Features
Don’t panic, they’re not instituting a new Oscar category for Best Achievement In Three Dimensions. (Yet.) But they are acknowledging the ubiquitous trend with a three-part showcase titled “Getting Perspective III: Exploring the Craft of 3D Movie Technology.” Taking place every Tuesday evening between June 22 and July 6, the showcase will comprise panel discussions, […]
AMPAS does the 3D thang
Posted by Guy Lodge · 5:11 am · June 11th, 2010
Filed in: Daily
Ranking the categories
Posted by Guy Lodge · 5:51 am · March 7th, 2010
Ah, Oscar lists — the gift that keeps giving. I’m not going to ape Kris’s impressive ranking of all the nominated features: we’d have the same #1, for starters, and we’re agreeing on far too many things these days. So here’s something else to play with. I’ve had a number of emails asking me how […]
Filed in: Daily
WEEKLY WRAP: Top shots, Berlin coverage and more
Posted by Guy Lodge · 5:44 pm · February 19th, 2010
• You asked for it, you eventually got it: our annual list of the Top 10 shots of the year, part one and part two. • In our ongoing Oscar Guide series, we dug into the supporting actor, foreign language film, art direction, makeup and sound editing races. • Guy’s Berlinale coverage continued, with “The […]
Filed in: Daily
INTERVIEW: Neil Gaiman and Henry Selick
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 6:22 pm · February 16th, 2010
Intrepid publicists worked diligently last month to float the idea that Wes Anderson’s “Fantastic Mr. Fox,” due to it’s healthy critics awards take, was in a position to upset the presumed frontrunner in the animated feature category: “Up.” Of course, at the time, no one in the media helping that story along bothered to point […]
Filed in: Interviews
OSCAR GUIDE: Best Animated Feature Film
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 9:19 am · February 8th, 2010
This year’s Best Animated Feature Film race featured five nominees for just the second time in the category’s existence. It was the result of a robust slate of qualifying contenders that reached the magic number of 16, and yet there was still quality work left lying in the also-rans pile. There was a wide open […]
Filed in: Daily
‘Up’ triumphs at Annie Awards
Posted by Guy Lodge · 5:42 am · February 7th, 2010
Last year, the industry-voted Annie Awards appeared to have entered a peculiar grudge match with Pixar Studios, as eventual Oscar-winner “WALL-E” came away empty-handed, while “Kung Fu Panda” swept the board. Whether that curious outcome was the result of peer envy or professional preference, the Annies appear to be back on board with Pixar, as […]
Filed in: Daily
ACE nominees
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 7:23 pm · January 11th, 2010
For me, “District 9” is the biggest and most pleasant surprise for me in this morning’s American Cinema Editors announcement. If ever the film looked like a lock for a Best Picture nomination, now is that time, I have to say. Getting in over presumed Oscar frontrunners “Precious” and, most especially, “Inglourious Basterds,” that’s a […]
Filed in: Daily
Buried treasures: Chad’s best of 2009 (list and ballot)
Posted by Chad Hartigan · 5:32 pm · January 8th, 2010
Unlike Kris, I can’t quite come to the conclusion that 2009 was the best year of the decade. Nor can I call it the “year of the woman,” the “best year for animation” or “the year James Cameron brought a sense of wonder back to the cinema.” The only thing I can personally label 2009 […]
Filed in: Daily
12/28 Oscarweb Round-up
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 8:47 am · December 28th, 2009
• Pete Hammond can’t let go of this notion that “Michael Jackson’s This Is It” is a Best Picture contender. A bunch of number 10 slots aren’t going to cut it, Pete. [Notes on a Season] • Adam B. Vary notes the curious absence of Gene Hackman from the silver screen since the 2004 bomb […]
Filed in: Daily
Things of beauty: Guy’s best of 2009
Posted by Guy Lodge · 6:01 am · December 23rd, 2009
The year of the woman. The year of animation. The year of science-fiction. Depending on who you read (and believe), the final year of the decade has been an awful lot of things. If you’re with Kris, it’s also the best cinematic year of the last ten. If you’re with an awful lot of others, […]
Filed in: Daily
If I had a ballot
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 12:04 pm · December 16th, 2009
Every year I like to keep track of personal favorites throughout the Academy’s designated categories (plus one of my own addition, Best Ensemble). At the end of the year, my “if I had a ballot” post is the result. Of course, for the most part, I follow Academy designations here. If something is ruled ineligible, […]
Filed in: Daily
AFI announce Top 10 American films of 2009
Posted by Guy Lodge · 4:32 pm · December 13th, 2009
Jeez, give us some breathing room. Anyway, the American Film Institute has revealed their annual selection of the year’s best U.S. titles, and as usual, it’s a pleasingly diverse, idiosyncratic list. My heart sings to see Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck’s marvelous “Sugar” make the cut, at the expense of heavily-hyped titles like “Invictus” and […]
Filed in: Daily
THE LONG SHOT: Cartoon network
Posted by Guy Lodge · 7:56 pm · December 9th, 2009
As the year winds down, and critics and entertainment journalists search for neat blanket tags with which to label the year that was, “the year of animation” is a phrase that is getting increasingly bandied about – some going so far as to declare 2009 the greatest year of all time for animated product. (Certainly, […]
Filed in: The Long Shot
WEEKLY WRAP: NBR winners, Spirit nods and Jeff Bridges
Posted by Guy Lodge · 8:18 pm · December 4th, 2009
• The National Board of Review offered the season’s first major precursors, with “Up in the Air” sitting pretty. • The Independent Spirit Award nominations were topped by “Precious” and, more surprisingly, “The Last Station.” • Indie award rivals the Gotham Awards, meanwhile, crowned “The Hurt Locker” as the year’s best. • Fresh off his […]
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‘Coraline’ leads the field of Annie nominees
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 11:13 am · December 1st, 2009
“Coraline” and “Up” both received nominations in eight categories. “The Princess and the Frog” showed up in five while “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” showed up in four. “Fantastic Mr. Fox” (3), “Monsters vs. Aliens” (3), “9” (2), “Astro Boy” (2) and “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs” (2) brought up the rear with […]
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OFF THE CARPET: Field of adaptations
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 8:34 am · November 23rd, 2009
As always, the year’s adapted screenplay race is much more competitive than the original screenplay race. But what’s intriguing to note is that of the anticipated “big four” still to be widely screened, three of them are right in the thick of this discussion. In the case of “Nine,” there is a chance for Anthony […]
Filed in: Off the Carpet
THE LONG SHOT: Consider this
Posted by Guy Lodge · 2:34 pm · November 18th, 2009
There’s nothing like an Oscar season to prove what a small number five (or even ten) is. We may only be in November, but already, months of conversation, covering a broad canvas of Oscar sure-shots and long-shots alike, have devolved into a ruthless mathematical elimination process, as previously five-wide categories fill up with safe bets. […]
Filed in: The Long Shot
Henry Selick to be honored by CAS
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 3:02 pm · November 9th, 2009
Two months ago Randy Thom was announced as this year’s Cinema Audio Society Lifetime Achievement Award winner. Now comes word that Henry Selick will receive the guild’s Filmmaker Award. Recent recipients have included Paul Mazursky, Bill Condon and Gil Cates. The press release, in part: Multi-faceted stop-motion filmmaker Henry Selick will receive the CAS Filmmaker […]
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