Hollywood Babble On & On #1116: It's A Big Fat Outrage!!!

Hollywood, you are a bunch of bigoted hate-filled bastards!

Don't deny it, it shows in your casting choices.

Like this news that British actor Damian Lewis is in talks to play King Henry VIII of England in an adaptation of the best-selling novel Wolf Hall.

What a bunch of hateful bastards.

Don't know what I'm talking about?

I'm talking about Hollywood hatred of fat people and their attempts to erase them from history, and by denying plus size actors the best role available for them.

Don't believe me?

This is Henry VIII.

These are the actors who have most recently played Henry VIII:

Eric Bana in The Other Boleyn Girl.

Jonathan Rhys Meyers in The Tudors.

And now the lean and lanky Damian Lewis.

Not one double chin in the bunch.

As you can see, fat-hating bigotry and the desire to deny the plus-sized acting work is the only rational explanation for this blatant bastardization of history.

"But D," whined the apologists for the fat-haters, "Henry VIII wasn't always a big guy."

True, when he was first crowned he was described as a pretty slim chap as seen in this no doubt idealized portrait. However, that look was not only not destined to last longer than about 15 minutes into his first kingly feast, it is not the look or the attitude we associate with him.

Look at his armour, it contains enough sheet metal to construct a small car. That's not the armour of a skinny little wisp of a king. It's the armour of a big fat bastard.

But enough about history being bastardized. Let's look at the human cost. Chiefly the fact that skinny actors are getting parts that belong to fatter actors.

In the old days when Hollywood got an actor of somewhat considerable carriage they knew that they at least had someone who could play Henry VIII. Heck the part even made Charles Laughton a box office star.

It used to be the only consolation Hollywood's fascination with a king who failed at just about everything he ever did was that at least it meant work for the girthy of the acting community.

Even when a comparatively svelte actor wanted to play the part they at least either gained weight or wore padding for the sake of the part.

Not anymore.

Because Hollywood hates fat people.

Are we going to just take this crap?

Probably.

It's not like they listen to anyone outside their little world.

Hollywood Babble On & On #1115: The Death of Vertical Integration

Interesting to see this report from Deadline: Hollywood about how the major networks are now buying projects from production houses and studios owned by rival networks, and how this marks the end of the network's dreams of total vertical integration.

If you don't know "vertical integration" is where a media company, like a network, handles everything, from production, to broadcasting, and syndication. 

They saw themselves as the next iteration of the Golden Age movie studios who produced films, and distributed them to theatres that they also owned. That ended in 1948 when the Federal government forced them accept something called a "consent decree" that ordered them to get out of the theatre business.

While the studios seemed to thrive during that golden age it didn't seem to help the networks. The networks, and a lot of the programming they developed internally went beyond mediocrity into downright horridness.

Why?

Back in ye olde Golden Age of Hollywood the studios were, for the most part, guide by the singular visions of their bosses. They were men who knew what they wanted and were personally invested in their productions. Not just financially, but ego-wise as well. 

Their decisions may not always have been right, but they at least had the right intentions behind them. They wanted the audience to love the movies they were releasing, simple as that. That was essential to them thriving in the age of vertical integration.

Network TV, especially modern network TV, is extremely different.

One thing is that it's exponentially more bureaucratic than the Golden Age studios were at their worst. To get something on the air it must go through a maze of junior executives, senior executives, vice-presidents, and presidents before you get to those who can give you a green light. 

Most of the time these folks are not emotionally invested in the projects being developed, they're not even intellectually invested, and they only say something for the sake of looking like they're busy.

Also, these executives knew that shows developed by the network's pet studio weren't going anywhere else. So they could meddle, and muddle, and jerk it around, knowing full well that no other channel was going to swoop in and poach the show, or the  show's creators out from under them.

Now even in a best case scenario, where executives, producers, and creatives just clicked in magical synchronicity a vertically integrated TV network is still doomed to failure.

Why?

Because even under the best case scenarios, the best people working together under the best conditions can only go so far. Also so far doesn't seem enough to completely fill a network's schedule.

They need the competition between networks, studios and the people working for them to spur creativity and take the sort of chances that can lead to great and successful television.

So let's put broadcast network vertical integration to rest like Old Yeller, only stinkier.

Hollywood Babble On & On #1114: Random Drippings From My Brain Pan….

TARANTINO TO COURT?

