Memorable lines from the 2014 Oscars, Golden Globes, SAG and Critics’ Choice Awards

BY Jen T. Tuazon

2014 Oscar Host Ellen DeGeneres takes a selfie with Jared Leto, Jennifer Lawrence, Merryl Streep, Channing Tatum, Julia Roberts, Kevin Spacey, Brad Pitt, Lupita Nyong’o, Angelina Jolie, Peter Nyong’o and Bradley Cooper

Awards shows are always fun to watch, mostly for the red carpet arrivals and occasionally for the great speeches from the winners and spiels from the hosts and presenters. Here we’ve compiled lines we found quotable from the recent award shows  – some funny, some touching, some  inspiring – all memorable.

UPDATED: 2014 Hollywood awards season scorecard

BY Joanna Mendoza

“12 Years a Slave” may not be the winningest, but it’s won most of the Best Picture honors so far this awards season. (Photo courtesy of Fox Searchlight Pictures)

UPDATE, Feb. 24, 2014 (originally published Jan. 22): It’s only one week before the Oscars! Not up to speed? Here’s something that will help you prioritize which films to watch at the last minute: a 2014 awards season scorecard (updated)! If you want only the Oscars, click here instead. Happy Oscar cramming!

UPDATE, Feb. 17, 2014: The BAFTAs held few surprises in the main categories. 12 Years a Slave, Alfonso Cuaron, and Cate Blanchett won Best Film, Best Director, and Best Actress, respectively. And with no Dallas Buyers Club, British actor–and Best Film 12 Years a Slave lead–Chiwetel Ejiofor won Best Actor, and second season-favorite Barkhad Abdi won Best Supporting Actor. Jennifer Lawrence’s Best Supporting Actress win wasn’t a shocker either, given how much more popular she is internationally than most likely Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o. The Best Adapted Screenplay category has been all over the place so far, but it was somewhat expected that the honor would go to British film Philomena‘s Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope.

The Original Screenplay winner was a bit of a surprise. Her wasn’t nominated in the Original Screenplay category, so some people thought the award might be given to Outstanding British Film nominee (and eventual winner) Gravity‘s Alfonso and Jonas Cuaron. The honor was given to American Hustle‘s Eric Warren Singer and David O. Russell instead.

Of all the results, I was most glad about American Hustle‘s Make-Up and Hair win. I’m still scratching my head over the Oscar snub. Didn’t the Academy see the combover, the perm, the bouffant?

Still…on to the Oscars!

UPDATE, Feb. 3, 2014: Shocker, shocker. Spike Jonze won Best Original Screenplay for Her at the Writers Guild Awards. Less predictable was Billy Ray’s Best Adapted Screenplay win for Captain Phillips. At the Critics’ Choice, the honor went to John Ridley for 12 Years a Slave.

UPDATE, Jan. 26, 2014: No surprises here. The DGA bestowed its highest film honor to Alfonso Cuaron for his work in Gravity. He also won Best Director at the Golden Globes and Critics’ Choice.

ORIGINAL POST, Jan. 22, 2014: Now that we have a few days of respite from last week’s awards onslaught, let’s take a look at how the nominated films are doing. Who’s the winningest? Which films are most likely going to remain Oscar nominees instead of becoming Oscar winners? Check out the awards season trend (in alphabetical order) so far…

Our Top 4 picks at the 8th Spring Film Fest

BY Jojo Eijansantos

The 8th Spring Film Festival, which screens Chinese Films for free, is ongoing until Feb. 2.

Before I started watching the annual Spring Film Festival, I always thought that any movie that came out of mainland China would be sensitized beyond my own libertarian sensibilities to appreciate, let alone like. But the beauty of film is that it arouses a curiosity that expands a mind beyond its original dimensions, and it shares universal truths, beyond the cultural fineries that enliven these truths and the language in which they are spoken. Here are my top 4 picks for the 2014 Spring Film Festival—ongoing FOR FREE at the Shangri-La Plaza until Feb. 2–and how they made me expand my universe just a little more over the weekend.

