Sunday, February 22, 2015

The 2015 Essential Film Awards

Celebrating the cinematic achievements of 2014

Official 2014 Selections

 
 
 
 
 


Best Film of the Year


BOYHOOD
Richard Linklater
165 Minutes • 1.85:1 • United States
Color • English • IFC

Principal Cast: Ellar Coltrane, Patricia Arquette, Ethan Hawke, Lorelei Linklater
Writer: Richard Linklater
Producers: Richard Linklater, Cathleen Sutherland, Jonathan Sehring, John Sloss
Cinematography: Lee Daniel, Shane Kelly

                              

Best Actor in a Leading Role


BIRDMAN
Michael Keaton
                              

Best Actress in a Leading Role


GONE GIRL
Rosamund Pike
                              

Best Actor in a Supporting Role


WHIPLASH
J.K. Simmons
                              

Best Actress in a Supporting Role


NIGHTCRAWLER
Rene Russo
                              

Best Ensemble Cast



THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL
Ralph Fiennes, Bill Murray, Saoirse Ronan, Tilda Swinton, Adrien Brody, Willem Dafoe, F. Murray Abraham, Edward Norton, Jason Schwartzman, Jeff Goldblum, Jude Law, Owen Wilson, Harvey Keitel, Tony Revolori
                              

Best Director


BOYHOOD
Richard Linklater
                              

Best Screenplay - Original Material



NIGHTCRAWLER
Dan Gilroy

                              

Best Screenplay - Adapted or Historical Material


GONE GIRL
Gillian Flynn
based on her novel Gone Girl

                              

Best Film - Animated Feature



THE LEGO MOVIE
Chris Miller, Phil Lord

                              

Best Film - Documentary Feature


LIFE ITSELF
Steve James

                              

Best Film - Foreign Language Feature



IDA
Pawel Pawlikowski

                              

Best Film - Limited Theatrical Release



ENEMY
Denis Villeneuve

                              

Best Cinematography


IDA
Ryszard Lenczewski, Lukasz Zal

                              

Best Film Editing


BOYHOOD
Sandra Adair

                              

Best Visual Design


SNOWPIERCER
Ondrej Nekvasil - Production Design
Stefan Kovacik - Art Direction
Catherine George - Costume Design

                              

Best Visual Effects


GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY
Stephane Ceretti
Nicolas Aithadi
Jonathan Fawkner
Paul Corbould

                              

Best Stunts and Stunt Choreography


THE RAID 2
Bruce Law - Car Stunts Coordinator
Yee Man Law  - Assistant Car Stunt Coordinator
Mike Leeder - Stunts
Yayan Ruhian - Fight Choreographer
Larnell Stovall - Guest Fight Choreographer
Iko Uwais - Fight Choreographer

                              

Best Make-Up Effects



GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY
Elizabeth Yianni-Georgiou
David White

                              

Best Music - Original Score


INTERSTELLAR
Hans Zimmer

                              

Best Music - Original Song


THE LEGO MOVIE
"Everything is Awesome"
Music and Lyric by Shawn Patterson

                              

Best Music - Soundtrack Compilation


GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY
Awesome Mix Vol. 1

                              

Best Sound Design


WHIPLASH
Craig Mann
Ben Wilkins
Thomas Curley

                              

Best Action/Adventure Film



THE RAID 2
Gareth Evans

                              

Best Comedy Film


THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL
Wes Anderson
                              

Best Fantasy Film


HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2
Dean DeBlois

                              

Best Horror/Thriller Film


THE BABADOOK
Jennifer Kent

                              

Best Science Fiction Film


INTERSTELLAR
Christopher Nolan

                              

Best Animated Short Film


FEAST
Patrick Osborne

                              

Best Live Action Short Film


THE PHONE CALL
Matt Kirkby

                              

Best Voice Acting Performance


GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY
Bradley Cooper as "Rocket"

                              

The following films did not win any Essential Film Awards but are noteworthy for their cinematic contributions in 2014:

BIG HERO 6
CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER
CHEF
COHERENCE
DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES
EDGE OF TOMORROW
FORCE MAJEURE
FOXCATCHER
THE GUEST
THE IMITATION GAME
JODOROWSKY'S DUNE
JOHN WICK
ONLY LOVERS LEFT ALIVE
STILL ALICE
THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING
UNDER THE SKIN
WILD
X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST

Saturday, February 21, 2015

The 25 Greatest Academy Award Winners


In honor of this weekend's Academy Awards, The Essential Films presents the 25 greatest films to ever win an Academy Award. Here they are, in alphabetical order:

                                                           


2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY
1968 • Stanley Kubrick

Oscar Wins
Best Effects, Special Visual Effects

Oscar Nominations
Best Director - Stanley Kubrick
Best Writing, Story and Screenplay - Written Directly for the Screen
Best Art Direction-Set Decoration

                                                           


ALIEN
1979 • Ridley Scott

Oscar Wins
Best Effects, Visual Effects

Oscar Nominations
Best Art Direction-Set Decoration

                                                           


THE APARTMENT
1960 • Billy Wilder

Oscar Wins
Best Picture
Best Director - Billy Wilder
Best Writing, Story and Screenplay - Written Directly for the Screen
Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White
Best Film Editing

Oscar Nominations
Best Actor in a Leading Role - Jack Lemmon
Best Actress in a Leading Role - Shirley Maclaine
Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Jack Kruschen
Best Cinematography, Black-and-White
Best Sound
                                                           


APOCALYPSE NOW
1979 • Francis Ford Coppola

Oscar Wins
Best Cinematography
Best Sound

Oscar Nominations
Best Picture
Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Robert Duvall
Best Director - Francis Ford Coppola
Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium
Best Art Direction-Set Decoration
Best Film Editing
                                                           


BACK TO THE FUTURE
1985 • Robert Zemeckis

Oscar Wins
Best Effects, Sound Effects Editing

Oscar Nominations
Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen
Best Sound
Best Music, Original Song - "The Power of Love"



                                                           


CASABLANCA
1942 • Michael Curtiz

Oscar Wins
Best Picture
Best Director - Michael Curtiz
Best Writing, Screenplay

Oscar Nominations
Best Actor in a Leading Role - Humphrey Bogart
Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Claude Rains
Best Cinematography, Black-and-White
Best Film Editing
Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture
                                                           

CHINATOWN
1974 • Roman Polanski

Oscar Wins
Best Writing, Original Screenplay

Oscar Nominations
Best Picture
Best Actor in a Leading Role - Jack Nicholson
Best Actress in a Leading Role - Faye Dunaway
Best Director - Roman Polanski
Best Cinematography
Best Art Direction-Set Decoration
Best Costume Design
Best Sound
Best Film Editing
Best Music, Original Dramatic Score
                                                           


CITIZEN KANE
1941 • Orson Welles

Oscar Wins
Best Writing, Original Screenplay

Oscar Nominations
Best Picture
Best Actor in a Leading Role - Orson Welles
Best Director - Orson Welles
Best Cinematography, Black-and-White
Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Black-and-White
Best Sound, Recording
Best Film Editing
Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic Picture
                                                           


THE DARK KNIGHT
2008 • Christopher Nolan

Oscar Wins
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role - Heath Ledger
Best Achievement in Sound Editing

Oscar Nominations
Best Achievement in Cinematography
Best Achievement in Film Editing
Best Achievement in Art Direction
Best Achievement in Makeup
Best Achievement in Sound Mixing
Best Achievement in Visual Effects
                                                           


THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK
1980 • Irvin Kershner

Oscar Wins
Best Sound
Best Visual Effects (Special Achievement)

Oscar Nominations
Best Art Direction-Set Decoration
Best Music, Original Score

                                                           


FANNY AND ALEXANDER
1982 • Ingmar Bergman

Oscar Wins
Best Cinematography
Best Art Direction-Set Decoration
Best Costume Design
Best Foreign Language Film

Oscar Nominations
Best Director - Ingmar Bergman
Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen
                                                           
THE GODFATHER
1972 • Francis Ford Coppola

Oscar Wins
Best Picture
Best Actor in a Leading Role - Marlon Brando
Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium

Oscar Nominations
Best Actor in a Supporting Role - James Caan
Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Robert Duvall
Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Al Pacino
Best Director - Francis Ford Coppola
Best Costume Design
Best Sound
Best Film Editing
Best Music, Original Dramatic Score
                                                           


