JOKER DOMINATES THE OSCAR NOMINATIONS 2020

José Alberto Hermosillo

"Little Women" will face-off the Big Men at the 92nd Academy Awards on Sunday, January 9th, 2020.

Oscar Nominations 2020

This year, the stories reflected in the Best Picture category are mostly male-driven works directed by men. Those titles include, "Joker," "1917," "Ford v Ferrari," "Jojo Rabbit," "Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood," "The Irishman," but "Marriage Story" and "Parasite" are more gender-balanced projects. "Little Women" looks up for more gender equality in every sense.

Most of the films qualifying in the main categories were screened in theaters in Los Angeles and New York in 2019. Looking back, the year 2019 will be remembered as one of the most uneven years in recent history. Optimistically thinking, with more productions directed by women and other communities, we will start seeing the #OscarsSoWhite like something from the past.

Many new Hollywood productions are oriented to close "the gender gap." The producers are also looking up for more "diversity and inclusion."

In the mid-time, we can relax, sit back and enjoy the admirable works that so many talented people in the industry brought us and who deserve recognition by the members of the Academy.

The big favorite is "Joker" with more nominations, 11; "1917" and "Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood" have 10, and "Little Women" has 8.

"Parasite" with six nods is the 11th non-English Best Picture nominee. Therefore, it did not break the record of more nominations for a foreign film like "Roma" had last year with 10 or "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" also with 10 nominations for a non-English film in the year 2000.

"Pain and Glory" has two, Antonio Banderas for the best actor and Spain for the best international feature.

"Honeyland" from North Macedonia opened in theaters mid-July, and it has two nominations, for best international feature film and for best documentary feature.

Once again, no women were nominated for the best director, but more women were nominated in other essential categories as best picture producers, writers, and music composers.

Parasite cast and crew on Oscar Night. Photo by José Alberto Hermosillo, Festival in LA ©2019

Nominations for the 92nd Academy Awards

Performance by an actor in a leading role

• Antonio Banderas in “Pain and Glory”
• Leonardo DiCaprio in “Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood”
• Adam Driver in “Marriage Story”
• Joaquin Phoenix in “Joker” (WINNER)
  
• Jonathan Pryce in “The Two Popes” 

Performance by an actor in a supporting role

• Tom Hanks in “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood”
• Anthony Hopkins in “The Two Popes”
• Al Pacino in “The Irishman”
• Joe Pesci in “The Irishman”
• Brad Pitt in “Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood” (WINNER)
  

Performance by an actress in a leading role

• Cynthia Erivo in “Harriet”
• Scarlett Johansson in “Marriage Story”
• Saoirse Ronan in “Little Women”
• Charlize Theron in “Bombshell”
• Renée Zellweger in “Judy” (WINNER)
  

Performance by an actress in a supporting role

• Kathy Bates in “Richard Jewell”
• Laura Dern in “Marriage Story”(WINNER)
• Scarlett Johansson in “Jojo Rabbit”
• Florence Pugh in “Little Women”
• Margot Robbie in “Bombshell”

Best animated feature film of the year

• “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World” Dean DeBlois, Bradford Lewis and Bonnie Arnold
• “I Lost My Body” Jérémy Clapin and Marc du Pontavice
• “Klaus” Sergio Pablos, Jinko Gotoh and Marisa Román
• “Missing Link” Chris Butler, Arianne Sutner and Travis Knight
• “Toy Story 4” Josh Cooley, Mark Nielsen and Jonas Rivera, (WINNERS)
  

Achievement in cinematography

• “The Irishman” Rodrigo Prieto
• “Joker” Lawrence Sher
• “The Lighthouse” Jarin Blaschke
• “1917” Roger Deakins (WINNER)
  
• “Once upon a Time...in Hollywood” Robert Richardson

Achievement in costume design

• “The Irishman” Sandy Powell and Christopher Peterson
• “Jojo Rabbit” Mayes C. Rubeo
• “Joker” Mark Bridges
• “Little Women” Jacqueline Durran (WINNER)
  
• “Once upon a Time...in Hollywood” Arianne Phillips

Achievement in directing

• “The Irishman” Martin Scorsese
• “Joker” Todd Phillips
• “1917” Sam Mendes
• “Once upon a Time...in Hollywood” Quentin Tarantino
• “Parasite” Bong Joon Ho (WINNER)
  

Best documentary feature

• “American Factory” Steven Bognar, Julia Reichert, and Jeff Reichert (WINNER)
  
