The Long Shot: Language barriers

Posted by · 9:37 am · February 9th, 2012

This may come as a shock to readers accustomed to my usual tone of weary despair when it comes to the category, but I’m about to write in defense of the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.

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Filed in: HitFix · In Contention

Round-up: Cracking the code of 'Tinker, Tailor'

Posted by · 8:00 am · January 26th, 2012

Also: Mary J. Blige’s Oscar sulk, and a gold watch for Uggie

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Filed in: HitFix · In Contention

'Bullhead,' 'Pina,' 'A Separation' included on foreign language shortlist

Posted by · 10:17 am · January 18th, 2012

The biggest surprise about the nine-film shortlist for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar is, well, how unsurprising it is. Seven of the titles I predicted yesterday are on it; the two films I didn’t, Morocco’s “Omar Killed Me” and Taiwan’s “Warriors of the Rainbow,” are the kind of could-have-been-anything choices that we know to […]

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Interview: Michael Barker talks 'Midnight in Paris,' 'Take Shelter' and 20 years of Sony Classics

Posted by · 11:28 am · December 6th, 2011

Sony Pictures Classics co-president Michael Barker has seen a lot in his 20 years at that post. This year his company has a typically heavy slate of awards hopefuls, two of them — “Midnight in Paris” and “Take Shelter” — beginning to light up the awards circuit. He recently discussed as much with In Contention.

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Camerimage honors DPs of 'In Darkness,' 'A Separation,' 'Wuthering Heights'

Posted by · 1:44 pm · December 5th, 2011

The Polish festival honors the year’s finest in feature film cinematography, but this year’s jury awards saw major lensing showcases like “The Tree of Life” lose out to less showy foreign fare.

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Handicapping the foreign-language Oscar race

Posted by · 4:18 pm · October 31st, 2011

We rank the films likeliest to show up in the ever-unpredictable Best Foreign Language Film race.

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Oscar Talk: Ep. 66 — Gotham Awards, NYFCC's FIRST! move, 'Tintin,' London fest and more

Posted by · 8:00 am · October 21st, 2011

In this week’s Oscar Talk podcast Anne and Kris are joined by Guy Lodge from London, who is taking in the London Film Festival and saw Steven Spielberg’s “The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn” recently. We also dig in on the Gotham Award nominations announcement and the NYFCC’s recent surprising twist on the season.

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Oscarweb Round-up: Might the CLING and CLANG of 'Steel' register for sound?

Posted by · 7:04 am · October 10th, 2011

In today’s round-up, the SoundWorks Collection profiles the sound of “Real Steel,” some more of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’s score for “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” pops up online and some think Clint Eastwood is intent on outing J. Edgar Hoover.

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59 films vying for foreign-language Oscar

Posted by · 2:40 pm · October 5th, 2011

With the deadline having passed two days ago, our list of submissions for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar is complete — and at 59 films, it’s down considerably from the last couple of years, when as many as 67 titles were put forward for consideration. Turkey’s entry, Cannes prizewinner “Once Upon a Time in Anatolia,” heads the list of late entries.

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Does Sony have bigger Oscar plans for 'A Separation' and 'In Darkness'?

Posted by · 2:28 pm · October 3rd, 2011

Best Foreign Language Film contenders are frequently content to wait until after the nominations to open in US theaters; however, Sony Pictures Classics has scheduled heavyweight contenders ‘A Separation’ and ‘In Darkness’ for December openings, suggesting they may have other Oscar categories in mind.

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Filed in: HitFix · In Contention