Movie Review: "The Grand Budapest Hotel" (Wes Anderson, 2014)

IT’S NOT JUST THE HOTEL THAT WENT TO SEED

by Bennett Campbell Ferguson

Above: Ralph Fiennes and Saoirse Ronan star in Mr. Anderson's latest

 

If you’ve seen the trailer for Wes Anderson’s “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” then you know that its hero is the impeccably purple-suited Gustave H.—concierge of the Grand Budapest itself.  But what you may not realize is that the film begins decades after Gustave’s death, starting with a fantastically hilarious prologue about a pompous young writer (Jude Law) visiting the now-decrepit hotel. 

If only the rest of the film were as diverting.  Yes, “The Grand Budapest Hotel” offers many of Mr. Anderson’s singularly mischievous witticisms (particularly in a scene in which a church choir inexplicably starts singing along to the film’s soundtrack).  Yet it is also replete with gory violence, one-dimensional characters, and, most troublingly, a sense of weightlessness that leaves you wondering—why did this uniquely talented director bother making a film that’s about as satisfying as a well-aged wine laced with arsenic?

            That I cannot answer.  But it becomes clear quite early that the film is doomed to be lesser Anderson, especially once Gustave (Ralph Fiennes) enters the story.  From the beginning, he seems less a character than a set of meticulous mannerisms punctuated by expletives (Mr. Anderson knows there’s no faster way to an indie audience’s heart than dropping a few well-timed F-bombs).  Still, you can instantly see why Gustave is as popular as the Grand Budapest itself.  Dignified and intellectually savvy (he recites poetry spontaneously throughout the movie), he is clearly a man who hotel guests can depend on and, on special occasions, sleep with.

            Alas, Gustave’s exceedingly well-organized life is as flimsy as the establishment that employs him (like many of Mr. Anderson’s sets, the Grand Budapest resembles a lavish doll house); he is, after all, living in the days just before WWII.  But even if he weren’t, he still has to contend with the nasty machinations of the wealthy slime ball Dmitri Von Taxis (Adrien Brody), who not only denies our hero his inheritance, but frames him for murder as well. 

            Needless to say, a madcap chase ensues, wreaking havoc across the storybook Europe where the movie makes its home.  And yet it soon becomes clear that Mr. Anderson has more in mind then some light screwball entertainment.  In fact, as the inheritance plot thickens, violent occurrences begin sprouting everywhere.  An assassin named Jopling (Willem Dafoe) begins stalking through the streets at night; a few severed fingers get dropped in the snow; and finally, we see a police officer pull a woman’s severed head out of a basket.

            Um, yuck.  I’ll admit that Mr. Anderson seems to be playing this carnage for laughs (when Gustave witnesses a bloody knife fight, we’re clearly meant to focus on his bizarrely blasé attitude toward the proceedings, not the violence itself).  Yet I couldn’t help feeling unsettled.  It’s not that the brutality in “Budapest” is any worse than what you’ve seen in other art films; it’s that the jaunty tone Mr. Anderson insists upon makes the proceedings surprisingly upsetting.  And really, there’s nothing worse than being told to laugh when you really just want to vomit—a feeling that only intensifies when we see Nazi-esque flags covering the hotel. 

            In other words, surprise!  “The Grand Budapest Hotel” isn’t just Mr. Anderson’s latest comedic opus—it’s a requiem for pre-WWII Europe (inspired, the credits tell us, by the writings of the Austrian author Stefan Zweig).  And so it is, perhaps, a noble endeavor; after all, whenever a filmmaker creates a cinematic testament to a doomed era, they have an opportunity honor those who lost their lives in it.

            But does that change how I feel about the movie?  To be honest, no.  “The Grand Budapest Hotel” is certainly a work of marvelous invention, as its delightful images of toy funicular trains chugging toward the hotel can attest.  Yet in the end, the film leaves an utterly sour taste in your mouth, an uneasiness best summed up by a character’s sober declaration that “[Gustave’s] world had vanished long ago.”

