Three Georgia Films Nominated for 2017 Academy Awards

While Georgia’s film industry continues to expand in all directions, it is only natural that we see an increase in the presence of Georgia productions on end-of-the-year lists and in award presentations.

With the nominations for the 89th Academy Awards announced this morning, it comes as no surprise that three films made in Georgia showed up. Theodore Melfi’s “Hidden Figures,” Morten Tyldum’s “Passengers” and Clint Eastwood’s “Sully” all received nominations. No two Georgia films were nominated in the same category.

"Arrival" Review (****½)

Amy Adams stars in "Arrival."

Denis Villeneuve, one of our most consistent filmmakers, has crafted one of the best sci-fi movies of the decade with "Arrival." A slow-burn, intellectual approach keeps the story front and center—and what a story it is.

Amy Adams plays Louise Banks, a linguist whose skillset becomes invaluable when mysterious spacecrafts land around the world—twelve different ones to be exact. Hovering quietly above random locations across the globe, humanity has to make the next move. Do we attack? What do they want? Why are there twelve? These questions are only the beginning of the mystery that falls into the hands of Louise and her physicist partner Ian (Jeremy Renner).

Pablo Larraín's "Jackie" to Open Up Savannah Film Festival

Natalie Portman stars in "Jackie."

Pablo Larraín's highly-buzzed Jackie Kennedy Onassis biopic, "Jackie," is slated to open the 19th annual Savannah Film Festival on Saturday, October 20, 2016.

"Jackie" recently had its world premiere at TIFF, where it was bought by Fox Searchlight. The arthouse distributor is set to provide the film with a robust awards campaign, with Natalie Portman's lead performance sure to receive the most attention.

What to See at the 2016 Atlanta Jewish Film Festival

The largest Jewish film festival in the world returns for its Sweet Sixteen. Here is a list of titles for you to check out during the 23-day event.

We love that each new year of the Georgia film festival circuit kicks off with the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival. The city's most widely attended film event stretches out over three weeks at eight different venues across Midtown Atlanta, Buckhead, Alpharetta, Marietta, Vinings and Sandy Springs. No film festival in the state packs the house as consistently as AJFF and we are looking forward to joining in the opening night ceremonies on Tuesday, January 26 at the Cobb Energy Centre.

This year's lineup is as strong as ever, with films pouring in from all over the world and covering all sorts of thematic ground. Whether you want academic documentaries, Israeli award-winners, Japanese biopics, romantic comedies, musicals or whatever else you can think of—AJFF '16 has it.

We've compiled a long list of films you must see this year! See our picks after the jump.

"Mad Max: Fury Road" Named Best Picture of the Year by Georgia Film Critics Association

George Miller's blockbuster wins four total; "Inside Out" wins two, while "Ant-Man" receives Oglethorpe Award for Excellence in Georgia Cinema.

The Georgia Film Critics Association have announced the winners of their 2015 Awards slate. In their 5th year, they have named "Mad Max: Fury Road" the year's best film, taking home Best Picture, Best Director, Best Cinematography and Best Production Design. The haul of four awards is the second highest in the GAFCA's history, second only to the six awards that "The Tree of Life" won in 2011.

"Inside Out" was another big winner, taking home Best Animated Film and Best Original Screenplay for Pete Docter, Meg LeFauve and Josh Cooley. Alicia Vikander also took home two awards, Best Supporting Actress for "Ex Machina" and the Breakthrough Award. Jessica Chastain won the same two awards back in 2011. Also the Breakthrough Award winner in 2013, Brie Larson won Best Actress for "Room." Leonardo DiCaprio won Best Actor for "The Revenant" and Sylvester Stallone was named Best Supporting Actor for "Creed."

It was a tight year in several of the races, with the GAFCA releasing on twitter that the Best Supporting Actor and Best Score races resulted in near-ties and the Best Picture race saw half the nominees receiving several first-place mentions a piece. "Creed" director Ryan Coogler was second place in the Best Director race, despite his film not being a Best Picture nominee.

Best Foreign Film went to "Son of Saul," Best Documentary to "Amy" and Best Ensemble went to Tom McCarthy's "Spotlight." Georgia-lensed "Furious 7" won Best Original Song for "See You Again," performed by Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth.

"Ant-Man" was named as the winner for the 2015 Oglethorpe Award for Excellence in Georgia Cinema. Awarded to the films' directors and writers, previous winners include "John Portman: A Life of Building," "Sahkanaga," "Selma" and "The Spectacular Now."

