The sound editing teams behind Bohemian Rhapsody, Roma, A Quiet Place and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse were the winners on the film side at tonight’s 66th annual Golden Reel Awards at the Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles. The Americans, Atlanta, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Westworld led the TV series side.
They were among the recipients in 23 categories recognized by the Motion Picture Sound Editors (Mpse) for feature films, long-form and short-form television, animation, documentaries, games, special venue and other media.
Antoine Fuqua – whose credits include The Equalizer films, The Magnificent Seven, and Training Day – accepted the Mpse’s 2019 Filmmaker Award. Supervising Sound Editor Stephen H. Flick was awarded the Mpse Career Achievement honor.
The Golden Reels honor the year’s best work in the various areas of sound editing: Dialogue & Adr, Effects & Foley, and Music.
Here is the complete list of winners:
Filmmaker Award
Antoine Fuqua
Career Achievement Award
Stephen H.
They were among the recipients in 23 categories recognized by the Motion Picture Sound Editors (Mpse) for feature films, long-form and short-form television, animation, documentaries, games, special venue and other media.
Antoine Fuqua – whose credits include The Equalizer films, The Magnificent Seven, and Training Day – accepted the Mpse’s 2019 Filmmaker Award. Supervising Sound Editor Stephen H. Flick was awarded the Mpse Career Achievement honor.
The Golden Reels honor the year’s best work in the various areas of sound editing: Dialogue & Adr, Effects & Foley, and Music.
Here is the complete list of winners:
Filmmaker Award
Antoine Fuqua
Career Achievement Award
Stephen H.
- 2/18/2019
- by Anita Bennett
- Deadline Film + TV
An ambitious story about a fictional uprising on a slave ship, "Ill Gotten Gains" is, unfortunately, an ill-realized film. Funded by Don Wilson, a successful commodities trader at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, through his indie company, Spats Prods., this venture, using market parlance, could most charitably be described as a write-off.
The film played Saturday night at the 33rd annual Chicago International Film Festival to a half-empty multiplex venue, and this aesthetic washout seems unlikely to float beyond the sophisticated, festival set. Word-of-mouth will surely sink this disappointing enterprise, which debuted in February at the Pan African Film Festival in Ouagadougou, in the West African nation of Burkina Faso (formerly Upper Volta).
Set in 1869, "Ill Gotten Gains" takes place during a period after the U.S. Civil War when slavery was considered immoral and illegal, and slave-trading was a capital offense in many parts of the world. A heady mix of storytelling styles, from surrealism to in-your-face naturalism, the film begins with a smear of imagery from pre-colonial Africa, then slides into the throaty voice of Eartha Kitt as a voodoo, folkloric spirit trapped in the bowels of a slave hold. The viewer is thrust into the horrific squalor of the vessel, as the slaves are shackled, thrown together in the tightest possible alignment for their captors' profit.
Indeed, "Ill Gotten Gains" is most gripping in its depiction of the cramped, inhumane conditions of the slave ship; we see the enslavers regard their captives as if they were animals being driven to market. Unfortunately, the degradation and heinous treatment the slaves receive is ultimately muted by filmmaker Joel Marsden's amateurish rendering: the powerful subject matter is ill-served by muddled storytelling, uneven acting, erratic production values and overall disjointed filmmaking.
Most troubling, "Ill Gotten Gains" is often unintentionally funny. Stiff, anachronistic dialogue plagues the production throughout; the slaves and their evil captors, oddly enough, seem to have the same speech patterns and diction. Even more remarkable, their language is a blend of urbanspeak and Valley-guy blather -- the film abounds with the word "motherfucker." Did African captives in the 19th century use that word? Even if the filmmaker is using "motherfucker" as an accessible transposition, its usage is so flat, uninspired and dunderheaded that the overall dramaturgy is weakened by the distraction.
Layering his fictionalization with a homoerotic subtext, as the enslavers do not limit their rapist atrocities to a single sex, Marsden portrays a wide range of horrors. Again, the inherent power of the story line is cramped by the inadequacies of the filmmaking. Most unnerving and distracting, the sailors/enslavers seem to be outfitted in the same haberdashery favored by Hollywood Boulevard bikers.
