The Dastardly Dissenter returns as CJ teams with Bernard to bring you this week’s show, in which they discuss their favorite “directorial left turns,” which also happens to be the subject of this month’s Way Too Indie staff feature.

Also, incomparable film essayist and filmmaker Mark Rappaport joins the show to talk about his filmography, which you can find right now EXCLUSIVELY on Fandor! Mark’s two latest videos, Debra Paget, For Example and Max, James & Danielle, are available to stream as of TODAY via our friends at Fandor, so don’t waste another second! Subscribe to Fandor now and discover one of the most singular, fascinating filmmakers working today.

Topics

• Indie Picks (3:50)
• Directorial Left Turns (15:23)
• Mark Rappaport (1:07:49)

Articles Referenced

• The Battery Capsule Review
• Altman Review
• Our Favorite Directorial Left Turns

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On March 18th, Jeff Nichols’ Midnight Special hits theaters. The film, which follows a boy with supernatural abilities getting hunted down by various groups eager to study or exploit him, is a major departure from the rest of Nichols’ filmography. With Shotgun Stories, Take Shelter, and Mud, Nichols showed an interest in small, modest-scaled dramas about internal (Take Shelter) and external (Shotgun Stories) battles in the Southern United States. Now, Nichols has elevated himself to a different, bigger stage: Midnight Special is a full-on, big-budget (compared to his earlier films, that is) sci-fi that has already received comparisons to Steven Spielberg’s work.

Nichols is far from the first director to make a film outside their perceived wheelhouse, and in anticipation of Midnight Special’s release, we decided to come up with our favorite examples of directors who made a successful shift into new, exciting territory. Read our eleven picks below, and let us know if you agree, disagree, or think we’re missing any directors who deserve to be on this list.

Favorite Directorial Left Turns

Babe: Pig in the City (George Miller)

Although respectable, George Miller’s post-Mad Max fare—such as The Witches of Eastwick and Lorenzo’s Oil—hardly built on the promise of his influential post-apocalyptic trilogy. In the mid-nineties, Miller’s career took an abrupt change of direction, co-writing and producing the surprise Best Picture nominee Babe (losing out to the far inferior Braveheart). The talking pig was a huge success, and a few years later Miller directed the sequel.

Babe: Pig in the City is far darker in tone than the cozy, bucolic original. Miller pulls out all the stops, creating a trippy atmosphere for his menagerie of chatty creatures, including mice, chimps, pelicans and Mickey Rooney. Ostensibly a family film, it has the bug-eyed intensity of his Nightmare at 20,000 Feet segment in Twilight Zone: The Movie and the baroque imagination of Mad Max: Fury Road. Miller’s lengthy excursion into family film continued with the hit Happy Feet and its sequel, featuring CGI dancing penguins. And just when the scorched landscape of “Mad” Max Rockatansky seemed a distant memory, Miller took another turn onto Fury Road. [Lee]

Bernie (Richard Linklater)

Richard Linklater has always been partial to his home state of Texas, but in his 2011 flick, Bernie, Linklater embraced the east Texas legend of Marjorie “Marge” Nugent’s murder. Linklater’s career is marked with a variety of genres from relatable dramas such as Boyhood and the Before Trilogy to airy comedies like Dazed and Confused, but Bernie served as his only venture into a crime-driven black comedy. Yet, Linklater’s expertise in the understanding of the human condition is manifested in his sympathetic portrayal of Bernie and the often insufferable Marge. Bernie combines many of the elements that make Linklater’s films so beloved, but the presentation is wildly unique. The film combines mockumentary with documentary and comedy with drama in a way that is coherent and captivating. And while Bernie stands out from the rest of Linklater’s work, the quirks present in Bernie are exaggerations of quirks from the rest of Linklater’s filmography, and that is what makes the film such a treat. It’s a departure from the Linklater status quo, but it also represents an artistic evolution and a love letter to rural Texas. [Tanner]

The Big Short (Adam McKay)

The ’60s had the Rat Pack, the ’80s had the Brat Pack, and the ’00s have the Frat Pack, with the likes of Will Ferrell, Vince Vaughn, and Steve Carell in its ranks. One of the key architects of the Frat Pack oeuvre is Adam McKay, writer/director of the Anchorman films, Step Brothers, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, and The Other Guys. You see the pattern. Going off this previous directorial resume, McKay’s doesn’t suggest very much depth. But with his latest effort, The Big Short, he detours from the usual big-laughs-from-little-substance path and takes on material as dense as one can get for a major motion picture: the bursting of the US housing market bubble, and subsequent global economic crisis, that occurred in the mid-2000s. It’s dry, complicated stuff that is plagued by its own jargon-riddled language. McKay (who also co-wrote) presents his smartest humor to date, but also makes the material easy to understand, keeping the film moving at a brisk pace and making brilliant creative decisions—such as fourth wall-breaking and pop-up tutorials conducted by surprise celebrity cameos. The Big Short earned the accolades it received during awards season, and McKay has earned a spot on the list of directors to pay attention to for more than just silly comedies. [Michael]

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Alfonso Cuarón)

Alfonso Cuarón wasn’t necessarily a stranger to children’s film when he took on the third Harry Potter franchise film, nor to Warner Brothers. He’d directed 1995’s A Little Princess, also a darker toned tale of a child orphan making their way in the world. So while Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban may not have felt like a left turn for him, for those who think of Y Tu Mamá También when they hear his name, the jump from a horny coming-of-age road trip film to a beloved magical series was jolting. But it isn’t really if one thinks about it. Picking up where Chris Columbus left off in the first two films, Cuarón picked the perfect film of the series to take on. This is where Harry’s journey gets remarkably dark, with his family’s past and secrets he was formerly too young to grasp finally get revealed. He has to choose to face the threats that heretofore came looking for him, AND turn 13. Scary stuff. Cuarón gave the film much needed relevancy, having characters wear modern clothing and letting them interact more with the non-magical world. He gave the Harry Potter series the backbone it lacked and a magic that felt more enticing, simultaneously pleasing book fans and pulling in those who’d previously written the series off as kid stuff. Cuarón knows how to get hearts pumping (Gravity) and feelings flowing (Children of Men), and his approach was a huge success for what is now among the top five film franchises in history. [Ananda]

Hugo (Martin Scorsese)

