González Iñárritu Earns Three Academy Award Nominations for “Birdman”

Alejandro González Iñárritu is this year’s Oscar darling…

The 51-year-old Mexican filmmaker has received three Academy Award nominations for his critically acclaimed dark comedy Birdman, which matched Wes Anderson’s offbeat dramedy The Grand Budapest Hotel for the most nominations with nine.

Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Birdman

The Academy Award nominations were announced Thursday morning in Los Angeles, with González Iñárritu’s unconventional, genre-defying film, Birdman earning a Best Picture nod.

He also earned individual nominations in the Best Director and Best Original Screenplay categories.

Emmanuel Lubezki also added to his season-long kudos, earning his second consecutive Academy Award nomination for Best Cinematography, this time for his work on Birdman.

Other Latino/a nominees include Birdman’s Martín Hernández for Best Sound Editing, and Frank A. Montaño and Thomas Varga in the Best Sound Mixing
 category for Birdman.

Montaño also earned a second nomination this year in the Sound Mixing Category this year for his work on Unbroken.

The list of nominations for the 87th Academy Awards

Best Picture
“American Sniper”
“Birdman”
“Boyhood”
“The Grand Budapest Hotel”
“The Imitation Game”
“Selma”
“The Theory of Everything”
“Whiplash” 

Actor in a Leading Role
Steve Carell, “Foxcatcher”
Bradley Cooper, “American Sniper”
Benedict Cumberbatch, “The Imitation Game”
Michael Keaton, “Birdman”
Eddie Redmayne, “The Theory of Everything” 

Actress in a Leading Role
Marion Cotillard, “Two Days, One Night”
Felicity Jones, “The Theory of Everything”
Julianne Moore, “Still Alice”
Rosamund Pike, “Gone Girl”
Reese Witherspoon, “Wild” 

Actor in a Supporting Role
Robert Duvall, “The Judge”
Ethan Hawke, “Boyhood”
Edward Norton, “Birdman”
Mark Ruffalo, “Foxcatcher”
J.K. Simmons, “Whiplash” 

Actress in a Supporting Role
Patricia Arquette, “Boyhood”
Laura Dern, “Wild”
Emma Stone, “Birdman”
Keira Knightley, “The Imitation Game”
Meryl Streep, “Into the Woods” 

Directing
Alejandro González Iñárritu, “Birdman”
Richard Linklater, “Boyhood”
Bennett Miller, “Foxcatcher”
Wes Anderson, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
Morten Tyldum, “The Imitation Game” 

Animated Feature Film
“Big Hero 6”
“The Boxtrolls”
“How to Train Your Dragon 2”
“Song of the Sea”
“The Tale of the Princess Kaguya” 

Cinematography
Emmanuel Lubezki, “Birdman”
Robert D. Yeoman, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
Lukasz Zal and Ryszard Lynzewski, “Ida”
Dick Pope, “Mr. Turner”
Roger Deakins, “Unbroken” 

Costume Design
Milena Canonero, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
Mark Bridges, “Inherent Vice”
Colleen Atwood, “Into the Woods”
Anna B. Sheppard, “Maleficent”
Jacqueline Durran, “Mr. Turner” 

Documentary Feature
“Citizenfour”
“Last Days in Vietnam”
“Virunga”
“The Salt of the Earth”
“Finding Vivian Maier” 

Documentary Short Subject
“Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1”
“Joanna”
“Our Curse”
“The Reaper”
“White Earth” 

Film Editing
Joel Cox and Gary Roach, “American Sniper”
Sandra Adair, “Boyhood”
Barney Pilling, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
William Goldenberg, “The Imitation Game”
Tom Cross, “Whiplash” 

Foreign Language Film
“Ida”
“Leviathan”
“Tangerines”
“Wild Tales”
“Timbuktu” 

Makeup and Hairstyling
Bill Corso and Dennis Liddiard, “Foxcatcher”
Frances Hannon and Mark Coulier, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
Elizabeth Yianni-Georgiou and David White, “Guardians of the Galaxy” 

Music – Original Score
Alexandre Desplat, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
Alexandre Desplat, “The Imitation Game”
Hans Zimmer, “Interstellar”
Gary Yershon, “Mr Turner”
Jóhann Jóhannsson, “The Theory of Everything” 

Music – Original Song
“Everything Is Awesome” by Shawn Patterson, “The LEGO Movie”
“Glory” by Common and John Legend, “Selma”
“Grateful” by Diane Warren, “Beyond the Lights”
“I’m Not Gonna Miss You” by Glen Campbell and Julian Raymond, “Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me”
“Lost Stars” by Gregg Alexander and Danielle Brisebois, “Begin Again” 

Production Design
“The Grand Budapest Hotel,” Production design: Adam Stockhausen, Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock
“The Imitation Game,” Production design: Maria Djurkovic, Set Decoration: Tatiana Macdonald
“Interstellar,” Production design: Nathan Crowley, Set Decoration: Gary Fettis
“Into the Woods,” Production design: Dennis Gassner, Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock
“Mr. Turner,” Production design: Suzie Davies, Set Decoration: Charlotte Watts