What, I wonder, does Mr. Anderson mean by that line?  Is he talking about Europe?  Or maybe, the film industry itself?  Either way, it doesn’t matter, because in the end, those words say less about Gustave and more about Mr. Anderson.  Because the truth is that this director may be like his protagonist—a man clinging to something that he can’t quite grasp, something that makes you long for who he was before. 

"Maidentrip" (Jillian Schlesinger, 2014)

THE YOUNG GIRL AND THE SEA by Bennett Campbell Ferguson

Laura Dekker—that’s her name.  And if you haven’t heard it before, you won’t forget it after watching “Maidentrip,” a documentary about how Ms. Dekker (a teenager from Holland) became the youngest person to sail around the world alone.  Still, initially you have to wonder—how can a documentary possibly do such a story justice?  Shouldn’t this have been a younger “All is Lost”?  And yet though “Maidentrip” is mostly made up of videos Ms. Dekker made on her journey, it’s still an honest depiction of a vulnerable voyager alone in the world.  And while it’s clear that director Jillian Schlesinger wanted to create a full portrait of her subject, watching the movie, you get the feeling that Ms. Dekker was never afraid create a complete picture of herself, even when she was feeling irritable or cruel.

            But before all that, the movie begins with a media circus, as Holland’s government attempts to prevent Ms. Dekker’s Guinness-baiting journey.  Naturally, they fail and soon, she’s out in the ocean, standing on the edge of her sailboat (the cutely named “Guppy”).  And there’s poetry out there, in the Sun and the waves, and especially in the moment when Ms. Dekker films a pair of dolphins, close to tears as she says she’s grateful for the company.

            How can you not love her in that moment?  Ms. Dekker is honest on film about being frustrated with loneliness, and not being able to run around on her small boat.  But she also admits that she prefers solitary sailing to being with other people and there are certainly moments when that sentiment seems relatable.  “Can you shut up for a second?” Ms. Dekker snaps at a reporter who’s getting on her nerves.  It’s a bratty request, but it’s hard not to sympathize.  After all, who hasn’t savored solitude in the same way?

            Unfortunately, that fact also constitutes the sad beauty of “Maidentrip.”  For Ms. Dekker, land is no home (she talks about hating Holland in the movie, about having nothing in common with its people besides speaking their language), but is the sea any better?  She seems happier adventuring, but that still made me sad.  Sure, by the end of the film Ms. Dekker seems committed to a life of eternal sailing, especially since she acquires a significant other to share the solitude (a fact the film acknowledges with sloppy abruptness).  Yet I couldn’t help wondering if that would be enough, and whether or not a part of her might be crying out for something more than a boyfriend and an ocean.

Profile: Eva Green

ESSENCE OF EVA by Bennett Campbell Ferguson

Who is Eva Green?  Until 2004 (when she starred in Bernardo Bertolucci’s “The Dreamers”), no moviegoer knew the answer to that question.  Now, ten years later, we know a bit more, especially since she’s gained fame as a Bond girl in “Casino Royale” and a Spartan slayer in the current hit “300: Rise of an Empire” (she’s also the dame of title in Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez’s forthcoming “Sin City: A Dame to Kill For”).

            Yet Ms. Green still remains elusive.  I’ve never known the tabloids to track her movements; and she hasn’t been in enough movies for us to understand her abilities as well as we comprehend those of perennial pros like Sandra Bullock and Maggie Smith.  The only thing that we can be sure of, it seems, is that she loves being onscreen and that she believes that acting is something to be relished, even caressed.

            You can see that in an early moment of “The Dreamers.”  It’s Paris, 1968, and Ms. Green’s character, the voracious film buff Isabelle, has chained herself to the gates of a movie theater (to protest the sacking of its beloved manager).  And in this first moment, she’s already unforgettable, looking utterly at ease with a cigarette dangling lazily from her lips.

            It’s a very sexy image, and it catches the eye of the film’s young hero, Matthew (Michael Pitt).  He wanders over; they begin to chat and here, you get a sense of Ms. Green’s blithe love of exaggeration.  “You’re awfully clean!” she exclaims upon seeing Matthew, tilting her head weirdly as if to accentuate her surprise.  And though another performer might have made this movement feel overdone, Ms. Green’s gusto is so genuine that she sweeps you up in it quite easily.

