Off the Carpet: How do this year's Oscar hopefuls reflect the zeitgeist?

Posted by · 7:55 am · October 14th, 2013

We’ve weighed the contenders and early declarations have been made. The whisper campaigns and casual takedowns have begun with no real (comfortable) frontrunner to emerge for a while yet. But as we look out over this year’s Oscar contending crop, what does it have to say about where and who we are?

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Contender Countdown: Turmoil in the Best Picture race?

Posted by · 12:52 am · October 3rd, 2013

The latest contender countdown looks at a dramatic week in Hollywood that saw films pushed, layoffs, a scary changeover for a legendary label and more.

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As Focus Features evolves, an appreciation

Posted by · 1:24 pm · October 2nd, 2013

Focus Features has announced a shift in ideology, folding in FilmDistrict and focusing on a broader cache of product. While the label isn’t dead, the identity will most certainly change. Here’s an appreciation of the best that identity produced over the last decade or more.

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Off the Carpet: Shapeshift

Posted by · 10:35 am · September 30th, 2013

What a difference a week makes…

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'Her,' 'Out of the Furnace,' 'Dallas Buyers Club' to compete at Rome Film Festival

Posted by · 4:24 pm · September 23rd, 2013

‘The Hunger Games: Catching Fire’ will screen out of competition.

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Best and Worst of the 2013 Toronto Film Festival

Posted by · 10:26 pm · September 13th, 2013

The 2013 Toronto International Film Festival delivered a strong slate of films this year as “Gravity,” “12 Years A Slave,” “Bad Words,” “Can A Song Save Your Life?” and “Afflicted” were among the best selected by HitFix’s editors. What were the worst? Let’s just say Matthew Weiner, James Franco and Atom Egoyan were three filmmakers who didn’t have a pleasant stay in Toronto.

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Contender Countdown: It's already hard out there for a best picture player

Posted by · 5:25 pm · September 12th, 2013

The sniping and backstabbing has already begun, but has it affected the best picture race at all? Plus: A brand new feature. Rank the top 10 contenders as you see them.

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Matthew McConaughey bursts into crowded Best Actor field with career-best 'Dallas Buyers Club' portrayal

Posted by · 9:42 am · September 10th, 2013

Matthew McConaughey gives his best performance to date in “Dallas Buyers Club,” but he enters a Best Actor conversation that is already in full swing and stuffed with strong contenders. Where’s the wiggle room?

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Off the Carpet: Reindeer games

Posted by · 10:53 pm · September 8th, 2013

Something I’ve been fending off as just inside baseball bitching suddenly stuck in my craw this week. So let’s get this business out of the way at the top so we can enjoy the season.

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Toronto: Best Actor contenders McConaughey and Elba debut back-to-back

Posted by · 11:12 pm · September 7th, 2013

Potential best actor nominees Matthew McConaughey and Idris Elba entered awards season with the world premieres of their respective films, “Dallas Buyers Club” and “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom,” at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival Saturday night.

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Contender Countdown: 'Gravity' and '12 Years A Slave' storm out of the gate

Posted by · 9:55 pm · September 4th, 2013

Awards season is on and “Gravity” and “12 Years A Slave” lead the Best Picture race – right now – in this week’s contender countdown.

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25 most anticipated fall festival movies of 2013

Posted by · 6:40 pm · August 27th, 2013

HitFix’s editorial team breaks down the 25 most anticipated films screening at the Venice, Telluride, Toronto and New York Film Festivals this fall including “Gravity,” “Labor Day,” “12 Years A Slave,” “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” and more.

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Matthew McConaughey dares to live in the trailer for 'Dallas Buyers Club'

Posted by · 11:32 am · August 27th, 2013

We’ve had our eyes on this one for over a year now. With Matthew McConaughey in full swing of a career revival — the McConaissance, as he calls it — the actor seemed poised to leap to the front of the Best Actor race with Jean-Marc Vallée’s “Dallas Buyers Club” on paper. The new trailer for the film only adds fuel to the assumption.

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'The Fifth Estate,' '12 Years a Slave,' 'August: Osage County' and more set for 2013 Toronto Film Festival

Posted by · 6:51 am · July 23rd, 2013

It was revealed today that Bill Condon’s “The Fifth Estate,” starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Wiki Leaks found Julian Assange, will be the opening night film of this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, which kicks off on Sept. 5. The closing night film will be Daniel Schecter’s “Life of Crime” with John Hawkes, Mos Def and Jennifer Aniston.

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With 'Dallas Buyers Club' is Focus Features getting its awards slate in order?

Posted by · 1:28 pm · April 23rd, 2013

When actor Matthew McConaughey was doing the awards circuit press rounds last year for his Independent Spirit Award-winning work in “Magic Mike,” he was strikingly thin. The reason for the physical transformation was his role Jean-Marc Vallée’s upcoming “Dallas Buyers Club,” which has just found a home at Focus Features.

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