5th Annual Asia Pacific Screen Award Winners

Last night (i.e. very early morning for me) the Academy had their award ceremony that you can watch here.  The following are the winners.

Best Feature Film: جدایی نادر از سیمین Jodaeiye Nader az Simin (Nader and Simin, A Separation), Asghar Farhadi, Iran

Jury Grand Prize: Bir Zamanlar Anadolu’da (Once Upon a Time in Anatolia), Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Turkey

Achievement in Directing: Nuri Bilge Ceylan for Bir Zamanlar Anadolu’da (Once Upon a Time in Anatolia), Turkey
Best Performance by Actress: Nadezha Markina in Elena by Andrei Zvyagintsev, Russia
Best Peformance by Actor: Wang Baoqiang for Hello! Shu Xian Sheng (Mr. Tree) by Jie Han, China

Best Children’s Feature Film: Buta by Ilgar Najaf, Azerbaijan
Best Animated Feature Film: Madangeul naon amtak (Leafie) by Oh Seonyun, Korea
Best Documentary Feature Film: Jag Var Värd 50 Lamm (I Was Worth 50 Sheep) by Nima Sarvestani, Sweden, Japan and USA

Best Screeplay: Denis Osokin for Ovsyanki (Silent Souls) by Aleksei Fedorchenko, Russia
Achievement in Cinematography Award: Gökhan Tiryaki for Bir Zamanlar Anadolu’da (Once Upon a Time in Anatolia) by Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Turkey

UNESCO Award: Ivan Sen for Toomelah, Australia
FIAPF Award: Zhang Yimou

To check the announcement go here and to check nominees plus winners in all categories go here.

5th Annual Asia Pacific Screen Awards Nominations

Today APSA announced the nominations for this year awards, with a total of 37 films from 19 countries and areas. Here are the nominations for some categories. It’s noted that the films with most nominations –four each- are A Separation and Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, as we know both are Iran and Turkey submissions to Oscar plus both are by two of my most favorite directors.

Best Feature Film
Band Baaja Baaraat (Wedding Planners), Maneesh Sharma, India
Bé Omid É Didar (Goodbye), Mohammad Rasoulof, Iran
Bir Zamanlar Anadolu’da (Once Upon a Time in Anatolia), Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Turkey
Jodaeiye Nader az Simin (A Separation), Asghar Farhadi, Iran
Rang zidan fei (Let the Bullets Fly), Jiang Wen, China and Hong Kong

Achievement in Directing
Asghar Farhadi for Jodaeiye Nader az Simin (A Separation), Iran
Nuri Bilge Ceylan for Bir Zamanlar Anadolu’da (Once Upon a Time in Anatolia), Turkey
Mohammad Rasoulof for Bé Omid É Didar (Goodbye), Iran
Jiang Wen for Rang zidan fei (Let the Bullets Fly), China and Hong Kong
Na Hong-jin for Hwanghae (The Yellow Sea), South Korea

Best Performance by an Actress
Judy Davis in The Eye of the Storm, Fred Schepisi, Australia
Nahed El Sebai in Cairo 678, Mohamed Diab, Egypt
Nadezhda Markina in Elena, Andrei Zvyagintsev, Russia
Shayesteh Irani in Ayenhaye Rooberoo (Facing Mirrors), Negar Azarbayjani, Iran
Leyla Zareh in Bé Omid É Didar (Goodbye), Mohammad Rasoulof, Iran

Best Performance by an Actor
Peyman Moadi in Jodaeiye Nader az Simin (A Separation), Asghar Farhadi, Iran
Wang Baoqiang in Hello! Shu Xian Sheng (Mr Tree), Jie Han, China
Sasson Gabay in Boker Tov Adon Fidelman (Restoration), Yossi Madmoni, Israel
Fa’afiaula Sagote in O le Tulafale (The Orator), Tusi Tamasese,New Zealand and Samoa
Daniel Connors for Toomelah, Ivan Sen, Australia

To check nominees in all categories go press release or here. Award ceremony will be on November 24 at the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia and will be streamed live at the official site here.

The King’s Speech

Extremely well-crafted film by Tom Hooper that will satisfy you beyond any expectations you might have after the so-much buzz that has generated in this award season. As story is character driven extraordinary performances are a must and you have no idea how great performances are not only by Colin Firth but also by Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter and I should include performances by supporting cast like Derek Jacobi and Jennifer Ehle among others.

As probably we all know film tells the story of the man who became King George VI, the father of Queen Elizabeth II. In my opinion film took some creative licenses to make film very entertaining, so much than after characters were introduced and story starts to develop film becomes mesmerizing; you can take away your eyes from the screen as you don’t want to miss a second from what’s happening. Very well-done movie with an excellent script from David Seidler, who had to wait 30 years to be able to write script as the Queen Mother gave her authorization to do it only after her death, according to what I read.

