'Tree of Life' leads Chicago film critics nods

Posted by · 8:56 am · December 16th, 2011

The Chicago Film Critics Association has announced its list of nominees this year, and it’s full of the usual. But most interesting is that “The Tree of Life” star Hunter McCracken has finally received some attention.

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Oscar Talk: Ep. 73 — Our top 10 films of 2011!

Posted by · 7:58 am · December 9th, 2011

In today’s podcast, Kris and Anne take a break from the usual order of things to count down, separately, their picks for the best films of the year.

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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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Lars von Trier maintains his silence at European Film Awards

Posted by · 10:40 am · December 5th, 2011

As predicted, Lars von Trier’s “Melancholia” won top honors at the European Film Awards on Saturday, but received some karmic payback when fellow Dane Susanne Bier, whom he insulted in his now-famous Cannes press conference, beat him to the Best Director award.

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'Artist,' 'Tinker,' 'Shame' and 'Marilyn' among contenders not eligible for WGA

Posted by · 3:52 pm · December 2nd, 2011

As happens every year, a list of potential Oscar nominees is ineligible for WGA consideration due to a number of issues (signatory concerns, paperwork avoidance, etc.). This year, though, the list seems particularly long.

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'Tree of Life' easily tops Sight & Sound's Best of 2011 poll

Posted by · 1:45 pm · November 28th, 2011

Terrence Malick’s “The Tree of Life” was named the year’s best film by a comfortable majority in Sight & Sound magazine’s poll of 100 international critics. Does this bode well for upcoming critics’ awards?

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Off the Carpet: Critical condition

Posted by · 12:29 pm · November 28th, 2011

The Gotham Awards this evening and the NYFCC vote tomorrow signal the start of the precursor awards season. What needs a boost?

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US theaters finally succumb to 'Melancholia'

Posted by · 12:05 pm · November 11th, 2011

After a rocky publicity ride following director Lars von Trier’s controversial Nazi remarks at Cannes, “Melancholia” is finding its feet with US critics. But will audiences — or even the Academy — take any notice?

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Oscarweb Round-up: Ratner's remark

Posted by · 7:04 am · November 8th, 2011

In today’s round-up, Brett Ratner’s recent gay slur causes a stir, Charlotte Gainsbourg talks “Melancholia” and “The Muppets” catches Savannah Film Festival audiences off guard.

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'Melancholia' rules European Film Award nods

Posted by · 5:09 am · November 7th, 2011

Lars von Trier’s “Melancholia” is a sophisticated choice of film to lead Europe’s alternative to the Oscars — but a middlebrow mindset prevails elsewhere.

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Oscar Talk: Ep. 64 — Digging into the lead categories

Posted by · 7:54 am · October 7th, 2011

In today’s podcast, we dig in on the lead actor and lead actress categories, discuss Roman Polanski’s NYFF opener “Carnage” and the critical reception of “The Ides of March,” opening today.

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Oscarweb Round-up: 'Christmas' poised to strike?

Posted by · 7:31 am · October 7th, 2011

In today’s round-up, Sony trots out “Arthur Christmas” director Sarah Smith for some London press, Ryan Gosling reveals the man who broke his heart and we have an exclusive clip of Lars Von Trier’s “Melancholia.”

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Von Trier takes vow of public silence

Posted by · 10:45 am · October 5th, 2011

Nearly five months ago, I sat in the delegate room at the Cannes festival center waiting for Lars von Trier to arrive for his press conference, fully expecting some of the senior enfant terrible’s requisite fun-and-games (or foot-in-mouth, depending on your take). The director has, of course, made something of a professional trademark out of his contentious public statements — and duly delivered on this occasion.

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Reviewing NYFF across space and time

Posted by · 10:22 am · October 3rd, 2011

We may not be attending the New York Film Festival, here’s a round-up of the festival titles we’ve already seen and reviewed at In Contention, including such films as “The Artist,” “The Descendants,” “A Separation” and “Carnage.”

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Cinejabber: Sometimes Batman just really wants to catch the Joker

Posted by · 7:21 am · October 1st, 2011

Open thread. The floor is yours.

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Oscarweb Round-up: Questioning the accuracy of 'Moneyball'

Posted by · 5:19 am · September 26th, 2011

In today’s round-up, Steve Pond writes up the inaccuracies of “Moneyball,” Tom O’Neil kicks off his annual straw pull (with our own Guy Lodge participating) and battle of the half-eaten posters

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Oscar Talk: Ep. 62 — 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy' is icy and smooth (and good!), but is it Oscar?

Posted by · 9:16 am · September 23rd, 2011

In this week’s podcast, we cover “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy,” “The Ides of March,” “Moneyball,” “Pearl Jam Twenty,” “Melancholia” and the Academy’s latest rule change.

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Oscarweb Round-up: Taking artists at their work

Posted by · 4:00 am · September 22nd, 2011

In today’s round-up, Manohla Dargis argues in favor of considering the work, not the actions, of filmmakers like Lars Von Trier and Roman Polanski, Steve Martin humbly passes along some Oscar emcee suggestions to newly minted host Eddie Murphy and Russia’s foreign language submission stirs up some controversy.

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