Tag: announcements

We’re geting a little more fancy with the featured content gallery I’m sure you’ve all noticed at the top of the site.  It seems to be working fine in Firefox and Safari but I haven’t checked IE.  If there are any issues, let us know.

If you haven’t noticed by now, we’ve been running weekly lists here at In Contention.  They were sporadic for a few months, but I recently decided to make them a mainstay, and we’re going to try to put a little more “umph” into the feature than you tend to find across the web.

We’ve already run lists of the top 10 performances you’re underestimating, the top 10 films of 1999 and the top 10 Paul Newman performances, but in lieu of an actual list today (we’ve got a few on deck), I wanted to throw it out to the readership for some guidance further down the road.

What sorts of lists would you like to see?  The kookier the better.

Just an FYI, we’re adding photo galleries to the individual film/buzz pages linked in the predictions sidebar and the Contenders sections.  Just a way of expanding these areas and provide the most information possible on the year’s awards hopefuls.  A few are already up and running.  Maybe making some headway on that forum/messahe board too, but more on that later.

I’ve been receiving more and more requests for/queries about a message board/forum here at In Contention.  I’m certainly pleased with the community that’s developing in the comments section (since the site was never really geared toward such a thing until recently), but I wanted to toss it out to the readership.  Would you be interested in a message board here or would it be a waste of space?

I know sometimes there are topics you’d like to get into that aren’t necessarily addressed in the day-to-day posting, but then a sense of distance is always healthy, too (given the drama that can ensue with such an additive).

Anyway, let us know.  Forum or no forum?

Okay, after some false starts we’re doing this for real over the weekend.  So if things get dicey you know why.  We’ll make sure it’s all cleared up by Monday’s Oscar column and chart update.  FYI.

Next week In Contention will be launching into our extensive Oscar coverage for the season.  That means the usual weekly columns from Gerard and myself, in addition to the daily musings on what might be in the Oscarweb news.

Speaking of the Oscarweb, we’ll be doing the round-ups again that you might remember from Red Carpet District (no comment on this at the moment, FYI).  The idea (not that it’s a particularly groundbreaking one) has recently been lifted in a couple of areas, but you know where the comprehensive stuff is at.  I have no life so that I may convey to you every…single…thing…being…discussed.

Anyway, some key dates to remember for the week ahead:

Monday, September 1: First weekly “Off the Carpet” Oscar column drops with updated charts.
Tuesday, September 2: Brian’s “Page to Screen” review of “The Road” (this column will wrap up on 9/30)
Thursday, September 4: Gerard’s first “Tech Support” column of the season
Thursday, September 4: John’s Toroto Film Festival coverage begins

Also, we’ll be changing servers Friday night, so if there are any weird glitches on the weekend, you’ll know why.  All should be good to go by the 1st.

Many of you may have been aware that over the past year the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has been systematically yanking the “Oscar” name and likeness from a number of websites.  Sasha Stone’s Oscarwatch was the first to go (now Awards Daily) and upstarts like The Oscar Igloo have also made a switch (now Awards Circuit).

(The Academy definitely set the legal wheels in motion on Stone’s site, but I can’t be sure on the Igloo folks, who may have been off the AMPAS radar completely.  Ditto fan-oriented sites such as EverythingOscar.com.)

Well, this month the Academy has taken further steps, setting its sights on In Contention and, namely, the Oscar silhouette that has so identified itself with the site’s logo since the dot-com launch in July of 2006.  And in the way of compliance (though what choice is there?), we have yielded to the Academy’s wishes and conjured up a new look for the logo.

Really, it’s all for the best because that old red slash, however identifiable, has become tired in the editor’s view.  And with some special ideas in store for post-Oscar season in 2009, the AMPAS strong arm has frankly expedited a move that was a long time coming.

So, I want to give a special thanks to graphic designer Dan Crook for whipping up the new banner.  I like the slickness of it, the iconic grab factor of the black streak.  I hope you’ll grow to feel the same way.

And before I forget, I want to again acknowledge the work of Claes (a.k.a. Grizzly) for his assistance on the old logo’s look.  It got a lot of mileage, and all good things come to an end.  He’s been M.I.A. for over a year, but wherever you are, thanks chum.

To the memories:

All the films predicted in the sidebar have been updated with links to their respective buzz/film/individual pages. We’re slowly working through The Contenders pages to do the same, but it’s a process. By the end of the month every film should have it’s own place on the spot for updated information, Oscar buzz, external and internal stories, etc.

If you come across a story you think would be a valuable addition to any buzz page, don’t hesitate to let us know. We’d like to be as comprehensive as possible.

Just a quick reminder, to anyone interested, I’ll be filling in for my friend Doug Nagy alongside John Campea of The Movie Blog tomorrow and Friday for their live Movie Blog: Uncut video podcast.  It’s generally a breezy good time, just chit-chatting about the week’s movie news and a good bulk of time devoted to live questions from readers and viewers.

If you’re around the ole’ computer tomorrow at 9pm EST/6pm PST, be sure to give us a look.