Roger Ebert opened his review of Martin Scorsese’s 2011 film with the line, “Hugo is unlike any other film Martin Scorsese has ever made.” As a director who’s known for his gritty gangster films (Goodfellas, The Departed, Gangs of New York), Scorsese threw a curveball at audiences by making a big-budget family film. In his extensive filmography, the director has only made a handful of PG-rated films, and none (that I can recall) featuring young children as lead characters. But the main reason why Hugo marked such a huge departure for Scorsese was that it was filmed in 3D, a medium often thought to be gimmicky, especially for a filmmaker who is such a strong advocate for preserving traditional film. But it’s easy to see why he made Hugo considering it’s a love letter to cinema, featuring storylines involving early pioneers of film like Georges Melies and the Lumiere brothers. Scorsese shows how those directors experimented with special effects during the early years of film, and it suddenly dawns on you why he decided to make Hugo in 3D. And to top it off, he adds a great message about the importance of preserving film. It’s rare that a filmmaker can make a film like this; one that’s so close to their heart, so much different than their previous work, and yet be easily accessible to every age group. Hugo is that film. [Dustin]

Li’l Quinquin (Bruno Dumont)

Early on in his career, Bruno Dumont was labelled as an enfant terrible for several reasons: showing unsimulated sex scenes in his films, using sudden, brutal violence, a rigid form that can drive people mad or put them to sleep, and an ability to generate provocative questions about hot button issues like religion and spirituality. Since 2011, after his underrated Hors Satan flopped with critics and audiences, he underwent a bit of a change. His follow-up, Camille Claudel 1915, starred Juliette Binoche, a surprise given his preference to work with unprofessional actors. But it wasn’t until 2014 that Dumont would make his biggest shift yet with Li’l Quinquin, a TV miniseries about detectives trying to find a serial killer in the French countryside. The series marks Dumont’s first attempt at making an outright comedy, and it works like gangbusters (some sequences in here are so unhinged it’s impossible not to choke from laughter). But the biggest surprise of all was that Li’l Quinquin turned out to be Dumont’s biggest success to date, smashing TV rating records in France and getting renewed for a second season. While it’s a definitely left turn for the director, it’s the furthest thing from a compromise, and Quinquin will hopefully mark the beginning of a new, more exciting phase in Dumont’s career. [C.J.]

Spring Breakers (Harmony Korine)

Before the release of the star-studded and fluidly structured Spring Breakers, Harmony Korine wasn’t well-known to general audiences. His filmography had been comprised of works like the deeply strange Gummo, the minimalist but bigger-budgeted Mr. Lonely and the chaotic, dadaist Trash Humpers. Korine wouldn’t go on to direct another film until almost half a decade later, and when he would, he wouldn’t be returning to execute Spring Breakers with the deceptively simple formal qualities of his previous three features. Instead, he hired Benoit Debie (primarily known for his collaborations with Gaspar Noé) as his cinematographer, gathered composer Cliff Martinez and popular dubstep artist Skrillex to work on the score, and cast household celebrities such as James Franco, Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens & Ashley Benson to co-star alongside his wife, Rachel Korine. The end result is a pure sensory overload, constituted by a rich color palette, a free-flowing camera and editing style, and some of the sharpest social commentary to emerge from the American film scene in years, if not decades. [Eli]

The Straight Story (David Lynch)

David Lynch has cemented himself as one of the most idiosyncratic filmmakers of our time, tainting our eyeballs with visions of severed ears in the grass, people-sized rabbits doing chores, and Dennis Hopper spitting and spluttering like a loon. Lynch’s films are about as weird as they come, but when asked, the director called his G-rated 1999 heartland drama The Straight Story his “most experimental film.” While it sounds strange at first listen, in the context of the nightmarish sprawl that is his larger oeuvre, the assertation rings loud and true. Nearly every aspect of the film is antithetic to the core concepts of his other works: instead of smashing Americana to pieces, he celebrates it; rather than delivering shocks of violence and sex, the movie is squeaky clean and has no artsy tricks up its sleeve. Richard Farnsworth, in his Oscar-nominated final performance, plays Alvin Straight, an aging man who travels 320 miles from Iowa to Wisconsin on his John Deere (only in Lynchian context is this part bit considered “not weird”) to see his dying brother. Lynch’s broodiness is eschewed here, his visual flair instead working in support of a sweeping road story of love and devotion set along the cornfields and foothills of the good ol’ U.S. of A. Surprisingly, the film has Lynch’s fingerprints all over it despite the conventional tone and narrative. For a one-time affair, the wavy-haired madman plays it straight, and it works astonishingly well. [Bernard]

The Wind Rises (Hayao Miyazaki)

Hayao Miyazaki, the creator of films such as Spirited Away and My Neighbour Totoro, is best known for his beautiful depictions of fantasy and ability to bring imaginary worlds to life on screen. Therefore, The Wind Rises comes as an unusual project from the Japanese animator, acting as a realistic piece of fiction whilst enfolding historical events into its narrative. It’s a fictional biography of Jiro Horikoshi, the designer of the Japanese Zero fighter plane in World War II, and yet it focuses mostly on Jiro’s dreams of flying, rather than the grim realities of his creations. From its terrifying rendering of the Great Kanto earthquake in 1923 to its frequent references to Japan’s involvement in the Second World War, the film is never unaware of its exact place in history. However, The Wind Rises never allows this history to overshadow its message about inventions and possibilities. All the more interesting is the film’s place as Miyazaki’s final feature film, inevitably creating a parallel between himself and the young Jiro, both of whom are artists at their core; men with creative aspirations, but whose works are bound to be consumed in ways they did not intend. Reviews suggest that The Wind Rises is not critical enough of a man who designed machines for war, and yet Miyazaki’s films—often considered children’s tales—have always had a moral message. It seems his final film is a reminder that, once a creation leaves its author’s hands, its fate is as much our responsibility as it is theirs. [Pavi]

The Wrestler (Darren Aronofsky)

Prior to 2008, Darren Aronofsky had established a consistently heady, kaleidoscopic aesthetic in his work. From the Lynchian surrealism of Pi to the hyperkinetic chaos and visceral impact of Requiem for a Dream to the ambitious, centuries-spanning spiritual epic that was The Fountain, one might’ve thought they had him pegged down as a filmmaker. However, while The Wrestler certainly carries a few subtle hallmarks of Aronofsky’s style and thematic interests, it’s a more stripped-down, genuinely gritty picture than anything the director has attempted before (or since).

