Michael Keaton vs. Eddie Redmayne for Best Actor.

Looking from all the recently held major film awards in Hollywood, I am almost 100% certain that Julianne Moore will win the best actress, J.K. Simmons to win best supporting actor and Patricia Arquette for best supporting actress in the coming Academy Awards. They literally swept almost all the awards in their respective categories in the current Hollywood awards season before all culminates into the prestigious Academy (Oscars) Awards. No question on their worthiness as their performances this year easily out-shined the rest in their respective categories. Right now, they should start preparing a nice shelf to display their coming Oscars trophy. They are locked for it.

 

(From left: Julianne Moore, J.K. Simmons and Patricia Arquette with their SAG trophies)

What sets to be the most exciting race now is the Best Actor category! Looking from the current statistics, Michael Keaton is a clear front-runner in the race with over 20 best actor prizes awarded to him earlier for his critically-lauded performance in ‘Birdman’ film. I didn’t watch the film, hence I couldn’t see it myself whether he is really that good. Right now, I will just stick to the majority and agreed that he is excellent in that movie. If not, how can he won that much of best actor trophies in the current Hollywood awards season. His most distinguished win are at the Golden Globes Award 2015 for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy and Best Leading Actor at Critics’ Choice Award 2015.

 

(Left, Michael and right, Eddie goes on an exciting race for Best Actor this year)

However, right now, I’m sure he is no longer that confident to continue his winning streak in the last two approaching major film awards; British Academy of Film Awards (BAFTA) and of course, the Academy Awards (Oscars). Why? Eddie Redmayne is now racing up to pose a huge threat to Michael. Eddie Redmayne’s performance as the physicist Stephen Hawking in the film ‘The Theory of Everything’ had already won him Golden Globes Award 2015 for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama. Despite losing Critics’ Choice to Michael, he got back to the race by winning the Screen Actors Guild Awards (SAG) yesterday. The SAG Awards are always seen as a strong precursor to the coming Oscars, and with Eddie winning over Michael for the Best Actor in SAG, then this is going to be very exciting.

(Eddie Redmayne with his SAG Trophy for Best Leading Actor)

Michael could no longer perfect his collection of Best Actor trophies right now. Eddie took the Screen Actors Guild Award, which is voted by about 160 000 members of actors, performers, journalists and radio personalities across the world. That’s a lot of people there. This may hint out that in Oscars, both is on neck-to-neck battle.

Who you are picking for Best Actor? I personally chose Eddie Redmayne because first, I watched his brilliant performance in that film, and secondly, he truly amazed me with his phenomenal handling of this role as Stephen Hawking. This role is more challenging (both physically and mentally) than Michael’s Birdman role in almost all angles. So, I will go for Eddie if I have the qualification to vote. Right now, his chance for winning at BAFTA is quite high (since he is a British and is easily favored by voters back in his home ground). As for Oscars, Michael Keaton still leads but Eddie is not far behind. Michael 60%, and Eddie 40%. As for the other nominees, sorry. Not to be rude, but you guys are nominated just to fill in the blank spaces. Wait…maybe Academy will give us another major shock this year (just like when they announced nominees for Best Animated Film when The Lego Movie isn’t even nominated) by giving Best Actor trophy to the other nominees. Who knows? Haha…

So, the current analysis on who will win the Oscars for best actor is like this:

Michael Keaton, Birdman – 45%

Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything – 35%

Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game – 10%

Steve Carrell, Foxcatcher – 5%

Bradley Cooper, American Sniper – 5%

Wouldn’t want to give Steve and Bradley 0% eventhough I wished to actually. But since they are nominated, they deserved at least a bit of percentage in my analysis of chances of winning. If Academy wants to deliver another surprise, then it would be Benedict Cumberbatch. I like his performance in ‘The Imitation Game’, but still not as fascinating as Eddie or Michael. Before that, many already predicted Michael as the hot favourite, now Eddie also successfully raised his Oscars’ chances. Now, we will just wait and see the result in the coming BAFTA and Academy Awards.

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)

10 design tips to beautify elevations of apartment building.

When you are designing an apartment / condominium, is there a time when you find out that your layouts are okay but not for the elevations? Yes, efficient and convenient spatial planning is essential, but let us not forget that the buyers / clients will see how it looks like from the outside first before getting inside. Hence, elevation (facade) treatment is very important from the very early stage of designing itself to avoid ended up in a boring-looking apartment. Nobody will likes it.

My office do frequently experienced this kind of issue too, but we had the following ten ways to enhance the aesthetics of the apartment’s facades to make it more interesting and appealing.

1 – Coping / hood.

Now, reinforced concrete (RC) coping isn’t only constructed to shed water away from windows, as architects usually tackles it for something different too. Coping can be:

(a) extended or protruded out further to form overhang.

(b) go all around like a wrap around windows.

(c) different on its thickness.

(d) go along to join with other nearby elements like columns, etc so that it looks harmonious and integrating in bigger picture rather than just being a coping alone.

2 – Cladding.

