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One craft aspect I didn’t get around to praising in last week’s review of “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy” is the immaculate costuming by Jacqueline Durran — a designer with only 11 feature credits under her belt, yet one who already seems something of an institution. Durran is one of those rare designers capable of equal [...]
Tailoring ‘Tailor’
Posted by Guy Lodge · 5:56 pm · September 12th, 2011
Filed in: Daily
‘Captain America’ keeps the summer sizzling
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 12:00 am · July 20th, 2011
So, “Captain America: The First Avenger” wraps up the summer’s superhero slate this week. Yes, we have “Cowboys & Aliens” on the way to keep the general comic book flow going, but Marvel’s other bookend to the summer hits Friday, and, well, I thought it was just (yankee doodle) dandy. “Robust” is the word that [...]
The five categories giving me hell
Posted by Guy Lodge · 3:48 pm · February 25th, 2011
With a little over 48 hours until the big night, I find myself in an uncommon state of disarray — my crammed Oscar weekend “To Do” list includes viewing all 15 short nominees in order to make an informed dart-throw of a prediction (stickler that I am, I held out for a theatrical screening), preparing [...]
Filed in: Daily
TECH SUPPORT: Final analysis, part one
Posted by Gerard Kennedy · 10:35 am · February 24th, 2011
So this is it. Over the last seven-plus months here at Tech Support, we have tried to illuminate and analyze the craft races as they unfolded. On Sunday, the winners will be revealed, ushering some new faces into Oscar’s club. And indeed, I expect the vast majority of the winners to make their first trip [...]
Filed in: Tech Support
OFF THE CARPET: Heading into the home stretch
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 11:48 am · February 21st, 2011
I’m watching CNN’s report of the on-going situation in Libya as I write these comparably pointless words. The “real world” seems so unique, so foreign after having our head in the awards season clouds since September. Now, six months in, victory lane is a mere six days away. And man, it’s been a marathon. So [...]
Filed in: Off the Carpet
Prediction conundrum of the day
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 11:20 am · February 20th, 2011
You may have heard Anne and I get into it over the design categories in Friday’s Oscar Talk. For costumes, she maintained that the great (and deserving) Colleen Atwood is likely to win for “Alice in Wonderland.” Yet, as best I can tell, the only true fantasies to win the award — ever — are [...]
Filed in: Daily
OSCAR GUIDE: Best Costume Design
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 9:31 am · February 10th, 2011
This year’s race for Best Costume Design became mired in controversy later in the season as a dispute erupted over proper credit in “Black Swan.” Amy Westcott was listed as responsible for the threads, but fashion duo Rodarte had a significant hand in concocting the performance costumes on the film — and were denied credit, [...]
Filed in: Oscar Guide
2/9 OSCARWEB ROUND-UP: Stewart talks ‘Speech’ sets, McMurtry and Ossana on ‘True Grit,’ Nolan/Del Toro Q&A
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 8:43 am · February 9th, 2011
• Steve Pond goes blue in the face trying to explain, again, the preferential ballot to people who just don’t get it. [The Odds] • Nathaniel Rogers chats with “The King’s Speech” production designer Eve Stewart. [The Film Experience] • Jamie Bell: Oscar prognosticator. [Movieline]
Filed in: Daily
TECH SUPPORT: Analyzing the nominees
Posted by Gerard Kennedy · 11:53 am · January 28th, 2011
So the 83rd Annual Academy Award nominations were finally announced this week, and I did fairly well in handicapping the nominees. Outside of Best Sound Mixing, I never missed more than one nominee in a category. Unfortunately, there were no categories where I scored 100% (apart from Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay). Oh well. [...]
Filed in: Tech Support
Westcott opens up on ‘Black Swan’ costume controversy
Posted by Guy Lodge · 6:25 am · January 28th, 2011
For me, one of the most disappointing below-the-line Oscar snubs on Tuesday morning was that of “Black Swan” in Best Costume Design — not only because Amy Westcott’s intelligent contemporary design work was thoroughly deserving of notice (more so than “The Tempest,” on which the great Sandy Powell had something of an off-day), but because [...]
Filed in: Daily
TECH SUPPORT: Final analysis, part two
Posted by Gerard Kennedy · 9:48 am · January 21st, 2011
Yesterday I began a final look at the crafts categories. Today, a look at the four remaining fields: Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design and Best Film Editing. BEST ART DIRECTION The precursors of the BFCA, BAFTA and Art Directors Guild have been fairly consistent in citing four titles in this category. Last [...]
Filed in: Tech Support
Costume confusion
Posted by Guy Lodge · 5:00 pm · January 20th, 2011
Gerard will address this category in tomorrow’s Tech Support column, but I did want to say something about Best Costume Design — partly because the Guild dropped some rather interesting nominations today, and partly because it’s the technical category that’s still prompting the most head-scratching as I work towards my final predictions. We all know [...]
Filed in: Daily
On the costumes of ‘True Grit’
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 8:13 am · January 14th, 2011
Back during the pre-holiday build of Tech Support Interviews with the below-the-line talent of Joel and Ethan Coen’s “True Grit,” you’ll recall my conversation with Mary Zophres on the costumes of the film. Today we’ve got a nifty featurette for you built around the threads of the film. It makes for a nice reminder that, [...]
Filed in: Daily
On the costumes of ‘The Fighter’
Posted by Guy Lodge · 12:16 pm · January 13th, 2011
When the Costume Designers’ Guild announce their nominees next week, I have no doubt that Mark Bridges’ work on “The Fighter” will show up in their contemporary category — not really the right classification for a film whose lurid early-1990s threads are as meticulously era-specific as any of 2010′s more lavish period spectacles. (If you [...]
Filed in: Daily
Weekly predictions update
Posted by Guy Lodge · 3:51 pm · January 5th, 2011
As you may have noticed, my long-delayed Best of 2010 feature went up earlier today, and I’ve been enjoying your generous response thus far. It does, however, come in lieu of this week’s Long Shot column: there are only so many hours in the day, and frankly, it’s getting increasingly difficult to find any fresh [...]
Filed in: Daily
TECH SUPPORT INTERVIEW: ‘True Grit’ costume designer Mary Zophres
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 9:29 am · December 20th, 2010
In lieu of a typical entry in our Tech Support interview series (which kicked off last week), and on the heels of Friday’s sit-down chat with the Coen brothers, we’re kicking off the week of “True Grit” (opening December 22) with a series of five audio chats with the film’s below-the-line personnel, all at the [...]
Filed in: Interviews · Tech Support
‘Jane Eyre’ trailer
Posted by Guy Lodge · 4:21 pm · November 9th, 2010
Hot on the heels of the lovely poster unveiled yesterday, we now have a trailer for Focus Features’ spring release “Jane Eyre.” The assembly of the trailer is a touch overegged, though I’m reserving judgment — at the very least, cinematographer Adriano Goldman seems to be having the same fun with light and weather that [...]
Filed in: Daily
‘Harry Potter’ designer accused of fashion plagiarism
Posted by Guy Lodge · 4:17 am · October 27th, 2010
Way back in the mists of 2001, the very first “Harry Potter” screen outing (don’t ask me to distinguish the titles) received an Oscar nomination for Best Costume Design. It even managed to win the Costume Designers’ Guild award — and that was before they created a separate category for fantasy film. No subsequent entry [...]
Filed in: Daily
