'Her' crowned best film of the year by San Diego Film Critics Society

Posted by · 11:09 am · December 11th, 2013

The San Diego Film Critics Society has just announced “Her” as the year’s best film. Spike Jonze’s latest picked up three awards total, including Best Original Screenplay and Best Score. “12 Years a Slave” led the way with Tuesday’s nominations announcement, but was ultimately shut out of the winning pool entirely. Oscar Isaac (“Inside Llewyn Davis”)and Cate Blanchett (“Blue Jasmine”) won top acting honors, while Matthew McConaughey received a special prize for his body of work in 2013.

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SAG snubs and surprises: Redford sinks, 'Dallas Buyers Club' swims

Posted by · 8:15 am · December 11th, 2013

This morning’s SAG nominations in the film categories delivered good news to most of the usual suspects, but a few key surprises have interesting implications for the race. We review who hit big, and who missed out.

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'Blue Jasmine' and 'Captain Phillips' set for Oscar season re-releases

Posted by · 6:59 pm · December 10th, 2013

It’s not a new trick to put Oscar contenders that have mostly come and gone from the multiplex back into theaters this time of year. It can often help regain steam heading into the voting period or, better yet, rack up on extra box office dollars in the latter-year fog of awards season. Today, two films announced that they’ll be looking to do just that.

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'12 Years a Slave' dominates Phoenix Film Critics Society nominations

Posted by · 10:57 am · December 10th, 2013

Another day, another regional critics group that dives full force into the “12 Years a Slave” tank. The film dominated the Phoenix Film Critics Society nominations today with 13 mentions. “Saving Mr. Banks” was a distant second nailing down nine, while “Gravity” picked up eight.

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AFI Awards selections include 'Fruitvale Station,' 'Saving Mr. Banks' and 'The Wolf of Wall Street'

Posted by · 11:26 am · December 9th, 2013

The American Film Institute has announced AFI Awards official selections for outstanding motion pictures and television programs this year. And on the film side — which, remember, is limited to American productions — the year is well-represented with top tier studio and indie productions highlighted.

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'12 Years a Slave,' 'Nebraska' and 'Her' lead the way with St. Louis critics nominations

Posted by · 9:34 am · December 9th, 2013

Steve McQueen’s slavery drama “12 Years a Slave” led another batch of nominees today with the St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association, but Alexander Payne’s “Nebraska” and Spike Jonze’s “Her” scored large tallies, too. All three were nominated for Best Film along with “American Hustle” and “Gravity.”

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Off the Carpet: With the table set, the critics are ready to have their say

Posted by · 2:23 pm · December 2nd, 2013

“American Hustle” has screened. “The Wolf of Wall Street” has screened. All the cats are out of the bag, and just in time, too. Because the critics are about to have their say.

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Tech Support: Space, music and the high seas clash in the race for Best Sound Mixing

Posted by · 7:36 pm · November 28th, 2013

HitFix’s Gerard Kennedy surveys the field of Best Sound Mixing, from “Gravity” to “Pacific Rim” to maybe even Disney’s animated musical “Frozen.”

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Roundup: Cinematographers come down on 3D

Posted by · 2:44 am · November 20th, 2013

In today’s roundup of notable online news and views, five cinematographers from some of the season’s top contenders chat candidly about a range of topics — including 3D, to which they’re mostly opposed. Meanwhile, Steve McQueen defends “12 Years a Slave” from critics who think it’s too pretty.

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Tech Support: Could Alfonso Cuarón join James Cameron on an exclusive list of editors?

Posted by · 1:47 pm · November 14th, 2013

HitFix’s Gerard Kennedy plugs away on another installment of Tech Support, this week surveying the category of Best Film Editing. Is Alfonso Cuarón set to join some exclusive company?

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Composer Henry Jackman on 'musical constraint' and minimalism in 'Captain Phillips'

Posted by · 9:46 am · November 13th, 2013

Henry Jackman talks to HitFix about what went into his affecting, but not affected, score for Paul Greengrass’ Oscar contender “Captain Phillips.”

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Oscar Talk: NYFF, Gotham nominations, awards contenders head for 2014

Posted by · 8:00 am · October 25th, 2013

In the latest edition of the Oscar Talk podcast, Kris Tapley and Anne Thompson look back at what the New York Film Festival added to the pile, consider the indie slate with the Gotham Awards nominees and ponder the exit of a few key titles to 2014.

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Tech Support: What films headline this year's race for Best Sound Editing?

Posted by · 10:08 pm · October 24th, 2013

In this week’s installment of Tech Support, Gerard Kennedy surveys the Best Sound Editing category. Films like “Gravity” and “All is Lost” figure heavily while others like “Star Trek Into Darkness” and “Man of Steel” try to find a foothold.

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Roundup: Defying the NC-17 rating for 'Blue is the Warmest Color'

Posted by · 4:44 am · October 24th, 2013

Also: Clooney justifies ‘Monuments’ delay, and is ‘Captain Phillips’ jingoistic?

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3 on 3: Who wins and who loses with the 'Monuments Men' move to 2014?

Posted by · 9:40 am · October 23rd, 2013

The Oscar race just got a bit less crowded, but what’s in it for the movie?

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Cinematographer Barry Ackroyd taps his doc roots to capture the immediacy of 'Captain Phillips'

Posted by · 1:42 pm · October 18th, 2013

“Captain Phillips” cinematographer Barry Ackroyd talks to HitFix about how his documentary background conditioned him to capture the reality of Paul Greengrass’ latest film.

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The Long Shot: Direct influence

Posted by · 8:00 am · October 16th, 2013

There’s much to celebrate if this race comes down to McQueen vs. Cuarón.

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Roundup: The two faces of Harvey Scissorhands

Posted by · 6:22 am · October 16th, 2013

Also: Reports from Academy screenings of ‘Captain Phillips’ and ’12 Years a Slave.’

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