I’ve already highlighted my favorite aspects of this morning’s Oscar nominations. Still, before we move into Phase Two, I’d like to give one final respectful nod to the could-have-beens — the names that we sadly won’t be talking about anymore in the next five weeks of speculation. I listed my true favorites in my dream […]
10 snubs that sting
Posted by Guy Lodge · 5:40 pm · February 2nd, 2010
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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, […]
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Oh yeah, the IDA Awards…
Posted by Guy Lodge · 4:05 am · December 7th, 2009
We neglected to mention the International Documentary Association Awards happened on Friday night, but happen they did. Often an independent-minded group of on the precursor circuit, the IDA underlined the point this year by crowning a prominently Oscar-snubbed title as the year’s best. The many fans of rock doc “Anvil! The Story of Anvil” will […]
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‘Moon,’ Carey Mulligan, Tom Hardy take BIFA Awards
Posted by Guy Lodge · 3:28 pm · December 6th, 2009
The British Independent Film Awards really spread the wealth this year, with only two films — “Moon” and “Fish Tank” — taking more than one award. In a slightly surprising result, Duncan Jones’s sci-fi debut claimed the night’s top prize, Best British Independent Film, as well as Best Debut Director honors. Meanwhile, “Fish Tank,” which […]
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Thoughts on the Oscar doc list
Posted by Guy Lodge · 12:23 pm · November 19th, 2009
Perhaps inevitably, the bulk of online chatter about the Best Documentary Feature shortlist unveiled yesterday focused less on the films that made it, and more on those that didn’t. It’s par for the course for the Academy’s documentary branch to ignore a major title or two, but even by their severe standards, the list of […]
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AMPAS announces doc feature short list, ‘Anvil,’ ‘Capitalism’ snubbed
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 3:51 pm · November 18th, 2009
You can check out the full press release here. The list of 15 competing titles as follows: • “The Beaches of Agnes,” Agnès Varda, director (Cine-Tamaris) • “Burma VJ,” Anders Østergaard, director (Magic Hour Films) • “The Cove,” Louie Psihoyos, director (Oceanic Preservation Society) • “Every Little Step,” James D. Stern and Adam Del Deo, […]
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‘Cove’ misses out on IDA Awards nod
Posted by Guy Lodge · 12:47 pm · November 13th, 2009
A couple of things struck me as noteworthy on the list of nominees revealed yesterday by the International Documentary Association, which Kris mentioned briefly in this morning’s round-up. The five films nominated by the IDA for Best Documentary Feature include “Afghan Star,” “Anvil! The Story of Anvil,” “Diary of a Times Square Thief,” “Food, Inc.” […]
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Hollywood, Johannesburg
Posted by Guy Lodge · 12:36 pm · November 9th, 2009
In January 2005, exactly one week after I left my birth town of Johannesburg to study film in the brighter lights of London, Darrell James Roodt’s earnest AIDS drama “Yesterday” became South Africa’s first Oscar nominee in the Best Foreign Language Film category. Only a month later, the rather better “uCarmen eKhayelitsha” took the Golden […]
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28 docs boost their Oscar profile at DocuWeeks
Posted by Guy Lodge · 3:22 pm · July 8th, 2009
For documentaries, qualifying for Oscar consideration can be a rough ride. Academy rules stipulate that a film must at least enjoy a week-long theatrical run, in both New York and Los Angeles, to be eligible — which can be a tall order for tiny movies on tricky subjects. So — acting as a kind of […]
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