A tale of has-beens and former glory is concentrated in the figure of Randy “the Ram” Robinson, a once-famous professional wrestler who has fallen into obscurity. He lives in a trailer, works a menial, unfulfilling job and only finds consolation in his small-time weekend wrestling gigs or in the sympathetic arms of a similarly broken-down stripper. Such a familiar type of story is imbued with refreshing nuance by Mickey Rourke’s unflinching, honest performance and Aronofsky’s neorealist approach. If there was any doubt that the director could make a film expressing unglamorous realities and raw human truths without the stimulation of technical dazzle and flamboyant flourishes, this movie surely puts those concerns to rest. Despite it being a bit of an anomaly in Aronofsky’s career, The Wrestler might just be his greatest work to date. [Byron]

X-Men (Bryan Singer)

Since Jeff Nichols’ latest studio venture has inspired this feature, I’ve chosen another all-American director, who was also in his mid-30s when he made the quantum leap from small scales and modest budgets by hitting the sci-fi switch. Bryan Singer’s big break came with cult classic crime thriller The Usual Suspects in 1995 where an award-winning screenplay and unforgettable performances bolstered the director’s work enough for 20th Century Fox to have a meeting about it. The character-driven student-teacher Stephen King drama Apt Pupil came next in 1998, but Fox had reportedly already approached Singer for X-Men. He turned it down, made Apt Pupil instead, was courted again—this time by good friend Tom DeSanto—only to finally sign on and set the course for the modern film age of superhero dominance we’re currently (suffering) in.

For the first time in his career, Singer worked with special effects, a budget of $75 million, and in the Sci-Fi sandbox where comic book fandom reigns. And boy did he make it work. It’s near-impossible to measure the magnitude of the aftershock this movie created, after grossing over $200 million at the box-office. Hugh Jackman became a star, studios realized that comic book property was a gold mine they could finally tap into, and Singer made such a triumphantly left turn from chamber dramas to splashy blockbusters, he’s never hard to turn right again. By no means the best superhero film, X-Men is still a perfectly entertaining spectacle that turned its director into one of the best comic book helmers working today. I very much doubt Nichols will make the same impact. [Nik]

Back in 1966, French critic-turned-filmmaker François Truffaut published the book Cinema According to Hitchcock, which was comprised of conversations he had with Alfred Hitchcock about his career. In a new documentary about these famous conversations, Kent Jones establishes the context for the time period when this took place, citing how Hitchcock wasn’t considered a serious artist by the general public. Even up to the release of Psycho, Hitchcock was known more as a light entertainer than a true master of the craft. At times, Hitchcock even wondered if he was stuck doing the same types of films and not experimenting more; he spent most his time cemented in the studio system of Hollywood, using his name to sell films as well as superstar actors like Grace Kelly, Ingrid Bergman, Cary Grant, and James Stewart.

Truffaut set out to fix the misconception of Hitchcock as entertainer first and artist second. He promised to expose Hitchcock’s cinematic greatness to the world through in-depth analysis of his filmography, and the book was a major hit. Not only did it help shape people’s perception of Hitchcock as a serious filmmaker, it became a bible for film buffs. To this day, the book is still considered to be the holy grail for aspiring filmmakers, or anyone interested in frame-by-frame breakdowns of how the Master of Suspense approached film.

Jones interviews an elite group of modern directors including Martin Scorsese, David Fincher, Wes Anderson, Olivier Assayas, Peter Bogdanovich, and Richard Linklater about how influential Hitchcock is to their career. Listening to these auteurs gush over Hitchcock is inspiring—each respects him for their own reasons, but all seem to agree that it’s his ability to frame every shot perfectly that sets him apart.

Hitchcock provides a ton of captivating thoughts on what makes things work in film. He explains how not showing or saying something can make a scene operate better and brilliantly defends the implausible tendencies of his own films, saying “Logic is dull.” But perhaps the most fascinating insight of the entire conversation was listening to Hitchcock describe the importance of manipulating time. He claims the most powerful feature cinema offers is the ability to control time. Fincher echoes this sentiment by describing directing as simply controlling moments that should occur really fast and making them slow, and making moments that should occur really slow and making them fast. It’s true when you think about it. Compressing or expanding moments of time is indeed what makes cinema such a powerful medium for storytelling. The whole segment is a great example of the documentary supplementing a subject covered in the book.

It’s when Hitchcock/Truffaut devotes a large section on praising Vertigo that the film becomes a little off-balance. Jones details how poorly Vertigo did when it was first released, then contrasts it with how much of an impact it has on today’s filmmakers. This ends up being more of a puff piece for the film and Hitchcock instead of allowing the Master of Suspense to explain things himself. Some of the best parts of the film are listening to Hitchcock defend his decisions and talk about what he thought didn’t work (it’s fascinating to hear Hitchcock suggest how he’d fix a scene in Truffaut’s The 400 Blows). But the film often glosses over these moments in favor of celebrating Hitchcock for reasons which are mostly known at this point. And while it’s completely understandable that Hitch would receive the majority of attention, fans of Truffaut may be let down by how little his work is covered.

Truffaut revised the original book in 1985, updating it with conversations he had regarding the final stages of both their careers. With Hitchcock/Truffaut, Jones creates an unofficial third revision; offering additional perspectives from contemporary filmmakers who assure us that Hitchcock is every bit as relevant today as he was back then. However, the film isn’t nearly as essential as the book it’s based off, though it serves as a starting point for those who haven’t read the book and a modest companion piece for those who have.

It can’t get more direct than getting to hear the word from the source himself. De Palma features only one interview subject: the Blow Out, Carrie and Scarface (how do you only choose three?!) filmmaker, Brian De Palma. What could have easily been a self-indulgent or rose-tinted retrospective discussion is made fascinating by De Palma’s openness about his aspirations and influences, as well as his willingness to admit to several failures. That forthright demeanor is what might make De Palma accessible to those who don’t even consider themselves De Palma fans in the slightest. It’s also why, for the De Palma championers, this documentary is an ideal look into the director’s collected works. Brian De Palma’s noteworthy career is put into new perspective by the man at its helm.

Filmmakers Noah Baumbach (Greenberg, Frances Ha) and Jake Paltrow (The Good Night, Young Ones) seem like an odd pair to author a portrait on the legendary Brian De Palma; however, the trio of directors frequently have dinner with one another, engaging in conversations apparently not too dissimilar to this one—filmed in Paltrow’s living room. Baumbach & Paltrow jump cut through De Palma’s responses in a way that maintains a speedy pace. The rapid assembly assures that the film never really wastes a moment. They briefly acknowledge the filmmaker’s upbringing before speeding into De Palma’s early career, leaving most of the runtime for diving into his filmography piece by piece. Certain sections go into greater depth than others, although it’s not always the expected films where De Palma decides to go into detail. His work on the aforementioned films as well as The Bonfire of the Vanities, Casualties of War and Home Movies are all given extended sequences in which De Palma gets specific on his vision, then trashes on all subsequent film and TV versions of Carrie.

