Mercedes Ruehl Starring in Brad Furman’s Indie Drama “People Not Places”

Mercedes Ruehl is joining the people

The 76-year-old part-Cuban American Oscar-winning actress will star in director Brad Furman’s indie drama People Not Places, which was scripted by his mother Ellen Brown Furman.

Mercedes RuehlRuehl is among seven new cast additions that includes Yul Vazquez, Laurence Mason, Obba BabatundéJoey Bicicchi, Colleen Camp and Olivia Jude.

They join previously announced cast members Shirley MacLaine, Stephen Dorff, Julia Mayorga and Allegra Leguizamo.

People Not Places centers on Clare (MacLaine), an elderly widow living in Atlantic City who meets an erratic homeless man (Dorff) who sleeps in cars. Their shared loneliness causes them to bond, as they find the courage to face his regrettable past and her shortened future.

Furman and Jess Fuerst are producing the film under their Road Less Traveled Productions banner.

Best known for her Oscar-winning performance in The Fisher King, Ruehl has also been seen in films like Hustlers, Last Action Hero and Big, among many others.

She’s also been seen on series like New AmsterdamBull and Power, to name just a few.

Currently starring on MGM+’s Hotel Cocaine, Vazquez will next be seen in the Paul Greengrass film The Lost Bus for Apple TV+.

His other recent credits include Parish, White House Plumbers, Godfather of Harlem, Promised Land and Severance.

Cuaron Named Best Director at the Britain’s Empire Awards

There seems to be no stopping Alfonso Cuaron when it comes to picking up prizes…

The 52-year-old Mexican filmmaker, who took home two Academy Awards earlier this month, was named Best Director at the Jameson Empire Awards for helming the Sandra Bullock-starrer Gravity.

Alfonso Cuaron

The mastermind behind the 3D sci-fi film beat out The World’s End’s Edgar Wright, Captain PhillipsPaul Greengrass, The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug’s Peter Jackson and 12 Years A Slave’s Steve McQueen for the honor.

In addition, Cuaron’s Gravity was named Best Film. It beat out 12 Years a Slave, Captain Phillips, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire to win the coveted award.

The 2014 Jameson Empire Awards were held Sunday, March 30 at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London.

The Empire Awards are an accolade bestowed by Empire, Britain’s biggest selling film magazine, to recognize excellence of professionals in the local and global film industry. The awards are voted for by readers of the magazine and in an annual ceremony

Here’s a look at the complete list of Empire Award winner:

  • The Legend of Our Lifetime: Tom Cruise
  • The Action Hero of Our Lifetime: Arnold Schwarzenegger
  • Empire Icon: Hugh Jackman
  • Empire Hero: Simon Pegg
  • Empire Inspiration: Paul Greengrass
  • Best Male Newcomer: Aidan Turner (“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug”)
  • Best Female Newcomer: Margot Robbie (“The Wolf of Wall Street”)
  • Best Horror: “The Conjuring”
  • Best Comedy: “Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa”
  • Best Thriller: “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire”
  • Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy: “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug”
  • Best Supporting Actor: Michael Fassbender (“12 Years a Slave”)
  • Best Supporting Actress: Sally Hawkins (“Blue Jasmine”)
  • Best British Film: “The World’s End”
  • Best Actress: Emma Thompson (“Saving Mr. Banks”)
  • Jameson Best Actor: James McAvoy (“Filth”)
  • Best Director: Alfonso Cuaron (“Gravity”)
  • Best Film: “Gravity”

Cuarón Wins Directors Guild of America Award for “Gravity”

The prizes just keep coming for Alfonso Cuarón…

The 52-year-old Mexican filmmaker took home the top honor at the 66th annual Directors Guild of America Awards, held Saturday.

Alfonso Cuarón & Sandra Bullock

Cuarón, who won his first-ever Producers Guild of America Award last weekend, was announced as the final winner of the night for his critically acclaimed work helming the 3D sci-fi thriller Gravity.

