Tag Archives: Academy Awards

Awards, Drama, Narrative, News, Oscars

ARGO Solidifies Front-runner Status for Best Picture

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After some high-profile Best Picture wins at the Golden Globes, Critics Choice Awards, and AFI, Argo has come ever closer to solidifying its Oscar front-runner status following last night’s Producers Guild of America (PGA) Award win for Best Picture. The PGA Award is often a reliable indicator of the Best Picture winner at the Oscars. The twist here is that the Oscar winner for Best Picture typically also wins for Best Director, but, as has been repeatedly documented, Argo‘s director Ben Affleck was famously snubbed for a nomination. It’s extremely rare for a film to win Best Picture without its director being nominated. The last movie to achieve this was Driving Miss Daisy 23 years ago. It looks like we’re coming closer to repeating this feat in just a few short weeks.

Although Argo is deserving of the Best Picture honors it’s received to date, Affleck’s Oscar snub is perhaps the best thing to happen to the film. It seems that several awards bodies are quick to remind the Academy of its foolish decision to leave Affleck out of the race, and they’re doing it by awarding him and the movie at their own award shows. Had Affleck been nominated, I question whether the film would be receiving this same attention, especially when competing against other deserving films like Lincoln, Zero Dark Thirty, Les Misérables, and Life of Pi.

So the question persists: If Argo wins Best Picture, who will win Best Director?

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Actors, Awards, Filmmakers, News, Oscars

Analysis: The 85th Annual Oscar Nominations

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This past Thursday, nominations for the 85th annual Academy Awards were announced. In a new twist, the ceremony’s host, Seth MacFarlane, joined Emma Stone on stage at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theatre in LA to read the nominations. It’s rare for the ceremony’s host to present the nominations, as that position is usually filled by the Academy’s President, but clearly, AMPAS had something new and original in mind. It paid off. The comedic banter between the two worked well, as their chemistry felt natural and fresh. It also helped to paint the Academy in a younger, more vibrant light. Could this be a shadow of things to come when the golden statuettes are distributed on February 24?

One thing the Oscars definitely has going for itself this year is that many of 2012’s nominated films are movies that the general public have actually seen. The Oscar telecast is likely to see a bump in ratings after several years in decline. On to my analysis …

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Animation, Comedy, Foreign Film, Narrative, Oscars, Short Film

Short Film: “Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty”

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This animated short film directed by Nicky Phelan and written and performed by Kathleen O’Rourke was nominated at the 2009 Academy Awards for Best Short Film (Animated). In my opinion, it was the best of the five nominated films and should have won for its cleverness and use of multiple animation techniques.

Awards, Documentary, Independent Film, News, Oscars

CENTRAL PARK FIVE Is Out, PLAGUE Is In: 15 Documentary Features Named to Oscar Shortlist

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How to Survive a Plague

Fifteen documentary features have been shortlisted for the 85th Academy Awards. Of these, five will receive nominations, which will be announced on Thursday, January 10 at 8:30am EST. The shortlisted films are as follows:

Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry
Bully
Chasing Ice
Detropia
Ethel
5 Broken Cameras
The Gatekeepers
The House I Live In
How to Survive a Plague
The Imposter
The Invisible War
Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God
Searching for Sugar Man
This Is Not a Film
The Waiting Room

(Notable snubs include The Central Park Five and Love, Marilyn.)

Awards, Foreign Film, News, Oscars

Record 71 Countries Vie for Oscar’s Best Foreign Language Film Award

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The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recently released the official list of qualified films that will vie for this year’s Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. The record 71 nations includes first-time entrant Kenya. To qualify, each country must submit one film that screened in that country before October 1. Though the film does not need to be in the country’s official language, it must be made (director, writer, producer) by a person from that nation. From this list of 71, nine films will be shortlisted and the official five nominations will be revealed on January 10. The winner will be announced at the 85th annual Academy Awards on Sunday, February 24. Early front-runners include Austria’s Amour and France’s The Intouchables. (Continue reading for the full list of entries.)

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Actors, Awards, Coming Soon, Drama, Film Festival, Foreign Film, Independent Film, Narrative, Oscars, Preview, Review

New York Film Festival Preview: Amour

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(Re-posted from LimitéMagazine.com)

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekjfj8sLFqs]

Screening: Saturday, October 6, 3pm

Venue: Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, NYC

Series: NYFF50: Main Slate

Winner of this year’s prestigious Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, legendary filmmaker Michael Haneke’s Amour tells the story of an octogenarian couple living in France. After Anne (Emmanuelle Riva) suffers multiple strokes, her devoted husband Georges (Jean-Louis Trintignant) loyally stays by her side, caring for her throughout the duration of her deteriorating health. Amour tells a simple, truthful, emotional, tragic, haunting, and beautiful story—one that is likely to remain with the viewer long after the end credits roll. Both veteran French actors Riva and Trintignant offer exceptionally brave performances, only achieved by baring every bit of themselves to each other and on screen. Though the film’s pacing is slow, it reflects a feeling of quiet sadness that hangs heavily over the couple’s Parisian apartment. Amour is Austria’s official 2012 Oscar entry for Best Foreign Language Film and is considered an easy favorite for a nomination.

