The Underdog Awards
We're almost at the end, so indulge me for a little bit more.
Now onto the next category, the captain of the ship; The Director. The man who takes control of everything, lifts the words from page and creates his own vision that will provide a visual experience for the ages.
A lot of great directors were on showcase at many of the major awards, they were definetly great heck the best director hands down of the year was Alfonso Cuaron (Gravity), but at the same time a multitude of terrific directors had to be overlooked. This award and even the nominations are to those directors...
Underdog Award for Best Director
Not going to say much just that to rate a director is very difficult, normally I lampoon everything from editing to cinematography into my directors section of film reviews, the director works extensively with his cinematographer to capture the film. His vision is crafted by how he reads and interprets the script and what he decides to give focus on, his editors constrain yet embellish that vision, while he directs every part of his unit especially his performers on what to do. As I said it fits perfectly; he is the captain of the ship.
Honorable Mentions: Derek Cianfrance (The Place Beyond The Pines), Edgar Wright (The World's End), Noah Baumbach (Frances Ha), Lake Bell (In A World), Michael Bay (Pain and Gain), David Gordon Green (Prince Avalanche), Ryan Coogler (Fruitvale Station), Nicole Holofcener (Enough Said), Joss Whedon (Much Ado About Nothing), James Ponsoldt (The Spectacular Now), Destin Daniel Cretton (Short Term 12), David Lowery (Ain't Them Bodies Saints), Nicholas Winding Refn (Only God Forgives), Neil Jordan (Byzantium)
And the Nominees are...
Jeff Nichols for Mud
Writer/Director Jeff Nichols moves to his roots in Arkansas, using the earthy magic of the place in crafting his coming of age drama more like a fairytale adventure for young Ellis (Tye Sheridan) and Neckbone (Jacob Lofland) with the enigmatic and charismatic Mud (Matthew McConaughey) at the center. Nichols above all else stretches McConaughey to his limits, getting one of the most terrific performances of the year from him and adds on that with both Sheridan and Lofland. His pacing and beat of storytelling keeps the viewer engaged throughout.
Richard Linklater for Before Midnight
By now Linklater doesn't need to put in much effort to create a masterpiece; he's got two seasoned actors in front of the camera, characters of 18 years with two movies and a love for them that just keeps on bringing him back. Linklater is basically the underdog of the Before trio simply because of how well he gets the camera to the words to the world he builds around Jesse and Celine, to keep you hooked for three films in between two decades. It's not easy, a natural director's motive is to keep you visually entertained but when words words and more words form the core of a film, a director can be easily be bogged down. Linklater keeps you listening and understanding these words, especially directing a sublime climax scene where Jesse and Celine fight for 45 minutes yet all you can think about is if they will make it never getting bored for one second. Linklater's mind blowing effort deserves an applause.
Danny Boyle for Trance
While Trance was far from an excellent feature, what with it's wafer thin script and awkward final twist, what it had going was a far experienced and refined Danny Boyle directing a film in his old Trainspotting slick and dark comedic style. The film is all style over substance and at the head of this is Boyle, creating a mesmerizing sensory overload that stays till the end. It helps that in a way the devices Boyle uses creates yet clears a lot of the chaos of the film and releases a torrent of brilliance for the final action set piece.
Harmony Korine for Spring Breakers
Speaking of sensory overload, comes the misjudged film from wacky man Harmony Korine. He said he wanted a film like a pop song and he paces the narrative as such. Korine gets a plethora of visual and sound that just blow your mind away, he crafts from it a sensation unlike any other. A film practically creating it's own rave, and in it he imbues a message that should effect you if you see it amongst your enjoyment. There's a lot more deeper meaning to Breakers than you can comprehend, visually it's stunning but thematically Korine reflects on the corrupted American Dream, he does so much more successfully than many directors did this year (from Michael Bay to Martin Scorsese). His visual exploitation might get in the way from time to time but his message rings true, it took me three viewings to comprehend it.
JC Chandor for All is Lost
All is Lost is a film of technical brilliance, so it's surprising when its director fails to gain as much credit as everything else. Chandor moves away from a talky corporate drama (Margin Call) and wraps himself around a most showy one character piece. What it is a somber and melancholic drama based around the concept of man vs. nature, what it becomes for a meat of it's portion is a character study through the directors lens of nature, not in any typical way but just how nature is working in the moment against 'Our Man' and beyond it how mesmerizing it really is. Chandor crafts something that we obviously can't hate, but highlights nature in such a way that it makes the Man into Our Man.