If the clients aren’t putting much restriction on the budget, then go for beautiful or artistic cladding which would be a perfect addition to your boring wall. Cladding can be in aluminium, wood, glass, stone, tiles, concrete, or even bricks (exposed) to show off the beauty of materials. What’s good about cladding is that it isn’t permanent (just like an extra) and can be replaced or changed if needed to.

3 – Groove lines.

Usually, budget is limited. No allocation for cladding. Hence, we have to go for cheap yet effective option; groove lines. Easy to make and doesn’t cost much, groove lines prove to be a very popular choice to make a plain wall interesting. Also called shadow lines, it helps to minimize the ‘heaviness’ of a particular wall by appearing to divide it.

4 – Paint (colour).

Put some nice colours to your building and it would be nice. That’s it. Simple. Let paint does the job. However, be careful when selecting which colours to apply to your facade. For current modern choice, we usually go for grey and white. But if you want it to be a bit more playful, just put in some other colours for some ‘fun’ to your building. It makes your facade looks ‘energetic’ and overwhelming.

5 – Louvers.

Whether adjustable or just fixed, louvers is also another great architectural element to beautify building. Not only it helps to shelter your building from excessive light, the shadow of louvers cast over to your building creates a very lively effect. Black aluminium louvers are now more popular choice especially over a huge staircase, or even effective to cover up the air-conditioner (AC) ledge.

6 – Windows.

Bored of having casement windows all over the place again and again. Don’t forget there is a variety of window designs available nowadays;

(a) Full height glass window.

(b) Different configuration of openings.

(c) Corner glass window.

(d) Interesting framing to the windows.

7 – Balcony + Railing.

An apartment building designed with no balconies is a big no. It is way too boring and makes everything dull. Balcony is also a nice outdoor place within home to enjoy being outside for views or some fresh air. The protruding balconies (can be configured differently on different levels for playful effect) prevents building’s facade from being flat.

8 – Lighting.

No matter how a good a building looks like in the day, it stands at no place if it is not beautifully lit at night. White-coloured fluorescent lighting is outdated now, as we switched for LED (long-life, cost-saving, many more benefits) and usually go for warm colours. Lighting proves to sets the mood for a building.

9 – Landscaping.

Here we talk about green wall. Although people should consider for its maintenance, but it is to no doubt that landscaping helps to soften the ‘hardness’ from those solid walls or elements. With the risk of lessening forest in cities nowadays, home occupants would see this as at least a perfect opportunity to get close to nature for a bit.

10 – Rainwater downpipes.

Would you just expose the awful-looking rainwater downpipes running down from the roof to the ground for your building? Definitely not. However, we can’t get rid of it as it is an essential element for your rainwater drainage. So, let’s box it up with a wall so that it will be left unseen. If the box-up looks odd to you, then give some treatment to it to make it looks compatible to your building’s overall look.

Before I’m ending this, here’s a last advice before you are finally satisfied with your building’s elevations. Try to look again to the top of your building to see whether it looks really good or not. The top part of an apartment building is important too as people will see it first from far. Push or maximise architectural elements up there further and don’t limit yourself. Make sure it has a nice roof or an appealing pinnacle at the top. Same goes to the base portion to impress people on street level. Treat things from bottom to top nicely. Don’t leave out any angles.

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)

Just finished my first TVB series of the year, ‘Noblesse Oblige’.

‘Noblesse Oblige’ ( 宦海奇官 ) is a Hong Kong drama sets during Qing dynasty that starred Kenneth Ma as To Chan Fung, a lazy but good-hearted county magistrate who is given the task to clear the government from corrupted officials. Tavia Yeung starred as Kenneth’s sidekick, Wai Lam whom is a Buddhist nun. The 21-episodes long drama also starred Joel Chan, Ram Chiang, Susan Tse, Lau Dan, Benjamin Yuen, Cilia Lok, Yoyo Chen, Lee Shing Cheung, etc.

This is the first TVB drama of the year that I watched, and the series ended just now with its two finale episodes on Saturday’s evening. I enjoyed this series because while it is a light-hearted production, the plot also includes in some serious matters (mostly on politics and corruptions) to create some exciting dramas. At one point, you get to be entertained by quite a number of good laughs from the series, while as the scene switches, you get to see real ‘business’ going on.

At the very beginning, the series reminded me of ‘Rosy Business’, a very critically-acclaimed drama back in 2009. That series, along with ‘Noblesse Oblige’ were also produced by Lee Tim Sheng. He usually stood out on delivering some very good quality series to save TVB. Of course, ‘Noblesse Oblige’ is not as serious or as intensely good like ‘Rosy Business’. This time, Lee puts a bit more emphasis on comedy to this series (for something different) and it still worked, eventhough ‘Rosy Business’ is still better. As the series progresses, ‘Noblesse Oblige’ gets back to ‘typical’ low-drama moments that many present TVB series are experiencing. That’s a bit of disappointment there. Luckily, this series is short and won’t waste much of our time on further pointless story development.

