Cuarón Earns First-Ever Producers Guild Awards Nomination

Posted on January 3, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Alfonso Cuarón is defying gravity this awards season…

The 52-year-old Mexican director has earned his first-ever Producers Guild Awards nomination, specifically the Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures.

Cuarón earned the nod for his critically acclaimed hit film Gravity, which has earned him recognition in the director category from several film organizations, including the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the Broadcast Film Critics Association and the London Critics Circle.

Cuarón, who wrote the film with his son Jonah, is credited as a producer alongside David Heyman on the 3D sci-fi thriller starring Sandra Bullock.

Other films nominated by the Producers Guild include American Hustle, 12 Years a Slave, Blue Jasmine, Captain Phillips, Dallas Buyers Club, Her, Nebraska, Saving Mr. Banks and The Wolf of Wall Street.

The winners will be announced on January 19, three days before the Oscar nominations are unveiled. The victors will be feted at a gala taking place at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

Lovato Named to DoSomething.com’s Celebs Gone Good List

Posted on December 27, 2013 by Tom Castaneda

Demi Lovato is being honored for giving back…

The 21-year-old part-Mexican American actress/singer and now retired The X Factor judge has been named to DoSomething.com’s list of Top 20 Celebs Gone Good of 2013.

Lovato, who comes in at No. 15, is the only Latino/a artist to make the list this year.

Lovato was recognized for publishing the book Staying Strong: 365 Days a Year, (a 365-day collection of Lovato’s most powerful, honest and hopeful insights to give young people everywhere daily affirmations).

But that’s not all she did to make a difference in 2013…

Lovato also gave a lot of love to her favorite charity Free the Children throughout the year. She launched Demi’s Charity Boutique on eBay, with proceeds from the boutique’s sales supporting Free the Children, and also appeared on a celebrity edition of The Price is Right, earning almost $50,000 for Free the Children.

Other celebrities making this year’s list include Taylor Swift, One Direction, Beyoncé Knowles, the late Paul Walker, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Sandra Bullock, Ryan Seacrest and Carrie Underwood.

Click here to see the complete list of honorees.

Cuarón to Receive Visual Effects Society’s Visionary Award

Posted on December 24, 2013 by Tom Castaneda

There’s no denying Alfonso Cuarón is a visionary filmmaker… But now he’ll have an award to prove it.

The Visual Effects Society (VES), the industry’s professional honorary society, has named the 52-year-old Mexican filmmaker as the recipient of its Visionary Award in recognition of his extraordinary career, most recently including his landmark achievement on this year’s critically acclaimed 3D sci-fil film Gravity.

The VES Visionary Award recognizes an individual who has uniquely and consistently employed the art and science of visual effects to foster imagination and ignite future discoveries by way of artistry, invention and groundbreaking work. VES will honor Cuarón for his consummate artistry, expansive storytelling and profound ability to use and pioneer technology and visual effects to bring his unique visions to life.

A three-time Oscar nominee and one of Entertainment Weekly’s Entertainers of the Year, Cuarón directed, co-wrote, produced and edited Gravity, which is one of the most acclaimed films of this or any year. The accolades that Cuarón and the film have received to date include: Best Director and Best Picture awards from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association; four Golden Globe nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actress (Sandra Bullock); and ten Broadcast Film Critics Association nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Visual Effects, Best Cinematography, Best Editing and Best Art Direction.

Cuarón made his feature film directorial debut in 1992 with Sólo Con Tu Pareja, the biggest box office hit in Mexico that year, which brought him an Ariel Award as the film’s co-writer. Cuarón made his American feature film debut in 1995 with the widely acclaimed A Little Princess, followed in 1998 by Great Expectations. He then wrote and directed Y tu mamá también, for which he received his first Oscar nomination, for Best Original Screenplay, as well as BAFTA Award nominations for Best Foreign Film and Best Original Screenplay. He went on to helm Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the third film in the most successful motion picture franchise of all time. Cuarόn’s 2006 hit, Children of Men, was celebrated by critics and film fans for its groundbreaking techniques. The film brought two Oscar nominations to Cuarón, for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Editing.

“Alfonso pushes the known boundaries of filmmaking,” said Jeffrey A. Okun, VES Board Chair. “He has been at the forefront in using visual effects to tell remarkable, highly nuanced stories that change the way we think about what is possible to achieve. Throughout his career, Alfonso has shown a rare talent for using cutting-edge technology to engage us in his deeply visceral storytelling and create unforgettable cinematic experiences.”

