With “The Social Network” picking up yet another award last week (for Best in Show at the Golden Trailer Awards), Ryan Adams at Awards Daily asked for personal picks for favorite trailers. There are a number that spring to mind for me. I maintain that the first “Pearl Harbor” trailer (link), with the score from […]
WTF with the giant fireball thing??
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 11:05 am · July 4th, 2011
Filed in: Daily
The In Contention Readership Ballot
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 10:20 am · February 27th, 2011
Today’s the big day. No more Oscar Guide, no more polls, just a few choice hours left in the season and then, the 83rd annual. (And not a moment too soon.) I appreciate everyone participating in the daily polls this month and last, which accompanied each of our Oscar Guide entries. It offers us a […]
Filed in: Daily
Big night for ‘Black Swan’ at Spirit Awards
Posted by Guy Lodge · 5:28 pm · February 26th, 2011
Kris was on the scene at the Independent Spirit Awards today, and will, I’m sure, have some first-hand commentary to add later. For now, let me lead the cheers for “Black Swan,” which finally had its moment in the sun this awards season. Two years after its sort-of-sibling “The Wrestler” nabbed the top prize, the surprise […]
Filed in: Daily
OSCAR GUIDE: Best Picture
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 8:11 am · February 26th, 2011
And so we come to the end of this year’s Oscar Guide, and the category that has been the cause of more conversation than ever this year: Best Picture. And that can’t be overstated. I can’t recall the last time the debate around a Best Picture winner was so heated, and I’m tempted to say […]
Filed in: Oscar Guide
OSCAR GUIDE: Best Directing
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 9:36 am · February 25th, 2011
Coming down to the wire, the race for Best Directing remains a very close one. Earlier in the year the prevailing wisdom was that a split could be in the cards, with the Oscar-bait frontrunner more likely to win Best Picture and the zeitgeisty competition likely to see its talented helmer finally noticed. Then things […]
Filed in: Oscar Guide
2/25 OSCARWEB ROUND-UP: Carter keeps the season interesting, Gervais’s suggestion, Portman overrated?
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 8:18 am · February 25th, 2011
• 10 great things Helena Bonham Carter has done or said to spice up this year’s Oscar race. [Vulture] • Ricky Gervais humbly suggests an opening monologue for Oscar hosts James Franco and Anne Hathaway. [RickyGervais.com] • TCM’s Robert Osborne (my sole company on predicting “Letters from Iwo Jima” four years ago) on Oscar campaigns. […]
Filed in: Daily
TECH SUPPORT: Final analysis, part one
Posted by gerardkennedy · 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
OSCAR GUIDE: Best Actress
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 9:46 am · February 24th, 2011
Early in the season the lead actress category appeared to be more competitive than ever. An easy list of 10 contenders could be drawn up, many of them admittedly sight unseen, and it was anyone’s guess as to which lady could insinuate herself as the odds-on favorite to win. Then the critics began narrowing things […]
Filed in: Oscar Guide
The top 10 shots of 2010: part two
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 10:49 am · February 23rd, 2011
In case you missed part one of this year’s top shots column, be sure to catch up before digging into the final five selections today. As I mentioned yesterday, it wasn’t exactly a banner year for singular images from films in 2010. And that’s certainly not a crime. But more to the point, what I […]
Filed in: Daily
OSCAR GUIDE: Best Film Editing
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 9:38 am · February 21st, 2011
I’m afraid you’ll find that I’m having trouble getting all that excited about this year’s race for Best Film Editing. How can I when the absolute best editing job of the year (from a true master, no less) was shunned altogether, while a cruel joke was played in the form of “Inception” editor Lee Smith […]
Filed in: Oscar Guide
BOX OFFICE: ‘Swan,’ ‘Speech’ cross $100 million
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 10:36 am · February 20th, 2011
The headline says it all. The two films join “Toy Story 3,” “Inception” and “True Grit” as the only Best Picture nominees to reach that mark this year. “The Fighter” has slowed too much to get there and a re-release of “The Social Network” didn’t go as well as planned in that regard. (Courtesy: Exhibitor […]
Filed in: Box Office
Natalie Portman training for ‘Black Swan’
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 12:54 pm · February 17th, 2011
This video has been making the rounds this week. I keep forgetting to pass it along:
Filed in: Daily
2/16 OSCARWEB ROUND-UP: Oscars invade Grand Central, details on Oscarcast opening number, Gurus’ final picks
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 9:54 am · February 16th, 2011
• Wes Anderson talks editing “Black Swan” with Andrew Weisblum. [Awards Campaign] • Oscars invade New York’s Grand Central terminal. [Oscars.org] • Mandi Bierly gets a few Oscarcast details on the Franco-Hathaway chemistry and the opening number. [Inside Movies]
Filed in: Daily
OSCAR GUIDE: Best Cinematography
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 10:19 am · February 15th, 2011
The American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) dished out its annual kudos this weekend, which makes for a nice segue into a discussion of the year’s nominees for Best Cinematography. But it’s important to keep a few things in mind when it comes to guessing what the Academy at large will spring for in this field. […]
Filed in: Oscar Guide
2/15 OSCARWEB ROUND-UP: Hooper’s conflicting BAFTA emotions, Rodarte on ‘Swan’ controversy, Whoopi is livid
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 9:53 am · February 15th, 2011
• Nick Davis’s actress digest moves to the lovely Jennifer Lawrence. [Nick’s Flick Picks] • Tom Hooper at the BAFTAs: The thrill of victory, the agony of defeat. [The Race] • David Poland talks to “Black Swan” costume co-designers Rodarte. [The Hot Blog]
Filed in: Daily
BOX OFFICE: Bieber fever
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 11:13 am · February 13th, 2011
All four at the top are new releases, but “Black Swan” will cross $100 million tomorrow or Tuesday, “The King’s Speech” will get there next weekend, and “True Grit” is at $160 million and climbing. (Courtesy: Exhibitor Relations)
Filed in: Box Office
Previewing BAFTA
Posted by Guy Lodge · 2:15 am · February 12th, 2011
In the 10 years since they moved up in the calendar to pre-Oscar status, the BAFTAs have hovered uncertainly between complying with awards trends across the pond, thereby establishing themselves as a viable precursor, and stubbornly standing by their own – as in 2007, when they opted out of the Coen Brothers-P.T. Anderson faceoff by […]
Filed in: Daily
OSCAR TALK: Ep. 52 — Nominees Luncheon, Bening vs. Portman to a photo finish, WGA and Scripter awards, Melissa Leo’s personal campaign, BAFTA preview with Guy Lodge
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 9:00 am · February 11th, 2011
Welcome to Oscar Talk. In case you’re new to the site and/or the podcast, Oscar Talk is a weekly kudocast, your one-stop awards chat shop between yours truly and Anne Thompson of Thompson on Hollywood. The podcast is weekly, every Friday throughout the season, charting the ups and downs of contenders along the way. Plenty […]
Filed in: Oscar Talk