            But it’s not just what she does with her body; it’s her voice as well.  Or, I should say, the voice—that serpentine, husky tone that cuts through silence like an eager dagger.  “If shit could shit, it would smell like Jacques,” she says to Mr. Pitt, referring to one of her fellow filmgoers.  It’s a simple line, and yet Ms. Green delivers it so lustily that it sounds more like, “Ifshitcouldshit, itwouldsmelllikeJacques.”  And, by blending each word into the next, she makes this crude dialogue sound like the most wondrous poetry ever written for the screen.

            There are many beautifully wrenching moments after that scene, as there have been throughout Ms. Green’s career (the moment when she tearfully says, “I’m sorry, James” to Daniel Craig’s 007 belongs in the Bond movie hall of fame).  But I think that first scene from “The Dreamers” is what really shows what makes her so special—that just as we love watching her, she loves performing, twisting her way over words and verbally licking each line as if it were nothing less than the finest chocolate cake.

2nd Anniversary Review: "John Carter" (Andrew Stanton, 2012)

GOOD BOMB: “JOHN CARTER” IS MORE THAN THE SUM

OF ITS TICKET SALES by Bennett Campbell Ferguson

Cost of war: Lynn Collins and Taylor Kitsch, above, share a melancholy moment in "John Carter"

 

In the past ten years, Andrew Stanton has directed only three films.  Not a great number, to be sure, but enough to show that he is a storyteller with a generous and passionate heart.  And though it beats through the father-son drama of “Finding Nemo” and the poignant isolation of “WALL-E,” it is also present in his most-maligned movie—the sweeping adventure “John Carter.”

            A wondrous and meticulous blockbuster, “John Carter” was of course also a box office bomb, probably because few people were able to coherently explain its story (the movie’s mythology is nothing if not convoluted).  Yet at its core, the tale is quite simple, especially when you focus on the titular hero who gives the film so much of its meaning.

            In a word, John Carter (Taylor Kitsch) is a shell.  Bereft since the murder of his wife and children during the Civil War (“John Carter” is both a sci-fi movie and a period piece), he has turned into a babbling wanderer obsessed with wealth.  But luckily for us, everything changes when he stumbles across a medallion that transports him to Mars, where the film’s story truly begins.

            Of course, this is Mars as imagined with much leeway by author Edgar Rice Burroughs (the film is based on his story “A Princess of Mars”), a planet populated with human-like beings including Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins), a princess who demands Carter’s assistance in defending her people against a brutal army.  Yet Carter, lapsing into selfishness and grief, can only think of himself.  He just wants to get home.

            You could be forgiven for wondering why, since Mr. Stanton’s vision of Mars is nothing less than paradise—a feast of wide-open, rocky deserts where the Sun casts everything in light that is bright but never too sharp (the movie’s cinematography is by the brilliant Dan Mindel, who also shot “Star Trek” and “Star Trek Into Darkness”).  And though this Red Planet is clearly ravaged by war, even the ruined building that Carter and Dejah ride past midway through the picture makes everything look grander and more spacious in its beauty.

            It is fitting, especially because “John Carter” is a sweet story.  Of course, Carter and Dejah do make for a prickly couple—he’s irritated by her insistence that he should crawl out of his cocoon of self-interest, while she just thinks he’s a lunatic.  Yet there is something special between Mr. Kitsch and Ms. Collins.  They’ve appeared onscreen together before (briefly but memorably in “X-Men Origins: Wolverine”) and that now seems prophetic, a premonition of great things to come.  Because in Mr. Kitsch’s deep, sludgy voice, there is both bitterness and compassion, while Ms. Collins makes for an arch, entitled Eva Green-esque heroine, even as she allows vulnerability and sweetness to creep into her voice. 