The acting cuts a similarly wide swath, from excellent to awful. The performances, particularly among the evil slave transporters, are of a startling low level. On the plus side, credit Djimon Hounsou and De'Aundre Bonds for their portrayal of the brave duo who lead the uprising and Akosua Busia for her dignified turn as a female captive.
ILL GOTTEN GAINS
Spats Prods.
Credits: Director-producer-screenwriter: Joel Marsden; Director of photography: Ben Kurfrin; Editor: Dave Schaufele; Music: Mike Baum, Keith Bilderbeck, Tina Meeks, Shaluza. Cast: Fyah: Djimon Hounsou; Pop: De'Aundre Bonds; Fey: Akosua Busia; Femi: Claudia Robinson; Fa Jamillah: Nicole Skinner; Clabe Harley the Vet: Tony Torn; Barc: Mario Gardner; Cowlie: Tom Taglan: Black-and-white; Running time: 101 minutes; No MPAA rating...
The film played Saturday night at the 33rd annual Chicago International Film Festival to a half-empty multiplex venue, and this aesthetic washout seems unlikely to float beyond the sophisticated, festival set. Word-of-mouth will surely sink this disappointing enterprise, which debuted in February at the Pan African Film Festival in Ouagadougou, in the West African nation of Burkina Faso (formerly Upper Volta).
Set in 1869, "Ill Gotten Gains" takes place during a period after the U.S. Civil War when slavery was considered immoral and illegal, and slave-trading was a capital offense in many parts of the world. A heady mix of storytelling styles, from surrealism to in-your-face naturalism, the film begins with a smear of imagery from pre-colonial Africa, then slides into the throaty voice of Eartha Kitt as a voodoo, folkloric spirit trapped in the bowels of a slave hold. The viewer is thrust into the horrific squalor of the vessel, as the slaves are shackled, thrown together in the tightest possible alignment for their captors' profit.
Indeed, "Ill Gotten Gains" is most gripping in its depiction of the cramped, inhumane conditions of the slave ship; we see the enslavers regard their captives as if they were animals being driven to market. Unfortunately, the degradation and heinous treatment the slaves receive is ultimately muted by filmmaker Joel Marsden's amateurish rendering: the powerful subject matter is ill-served by muddled storytelling, uneven acting, erratic production values and overall disjointed filmmaking.
Most troubling, "Ill Gotten Gains" is often unintentionally funny. Stiff, anachronistic dialogue plagues the production throughout; the slaves and their evil captors, oddly enough, seem to have the same speech patterns and diction. Even more remarkable, their language is a blend of urbanspeak and Valley-guy blather -- the film abounds with the word "motherfucker." Did African captives in the 19th century use that word? Even if the filmmaker is using "motherfucker" as an accessible transposition, its usage is so flat, uninspired and dunderheaded that the overall dramaturgy is weakened by the distraction.
Layering his fictionalization with a homoerotic subtext, as the enslavers do not limit their rapist atrocities to a single sex, Marsden portrays a wide range of horrors. Again, the inherent power of the story line is cramped by the inadequacies of the filmmaking. Most unnerving and distracting, the sailors/enslavers seem to be outfitted in the same haberdashery favored by Hollywood Boulevard bikers.
The acting cuts a similarly wide swath, from excellent to awful. The performances, particularly among the evil slave transporters, are of a startling low level. On the plus side, credit Djimon Hounsou and De'Aundre Bonds for their portrayal of the brave duo who lead the uprising and Akosua Busia for her dignified turn as a female captive.
ILL GOTTEN GAINS
Spats Prods.
Credits: Director-producer-screenwriter: Joel Marsden; Director of photography: Ben Kurfrin; Editor: Dave Schaufele; Music: Mike Baum, Keith Bilderbeck, Tina Meeks, Shaluza. Cast: Fyah: Djimon Hounsou; Pop: De'Aundre Bonds; Fey: Akosua Busia; Femi: Claudia Robinson; Fa Jamillah: Nicole Skinner; Clabe Harley the Vet: Tony Torn; Barc: Mario Gardner; Cowlie: Tom Taglan: Black-and-white; Running time: 101 minutes; No MPAA rating...
- 10/14/1997
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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