A New Dawn: My Blog's HIndie Awards

The Second Annual HIndie Awards

An Introduction

For weeks now, I've been closely following the Awards season and road that will lead to the Academy Awards. Every point at this time of the year, my rage grows. Not at the nominees of the Oscars and the Academy (for missing some obvious worthy films) but rather at the system of awards in place in Bollywood.

There's no denying the pathetic lust as well known director Mahesh Bhatt would put it, Bollywood has for the Oscars. Yet the reason for it remains unknown, so let me shed my two cents.

The Hindi film fraternity has a fascination for the Oscars because despite being THE OSCARS, those only awards that would really matter even from a Hindi film awards perspective. Bollywood unlike regional Indian cinema, is obviously unwilling in most cases to make the kind of movies that could win them National awards. 

 

India's got to wait in line, cause Leo's been begging for that Oscar

This in most part leaves most Hindi films in the year, even the best  ones to scramble for awards that have to little to no meaning at all.

Hindi film awards are presented by media outlets, rather than let's say a film board like The Academy. The makers of these award shows are more interested in which stars will show up, who will dance and what awards they'll have to hand out to every single person that attended.

Awards from most Bollywood shows mean squat, their just a haphazard way for the industry to provide relief through mutual masturbation, and for these big corporations and media houses to make tons of money. It's sad, but it's true.

 

And the Award for Least Expressions on screen goes to...Katrina Kaif, Nargis Fakhri...sorry Jacqueline Fernandez...oh who cares, they're all expendable

Not to say that the films that are good don't deserve awards, it's just at the end of the day on an awards night; it's the awards that matter the least. Even in fair years like 2011 and 2012, award shows would be about low IQ jokes, dance numbers and stars over films.

It's why it got me thinking. What could be done to fix the Indian film award system?

There's no denying that the Oscars are flawed, yet theirs is the system that works the best along with the Globes and the BAFTA's etc.

So I tried thinking of how the Indian film fraternity could co-opt the structure of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Then I realized, that's the dumbest idea I could think of. Their two big plot holes to the system.

The first is that The Academy works on a basis of structural bodies for most aspects of the Awards. Example theirs an acting body and so on. These bodies are filled with lots of members from the fraternity, relating to the aspect.

First of all, the Hindi film industry isn't as huge in terms of prestigious number of people who can be members. Certain boards would be really small compared to others, such as the writers guild which would be full of directors. This way the idea of guilds and bodies would be negated.

Secondly is if the idea of bodies would work for the structure, the fact that the Industry is so tight knit and closed out; we'd have the same problem as we do with media awards again. The Hindi film industries small closed out structure has a huge reason; nepotism. It's such an incestuous bunch of people, that for any award to be voted on there would be heavy biased. 

 

If it were up to Bollywood, then their own star sons and daughters would win all awards...although to be fair Alia Bhatt (center) has actually been fantastic this year

So this was stupid, but then I thought of something. Sure I want to in some capacity work there, but fuck the Hindi film industry.

I'll use the other part of my stupidly planned awards show for myself. The next part isn't really an original idea, heck I used it with the Golden Globes.

Now sure the Golden Globes aren't the best awards show format. Some would even say the division between Comedies and Drama is a bit insulting to the former genre, because Drama always ends up last on the show indicating it's importance over the other.

Still I like that the structure then allows for multiple nominees and at times it doesn't feel like some of the best of the year were left out. The Globes also has a tendency not to be as bait-y as the Academy.

So in vein of the globes and my own Bollywood awards from last year, I created this structure;

Best Picture
Best Director	Best Screenplay
Best Cinematography	Best Editing
Best Dialogue	Best Documentary
Best Actor in A Lead Role Male	Best Actor in A Lead Role Female
Best Actor in A Supporting Role Male	Best Actor in A Supporting Role Female
Best Newcomer Male	Best Newcomer Female
Best Soundtrack	Best Score

As you can see, I updated a bit. I'll be doing the main award numbers the way most Hindi film awards do, so there's no vfx/production or costume design.

Secondly, last year I had seven nominees for the major awards, so that stays here. The difference is in each category, there can be a minimum of five and a maximum of seven.

The next big thing is that unlike the Globes, I also divided the supporting categories between genres.

