10 films shortlisted for visual effects Oscar

Posted by · 1:10 pm · January 4th, 2012

After 15 titles were longlisted for the Best Visual Effects Oscar last month, that number was cut to 10 today: ‘The Tree of Life,’ ‘Hugo’ and ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’ are still in the running for a nomination.

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Filed in: HitFix · In Contention

Joe Letteri and Andy Serkis on the progression of performance capture in 'Apes' and 'Tintin'

Posted by · 3:27 pm · December 22nd, 2011

In 2011, New Zealand-based visual effects company Weta Digital was at it again with another banner year in the CG filmmaking landscape, perhaps the company’s biggest year to date. At the forefront were visual effects supervisor Joe Letteri, director of Weta Digital, and actor Andy Serkis, steward of the performance capture form and the face for a technology that could potentially, at some point, become a standardized tool in the filmmaker’s arsenal.

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Filed in: HitFix · In Contention · Interviews

2011: the year in superlatives

Posted by · 10:11 am · December 16th, 2011

Who am I to complain about the amount of year-end kudos announcements when I had this post coming all along? I know. I’m so hypocritical.

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Filed in: HitFix · In Contention

'The Artist' and 'Hugo' lead the BFCA's Critics' Choice nominees

Posted by · 2:00 am · December 13th, 2011

The Broadcast Film Critics Association has announced its nominees for the 17th annual Critics’ Choice Movie Awards, and there are literally zero surprises, across the board. It’s the roll call of Oscar contenders the list has turned into, more and more.

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Filed in: HitFix · In Contention

Academy narrows visual effects race to 15 films

Posted by · 5:17 pm · December 9th, 2011

The Academy has announced a shortlist of 15 contenders for the Best Visual Effects Oscar, and all the usual suspects, from “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” to “The Tree of Life,” are present. Still, it’s bad news for “Anonymous” and “Immortals.”

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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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'Apes' and 'Tintin' star Andy Serkis on performance capture's place in awards season

Posted by · 11:39 am · December 5th, 2011

The awards talk around performance capture actor Andy Serkis has seen a bit of an uptick amid Fox’s Oscar push and a critics award nomination for his work in “Rise of the Planet of the Apes.” It seemed a good time to get his thoughts on the technology’s place in the awards season.

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Filed in: HitFix · In Contention · Interviews

Oscarweb Round-up: Stumping for Serkis

Posted by · 7:03 am · December 2nd, 2011

In today’s round-up, the buzz on Andy Serkis’s Oscar campaign makes its way overseas, “Shame” is all over the blogosphere and parents of the victims in the Memphis Three case protest Oscar consideration of “Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory.”

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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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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

Fox campaigns for Serkis, reignites mo-cap debate

Posted by · 4:55 pm · November 7th, 2011

It seems longer ago than August that the movie-blog fraternity was getting worked up about Andy Serkis’s digitally-enabled performance in “Rise of the Planet of the Apes,” with many getting prematurely irate about the awards attention he would inevitably not receive.

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Filed in: HitFix · In Contention

Oscarweb Round-up: Campaigning Clint for Razzie

Posted by · 4:03 am · November 4th, 2011

In today’s round-up, Dan Kois stumps for Clint Eastwood — for a Razzie that is, Fox announces Andy Serkis for a “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” sequel and an Oscar campaign for his performance-capture work and James Mangold looks back on “Copland.”

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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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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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Tech Support: 'Apes' and 'Deathly Hallows' lead the way for Best Visual Effects

Posted by · 7:19 am · September 29th, 2011

This week in Tech Support we survey the Best Visual Effects category, from typical blockbuster fare like “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” to unusual possibilities like “The Tree of Life” and “The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn.”

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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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Filed in: HitFix · In Contention