Events, offers and releases 13/1/14

the image features a still from the movie The Wolf of Wall Street. In the image, Leonardo DiCaprio is being pushed away by a beautiful woman.
the image features a still from the movie The Wolf of Wall Street. In the image, Leonardo DiCaprio is being pushed away by a beautiful woman.

Image via: chicagonow.com

This week there are two notable film releases, one’s set to scare you and the other will make you laugh.

The 16th January sees the release of Devil’s Due, a horror movie directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin. The film surrounds the events of the birth of a demonic baby, with plenty of frights and horrific moments ensuing.

For something a bit more light hearted, The Wolf of Wall Street hits cinemas on the 17th January and stars the ever popular, Leonardo DiCaprio. The Wolf of Wall Street is based on a true story of Jordan Belfort, an eccentric stockbroker who likes to do crazy things with his money.

In terms of offers, there’s currently a promotion going on over at tap4offers.com for two Cineworld tickets for just £11, so if you’re planning on going to the cinema this weekend, make sure to bring a friend and make best use of this offer.

Celebrating niche awards

Pictured is Jennifer Westfeldt receiving an award.

Left is a black and gold award with a square glass top containing a 3D styalised gold soundwave. Right are several CDFA awards, silver statuettes of a female figure. Left are the World Soundtrack Awards and Right are the statuettes given at the Costume Designers Guild Awards

Following on from Tis’ the season: A look at Film Awards, we’ve compiled a few lesser known awards, the Costume Designers Guild Awards, The World Soundtrack Awards and the Visual Effects Awards. Three entirely different yet equally interesting celebrations.

The Costume Designers Guild Awards have honoured costume designers in film since 1999.

The guild which was founded in 1953 represents costume designers, assistant costume designers and costume illustrators. Today the CDG includes around 750 costume designers, stylists and illustrators, many of which are based in LA.

The trophy for the CDG Awards is a sterling silver statuette created by costume designer, David Le Vay and manufactured by Italian jewellery designer Bvlgari. The beautiful and intricate design takes the form of an abstract female figure standing 37 centimetres tall and each one takes around 50 hours to make.

Until 2012, an annual ‘hall of fame’ award was presented, celebrating career achievement. One of the first winners in 1999 was Edith Head, the costume designer who sparked inspiration for Edna Mode the fictional eccentric fashion designer and superhero costume creator from The Incredibles.

The 16th Costume Designers Guild Awards will be held on February 22nd this year. Nominations include Suzy Benzinger for Blue Jasmine, Ann Maskrey, Richard Taylor and Bob Buck, for The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug and Catherine Martin for The Great Gatsby.

The 12th annual Visual Effects Awards will be held this year. The ceremony honours outstanding visual effects from throughout the past year and the artists behind them.

With more than 2,800 members in over 32 countries, the Visual Effects Society represents a wide breadth of visual effects experts including artists, technologists and model makers. The VES Awards have been held since 2003 when they celebrated achievement in 2002. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers won eight awards in the first ceremony, including Best Visual Effects in a Driven Motion Picture.

This year’s Visual Effects Awards will be held on February 12th at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. Nominations are yet to be announced but we predict that Gravity, The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug and Star Trek into Darkness will do well.

Moving on to something quite different; the World Soundtrack Awards celebrate music in film. Partnered with the Film Festival Ghent, the awards have been celebrated alongside the festival since 2001.  The ceremony is held annually held each October in Belgium and awards include; Best Original Song Written for a Film, Best Original Soundtrack of the Year and the Lifetime Achievement Award.

The event often includes a performance from the Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra which has strong ties with the Film Fest Ghent, regularly partnering for recordings and concerts. Dirk Brossé, the conductor of the BPO, composed the Emmy nominated score for BBC drama Parade’s End.

The statuette for the World Soundtrack Awards is based on a sine wave – a sound wave represented on a computer screen. The wave is cut down to one single stylised undulation, and is then looped five times creating the shape of a crown. In the glass top of the statuette the wave floats ‘as it is not subject to gravity’ and the base is black referencing Bakelite, an early plastic commonly used for radios.

The 2013 World Soundtrack Awards have already taken place. Skyfall was awarded the accolade of Best Original Song, and Life of Pi won both Best Original Film Score of the Year and Film Composer of the Year. The 2014 Awards will take place in October this year.

This week in history: 6th – 12th January

Will Hunting and Dr Sean Maguire
Will Hunting writing equations on a blackboard

Image via drafthouse.com

On the 9th of January, 1997 two friends from Cambridge, Massachusetts, became stars overnight with Good Will Hunting. This was Matt Damon and Ben Affleck’s breakthrough in acting and screenwriting and the movie that lifted them from character actor parts in films like Mystic Pizza and Glory Days to A-list roles. Not to mention winning both of them a Best Screenplay Academy Award.

Originally written as a thriller, Good Will Hunting developed into a character piece about a mathematical genius who works as a janitor at MIT and his relationship with his therapist (played by the fantastic Robin Williams). The modestly budgeted film that started on only $10 million went on to gross over $200 million worldwide. The student and mentor relationship story at the heart of the film had certainly been seen before, but Director Gus Van Sant brought a freshness to the storytelling, and locals Affleck and Damon felt like they had lived in the roles their whole lives.

On a less-than-light note, on the 9th of the same month back in 1943 a film named Hitler’s Children was released. This black and white film is known for its portrayal of the brutalities carried out by the Hitler Youth, in particular focusing on two young participants. A huge hit in America at the time, Hitler’s Children turned a $205, 000 budget into a $1.21 million profit.

5 facts about The Golden Globe Statuette.

The Golden Globe Award Statuette, a golden globe sat on top of a granite base.

The Golden Globe Award

The Golden Globe Award Statuette, a golden globe sat on top of a granite base.

Golden Globe Award Statue. Credit HFPA

Official Name – Golden Globe Award

Height – 10¾ inches

Weight – 5½ pound

Designer – Society Awards, New York

Fact

  • Each Golden Globe Award is individually hand-finished and presented in red velvet lined, leather bound chest with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association logo stamped in gold.
  • It has a 24-karat gold-plated zinc die cast top.
  • Society awards redesigned the statuette in 2008 to give it a new marble base and adjust the metal top to improve durability and aesthetics.
  • The top of the award is a globe wrapped in a film strip.
  • The marble for the stand is sourced from Europe and each individual award is hand carved to perfection.

Events, offers and releases 06/01/14

image via hdwallpaper.com
Pictured is the poster for the upcoming release of walking with dinosaurs 3D.

Image via www.kingroomentertainment.com.

The Golden Globes 2014 will return this Sunday, with Jennifer Lawrence, Leonardo DiCaprio and Bryan Cranston all expected to sweep up the main awards before next months Baftas, closely followed by the Oscars in early March.

Mark Wahlberg’s new film Lone Survivor, which tells the story of four US Navy Seals on an ill-fated mission in Afghanistan, is due for release on Friday and has already been highly recommended by critics.

And finally, Vue cinema are offering a free kids ticket to families attending showings of Walking with Dinosaurs: The 3D Movie, which will be redeemable from Sunday 12th January until Thursday the 27th February. For more info visit the “MyVue” website here.