De Palma has plenty of name-dropping and behind-the-scenes stories to satisfy movie nerds. Some photosets show De Palma dining with friends Francis Ford Coppola, George Lucas, Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg—there’s even an old home movie of Spielberg calling Lucas from a car phone. Among the most fascinating looks into the production process that De Palma provides is the director’s account of how he became attached to Scarface, before abandoning the film while Sidney Lumet took over, only to return to the director’s chair before filming commenced. When De Palma brings up his inspirations, from personal experiences like watching his doctor father’s surgeries to cultural influences like Orson Welles’ The Magnificent Ambersons, the movie makes the filmmaker’s artistic ambitions much clearer.

There are points where De Palma’s single subject structure limits its insights. De Palma mostly waves off the accusations of misogyny in his films and chooses to not elaborate on his divorces. Yet, De Palma is willing to address his legacy honestly more than one would assume from a director of his stature. The result is a captivating look through an iconic filmmaker’s work that goes far beyond a simple DVD commentary feature. The documentary sheds enough light on the long list of movies attributed to Mr. De Palma that you’ll want to revisit the ones you’ve seen and finally watch the titles that you’ve put off.

Back in 1967 French filmmaker Francois Truffaut (The 400 Blows, Day For Night) sat down with legendary director Alfred Hitchcock to discuss his filmmaking style and career up to that point. This new documentary from Kent Jones acts like a companion piece to the book Truffaut wrote from his interview, which includes several audio recordings from the actual interview. He also calls in several prominent directors such as; Martin Scorsese, Wes Anderson, Richard Linklater, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, David Fincher, and others who offer insight on the master of suspense’s work.

Hitchcock/Truffaut premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May and recently at Telluride and TIFF, and will open in New York on December 2nd. If you consider yourself a film buff, or simply curious to what made Hitchcock so special, be sure to check out the trailer for Hitchcock/Truffaut.

True crime documentary films have the power to set the record straight, to observe facts and events with a clear eye. Films like Paradise Lost and The Thin Blue Line set men free from life or death sentences for crimes they did not commit. During last night’s mini-series finale of The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst, something else happened. Andrew Jarecki’s entertaining pulp profile of the millionaire real estate family and the suspicion surrounding three murders ended with the filmmakers uncovering the smoking gun. Durst had been determined not guilty in a previous case and was a prime suspect in two others, but without proof that could fully link him. If you didn’t watch The Jinx finale (or any of it), it is a prime example of the power of film and its real-world effect. You can also see the wonderful New York Times rendering of events, news that broke shortly before we saw it all play out on HBO. And here are other news items from the week that you may have missed:

RIP Richard Glatzer, Co-director of Still Alice

Remembering a film artist that has passed on wasn’t intended to be a staple in this weekly feature, but that is unfortunately how things have played out recently. Richard Glatzer, who battled ALS while continuing his career as a writer and film director, is a true hero. His last film, Still Alice, is a beautiful portrayal of how disease can affect an entire family, but also a stirring tribute to those who don’t let their ailments deter them from life. The film will always be a touching tribute to Glatzer’s career. For a tribute on the man, please read the Hollywood Report.

It Follows Big Hit in Limited Release

While only grossing an estimated $163,000 in its opening weekend, the indie horror flick had the top per screen average of the weekend at $40,750. This puts It Follows as the second highest per screen opening average of the year, behind A Most Violent Year, and 9th overall in the past 12 months. The film has garnered rave reviews on the festival circuit, and we called its inventive monster one the scariest ever. It Follows will be spreading to more theaters in the coming weeks before it infects Video On-Demand on March 27.

Kevin Smith Announces Clerks III, Possible Other Films

A few years back, while we were all hotly anticipated Red State, Kevin Smith announced that he was going to retire from filmmaking to focus on podcasting and film distribution. Well, the prolific indie filmmaker has apparently had a change of heart. From The Dissolve, Smith has announced that he’ll be revisiting the series that put him on the map, as Clerks III will begin shooting in May. Currently, Smith has a few other projects in the works, including Yoga Hosers (a sorta spiritual sequel to Tusk), and potentially a sequel to his early film Mallrats.

Martin Scorsese (Maybe) Directing Mike Tyson Biopic

In other director attaching news, Jamie Foxx teased that the legendary director will be helming his long anticipated Mike Tyson biopic during an interview on Uproxx. Scorsese, of course, made the greatest profile of a boxer of all time, so this would be an interesting return to the ring. Raging Bull defined how combat sports are put on film and Scorsese could be the perfect fit for the dynamic and ferocious personality of Mike Tyson. At this point, there is no confirmation, but we can dream a little, can’t we?

SXSW Opens Its 2015 Fest

Austin’s SXSW film festival has grown into one of the biggest destinations for indie and genre films, with films like Tiny Furniture, Bridesmaids, The Cabin in the Woods and Chef making their world premieres in recent years. Couldn’t make it to Austin this year? Well, we have you covered with reviews from the festival all week. You can check out the full lineup here.

Trailer of the Week: Iris

Last week I mentioned the late filmmaker Albert Maysles’s upcoming film Iris, and now the first trailer for the doc has dropped. The portrait of legendary fashion icon Iris Apfel looks to fit alongside a number of recent fantastic documentary profiles of aging artists such as Bill Cunningham New York, Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work, Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me and Jiro Dreams of Sushi. Check out the trailer below!

Check out the new poster and first trailer for Revenge of the Green Dragons, directed by Andy Lau (Infernal Affairs) and produced by Martin Scorsese.

Revenge of the Green Dragons plays like an Asian-American version of Mean Streets, chronicling a vibrant underground crime scene in New York’s Chinatown during the late 1980s. Based on Frederick Dannen’s popular New Yorker article, the film stars Justin Chon and Kevin Wu as gangster brothers who have to take on being immigrants in the American metropolis, in addition to cops and rival gangs. The film could be a potent mix of Hong Kong action and New York City crime epic, which could prove a pretty winning combo.

The film debuts at the Toronto Film Festival and will then be available to DirecTV customers on demand starting September 11 before it hits theaters in October.