James Wan for The Conjuring
Go back to Summer 2013 last year and all you could here people talking about was James Wan and the skill he has simply shown in mastering the horror genre. For far too long the old school method of Horror has lost it's luster in favor of the inorganic use of visual effects, fear has simply vanished. While The Conjuring is far from full on scary, what it is, is creepy and chilling to the bone. Wan favors practicality and it helps make a picture so riveting and appealing your eyes are glued to the screen. For one to two hours that's all a Director wants and that's all Wan needs to do, and he does.
Park Chan Wook for Stoker
Of his 21 year old filmography (as old as me), I have watched four of Chan Wook's films; The Vengeance Trilogy and this one. Yet without a doubt I could say that he is by far one of the best storytellers if not the best on celluloid. With Stoker he gets to prove why to a larger audience (his English language debut). From a literary nod to quirky Hitchcock influence, a darkly comical tone and a goth fairytale vibe, Wook creates a world that is so fascinating it is hard not to be entertained. The world he creates and the characters littered within it give his actors the chance to prove what a marvelous film maker he is and showcase one of the best films of the year.
Joel and Ethan Coen for Inside Llewyn Davis
You can rarely beat them in writing and the same holds for direction. From the songs to the atmosphere and tale at heart, you get the feeling that the Coen's have a genuine affection for the era and focus of their film specifically folk music in 1960's. It's got all the great Coen elements of black comedy and sarcastic tones exploring a rich character. Yet at the same time the directors aren't afraid to highlight the harshness of an artists world and make a character whose as depressing and harsh to watch. Yet in this character exploration they find a real hefty and important story to tell. It's far from Coen's best, but it stands up there as one of their most accomplished pieces and one a lot of people will have a hard time taking in making a heck of an underrated gem of an effort by the brothers.
Ron Howard for Rush
Amidst the spectacularly realized racing scenes, what Ron Howard does is to not forget where his finish line is; the dissection of a relationship and a rivalry that changed Formula 1 racing forever. From the way he gets the camera to work to how his actors perform, Howard puts his pedal to the metal and churns out a deeply satisfying feature on two flawed yet applaud worthy characters who are as similar as they are different. He takes a very important time from their real lives and turns it into a pulse pounding, power packed drama.
Denis Villeneuve for Prisoners
I desperately want to go to all these film festivals where they screen movies, because if Prisoners is anything to go by then I envy those who watched two Villeneuve works with his other Jake Gyllenhaal starer Enemy. Beyond keeping the audience so expectantly chaotic to not see the obvious twist, Villeneuve pushes every bit off himself in order to prevent this somber and depressing film and protagonists arc becoming to much to take. His vision clearly dictates and brings forth the majority of the themes of the film specifically in question to Keller Dover's (Hugh Jackman) actions and what the viewer would do in his place. If you get the viewer to be an integral part of the film, than as a director you did just right in my book.
And the Winner is...
Writer/Director Jeff Nichols moves to his roots in Arkansas, using the earthy magic of the place in crafting his coming of age drama more like a fairytale adventure for young Ellis (Tye Sheridan) and Neckbone (Jacob Lofland) with the enigmatic and charismatic Mud (Matthew McConaughey) at the center. Nichols above all else stretches McConaughey to his limits, getting one of the most terrific performances of the year from him and adds on that with both Sheridan and Lofland. His pacing and beat of storytelling keeps the viewer engaged throughout.
Richard Linklater for Before Midnight
By now Linklater doesn't need to put in much effort to create a masterpiece; he's got two seasoned actors in front of the camera, characters of 18 years with two movies and a love for them that just keeps on bringing him back. Linklater is basically the underdog of the Before trio simply because of how well he gets the camera to the words to the world he builds around Jesse and Celine, to keep you hooked for three films in between two decades. It's not easy, a natural director's motive is to keep you visually entertained but when words words and more words form the core of a film, a director can be easily be bogged down. Linklater keeps you listening and understanding these words, especially directing a sublime climax scene where Jesse and Celine fight for 45 minutes yet all you can think about is if they will make it never getting bored for one second. Linklater's mind blowing effort deserves an applause.
Danny Boyle for Trance
While Trance was far from an excellent feature, what with it's wafer thin script and awkward final twist, what it had going was a far experienced and refined Danny Boyle directing a film in his old Trainspotting slick and dark comedic style. The film is all style over substance and at the head of this is Boyle, creating a mesmerizing sensory overload that stays till the end. It helps that in a way the devices Boyle uses creates yet clears a lot of the chaos of the film and releases a torrent of brilliance for the final action set piece.
