Tomorrow, we get the last of the Academy’s crucial pre-nomination shortlists, as the list of 65 entries for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar is slashed to just nine titles, from which the eventual nominees will be announced in a week’s time. Predicting these nine is a vague and mostly thankless task, but I am […]
Predicting the foreign-language Oscar shortlist
Posted by Guy Lodge · 5:25 pm · January 18th, 2011
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‘Another Year,’ ‘King’s Speech’ lead London critics’ noms
Posted by Guy Lodge · 1:17 am · December 21st, 2010
The London Film Critics’ Circle can always be relied upon to throw a couple of wild cards into a nominee list of otherwise endlessly repeated names — demonstrating at least some awareness of life outside Oscar season. So it is this year, as their Best Director category is filled by Fincher, Aronofsky, Nolan, the Coens… […]
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Foreign Oscar update
Posted by Guy Lodge · 4:06 pm · October 4th, 2010
I neglected to mention this over a busy weekend, but the deadline for Best Foreign Language Film Oscar submissions passed on Friday. That doesn’t necessarily mean we have all the contenders set in stone, however — we’re still waiting on the official list from the Academy, which always features a couple of latecomers and a […]
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9/23 OSCARWEB ROUND-UP: Brolin on Stone and Allen, remembering ‘Goodfellas’ and a ‘Boonmee’ how-to
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 9:06 am · September 23rd, 2010
• In a joint venture with Interview magazine, Roger Ebert corners Casey Affleck on “I’m Still Here.” [Chicago Sun-Times] • Kevin Gray talks “Wall Street” and Woody Allen with Josh Brolin. [Vulture] • Steve Pond runs a comb through the contenders so far to gauge strengths and weaknesses. [The Odds]
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‘Life, Above All,’ ‘Uncle Boonmee’ enter Oscar race
Posted by Guy Lodge · 12:54 pm · September 13th, 2010
I lost track of the foreign-language Oscar submissions while I was away in Venice, so the entry of my own favored horse into the race seems like a good occasion to catch up. If you kept up with my Cannes coverage, you might remember that I made a slightly off-center prediction while reviewing the South […]
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9/2 Oscarweb Round-up
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 6:51 am · September 2nd, 2010
• Michael Cieply chats with comeback kid Ben Affleck, whose film “The Town” is set to play Venice this week. [New York Times] • Remember when “Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives” won the Palme d’Or? Parisian critics would rather not. [The Guardian] • Catching up with Julian Schnabel, re: “Miral,” prior to […]
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U.S. distrib finally steps forward for ‘Uncle Boonmee’
Posted by Guy Lodge · 7:17 am · July 6th, 2010
It’s unusual for a Palme d’Or winner to wait this long after Cannes to find to secure a North American distributor — but then, Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s death-dreams-and-monkey-ghosts fantasy “Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives” is a pretty unusual Palme d’Or winner. You’ll get why it’s such a tough sell when you see it, […]
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Who needs consensus?
Posted by Guy Lodge · 11:23 am · June 19th, 2010
If you keep up with the American critical scene, you’ll probably have got the message by now that people kinda like “Toy Story 3.” No surprise there: every one of Pixar’s features since their 2006 misfire “Cars” has been greeted with the kind of mass veneration usually reserved for returning messiahs, and on at least […]
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CANNES: Starfish and coffee
Posted by Guy Lodge · 5:36 am · May 24th, 2010
“Hey, that’s no way to say goodbye,” you might have thought (or even sang, in gravelly Leonard Cohen tones) after my rushed response to yesterday’s Cannes winners. But having recharged overnight with a hearty curry and a good 13 hours’ sleep, it’s time to properly put a bow on Cannes 2010. Perhaps it was quite […]
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CANNES: What will win… and what should
Posted by Guy Lodge · 8:47 am · May 23rd, 2010
Okay, so that took longer than I expected. I had hoped to get this post up last night, but instead got quite easily talked into a night on the tiles with a band of merry Film Dweebs led by James Rocchi — not the wisest idea with a morning flight to catch, but by the […]
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CANNES: Machinists, masochists and monkey ghosts
Posted by Guy Lodge · 2:22 am · May 21st, 2010
“Are you eating at all? Are you sleeping? You don’t look like you are,” observed our good friend Anne Thompson yesterday afternoon, her face etched with motherly concern, before whisking me off for a hearty al fresco meal. I wanted to tell Anne that I tend to cut a pretty gaunt figure even on my […]
CANNES PREVIEW: Sizing up the Competition, part two
Posted by Guy Lodge · 2:21 pm · May 7th, 2010
Continuing the breakdown of the 18 titles in contention for the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, which begins Wednesday. (Catch up with yesterday’s preview here.) Among them is the film I’ve put a sneaky wager on to take the gold — though given the foolhardiness of predicting festival awards, I don’t encourage you […]
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