In the end, “John Carter” is about these two characters discovering their immense love for each other, even as war rages across Mars.  But though the stakes of the story feel suitably high, there is something graceful and soothing about the movie.  There’s plenty of action (just watch editor Eric Zumbrunnen masterfully juggle overlapping events, drama, and humor in the movie’s final act), but it’s spaced out with calm assurance.  Yes, we get numerous rousing sequences in which Carter leaps through the skies, but there’s also an eerily quiet boat ride down a winding, blue river.  There, tension mounts, but never over much. 

            So in the end, “John Carter” is not only about suspense, but that sweetness that is so much a part of Mr. Stanton’s work.  Because in the end, the film is a love story, not just between Carter and Dejah, but between Carter and Mars itself, culminating when he refers to the planet as “my true home.”  And by that point, it truly is and as always, I’m glad to be able to sometimes share it with him.  

Profile: Gavin Hood

HEAT OF THE MOMENT: THE FILMS OF GAVIN HOOD

by Bennett Campbell Ferguson 

In 2006, director Gavin Hood took to the Kodak stage and accepted an Oscar for third feature film, the crime drama “Tsotsi.”  But though that moment gave him the clout to join the Hollywood elite, it was also the start of a downfall that has seen his movies inundated with dispiriting receipts and dismissive reviews.  So yes, that gold statuette is still his to keep, but over time it’s been clouded by the indifference of audiences who neither understand nor care about his work.     

            But that doesn’t matter.  Why?  Simply put, because I believe that Mr. Hood is one of the most intelligent and passionate filmmakers of our time.  And while his work may not be perfect, I think he offers something better than perfection—a raw, fearlessly emotional style that leaves you at once bruised and exhilarated.  Just watch the opening scene of his 2009 film “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” in which an enraged boy stabs his father’s killer and then charges into a forest, while Harry Gregson-Williams’ score stocks the scene with tragic momentum.    

            That, in my view, is a perfectly directed moment, though Mr. Hood had to hone his craft on smaller films before he was ready to execute it.  And just as importantly, he needed to develop his core theme—the ways in which people become torn between compassion and violence.   It’s an idea present in “Tsotsi,” in which the title character (a young thug played by Presley Chweneyagae) shoots a woman, steals her car…and finds a baby in the backseat. 

Not an ideal situation, to be sure, for Tsotsi or the baby.  Yet because Tsotsi has become sickeningly corrupt (bullying and humiliation are the least of his crimes; torture and murder are the worst), his new companion presents a unique challenge—a call for him to find some fatherly compassion within himself.  And thus, we’re left wondering: will Tsotsi devote his existence to his newfound responsibility?  Or return his life of killing for profit?    

            You might think this choice between selfless love and vicious violence would be easy to make.  But is it?  I’m not so sure.  After all, Mr. Hood (who was drafted into the South African military when he was a teenager) seems to understand the temptation of brutality better than any other director, as his two science fiction films, “Wolverine” and the recent “Ender’s Game” (an adaptation of Orson Scott Card’s novel) suggest.  The titular boy soldier of “Ender,” for instance, hates inflicting pain on others, yet relishes the surge of strategizing, both on the battlefield and amongst his troops.  In fact, you find yourself getting caught up in the dark thrill of wartime leadership with him…until Mr. Hood drops the bomb and reveals the true cost of such intoxication.  And suddenly, you’re not immersed in escapism anymore—you’re caught in a nightmare.

            But why, you may ask, should you endure such horror?  It’s a fair question, though I think it’s somewhat irrelevant since Mr. Hood clearly understands that sober meaning is just a pain without some grandly romantic entertainment to wash it down.  And in accordance, he’s allowed his films to become awash with magnificent images—Wolverine standing atop a nuclear reactor as the Sun rises; Ender drifting through zero gravity; and Tsotsi raising his hands to surrender, looking almost like Jesus.  Because like all of Mr. Hood’s heroes, he chooses redemption, even if it means bearing the shame of his crimes.