Quentin Tarantino is filing suit against Gawker.com for "copyright infringement" over their spreading of a leaked copy of his script for The Hateful Eight. The Western script was sent out by Tarantino to a select group, someone involved with that group leaked it, Gawker made it worse, and Tarantino's saying he's shelved the project, and has called in the lawyers.

Why?

Let's break down the situation:

1. The script was reportedly an early draft, maybe even a first draft, and no doubt would have been through a lot more polishing. I can understand not wanting anyone outside of a few trusted associates to read a first draft.

2. Gawker went above and beyond the simple reporting of the story, they actively participated in the piracy by making the purloined play available to their readers.

3. The reason Gawker deliberately made an unpleasant situation worse is that their business model seems to built on acting like predictable pseudo-subversive dicks, and spreading the script seemed to be the dickiest move available.

I find it hard to sympathize with Gawker.

SPEAKING OF LAWSUITS:

The Director, Ted Kotcheff, and Writer, Robert Klane, of the 1989 cult-hit comedy Weekend At Bernie's are suing 20th Century Fox and MGM for what they say are millions of dollars in profits that were denied them.

For those who don't know, Weekend At Bernie's was a farcical comedy produced by Gladden Entertainment and released by Fox back in 1989. 

It's about two low level paper pushers at an insurance company who uncover cases of insurance fraud. They take it to their boss Bernie, who pretends to reward them by inviting them to his beach house for the weekend. What our heroes don't know is that Bernie's the one behind the fraud, and is planning on killing them. However the hit man kills Bernie first, and the two goofs then go through various hoops to make it look like Bernie's still alive.

The film was a modest success, pulling in about $30 million at the box office, but did have a whole second life on cable reruns and home video. This second life led to a sequel, which was as dead as its title character, but the first film just kept chugging along.

As the years went by Gladden became part of MGM, which is why they're being sued as well as Fox, and the filmmakers claim that during those years the money piled up, and they saw none of it.

They might have a case, but they will have a hell of a time proving it. Hollywood bookkeeping is a realm of shadows and madness, especially when the bulk of the revenue comes via television and home video.

SPEAKING OF MGM:

Watch this trailer for MGM's 90th anniversary and see if you can spot something most of the films have in common.

Did you see it?

Most of the films featured in that trailer were not made by MGM.

Most of MGM's original film library is now owned by Warner Brothers, leaving MGM more of a repository of the libraries of other companies rather than its own history. These include United Artists, Orion, Gladden, Polygram Filmed Entertainment, Cannon, and literally dozens more.

Says a lot about Hollywood.

Hollywood Babble On & On #1113: Dumb Move/Smart Move

DUMB MOVE

Harvey Weinstein announced that "the change starts here" and that he will no longer be producing and releasing movies with a lot of violent content.

Why is this a dumb move?

1. Hypocrisy. First Harvey one doesn't get the impression that Harvey's acting entirely out of altruistic love of humanity. The cause of this impression is that he only made the pledge after being called a hypocrite for making violent movies while declaring that he will end gun violence by "destroying" the National Rifle Association with a film called The Senator's Wife starring Meryl Streep.

2. Possibility. How many of you believe that Harvey will keep his pledge if it means passing on the next project by his pet golden boy Quentin Tarantino, or another film that could make him a lot of money, or win an Oscar?

Come on raise your hands.

Okay, those of you with raised hands, put a hammer in that hand and smack yourself on the head with it.

3. Rationality. Folks on the left and the right like to point the finger at violent content in movies and TV shows as the cause of real world violence and that they should have the power to censor content to save the children. Yet no one has been able to actually prove a causal relationship.

Think of this, a study says that TV is more violent than ever, and if you go by cable news channels it is impossible to go outside without being gunned down by a maniac with an assault weapon, but reality tells a different story.

Real world violence is down.

Way down.

Way, way down.

I'm talking a little over half of what it was in the 1990s, which itself was down from the peak levels that were around in the 1970s.

Which means Lee Marvin was right.

Tell it like it is Lee.

But seriously folks, the western world does not have a violence problem. What it has is a people in the media and politics overreacting to violence problem. That problem has a tendency to make normally smart people do and say some pretty stupid things.

SMART MOVE

Oscar nominated billionairess turned movie producer Megan Ellison has sold out her stake in the Terminator franchise and won't fund Terminator: Genesis, leaving that to her brother and Paramount, but she will keep an Executive Producer credit.