2014 #Oscars viewing list

BY Joanna Mendoza

“Gravity” scored 10 Oscar nominations. (Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.)

To be quite honest, I’m not as on top of this year’s Oscar prospects as I want to be. But since a huge part of the fun of the Oscars is predicting who will win (and discussing with your peers why you think certain long shots should win), I’m planning to watch as many of the nominated feature films as I can until about a week before the awards are handed out.

Are you an Oscar procrastinator, too? Here’s an easy guide for all the films you have to see before March 2!

POLL: 2014 Oscar noms announced. What are YOUR picks?

“American Hustle” got 10 Oscar nominations. (Photo courtesy of Columbia Pictures)

And the Oscar noms went to…

Last night, while most of us were already trying to sleep, the Oscar nominations were announced in the U.S. As expected, American Hustle dominated with 10 nods, a feat also achieved by Gravity. Another frontrunner, 12 Years a Slave, earned nine. It’s also interesting to note that the very competitive (although practically decided) Best Actress category features four past winners, and a fifth one who hasn’t won but had been nominated four times prior.

Below is the complete list of nominees. But as part of the fun of following the awards season is predicting the results, we invite you to make your own picks!

 

The 86th Academy Awards is scheduled for March 2, 2014. It is usually shown in the Philippines live via satellite on the Velvet Channel. 

‘American Hustle’ clip: Batman hits on Lois Lane!

BY Joanna Mendoza

Christian Bale and Amy Adams in “American Hustle” (Photo courtesy of Columbia Pictures)

Well, not really. 

But some clever commenters jokingly said this new clip from American Hustle won’t sit well with Superman. In this super (er, Bat?) short video, Christian Bale‘s con man Irving Rosenfeld meets for the first time his would-be partner and lover Sydney Prosser, played by Amy Adams. In case you’ve been living under a rock for the past few years, Bale is the most recent Batman, and Adams is the Lois Lane to Henry Cavill‘s latest Man of Steel.

James Franco’s ‘As I Lay Dying’: It Ain’t A Bother

BY Gina Tumlos

“As I Lay Dying” Writer-director-actor James Franco (Photo courtesy of Millennium Films)

As I Lay Dying follows the same story arc of a Grecian hero who embarks on a journey for a loved one, meets peril after peril, and after much toil and suffering, is revered for his strength and stamina for withstanding all that unjustified otherworldly nonsense. Except there is no hero in William Faulkner‘s eighty-three year old family saga. There isn’t even a reliable narrator to turn to. Everyone is embroiled in their own inner turmoil and there is no exaltation waiting for any of the characters at the end of the line. Nobody really wins in this one; only a new set of teeth and a new set of problems await the remaining Bundrens on their way back home.

James Franco’s Cannes entry ‘As I Lay Dying’ coming to PH cinemas

Jim Parrack and James Franco in “As I Lay Dying” (Photo courtesy of Ayala Malls Cinemas)

After receiving acclaim at the Cannes Film Festival last May as an official selection in the Un Certain Regard section, actor-director James Franco brings the searing drama As I Lay Dying to mainstream cinemas.

Jonah Hill’s fake teeth star in new trailer for ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’

BY Joanna Mendoza

Leonardo DiCaprio and Jonah Hill on “The Wolf of Wall Street” (Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures)

It seems the awesome Jonah Hill can’t do it all after all. Watch the Oscar nominee try to talk through his big, fake teeth in this new trailer for The Wolf of Wall Street.

To be fair, it’s not as bad as it is distracting. Maybe the comical effect is intentional? Whether or not it is, there are other reasons to watch this trailer. There’s footage of a shouting Leonardo DiCaprio that you can add to your yelling Leo montage. TV fan favorites Kyle Chandler (Coach Taylor, one of the best things on Friday Night Lights) and Jon Bernthal (bad boy Shane Walsh on The Walking Dead) are in it. Matthew McConaughey’s “McConaissance” is still in full play. And, really, anytime you see the words “Directed by Martin Scorsese,” you can’t not take a peek.