• “The Cave” Feras Fayyad, Kirstine Barfod, and Sigrid Dyekjær
• “The Edge of Democracy” Petra Costa, Joanna Natasegara, Shane Boris and Tiago Pavan
• “For Sama” Waad al-Kateab and Edward Watts
• “Honeyland” Ljubo Stefanov, Tamara Kotevska and Atanas Georgiev

Best documentary short subject

• “In the Absence” Yi Seung-Jun and Gary Byung-Seok Kam
• “Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You're a Girl)” Carol Dysinger and Elena Andreicheva (WINNER)
  
• “Life Overtakes Me” John Haptas and Kristine Samuelson
• “St. Louis Superman” Smriti Mundhra and Sami Khan
• “Walk Run Cha-Cha” Laura Nix and Colette Sandstedt

Achievement in film editing

• “Ford v Ferrari” Michael McCusker and Andrew Buckland (WINNER)
  
• “The Irishman” Thelma Schoonmaker
• “Jojo Rabbit” Tom Eagles
• “Joker” Jeff Groth
• “Parasite” Yang Jinmo

Best international feature film of the year

• “Corpus Christi” Poland
• “Honeyland” North Macedonia
• “Les Misérables” France
• “Pain and Glory” Spain
• “Parasite” South Korea (WINNER)

Achievement in makeup and hairstyling

• “Bombshell” Kazu Hiro, Anne Morgan and Vivian Baker (WINNER)
  
• “Joker” Nicki Ledermann and Kay Georgiou
• “Judy” Jeremy Woodhead
• “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil” Paul Gooch, Arjen Tuiten and David White
• “1917” Naomi Donne, Tristan Versluis, and Rebecca Cole

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)

• “Joker” Hildur Guðnadóttir (WINNER)
  
• “Little Women” Alexandre Desplat
• “Marriage Story” Randy Newman
• “1917” Thomas Newman
• “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” John Williams

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)

• “I Can't Let You Throw Yourself Away” from “Toy Story 4.”
  Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
• “(I'm Gonna) Love Me Again” from “Rocketman”
  Music by Elton John; Lyric by Bernie Taupin (WINNER)
  
• “I'm Standing With You” from “Breakthrough”
  Music and Lyric by Diane Warren
• “Into The Unknown” from “Frozen II”
  Music and Lyric by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez
• “Stand Up” from “Harriet”
  Music and Lyric by Joshuah Brian Campbell and Cynthia Erivo 

Best motion picture of the year

• “Ford v Ferrari” Peter Chernin, Jenno Topping, and James Mangold, Producers
• “The Irishman” Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal, and Emma Tillinger Koskoff, Producers
• “Jojo Rabbit” Carthew Neal, and Taika Waititi, Producers
• “Joker” Todd Phillips, Bradley Cooper and Emma Tillinger Koskoff, Producers
• “Little Women” Amy Pascal, Producer
• “Marriage Story” Noah Baumbach and David Heyman, Producers
• “1917” Sam Mendes, Pippa Harris, Jayne-Ann Tenggren and Callum McDougall, Producers
• “Once upon a Time...in Hollywood” David Heyman, Shannon McIntosh, and Quentin Tarantino, Producers
• “Parasite” Kwak Sin Ae and Bong Joon Ho, Producers (WINNER)
  

Achievement in production design

• “The Irishman” Production Design: Bob Shaw; Set Decoration: Regina Graves
• “Jojo Rabbit” Production Design: Ra Vincent; Set Decoration: Nora Sopková
• “1917” Production Design: Dennis Gassner; Set Decoration: Lee Sandales
• “Once upon a Time...in Hollywood” Production Design: Barbara Ling; Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh (WINNER)
  
• “Parasite” Production Design: Lee Ha Jun; Set Decoration: Cho Won Woo 

Best animated short film

• “Dcera (Daughter)” Daria Kashcheeva
• “Hair Love” Matthew A. Cherry and Karen Rupert Toliver (WINNER)
  
• “Kitbull” Rosana Sullivan and Kathryn Hendrickson
• “Memorable” Bruno Collet and Jean-François Le Corre
• “Sister” Siqi Song 

Best live-action short film

• “Brotherhood” Meryam Joobeur and Maria Gracia Turgeon
• “Nefta Football Club” Yves Piat and Damien Megherbi
• “The Neighbors' Window” Marshall Curry (WINNER)
  
• “Saria” Bryan Buckley and Matt Lefebvre
• “A Sister” Delphine Girard

Achievement in sound editing

• “Ford v Ferrari” Donald Sylvester
• “Joker” Alan Robert Murray
• “1917” Oliver Tarney and Rachael Tate (WINNER)
  
• “Once upon a Time...in Hollywood” Wylie Stateman
• “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” Matthew Wood and David Acord