Good for her.

Not for the usual reason people have been iffy on her involvement, the one saying that the project was an anomaly among her more auteur/art house projects, but for a reason of my own: SUPERSTITION!

I've said it about half a dozen times on this blog but I think it bears repeating. The Terminator franchise is jinxed, at least for the people that make the films. Look at the list:

Hemdale 

Produced the first movie, defunct, but that was the happiest ending. That company appeared to go defunct by choice.

Orion

First distributor, went bankrupt.

Carolco

Made Terminator 2: Judgement Day, bankrupt.

C2

An attempt to revive Carolco with Terminator 3 & the Sarah Connor Chronicles almost went belly-up and avoided bankruptcy by selling out to--

Halcyon Company

Made Terminator: Salvation and Sarah Connor Chronicles, but went bankrupt soon after.

Now you might think I'm being superstitious, but as I like to say you don't need to believe in ghosts to know it's best to stay out of the allegedly haunted house where people tend to die horrible deaths.

So here's a slow clap for Ms. Ellison.

clap….clap….clap….

YOU ASKED FOR IT!!

We gotta question, and while I'm a tad sleep deprived due to illness, I will attempt to answer it. I'm letting you know that in case I start babbling about aliens eating my brain.

Anyhoo, let's get started:

Arthur Brandoch Darwin Petersen asked... 

Mr. D,

I've been reading for a while, and you always make a lot of sense. But I have a question: 

You frequently present the idea, as in this post, that producers should hire creators that actually like the source material, or actually like the genre of entertainment they are supposed to be creating. That makes sense to me (and I want that to happen). 

However, do the suits at the top have plausible reasons to not do so? I.e., doing so is always a gamble, right? Is that the dilemma? Could you elaborate more on why the execs don't let those who love the actual genre/source material do the jobs?

Because the Hollywood hiring process follows two reasons.

1. COMMERCIAL: They think the person they're giving the job to will make it a hit regardless of their relationship to the source material.

"Does Joel Schumacher know a thing about Batman?"

"No, but his last couple of flicks made money, so he must be totally perfect for the job!"

2. POLITICAL:  Now this has nothing to do with who voted for who, at least not normally, but follows a definition of politics that I once heard David Mamet use. He said something like "politics are all the nonsense that gets in the way of accomplishing the task at hand."

Political reasons range from protecting or promoting your career, to the really trivial like getting past the velvet rope at the hot nightclub where the drug dealers and the starlets gather… basically stuff that has nothing to do with the source material or who cares for it.

And that's why you get filmmakers assigned to projects that make about as much sense as this picture:

I hope I answered your question at least semi-coherently.

Hollywood Babble On & On #1112: SyFy Gets Ambition

Bill McGoldrick the newly minted executive VP at the SyFy Channel has announced that the channel is on the hunt for serious and ambitious adult-oriented science fiction projects.

Why?

Because other channels like AMC (Walking Dead) and HBO (Game of Thrones) have been having great success in the genres that should be SyFy's bailiwick. You probably remember that a few years ago the channel once known as Sci-Fi was "rebranded" as SyFy and they tried to reinvent themselves as the one stop shop for wrestling, reality shows about people running around empty houses, and bad TV movies with randomly generated titles/plots that people like to make jokes about.

This rebranding/reinvention was caused by the simple fact that Sci-Fi, for the most part, wasn't very good at doing science fiction. For every success story like the Battlestar Galactica reboot there were a lot of turkeys like their 2 badly botched adaptations of Phillip Jose Farmer's Riverworld books. For most of its history Sci-Fi/SyFy seemed like a genre channel run by people who looked like they didn't really like, or understand, the genre they were supposed to be selling.

This meant that the people running Sci-Fi saw the poor return on investment as proof that somehow speculative genre entertainment didn't sell, even though it dominated the blockbuster movie market, and not of their own mismanagement. So they rebranded, did everything they could to hinder the few genre shows they had, and enjoyed incredible mediocrity.

Over the past year or so they've been trying to reclaim the genres they gave up with mixed results. Their big budget series Defiance did okay, but wasn't the Walking Dead size monster hit they wanted, and it's happening again with their new science-fiction thriller Helix which just seems to be doing good, not great.

Why?

Because SyFy isn't really trusted by viewers.