Kenneth Ma is mostly exaggerated on his acting in this series. I think it is needed for his type of role here to push things slightly beyond boundary a bit for better result. However, his acting doesn’t really improves. Same goes to Tavia Yeung. She is mostly shy, quiet and easily ignored in the series despite she is the first female lead. Even her fellow mate, Wai Yu (portrayed by Cilia Lok) had far more interesting and catchy role here. Tavia’s character is only needed to protect and love Kenneth. Her past story, revealed only in the last two or three episodes of the series appeared to be ‘forced’ into the drama and is unappealing. Ram Chiang is good as supporting role here (he is always good in this kind of role).

Fortunately, the drama’s ending is not bad. It’s a happy conclusion to Kenneth and Tavia (always like to see them as an on-screen pair. They are very compatible) and to his family and friends too. The main villain (Lee Shing Cheung) died, but I actually preferred him to be put to justice by the emperor himself rather than being killed by revenge. This implies to us that taking revenge like this is reasonable. That’s not the way it is supposed to be. The killing scene is also quite similar to that of ‘Overachievers’ drama last month in its finale episode too. Before I forgot, Lee Shing Cheung did absolutely brilliant as the villain here. Very good veteran actor. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Noblesse Oblige’ a total of 7.4. Better than many typical TVB dramas nowadays, but still not that good to the point that I can remember this for long.

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)

Movie review: Interstellar (2014)

I guessed ‘Interstellar’ would be the last 2014 film I watched before I put my focus back on this year’s films. ‘Interstellar’ ended my 2014 movie reviews in high note as the movie is crazily good! It’s a masterpiece, another one by director Christopher Nolan whom had previously delivered to us amazing films like Inception and ‘The Dark Knight’ franchise. He never disappoints in producing exceptionally cool and ‘heavy’ films which are usually Oscar-favourite. However, ‘Interstellar’ is not nominated for ‘Best Picture’ in the upcoming 87th Academy Awards. It only manages to grab few nominations in technical categories. Perhaps, Academy members are getting bored of another outer space film after the success of ‘Gravity’ just last year.

But for me, ‘Interstellar’ is different from Alfonso Cuaron’s ‘Gravity’. Both took place mostly in outer space and are both wonderful movies! But ‘Gravity’ is going for a more ‘silent kill’ direction and straightforward while ‘Interstellar’ is on ‘epic blast’ approach equipped with a deep story. Before I moved on to the review, what is ‘interstellar’ actually? Oh, it means existing or occurring between stars. To further explain things up here, ‘Interstellar’, sets in a distant future, tells the story of a team of explorers whom had to travel through a wormhole in outer space in search for new habitable planets in attempt to ensure humanity’s survival. The main lead, the pilot had to abandon his family for the mission.

The story itself is simply amazing. The idea behind it is brilliant and is cleverly executed in this near three hours long film. The storyline is deep and to some points, a bit going ‘out of reach’ and slightly complicated (similar to when I watched ‘Inception’ the first time). Only when I searched for its synopsis online, then only I can get it roughly in details. The plot is solid, complex and deserves near three hours to tell the story. It made you think, and a movie which does that is a successful one. I am also very impressed by some surprises or revelations (that relates back to earlier scenes) as the story develops. Exceptionally brilliant script and idea.

The film starred Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Michael Caine, John Lithgow, Mackenzie Foy, Casey Affleck, Topher Grace, etc. Matthew is good, but I don’t really enjoy the way he speaks in the film sometimes (going blurry and looks like mumbling). Actually, every casts did well here, but this film isn’t there to showcase acting skills like what ‘Gravity’ did for Sandra Bullock. This film is more to show off the powerful idea of travel through wormhole to other galaxies and the exploration of science of time and gravity and their relationship. The subject of time and gravity addressed here is clever, but it gave me quite a headache especially in the second half of the film. I’m literally quite lost before I read its synopsis.

‘Interstellar’ also delivered when it comes to its visually striking scenes which are as good as the one in ‘Gravity’. Impressive visual works as observed. Besides that, when the movie’s music falls under Hans Zimmer, I knew that it must be great. And again, I’m speechless. Absolutely beautiful and touching scores that somehow elevates all the emotional and technical qualities of the film which are already high. In conclusion, ‘Interstellar’ is an epic outer space sci-fi masterpiece. If you missed the movie last year, you should get back to it like me. I assured that it will presents a three-hour long dazzling cinematic experience to you. Impacting, emotional, technically advanced, and believed to be quite scientifically accurate too, ‘Interstellar’ is certainly one of the best films in 2014. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Interstellar’ a total of 8.2, the highest rating I gave to a 2014 movie.

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)

Counting down…one month to go before Chinese New Year, and my trip to Indonesia again!

Is it only me that I felt January is moving a bit too slow? It’s now only barely few days after the mid of the month. This month is like so long for me. It seems like year 2015 started out too slow somehow. Anyway, when I checked on the calendar just now, I realized that we are just one month from the much anticipated Chinese New Year festival. It will be celebrated by the Chinese worldwide (also known as Spring Festival) on 19th February 2015, and that would marks the start of the year of goat.

Whenever the time around the Chinese New Year comes, I’m always looking forward to take on variety of delicious new year cookies and biscuits. Now, I’m already requesting my dad to buy those quick. The Chinese New Year atmosphere is coming in slowly with lanterns display in various supermarkets, malls and streets, and I already can hear CNY music playing in several places. CNY is very great especially when we were still kids when we can gather and play around on basically anything we can think of in a huge house of a relative. Now, we have grown up and become adults, but I am still looking quite excited for Chinese New Year due to its holiday and also my usual annual family trip during CNY break.