The award will be presented at the 12th Annual VES Awards on February 12, 2014 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

Previous winners of the VES Visionary Award have been Christopher Nolan and Ang Lee.

Cuarón Earned a London Critics’ Circle Film Awards Nomination

Posted on December 18, 2013 by Tom Castaneda

Alfonso Cuarón is feeling the love from across the pond…

The 52-year-old Mexican filmmaker has earned a London Critics’ Circle Film Awards nod.

Cuarón is nominated for Best Director for his smash hit film Gravity, which also earned a nomination in the Film of the Year category.

Additionally, the 3D sci-fi thriller received nods in the Actress of the Year (Sandra Bullock) and the Technical Achievement Award (Tim Webber, visual effects) categories.

Winners will be announced at the prize ceremony on February 2nd.

Here’s the complete list of nominees:

FILM OF THE YEAR
Blue Is The Warmest Colour
Blue Jasmine
Frances Ha
Gravity
The Great Beauty Her
Inside Llewyn Davis
Nebraska
12 Years A Slave
The Wolf Of Wall Street

FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM OF THE YEAR
Blue Is The Warmest Colour
Caesar Must Die
Gloria
The Great Beauty
A Hijacking

BRITISH FILM OF THE YEAR
A Field In England
Filth
Philomena
Rush
The Selfish Giant

DOCUMENTARY OF THE YEAR
The Act Of Killing
Beware Of Mr Baker
Leviathan Stories
We Tell We Steal Secrets: The Story Of WikiLeaks

ACTOR OF THE YEAR
Bruce Dern – Nebraska
Leonardo DiCaprio – The Wolf Of Wall Street
Michael Douglas – Behind The Candelabra
Chiwetel Ejiofor – 12 Years A Slave
Tom Hanks – Captain Phillips

ACTRESS OF THE YEAR
Cate Blanchett – Blue Jasmine
Sandra Bullock – Gravity
Judi Dench – Philomena
Adèle Exarchopoulos – Blue Is The Warmest Colour
Greta Gerwig – Frances Ha

SUPPORTING ACTOR OF THE YEAR
Barkhad Abdi – Captain Phillips
Michael Fassbender – 12 Years A Slave
James Gandolfini – Enough Said
Tom Hanks – Saving Mr Banks
Jared Leto – Dallas Buyers Club

SUPPORTING ACTRESS OF THE YEAR
Naomie Harris – Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom
Sally Hawkins – Blue Jasmine
Jennifer Lawrence – American Hustle
Lupita Nyong’o – 12 Years A Slave
June Squibb – Nebraska

BRITISH ACTOR OF THE YEAR
Christian Bale – American Hustle / Out Of the Furnace
Steve Coogan – Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa / The Look of Love / Philomena / What Maisie Knew
Chiwetel Ejiofor – 12 Years A Slave
Michael Fassbender – The Counsellor / 12 Years A Slave
James McAvoy – Filth / Trance / Welcome To The Punch

BRITISH ACTRESS OF THE YEAR
Judi Dench – Philomena
Lindsay Duncan – About Time / Last Passenger / Le Week-End
Naomie Harris – Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom
Sally Hawkins – Blue Jasmine
Emma Thompson – Beautiful Creatures / Saving Mr Banks

YOUNG BRITISH PERFORMER OF THE YEAR
Conner Chapman – The Selfish Giant
Saoirse Ronan – Byzantium / The Host / How I Live Now
Eloise Laurence – Broken
George MacKay – Breakfast With Jonny Wilkinson / For Those In Peril / How I Live Now / Sunshine On Leith
Shaun Thomas – The Selfish Giant

DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR
Alfonso Cuarón – Gravity
Paul Greengrass – Captain Phillips
Steve McQueen – 12 Years A Slave
Paolo Sorrentino – The Great Beauty
Martin Scorsese – The Wolf Of Wall Street

SCREENWRITER OF THE YEAR
Ethan Coen & Joel Coen – Inside Llewyn Davis
Spike Jonze – Her
Steve Coogan & Jeff Pope – Philomena
John Ridley – 12 Years A Slave
Terence Winter – The Wolf Of Wall Street

BREAKTHROUGH BRITISH FILMMAKER
Jon S Baird – Filth
Scott Graham – Shell
Marcus Markou – Papadopoulos & Sons
Rufus Norris – Broken
Paul Wright – For Those In Peril

TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
American Hustle – Judy Becker, production design
Behind The Candelabra – Howard Cummings, production design
Filth – Mark Eckersley, editing
Frances Ha – Sam Levy, cinematography
Gravity – Tim Webber, visual effects
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire – Trish Summerville, costumes
Inside Llewyn Davis – T Bone Burnett, music
Stoker – Kurt Swanson & Bart Mueller, costumes
12 Years A Slave – Sean Bobbitt, cinematography
Upstream Colour – Johnny Marshall, sound design

DILYS POWELL AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN FILM
Gary Oldman

Cuarón Earns Two Critics Choice Movie Award Nominations

Posted on December 16, 2013 by Tom Castaneda

Alfonso Cuarón is getting some serious love from the Broadcast Film Critics Association…

The 52-year-old Mexican director has earned two Critics Choice Movie Awards from the organization for his smash Sandra Bullock-starrer Gravity.

Cuarón is up for Best Director for his critically acclaimed work behind the lens of the 3D sci-fi thriller. He’s also nominated alongside Mark Sanger in the Best Editing category.

Meanwhile, the film’s Mexican cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki received a nomination in the Best Cinematography category.

In all, Gravity earned 10 Critics Choice Movie Award nominations, including a Best Picture nod.

Other Latino nominees include Daniel Brühl, who earned a nod in the Best Supporting Actor category for his performance in Ron Howard’s Formula One drama Rush, as well as Louis C.K. and Michael Peña in the Best Acting Ensemble for their work in David O. Russell’s American Hustle.

The Critics Choice Movie Awards, hosted by Aisha Tyler, will air live for the second year on the CW network on January 16th.

Here’s the complete list of nominees:

BEST PICTURE
American Hustle
Captain Phillips
Dallas Buyers Club
Gravity
Her
Inside Llewyn Davis
Nebraska
Saving Mr. Banks
12 Years a Slave
The Wolf of Wall Street

BEST ACTOR
Christian Bale – American Hustle
Bruce Dern – Nebraska
Chiwetel Ejiofor – 12 Years a Slave
Tom Hanks – Captain Phillips
Matthew McConaughey – Dallas Buyers Club
Robert Redford – All Is Lost

BEST ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett – Blue Jasmine
Sandra Bullock – Gravity
Judi Dench – Philomena
Brie Larson – Short Term 12
Meryl Streep – August: Osage County
Emma Thompson – Saving Mr. Banks

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Barkhad Abdi – Captain Phillips
Daniel Bruhl – Rush
Bradley Cooper – American Hustle
Michael Fassbender – 12 Years a Slave
James Gandolfini – Enough Said
Jared Leto – Dallas Buyers Club

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Scarlett Johansson – Her
Jennifer Lawrence – American Hustle
Lupita Nyong’o – 12 Years a Slave
Julia Roberts – August: Osage County
June Squibb – Nebraska
Oprah Winfrey – Lee Daniels’ The Butler

BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS
Asa Butterfield – Ender’s Game
Adele Exarchopoulos – Blue Is the Warmest Color
Liam James – The Way Way Back
Sophie Nelisse – The Book Thief
Tye Sheridan – Mud

BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE
American Hustle
August: Osage County
Lee Daniels’ The Butler
Nebraska
12 Years a Slave
The Wolf of Wall Street

BEST DIRECTOR
Alfonso Cuaron – Gravity
Paul Greengrass – Captain Phillips
Spike Jonze – Her
Steve McQueen – 12 Years a Slave
David O. Russell – American Hustle
Martin Scorsese – The Wolf of Wall Street

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Eric Singer and David O. Russell – American Hustle
Woody Allen – Blue Jasmine
Spike Jonze – Her
Joel Coen & Ethan Coen – Inside Llewyn Davis
Bob Nelson – Nebraska

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Tracy Letts – August: Osage County
Richard Linklater & Julie Delpy & Ethan Hawke – Before Midnight
Billy Ray – Captain Phillips
Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope – Philomena
John Ridley – 12 Years a Slave
Terence Winter – The Wolf of Wall Street

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Emmanuel Lubezki – Gravity
Bruno Delbonnel – Inside Llewyn Davis
Phedon Papamichael – Nebraska
Roger Deakins – Prisoners
Sean Bobbitt – 12 Years a Slave

