Oscar Talk: Ep. 75 — Critics' picks so far, 'War Horse' box office, PGA/WGA preview, boiling down Best Actress and more

Posted by · 8:00 am · December 31st, 2011

In this week’s Oscar Talk, Kris and Anne discuss the critics’ awards and lists so far, preview the upcoming PGA and WGA announcements and examine the Best Actress race one more time, among many other things.

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Tech Support Interview: The ubiquitous Alexandre Desplat on living his dream

Posted by · 9:52 am · December 29th, 2011

When Tech Support first launched at In Contention five years ago, Alexandre Desplat had proven his talents with top-notch scores for “The Girl With a Pearl Earring,” “Birth” and “Syriana.” Today we chat with him about a ubiquitous year doing what he loves to do.

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Austin film critics like 'Hugo,' Refn and Shannon

Posted by · 9:13 am · December 28th, 2011

The Austin Film Critics Association is the latest group to speak up on the year’s best, tapping “Hugo” as the best picture of the year. The film didn’t show up anywhere else on the unique slate of superlatives, though, which included two acting wins for “Take Shelter.”

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'Tree of Life' leads with 7 nods from Online Film Critics Society

Posted by · 9:59 am · December 26th, 2011

Today, the Online Film Critics Society has declared nominations (or maybe I missed them pre-Christmas, I don’t know). And I guess it’s only fitting that, given the group, it’s the slate most in-line with my own views of the film year so far.

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Oklahoma critics march in step, spring for 'The Artist,' Clooney and Williams

Posted by · 3:11 pm · December 23rd, 2011

The Oklahoma Film Critics Circle has spoken up and added nothing to the precursor conversation, going with a slate of typical winners. Most annoying, they totally got their “Obviously Worst Film” and “Not-So-Obviously-Worst-Film” awards mixed, but whatever.

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Round-up: When is a simple omission a snub?

Posted by · 6:00 am · December 23rd, 2011

Also: championing Pitt for ‘Tree of Life’ and the year in LGBT characters

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Dublin critics like 'Drive'

Posted by · 7:59 pm · December 21st, 2011

The Dublin Film Critics Circle is the latest critics group to name year-end superlatives, and “Drive” was clearly a favorite, taking Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor. Jessica Chastain won Best Actress for her performance in “The Tree of Life.”

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Round-up: indieWIRE survey plants 'Tree of Life' at the top

Posted by · 6:00 am · December 21st, 2011

Also: Brad Bird’s winter playlist and Kim Jong-il on film

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Black Film Critics Circle taps 'The Help' best of the year

Posted by · 6:13 pm · December 20th, 2011

The Black Film Critics Circle has chosen “The Help” as the best film of the year. The film won four other awards, including Best Actress for Viola Davis. “Pariah” director Dee Rees won Best Director, one of three awards for the film. And Albert Brooks added yet another honor to his mantle.

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Off the Carpet: Setting the field with the precursors so far

Posted by · 11:41 am · December 19th, 2011

In just three weeks we’ve gone from zero to a hundred on the circuit as the film awards landscape has been sculpted into a bit of a consensus in these waning moments of 2011. Let’s see what that consensus appears to be.

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Florida critics spring for 'Descendants,' Scorsese

Posted by · 9:11 am · December 19th, 2011

The Florida Film Critics Circle has tossed its hat into the over-stuffed precursor ring this year by picking “The Descendants” as the year’s best film. Martin Scorsese picked up the Best Director prize for “Hugo” while Michelle Williams continued a dominating streak by nabbing Best Actress.

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Southeastern film critics go for 'Descendants,' Scorsese, Clooney, Streep

Posted by · 8:47 am · December 19th, 2011

The Southeastern Film Critics Association has crowned “The Descendants” the year’s best film, but with no awards for “The Artist,” one wonders if the high on that film is subsiding.

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'Tree of Life' wins four awards from Chicago critics, including Best Picture

Posted by · 8:03 am · December 19th, 2011

After Terrence Malick’s “The Tree of Life” led with seven nominations from the Chicago Film Critics Association, it seemed obvious the film was likely to win the group’s Best Picture award. But the film ended up walking away with four big wins in total.

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'Descendants,' 'Drive' win big at Satellite Awards

Posted by · 7:52 am · December 19th, 2011

After nominating any and everything under the sun, the International Press Academy (Satellite Awards) has tapped “The Descendants” as this year’s Best Picture of the year. The group, however, gave “Drive” a field-leading four wins, and overall, it’s a unique set of superlatives.

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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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'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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Dallas-Fort Worth critics REALLY like 'The Descendants'

Posted by · 8:28 am · December 16th, 2011

The Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association has picked its jumped into the fray with a list of winners and it’s rather clear they kind of had a thing for Alexander Payne’s “The Descendants.” The film won awards for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress and Best Screenplay. Check out the full list below.

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San Diego critics pick 'Artist,' Refn

Posted by · 5:04 pm · December 14th, 2011

The San Diego Film Critics Society has chosen “The Artist” as Best Picture for 2011 and Nicolas Winding Refn as Best Director for “Drive,” among other honors.

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