Tag Archives: Oscar

Actors, Awards, Oscars

5 Reasons This Year’s Oscars Are Worth Watching

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It’s close. It’s so close. I can taste it. And it tastes awesome. The 84th annual Academy Awards is less than two weeks away. Take my birthday. Take Christmas. Give me the Oscars and remain silent during the show. I must not be disturbed. If you want to know my thoughts, follow me on Twitter (@suddenlydog), as I’ll be live tweeting for my third year.

There’s always plenty to get excited about each year, but here are my top five reasons the Oscars are worth watching this year:

5. A Pig and a Frog Walk into a Bar …

Though nothing has been confirmed, the prospects of Muppets appearing at the Oscars is enough to get me excited. “Man or Muppet” from The Muppets is nominated for Best Original Song. It would be a hugely missed opportunity if the Jim Henson creations of my youth didn’t appear on stage for the number (that is, assuming the songs are performed on stage this year—there’s only two, so why not?). And don’t forget—Miss Piggy is a fashionista. Could she be strolling the red carpet? Joan Rivers did leave some shoes to fill. I think our porcine friend could cram her hooves in them with little effort.

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Actors, Awards, News, Oscars

84th Annual Academy Award Nominations & Analysis

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The 84th annual Academy Award nominations were announced today. Here is the complete list of nominees and my analysis along the way. Stay tuned for the Oscars on Sunday, February 26.

Best Picture

The Artist – Following its PGA win, this film is primed to win the big prize on February 26.

The Descendants – I’m not surprised by this nomination, though I don’t think the film is deserving of it. It’s a flawed film, but AMPAS likes Alexander Payne.

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close – This is one of two surprise nominees in this category and the only one I have not yet seen.

The Help

Hugo – If it were up to me, this would win Best Picture. In my opinion, it’s the strongest and best-composed of the nine nominated films.

Midnight in Paris

Moneyball – Overall, a terrific film and deserving of this honor.

The Tree of Life – This is the second surprise nominee in this category. Arguably the most polarizing film of the year, don’t expect Tree to win here.

War Horse – Spielberg gets a Best Picture nomination, but is snubbed for Best Director. This doesn’t bode well for War Horse‘s chances.

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Awards, Classic Film, Narrative, Oscars, Poster

2012: The Year of the “Best Picture”

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After completing the eight-year odyssey that was my 170 list, I’ve turned my sights to a new list: the Oscar Best Picture winners. To date, I’ve seen 65 of the 83 winners (and I’ve seen all Best Picture nominees since 1998).

As the 84th Academy Award nominations are to be announced later today (8:30am EST/5:30am PST), I’m turning my focus to these immortalized films and I’m giving myself until the 2013 Oscars to complete the list. That said, I’m declaring 2012 “The Year of the ‘Best Picture’.”

Here are the remaining 18 Best Picture winners I have left to watch:

     

     

     

Awards, Classic Film, Oscars, Poster

Official Oscar Poster Unveiled

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(Re-posted from The Hollywood Reporter)

by Michael O’Connell
December 28, 2011

For the 84th annual awards, the one-sheet pairs the Oscar statuette with images of eight winning films from eight decades.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences released the poster for the 2012 Academy Awards on Wednesday morning. And it promises the 84th annual Oscars will celebrate — as one might expect — movies.

Under the banner “Life. Camera. Action,” the poster features eight Oscar-winning films from eight decades of the show. Gone with the Wind (1939), Casablanca (1943), Giant (1956), The Sound of Music (1965), The Godfather (1972), Driving Miss Daisy (1989), Forrest Gump (1994) and Gladiator (2000) make up the films highlighted. Only one of them, however, did not win best picture. That distinction goes to Giant, which won George Stevens an Oscar for directing.

Academy President Tom Sherak addressed the chosen tagline, “Celebrate the movies in all of us,” in an accompanying release. “Whether it’s a first date or a holiday gathering with friends or family, movies are a big part of our memory,” said Sherak. “The Academy Awards not only honor the excellence of these movies, but also celebrate what they mean to us as a culture and to each of us individually.”

The poster is available for public download on the Oscar website.

Actors, Awards, Oscars

My “Official” Oscar Nomination Predictions

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Awards season is upon us and several critics circles, SAG, and the Hollywood Foreign Press (Golden Globes) have listed their best films lists, awards, and nominations in a variety of categories. There’s no reason for me to sit back silently and not get my two cents in. Overall, there haven’t been many surprises, though a few notable snubs immediately come to mind upon reading some of these lists and nominations.

Based on my years of following such lists and awards shows, I’ve put together my “official” Oscar nomination predictions for the four acting categories and Best Picture. I follow each prediction with a “preliminary” winner. These are not my “official” winner predictions, as those will come closer to the Oscars.

The nominations for the 84th annual Academy Awards will be announced on Tuesday, January 24.

Best Actor

Demián Bichir – A Better Life

George Clooney – The Descendants

Leonardo DiCaprio – J. Edgar

Jean Dujardin – The Artist

Brad Pitt – Moneyball

Alternates:

Michael Fassbender – Shame

Ryan Gosling – The Ides of March

Preliminary Winner:

Jean Dujardin

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