I have to wonder if such redemption is in store for Mr. Hood.  In a perfect world, he would be allowed to direct whatever he wanted, but I’m worried that his increasingly mushy reputation will hamper his career prospects.  Yes, his powerfully shadowy compositions and impassioned anger at corruption and cruelty have made him a worthy blockbuster auteur (in the vein of Christopher Nolan or Bryan Singer).  But the fact remains that he will need the support of attentive and thoughtful moviegoers if he’s to continue directing thematically ambitious and emotionally shattering films like “Ender.”

And that, above all, is why I ask you to watch one of Gavin Hood’s films and really look at its images and listen to its ideas.  Because I believe that while you may not come to love “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” and “Ender’s Game” (by far his best works) as I do, you will likely find yourself drawn in, overwhelmed but unable to look away until the final scene.  “I’ll find my own way,” Hugh Jackman says as “Wolverine” concludes.  If you make it that far, you may just realize that Mr. Hood deserves a chance to find his own way too. 

Spotlight: The Crew of "X-Men: Days of Future Past" (Bryan Singer, 2014)



THE B. SINGER TEAM: A LOOK AT THE “FUTURE PAST” POSSE

by Bennett Campbell Ferguson

Above: Hugh Jackman, Michael Fassbender, and James McAvoy in "Days of"

 

What if Christopher Nolan returned for a fourth “Dark Knight”?  What if Sofia Coppola went back to Tokyo?  What if Abdellatif Kechiche decided to direct “La Vie D’Adele – Chapitre 3 Et 4”?  Imagine those speaker-shaking possibilities (one of which happens to be much more than a mere possibility) and you’ll start to understand the immensity of Bryan Singer’s decision to direct “X-Men: Days of Future Past,” which opens on May 23^RD. 

On the surface, the jobs seems routine; after all, why shouldn’t a director with three comic book movies under his belt try his hand at a fourth?  But the fact remains that the last film Mr. Singer directed in the “X-Men” franchise was the 2003 apocalyptic masterpiece “X2.”  And because that movie was poetic, tragic, and thrillingly emotional, it remains not only Mr. Singer’s magnum opus, but one of the most bruising and exhilarating cinematic experiences in recent memory.

It’s also one that’s not an easy act to follow.  But Mr. Singer has built his career on surprising and brazenly intuitive choices, from probing his childhood fascination with World War II in “Valkyrie” to turning “Superman Returns” into a $250 million art film.  And in the following months, I’ll be revisiting his continuously astonishing films as we march ever closer to the opening of “Days of Future Past.” 

But first, introductions are in order.  Because like so many auteurs, Mr. Singer doesn’t fulfill himself as a filmmaker on his own—he works with a gifted creative team whose composing, editing, costuming, and filming skills are equally recognizable.  So here is a quick dossier of some of Team Singer’s key players:

 

JOHN OTTMAN At once romantic and discordant, John Ottman’s music has played a crucial role in all of Mr. Singer’s films.  It can be darkly brassy (the grimly majestic fanfare of “X2” suggests “Star Wars” in D minor), but also unbearably tender.  Just listen to the sonic ballet of piano and then choir that accompanies Superman’s melancholy flight from Lois Lane’s riverside house in “Superman Returns”—the music is unbearably sad, yet somehow hopeful in its sweetness.

            Generating that kind of emotion has given Mr. Ottman a strong authorship over Mr. Singer’s films.  Yet what really makes him unique is his added role as editor.  Few directors love juggling huge ensembles and gargantuan battles as much as Mr. Singer and Mr. Ottman is usually the one tasked with pulling the pieces together.  And it’s no exaggeration to say that he does it perfectly—whether stitching together an anguished montage in “X2” or sorting through a flurry of phone calls in “Valkyrie,” he imbues every scene with a coherence that only enhances each film’s exceptional humanity.

 

LOUISE MINGENBACH One of the most intriguing things about Mr. Singer is that even though he always aspires to emotional realism, his films often seem to exist out of time, in a landscape or era of their own making.  And as a costume designer, Ms. Mingenbach has proved particularly important in constructing such worlds—in fact, her surreal attention to the details of everything from sleek flight suits to ordinary pajamas was what made “X-Men” and “X2” feel futuristic, but not otherworldly.