If you did catch up with my past write-up last year, you would already knew that I would be flying to Jogjakarta, Indonesia during the CNY break next month for a few days of family vacation after we have booked the tour in MATTA Fair several months ago. It would be only a short trip for us this time as we wished to cut on the spending of the family to better prepare for the coming implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST). Even before it starts, many hawkers had already raised their food prices. Very unreasonable. Many prices of goods already increased terribly already right now. It’s just so hard to save based on current worsening economic situation in Malaysia. The consumers suffer.

Okay…I shall stop my complaint and get back to my anticipation mood for the coming CNY and my holiday to Indonesia which is now roughly about a month from now. This will be my third consecutive trip to Indonesia, after I have been to Bali twice last year. This time, we will go to Jogjakarta, the place where the famous Borobudur temple is. Looking forward to visit that UNESCO World Heritage Site, and also some other popular tourist destinations there like Prambanan Temple, etc. This trip is considered quite affordable (less than two thousands for one person) when we compared it to other more favourite places we wished to go but have to put away those thoughts (Australia, Dubai, United States, Egypt, Greece, Turkey, etc).

 

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)

More details revealed for the mysterious KL118 Tower

After giving my attention on several supertall skyscrapers under construction in China in my previous blog post, it’s time to shift back the focus to one supertall also currently undergoing construction back in my home city, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is the controversial KL118 Tower. Why I said it is controversial? Because the project is receiving much more criticism than praise from the citizens regarding the need of the city for another supertall building. People also questioned that the budget (over RM 5 billion) allocated for it may be of better use in other areas. It is also criticized for its location as the site of the project is in the vicinity of many heritage buildings (Petaling Street, Stadium Merdeka, Stadium Negara, Methodist Boys School, Victoria Institution, etc) and the tower and its surrounding proposed complex development will leaves huge impact and further heavy traffic to the area.

Whatever the criticisms are, the project is given the nod to proceed but not much details are publicized about the tower since then. The KL118 Tower makes up part of a complex of development known as Warisan Merdeka (Heritage Independence) development that also includes residential towers, shopping mall, etc. The tower itself has 118 floors, and will easily surpass Petronas Twin Towers (452 metres high) as the tallest building in Malaysia. There has been speculations till now over the final height of the tower. Previously, it is tipped to be slightly over 500 metres. Then, the height is revised to allow the building to go taller without adding more floors by amending the design of the spire, the finishing crown to the skyscraper.

So, what’s the height it would be? Based on the elevations or sections drawings available (leaked online), the building will be slightly over 600 metres. The height indicated from the ground floor is at about 75 metres till the top showing 715 metres. Hence, after the reduction, the building will reach full height of 640 metres. However, I think the structure / antenna above the spire will not be counted as the architectural height of the building. Hence, the final height of the tower would be about 610 metres. And there is a feeling in me that I think the tower will be of 615.7 metres (2020 feet high) in the end, to coincide with Wawasan (Vision) 2020; the year 2020 of which we targeted to achieve the high-income / developed nation status for Malaysia. It is also the year the tower would be opened to the public after its estimated completion in 2019.

Official renderings of KL118 Tower:

 

3D works of KL118 Tower by other parties:

 

 (Renderings by Atifnadzir, http://www.skyscrapercity.com) 

Scale comparison of KL118 Tower (third from left) with other built supertall skyscrapers in the world. Petronas Twin Towers are on the most right:

 

 

Architectural drawings (plan, sections & elevations) of KL118 Tower. Here you can see quite clearly how the spire looks like, and the observation and viewing sky decks occupy four floors of the tower. And there’s a restaurant on level 113! :

 

 

 

Current site condition ( 2014 – 2019, now still construction at foundation and base level, long way to go):

When completed, it will be one of the top ten tallest buildings in the world (probably in 6th or 7th place). Now, after seeing more images / renderings of the tower, what is your thought on its design which is obviously based on diamond. KL118 Tower (I think the name will change later on when it is opened) is designed by Fender Katsalidis Architects, an Australian architectural firm. It’s a nice, sleek and futuristic design, but I hope that they can do more on its elevations and its top part which is a bit boring. It is not as appealing or as impressive if compared to Petronas Twin Towers besides than its height. Still, KL118 Tower would be a good addition to the skyline of KL.

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)

 

Updates on some China’s tallest buildings that are under construction and near completion.

It has been a while since I last posted updates of several skyscrapers currently under construction in China. The country is no stranger when it comes to building extremely tall buildings, especially in their mega cities like Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, etc. Here below are updates (latest construction images that will surely take your breath away) of four supertall skyscrapers in China currently under construction, but will very soon be completed.

