González Iñárritu’s “Birdman” Earns 13 Critics’ Choice Movie Awards Nominations

Alejandro González Iñárritu has impressed the critics…

The 51-year-old Mexican filmmaker’s dark comedy Birdman has earned a whopping 13 nominations from the Broadcast Film Critics Association’s 20th Annual Critics’ Choice Movie Awards.

Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Birdman

González Iñárritu’s acclaimed film, which he wrote, directed and produced received nods in the Best Picture and Best Comedy categories.

In addition, he earned two individual nominations. He’s up for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay.

Birdman’s composer Antonio Sanchez has earned a nomination for Best Score. He recently earned his first-ever Golden Globe nomination in the same category for his inspired work on the film.

Emmanuel Lubezki, meantime, picked up a nod for Best Cinematography for his work on Birdman.

In the acting categories, Zoe Saldana picked up a nod in the Best Actress in an Action Movie for her work in Guardians of the Galaxy, while Rosario Dawson earned a nomination for Best Actress in a Comedy for Top Five.

The Guillermo del Toro-produced film The Book of Life received a nod in the Best Animated Feature category.

The Critics’ Choice Movie Awards will take place on the same day that Oscar nominations are announced. The show airs – to the East Coast – live on new network partner, A&E from the Hollywood Palladium at 9:00 pm ET on January 15th with Michael Strahan hosting.

Here’s the full list of Hispanic nominees:

BEST PICTURE
Birdman
Boyhood
Gone Girl
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Nightcrawler
Selma
The Theory of Everything
Unbroken
Whiplash

BEST DIRECTOR
Wes Anderson – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Ava DuVernay – Selma
David Fincher – Gone Girl
Alejandro G. Inarritu – Birdman
Angelina Jolie – Unbroken
Richard Linklater – Boyhood

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Birdman – Alejandro G. Inarritu, Nicolas Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr., Armando Bo
Boyhood – Richard Linklater
The Grand Budapest Hotel – Wes Anderson, Hugo Guinness
Nightcrawler – Dan Gilroy
Whiplash – Damien Chazelle

BEST CINEMATOGRAPY
Birdman – Emmanuel Lubezki
The Grand Budapest Hotel – Robert Yeoman
Interstellar – Hoyte Van Hoytema
Mr. Turner – Dick Pope
Unbroken – Roger Deakins

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Big Hero 6
The Book of Life
The Boxtrolls
How to Train Your Dragon 2
The Lego Movie

BEST ACTRESS IN AN ACTION MOVIE
Emily Blunt – Edge of Tomorrow
Scarlett Johansson – Lucy
Jennifer Lawrence – The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1
Zoe Saldana – Guardians of the Galaxy
Shailene Woodley – Divergent

BEST COMEDY
Birdman
The Grand Budapest Hotel
St. Vincent
Top Five
22 Jump Street

BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY
Rose Byrne – Neighbors
Rosario Dawson – Top Five
Melissa McCarthy – St. Vincent
Jenny Slate – Obvious Child
Kristen Wiig – The Skeleton Twins

BEST SCORE
Alexandre Desplat – The Imitation Game
Johann Johannsson – The Theory of Everything
Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross – Gone Girl
Antonio Sanchez – Birdman
Hans Zimmer – Interstellar

Rodriguez Earns First-Ever Golden Globe Nomination

Gina Rodriguez is a globe-al sensation…

The 30-year-old Puerto Rican actress has earned her first-ever Golden Globe nomination.

Gina Rodriguez

Rodriguez picked up the nod from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association in the Best Actress in a TV Series, Musical or Comedy category for her breakout starring-role on the CW’s Jane the Virgin.

She’s up against GirlsLena Dunham, Nurse Jackie’s Edie Falco, Veep’s Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Orange Is the New Black’s Taylor Schilling.

Additionally, Rodriguez’s Jane the Virgin, which made the American Film Institute’s list of the best televisions shows of the year, was nominated in the Best TV Series, Musical or Comedy category.

But Rodriguez isn’t the only Hispanic Golden Globe nominee…

Louis C.K. has picked up his second career nomination from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.

The 47-year-old Mexican American received the nod in the Best Actor in a TV Series, Musical or Comedy category for his starring role in FX’s He’s up against House of LiesDon Cheadle, Derek’s Ricky Gervais, ShamelessWilliam H. Macy and Transparent’s Jeffrey Tambor.

In the motion picture categories, Alejandro González Iñárritu has earned two individual nominations for his dark comedy Birdman.

The Mexican filmmaker is up for Best Director – Motion Picture, as well as Best Screenplay – Motion Picture for co-penning the script for Birdman with Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris and Armando Bo.