Short Film – Animated
“The Bigger Picture,” Daisy Jacobs and Christopher Hees
“The Dam Keeper,” Robert Kondo and Dice Tsutsumi
“Feast,” Patrick Osborne and Kristina Reed
“Me and My Moulton,” Torill Kove
“A Single Life,” Joris Oprins 

Short Film – Live Action
“Aya,” Oded Binnun and Mihal Brezis
“Boogaloo and Graham,” Michael Lennox and Ronan Blaney
“Butter lamp,” Hu Wei and Julien Féret
“Parvaneh,” Talkhon Hamzavi and Stefan Eichenberger
“The Phone Call,” Mat Kirkby and James Lucas 

Sound Editing
“American Sniper,” Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman
“Birdman,” Martín Hernández and Aaron Glascock
“The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies,” Brent Burge and Jason Canovas
“Interstellar,” Richard King
“Unbroken,” Becky Sullivan and Andrew DeCristofaro 

Sound Mixing
“American Sniper,” John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff and Walt Martin
“Birdman,” Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño and Thomas Varga
“Interstellar,” Garry A. Rizzo, Gregg Landaker and Mark Weingarten
“Unbroken,” Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño and David Lee
”Whiplash,” Craig Mann, Ben Wilkins and Thomas Curley

Visual Effects
“Captain America: Winter Soldier,” Dan DeLeeuw, Russell Earl, Bryan Grill and Dan Sudick
“Dawn of the Planet of the Apes,” Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, Daniel Barrett and Erik Winquist
“Guardians of the Galaxy,” Stephanie Ceretti, Nicolas Aithadi, Jonathan Fawkner and Paul Corbould
“Interstellar,” Paul Franklin, Andrew Lockley, Ian Hunter and Scott Fisher
“X-Men: Days of Future Past,” Richard Stammers, Lou Pecora, Tim Crosbie and Cameron Waldbauer 

Writing – Adapted Screenplay
Jason Hall, “American Sniper”
Graham Moore, “The Imitation Game”
Paul Thomas Anderson, “Inherent Vice”
Anthony McCarten, “The Theory of Everything”
Damien Chazelle, “Whiplash”

Writing – Original Screenplay
Alejandro González Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris and Armando Bo, “Birdman”
Richard Linklater, “Boyhood”
Max Frye and Dan Futterman, “Foxcatcher”
Wes Anderson and Hugo Guinness, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
Dan Gilroy, “Nightcrawler”

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

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.

Gonzalez Inarritu’s “Birdman” to Close the New York Film Festival

Alejandro González Iñárritu is bringing his bird to the Big Apple…

Birdman, a dramedy co-written and directed by the 50-year-old Mexican filmmaker, has been selected as the closing night film at this year’s New York Film Festival on October 12, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Alejandro González Iñárritu

The film, which is being distributed by Fox Searchlight and will be released in theaters on October 17, will have its world premiere on the opening night of the Venice Film Festival on Aug. 27.

Birdman stars Michael Keaton as a washed-up movie star trying to revive his career on Broadway. The cast also includes Emma Stone, Andrea Riseborough, Zach Galifianakis, Merritt Wever, Edward Norton, Amy Ryan and Naomi Watts.

Birdman

The film was lensed by Oscar-winning cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki (Gravity), reportedly in a way that gives the appearance that the entire film is one continuous shot.

A González Iñárritu film closed the NYFF once before: 21 Grams screened in that slot in 2003. (The director’s first trip to the fest, though, was in 2000, with Amores Perros.)

González Iñárritu Has Cast Tom Hardy Opposite Leo DiCaprio in “The Revenant”

Alejandro González Iñárritu has found a co-star for Leonardo DiCaprio in his upcoming film The Revenant.

The 50-year-old Mexican filmmaker has cast English actor Tom Hardy to star opposite the Titanic star in the gritty thriller, which González Iñárritu adapted from Michael Punke’s novel The Revenant: A Novel of Revenge.

Alejandro González Iñárritu

The González Iñárritu-directed film, centers on a 19th century fur trapper who gets mauled by a grizzly bear, and then is left for dead by cohorts who rob him. When he survives, he is not a happy camper and sets out on a treacherous journey to exact revenge on those who betrayed him.

Oscar-winning Gravity cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki is also onboard for the New Regency production.

Filming is set to begin on September 22, with a Fall 2015 release scheduled.

Cuarón Takes Home Two Academy Awards for “Gravity”

Alfonso Cuarón has matching Oscars to place on his mantel…

The 52-year-old Mexican filmmaker, a three-time nominee at this year’s Academy Awards, took home two prizes during the awards show.

Alfonso Cuarón

Cuarón was named Best Director for helming the 3D space thriller, Gravity, making him the first Mexican to win the award in that category.

During his acceptance speech, Cuarón paid special tribute to the film’s star Sandra Bullock.

“Sandy, you are Gravity, you are the soul and heart of the film. You are an amazing collaborator and one of the best people I have ever met,” he said.

Moments after Cuarón’s name was read, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto tweeted: “Extraordinary work. Congratulations!”

Speaking backstage after collecting his Oscar, Cuarón said he hoped his win would help shine a light on the work of other Mexican filmmakers, and Mexican culture.