Revenge of the Green Dragons movie poster

I will never forget the day Roger Ebert passed away. As a film critic, I was left with a feeling of dreadful hopelessness as one of the most prominent film critics of all time was no longer with us. As I sulked in my car, the song “A Real Hero” from Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive began to play and brought tears to my eyes. It was purely a coincidence, but nevertheless miraculously appropriate. There are many people who viewed Ebert as a real hero, myself included.

Life Itself follows Ebert’s written memoir of the same name very closely, even displaying on screen what chapter from the book is being discussed. However, Steve James’ documentary is more than just a retelling of the book as it provides new material, making it a great companion piece. The bulk of the supplemental material shows Ebert during his last four months of his life, making it feel like an epilogue of both the book and his life. Because Ebert helped launch James’ career as a filmmaker after declaring his 1994 documentary Hoop Dreams to be the best film of the decade, it makes perfect sense that Steve James would be the documentarian in charge of showing Ebert’s story.

Ebert began as a professional film critic in the late ‘60s after the position was essentially handed to him when the former critic of the Chicago Sun-Times left. Throughout his career, Ebert continuously embraced technology and adapted to the times better than anyone else in the field. Less than ten years later, he began to co-host a weekly television show that skyrocketed his notoriety. Later in life, Ebert became an early adopter of blogging and using Twitter before it became standard platforms for critics. Being technologically-forward proved to be extremely important as he ended up relying on those services to stay vocal after losing the ability to speak due to a complication of his thyroid cancer. It is shown in the documentary that Ebert was eagerly involved with the new responsive design layout of his website, which tragically launched days after he passed away.

It is hard to talk about Ebert’s life without mentioning Gene Siskel. The documentary recalls how the two were basically professional enemies working for two competing newspapers in Chicago when they first met. Even after the two formed a very close-knit friendship, both professionally and personally, they never minced their words with one another. A couple of clips featured in Life Itself show the two verbally assaulting each other; hilarious to witness but it demonstrates how passionate they both were. A statement made in the documentary perfectly sums up their relationship, “They are like Siamese twins joined at the rear.”

Martin Scorsese is another famous filmmaker that Ebert helped bring people’s attention to after he gave a rave review of the 1967 film Who’s That Knocking at My Door. Therefore, it is fitting that Scorsese is listed as an executive producer of the documentary, especially when James captures Scorsese emotionally acknowledging that Ebert and Siskel saved his life during his heavy addiction period. Ebert had considered Scorsese to be the American Fellini, adoring most of his films and eventually writing a book about him. But Ebert maintained a professional relationship with the director, even criticizing the director’s work in The Color of Money. Even if Scorsese didn’t always flat-out agree with Ebert’s opinion, he respected it. More than anything, it demonstrated how unbiased Ebert could be even towards someone he greatly admired—a quality all journalists should strive to have.

Life Itself utilizes the voice talent of Stephen Stanton for the scenes in which Ebert is retelling stories from his book. His voice resembles that of Ebert so closely that if you did not remember that the book was written after he lost the ability to speak, you would think it is actually Ebert narrating the documentary. James brilliantly leaves in the computer-generated voice whenever Ebert communicated something new that was not from the book. The decision to use both types of voices for Ebert is as clever as it is functional, doing so helps distinguish Ebert’s earlier thoughts from the present narrative.

James admitted in the Q & A that making a film about the beloved film critic was a daunting task considering the film would obviously be assessed by the critical crowd. It doesn’t help that James has typically featured unknown non-celebrities in his past projects. For example, Hoop Dreams features a couple of ordinary inner-city teenagers who were unknown to people outside of Chicago high school basketball. This, however, may be why James is the perfect person to direct this film. Interviews featured in Life Itself reveal that deep down Ebert was just a regular Midwesterner, a trait which allowed him to intelligently speak to the common man.

Perhaps the best part about Ebert’s work is that agreeing with his writing wasn’t always necessary in order to appreciate it. He changed the medium of film criticism, but more importantly he opened millions of people’s eyes to great films with effortless insight and knowledge, teaching them how to truly appreciate a film. His universal appeal makes his final days even more crushing.  In the film Ebert intends to answer interview questions from James over email, but due to his worsening health conditions he only responds with, “I can’t.” Although Life Itself is not exactly groundbreaking in terms of documentary filmmaking, it serves as a superb tribute that will leave Roger Ebert fans delighted and inspired. Thumbs Up.

It requires a lot of restraint for me not to put down Steve McQueen as the director that should win the award on Oscar night. I believe he is one of the best upcoming directors of our time, so I am delighted that he is finally starting to be recognized for his brilliant work. In 12 Years a Slave, Steve McQueen was able to capture deeply moving performances from his cast and present difficult subject matter in a raw and powerful way. Despite all of this, I must concede that there is another director that might deserve the win just slightly more.

Alfonso Cuarón’s expert filmmaking abilities are on full display in the visually breathtaking film Gravity. The film opens with what I would consider to be one of the best scenes in all of 2013. The director uses a long continuous (digitally blended) fifteen-minute shot that introduces the characters and also establishes the vast environment of space. Despite a relatively weak story, it would be hard to argue that the cinematography and visual effects found within the film are anything but downright stunning. Cuarón spent four years developing the film and it certainly shows.

The rest of the field in this category (David O. Russell, Alexander Payne, and Martin Scorsese) have tremendous amounts of reputation behind them. The only director that I would exclude from the category is David O. Russell for American Hustle. The film benefited from a stellar cast, but did not have much else going for it. Although it would be a long shot, it would have been nice to see Destin Cretton in this group for his breakout indie film Short Term 12. Other worthy nominees for Best Director are Derek Ciafrance for The Place Beyond the Pines and Paul Greengrass for Captain Phillips. However, the biggest nomination snub from the Academy was the absence of Spike Jonze on the ballot. His vision in the film Her was one of the most original and artistic achievements in cinema that 2013 had to offer.