Check out the full list of winners after the jump.

"Carol" Review (****)

Rooney Mara and Cate Blanchett star in "Carol."

Directed by Todd Haynes ("Far From Heaven," "I'm Not There"), “Carol” tells the story of a young shop girl in the 1950s who falls in love with an older, married woman. The film is based on the novel The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith. Haynes navigates this forbidden love story gracefully and gorgeously while infusing some of the best cinematography and set design of 2015.

Georgia Film Critics Association Announces 2015 Nominees

"Mad Max: Fury Road" and "Sicario" lead the pack; "Ex Machina," "Room," "Spotlight" land multiple nominations.

The Georgia Film Critics Association turns 5-years-old this year and has released the nominees for the last year in film. "Mad Max: Fury Road" leads the pack with 7 nominations. "Sicario" landed 6, with "Spotlight" and "Room" each getting 5. "Carol," "Ex Machina" and "The Martian" all earned 4 nominations.

Some surprises include "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl" landing a sole nomination for Best Picture, "The End of the Tour" being honored for Jason Segel and Adapted Screenplay, director Ryan Coogler landing a Best Director nod without "Creed" getting nominated for Best Picture and Rose Byrne showing up in the Best Supporting Actress race for "Spy."

Documentary nominee "The Look of Silence" was also nominated for Best Foreign Film. A voting tie results in the GAFCA's first ever list of 7 nominees for Best Actress. Steven Spielberg's "Bridge of Spies" earned 3 nominations, as did "Star Wars: The Force Awakens."

Georgia-lensed "Furious 7" was nominated for Best Original Song. The Oglethorpe Award for Excellence in Georgia Cinema will be announced with the winners list on Friday. A shortlist of considered films is expected to be released as well.

Several of these films were found on the Georgia film festival circuit this year. "Frame by Frame," "I'll See You in My Dreams," and "Love & Mercy" all played at the Atlanta Film Festival. "45 Years," "Amy," "Anomalisa," "Best of Enemies," "Brooklyn," "Frame by Frame," "The Hunting Ground," "Room," "Son of Saul," "Spotlight" and "Youth" all played at the Savannah Film Festival. Additionally, "Frame by Frame" played at the Macon Film Festival.

Winners will be announced on Friday, January 8th. Check out the full list of nominees after the jump.

The Goods: 20 Should-Be Oscar Contenders from 2015

The year is over. A lot of films have come and gone, but a few managed to stick in our heads for perhaps longer than we expected. Will these titles and their stars pop-up on the Academy's list in a couple weeks? Probably not, but maybe they should! 

We have compiled 20 should-be contenders this awards season. Some of them might surprise you! Who do you think should be in the conversation? Check out our list and leave a comment.

Sarah Gavron's "Suffragette" Opens Up the 2015 Savannah Film Festival (***)

We chat about how Carey Mulligan and Meryl Streep got involved and how she fell in love with Georgia after just a few hours in Savannah.

Each year, the Savannah Film Festival marks the unofficial anniversary of Reel Georgia. While it was launched a few months earlier in 2011, it wasn't until I booked it down to Savannah for two days in October that this website really started to post frequent, original content about Georgia films, Georgia festivals and the global industry from a Georgia perspective.

This year, my dedicated co-editor Lucy Doughty and eloquent contributor Jessica Hinckle join me here and together, there isn't a moment we will miss. Eighteen years in, SAVFF is at a peak artistically and commercially. Stars attending this year include Olivia Wilde, Alexander Skarsgard, Saoirse Ronan, Alfie Allen, Meg Ryan and Elizabeth Olsen. Tons of filmmaking talent is also attending—something the festival has obviously been spotlighting more in recent years, as the SCAD filmmaking programs continue to grow in popularity.

Among this year's attending filmmakers are director Sarah Gavron and producer Alison Owen of opening night film "Suffragette." I sat down with Gavron at the Trustees Theater ahead of the premiere, asking first and foremost what she thought of Georgia.

"I love it," she said. This is not just her first time in Savannah, it's her first time in the state at all. "I wandered around for two hours. I couldn’t believe how beautiful it was; it was very visual."

What to See at the 2015 Savannah Film Festival

The Savannah Film Festival has a special place in my heart because it was my coverage of the 2011 Savannah Film Festival that really launched Reel Georgia back four years ago. This will be my fifth time attending, and I'm happy that Lucy and Jessica will also be in Georgia's first city with me to cover the 18th annual event.