Shanghai Tower, Shanghai – 632 metres, 128 floors. (topped out a year ago, pending interior works, testing of decorative lighting of building in progress)

 

Ping An International Finance Centre, Shenzhen – 588 metres, 115 floors. (structure and cladding rising very quickly)

CTF Finance Centre, Guangzhou – 530 metres, 111 floors. (topped out, cladding in quick progress)

Goldin Finance 117 Tower, Tianjin – 600 metres, 117 floors. (structure rising quickly, cladding still long way to go)

 

Don’t forget that these are only the under-construction mega skyscrapers in China that ARE NEARING COMPLETION. I didn’t include in many other on-going supertall building constructions in the country that are still years from finished. The 4 skyscrapers above are all above 500 metres mark respectively, and are scheduled to be completed and opened to public either this year or 2016. Impressive images, aren’t they? Simply breathtaking.

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)

Full nomination list for Hollywood’s biggest honours on films,the 87th Academy Awards.

No more assuming. The current on-going Hollywood awards season reached a climax today with the announcement of the nomination list for the 87th Academy Awards (widely known as Oscars). The awards ceremony is to be held on 22nd February 2015, to honour the best of films for the year 2014. Without wasting any more time, hereby is the full list of the nominations in 24 categories as announced by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, alongside with my brief comments:

Best Picture
“Birdman”
“Boyhood”
“Selma”
“The Theory of Everything”
“The Imitation Game”
“The Grand Budapest Hotel”
“American Sniper”
“Whiplash”

Comment: Only 8 nominees for best picture this time. Usually it’s 9 or 10.If I’m to include two more, I would add in ‘Nightcrawler’ and maybe ‘Foxcatcher’. But anyway, probability is high for ‘Boyhood’ to win this. Dark horse would be ‘Birdman’ and ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’. I’m not really in favor of those three. I prefer ‘The Theory of Everything’ actually, but I knew it won’t win. ‘Boyhood’ will.

Actress in a Leading Role
Julianne Moore, “Still Alice”
Felicity Jones, “The Theory of Everything”
Rosamund Pike, “Gone Girl”
Reese Witherspoon, “Wild”
Marion Cotillard, “Two Days One Night”

Comment: A very strong category. I have only seen Felicity Jones in ‘The Theory of Everything’, and so I choose her. But everyone is saying that this should be the time for Julianne Moore. She is long overdue for Oscars, and her performance in ‘Still Alice’ is critically praised and deserved the win. So, I’m like almost 100% sure she will win.

Actor in a Leading Role
Michael Keaton, “Birdman”
Eddie Redmayne, “The Theory of Everything”
Benedict Cumberbatch, “The Imitation Game”
Steve Carell, “Foxcatcher”
Bradley Cooper, “American Sniper”

Comment: Quite surprised for Bradley Cooper being nominated but not Jake Gyllenhaal from ‘Nightcrawler’ whom had already won several Best Actor awards from critics groups and organizations. Also surprised that Dayid Oyelowo from ‘Selma’ isn’t nominated too, and that slot given to Steve Carell. But in the end, everyone knows that Michael Keaton will win it. I prefer Eddie Redmayne. He is exceptionally brilliant in ‘The Theory of Everything’. 

Directing
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, “Birdman”
Richard Linklater, “Boyhood”
Wes Anderson, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
Morten Tyldum, “The Imitation Game”
Bennett Miller, “Foxcatcher”

Comment: 99% Richard Linklater will win this. No doubt. The idea of using 12 years to create a realistic movie is already a cinematic achievement. But wait, ‘Selma’ director is not here too. ‘Selma’ got snubbed a lot this year. 

Actress in a Supporting Role
Patricia Arquette, “Boyhood”
Emma Stone, “Birdman”
Keira Knightley, “The Imitation Game”
Meryl Streep, “Into the Woods”
Laura Dern, “Wild”

Comment: I’m very sure that it would be Patricia Arquette to take this, since she is currently sweeping all supporting actress awards available. The only thing I can praise for ‘Boyhood’ (I don’t quite like this film), is Patricia’s acting. So, she deserved it. Meryl Streep again! This is her 19th nomination, so, she broke her own record of person with most Oscars nominations in history of the awards.

Actor in a Supporting Role
J.K. Simmons, “Whiplash”
Edward Norton, “Birdman”
Ethan Hawke, “Boyhood”
Mark Ruffalo, “Foxcatcher”
Robert Duvall, “The Judge”

Comment: Didn’t watch ‘Whiplash’, but J.K. Simmons’ presence in the film is critically lauded until everybody knew it. No major competition for both supporting roles. Patricia for supporting actress and Simmons for supporting actor. 

Foreign Language Film
“Ida”
“Leviathan”
“Tangerines”
“Wild Tales”
“Timbuktu”

Writing – Adapted Screenplay
Graham Moore, “The Imitation Game”
Damien Chazelle, “Whiplash”
Anthony McCarten, “The Theory of Everything”
Jason Hall, “American Sniper”
Paul Thomas Anderson, “Inherent Vice”

Comment: Prefer either ‘The Imitation Game’ or ‘The Theory of Everything’. Both are great.

Writing – Original Screenplay
Richard Linklater, “Boyhood”
Alejandro González Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris and Armando Bo, “Birdman”
Wes Anderson and Hugo Guinness, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
Dan Gilroy, “Nightcrawler”
E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman, “Foxcatcher”

Comment: I’m fine with any film winning this. All nominees deserved the award, but in the end, only one will win.

