Nyong'o, Pharrell Williams among new Academy members

LOS ANGELES - Kenyan Oscar winner Lupita Nyong'o, Somalia's Barkhad Abdi, "Happy" songster Pharrell Williams and Irish-German star Michael Fassbender are among 271 actors newly invited to join Hollywood's Oscar-bestowing Academy, organizers said Thursday.

Other non-US invitees include Britain's Sally Hawkins and Steve Coogan, as well as Japanese animation master Hayao Miyazaki and Israeli-born Palestinian director Hany Abu-Assad.

Italy's Paolo Sorrentino, whose "The Great Beauty" won this year's foreign-language Oscar, will also join the illustrious Hollywood body, as will Canadian "Dallas Buyers Club" director Jean-Marc Vallee.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences invites a new batch of actors, filmmakers and related professionals every year to join the ranks of its 6,000 or so members who vote on the Oscars.

"This year's class of invitees represents some of the most talented, creative and passionate filmmakers working in our industry today," said Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs.

"Their contributions to film have entertained audiences around the world, and we are proud to welcome them to the Academy."

Nyong'o won the best supporting actress Oscar in March for her role in harrowing historical drama "12 Years a Slave." Fassbender was also nominated for his role in the film by British director Steve McQueen.

Hawkins was nominated in the same category as Nyong'o for her role in Woody Allen's "Blue Jasmine," while Coogan was shortlisted this year as writer for true-story based "Philomena."

Williams, whose ubiquitous hit "Happy" took the Internet by storm with copycat dance videos from around the world, was nominated for his work on "Despicable Me 2."

Other nominees included comic Chris Rock, actress June Squibb (Oscar nominee this year for "Nebraska"), "Hunger Games" star Josh Hutcherson and "Veep" TV star Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

The full list of new members is at: www.oscars.org/press/pressreleases/2014/20140626.html

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Fil-Am Robert Lopez wins Oscar for 'Let It Go'

Filipino-American composer Robert Lopez made history on Sunday (Monday morning in Manila) when he and his wife Kristen Anderson-Lopez won an Oscar for “Let It Go” from the hit Disney animated movie, “Frozen.”

During the 86th Academy Awards hosted by Ellen DeGeneres, Lopez won in the Best Original Song category after “Let It Go” beat “Happy” from “Despicable Me 2”, “The Moon Song” from “Her” and “Ordinary Love” from “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom.”

Lopez is the first Filipino-American to win an Oscar, according to Hollywood-based Filipino journalist Ruben V. Nepales.

In their acceptance speech, the husband-and-wife team honored their fellow nominees and thanked those who inspired them in writing the song.

The two ended their speech by thanking their children.

“Our girls, Katie and Annie, our song is inspired by our love for you in the hope that you never let fear and shame keep you from celebrating the unique people that you are. Thank you, we love you,” Anderson-Lopez said.

“Let It Go” was previously named Best Original Song at the Critics’ Choice Awards, and was also nominated at the Golden Globes in January.

"Frozen," a Walt Disney Animation Studios musical fairy tale, tells of the bond between two royal sisters in an icy Scandinavian kingdom.





Filipino roots

Lopez's father is part-Filipino as his grandfather was pure Filipino, while his grandmother was part-Filipino and part-Scottish-American.

With his Oscar win, Lopez joins an elite club of artists who have won all four major awards -- the Oscar, Emmy, Grammy and Tony.

Lopez had previously won a Tony Award for “Avenue Q,” and another Tony Award and a Grammy for “The Book of Mormons.”

He has two Daytime Emmys for his music direction and composition in “The Wonder Pets.”

Lopez earlier told ABS-CBN that his inspiration in writing the song had been the many well-loved Disney movies.

"We've been listening to Alan Menken and all the other Disney composers. We really wanted to join the canon. We're really, really glad that the song caught on like this. The album is now No. 1 in the country," Lopez said during the Golden Globes.

“Frozen” will also hit Broadway although no date has been released. It is Disney's No. 1 all-time animation debut and it is expected to surpass “The Lion King” as the highest grossing Disney movie of all time.

The musical soundtrack and hit anthem "Let It Go" by Idina Menzel have sold more than 1 million copies each and inspired thousands of YouTube videos by young girls singing the tune.





'Frozen' wins best animated film

Meanwhile, "Frozen" won the Academy Award on for best animated feature film.

The win is the first in the category for Walt Disney Animation Studios, the animation house founded by the man who pioneered the genre. The animated feature category was created in 2002 and has been dominated by Disney-owned Pixar, which has won it seven times but was shut out of the nominations this year for the second time in three years.

"Frozen" cemented a resurgence for Disney Animation Studios, becoming a global phenomenon with over $1 billion in movie theater ticket sales, according to Rentrak.

The film features the voice of Kristen Bell as a Scandinavian princess searching for her sister, the queen, who has the power to freeze anything with a touch and accidentally sets off a long winter that is destroying their kingdom. The story was inspired by "The Snow Queen" fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen.