Opening night selection "Suffragette" and closing night selection "I Saw the Light" prove that Savannah has become a significant stop on the fall festival run. "Brooklyn," "Room," "Spotlight," "Truth" and "Youth" are just a few of the Oscar-bait titles screening at this years festival. A host of lesser profile prestige films, foreign titles and true indies dot the lineup. This really promises to be a great year.

We've highlighted over 30 films for you to check out at this year's festival. I know, that's an outrageous number of films to see in just eight days, but don't blame me—blame Savannah for upping their game!

"Sicario" Review (****½)

Emily Blunt stars as FBI agent Kate Macer in "Sicario."

French-Canadian director Denis Villeneuve's new addition to his dramatic, suspenseful filmography ("Incendies," "Prisoners") is "Sicario"—a brutal thriller about a government task force and its hunt for a violent drug cartel along the United States/Mexico border. Armed with a brilliant cast and a heart-pounding score, Villeneuve delivers one of the year's most beautifully shot, exhilarating films.

Georgia Icon Burt Reynolds Leads a Pack of Filmmakers Heading to 2015 Macon Film Festival

Burt Reynolds in his Academy Award-nominated role in "Boogie Nights."

Georgia-born film legend Burt Reynolds has been announced as a special guest of the 10th annual Macon Film Festival, taking place Thursday July 16 through Sunday July 19. Despite being born in Waycross, Reynolds was raised mostly in Michigan, Missouri and Florida. One of the biggest box office draws of the 1970s and 80s, Reynolds made it a point to return to his home state to film several of his hit films, including "The Cannonball Run," "Deliverance," "Gator," "The Longest Yard," "Sharky's Machine," "Six Pack," "Smokey and the Bandit," "Smokey and the Bandit II" and "Stroker Ace."

The Short Circuit: Documentary Oscar Nominees

As promised, we return today with a rundown of this year's Academy Award Nominated Documentary Shorts! Covering an array of weighty, often dismaying circumstances, this block represents more countries than it does emotions. This isn't a bad thing; no story as affecting as these should go untold. Here is our ranking of five films that capture the essence of documentary.

The Short Circuit: Live Action Oscar Nominees

With only two days to go before the Oscars grace our screens, you're running out of time to see what you haven't already. Worry not, dear reader—as far as the less circulated, harder-to-find short films are concerned, we've got your back. The Academy assembles the nominated shorts according to category and distributes them to certain theaters nationwide, typically those driven by independent film; only four in the Atlanta Metro area have screenings. I saw all five at Lefont this evening and will now rank them from least favorite to favorite. Fair warning: as I have little interest in Academy politics, this list points not to an official prediction but to an official preference. Check those little boxes at your own risk!

Review: "A Most Violent Year" (****½)

Jessica Chastain and Oscar Isaac star in "A Most Violent Year."

From the opening credits, "A Most Violent Year" is hypnotic. A tracking shot shows our lead, Abel (Oscar Isaac), jogging through a chilly New York. It’s 1981. Passing graffiti-covered buildings, piles of dirty snow and junk yards, we’re introduced to a New York rarely seen in film. The gorgeous, crisp sepia-toned colors and cool, clean tracking shots call to mind some of David Fincher’s more recent films. Perhaps writer director JC Chandor took a page from Fincher’s how-to-make-anything-and-everything-look-amazing playbook. It’s beautiful. The sun starts to rise as the city wakes up. After Abel finishes his morning run, we see his wife, Anna (Jessica Chastain), applying her make-up and listening to the local news on the radio as she stares into the mirror and exhales cigarette smoke. Soon after, the couple meets up in a damp, snowy parking lot as Abel grabs two brief cases from the trunk of his car and tells Anna that she “looks very nice.” At the same time, a young man driving a large truck pays his way through a toll booth on a bustling highway. The man is immediately blocked in by two cars, pulled out of his truck and beaten up by two strangers with hand guns. The words “A Most Violent Year” appear on the screen accompanied by the sound of a passing train.

Review: "Whiplash" (****½)

Miles Teller and JK Simmons star in "Whiplash."

"Whiplash" was—hands down—one of the two best narratives at the 2014 Savannah Film Festival (the other being "Two Days, One Night"). After it won both the Dramatic Jury Prize and the Dramatic Audience Prize at Sundance, a fast train of lofty expectations was set in motion—with J.K. Simmons' Oscar campaign leading the way.