BEST ART DIRECTION
Andy Nicholson (Production Designer), Rosie Goodwin (Set Decorator) – Gravity
Catherine Martin (Production Designer), Beverley Dunn (Set Decorator) – The Great Gatsby
K.K. Barrett (Production Designer), Gene Serdena (Set Decorator) – Her
Dan Hennah (Production Designer), Ra Vincent (Set Decorator) – The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Adam Stockhausen (Production Designer), Alice Baker (Set Decorator) – 12 Years a Slave

BEST EDITING
Alan Baumgarten, Jay Cassidy, Crispin Struthers – American Hustle
Christopher Rouse – Captain Phillips
Alfonso Cuarón, Mark Sanger – Gravity
Daniel P. Hanley, Mike Hill – Rush
Joe Walker – 12 Years a Slave
Thelma Schoonmaker – The Wolf of Wall Street

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Michael Wilkinson – American Hustle
Catherine Martin – The Great Gatsby
Bob Buck, Lesley Burkes-Harding, Ann Maskrey, Richard Taylor – The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Daniel Orlandi – Saving Mr. Banks
Patricia Norris – 12 Years a Slave

BEST MAKEUP
American Hustle
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Lee Daniels’ The Butler
Rush
12 Years a Slave

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Gravity
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Iron Man 3
Pacific Rim
Star Trek into Darkness

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
The Croods
Despicable Me 2
Frozen
Monsters University
The Wind Rises

BEST ACTION MOVIE
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
Iron Man 3
Lone Survivor
Rush
Star Trek into Darkness

BEST ACTOR IN AN ACTION MOVIE
Henry Cavill – Man of Steel
Robert Downey Jr. – Iron Man 3
Brad Pitt – World War Z
Mark Wahlberg – Lone Survivor

BEST ACTRESS IN AN ACTION MOVIE
Sandra Bullock – Gravity
Jennifer Lawrence – The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
Evangeline Lilly – The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Gwyneth Paltrow – Iron Man 3

BEST COMEDY
American Hustle
Enough Said
The Heat
This Is the End
The Way Way Back
The World’s End

BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY
Christian Bale – American Hustle
Leonardo DiCaprio – The Wolf of Wall Street
James Gandolfini – Enough Said
Simon Pegg – The World’s End
Sam Rockwell – The Way Way Back

BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY
Amy Adams – American Hustle
Sandra Bullock – The Heat
Greta Gerwig – Frances Ha
Julia Louis-Dreyfus – Enough Said
Melissa McCarthy – The Heat

BEST SCI-FI/HORROR MOVIE
The Conjuring
Gravity
Star Trek into Darkness
World War Z

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Blue Is the Warmest Color
The Great Beauty
The Hunt
The Past
Wadjda

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
The Act of Killing
Blackfish
Stories We Tell
Tim’s Vermeer
20 Feet from Stardom

BEST SONG
Atlas – Coldplay – The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
Happy – Pharrell Williams – Despicable Me 2
Let It Go – Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez – Frozen
Ordinary Love – U2 – Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
Please Mr. Kennedy – Justin Timberlake/Oscar Isaac/Adam Driver – Inside Llewyn Davis
Young and Beautiful – Lana Del Rey – The Great Gatsby

BEST SCORE
Steven Price – Gravity
Arcade Fire – Her
Thomas Newman – Saving Mr. Banks
Hans Zimmer – 12 Years a Slave

Cuarón’s “Gravity” Nominated for Three Australian Academy Arts Awards

Posted on December 15, 2013 by Tom Castaneda

Alfonso Cuarón’s gravity-defying awards season continues with some big-time recognition Down Under…

The 52-year-old Mexican director’s latest film, the Sandra Bullock-starrer Gravity, has received three AACTA Award nominations from the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts.

Cuarón is nominated in the AACTA International Award for Best Direction category for helming the blockbuster-hit 3D sci-fi thriller.

He’s up against Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave), David O. Russell (American Hustle), Paul Greengrass (Captain Phillips) and Baz Luhrmann (The Great Gatsby).

Gravity is also nominated in the AACTA International Award for Best Film category, where it faces-off against 12 Years a Slave, American Hustle, Captain Phillips and Ron Howard’s Formula One drama Rush.

The AACTA International Awards will be held in Los Angeles on January 10th, 2014.

Cuarón Named One of Entertainment Weekly’s Entertainers of the Year

Posted on December 5, 2013 by Tom Castaneda

There’s no denying Alfonso Cuarón has had a gravity-defying year… And now he’s being honored for his remarkable year.

Entertainment Weekly has named the 52-year-old Mexican filmmaker as one of its 2013 Entertainers of the Year, which celebrates the year’s standouts in the entertainment industry.