Limité Rating: 4/5

Director: Michael Haneke

Genres: Narrative, Drama

Country: Austria

Language: French with English subtitles

Runtime: 127 min.

The 50th New York Film Festival runs from September 28 – October 14, 2012.

Coming Soon, Drama, Film Festival, Foreign Film, Independent Film, Narrative, Oscars, Preview, Review

New York Film Festival Preview: Beyond the Hills

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(Re-posted from LimitéMagazine.com)

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiJRGbCKCu0]

Screenings:

Monday, October 1, 9pm (Alice Tully Hall)

Sunday, October 7, 2:30pm (Alice Tully Hall)

Thursday, October 11, 3:30pm (Howard Gilman Theater)

Venue: Lincoln Center, NYC

Series: NYFF50: Main Slate

Voichita and Alina, childhood friends who were raised in the same orphanage, are reunited in the hills of Romania after years of separation. Voichita is a nun in training, living in a pious monastery in the hills without electricity or any other conveniences of modern life. Alina is returning from Germany, where she’s spent the last several years. Feeling anxious and alone, Alina is determined to convince her best friend to return to Germany with her, but Voichita is not the same girl. She’s found God and is under the watchful eye of the resident priest and patriarch of the monastery, simply known as Papa. Alina decides to stay, in hopes that she will be able to persuade her friend to leave the monastery. Things go awry for everyone there once Alina begins to display erratic behaviors, threatening the resident nuns and priest and forcing them to take action.

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Coming Soon, Drama, In Theatres, Independent Film, Narrative, New Release, Oscars, Preview, Trailer

2013 Oscar Guide: Parade of Trailers

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If you’re anything like me, you’re sure to watch most (if not all) of the major Oscar-contending films before nominations are even announced (this year on January 10, 2013). Here are trailers and release dates for just some of this year’s major contenders in various categories.

Past Releases

THE AVENGERS

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIR8Ar-Z4hw]

THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDY89LYxK0w]

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Awards, Coming Soon, Drama, Filmmakers, Independent Film, Narrative, News, Oscars, Preview

Why Searchlight Slipped HITCHCOCK into This Year’s Oscar Race (Analysis)

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(Re-posted from The Hollywood Reporter)

by Scott Feinberg

September 20, 2012

The drama about the making of “Psycho” joins “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” “The Sessions” and “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” on the Searchlight slate.

Hitchcock Movie Poster - P 2012

Fox Searchlight just shook up this year’s awards race by announcing that Hitchcock, which had been looking like a 2013 release, will now open on Nov. 23.

First of all, the facts: Hitchcock is a dramedy about the relationship between kinky master filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock and his trusted wife, Alma Reville, during the making of his seminal 1960 film Psycho.

The film was adapted by Black Swan co-screenwriter John McLaughlin from film historian/Playboy contributing editor Stephen Rebello’s book Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho. It marks the feature directorial debut of Sacha Gervasi, who is best known for his 2008 hit doc Anvil: The Story of Anvil, and was produced by Tom Pollock and Ivan Reitman’s Montecito Picture Co., which also handled 2009 best picture Oscar nominee Up in the Air.

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Actors, Awards, Coming Soon, Drama, Narrative, Oscars, Preview

5 Reasons Why Anne Hathaway Will be Oscar Nominated for LES MISÉRABLES

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Sure, it’s probably a bit early to be making such claims, particularly since Les Misérables hasn’t even hit theatres yet. (It opens on December 14th.) However, I’m an Oscar buff and I can’t help but be thinking year-round about which films and performances will be honored come February. And so I’m going on record to state that I believe Anne Hathaway will receive an Oscar nomination next year for her supporting role as Fantine in the film adaptation of the hit Broadway musical. (Whether Hathaway’s part is considered a lead or supporting role will depend on the adaptation. Those familiar with the stage version know that despite Fantine’s importance to the plot, she has limited stage time. So like Catherine Zeta-Jones’s role in Chicago [2002] and Kate Winslet’s role in The Reader [2008], Hathaway’s role in Les Mis could put her in either the lead or supporting races, depending on voters’ whims.)

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