            Still, Ms. Mingenbach’s greatest accomplishment might be “Superman Returns.”  While the film is set in the Twenty-First Century (note the frequent use of cell phones in the picture), the costumes make it look fascinatingly old fashioned—from Clark Kent’s three-piece suits to the white coat worn by Lex Luthor, each outfit helps paint a fascinating tableau of old and new. 

Thus, Ms. Mingenbach creates her own reality, though not in the knowingly absurd manner of Wes Anderson—instead, she generates retro fashion that is markedly strange yet utterly in tune with the film’s portrayal of Superman as a man out of time. 

 

NEWTON THOMAS SIGEL It bears noting that in Hollywood, there’s no such thing as a monogamous creative team (even Christopher Nolan’s collaborators have strayed to work on films like “John Carter” and “Ender’s Game”).  But though Newton Thomas Sigel has lent his prowess in cinematography to everything from “Leap Year” to “Drive,” there can be no doubt that he’s done his finest work with Mr. Singer.

            So what is the shot that truly sells me on Mr. Sigel?  Is it the close up of lamp lit pen and paper in “Valkyrie”?  Or perhaps the vertical take of a gleaming elevator shaft in “The Usual Suspects”?  Or possibly (quite possibly), the image of a lone woman standing firm against a torrent of tidal waves in “X2”?

            Suffice to say, picking a favorite is difficult.  So I’ll just say this—because Mr. Singer prefers pictures to words, he could not tell his stories without the powerfully observant eyes of Mr. Sigel.  Because at the end of the day, the images of their movies are what you remember, and they’re the result of one of the greatest cinematographer-director teams of our time.

The 2013 Healthy Orange Award Winners

AND THE HEALTHY ORANGE AWARDS GO TO....
by Bennett Campbell Ferguson

Left: Winners   
Adèle Exarchopoulos
and Abdellatif Kechiche







Winners printed in bold


BEST PICTURE TIE!

“Ender’s Game”

“La Vie D’Adele – Chapitre 1 Et 2”

“Star Trek Into Darkness”

“To the Wonder”

“The Wolf of Wall Street”

DIRECTOR TIE!

J.J. Abrams, “Star Trek Into Darkness”

Gavin Hood, “Ender’s Game”

Abdellatif Kechiche, “La Vie D’Adele – Chapitre 1 Et 2”

Terrence Malick, “To the Wonder”

Martin Scorsese, “The Wolf of Wall Street”

ACTRESS

Lake Bell, “In a World…”

Cate Blanchett, “Blue Jasmine”

Sandra Bullock, “Gravity”

Adèle Exarchopoulos, “La Vie D’Adele – Chapitre 1 Et 2”

Olga Kurylenko, “To the Wonder”

ACTOR

Asa Butterfield, “Ender’s Game”

Leonardo DiCaprio, “The Wolf of Wall Street”

Will Ferrell, “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues”

Jake Gyllenhaal, “Prisoners”

Chris Pine, “Star Trek Into Darkness”

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Kaitlyn Dever, “Short Term 12”

Joey King, “Oz the Great and Powerful”

Mila Kunis, “Oz the Great and Powerful”

Romina Mondello, “To the Wonder”

Léa Seydoux, “La Vie D’Adele –Chapitre 1 Et 2”

SUPPORTING ACTOR

Bradley Cooper, "American Hustle"

Benedict Cumberbatch, “Star Trek Into Darkness”

Harrison Ford, “Ender’s Game”

Tom Hiddleston, “Thor: The Dark World”

Zachary Quinto, “Star Trek Into Darkness”

ORGINAL STORY AND SCREENPLAY

“American Hustle” by David O. Russell and Eric Warren Singer

“Gravity” by Alfonso Cuarón and Jonás Cuarón

“Fruitvale Station” by Ryan Coogler

“Inside Llewyn Davis” by Ethan Coen and Joel Coen

“To the Wonder” by Terrence Malick

ADAPTED STORY AND SCREENPLAY TIE!

“Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues”by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay

“Ender’s Game” by Gavin Hood

“La Vie D’Adele – Chapitre 1 Et 2” by Abdellatif Kechiche and Ghalya Lacroix

“Star Trek Into Darkness” by Alex Kurtzman, Damon Lindelof, and Roberto Orci

“The Wolf of Wall Street” by Terence Winter

ORIGINAL SCORE

“Ender’s Game” by Steve Jablonsky

“The Lone Ranger” by Hans Zimmer

“Man of Steel” by Hans Zimmer

“Star Trek Into Darkness” by Michael Giacchino

“To the Wonder” by Hanan Townshend

ORIGINAL SONG
“Doby” by Andrew Feltenstein, Will Ferrell, Adam McKay, and John Nau (from“Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues”)

“Please Mr. Kennedy” by T. Bone Burnett (from “Inside Llewyn Davis”)

CINEMATOGRAPHY TIE!

Sofian El Fani, “La Vie D’Adele – Chapitre 1 Et 2”

Emmauel Lubezki, “To the Wonder”

Donald M. McAlpine, “Ender’s Game”

Dan Mindel, “Star Trek Into Darkness”

Rodrigo Prieto, “The Wolf of Wall Street”

EDITING TIE!

“Ender’s Game” – Lee Smith and Zach Staenberg

“La Vie D’Adele – Chapitre 1 Et 2” – Sophie Brunet, Ghalya Lacroix, Albertine Lastera, Jean-Marie Lengelle, and Camille Toubkis

“Star Trek Into Darkness” –Maryann Brandon and Mary Jo Markey

“To the Wonder” – A.J. Edwards, Keith Fraase, Shane Hazen, Christopher Roldan, and Mark Yoshikawa

“The Wolf of Wall Street” – Thelma Schoonmaker

ART DIRECTION

“Inside Llewyn Davis” – Susan Bode and Jess Gonchor

“Gravity” – Rosie Goodwin, Andy Nicholson, and Joanne Wollard

“Her” – K.K. Barrett and Gene Serdena

“Oz the Great and Powerful” –Nancy Haigh and Robert Stromberg

“Star Trek Into Darkness” –Scott Chambliss and Karen Manthey

COSTUME DESIGN

Stacey Battat, “The Bling Ring”

Michael Kaplan, “Star Trek Into Darkness”

Sylvie Lettelier, “La Vie D’Adele – Chapitre 1 Et 2”

Lindy McMichael, “In a World…”

Jacqueline West, “To the Wonder”

MAKEUP

“Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues” – Bridget Cook and Bernadette Mazur

“The Bling Ring” – Shelley Brien and Roz Music

“In a World…” – Liz Lash and Julia Papworth

“La Vie D’Adele – Chapitre 1 Et 2” – Pierre Olivier Persin

“Star Trek Into Darkness” –David LeRoy Anderson and Mary L. Mastro

SOUND DESIGN

“Ender’s Game” – Ron Bartlett, Dane A. Davis, Eric Lindemann, Jay Meagher, Tom Ozanich, and Michael C. Schapiro

“La Vie D’Adele – Chapitre 1 Et 2” – Mélanie Blouin, Renaud Guillaumin, Jean-Paul Hurier, Denis Martin, Fabien Pochet, and Caroline Reynaud

“Only God Forgives” – Kristian Eidnes Anderson and Eddie Simonsen

“Star Trek Into Darkness” –David Acord, James Bolt, Ben Burtt, Roberto Cappannelli, Dustin Cawood, Peter J. Devlin, Coya Elliot, Malcolm Fife, Will Files, Pascal Garneau, Andy Nelson, Trey Turner, Tony Villaflor, Matthew Wood, and David Wyman

“To the Wonder” – Erik Aadahl, Craig Berkey, Joel Dougherty, José Antonio Garcia, and John Joseph Thomas

VISUAL EFFECTS

“Ender’s Game” – Matthew Butler

“Gravity” – Tim Webber

“Oz the Great and Powerful” –Scott Stodyk

“Pacific Rim” – John Knoll

“Star Trek Into Darkness” –Roger Guyett

 

HAPPY OSCAR DAY, EVERYBODY! :)