Tech Support: John Williams charges back to lead the field of Best Original Score hopefuls

Posted by · 8:07 am · November 24th, 2011

In this week’s installment of Tech Support, we turn our gaze toward Best Original Score. Those in the hunt include John Williams, Alexandre Desplat, Howard Shore and Alberto Iglesias.

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Filed in: HitFix · In Contention

Off the Carpet: Deep breath before the critics have their say

Posted by · 12:09 pm · November 21st, 2011

It’s getting to be crunch time for many studios looking to bring their product back around for awards voting bodies. Generally most critics groups and the like have just about everything, save for the really late-breaking films, by Thanksgiving. But the NYFCC changed that course a bit this year.

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Filed in: HitFix · In Contention

Tech Support: 'War Horse,' 'Transformers' in the, uh, mix for Best Sound Mixing

Posted by · 7:47 am · November 10th, 2011

In this week’s edition of Tech Support, we turn our gaze to Best Sound Mixing. Contenders include “War Horse,” “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” and.. “The Artist?”

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Filed in: HitFix · In Contention

Off the Carpet: Building the perfect strategy

Posted by · 11:06 am · October 31st, 2011

It takes all kinds. Finding the right strategy to navigate an awards season is a tricky thing and it varies, naturally, from film to film. Whether it’s “Young Adult” of “The Artist” or “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” there is no mold, no skeleton key, no single solution.

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Filed in: HitFix · In Contention

Tech Support: Best Pic hopefuls from 'War Horse' to 'Ides of March' highlight Best Film Editing

Posted by · 9:19 am · October 27th, 2011

This week our weekly Tech Support column turns its gaze to the Best Film Editing category. Serious possibilities include Steven Spielberg’s one-two punch of “War Horse” and “The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn,” festival favorite “The Artist” and summer blockbusters like “Rise of the Planet of the Apes.”

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Filed in: HitFix · In Contention

Alexandre Desplat tapped for 'Extremely Loud'

Posted by · 3:47 pm · October 21st, 2011

Alexandre Desplat is one of the hardest working quality composers in the industry. And he’s just been announced as “quietly” working on the score for one of the season’s most anticipated contenders: Stephen Daldry’s “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.”

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Filed in: HitFix · In Contention

Redgrave and the ladies of 'The Help' lead the conversation on Best Supporting Actress

Posted by · 9:51 am · October 17th, 2011

Rounding out four weeks of performance analysis this week, we turn to Best Adapted Screenplay. Contenders include Vanessa Redgrave, Octavia Spencer, the ubiquitous Jessica Chastain and Shailene Woodley, among others.

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Tech Support: 'Tree of Life,' 'The Artist' lead a field of 'pretty' pictures in Best Cinematography

Posted by · 9:55 am · October 6th, 2011

This year’s Best Cinematography category is lively already. Great work from Emmanuel Lubezi (“The Tree of Life”) and Lawrence Bennett (“The Artist”) has already been seen, while still-to-come entries in “J. Edgar” and “War Horse” could easily enter the conversation. We dive into the field in this week’s edition of Tech Support.

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Filed in: HitFix · In Contention

Oscarweb Round-up: Calling it too soon on '50/50'

Posted by · 6:32 am · October 4th, 2011

In today’s round-up, Steven Zeitchik aims to call “50/50” dead on arrival, Netflix’s most-rented movies list is dominated by Oscar winners and Robert Forster revisits “Jackie Brown” on the occasion of the film’s Blu-ray release.

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Filed in: HitFix · In Contention

Off the Carpet: Wide open supporting actor race could be headlined by vets

Posted by · 9:39 am · October 3rd, 2011

The Best Supporting Actor race is beginning to slowly take shape as a wide array of veteran actors, from Christopher Plummer to Nick Nolte, are leading the conversation. Nevertheless, it’s still a wide open race with a lot of room for movement.

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Filed in: HitFix · In Contention

Oscarweb Round-up: Rosebud 70 years later

Posted by · 6:51 am · September 30th, 2011

In today’s round-up, Kenneth Turan writes up the gorgeous new “Citizen Kane” anniversary DVD/Blu-ray, Hitfix’s own Drew McWeeny chats with “50/50” writer Will Reiser and we get a little more out of this weekend’s test screening of “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.”

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WB drops the first trailer for 'Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close'

Posted by · 4:31 pm · September 28th, 2011

Warner Bros. has released the first trailer for Stephen Daldry’s “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.”

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Filed in: HitFix · In Contention

In 'Extremely Loud,' could Max Von Sydow finally win an Oscar…for a silent performance?

Posted by · 2:08 pm · September 28th, 2011

Stephen Daldry’s “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” held a test screening in New York over the weekend, and a reader has written in to tell us how terrific actor Max Von Sydow apparently is in a supporting role. Could he be on track for a nomination? And if so, won’t it be really hard not to finally give him an Oscar?

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Filed in: HitFix · In Contention

Tech Support: A new year of crafts coverage

Posted by · 11:37 am · September 22nd, 2011

Welcome back. Today marks the beginning of the sixth year of Tech Support here at In Contention. I am delighted about the new collaboration with HitFix, which will doubtless result in even more comprehensive awards coverage. Over the next 10 weeks, we will analyze each of the “technical” category races in this space: Art Direction, Cinematography, Costume Design, Film Editing, Makeup, Original Score, Original Song, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing and Visual Effects.

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Off the Carpet: The great, appreciated unknown

Posted by · 6:00 am · September 19th, 2011

The Venice, Telluride and Toronto Film Festivals have commenced. But contrary to recent years, there is no unanimous Oscar heavy coming out of that frame.

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Filed in: HitFix · In Contention