Category Predictions

Best Director Nominees

David O. Russell – American Hustle (review)

Alfonso Cuarón – Gravity (review)

Alexander Payne – Nebraska (review)

Steve McQueen – 12 Years a Slave (review)

Martin Scorsese – The Wolf of Wall Street (review)

Previous Category Analysis

Best Shorts
Best Supporting Actress
Best Supporting Actor
Best Original Screenplay
Best Adapted Screenplay
Best Foreign Film
Best Documentary
Best Actress
Best Actor

Martin Scorsese went cold after surprising everybody with his 2006 Best Picture winning The Departed. Years of toiling for Oscar with big-scale period epics like Gangs of New York and The Aviator reaped little reward. Instead, it was a violent, rapidly-paced gangster picture with its loose roaming camera that finally gave a great director his due. In the seven years since, he’s made a slick thriller from a popcorn crime page-turner (Shutter Island), a couple of music documentaries (Shine a Light and George Harrison: Living in the Material World), a love-letter to his art disguised as a family movie (Hugo), but nothing to match the equal parts existential tragedy and offhanded comedy of the aforementioned Oscar champ; his best film since setting the mold with Goodfellas. Cue The Wolf of Wall Street, the 5-times nominated gonzo Jordan Belfort biopic that, while hardly ‘indie,’ is more against-grain than you’d think.

Working from a script by his Boardwalk Empire collaborator and show runner Terrence Winter, with The Wolf of Wall Street  Scorsese sets a feverish pace and never lets up, as if defying anyone to get bored across its epic, 180-minute runtime. A quick scene-setting with a wide-eyed graduate Belfort and his mentor, Mark Hanna (Matthew McConaughey, who can currently do no wrong) thrusts us right into the mindset of the wolfish stockbrokers that guide the audience through this twisted version of that elusive dream: pump some people up, screw some people over, then subject mind and body to enough excess to forget the amorality of it all. The film doesn’t waste it’s time getting into the specifics of the acts of swindling executed by Belfort and his merry pack of deranged bandits. Scorsese is more focused on the life they lived as a result of it: the seductive extravagance of it, the excitable glee we feel toward it as we live vicariously through the actions unfolding. It’s a hardline stance against giving the film a moral compass to relate to (and Academy members love their moral compasses) that has equally found detractors decrying Scorsese’s glorification of the depravity, and champions praising the artistic verve in his aligning the camera with the repugnant pricks, so that we experience the same empty, uncaring attitude they hold for their victims; the same selfishly indulgent attention for only their possessions, their own highs, their own comedowns and sexual coups.

It’s brash, bold filmmaking, but those qualities are worn like a face tattoo: overtly apparent and even attention-seeking, as if Scorsese wanted to subtly remind us he made Goodfellas by taking a megaphone into an echo chamber and blaring “Remember when I made Goodfellas?!?” Leonardo DiCaprio gives a brilliantly committed performance as a classically deluded Scorsesian protagonist, blind to his steadily advancing comeuppance because his brain renders ideas quicker than his rearview can reveal the speed bumps. But when he breaks the fourth wall to remind us we don’t really care about the technicalities of what he did, it’s his best Henry Hill conceding to the artifice of the work of art. And when he’s doing his best His Left Foot, in a magnificent expired quaaludes sequence that’s both a peak and nadir in Belfort’s story, it’s with the kind of satisfying, outwardly showy performing that makes you miss the frustrated, inwardly-focused anguish that so marked his unawarded career-best work in The Departed.

Still, add in the comic chops of Jonah Hill, as deranged caporegime Donnie, and a relatively unknown Margot Robbie (as Belfort’s second wife, Naomi) — who, for better or worse, has nailed the sort of role that will make her a lot better known — as well as bit parts from Hollywood’s finest just-shy-of-A-Listers (McConaughey, Kyle Chandler, Jean Dujardin, to name a few), and The Wolf of Wall Street offers more than enough to satisfy at the cineplex. It’s an explicitly funny, absolutely entertaining three hours that nonetheless leaves us with a distinctive sense of emptiness, despite the fullness of aesthetic experience to which we’ve just been subject. Scorsese means precisely to close the film with his camera turned back to the audience, with a moment that — in perhaps another nod to The Departed — is almost cheekily literal. In spite of its length, it’s been said that The Wolf of Wall Street barely scratches the surface, hardly covering half of the story contained in the book. It may have just been a running time thing. Maybe I look too hard for poetics. But I like the idea that Scorsese wanted his audience to close the loop by design.

The Wolf of Wall Street trailer:

The first images from Quentin Tarantino’s latest film Django Unchained have been released. One image shows former slave Django (played by Jamie Foxx) alongside a bounty hunter (played by Christopher Waltz) that is helping him to get his wife back from an evil plantation owner. [Paste]

Speaking of Django Unchained, the movie poster has been unveiled for it. It looks pretty wicked if I must say so myself. [IFC]

Despite Hugo having a lackluster overall box office performance (even though critically it did well, winning five Oscars) Martin Scorsese stands firm on his love for 3D. He expects to use 3D in all of his future projects. [Movieline]

Jennifer Connelly and Saoirse Ronan have been confirmed to join Russell Crowe in the cast for Darren Aronofsky’s upcoming film Noah. Playlist reports that Liam Neeson may be playing the villain role. [Playlist]

As if Noah will not be keeping Darren Aronofsky busy, the rumor is he will be doing a biopic about George Washington called The General. [Twitch]

My favorite indie duo, the Duplass brothers, have been hired to adapt a screenplay from Tony D’Souza’s novel Mule. Mark and Jay Duplass will not be directing it though, instead Todd Phillips of The Hangover will be. [Deadline]

Wes Anderson fans are in for a real treat, six clips from Moonrise Kingdom have arrived. The film is one of the most anticipated films of the year and as we reported, it will be opening Cannes film festival this year. [Twitch]

Speaking of clips, the opening scene of The Dictator has been made released by Paramount Pictures. The film stars Sacha Baron Cohen, John C. Reilly, Megan Fox, and Ben Kingsley. Watch the nearly 2 minute clip over on ComingSoon. [ComingSoon]

The indie short film The Southern Belle is now streaming on Snag Films in it’s entirety (10 minutes) for free. You can see the movie review we did on the short film here. [SnagFilms]

“Come and dream with me,” a character says a one point during Hugo, which would also have been a very appropriate way to begin the film. A story about a young orphan who lives at a train station trying to solve a mystery link to his father is not be a kind of film Martin Scorsese is used to doing, but it does not show. It is a film about dreams and magical realism adventures that is entertaining for both children and adults.

Set in Paris during the 1930’s at a train station where a young orphan boy named Hugo Cabret (Asa Butterfield) keeps the station clocks running. He learned how to fix clocks from his father before he passed away. In a way of honoring his memories, Hugo continues to fix clocks and other gadgets around the station.