Cinematography
Emmanuel Lubezki, “Birdman”
Roger Deakins, “Unbroken”
Robert D. Yeoman, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
Dick Pope, “Mr. Turner”
Lukasz Zal and Ryszard Lynzewski, “Ida”

Music – Original Score
Hans Zimmer, “Interstellar”
Alexandre Desplat, “The Imitation Game”
Johann Johannsson, “The Theory of Everything”
Alexandre Desplat, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
Gary Yershon, “Mr Turner”

Comment: My pick is ‘The Theory of Everything’. Beautiful score! I also haven’t listen to the others, and so I’m biased towards ‘The Theory of Everything’. 

Makeup and Hairstyling
“Foxcatcher”
“The Grand Budapest Hotel”
“Guardians of the Galaxy”

Costume Design
Colleen Atwood, “Into the Woods”
Anna B. Sheppard, “Maleficent”
Milena Canonero, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
Jacqueline Durran, “Mr. Turner”
Mark Bridges, “Inherent Vice”

Music – Original Song
“Glory” by Common and John Legend, “Selma”
“Lost Stars” by Gregg Alexander, Danielle Brisebois, Nick Lashley and Nick Southwood, “Begin Again”
“Everything Is Awesome” by Shawn Patterson, “The LEGO Movie”
“I’m Not Gonna Miss You,” by Glen Campbell, “Glenn Campbell: I’ll Be Me”
“Grateful,” “Beyond the lights”

Visual Effects
“Interstellar”
“Dawn of the Planet of the Apes”
“Guardians of the Galaxy”
“Captain America: Winter Soldier”
“X-Men: Days of Future Past”

Comment: I think this will be race between ‘Interstellar’ and ‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes’. Since ‘Gravity’, a film on outer space was still in many people’s minds winning a number of awards including this one last year, the voters may go for something different this year. That means, no more outer space please. At least in these few years. Hence, I would pick ‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes’. 

Documentary Short Subject
“Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1”
“Joanna”
“Our Curse”
“White Earth”
“The Reaper”

Documentary Feature
“Citizenfour”
“Last Days in Vietnam”
“Virunga”
“The Salt of the Earth”
“Finding Vivian Maier”

Film Editing
Sandra Adair, “Boyhood”
Tom Cross, “Whiplash”
William Goldenberg, “The Imitation Game”
Joel Cox and Gary Roach, “American Sniper”
Barney Pilling, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”

Sound Editing
“Interstellar”
“Unbroken”
“The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies”
“American Sniper”
“Birdman”

Sound Mixing
Mark Weingarten, “Interstellar”
Thomas Curley, ”Whiplash”
“Unbroken”
“American Sniper”
“Birdman”

Production Design
“Into the Woods”
“The Grand Budapest Hotel”
“Interstellar”
“The Imitation Game”
“Mr. Turner”

Short Film – Live Action
“Boogaloo and Graham”
“Aya”
“Butterlamp”
“Parvenah”
“The Phone Call”

Short Film – Animated
“Feast”
“The Bigger Picture”
“A Single Life”
“The Dam Keeper”
“Me and My Moulton”

Animated Feature Film
“Big Hero 6”
“How to Train Your Dragon 2”
“The Boxtrolls”
“The Tale of the Princess Kaguya”
“Song of the Sea”

Comment: This is the major surprise! A big shock! ‘The Lego Movie’ which many predicted earlier that it will not only get nominated, but also win easily is now, NOT EVEN NOMINATED! What were the Academy members thinking? ‘The Lego Movie’ is such a great and surprisingly wonderful animated film last year, and it is snubbed painfully in this only category that it has the highest chance of winning. Seriously….In this case, ‘How To Train Your Dragon 2’ will win, since it recently took Golden Globes too. 

That’s all for the nomination list and my comments for some categories that I’m interested into. Now, let’s wait for the awards ceremony, to be held on 22nd February 2015, and to be hosted by Neil Patrick Harris.

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)

72nd Golden Globe Awards’ results for the film categories.

The 72nd Golden Globe Awards, a major Hollywood award presentation to recognize the best in both films and television works for the past year was held successfully last night with Tina Fey and Amy Poehler returning as the host of the ceremony for the third consecutive times. They were very entertaining (more hilarious than Ellen DeGeneres hosting Oscars last year) as expected. Too bad, this is the last time that they would be hosting since their contract ended, but that made way for them to go beyond limit to make fun of several things at the night.

I’m very excited when the results were announced for the awards of which I’m only interested on the film categories since I didn’t watch any US dramas or series. Hereby is the full result of the just concluded 72nd Golden Globe Awards in film categories which is always seen as a hint to the coming Oscars:

Best Motion Picture – Drama
Boyhood – WINNER
Foxcatcher
The Imitation Game
Selma
The Theory of Everything

Comment: Already knew from the very beginning that ‘Boyhood’ will take the highest honor for the night. It received universal acclaims (very positive overwhelming feedbacks), but not for me, who think that this is just an ordinary coming-of-age film. Prefer the brilliant film of ‘The Theory of Everything’ to take this. ‘Boyhood’ will continue its streak to win best film in BAFTAs and Academy too.

Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
Birdman
The Grand Budapest Hotel – WINNER
Into the Woods
Pride
St Vincent

Comment: Didn’t watch all of the nominated films above. Hence, no comment.

Best Director
Wes Anderson (The Grand Budapest Hotel)
Ava DuVernay (Selma)
David Fincher (Gone Girl)
Alejandro González Iñárritu (Birdman)
Richard Linklater (Boyhood) – WINNER

Comment: Eventhough I’m not really in favor of ‘Boyhood’, but I do admired the idea of filming the whole thing in 12 years for a more realistic outcome. That’s a long span of time to come to this stage of winning awards. So, Richard Linklater deserved this.

Best Actress – Drama
Jennifer Aniston (Cake)
Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything)
Julianne Moore (Still Alice) – WINNER
Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl)
Reese Witherspoon (Wild)

Comment: Everyone in this category is strong, but since everyone is also saying that Julianne Moore is long overdue for award, so things get easier here. Julianne Moore all the way. She deserved it, plus her outstanding performance in ‘Still Alice’ tells it all. She’s a great actress.

Best Actor – Drama
Steve Carrell (Foxcatcher)
Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game)
Jake Gyllenhaal (Nightcrawler)
David Oyelowo (Selma)
Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything) – WINNER

Comment: Very happy for Eddie Redmayne to win this. Another very deserving win. The role of Stephen Hawking in ‘The Theory of Everything’ is absolutely challenging in all levels but Eddie nailed the character fantastically. Then, at one point, I’m in pity for Benedict Cumberbatch and ‘The Imitation Game’ to go home empty handed despite it is another marvelous film last year. 

Best Actress – Musical or Comedy
Amy Adams (Big Eyes) – WINNER
Emily Blunt (Into The Woods)
Helen Mirren (The Hundred-Foot Journey)
Julianne Moore (Maps to the Stars)
Quvenzhané Wallis (Annie)

Comment: No comment as I didn’t watch all the films above (same goes to the category below). I’m fine with Amy Adams winning.

Best Actor – Musical or Comedy
Ralph Fiennes (The Grand Budapest Hotel)
Michael Keaton (Birdman) – WINNER
Bill Murray (St. Vincent)
Joaquin Phoenix (Inherent Vice)
Christoph Waltz (Big Eyes)

Comment: Everyone is saying Michael Keaton. And so, it’s him. He is a strong contender now for Best Actor in the Oscar race too. Luckily, Eddie’s win in ‘Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama’ put him at least in a strong position to challenge Michael Keaton in the best actor race, while Benedict Cumberbatch now appeared to be a bit pushed back in current situation. It will be Michael Keaton vs. Eddie Redmayne in Academy. But I think it would be the former, eventhough I prefer the latter.

Best Supporting Actress
Patricia Arquette (Boyhood) – WINNER
Jessica Chastain (A Most Violent Year)
Keira Knightley (The Imitation Game)
Emma Stone (Birdman)
Meryl Streep (Into The Woods)

Comment: Glad for Patricia Arquette to win this from her role as the mother in ‘Boyhood’. No characters in the film captivates me except her. She is on the winning streak to win all best supporting actress awards now.

Best Supporting Actor
Robert Duvall (The Judge)
Ethan Hawke (Boyhood)
Edward Norton (Birdman)
Mark Ruffalo (Foxcatcher)
J.K. Simmons (Whiplash) – WINNER

Comment: Also happy for J.K. Simmons to win this. Didn’t watch ‘Whiplash’, but looking from all the buzz in favor of him to win, then I automatically joined in the crowd. He is also winning almost all other best supporting actor awards available.

Best Screenplay
Gillian Flynn (Gone Girl)
Alejandro González Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Armando Bo (Birdman) – WINNER
Richard Linklater (Boyhood)
Graham Moore (The Imitation Game)

Comment: This one turned to be quite a surprise. I’m not into a comedy film taking best screenplay. I prefer Graham Moore for ‘The Imitation Game’ to at least win this (only one).

Best Foreign Language Film
Force Majeure (Sweden)
Gett: The Trial of Vivian Amsalem (Israel)
Ida (Poland/Denmark)
Leviathan (Russia) – WINNER
Tangerines (Estonia)

Comment: No comment on this definitely. Never even heard of these films. 

Best Animated Feature
Big Hero Six
The Book of Life
The Boxtrolls
How to Train Your Dragon 2 – WINNER
The Lego Movie

Comment: This is the major surprise of the night. Everyone is predicting ‘The Lego Movie’, but it turned out to be the dragons that prevail, not Lego bricks. But I prefer ‘The Lego Movie’ to win this actually. It’s a slightly more brilliant animated film last year, but still ‘How To Train Your Dragon 2’ is good. 

Best Original Score
Alexandre Desplat (The Imitation Game)
Jóhann Jóhannsson (The Theory of Everything) – WINNER
Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross (Gone Girl)
Antonio Sanchez (Birdman)
Hans Zimmer (Interstellar)

Comment: Okay with ‘The Theory of Everything’ to win this. Beautiful score in the movie.

