Best Motion Picture of the Year
Moonlight
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Emma Stone
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
Casey Affleck
Best Supporting Actress
Viola Davis
Fences
Best Supporting Actor:
Mahershala Ali
Moonlight
Best Achievement in Directing
Damien Chazelle
La La Land
Best Achievement in Cinematography
La La Land
Linus Sandgren
Best Achievement in Film Editing
Hacksaw Ridge
John Gilbert
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.
By AI Creative Media
After weeks of rumors, uncertainty and speculation surrounding one of Warner Bros. most valuable comic book properties, the studio announced today that Matt Reeves will indeed direct the solo Batman movie. The word comes from Deadline Thursday.
Many are probably familiar with Reeves’ work by now, which includes monster movie “Cloverfield” and 2014’s “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes”, as well as this summer’s highly anticipated “War for the Planet of the Apes” so this might suggest that the studio is very happy with results.
Reeves seems excited about his upcoming task, saying in a statement from the studio on Thursday, “I have loved the Batman story since I was a child. He is such an iconic and compelling character, and one that resonates with me deeply. I am incredibly honored and excited to be working with Warner Bros. to bring an epic and emotional new take on the Caped Crusader to the big screen.”
Affleck was originally slated to direct the standalone Batman movie in addition to headlining, but stepped down last month due to the demands to do both jobs. He donned the cape and cowl last year in Batman V Superman:Dawn of Justice and will reprise the role in Zack Snyder’s Justice League on November this year.
There is currently no release date set for The Batman.
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
The Predator director/co-writer Shane Black shared to Twitter early Monday a first look at the cast to announce the start of production.
The image shows Black with the team of new alien hunters, which includes Sterling K. Brown, Trevante Rhodes (Moonlight), Boyd Holbrook (Logan), Olivia Munn (X-Men: Apocalypse) Keegan-Michael Key (Keanu), and 10-year-old Jacob Tremblay (Room).
The director also confirmed on Twitter that his movie will not be a sanitized version, saying, “And, just to be clear… PG-13 is for pussies. Spines bleed… a lot.”
Black appeared in the original 1987 Predator as ‘Hawkins together with Arnold Schwarzenegger. “The Predator” is expected to open on Feb. 9, 2018.
Check out the photo below:
Partial cast… beautiful human beings, good people. Also, killers. Cameras roll today. Follow me on Twitter for updates. Wish us luck. pic.twitter.com/vYGgGesW0Y
— Shane Black (@BonafideBlack) February 20, 2017
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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By AI Creative Media
Terrence Malick’s all-star ensemble drama Song to Song, set against the backdrop of the Austin music scene, has revealed its first trailer ahead of its SXSW debut.
According to it’s official synopsis, Song to Song is a “modern love story set against the Austin, Texas music scene, two entangled couples – struggling songwriters Faye (Rooney Mara) and BV (Ryan Gosling), and music mogul Cook (Michael Fassbender) and the waitress whom he ensnares (Natalie Portman) – chase success through a rock ‘n’ roll landscape of seduction and betrayal.”
Though that might sound slightly familiar to a recent Gosling critical and commercial hit, production of Song to Song was actually announced in November 2011, was originally titled “Lawless”, and Malick began shooting in 2012.
Song to Song will have its world premiere at South by Southwest (SXSW) on March 10, before opening in NYC and Los Angeles on March 17, 2017. Broad Green Pictures is releasing the movie. Broad Green also released the poster for the film on Friday (right).
An Interview with Steve Emerson, Visual Effects Supervisor for Kubo and the Two Strings
By Elizabeth Walker for Creative Media Times
(l to r) Monkey (voiced by Academy Award winner Charlize Theron), Kubo (voiced by Art Parkinson) and Beetle (voiced by Academy Award winner Matthew McConaughey) are on a thrilling quest to unlock the secret of Kubo’s legacy in animation studio LAIKA’s epic action-adventure KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS, a Focus Features release.
Credit: Laika Studios/Focus Features
Also nominated for Best Animated Feature, Kubo is the first animated film to be nominated for Best Visual Effects in decades, and the production has received widespread recognition for its use of stop motion animation. Steve Emerson, visual effects supervisor for the film, spoke to reporters by phone from his home base in Portland, Oregon.
This is Emerson’s first Oscar nomination, but he says he has not had a moment to think about a speech. He describes for the group the moment he found out:
It was five in the morning, woke up and was drinking coffee, watching the streaming with my wife and my son.
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