Finally the big question is my film award. Due to the two sides being divided, there's a chance that not the top ten best Bollywood films of the year are featured.

To explain, all ten best of this year could be from the drama genre. Thus the last three will miss out due to the awards structure.

As such I will put up singular posts for each of these awards like with my Underdog awards, but I will also do a Tintin's top ten Best Bollywood films of 2014.

Only difference being that in the top ten post, I will rank the films but only provide a pros/cons list and score but no in depth explanation. Though I will review the number one film of the year separately.

Also unlike the Globes, where they always favor drama over comedy, I'll decide the awards for acting presented on a best ranking system for each section. Such that if female supporting drama is better than male drama, then it will go last on its separate post e.g. Part 9. 

'Nuff Said, 

Aneesh Raikundalia

Tintin's Top Ten: Biggest Takeaways From The Golden Globe Nominations

Tintin's Top Ten

Big Golden Globe News

The full list of nominees for the official 2015 Golden Globes just got released, providing some genuine moments of shock and boosting a lot of campaigns that looked like they might just lose steam. Now with the Globes a lock for next year, 11th January 2015. All eyes will fall on The Academy, and where and whom they will comply on with the second biggest film awards show in Hollywood.

On this post I'll be examining not only the disappointments and surprises, but the talking points that could form the outlook for the awards season ahead. So fasten your seat belt snowy, it's time for another Tintin's Top Ten. 

Tintin's Top Ten: Most Anticipated Bollywood Films of 2015

Tintin's Top Ten

Most Anticipated Bollywood Films of 2015

Wow, it's been long hasn't it?

I'm really sorry, that I haven't blogged anything for a long time due to my inherent laziness. Well it's a triple bonanza for not only my return to the blog but also to celebrate my birthday (which was yesterday) as well as the birthday of this blog. 

Now on 17th of this month, my blog will be two years old. Unfortunately I will be busy and with no internet to support my blogging needs, forcing me to celebrate its birthday a week earlier. 

Okay so let's just get on with the post. 

As the year wraps, it's time to whip up awards season predictions, my own blog awards and more importantly best of worst of lists for Bollywood films. 

I'd like this post to be a bit lengthier, so not only will I include the most anticipated releases for next year but also give two major things;

A short analysis on the top ten films I had anticipated for 2014. I'll decide whether despite my anticipation, they were disappointing, great or even a bigger surprise then I thought. 

My next part will also be a vague analysis of Bollywood in the year 2014. I'll try my best not to give spoilers for my best or worst of the year list. 

Awards Race: What Oscars 2014 Should Have Looked Like?

An Oscar 2014 Re-Do

First of all, I've been feeling lazy a lot so this was the easiest Idea to get a post done for this month. 

After the conclusion of the 86th Academy Awards and my own first Official Underdog Awards, I forgot to make this post. A post highlighting what I felt should have been the lineup for the Academy Awards. 

It's a good thing too, cause I've made some changes to my idea of winners (even for the Underdog Awards 2014) since the last time.

As I said this is a lazy post, so all I'm going to do is put a table for you highlighting my winners and nominees. Winners are in bold italics. 

Also there will be some notes for certain winners and changes from the Underdog Awards of 2014. 

Enjoy!

Best Picture
Prisoners	Stoker
The Wolf of Wall Street	12 Years A Slave
Her	Before Midnight
Inside Llewyn Davis	Short Term 12
Gravity	Nebraska
Best Director	Best Cinematography
Spike Jonze-Her	Stoker
Alfonso Cuaron-Gravity	Prisoners
Dennis Villeneuve-Prisoners	Spring Breakers
Steve McQueen-12 Years A Slave	Nebraska
Park Chan Wook-Stoker	Gravity
Best Lead Actor (Male)	Best Lead Actor (Female)
Chiwetel Ejiofor-12 Years A Slave	Cate Blanchett-Blue Jasmine
Matthew McConaughey-Dallas Buyers Club	Julie Delpy-Before Midnight
Hugh Jackman-Prisoners	Brie Larson-Short Term 12
Oscar Issac-Inside Llewyn Davis	Rooney Mara-Side Effects
Joquain Phoenix-Her	Greta Gerwig-Frances Ha
Best Supporting Actor (Male)	Best Supporting Actor (Female)
Michael Fassbender-12 Years A Slave	Lupita Nyongo-12 Years A Slave
Jared Leto-Dallas Buyers Club	Sally Hawkins-Blue Jasmine
Jake Gylenhall-Prisoners	Scarlett Johansson-Her
James Franco-Spring Breakers	June Squibb-Nebraska
Matthew McConaughey-Mud	Gabby Hoffman-Crystal Fairy
Best Original Screenplay	Best Adapted Screenplay
Jeff Nichols-Mud	Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke-Before Midnight
Spike Jonze-Her	John Ridley-12 Years A Slave
Aaron Guzikowki-Prisoners	Terrence Winter-The Wolf of Wall Street
Destin Daniel Cretton-Short Term 12	Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope-Philomena
Joel and Ethan Coen-Inside Llewyn Davis	Scott Neustadter and Michael Weber-The Spectacular Now