So film tells the story of the Duke of York who reluctantly assumes the throne; everyone –except his father- thinks that he’s unfit to be king due to his stammer that makes him unable to speak fluidly; as radio was recently commercially released, kings were not anymore only required to do public speaking but also do radio broadcasts, especially the Christmas speech instituted by his father. So after many failed attempts to help him speak without stuttering, he finally ends in the office of Lionel Logue, the man that will help him to speak more fluidly and deliver the radio speeches, especially the much important ones during WWII. It’s a compelling, uplifting and remarkable story that is hard to understand the reason why King George VI “disappeared” from history (against well-know figures of the same era) as well as why with or without proper authorization this story was not told before.

As a film is spectacular with the highest production values and great costumes plus care to details to successfully recreate those not-so-long-ago days; special mention to director Tom Hooper that is very hard to believe that this movie is only his big screen second feature film, as he has work mainly on TV

This is a film that I consider suited for general audiences who enjoy very satisfying movies that will entertain with a great-to-watch story, excellent production values and unforgettable performances.

There are many films that I watch only once, but I know that I will revisit film many times as I really liked story and magnificent performance by Colin Firth that now I know more than ever deserves the highest honor at Oscar, even when I still believe that last year the Oscar belonged to him too.

Big Enjoy!!!

Watch Trailer @MOC

2010 Australian Film Institute Award Winners

Yesterday the other AFI had the award ceremony and here are the winners.

Best Film: Animal Kingdom
Best Direction: David Michôd for Animal Kingdom

Best Lead Actress: Jacki Weaver in Animal Kingdom
Best Actress: Mia Wasikowska in Alice in Wonderland
Best Supporting Actress: Deborah Mailman in Bran Nue Dae

Best Lead Actor: Ben Mendelsohn in Animal Kingdom
Best Actor: Sam Worthington in Avatar
Best Supporting Actor: Joel Edgerton in Animal Kingdom

Young Actor Award: Harrison Gilbertson in Beneath Hill 60

To check winners in all categories go here.

Sometimes is funny to find that in some awards an actor/actress performance is considered as Lead while in others is considered as supporting role. I’m talking about Jacki Weaver that here won the Lead Actress award and in America is being considered as having a supporting role. Sometimes publicists decide -more than anyone else- where the actor has more opportunities, so they submit the actor/actress to that specific category, that’s how flexible awards can be. As Jacki Weaver has increased her chances to get an Academy award I’m really curious to find if she gets it in the supporting role.

Anyway the big 2010 winner in Australia is Animal Kingdom that has become must be seen for me.

4th Annual Asia Pacific Screen Award Winners

Yesterday winners were announced in a ceremony that you can watch here if you wish to watch clips from nominated movies. The following are the awards winners.

Best Feature Film: Tangshan dadizhen (Aftershock), Xiaogang Feng, China and Hong Kong

Jury Grand Prize:
Levanon (Lebanon), Samuel Maoz, Israel, France and Germany
Shinobu Terajima in Kyatapirâ (Caterpillar), Kôji Wakamatsu, Japan

Achievement in Directing: Chang-dong Lee for Shi (Poetry), Korea
Best Performance by Actress: Yun Jung-hee in Shi (Poetry), Chang-dong Lee, Korea
Best Performance by Actor: Chen Daoming in Tangshan dadizheng (Aftershock), Xiaogang Feng, China and Hong Kong

Best Children’s Feature Film: Digari (The Other), Mehdi Rahmani, Iran
Best Animated Feature Film: Piercing 1, Liu Jian, China
Best Documentary Feature Film: Last Train Home, Lixin Fan, China and Canada

Best Screenplay: Levanon (Lebanon), Samuel Maoz, Israel, France and Germany
Achievement in Cinematography: Sudheer Palsane for Vihir (The Well), Umesh Vinayak Kulkarni, India

UNESCO Award: Bal (Honey), Semih Kaplanoglu, Turkey and Germany
FIAPF Award: Christine Hakim, Indonesia

To check announcement at official site go here.

4th Annual Asia Pacific Screen Awards Nominations

Today APSA announced the nominations for this year awards, with a total of 31 films from 15 countries and areas. Here are the nominations

Best Feature Film
Tangshan dadizhen (Aftershock), Xiaogang Feng, China and Hong Kong
Bal (Honey), Semih Kaplanoglu, Turkey and Germany
Báng-kah (Monga), Doze Niu, Taiwan
Paju, Chan-ok Park, Korea
Shi (Poetry), Chang-dong Lee, Korea

Best Children’s Feature Film
Boy, Taika Waititi, New Zealand
Bran Nue Dae, Rachel Perkins, Australia
Shui Yuet Sun Tau (Echoes of the Rainbow), Alex LawHong Kong
Digari (The Other), Mehdi Rahmani, Iran
Udaan, Vikramaditya Motwane, India

Best Animated Feature Film
Ibara no Ou (King of Thorn), Kazuyoshi Katayama, Japan
Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole, Zack Snyder, Australia and USA
Mai Mai Shinko to Sennen no Maho (Mai Mai Miracle), Sunao Katabuchi, Japan
Hottarake no Shima – Haruka to Maho no Kagami (Oblivion Island: Haruka and the Magic Mirror), Shinsuke Sato, Japan
Piercing 1, Liu Jian, China