He beat out Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave), David O. Russell (American Hustle), Paul Greengrass (Captain Phillips) and Martin Scorsese (Wolf of Wall Street) for the DGA Award.

During a special presentation to Cuarón, Gravity star Sandra Bullock made a few jokes about Cuaron’s thick accent during shooting, but then praised him for his bravery and imagination.

“You not only gave me a once in a lifetime opportunity but you gave it to me when I thought I had nothing left to offer as an actor,” she said.

Cuarón is now considered the frontrunner to take home the Oscar for Best Director at this year’s upcoming Academy Awards, where he’s up for three awards.

Jonás Cuarón Earns His First BAFTA Awards Nomination

Like father, like son…

Jonás Cuarón, the son of Mexican filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón, has earned his first BAFTA Awards nomination.

Jonas Cuaron

The Mexican filmmaker has been nominated with his father in the original screenplay category, for writing their blockbuster hit Gravity.

It’s one of the whopping 11 nominations the 3D sci-fi film earned from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, including Best Film and Best British Film.

Cuarón’s father also earned a Best Editing and Best Director nod, the latest nomination in that category for one of Entertainment Weekly’s 2013 Entertainers of the Year. He’s up against 12 Years A Slave’s Steve McQueen, American Hustle’s David O. Russell, Captain PhillipsPaul Greengrass and The Wolf Of Wall Street’s Martin Scorsese in the director field.

Meantime, Cuarón’s longtime collaborator, Mexican cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki, earned a Best Cinematography nod for his work on Gravity.

Lastly, Rush star Daniel Brühl continues to earn awards recognition for portraying real-life racing legend Niki Lauda in Ron Howard‘s Formula One racing drama. Following his SAG Award and Golden Globe nods, the 35-year-old half-Spanish actor will take on Barkhad Abdi (Captain Phillips), Matt Damon (Behind the Candelabra), Michael Fassbender (12 Years A Slave) and Bradley Cooper (American Hustle) in the race for the best supporting actor trophy.

The British Academy Film Awards will take place on February 16 at the Royal Opera House in London, with the ceremony broadcast exclusively on BBC One in the U.K. and in all major territories around the world.

Here’s the complete list of BAFTA nominations:

BEST FILM
12 YEARS A SLAVE
AMERICAN HUSTLE
CAPTAIN PHILLIPS
GRAVITY
PHILOMENA

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM
GRAVITY
MANDELA: LONG WALK TO FREEDOM
PHILOMENA
RUSH
SAVING MR. BANKS
THE SELFISH GIANT

OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER
COLIN CARBERRY (Writer), GLENN PATTERSON (Writer) Good Vibrations
KELLY MARCEL (Writer) Saving Mr. Banks
KIERAN EVANS (Director/Writer) Kelly + Victor
PAUL WRIGHT (Director/Writer), POLLY STOKES (Producer) For Those in Peril
SCOTT GRAHAM (Director/Writer) Shell

FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
THE ACT OF KILLING Joshua Oppenheimer, Signe Byrge Sørensen
BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOUR Abdellatif Kechiche, Brahim Chioua, Vincent Maraval
THE GREAT BEAUTY Paolo Sorrentino, Nicola Giuliano, Francesca Cima
METRO MANILA  Sean Ellis, Mathilde Charpentier
WADJDA Haifaa Al-Mansour, Gerhard Meixner, Roman Paul

DOCUMENTARY
THE ACT OF KILLING Joshua Oppenheimer
THE ARMSTRONG LIE Alex Gibney
BLACKFISH Gabriela Cowperthwaite
TIM’S VERMEER Teller,Penn Jillette, Farley Ziegler
WE STEAL SECRETS: THE STORY OF WIKILEAKS Alex Ginny

ANIMATED FILM
DESPICABLE ME 2 Chris Renaud, Pierre Coffin
FROZEN Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee
MONSTERS UNIVERSITY Dan Scanlon