Remember their brand is based around TV movies like Shartnado, wrestling, reruns, and cancelling original shows that people seem to like. Audiences have come to expect two things from SyFy's original programming:

1. Pseudo ironic deliberate crap.

2. A good show that gets cancelled prematurely and arbitrarily because someone in a suit at head office thought running a rerun of something cheaper, like wrestling, would bring in a better return with lower ratings.

This McGoldrick fellow has his work cut out for him rebuilding trust with viewers.

So let's put our thinking caps on and come up with some ideas for SyFy.

My first idea is to adapt some of the great science fiction, fantasy, and horror novels and novel series of the past. Maybe not the ones that would cost $100+ million to adapt, but the sort of smart, intense, intelligent stories, with dedicated fan bases.

But they must do something very important.

They must be done RIGHT.

Actually, it's a lot of hard work

They must be done by people who actually care about the source material. Not just people who think that as long as they have a familiar title and some CGI the audiences will take their crap and call it ice cream.

They need to bring their "A-Game" and be more Vince Gilligan and less of the sort of abominations adaptations they did in the past.

This won't be easy. Most of the "classic" genre novels and novel series have already been bought up by the major studios hoping to make them into blockbuster movies by taking out everything about them but the titles. However, it's not impossible.

Also, when it comes to putting out original programming you can't expect a straight out of the gate blockbuster. You need to build a rep for quality viewing first. AMC had moderate ratings, but great reviews with Mad Men, and better ratings and greater praise with Breaking Bad, so when they adapted the popular Walking Dead comic series, their rep for quality preceded it. This sparked anticipation and interest, and the show's quality and intensity kept the viewers coming back to make them the number one series on all of TV.

See, it's a process, not a magic pill.

I wish the folks at SyFy good luck, and maybe the channel will find a less nonsensical name.

What I Want To See At The Oscars….

Courtesy of Rowan Atkinson….

Hollywood Babble On & On #1111: Oh Harvey, You So Whacky.

Harvey Weinstein is going to change America, and he's going to do it with a film called The Senator's Wife, starring Meryl Streep. This movie, he claims, will expose the evils of the National Rifle Association and he went on the Howard Stern Show to say: “they’re (the NRA is) going to wish they weren’t alive after I’m done with them.”

There is really only one reaction a sane person can have to such a declaration.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!

*cough*

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!

Oh, Harvey, you're so full of shit, I'm surprised it's not dribbling out of your ears.

This reminds of the Sundance Channel's announced plan to do a TV series about the NRA called Cold Dead Hands, and I predicted that if they go through with it, it will fail.

If you're too lazy to click the link, I'll do some explaining.

There is a little thing that Hollywood does not understand when it comes to treating controversial subject matter that I call the "Offend/Bore Matrix."

You see people living in what I call the "Axis of Ego" the amorphous community, centred in Hollywood, where almost everyone in the media lives has a problem. They honestly believe that they are the standard of normal and that anyone who doesn't live like them is somehow abnormal or subnormal.

So when it comes to political issues, like the War on Terror, the Tea Party, and Gun Control, Axis of Ego residents assume that everyone else gets their news like they do. From reading what other celebrities write about politics on The Huffington Post, and watching Rachel Maddow on MSNBC or Bill Maher on HBO, and think Michael Moore's films are modern day gospel truths.

They also assume everyone in America watches HBO's Girls.

As you can see, assuming something because everyone in your social circle does it, doesn't make it true for the rest of society.

This means that Harvey's Senator's Wife is doomed to fail.

Why?

Because those that disagree with Harvey about how the NRA is the root of all evil, who make up the majority of Americans, will avoid the film because they know it will do nothing but OFFEND or insult them.

Meanwhile, those who agree with Harvey and want all guns not being carried by their professional bodyguards seized and destroyed, will also avoid the film. Because why would they want to waste their money going to be told something they already know, hence they think it will be a BORE.

But what about those who don't know where they stand on the issue of gun control?

They too will avoid the film, because these "low information voters" would stay at home, blasting  digital zombies, aliens, and terrorists with digital guns on their video game consoles. They will not spend money to watch Meryl Streep in something called The Senator's Wife.

Which is why I call it the Offend/Bore Matrix, and if you're in it, your going to lose your investment.

It's why all those anti-war films Hollywood pumped out during the Bush administration disappeared without a trace except for the red ink their producer's ledgers.