THE GODFATHER PART II
1974 • Francis Ford Coppola

Oscar Wins
Best Picture
Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Robert DeNiro
Best Director - Francis Ford Coppola
Best Writing, Screenplay Adapted From Other Material
Best Art Direction-Set Decoration
Best Music, Original Dramatic Score

Oscar Nominations
Best Actor in a Leading Role - Al Pacino
Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Michael V. Gazzo
Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Lee Strasberg
Best Actress in a Supporting Role - Talia Shire
Best Costume Design
                                                           


GOODFELLAS
1990 • Martin Scorsese

Oscar Wins
Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Joe Pesci

Oscar Nominations
Best Picture
Best Actress in a Supporting Role - Lorraine Bracco
Best Director - Martin Scorsese
Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium
Best Film Editing
                                                           


LAWRENCE OF ARABIA
1962 • David Lean

Oscar Wins
Best Picture
Best Director - David Lean
Best Cinematography, Color
Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color
Best Sound
Best Film Editing
Best Music, Score - Substantially Original

Oscar Nominations
Best Actor in a Leading Role - Peter O'Toole
Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Omar Sharif
Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium
                                                           


ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST
1976 • Milos Forman

Oscar Wins
Best Picture
Best Actor in a Leading Role - Jack Nicholson
Best Actress in a Leading Role - Louise Fletcher
Best Director - Milos Forman
Best Writing, Screenplay Adapted From Other Material

Oscar Nominations
Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Brad Dourif
Best Cinematography
Best Film Editing
Best Music, Original Dramatic Score
                                                           


PULP FICTION
1994 • Quentin Tarantino

Oscar Wins:
Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen

Oscar Nominations:
Best Picture
Best Actor in a Leading Role - John Travolta
Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Samuel L. Jackson
Best Actress in a Supporting Role - Uma Thurman
Best Director - Quentin Tarantino
Best Film Editing

                                                           


RAN
1985 • Akira Kurosawa

Oscar Wins
Best Costume Design

Oscar Nominations
Best Director - Akira Kurosawa
Best Cinematography
Best Art Direction-Set Decoration
                                                           


THE RED SHOES
1948 • Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger

Oscar Wins
Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color
Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture

Oscar Nominations
Best Picture
Best Writing, Motion Picture Story
Best Film Editing





                                                           


SCHINDLER'S LIST
1993 • Steven Spielberg

Oscar Wins
Best Picture
Best Director - Steven Spielberg
Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published
Best Cinematography
Best Art Direction-Set Decoration
Best Film Editing
Best Music, Original Score

Oscar Nominations
Best Actor in a Leading Role - Liam Neeson
Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Ralph Fiennes
Best Costume Design
Best Sound
Best Make Up

                                                           


SPIRITED AWAY
2001 • Hayao Miyazaki

Oscar Wins
Best Animated Feature









                                                           


SUNRISE: A SONG OF TWO HUMANS
1928 • F.W. Murnau

Oscar Wins
Best Picture, Unique and Artistic Production
Best Actress in a Leading Role - Janet Gaynor
Best Cinematography

Oscar Nomination
Best Art Direction



                                                           


SUNSET BLVD.
1950 • Billy Wilder

Oscar Wins
Best Writing, Story and Screenplay
Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White
Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture

Oscar Nominations
Best Picture
Best Actor in a Leading Role - William Holden
Best Actress in a Leading Role - Gloria Swanson
Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Erich von Stroheim
Best Actress in a Supporting Role - Nancy Olson
Best Director
Best Cinematography, Black-and-White
Best Film Editing
                                                           

THERE WILL BE BLOOD
2007 • Paul Thomas Anderson

Oscar Wins
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role - Daniel Day-Lewis
Best Achievement in Cinematography

Oscar Nominations
Best Motion Picture of the Year
Best Achievement in Directing - Paul Thomas Anderson
Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay
Best Achievement in Film Editing
Best Achievement in Art Direction
Best Achievement in Sound Editing
                                                           


THE THIRD MAN
1949 • Carol Reed

Oscar Wins
Best Cinematography, Black-and-White

Oscar Nominations
Best Director - Carol Reed
Best Film Editing