Best Original Song
Big Eyes (Big Eyes)
Glory (Selma) – WINNER
Mercy Is (Noah)
Opportunity (Annie)
Yellow Flicker Beat (The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1)

Comment: Also no comment on this song category. I have only heard of the one in ‘The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1). 

That’s it. The end of Golden Globes. So now, just stay back and wait for the official nomination list for 87th Academy Awards (Oscars) to be released by end of this week. The ceremony will take place on 22nd February 2015.

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)

My predictions for Hollywood awards season for 2014 films.

There are about 10 different awards presentation to honour the best of Chinese films in Asia Pacific every year (from critics society, guilds or organizations, as well as the main ones like Asian Film Awards, Hong Kong Film Awards, and Golden Horse Awards). But that figure is no comparison to Hollywood awards season that has about 50 or more of such awards given to recognize the best of films in the previous year. The three major from those are no other than BAFTAs (British Academy Film Awards), Golden Globes and the prestigious Academy (Oscars).

So, I’ll just pretend to be an expert in movie critics for a day and contribute my personal predictions to who will get nominated and win in few important categories in awards selection. This is the right time to do so before the three major awards mentioned earlier (Golden Globes to take place tonight, BAFTAs as usual on early February, and Academy on late February).

Best Film / Motion Picture :

Top 5 : Boyhood (70%), The Theory of Everything (50%), Selma (50%), The Imitation Game (40%), Birdman (40%)

Next five to make it to the list but with very little chance of winning: Whiplash, Nightcrawler, Gone Girl, Foxcatcher, The Grand Budapest Hotel.

Next five that may even get into the list: Interstellar, Unbroken, American Sniper, Wild, Into the Woods.

Will win : Boyhood.

My pick : The Theory of Everything.

Best Director :

Top 5 : Richard Linklater – Boyhood (80%), Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu – Birdman (70%), Ava Duvernay – Selma (50%), Morten Tyldum – The Imitation Game (40%), David Fincher – Gone Girl (30%)

Will win : Richard Linklater (Boyhood).

My pick : Richard Linklater (Boyhood).

Best Leading Actor :

Top 5 : Michael Keaton – Birdman (70%), Eddie Redmayne – The Theory of Everything (60%), Benedict Cumberbatch – The Imitation Game (50%), David Oyelowo – Selma (40%), Steve Carell – Foxcatcher (20%)

Wish to include in Jake Gyllenhaal – Nightcrawler (20%)

Will win : Michael Keaton (Birdman)

My pick : Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything)

Best Leading Actress :

Top 5 : Julianne Moore – Still Alice (80%), Reese Witherspoon – Wild (50%), Rosamund Pike – Gone Girl (50%), Felicity Jones – The Theory of Everything (40%), Jennifer Anniston – Cake (20%)

Wish to include in Amy Adams – Big Eyes (20%)

Will win : Julianne Moore (Still Alice)

My pick : Julianne Moore (Still Alice)

Best Supporting Actor :

Top 5 : J.K. Simmons – Whiplash (90%), Ethan Hawke – Boyhood (40%), Edward Norton – Birdman (40%), Mark Ruffalo – Foxcatcher (30%), Robert Duvall – The Judge (20%)

Will win : J.K. Simmons (Whiplash)

Should win : J.K. Simmons (Whiplash)

Best Supporting Actress :

Top 5 : Patricia Arquette – Boyhood (90%), Meryl Streep – Into the Woods (40%), Emma Stone – Birdman (40%), Laura Dern – Wild (30%), Keira Knightley – The Imitation Game (30%)

Will win : Patricia Arquette (Boyhood)

Should win : Patricia Arquette (Boyhood)

Best Animated Film :

Top 3 : The Lego Movie, How To Train Your Dragon 2, Big Hero 6.

Will win : The Lego Movie.

Should win : The Lego Movie.

That’s it. I didn’t watch all of the listed films above. Hence, the outcome above is from my research on various critics or polls online, as well as from my personal judgement particularly on the films that I did watched. Do you agree with my predictions above? I believe the result of those upcoming awards will be something like this unless the awards’ organizers wanted to give us a big surprise.

Best actor is a very tight race this time. Everyone able to be qualified into that category is very strong on their own. Now, mostly are saying Michael Keaton, but I think that Stephen Hawking is much harder to portray in ‘The Theory of Everything’. Eddie Redmayne nailed the role brilliantly and so I chose him. As for best actress, everyone is saying that Julianne Moore is long overdue for this award. I agreed. She is a great actress, and I believe this is the time for her, since she did amazingly in ‘Still Alice’ too. I think most are very sure that supporting actor and actress shall be given to J.K. Simmons and Patricia Arquette respectively. Both stay far ahead on their race. As for best director, I’m totally impressed with the idea of shooting the ‘Boyhood’ film in over 12 years for the more realistic outcome of that coming-of-age film. Hence, Richard Linklater deserved the recognition. Lastly, best animated film shall be no other than ‘The Lego Movie’, but ‘How To Train Your Dragon 2’ may be a dark horse. This is it. No comments on other smaller categories of the awards (screenplay, cinematography, editing, score, song, visual effects, sound effects, production design, etc).

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)