Witherspoon Wild

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

American Sniper

The Imitation Game

Inherent Vice

The Theory of Everything
Whiplash

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Birdman

Boyhood

Foxcatcher

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Nightcrawler

BEST SCORE

The Grand Budapest Hotel

The Imitation Game

Interstellar 

Mr Turner

The Theory of Everything

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

Ida

Leviathan

Tangerines

Timbuktu 

Wild Tales

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Robert Duvall The Judge

Ethan Hawke Boyhood

Edward Norton Birdman

Mark Ruffalo Foxcatcher

J.K. Simmons Whiplash

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Patricia Arquette Boyhood

Laura Dern Wild

Keira Knightley The Imitation Game

Emma Stone Birdman

Meryl Streep Into the Woods 

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Birdman

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Ida

Mr Turner

Unbroken

BEST EDITING

American Sniper

Boyhood

The Grand Budapest Hotel

The Imitation Game

Whiplash

BEST SOUND EDITING

American Sniper

Birdman

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

Interstellar 

Unbroken

BEST SOUND MIXING

American Sniper

Birdman

Interstellar 

Unbroken

Whiplash

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

The Imitation Game

Into the Woods 

Mr Turner

Interstellar 

The Grand Budapest Hotel

BEST ANIMATION

Big Hero 6

The Boxtrolls

How to Train Your Dragon 2

Song of the  Sea

The Tale of the Princess Kayuga

Golden Globe Nominations 2015 for Films

It's time for the golden balls to come out shining again. The Golden Globe nominations were announced today with Birdman soaring above the rest with 7 nominations spanning a range of categories. Selma, The Imitation Game and Boyhood are close behind, each with 5 nominations and just behind them are The Theory of Everything and The Grand Budapest Hotel and Gone Girl, each with 4. Others worth a mention are Foxcatcher, Into the Woods and Big Eyes which all managed to land 3 nominations each, while St Vincent and Annie scraped 2 each.

Critics favourites Whiplash, Interstellar and Nightcrawler each have a single nomination to their name with the exclusion of Whiplash from the Best Picture category most likely to cause a stir. I'm also pissed to see that White God isn't up for best foreign language film but hopefully this is just due to its release date in North America. I guess Angelina Jolie will be heartbroken over the complete snub of her second effort as director, Unbroken, which looked like a proper piece of awards bait.

Of course UK audiences will just have to sit here fuming as we have to wait until 2015 for the likes of Birdman, Selma, The Theory of Everything, Into the Woods and Whiplash to be released. At least some of these will have been released by the time Amy Poehler and Tina Fey host the show on Sunday January 11th.

As usual, awards season is the only time of year that I decide to find out what it is like to have a gambling problem. I usually place some bets on the Globes and the Oscars and last year I lost some money on the Globes but won it back (with a little profit) on the Oscars. Hopefully I can continue my tiny little winning streak this year!

At least I've seen a fair few of these this year including Boyhood, Foxcatcher, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Pride, St Vincent, Gone Girl, Interstellar etc etc. As long as I get into early screenings of some of the others, I'll be very happy!

Here are the nominees in full:

Best film

Boyhood

Foxcatcher (click for review)

The Imitation Game

Selma

The Theory of Everything

Best director

Wes Anderson - The Grand Budapest Hotel

Ava Duvernay - Selma

David Fincher - Gone Girl

Alejandro González Iñárritu - Birdman

Richard Linklater - Boyhood

Best screenplay

Wes Anderson - The Grand Budapest Hotel

Gillian Flynn - Gone Girl

Alejandro González Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris and Armando Bo - Birdman

Richard Linklater - Boyhood

Graham Moore - The Imitation Game

Best actor, drama

Steve Carell - Foxcatcher (click for review)

Benedict Cumberbatch - The Imitation Game

Jake Gyllenhaal - Nightcrawler (click for review)

David Oyelowo - Selma

Eddie Redmayne - The Theory of Everything

Best actress, drama

Jennifer Aniston, Cake

Felicity Jones, The Theory of Everything

Julianne Moore, Still Alice

Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl

Reese Witherspoon, Wild

Best comedy or musical

Birdman

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Into the Woods

Pride

St. Vincent (click for review)

Best actress, comedy or musical

Amy Adams - Big Eyes

Emily Blunt - Into the Woods

Helen Mirren - The Hundred-Foot Journey

Julianne Moore - Maps to the Stars

Quvenzhané Wallis - Annie

Best actor, comedy or musical

Ralph Fiennes - The Grand Budapest Hotel

Michael Keaton - Birdman

Bill Murray - St. Vincent

Joaquin Pheonix - Inherent Vice

Christoph Waltz - Big Eyes

Best supporting actor

Robert Duvall - The Judge

Ethan Hawke - Boyhood

Edward Norton - Birdman

Mark Ruffalo - Foxcatcher (click for review)

JK Simmons - Whiplash

Best supporting actress

Patricia Arquette - Boyhood

Jessica Chastain - A Most Violent Year

Keira Knightley - The Imitation Game

Emma Stone - Birdman

Meryl Streep - Into the Woods

Best score

Alexandre Desplat - The Imitation Game

Johann Johannsson – The Theory of Everything

Trent Reznor – Gone Girl

Antonio Sanchez - Birdman

Hans Zimmer – Interstellar (click for review)

Best song

Big Eyes – Big Eyes (Lana Del Ray)

Glory – Selma (John Legend, Common)

Mercy Is – Noah (Patty Smith, Lenny Kaye)

Opportunity – Annie

Yellow Flicker Beat (Lorde) – Hunger Games, Mockingjay Pt 1 (click for review)

Best animation

Big Hero 6

The Book of Life

The Boxtrolls

How to Train Your Dragon 2

The LEGO Movie

Best foreign language film

Force Majeure

Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem

Ida

Leviathan

Tangerine Manderin

What do you think? Got any tips for my gambling addiction? Where's the easy money at and who are the outsiders that are worth a punt?