Achievement in sound mixing

• “Ad Astra” Gary Rydstrom, Tom Johnson and Mark Ulano
• “Ford v Ferrari” Paul Massey, David Giammarco and Steven A. Morrow (WINNER)
  
• “Joker” Tom Ozanich, Dean Zupancic and Tod Maitland
• “1917” Mark Taylor and Stuart Wilson
• “Once upon a Time...in Hollywood” Michael Minkler, Christian P. Minkler, and Mark Ulano 

Achievement in visual effects

• “Avengers: Endgame” Dan DeLeeuw, Russell Earl, Matt Aitken, and Dan Sudick
• “The Irishman” Pablo Helman, Leandro Estebecorena, Nelson Sepulveda-Fauser, and Stephane Grabli
• “The Lion King” Robert Legato, Adam Valdez, Andrew R. Jones, and Elliot Newman
• “1917” Guillaume Rocheron, Greg Butler, and Dominic Tuohy
• “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” Roger Guyett, Neal Scanlan, Patrick Tubach and Dominic Tuohy

Adapted screenplay

• “The Irishman” Screenplay by Steven Zaillian
• “Jojo Rabbit” Screenplay by Taika Waititi (WINNER)
  
• “Joker” Written by Todd Phillips & Scott Silver
• “Little Women” Written for the screen by Greta Gerwig
• “The Two Popes” Written by Anthony McCarten 

Original screenplay

• “Knives Out” Written by Rian Johnson
• “Marriage Story” Written by Noah Baumbach
• “1917” Written by Sam Mendes & Krysty Wilson-Cairns
• “Once upon a Time...in Hollywood” Written by Quentin Tarantino
• “Parasite” Screenplay by Bong Joon Ho, Han Jin Won; Story by Bong Joon Ho (WINNER).

José Alberto Hermosillo, film critic, Festival in LA ©2019

 

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José Alberto Hermosillo, film critic, Festival in LA ©2019

Festival in LA ©2020

Invisible Life: Melodrama is Not Dead In Brazilian Cinema

By José Alberto Hermosillo

“Invisible Life” is a nostalgic, affectionate, and well-crafted masterpiece.

The Brazilian/German co-production is a profound and artistic adaptation of Martha Batalha’s novel “A Vida Invisível de Eurídice Gusmăo,” depicting the lives of two sisters growing up in Brazil and their tortuous separation by their conservative parents in the 1950s - Eurídice (Carol Duarte), the extraordinary pianist/aspiring soloist; Guida (Julia Stocker), yearning to be a devoted housewife.

Invisible Life, still photo ©2019 Amazon Original.

A series of unfortunate events will determine the fate of the Gusmăo sisters. The pre-established authoritarian male structure of that time caused their dear separation.

Life sets them apart, but their hearts remain together through the illusion of writing to each other. Those undelivered letters sustain the melodrama's tightness till the end, like a thread in a very well-structured film.

Furthermore, in the story, the parents force Euricide to marry a man who doesn’t care for her vocation. Eurídice’s strain continues to rehearse and improve herself for the long-awaited audition. 

Guida returns to her parents’ house with her broken dreams and an advanced pregnancy, forcing her to live in the streets.

At that time, women couldn’t aspire for higher education or better-paying jobs in their society, and Sexism suppressed many women’s dreams, goals, and desires.

The sisters’ experience can be compared to our mother's and grandmother's lives, which didn’t have the opportunities they deserved. They could be famous if they were only allowed to fulfill their dreams. 

“Invisible Life” is a well-told family melodrama with social and political substance, transcending to our days in defense of women’s emancipation, if we can read between the lines.

Karim Aïnouz, director of "Invisible Life." Photo Jose Alberto Hermosillo ©2019 Festival in LA

 

Director Karim Aïnouz (“Madame Satã,” “Futuro Beach”) made a risky decision to adapt the novel to the big screen with delicacy and mastery.

Born in Fortaleza, Brazil, Aïnouz was inspired in part by the courage and spirit of his single mother’s survival.

After a private screening in Hollywood, Aïnouz was questioned by viewers about altering the novel’s ending. He said adapting the book's conclusion to the screen took over a year. The film's end rightfully complements the entire story, making it more poetic and cinematic. The writer’s team includes Murilo Houser and Inés Botargaray in the credits.

Invisible Life, still photo ©2019 Amazon Original.

In charge of the film's lavish look is cinematographer Hélène Louvart. The talented DP worked in other relevant movies around the globe, such as “Happy as Lazzaro” in Italy, “Maya” in France and India, “Petra” in Spain, “Dark Night” in Florida, “Beach Rats” in New York, and now “Invisible Life” in Brazil.

