By AI Creative Media

Moonlight was the big winner at 2017 Film Independent’s Spirit Awards on Saturday afternoon, sweeping all six awards it was up for, including best feature. Barry Jenkins, who directed and wrote the movie, won the Best Director and Screenplay trophies.

The ceremony took place in Santa Monita, California on Saturday a day before the Oscars. Comedians Nick Kroll and John Mulaney co-hosted the event which aired live on the IFC channel.

Independent Spirit Awards recognizes excellence in low-budget film-making. Oscar front-runner La La Land was not eligible as its budget was just above the $20 million eligibility ceiling.

Here is the full winners list:

BEST FEATURE – Moonlight

BEST DIRECTOR – Barry Jenkins, Moonlight

BEST FEMALE LEAD – Isabelle Huppert, Elle

BEST MALE LEAD – Casey Affleck, Manchester by the Sea

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE – Molly Shannon, Other People

BEST SUPPORTING MALE – Ben Foster, Hell or High Water
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By AI Creative Media

“Get Out,” a racially-charged horror thriller from Jordan Peele (of Key & Peele fame), earned a rare 100% “fresh” rating on the film review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes. The movie currently have 131 reviews and counting.

Mercury News calls it a “classic horror” and gave it a perfect 4/4 score, while Hollywood Reporter calls it “one of the most satisfying thrillers in several years”.

The movie is in a very rare company. To put this in perspective, no wide theatrical release garnered similar acclaim this year at this point, while last year, out of the hundreds of movies released, there were only four that scored 100%: “Things to Come (L’avenir)”, “Tower”, Only Yesterday, and O.J.: Made in America, none of which received wide theatrical release similar to Peele’s film.

Buoyed by the strong reviews, “Out” is expected to displant WB’s hit “The LEGO Batman Movie” from no.1 at the boxoffice this weekend, earning Universal/Blumhouse its second surprise hit this year after last month’s Split.

This is Peele’s directorial debut. He is best known for starring in Comedy Central series Key & Peele and MADtv. But that is most likely to change based on the critical and commercial performance of “Get Out” so far.

Los Angeles, CA (Feb. 17, 2017) – NEON, the new distribution label founded by Tom Quinn and Tim League will partner with Legion M, the world’s first fan-owned media company, on the company’s debut release, Nacho Vigalondo’s COLOSSAL. The film, starring Anne Hathaway and Jason Sudeikis, debuted to strong reviews at Toronto International Film Festival in 2016, and subsequently became the first film to secure invites from Toronto International Film Festival, Fantastic Fest, Sundance Film Festival 2017 and SXSW 2017.

COLOSSAL features Anne Hathaway as Gloria, an out-of-work party girl who, after getting kicked out of her apartment by her boyfriend, is forced to leave her life in New York and move back to her hometown. When news reports surface that a giant creature is destroying Seoul, South Korea, Gloria gradually comes to the realization that she is somehow connected to this far-off phenomenon. As events begin to spin out of control, Gloria must determine why her seemingly insignificant existence has such a colossal effect on the fate of the world. Jason Sudeikis, Dan Stevens, Austin Stowell and Tim Blake Nelson also star.
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By AI Creative Media

‘La La Land,’ ‘Hidden Figures,’ ‘Doctor Strange’ are the big winners at Costume Designers Guild Awards, while TV awards go to “Game of Thrones,” “American Horror Story: Roanoke” and, “The Crown”.

“La La Land,” took home the contemporary award while “Hidden Figures” won the award for period costumes. Marvel Studio’s superhero film “Doctor Strange” took the fantasy award, winning over Oscar contender “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.” Last year’s winner on this category, Jenny Beavan‘s post-apocalyptic designs for “Mad Max: Fury Road”, eventually won eventual Oscar Best Achievement in Costume Design.
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By AI Creative Media

“La La Land” walked away with top film win at the 53rd Cinema Audio Society Awards Saturday night, beating out other nominees Doctor Strange, Hacksaw Ridge, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Sully. Pixar’s “Finding Dory” won the award for animated film.

This further solidify La La Land’s seemingly unstoppable dominance in multiple Oscar categories that will be presented next Sunday, Feb. 26. In 11 of the last 20 years, the winner of the CAS live action feature competition went on to win the Oscar, including Gravity in 2013 and Les Miserables in 2012. The 53rd CAS Awards were presented on February 18th in the OMNI Los Angeles Hotel at California Plaza.

The full list of winners (bolded) below:

MOTION PICTURE – LIVE ACTION
La La Land
Production Mixer – Steven Morrow, CAS
Re-recording Mixer – Andy Nelson, CAS
Re-recording Mixer – Ai-Ling Lee
Scoring Mixer – Nicholai Baxter
ADR Mixer – David Betancourt
Foley Mixer – James Ashwill

MOTION PICTURE—ANIMATED
Finding Dory
Original Dialogue Mixer – Doc Kane, CAS
Re-recording Mixer – Nathan Nance
Re-recording Mixer – Michael Semanick, CAS
Scoring Mixer – Thomas Vicari, CAS
Foley Mixer – Scott Curtis
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