Harmony Korine for Spring Breakers
Speaking of sensory overload, comes the misjudged film from wacky man Harmony Korine. He said he wanted a film like a pop song and he paces the narrative as such. Korine gets a plethora of visual and sound that just blow your mind away, he crafts from it a sensation unlike any other. A film practically creating it's own rave, and in it he imbues a message that should effect you if you see it amongst your enjoyment. There's a lot more deeper meaning to Breakers than you can comprehend, visually it's stunning but thematically Korine reflects on the corrupted American Dream, he does so much more successfully than many directors did this year (from Michael Bay to Martin Scorsese). His visual exploitation might get in the way from time to time but his message rings true, it took me three viewings to comprehend it.
JC Chandor for All is Lost
All is Lost is a film of technical brilliance, so it's surprising when its director fails to gain as much credit as everything else. Chandor moves away from a talky corporate drama (Margin Call) and wraps himself around a most showy one character piece. What it is a somber and melancholic drama based around the concept of man vs. nature, what it becomes for a meat of it's portion is a character study through the directors lens of nature, not in any typical way but just how nature is working in the moment against 'Our Man' and beyond it how mesmerizing it really is. Chandor crafts something that we obviously can't hate, but highlights nature in such a way that it makes the Man into Our Man.
James Wan for The Conjuring
Go back to Summer 2013 last year and all you could here people talking about was James Wan and the skill he has simply shown in mastering the horror genre. For far too long the old school method of Horror has lost it's luster in favor of the inorganic use of visual effects, fear has simply vanished. While The Conjuring is far from full on scary, what it is, is creepy and chilling to the bone. Wan favors practicality and it helps make a picture so riveting and appealing your eyes are glued to the screen. For one to two hours that's all a Director wants and that's all Wan needs to do, and he does.
Park Chan Wook for Stoker
Of his 21 year old filmography (as old as me), I have watched four of Chan Wook's films; The Vengeance Trilogy and this one. Yet without a doubt I could say that he is by far one of the best storytellers if not the best on celluloid. With Stoker he gets to prove why to a larger audience (his English language debut). From a literary nod to quirky Hitchcock influence, a darkly comical tone and a goth fairytale vibe, Wook creates a world that is so fascinating it is hard not to be entertained. The world he creates and the characters littered within it give his actors the chance to prove what a marvelous film maker he is and showcase one of the best films of the year.
Joel and Ethan Coen for Inside Llewyn Davis
You can rarely beat them in writing and the same holds for direction. From the songs to the atmosphere and tale at heart, you get the feeling that the Coen's have a genuine affection for the era and focus of their film specifically folk music in 1960's. It's got all the great Coen elements of black comedy and sarcastic tones exploring a rich character. Yet at the same time the directors aren't afraid to highlight the harshness of an artists world and make a character whose as depressing and harsh to watch. Yet in this character exploration they find a real hefty and important story to tell. It's far from Coen's best, but it stands up there as one of their most accomplished pieces and one a lot of people will have a hard time taking in making a heck of an underrated gem of an effort by the brothers.
Ron Howard for Rush
Amidst the spectacularly realized racing scenes, what Ron Howard does is to not forget where his finish line is; the dissection of a relationship and a rivalry that changed Formula 1 racing forever. From the way he gets the camera to work to how his actors perform, Howard puts his pedal to the metal and churns out a deeply satisfying feature on two flawed yet applaud worthy characters who are as similar as they are different. He takes a very important time from their real lives and turns it into a pulse pounding, power packed drama.
Denis Villeneuve for Prisoners
I desperately want to go to all these film festivals where they screen movies, because if Prisoners is anything to go by then I envy those who watched two Villeneuve works with his other Jake Gyllenhaal starer Enemy. Beyond keeping the audience so expectantly chaotic to not see the obvious twist, Villeneuve pushes every bit off himself in order to prevent this somber and depressing film and protagonists arc becoming to much to take. His vision clearly dictates and brings forth the majority of the themes of the film specifically in question to Keller Dover's (Hugh Jackman) actions and what the viewer would do in his place. If you get the viewer to be an integral part of the film, than as a director you did just right in my book.
And the Winner is...
Park Chan Wook for Stoker!
Next: After a long break we will return for the final award of the night, who of the to twenty underdog films will take the award for Best Underdog Film of The Year!
'Nuff Said
Aneesh Raikundalia
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