In addition, González Iñárritu’s Birdman is nominated for Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy.

Antonio Sanchez, meantime, has picked up his first-ever Golden Globe nomination.

The 43-year-old Mexican jazz drummer and multiple Grammy winner has been nominated in the Best Original Score – Motion Picture category for his work on Birdman.

Sanchez’s drumming serves as the main musical ingredient in Iñarritu’s film. His work has already won the Sound Stars Award for best Film Score at the 2014 Venice Film Festival and won the Hollywood Music in Media Awards prize for best original film score.

The Guillermo del Toro-produced The Book of Life has received a nod in the Best Animated Feature category. The Day of the Dead-themed film is up against Big Hero 6, The Boxtrolls, How to Train Your Dragon 2 and The Lego Movie.

The 72nd Golden Globe Awards will be held on January 11 with Tina Fey and Amy Poehler returning as the show’s hosts.

Here’s a look at the categories with Latino/a nominees:

MOTION PICTURES

Best Comedy
Birdman,” produced by Alejandro González Iñárritu
“The Grand Budapest Hotel”
“Into the Woods”
“Pride”
“St. Vincent”

Best Director
Wes Anderson, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
Ava Duvernay, “Selma”
David Fincher, “Gone Girl”
Alejandro González Iñárritu, “Birdman”
Richard Linklater, “Boyhood”

Best Screenplay
Wes Anderson, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
Gillian Flynn, “Gone Girl”
Alejandro González Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, and Armando Bo, “Birdman”
Richard Linklater, “Boyhood”
Graham Moore, “The Imitation Game”

Best Animated Feature
“Big Hero 6”
The Book of Life,” produced by Guillermo del Toro
“The Boxtrolls”
“How to Train Your Dragon 2”
“The Lego Movie”

Best Score
“The Imitation Game”
“The Theory of Everything”
“Gone Girl”
Birdman,” composed by Antonio Sanchez
“Interstellar”

TELEVISION

Best TV Comedy or Musical
“Girls”
Jane the Virgin
“Orange Is the New Black”
“Silicon Valley”
“Transparent”

Best Actress in a TV Comedy
Lena Dunham, “Girls”
Edie Falco, “Nurse Jackie”
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, “Veep”
Gina Rodriguez, “Jane the Virgin”
Taylor Schilling, “Orange Is the New Black”

Best Actor in a TV Comedy
Louis CK, “Louie”
Don Cheadle, “House of Lies”
Ricky Gervais, “Derek”
William H. Macy, “Shameless”
Jeffrey Tambor, “Transparent”

Lubezki Claims Best Cinematographer Award from New York Film Critics Online

It could turn out to be another memorable awards season for Emmanuel Lubezki

The Mexican cinematographer—who picked up several awards, including his first-ever Oscar, last awards season for his work on Gravity—has claimed the Best Cinematographer prize from the New York Film Critics Online.

Emmanuel Lubezki

Lubezki won the award for his impressive work on Alejandro González Iñárritu’s critically acclaimed dark comedy Birdman.

It’s the third award Lubezki has picked up in nearly as many days…

Earlier, he claimed the same prize from the Boston Society of Film Critics and the Los Angeles Critics Association.

With all the hardware he’s starting to collect, it appears Lubezki is a shoo-in for a 2015 Academy Award nomination.

Meanwhile, González Iñárritu picked up another Best Screenplay award for co-penning Birdman with with Nicolás Giacobone,Alexander Dinelaris and Armando Bo. Earlier in the weekend, he picked up the same award from the Boston Society of Film Critics.

González Iñárritu Wins Best Screenplay Award from the Boston Society of Film Critics

He may not have earned the Best Director award from Boston’s film critics… But Alejandro González Iñárritu didn’t go home empty-handed.

The 51-year-old Mexican filmmaker was awarded the Best Screenplay award from the Boston Society of Film Critics for co-penning his critically acclaimed dark comedy Birdman with Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris and Armando Bo.

Alejandro González Iñárritu

Due to a tie in the category, González Iñárritu and his co-writers share the award with Richard Linklater, who penned the coming-of-age story for Boyhood.

In all, González Iñárritu’s film picked up four awards, including Michael Keaton and Emma Stone for acting and Emmanuel Lubezki for cinematography.