One item in particular that reminds him most about his father is an automaton, a mechanical man his father received from a museum. Guided by an old journal of his father’s notes, Hugo tries to complete what his father and he were not able to do which is to get the automaton working again. Standing in his way is a special heart shaped key that Hugo must find in order to unlock a secret message the automaton is believed to have.

In order to get the parts needed for the automaton, Hugo steals gears and other equipment from a local station toy shopkeeper, Georges Melies (Ben Kingsley). Melies is an old grumpy man who finally catches Hugo stealing from him one day. He takes Hugo’s father’s book of notes from him and threatens to burn them.

Hugo follows Melies home and begs him not to burn his precious notes but the grumpy old man shows no sympathy. Hugo does manage to befriend Melies’ goddaughter, Isabelle (Chloe Moretz), who agrees to try to stop her godfather’s actions. The two form a friendship full of adventures and discovery as Isabelle shows Hugo the world of literature and he shows her the world of cinema.

They stumble upon a book about the pioneers of cinema such as Lumieres’ Arrival of a Train at the Station and read about how the audience literally jumped out of their seats while watching because they were afraid the train was going to hit them. They soon discover that Georges Melies was actually a legendary filmmaker which begins another discovery in which they find a link between Melies and Hugo’s father.

The second half of Hugo is really about paying respect to the history of cinema. Scorsese educates his viewers on the importance of Georges Melies’ legendary filmmaking career. Starting out as a French illusionist he turned to filmmaking as a way to display his technical special effects in a new medium. Clips from A Trip to the Moon are shown many times throughout the film.

2011 was a year in which the top two Oscar winners shared one major thing in common, they both paid tribute to the lost art of silent cinema. Both Hugo and The Artist showcase the extraordinary power of silent films and both illustrate the important influences from which films today came from. As I said when I reviewed The Artist, if you appreciate and are passionate about films you will appreciate this film.

This is the second Scorsese film in a row that Ben Kingsley stars in (the last one being Shutter Island) and Kingsley certainly does a great job with the role of Melies. The role demanded him to play a stiff old grumpy man whose days at being at the top are long behind him. Asa Butterfield is excellent as the lead in Hugo just as he was for his previous lead role in The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. He is definitely a talented young actor as these two films confirm.

It only makes sense that a film that is largely about the preservation of old films was done by Martin Scorsese as he is a huge advocate of such thing in real life. In 1990 he founded a non-profit organization that is dedicated to film preservation called, The Film Foundation.

Hugo starts off more of a kid’s adventure film but ends up being more of a shrine to the beginning of film for adults. There are times were it was fairly predictable but considering it was aimed for all audiences it is not all that surprising. There are love stories mixed in with magical adventures as well as a history lesson in filmmaking all found in Hugo. It is an unconventional film for Martin Scorsese, one that truly shows his range as one of the best American directors of our time and it does not disappoint.

The nominations for the 2012 Oscars were announced this morning with Hugo leading the pack for the 84nd Academy Awards with 11 nominations. The Artist came in as a close second with 10 nominations including; Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best Score. This is the first year with the new Best Picture rule, no longer is there a set number of Best Picture nominations, instead a film needs to get 5% of votes get a nomination. The new rule is a great change. This year still ended up with 9 films, a few more than I expected.

Perhaps the biggest surprises were The Tree Of Life getting nominations for Best Picture and Best Director, which I am glad that film is getting some love from the Academy. Other shocker is Michael Fassbender not getting a nomination for Best Actor for his role in Shame, shame on you Academy. Tilda Swinton comes up empty for Best Actress for We Need To Talk About Kevin. But some good news, Gary Oldman received his very first Oscar nomination which makes a lot of people happy.

Full List of 2012 Oscar Nominations:

The Artist
The Descendants
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
The Help
Hugo
Midnight In Paris
Moneyball
The Tree Of Life
War Horse

Michel Hazanavicius – The Artist
Alexander Payne – The Descendants
Martin Scorsese – Hugo
Woody Allen – Midnight In Paris
Terrence Malick – The Tree Of Life

Demian Bichir – A Better Life
Jean Dujardin – The Artist
George Clooney – The Descendants
Brad Pitt – Moneyball
Gary Oldman – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Glenn Close – Albert Nobbs
Viola Davis – The Help
Rooney Mara – The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Meryl Streep – The Iron Lady
Michelle Williams – My Week With Marilyn

Kenneth Branagh – My Week With Marilyn
Jonah Hill – Moneyball
Nick Nolte – Warrior
Christopher Plummer – Beginners
Max Von Sydow – Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Berenice Bejo – The Artist
Jessica Chastain – The Help
Melissa McCarthy – Bridesmaids
Janet McTeer – Albert Nobbs
Octavia Spencer – The Help

Michel Hazanavicius – The Artist
Kristin Wiig & Annie Mumulo – Bridesmaids
J.C. Chandor – Margin Call
Woody Allen – Midnight In Paris
Asghar Farhadi – A Separation

Jim Rash, Nat Faxon, Alexander Payne – The Descendants
John Logan – Hugo
George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon – The Ides Of March
Steve Zaillian & Aaron Sorkin – Moneyball
Peter Straughan & Bridget O’Connor – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

A Separation
Bullhead
Footnote
In Darkness
Monsieur Lazhar

A Cat In Paris
Chico & Rita
Kung Fu Panda 2
Puss In Boots
Rango

Hell And Back Again
If A Tree Falls; A Story Of The Earth Liberation Front
Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory
Pina
Undefeated

Guillaume Shiffman – The Artist
Jeff Cronenweth – The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Robert Richardson – Hugo
Emmanuel Lubezki – The Tree Of Life
Janusz Kaminski – War Horse

Anne-Sophie Bion & Michel Hazavanicius – The Artist
Kevin Tent – The Descendants
Kirk Baxter & Angus Wall – The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Thelma Schoonmaker – Hugo
Christopher Tellefsen – Moneyball

The Artist
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 2
Hugo
Midnight In Paris
War Horse

Anonymous
The Artist
Hugo
Jane Eyre
W.E.

