Oscar Talk: Ep. 100 — Looking back, from 'Hurt Locker' to 'Zero Dark Thirty'

Posted by · 8:00 am · December 21st, 2012

In this week’s podcast, Kris and Anne celebrate their 100th episode by looking back at the show that started them all. They also discuss the ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ controversy and dig in on Best Animated Feature Film.

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Utah critics award 'Zero Dark Thirty,' Wes Anderson

Posted by · 7:33 am · December 21st, 2012

The Utah Film Critics Association has announced its 2012 winners, and, big surprise, “Zero Dark Thirty” took top honors. But the group went in a couple of different directions elsewhere, tapping Dwight Henry for Best Supporting Actor, Wes Anderson for Best Director and “Indie Game: The Movie” for best doc.

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Nine foreign language finalists announced by Academy

Posted by · 6:51 am · December 21st, 2012

The Academy has announced the nine finalists for this year’s Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. Seventy-one films were submitted from countries around the world.

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Roundup: Anne Hathaway to be honored by Costume Designers' Guild

Posted by · 4:30 am · December 21st, 2012

Also: Foreign-language shortlist looms, and potential whisper-campaign victims

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Review: Bigelow conquers talk and action in unflinching 'Zero Dark Thirty'

Posted by · 4:40 pm · December 20th, 2012

The film opened in limited release yesterday.

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Black Film Critics Circle springs for 'Zero Dark Thirty,' 'The Intouchables,' 'Rise of the Guardians'

Posted by · 2:18 pm · December 20th, 2012

The Black Film Critics Circle has jumped on the “Zero Dark Thirty” bandwagon, handing the film Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actress honors. “Django Unchained” and “Lincoln” each won a pair of awards, Best Original Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor (Christoph Waltz) for the former, Best Actor (Daniel Day-Lewis) and Best Ensemble for the former.

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For writer Lucy Alibar, 'Beasts of the Southern Wild' couldn't be more personal

Posted by · 8:37 am · December 20th, 2012

As indie sensation “Beasts of the Southern Wild” makes its way through the awards season, and director Benh Zeitlin and star Quvenzhané Wallis pick up countless breakthrough prizes along the way, it would be worth bearing in mind how the identity of the film grew from a little play by writer Lucy Alibar.

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Tech Support: International lineup of Best Original Song contenders presents a great opportunity

Posted by · 7:55 am · December 20th, 2012

With the recent reveal of the Academy’s list of Best Original Song qualifiers — all 75 of them — the music branch has a wide swath of popular artists to choose from. Of course, the branch tends to focus on the work itself, not necessarily the talent involved, but it’s worth mentioning that Fiona Apple, Florence + the Machine, Karen O, Christina Aguilera, Adele, Keith Urban, Mumford and Sons, The Bootleggers & Emmylou Harris, Arcade Fire, Dolly Parton, Katy Perry, Paul Williams, Jordin Sparks and Norah Jones are all in the mix. That’s quite the role call.

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Roundup: Senators take on 'Zero Dark Thirty'

Posted by · 6:00 am · December 20th, 2012

Also: Ann Dowd’s self-funded Oscar dream, and 2012’s most overlooked gems

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Ben Affleck sets the record straight on 'Justice League'

Posted by · 9:37 pm · December 19th, 2012

The internet was abuzz a few months back when an overzealous report put Ben Affleck in the driver’s seat of the planned Warner Bros. team-up film “Justice League.” The report was soon enough shot down and everyone went about their business, but in a recent interview about his work on “Argo,” Affleck said he hated talking about it in the media at all because the eventual stories shed a negative light on the project.

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Ben Affleck and Chris Terrio on 'Argo,' the Middle East and the root of all drama

Posted by · 1:05 pm · December 19th, 2012

When he made his way into the director’s chair for a new phase in his career, Ben Affleck always assumed that if he came across an existing script, he would likely just take over and re-write it. And of course, he has the credentials: an Oscar for co-writing “Good Will Hunting” with Matt Damon goes a long way toward legitimizing his talent as a writer. But when “Argo” was fired across his bow by Smoke House honchos Grant Heslov and George Clooney, that wasn’t the case.

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Wong Kar-wai's 'The Grandmaster' to open 2013 Berlinale

Posted by · 2:28 am · December 19th, 2012

The director will also preside over the competition jury.

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Roundup: Witherspoon stumps for Watts

Posted by · 2:19 am · December 19th, 2012

Also: Hooper, Danna honored by Palm Springs, ‘Holy Motors’ tops IndieWire poll

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10 outside-the-box considerations as the Academy votes

Posted by · 1:12 pm · December 18th, 2012

With ballots in Academy members hands as of yesterday, the great settling is off and running. Various critics groups and top 10 lists have narrowed the pile enough that voters have a pretty good idea of the landscape in each category. More than that, “frontrunners” have staked their claim on the race, leaving precious little space for dark horses to maneuver.

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Daniel Day-Lewis to receive Montecito Award at Santa Barbara fest

Posted by · 11:11 am · December 18th, 2012

Can anyone come between the man and his third Oscar?

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Jessica Chastain on mining for details and feminism's new moment in 'Zero Dark Thirty'

Posted by · 10:00 am · December 18th, 2012

On stage and screen, Jessica Chastain is playing a wide range of emotions and arcs. From the frailty of “The Heiress”‘s Catherine to the rigidity of “Zero Dark Thirty”‘s Maya, it’s a playground for an actress. She discusses her work in both.

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'Zero Dark Thirty' wins Best Picture from Austin film critics…and nothing else

Posted by · 8:27 am · December 18th, 2012

“Zero Dark Thirty” remains on top of the critics awards haul today with another Best Picture nod, this time from the Austin Film Critics Association. Oddly, though, the film won nothing else. “The Master” seemed to be more of a favorite, taking Best Director, Best Actor and Best Cinematography.

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'Lincoln' finally wins a critics award for Best Picture, from Dallas-Ft. Worth

Posted by · 7:26 am · December 18th, 2012

After sitting idly by and watching films like “Zero Dark Thirty” and “Argo” reap most of the critics’ Best Picture awards, Steven Spielberg’s “Lincoln” finally has one of its own, from the Dallas-Ft. Worth Film Critics Association. The film won Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress in addition to Best Picture, but fell to Kathryn Bigelow in the Best Director category.

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