Cuarón is being feted for the remarkable worldwide success of his latest film Gravity.

The 3D science fiction thriller and space drama, starring fellow honoree Sandra Bullock and George Clooney, has earned more than $615 million dollars worldwide, making it the second biggest hit of his career behind only Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. And the film is still going strong at the global box office.

So what was Cuarón’s most memorable day of 2013?

”I wish I could tell you that it’s about Gravity — something that was great and cool, like the premiere in Venice. But actually it was one day in the summer when I was traveling with my kids and my girlfriend and her kids. We were in this tributary of the Amazon in this little boat, and it started to rain right after sunset. We were making our way back to the big boat, and all the kids suddenly started to sing ‘We Are Young’ by fun. in the middle of nowhere. At the top of their lungs. It was very sweet. If I remember one moment, it’s that one.”

Entertainment Weekly’s other honorees include twerking girl Miley Cyrus and Hunger Games star Jennifer Lawrence.

Cuarón’s “Gravity” Blasts Past the $400 Million Mark Worldwide

Posted on November 4, 2013 by Tom Castaneda

Gravity isn’t holding Alfonso Cuarón’s latest project down…

The 51-year-old Mexican director’s critically acclaimed film Gravity has orbited past the $400 million mark worldwide.

Through Sunday, the Warner Bros. film has grossed $219.2 million in North America and $207.5 million overseas, an impressive achievement considering older moviegoers are fueling the film’s success.

In addition, Gravity — starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney — is now the biggest live-action October release of all time, not accounting for inflation, surpassing the $376.1 million worldwide earned by Taken 2 (the top October release is Puss in Boots, which took in $555 million globally in 2011).

And Gravity is already the top-grossing October film of all time in North America, besting the $166.2 million earned by Meet the Parents in 2000.

Over the weekend, Gravity placed No. 5 in North America in its fifth weekend, grossing $13.1 million.

Internationally, it continues to gain momentum, it took in $27.1 million from 55 markets.

Gravity is a huge hit in France, where it has now earned $27.1 million. Korea follows with $20.7 million.

Box office observers now agree that Gravity will ultimately earn $550 million to $600 million worldwide, boosting the film’s awards chances.

Gravity has yet to open in the U.K. (Nov. 8), China (Nov. 20) and Japan (Dec. 13).

First Official Trailer Released for Cuarón’s “Gravity,” Starring Sandra Bullock

Posted on September 4, 2013 by Tom Castaneda

Sandra Bullock hurtles through space in the official trailer for Alfonso Cuarón’s sci-fi thriller Gravity…

The gripping, anxiety-inducing new clip for the 51-year-old Mexican director’s latest film centers on Bullock’s character, medical engineer Dr. Ryan Stone as she takes part in her first Space Shuttle mission accompanied by veteran astronaut Matt Kowalsky (George Clooney), who is commanding his final expedition.

During a spacewalk, debris from a satellite crashes into the space shuttle Explorer, leaving it mostly destroyed, and stranding them in space with limited air. Without means of communication with Earth, they must cooperate to survive.

Gravity wowed audiences at the Venice Film Festival and Telluride Film Festival. It next hits the Toronto Film Fest before arriving in theaters on October 4.

Cuarón Sci-Fi Film “Gravity” Headed to the Zurich International Film Festival

Posted on August 15, 2013 by Tom Castaneda

Alfonso Cuarón is bringing a little gravity to Switzerland…

The 51-year-old Mexican filmmaker’s highly anticipated new film Gravity will be screened at this year’s Zurich International Film Festival.

Cuarón’s new sci-fi film, which was written by him and his son Jonás Cuarón, will get a gala premiere at the festival.

The film centers on Dr. Stone (Sandra Bullock), a brilliant medical engineer on her first shuttle mission with veteran astronaut Matt Kowalsky (George Clooney). But on a seemingly routine spacewalk, disaster strikes. The shuttle is destroyed, leaving Stone and Kowalsky completely alone—tethered to nothing but each other and spiraling out into the blackness. The deafening silence tells them they’ve lost any link to Earth… and any chance for rescue.

The full Zurich Festival line-up will be announced by September 12. The 9th Zurich International Film Festival runs from September 26- October 6.

Gravity is scheduled to hit theaters in IMAX and 3D on October 4th.

Cuarón’s previous credits include Great Expectations, Y tu mamá también, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and Children of Men.

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