With many colors and elaborate set compositions, “Invisible Life” is a tropical allegory full of liveliness, heartening emotions, and plenty of nostalgia. It is a story about women with broken wings longing for the lives they could have.

The film’s editing elongates the story's flow and can be confusing if we don’t follow the family tree carefully. Still, the project is enjoyable, regardless of other criticism and respectable points of view.

“Invisible Life” can be compared with other compelling and classic melodramas such as the Best Picture winner “Rebecca” by Alfred Hitchcock, “Imitation of Life” by Douglas Sirk, “Like Water for Chocolate” by Alfonso Arau, and “All About My Mother” by Pedro Almodóvar.

Invisible Life, Italian poster.

“Invisible Life” inspires women to break barriers and close the gender gap in an optimistic sense. 

The Brazilian melodrama won Un Certain Regard at Cannes 2019, the CineCoPro Award at the Munich Film Festival, and was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award.

The timing of this engaging melodrama couldn’t be any better, as we see today’s women pushing back against barriers that limited previous generations from accomplishing their goals and reaching for more opportunities, leaving behind the oppressive world, remarkably and exquisitely depicted in “Invisible Life.”

Jose Alberto Hermosillo, film critic. Karim Aïnouz, director of "Invisible Life." ©2019 Festival in LA

Invisible Life - Official Trailer

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THE BEST FILMS OF THE DECADE

By José Alberto Hermosillo

The Best and more existentialist films of the decade are:

2019 - Transit

2018 - Roma

2017 - The Greatest Showman
2016 - Moonlight
2015 - Anomalisa
2014 - Birdman
2013 - Gravity

2012 - Silver Linings Playbook

2011 - The Artist

2010 - Biutiful

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SCANDINAVIAN FILM FESTIVAL L.A 2020

By José Alberto Hermosillo

Prepare to enjoy two consecutive and amazing weekends of Nordic movies at the Writers Guild of America Theater in Beverly Hills at the Scandinavian Film Festival L.A. 2020. The festival’s 21^st edition includes a remarkable selection of films from the Northern European countries - including Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, and Sweden.

The festival screens some fantastic shorts and documentaries as well. 

 The features include this year’s Oscar submissions, such as “The Mover” from Latvia, and “Stupid Young Heart” from Finland. 

The outstanding erotic thriller “Queen of Hearts” submitted from Denmark, with the extraordinary performance of the renowned Danish actress Trine Dyrholm (“In a Better World,” “Love is All You Need,” “Nico”). 

The festival continues screening the highly praised and critics' favorite “A White, White Day” from Iceland.

Special mention to the charming film representing Sweden “And Then We Danced” about a risky love among the very traditional Georgian dances.

Another of the festival highlights is the unmissable Academy shortlisted epic, “Truth and Justice” from Estonia.

The Opening Night Gala includes a reception with a buffet before the screening of the sensational book adaptation “Out Stealing Horses” from Norway.

The Scandinavian Film Festival L.A. closes with “Daniel” from Denmark. The story is about a Danish photographer captured by ISIS in Syria in 2013 and held hostage for 398 days. 

 James Koenig, host, director, and founder of the SFFLA. Photo: José Alberto Hermosillo, Festival in LA ©2019

Many of the films will include Q&A's with the filmmakers, cast and crew. After each movie. The people involved in the films are always ready to talk about the arts and crafts in their industry. The friendly Nordic visitors like mingle with Angelinos. 

Gustav Mollër, director of The Guilty. Photo: José Alberto Hermosillo, Festival in LA ©2019

Scandinavian Film Festiva LAl 2020 Festival in LA ©2019

If one of your New Year resolutions is to start watching good movies, the Scandinavian Film Festival L.A. is the answer. The festival is considered, for many, a small gem in the Los Angeles festival circuit. 

 Photo: José Alberto Hermosillo, Festival in LA © 2019

The hospitability and organization of the festival make any film lover feel welcome. The receptions include good wine, food, live music, and stunning quality of films from the countries located on the top of the world. 

 SFFLA Cake. Photo José Alberto Hermosillo, Festival in LA ©2019

You can buy your season pass for $140.00 to all the films and events.

Individual tickets are $12.00.

Scandinavian Film Festival LA Festival in LA ©2019

For more information about the Scandinavian Film Festival Los Angeles, please visit the festival's website, www.sffla.net 

Scandinavian Film Festival LA 2020. Festival in LA ©2019

PROGRAM: schedule.

Follow SFFLA by email  -  Facebook  - Twitter @scandifilmfest

 Film Critic José Alberto Hermosillo, www.FestivalinLA.com ©2019

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