“I don’t think there is enough attention paid to Mexican culture and what is happening in Mexico,” Cuaron said.

Cuarón had been predicted to win the best director award, having swept the category in other awards ceremonies before Sunday’s Oscars, including the Directors Guild of America’s top prize.

In addition, Cuarón took home another award, winning the Best Film Editing Oscar alongside Mark Sanger for his hands-on work on Gravity.

Meanwhile, Gravity’s lenser Emmanuel Lubezki followed up his American Society of Cinematographers Award win with the Academy Award for Best Cinematography.

It was the Mexican cinematographer’s first win in six nominations. He previously earned nods for lensing 1995’s A Little Princess, 1999’s Sleepy Hollow, 2005’s A New World, 2006’s Children of Men and 2011’s The Tree of Life. three of Lubezki’s nominations were for his work on Cuarón films.

In all, Gravity was the night’s big winner, taking home seven awards.

But Cuarón and Lubezki weren’t the only Latinos to take home their first Oscars…

Jared Leto, a first-time nominee, took home the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his critically acclaimed performance as male-to-female transgender character Rayon in Dallas Buyers Club. It’s a role the 42-year-old part-Spanish American actor discusses in a featurette from the film’s distributor Focus Features.

Here’s a complete look at this year’s Oscar winners:

Best picture
12 Years a Slave

Best actor
Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club

Best actress
Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine

Best supporting actor
Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club

Best supporting actress
Lupita Nyong’o, 12 Years a Slave

Best director
Alfonso Cuarón, Gravity

Best animated feature film
Frozen

Best foreign film
The Great Beauty

Best original screenplay
Her, Spike Jonze

Best adapted screenplay
12 Years a Slave, John Ridley

Best original score
Gravity

Best original song
Let It Go, from Frozen

Best cinematography
Gravity

Best costume design
The Great Gatsby

Best documentary feature
20 Feet From Stardom

Best documentary short subject
The Lady in Number 6

Best film editing
Gravity

Best makeup and hairstyling
Dallas Buyers Club

Best production design
The Great Gatsby

Best animated short film
Mr. Hublot

Best live-action short film
Helium

Best sound editing
Gravity

Best sound mixing
Gravity

Best visual effects
Gravity

Cuarón Named Best Director at the 2014 BAFTA Awards; “Gravity” Takes Home Six Awards

Another awards ceremony, another big prize for Alfonso Cuarón

The 52-year-old Mexican filmmaker, who already has a Golden Globe, DGA Award and Critics’ Choice Movie Award, has picked up his latest Best Director trophy this awards season at the 2014 BAFTA Awards.

Alfonso Cuarón

Cuarón, the heavy favorite to win Best Director at this year’s Oscars, won the award for helming his critically acclaimed 3D space disaster thriller Gravity.

But that wasn’t Cuarón’s only trophy of the night…

The filmmaker, one of Entertainment Weekly’s Entertainers of the Year in 2013, also took home the prize for Best British Film as one of Gravity’s producers.

Meanwhile, Cuarón’s cinematographer-of-choice Emmanuel Lubezki took home the BAFTA Award for Best Cinematography for the Mexican Oscar nominee’s work on Gravity, his sixth career BAFTA Award.

In all, Gravity won an impressive six awards — just one award shy of The Artist in 2012 and The King’s Speech.

The British Academy Film Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA).

Lubezki Wins American Society of Cinematographers Award for “Gravity”

The (Oscars) future looks bright for Emmanuel Lubezki

The Mexican cinematographer took home an ASC Award at the 28th annual American Society of Cinematographers Outstanding Achievement Awards on Saturday at the Hollywood & Highland Ray Dolby Ballroom.

Emmanuel Lubezki

Lubezki earned the prize in the in the theatrical motion picture category for lensing Alfonso Cuarón’s 3D sci-fi thriller Gravity.

He topped a field of nominees that included Sean Bobbitt for 12 Years a Slave, Barry Ackroyd for Captain Phillips, Philippe Le Sourd for The GrandmasterBruno Delbonnel for Inside Llewyn Davis, Phedon Papamichael for Nebraska and Roger Deakins for Prisoners.

It’s the third ASC feature award for Lubezki, who previously won for Children of Men and The Tree of Life.

The win puts Lubezki in some select company. In the event’s 28-year history, only one cinematographer, the late Conrad Hall, won the feature category an unprecedented four times. And, Lubezki now joins fellow nominee Deakins as the only cinematographers with three wins in the category.

Also this year, Lubezki received his sixth Oscar nomination, and is vying for his first Academy Award.

Here’s a complete list of winners: 

Film
Emmanuel Lubezki, ASC, AMC, Gravity

One-hour Episodic Television Series:
Jonathan Freeman, ASC, HBO’s Game of Thrones, “Valar Dohaeris”

Television Movie/Miniseries:
Jeremy Benning, CSC, National Geographic Channel’s Killing Lincoln

Half-Hour Episodic Series:
Blake McClure, Comedy Central’s Drunk History, “Detroit”

Spotlight Award
Lukasz Zal and Ryszard Lenczewski, Ida