DIRECTOR
12 YEARS A SLAVE Steve McQueen
AMERICAN HUSTLE David O. Russell
CAPTAIN PHILLIPS Paul Greengrass
GRAVITY Alfonso Cuarón
THE WOLF OF WALL STREET Martin Scorsese

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
AMERICAN HUSTLE Eric Warren Singer, David O. Russell
BLUE JASMINE Woody Allen
GRAVITY Alfonso Cuarón, Jonás Cuarón
INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
NEBRASKA Bob Nelson

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
12 YEARS A SLAVE John Ridley
BEHIND THE CANDELABRA Richard LaGravenese
CAPTAIN PHILLIPS Billy Ray
PHILOMENA Steve Coogan, Jeff Pope
THE WOLF OF WALL STREET Terence Winter

LEADING ACTOR
BRUCE DERN Nebraska
CHIWETEL EJIOFOR 12 Years a Slave
CHRISTIAN BALE American Hustle
LEONARDO DICAPRIO The Wolf of Wall Street
TOM HANKS Captain Phillips

LEADING ACTRESS
AMY ADAMS American Hustle
CATE BLANCHETT Blue Jasmine
EMMA THOMPSON Saving Mr. Banks
JUDI DENCH Philomena
SANDRA BULLOCK Gravity

SUPPORTING ACTOR
BARKHAD ABDI Captain Phillips
BRADLEY COOPER American Hustle
DANIEL BRÜHL Rush
MATT DAMON Behind the Candelabra
MICHAEL FASSBENDER 12 Years a Slave

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
JENNIFER LAWRENCE American Hustle
JULIA ROBERTS August: Osage County
LUPITA NYONG’O 12 Years a Slave
OPRAH WINFREY The Butler
SALLY HAWKINS Blue Jasmine

ORIGINAL MUSIC
12 YEARS A SLAVE  Hans Zimmer
THE BOOK THIEF John Williams
CAPTAIN PHILLIPS Henry Jackman
GRAVITY Steven Price
SAVING MR. BANKS Thomas Newman

CINEMATOGRAPHY
12 YEARS A SLAVE Sean Bobbitt
CAPTAIN PHILLIPS Barry Ackroyd
GRAVITY Emmanuel Lubezki
INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS Bruno Delbonnel
NEBRASKA Phedon Papamichael

EDITING
12 YEARS A SLAVE Joe Walker
CAPTAIN PHILLIPS Christopher Rouse
GRAVITY Alfonso Cuarón, Mark Sanger
RUSH Dan Hanley, Mike Hill
THE WOLF OF WALL STREET Thelma Schoonmaker

PRODUCTION DESIGN
12 YEARS A SLAVE Adam Stockhausen, Alice Baker
AMERICAN HUSTLE Judy Becker, Heather Loeffler
BEHIND THE CANDELABRA Howard Cummings
GRAVITY Andy Nicholson, Rosie Goodwin, Joanne Woodlard
THE GREAT GATSBY Catherine Martin, Beverley Dunn

COSTUME DESIGN
AMERICAN HUSTLE Michael Wilkinson
BEHIND THE CANDELABRA Ellen Mirojnick
THE GREAT GATSBY Catherine Martin
THE INVISIBLE WOMAN Michael O’Connor
SAVING MR. BANKS Daniel Orlandi

MAKE UP & HAIR
AMERICAN HUSTLE Evelyne Noraz, Lori McCoy-Bell
BEHIND THE CANDELABRA Kate Biscoe, Marie Larkin
THE BUTLER Debra Denson, Beverly Jo Pryor, Candace Neal
THE GREAT GATSBY Maurizio Silvi, Kerry Warn
THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG Peter Swords King, Richard Taylor, Rick Find later

