'Hugo' leads with 11 Oscar nominations, 'War Horse' in, 'Dragon Tattoo' out

Posted by · 4:15 am · January 24th, 2012

The nominees are in and the surprises are few and far between, in my opinion (though others seem to be picking their jaws up off the floor this morning). As indicated yesterday, “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” caught fire with voters down the stretch and was very much on their lips. The film turned up in the nine-film Best Picture category today, despite being critically disassembled, and that was pretty much the only eyebrow-raiser of the major categories. The film only showed up in one other category: Best Supporting Actor for Max von Sydow.

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'Super 8' leads the way with Motion Picture Sound Editors nominees

Posted by · 8:13 am · January 20th, 2012

The Motion Picture Sound Editors (MPSE) used to announce its list of nominees after the Oscars did, meaning the Best Sound Editing category was the one field without much in the way of precursor clues for predicting. That changed recently and now we can get an idea of where the sound branch might lean in the field.

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Tech Support: Wrapping up guesses throughout the Academy's craft categories

Posted by · 1:31 pm · January 19th, 2012

Rounding out my picks in the Academy’s crafts branches, from Best Music to Best Visual Effects.

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Tech Support: Guessing the nominees throughout the Academy's craft categories

Posted by · 7:49 am · January 19th, 2012

In five days, the nominations for the 84th annual Academy Awards will be announced. It seems extraordinary that another season has nearly passed. And with a silent film and a somewhat fantastical (not-so-) children’s film poised to dominate the major categories, one realizes how quickly trends can change in Hollywood. But now it’s time to make our final picks across the crafts categories.

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'The Artist,' 'Thor,' 'Bridesmaids' among Costume Designers Guild nominees

Posted by · 6:53 am · January 19th, 2012

Following on the heels of the Cinema Audio Society today is the Costume Designers Guild, which has selected nominees in its three patented categories.

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'Hanna,' 'Pirates' among Cinema Audio Society surprises, 'Transformers' snubbed

Posted by · 4:30 am · January 19th, 2012

And now, as they say, for something completely different. The guild nominations these last few weeks have been rank and file, the usual mish-mash of the same titles reflecting a bit of group think and perfunctory nominations. That ends today, though, as the Cinema Audio Society’s crop of nominees included some eyebrow-raising titles.

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'The Artist' and 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy' lead BAFTA nominations

Posted by · 11:00 pm · January 16th, 2012

Predictably, ‘The Artist’ leads the BAFTA nominations with 12 mentions, while ‘Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy’ follows with 11

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ACE noms check off 'Artist,' 'Descendants,' ignore 'The Help'

Posted by · 9:43 am · January 16th, 2012

The ACE Eddie Award nominations for film editing are more revealing in terms of omissions than inclusions. It’s good news for “The Artist,” “The Descendants” and even “War Horse,” but “The Help” suffers a setback here.

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A night at the Golden Globes

Posted by · 9:04 am · January 16th, 2012

Well, the Globes came and they went. And as I stood in the Fox Pavilion viewing party outside the Beverly Hilton hotel, guessing every single win with publicist friends, I couldn’t help but smile at the HFPA’s gall for being so predictable and so very much…themselves.

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'The Artist,' 'The Descendants' win big with Golden Globes (plus live blog)

Posted by · 12:27 pm · January 15th, 2012

Join us as we note the hits, misses and surprises of tonight’s Golden Globes ceremony.

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Globe predictions: Plain sailing for 'The Artist,' but what about the dramas?

Posted by · 4:15 am · January 15th, 2012

“The Artist” is a lock to win at least two major awards in the musical/comedy categories at the Golden Globes tonight, but the drama race is a little murkier. We offer our thoughts on who will win, and who should.

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Nevada film critics tap 'Hugo,' Scorsese

Posted by · 10:14 pm · January 14th, 2012

The Nevada Film Critics Society has spoken and “Hugo” was the word on its collective lips. The film won Best Picture, Best Director and Best Child Actor from the group. Meanwhile, Tom Hardy received his first win of the season for his performance in “Warrior.”

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'The Artist' wins 4 Critics' Choice Awards, including Best Picture and Director

Posted by · 1:51 am · January 13th, 2012

There were few surprises in last night’s BFCA Critics’ Choice Awards, as ‘The Artist’ took home the top two prizes — but there was disappointment for nomination co-leader ‘Hugo,’ which won only a single technical prize.

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'Tinker, Tailor,' 'Dragon Tattoo' among ASC nominees, 'War Horse' snubbed again

Posted by · 7:27 am · January 11th, 2012

The American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) has announced nominees for excellence in the field this year, and missing from the nominees was Janusz Kaminski’s lensing of “War Horse,” which marks yet another key snub for the film in the precursor season.

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Bob Dylan, Leonardo DiCaprio and Olivia Harrison to participate in Critics' Choice Martin Scorsese tribute

Posted by · 2:00 am · January 11th, 2012

The Broadcast Film Critics Association has announced that singer/songwriter Bob Dylan, along with Leonardo DiCaprio and Olivia Harrison (widow of Beatle George Harrison), will participate in Martin Scorsese’s Music+Film Award tribute. DiCaprio and Harrison will present the award, while Dylan will toast the director with a performance.

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Alliance of Women Film Journalists go with 'The Artist,' Hazanavicius

Posted by · 8:37 am · January 10th, 2012

The Alliance of Women Film Journalists has revealed its list of winners in 30 (!) categories after announcing a slate of nominees recently. The big winner in the traditional categories was “The Artist,” which won Best PIcture and Best Director.

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'War Horse,' Scorsese win with North Texas critics

Posted by · 3:33 pm · January 9th, 2012

The North Texas Film Critics Association (yep) has gotten together to announce this year’s list of winners. And it was “War Horse” that came out of top, with Martin Scorsese winning directing honors. No were to be found “The Artist.”

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DPs indulge in some mutual appreciation

Posted by · 3:00 pm · January 9th, 2012

The American Society of Cinematographers announce their nominees tomorrow. Emmanuel Lubezki has swept the precursors for “The Tree of Life,” but it’s no sure thing that the Academy will follow suit — though a recent Variety feature makes it clear a lot of his peers are in his corner.

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