-Let's start from the top;

-12 Years A Slave, I still consider the best film of last year. 

-I think Cuaron gets a bit too much credit for Gravity, I still feel Steve's uncompromising look at slavery was an amazing feat to accomplish. Spike Jonze's world building is something else that deserved to be nominated. Wook (Underdog 2014 Winner) and Villeneuve's visions also enthralled me more than the works of Scorsese (Wolf) and Russell (Hustle). 

-Gravity still deserves a big technical win

-Unlike Scarlett, Phoenix was not on my Underdog nomination list due to his Globe nom. He wholly deserves to be last years best actor despite Chiwetel giving my favorite lead performance. For the McConaissance there's two deserving performances, but no wins. His best on celluloid in this phase has been in Killer Joe, overall best being True Detective. 

-I think I might have been blinded by my love for Delpy's Celine, but on rewatch I was so touched by Larson's performance in Short Term 12; it was hard not to award her. 

-Rooney Mara is a late entry with Side Effects. Her performance came early last year and I missed watching the movie while nominate the Underdog Awards, she is definitely amazing in the film and deserving of an Oscar nomination. 

-Lupita was the master of last year, period. 

-Oscars hit it right in the head with the screenplay awards. 

'Nuff Said,

Aneesh Raikundalia

Marvel MARVEL MARVEL!!! You Sweet Sweet Company :D

Marvel Studios

...Blew Everything Out of The Water

This week Marvel Studios dropped a bomb on the world. Even before I could get to providing my own breakdown of events on Age of Ultron-after that amazing trailer released-, they provide us with news on coming attractions for the third phase of their epic cinematic universe.

Marvel has taken the world by storm since 2008 and they will continue to do so for a long time, even though the Comic Book Movie bubble might burst.

So I've decided, when I fell like getting of my ass I will decode each of these announced movies and what they'll mean for the MCU going forward. Of course, this is beginning with The Avengers: Age of Ultron.

That is if I get of my lazy ass. Till then enjoy these title cards from the next set of MCU movies including the new phase. (They will be linked later with the breakdown posts, once again if I make them)

 

The Sequel to The third highest grossing film of all time; The Avengers

 

Ant-Man has been announced as the film capping off Phase 2, rather than starting Phase 3. This means there's going to be a lot of repercussions from the second Avengers to be dealt with

 

Iron Man vs. Captain America. This one's going to be a big one and a Cap movie will once again bring change to the MCU. 

 

The first new hero for Phase 3 and one that blows the door wide open for the mystic in Marvel. Biggest Question; Will Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch sign on as the titular character? 

With a changed date, the newest anti-heroes on the block return. Are the Guardians set to take Thanos or will Peter find his father. 

As Norse mythology points it out; Ragnarok is the end of times. Thor and Loki's last stand has come, will we see Hemsworth and Hiddleston ever again in the MCU?

 

The first minority character for Marvel in a solo film, appearing years before DC's own Cyborg. Let's hope Marvel does justice to the King Batman of Marvel. With the charismatic Chadwick Boseman set to play the role, there's no worries. 

 

Marvel's first female solo film, and one that heads off in space. Whose going to play the character is the first big question?

 

The X-Men of the Marvel universe. Hints of their arrival have been iminent from long, from Quicksilver to Scarlet Witch and Skye of Agents of SHIELD. Not to mention Vin Diesel lobbying for the title role of Black Bolt, after already stealing our hearts as Groot. 