So why is Harvey Weinstein investing his time and effort on something that could not possibly attain the goals of commercial success and political change?

Well, Harvey isn't stupid, and it doesn't matter how ideological he is, he knows that this film will not achieve anything near the hype he's trying to drum up for it. The NRA isn't some penniless indie filmmaker who he can crush like a bug. It's a large, politically powerful organization that will most likely ignore the movie, because it's just a proverbial sermon for the proverbial choir.

I suspect there's some sort of ulterior motive behind all this. I don't know the details, and can't read his mind, but it's probably got something to do with buttering up people in Anti-NRA bastions like the upper social echelons of Hollywood and New York. The sort of people who will praise Harvey for his "courage" in wasting other people's money on a film none of them actually paid to see.

Basically Oscar voters and investors who don't mind losing a few million on a turkey because it's a great tax dodge.

--------------

UPDATE: Harvey Weinstein's had a "Whoops, I look like a flaming hypocrite, so I better cover my ass" moment.

Hollywood Babble On & On #1110: It's Oscar Season!

The Oscar nominations are out.

Read them, and feel free to plop your opinion nuggets in the comments…

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

Christian Bale in “American Hustle” (Sony Pictures Releasing)

Bruce Dern in “Nebraska” (Paramount)

Leonardo DiCaprio in “The Wolf of Wall Street” (Paramount)

Chiwetel Ejiofor in “12 Years a Slave” (Fox Searchlight)

Matthew McConaughey in “Dallas Buyers Club” (Focus Features)

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Barkhad Abdi in “Captain Phillips” (Sony Pictures Releasing)

Bradley Cooper in “American Hustle” (Sony Pictures Releasing)

Michael Fassbender in “12 Years a Slave” (Fox Searchlight)

Jonah Hill in “The Wolf of Wall Street” (Paramount)

Jared Leto in “Dallas Buyers Club” (Focus Features)

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

Amy Adams in “American Hustle” (Sony Pictures Releasing)

Cate Blanchett in “Blue Jasmine” (Sony Pictures Classics)

Sandra Bullock in “Gravity” (Warner Bros.)

Judi Dench in “Philomena” (The Weinstein Company)

Meryl Streep in “August: Osage County” (The Weinstein Company)

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Sally Hawkins in “Blue Jasmine” (Sony Pictures Classics)

Jennifer Lawrence in “American Hustle” (Sony Pictures Releasing)

Lupita Nyong’o in “12 Years a Slave” (Fox Searchlight)

Julia Roberts in “August: Osage County” (The Weinstein Company)

June Squibb in “Nebraska” (Paramount)

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM OF THE YEAR

“The Croods” (20th Century Fox)

Chris Sanders, Kirk DeMicco and Kristine Belson

“Despicable Me 2” (Universal)

Chris Renaud, Pierre Coffin and Chris Meledandri

“Ernest & Celestine” (GKIDS)

Benjamin Renner and Didier Brunner

“Frozen” (Walt Disney)

Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee and Peter Del Vecho

“The Wind Rises” (Walt Disney)

Hayao Miyazaki and Toshio Suzuki

ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY

“The Grandmaster” (The Weinstein Company) Philippe Le Sourd

“Gravity” (Warner Bros.) Emmanuel Lubezki

“Inside Llewyn Davis” (CBS Films) Bruno Delbonnel

“Nebraska” (Paramount) Phedon Papamichael

“Prisoners” (Warner Bros.) Roger A. Deakins

ACHIEVEMENT IN COSTUME DESIGN

“American Hustle” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Michael Wilkinson

“The Grandmaster” (The Weinstein Company) William Chang Suk Ping

“The Great Gatsby” (Warner Bros.) Catherine Martin

“The Invisible Woman” (Sony Pictures Classics) Michael O’Connor

“12 Years a Slave” (Fox Searchlight) Patricia Norris

ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTING

“American Hustle” (Sony Pictures Releasing) David O. Russell

“Gravity” (Warner Bros.) Alfonso Cuarón

“Nebraska” (Paramount) Alexander Payne

“12 Years a Slave” (Fox Searchlight) Steve McQueen

“The Wolf of Wall Street” (Paramount) Martin Scorsese

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

“The Act of Killing” (Drafthouse Films)

A Final Cut for Real Production

Joshua Oppenheimer and Signe Byrge Sørensen

“Cutie and the Boxer” (RADiUS-TWC)