Achievement in Directing
Feng Xiaogang for Tangshan dadizheng (Aftershock), China and Hong Kong
Semih Kaplanoglu for Bal (Honey), Turkey and Germany
Doze Niu for Báng-kah (Monga), Taiwan
Chang-dong Lee for Shi (Poetry), Korea
Quanan Wang for Fang Zhi Gu Niang (Weaving Girl), China

Best Performance by an Actress
Xu Fan in Tangshan dadizheng (Aftershock), Xiaogang Feng, China and Hong Kong
Tejaswini Pandit in Mee Sindhutai Sakpal (I am Sindutai Sakpal), India
Seo Woo in Paju, Chan-ok Park, Korea
Yun Jung-hee in Shi (Poetry), Chang-dong Lee, Korea
Yu Nan in Fang Zhi Gu Niang (Weaving Girl), Quanan Wang, China

Best Performance by an Actor
Chen Daoming in Tangshan dadizheng (Aftershock), Xiaogang Feng, China and Hong Kong
Tony Barry in Home by Christmas, Gaylene Preston, New Zealand
Sergei Puskepalis in Kak ya provel etim letom (How I Ended This Summer), Aleksei Popogrebsky, Russia
Mark Ivanir in The Human Resources Manager, Eran Riklis, Israel, Germany, France and Romania
Atul Kulkarni in Natarang, Ravi Jadhav, India

To check nominations in other categories go here or here. The film with most nominations (6) is China’s Oscar submission Aftershock that APSA Nominations Council unanimously praised for its ability to deftly balance a large scale epic story with the intimate drama of one family dealing with the aftermath of the devastating Tangshan earthquake and I humble absolutely agree with this well-deserved honor. Haven’t seen Bal that I know will blow my mind as much as Semih Kaplanoglu’s two previous films in this story that’s told backwards, but wonder if the third installment is more accessible to those voting for the awards.

The awards ceremony will be held on Australia’s Gold Coast on December 2, 2010 at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre and like last year there will be a Live webcast.

Mao’s Last Dancer

Bruce Beresford’s latest pic is a melodrama that will entertain you with the biopic of classic ballet dancer Li Cunxin who in 1979 defects to America from China, especially if you’re not familiar with the real-life story or haven’t read the autobiographical book. Not a masterpiece but is one of the best ballet films I have ever seen with jaw-dropping performances by Chi Cao playing Li Cunxin –as an adult- that will delight your senses thanks to great cinematography that shows whole dance sequences with beautiful dancing.

Li Cunxin’s real-life story is truly interesting and worth telling but unfortunately Beresford chosen storytelling style went more after viewers’ sympathy –and tears- and less to explore modern Chinese history or to less superficially tell motives that make someone to leave everything behind for new and unfamiliar surroundings. Thus making the story too melodramatic for my taste plus actors and non-actors performances weren’t able to save the film as most felt stiff, fragmented and/or disassociated to the story. My one exception is Joan Chen playing Cunxin’s mother and creating perhaps the only strong character from the whole movie.

Still the film is entertaining and yes, I shed a tear or two, which means that Beresford managed to create an old-fashioned tear-jerker that many will enjoy for the story but I’m sure that more will enjoy for the beautiful dancing and because of the later I do suggest to many that read the blog to not skip the film as dancing is truly worth-watching and story stops when is still a happy ending.

I had a contradictory experience with this film as I really loved the dancing but was very uncomfortable with actors’ performances, terrible storytelling style, and the lack of depth when telling very human non-pleasant life situations. Still the film was able to involve me up to the end and even to make me curious enough to find what happened to Li Cunxin after the film ends.

Enjoy!

Watch trailer @MOC

Beautiful Kate

I got really curious about this film that collected numerous nominations at Australian awards and fests because one actress that always called my attention is Rachel Ward and her directing was something that I had to watch. Unfortunately even do has a very appealing cast the movie story is so common or maybe I should say, told so many times, that you easily guess what could happen plus really does not help to have transposed the story from the American West to the Australian outback, where life in the bush seems so tedious.

Based on a novel by Newton Thornburg with a screenplay also by Rachel, the film tells the story of a family that have past dark secrets and all come alive when the youngest son Ned, now a forty-something writer, comes back as his father is dying. Slowly one strand tells the present that honestly is not that interesting, while a second strand tells the past that definitively was more interesting. Perhaps this was a story to be told in chronological order and probably the film would have been a lot more interesting.

The cast couldn't be better with Ward's real life husband Bryan Brown and one actress I like in the big screen, Rachel Griffiths; but both performances are not their best at all. Other actors are not known to me and well, won't be looking forward to watch them in the future. I'm afraid that Ward's directorial abilities couldn't extract good performances from actors.

Cinematography is one element that the film has on the good side, especially with outdoor sights takes showing the dry -desert alike- Australian outback, but there are not many of those beautiful takes as most of the drama happens indoors or around the house.

Not a film I can recommend, but if you wish to watch a story of incest, family drama, and dysfunctional father-son relationship told in a blunt and awkward way, then you should give a try to this movie.

Sigh.

Watch trailer @Movie On Companion