 

The two part finale to the battle against Thanos. The first will be before the aforementioned two films, the other after.There are a lot of questions, will this be the end of the MCU altogether? I hope not. Will all the original Avengers reunite? I hope so. Will this be the anticipated crossover between Avengers, Guardians and Inhumans? With two parts, I'd bet my life it is. 

Once again let's hope I can get of my ass to breakdown each of these. Still it will take time.

'Nuff Said

Aneesh Raikundalia

Underdog Awards 2015 Edition: The Pre-Prelude

Underdog Awards 2015 Edition

Prelude 

or

The Unexpected Virtue of Boredom 

 

As I've been saying all along, it's awards season and there's a lot more coming from my blog about the Road to the Oscars.

This also means it will be time to prepare for my now annual Underdog Awards. Last year it weighed on me, that a lot of films never got their due at the end of the year. As such I created the Underdog Awards for the underrated/under-appreciated films of the year 2013.

The problem was, that I hadn't watched enough films for this to really work out, so I had to rush through multiple films across few days. This time round, I don't have the luxury to do that but I do have the time to watch at most two movies per day. This gives me enough time to gather data on a bunch of films that could be top contenders at the Underdog Awards next year.

Of course this doesn't mean that I'll get every film, so in the comments below I would urge you to name me any films you think could be contenders in the categories I have shown below.

On another note, since I'm so bored and I'm doing this post this early; I might as well rehash the rules to the awards.

-These are underdog awards, as such underrated pieces of cinema will be reflected. I could even nominate aspects of films that themselves will be nominated at the Oscars. Even nominate those that have already been nominate e.g.. Last years Adapted Screenplay winner Before Midnight, was also a nominee (but loser) at the Academy Awards.

-Since I'm so generous each award has honorable mentions. The best film award contains 20 nominees, The director and acting and now cinematography awards includes 10 nominees. While the others include 5 nominees.

-Last year, I didn't allow Comic Book Movie nominees. This year I've made the exception, considering how amazing the big three of Cap 2, X-Men DOFP and GoTG were.

-Also this year I decided to expand the set of awards; including awards for Production Design, Costume Design, VFX, Foreign Film and Documentary Feature. 

-For Foreign Language Feature, it will be like the Oscars; one film per language. The difference being that I will not select any film that was already in the list of nominees or in consideration eg. Liar's Dice is this years entry for India to the Oscars, if it doesn't make it to the top five then it still wont be considered here cause it got selected at least. Although of fear over bias, I might not select any Indian entry at all. 

-Also foreign language aspects such as actors can be nominated in other categories in a controlled amount apart from overall Best Film award.  

-Finally, films selected for nomination will be dependent on their release. Each film selected will have been Widely Released in the USA in the Year 2014. For foreign language and documentary, the rule is exempted. 

For more on what the Underdog Award are, read this: http://comicaper.blogspot.in/2014/02/underdog-awards-2014-coming-soon.html

Below is the table of categories in the Underdog Awards 2015 and the nomination slots for each award;

Underdog Award for Best Film
Underdog Award for Best Director	Underdog Award for Best Cinematography
Underdog Award for Best Editing	Underdog Award for Best Production Design
Underdog Award for Best Costume Design	Underdog Award for Best VFX
Underdog Award for Best Actor In A Leading Role (Male)	Underdog Award for Best Actor In A Leading Role (Female)
Underdog Award for Best Actor In A Supporting Role (Male)	Underdog Award for Best Actor In A Supporting Role (Female)
Underdog Award for Best Breakthrough Performer	Underdog Award for Best Ensemble Cast
Underdog Award for Best Original Screenplay	Underdog Award For Best Adapted Screenplay
Underdog Award for Best Soundtrack	Underdog Award for Best Score
Underdog Award for Best International Film	Underdog Award for Best Documentary

PS: Nothing related to the above but you'll be shocked as to why the next post after the Omkara review wasn't for Haider, but that will come when I can watch the film a third time as I'm building to writing both a review and full on analysis (like I did with Miss Lovely earlier this year)

'Nuff Said

Aneesh Raikundalia