'Apes,' 'Harry Potter,' 'Ghost Protocol' and 'Dragon Tattoo' win at the Saturn Awards

Posted by · 10:00 pm · July 26th, 2012

The 38th annual Saturn Awards, recognizing achievement in genre filmmaking, were held this evening. “Rise of the Planet of the Apes,” “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, ” “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” and “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol” won across the organization’s three Best Film categories. “Super 8” also picked up a pair of statues, including Best Director.

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'Harry Potter' and 'Hugo' lead Saturn nominations with 10 each

Posted by · 11:14 am · March 1st, 2012

The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films have announced the nominees for this year’s Saturn Awards and they are fairly across the map.

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John Williams wins five awards from International Film Music critics

Posted by · 10:19 am · February 24th, 2012

The International Film Music Critics Association has offered up the final precursor awards announcement of the season as we head into the weekend, which will bring the Independent Spirit Awards and, finally, the Oscars. And John Williams had a great day, it turns out.

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'War Horse,' 'Super 8' win with MPSE

Posted by · 10:09 pm · February 19th, 2012

The Motion Picture Sound Editors’ (MPSE) 59th annual Golden Reel Awards were held this evening, celebrating excellence in sound editing. “Super 8,” you’ll recall, led the way with nominees (as well as with the Cinema Audio Society), yet failed to score an Oscar nod in either sound category.

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'Hugo' sounds great to Cinema Audio Society

Posted by · 6:13 pm · February 18th, 2012

The Cinema Audio Society has made some interesting calls over the years. “True Grit” last season, in the face of blockbuster and eventual Oscar winner “Inception.” “No Country for Old Men” in 2007 rather than the skillfully layered “Transformers” (and, again, eventual Oscar winner “The Bourne Ultimatum”). “Road to Perdition” over musical heavyweight “Chicago” and feast for the ears “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.”

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John Williams, Michael Giacchino, Chemical Brothers nominated by film music critics

Posted by · 7:37 am · February 10th, 2012

This year’s list of International Film Music Critics Association nominees was predictably dominated by John Williams, who landed seven nominations across the various categories for his two Oscar-nominated scores: “The Adventures of Tintin” and “War Horse.” Not too far back with five nods was “The Artist” composer Ludovic Bource.

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Oscar Guide 2011: Best Sound Mixing

Posted by · 6:30 am · February 8th, 2012

This is one of the year’s hardest technical categories to predict, largely because the Academy’s sound branch agreed with the Cinema Audio Society on only two nominees. We size up who might win, and who should.

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Tech Support: 'The Artist,' 'Hugo,' 'Dragon Tattoo' and 'War Horse' feature heavily in Oscar's crafts categories

Posted by · 1:12 pm · January 24th, 2012

This morning, many crafts artists in Hollywood (and elsewhere in the world) found out that they are heading to the Kodak Theatre for the 84th Annual Academy Awards. The thrill they are experiencing must be difficult to describe.

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My dream Oscar ballot: part one

Posted by · 1:00 pm · January 21st, 2012

With the Oscar nominations looming, I take a look at the films I’d most like to see recognized in crafts categories, ranging from “The Tree of Life” to “13 Assassins” to “Immortals.”

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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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'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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'Tree of Life' leads the way with Central Ohio critics nominations

Posted by · 9:11 am · January 2nd, 2012

The Central Ohio Film Critics Association should implement different nominating procedures so that ties, etc., don’t leave them with a ridiculous slate of 15 BEST PICTURE NOMINEES. Anyway, it looks like “The Tree of Life” has the most mentions.

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'The Artist' triumphs with Phoenix critics

Posted by · 8:22 pm · December 27th, 2011

After recently releasing a slate of nominees, the Phoenix Film Critics Society has named “The Artist” the best picture of the year, but I have to say, I was stopped dead in my tracks by this line of boast at the organization’s official site…

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First-Half FYC: Best Supporting Actor and Actress

Posted by · 3:32 pm · December 27th, 2011

With the Oscar race so skewed towards late-year releases, worthy contenders from films released between January and June often slip through the cracks. We highlight some standout supporting performances from 2011’s first half, including Christopher Plummer and two stars of “Bridesmaids.”

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Top 10 season is upon us

Posted by · 5:32 pm · December 6th, 2011

As the year winds down, the Top 10 lists roll in, including typically unorthodox selections from Cahiers du Cinema and John Waters.

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Contest: Win a 'Super 8' DVD

Posted by · 9:51 am · December 5th, 2011

Make your case for the film’s Oscar worthiness.

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