Jessica Chastain owns the box office in 'Mama,' 'Zero Dark Thirty' during crucial Oscar window

Posted by · 9:53 am · January 19th, 2013

The story of today isn’t quite what’s happening in Park City but what’s happening at multiplexes across the country. Oscar nominee Jessica Chastain is leading the charge with the top two films at the box office, AndrĂ©s Muschietti’s “Mama” and Kathryn Bigelow’s “Zero Dark Thirty.”

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Roundup: On Leonardo DiCaprio's odd Oscar history

Posted by · 6:49 am · January 15th, 2013

Also: The genius of Jodie Foster’s speech, and the oldest living Oscar nominees

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Oscar Talk: Ep. 102 — Oscar nominations and the BFCA Critics' Choice Movie Awards

Posted by · 11:40 am · January 11th, 2013

In today’s podcast, Kris and Anne discuss last night’s Critics’ Choice Movie Awards as well as the nominations for the 85th annual Academy Awards.

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The critics choose embarrassment

Posted by · 8:43 pm · January 10th, 2013

I apologized to BFCA president Joey Berlin after this evening’s Critics’ Choice Movie Awards for being frank about it, but I couldn’t tell a lie: this year’s show was an embarrassment. Appalling, I’d go so far to say.

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Oscar brings surprises aplenty as frontrunners miss and fairytales come true

Posted by · 6:27 am · January 10th, 2013

The 85th annual nominations packed an intriguing punch this morning.

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'Lincoln' leads, 'Pi' and 'Silver Linings' surge as the Academy serves up a few surprises

Posted by · 6:22 am · January 10th, 2013

Three DGA nominees miss the cut for Best Director

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11th hour thoughts on the eve of the nominations

Posted by · 9:29 pm · January 9th, 2013

Okay, so I went back and fiddled with some things this morning before getting on my flight to LA. I love how zany this year is. So much that we “know” about an awards season can just be thrown out the window. But of course, there will always be those who claim to have “the knowledge.” Don’t let ’em fool you.

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The winners and losers from today's BAFTA nominations

Posted by · 2:43 am · January 9th, 2013

Affleck is celebrating, Hooper and Spielberg not so much

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Off the Carpet: All bets are off

Posted by · 4:54 am · January 8th, 2013

This year is all over the place, so let’s be bold, shall we?

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'Amour' wins top honors from National Society of Film Critics

Posted by · 12:17 pm · January 5th, 2013

Michael Haneke’s film also takes Best Director and Actress.

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Roundup: David Cronenberg on the 'problematical' nature of Oscar season

Posted by · 6:20 am · January 2nd, 2013

Also: The year’s best LGBT characters, and Jay-Z goes ‘Gatsby’

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2012: the year in superlatives

Posted by · 8:28 am · December 31st, 2012

Awarding the best in Oscar’s categories and ours.

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Off the Carpet: Academy members have numerous tight races to mull over this season

Posted by · 7:58 am · December 24th, 2012

As members of the Academy hurry through the last screeners they need to see before committing an opinion on the year’s best (for those who bother trying to get as deep into the stack as possible, that is), a number of races hang in the balance as extremely tight categories are sure to leave a few contenders feeling the sting of “also-ran” on Thursday, January 10.

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Dublin critics award Haneke, Phoenix, Riva and…'The Artist?'

Posted by · 9:22 am · December 21st, 2012

If you thought we had escaped the year of “The Artist,” you were wrong. The Dublin Film Critics Circle has chosen Michel Hazanavicius’s Best Picture winner as the year’s best film, as it opened on those shores in 2012. It joins Michael Haneke, Joaquin Phoenix, Emmanuelle Riva and more for top honors this year.

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Off the Carpet: Ballots are out

Posted by · 6:00 am · December 17th, 2012

Normally this column would begin with something like, “Ballots have been mailed to Oscar voters today,” but that begs reminding that for the first time ever, the Academy has adopted an electronic voting system in addition to paper ballots (for those who request them). How will that change the course of the season? Is chatter about glitches and lack of understanding just a facile talking point blown out of proportion? Maybe. But what is tangible in all of this is the landscape as a result of the first major nominations announcements of the season.

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'The Master,' Bigelow, Phoenix, Riva win San Francisco Film Critics Circle awards

Posted by · 7:16 pm · December 16th, 2012

The San Francisco Film Critics Circle has joined the game, and the bandwagon for Paul Thomas Anderson’s “The Master,” handing the film Best Picture and Best Actor honors. Kathryn Bigelow won Best Director for “Zero Dark Thirty” while Emmanuelle Riva won Best Actress for “Amour.”

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'The Master' leads with 10 Chicago critics' nods

Posted by · 9:25 am · December 14th, 2012

‘Beasts of the Southern Wild’ also gets a boost.

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Sony Classics co-chief Michael Barker remains positive on Oscar chances for 'Amour'

Posted by · 10:01 am · December 13th, 2012

He draws a line between Michael Haneke’s career now and Ingmar Bergman’s in 1973.

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