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Harvey Weinstein has never been one to put much faith in the length of Academy voters’ memories, so as usual, he’s favoring a late-year release plan for his presumed awards contenders — the prospects of which I was discussing only the other day. Thanks to Coming Soon’s Ed Douglas for pointing out the newly announced [...]
Weinsteins announce release dates for winter bait
Posted by Guy Lodge · 6:10 pm · June 17th, 2011
Filed in: Daily
New AMPAS invitees include Sorkin, Hooper… and Beyoncé
Posted by Guy Lodge · 5:17 pm · June 17th, 2011
The annual announcement of the new members invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences — the latest batch of industry pros we get to blame for next year’s Oscar results — is a moment that always prompts as much satisfied head-nodding as bewildered head-scratching. The latter action isn’t always in response [...]
Filed in: Daily
An open letter to James Franco
Posted by Guy Lodge · 4:32 pm · February 28th, 2011
Dear James, So you don’t think much of the Academy. That’s okay. A lot of us don’t. And after the outcome of last night’s awards — in which capping an inevitable Best Picture Oscar for the safe, stolid stylings of “The King’s Speech” with that extraneous Best Director win for a worried-looking Tom Hooper was [...]
Filed in: Daily
OSCAR TALK: Ep. 55 — Special Edition! — Oscars postmortem
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 1:03 pm · February 28th, 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
OFF THE CARPET: Sun came up
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 9:11 am · February 28th, 2011
Steven Spielberg couldn’t have put it more concisely during his presentation of the Best Picture category last night. To paraphrase, he noted that whichever films did not happen to win Best Picture this year would join the ranks of numerous classics of the medium. Was it preemptive damage control? I hope not. Why be apologetic? [...]
Filed in: Off the Carpet
2/28 OSCARWEB ROUND-UP: Aftermath
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 8:29 am · February 28th, 2011
• Drew McWeeney writes a lot of words explaining why he doesn’t watch the Oscars. [Motion/Captured] • Nikki Finke reminds who the “In Memoriam” sequence passed over. [Deadline] • Oscar ≠ A-List. [The Wrap]
Filed in: Daily
‘King’s Speech’ wins four Oscars, including Best Picture…
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 9:06 pm · February 27th, 2011
…and the sun will still rise tomorrow. Full list of the winners at The Circuit. We’ll be back tomorrow to put a bow on the season. Feel free to carry over conversation from the open thread here.
Filed in: Daily
Indie Spirits, HBO and Weinstein party down on Oscar eve
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 11:06 am · February 27th, 2011
Yesterday was a bit of a whirlwind. The Indie Spirits was a lovely affair, though they really need to figure out the show aspect because it kind of fell apart this year. I didn’t see it on television so maybe it was edited into shape, but in the room, it just felt like chaos. I [...]
Filed in: Daily
Guess again: final predictions and preferences
Posted by Guy Lodge · 10:23 am · February 27th, 2011
“Oh Sister, I have such doubts!” I’m not given to quoting overwrought (if Oscar-nominated) ecclesiastical dramas at the best of times, but let’s face it, this is not the best of times. There comes a time in every Oscar-watcher’s life when he has to accept the things he cannot change — or simply stop changing [...]
Filed in: Daily
BOX OFFICE: ‘King’s Speech’ holds on in the top 10…
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 10:05 am · February 27th, 2011
…and is poised to have a good night. (Courtesy: Exhibitor Relations)
Filed in: Box Office
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
CINEJABBER: The light bulb’s getting dim
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 9:12 am · February 26th, 2011
Catch up with the idea behind these weekend posts here. Well. Here we are. It’s probably going to be kind of difficult to use this weekly open thread for anything other than Oscar chatter, given tomorrow’s festivities, but here’s the space nevertheless. The Oscar Guide has been another lovely success this year and I thank [...]
Filed in: Cinejabber
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
WEEKLY WRAP: ‘Twas the week before Oscar
Posted by In Contention Staff · 7:00 pm · February 25th, 2011
• We made you wait for it this year, but finally: Kris’s Top 10 Shots of 2010, parts one and two. • This week’s Off the Carpet column surveyed where the season has brought us thus far, and began tying the loose ends… • …culminating later in Kris’s final Oscar predictions of the 2010 season. [...]
Filed in: Daily
Just walk away: final predictions
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 4:45 pm · February 25th, 2011
While Guy is pulling his hair out (I know the feeling), I’m backing off. At some point you have to put your pencil down and step away, and so I am. For me, the most difficult categories to pick — and the ones I found myself flip-flopping on down the stretch — were Best Supporting [...]
Filed in: Daily
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
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
TECH SUPPORT: Final analysis, part two
Posted by Gerard Kennedy · 8:40 am · February 25th, 2011
Yesterday we began our final look at the 10 crafts categories. Check out part one here. Today, the conclusion. Meanwhile, you can find my final predictions in all categories here. Best Music (Original Score) Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, despite their atypical approach to film music composition, are very much contenders in this race. Having [...]
Filed in: Tech Support