Although the trailer and word-of-mouth had prepared me adequately for what to expect, I was caught off guard by just how electric this film is. Miles Teller and J.K. Simmons are singularly both very good, but it's the dynamic between them that creates a powerful surge that courses through the film before an explosive ending.

AJFF Review: "Mr. Kaplan" (****)

Héctor Noguera stars as Jacob Kaplan in "Mr. Kaplan"

It is 1937 in Sosnowiec, Poland when young Yankev Kaplan becomes a man. Renamed for the heroic biblical patriarch, the new and improved Jacob Kaplan internalizes his rabbi's charge to seize an "exceptional destiny" of his own. Sixty years after escaping WWII alone, 76-year-old Jacob (played by Héctor Noguera, a presence in South American television since the 1960s) begins to question whether the life he's built in Uruguay has accomplished what his father dreamt for him. "Is the world a better place because of me? How useful was I?" He asks these questions not in futility, but in hope, recalling that the likes of Goethe, Churchill, and Abraham achieved great things in old age. And so we begin to wonder with him: Does Jacob Kaplan have time to make a difference?

What to See at the 2015 Atlanta Jewish Film Festival

Six continents are represented across dozens of narratives, documentaries and short films in this diverse program from the 15th edition of the Southeast's largest film festival. Here are 23 films you need to see this year.

In its 15-year history, the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival has risen to the top of Georgia's and the Southeast's film festival circuits in terms of both attendees and expansive programming. Now spanning 25 days of film screenings at 7 venues—plus numerous parties—AJFF is one of the most well orchestrated and highly publicized events in the state each year.

This year's program offers the same great range in international Jewish or Jewish-interest films we've come to expect from the festival. You certainly don't have to be Jewish to attend or to enjoy these films; the festival's biggest hurdle being that of reaching beyond their obvious clientele. All that simply matters for you to enjoy AJFF is that you must like great films!

Whether you check out Israel's biggest hit films from the last year (Golden Globe nominee "Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem" or "Zero Motivation") or you want to educate yourself through a variety of non-fiction films ("Above All Else," "Raise the Roof"), there is something for everyone. There are world premieres ("Dough") and special anniversary screenings ("Avalon," "The Shop on Main Street").

The 15th annual Atlanta Jewish Film Festival kicks off next Wednesday, January 28th at the Cobb Energy Center and runs through February 19th at several different venues in Atlanta, Sandy Springs, Marietta and Alpharetta.

Check out nearly two dozen of our picks for this year's festival!

Review: "Two Days, One Night" (****½)

Fabrizio Rongione and Marion Cotillard star in "Two Days, One Night"

It was just two years ago at the Savannah Film Festival that I was floored by the power and emotional magnetism of both the film "Rust and Bone" and its lead performers, Marion Cotillard and Matthias Schoenaerts. I was a fan of Cotillard before that (going back to when I saw her in "La Vie en Rose" at the 2007 Atlanta Film Festival, the first time I attended any film festival) and I've become an even bigger Cotillard fan since. Naturally, when I saw that the Dardenne Brothers' film "Two Days, One Night" was playing at the Savannah Film Festival, I had a new top reason to attend.

I admit to not being familiar with the Dardenne Brothers' back catalog. I know they have won the Palm D'or twice and were highly buzzed to win it last year with "Two Days, One Night." I know what films they have made, I just haven't seen them. I went into this film with "Rust and Bone" on my mind and expectations of another masterful performance from one of the best actors of our time. The only thing both films share is an actress, and those expectations were exceeded beyond measure.

Two Takes: "American Sniper" Review

In our new review column, Cameron and Ali have a conversation and give both of their takes on Clint Eastwood's latest film, which just earned six Academy Award nominations.

Bradley Cooper stars as Chris Kyle in Clint Eastwood's "American Sniper."

Cameron: After three weeks in tremendously successful limited release, earning six Oscar nominations and a perfect storm of buzz and press interest, Clint Eastwood’s “American Sniper” opened up nationwide this weekend. I loved the film on many levels. What was your overall impression?

Ali: Overall impression? I’d say this is a very heavy film. And I loved it, too. I really did, I wish I wasn’t in such a rush after the movie. That way, I could really soak in the feeling I was left with after this film. Particularly with regard to what it means to be a war hero, I felt the entire time Clint Eastwood was playing like a devil’s advocate of sorts. I didn’t know if he was glorifying or horrifying it.