Here’s the complete list of winners:

Best PictureBoyhood
Best Actor – Michael Keaton for Birdman
Best Actress – Marion Cotillard for The Immigrant and Two Days, One Night
Best Supporting Actor – J. K. Simmons for Whiplash
Best Supporting Actress – Emma Stone for Birdman
Best Director – Richard Linklater for Boyhood
Best Screenplay – (tie) Alejandro González Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris and Armando Bo for Birdman & Richard Linklater for Boyhood
Best Cinematography – Emmanuel Lubezki for Birdman
Best DocumentaryCitizenfour
Best Foreign-Language Film (awarded in memory of Jay Carr) – Two Days, One Night
Best Animated FilmThe Tale of The Princess Kaguya
Best Film Editing (awarded in memory of Karen Schmeer) – Sandra Adair for Boyhood
Best New Filmmaker (awarded in memory of David Brudnoy) – Dan Gilroy for Nightcrawler
Best Ensemble CastBoyhood
Best Use of Music in a FilmInherent Vice

Lubezki Wins Best Cinematography Award from the L.A. Critics Association

Emmanuel Lubezki is back to his winning ways…

The Mexican cinematographer, who won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography this year for his work on Gravity, has won the Best Cinematography award from the Los Angeles Critics Association.

Emmanuel Lubezki

Lubezki earned the award for his critically acclaimed work on Alejandro González Iñárritu’s black comedy Birdman, starring Michael Keaton as a washed-up Hollywood actor who once played the superhero Birdman in three blockbuster movies, before leaving the multi-billion-dollar franchise. More than 20 years after Birdman, Riggan wants to reinvent his career by writing, directing, and starring in a Broadway play.

Lubezki has said the camerawork and editing of Birdman were manipulated to give the appearance that most of the film was shot in one continuous long take. The screenwriters have said that the long take approach was part of Iñárritu’s initial idea behind the film although “huge” and “important” people warned them not to write it and shoot it that way.

Iñárritu’s “Birdman” Named Best Feature at the Gotham Independent Film Awards

Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu is flying high…

The 51-year-old Mexican director’s latest film, Birdman, was named Best Feature at the 24th annual Gotham Independent Film Awards, which were handed out at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City.

Birdman

Iñárritu accepted the award from presenter Jon Hamm, who cracked self-deprecatingly wise before announcing the nominees.

Birdman’s Michael Keaton took home the Best Actor award, and Julianne Moore won Best Actress for Still Alice. The Edward Snowden pic Citizenfour was named Best Documentary.

Uma Thurman hosted the event, which featured presenters including Meryl Streep, Scarlett Johansson, Will Arnett, Amy Schumer, Ethan Hawke and more.

The Independent Filmmaker Project, which hands out the Gothams to “worthy independent films,” calls this the “kickoff to the film awards season,”

Trophies were handed out in six categories, plus the Audience Award, culled from the 15 nominees for Best Feature, Best Documentary and Breakthrough Director.

Here is the complete list of Gotham Award winners:

Best Feature
 Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Alejandro G. Iñárritu, director; Alejandro G. Iñárritu, John Lesher, Arnon Milchan, James W. Skotchdopole, producers

Best Actress
 Julianne Moore in Still Alice

Best Actor
 Michael Keaton in Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue Of Ignorance)

Best Documentary
 CITIZENFOUR
Laura Poitras, director; Laura Poitras, Mathilde Bonnefoy, Dirk Wilutzky, producers

Gotham Independent Film Audience Award 
Boyhood Richard Linklater, director; Richard Linklater, Cathleen Sutherland, Jonathan Sehring, John Sloss, producers

Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award
 Ana Lily Amirpour for A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night

Breakthrough Actor
 Tessa Thompson in Dear White People

Iñárritu’s “Birdman” to Open Poland’s Camerimage Festival

Alejandro González Iñárritu’s latest film is flying to Poland…

The 50-year-old Mexican filmmaker’s dramedy Birdman has been chosen as one of the two films to open the 2014 edition of Poland’s Camerimage Festival.

Birdman

The critically acclaimed film which Iñárritu co-wrote and directed, will kick off the event November 15, alongside The Imitation Game.

Birdman, which also opened this year’s Venice Film Festival, stars Michael Keaton as an aging actor, once famous for playing an iconic superhero, who is trying to reignite his career and launch a Broadway play.

After receiving glowing reviews, Birdman is now being considered as a prime awards season contender.

The Camerimage Festival is the world’s leading film fest honoring the art of cinematography.

The 22nd edition runs November 15-22 in Bydgoszcz, Poland.

Mexico Selects del Amo’s “Cantinflas” as its Best Foreign Language Film Oscar Submission

Sebastián del Amo is one step closer to a possible Academy Award nomination…

The Mexican filmmaker’s second feature film Cantinflas has been named by Mexico as its Best Foreign Language Film Oscar submission, just in time for the film’s theatrical push into Mexico and Latin America this month.

