20th century women – The Comedy Bureau

Florence Foster Jenkins, 20th Century Women, and The Lobster Score Oscar Noms, But None for Deadpool

January 24, 2017

20th century women, lobster, nominees, oscars

*comedy nominees in italics
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
La La Land

Hell or High Water
The Lobster
Manchester by the Sea
20th Century Women

BEST ACTRESS
Emma Stone, La La Land
Isabelle Huppert, Elle
Ruth Negga, Loving
Natalie Portman, Jackie
Meryl Streep, Florence Foster Jenkins

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Land of Mine
A Man Called Ove
The Salesman
Tana
Toni Erdmann

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Kubo
Moana
My Life as a Zucchini
The Red Turtle
Zootopia

Also, Hail, Caesar! got a nomination for Best Production Design, Florence Foster Jenkins received another nomination for Best Costume, and A Man Called Ove for Best Make-Up and Hair.

As to be expected with the amount of socially relevant movies and the uber-escapist La La Land, The Oscars heavily favored dramas this year over comedy.

While nominations for other awards gave a bit of hope for Deadpool to sneak in as an outlier to the otherwise, mostly heavy handed fare, it ultimately was edged out. Comedy, per usual, got its attention in the writing category with two brilliant films, The Lobster from Yorgos Lanthimos and 20th Century Women from Mike Mills. Of course, what would the Oscars be without a nod to Meryl Streep. Her turn as one of the worst singers of all time in Florence Foster Jenkins, was typical award worthy Meryl.

German comedy Toni Erdmann continues to rack up nominations, which will hopefully encourage people to go see it despite its nearly 3 hour running time.

The awards ceremony is set for February 26th and will air on ABC. Get the full list of this year’s Oscar nominees here.

20th Century Women to Donate 5% of Revenue to Planned Parenthood This Weekend

January 20, 2017

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20th century women, a24, annette benning, billy crudup, donations, elle fanning, greta gerwig, lucas jade zumann, mike mills, planned parenthood

20th Century Women to Donate 5% of Revenue to Planned Parenthood This Weekend

There are so many good reasons to go see Mike Mills’ brilliant film 20th Century Women.

It’s as beautiful and life-affirming and relevant as it is downright funny.

Also, for this historic weekend, you’ll be supporting Planned Parenthood if you go see it.

So, once you’re done marching, protesting, etc. for the day, perhaps go watch 20th Century Women.

Mike Mills Has Made a Spectacular Follow Up to Beginners with 20th Century Women

December 21, 2016

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20th century women, a24, annette benning, beginners, mike mills

6 years ago, writer/director Mike Mills made an astounding film called Beginners. The story followed a son processing the death of his father and remembering his father’s very colorful life through all of its ups and down over many years all while managing the ups and downs of his own life. It’s hysterical and heart wrenching and gives a great glimpse into a very specific person’s life over decades of time, but it never ever feels jarring. If anything, it’s comforting to see the intertwining tapestries of lives between family, friends, and lovers and Mills presents that exquisitely.

Mills’ latest 20th Century Women, in many ways, is a great, spiritual-sequel-of-sorts to Beginners as it follows a bit of the same framework and achieves a similar life-affirming euphoria when the credits roll.

Everyone gives a damn fine performance here from top to bottom. Annette Benning, Greta Gerwig, Elle Fanning, Billy Crudup, and Lucas Jade Zumann live and breathe all the rich detail and depth for their characters that Mills has dreamed up for them. The humor is so deeply rooted in each characters’ personal human experience that it’s both laugh out loud funny and moving at the same time.

Also, as the title suggests, it showcases women in a very complete, unique, 4 dimensional way that comes in at a very crucial time for visibility of women in film.

Get a bit of a taste of what we’re talking about in this clip. 20th Century Women comes out in theaters this Christmas and, already, is a contender for a few awards.

74th Golden Globe Comedy Nominations: Deadpool, Atlanta, 20th Century Women

December 12, 2016

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20th century women, atlanta, deadpool, donald glover, florence foster jenkins, golden globe awards, jonah hill, nominations

74th Golden Globe Comedy Nominations: Deadpool, Atlanta, 20th Century Women

*comedy nominees in italics

FILM

BEST MOTION PICTURE-COMEDY OR MUSICAL
20th Century Women
Deadpool
Florence Foster Jenkins
La La Land
Sing Street

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE – MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Annette Bening, 20th Century Women
Lily Collins, Rules Don’t Apply
Hailee Steinfeld, The Edge of Seventeen
Emma Stone, La La Land
Meryl Streep, Florence Foster Jenkins

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Colin Farrell, The Lobster
Ryan Gosling, La La Land
Hugh Grant, Florence Foster Jenkins
Jonah Hill, War Dogs
Ryan Reynolds, Deadpool

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE IN ANY MOTION PICTURE
Mahershala Ali, Moonlight
Jeff Bridges, Hell or High Water
Simon Helberg, Florence Foster Jenkins
Dev Patel, Lion
Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Nocturnal Animals

BEST MOTION PICTURE-ANIMATED
Kubo and the Two Strings
Moana
My Life as a Zucchini
Sing
Zootopia

BEST MOTION PICTURE-FOREIGN LANGUAGE
Divines (France)
Elle (France)
Neruda (Chile)
The Salesman (Iran/France)
Toni Erdmann (Germany)

TELEVISION

BEST TELEVISION SERIES-COMEDY OR MUSICAL
Atlanta
black-ish
Mozart in the Jungle
Transparent
Veep

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES – MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Rachel Bloom, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
Sarah Jessica Parker, Divorce
Issa Rae, Insecure
Gina Rodriguez, Jane the Virgin
Tracee Ellis Ross, black-ish

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES – MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Anthony Anderson, black-ish
Gael Garcia Bernal, Mozart in the Jungle
Donald Glover, Atlanta
Nick Nolte, Graves
Jeffrey Tambor, Transparent

As always with the HFPA and The Golden Globes, there are some out-of-left-field surprises with their nominations like War Dogs or Graves, which didn’t gain nearly as much praise as perennial prestige comedies like Transparent or Veep.

Still, Deadpool is showing strong with a Critics Choice win last night and nominations here today. That’s especially impressive considering it’s a movie that’s an R-Rated action comedy, one of the most underrepresented types of movies when it comes to awards season. Also, Atlanta continues to an impressive freshman run and bodes well for FX.

Though a potential dark horse late comer, keep an eye out for Mike Mills’ 20th Century Women, which one of favorite movies of the year.

Get the full list of nominees here.