Albert Nobbs
Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows Pt. 2
The Iron Lady

Ludovic Bource – The Artist
Alberto Iglesias – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Howard Shore – Hugo
John Williams – The Adventures Of Tintin
John Williams – War Horse

“Man Or Muppet” – The Muppets
“Real In Rio” – Rio

Drive
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
Transformers: The Dark Of The Moon
War Horse

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
Moneyball
Transformers: The Dark of The Moon
War Horse

Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Pt. 2
Hugo
Real Steel
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Transformers: The Dark of the Moon

The Barber Of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement
God Is The Bigger Elvis
Incident In New Baghdad
Saving Face
The Tsunami & The Cherry Blossom

Dimanche
The Fantastic Flying Books Of Mr. Morris Lessmore
La Luna
A Morning Stroll
Wild Life

Pentecost
Raju
The Shore
Time Freak
Tuba Atlantic

Ricky Gervais returned as the host for the 69th Golden Globe Awards offending attendees with a beer just as he did last year. Although, this year he was a little more tame with his jokes, he proved he was worthy of being a repeating host.

As expected The Artist ended up with the most wins with three (including Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical and Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical). But The Descendants was a close second with two big wins (Best Motion Picture — Drama and Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama).

On the TV side of the awards no one show dominated and there were some surprises, namely Kelsey Grammer winning as Best Actor in a Drama and Matt LeBlanc getting a win for Best Actor in a Comedy. Game Of Thrones, Modern Family and American Horror Story each walked out with a win while Boardwalk Empire and Breaking Bad sadly going home empty handed.

The full list of Golden Globe film winners:
(The winners are highlighted in bold red font)

Best Motion Picture – Drama:
The Descendants
The Help
Hugo
The Ides of March
Moneyball
War Horse

Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical:
50/50
The Artist
Bridesmaids
Midnight in Paris
My Week With Marilyn

Best Director:
Woody Allen – Midnight in Paris
George Clooney – The Ides of March
Michel Hazanavicius – The Artist
Alexander Payne – The Descendants
Martin Scorsese – Hugo

Best Actress – Drama:
Glenn Close – Albert Nobbs
Viola Davis – The Help
Rooney Mara – The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Meryl Streep – The Iron Lady
Tilda Swinton – We Need to Talk About Kevin

Best Actor – Drama:
George Clooney – The Descendants
Leonardo DiCaprio – J. Edgar
Michael Fassbender – Shame
Ryan Gosling – The Ides of March
Brad Pitt – Moneyball

Best Actress – Comedy or Musical:
Jodie Foster – Carnage
Charlize Theron – Young Adult
Kristen Wiig – Bridesmaids
Michelle Williams – My Week With Marilyn
Kate Winslet – Carnage

Best Actor – Comedy or Musical:
Jean Dujardin – The Artist
Brendan Gleeson – The Guard
Joseph Gordon-Levitt – 50/50
Ryan Gosling – Crazy, Stupid, Love
Owen Wilson – Midnight In Paris

Best Supporting Actress:
Berenice Bejo – The Artist
Jessica Chastain – The Help
Janet McTeer – Albert Nobbs
Octavia Spencer – The Help
Shailene Woodley – The Descendants

Best Supporting Actor:
Kenneth Branagh – My Week with Marilyn
Albert Brooks – Drive
Jonah Hill – Moneyball
Viggo Mortensen – A Dangerous Method
Christopher Plummer, Beginners

Best Foreign Language Film:
The Flowers of War (China)
In the Land of Blood and Honey (USA)
The Kid With a Bike (Belgium)
A Separation (Iran)
The Skin I Live In (Spain)

Best Screenplay – Motion Picture:
Woody Allen – Midnight in Paris
George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon – The Ides of March
Michel Hazanavicius – The Artist
Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash – The Descendants
Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin – Moneyball

Best Original Score – Motion Picture:
Ludovic Bource – The Artist
Abel Korzeniowski – W.E.
Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross – The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Howard Shore – Hugo
John Williams – War Horse

Best Animated Feature Film:
The Adventures of Tintin
Arthur Christmas
Cars 2
Puss in Boots
Rango

Best Original Song – Motion Picture:
Hello Hello – Gnomeo & Juliet, music by Elton John, lyrics by Bernie Taupin
The Keeper – Machine Gun Preacher, music and lyrics by Chris Cornell
Lay Your Head Down – Albert Nobbs, music by Brian Byrne, lyrics by Glenn Close
The Living Proof – The Help, music by Mary J. Blige, Thomas Newman, Harvey Mason Jr.; lyrics by Mary J. Blige, Harvey Mason Jr., Damon Thomas
Masterpiece – W.E., music and lyrics by Madonna, Julie Frost, Jimmy Harry

Cecil B. DeMille Award:
Morgan Freeman

The full list of Golden Globe television winners:

Best Drama Series:
American Horror Story
Boardwalk Empire
Boss
Game of Thrones
Homeland

Best Comedy Or Musical:
Enlightened
Episodes
Glee
Modern Family
New Girl

Best TV Movie/Miniseries:
Cinema Verite
Downton Abbey
The Hour
Mildred Pierce
Too Big to Fail

Best Actress – Drama:
Claire Danes – Homeland
Mireille Enos – The Killing
Julianna Margulies – The Good Wife
Madeleine Stowe – Revenge
Callie Thorne – Necessary Roughness

Best Actor – Drama:
Steve Buscemi – Boardwalk Empire
Bryan Cranston – Breaking Bad
Kelsey Grammer – Boss
Jeremy Irons – The Borgias
Damian Lewis – Homeland

Best Actress – Comedy or Musical:
Laura Dern – Enlightened
Zooey Deschanel – New Girl
Tina Fey – 30 Rock
Laura Linney – The Big C
Amy Poehler – Parks and Recreation

Best Actor – Comedy or Musical:
Hugh Bonneville – Downtown Abbey
Idris Elba – Luther
William Hurt – Too Big to Fail
Bill Nighy – Page Eight
Dominic West – The Hour

Best Actress – TV Movie/Miniseries:
Romola Garai – The Hour
Diane Lane – Cinema Verite
Elizabeth McGovern – Downton Abbey
Emily Watson – Appropriate Adult
Kate Winslet – Mildred Pierce

Best Actor – TV Movie/Miniseries:
Alec Baldwin – 30 Rock
David Duchovny – Californication
Johnny Galecki – The Big Bang Theory
Thomas Jane – Hung
Matt LeBlanc – Episodes

Best Supporting Actress – TV Series:
Jessica Lange – American Horror Story
Kelly MacDonald – Boardwalk Empire
Maggie Smith – Downtown Abbey
Sofia Vergara – Modern Family
Evan Rachel Wood – Mildred Pierce

Best Supporting Actor – TV Series:
Peter Dinklage – Game of Thrones
Paul Giamatti – Too Big to Fail
Guy Pearce – Mildred Pierce
Tim Robbins – Cinema Verite
Eric Stonestreet – Modern Family