Sebastián del Amo

The biopic about famed Mexican comedian Mario Moreno aka Cantinflas was released by Pantelion Films in the United States on August 29 and has grossed $5 million stateside in 400 theaters.

del Amo co-wrote the script with Edui Tijerina.

Cantinflas

Óscar Jaenada (The Losers, Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides) stars opposite Michael Imperioli in the tale of the oddly mustachioed icon who rose from humble beginnings, earned the nickname “The Charlie Chaplin of Mexico,” and helped launch the country’s golden age of cinema.

Pantelion has been pushing Cantinflas hard for months, attaching its trailer to screenings of studio blockbusters and marketing to multigenerational Latino audiences.

 

The film opens in Mexico on September 16 via Videocine Distribucion and will be released in 14 Latin American countries during the next few months.

 

Mexico’s most recent submissions to earn an Oscar nomination were Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Biutiful in 2010 and Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth in 2006.

Bovaira Heading the Seven-Person Jury at This Year’s San Sebastian International Film Festival

Fernando Bovaira is the head of the class at one of Spain’s biggest film festivals…

The Spanish producer will head the seven-person jury that will select the winner of the top prize, the Golden Shell, at this year’s San Sebastian International Film Festival, which runs September 19-27.

Fernando Bovaira

One of Spain’s most international names, Bovaira has produced all of director Alejandro Amenabar’s films including The Others, The Sea Inside and the upcoming Regression — starring Ethan Hawke and Emma Watson — as well as Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s Biutiful, Julio Medem’s Sex and Lucia and Javier Fesser’s Mortadelo and Filemon, The Big Adventure.

Bovaira is joined by Venezuelan writer/director/producer Mariana Rondon, who returns to San Sebastian after winning last year’s Golden Shell with her acclaimed film Bad Hair, while Iranian born writer and director Marjane Satrapi will come to the seaside resort town in Spain’s northern Basque region after premiering her latest work, The Voices, starring Ryan Reynolds, at the Toronto Film Festival.

Singaporean director Eric Khoo, who heads Zhao Wei Films/Gorylah Pictures, will also join the panel. He has been credited with putting Singapore on the international film map with films like My Magic and animated Tatsumi.

Berlin-born actress Natassja Kinski, Germany director of photography Reinhold Vorschneider and Romanian character actor Vlad Ivanov, who won the L.A. Critics Award for his portrayal of an illegal abortion doctor in 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days, round out the jury.

In addition to the seven official jurors, named Thursday, jailed Ukraine filmmaker Oleg Sentsov is an honorary jury member. The Federal Security State of the Russian Federation (FSB) arrested Sentsov on May 10 for backing the protests in Kiev and for his opposition to Russia’s annexation of Crimea. The festival said it took the step of officially naming Sentsov to the jury to defend freedom of expression and in response to an request by the European Film Academy.

del Toro to Receive Lifetime Achievement Award at San Sebastian International Film Festival

Benicio del Toro is about to add another award to his collection…

The 48-year-old Puerto Rican actor and film producer and Oscar-winner will receive the Donostia Award for Lifetime Achievement at the San Sebastian International Film Festival.

Benicio del Toro III

del Toro’s latest film Escobar: Paradise Lostwill close the Pearls Selection at the festival, which runs September 19-27.

Escobar, written by Andrea di Stefano, tells the story of young surfer Nick who thinks he has landed in paradise when he falls in love with a Colombian girl on a visit to see his brother who is living in the South American country only to have it change when he meets her uncle, Pablo Escobar.

del Toro has confirmed that he’ll come to San Sebastian to present the film and receive the Donostia at the closing ceremony. Di Stefano, Josh Hutcherson and Carlos Bardem will also be present for the film’s Spanish premiere.

del Toro is a favorite at San Sebastian where he has accompanied films from his career.

del Toro won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Steven Soderbergh’s Traffic as well as an Oscar nomination for his work in Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s 21 Grams.

del Toro re-teamed with Soderbergh to star in the biography of Che Guevera Che. The performance won him the Best Actor award at the Palme D’Or Closing Ceremony at the Cannes Film Festival in 2008, and again the following year at the Goya Awards in Madrid, Spain.

He starred opposite Emily Blunt and Anthony Hopkins in Joe Johnston’s The Wolfman and as Lado in Oliver Stone’s Savages.

del Toro was starred as Jimmy, the lead in Jimmy P. The film was screened at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. He was last seen in Guardians of the Galaxy a sci-fi action film for Walt Disney Pictures/Marvel Enterprises, which was released in the beginning of August 2014.

Next year he’ll play Mambru in Fernando Leon’s A Perfect Day and Sauncho Smilax in Inherent Vice, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson.

The actor is currently in production on Denis Villeneuve’s Sicaro.