Chris Buck, one of the film's two directors, dedicated his Oscar to his son Ryder, a musician who was killed last year when he was struck by vehicles as he crossed a Los Angeles area freeway.

"He's our guardian angel up there," said Buck.

"Frozen" beat "The Croods," a caveman comedy from DreamWorks Animation SKG ; Universal Pictures' "Despicable Me 2," produced by Illumination Entertainment; "The Wind Rises" from Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki; and French-language entry "Ernest & Celestine." -- With report from Reuters

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

And the Oscar goes to...

LOS ANGELES -- The slavery drama "12 Years a Slave" won the Academy Award for best picture on Sunday, making history as the first movie from a black director to win the film industry's highest honor in 86 years of the Oscars.

British director Steve McQueen's unflinching portrayal of pre-Civil War American slavery also won two other Oscars, including best supporting actress for newcomer Lupita Nyong'o and best adapted screenplay based on the memoir of Solomon Northup, a free man sold into slavery in Louisiana.

"Everyone deserves not just to survive but to live, this is the most important legacy of Solomon Northup," said McQueen in his acceptance speech.

It prevailed over space thriller "Gravity" from Mexican filmmaker Alfonso Cuaron, which nevertheless racked up the most Oscars of the night with seven, including the best director honor for Cuaron, a first for a Latin American director.

"Gravity," starring Sandra Bullock as a stranded astronaut, swept the technical awards like visual effects and cinematography, a reward for its groundbreaking work on conveying space and weightlessness.

In one of the strongest years for film in recent memory, the 6,000-plus voters of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences scattered golden Oscar statuettes among the many acclaimed movies in contention.

It was a good night for the scrappy, low-budget film "Dallas Buyers Club," a biopic of an early AIDS activist two decades in the making that won three Oscars, including the two male acting awards.

Matthew McConaughey, in a validation of a remarkable career turnaround, won best actor for his portrayal of the homophobe turned AIDS victim turned treatment crusader Ron Woodroof, a role for which he lost 50 pounds (23 kg).

His co-star, Jared Leto, won best supporting actor for his role as Woodroof's unlikely business sidekick, the transgender woman Rayon, for which he also slimmed down drastically.

Australia's Cate Blanchett won the best actress Oscar for her acclaimed role as the socialite unhinged by her husband's financial crimes in Woody Allen's "Blue Jasmine."

"Thank you so much Woody for casting me," Blanchett said.

The tale of Nordic princesses, "Frozen," won best animated film, a first for Disney Animation Studios since the category was introduced in 2002.

Comedian and talk show star Ellen DeGeneres returned as Oscar host on Sunday in an appearance many saw as calculated to project a lighter, more affable tone for Hollywood's biggest night after the provocative performance of her immediate predecessor, Seth MacFarlane.

In the comedian's easy breezy style, DeGeneres mixed with the crowd, taking a star-studded selfie with the likes of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie that broke the record for retweets on Twitter.

The big loser of the night was director David O. Russell's 1970s crime caper "American Hustle," which walked away empty-handed despite earning 10 nominations, the same number as "Gravity."

Kenyan actress Nyong'o was one of the big stars of the night, not only for her winning pale blue Prada gown on the red carpet, but for her touching speech.

In accepting the first award of the night for "12 Years a Slave," Nyong'o, 31, paid homage to her character.

"It doesn't escape me for one moment that so much joy in my life is thanks to so much pain in someone else's, and so I want to salute the spirit of Patsey, for her guidance," a tearful Nyong'o told the audience.

Following is a list of winners in leading categories:

BEST PICTURE: "12 Years a Slave"

BEST ACTOR: Matthew McConaughey in "Dallas Buyers Club"

BEST ACTRESS: Cate Blanchett in "Blue Jasmine"

BEST DIRECTOR: Alfonso Cuaron for "Gravity"

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Jared Leto in "Dallas Buyers Club"

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Lupita Nyong'o in "12 Years a Slave"

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: "12 Years a Slave"

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: "Her"

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: "The Great Beauty," Italy

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM: "Frozen"

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: "20 Feet from Stardom"

BEST ORIGINAL SONG: "Let It Go" from "Frozen"

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE: "Gravity"

BEST COSTUMES: "The Great Gatsby"

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: "Gravity"

BEST MAKE-UP AND HAIRSTYLING: "Dallas Buyers Club"

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS: "Gravity"

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Ellen's Oscars 'selfie' sets Twitter ablaze

HOLLYWOOD -- Oscar host Ellen DeGeneres shattered a record on Twitter Sunday after the selfie photograph she took with Hollywood stars at the Academy Awards became the most retweeted message ever.

"We crashed and broke Twitter. We have made history," she told the crowd during the broadcast, when her picture went viral with more than 1.9 million retweets so far and the number rising fast.

She dwarfed the previous record-holder, President Barack Obama, whose post about securing "four more years" in the White House in November 2012 earned 800,000 retweets.

"See, Meryl, what we did, you and I?" she boasted, referring to multiple Oscar-winner Meryl Streep, who crowded in next to a grinning DeGeneres in the photo.