SOUND
ALL IS LOST Richard Hymns, Steve Boeddeker, Brandon Proctor, Micah Bloomberg, Gillian Arthur
CAPTAIN PHILLIPS Chris Burdon, Mark Taylor,Mike Prestwood Smith, Chris Munro, Oliver Tarney
GRAVITY Glenn Freemantle, Skip Lievsay, Christopher Benstead, Niv Adiri, Chris Munro
INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS Peter F. Kurland, Skip Lievsay, Greg Orloff
RUSH Danny Hambrook, Martin Steyer, Stefan Korte, Markus Stemler, Frank Kruse

SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS
GRAVITY Tim Webber, Chris Lawrence, David Shirk, Neil Corbould, Nikki Penny
THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton, Eric Reynolds
IRON MAN 3 Bryan Grill, Christopher Townsend, Guy Williams, Dan Sudick
PACIFIC RIM Hal Hickel, John Knoll, Lindy De Quattro, Nigel Sumner
STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS Ben Grossmann, Burt Dalton, Patrick Tubach, Roger Guyed

BRITISH SHORT ANIMATION
EVERYTHING I CAN SEE FROM HERE Bjorn-Erik Aschim, Friederike Nicolaus, Sam Taylor
I AM TOM MOODY Ainslie Henderson
SLEEPING WITH THE FISHES James Walker, Sarah Woolner, Yousif Al-Khalifa

BRITISH SHORT FILM
ISLAND QUEEN Ben Mallaby, Nat Luurtsema
KEEPING UP WITH THE JONESES Megan Rubens, Michael Pearce, Selina Lim
ORBIT EVER AFTER Chee-Lan Chan, Jamie Stone, Len Rowles
ROOM 8 James W. Griffiths, Sophie Venner
SEA VIEW Anna Duffield, Jane Linfoo

THE EE RISING STAR AWARD (voted for by the public)
DANE DEHAAN
GEORGE MACKAY
LUPITA NYONG’O
WILL POULTER
LÉA SEYDOUX

Cuarón’s “Gravity” Nominated for Three Australian Academy Arts Awards

Alfonso Cuarón’s gravity-defying awards season continues with some big-time recognition Down Under

The 52-year-old Mexican director’s latest film, the Sandra Bullock-starrer Gravity, has received three AACTA Award nominations from the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts.

Sandra Bullock in Gravity

Cuarón is nominated in the AACTA International Award for Best Direction category for helming the blockbuster-hit 3D sci-fi thriller.

He’s up against Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave), David O. Russell (American Hustle), Paul Greengrass (Captain Phillips) and Baz Luhrmann (The Great Gatsby).

Gravity is also nominated in the AACTA International Award for Best Film category, where it faces-off against 12 Years a Slave, American Hustle, Captain Phillips and Ron Howard’s Formula One drama Rush.

The AACTA International Awards will be held in Los Angeles on January 10th, 2014.

Trailer Released for Vazquez’s New Film with Tom Hanks “Captain Phillips”

Yul Vazquez will soon be hitting the high seas with Tom Hanks

The Cuban American actor, who currently appears on Starz’s Magic City, is starring as Captain Frank Castellano in the Hanks-headlined film Captain Phillips, which has been named the opening-night film at the prestigious New York Film Festival next month.

Yul Vazquez

Directed by Paul Greengrass, the Sony Pictures film tells the true story of Captain Richard Phillips (portrayed by Hanks) and the 2009 hijacking by Somali pirates of the US-flagged MV Maersk Alabama.

Phillips was eventually rescued in a dangerous mission by a Navy SEAL team.

Along with Hanks and Vazquez, the film also stars Catherine Keener, Max Martini, Michael Chernus, Chris Mulkey, John Magaro and Angus MacInnes.

Captain Phillips is set to hit theaters on October 11.

Vazquez’s other upcoming projects include Runner Runner with Ben Affleck and Justin Timberlake, Blood Ties with Mila Kunis, Clive Owen and Marion Cotillard and Kill The Messenger directed by Michael Cuesta opposite Jeremy Renner.