An Ex Lion Tamer and Cine Mosaic Production

Zachary Heinzerling and Lydia Dean Pilcher

“Dirty Wars” (IFC Films)

A Civic Bakery Production

Richard Rowley and Jeremy Scahill

“The Square” (Netflix in association with Worldview

Entertainment and Participant Media)

A Noujaim Films and Maktube Production

Jehane Noujaim and Karim Amer

“20 Feet from Stardom” (RADiUS-TWC)

A Gil Friesen Productions and Tremolo Production

Nominees to be determined

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT

“CaveDigger”

A Karoffilms Production

Jeffrey Karoff

“Facing Fear”

A Jason Cohen Production

Jason Cohen

“Karama Has No Walls” (Mudhouse Films)

A Hot Spot Films Production

Sara Ishaq

“The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life”

A Reed Entertainment Production

Malcolm Clarke and Nicholas Reed

“Prison Terminal: The Last Days of Private Jack Hall”

A Prison Terminal LLC Production

Edgar Barens

ACHIEVEMENT IN FILM EDITING

“American Hustle” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Jay Cassidy, Crispin Struthers and Alan Baumgarten

“Captain Phillips” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Christopher Rouse

“Dallas Buyers Club” (Focus Features) John Mac McMurphy and Martin Pensa

“Gravity” (Warner Bros.) Alfonso Cuarón and Mark Sanger

“12 Years a Slave” (Fox Searchlight) Joe Walker

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM OF THE YEAR

“The Broken Circle Breakdown” (Tribeca Film) – Belgium

A Menuet Production

“The Great Beauty” (Janus Films) – Italy

An Indigo Film Production

“The Hunt” (Magnolia Pictures) – Denmark

A Zentropa Entertainments 19 Production

“The Missing Picture” (Strand Releasing) – Cambodia

A Bophana Production

“Omar” (Adopt Films) – Palestine

An Omar Production Company Production

ACHIEVEMENT IN MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING

“Dallas Buyers Club” (Focus Features) Adruitha Lee and Robin Mathews

“Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa” (Paramount) Stephen Prouty

“The Lone Ranger” (Walt Disney) Joel Harlow and Gloria Pasqua-Casny

ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC WRITTEN FOR MOTION PICTURES (ORIGINAL SCORE)

“The Book Thief” (20th Century Fox) John Williams

“Gravity” (Warner Bros.) Steven Price

“Her” (Warner Bros.) William Butler and Owen Pallett

“Philomena” (The Weinstein Company) Alexandre Desplat

“Saving Mr. Banks” (Walt Disney) Thomas Newman

ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC WRITTEN FOR MOTION PICTURES (ORIGINAL SONG)

“Alone Yet Not Alone” from “Alone Yet Not Alone” (Enthuse Entertainment)

Music by Bruce Broughton

Lyric by Dennis Spiegel

“Happy” from “Despicable Me 2” (Universal)

Music and Lyric by Pharrell Williams

“Let It Go” from “Frozen” (Walt Disney)

Music and Lyric by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez

“The Moon Song” from “Her” (Warner Bros.)

Music by Karen O

Lyric by Karen O and Spike Jonze

“Ordinary Love” from “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom” (The Weinstein Company)

Music by Paul Hewson, Dave Evans, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen

Lyric by Paul Hewson

BEST MOTION PICTURE OF THE YEAR

“American Hustle” (Sony Pictures Releasing)

A Columbia Pictures and Annapurna Pictures Production

Charles Roven, Richard Suckle, Megan Ellison and Jonathan Gordon, Producers

“Captain Phillips” (Sony Pictures Releasing)

A Columbia Pictures Production

Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti and Michael De Luca, Producers

“Dallas Buyers Club” (Focus Features)

A Voltage Pictures, R2 Films, Evolution Independent Production

Robbie Brenner and Rachel Winter, Producers

“Gravity” (Warner Bros.)

A Warner Bros. UK Services Limited Production

Alfonso Cuarón and David Heyman, Producers

“Her” (Warner Bros.)