DeGeneres, who joked with A-listers throughout the show, corralled a crowd of stars including Brad Pitt and Jennifer Lawrence.

"You get in here, too, Julia. Lean in," she said to Julia Roberts.

The crowd also included Kevin Spacey, recently of Netflix's "House of Cards" fame, and Lupita Nyong'o, who moments later won an Oscar for best supporting actress for "12 Years a Slave."

"Channing (Tatum), if you can get in also. Bradley (Cooper), come in," the host quipped to loud laughter.

Eventually the group -- which also included Jared Leto, Nyong'o's brother and Angelina Jolie -- grew big enough that Cooper kneeled in front of DeGeneres and snapped the pic with her smartphone.

"If only Bradley's arm was longer. Best photo ever," DeGeneres posted along with the photograph on her Twitter feed, @TheEllenShow, during a break in her hosting duties.

DeGeneres, who said Twitter officials contacted her to say she broke the record, had her eyes on the prize even before posting the photo, encouraging viewers of the widely-watched show to retweet it and break the record.

Viewers obliged. Within five minutes, it had nearly 100,000 retweets. Less than 90 minutes after that, her tweet had garnered more than 1.9 million retweets and nearly 900,000 "favorites."

"The envelope please... to @TheEllenShow - this is now the most retweeted Tweet with over 1 million RTs. Congrats!" Twitter said on its own feed.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Review: 'Nebraska' deserves Oscar best picture nod

Truth be told, I would probably never have watched this film if only based on the little I have heard about it at first. This film is about a very old man on a road trip with his son, probably fixing their relationship along the way. Certainly nothing new about that topic, and sounded like it would be a boring ride.

Thankfully it was nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars, so I watched it. In return, I got rewarded with a most poetic and heartfelt film.

"Nebraska" is about Woody Grant, a senior citizen in Billings, Montana, already teetering in and out of senility. One day, he received one of those junk mail from a magazine company, announcing that he has won a million dollars. Despite admonitions from his family, Woody firmly believes he won, and wanted to go to Lincoln, Nebraska to collect his prize. His son David was forced to make this long drive with his dad. As they make a stop in his dad's old hometown and gets reacquainted with their kin, David gets to know his dad more than he ever knew him before.

Reading my short synopsis alone does not do the whole film justice, of course. This is an experience you need to immerse yourself into. OK, it is true that the "million dollar ticket" misunderstanding could have been explained more easily than what was shown on screen stretched out for almost two hours. But looking beyond that main flaw, the film itself turned out to be a thing of elegantly told beauty. The crisp black-and-white cinematography and languid pace by Director Alexander Payne worked favorably in its favor.

Bruce Dern played Woody in a quiet, most touching, low key and realistic manner. He is certainly a dark horse in the Best Actor race. In contrast, June Squibb steals her scenes as his tough, frank and cranky wife Kate. Her nomination for Best Supporting Actress is a fine recognition of this performance.

Comedian Will Forte plays it straight here as David. We can identify with him as he tries his best to reconnect with his aging dad through this tough time. Stacy Keach plays, as he usually plays, an effective villain in the person of an old bully neighbor.

This film is about folk in the heartland of America, but I guess characters like these exist everywhere on earth, and we can relate. We will all get touched by the time the ending comes. So well set-up, that ending! Made the whole film worth watching. I did not feel bored at all, despite my initial worry.

This special film is engaging and involving, fully deserving of its Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Actor, Supporting Actress and Best Cinematography. 9/10

This review was originally published in the author's blog, "Fred Said."

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

The 2014 Oscar nominees

MANILA - The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced on Thursday night the nominees for the 85th Academy Awards.

Here are the nominees for the major awards:

Best Supporting Actress:

Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave)
Jennifer Lawrence (American Hustle)
June Squibb (Nebraska)
Julia Roberts (Osage County)
Sally Hawkins (Sally Hawkins)

Best Supporting Actor:

Barkhadi Abdi (Captain Philipps)
Jonah Hill (The Wolf on Wall Street)
Bradley Cooper (American Hustle)
Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club)
Michael Fassbender (12 Years a Slave)

Best Animated Feature:

Frozen
The Wind Rises
The Croods
Ernest & Celestine
Despicable Me 2.

Best Actress:

Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)
Sandra Bullock (Gravity)
Judi Dench (Philomena)
Meryl Streep (Osage County)
Amy Adams (American Hustle)

Best Actor:

Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club)
Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave)
Bruce Dern (Nebraska)
Leonardo DiCaprio (The Wolf on Wall Street)
Christian Bale (American Hustle)

Best Director:

Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave)
Alfonso Cuaron (Gravity)
David O. Russell (American Hustle)
Alexander Payne (Nebraska)
Martin Scorsese (The Wolf on Wall Street)

Best Adapted Screenplay:

12 Years a Slave
Philomena
Captain Phillips
Before Midnight
The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Picture:

12 Years a Slave
Gravity
American Hustle
Captain Phillips
Nebraska
Dallas Buyers Club
Her
The Wolf

For the full list of nominees, visit: http://oscar.go.com/nominees

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com