An Annapurna Production

Megan Ellison, Spike Jonze and Vincent Landay, Producers

“Nebraska” (Paramount)

A Paramount Vantage Production

Albert Berger and Ron Yerxa, Producers

“Philomena” (The Weinstein Company)

A Pathé, BBC Films, BFI, Canal+, Cine+ and Baby Cow/Magnolia Mae Production

Gabrielle Tana, Steve Coogan and Tracey Seaward, Producers

“12 Years a Slave” (Fox Searchlight)

A River Road, Plan B, New Regency Production

Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Steve McQueen and Anthony Katagas, Producers

“The Wolf of Wall Street” (Paramount)

A Red Granite Production

Nominees to be determined

ACHIEVEMENT IN PRODUCTION DESIGN

“American Hustle” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Production Design: Judy Becker; Set Decoration: Heather Loeffler

“Gravity” (Warner Bros.) Production Design: Andy Nicholson; Set Decoration: Rosie Goodwin and Joanne Woollard

“The Great Gatsby” (Warner Bros.) Production Design: Catherine Martin; Costume Design: Beverley Dunn

“Her” (Warner Bros.) Production Design: K.K. Barrett; Set Decoration: Gene Serdena

“12 Years a Slave” (Fox Searchlight) Production Design: Adam Stockhausen; Set Decoration: Alice Baker

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM

“Feral”

A Daniel Sousa Production

Daniel Sousa and Dan Golden

“Get a Horse!” (Walt Disney)

A Walt Disney Animation Production

Lauren MacMullan and Dorothy McKim

“Mr. Hublot”

A Zeilt Production

Laurent Witz and Alexandre Espigares

“Possessions”

A Sunrise Production

Shuhei Morita

“Room on the Broom”

A Magic Light Pictures Production

Max Lang and Jan Lachauer

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM

“Aquel No Era Yo (That Wasn’t Me)” (FREAK Independent Film Agency)

A Producciones Africanauan Production

Esteban Crespo

“Avant Que De Tout Perdre (Just before Losing Everything)”

A KG Production

Xavier Legrand and Alexandre Gavras

“Helium”

An M & M Production

Anders Walter and Kim Magnusson

“Pitääkö Mun Kaikki Hoitaa? (Do I Have to Take Care of Everything?)”

A Tuffi Films Production

Selma Vilhunen and Kirsikka Saari

“The Voorman Problem”

A Honlodge Production

Mark Gill and Baldwin Li

ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND EDITING

“All Is Lost” (Lionsgate & Roadside Attractions) Steve Boeddeker and Richard Hymns

“Captain Phillips” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Oliver Tarney

“Gravity” (Warner Bros.) Glenn Freemantle

“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” (Warner Bros.) Brent Burge

“Lone Survivor” (Universal) Wylie Stateman

ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND MIXING

“Captain Phillips” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Chris Burdon, Mark Taylor, Mike Prestwood Smith

“Gravity” (Warner Bros.) Skip Lievsay, Niv Adiri, Christopher Benstead and

“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” (Warner Bros.) Christopher Boyes, Michael Hedges,

“Inside Llewyn Davis” (CBS Films) Skip Lievsay, Greg Orloff and Peter F. Kurland

“Lone Survivor” (Universal) Andy Koyama, Beau Borders and David Brownlow

ACHIEVEMENT IN VISUAL EFFECTS

“Gravity” (Warner Bros.) Tim Webber, Chris Lawrence, Dave Shirk and Neil Corbould

“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” (Warner Bros.) Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton and Eric Reynolds

“Iron Man 3” (Walt Disney) Christopher Townsend, Guy Williams, Erik Nash and Dan Sudick

“The Lone Ranger” (Walt Disney) Tim Alexander, Gary Brozenich, Edson Williams and John Frazier

“Star Trek Into Darkness” (Paramount) Roger Guyett, Patrick Tubach, Ben Grossmann and Burt Dalton

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

“Before Midnight” (Sony Pictures Classics) Written by Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke

“Captain Phillips” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Screenplay by Billy Ray

“Philomena” (The Weinstein Company) Screenplay by Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope

“12 Years a Slave” (Fox Searchlight) Screenplay by John Ridley

“The Wolf of Wall Street” (Paramount) Screenplay by Terence Winter

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

“American Hustle” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Written by Eric Warren Singer and David O. Russell

“Blue Jasmine” (Sony Pictures Classics) Written by Woody Allen

“Dallas Buyers Club” (Focus Features) Written by Craig Borten & Melisa Wallack

“Her” (Warner Bros.) Written by Spike Jonze

“Nebraska” (Paramount) Written by Bob Nelson

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